Lake Casitas Camping

On Sunday, Dec 30th, we headed up to go camping at Lake Casitas with our friends, the Beu's. On the way there, we were in a car accident, but everyone is ok and no injuries. We were hit hard enough that our truck did not make it home, it is at a Chevy dealer up North. With a lot of help from friends, and God's hand in the whole thing, we were still able to make the camping trip happen (thank you to the good people who live off Hwy 150, Mac's dad Ken, State Farm, Scott's mom and Steve loaning us his truck)!! We had lots of fun hiking, running around camp, playing on the playground, shooting bebe guns, and making our own dirt "sledding" area. Storm, our dog, had a great time to say the least. She loves to be outdoors and run around with the kids. Happy New Year!!

Grandma visits from IL

We were so blessed to have Jen's Grandma in town from IL this Christmas. She was here for 2 weeks, and boy did we keep her busy. She got to visit with all of the hte CA great grandchildren, and we took her to Seal Beach (pictures above). It was so nice to have her here for the holidays.

Christmas at the Waldron's

On Christmas day we spent time at Scott's Aunt Kathi & Uncle Dan's house. The kids enjoyed a fun time with their cousins, which they are very excited about since they do not get to see them very often. Zachary and Shane had a blast playing with the Nerf guns, and the girls loved being together. They all got to make ginger bread cookies. It was a nice day!

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve at the Croxen's

On Sunday, we had a slumber party at Jen's dad's house. We had a relaxing time watching movies and spending the night together. On Christmas Eve morning, we had a wonderful brunch followed by opening presents. It was a fun time, and extra special to have Jen's grandmother in town from IL.

Kuhlman Hafdell Christmas Party

We celebrated our Annual Kuhlman-Hafdell Christmas Party today (Scott's dad's side of the family). It was great to see everyone, catch up on life and see how the kids are growing. We had a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, and it was just a fun time with family!

Our New Buggy!

Well, we finally have a toy for our "Toy Hauler" trailer! We just got a 1959 VW Dune Buggy. It is so much fun!! The kids love it, and so do we. It's great because we can use it anytime, not just at at the desert. We've been having fun driving around town.

Mattie's Birthday at American Girl

Our niece, Mattie, turned 9 this month. She has been waiting patiently for her Birthday to go to the American Girl store in LA to buy the "Samantha" doll she has been wanting. Kylee & I were able to join them and have a wonderful dinner in the American Girl Cafe. It was a great evening - Mattie had so much fun talking in accents with our waitor - who played along so well, it was like we were at a show. Judy and I could not stop laughing.

Parkcrest Children's Christmas Concert

Kylee performed in the Parkcrest KidZone "I Worship I Am" Christmas Choir Performance. She really enjoyed the singing, and getting new friends. It was a fun evening.

Thanksgiving Celebrations~

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Scott's parents house with Crystal & Tim, and Jen's Dad & Janet joined us as well. Jen's sisters, Judy & Nikki, with their families decided to go camping this year for Thanksgiving, so we just celebrated at the Kuhlman's. It was a very relaxing day with lots of family time talking and relaxing by the outdoor fire pit. It was a wonderful day!

The kids had a fun celebration at school on Tuesday. Kylee had a 3rd Grade International Feast - there was so much food, it was really neat. Shane's classroom had a short little play they put on about the pilgrims settling, followed by a much smaller feast of their own.

Halloween Fun!

We had a fun Halloween (except for the fact that Scott did end up getting called into work and missed the trick-or-treating). Kylee was a Charm School Witch and Shane was Jango Fett from Star Wars.

By the way, Scott did finally make it home on Monday at noon - after 9 days on duty. We were very happy to have him back at home!

Crysal & Tim's Reception

We celebrated Crystal & Tim's Wedding Reception, it was a beautiful day and a great time of celebration with their family and friends. Kylee & Shane had so much fun taking pictures and videos - they are taking after their mom.

Santiago Fires

Scott made it back to the station today - relieved this morning from the Santiago Fire in Irvine. But, not at home yet. The kids and I stopped by tonight for a visit at the fire station. It was great to see him! He does have to work Sat and Sun, maybe even more days - so far today is day #7 on duty.

While we were at the station, we were able to get these pictures to share. The guys had quite a busy 3 days on the line. They helped fill one of the helicopters with water from the engine. You can see all of the falling ash (yes, that is ash in those night pictures). They did get sleep when they could, even in the middle of the street. You can see the peacocks in a tree, which is right above where they slept one night. Quite an adventure. We are just happy they are safe!

Scott Update

Scott was at the Irvine fires again today. They did not have a lot of action where he was at, a fairly slow day. He will be out all night tonight in his assigned area. Tomorrow morning he will be released from assignment and head back to the station. Friday is his normal shift, so he will continue to work through Saturday morning.

Then, he will finally come home - after 7 days on duty, Whew!!! We can not wait to see him, we miss him a lot! Hopefully this plan will not change.

