Repetti Family Blog

Cameron's Letter to "The State of California"

2009-09-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

We had Back to School Night last night for grades 3-5 and since Cameron has moved up in the world, and is now in 3rd grade, we got to meet his teacher. She was SO cute and just very enthusiastic about his class. She had many great things to say about the potential she can see of her students this year and she was looking forward to a great year. When it came time that we got to meet her, she seemed eager and excited to meet "Cameron's parents". Before she even mentioned to us what excited her so much, I felt proud as I knew that our Cameron was already proving to his teacher that he is a great kid. Love him! Well, as you can see by the title of this post, the reason she was so excited to meet Cameron's parents was because he was inspired to write a letter to the "State of California" about something that had been taken away from them in the classroom. Actually, the letter is only to Vista Unified School District, but if you ask Cameron about the letter he gets so excited and believes he wrote it to the state.

So here's the story of how this letter progressed:

Every year the children have been taking a short jog/walk around the track each morning to get some excercise while it's still cool outside and to get their juices flowing and to help wake up their minds. This year, Cameron's teacher mentioned to them that they cannot do it anymore because the state says they cannot run in the mornings. Supposedly, this comment really confused Cameron and he couldn't fathom the idea of them not being able to run each morning. He questioned her a bit more about it and he asked if he could write a letter to the State of California. She responded by telling him that he probably wouldn't get a response from the state. He then asked her if he could write the letter to Mr. Arnold's boss (our principal's boss) and she agreed that writing to his boss (VUSD) would be a great idea. His teacher made of copy of his letter for us before sending it off to us and here it is:

Mike and I were extremely proud to say the least, that our son wanted to voice his opinion about something he disagreed with. His teacher mentioned that his letter was very well written for being written during the first week of 3rd grade and that he shouldn't be writing letters like that until 5th grade. During times like this, when our children do something so wonderful like this, I often sit back and look at our lives and smile. Mike and I have been truly blessed with wonderful children. They are smart, healthy, kind and down right cute! What more could you ask for!? I often find myself sitting and smiling thinking about how grateful I am for the opportunity to be their mom...I just hope the Lord will continue to hold my hand and walk me through this journey and help me build them into the amazing adults they can be!!!

First Day of School 2009

Natalie - 2nd Grade

Teacher - Mrs. Felong

Cameron - 3rd Grade

Teacher - Mrs. Raymond

I know, I know...it's been WAY too long!

2009-05-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

And I am not even going to take the time right now to try and catch everyone up on the millions of things we've done since October...

But for now, here is an adorable video of Natalie and her friend Ashley performing in the talent show last night. They did great!!!

Mickey's Trick or Treat Party

2008-11-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the tram to come grab our group and bring us in to California Adventure! We had a TON of fun with our friends, the Basso's. Thanks for the invite - I hope to join you again next year!!!

California Adventure was decorated for Halloween and was just SO cute. Here we are entering the park and you can see Ghost Mickey on the left, and Happy Halloween across the bridge in candy corn.

Natalie on the merry-go-round.

Waiting by the roller coaster...I love these kids and their cute smiles!

Ashley enjoying her ride on the merry-go-round!

Halloween Party Parade!

Natalie & Taylor in the parade dancing with one of the "witches." They had a TON of fun dancing around with them. As you can tell, Natalie was REALLY into it.

Taylor, Jayne, Ashley, Jen & Natalie on the merry-go-round.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end...but we had an amazing time!

Bates Nut Farm 2008

2008-11-02T20:40:00.001-08:00

Ashley, Mike, Natalie & Cameron

Picking out the perfect pumpkins!

Natalie found hers!

Ashley just along for the ride...

Natalie posing with one of the ponies.

Ashley on her first pony ride and she LOVED it!

All of the "nuts" on the farm!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T20:22:00.001-08:00

Cameron as...

Troy Bolton

(High School Musical)

Natalie as...

Hannah Montana

Ashley as...Minnie Mouse
Some close friends!
(Darth Vader, Fairy Princess, Lions, Clone Troopers, Red Power Ranger, Gabriella Montez, Troy Bolton, Hannah Montana & Minnie Mouse)

Troy & Gabriella

Troy & Superman

And last, but not least...

Minnie Mouse & my cute hubby!!!

A Glimpse Into Our Saturdays...and we LOVE it!

2008-10-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Natalie's Team is the Peach Dragon's. Below she poses with her good friend Teaghan & Ashley at one of her games. She is such a great little soccer player! Please note Ashley's blue tongue from her gatorade!
Cameron's team is the Piranhas. We were very lucky to have a team full of our friends, it was a great season.

Here is our last sport for the day. Cameron still just love, Love, LOVES baseball as he always has. This season they have implemented live kid pitching after the first 2 innings and he of course loves that too.

Boy! I just LOVE watching my children play sports!!

Ashley Singing Itsie Bitsie Spider

2008-10-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Ashley has learned to sing quite a few nursery rhymes lately and just doesn't stop singing all day long - I love it! Well here, I caught her playing with Natalie's barbie guitar and singing itsie bitsie spider. It's kind of a funny video because she's only in a diaper, but my goodness, it's been crazy hot here lately and that was comfortable for her. I hope to catch her singing her ABC's and Popcorn Popping soon and post those as well. I never want to forget these great memories of her singing like this! I love this girl!

Apple/Pear Picking in Julian

2008-10-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

My goodness I love living in San Diego. We snuck away a couple weekends ago for a day to Julian, a little community known best for it's apple orchards. We stopped at one of the local orchards and let the kids pick apples and pears. They loved every moment of it.

Here are some classic shots of my cuties creating memories!!

Natalie climbing a tree to grab the perfect fruit.

Ashley showing me her apple. She held on to that apple and wouldn't let anyone else have it until we found the horsies. At that point she couldn't give it away fast enough.

Cameron hamming it up for the camera!

Even Mike joined in on the action of climbing the trees for the perfect apple.
There were some horses right next to the pears and the kids quickly shared some of the apple they just picked. They LOVED feeding the horses.

It was a wonderful day!

Natalie Turns 6!!!

2008-10-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Natalie's 6th birthday was last week and she had a lovely day! It was a school day so she brought cookies in for her class to share and then after school I picked the kids up and we met up with some friends for some frozen yogurt at Frugos. The next day we had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I believe she had a wonderful birthday! I love you sweet Natalie Jane!

Happy 30th Birthday Mike!

2008-10-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, for those of you closest to us, you know that I am TOTALLY late posting about my hubby for his big 30th birthday...but here goes anyway! I thought I would post a tag about my hubby to mark this event.

HUBBY TAG!

1. Where did you meet? Islands - we were both working as hosts

2. How long did you date? A year

3. How long have you been married? 8 years

4. What does he do that surprises you? Cooks (and really well, I must say!!) :)

5. What's your favorite feature of his? His blue eyes

6. What's your favorite quality of his? His work ethic. He's a VERY hard worker in all aspects!

7. What's his nickname for you? "Hun"

8. What's his favorite color? Blue? - yes, I question that response...

9. What's his favorite food? Lasagna, swedish meatballs & egg burritos (from A's in Mission Viejo!)

10. His favorite sport? Basketball

11. When and where was your first kiss? In Vegas on a trip we took with friends, when we thought we were just friends. That was the last time we were fooled into believing that!

12. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Play volleyball

13. How many kids do you have? 3 - Cameron (7), Natalie (6) & Ashley (2)

14. How old is he? 30!!!!

15. Who said "I love you" first? Who knows! We were both madly in love!

16. What's his favorite type of music? Alternative Rock

17. What do you admire most about him? That he puts up with my temper (usually!)

18. Do you think he will read this? Yes...I think...eventually.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know my hubby a little bit. I enjoyed answering these questions!

And to Mike...

Happy belated Birthday Dear! Thank you for all of the hard work and energy you put forth by providing for our family. You are an amazing Dad, friend and husband, who loves each of us - even with all of our flaws! We all love you very much, especially Me.

First Day of School - August 25, 2008

2008-08-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

Cameron Starts 2nd Grade

Natalie Starts 1st GradeMy cute kiddos together at school: Below is a picture of Natalie with her two closest friends, Ashley & Taylor. She was SO excited to start school again! I am not sure whether she was more excited for school to start, or to see the friends she hasn't seen all summer, or to be able to wear all of her new school clothes (although, I am leaning towards the new clothes...). Natalie's teacher is Ms. Tsmentzis (Tim-men-gees). Natalie thinks she is so pretty and also very nice. She seems to be quite happy with her after only 3 days of school - which is absolutely perfect!!
The following picture is of Cameron with one of his best buddies Jamason, his baby bro Kaden & another close friend Michial. Cameron was also excited to start school, and mostly missed seeing all of his friends. His teachers name is Mrs. Murray, and I have heard from a few different people that she's a great teacher, let's hope that the rumors are true! The only bummer is that Cameron didn't get any of his close friends in his class so he was a bit disappointed, although he did have one friend he liked quite a bit. Luckily for him, he has a very outgoing personality and will be friends with the entire class in no time at all!

Summer Recap (LONG sorry!)

2008-08-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

Natalie's Kindergarten Graduation

Here is a picture of Natalie w/Mr. Kohn, the world's BEST Kindergarten teacher. Both Cameron and Natalie were lucky enough to have him. He truly gave them an incredible foundation for the rest of their educational careers and has really helped mold their love of learning.

Natalie & Me - End of the year show

Baseball Closing Ceremonies

Here is a shot of Cameron receiving his trophy. He just LOVES getting trophies!

Here are the 2008 RBVLL Oakland A's after receiving their awards.

Camping w/Friends

In June we went camping locally to the KOA in San Diego. We went with the same group of friends that we camped with last summer, except for one of the families that was busy that weekend. We are only able to get away for a couple of days, but love the time we do have just being away from reality with our family and friends.

Above you see Mike & Philippe Rossel taking the kids down to the ice cream social.

Cameron enjoying little personal pies that you warm over the fire and add your choice of filling. It looks like he chose a cherry filling.

Ashley hanging out on the swings at the campground.

The kids playing with a BIG bubble wand.

Cameron jumping off of the swing. Pretty daring young man!

Cameron swinging alongside one of his closest friends, Jamason.

Cameron and Ashley hanging out on the playground.

San Diego Fair 2008

Here is our own future Golden Glove winner, standing next to an actual golden glove. He was so excited to see this.

Cameron & Natalie posing as San Diego Chargers.

Ashley surprised Mom when she decided she wanted to go on some of the rides at the fair too. Before this, she would scream and absolutely FREAK OUT if you tried to just put her on the regular 'ole swings at the park, and here she rode on the swings that go around and round in a circle while swinging out higher and higher. It was great to see her so brave!

Cameron & Natalie getting ready to take off on a roller coaster. As you can see, Natalie is a bit unsure of the idea.

July 4th, 2008

Ashley smiling for the camera with her face painted by some of the YW from our ward.

Natalie & Mom waiting for the fireworks to start. I have to say, Natalie looks a little bit frightened in this shot...maybe she's afraid of my shiny forehead! :)

Ashley and Mike snuggling before the show starts. This is probably the last time you'd see her smile that night...she HATED the fireworks and cried until it was over.

Beach Fun

Natalie still smiling after she had just been taken down by a wave!

Natalie learning to boogie board. She is pretty much fearless when it comes to water activities.

Natalie & Taylor...good friends are hard to find! Especially two as cute as these girls!!

Yes, Cameron was there too - but his skinny bum doesn't last very long if the weather is not scorching. When I finally got my camera out, this is how he spent the remainder of the time - wrapped up in a towel!

Camping? - Dixon Lake

The only reason I pose this next section as a question is because we didn't really go camping with our friends here (like we were supposed to!), but we just joined them for the afternoon. It was a warm afternoon so we filled up a little pool and let the kids have a splashing good time!

Connor, Cameron, Brandon, Ashley & 2 other friends of the Flanagan's that I don't remember (sorry!).

Angels Baseball

Of course we have taken our children to a number of Angels games already this summer because what other fun things do baseball loving families do together!? Here are just a couple of shots from a recent trip to the big "A"!

This is just a great shot of Mike. Ashley looks a bit goofy, but I think this shot captures what a cutie my hubby is and what a loving father he is so I just had to post it! Love you babe!

Above you will see one of exchange students, Leticia w/Ashley. Leticia visited us from Spain and was lucky enough to join us for one of the Angels games. We will miss you Leticia! Come back next year!!

Below you will see my kids with Manuella. Manuella was also an exchange student who stayed with us this summer. She came to us from France, and was such a sweet girl. We enjoyed her time here with us, maybe she will come visit again! So that about wraps up the summer so far...well, besides the other activities that I don't have pictures for!

Ashley Elizabeth - 25 months old

2008-07-23T23:34:00.000-07:00

Too Cute!

Enough Said!

Jewel Getaway May 29-30, 2008

2008-06-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you all know how I am such a big dork and call into the local radio station for contests all the time...well, I won again! Actually, I won the Grand Prize drawing...again! This time we won a trip for two to Jewel's latest album release - "Perfectly Clear". Yes, we were sent packing less than a week after I won the contest, to Stephenville, Texas to hang out with Jewel!!!! It was amazing! We first arrived to our 11,000 acre ranch around 5:30pm and got checked into our room. As we walked into the beautiful room, we noticed a man standing on our balcony painting the outside of the building. Mike waves at the guy, I quickly jump on the phone with the front desk. I explain to them that there is a guy on our patio and they send a bell boy to our room to direct us to our new room. He then brings us to our new room, our suite and drops us off. It was AMAZING. You should have seen the bathroom/vanity/tub areas...my dream bathroom! Oh, and the telescope in the living room (yes, living room!) was pretty cool too. Our balcony was twice as big this time, and had a few rocking chairs sitting on it, and had a perfect view of the Lake & Firepit.

