My Bounteous Blessings...

I've enjoyed over the last year reading others making lists of things they are grateful for. So for this month of November, I'm going to make my list.. this is not necessarily to benefit others, although I don't mind you reading it or else I wouldn't have put it on here : ) but to help remind me of how truly grateful I am to have these people and things in my life!

Catching up...

As you've noticed, I'm not very good at blogging everyday. So it's Sunday evening and I'm going

to catch up..bear with me..

#7 Scott's job...

This is what Scott does for a living...He feeds these baby chicks..millions of them. He doesn't feed them literally, but he runs the feed mills that makes sure they get fed.

#6 Ray and Peggy...

Ray and Peggy have played a big part of our families lives. In the last 29 years, we've pretty much spent every Christmas and Thanksgiving together. They have always been supportive and would try and make as many of our kids activities as possible. Scott is such a good son. He loves his parents dearly and is always concerned about their well being. They have been really good to me, I have always felt their love and will always be grateful for raising such a good person, their son...Scott. Scott's Dad has always been a dotting husband to Peggy, he treats her like a princess,

and Scott follows his example...that's how he

treats me..I love you Peggy and Ray...thank you for everything..you've been greats parents to me..your daughter Julie

#5 My Family...

I'm so grateful to be apart of this family. I'm so blessed to have them in my life..I love you so much, Debi, Pam, Lisa, Jackie and Jon.

Thank you for your love and support. I know Mom and Dad are close by and are proud of the things we are striving to do in our lives...Love you ALL !

#4 OUR 3 Little Monkey's...2 more on the way!

We LOVE being Grandparents..I'm Apple Jul and Scott is Popeye.

SETH is funny, SMART, a quick learner...silly, determined, strong willed, cautious, a big helper, adorable, a real natural at sports...(just like his Daddy)...he loves waffles and DVD's he likes to stay busy and have fun..he's our Sethers and our MR. We love this little boy!

TESSA is spunky, determined, sassy, girlie, a dare devil, snuggle bug, hilarious, loves her thumb and silky, a big helper,Tessa LOVES

vegetables..(amazing) she loves her brother..she's brave and a princess! Tessa is known to walk around with her hand on her hip. She's our Tessa bear..we adore this little girl! KALI is a snuggle bug, she's willing to try new things, She has BIG BEAUTIFUL BLUE EYES and her Mommy's RED hair. She loves to talk on the phone, being a princess She loves Cottage Cheese all by it's self for breakfast...she's a good eater. she loves animals, likes to be outside.. loves to be around her cousins, spunky, funny, cautious and a real SWEETHEART! She is our Kali Girl,we love this little girl!

#3 Our 3 other kids.

We are so grateful to have these kids part of our lives. We hope they all know how much we love each of them!

KRISTIN

How did we get so lucky to have Kristin? We love this girl! And she has red hair...I LOVE REDHEADS! We didn't know it at the time...but Mitch and Kristin met in seminary class in Turlock. We met her once and then we moved to AZ. After we had lived there a while, she and Mitch started talking again. Things became more serious and Kristin came down for a visit. We went to the Lake and had a fun day. When Mitch said he wanted to marry her...things started to roll along. Kristin is beautiful...both inside and out. She's has a funny and witty personality. She's really smart! Tenderhearted, thoughtful, sweet, kind, fun, and a GREAT mommy, she loves our Mitchell and knows how to put him in his place :o) hard worker, sets her mind to something...and she gets it. She's a peer parenting person..who helps parents who have children in the foster system do the things they need to do to help get their children back into their homes. We are proud of you Kristin, we love you soooo much!

BRITTNEY

One of Brittney's favorite words is SWEEEET! We she is sweeeet, I love this picture of Brittney..all snuggled up trying to get warm. We met Brittney before Dustin did. We were very impressed with her...she was spunky and fun. The first time we saw her, Scott and I both said..gosh, I wish Dustin could meet her. Dustin was then attending some single adult activities the same one that Brittney was going to. We didn't know that at the time. I guess Brittney had her eye on him, and him her. One night he was talking on the phone, and he said her name is Brittney...and all of a sudden, it clicked...son, ask her if she knows Dad and I...and sure enough..it was her...Brittney's kind, thoughtful, fun to be with, sensitive, a hard worker, very intuitive, would do anything for you, and she loves our Dustin. We looooooove yooooou Brittney...

