September on my phone

Most of the time I take pictures on my phone. Doesn't everybody? So, here are more of our September moments. FUN!!!

Some of Braylen's most faithful fans--his brothers and his grandpa...and his mom behind the camera!

Ginger with her new bed and new toy

We went camping one weekend and had lots of fun outside.

Our set-up

My guys

Aaron's project at school--his suit came in handy!

Parade #1--Braylen is playing the bass drum furthest on left. (I am in the blue shirt!)
Obviously this picture is not from my phone--it's from Grandpa's!

Aaron pointing out a funny word on my Scrabble game with my mom

My mom snapped this photo of Derek and me together at a game.

Braylen assisting with this tackle
Photo taken by a teammate's parent

Go Braylen!

I am thankful for these days and all that they hold. :) Each moment is a gift!

Real Life

Aaron and I have been home from San Diego for almost a month now, and I can barely keep up with all the happenings around here--let alone write about them! Our days start early and end late, and I feel like I am doing all I can to maintain the household, get everyone fed, and drive them where they need to be when they need to be there. That pretty much sums up my entire existence right now.

Nobody can prepare you for what it's like to have a high school student. I guess it's like all stages of parenting--you just have to do it, and while you're in the thick of it you think to yourself, "So THIS is what people were trying to tell me!" It is busy, it is expensive, it is all-consuming...but those words don't even come close to describing what it's like to live it out! It's also a lot of fun--really, it is! Braylen makes me laugh like no one else can, and I love the relationship I have with him. When I drop him off at his events I remind him to enjoy these times he's worked so hard for--like marching band and football games--and by voicing it out loud I'm reminding myself, too. Enjoy these days, Sarah, because all too soon they will be gone.

A few highlights from September...

Braylen is the one carrying the bass drum on the right side of picture.
This pic was taken at the first varsity home game!

A freshman home game, #24 on the left of the picture, playing I-back position.

An away game, lining up to play safety on defense.

Braylen's cheering squad at an away game--yes, my mom and dad are here!
Derek's dad came to this game as well. :)

Meet Yoda, Kaleb and Aaron's new bird!

They brought him home on September 24th. Just about 2 years to the day since losing Pluto.
Yoda is very young, and is taking a while to find his voice.

Grampy & Grammy at Kaleb's soccer game

Go Kaleb!!!

Another varsity home game.
Braylen is playing the bass drum on the left. We sure do enjoy these varsity football games!

All 4 grandparents came to watch their oldest grandson march. How fun!

Watching Aaron's flag football game

Aaron is in the center of the picture, doing his best to block.

Aaron was really good at pointing out who should cover who.

I am so glad Aaron was on the same team as his best buddy!

That is just a small sample of what's been keeping me busy. Maybe I can write about more of our September in another post. For now, I'll end with a funny story about Aaron and share a few pictures of fun we've had at home this month. Since we're not home much, I only have a few!

On September 11th I drove Aaron to school and figured I needed to remind him of the day's significance. Here's our conversation:

Me: You know what today is, don't you Aaron?
Aaron: Uh...Groundhog Day?
Me: Um, no. Try again.
Aaron: Oh! The 200 year anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner!
Me: No!
Aaron: I have no idea!
Me: 9-11, the terrorist attacks...
Aaron: Oh, yeah!

I will keep trying to teach my kids to remember 9-11. I think it matters. Oh--and one more important event happened this month. Derek's sister had her baby on 9-13! Baby Michael brings our count to 3 nieces and 3 nephews. Sweet!

Braylen decided to tie Kaleb to the tree...

And then Aaron wanted in on the fun!
Our neighbor was out in his yard and probably thinks we're crazy. :) We are!

Our nieces came over and played Twister. I wish I had a picture of their faces. Oh well!

Wild Animal Park & Going Home

Here we are at the end of our San Diego trip! I knew it would go quickly, but we sure did manage to see and do a lot together. Yesterday we let Aaron choose where he wanted to go on his last full day in California. He picked the San Diego Safari, better known as the Wild Animal Park. :) My aunt and uncle had discount coupons for us--score!

Uncle Wally doing some more teaching :)

It was sizzling hot at the park. Running back inside the house at the last minute for Aaron's hat was worth it. This animal park is amazing. It is huge, for one thing. Unlike a zoo, a large percentage of the animals here are raised for the primary purpose of re-introducing them back into the wild. Certain species mingle in wide open spaces, which means if you want to see lots of animals you must walk a lot. In the heat. Which we did!

