July

Whoot whoot!!! It's July! Fireworks, BBQs, swimming, camping, hiking, off-road adventures, just a world of fun....and...yep the beginning of a new school year!!! It feels as if July has been jam packed with all kinds of activities, some fun, some not so fun, memorable all the same.

 Hard to tell...Toby going into school. (he hates getting his picture taken, yet I try).

Oh my goodness, a Junior!

Mariah, 1st day of school. Hard to believe she's an 8th grader!
Yep she's a Directioner.

Ha! "Mom you're so random." I may be my sweet Britt, but I love the beautiful natural smiles you don't even know you're giving!

Marcika's 1st day of school!
Can't believe she a 6th grader!! Yikes Junior High!

I love the pics they are not expecting the best! Get their natural selves....must say I love the smiles this early Monday morning!
GREAT 1st DAY!!!
LOVE, LOVE LOVE it when they come to the car laughing and smiling together!

 Saturday, July 27th, the girls and I went to Antelope to say "until we meet again" to an amazing Sister, Sister Brenda Webster. The memorial was beautiful and paid amazing tribute to a beautiful, amazing, loving woman who shared the love and light of Christ with all that she met. Before going home we made a trip to the Sacramento Temple. I am so glad that we stopped. 

My girls and I.

I am so happy and thankful to have been able to spend time together at the Temple!

Homemade pencil pouches.

New dews for a new year!

 MJ working off her new glasses.

(she lost them on the way home from camping...they fell out of the jeep).

 An amazing gift from Heavenly Father! 

 New specs

We went to 4Wheel Parts Customer Appreciation Day at Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area. It was a lot of fun, off-roading, watching people scrape and drop their way through huge pits, give-a-ways, raffles, and all you can eat tacos.  MJ won 3 tow straps and Jason won a jack (he traded it for a gift card for a drive shaft). All in all a fun day in the sun.

Annual scan time! Time for Ultrasound, 2 rounds of labs, 2 thyrogen shots, 1 I-123 radioactive iodine tablet (do not have to be separated from the fam for this one), and the whole body metascan. I got to commute every day (Mon-Thurs for a week) to Roseville for all of my tests (except for the labs). Thursday I had the scan and then I went to one of the places that I love the most...the Temple. I am so thankful for the peace that I find in this chaotic world, everything seems to fall into place, the answers I have been searching for appear and the pain in my heart dissipates. Such a blessing! 

My ultrasound, and scan  came back clean, my labs came back elevated. I have been blessed with a new endocrinologist, Dr Rooke who is closer to home (he actually took his time with me [an hour and a half], going over my entire chart, showed me my scans and explained things to me. He even asked how I am doing and feeling, this is a first for me, he actually seems to care about me and not just my disease.  He gave me his cell number and asked me to have my oncologist call him, that he'd like to know what she is thinking and be able to work together. AMAZING!). Still not sure what is going on with my lungs and liver, my Oncologist Dr. Seavers has ordered another MRI and is pretty optimistic that it is not Thyroid Cancer.

Rubicon Trail and camping! Beautiful sights, some bumps, lumps, scrapes and drops, and family time. Great times.

We drove over the edge of a dam.

This narrow canyon was full of huge rocks. Kinda funny that the pictures do not capture how challenging this really was.

 Drawing in the dirt.

 Landen and Uncle Jason

Swimming at Loon Lake. The kids had a great time.

 Landens first time making his own smores. 

Great first night camping at Loon Lake. 

My little brother Stephen and his girlfriend Karen.

The girls and I went to the fireworks here in Oakley. There were sooo many people. We drove around for awhile and were not able to find a parking place, luckily an Oakley City Commerce worker moved a barricade so we could park. They were so beautiful, extremely happy that we went!

MJ asked Mariah for a flag and USA...she got a mustache shaped flag instead.  

Low-Iodine diet has not been all bad. It has forced me to cook more. Homemade bread turned into french-toast with homemade raspberry syrup. I made a chocolate cake with Peanut-butter frosting (tastes like PB fudge) on one half and a to die for chocolate frosting on the other half.

 Quest knocked my glasses off of my face and this is how they landed. Silly dog.

June

June has been an emotional month for me. Just days after Jesse's May graduation he turned 18! MJ graduated from 5th grade...no more Elementary School for the Lopez Crew. Jason and I celebrated our 17th Anniversary and 20 wonderful years together. 

