The River

The girls and I went on an Adventure with our friends to the Colorado river over the weekend.

Brady was nice enough to take the kids for golf cart rides. (Zorin was a great driver!)

Zorin with his cousin Sadie in the background.

Look at Xavier's cheeks! It was HOT!!

Not even the heat can stop Jolie from having "non-stop fun!"

Teresa, Melissa and I, where is Cambria?

Ben took all the kids on rides on the wave runners. Xavier and Jolie's turn.

Lucy and Deacon's turn.

Lucy, Xavier, Deacon, Jackson, Sadie, and Grant.

Zorin, Lucy and Deacon think they can go alone.

Time on the boat. Again, Cambria is missing!

Lucy was freaking out when we jumped off the boat. Silly girl.

This girl loved everything: swimming, jumping, jet skiing, and tubing!

Beautiful baby Preslee was such a good sport!

Thanks Brady and Cambria! We had way too much fun!

Beach House

Capistrano was pretty cloudy and cold last week, but we still managed to have plenty of fun.

Camille, Lucy, Anthony, and Jolie

Despite Reese's face here, he did have fun!

Fire time. Lucky me!

David (the fire master), Chrissy and Grant, Camille and Lucy, Lauren, Emma, and Simone off to the side.

Aunt Camille is a favorite.

Clapping: one of Reese's favorite activities, and you better clap too!

Mmm, smores.

Silly Grant

Naomi

Thanks Grandma! These kids are still talking about all of the fun!

First Up: Colorado

We pretty much went swimming the whole time.

Reese spent most of his time throwing stuff in the pool. He loves that game.

Pops was such a good sport, I bet he slept for a week after we left. Those girls kept him busy!

Uncle Chase dropped by for a surprise visit!

We are so proud of him.

Lucy refused to participate in these pictures.

Too bad, cuz isn't this a cute one?

We had to drop in on this cute tea shop/boutique.

Waiting for their rootbeer floats.

Such a great vacation. No one wanted to leave but Reese!

Thanks Nana and Pops. Can't wait until next year when hopefully Dillon, Angella, Miles and Carter can join us!

On Vacation

Catch up with you soon.

Here It Is

There are basically 3 things I believe have finally helped me be successful in losing my baby weight. If your interested here they are.

1. Working out 5 days a week, rain or shine, waking up in the night with children, or not.

 This video has seriously kicked my butt. It is a full body workout with weights, abs, the whole deal. And the best part? It's 20 minutes! I know, right? Get it. I have seen it at Target for $8. No joke. It has 3 challenging levels and each is a great workout. I have done it way more than 30 days and have seen crazy amazing results. I have got a ton of muscle definition. Thank you Jillian.




2. I have cut my portion sizes in half. I eat whatever I want but I just eat half of what I would have usually eaten. If I am being honest, in the first several weeks I was a bit more strict than just that. I also gave up pretty much all desserts and eating after 7:00. And I was pretty hungry for quite a while. But now my body is used to fewer calories and is comfortable with the smaller portions. It has been the hardest part of my new lifestyle but probably the most educational. I have been training myself to listen to my body's cues and stop eating when I am actually full. And only eating when it is actual hunger and not boredom going on. I really feel great about this.


3. Support. Support from those I love. Landon has been so great about all of this. He never sabotages my efforts and is always great at celebrating with me when I reach a new milestone. He has never once in our marriage even hinted that I need to lose weight. He has always complimented me and made me feel beautiful. It is with that confidence that I have been able to accomplish my goals.
     My friends have also been really great. They never stop telling me how great I look and how proud they are of me. They are careful to not eat too much unhealthy foods in front of me. And they also have been doing 30-day shred! We are planning on starting a yoga class in a few weeks together.




This approach might not work for everyone. I know some people are gym goers, that is not my thing. If it is a huge effort to work out it is just not going to happen for me. And I know that weight watchers works great as well! But for me, too much weighing and counting is involved and I don't need to become any more obsessed with food than I am.


I am almost 30 pounds down now and feeling great! I am pretty proud!
 
 

Someone Is Going To Kindergarten!

Isn't she cute standing in line with all of her friends?

Miss Gina

Miss Laurie sending her out for her diploma.

She was so thrilled to have her family there for HER. It seems we are always going to Jolie's special occasions.

Getting ready to sing their song.

With her best bud Xavier.

This is what Landon and Reese did the whole night.

Her teachers adore her and cried when she hugged them goodbye!

A few shots of my beautiful mischevious boy.

I am so excited that it is finally summer around here. My favorite season by far. We have beach plans, swimming plans, Disneyland plans, Aquarium plans, and just plan having no schedule! Love it.

P.S. Stay tuned to hear how I finally did (and am continuing to do) the weight loss thing.