Mammoth Sweet Mammoth

Ah Mammoth. I can just say that and feel instantly relaxed and at peace. You don't have to know me for too long or even very well to know that I LOVE nature. One of my biggest loves and passion is the great outdoors. Especially mountains and the ocean. If I had to pick one place to live at for the rest of my life. It would be no contest. Mammoth all the way! Mammoth has always been my home. It's such a big part of my heart and I miss it every day that I am away. So with my birthday coming up and my husband that knows me way too well, Ian came up with the perfect birthday gift for me. A Mammoth trip. Of course I jumped on that offer. We knew that we probably wouldn't camp this time around because of our last horrific camping trip when Brandon was Danny's age. But we have lots of camping planned with the kids next year for sure!! So even though we weren't gonna camp this time (which is a huge bummer for me, I live for camping!!) it still was gonna be way worth it to take a trip up for a couple days.


























I'm not going to lie. It felt really odd staying in a hotel and not camping or staying at my buddy's home but it was still really great. Our view from our room was of course spectacular.



























First thing I wanted to do when I got there was go to June Lake. This is by far my favorite place on the planet. The water is so clear and beautiful it looks like the ocean. June Lake is the best of both worlds for me, where the mountains meet the ocean. Except its not the ocean just a beautiful lake that is out of this world. But you know what I mean ;) For me, its like my two loves coming together in one place.








































This was Lily and Daniel's first time at June Lake. And they loved it. Well I know Lily did. Daniel mostly hung out shaded in his carseat. The water is a bit too cold for him. It was a little bit of a struggle handling Lily. She just wanted to be with me in the water which was awesome but after awhile I wanted to take a minute to get to spread my fins :) and swim out farther in the lake without a body being attached to me. Well she just wouldn't allow that for too long without screaming her heart out for me to come back and get her. I did get to enjoy it much more than Daddy. I'm so grateful for that time at my favorite place even if it was for a short time. And Lily is even more like her Mama, she is officially a mermaid :)












































































After the lake we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and ready for dinner. My birthday dinner was at the great and wonderful Giovanni's. YUMMMMMY!!!! The BEST pizza ever! You know I love my pizza and this is the best. Afterwards, we discovered that Vons surprisingly has really good cupcakes. Ian treated me to a cupcake for my birthday and also gave me one of my favorite classic all time movies...E.T on DVD! Yay!














In this picture we caught Lily sneaking in a bite of my cupcake. What a cutie!














Indulging my cupcake:)







































The next day we headed up Twin Lakes and stopped by one of my favorite views at Mamie Lake. What a killer view! I could stay there all day.



















































Then we took one of my favorite hikes up towards McCleod Lake. We probably only hiked for 20 mins and headed back down because we were running out of Mammoth time:( But it was still amazing.













The last couple pictures are of a spot on the trail that we always stop at to take pictures. We still have a picture of us with Bubba on that rock when he was Danny's age.





























This was by far the best birthay I have ever had. Even camping on the beach in Palau comes in as a close second to this birthday. My hubby is so thoughtful to not only know what I need but to do his best to make it happen. I love him! Leaving is always the hardest part. I pretty much cried all the way home. I'm such a baby.Mammoth will always be my home. My heart aches when I am away.Maybe one day I will live there again with my family. That would just be ultimate happiness. Till then twice a year will have to do!

The Big Kahuna of Daddies

O.k we have a lot of catching up to do on our blog. So we'll start with Father's Day. This is my handsome husband on Father's Day right before heading out to church. Isn't he too cute?! He's wearing the aloha tie and kukui nuts I got him for Father's Day. We have a new tradition that we are trying to keep with each other, which is every special occasion between us I'll get him a Maile Lei and he'll get me an orchid lei. Well I attempted to do that for him this Father's Day and it's about a $100 to get it shipped from Hawaii. So I decided that for Father's Day kukui nuts would do just fine. I'll save up to get him a Maile Lei for our next anniversary:)I'm by far the luckiest lady on the planet to have him as a father to our children. Our kids can never get enough of him and they love him soooo much!! He always thinks about us first and he works so hard to provide for us. He is such a great example of a great man. We love you Daddy!! He is the Kahuna of Daddies!!!! :)

