Random California

Here is more from the California trip.  About everyother night there was a BBQ.  Lots of socializing and fun.  So here are pictures of what we were up to at Jesse's house and the BBQ's.

 Russell loves being outside and Jesse has a great backyard.  Russell was not a fan of the chickens after he got pecked.  But he was still so curious of them.  I can't wait to get chickens!!!

Sleepy kids. 

So sweet.

 So I have said before how Russell had a hard time with naps while we were in Cali.  Well him falling asleep at random times in our arms was a common thing.  I felt so bad! I think my mom kinda liked it though. He is so wiggly now of days that having some cuddle time is rare so we all took advantage of it.

 Russell and I at Jesse's BBQ.

 

 Chelsea with her neice at Jesse's BBQ.
There were so many kids there (I think 10 or 11...most of them under 3).

 Morgan got a hold of my camera....

Not that I am complaining.  So cute.

 I LOVE this picture.  Look at Raelin's face!!!  HAHAHA cracks me up.  If you can't see it just click on the picture and it should get bigger.  It is worth it.

 This is Mona and Carmen.  Mona was Jesse and Carmen's awesome "roommate"  they had a building out back that she lived in but she shared the kitchen and bathroom with them.  She was so great to have around.  She also donated her room for a night so we could fit even more people there.  She is so great!  Thanks Mona.  It was great to meet you.

 More of Jesse's BBQ.  There was so many great people there!!

 Jesse and Mona's nephew (so cute) building a fire.  Good thing Jesse just graduated from the fire academy.

 Asher and his (if you can't tell) adorable daughter Mira!! Love them both so much.

 This was a daily thing at Jesse's.  The kids loved feeding the chicken.  Oh and you can see Russell's and my tent in the background.

 Oh this was so funny.  I have a ton of picture of this game of tug of war.  

 Lady does so great with the kids.

Alaina finally got it from Lady but she walked across the whole yard and just dropped it.  I was cracking up.

For some reason I didn't get a lot of pictures of Kyle's BBQ.  But here is Russell with the snake cage.  We had such yummy food and Kyle's house is in the most beautiful place.  OH and her garden is gorgous!!!  I has such a great time and I really didn't want to leave.  Thank you so much Kyle for opening your house to us.  It was so great to spend time with you.

Here is Landon helping my cousin Tyler change his oil.  Like father like son. (Brice likes to work on cars.)  So cute.  This was at Ashers house where we had the final BBQ.

 I LOVE Raelin's love for reading.  All the kids were playing around and she found a quiet room to read.

I feel like all Russell did on this trip was sleep.  I wish Toby was there to help.  I think he would have done better if daddy was around.  I could tell that Russell really missed Toby.  One of the ways was that whenever Granddad was around he would want him (this is something that Russell would do when Toby is out of town at home).  Not that Russell doesn't want Granddad when Toby is around.  It's just that Russell needed some kind of replacement and that usually means Granddad.

 Beautiful Chelsea!!

When we got back to Jesse's after Asher's BBQ Russell was a little more awake and Auntie Carmen was so helpful to help him eat some fresh eggs.  I love all the visiting that we got to while we were there.  We were able to get past the whole "what have you been up to?" and actually got to do more bonding with the friends and family that were around the whole week!! It was great.

Jesse's Graduation.

Jesse graduated from the fire academy in June.  The ceremony was actually great.  It was just a little long for kids.   Apparently this academy is one of the toughest ones in the state.  And I think that California has tough acadamys anyway.  We are all just so proud of him.  You ROCK Jesse.

So here are a bunch of pictures of the BIG day!

Jesse just farted!
Just kidding

Alaina and Russell really started to hang out with each other on this trip.  Alaina helped by keeping Russell occupied during the ceremony!  She is great and he LOVES her.

Auntie Kyle and Alaina

I think it took everything that Ryker had to not run up on stage to be with Jesse.

We (everyone but Jesse) knew from the beginning that Jesse was getting an award but we didn't know which one.  So I was ready with my camera all through the ceremony.  It was getting toward the end of the program and he still didn't get his award and so I thought that maybe the award he got was for being the squad leader.

BUT no they just saved best for last.  Jesse got TOP GUN!!  This is the best cadet over all.  In testing performance, attitude etc.  I don't think it is a numbers thing.  I think that the leaders of the academy get together to figure out who was the best.  Jesse is it!  We had a big, loud crowd for him so you can imagine the cheering when they awarded him.  We are the best cheerers so if you need some cheering give us Lawler's a call!!  We all got a little chocked up too.  To be honest I am not that surprised.  Jesse excels at everything he does, but it was so great for him to get that recognition.

I am not a writer so it's hard for me to explain the joy that I have for him in writing.  

  Jesse I love you so much and just think you are the best...(I'm actually getting chocked up writing this).  I am so proud to call you my brother and I think I brag about you a bit to much.  Continue to work hard and really show us what you are made of.  You are a great brother, uncle and son.  Thank you for what you add to our family.  I love you. (ya I should have just had Morgan do it for me)

Carmen could't be prouder!

After there was LOTS of hugging.  Mom was so happy!

Auntie Kyle

Cousin Chelsea giving Jesse some love.

Our crowd minus Asher.  And Russell's head is hiding but her was there.  Oh and Landon is kind of falling over so you can't really see him but he was there too.

They are so cute.  I love how Jesse looks at Carmen.

