Fun Times

On Sunday, we all headed over to Scotts Valley for a fun visit with the fam. Kaylin and Avery were hilarious! I loved watching them wrestle and giggle. Avery wanted to copy everything Kaylin did. It has been great to see them loving each other up!

Fun with my cousins

Today, Avery and I headed out for a long awaited visit to Derek and Amy's in Scotts Valley. Avery and Kaylin were finally able to play and they had a great time! It was so much fun to watch them interact. We were able to go to the Mission Springs pool, which was a great escape from the hot weather (95+ degrees in Gilroy!).
The whole family will head out to visit again on Sunday. Yahoo!

New Job For Jenni

I recently had two different phone interviews with Milpitas Christian School. I interviewed for a 6th grade science/math position. Today I received word that I got the job! I am meeting with the Middle School principal tomorrow to discuss details. Praise God!

Back to sewing

I recently took my sewing machine in for service and am back to sewing again. I got a new pattern and tried it out for a friend of mine. It was really easy and it came out great if i do say so myself! I altered it a little bit by putting in 4 pockets so it makes a great everyday bag. Check it out!

Well we packed most of our stuff in a POD, and the rest in a Budget truck and headed north. We are staying in Gilroy with the Hansens for now. We will look for a rental in San Jose when we know we are out of our lease for the place in Simi Valley.
I'm starting my new job tomorrow, and Jenni is waiting to hear back about a teaching position she interviewed for. I already miss all the L.A. smog.

Fun, Friends, and Fireworks

So to celebrate the 4th of July, we went down to Cypress to meet up with our friends Mike and Zariq. We hung out and had a BBQ then we headed off to the Navy Golf Course for a fireworks show. Great times were had by all!

Family shot at Arlington



Here's Jaron and George W.




Here's Avery at Mount Vernon

Fun in D.C.

We are back from a great trip to Washington D.C. We left last Saturday and returned on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, the first thing we did was head out to dinner. We were in Pentagon City and walking toward the mall when it started to rain...not just sprinkle, but rain! We were soaked by the time we reached the doors. On Sunday we decided to walk the National mall and see all the sights. We walked about 7 miles I think! After walking to the White House while on the way to the Washington Monument, we were soaked again...a total downpour (see picture!). There was no place to go and get dry so we just kept on walking!
It rained again on Monday and Tuesday. Because of all the rain, alot of the museums were closed.
Among the sights we saw are Arlington Cemetary, the National Zoo, Mt. Vernon, the WW2 Memorial, the Korean War memorial, and the Lincoln memorial.


It was great to see Tom and Kari and to finally visit Silver Spring, Maryland (the city where they live). We went to a lot of great restaurants and enjoyed a great time with my parents as well.

Moving to San Jose

Jaron has accepted the position at Harker so we are going to be moving back up North! Jaron will start on July 17th so we will be leaving Simi on Friday the 14th. We will be staying with my parents in Gilroy until we find a place, preferably near the school. I will be looking for a full time teaching job again and have a few leads so hopefully it will not take long to find something great. We will be searching for a daycare facility for Avery so pray that we find a great one like Rocky Peak.

Happy Fathers Day!

Today we are celebrating Jaron's second Father's Day! We are just relaxing around the house and will head out for a bite to eat later tonight.
It has been super hot here in Simi Valley and we are trying to stay cool in the air conditioned house.
Jaron, Avery, and I are getting ready to leave for Washington D.C. next Saturday. We will meet up with my parents in Dallas and take the same flight out to D.C. I am excited to finally see Kari and Tom's place since we have never been out there to visit. Jaron has never been to D.C. and I went only once when I was in 8th grade so it should be fun to see all the sights.

Happy Father's Day!

School Visit

I flew up to San Jose today to visit The Harker School. I had a phone interview last week, and today was a follow up visit. They offered me a full time position as Athletic Trainer / Strength and Conditioning Coach. They made me a good offer, one that would be hard to refuse. I was impressed with the school as a whole, it is a HIGHLY academic school that is looking to bring athletics up to par with some of their other programs. We'll keep you posted on our plans.
- Jaron

I'm A Big Girl Now!

Avery Lynn has now been sleeping in a big girl bed for 3 nights. She loves it! I decided it was time because she is used to sleeping on a cot at school and sometimes for naps we would just take her mattress out of her crib and place it on the floor.
When we were finished taking off the one side, she kept saying "bed!" and climbing up on it to lay down and when I put her to bed the first night she just kept smiling. Even throughout the day she will run in her room and play on her bed.
I guess she is no longer our little baby :)