After getting settled in, we headed downstairs to have an authentic country bbq. We met with other winners from across the country at that point, while still enjoying our meals. Near the end of dinner, Jewel comes walking into the dining room! She is just as beautiful in person as she is on TV, or in magazines. She then meets and speaks with each of us there. She gives us each a copy of her new CD, and signs the cover. She also takes the time to pose for our cameras (see below!). She seemed so kind!

We then head outside for a "few" to see what was going on around the ranch. Mike found the fishing dock and that's where the confusion with "few" minutes comes in. He quickly got hooked and didn't plan on coming back in for any of the other activities. Actually, he did miss the next event because he was still at the dock...for at least another two hours. I, myself was inside the lodge enjoying an interview that Jewel was having a Lia, an evening country radio host. It was quite interesting to hear a bit about her struggles and her childhood.

At 10:30, we were asked to go outside and sit by one of the firepits for a private acoustic concert for the 30 of us winners. I was one of the first to arrive, and I sat about 4 feet away from Jewel! I heard every toe tap to the beat, and really saw up close and personally how beautifully she sings! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience for me.

The next morning we had to be back for breakfast bright & early. Jewel then had to sit and appease every radio station that had sent a winner. She had 15 interviews before 9:30 that morning...one of which was with Mike & Me...oh, and KSON, my favorite station. You will see a shot below of us sitting on the couch across from Jewel during this interview.

Finally, we didn't want to miss out on the millions of activities on the ranch, so we decided to rent ATV's. That was SO amazing! I am a sucker for a massage, and I even told Mike that I enjoyed taking the ATV and having another once in a lifetime opportunity, more than doing something that I love SO much, like a massage that I can get at home. We went with another couple we had met during our stay, and were out and about on the 11,000 acre ranch for an hour. Like I said, amazing!

They then shipped us all back to the airport for departure. It was a very quick and tiring trip, but SO worth the getaway. Let's just say I am one of the biggest Jewel fan's now!

Mike, Jewel & Myself

Jewel posing for my camera during the acoustic concert. As you can see in the photo, she was only like 3-5 feet away from us.

Mike & Me Posing For The Camera

Jewel during our interview

View from the lodge, & Mike's favorite fishing hole.

Here's Mike holding up one of the many fish he caught that weekend!

ATV Riding, Baaabayy!

Ashley is 2!!!

2008-06-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Cameron's Half Birthday Party

2008-06-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we braved the crowds of an Angels baseball game with 8 young boys (aged 7-10) to celebrate Cameron's 7.5 birthday party. We had hoped to have his party in December near his birthday, but since we hadn't planned a party before all of his friends would leaving for Christmas vacation, we decided to make it a half birthday and take him and his friends to see his favorite thing in the world - The Anaheim Angels!!!

We planned ahead and picked up snacks and bottled water to have on hand for each of the boys, and they were quite pleased when I pulled out all of the basic necessities, peanuts & cracker jacks, plus red vines & sunflower seeds. Oh! And, I forgot to mention we took everyone to Islands on our way to the game and the boys got to order whatever they wanted. Each of the boys was well behaved and we didn't have any problems at the game. The Angels gave us a great show winning the game in the bottom of the tenth to beat the Blue Jays, 3-2.

All of the boys came back with us to our home for a sleepover, and they stayed up much too late playing hide & seek in the dark (w/ Mike!) and then camped out in the living room. We didn't have any problems until the morning when one of the boys was stepped on while he was still sleeping and he was in so much pain that he needed to go home. It turns out he later went to the hospital to get checked out, but his Mom & Dad say he is just fine now.

All in all, we had a great time. Cameron was just as happy as could be which made all of the planning and stress disappear. We are glad that Cameron has so many good friends that he could share his birthday with.

I hope you enjoy ALL of the pictures below...cause there's a BUNCH of them!!

Cameron blowing out his candle @ Islands

Entering the game (notice Cameron pretending to swing at me!)

Friends, Jamason & Ethan

Friends, Cameron B., Hunter & Lincoln

Ashley

Tristan, Cameron B., Lincoln, Cameron, Hunter, Aidan, Ethan & Jamason

Ashley & Cameron

Cameron & Aidan

Cameron B., Tristan & Cameron

Lincoln & Jamason

Cameron, Tristan, Aidan, Jamason, Ethan, Lincoln, Hunter & Cameron B.

Ashley, Cameron, Jamason, Aidan, Tristan, Ethan, Lincoln, Cameron B. & Hunter

Ashley & Cameron - Camping out on the living room floor

Everyone spread across the living room

Ashley, Cameron, Cameron B., Jamason & Tristan

Quick Update!

2008-05-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

So here is the latest and greatest from the San Diego Repetti Family! In the past month since I last blogged, both Cameron & Natalie have finished their baseball/softball seasons, and they both received great awards from their teams.

Natalie was chosen as the "Most Improved Player" - which happens to be the only award given to each of the t-ball teams, so we are very proud of her! She went from standing around on the field with her glove on her head to actually using her glove and getting outs! This award was totally deserved!

Like I said, Cameron also earned a great award from his team. He was voted "MVP" of his team for the second year in a row! I know, it's only 6,7, & 8 year old kids, but I am very proud of him none the less. He gives 110% every time he steps on the field and for that I am even more proud! Way to go Cameron & Natalie!!!!!

Here is a photo of Cameron at bat for the Oakland A's:

Jump Back to:

Easter 2008

This year we got together again with a group of friends at one of the local parks for a Easter egg hunt. It is nothing formal, but the kids love running around and finding those silly, candy filled eggs.

Here are a few pictures from the fun:

Most of the kids before the race to the eggs started!

Ashley, Laura & Me!

Ashley looking for eggs!

Cameron and some of his friends - Jamason, Kaden & Michial

Natalie was just so excited!

My handsome boy, looking for eggs!

Natalie and one of her closest friends, Ashley.

Reflections of Christ

2008-04-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Click on this link for something VERY inspirational...it's a video that you will love! Once you reach the other website, press play on the video then sit back and enjoy!

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

Natalie's First Experience w/Cheerleading

2008-03-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

She is so excited to be a part of this (as every little girl is!). I remember wanting to do this when I was little and now my own child is ecstatic to be a part of a cheer team. Being the athlete that I am (or used to be!), I am not as excited for her as I should be. Luckily, one of her best friends is on the team so she is able to get her fill with her and therefore I have someone to visit with during the practices.

She already has her first competition in 2 weeks (if we can find some extra moolah lying around to pay for the cute little outfit and pom poms that she will need to wear). We'll see...

Any how, here is a cute video of her doing one of the routines that the team will perform at the competition on the 30th.

