I left my heart in San Francisco

Scott and I took a trip to San Francisco over October break to celebrate his 40th birthday. We did all of the touristy things and wore ourselves out! Our highlights include visiting Alcatraz and enjoying a fascinating audio tour. On our 2nd day we went to Giants stadium and enjoyed a behind the scenes tour. We also went to see the classic musical South Pacific. Our last day we rented a tandem bike and rode to and across the Golden Gate Bridge. What an exhilarating and sometimes frightening trip that was! We ended our trip with lunch at the Boudin Cafe where the most delicious sourdough bread is baked and squeezed in a very quick visit to Ghiradelli Square for some chocolate~!

Our friends Agustin and Christina flew in from Long Beach on our second day and added to our fun. We have some hilarious memories to recall and are starting to plan for the next 40th bday celebration. (That would be MINE!!)

Day 1 ~ We were on Alcatraz island on a relatively rare clear day.

Day 2 ~ We were at the Giants Stadium and enjoyed going in the dugout and onto the field. We of course all "HATE" the Giants and always cheer for the D'backs or Dodgers over the Giants. We did keep any nasty comments to ourselves and enjoyed being at their stadium.

Day 3 ~ We set out on our tandem bike to reach the Golden Gate Bridge. It was gorgeous and I was extremely happy to have made it. We took a break in the middle of the bridge to snap a picture and catch our breath.

We could have done so much more but ran out of time. I definitely left my heart in San Francisco and can't wait to visit again!

Susan G. Komen

My family and I had the privilege of participating in the Susan G. Komen 5K on Sunday. We had relatives come in from Texas, California and around Phoenix. We participated because my aunt Cindy was diagnosed with breast cancer in December. My sister, cousin and I ran the 5K. (It was my first 5K and it felt great!) Brandon and my nephew Kyle also ran the 5K but ran a lot faster than we did. My mom, 3 aunts, cousin, niece and nephew walked the 5K. Those of us who ran circled back around so we could cross the finish line with the walkers and were linked hand in hand as we all crossed together in celebration of Cindy. It was a huge event and very special to be a part of. Everywhere you looked you saw people who were running in memory of their mom, sister, aunt, friend, etc. It was a day of kleenex and fun.



After such a huge undertaking, we were treated to a delicious homemade breakfast prepared by the husbands and Tyler who of course couldn't run because of his cast and my nephew Cameron who stayed home to support his cousin Tyler. Next year we plan to participate again and hope to have even more of us participate.

*You will notice we are wearing PINK cowboy hats! Cindy and most of us are from Texas so it was fun to celebrate our roots as well as the power of PINK!


My aunt Cindy and her daughter, Jennifer.



I was so proud of Brandon for wanting to run and support this great cause! It was special to do this together.

Jamie and I with my Aunt Cindy.

2 Boys + 1 Collision = 6 weeks in a cast!

Tyler's soccer tournament in Flagstaff started out so nice. It was beautiful weather that required sweatshirts and jeans. His team won their first game of the tournament (and of their season). Tyler and most of his teammates did not take time off this summer but actually trained all summer to be ready to come out strong this fall. Their hard work was being rewarded.

However, in the second game Tyler got tangled up with one of his opponents which is quite common in a soccer game. However this time, his cleats apparently got hooked into the other player's shoelace because when the boy ran by, Tyler's ankle got turned and popped! This was not something Tyler could just walk off and return to play. He was out for the rest of the weekend.

Once we returned home, we took him to the doctor and found out he actually has a torn ligament. He was immediately put in a cast up to his knee where he will remain for 6 weeks! He then will be "rehabbing" for a few weeks before he can even think about returning to the soccer field. It's going to be a long 8 weeks for a boy who lives and breathes SOCCER!

Soccer Weekend!

There are not too many things our family enjoys more than spending the weekend together at the soccer field! We have missed soccer games all summer and have been anxious to get the boy's seasons under way. Brandon's team was in a tournament in Phoenix this Labor Day weekend. Brandon was playing goal keeper the majority of the games which made the close games even more exciting and nerve wracking to watch.

Brandon's team fought hard in each game and ended up winning the whole tournament. They took 1st place and did not allow even 1 goal through 4 games. They impressively scored 11 goals. Last season was a year of development and there were many tournaments they ended without even 1 win so to win it all was even more special.

I had fun using my new camera to capture some action shots. These pictures don't do justice to the excitement and fun but hopefully they will help us remember the weekend for a long time.