SPENCER...

Spencer is a Cutie Pie..I still remember where I was when I heard about Spencer. Tiffani was living in Mesa, with my sister Lisa. Tiffani swore Lisa to secrecy when they went on their 2nd date. Well Lisa called and did some hinting around and then came out and told me. I was so excited! We are so grateful that Spencer saw the gem that Tiffani is. It didn't take long and they were getting married. Spencer is smart, (he's working towards getting into law-school) he's fun,a great athlete, easy going, handsome, a hard worker, affectionate, a wonderful Dad to his kiddos & sensitive. He adores our Tiffani and is a calming force in her spazziness(sorry Tiff). Scott says he appreciates Spencer not making fun of how he golfs. : ) We are very proud of you Spencer, and hope you know how much we love you.

#1 My Blessing in Disguise...

ISN'T HE CUTE?!!! I love this man..I am so grateful for him! I adore him, I trust him, I admire him and I cherish him. The other night we were talking about how we can see my self confidence coming back after having some really dark hours these last few years. I told him that a good portion of my self confidence comes from him...a day never goes by without him telling me how much he lovs me and how beautiful I am, that means a lot to me. Although I've had to work these things out with my Heavenly Father, he has been there to hold me up...he's my pillar of strength..I couldn't have done it without him, I can't do it without him. He's the man I was supposed to marry..the Lord knew who I needed to go through my life with ..through the eternities with. We love talking and texting several times a day...when he's out of town for the week, I miss him terribly.. When I call him, or he calls me...he says...Hi Sweet...I love that. He's the best husband EVER! He's a great Dad, our kids love and admire him. He's always been the Disneyland Dad...while Mom was pretty much the disciplinarian. :) (someone had to do it) Anyway...Scott I'm your number one fan..I love you Honey!

#2 The Apples of my Eye...

I love being a Mom. Having a relationship with my kids has always been one of my very top priorities. They are my greatest treasures! They are each their own person...it's amazing that with the same parents and pretty much the same up bringing they are individually their own.

Tiffani our oldest... is a sweetheart, thoughtful, kind, witty, compassionate, dependable, tender, and forgiving...she walks in a room and people stop to look because she is so stunningly beautiful...on the inside and out. Since she was little she has always wanted to be a mommy..and she is a GREAT one at that. I love you so much Tiff...I'm so grateful for the friendship we have, it means so much to me. Thank you for being one of my pillars as well..you have been such a great strength to me...You'll always be my little girl.
Dustin our oldest son ...is loyal, tenderhearted, compassionate, a good listener, caring, funny, the life of a party, artistic, creative, sensitive, a deep thinker, he easily forgives and is a good friend. Dustin likes people and people like him. He genuinely cares about people and has empathy and concern. He's a very low key, go with the flow kind of a guy. We ALL need Dustin's in our lives, I think we would slow down and smell the roses a lot more often. Since he was a baby, he has had this light in his eyes...and with that he can walk in a room and light it up. He's adorable. He loves kids and will make a great dad some day. He's a real cutie pie..I love you son, I love to kiss that sweet face...even when it's hairy.

Mitchell, my baby...he came into this world big, (my 10 pounder)he's a big kid with a big heart! I always tell him and the other kids, he was my best baby. He was a mama's boy, always on my hip with his thumb and pink silky. (sorry Mitch) He was easily comforted. He's loyal, trustworthy, focused, driven, creative, lovable, huggable, sensitive, VERY intelligent, and somebody you can trust your life with. He's a great Daddy and you can tell he loves his little girl. Mitchell is handsome, eye candy if you want to come right down to it. I love you Mitch, I love your hugs, I feel your strength in them. I love you so much son, you mean more to me then you'll ever know.