Jesse I actually think you should bag this firefighter thing and just go with modeling.  I mean seriously you are a natural.

LOVE THIS ONE!!

Great day!

Wrestling out front.

Raelin trying to wrangle Alaina to head to the car.  Alaina didn't want to go she just wanted to play.

GREAT JOB JESS!

Northern California: Getting There and The Monteray Aquarium

My AMAZING older brother Jesse graduated from the fire academy in June.  All of  my family, except for Toby, went out to Northern California for it.  It was an awesome trip and I plan on posting several times because it was a LONG trip with LOTS of things to blog about.

So we start with our drive out.  Russell and I tagged along with Morgan and her family.  We had every seat filled in their Suburban.  It was actually quite comfortable.  Morgan's neighbor let them borrow a rack that went in their hitch.  This made it so we had space for all that both families needed.  BUT it rained for most of the day and all the stuff in the rack got wet.  This included ALL of the Somers' clothes and my sleeping bag.  We stopped to get a tarp and I think that saved us.  We didn't get on the road until the afternoon so we stopped and camped just outside of Reno.  It was a good thing that we stopped to get the tarp or we would have had to get a hotel.  I don't think it would be a good idea to camp with all wet clothes and a wet sleeping bag.

 Waiting for hot dogs.

 Cleaning up and getting ready to get back on the road the next morning.

 Brice is putting the tent away.

(Side story) When we went on vacation as kids my mom would prepare trip bag for us.  Every now and then we would get a bag with treats and toys (from the dollar store, nothing big or expensive) that would keep us entertained for a while.  I find that helped make our trips better and memorable.  I have just as many memories of the drives as I do the destinations.  When we were older my dad would add riddles to our in-drive entertainment.  Whoever got it right would get some sort of treat all to themselves (like a frosty from Wendy's)...in stead of having to share. Apparently it didn't take much to motivate us.  But I love what that did for the interactions between all of us kids and my parents.  I feel like we talked more and learned as well.  My mom would tell us about the landscape and any memories that her or my dad had about where we were.  I would LOVE to be able to provide the same memories for my kids instead of just putting on a movie so they could be zombies for the drive (that sounds tempting though).  I feel like they...well we all would really miss out of a lot.  Also they could see the great country that we get to live in.  It being 4th of July today I have to add that we live in a great country with so many opportunities and it would be a shame to miss seeing our beautiful variety of landscape.

For this trip I didn't have my mom and dad to provide entertainment for us and the kids but I did have my sister.  She used my mom's idea for this trip and she was so kind to include Russell.  So every couple of hours or so Russell, and all the kids, got a new toy to play with.  Also my sister read Little House in the Big Woods which provided entertainment to all of us.  It was awesome.  THANKS MORGAN!!

We still didn't get into Santa Cruz until 7 or 8 the next night because we stopped to look around a town by Tahoe called Grassvalley (Morgan and Brice are planning on moving there as soon as he is done with school.).  We looked at some houses.  I wish I got some pictures because it was beautiful.
We got to Jesse's house just as the babies starting to get over the whole being in a car situation.  But I would say all the kids did a great job.  

  The next morning the photo ops just poored out.  The kids all had a new place to explore and play.

 She is so silly.

 They play so well together.

 My brother has chickens.  I LOVED it.  Fresh eggs every morning.  I really want chickens now.

Russell is such an outside boy.  He loves being outside. Also Jesse has a piano so Russell was either outside or playing the piano.

My sweet brother was so kind as to let us ALL stay at his house.  Now his house is not what you would call large. It is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom.  We smashed 11 people in that place.  It was...interesting.  Russell and I started out in the living room where we would blow up the air mattress every night.  Poor Russell didn't have a place to nap during the day so he was tired almost the whole trip.  After a couple of nights Russell and I moved out to the back yard in a tent...that made things a better.  It was nice out there and we had our own space.  But Jesse's house was so sweet and cozy.  I really enjoyed staying with them. Also being 3 blocks from the beach didn't hurt either.
  Anyway...the first day we were there we went to the Monteray Aquarium.

Jesse hates getting his picture taken but he is so photogenic...ok maybe not in this picture but you will see what I mean.  The whole ride out to California whenever we would stop Alaina would say, "Jesse's house?" All the kids love Uncle Jesse.  

 She had such a great time.  Just for your information she is wearing Russell's sweatshirt.

 Carmen is Jesse's fiance and we all just love her.  We are so happy to call her family.  I have to say my brother has good taste.  Love you Carrrrmen!! 

 So sweet.  Told you the kids love her.

 This is Carmen's mom and Alaina.  Alaina was with her the whole day!!! 

 For some reason Russell really liked this play area.

 Granddad opened this door and it made a noise. Russell would put granddad's hand on the knob to open it again and again.

 Russell got grumpy and here is Grammy totally over his attitude...Just kidding I just happened to catch her not smiling.   But he was grumpy.  She was happy to help me out though.

 This was a favorite of mine.  It was a dome and a big dump of water would flow over the glass.  It made you feel like you were in a wave. Cute kids.

Raelin really like it here too.  I'll be honest it was a long day for me.  It was so hard to wrangle Russell and take all the pictures that I wanted.  But it was a preview of what the rest of the week was going to be.  But it was worth it!!  Thanks to everyone who helped with Russell.  I really appreciate it.