Brandon was beyond excited after each victory leading up to the championship game on Sunday night!

The boys were awarded a 1st place medal and tournament t-shirt declaring they were the champions! Brandon slept in his shirt lastnight and then wore it all day today. I am washing it tonight so he can wear it to practice tomorrow night. The thrill of victory cannot be underestimated. He kept saying, "This is the best weekend ever!!"

Happy 40th Birthday Scott!

Scott was definitely SURPRISED for his 40th birthday. I had played the bad, I'm too busy for you wife all week and Scott was convinced that his birthday had just fallen at a busy time so a quiet family dinner would be the extent of his birthday festivities. He even came home from work and said, "I was thinking maybe after dinner you and I could go out to the movies or something like that." I agreed and even packed my Harkins cups and popcorn t-shirt when we left.
SO much to his surprise when we finished eating dinner with the Carvers and drove to their house for presents and gifts, awaiting us was 25 of Scott's friends from church and work! They got to see him turn red and look at me saying, "Are you kidding me??" I then swooped him off to put on his 70's costume because this was a 70's disco party. We had a great time doing "Scott Trivia", Name that Tune, and even a hilarious round of the Newlywed Game!

Happy Birthday to Scott... I just couldn't let the 40th go by without an adequate celebration!

Back to School

What a summer! We had great times together as a family and are sad to see it end with the start of alarm clocks, homework, carpools, AKA school starts!

This is a milestone year for Brandon as he begins junior high. He is going to school only knowing Tyler and Tyler's friends. We know Brandon's warm personality will gain friends soon but it's a bit nerve wracking at the beginning.

We are thrilled to have the boys at the same junior high that their Grandma Nancy works at. It's a treat for them to see her in the halls and always knowing where help is if something comes up.

Check out the pictures of these young men on the first day of school. I can't believe Scott and I are old enough to have kids this big - both in junior high! And YES, Tyler is definitely taller than me!! Where did the time go?

Running with a purpose

I am not a runner. I have never been a runner. I ran for many years when I played soccer. I ran to get the ball or defend the goal. But I never ran just to run. There seemed to be no purpose and certainly I didn't think it was fun to just run for the sake of running.
However, I have found myself on Day 1 of an 8 week training program for a 5K run. My aunt Cindy was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and our family has decided to participate in the Susan G. Komen 5K in October. So I now run for my aunt and with a purpose.

I completed my task for today. I actually ran 1 mile without stopping. I haven't done that since high school. Tomorrow I go 2 miles and I'm actually looking forward to it and think it might be fun!

There is a TEENAGER in the house!

Tyler turned 13 on July 8th. He did not want a lot of fanfare to celebrate. He opted for a mellower celebration with his cousins and friend. In true 13 year-old boy fashion, he enjoyed a Terminator marathon at our house. Scott brought home a projector and big screen from work and the group watched Terminator 1 -3. (They saw a whole lot of naked Arnold but still enjoyed all of the shooting and action.) After watching 3 movies, eating a ton, playing ping pong in between movies, they headed off to the movie theatre to watch the 4th Terminator and it did not disappoint.

Food is always important when celebrating and I let Tyler choose the food for the day.

Breakfast: chocolate donuts and chocolate milk
Intermission Snacks: Gummi Worms, M&M's and Goldfish crackers
Lunch: Papa John's pepperoni pizza with extra garlic sauce
More Intermission Snacks: popcorn
Dinner: In-N-Out Burgers, Fries and a Shake

What a feast!
Tyler was very happy to get a cell phone from us for his birthday. We certainly hesitated and really debated this decision but ultimately decided to go for it. Tyler was as surprised as anyone when we gave it to him.


Although, Tyler wasn't looking for a big "to-do" on his birthday, he had some friends (girls of course) from school, who surprised us all in the morning by decorating the front yard. They worked very hard to place 30 - 40 cut out balloons with Tylerisms or memories about Tyler written on them. They had streamers and even a box of chocolate chip cookies on the porch. Anyone driving down our street would have no doubt that there was something special going on at our house!

You are the peanut butter to my jelly!

On July 14th Scott and I celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary. We had an anniversary date the week before because I was out of town for work on the 14th. When I woke up in Chicago on the 14th I was surprised at how sentimental and emotional I felt. I texted Scott early in the morning and told him not to call me because I knew I would burst into tears. He texted me back with an anniversary message saying I was his dream wife, he loved me, etc. Then he ended the text by saying, "You are the peanut butter to my jelly!" I smiled all day when I thought of that. It really is a sweet picture of the teamwork we have in our marriage.

