What's not to Love????........

We just got back from our annual Newport Coast Marriott trip with our dear friends, the Modugnos. My kids say this is their favorite vacation. It was fun taking Jonah there this year, even though he decided to wake up every night we were there...a little challenging with 7 people in one bedroom! :) We had beautiful weather for a few days and rainy weather for a few days. There are so many activities at the resort and close to the resort, that the kids can't seem to fit it all in! This year we got a room near the outdoor recreation area, indoor kids club and pool. It was a great, central location for the kids to keep busy. We had another memorable trip and seemed to end way too fast!

The staff put on "pool games" for the kids. Everyone was "in" as soon as they found out there were prizes to be won!

The kids also decided to participate in a ping-pong tournament!...more prizes

Then, Daddy and Jeremy took an afternoon to golf at Pelican Hill, which kind of wrapped around our resort and had such a beautiful view. The above picture was taken by me from a rode just above our room.


The kids also love the pool area...where there are 3 pools, 2 Jacuzzis, a giant chess game, ping-pong tables and a pool table!

Jonah stuck his feet in the water for the 1st time and loved it! It cracks me up how much attention he got...you would think he was a celebrity!

The beach was beautiful!!! We couldn't have asked for better weather. We spent the day near the pier in San Clemente. Unfortunately, we could only go to the beach once, due to the rain that came during our week. :(









On the rainiest day, we had to think of an indoor activity to keep all 6 kids (not counting Jonah) busy. So, we went to The Cube. It is a science discovery center with tons of hands-on activities. The kids loved it!The above picture is a simulation of a tornado...the kids could touch it and even stand in it!
Julia played "goalie" in a pretend hockey game, where hockey pucks really flew out at her.

All of the kids got to experience laying on a bed of nails.

And....lunch at the Taco Bell inside. There were SOOOOOO many more activities in the center...these were just a few!

On our last day there, Jonah discovered his toes and played wit them all day! I love it!
Daddy had to leave the night before us to go to work. This is a picture of the kids and I on our last night in our bedroom we all shared!

16 Sweet Weeks!

What more can I say? We LOVE this baby and I LOVE his face. None of us can get enough of him and his sweetness. He is truly loved!!!! Wish I could slow down time.......

October recap (1st half)

Continuing to speed blog!!! Lots of things still going on in our house. Dad and the kids have been working on projects around the house here and there. Jeremy is learning from dad how to measure and cut wood and loves every minute of it. He is self-motivated and a quick learner so I think he will be pretty handy when he is older. Even now, he completes many items on my honey-do list when Louie is at work!

Daddy also got roller blades for Julia and Josh because they were attempting to skate with our old ones from pre-marriage years! They have been having so much fun with them. Here, Julia is rollerblading in a mini mouse costume! :

Jeremy's best friend, Andrew, came over for a night and the boys thought they were so cool BBQing burgers and dogs for the kids. Boy, they are growing up fast! :

The 3 specks on the hill above our house are Jeremy, Jake and Andrew....they love to explore the hills behind the house!
Poor Joshie had to send his beloved Beta fish, Flame, to the deep blue sea. He was very sad, here he is bravely washing out Flame's bowl, rocks and shell, despite his sadness. He is deciding whether or not he will want to replace Flame. :
One day when daddy was working close to home, he stopped by for a visit! IT was a real treat for the kids!

New Firsts

Well, once again, I am way behind on my blog. Sooooooo......I have to do another "speed blog" update to get myself caught up.



This was our 1st day of "easing" into school this year. We took it really easy the 1st day and Jonah joined in. The little kids wanted to do math on the couch with him so I let them. :) It was really fun!

The boys surprised Julia by setting up a tea party for her one morning for breakfast. They made waffles and tea. Jake woke her up, picked out a dress for her and tied her hair back. She always says that she wishes she had a sister to have tea parties, etc. with so they wanted to do something special for her. She loved it.

The above picture is their 1st night of Awana for the year. Jeremy is no longerin Awana, but now in youth group. Josh moved up to T & T!

The above picture is their 1st day attending classes for the school year!


First day of tennis lessons with friends! They have such a blast!!!