My Sonic Friend

Last week I was able to spend 5 days watching Seth and Tessa while Tiffani and Spencer went to California. When ever Tiffani picks me up from the airport she always asks if I want a Sonic. I told her I didn't want one this time because I wanted to go to her house and be with the kids. The next morning after everyone woke up, Tiffani said...Mom do you want a Sonic? Of course I said yes, so Tiffani said to the kids, come on guys let's go to Sonic with Apple Jul, do you want a chocolate milk? So we packed up the kids all of us in our pajamas (because we weren't going to be getting out of the car) and went to Sonic. This is a picture of my friend Juan. I'm trying to remember how long I've known him, I think 4 years. Anyway, he said I could take his picture with my favorite drink in his hand. See you next time Juan!

100 Random things that make me happy..not in order of importance!

1. Scott
2. My kids and their spouses
3. Seth, Tessa and Kali
4. Rainy days
5. A fire in the fireplace
6. smell of wet cement after a good rain
7. smell of freshly cut grass
8. sweet peas
9. being with extended family
10. lightening and thunder storms
11. freshly painted room
12. watching movies with grand kids on our bed
13. cute flip flops
14. pedicures
15. Scott and I riding our street bike
16. smell of the ocean
17. fresh haircut
18. chicken cordon bleu
19. chicken won ton soup
20. gardening
21. my porch swing
22. my prescription sunglasses
23. rocking chair
24. listening to music
25. going to the movies
26. Church on Sunday
27. The temple
28. hearing from old friends
29. puppy breath
30. smell of baby lotion on a newborn
31. diet coke
32. french toast
33. camping
34. camp fires
35. freshly washed sheets
36. philosophy-grace body lotion
37. playing the piano
38. reading
39. massages
40. hummingbirds
41. Talking on the phone to family and friends
42. American Idol
43. shaved legs
44. Disneyland
45. Sleep
46. My cat..throttle
47. Hawaii
48.Pictures and Memories
49. Reading Blogs
50. Traveling
51. Fishing and actually catching a fish
52. Having conversations with people I don't know
53. Golden Spoon frozen yogurt, favorite flavor... Tart Mango
54. The Smell of Pine trees
55. Fresh cleaned carpets
56. The blowing of our fan while I'm asleep, even if it's cold
57. Holding hands with my Hubby
58. A good foot rub
59. A fluffy pillow and a warm fuzzy blanket
60. Tangerines
61. New Garments
62. Christmas
63. A clean house
64. A Shower after camping
65. Round Table Pizza
66. Mexican Food
67. People Magazine
68. The play "Wicked"
69. The play "Les Miserable"
70. Collecting clocks
71. Food in the House
72. Cows
73. Mr. Pickles sandwich...called "Pulp Fiction"
74. Red Vines at the movies
75. Finding a good parking place
76. Nice People
77. Chips and Salsa
78. Homemade dinner rolls
79. Being nice to others
80. Hot Chocolate
81. My friends at Sonic
82. Snow covered mountains
83. Homemade bread
84. Singing harmony
85. The sound of a strumming guitar
86. Hugs from my grandbabies
87. Knowing my kids are happy and okay
88. Recording a show and being able to skip through
the commercials
89. When people are nice back
90. The sound of someone whistling
91. When my husband winks at me
92. Having my clothes feeling looser
93. Having my teeth just cleaned
94. Having a good hair day
95. My husband texting me through the day
96. Laughing
97. Doing something Spontaneous
98. Able to forgive and being forgiven back
99. Reading my scriptures
100. The smell of men's colognes, Brut and Old Spice ( they remind me
of my Dad and Grandpa)

BEWARE! ..keep reading, several postings below

Stinson Beach...Scotts entry

After riding solo for the last thirty years on dirt bikes, I find my self riding a full size cruiser through the back roads of wine country in Northern Calif. I raised my children on off road motorcycles riding the desert in the winter and the mountain trails in the summer. I always dreamed of passing on this legacy to my family as my dad introduced me to the sport at the age of 10.

Our family enjoyed camping and riding with good friends and family….even an occasional off road race or motocross. My wife and I always preached the virtues of safety, and by no means will any of us (especially the teenage boys) ride a street bike.