Scott and I love to laugh together. Silliness abounds at our house. We have even learned to laugh when things don't go as planned. (The family picture photo shoot where Scott dropped me in the freezing cold fountain has brought many laughs at our house!)

Finally, I love being a parent with Scott. We enjoy our time just the 2 of us but also make our boys a priority. It's great to talk about them at the end of the day to someone who loves them and thinks they are just as incredible as I do!! Quite often when we are enjoying a family dinner or a card game together, one of us will say, "I love US!"

I look forward to many more years of being the peanut butter!!

Life is a Beach!

The love of the beach isn't something that ever goes away even when you move to the DESERT! Camping for a week on the beach is a huge treat which is why in January when you have to reserve your spot, Scott told me, "Do WHATEVER it takes to get a spot." No pressure... me and 100's of other people are fighting over coveted beach campsites in Carpinteria, CA all at the stroke of 8AM on the first business day of January. My efforts were not in vain because we did get the coveted spot and enjoyed a wonderful week beginning June 30th.

Our campsite was literally 15 steps to the beach. In spite of the great beach spot, we were pretty shocked at the layout of this site. We have determined it is probably one of the "worst" of the best sites you can get. Our campsite (I say that very loosely) was literally the width of 2 cars and about the same depth. Regardless this was our LITTLE slice of heaven and we were determined to make our 6 days memorable and happy.

Our good friends from CA, the Vieyras, also joined us camping in Carpinteria. The week was spent digging in the sand, splashing in the ocean, playing volleyball & soccer for the boys and reading books and chit chatting for the girls. Everyone was happy and how couldn't you be?? Beach, NO HEAT, and good friends! There are already plans for a repeat next year.
However, we will be avoiding campsite #41.

The boys loved playing sand volleyball. Tyler got in a great spike during a family game. Brandon begged Scott to practice volleyball with him each day and by the last day, his hard work was paying off.

It's good to know that you are never too old to enjoy digging in the sand. Both Brandon and Tyler loved digging deep holes. They made holes big enough to sit in. Caleb and Ethan dug literally all day.

Christina and I did what we do BEST... we chit chatted and sipped soda!! What a week!

Two Arms Again!

Wednesday Brandon got to take off his sling and move his left arm for the first time in 6 weeks. What a relief for him and a surprise at how stiff his arm was. He will need to slowly get his range of motion back. He celebrated his new freedom by swimming. When he first jumped in his arm wouldn't move at all and he had to swim with one arm. He slowly got it to loosen up but still can't lift it over his head.
In mid- July Brandon will return to the doctor for more x-rays and we hope he will be healed enough to start playing soccer and golf again.

The Last Day of School

It's hard to believe that it has been a whole school year since we stood in these same spots on the 1st Day of School. We are all a little older, wiser, and TALLER!! The year flew by in record time and was packed full of great memories and accomplishments. Jr. High definitely agreed with Tyler. He made new friends quickly and mastered his studies. Brandon left his mark on his elementary school by being the student body president, Friday sports reporter, and enjoyed his first overnight field trip to Sea World.
What a year! Reflecting on how fast the year went by definitely made me sentimental. The following song by Steven Curtis Chapman captures the idea of how soon are kids will be grown up and GONE. So whether you have a little Cinderella or Prince Charming, enjoy the message of this song. (Get a box of tissue if you are emotional.)

A Published Author

Tyler has loved writing stories for many years. Especially in his younger years, he often would be found at his computer writing a story. He even created a family newspaper and wrote articles about family news when he was in 1st grade. It shouldn't come as a surprise that when Tyler's English teacher entered one of his personal narrative stories in a district writing contest this year, he took 1st place!
We attended an awards ceremony last week and Tyler was honored for his award winning story. His story has now been "published" in the district's anthology and of course we have posted it here as well. Enjoy!

