2010 --- a blurrrrrrr.

So, we all moved in together in November 2009...Me, Shawn & Sarah and Jim, Cliff, Nicky and Natalia. We spent Christmas Eve at Jim's moms in Diamond Bar and had Christmas together back at our house. The next six months or so was a huge adjustment period - the whole blending families thing was about a million times harder than i ever expected. Nicky saved us all when she had some kind of spiritual breakthrough and single-handedly became a beacon of hope and light for everyone...it was a total miracle and she's just an amazing young girl! I got a new job as Staff Accountant/HR Administrator at Tradition Golf Club in February...this was a great blessing during this crazy economic crisis. Its a beautiful place and I work with some wonderful people. Shawn was excited to make the high school soccer team. Soccer is his biggest love for sure :) Sarah's playing AYSO soccer and she's hoping to make the high school team as well when the time comes. Summertime - Shawn went on a roadtrip from Auburn to Canada with his Grandpa David.... they had a fabulous time and Shawn got to meet some family in Canada. Sarah had a fun time with Grandma Dianne. Jim took a few trips to Tunisia for work --- he loves it and is working on learning Arabic. The next school year rolled around... Shawn made the high school soccer team again and played AYSO and club soccer --- it was exhausting - he loved it :) Sarah is in 8th grade and playing AYSO soccer again and having a fun time in Young Women's group at church.

Mitzi - our cat of 16 years died this year and so did our outdoor cat Bruce... boo hoo...big time bummers : ( I miss them both a bunch...

Sometime during the year our church had an adult night talent show...it --- I cannot remember a time where I laughed so hard. The bishopric's act was the highlight of the night... they did some kind of riverdance skit that had me rolling on the ground! I hope they do it again sometime. Jim and I celebrated our 1st anniversary and ate the huge piece of coconut cake I froze from our wedding. It was unbelievably delicious even after being in the freezer for a whole year!!! Yummmmmmmmm : ] The kids and I went to Monterey for Christmas... they loved seeing the family!!! We celebrated Christmas with Jim and the kids before we left and they went to Jim's moms for Christmas Eve. The logistics of the holidays are a bit of a challenge too, but we are getting it all figured out to work for everyone : )

Got Married ---- November 2009!

My how time flies... I have not posted in about a year and a half... so I'm just going to do a little recap here so I have something to look back on. November 2009 - Jim and I got married in the Redlands Temple and had a ring ceremony/reception at Gerald and Jessica Hamptons house. My friend Sara came out from Illinois a few days before the wedding and helped me do all the running around that needed to be done... it was a major help to have her around and I thought it was great fun doing everything necessary to get ready for the wedding... the whole weekend was wonderful. We were married at the temple on Saturday morning November 7, 2010... it was a lovely event and we had some wonderful friends and family join us. Jim and Nicky and I stopped at Taco Bell to eat on the way home to get ready for the reception. So many of our friends helped with everything it was incredible. Jim selected a Hawaiian theme for the dinner/reception. I wore hot pink shoes with my white dress and Melanie made me a sweet necklace out of shells and crystals. Nicky and our friend Laurie took pictures. Gerald and Jess did so much to get their yard ready... it looked beautiful... and they helped with the Kahlua Pork and a million other things too. Jackie Orduno made this amazing macaroni salad with some secret fish ingredient - a few of our other friends brought rice and helped set up, arrange flowers, plants and centerpieces and prepare the rest of the food - fresh fruit and rolls and Jim's girls made pigs in a blanket for appetizers... everyone loved them. And then there was the coconut cake made by Brook Homec - this is the best cake I have ever had in my entire life and I sill have vivid taste-flashbacks of this moist sweet better than any desert in the world cake and I think I need to order one for our anniversary every year!!!!! We stayed at La Quinta Resort the night of our wedding --- great room --- great night!!! Love that place :) Then went to LA area/Dana Point/Laguna Beach for a quick honeymoon. It was great... we ate, went to movies, shopped and lolly gaged around...nice relaxing alone time with no responsibilities ---- wonderful :)

Blended Summer Vacation

Well, Jim and I took all of our kids on our first mini vacation together... Jim had the foresight to get a motor home for the trip and it was a fabulous idea! It made the trip a lot easier not being all crammed in a car together. The whole trip went very well and we had a lot of fun... only unfortunate thing was Cliff had a bit of the flu and didn't get to experience all of San Francisco... poor guy.. was a total trooper and headed out with us for a while but had to go back to sleep in the motor home a couple hours into the day... so thankful we had that option for him. I wouldn't have even gotten out of bed. I've posted some generic pictures, but will have to get some more from Nicky as she took tons of great pictures of the trip.

Our first stop was Hearst Castle... One of Jim's grandparents (or great-grandparent???) was married to a Hearst, so that made it extra exciting. It's an incredible place. My favorite things were the swimming pools and the amazing landscaping.

Next we headed off to San Francisco... Pier 39 (yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl), Golden Gate Bridge, a trolley car ride to Union Square.... and of course on of the highlights of the trip was the talking/self washing public potty... it was very new and exciting to the kids :) I remember being equally excited when I first discovered a similar potty in France many many years ago!

Then we headed off to Monterey so Jim and kids could meet my family and to celebrate my aunt's 60th birthday and partied into the wee hours of the morning. It was a very fun time an everyone loved Jim and his kids. We drove through Pebble Beach and stopped at the beach at my old place of work - The Inn at Spanish Bay.

