fisheys, sharks and dragons..Oh My!!

My Dad and his girlfriend came to visit and we decided the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach would be a perfect little adventure one day. That place is absolutely amazing!! We spent almost he entire day there.. we didn’t get to go to shoreline village after as planned  because after a full day of walking around we were all a little worn out. We saw so many amazing creatures and even got to pet some! the shows were fun too..very exciting for all ages
Someone was very excited to wear their halloween costume =)
so excited it was tough to try and get it off of her and save for Halloween hahaha! at least I know she will have a lot of fun playing dress up afterwards..
anyone want some crab??
Heather decided she wanted a fish tank like this..ummm… not sure where we would put it
beautiful coral
Nemos and Dorries..they really should just think of changing the fish name to that haha
here is a picture of what a baby shark looks like before it hatches…you could actually see it moving, it was sooooooooo cool! (the spotted stuff in the middle is the baby shark)
the stingray was smiling
the diver was hilarious.. he was blowing bubbles for Heather
water snake
one of my favorites.. a seaweed dragon
can you just hear the theme to jaws right now… dun unp dun unp..
they are really amazing creatures
we got to pet some jelly fish..they are kinda weird.. almost like touching mushy goo
another rare sighting.. a pic of me and my girl! (a bit in the shadow)
I loved petting the sting rays.. they were our favorite to touch!
more jelly fish..
took a few minutes to play.. they had a cute little water area for the kiddos
the loorakeets were so vibrant!
I just liked this plant
this one was interesting too..
very neat statue

If you havent been yet, you should def. go! We went during the week so crowds and traffic werent bad at all (extra bonus!)
I took so many pictures! there was just so much to see and the weather was just right too. we definitely want to go again..

girly accessories...

http://acraftymom.com/2011/07/23/tutu-hairbow-holder/
I found this site as I was looking for a unique baby shower gift idea to make for my friend that is having twin girls! I love it!! Im going to have to try and make 2 for her shower. I love homemade projects, they give that extra special feel to the piece.. hopefully it will turn out as cute as the ones I have seen. First I must finish my "name" sign for Heather..we have been wanting to have the hanging letters that spell out Heather but I just couldnt find one that we really really liked (and didnt cost major bucks!) so I found on one of the sites that all they use for most is special scrapbooking paper.. well I have that and I have the letters.. now I just need to finish it. As Heather gets older Im going to put some pegs in the letters so she can use it to hang her stuff like her purse or coat etc. Wish me luck! hahaha! This site seems cute so I hope you enjoy it too =)

I finished up the letters during lunch.. now I just have to add the ribbon and hang it up =) for my first attempt, I dont think I did to bad.. now on to the next project..

fun in the desert

After the hectic weekend last weekend I thought I would be able to relax and catch up on  some stuff this weekend.. it was a nice thought for a moment haha! Saturday I was able to catch up a little and took some time for some important stuff like painting and goofing off. Heather and I went to the craft store and she picked out this little bird house and wanted to make it really pretty for the birdies. Sunday we took off to meet the racing family to do some testing out in barstow. It was a great weekend!
This little squirrel comes by to visit and play with dingo
heres our little artist at work. JoAnn's always has some sort of cute little craft right when you walk in and for 1 buck how can you go wrong!

this is Wayne's truck
Mark is driving Steve's truck. Steve and Mark raced the night before and joined us for some play time

part of our racing family

we almost got rain, we could smell it for sure but it went all around  us. It did make for some cool shade which was nice
this little stinker found a pack of fun dip and “the stick part just fell out” at least she didn’t get into the sugary half! silly little girl!!
sometimes I really don’t mind when plans change.. there’s always another day to catch up right…. =)

Brithday, rainbows, bike riding and silly stuff

Let me tell you.. this Labor Day was a crazy busy weekend! Heather turned 3 on August 31.. I cant belive it!! where did the year go? She is growing up to be one smart little cookie if I say so myself! this is Manny.. he's a little praying  mantis that visited us for a few weeks.. he was quiet friendly

One day Heather just decided she was going to ride her bike! She had been doing good with pedaling and steering but the connection of doing both at the same time was quiet there.. until... it just clicked one day and she walked right over to her little bike got on and started riding! We were so proud!

and she's off...

everywhere around us was getting some kind of rain storm..we just a got a little humidity and this gorgeous rainbow

Heather's buddy Dan-elle (aka Danielle Uncle Boo's girlfriend) Heather just loves her!

we got this amazing bouncy house w/ water slide for the birthay girl this year.. it was so much fun!

Heather and her Great Grandpa Jerry..belive it or not he's 97!

no real theme to her party this year, it was all about having fun. She picked Tangled for her cake =)

her little friends helped blow out the candles

Heather checking out the goods

the next day we had to clean out and re-fill the pool.. Kev and Heather enjoyed playing as it filled up =)

I love my family!!!! Heather had an amazing Birthday with her little friends and we just love her so much.. cant wait to see what other excitments are ahead...

an honorable farewell…

Friday August 31, Heather and I traveled to Miramar Air Fore Base to say farewell to our very honorable Uncle and Marine. It was amazing! The amount of respect and honor that you feel just driving onto the cemetery is just overwhelming. Heather was very excited to see all the American Flags and said “HI” to every Marine she saw, it was really cute and made them smile. Although words cant explain how much we miss our Uncle but are grateful for the time we did have together, it was quiet the experience to be part of this honorable farewell to such a great man.

this is the avenue of flags(the entrance)

Heather and I went to check out a POW statue they had just put added to the location

the statue is a POW that is expressing his liberation. Heather and I met a lady that was a nurse during WWII and told us that inside the statue are the time capsules from POW’s..her’s and her late husbands were inside there and in 2045 they are going to open them to ready.. I would love to be there for that! The sweet lady and her friend gave Heather a dollar for ice cream since it was her birthday too.. she made them smile and when they asked how old she was she announced it was her bday and she was 3! The ladies said they really needed her bright smile and were so happy we met each other. I felt very honored to meet them too

the final farewell is in a horse drawn carriage.. the Marines are just amazing with the amount of respect they have in each move

all the flags

the Marine that played the bugle stayed back from the rest to play TAPS

I lost it here! the flag folding ceremony is .. speechless..

The Marines stepping away after the 21 gun salute

look in the crowd.. this General is a very decorated General and a good friend of my Uncle.

When ever you see a white dove flying they are on their way to send love to our loved ones

the shadow box on the left is one my Aunt made for my cousin.. its of my Uncle’s western wear he had as a child. The box on the right is of my Uncles many medals

this 1972 Ford Galaxy was my Grandmas! My cousin has restored it and drove it that day.. it was so fun talking about the fun we had in that car. The back seat is so long we could slide from one end to the other

Here is Heather patiently waiting for the ice cream man to come =) thanks to the lady we had met earlier

Heather and her little neighbor friend Alice.. they were running around being silly!

It may seem strange that I took pics of the service but there were a few reasons I did. My Mom and Sister were not able to make it because they live out of state and also it was to remember the amount of respect and honor others showed for my Uncle. I had explained to Heather that the “box” was just a place an Angel keeps their things in case they need them later. We put them in a safe place for them because now they are angels with God looking over us. Heather liked that a lot! I did not attend the viewing simply because there was no way I was going to have Heather see something like that at a young age. It was hard to explain but she  believe in angels and likes that she can send hugs and loves on the wings of the white doves to say HI to our angels above that always look over us.

We all Love and Respect Uncle Jimmy D Vandever and now he continues to look over us from above. Semper Fi! Amen!