Wicked - Pantages Theatre

2008-03-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

For Valentine's Day Mike surprised me with tickets to see Wicked in Los Angeles and also had flowers delivered to me at work. I am just realizing I didn't post about that - and I completely should have! He was SO sweet to be thinking of me and it was SO unexpected which made it even more wonderful. Here is how me surprises went:

Mike and I work together, so he called my extension and asked that I get his pages from the printer for him because he was in the middle of something and since I sit right near the printer he figured I could help him out. I said "okay" without hesitation, but thought to myself - "what a freakin' lazy butt! He can't just walk the 15 feet to the printer himself...it won't make that much of a difference in whatever he is doing!" But, like I said I didn't tell him this, I just thought it while I stood up to get his printout. Well, I notice that the printout has TICKETMASTER written boldly across the top and my nosy eyes couldn't help but wander further since he wouldn't be printing something from Ticketmaster for work. And then I realize that I was holding tickets to go see Wicked in March!!! What a wonderful surprise!!!

For my next surprise, I get up to walk to the lunch room to grab a drink of water and on my way back I hear someone at the front desk and the receptionist is not there. So I walk over to help the delivery guy. I playfully say "Oh, another person is getting flowers, I am married - it won't be for me! :)" and then I look at the delivery note...and it was for me! I had to quickly back track and tell the guy what a surprise it was and how lucky I am because I was feeling extremely appreciated by that point.

Any how, that is how my Valentine's day went and that is how I got to go see "Wicked" last night! It was an amazing show! We picked up the soundtrack beforehand so we could be familiar with the songs and I think that was a smart move. We hadn't listened to it much before we went and I think that it was just enough that we recognized the songs, but not too much that we were singing along with the performance - just perfect! The actor's did an incredible job and really seemed to be having a fun time which in turn helped us to have a fun time. I can now see why a few of you have been telling me that we need to go see it for a while now. I can also see why you say that we need to see it again because I am already dreaming of the day that I will go see it again. I wonder how long this will be on Broadway...maybe the next time I see it will be in New York...on Broadway! That is one of those places I have never been and is on my bucket list and I hope to see it sooner that later!!

For those of you who have not seen it, what are you waiting for!? It's not gonna be around for ever!

To Mike, Thank you honey for taking me and for making me feel so special!!! I love you!

Oakland A's Baseball (Cameron's Opening Day)

2008-03-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Cameron is the 3rd player from the left

(he's slouched over and he's still taller than everyone!)

So, I have already posted about Natalie's opening day ceremonies and now I will post about Cameron's opening ceremonies. They start the day by parading around the field in their uniforms (giving the parents one last chance to see the uniforms clean!). Then, they thank the sponsors, talk a bit too much and then finish up that portion. We then move over to another field where they have a cake auction as a fundraiser for the league. Each team creates a cake that will be auctioned off for purchase by other teams (actually, each team Mom creates the cake). This year my friend Kristy and I are the team mom's and we banded together to create our cake. Instead of buying the traditional Costco cake and covering it with candy, we hit up one of Kristy's friends to make a cake because she is a professional cake decorator. It was amazing. We then surrounded the cake with candy to make it appealing to the other teams. Here is what ours looked like:

Isn't that AMAZING?

Each of the parents chip in to cover the cost of the cake we are preparing for auction and also the amount that we will bid on someone else's cake. This year we purchased a cake for $200 and our cake went for around $200 (no one is quite sure the exact amount). I know, the prices are a bit extreme, but like I said - it is mainly a fundraiser so everyone takes it to the max to support our precious little league.

Here is the team at the park nearby enjoying our cake and the millions of candy toppings.

Anyhow, I am excited for another season of baseball. I just absolutely LOVE watching Cameron play sports and this one tops them all. He is just so focused and gives 110 % every game or practice and it just makes me so proud as a parent to watch him. It doesn't hurt that he's so dang good - which only makes it that much more fun. If anyone can make time to come out and watch him play you won't be sorry because one day you might be able to say that you've been watching him play since the days you could watch him for free in little league (or at least he hopes that you can say that). He really hopes to be a major league baseball player, but I have told him that most people don't make it that big. Therefore I have been brain washing him to become a dentist because of the flexible schedule and decent cash flow...(thanks for the example CHAR - LESS!).

I LOVE San Diego...

2008-02-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

Can life get any better than this? I am currently sitting in front of my home in a lawn chair, watching Cameron and two of his friends running around in the front yard. Scratch that four friends now (two additional friends JUST pulled up!). What is so great you say? All of the friends running around crazy tearing apart my home? No! The fact that I live in a place so beautiful and safe where we want to be outside running around. Plus, the weather is typically pleasant where we can do that year round.

I am grateful for the time and place where I was born and I am even more grateful to be able to share this same wonder with my family. Oh! And it's not too shabby to have such great technology where I can be outside sending messages through cyberspace to my family and friends.

God Bless The USA!

Natalie's Playing Softball - It's so cute!

2008-02-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

We signed Natalie up for softball and so far she is just loving it! They had opening ceremonies 2 weeks ago and you almost couldn't tell they were in their softball uniforms because they were wearing so many accessories (see the pictures below!). Her team name is the Heart Breakers and they won the banner contest (Thanks to Jen Basso!) and therefore won a pizza party for the team. I think we will have a fun season - especially since we already had four friends on the team when we started. At the very least, I will have fun visiting with all of her friends Mom's!! :)

The Heart Breakers!

Natalie, Taylor & Sophie

Natalie & Kiara

Even in uniform - still a DIVA!

Natalie at the batting cages - SHE ROCKED!

Here are a few pictures from her first game. Let me just say first and foremost, it was a very SLOW game with not much action. The girls are definitely beginners so the pace was almost unbearable. Hence the photo below...

She had to find some way to entertain herself...so she put her glove on her head!! It was hilarious! Not just because she put her glove on her head, but because the ball finally came to her as she did it. But does she take her glove off and put it back on her hand? No! She puts her hand on her glove on her head and runs to get the ball!!! It was adorable!

You probably can't tell but that is Natalie behind all of that catchers gear!

One VERY Rainy Night...

2008-02-18T21:37:00.000-08:00

TWO BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS!!!

I was walking Cameron out to the bus stop when I noticed this rainbow. It was AMAZING. Then, I looked above it and there was another rainbow right on top of it! Even more amazing!!! I had to run and grab my camera and chance missing the bus because this site was just too incredible not to photograph. It seems that everyone in Vista saw the rainbow that day - it was SO VIBRANT that no one missed it! Oh, except my sleeping husband!! :)

Edit to add: I guess I was wrong, even Mike saw the rainbow that day! I didn't know that he crawled out of bed that early! :)

I LOVE YOU HONEY!!!

Garth Brooks Baby!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

For any of you who know me, you know I LOVE Garth! That is the one concert I have ALWAYS wanted to see because I had heard he was such an incredible performer. In fact, I actually told Mike when we were just friends - before we even started dating - that I would marry any man that took me to a Garth Brooks concert. Well, I married him anyway (even though he didn't take me to the concert first!). I guess he's forgiven for not taking me before we got married since Garth went into semi-retirement to raise his girls! The only reason we Southern Californians got him out here to perform was because of the awful wildfires we had to suffer through in October. He did the concert as a fundraiser to support the Wildfire relief (which we so desperately need!). all of the money that was made went directly to relief efforts. Even the Staples Center was donated free to the cause.

