Memory Lane...A stroll through the past...Wow, where has the time gone??

Can you say 2012? I had completely forgotten about this old blog. I took a few minutes to look back at pictures, memories, and other friends' stories both past and present. I laughed, and cried. I left some friends, made some new ones, I lost my dad, Pete's grandmother, and someone that was special to my mom. I'm in a new house, the kids are in new schools, and my husband is leaving a job that has made us who we are today. We have made it to Tampa where in July we will have been here for a year. We will be here until probably June of next year and then it's time to find that dream job for my Arabic speaking, plane flying, book writing, Author/Marine Pilot and Expert in the MiddleEastern region husband who happens to have his second book coming out in January 2013.

I'm still doing the Stay at Home gig. It's hard work and I have often contemplated going back to the "real world" workforce. The only thing holding me back is my addiction to doing what I want, when I want to do it. I also think it's been good for me to be home for the kids. They are both on the high honor roll and have never had any tough issues with school. 

Lauren got off to a rough start by being tossed in to a class of established looped kids. (Looping means that these kids were all in the same class with the same teacher last year). So being the new girl she had to make her way in to "established girl groups." This was a huge learning experience for me. I will never do that again. Let me tell you, 4th grade girls can be really mean!!! She now has many friends. Two of her best girlfriends are neighbors and they get to spend lots of time together. She also has a great group of girls in her Girl Scout Troop that she spends good quality time with. She is on her 4th year of piano and recently had her first solo singing part in the annual 4th grade performance.

Riley took a year off from ice hockey. His focus this year was to practice more on his skateboard and play as much xBox with the California friends as humanly possible. His upgrade to the Turtle Beach headset was well worth every penny. His grades are outstanding and he's still strumming the guitar. He's had a couple girl type friends.

Snoopy turned 8 this year. He's still his happy self. His latest job around the house is squirrel security. The squirrels here are relentless and insane. They walk up the lanai, the house, and the bird feeder. All I have to do is call out "Security", he runs out, chases them away and is rewarded with some kind of special treat.

LaurenRdoe's MaunaLisa aka "Minnie" (the cat), really enjoys going outside in the lanai and hunting small frogs and lizards.

Dark Creepy Weather and....lots of rain.

This past weekend the kids and I traveled to Bates Nut Farm with my dear friend Joanne and her daughter Leia. She has this tradition of trying to find the largest pumpkin in the patch. Not really, but close. After a half hour of turning pumpkins and making sure that all sides were perfect, she got a pumpkin weighing in at a whopping 114 lbs. After we got it in to her Lexus, it was time for the Munson clan to find ours. Wow, I've never seen pumpkins this big. We found it!! Our prize winning Great Pumpkin. Ours weighed in a little over 100 lbs. AWESOME! Loaded it in the Lexus and had almost 220 lbs of pumpkins in the back!! Can you believe that? So now, the question...how the heck to carve this thing? I think I might have to buy some power tools. Here are some pics from our AWESOME day!!!

Summer 2010

It's been forever since I have taken the time to update this blog. I guess you can say that I have been keeping very busy and haven't had much down time. I will give a run down on some of the things that has been going on since my last post. My dad passed away from stomach cancer in Feb. that wasn't an easy time for me. in March we laid him to rest. The kids stayed busy in school, and I was there almost every day as a volunteer. In May, we sent Peter off to his 9 month deployment to Afghanistan. We kicked off the summer with a visit from Gramma Tricia. While she was here, we went to Disneyland, Legoland, and many other places around San Diego. After she left, we had another visitor. Teddy (cousin) came to stay with us. We went to Legoland again, and Universal Studios. We also visited Hollywood. Most recently, we had our very good friend (almost sister) Jill and stay with us. We took her to Legoland, Universal, and Downtown Disney. We also did a two hour boat ride, and went to watch the Padres play at Petco Park. As you can see, we have had a very eventful summer and keeping busy. There are about four weeks until school starts. I will continue to pack as much stuff in as I can. Here are some pictures from some of our trips. Enjoy!!


This is a photo that I found of my dad....happier times :)



The morning that Peter left.



Fourth of July with cousin Teddy

Hershey

Lauren gave her biography on Milton Snavely Hershey this morning. I was glad that I made it back to watch her. She had a costume, an outstanding report, and a full size Hershey bar for every kid in the class.

It's a Munson Thanksgiving Charlie Brown..... :)

Our dinner was kicked off by PJM jumping in our freezing pool (the high was 85 today). Then dinner was served. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, corn, green beans, rolls, and pumpkin pie. It was a small dinner party but we always have fun. While we were eating, Snoopy aka "Skippy" watched our food like a Marine on Embassy Duty.

Marine Corps Ball..

This years ball was held at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown San Diego. We were able to stay there for the night. It's always fun to get dressed up and go on a date. Even better when it's an all nighter :) The kids stayed with my great friend Karine.

I'm back....

Finding time to blog is hard these days....bejeweled has taken over my life.

I'll post some pics of the kids...and try to blog something good later ;)