20 Years of Service

February 14, 2015 marked 20 years of service for Matt with the SD County Sheriff's Department.

 Today was an awards ceremony at MCAS Miramar to honor all of the sworn and professional staff that have also reached this milestone, along with 25, 30 and even 35 years with the department.  

 Matt was called on stage to receive a certificate and pin by Sheriff William Gore.

 They announced Matt's educational accomplishments, different jobs he has held while with the department and some of the many awards he has received over the 20 years.  

I'm so proud of how hard this man works to provide for our family and how much pride he takes in taking care of his deputies and trying to make the county a safer place.  He hates award ceremonies like this, but I'm thankful that he lets me have these moments to honor him.  He is more concerned with the 6 year countdown to retirement!!  

She Said YES!

Taylor and Andrew have been texting for months, but don't really see each other at school or hang out in the same friend group.  For the past 2 weeks, he has been trying to take her out to yogurt, but they couldn't find a time that worked.  Eventually, Andrew decided to recruit Taylor's friends to get her to Starbucks after school today.  Madison invited her to come home with her from school, but they made a quick pit stop at Starbucks on this rainy afternoon.

SURPRISE!  When they arrived, Andrew was waiting outside with a frappachino, stuffed animal and flowers with a sign that said "I know this is WILD but will you SWING with me to PROM?"

She was flattered and excited and said YES!

Prom is 2 weeks away so I hope finding a dress and shoes will be easy!  I'm so excited for her and Andrew seems like a really sweet kid.  I just wish I could stop time!!

GU16 State Cup

Taylor's team has pretty much dissolved and didn't have any post season games or tournaments scheduled.  Luckily, Coach Scott contacted her to play up on his team for State Cup this weekend in Oceanside.  She had the opportunity to play all over the field, although the team didn't do very well…2 losses and a tie.  They didn't advance, but it was good for Taylor to get some extra touches on the ball before tryouts in a few weeks...

GOHS Soccer Banquet

Although the high school season ended weeks ago, they finally got around to the end of season banquet.

We had a nice BBQ dinner and then each team was called up individually to pass out the SPIRIT awards.  A little more time was spent on the varsity team as each senior was recognized and had a chance to speak.  Their parents were also given a chance to say something about their senior and there were lots of tears flowing.  

Taylor with Devan and Madison 

 Taylor had a pretty good night!  She was recognized as a scholar athlete (4.0 GPA) and got participation and teamwork certificates as well.  

 This soccer year has sure had its ups and downs.  The high school season was a roller coaster, but I'm hoping hearing all of the seniors speak about their love of the game and future dreams will help her stay focused and passionate.

They are talented young ladies and wonderful friends!

Easter Sunday Hike

Well I forgot to take pictures of the girls' Easter baskets or their morning egg hunt, but they were happy with their loot and love the tradition. We had planned on another beach day, but the wind was pretty chilly at home so figured the beach would be even colder.  We decided on a hike up Cowles Mountain instead.

Matt and I did this 4 mile roundtrip hike back in college, but the girls had yet to try it.  It was actually warmer than we anticipated and Kaia was panting heavily, but we stopped a lot for shade and water breaks along the trail.

The hike provides great views of Lake Murray, downtown SD and even the ocean on a clear day.

 At the top, we stopped for a snack and a little rest on the boulders.  There were some great lookout points too.  

 Kaia was wiped out and could barely lift her head on the car ride home.  She stayed in this position on Taylor's leg most of the way

 and spent much of the evening cuddling with me.  It was a nice relaxing day before we return to the craziness of schedules tomorrow.  So long Spring Break!  9 weeks until Summer…

SUNSHINE

We couldn't wait to get back to the beach and the girls couldn't wait to see their friends.

 Matt and I each drove our cars down to Moonlight Beach so the kids could bring friends with them for a beach day.

 Taylor spent the day with Devan, Madison and Jacob.

The spent time in the water, but had more fun finding spots for photo shoots.

Allison brought Carson and they spent most of their time in the water or taking breaks in the shade.  With the kids entertained, we were able to just sit back and relax.  We also went for a long walk north and came upon a sea lion pup that looked lost on shore.  We flagged down a lifeguard who eventually picked up the pup and brought it to the lifeguard tower.  We assume Sea World or another rescue organization came to get it and we hope it was ok.  I took the big kids to Rita's on the way home for a little frozen treat and we are all counting down the days until summer when we can do this more often!

Oregon Zoo

Today was the last day of our Oregon trip.  Our flight wasn't until 6:30pm so we checked out of our hotel early (couldn't get out of there soon enough…yuck!) and visited Washington Park one last time.  This time we spent the morning at the Oregon Zoo.

 It was damp and cold, but that created a nice environment for the animals to be out and active.  We were first greeted by this very serious mountain goat.  He didn't flinch the entire time we watched him.

 This zoo is a lot smaller than ours in SD, but the exhibits were great and the landscape was so different.

This chimp, Jackson, was so sweet.  Taylor kept waving at him and he kept smiling and laughing back.  We went back later to watch all of the chimps get lunch outside.  The keeper called them all by name and threw bits of sweet potato, banana, carrots and spinach into their enclosure.  Each chimp seemed to have their favorite and collected piles…so human-like!

I had never seen so many lions in one spot. 7 females and 2 males, including 3 new cubs born in September.  Throughout the day they made their way around their enclosure and interacted more than we have ever seen.

 We saw hippos, bald eagles, giraffes, penguins, orangutans

and several breeds of large cats.

Throughout the week we saw several stands selling elephant ears and finally had to try one.  It was a giant fried dough shaped like an elephant ear and covered in butter and cinnamon sugar…Yum!

After covering the entire zoo, we loaded up for the airport.  We were all anxious to get back to sunshine, but it was a wonderful time with the girls.  We covered a lot of territory in one week and saw so much beauty in Oregon.

Back to Portland

Rain was expected for our last few days so we decided to find an indoor activity after driving back up to Portland this morning. Trip Advisor recommended this very cool museum downtown…OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).

 It is an amazing place for all ages.  There is a planetarium, submarine tour and exhibits that cover Physics, Life Science, Chemistry and much more.

 We went through mazes,

 explored many hands-on exhibits, answered brain teasers

and learned all about the human body.

There were fossils and animal exhibits

and Taylor loved this air organ!  We were a bunch of big kids and loved it!

There was a break in the rain so we headed down to the Alphabet District to try Salt & Straw.

A family at the airport told us about it and it was the cutest little shop!

All of the ice cream is homemade and there were lots of funky flavors.  Taylor got Coconut with Petunia's Sea Salt Caramels and Allison got Cinnamon Snickerdoodle.  I was boring and got Double Fold Vanilla, but they were all delicious!

The Alphabet District is such a quaint little part of downtown.  All of the park benches were cute little flower carts

and the streets were all tree-lined with the cutest boutiques and some high end home improvement stores.