Aaron liked the birds, reptiles, and big cats the most. We started up at Condor Ridge and worked our way around the park. There is a tram at the African Loop, which we saved for later in the day when it was even hotter. One of my favorite parts of the day was when my friend Rachel SURPRISED me by stopping by for a visit! She and I couldn't get our schedules coordinated and I thought we would end up missing each other this week. Sneaky girl had other ideas, and I am sure glad she did!!! How could I visit San Diego and not see my forever friend who lives there??!!! She and her family stopped at the park to find me on their way to a Labor Day party. We walked and talked for about 30 minutes and then they had to get going. What a special friend I have! :)

College friends, now life long friends! :)

What a fun surprise! :)

Aaron took lots of pictures of birds. I lost count of how many different aviaries we visited. There are quite a few at this park. They were not any cooler than the outdoors, but at least we got a break from the sun for a bit.

Where's Aaron? :)

Mr. Lion looked right at Aaron for a great picture, and then he walked away. We were glad we caught him just in time!

The tram ride gave us a chance to feel like we were riding on an African Safari. We saw all kinds of giraffes, rhinos, wildebeests, zebras, and much, much more. My uncle has been here so many times he used the tram ride to take a little cat nap. :) It was so hot it felt like we were in Africa, that's for sure!

At the end of our day at the park, we stood at a fence for the cheetah run! I saved our place at the fence while Aaron made 3 trips with my dad to the splash pad cooling area. Have I mentioned how hot it was??!! We watched the cheetah run 100 meters in 5.7 seconds--awesome! I was very glad we stayed to watch this. How fun to see this amazing animal run.

The cheetah jumped out of the van and took off!

We left the WAP and drove home to change clothes for a pool party. Yes, we were ready for the pool after our day at the park. My Uncle Rick & Aunt Jody invited all of the family over for Labor Day. It was one last gathering before we all head home. Aaron really liked the diving platform, although I wouldn't let him do a back flip off of it. My cousin Daniel took great care of him and I just enjoyed watching. :) Strangely enough, Aaron also loved following the water vacuum around the pool. It went all over the bottom of the pool by itself and Aaron thought that was the coolest thing. 

Aaron & Daniel

Grampy & Aaron

Aaron loved watching their pet turtle eat leaves.
His name was Sherlock, but now it's Shirley. :)

Jack, aka House Pig
Jack is my cousin Andy's dog. Aaron thought he was hilarious!

What a fantastic ending to our trip! This morning my uncle took us to the airport and Mom and Dad came along for the ride. They are staying here another week, but it is time for us to go home. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for an AMAZING week in San Diego!!! I know this is one trip I will never forget, and I'm pretty sure Aaron won't either. :)

Ready to fly again

Goodbye San Diego and beautiful Pacific Ocean!

Thumbs up for our California trip!!!

Taking it easy and then...the wedding!

Today is the wedding! Since we don't need to be there for pictures until 2:30, we took things slow today. Aaron (and the rest of us!) needed a little down time. Uncle Wally popped some popcorn and Aaron picked out a movie. Really, we all needed this! :)

We watched The Incredibles!

Aaron enjoyed talking to Daddy and Kaleb on the phone today, before things get really busy for us. Pretty soon we'll get all dressed up and head over to Coronado for the wedding. NOT Aaron's favorite part of our trip, but he is a 10 year old boy after all. :)

Sitting on his bed with his turtle close by. 

We ate lunch at Rubio's. Oh my, it was SO good! I'm not a big fan of Mexican food, so it's a big deal for me to like this restaurant. Maybe I just have high standards for how Mexican food should taste? Anyway, after lunch we got dressed for the wedding. We all had to wear a dash of purple, so Aaron wore a purple dress shirt with a black tie and black sports coat. I wore a black dress and purple jewelry. I was proud of my handsome son and how he carried himself today. He was very mature and well-behaved. I tried to do what I could to make it "fun" for him. Like let him have as many Shirley Temple drinks from the bar as he wanted. :) And after posing for way too many pictures, I decided to not make him pose for any more. He was all pictured out. 

On our way to the wedding.
Don't they look handsome?

Me and my boy :)

Last posed picture for Aaron! :)

Waiting to be seated. Such a pretty wedding venue!

The ceremony was brief but very sweet. The bride and groom wrote their own vows, which is what Derek and I did at our wedding. I think it makes the ceremony so much more personal. My cousin (the groom) reminds me of my brother, and I really wish he was here with us this weekend. We missed you, Eric!

Annie & Andy
Andy's brothers Daniel and Josh

My cousin Nick and me
I love him.

It was nice to have the reception at the same place as the wedding. We had great food, took pictures in the photo booth, watched the first dances, you know--typical wedding stuff. :) After they cut the cake Aaron was D.O.N.E. I could not ask any more of him, so Dad, Mom, and I took him home. He fell asleep on the Coronado Bay bridge, which shows how tired he was. Taking things easy this morning was the best decision of the day. We all enjoyed the wedding and family time. After all, this was the reason for our trip! Congratulations to my cousin and his bride--we wish you a lifetime of love & happiness!