Staycation 2012

 5 families and 7 kids in one home for 3 days and 2 nights... and it was heaven.  Our friends, who have amazing parents, with an amazing (resort like) home, invited all of Marks friends to staycation for a weekend this summer.   We share such a deep history with this group of people, so it was so special to spend such a concentrated amount of time just being with them.  Early mornings with the kids, late nights with just the adults (SO fun), and lazy afternoons just hanging out together.
We enjoyed long days by the pool,

 and split up all of the meals and cooked and ate together. 

 Pizza making.  Incredible Pizza making.

 Home Brew, with custom labeling.

Kids in jammies for most of the morning, 

at least until they changed into their swimsuits.

The fellas and their boys.

Thank you for hosting Zakaryans... we love you guys.  

We look forward to the next staycation.

This summer according to my iphone

I was terrible at taking pictures this summer.  It happens when I get relaxed, or when I am having fun, I get lost in the moment... but I did take a bunch of pictures with my phone, 

so here is our summer according to my iphone.

It was such a good summer.

 

Owen and his buddies took a swim class together.

Owen learned how to swim... 

 and now he is crazy!!  Jumping in by himself and swimming to the side, 

only to jump right back in again.

We enjoyed lots of family mornings at the beach,

and bluff nights with our friends.

There was lots of pirating,

 LOTS.  Do we need an intervention?

 Tresure collecting everywhere we go.

This little love grew up... 

and discovered pony tails.

A boys night out at the Angels game.

  Sibling love.

 Serious card wars with these two.  Its serious.

 Date nights with bub 

 Mornings out with Gramps... coffee, the park, the island.  Those are good days.

We are loving the long warm days and the time with family and friends... these are sweet times.

Thankful.

4th of July

 Hip hip hooray!  Its the 4th of July!

Jimmy's flippin cakes,

And all of our favorite families are here to celebrate with us.

 There's a band,

 And everyone is dressed in their red white and blue,

 We love this tradition... 

come celebrate with us next year.

El Capitan Year 3

The Burton Family kicked off this summer with our annual El Capitan camping trip.  El Cap is one of my favorite places in this world, and I treasure the long, magical days there with family.  There is nothing more relaxing and recharging to me than spending all day outside in this beautiful place with all of my family.  Its heaven.  This year, the definite highlight of the trip was watching the kids experience life in the outdoors for a few days...

 These happy campers are the cutest....

Stella Bella.

 

This trip truly incorporates only the good parts of camping...

Eating amazing meals outdoors... (at the cafe) cheers!

Bike rides for Owen

Lawn games

swimming

walk to the beach

toasting marshmellows over the campfire (Owen's favorite) 

 

sleeping in tents together (with beds and clean sheets, of course ;) )

And quality time with my sisters and their families...

This was the bobsy twins first trip... they were naturals. 

Thanks to Gramps for the trip...

Couldnt ask for a better patriarch for our family. 

I love the invaluable memories and traditions you give us.

Back Home

At the beginning of June, after a whirlwind month of winding up our season in Colorado, we moved back home to Orange County.  Mark had an unexpected opportunity open up at his company that placed him back at headquarters in Newport.  We were blown away at the chance to move back to our family and friends, it seemed too good to be true. At the same time, we had just started to feel grounded in Colorado, so it was nevertheless sad to leave our new friends and neighborhood in Denver.  Although our season in Colorado was shorter than we expected it to be, it was an incredibly stretching 14 months.  Starting over and learning how to live away from family and friends in a new place was tough,  but very rewarding to see God moving in a new way in our life... we met some amazing friends and experienced new things, our time in Denver will always be a special season for us for many different reasons. 

Things I will miss about Denver: Wash Park, Denver Community Church, our small group families, Owen's bf living next door, beautiful seasons, treasureland preschool, having a big city 5 minutes from our house, bonnie brae ice cream, my ballet sculpt class, boulder outings, my moms group

                                                                                                  
                                    

Reasons I am so excited to be home: grandparents, sisters, cousins, my mamas, being a best friend again, the beach, trader joes, perfect weather, familiarity, my favorite restaurants (Alta, bear flag, zinc, r+d), family dinners, balboa island, being present for our loved ones

                         

Two

 My baby turned 2, happy birthday Peytee girl.

Your birthday snuck up on me...  In my mind, you are still my baby, so small, so little, Still asking me to "hold you", still getting a bottle of milk before bed (Im hopeless).  Your baby days were so fast, but they were so wonderful, I just wanted them to last.  And now you just want to grow up.  You are miss independent, you love doing everything by yourself "I do it mommy", you love doing your own thing.  We celebrated your birthday this year with a family dinner.  

Peyton loved having ALL of her cousins there... 

arent they so cute?

Peyton, you fascinate me.  I love watching you do anything.  You are your own girl, with your own sense of style and way of doing things.  You are a big personality in an itty bitty body,  You are wispy, you float around from here to there, you live in your own world and I can tell you already have an incredible imagination.   

Right now your favorite things are playing with your stroller and your babies... you change their diapers, you snuggle them.  You also love to do anything your brother does, including playing pirates.  You are coordinated and strong, you rock the playground, braving all slides (even climbing UP them) and ladders, you can ride a scooter, you love bounce houses, nothing seems to intimidate you.  

Oh yeah, and you LOVE to dance.  Beiber is your favorite.

Pey pey, I enjoy every second of being with you... you are easy, you entertain yourself (and entertain me),  you go with the flow (except these past couple of weeks?! terrible 2s may be a different story),  and you bring me so much joy.  My favorite times with you this year were our dates, 3 times a week, while Owen was in preschool.  We enjoyed going to coffee together, strolling around town while you explored, reading books, shopping, and riding the bike around the park.  You seriously bring joy and color to my everyday and Im so thankful for the gift of you. 

I love you baby girl.