pics, pics, pics

So here's what's been going on with the Andersen kids this last month.

Daddy-daughter double-date to the Angels game.

Skippy and Jason had a ton of fun with thier little dates!

Go Angels!!

Trips to Seal Beach to get the BEST tacos at EBJ (El Burrito Jr.- try it!!)



Friend's Water Party
My children ALWAYS get along perfectly...
Belen and Eli- He's smiling for me!! It's a miracle!
(this cute boy will never smile for my pictures)

Prego Sisters

Trena (3months) Thorey (8months)

Belen Ballerina

Belen is taking into to Ballet through parks and rec. Her teacher is so good. The girls get to pretend to be a different character every class and there are always props they get to wear to go with the characters. It's so fun to watch!

The local watering hole

We met our old neighbors at the kiddie pool. Jack doesn't like being told "cheese"

Mount Whitney

Dave, Casey, Skippy, Justin, Jeff

Back in January, Skippy decided that he wanted to accomplish hiking Mount Whitney. He has his eagle scout and was an avid back-packer back in the day (just ask him about Teenage Mutant Philmont Backpackers) So, he put in for the permit and was so excited when it actually came time to go. (Excited to carry 3 days worth of supplies on your back while hiking to 14, 500 feet??- I don't get it either) He packed all his gear, got new boots, and dusted off his sleeping bag- all the while Belen asking him if she could go camping too- she loved the idea of wearing a backpack and sleeping in the sleepingbag. He left Thursday night and started hiking on Friday. He did great until he hit about 12,000 ft. Then the altitude sickness started- altitude sickness is the worst possible feeling- nausia, vomitting, dehidration, dizziness- yuck. But, did he give up? NO! He persevered with the help of his friends and made it to the top. He can now say that he has puked on the top of Mount Whitney- not many people can say that. I am very proud that he stuck it out and made it to the top and accomplished hiking to the highest peak in the Continental US. Good job Skippy!!

On the trail

At the top , after the 3rd barf- looking good, Honey!

Momshots

Here are some of my recent momshots. I have been trying to use some of the features on my camera like shutter speed and zooming and whatnot. I also have been working with filling the frame with my subjects (kids) and lighting, as I just read abouit on Jessica's blog. I took Jessica's momshots advice and started to read the manual for my camera. I had a few realizations: One, that I have no clue how to operate my camera, two, that my camera is pretty rad and it does a lot of stuff. I think that if I learn one new thing a week, I will now how to successfully operate it in about a year. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little set of momshots!


4th of July- Statue of Liberty down the slide
Eli Wagstaff's 3rd Bday party
At mother's beach last week- I like how I got Belen in the background.

A great shot of Luke- but it's immpossible to get a bad shot of that kid- he's so darn cute!
Mean Lady Liberty- pre-street bike parade
If you are interested in trying to make your momshots all they can be, I whole heartedly suggest reading Jessica's momshots blog for tips and inspirations.

NEW YORK

"Skippy! You just graduated! What are you gonna do now?"

"I'm going to New York!"

So here's what you can accomplish in NY in 5 days with out 2 little tag alongs.

-Yankee's game
-Wicked on Broadway
-tons of site-seeing
- loads of eating

On a sad side note- we forgot our nice camera, so we were forced to buy a few disposables. It was absolutely humiliating taking pics with a disposable camera... So here's what we got with our little 35mm disposable with limited flash and no zoom:

A scary theater somewhere off of 42nd street

Times Square- if you look straight down from the P in Pontiac, you can see Skippy.
The tour bus- it was crowded and at one point, the tour guide was scolding some poor boys over the microphone. Yeah, only in New York.
A VERY exciting Yankee's Game. Instead of guys walking around selling treats and hot dogs, they walk around selling beer... THAT'S why their fans are so crazy! They're ALL drunk!
To Skippy's disappointment, we didn't see any Rockettes.
Famous Ray's Pizza--- SO GOOD!!!
Lady Liberty- She's big, She's green.

"Remember me at Harold's Square...."

My personal favorite: Little Italy... I need to go back and spend about 4 days just going from restaurant to restaurant.



Empire State Building- our hotel was just around the corner- it made for a good beacon when we were lost.

Gray's Papaya Hot Dogs... YUM! it's a hot dog/juice stand in Greenwich Village

BTW-there was some great shopping in the Village and in SOHO.. I just needed some girls to do it with.

Ground Zero- it was pretty sad to see the giant hole that was once huge buildings filled with people.

I have to say that while being with out the kids was fun and we were able to accomplish a lot with out them, we missed them terribly. We were so excited to return home to them.

GRADUATION !!!!

It all started about 3 years ago with a conversation like this,
"Honey, why are you taking classes at LB city when you just graduated from Devry?"
"I don't know"
"Okay, are you just trying to spend as much time as possible away from me?"
" I really hate my job and don't want to work in telecommunications and think I want to get a degree in History and then go to law school"

Well, here we are, 3 years later- Skippy graduated with honors from UC Irvine with a BA in History. He has loved every minute of going to UCI and will truly miss it. We have gone through many trials and have witnessed many miracles along the way. We have had so many people bless our lives with service to make this goal attainable. It's amazing how our families have really supported us in this, we have the best families! I am so proud of Skippy for deciding to do this. It took so much courage for him to quit his job of 7 years and to let go of being the manly provider of the house. (If you know Skippy, then you know how hard that was for him). He has gained so much faith and self confidence, I am just so happy for him.

Friday night we attended the Latin Honors Convocation- Skippy graduated Magna Cum Laude (he has a 3.92 gpa) What a smarty-pants!

Skippy and the Dean of Humanities- She LOVES him!! - Who doesn't??

Skippy and his proud parents. We couldn't have done this without these people- They've given our family a wonderful home to live in. Thank you Mom and Dad!


I made these cute shirts for the kids for graduation day-
If you can't read it, it says, " My dad graduated from UCI with honors- what did your dad do?"


Proud wife and 2 cute kids.

Belen said, "When I get bigger and I'm 4, I'll go to school and get a medal too"
My mom and Grandmother with the Thy-guy. My dad was there too, just didn't get a pic. Thanks for all your support through the last few years- we love you!

We took everyone to Sonny's down in San Clemente. YUM YUM!

The look-a-likes

Aren't we cute??

Thanks to everyone who has helped us out through the last few years. We're giving you all a year off and then we're gonna have to ask ya for another 3 years :) LOVE YOU!

Just some bath-time fun...

Aunt Trena

Aunt Trena and Belen had fun making sugar cookies the other week. Belen got a Starwberry Shortcake cook-book from Nonni (my mom) and she had been dying to make something from it. I loaded the photos in reverse order... oops.