New Chapter....

Well I've been busting at the seams to share and now I finally can; Dan tested  and was offered  the job as Deputy Chief of Colton Fire department! This is a sweet new season in our lives and we are super excited. It has been a blessing and we have learned so much being part of the San Bernardino Fire family for over 20 years but this is really the direction we felt God leading us so here's to a new adventure!!!

Dan was introduced and pinned today and everyone was so kind and so welcoming...

Dan's career has been a crazy life in the fire service but I'm excited to have him on a regular  schedule and home on weekends...that alone will be a huge adjustment for our family. Not living on shift work and crazy fire season schedules will be so great! We've been married almost 21 years so seeing each other everyday will be a big change as well since he was a paramedic on shift work when we met we really don't know any different. 

Looking forward to being part of the Colton family and getting to know everyone. Blessings friends! 

What We’ve Been up Too...

We wrapped up a really fun Christmas season with some cousin time......

This year we hosted the cousins party and had a blast catching up with everyone. Claire was home from college (Can I get a shout out for SMU!) And we got to love on Mallory and talk wedding coming up stuff Congrats! Also, welcomed baby Brooklyn to her first cousins party...so fun! The kids are all getting so big and doing so many fun things. 

I enjoyed a nice quiet Christmas morning waiting for Dan to get off shift and for the girls to wake up.....when you have teenagers, there are no more 5am jumping on the bed Christmas mornings 😛

Christmas was a nice down day of exchanging gifts, Dan cooked a prime rib and we played games and just hung out.

Ryanne's dog was not about to be left out of the gift giving ha!

Ryanne teaching the younger cousins a new craft....

On New Year's Eve we met up with some friends for dinner and a movie and then home before  the crazy got started....I'm not into being on the roads with crazy people on New Years Eve. 

Yesterday was our first official back to school day after winter break but I woke the girls up and surprised them with a drive down to Disneyland. We are blessed to get in free (thank you Uncle Andy and Aunt Jerri for getting us in yesterday) so I figured why not take one more day right! The home school mom in me thinks,"Oh no we are going to get behind and we should stay home!" But the "My kids aren't going to be home for many more years and be in their beds to surprise" mom part of me threw caution to the wind and went. 

It was a rainy cold day but we decided that kind of added to the adventure part of ditching school. We enjoyed people watching, eating some treats and walking around as well as a few rides. Then we were cold and wet and decided our dry clothes in the car and dinner somewhere else sounded good so we headed out. As a mom of teenagers I will never regret being spontaneous and spending down time with our girls. Its when the deep conversations happen and you can really pour into their lives. It's also a season that goes by VERY fast and I am able to see that very soon, like in a blink of an eye they will be on their own and have lives that are full of college, and jobs and families to take care of of their own. Be blessed today friends.