Well, seven and a half years later...he took me to Garth!!!!!!!!!! Let me tell you, I was excited! We went with another couple who were dying to see Garth. Luckily for us we tag teamed with them to purchase the tickets because the 5 concerts sold out in less than an hour and we were unable to get any! Trust me, we tried but just didn't get lucky! But thanks to Mike & Angela sitting on their computers also, I was able to see Garth in concert and he was just as amazing as I had heard!!! My hubby Mike even said that it was incredible and he doesn't even like country!! I loved every minute of the concert and hope to see him 10 more times before I kick the bucket (yes, he was that good!). He just looked like he was having SO much fun and so was the ENTIRE crowd!!

Did You Miss Me?

2008-02-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

Alright, I know it's been over a month but I just wasn't motivated to get up and write in my blog. Even though I have had some pretty fun things going on, I hadn't gotten my lazy but up and around to getting those silly pictures off of the camera!! :) I am going to go ahead and post each story as if they have just happened in their own separate blog. Enjoy!!

Snow Fun!

2008-01-15T21:18:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Islands planning a fun snow party yesterday we took the kids up to Big Bear and did a little snowboarding (& Mike skiied!). It was Cameron's second time and he got right back up like it was nothing. Natalie was a first timer and she too did great! We also had our friends Charles and Taylor Basso with us which only added to the fun that we were having. The children started the day in lessons which helped them learn the basic skills and help build their confidence. By the end of the day we we taking all of the kids up on different ski lifts and they loved it (both the lifts and the snowboarding!). I hope that we are able to take them up again at least one more time this year so they can build on the skills that they have just started to build.

Here are a few pictures of the fun that we had!

Mike

Charles

Me!

Oh...did I forget to mention Ashley? She stayed home with our Nanny Ashley who watches our children. She says that Ash was just perfect as always. Boy do I love that sweet little girl!

Islands Snowfest 2008

2008-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

My goodness is he a talented little boy! Here is a short clip of Cameron kicking butt snowboarding yesterday.

More Snowboarding!

2008-01-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Check out my little studdette! She rocked!

Snowboarding Natalie...

Natalie vs. Ashley

2008-01-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

Because of a post by my cousin Lisa (thanks!), I have been inspired to write this post about my two girls. Don't you think they look alike!?

Natalie is on the left - Ashley is on the right (approx. 12 months for the first 2 sets of pictures).

Ashley 18 months

Natalie 18 months

Family Trip to Florida

2008-01-03T20:09:00.000-08:00

Me with one of my lil' cuties!

We left for the airport on Christmas day to take a red-eye from Long Beach to Ft. Lauderdale arriving in Florida at 5:00am (2:00 am West Coast time). Let me quickly remind you that I have three children that we are lugging around the airport with all of our belongings! Yikes! Luckily for me my children are great. I truly feel blessed during times like these when we are traveling and on the go-go-go and they are so laid back and go along with whatever we have planned with sleep or not. Poor Ashley normally takes about 3-4 hours worth of naps daily and was going with little to none during our trip and she did just fine. Like I said, blessed and I know it!

We spent our first night in Florida with Mike's Dad and celebrated Christmas for the 4th time. He surprised the family with a Nintendo Wii and Cameron went balistic! He knew that his Grandpa would spoil him. He just knew it! Angie (Step-MIL) made a DELICIOUS meal and even more DELICIOUS desserts to help us celebrate the holidays together as a family. She made so many different types of pies I couldn't believe it. It's not that I couldn't believe that she made that many (although that is impressive!), but they were scrumptious! It must have been the southern raising that helped with that cookin', there is probably not much more to do in Kentucky than learn how to cook! :)

The next leg of our trip we spent time with Mike's Uncle Tom, Aunt Tori, Grandpa & his new bride, Sally. They too continued to spoil us with delicious home cooked meals. I have to believe that Sally learned to cook so well fixing meals for that large family of hers. We had so much fun spending a few days with them! Mike was even able to go golfing with his Grandpa and Uncle Tom. He says he golfed poorly but is grateful for that memory that he was able to make. He will always remember that afternoon he shared with those two GREAT men! While visiting with Grandpa and Sally, they even took us to a local strawberry farm to share the MOST delicious strawberrt shortcake. I made sure we went there TWICE before we left!! (if you can't already tell, I LOVE DESSERT!) It was SO great to be able to spend so much one on one time with them. Thank you for your hospitality!!

We left from Grandpa's home to Disneyworld!! Sally insisted on making us a HUGE breakfast before we left (pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit & juice, yummy!). She was willing to get up as early as we wanted to make it for us too. We originally planned on leaving by 6:30 am and she was honestly happy to prepare it for us. We ended up changing our minds and left the house around 10:15 am to allow our kids to have a good nights rest before our eventful day. The kids LOVED Disneyworld! It has been at least 3 years since we last visited Disneyland and for them being so young it was almost like their first time again! They were so excited and had a blast. Both Cameron & Natalie surprised us and tried a couple of roller coasters and they seemed to enjoy them. They both went on the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Road while Natalie also tried Splash Mountain (her fav!). Our two big kids absolutely loved seeing the characters and getting their autographs although Ashley didn't want anything to do with any of them - not even the princesses! We ended up staying past the time that the park closed and finally made it to the car about 1:30 AM! The kids all crashed before we hit the highway! It was a GREAT day! I am so glad we were able to do that.

For the last few days of our trip we went back to Steve & Angie's place to enjoy time with them. We relaxed, ate more great food (anyone else noticing a pattern!?), watched a movie, visited downtown Ft. Lauderdale, Wannado City and rang in the New Year. What fun we had!

***The next few pictures should give you an idea of how we spent time together at Grandpa & Grammy Angie's in Ft. Lauderdale!

Thank you to everyone that housed me and my family during our vacation, we appreciate your kindness during our trip. I hope that we can visit again soon!

PHEW! (wipe forehead!) What a month!

2008-01-02T23:43:00.000-08:00

I guess it is more like the last couple of weeks that have been crazy, but BOY have they been crazy! Between getting ready for Christmas, 2 birthdays, New Years and a vacation I haven't had much time to blog. This could get very long and boring so I will keep it short and give you a quick rundown.

First, Happy 7th Birthday to Cameron (Dec. 19th).

Second, Happy 28th Birthday to Me!! (Dec. 21st).

Third, Cameron's All-Star Soccer Tournament

Fourth, Merry Christmas to all!

Fifth, Family vacation to Florida to visit the Repetti side of the family

(we had a blast and I will post more about that tomorrow!)

Sixth, Happy New Year!

Seventh, and lastly...Family pictures with the Driggs' in the park on New Years.

Here are a handful of pictures to accompany the latest and greatest

Repetti happenings. More blogs to follow in the next few days.

AU REVOIR!

