L.A. County Fair 2009....here come the Holland's!

On Sunday, we had our annual tradition of going to the fair! We had a BLAST!!!! The very first stop of the day....soft serve( Grandma is teaching Emily early)! I won't confess how many times we actually hit the soft serve stands! Grandpa and Grandma bought the kids wristbands for the rides, and they were itching to get to the carnival area! Ryan makes my heart skip a beat (or three)! He is such a daredevil, and will try anything at least once! I had to walk away, I couldn't even watch, my stomach was in knots! Richie on the other hand.....not such a daredevil! Emily, well, she's in the middle...she loves the rides, even some that are kinda crazy for her age!
We saw a dog show, and that was lots of fun! Richie was even picked out of the crowd to participate in the show! It was Doggone fun!!!
The kids played carnival games, we caught a horse race, and visited the animals(my favorite part)! We saw baby goats that were only a few days old...so cute! We went in the petting zoo, and Emily almost got trampled by the goats fighting over her food! She loved every minute of it!
We ended the night with our stop at the chocolate milk stand, and even caught the fireworks show on the way out! It was a great day! Thank you so much to Grandpa and Grandma Holland for making the day so special! We love you guys♥

Grandpa and Grandma's 50th Anniversary Party!

Well, once again it was another busy weekend for our family! We celebrated Grandpa and Grandma Valadez's 50th anniversary! WOW what an achievement!!! We had a wonderful party for them at our clubhouse where we live, and although it was ALOT of work...it was amazing!We felt so blessed to be able to share such an amazing time in their lives! These days, hearing of a marriage lasting 50 years, is sadly a rare thing! In February, Jr. and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary...Wohooo! We only have 40 more to go, until we hit our 50th....Wow! Marriage is truly one of God's gifts to us! I love my husband with all my heart and thank God for him each and every day!
Happy 50th Aniversary Grandpa and Grandma.....we love you both!♥

Brownies.....Mmmmmm

Well tonight was a girls night for Emily and I! Daddy took the boys to basketball clinic, and we decided to stay home and hang out! We had a great time coloring, and watching t.v., and reading.....until I remebered that I had a box of Brownie mix in the cupboard! Emily loves to help me in the kitchen, so she was all for my idea! We decided to make the brownies and then surprise the boys whaen they got home, and have brownie sundaes...mmmm....! Well, we have a tradition that daddy ALWAYS gets the bowl of brownie mix(whatever is left after it goes in the pan), and seeming he wasn't home.....Emily took over for him! She took the bowl to the table and was going to town while I was cleaning up the kitchen! After a few minutes I found her licking the bowl clean, who needs a dishwasher? Anyways I had to steal a picture before she got all cleaned up! And she can't wait to tell daddy that she got the bowl!!!!! I love our girl nights!♥

Chick-fil-a x two!!!!

I am almost ashamed to post this but......today we went to chick-fil-a TWICE!!!!! Yep, that's right two times!!!! Chick-fil-a is one of our favorite places to go, and Jr. heard on the radio that today they were giving out a FREE chicken sandwich if you dressed in your favorite team jersey or shirt! So we all dressed in our favorite team jersey's ( Daddy and the boys had on USC gear, and me and the princess sported our Lakers jerseys! ) We met our friends Tim and Cecilia for lunch at the one by our house! It was a great time! Defiantly a long time overdue! When we left there we joked that we should hit up another Chick-fil-a for dinner (at this point I didn't really think that we would!) We had errands to run and groceries to buy for the week ahead.....I guess that we worked up an appetite and I was happy to take the night off from cooking! Needless to say, we drove to the other Chick-fil-a and yes had dinner there!!!!The kids were thrilled! Overall, I was blessed to spend the day with my hubby and kids, and spend time with friends as well!

Candy Bar Craziness!!!!!

Well, the boys haven't even been in 5th grade for more than two weeks yet, and already, the thing I dreaded the most came up.....5th GRADE CAMP!!!!!! I know , I know, maybe Im too protective and have issues letting go and accepting that they really are growing up! They have not ever been away from us for three LONG nights (okay maybe LONG for me), and frankly Im having anxiety over the whole thing! However, the school is doing two fundraisers to help out with the cost of camp! (they do not offer a twin discount unfortunantly) The first fundraiser started last Friday, and the boys are selling the worlds finest chocolate bars for 1$ each! For every box of 40 bars they sell, they will recieve 20 dollars off the cost of camp! With having two of them, and it being in December, every bit we can discount will help! Im so proud that the boys have sold two boxes each so far! I think we have some future salesman's on our hands!!!! Grandpa Richard took them on Friday around our nieghborhood, and they finished off a box each! We took them out tonight for a bit, and we finished off another box each! So far it has been a success!!!!They are having a lot of fun selling them, and even Emily has been quite helpful with knocking on some doors for them....(she is just probably excited at the thought of getting rid of them for a few days!!!)Anyhow, I will be praying for myself that over the next few months, I grow fonder of the idea of camp, and of letting go....but just a little bit!!!!!!