Well here I am, empty nesting with my wife Julie, living in Gods Country. I consider this new adventure into riding a street bike a joint venture. One day when driving around looking at real-estate, Julie spotted this bike on a lonely road next to a railroad track with a for sale sign. I said to her” Some day”…..she poked me and said, “Lets check it out. The partnership began.

Now we can’t resist jumping on together and going for a cruise to see what remote beach or fun little back road through the redwoods we can find. There is one big difference though that I am experiencing. For the first time I'm riding with a full time passenger.

This brings on a new venue to riding for both of us. The most obvious is the idea that I am totally responsible for controlling the wellbeing of Julie, as well as myself. This takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to staying in tune with my surroundings. I love the fact that she enjoys this new way of life and trusts me so much. There is nothing like cruising down a stretch of highway and having her reach around me and give a big squeeze to let me know how cool this is. It’s quite a rush to feel this close after many years of marriage and raising three great kids into adulthood.

Riding the bike has brought to us a renewed sense of the beauty of the open road. There’s something about leaving the house, cruising down a remote pathway, and feeling every change in temperature and smelling every inch of the open air. From cool eucalyptus trees to the smell of the salty ocean, to the fragrant open grass fields, the senses are alive.

I know we will keep hearing from our adult kids about how Mom and Dad have gone crazy, and how worried they are about us being on the road. But I don’t think we will ever stop our little Suarez with our new found hobby. It’s just too much fun!

Every time I tell a non rider about our cruises , I can see the envy in their eyes and how much they wish they had a companion that would call them at work and say” Our date night is gonna' be a ride to the beach for clam chowder”. Now that’s what I call living!

So the next time we go for a cruise and I push back into my riding partner and she pats my shoulder: I’ll try to remember why we kept telling our kids not to ride in the street. We love it, and who cares what the kids say!

Some BIG Shoes to Fill..

Tessa and Seth 2009
Happy Father's Day Popeye!
Scott received this picture from Tiffani's kiddos for Father's Day. Scott bawled. In his old age,
he says he's become quite the boob...I call it being sensitive...anyway, he loved it. He appreciated all of you kids calling him and wishing him a Happy Father's Day..He LOVES his family!
(the kids are wearing dirt bike boots)
It's hard to read the bottom, so here's what it says.
These shoes are too big on me, as you can plainly see. But even when I am grown, they will still be big on me. The reason is quite simple, I'm sure you will agree, no one can fill these shoes quite like my popeye.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Today, I got a text from Tiffani saying, it's 110 outside...HELP ME! She makes me laugh. I texted her back saying, you don't want to know what it is here..and she wrote back...please don't. Little did she know, it was 5pm and it was 59 degress outside! I took a picture of the temp on our rear view mirror (oh yeah and I was also going South)..That's the one thing I don't miss about Arizona...

Time Flies..

m

Who would have known? After seeing Kristin's blog, I realized that she and Mitch were celebrating their 3rd anniversary. I'm not very good about remembering anniversaries..(sorry) anyway I was looking through some old photos and found these two pictures of them. Kristin had come down to visit Mitch, so we had a day at Canyon Lake. We didn't know it at the time how serious they were : )

3 years have gone by fast, haven't they? Aren't they cute?!

We feel so blessed to have Kristin in our family., she's a REALLY good mom and she truly loves our Mitch. We love you ! Happy Anniversary!

There's No Place Like Home!

We are soooo excited...this is a picture of our new home...we will be moving in around the first of August. Since February, Scott and I have been living in a small one bedroom apartment. It was okay at first, but Scott has missed his garage, and I've missed having a garden. All of our "stuff " has been in storage, minus a few things like, a couch, table, bed, dresser, TV and that's about it. We feel really blessed to buy this house. We have been looking since the end of February, but everything we looked at sold! Here in our area, homes are selling left and right and we got tired of playing the biding war games. A family in our ward is moving and asked if we were interested so they wouldn't have to put it on the market. It's a blessing for both of us, they have helped us and we've helped them. Anyway, plenty of room...if you want to come for a visit, we now have room... after the 1st of August that is. We would love the company!