Driggs Family Women

Fong Family

Marcroft Family

Driggs Family

Mom & Dad

The Entire Driggs Clan!

Driggs Family Men!

Cameron Christmas Morning

Mom & Ashley Christmas Morning

Christmas in Florida w/Grandpa & Grammy

Disneyworld!!!

Downtown Ft. Lauderdale

Cameron stopping the ball!

Viewing Christmas Lights w/Friends

Sitting in Santa's Sleigh

Christmas w/the Repetti's

Natalie Christmas Morning!

Cameron & Natalie Ride a Motorcycle!

2007-12-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot! One of our friends from work stopped by yesterday to show off his new motorcycle and he took the kids and our exchange student, Ayumi, for a ride around the block. Here are some pictures of them outside of our house:

Islands Annual Christmas Party

2007-12-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was supposed to be filled with running from one thing to another and then it rained! It's kind of bitter sweet that it rained because we were looking forward to Cameron's soccer tournament but we are happy that we were able to relax and get a bunch done without the hassle of running around this weekend.

Sunday night was the annual Islands Christmas party at the Farms Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe (or was it Del Mar?). This is always a great time for the family. They had face/hand painting and Cameron came home all decked out in "tattoos" - of course Natalie had a couple to show off but she was barely touched compared to Cameron. They also had someone making as many balloon animals/swords as you could dream of and a craft table where they could create snowmen or whatever kind of Christmas decoration they wanted. The kids love the Christmas party and of course we the parents do as well. Of course everyone's favorite part of the night is Santa!! Santa comes at the end of the night after flying straight there from the North Pole. He brings a present for each child (provided by the parents) and gives each child a minute to sit in his lap and tell him what they'd like for Christmas. Natalie's gift was tinkerbell makeup and Cameron got a brightly colored gun. Poor Ashley just about had a heart attack when I placed her in his lap - no time for a picture darn it! At the end of the night Santa walks around and hands out candy canes to the children and Ashley let him say hi at that point. He handed her a candy cane and from there it was all over. For those of you who know Ashley well, you know that if you give her food you are now friends for life! My girls can eat! All in all it was a good night. Being together with my family and friends is always a great combination.

Oh My Goodness! Natalie is a DIVA!

2007-11-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here is Natalie and her friend Zoe all dressed up with nowhere to go (luckily!). This was at Zoe's house while they were having a playdate. Thanks for the pictures Amy!!

Sorry, Long Time No Post!

2007-11-27T13:11:00.000-08:00

I can happily say that we have had a slow week and therefore nothing fun to write about! I didn't want to write and bore all of my loyal readers with the everyday chatter. :)

Here's the rundown since my last post:

**Saturday 11/17 Cameron had his first all-star soccer tournament. Knowing Cameron, it will definitely not be our last - especially because he already made another team (I'll explain in a bit)!! He played goalie for the first 3 0f 4 games and he did AWESOME. He was so focused and ready for the ball. The last game the coach felt bad for Cameron and let him out of the goal only to have the other team kick our butts, but Cameron had fun being able to play offense. He walked off the field literally dripping with sweat after playing the whole game without being subbed. I asked him if he poured his water bottle on his head because he was so wet and he looked at me confused and wondering why I would ask him that. :) Long story short, he did great!

**Sidenote: I am so proud of my boy for giving his all at EVERY practice and EVERY game. He truly enjoys playing sports and gives 110% always. His baseball coach told me that he truly enjoys coaching Cam because he listens to the him and does exactly what he asks when he asks, he is a good sport and is humble (I know, I was shocked too), he is eager and excited to play - and he is just so darn good. The coach said that Cameron is definitely in his own league (sorry, having a bragging moment). Only two more seasons of Single A before he can move up to an older division.

**Mon 11/19 & Tues 11/20

I had nothing to do and I loved it! Well, let me change that. I had nothing to do after work and I loved it. Mondays are my crazy busy day, and the kids were home while I worked so it started out wild and crazy but ended on a calm note with no practice, no meetings and no second job! Whew!

**Wednesday 11/21 - Islands had their annual Thanksgiving Buffet at the Four Seasons and we therefore got out of work early! I had to work for all of 2.5 hours today and get paid for 8 hours. I know, hard life I have. :) After work I did my visiting teaching and then hurried home to go out shopping with my family. Mike openly said that he had the itch to spend so we all went and spent moolah with him. Luckily for us it is the time of year to buy things for those we love and so we spent wisely on Christmas gifts.

**Thursday 11/22 - Mike and Cameron got up and went over to the Ward Turkey Bowl and had fun. Cameron scored two touchdowns and Mike sprained his ankle. Sounds like Cameron had more fun than Mike. After that we hurried north to the Repetti family Thanksgiving with Mike's Mom. She made a delicious dinner. Shortly after that we rushed to my brother Mike's home to enjoy dessert and family time with the Driggs side of the family. We spent the night at my parents house so we could get up early and black friday shop. It was a great family day.

**Friday 11/23 & Sat. 11/24 - Changed our minds about black friday shopping and my mom woke up with the kids and let us sleep in (thanks Mom!!!). I woke up at 9:30 am without any interruptions - it was amazing! We played around my mom's for a couple of hours and then went to our favorite mexican restaurant before heading home. When we got home we quickly unloaded the van from the last days fun and quickly loaded it again with all of our belongings to go camping that night in Mission Bay with Mike's mom. We got there late and it was dark already, but it was still fun. On Saturday we hung arund the campground swimming, building sandcastles, and playing in the park. Cameron also got to play flag football again. He caught a couple of great passes and seemed to have fun.

**Sunday 11/25 - Another relaxing day in the Repetti household. We had church in the morning with Natalie giving the scripture in Primary and then came home to clean up the house a bit. I know I said it was relaxing, but to be able to clean the house without having to run somewhere right after was great. We had some of our close friends over for dinner (The Blair's) and decorated Christmas cookies with the kids afterwards.

**Monday 11/26 The kids went back to school today and both Mike and I had to work. After school Natalie had a playdate with her friend Taylor Basso and they just acted silly like girls do. Later into the evening we were back to the normal practice kind of night. Cameron made the all-star team, again. They picked another group of all-stars out of the previous all-star teams. This team will participate in a 2-day tournament in San Diego in a few weeks. Cameron was shocked to hear he made another team but like I said earlier, he rocks and the coached notice the effort he gives!

Okay, I know I totally rambled but that was a major catch up! Love you all! I hope you had a great thanksgiving!

Our Little Busy Body!

2007-11-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

So, I was doing the dishes and therefore unable to watch Ashley super close and this is what I came back to find: One super happy little girl, sitting on the table and devouring a bag of sweet corn bread that I planned on eating later today!! And then...shortly after this I was making pancakes for breakfast and I had just given some to Cameron & Natalie when the kids start dying of laughter. I look over and guess who is up on the kitchen table again, fork in hand and trying to fork the plate of pancakes that I had sitting there! She's lucky she's so darn cute!!! :) Looks like it's time to teach her about table manners...

