So, obviously, I'm behind on posting about our fun trip to California at the end of July. It was 10 days of non-stop fun and beautiful weather.

We visited Manhatten Beach for three-days and thoroughly enjoyed visiting Linda and Nancy. While in Manhatten we took our traditional walk on the pier to visit the aquarium at the end of the pier. Here's Tori's cute little back-side.















While there we stopped to watch the huge Manhatten Beach volleyball tournament. Very crazy and very fun.




























It was wonderful to spend time with Linda and Nancy. They had a nice get-together at their house and we celebrated Evan's birthday along with catching up with some of Todd's friends from high-school.













Of course we also spent time at the beach and in the water. Mostly it was Todd, Evan, and Tori in the water while I enjoyed the beach.















Evan and Tori enjoying a game of Smashball.... I thought this picture turned out nicely.















Tori waiting while Evan chases after the ball... my cute little girl.












After Manhatten Beach, we headed to Redondo Beach to spend time with Tim and Letty. They also treated us to a nice time at their house and spent the day at the beach with us.















Evan never seemed to get tired of boogie boarding and thoroughly enjoyed all the time on the beach.














Both Todd and Evan catching some waves.















Here's my view of Evan and Todd catching some waves. Tori is laying beside me and we're all enjoying a lovely day at the beach.















Our last day of fun and sun. Don't we all look nicely tanned and relaxed? It's tough to head back home and to reality.

Did I Mention Evan's Birthday?

I'm the worst Mother with a blog about her family in the world. I didn't blog about my sons' birthday. For shame. :-)

Evan had a wonderful birthday. Probably the greatest birthday ever. I think it lasted a week for him. He celebrated his 15th birthday while we were in California and while we were at Magic Mountain. The kid got to spend the day riding roller coasters.... and he rode plenty of them. He was in heaven.

Here's Evan getting ready for a roller coaster ride with seven loops.... yes, seven loops. Why am I on this ride?















Imagine Evan yelling, "whoo hoooo, yaaa, this is awesome!" Imagine me screaming the words... actually no words... just screaming.















Yes, we spent the day riding roller coasters, actually, it was more like Evan, Todd, and Tori riding roller coasters and me trying to keep my lunch down from the two roller coasters I rode. Those three have stomachs of steel. In any case, it was a fun day and Evan loved celebrating his birthday riding stomach-churning roller coasters.

The following day we had a small gathering at Todd's Mom's home where he got a delicious birthday cake and all sorts of attention given to him. Thank you Linda!














This is Evan with Todd and Todd's grandmother, Nancy. A very, very sweet lady.














A few days after his birthday cake with Linda and Nancy we visited Todd's Dad, Tim, where Evan was treated to another birthday cake and more Happy Birthdays. While visiting Tim we also got to meet some of Todd's cousins and had a great evening getting to know them while celebrating Evan's special day... week. Thank you Tim and Letty!















Happy Birthday 15th my sweet Evan. You are amazing.

Back to School

I was just reviewing my post from last year's back to school and see that I wasn't able to include pictures of their first day of school. Every year since my wonderful Spencer started kindergarten I've taken pictures of my lovely children on their first day of school.

It's become such a tradition that Evan actually stopped me on the first day this year and asked, "aren't you taking our pictures?" To which Tori replied, "geez, that's so gay." Yes, it's true. Now you've witnessed just a minuscule portion of what Todd and I deal with daily. If Evan wants to do something, Tori will think it's "gay". If Tori wants to do something, Evan will think she's a baby. It's never ending. Is it just us or is that the way siblings react to each other when they are so close in age?

Anyhoo, back to the first day of school. Yes, I was able to capture them on their first day and they actually smiled for me.

Tori is starting 8th grade this year and she has been super excited about the start of the school year for the last two weeks. She's my social butterfly and non-stop chatty, darling girl. She's masks the fact that she's very, very smart by getting in trouble for her non-stop talking. The teacher's all love her for her smile and kindness but can't help sending her Mom e-mails now and then to complain about her non-stop talking. hmmm Maybe she'll grow up to be a talk show host.




















Evan is starting 9th grade this year, which is a freshman in high school. Crazy! He's technically still in the junior high and goes to the high school for 10th, but he's considered a freshmen. Evan was not so excited about the school year starting. He's definitely more of an introvert like his Mom and a homebody like his Dad. All of this hides the fact that he's also very, very smart. This kid could add and subtract before he could read. Math and science seem to come naturally to him but he does well in every subject. The teachers that get to know Evan can't seem to say enough good things about him. His calm, quiet confidence make him a favorite with his friends.




