Scott and the Fires

Here is a quick timeline of what Scott has been doing:

Sat 10/20- worked his regular shift

Su 10/21 - got off work, but was recalled to come back to the station at 9am (they had just sent out the engine from his station on a strike team, and he went to cover the station)

M 10/22 - worked his regular shift in the city

Tu 10/23 - off to Irvine to relieve the guys on Engine 4. He had a pretty good day, fought a little fire. But, Tuesday night the flames kicked up again where he was and he fought fire all night long. He said they were able to save a lot of homes, about 3 did go, but they saved a lot more.

W 10/24 - still in Irvine, he called me at 8:30 am and was just relieved for 12 hours to sleep. He was tired and said he really hadn't slept in 3 days, as they were up with calls all night in the city before he left with the strike team. At this point, he is scheduled to stay out with the strike team on the fires until Friday morning. But, things change so quickly, we will see what happens. Yesterday they thought he would only be out for 24 hours, now it is 72.

Scott called again tonight (Wed), he got some really good sleep during the day. They were sleeping in a park by a zoo on some cots, and when he woke up, there was a peacock staring him in the face! Pretty funny. He had a good dinner and will get some more rest tonight - in the zoo parking lot. They are going to find out their next assignement on Thursday morning.

We have not seen Scott since Saturday morning when he went to work. We are doing fine here, just keeping our prayers out there for Scott, all of the firemen, and all of the families affected by this horrible tragidy.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers too!!

Updates on fires: click here.

Kylee's Cheer Camp

Kylee attended a Cheer Camp this week put on by Pacifica High School Cheer Squad. She did this last year, and she enjoyed it again this year. It's great because it is only a week! They learned and practiced the cheers Mon-Wed, then the got to cheer at the Varsity Football game on Thursday night. Kylee had so much fun! She was a little nervous before the game, but did great once she got there. She will be able to cheer one more time in January at a Basketball game.

Scott's Fishing Trip

Scott's semi-annual fishing trip at June Lake, October 11 - 16th. The regular group of guys went up to Silver Lake in the Kuhlman family trailer. We experienced 25 degree weather at night. Due to the poor rain and lack of snow runoff, the creeks were too low to fish this year, and we were forced to do some lake fishing. Local lakes were fair to poor, until we heard of a secret lake located back in the mountains all by itself. We finally located the dirt trail that led back to the lake, and when we arrived, there was not a single person in sight. The fishing was unbelievable with good size fish and over 100 fish caught between the 3 of us in a 3 hour period.

Rainy Day Soccer Game!

Even though we woke up this morning to a some misty rain (after a rainy night), Shane still played his soccer game. It was very wet and the boys sure did get dirty. But, they still had a fun time. Shane took some tumbles, but got back up and kept going - even got these moments on camera! Proud mom here has to share these photos, enjoy.

Fall Sports

Kylee has been in gymnastics now for a year, and is enjoying learning some new tricks.

Shane is playing soccer for his 3rd year now. He really loves soccer, especially now that they are playing on a bigger field - he has a lot more room to run around! He is doing great.

Celebrating Dad's Birthday

We celebrated Scott's Dad's birthday by having a family dinner at Spoons, then heading back to Mom & Dad's house for cake and ice cream. It was a fun evening of celebration and family!

Maui, Hawaii

We were privileged to go to Hawaii from September 12 - 16th, to attend Crystal and Tim's wedding (Scott's sister). We stayed in a condo at the Palms in Wailea, Maui. Our room had an amazing view. The day we arrived, Kylee said "I love Hawaii". Our kids definitely love the water, as you can see from all of the fun activities above. Everyday was a pool day, we also had fun boogie boarding, Shane and Scott surfed, and we all snorkeled. Kylee really enjoyed the snorkeling and swimming in the pool. She even went night swimming with papa a couple times. Shane loved boogie boarding the most. Jen got a new digital SLR camera with a great telephoto lens, which arrived the night before we left. So, she had a blast taking lots of pictures throughout the trip (over 600, 370+ just from the wedding - thank you Scott!!)! It was just a wonderful, relaxing vacation - spending time with family.

The night before the wedding, we had a very nice dinner at Tommy Bahama.

The Wedding Day ~
September 14, 2007 - White Rock, Wailea, Maui

Crystal & Tim had such a beautiful wedding. It was sunny, the wind was blowing, and the waves crashed as the ceremony took place. Crystal was beautiful. It was a perfect day for the newly married couple. After the ceremony, we went to the Marriot Luau and had a wonderful show. The kids went up on stage and did the hula dance. There was a beautiful sunset that night. Shane had such a full day, that he fell asleep during the show and missed the fire dance (we tried to wake him, but he just wouldn't budge).

Shane lost his 1st Tooth

Shane lost his very 1st tooth at Disneyland California Adventure on Sunday, Sept 9th. Funny thing, Kylee lost her first tooth at Disneyland back on June 19, 2005.

Judy's 40th Birthday Ball

Judy (Jen's sister) celebrated her 40th Birthday on Saturday, September 8th - her actual birthday is Aug 27th. We had a Birthday "Prom" for her with lots of great food, music and dancing. Judy looked amazing in her beautiful turquoise gown and hair all done up!! She was so happy to have such a wonderful party and be surrounded by her close friends and family.