Danielton is 6 months

That's right! Our little man has turned 6 months!! This is nuts! Time is moving by way too quickly. What is our little man doing these days you ask?? Well, I'll tell ya! He definetly has mastered rolling around and scooting all over the floor. And he is still a horrible sleeper which makes me soooo miserable but he makes up for that ten fold with his sweet smiles. This kid has been smiling since he was 2 weeks old and has not stopped. He is literally the SMILIEST baby I have ever seen!! But when he is upset he does not hold back what so ever. He lets you have it with his siren of a cry. Holy smokes!! Yes, he is very extreme with his behavior. He has been the most challenging baby so far but he brings our family so much joy. Oh, and he is incredibly ticklish and always has been. He loves attention and he loves to be sung to. His favorites are Mama's favorites of course. Blue Moon, Little Mermaid, Earth Angel and .....Danielton:) O.k, it's not a real song. Well it is but the real song is Chuggington (one of Bubba's and Lily's cartoons). He loves it! His favorite thing has to be being held by someone he loves. He LOVES cuddle time! And he absolutley loves Mama, Daddy, Bubba and Lilybug's kisses!!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!!!

Our little Lilybug is now 2 years old. We had a family party for her and it was tons of fun. Even though Lily was not in the best of moods. She had an emotional moment during the start of the party. Maybe she was getting a taste of the growing pains her Mama and Daddy have been having since time is passing by and our babies are growing up so fast. But she eventually brightened up and started to enjoy her party. We had some yummy cake and ice cream and Lilybug got some really great gifts. We kept our tradition of getting the other kids one gift but we gave them the gifts before the party so it was so nice for Mimi and Papa to remember our tradition and get Bubba a gift. We can't believe that our Lilybug is already 2 years old but also that we have only had her in our lives for 2 years when it seems like we've known her forever. Even with her crazy tantrums and with her gift of having the most annoying sound in the world we love her sooooo very much and could not live without her. We love you Kai Lily!!!!

Our anniversary and Mother's day

Well we celebrated our 6 year anniversary this year on the 30th of April but I always say we should really be able to tack on the 4 years we dated and the fact that we have been friends since high school. But nevermind that. 6 years!!! Brings me back to our wedding day and what we have accomplished since then. 6 years later and we have the most beautiful and most wonderful children anyone could ask for. We are so blessed!! I couldn't imagine my life without my husband and my sweet babies. Without them my life would be so dull and I would never be this happy. I love my life and I love my family. Kickboxer is always so thoughtful but this year he hit it out of the park. For our anniversary he came home with flowers and the sweetest card and for Mother's Day he and the kids made a beautiful collage and one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies. I am so grateful to be a mother but not only that, I'm so grateful to be the mother of these children. I love you my sweet babies!!

Our Canadian family comes to visit

That's right! We got to hang out with Brad and Mo. Well to the kids that's Uncle Brad and Auntie Mo. It seems like it's been such a long time since we have seen them. It was really great having them at Mimi and Papa's so all we had to do was take a short drive and we got to see them. We were so happy to have them both here and Kickboxer was so happy to see his brother. But I don't think anyone was happier than Lilybug to have Auntie Mo here. She just clung to her the moment she got here.She sure loves her Auntie Mo!! But Uncle Brad on the other hand...I don't know what Lily had against her Uncle Brad but she wouldn't let him hold her for anything. And even if they made eye contact for a second she would close her eyes and pretend that she was invisible. HA! Who knows what was going on in her head? But we do know that she does love her Uncle Brad. She may not show it yet but she will. We did manage to get a picture of when she allowed attention from her Uncle Brad. He gave her a yummy animal cracker so she caved, so cute! It was so awesome to have them in town and grateful that Mo is in our family. I love that she comes to visit and appreciates her enviroment and sees the beauty in the desert. Can't wait till you come again Brad and Mo!