Beecroft Reunion 2009

Silly Siblings

(L to R) Julie, Lisa, Pam, Jackie, Debi and Jon
In May, my 5 siblings and and I and our families had our first Family Reunion since both our parents passed away. I didn't realize there was so many of us. It's amazing to see what can happen when two people fall in love. There is a total of 83 of us, minus 7 not being able to attend. I think it turned out perfect. We first started the Reunion with a family baptism of our brother Jon's youngest child, Rebecca. There was no doubt in my mind that Mom and Dad were in attendance as well, the spirit was sweet and assuring. We then enjoyed a picnic at the beach including warm weather. The next day was Sunday, and everybody pretty much did what they wanted to do. Scott and our kids, minus Brittney and Dustin..(they couldn't come, due to a visit to the emergency room, regarding a sick Brittney, everything is okay now) so we were able to visit with Scott's Mom and Dad. We then met up at Debi and John church meeting house, where we enjoyed a memorable DVD that Lisa had put together, it was awesome! We then had a potluck dinner and fun and games. Monday morning (Memorial Day) we attended the annual 5k Beecroft run. Our Dad started this tradition 29 years ago when he was Stake President. We were able to wear our matching Beecroft T-shirts, Some of us ran and some us walked (me)...and we then went back to the beach. It was really nice to be together and to see our families enjoying each others company. That evening some of the family, went to John Lassen's brothers house for a dip in their pool. The next day some of the families spent the day at Disneyland. I really look forward to doing this again, hopefully we won't let too much time pass by.

Looks yucky huh?

Helmet hair and oysters. The worst part of riding on our cruiser is having helmet hair. I don't even do my hair before we go for a ride because it's going to be flat anyway. I ate BBQ oysters and they were delicious!

Scott giving it a try...He loved it!

mmm..all gone..We should have ordered more!

My Sugar Daddy

Scott and I took a trip to Las Vegas to watch the Motorcross finals. Scott had a suprise up his sleeve. He surprised me with a couples massage in our hotel room. I couldn't believe it. We were going to go to the movies after that ...but it didn't happen we were way too relaxed! Thank you Honey! We had our best friends, Patti and Jim meet us there. It was fun to just hangout..eat good food with good company.

Back Seat Rider

We took our first road trip a couple of Saturday's ago and we had a really good time! Yes, it was chilly enough to be wearing a parka...We rode about 140 miles round trip and saw some beautiful country! I didn't even get sore! There was lots of winding roads and I got "car sick" I don't get car sick! We stopped along the road for me to throw up and a highway patrolman pulled up and asked if we were okay. Scott told him I was car sick...and he said "car sick on a motorcycle?" THEY both had a good laugh. We stopped along the way and had a really good cheeseburger with garlic french fries Scott doesn't like garlic so I ate those. We look forward to more road trips ahead!

A New Member of the Family...

Our family loves dirt bike riding...that means in the dirt where you think there's going to be only a few riders..no chance of getting hurt...When Scott was 13 he was out in the middle of no where riding his dirt bike...riding up over this hill..he hit probably the only other rider around .. HEAD ON...breaking both his wrist. Now being a 13 year old..having cast on both arms he had to ask for help with everything. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. So where am I going with this new member of our family thing? Thank goodness, none of our family has ever had a serious injury with dirt bike riding. Over the years, our boys have made comments, that someday they were going to buy a street bike. We warned them that if they did, they were going to have to move out and that they would be disowned! :) A few years ago Scott and I took a trip to Tucson to see my sister Jackie...We rode a Harley. The kids threw fits at that, but we figured..our kids are grown..we've gotten older..less impulsive..safer riders and so on. It was fun but we were so sore after a 200 mile round trip ride. Since then, we have rented a gold wing which is a Comfortable bike..Harley's are not comfortable..(sorry harley riders) and I thought..I could go on trips with one of these. Well Scott hasn't let me forget that..he's been wanting a gold wing since. Since we've moved up to Northern CA it's pretty much year round riding..not like AZ where 5 to 6 months out of the year..it's too HOT! So he's been looking..Well he found one! It's not a Goldwing...it's not a Harley...it's a Kawasaki Nomad..I don't know what that means, but it does have a comfortable seat on the back...oh yeah.. it's navy blue my favorite color, so we agreed and Scott bought it..So we've got to come up with a name for her...Yes, it's a her..I think it sounds better being a her...she's Sweet..gentle..slower...and softer. She does need a name to be an official a member of our family..so if anybody has any ideas, let me know. Oh yeah..our daughter called to night and said...what the heck are you guys doing. We had sent her a picture from our cell phone. We still don't want any of our kids to buy a street bike...PLEASE!!! But to be honest..I trust Scott totally..he's a good, slow, safe rider...oh yeah..when your an owner of any off road or on road bike..they don't drive a bike..they ride a bike...they aren't drivers but riders...We are taking our first short RIDE on Saturday..I'm actually really excited...

