The Story of Gunner

Here is the newest member of the family! His long awaited arrival has made it that much more sweet. This is the background story on our little guy. Last June we had visited Josh's grandma in Oregon. During our week stay we happened to look in the classifieds for lab puppies, just for fun. We found a lady who breeds labs in Washington, about an hour and a half away from Grandma's house. We made a stop there to check out the puppies on our way to visit my cousin Natalie in Washington. It was puppy heaven! There were lab puppies from the cute and cuddly age of 6 weeks to the brand new, week old pups. We had a yellow male in mind. We decided if we found a pup we liked and was available we would get one. It turned out all of her oldest puppies had already been claimed. The next in line were  the 2 week old pups but she only had yellow female or black males. We thought a black lab wouldn't love our desert climate, which is why we shot for a yellow. And we both grew up with male dogs so that's just what we knew. Next we looked at the week old labs. They couldn't even open their eyes yet, they were so teeny tiny! We decided to put a deposit on a pup from that litter. The breeder would send us pictures of the yellow males in that litter when they were a few weeks older and she would tell us more about the personality so we could make a decision. When that time came we made the decision on a pup and named him Gunner. He would be a hunting dog of course! He would be flewn down to So Cal when he turned 8 weeks. This was back in August. Well, long story short, Gunner had a health issue and the breeder didn't feel comfortable sending a dog that may have problems in the future. We decided we would wait until next summer when we visit Grandma again to see what pups the breeder had at that time and possibly bring one home then. After we have baby number 4. Well, not too long after we made our peace we got a call from the breeder offering her choice pick of a litter just born or whelped (I learned a lot of dog lingo through the process!) At this time it was the beginning of October and we decided to wait until we saw pictures of this "new" Gunner. Like anyone is going to look at that cute, smooshed puppy face and say "No, I think I'll pass!" Puppies, babies and chocolate are nearly impossible to resist! So, we saw the pictures, said yes, and in a few weeks Josh made a kamikaze trip to Oregon with his parents and Micah to pick up this sweet thing.

A lot of people think I'm either brave or have lost my mind for getting a puppy in my 8th month of pregnancy. I can tell you I have lost my mind! I was so very against getting a dog until we were done having babies. I didn't want to be doing puppies and babies all at the same time. But all of a sudden, for some reason, I changed my mind. I blame it on the pregnancy and the lack of brain I have left these days. A funny thing is I remember talking to Josh about when to get a dog and I always thought fall would be a perfect time because the weather gets to be real nice here. And look what happened =) I know we are about to have a baby in 2 months but I think having Gunner would help the boys through the adjustment, maybe even distract them a little. Even if Gunner is still a baby himself =)

 They love to help with anything at all involving that dog. And watching them use phrases like "C'mon Gunnah, here boy" in a high pitched voice while patting their legs is quite precious. We'll take it one step at a time and enjoy every moment of it. They're only this young for so long...

Another Year More Wonderful

It's my wonderful hubby's 29th birthday! Where does the time go? We had our first date 9 years ago, and look at us now- married 7.75 years with 3 boys, a dog, a mortgage and another bambino on the way! As fast as these years have gone I couldn't imagine going through it without this amazing man the Lord chose for me. I can't put into words what he is to me. It's just that feeling in the depths of my soul every time I am near him or apart, when he opens my car door or kisses my forehead... and when he leaves his big ol' boots in the walkway for me to trip over! In the
good and the bad I can't help but to love this man more and more. I thank the Lord for giving me such an amazing partner to share this crazy life with!

Unfortunately he is away working in Malibu ALL day so the boys and I made cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" to him last night. But what I'm really, really, REALLY looking forward to is our overnighter date night tomorrow! Grammy & Gramps will have the boys for 24 hours and I'm so excited to wake up on my own schedule and go out to (and enjoy) breakfast and sip my coffee in the quiet...ahh it's amazing what you begin to truly enjoy after having kids!

I've always loved this picture with Baby Taylor... I think he would be great with a daughter! 

♥ ♥ ♥

He's such an outdoorsman. Sometimes I think he should've been born out in the country!

Teaching them young!

This is my favorite picture! It shows what a fun dad he is with these boys of ours =) And that he's up for the adventure, right? But where will he fit #4?

Happy Birthday my love!

So apparently I've abandoned my blog. Luckily with a blog you can do that, not so much with your husband or children! Which is the main reason I haven't found the time to get in touch. But with all things in life you have to make it a priority, right? So for a brief catch up, here's what's been going on since hunting season started.