Baja 500

I got back Sunday from Baja. Went to spectate the race (Baja 500). It was a fun trip despite some problems with my truck. EARLY on Friday my friend Kent and I left his place and headed to San Diego to meet up with some friends, and drove down to Ensenada. We walked through contingency to check out some of the race cars in line for their technical inspection, that's always a good time. After eating some tacos and tortas at Mk Taco, we headed out for Mike's Sky Ranch (a famous hangout for baja racers/spectator up on a tough section of the race course at about 4,000 ft. elevation). On the way to Mike's we had a tire blow out, and put on the spare. In the next town (Valle De Trinidad) we picked up another "just in case" spare at the llanteria. Then we hit the dirt road to Mike's Sky Ranch, which is about 20 miles long. After about 15 miles the transmission started acting up...my truck just wasn't having a good day. I ended up losing second gear, and transmission is making unhealthy noises but it made it all the way home. Believe it or not, it was hot in the baja desert in June, but we stayed cool in the shade and camped next to the creek. The race course runs right through the area where we camped and crosses the creek. That made for some comfortable conditions to spectate...we just stuck our chairs right in the creek and got splashed by the race cars that didn't slow down through the water crossing. First motorcycles went by at 10am saturday, and last cars straggled through past midnight. We woke up Sunday for the long drive home, stopping in Ensenada for some Al Pastor tacos (marinated pork cut off of the rotisserie). Overall a great weekend. To see more of my pics you can click here to look at my PHOTO GALLERY .

Here to stay...for now

Jaron heard back from AWC and they offerred the job to another candidate. He has some other applications floating around and will continue to search for a full time position for the fall. In the meantime, we will continue to plug away here in Simi Valley. Thanks for all your prayers!

Still Waiting

We're still waiting for news about the Arizona job...hopefully by the end of the week???
Avery and I enjoyed our week away from the preschool and are slowly getting back into the swing of things. We loved seeing lots of family over our week off. For my cousin Lacey's graduation from CSUF a lot of my family stayed in a hotel for the weekend and we enjoyed lots of fun times, especially a story from my grandpa about the many uses for a water bottle. :) Avery went into the pool and hot tub for the first time of the summer and loved it! She is sporting her new swimsuit and pink reefs to the left.
I have increased my hours for the summer and am now working Tuesday through Friday 9-6. That means Mondays off, which gives me 3 day weekends!
I discovered on Monday that Avery has cut 2 new molars (no wonder she has been so drooly lately). She has been pretty happy though, as you can see in her picture to the right.
Jaron is preparing to go off and leave me for the weekend to head down to Baja for the Baja 500. He has been working hard on his truck to get it ready to do some prerunning. He has been looking forward to this for months so pray he stays safe and doesn't roll his truck too many times! He and his friend Kent head down tomorrow and will be back on Sunday.
Happy Wednesday!

New Bags

I slaved away last week and created a few new bags. The first one on the left is one I made for myself before I traveled. It is such a nice size for an overnight bag or diaper bag. It has 3 pockets on the inside. One smaller one for keys, cell, etc.. and on the other side is a big one split down the middle so that one pocket can hold diapers and the other can hold wipes. I love it and was so glad to finally make one for myself!
The next one is my "Nappy" bag. It is not a great picture because the bag is off center, but it came out very cute. I actually have made two for a girlfriend at work. It has a snap at the middle and has many pockets, 6 total I think. This one is a bit time consuming, but I know the more I make them the easier it will be.
If you want to order a bag, email me and I will send you pics of my fabrics and bags you can choose from.
Well, thats all for now from the sewing corner. :)

Change of Plans

Unfortunately my plans changed and Avery and I headed back to Southern Cal on Monday afternoon. Avery woke up in the morning with a runny nose and cough so we could not take our trip over to Derek and Amy's. We thought about waiting it out, but most likely we would not be able to see them at all because we wanted to be extra cautious around baby Trevor. Rather than stay at my parents for the week, while they worked all day, my parents flew us home and we were able to meet up with Jaron before he headed out to Yuma. We all piled in a little compact car, along with Jaron's mom, and headed out for the 4 1/2 hour drive to hot Arizona. It was actually very nice to travel along and see the area first hand. We drove around the school and the housing areas near Arizona Western, and saw the town. There seems to be a lot of home rentals to choose from and they are pretty inexpensive. I attached a pic of one we saw for lease for $1000 per month. (I think it is a 3bd/2ba)
There is also a brand new outdoor mall, which is very nice. There are misters outside above the walkways, which made it comfortable in the 90+ degree weather. Overall, the area is growing and it has everything we would need. I guess we will just wait to hear if this will be our new home. Jaron will post about his interview later today.

Trip to Nor Cal

Well, Avery and I flew into San Jose yesterday (5/20) for a visit with my parents and Derek, Amy, Kaylin and baby Trevor! Our first day and a half have been great and Avery has been so much fun, even allowing my dad to hold her and play with her (she used to cry every time she saw him!). We are headed over to D&A's tomorrow and will celebrate with Amy, as it is her 29th birthday.
We will hang out there until Thursday then we will head back here for the night and drive back down to Simi Valley on Friday with my parents. My cousin Lacey is graduating from Cal State Fullerton on Saturday and the whole family, even my sis from Washington D.C. will be there.

Job interview part II

I interviewed for the position at Arizona Western College this morning...I've already heard back from them, and they invited me to come visit the campus and interview in person next week (5/22).
- Jaron

Job Interview

Jaron has a phone interview tomorrow, 5/17, for a job in Yuma, Arizona (Arizona Western College). It is at 9 am. We think this a good fit for us and we would be excited if it all worked out. Pray for Jaron that he would be confident and able to express himself well. We will keep you all informed!
Meanwhile, you can check out their website at www.azwestern.edu