Discovery Kingdom

The kids participated once again in the Read To Succeed program that Discovery Kingdom puts on. They have to read for 6 hours in order to receive a free ticket....teacher gets a free one too!! What a deal! We took Kristina's friend Christine with us along with the Iglesias'. It was such a fun day...but very long and tiring. By the end of the day, at least some of us, were dragging ourselves back to the car. It's hard work having so much fun!!;);)

As always, the butterflies were amazing and it was fun to see all the gorgeous colors. A couple of the butterflies looked so plain when they were sitting on a branch...but as soon as they started flying the inside was an electrifying blue and one was a fluorescent red. Just beautiful! It always amazes me the colors that the Lord has given for our enjoyment.

I like elephants! They are such amazing creatures. (Note: Just because I like elephants doesn't mean that I want a whole bunch of elephant stuff around my house. I'm just an admirer from afar;);) I remember when I was younger, I REALLY liked elephants. This was the first time that we had gone to the elephant show and we were really impressed! The elephant was SOOO close (almost too close for my liking...especially since my kids were sitting in the front row and there was only a stair step that was separating the elephant from them). The trainer was very informative and seemed like he really enjoyed his job and the elephants.

Stacey, Daffy, Anna, Tweety, Kristina, & Christine


Sweet Anna


There he is! My orange-armed boy! Just in case you hadn't heard, Caleb fractured his arm at about the elbow. On the last day of swimming lessons, I let the kids play in the park that is right next to the pool. Caleb fell off of the monkey bars (he fell backwards and landed on his arm ). He will have the cast on for a month. Unfortunately, it is his right arm....thus making life, school, and eating an all around challenge/adventure at this time.


Joshua on the merry-go-round


The Epps Clan plus Christine :)

Heidi and Jonathan

Yesterday we were able to celebrate the marriage of my cousin Heidi. She looked so beautiful! (Jonathan looked quite dashing himself :) It was held at Heather Farms Community Center in Walnut Creek and it was such a nice setting. The Lord gave them beautiful weather for their special day with just a slight breeze to keep away that Walnut Creek heat.


The Johnson Family


Heidi and Jonathan with my Aunt Binky and my grandma


Oh....they were kind! I'm amazed that I got as good a picture as I did...because there were about 12 people around me who also wanted a picture of this. :):)

Jonathan and Heidi with the Epps kiddos

Congratulations Jonathan and Heidi!! We are so happy for you and pray that your marriage will be one that brings glory to the Lord. We love you!

The First-Fruits

Well, here are the first-fruits of our garden!!
We actually already picked a red pepper but I forgot to take a picture of it. The cucumber was so yummy! The corn was actually not ripe yet....guess I'll have to look on the internet on when corn should be harvested. Our tomatoes are starting to turn orange and hopefully within a week, we should be able to pick them. So exciting!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Gruss!!

OK..this is going to be the longest post I've ever posted I think. This past weekend, my dad, mom, sister and I travelled down to Arroyo Grande for the wedding of my cousin Courtney to Ryan Gruss. It felt like old times...my sister and I in the back seat, driving down to Grandma's. I did miss Charley and the kids though:( I have now been down to Arroyo Grande 3 times in the past year...I think that is a record! It was a very pretty outside wedding with very pretty flowers and a beautiful bride!:) The only bad think about an outside wedding is the sun in your eyes when you're trying to smile for a picture. Ahh..that blue-eyed curse strikes again!

Me, Lindsay, and my mom

These boys (cousins of the bride) have a special place in my moms heart as she took care of them for about a week when their mom died in a tragic car accident about 12 years ago.

Greg, Kathleen Santucci (the boys grandma), my mom Carol, and Jonathan

Cousins Ashley & Jamie and Josh

Cousin Eric bringing Grandma in with Grandpa in the background

Eric and Auntie Claire (Mother of the Bride)

Uncle Tom and Courtney

Courtney's uncle, Peter Santucci, did the wedding. About 34 years ago, he and I were ring bearer and flower girl in my Uncle Tom and Aunt Claire's wedding.

"Introducing, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Gruss!!"

Siblings!! Tom, Pete, & Carol

Grandma and Grandpa

Me with Aunt Helen and Aunt Mary (my Grandpa's sisters)

Mom & Grandma

What a cool Grandma I have!! ;);)

Courtney is the second cousin in the past year that has gotten married. We go to another cousins wedding on August 1st. Are there going to be any other cousins getting married any time soon??? Anyone? Anyone? Hint..Hint....Nudge...Nudge :):) Just kiddin. Wait on the Lord. His timing is ALWAYS perfect...and BEST!