One Hour, Thirty-Six Minutes
By Tyler Ritter

My eyes snapped open. Darkness greeted me. I rolled over and squinted at the red LED numbers. The bedsprings creaked underneath my shifting weight. I wasn’t able to make out the numbers, so I grabbed my glasses an put them on. The numbers came into focus; 6:07 a.m. I softly sighed. I still had an hour and forty-five minutes to wait before my brother and I could race into our parent’s bedroom and wake them up. Even though it was Christmas, they still needed their beauty sleep.
I pulled off the covers and walked over to the doorway and turned on the light. The sudden brightness was too much for my still-adjusting pupils to grasp. I allowed my eyes to adjust before walking back to my bed and popping out my retainer. I set it in its black and silver case. What to do now? I had already killed about three minutes just waking up.
I grabbed my current book, Dune by Frank Herbert, and settled onto my bed to read. Time slowly went by as I entered the world of Paul Atreides. However, one can only handle so much of, arguably, the most revered science-fiction novel in history. Forty-five minutes later I was back to square one with the clock reading 6:56 a.m. and fifty minutes still standing.
I needed some company. I silently tiptoed out of my room and down the hallway, ignoring the light on in my brother’s room; I had strict orders to not enter my brother’s room. I made my way into my mother’s office and looked to my left. Sitting in his crate was my dog, Bogey. I lifted the latch and swung the door open. Before I let Bogey out, I removed his red collar so he didn’t make any noise when he would invariably shake like he had just gotten a bath, which he did.
“C’mon,” I whispered as I led him down the hall. I took him into my room and, as usual, he jumped onto my bed and curled up, and sighed. I sat down next to him and examined the clock. Retrieving Bogey had taken four minutes. I stroked his head and thought up my plan. The night before I had prepared my iPod to play a certain song (Wake Up! Wake Up! By Everyday Sunday) before my brother and I charged my parent’s room, so listening to that was out of the question. The adventures of Paul Atreides had bored me long ago, my old clunker of a computer­—it ran on Windows 98—was too loud and it provided me with no form of entertainment, so I was pretty much out of options.
Then, the light bulb went off and I stooped down to open the doors of my desk. Inside was a stack of old Sports Illustrated Kids that could keep me occupied for the next forty-two minutes. I settled into an issue from September of 2008 and skimmed through it. In the following forty minutes, I reread ten magazines.
At precisely 7:43 a.m., two minutes away from the attack, my parent’s double doors rattled. What’s this? I thought. We weren’t allowed to wake them up until 7:45. I made my way to the door when suddenly it burst open and my dad came running in.
“HEY GUYS! COME ON! LET’S GO! HURRY!” he shouted. I laughed as he tackled me onto my bed. Bogey barely scrambled out of the way before I hit the mattress. He started pounding on my chest and I just laughed; even my dad was excited
“What’re you doing up early?” I asked.
“I thought you might still be asleep and I’d wake you up,” said my dad. Again I laughed. My dad and I went to his room to rouse my mom and Christmas began.

A Family First

Brandon is the first one in our family to have a broken bone. Last Saturday Brandon ended up at the bottom of a pile during a tackle football game resulting in a fractured humorous. Brandon's summer plans have changed dramatically. He is out of all physical activity for 6 - 8 weeks. (Can you say long, hot, couch potato summer??) We return for x-rays on May 27th and pray that he will be on the road to recovery and not need any more serious treatment. In the meantime, we have fun with a one armed Brandon!

Shutter Bug!

I love taking pictures and although I have cooled down on scrapbooking, I still have stacks of pictures that I have taken that are awaiting a home in a scrapbook. There is nothing like the feeling of capturing a moment on film.
About a year and a half ago, my sister got a Nikon D40 and then added some "big Daddy" lenses and has really fallen in love with photography. I was instantly jealous of her beautiful pictures and incredible results. (She throws about photography terms like apiture and even reads photography books.)

At the beginning of this year my sister began a quest to save up enough $ for a Nikon D90. I was in awe of her frugal efforts and so excited that she reached her goal by late April. She told me how helpful it was that she was going to trade in her D40 as a credit toward the new camera.
Needless to say I was THRILLED and completely surprised when I opened my bday present from her and found the beautiful D40 and "big Daddy" lens in my gift box! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever have such a nice camera. So watch out, I will now be snapping pictures everywhere and throwing around terms like apiture and if I read any books they will be Photography for DUMMIES!!

The camera was loaded with this picture of my sister when I turned it on.

Turning 79!

As long as I can remember my sister and I have always celebrated our birthdays together. We were born 1 year and 4 days apart so it made sense for convenience sake to have a joint celebration. (Milestones like our 13th and 16th birthdays I remember as the only separate celebrations.)
It never bothered me growing up and now as adults I actually think it makes my birthday more special to celebrate it with my sister. We have coined endearing terms like Bday Eve, Bday Week, Bday Month and this year I tried out Bday Season!
It was very fitting this year when my mom brought over the bday cake that she had put the number 79 as our new combined age. She said she couldn't fit the separate numbers and I'm glad she couldn't.
So we are now 79 and lovin' it!

