Hidden Falls Trail

We had an open Saturday in early June and decided to take the kids up to a local hiking trail called Hidden Falls. Mark had the brilliant idea of biking in with our bikes and then ditching the bikes to walk the rest of the trail to the falls. Let's just say we should have just walked the whole thing and enjoyed the beautiful hike that it was!! It was a little too difficult to ride bikes on for inexperienced mountain bikers and most of the way in was downhill, which means that the whole way out was uphill...with our bikes for a good mile and a half...with four kids and a bike trailer. It was a beautiful trail and the water and falls were super fun to play in while it lasted and while we ate our picnic lunch.(see all the pics below!)... Little did I know the walk back out with our bikes would be so painful and the whining and tears came flowing from just about every one of our kids! AHH!!! We will be sure to just walk it next time!

Miami Getaway!

At the end of April (our anniversary weekend to be exact) Mark accepted a job position as a VP for a sales marketing company called 4 Results Marketing. He is one of 8 vice presidents who all recruit and train their own markets and build the company together. They have sales teams that do door to door sales for different markets. This was right up Mark's ally and we both felt like this was an answer to many prayers and a huge relief of business struggles in the past. He can still do what he loves to do but not have the burden and stress of owning and building his own business. And the more we learned and found out about this company the more we got excited for the future. It has been so awesome for Mark to work with such incredible and amazing people as it has just pushed him to work harder and be better at what he does!

Well, so to kick start things with the company they held a VP weekend for all the VP's and their wives in Miami, Florida at the end of May. We were more than excited and couldn't wait for a real little getaway without the kiddos! And to make it even better it was all inclusive and we didn't have to pay a dime the whole four days and three nights we were away! Hallejuia!  While Mark was in meetings and golfing with the guys, I was being pampered at the Spa with the ladies! It was so fun! I spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach and by the pool, eating yummy food, drinking all the diet coke I wanted, and sokaing up plenty of sun and definitely enjoyed the life of luxury for a few days!! How blessed we were to get to experience these things!  It was so nice to meet and get to know the owners of the company and to meet all the other VP's and their wives. They were all so kind and fun and it truly was an enjoyable weekend with great people!
A HUGE THANK YOU to my awesome Sis-in-law Sheila for bringing her four kids to our house to watch our four kids for two days until Grandma and Grandpa could come and help for the last two days and nights!!! It was so comforting to know our children were in such good hands and were havng a great time themselves!  

 

On our way! It pays to be nice to the flight attendants! Got bumped up to "Economy PLUS" for our second flight! The plane wasn't full and it was super nice to have a little extra leg room :)

 Our awesome suite with an amazing view.

 

My favorite spot :) ahh! 

 



 



 

4 RESULTS!! 

SO proud of my amazing hunky husband and how hard he works to provide for our family so that I am able to be home with our crazy kiddos!!! He is the BEST and does a great job balancing work and family!! Love you so much babe and I am so excited for the many great things to come!!!

Goodbye School year!

Zach had a 3rd grade Recorder concert at the end of the year Open House. It was so cute! He did a great job and earned the highest Gold belt loop for learning the recorder in his music class this year. Way to go Zach!

 Saying goodbye to our teachers...Kali loved being in Mrs. Valtatie's class for 2nd grade and she can't wait to see who she has for next year! We are so proud of Kali and how much she learned and progressed this last school year.  

Zach had a great time in Ms. Popp's 3rd grade class and we are so proud of all he learned and accomplished this year too! We are so grateful for amazing teachers that teach our sweet kids!  It is so fun to watch them learn and grow!

My first Half Marathon!!!

On May 4th I ran the American River Parkway Half Marathon. My very first half marathon and it was a whole lot of different mixed feelings!! I had my awesome friend Aubry running it with me and then a bunch of other awesome lady friends all running the race as well. It was a really fun experience and turned out to be a lot harder race than planned. It was a pretty warm day which affected many but I was able to still finish the race in barely under 2 hours which was my utlimate goal!! The first 5 or 6 miles felt great and I was cruising and then I started to have some hip pain in the front and side of my hip and it got worse and moved down into my IT band and side of my knee. I managed to just push through it and slowed my pace down a bit but still was able to finish with a 1:59:40 time!! I am so proud to have finished and to have accomlished something I've wanted to do for a long time! I never in my life thought I would be a runner or even enjoy running but I am now officially a "runner" and it feels SO good!!

 Me and my awesome friend Aubry. Love this girl!!

 Pre race jitters!!! EEK!!

 LET'S DO THIS!!!



AND DONE!!!

My little stud Zach...

 Just a few random pics of our little cub scout and his events the last couple months. Above was his decorated cake for the annual Cub Scouts blue and gold dinner. It was a game night theme so all the cakes were decorated like a board game. Super cute idea! And below is after the Pinewood Derby. Zach's didn't do so great but he was still happy to be there and see all the cars race. I love that Zach has such a great attitude and is there for the fun. He scored the "Green Hornet" Award. Haha!

 

 

And this was my date night at the Roller Skating rink with my little man Zach! Super fun! I just love this kid to pieces and I hope he still thinks I'm cool when he's older :)

 Of course he had to roller blade instead of skate. Blades are so much cooler.

12 years and counting...

April 27th was our 12 year anniversary and we were so lucky to have a little get away in Monterey thanks to G & G Stacy! I just love Monterey and the beautiful coastline of Nor Cal. Mark and I enjoyed some super yummy food at the Chart House restaraunt right on the water. The views were beautiful and we got to enjoy it even more the next morning on our 8 mile run along the coastline trails. It was so fun to spend the time with my HOT amazing and fun hubby and to have the time all to ourselves. We later took the 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach and got to enjoy a little of our Honeymoon town Carmel. I can't wait to have more time someday to come back and hit all the little shops and restaraunts that these places have. It was a quick trip but a much needed and enjoyable one. I love spending time with my best friend and hubby and I am so grateful for him everyday! Can't wait to spend eternity together!!

 

We came home to this adorable sign made by our sweet kids with a little help from Grandma! Love it!