He's Walking!!!!!!!!

Finally Maverick is walking! He still chooses to crawl, but at least we know he's capable. He makes us laugh everyday with all of the new things he learns. Way to go Mav!

TEMECULA-Where the sun don't shine!

Out of all the "Temecula" comments we have heard- this one takes the cake...

"I figured your hair was darker because you moved inland." ...Oh thats right, I moved an hour away, I must have turned into a Vampire. Jon and I laughed at that one. No, its Hair Dye!

The Big Hike

Off on our trek

Had to cross the river

Of course Luke fell in

Even Junior came

A little trail to follow

Theres the view point

Look how pretty We decided to go on a hike near our house. We are finally at the stage where the kids can keep up. (Mav in a backpack of course). Supposedly it is 9 miles up. Someone said at the top there was snow. But we just did a little of it. Not quite up for 9 miles. I think Luke learned the importance of not going Commando, after falling in the stream 2 seconds into the hike. Wet jeans on a hike...not so fun! It was awesome. Any couples that want to do the 9 miles might be good training for the narrows. Are you in?

My thoughts

This is my bad day blogging picture

So, I had a bad day today, and the odd thing was, I found myself blogging! Sometimes its good to blog happy things when your feeling blue. It makes things seem not so bad. Because even if things are bad, theres a whole lot of good to make up for it. Anyway, you missed out on hearing about Su's bad blog, and instead you get a "I'm done with that...I'm gonna be happy blog" instead! But heres the before picture... Okay, I originally put a happy picture on here as well, but then I realized how incredibly white I looked, so I deleted it. Whats that...$5 tan? Anyway, your stuck with a sad picture, still white...white and sad...thats pathetic!

The Adventure

We took the kids to my parents for the night, so we could go to a Valentines party with friends. After the party @11:30 pm Jon asked me if I wanted to go on an adventure. SO we packed up the car and headed down to San Diego to camp on the beach. Since it was freezing and the tide was high, we slept in the car. We woke up early 5:30, Jon surfed, I peeded, I mean played in the sand, and then we hurried off to the temple. Great adventure Jonny!

Sleeping in the car

early morning surf

I'm at the beach!

Danger??

This is why...
Shark bite out of a washed up Sealion
There were no toliets, I used that piece of seeweed
Jon changing for the temple
We made it! Look how pretty!

So pretty right now!

Honestly, I am not bragging...but I am. How stinkin' pretty is Temecula right now! I had to take some pics yesterday and they don't do it justice.

Family room view
Kitchen view
Master view

Ace is our neighbor

So, Ace was moved onto Katherines property on January 1st. She lives 2 houses down from us. Her place down there is amazing. The kids after school walk home, feed, muck, and change the water, and then I am there in the mornings and afternoons to turn him out. As much as it is work, it is so peaceful to be down there with all 6 of the horses. We would love to have him trained. He is such a good horses for being a young untrained Arab. We love him, we are just trying to figure out what we should do next. In the meantime, it is such a great thing having him so close. Awesome experience for the family so far. Thanks Kath for having him.

Getting Roped

So sometimes I have to say its a little wild in the Billings household. So this is what we do on Sundays after church...a little indoor roping.


Luke decided he needed to practice to get back at Jake one day.

Anyone for a hike?

Jon and Jake went on a 8 or 9 mile overnighter with the scouts. It stirred some "Man vs.Wild" in me. Maybe it was when Jon threw his camel pack on the counter. I was determined to buy a back pack and a walking stick and go hiking! So of course, it doesnt take much to motivate our fun group of friends to do something fun, so the Narrows...here we come! (The Army Navy store has walking sticks! Jon says guys don't use walking sticks, but I told him, I'm not a guy!) Anyway, Jake is a stud! I think we are inching up on the ages that our kids can handle a little challenge in the outdoors. Fun lies ahead!

Horrible blogger!

I am so sorry! I have not blogged for 3 1/2 weeks! SO BAD!!! But I am back. Maybe in a sporatic way, but I am back!