A Huge Loss

We lost a very special man on March 22nd. After a very short two month battle with cancer, Craig passed away peacefully surrounded by Jill and his boys. I am so happy they both were able to be there with him. Josh has been driving to Modesto as frequently as he could to spend time with his dad and mom and I think those are times that he will forever cherish. We were fortunate enough to see him the weekend before as we talked baseball and gymnastics. For a man who didn't have any daughters, he was so concerned about Emmy being ready for her big state gymnastics meet, it was so sweet, I will never forget it. And of course there was lots of talk of the boy's upcoming baseball season. We all got to chat, give hugs and tell him how much we loved him. There are no other words to express my sadness for losing such a sweet man and for Josh and Zach and Jill to lose him so young. 

Ryan took the news pretty hard so we spent some time looking through photos to remind us of all our fun memories and adventures. Ryan set his ipad screensaver to the photo below and I think it is one of my favorite pictures from our trip to Mammoth a few years ago. Not only did Ryan inherit Craig's good looks but also his sweet and sensitive heart. xoxo

A much needed change of scenery

 Last weekend I just needed to get out of the house, out of our neighborhood and go somewhere new so we drove to Lake Hodges in Rancho Bernardo for a much needed change of scenery :)

Followed by a little in and out COVID style - in the back of my car! 

What Emmy's been up to

Emmy's such a good kid, stuck at home during what normally would be an exciting yet awkward time. She's stuck to gymnastics, stays in touch with friends and is doing a great job at school. She was awarded the platinum award last semester for achieving a 4.0. This past semester she's had accelerated math which means normally she does 1.5 years of math in 1 year but since she's moved to a semester system during COVID she's doing 1.5 years of math is a semester! I honestly can't keep up and she's had a tough time too. She hasn't ever really had to study much so after a few no so great tests we sat down this weekend to review, correct some homework and talk about reviewing before and during a test. She worked hard and kicked butt because today she got 100% on her test! I am so proud of her for her hard work and for just being a good kid. 

I caught her looking very "tween" doing homework

A few weeks ago she had a meet at her gym. We couldn't go but watched it over zoom and I was still jsut as nervous!

She got a 9.6 on bars and placed first! Pretty good considering she was off for 6 weeks when she broke her finger.

She's so creative - we started painting a bookcase, which just happened to be the one that was handed down to my mom from her grandma, to me and now to Emmy. We joke there must be an inch on paint on it!

My beautiful 12 year old

We went and got our nails done for her bday - we had the whole place to ourselves!

Her big bday present - roller blades!

I took Emmy, Riley, Luci and Audrey to the mall for her birthday which meant I got to wonder the mall alone for 3 hours. Ha!

This picture cracks me up - you can barely see her but Sadie is just sitting in the middle of everyone as if she is a human!

 

I DID IT!

 After 9 years and 9 months, today is my last day at UC San Diego Health. When I started working here, I was 31 and had a two year old. Today I am leaving a mom of 3 plus a furry one, we own our own home and I've earned a few extra wrinkles and grey hairs along the way. I am grateful for my time at this job - I've met amazing people and life long friends and did a lot of interesting things such as observing operations, flying in a helicopter, attending baseball games, etc. I will miss the smell of the hospital (I love it! Weird I know) but I am excited to leave the politics behind and learn something new. I start at ResMed, a medical device and digital health company on March 15th and I am super excited! I decided I wanted to move into product marketing, specifically in the medical field, and I made it happen! I am proud of myself for taking this leap - I am not one for change as many know ;) 

Flowers from my ever-supportive husband :)

Spending a few last moments with my bestest friend before saying peace out!

After 10 years - all my crap fits into 3 garbage bags. 

TWELVE

 Oh Emmy, how are you already 12 years old?! It seems like yesterday I was 12 days overdue patiently awaiting your arrival. I was SO EXCITED to be a mom and I've loved every day since. 

This past year has been a true roller coaster. I have both loved every second I've spent with you but felt sad knowing how much you are missing out on. Fortunately, you have a few really good school friends and thank God for your gymnastics friends. But I don't forget for a second how many people are out there waiting and ready to meet you! 

You are fearless, driven, strong and don't really give a shit what others think of you and I LOVE IT! I look at you and wish I was as carefree as you are, when I was younger. I am so impressed by how dedicated you are at school - you have maintained a 4.0 during COVID! And your school work has not been easy, I am embarrassed to say, I literally could not help you answer that math problem you had a question on. Your commitment to gymnastics all year but especially during COVID and after a broken finger really is inspiring. You are so brave! Much braver than I'd ever be. I get so nervous and excited watching, even during your "zoom meet"! I watched the whole 3 hours from my lap top :) And you are so creative with your art projects and ideas, you really are amazing in every way. 

You set such a good example for your brothers on how to be kind, patient and inclusive. They are very lucky to have you, we all are! We love you so very much and hope you have a great 12th birthday!!

COVID Life

 I have been terrible about updating the blog. I feel like we've been busy, but when I think back to our "old life" and it was so much crazier than it is now! We have a routine down I guess, breakfast, Emmy starts her zoom school at 8a, Josh starts working, I take Owen to school, me and Ryan run a 1/2 mile around the loop, he hops on his zoom at 9a, I walk Sadie and then start my work day.  Josh and I trade spots in the office all day long and then we all break for lunch. Fortunately, Emmy still has gymnastics 3 days a week and basketball 2 days and Ryan has basketball 2 days as well. Its hard to keep them motivated and moving, everyone is getting SO LAZY! But all in all, we are good. Starting to try and break things up a bit again and are always so grateful we live in San Diego :)

We had a pretty killer heat wave so headed to the beach one day. The water was unbelievably COLD!

I mean - we really are living the life here in SD

After a busy day at the beach

Trying to get her to love exercising as much as I do! (don't mind the liquor cabinet haha)

The best part of COVID has been watching the kids be kids and play together. I will cherish all of these memories 

Every other Friday Ryan has recorded PE so we skip it and head over to the tennis courts! We are both terrible but have fun running around the court together :)

We ventured over to Coronado a few weeks ago for a change of scenery 

Owie, being Owie 

Most people know I absolutely despise ipads, yet I let me kids play on them. We are constantly implementing new rules, etc. But the funny thing is whenever they play they sit RIGHT next to each other. I often times hear them laugh (or fight) and cheer each other on when they are playing games. So  I guess they aren't all bad, right?

We pulled out our painting supplies again! :)

Owen has also been drawing, pretty much every waking moment he is home. He reminds me of Emmy when she was his age, always drawing/creating something, cutting things up. He takes pictures to his teachers every morning. Ha! He gets to focused, I wish I could look inside his sweet mind to know what he is thinking and trying to create!

Owen's babies have made an appearance in our family again. I think the arrival of Ronan has gotten him excited about babies again :) She had to come with us to pick Emmy up from gymnastics. 

This kids focus during online school just amazes me. 

We went to school to pick up some supplies and special bags for valentines day. All of the teachers and the principal were in the parking lot dressed up and dancing, talking to all of the kids. It made me tear up - these kids are missing out on some much by not going to school. School is a community and I think theirs is doing the best job they can to keep that connection. He teacher drives over to our house and drops books off for him!

Still drawing!

I had a two day production shoot down at the beach last week. Not a bad way to end a work day :) 

The kids went to the dentist last week and it was easier to just keep Owen home. So I had some co-workers for the day :)

We are recycling back to our original activities - fort time!

I actually got 3 appointments at once - wahoo!

Lunch in the fort :)