It literally took me a month to rid of all the bird feathers around the house from Josh's hunting excursions. I still have some left over breasts, wings and whole birds in the freezer. Josh "needs" them to train Gunner, our new pup (more on him soon!) with the dead, frozen birdies. Bleh. I only cooked the dove once, in a rice casserole type dish. It wasn't so bad at all, but still hard for me to bear being pregnant. I have no desire to cook up any more game for the time being. Here's a few pictures from hunting season:

Mason's First Field Trip

Mason had his first class field trip to Riley's Apple Farm in Oak Glen. I was able to go as a parent chaperone =) I was in charge of a group of 5 fun kindergartners, and we had a blast. I think the kids were most excited to ride the school bus though! At my age, I'm sorry to say the big yellow bus has lost it's novelty. We went on a hay ride and talked about different trees, berry bushes and vines. The kids got to help make their own apple cider in an old cider press, take a tour in an old log cabin and visit with some goats and turkeys.

Please won't you be my neighbor? 
We got a few new neighbors in September. Two families who we love! Our good friends the Gunns, we can literally see in their family room if their windows are open! Don't worry, we are NOT peeping toms, er balls. We don't want to scare away our friends! The other family happens to be the parents of another neighbor family, the Hackbarth's. Mark Hackbarth married Josh and I seven years ago, and we truly love their whole family like our own. I don't think any of us could have dreamed up having so many wonderful friends be neighbors! Sometimes I wonder what God's plan is for this little area we call home =)

Miramar Air Show

                                                                      

In the beginning of October we went to San Diego to visit Uncle B & Auntie Amber, and to see the Miramar Air Show. It was a fun little weekend of family, watching baseball and yummy food. Josh and I first went to that air show 5 years ago with a 2 month old baby Mason! We decided to see the 

Twilight Show, it starts at dusk and they show off 

the after burners of the jets. There was a huge robotic dinosaur that breathed fire, and a jet engine truck that blew out ginormous flames. Perfect entertainment for our pyro boys! They loved it and can't wait to go back to the "airport show". We finished off the weekend with a stop at Yogurt Mill- a must do on our San Diego visits if we have time!

We had three Super Mario Brothers for the Harvest Festival at church. 

Mason & Micah love playing the game on the Wii, 

Mitchell could care less so he didn't really have a say ;) 

All in all their outfits turned out good, they can wear them again 

and their mustaches were so fun on their little faces!

PUMPKINS!

I decided I wanted to try making my own pumpkin puree this year. I used three small pumpkins and one large pumpkin. It was a lot of work but it made a ton of puree. One small pumpkin made enough puree to make about one and a half pumpkin pies, just to give you an idea! Overall it was fun to do, and now I can say I've made my own pumpkin puree but nothing beats the conveniency of having canned pumpkin on hand. =)

Here are the recipes I used with the pumpkin puree:

Pumpkin Pie  .  Pumpkin Muffins  .  Pumpkin Butter

My sweet middle child (for now), Micah, just celebrated his 4th birthday! Can you believe it??

He has been counting down his birthday for the past month. Finally the day drew near and we took the whole family to Knott's Berry Farm to celebrate with Snoopy. He loved it. Grammy, Gramps and all three aunties joined in on the fun as well as cousin Braiden. There were no lines at all so the boys ran threw all their favorite rides over and over and over! They slept pretty good that night =) We had my parents over for pizza and cupcakes on his actual birthday. He opened all the toys he picked out at Toys R Us with my mom the day before, haha. It's sort of the birthday tradition with Nani for each boy's birthday, they love it!

I've taken on a few craft projects in the past months. Unfortunately I seem to have this problem where I start a project and cannot seem to finish it. It's so sad and depressing. I now have 4 unfinished projects. and they all have to do with decorating! I started with trying to make my own fall topiaries. Crafting is a little more challenging for me, I'm very visual and it takes me a while to get the whole idea together. So I only have one topiary finished, of a set of two..except the boys have knocked it over a few too many times and leaves and moss are everywhere. It's more of a half dead topiary. Plus I'm realizing it's not very puppy friendly either.

I also sewed pillow covers for some throw pillows for my couch. I wanted to make them removable so I can change the pillows for different seasons, but because of my lack of skill/knowledge/motivation they remain unfinished. I started sanding a window paned mirror to re-paint. It remains partially sanded. I bought a plain wreath just waiting to be decorated for fall. Maybe it'll be ready for Christmas. Or next Spring! I'm just awesome at not finishing projects. Someday I'll have pictures to post of my finished projects, but until then...life goes on! 

Our most recent family update is the addition of a new family member. His name is Gunner, he's 8 weeks, and he has the best puppy breath! I'll have a post about him in the near future, promise!

 

Help! It's Hunting Season!