Jim decided it would be a great idea to come home down the coast via Highway 1. I thought that was a frightening idea considering the 36' motor home and the little 2 lane highway right on the edge of the cliff!!!! Although my knuckles were whiter than white, of course it ended up being a great drive (a very very long drive, but nice time). We stopped for a hike down to the water in Big Sur, then again to watch some Sea Elephants on the beach further south and then we stopped in the oh so quaint lovely little town of Los Olivos to visit Michael Jackson's memorial site at Neverland Ranch. Its the cutest town ever... i soooo wanted to move there. Then we finished the long drive at Jim's mom's house and that was the end!

My Birthday & My New Costco Card

Okay.. my birthday on Thursday was the best ever!!! The day before my birthday Alysa, Roxanne & Denice showed up at my work at the end of the day and took me out for a wonderful birthday celebration... It was so much fun - I thought it was the nicest thing ever... UNTIL the next day…I worked on my birthday and then Jim and I had a date planned.. I requested dinner and a movie - so he told me OK - be ready at 5:10 sharp - we have a dinner reservation at 5:30... don't dress too casual - bring a bag with tennis shoes and a sweatshirt, 2 spoons and protection! Don't worry - he meant the Smith & Wesson type ;) Oh ya.. he also asked if I thought I'd get sick if I went for a car ride blind folded? Ya... I was freaking out a little bit too -- until we got there!So he picks me up and has a CD playing, that his kids made for us, of our favorite music... Barry Manilow, Journey, IZ, Andre Bocelli... and takes me to Cuistot - my absolute favorite restaurant!!! And I start thinking --- we could have gone to Jack in the Box and I'd have been just as happy as long as it’s with him - alone - on a date - and used all this money to pay my electricity bill :) But as we dined at the chef's table on Rabbit Pate, Lobster Ravioli and Rack of Lamb... all my cares just slipped away... It was a completely delectable meal topped it off with a delicious Floating Island desert courtesy of our waiter!!! Then it was off to the movies for endless laughs and into the car to be blindfolded. Drat… I forgot to pay attention to the turns... and couldn't figure out where we were going! I had in my mind either the Tram or up highway 74 and even though it had entered my mind that yes, I'm a little neurotic and crabby sometimes I still get the feeling from him that he genuinely loves me and I didn't think he was going to take me out to the desert and shoot me and throw my body off a cliff... okay maybe I thought that for a minute - but when it came down to it.. I was just excited to get where we were going :)So finally, we get close and he puts the car into 4wheel drive... now that was SCARY!!! I thought for sure we were going to tip over and fall off a cliff ! But he talks to me about what’s happening and about trusting him the whole time and we finally come to a stop... whew! He gets all his stuff together and lets me out and takes off the blindfold.... I still have no idea where we are except that it’s out in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night and there are all kinds of creepy creatures out there and snakes and coyotes...and at that exact moment I'm saying thank heavens for the Smith & Wesson! The weather was perfect - warm with a light breeze - no sweatshirt needed, billions of stars were shining soooo bright and appeared to be right at my fingertips. It was absolutely beautiful...I could have stayed up there all night. We walked on uneven ground (tennis shoes on) for a short distance and all the while he’s talking all sweet about how we’ve covered rocky ground and how we’ll cover more and all this other deep meaningful inspiration stuff … and we get out to a point above the lookout on highway 74 where the crystal clear view of the city lights was amazing! He laid out a blanket and pulled out the goodies... Ben & Jerry's mint chip ice cream (more like a milkshake by now, despite all his ice packing efforts, no spoons needed after all), chocolate covered strawberries (that he and Natalia made that afternoon) and Fiji water!!! We sat and chit chatted for a while...then he gave me a cute card from his kids and then the one from him with a Costco card in it – I was so excited as my Costco membership had run out and I couldn’t really justify renewing it – then I turned it over and it said “Wendy A Parks” and he pulled out the ring and the rest is history or shall I say - eternity!

Sarah's Birthday - Shawn's Promotion - Kids Departure

Shawn's 8th grade promotion was on Thurs - June 11th.. it was a beautiful night and a very nice ceremony. So proud of him... I only got this one sucky photo before my camera died!

He opted out of the class trip to Magic Mountain and somehow he and his friend Caleb talked Caleb's mom into taking them to Knotts Berry Farm for a day and talked me into letting Shawn cut a day of school... They had a great time :)

Sarah celebrated her 12th birthday with a few friends on the last day of school... The afternoon started off a little rough, but then one of the little girls suffered a hideous bloody wound on her leg while chasing a boy around the pool area and the trauma of it all seemed to bring them all nicely back together and it was peace and harmony and a great time for the rest of the night! And yes, the injured little girl turned out okay.. no stitches required (no skin left to stitch)..

Shawn & Sarah departed for 2 weeks with the grandparents on Sarah's actual birthday - June 15th. I took them to Ontario airport to put them on a flight for Sacramento. I was shocked to find out that once they are 12, they no longer considered unaccompanied minors and can just check in and get on and off the plane with out any adult anywhere!!! So, technically, I could have just dropped them at the curb :) But I went in with them anyway - this time.... The airline guy showed Sarah how to get her ticket from the machine and check her bag, then I let her find our way to the gate... That was fun for her... she was so excited to get on the plane with just her brother.... he thought it was pretty cool too... and on the other end they found their way to baggage claim where the grandparents were waiting... I felt a little okay knowing that Shawn has his cell phone -- but so freaked out that given the opportunity, they could just jump on a plane and hit the road anywhere at any time! Good thingthey don't have any money :)

Anyway, Sarah will be in Auburn with Mike's mom Dianne for 2 weeks and a couple of my friends will pick her up to hang out a little and Shawn and Mike's dad David are hitting the road for a trip to Canada... a literal road trip, camping on the way... Both should have a great time and I will have some great peace and quiet..