Cousin Jamie and Josh

Uncle Pete & Auntie Terri

Cousins Ashley and Jodie

The Milburn Cousins! Eric, Jodie, Ashley, Jamie, Courtney, Stacey, & Lindsay

Ryan and Courtney waiting to get roasted...err...I mean, toasted :)

My Grandma would kill me if she knew I put this picture up, but since she doesn't have a computer...and no one is going to tell her...I think I am safe. So funny and sooo Grandma!:)

Grandma dancing with Jamie

Grandma dancing with her "baby" Tom

The Epps/Williams Family

Stacey, Bryn, Carol, & Lindsay

Courtney, Ryan, Grandma, & Grandpa

Wow!! I can't believe we actually got this picture! AND...it is good of almost everyone! What a special picture. The whole Milburn clan. What a rich heritage I have! I am so thankful to the Lord for them. I won't try and write all of the names as they are all in the preceding pictures.

Congratulations Ryan and Courtney!! May the Lord truly bless your life together as you live and work together for Him.

An Epps "Shower/Tea Party" for Heidi

We celebrated a special cousin this past week. Heidi is getting married! We had a little "tea party" for her...although we didn't have hot tea since it was a VERY hot day. We had iced tea instead :) We are SOOO happy for her that the Lord has brought a special someone into her life that she can now share her life with. BUT....we are VERY sad that that special someone lives so far away!! We will miss you Heidi! Oh well, I guess we'll just have to make a yearly trip to Mariposa to visit you. Another good reason why we should go to Yosemite next summer!:):)

I brought out my china for the occasion...which I don't think I've EVER done since I've had kids. The kids were wondering where I got it. Pretty sad :( We had little tea sandwiches...chicken salad, egg salad, pb&j, and cucumber and cream cheese. I also make a big fruit salad and then lemon cake for dessert. Everything tasted so yummy!

Heidi and Me:)

The Fair & the Fourth

We went the the Alameda County Fair on July 3rd this year. It was a great day and the weather was just right. We met the Greenhouses there and walked around with them. Always fun to be with our friends that we don't get to see that often. It was also the fireworks night so we stayed for that. Unfortunately, because a lot of people also stayed, it took us an hour...just to get out of the parking lot. UGH! :( Not fun.


The Epps kiddos and the Greenhouse kiddos


Having fun :)

We saw some pretty cute ducklings and chicks. The kids asked me, "Why can't we get a little duckling?" My answer...."Because cute little ducklings turn into adult ducks!" End of discussion.

They had a GREAT petting zoo that had lots of baby goats, a couple of fawns, a llama, a donkey and even a pot belly pig. The kids enjoyed being able to get up so close to all those cute animals.

The kids (minus Kristina) were involved in a little "production" where they dressed up in little farmyard animal outfits and then "acted" in a play.

Anna was the germ police, who shot her bubble gun at the evil Germinator. It was so funny!

Kristina and her Daddy :)

We had our 3rd Annual Fourth of July party this year. Charley and 3 of the kids started off the day handing out tracts at the Fremont parade (Kristina had a little bout of heat stroke after our day at the fair so she, Anna and I stayed at home.) Everyone came over at about 7:30 and we had some yummy ice cream sundaes. YUMMO!

Then...it was outside to set off the fireworks. This year our neighbor also had a party along with fireworks, so we had even more fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 9th Birthday Abby!!

Well, I started this post on June 23rd, and it is now July 8th. YIKES!! Much to catch up on.
We celebrated Abby's 9th Birthday this year with a garden party. We've done a garden party before and it was a lot of fun.

Abby wanted me to make a chocolate cake with a flower on top...so this is my rendition of her request. I tried to write "Happy Birthday Abby" on it...but I only got to about the "P" and had to take the lettering off because it looked so awful. Chocolate frosting is very forgiving to lettering mistakes :)

All of the kids were given a pot to decorate. They looked so cute! Then, I made up a treasure hunt that they went on. The treasure (which was found in our mailbox) was a bunch of flowers that we let them choose from to put in their pots. So fun!

Happy 9th Birthday Abby!! You sure are a blessing to us!!