The Wonder of Paint

I recently got a bonus from Pampered Chef and we were so excited to finally get to paint our house! Here are the before & after pictures!! The difference is amazing. (We already had someone come over and say they thought they pulled in the wrong driveway because it didn't look like our house at all.)

One decade down and many more to come!

Wednesday Brandon turned 11 years old. It seems impossible that he could be that old already. He has definitely caught on to the idea of celebrating his bday by requesting "Bday WEEK Festivities." (I don't know who could have taught him that term... :O)
We complied and spoiled him with extra game time and sweet snacks in the days leading up to Wednesday. Brandon then woke up at 5AM on Wed. like it was Christmas morning and was greeted with chocolate milk, chocolate donuts, and of course presents!
At lunchtime, I got Brandon out of school and took him out to Chilero's Mexican Restaurant where we stuffed ourselves.
Finally, Wednesday night family and friends came to our house for more food and festivities. Brandon was bombarded with warm wishes and generous gifts. You might wonder what would make an 11 year old boy excited.... Here is his list of loot:

1. Nike Golf shoes from his bro
2. Red Rip Stick, FIFA '09 DS game, and Barnes & Noble gift card from his mom & dad
3. Cash from his aunt/uncle in Oregon, his Ritter grandparents, and friends of the family. (He declared that GREEN is his favorite color) I don't know who could have taught him that either! :O)
4. A golf pull cart from his aunt/uncle
5. A handcrafted beautiful bookcase from his Johnson grandparents

Wow...

Brandon is a joy to us! It was a treat to spoil him on his bday because he is thankful and gracious.

Night of Rock

We recently won concert tickets from our favorite radio station Air 1. We got to see Tyler's favorite band, Disciple, Brandon's favorite band, Stellar Kart, my favorite band, Kutless, and another up and coming band. It was a total rock concert. We seriously had to pack ear plugs for the boys. (Scott and I figured we have probably already damaged our ears but we wanted to preserve the boys' ears!) It was an awesome family night and Scott and I were impressed that we could keep up with the boys. When we fell into bed after midnight, our ears were still ringing.

If you have never heard good Christian rock music, check out Air 1. You can find station listings on the website or even listen online if there isn't a signal close to you. It is so refreshing to hear positive news and avoid all the garbage or depressing news on main stream stations. Go to Air1.com.

So, get out your ear plugs; it's Disciple.

Our Two Week Anniversary!

Today marks two weeks since we added a new member to our family.

Believe it or not, we have finally gone DIGITAL! We said goodbye to our beloved rabbit ears for our TV and welcomed a satellite dish. We waited a long time to do this. Even after hearing about what a great deal it was (only $19.99 a month), we still had to sleep on it. We didn't want to get sucked into loving our TV too much.

Scott was convinced the day that we had it installed that we had entered "the EVIL age!" Now that was of course before he found the SOCCER CHANNEL! And today I found old episodes of the Gilmore Girls! Who knew how much I would love my DVR?? There is love in the air on this 2 week anniversary!

Public Transportation

Our great friends from CA (Agustin & Christina) traditionally come visit for New Year's and 4th of July. They are a sweet family of four like us and even have two boys that get to be "little brothers" to Tyler and Brandon for a week. Every year we have more fun and have some adventure to remember the visit by. We did our usual card playing, staying up too late, making up goofy phrases but this year we kicked it up a notch and participated in PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION as our adventure to remember! What an experience we had on the brand new light rail in Mesa. The light rail was looking to get large public interest so they had free rides for everyone for the first few days. We decided to take them up on this free offer (along with all the other cheapos) and rode the light rail to downtown Phoenix and enjoyed dinner at the Chase Field Friday's Front Row restaurant. The adventure begins as we enter the "train" and they pack us in tight. We are now rubbing elbows with all walks of life. We had our token crazies, obnoxious loud talkers, coughing with tuberculosis people all loaded up with us and that was just on the outbound trip!! We did enjoy a nice dinner and then got back on the train for the return trip. Dear Christina had to sit next to a homeless man who wore a mask and made ticking noises. This was of course hilarious to all except Christina who was freaking out! She said that was more adventurous then she really bargained for!! We'll have to try to find another more mundane adventure for their next visit.

We are walking innocently toward the infamous train.

Christina is still smiling but thinking this might not have been such a good idea.

The peace of the restaurant and our friends were the highlight of the night!