My grown up Spencer is not starting school but my post wouldn't be complete without him. We love and adore this grown up boy.... man. He's a man at 22 and married to a lovely young woman. We miss him every day because we don't get to see him very often. He's busy with his new little family, busy with work and building a new life for himself. Most communication is through e-mail and texts because that's the way this new generation of kids communicate... I'm still trying to get used to it. He's as handsome as ever and outgoing and charming as ever. Anyone who gets to know him can't help but love his charm.


















Another school year for the Glassford's has started. It's hard to believe. We thoroughly enjoyed our summer and we're sad to say goodbye to all the fun times together. Speaking of... I promise the next post will be about the rest of our California trip. We had some good times.

California Vacation, part one

The last week of July our family headed out for our summer vacation. After three years of no visits, we decided it was time to visit Todd's parents in sunny California. This year was going to be a spectacular vacation and we were looking forward to it all summer. The plan... to spend 10 full days enjoying the sun, fun, and beach.

Our first leg of the trip was three days in lovely San Diego. While there we spent a few days at Sea World and a day at beautiful Coronado beach. Have you ever been to Coronado? It's a small beach community on an island just next to San Diego. We loved it! I would love to go back there sometime and spend the week.

The beaches there are soft, white sand. Did I say we loved it? We have just a few pics to share of our time there. The only drawback to our day at the beach, were the crowds. It's a popular beach and a little too crowded.

Todd and Tori playing smash ball. Fun times.
































Here's Evan catching some waves on the boogie board.















Me enjoying the sun and sand.



















As I mentioned, we also made a visit to Sea World; I'm a huge fan of Sea World. Love the amazing dolphins. Can you see the dolphin in this picture? He's on the left in the air grabbing a flag off a pole... high in the air. Amazing!


































Bye, bye dolphins.


















The whales are also amazing. I believe there are six whales at Sea World and they all have their own names... but for the show... they are all Shamu. They are incredible!



























One of the fun things about the Shamu show is that the whales will swim around and splash water on the audience. Those that want to get wet sit in the first 15 rows.... those that don't want to get wet sit in the back.

Tori wanted to get wet.




























The splash is pretty amazing. Those whales really know how to fling the water.















In addition to a lot of sea life, there's also Clydesdales. Yes, Clydesdales. Those big beautiful horses. Tori was in heaven.




























There's also penguins....






























Manatees.....






























ice caves in the arctic section...













...and a couple rides. This is a picture of a picture... can you tell? The four of us are in the back of the ride. I crack up over seeing Evan and Tori in the back and me and Todd holding on for dear life in front of them. Funny stuff!



















After lovely San Diego... love that city... we head to Manhattan Beach. Another beautiful city. Will catch up with the fun times visiting family and beaches in my next post.

Fun Family Time with the Clawson Clan

The last few weeks of July and first week of August have been a busy time for the Glassford family. This summer has been crazy, busy fun!

The third week of July the Kit Clawson family came together for a reunion. We had everyone attend with the exception of Lillian and Rebecca. We missed them! We had a simple reunion by staying close to home. The first day was bowling, the second day was fun at Deer Creek Reservoir, and the final day was a quite day at beautiful Sundance.

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of day one and day three but have plenty of day two. Actually, not plenty, we always need more pictures, right?

It was a hot day at Deer Creek but we all kept cool in the wonderful mountain water. All the little cousins were cute to have around. Many of them were very hesitant at first to get in the water or on the boat but they all quickly started to enjoy themselves.

We borrowed a water wienie from a friend and it was a HUGE hit with the family. Here's Evan, Nan, and Helen getting ready to hop on and enjoy the fun. Helen was so cute laughing and shrieking the entire time.






























A boat load of cute little blondies. This is Stewart, Kaylen, and Emily.
















Hot Husband... who was so patient with everyone. Thanks Hon!















Tori's turn to take a spin.
















Let's see if I can figure out who's here.... a bunch of cuties for sure! This is Stewart, Kaylen, Haylie, and Megan.
















A video sample of our fun on the lake.





Again we missed everyone that couldn't attend. I hope to post on our fabulous twelve day vacation to California soon. Big sigh. Are we really done with our vacations?