Natalie's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Show

2007-11-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

Today was Mr. Kohn's annual Thanksgiving Show & Feast for his Kindergarten class. Once again, the kids did great. They acted out their own rendition of

the Pilgrim's sailing to America on the Mayflower. Natalie was a Pilgrim and looked adorable in her little costume that her teacher made. At the end of the show the Pilgrim's and the Indians had a feast together comprised of juice boxes, turkey sandwiches and pumkin pies. The kids loved it!

***The picture on the top is Natalie at her feast, and the bottom picture is of the kids sailing to America! Way to go Pilgrim's!!***

2007-11-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been almost a week since I posted last and boy, they've been busy days! Let me first get this out of the way...look at this great picture of one of my cutie pies! Ashley Elizabeth, 17 months old.

Okay, one more cutie pie to get out of the way! Natalie Jane, 5 years old and hamming it up for the camera.

Mike & I went to see 'Maroon 5' in concert on Friday night and had a blast. It was fun to get out and be "young" again. The concert was in San Diego at the Cox Arena and we had floor seats - they were in the VERY back, but they were floor seats. It was really fun to sing and dance with my hubby who truly seemed to be enjoying himself! We of course forgot our camera and tried taking a couple of pictures with our camera phones but none turned out good enough for me to post them so you'll just have to trust me that it was a great concert! Happy Birthday honey!

Before we knew it, Saturday began. That means a day filled with sports and not enough time to relax - but I LOVE it! First thing Saturday Cameron had a soccer scrimmage. His coach set it up last minute against one of the other all-star teams we will be playing this weekend in the tournament. Well, we get there expecting to play one team and then have time to go home and relax a few before baseball, but no! There were two other teams there having practice and so we scrimmaged them too! Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of it, but after it was over we had to run home and eat a quick lunch and start getting ready for the next event I was tired.

I will try to stop going in to such detail with every minor thing that goes on, but I just can't help it. Next we had a baseball game, a end of the year soccer party that we left the game and went directly to and then we left that party to go to our end of the year baseball party at Oggi's Pizza. By the time I got home it was close to 6:00 pm.

Oh yeah, and then when I get home, my husband is planning for us to sneak away and go to Vegas this weekend since it's Veteran's day. Ahh! So we quickly pack and hit the road about 7:00 pm to head towards Vegas! I wasn't very excited to go at that point, but we did end up having fun while staying at Mike's sisters house (thanks Kim!). So we get to Vegas just before midnight (I think) and visit for a few before heading to bed. Check out the pictures below from Vegas.

Long story short, we have fun in Vegas but get back late, LATE on Monday about 3:30 in the morning on Tuesday and we both went into work later that morning (like 8ish). Let's just say I was a little bit tired.

So now we are back from Vegas and right back in to the swing of things. Oh! I totally forgot to mention that Ashley was sick while in Vegas. My poor baby had her first stomach bug while we were there and couldn't keep any food down. Lucky for us, Mike's sister is very kind and didn't make us feel bad at all for having a sick child vomitting all over her home (don't worry, I tried to keep her on the tile). :)

Check out this awesome park near Mike's sister's house in Vegas! The slides are HUGE. It was definitely not your everyday park!

Here are the kids w/Kim & Jon digging for dinosaur bones. Like I said, AWESOME park!

Here the kids are still digging for bones, but this just shows the size of the digging area. In the picture, we are basically standing near the T-Rex's ribcage.

If you are ever in Vegas, you need to check out this park. It had the biggest slides, HUGE sand box where the kids looked for fossils and you could even stand inside a dinosaur skull.

Natalie's Kindergarten Farm Show

2007-11-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

What a great show they had today! Natalie knew all of her parts and sang every song LOUD & PROUD (I knew she would!). She had two roles, the first she was one of the three little pigs - the pig that built her house of sticks. For her second role she was a cow who was chicken little's friend and they saw the sky fall. Like I said, she did great and so did the rest of the class.

We have been blessed to have such a wonderful teacher who creates monthly programs where he showcases what the children have been learning.

Here is Natalie doing the "Chicken Dance."

One More Thing!

2007-11-08T22:34:00.001-08:00

Having this blog is so much fun! I love that I am able to share with all of you a glimpse into our lives!

Tomorrow, Natalie has her 2nd program at school - which is the farm animal show. Her teacher using a theme each month to teach them about the animals, colors, insects and whatever else he needs to. He incorporates everything they do into a monthly program where he is able to show the parents everything they have learned. Within these shows he teaches them to be confident in front of an audience, he teaches them songs and rhyming and just gives us the parents a chance to catch a bunch of pictures of our children enjoying Kindergarten!!

As you can tell I am looking forward to the show and I will post pictures of Natalie tomorrow- but for now I thought I would put a few of Cameron's farm animal show up from last year.

~~Cameron is the tall pig in the middle!

Only 3 More Practices to go!

2007-11-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

Another day has come and gone and all I can remember about today is that I rushed home from work to begin the shuttling of children from baseball to soccer. They were both good practices tonight with Cameron being very focused and playing well. He had a GREAT throw in baseball that was strong and perfect all the way from first base to third. He was grounding and throwing the ball absolutely perfect tonight! Then we went to Cameron's soccer practice and he was on fire there too! I absolutely LOVE watching him in any sport that he plays. He is so focused and driven when on the field/court. He listens to everything the coach tells him and gives his all EVERY practice. His soccer team had a scrimmage tonight and Cameron was goalie - let me tell you that he was not about to let any balls past him. When the ball was on the other side of the field Cameron was making sure that he was standing perfectly in the middle of the goal, and when the ball came near him he stopped it every time. He even had a diving catch to stop one of the goals!

As you can see I am very proud of my little athlete (I'm just like my Dad, I know). :) But even with me enjoying it as much as I do, I am still ready for a break in the seasons - to have the kids in bed on time and maybe even bathed before bed!! It will be a bitter sweet day when it's over.

Okay, I know I ramble but one more story!

Today, when I got home from work Ashley (the babysitter) had just taken the kids to the park and was getting them ready to go for me when Natalie tells me how soft her hands are. I ask her "why?" and she tells me because they were just at the park and she played in the sand a bunch and was rubbing the sand into her hands. Talk about an exfoliant!!

Another day in Paradise...

2007-11-05T22:07:00.000-08:00

Another day has come and gone and we all survived! There wasn't anything too abnormal about today, besides Mike having to go to Manhattan Beach (again!) for work. He will be back on Wednesday so I will be all alone taking care of our wild children until then.

The day started with the children going off to school and Natalie tripping and falling INTO the mud (shocking, I know). I mean, how the heck did Natalie find a mud pile in the middle of California? Aren't we in the middle of a drought and she is STILL able to fall into the only wet spot in California? Where was that wet mud pile two weeks ago when we needed it? For those of you who don't know Natalie very well just know that her tripping and falling is a VERY regular occurence. I swear that girl has two left feet, but of course they are pretty and painted left feet!