Be vewy, vewy quiet! I'm hunting wecipes...
I was so excited for September. It usually doesn't feel anything like fall when September hits but the last few days here have been gorgeous! Usually we just pretend like it's fall. And I was excited to start pretending! Until my sweet husband reminded me that it's hunting season. Dove hunting season. It's only a measly two week season, but I completely forgot about it. And it totally stole my "fall" excitement! I forgot that Josh would take the day off work to go hunting opening day. He would probably go hunting the next couple of evenings. He would go hunting that weekend, and then any chance he could get the following week. Josh has been hunting dove (and other 'game') for the past 7 years, at least. He does it for hobby, it's not like we need to hunt so that we will have supper on the table (thank the Lord!). But he hates to throw away what he shoots. He's still a conservative! So my sweet husband asks me, each year, every year, what new recipes I'm going to try with the dove he brings home. Know that the only good amount of meat on the bird is the breast, and it's only about the size of a chicken nugget. A chicken nugget! And it sure don't taste nothing like chicken! It has that gamey taste to it that doesn't leave you asking for more. No wonder I've seen so many recipes that have the little birdies wrapped in jalapenos... it's to mask the taste! So I'm now on the hunt for a few different dove recipes. My brave and talented friend, Hollie, wrapped them up in bacon and grilled them on skewers one year and that was probably the best version of dove I have ever had. Even then I was only able to muster down one or two. Mitchell (at one years old) had a feast and ate more than I did! He sure scored points with his Daddy that day =) I'm sure Josh was thinking many manly thoughts about hunting with his boys! But I'm almost relieved Dove season is so short, how many birds can a guy get? We shall see...until then, wish me luck on my own hunt! I'm almost tempted to cook so awful that they are completely inedible...is that horrible? Or maybe I will finally master cooking wild game! Be looking for a future post about my adventures in the kitchen... I know you want to ;)

The Week of the Birthday

Mason just recently turned 5. My how time flies!
Here he is on the day he was born. Monday, August 15, 2005, just hours old.

Then he turned into a one year old.

And then a two year old...

And then a three year old...

And then a four year old...

And now a five year old.

This is probably the first year Mason had an idea of what he wanted for his birthday, what he wanted to do, how many days left until he was 5...etc. One of the big things he really wanted to do was go camping in Big Bear, where Nani & Papa (my parents) stay for the summer. So we went up the weekend before his birthday and had so much fun! Our good friends, the Gunn's, came up for the day Saturday to get away from the desert heat and hang out with us. We took the boat out on the lake and let the boys have a little fun tubing. It was their first time tubing and they all loved it, I was very impressed with how brave they all were.. because even if I wasn't pregnant, I would be too chicken to go! Marni was brave enough for the both of us and took her turn on the tube. She did great... and even got some air! Mason was the only boy who fell off the tube (with Daddy of course) and he handled it like a champ! Those swimming lessons really helped his comfort level in the water. My sister met us up there with my nephew for dinner and cake and we really just had so much fun. It was wonderful weather with wonderful people! The night before Mason's birthday I kissed him goodnight and said "This is your last day as a 4 year old. You're going to wake up tomorrow and be 5!" He just lit up. I don't think he realized it was literally the next day, and neither did I! I admit it got me a little me teary-eyed thinking about my boys growing up right before my eyes. What do you do? I can't freeze them in time lol! So I just try to enjoy every moment I can while they're little, and say things funny, and ask for help with everything, and take a ton of pictures for when I forget how little and cute they were! So the next day we all woke up, had chocolate chip pancakes per request of the birthday boy, and went to church. We had lunch at Red Robin with Grammy & Gramps (Josh's parents). We realized we've had 3 birthday meals for the boys at Red Robin for the boys so it must be a tradition in the making =) Later that night after church we had a casual get together for cake and ice cream (one last time!) with friends and grandparents.. it was his actual birthday after all ;) Chocolate cake and Mint Cookie Crunch Ice cream (from Dreyers) has been his personal fave and I'm right there with him! That's my boy! All in all it was a great "week" of celebrating Mason. We had fun treating him extra special and loving on him. And I enjoy having a whole week to cope with my baby turning another year older =) Here are some moments captured of our fun filled week!

Getting ready for his first tube ride with Daddy

Party pooper on the boat!

 Mitchell woke up when he realized there was actual fun on the boat!

He really loved it!

Best buds Hunter & Mason

Micah taking a turn with Kevin

A little stop at Bass Pro Shop on our way down the mountain

Lunch at Red Robin. Mason was showing off how "strong" he is as a 5 year old!

Spoons all over the place!

Brothers

He loves chocolate just like his Mama

More cake & ice cream with friends... it doesn't get better than this!