CRASH!

Yesterday I woke up to a very unpleasant message on our computer. It read Operating System cannot be Found. Unfortunately my futile efforts to restore the computer failed. The saddest part is that our pictures from the last few months, including Danyka's 4th Birthday, family get togethers, Marine World and other fun summer pictures are all on the system. It would have been wise to back them up or upload them, but I didn't that, nor do I have hard copies. Lesson Learned...that's for sure. The system is at Circuit City and they are hopeful that they will be able to retrieve my files, but there is no guarentee. We're pretty sure the hard drive failed.

The fun part today was getting a new computer. We knew that the other was drawing near it's end but you never want to shell out the money for a new one. We replaced our old HP with another HP and we are pretty excited. There is a lot of work to do to get it up and running like we want it to, but we'll get there.

You can say a quick prayer for us that our important files will be saved. We would appreciate it. Thanks for reading my sob story. I promise more happy stories to come.

Danyka's Video

Pure Innocence

Last Friday Danyka had her first tap/ballet open house class. It was so precious. She had a hard time adjusting to a new class and new teacher but she loved learning little routines.



Although she was the youngest in her class, I thought she did a great job. It will be fun to watch her improve over the next year. We will start a new session next week that will end in mid-December. I'm still deciding whether I want to put her in the recital or not. December is a really busy month and I'm a little nervous she won't perform. I've got a few weeks before the final decision.

Whitney has her own dance tutor. Danyka comes home and teaches her what she's learned. They are so sweet. Shuffle step. Shuffle step. Plie'. Plie' These are the moments I treasure.

Goodbye Summer!

Summer is rapidly disappearing. It's still warm but the fall activities are already beginning to fill up our calendar. Where do the days go?

Danyka started her 4 year old Preschool class on Tuesday. She is a frog this year. Even though she was a bit tentative on the first day, my exit was much easier than on the first day last year. She is ecstatic about the computer station in her class and she loves craft time. Several of her friends from last year are in her class again this year. That definitely makes the transition easier.

This past weekend the girls had a wonderful time visiting with extended family. Granddad stayed on Friday and Saturday night. Danyka loved reading "The Boo Boo Book" with him. She is overly obsessed with even the slightest little injuries. This book has already helped her understand more about boo boos and she's been sure to point out casts, bandaids and rashes on just about everyone she sees.

Uncle Dan, Aunt Desi and Jacob also joined us on Saturday. I think the adults had as much fun as the kids did. We spent several hours in the pool playing horse. Poor Granddad had a couple of rough games. As always we had to try to make the most obscure shots. That's what keeps the game entertaining.

We are looking forward to some fun upcoming events. On Saturday we are going to spend some time with college friends and their 9 month old son. We haven't seen them since their son has been born. We are also gearing up for the start of Heart 2 Heart, a Golf trip with Scott's work and a craft show at the end of October. Our lives have become much busier over the past year. I think that's due to the fact that we are able to do more now that our girls are getting a little older. For the most part it's fun being busy but I've got to admit that I love the down time and peace and quiet just as much.

Super Dad!

Without a doubt, Scott has won the "Super Dad" award. The picture below was actually taken last week, but it just goes to show how much he cares about his family.

After an awesome weekend, we started the week with a rough day. Mid-morning I came down with a nasty bug. I won't go into details, but I could barely walk and was unable to take care of the girls. Scott took the rest of the day off to take care of the girls...and me. He is so amazing!

By midnight I had a few sips of water, several saltines and half of a Jello cup. Fortunately I was able to keep a couple of Tylenol pills in my tummy so I was able to sleep. I am getting better now but I am pretty weak. This wasn't the weight loss plan I was looking for.

Scott took the morning off and took Danyka and Whitney to Dany's 4 year old preschool orientation. He fed them, put them down for naps and headed back to work.

I know that missing work is hard. Scott stayed up late last night working from home. He will probably do the same tonight. I am incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful husband!

Family Fun

This past weekend was a first for our family. I was supposed to go on a retreat for church but it was cancelled. Since our weekend was free, we decided to take a family vacation. We were nervous about sleeping with our kids at a hotel, since we've never done it before. Fortunately they did great.

Early Friday afternoon we headed to Monterey. We arrived there in time for dinner. Our meal was nothing to brag about but it gave us the energy we needed to play miniature golf. The course was indoors and everything glowed in the dark. It was fascinating and the girls were hilarious to watch.

On Saturday we went to Dennis the Menace Park. What a great place for kids! The girls particularly liked the green bumpy slides. To be honest, they were pretty fun for adults too. After the park we headed to the aquarium. It was extremely crowded and the girls only lasted about an hour; we decided to get our hands stamped and come back later.

For lunch we had Willy's BBQ. It was delicious. After lunch we reenergized with naps at the hotel. The rest really helped the girls. We were able to return to the aquarium Saturday evening and truly enjoy our experience. Barely anyone was there the second time.

Dinner on Saturday was a hodge podge from Walmart. We were tired of greasy food so we picked up the fixings for sandwiches and sides. We ate pretty late since we had stopped at a local cinnamon roll shop on the way out of the aquarium.

Before we left on Sunday it was absolutely necessary to visit the beach. This was the one request Danyka consistently made. For those of you who know her, you understand what "consistently" means. Both girls thought it was pretty but neither one of them was interested in staying long. Each of them picked a rock to bring home and then they were done. Our beach days will come in the future.

Our final activity in Monterey was a biking adventure. Scott and I pedaled a funny looking bike along a beach path. It was quite amusing and a pretty good workout. Whitney didn't like wearing her helmet but she forgot about it once we gave her some food to snack on.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend. We're looking forward to a return trip sometime in the future. Now that we know our girls will sleep in a hotel we are beginning to consider a Disneyland trip. I can't wait. Danyka has been telling us for months that she wants to go. That trip will be quite the adventure and I'm sure it will be a blast.

Room Renovation

After spending lots of time thinking, analyzing, praying and researching, we decided to put Whitney back in her crib. The girls are still sharing a room but we took out the twin sized mattress that Whit was sleeping on. We turned the bottom part of Danyka's loft bed into a dolly play area.

Both Scott and I were a little nervous that Whitney would be upset about not sleeping in a big girl bed, but to our surprise she almost seemed relieved. We haven't had any problems except a few that we were already dealing with. It is still a mystery to us how many days our kids need to nap and what their consistent bed time should be. With a nap the girls will not fall asleep until after 10, but at least they stay in their beds and just play.

So far our weekend has been relaxing. Scott took the girls to Home Depot to do a project this morning and they had a ball. Tomorrow we will spend the afternoon at a BBQ/swim party with some friends from church. Who knows what else we will come up with.