First time playing with the webcam. Dad worked tons of overtime over a couple of weeks and the kids wanted to send a picture to him at work to say "hi"!

This was a fun month...adjusting to incorporating Jonah in our scheduled lives. It has worked out great!!! He's such an easy-going, friendly guy and just adapts to our schedule very well! :)

The last beach days of Summer....

We went up to Ventura for the 1st 2 "official" days of school. It actually felt good to be so rebellios because I felt so un-ready for school to start. this year has been the hardest so far to "get into". It must have something to do with having a baby this summer! :) So worth it but it went by way too fast. I am sure we will get into a groove soon, but I don't want to....not yet...how about after Labor Day!!! Until then, we will ease into a schedule and try to suck the last bits of fun out of the summer! Silly boy....happy to be back at the beach!

As the boys got ready to go out in the water, Josh came running up from behind....."wait for me"!

Jeremy took his little sister out on the kayak! She got a bit nervous about tipping over.

Love that sweet smile from Julia! Here she is having fun on the sailboat.

Jonah is so sweet and enjoys being at the beach. Today he was wearing a cute little terry cloth cover-up that my mom bought him from Gap....not necessary but so sweet!

Love the above picture of Jeremy carrying his surfboard to meet up with his brother and friend.

I have pictures of josh and Julia like this when they were little. I love it. I love that they are buddies...even though they drive each other crazy sometimes!

Josh was excited to surf on his own again!

....and, he "ate it" a few times too! :)

Here's the whole group...Cervantes and Modugno kids....they have sure grown over the years...in number and in size!

Cervantes boys! ....I love how Jonah is looking at them

My sweet fam.....how they love the beach.

There go the boys.....wow....unbelieveable. Exciting to see them grow and so sad at the same time. How I wish I could freeze time....just for a little while.....

"When the dog bites..."

Julia was rolling around with grandma and grandpas very large golden retriever and ended up getting bit. So strange and out of character for the dog. Just had to document it so she can have a tough "war story" to tell when she's older!

happy/sad

Sweet little boy....it was a sad day, the day before these pictures. Jonah turned 8 weeks an had to go to the dr. to get all his shots. He had a very sad day...crying and sleeping and didn't even want to eat. :( It's so funny to me how it has been harder and harder for me to see each baby be sad. I definitely think the day was harder on me than it was on him. I also thought it was so funny that the nurse gave him Sponge Bob band-aids. After all the shots, we had to go down the hallway and get a blood test. This was hard but also a test of my faith. When Jonah was 2 weeks old, his bloodcount came back low. So the dr. told me we would re-test at 8 weeks. it was a long 6 weeks but i had to constantly give it to the Lord, trusting Him with Jonah and remember that Jonah belongs to him. This was finally the day we would check to make sure everything was ok with him. I must admit, my mind kept wandering to the worst case scenario. I think it was a combination of post-pregnancy hormones and the fact that I had 4 healthy kids prior to Jonah and "something is bound to happen to one of them" because we have been so fortunate so far. Anyway, after waiting several days, we got the results and all his counts were normal. Praise God or another healthy baby! That was a joyous day. Sweet little Jonah, though so sad the day of the shots, was happy and smiley the day after (which is when the below pictures were taken). Oh, how I love that boy!!!

7 week love........

I was so touched on this day. Julia took a lid to a box of computer paper. She envisioned a special bed for Jonah. So, she filled it with blanket. Then, she realized he needed a mobile and went out to gathered some sticks. The papers that she added to the ends of the sticks are replicas of charms I had bought her recently. Earlier that day, we were at a boutique and she saw some sweet charms like ones my dear friend had bought me earlier. She asked me if she could get some to wear on a necklace like mine also. So, the 2 charms she got were: 1 with a heart, engraved with the word "LOVE"; and 1 with a little footprint engraved with the word "BABY" (for her new baby brother). She copied these charms onto 2 circular papers and hung them over his "bed". It was so sweet to watch her work so intently on this all afternoon. I love her thoughtfulness and creativity. She couldn't wait to put him in his new bed.

At 7 weeks old, he was a bit too long for the bed, and his feet hung over. However, Julia was so proud to see him in it!