aliright, alright already!

Ok I admit I've neglected my blog....but I didn't realize anyone actually cared! apparently I was mistaken, so Jenny and Krista this ones for you!

Well to pick up where I left off, the wedding went wonderfully it was beautiful and tiring all at the same time!

August started a new school year for both of the kids and the parents. It was a busy few months
of classes, and holidays.

we took a trip to the apple picking farm between Thanksgiving and Halloween that was a lot of fun!

In October we saw some big changes to the house, as we added a new family member! (if you weren't keeping track, that brought the grand total to 5 adults and 3 kids....yes that's 8 people in my 4 bedroom 1,200 sq ft house!)
Chelsey's cousin Robert came to live with us. Robert is 15 yearsold, and needed a safe place to live because his mother is unstable and his father didn't want to step up and care for him. Within a few weeks of him staying with us, I officially was given a "Caregiver Affidavit" by his mother through the CPSA. Since he's moved in Robert is doing extremely well, he's growing taller, eating better, his ulcer problems have subsided, and he is attending school again....actually he's attending the Charter school that I use with Matthew, and I am overseeing his education.
Next Month, Amyee and Chelsey are moving into Amyees' aunts house, and Cheryl (amyee's mom) will be retiring and getting her own apartment as well. Robert will be moving with the girls, and we will be transferring the caregiver affidavit to them so that he can be with family.
I will miss having him around, but I know he really wants to be with his family, and I still get to do his schooling with him, so I will see him a few days a week still! (here's the picture I took of him last week)
The end of October brought us Halloween, and before we knew it, it was time for Matthew's 7th birthday! Its so hard to believe that my baby boy is 7 years old! He had a great party at the bowling alley, and he's already coming up with ideas for next year :0)

Christmas was amazing this year. we had an early Christmas with Manning and Cece, because.... Rob and the kids and I saved up all of our left over money from school grants, and drove to Colorado to spend the holidays with my family. It had been almost 4 years since we had seen my grandmother and all of my aunts and uncles and cousins, so it was a great visit. To make it even more enjoyable, I got to get away for a night with some of my best girlfriends who I miss terribly, and we had a wild night ( we even managed to get escorted out of the bar!) No harm though....well aside from the pounding headaches and sour stomachs that we all had the next day! While in Colorado, the kids got to play in the snow, we made a trip up to the "North Pole",we got to attend my mom's surprise 50th Birthday party, and we got to see her Fiance officially propose to her on Christmas day! it was a wonderful trip, and even the driving weather back and forth cooperated!

So that brings us to the New Year.... I had my birthday in the beginning of the month, and Samantha was treated like a princess for her birthday at Medieval Times in Bueana Park (I still need to upload those pictures from the CD my Father in Law gave me!)
And now here we are in the first of March already........
last weekend we traveled with just the adults to Disney Land....it was a great time, we had an awesome hotel that we got for cheap in the off season

Rob and I only made it about 5 hours in the park, but we got to ride all the big rides, and came back to the hotel at about 4pm and enjoyed the on site restaurant, happy hour at the hotel bar, and the 24hr spa and heated pool! we even got to see the Disney land fireworks from our room!
It was a great vacation, even if I'm still paying for it with overly tight and sore calf and hip muscles 3 days later!

Well that catches up the last 7 1/2 months for the most part.....and I can't make any promises, but I am going to TRY and start updating this again....it was lotsa fun!