The weather has been getting warmer and warmer...perfect for time outdoors. We have been spending more and more time hiking, offroading, and playing at the beach.

Driving in the hills this little one came running out from nowhere, stopped dead in her tracks, stared for a few and then ran back up to the trees.

MJ braved the cool mountain waters, and cooled off in the river on our way up to Signal Point. Venturing up and up in the Sierras didn't quite make it to our destination, however we did find a nice lake and a private beach. MJ lent me her dress and we all went swimming. Oops..I went under and lost MJs glasses! Thankfully Jason was able to find them on the bottom of the lake. 

 She's home! She's home! 

Mariah had an amazing time at camp! She got rained on, took an overnight hike, saw amazing waterfalls, and made some great friends! I'm so glad she's home, I missed my girl.

Unfortunately someone brought a little friend with them to camp.....LICE! Off to the pharmacy we went...a thorough check and we have one happy camper and one thrilled mom...the pesky bugs avoided my beauty!!! She is lice free!!! 

 MJ helped her daddy put the gas skid plate on the jeep, what a cutie! Jason also installed rock skids and a mesh top. Getting ready for the Rubicon Trail in July.

 Jason and I went to Muir Beach to get out of the heat. It was beautiful, no wind or fog and the temp was perfect. We took a nice hike up in the hills right off of the beach...almost to the top we heard sirens and a loud speaker..."it is now 9 o'clock the parking lot is now closed. Yikes! Needless to say we hurried our bums down the steep terrain. 

MJ made a peacan pie from scratch solo for the first time! It sure was yummy! 

 So hard to believe that we have been married for 17 years! It does not feel like that long at all. We went to dinner at a BBQ place called Kinder's in Concord then we took a drive towards the ocean. We decided to go explore Point Bonita Light House.

 Unbeknownst to us there was a full moon, to top it off the moon was closer to the earth so it looked huge....everyone and their sister were out stopping and parking in the middle of the road...CRAZY, but oh so beautiful!

A wonderful evening spent with an amazing man!

 Our Beauties waiting to see Man of Steel. ;o)

Watermelon shapes! Love the imagination!

Waiting for our group we air down and just hang out.

Sweet, they all made it!

Our nephew Landen Graduated from Kindergarten! So proud of him!

I have made so many trips over the Sierras that I cannot even begin to count them, in the past we'd jump in the car and drive without stopping. I have decided to stop and smell the pines, yes it increases the time of the trip, however it makes the trip fun (or as fun as driving almost 4 hours can be). Mariah, MJ, Yamaanibah and I decided to explore the wilderness around the Goldrun rest stop. 

Jason and I took a drive and a hike off of highway 40.  I find it odd how we grew up and spent the majority of our lives so close yet we never explored, I am so happy that we are doing it now.

  Amazing sunset!

Our Jesse Bear is 18!!!

Ah her final awards assembly in Elementary School, time sure has flown by. MJ was awarded the Principle's Award.  Was lucky and got to snap a pic of her with her friends Sabrina and Letzy.

 

On May 18th the rear differential would not unlock so we had the jeep towed to Stockton Chase Chrysler Jeep to have it fixed. A couple of days before our road trip to Slick Rock Jason ordered these differential covers (he has modified them a tad). We finally got the jeep back after 3.5 weeks!!!

Jason and I took a road trip towards Lake Tahoe. We stopped at a rest stop that happened to be at the edge of a dam. We took a hike up the hill and discovered we were in the Mokelumne Wilderness. Jason tested the water and despite snow still being in the area the water wasn't to bad.

June 1st we headed towards the coast and hit Barbara's Fishtrap in Capistrano for lunch. My mom and I took a quick walk up the street to stretch our legs. Such a beautiful area.  Got a nice pic of 2 of my 3 fellas. Toby elected to stay home, I think I'll have to drag him along next time.

After lunch we headed to Golden Gate Park. Our plan was to go to the Science Museum, yikes $35 a person (should have researched it before we headed out....next time), instead we took a stroll through the courtyard area where we saw some old statues and some pretty fountains then we  smelled our way through the Rose Garden. A bathroom break had us venturing into the lobby of an art museum where we were able to see a couple of paintings. 

Loved the roses! I am surprised at how many different types there are. 

Marcika was cute..."wow these are taller than me!"