After Natalie stood up from the mud madness I realized she was too covered to wear the clothes she had on to school. I then had to try and explain to this diva that she could no longer wear the outfit that she had so carefully picked out for today. I did promise her that I will have the skirt cleaned and ready for her to wear tomorrow (that reminds me, I need to go get on that!).

After dropping Natalie off to school I was finally able to get back to work. I am lucky enough to work from home on Monday's and Friday's so today was one of those blessed days. It was just me, Ashley and my laptop until the kids get home from school. Ashley is at this very sweet age right now and just amazing me daily with her intelligence. She watches her big brother and sister very carefully and tries to be like them ALWAYS. She thinks she is just as big as they are - which we don't tell her she's not (of course!), we don't want to break her wonderful spirit.

Mike came home from work around 1:00 today to pack for his trip to Manhattan Beach and quickly started a load of dishes for me before he left (what a great man!). In the meantime, Ashley has filled her diaper and I ask her to go grab me a diaper so I can change her. Well, she grabs and diaper (& wipes) and takes them in to the other room. A few minutes later I finally get up to find out what happened to my stinky child. I walk into the other room, which happens to be the kitchen where Mike is doing the dishes and Ashley is just playing with the magnets on the fridge. I ask her what she did with the diaper and she looks over towards Mike and I realize that she had taken the new diaper and put it at his feet! That girl LOVES her daddy, which means for Mike that she wants him to change every diaper!! Luckily for him, she just sits herself down and then lays down without us asking her to do so, and gives him the diaper and makes it as easy as possible. Her eagerness to change her diaper leads me to believe that she will want to potty train soon because she must not like the feeling of a messy diaper.

So because of the prior event, I got down the old potty tonight and put it on the toilet. She thought it was just the coolest thing ever! She quickly tugged on her clothing as if she knew how to take them off. I helped her out of her diaper and put her onto the toilet where we just sat, and sat, and sat, and SAT! She thought it was fun, but didn't quite know how or what to do. She did know that we use toilet paper when we sit on the toilet and she continually grabbed TP and wiped herself. She would take the smallest torn pieces and wipe and drop it in, then grab another - over and over again. We sat there at least 15 minutes tearing small pieces off and dropping them into the toilet. She thought it was so much fun and even cried when I took her off! Oh, did I forget to mention that Natalie sat there with us the whole time so excited to see her sissy up there being so big. She only left the bathroom long enough to run into the next room and tell Cameron that she was doing it, actually using the restroom and they'd both come running back to find her still playing with the toilet paper. After the first 3 or 4 times he no longer listened to Natalie crying wolf. Though that doesn't mean she stopped trying to trick him. :)

So, now that you have all had enough potty talk to fill your year I am signing off for tonight. I hope you are enjoying this glimpse into our lives. Love you all!

Pictures! 11/05/07

2007-11-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

Cameron & Natalie July 4th - 2006

Halloween 2003 - Remember how sweet the kids were? :)

Natalie's End of the Year Soccer Party 10-29-07

Natalie is in the orange shirt and tan boots on the right!

Ashley's first birthday!

Our little stud, Cameron!!

Do you see the ball flying through the air?

Our surfer girl - Ashley, 12 months!

Alright, because a few of you have been harassing me about me not putting pictures up I have decided to stop in the middle of my busy day and put some pictures up!! Hmm...looks like I have my priorities mixed up a bit.

Anyway, here are some photos! I don't have time to discuss them at the moment, but check back and I will put up Halloween pictures soon, as well as sporting event photos!

Love you all!

Edit to add: Yes, some of the photos are a bit older, but they are some of my favs!!

My NEW Blog!

2007-11-04T23:42:00.000-08:00

Hello to all of my loved ones. I have decided to start a blog where I can keep a journal of the daily (or monthly) happenings in the Repetti household. Please check back regularly to see what we've been up to!

Rather than try to start from the very beginning of our lives together as Repetti's, I will just give a BRIEF recap and begin my journaling.

Mike and I were married on July 22, 2000 in Cerritos, California. We said our vows in front of our family and friends in the cultural hall of the church that I grew up in. Shortly after saying "I do," Cameron Michael came into our lives on December 19, 2000. He weighed in at just 8 lbs. 4 oz., and 22 inches. Twenty-two months later Natalie Jane joined our family weighing in at just 8 lbs. 2 oz., and 20 1/2 inches. Finally, 3 1/2 years later Ashley Elizabeth joined our family. She tipped the scales at 9 lbs. 2 oz., and 21 inches long.

Okay, with that out of the way I will begin my rambling! I hope you are all ready for this!

The past couple of weeks have been a roller coaster. We live in San Diego and survived "Fire Storm 2007". The fires were basically surrounding us and somehow the amazing firefighters stopped them before they got to our home and the homes of our friends. The closest fires were the "Witch Creek" & "Rice" fires. The Witch Creek fire was only about 6 miles or so from our home. Many, MANY of our friends were evacuated from their homes because of this blaze including one of my closest friends, Teri Beaudoin and her family whose home lay right in the path of the fire and somehow came out untouched. Their angels were watching over them during that time. Teri invited me over just a week after the fires began to let our children play and to take me on a tour of her ravished neighborhood. It was heartbreaking to see the devastation throughout her neighborhood. While driving through the streets you just see her beautiful landscaped and perfectly manicured neighborhood and then destoyed home after destoyed home. Their was definitely no rhyme or reason to the path of the fire, it jumped from one house to the next and many times skipped a house or two or ten in the process. You would see a few destoyed homes and then one standing unharmed amidst them. Then, you would see a few more burnt down and then ten more unharmed. On some cul-de-sacs you would see all but one home destroyed, and on another cul-de-sac you would see only one home destoyed while the rest stood untouched. The hill you pass on the way into Teri's neighborhood had been ablaze and somehow the homes at the bottom of the hill were fine. For some reason this completely amazes me that these homes were fine, and then you would go down the street to homes that are not right next to the hill and those homes are completely gone. My heart goes out to those affected by the awful fires.

We too were affected by those fires, but in much more subtle ways. Our lives will go on, just as before - but with just a bit of an ache in our hearts for those families. The kids were out of school for six days because of the fire scare and the poor air quality even after they contained the fires. Both Mike and I were going crazy with the kids cooped up inside all week unable to go outside to play.

We had many of things scheduled that week that were rescheduled until further notice including two end of the year soccer parties, baseball practice & a baseball game. The kids were bummed that we weren't able to go to these events but gave me the perfect opportunity to remind my children just how blessed we are in times like these.

Now, two weeks since the fires first began we are basically back to normal. We had our regularly scheduled baseball game this weekend, one of our soccer parties and everything else that would typically fill the days of the week in the Repetti household.

Well, I hope that I haven't bored you all by going on and on about the fires but I thought that since it consumed our every waking hour for a week it would be okay to discuss. Please mark this blog as one of your favorites and check back often to get the latest scoop on the family.

Here's to many more ramblings!!

Love you all!

-Carolyn