A Deer Caught in the Headlights

Scott and I now live in Northern CA. It's SO beautiful here. Last Sunday, we took a drive and came upon 3 deers in a meadow. If you look real close you can see one of the deers, the only one that stuck around to allow me to take her picture. She had no fear, she just stood there even after we drove away. This isn't the first time we've seen one around here..there are even signs on the freeway warning you to look out for deer. There is also live stock, cattle, goats, sheep, horses, grazing along the lucious green hills surrounding the town we live in. When Scott and I see them, we say, lucky cows, happy cows...because they are lucky to be living in an area where there is so much green grass to eat. Lucky Scott, Happy Julie, we are so lucky to live in an area where we can enjoy so much beauty. Now if we could only get our kids here, it would be so perfect.

WE ARE MOVING...AGAIN !!

You read it right, Scott and I are moving back to California. Yes we are leaving our 3 kids and their families and our 3 grandchildren. Scott has had a rough time these last couple of years with work. In the 30 years I've known him, he has never struggled to keep a job. This economy has hurt us and a lot of other people too. He's never had a hard time finding a job, but this last year he's had a rough time keeping one. He did get a job in Northern CA, about 30 miles north of San Francisco, in a little town called Petaluma. He is already working for Petaluma Poultry. I'm still here in Mesa trying to wrap things up. I'm going back and forth for now and it's been 2 weeks since I've seen my honey!! I can't wait to fly up this weekend to spend the week with him. We already found a yummy mexican restaurant..it's delicious...so I guess we can move there now. He's renting an apartment while we look for a house. As you know, it's a really good time to buy, so we're hoping to find something that our kids can come to and visit and anyone else that wants to come. We are going to miss our kids and their families terribly! Thank goodness for Southwest! So your wondering why the picture of the sonic cup? The color blue in the cup isn't the right color for me, it should be brown, but it was the only picture I could find....anyway..I'M GOING TO MISS SONIC!. These last 5 years I've met some very special people at sonic who've become my good friends...I'll have to take pictures of them before I move and post them on my blog..I did a search to see where the nearest Sonic is up there and it's like an hour away! So what am I going to do? I'm going to try and stop drinking Diet Coke! My husband is going to be thrilled. Those of you who know me well...know that I'm a very addictive person and this happens to be one of them...so instead of using the excuse that I'm an addict...I'm going to give it a shot. A shot at trying to quit, not a shot of anyting else :-) I'll keep you updated..

Our Family...December 2008

Upcoming Wedding!

Dustin, our oldest son is getting married here in Mesa, AZ on March 19th. He's marrying a sweetheart of a girl named Brittney. We tell Brittney that it was meant to be, because we were going to name Dustin Brittney if he was a girl. Brittney and Dustin have been dating for a year. She was raised one block over from our house here in Mesa. She comes from a wonderful family. She has an older brother and a twin sister. Her name to her neices and nephews, including Dustin's is Aunt B. We feel so blessed to have another wonderful daughter in-law join our family. (That's you Kristin!!!)Shes a beautiful girl on the inside and out. Everybody enjoys hanging out and being together. Welcome to the Nest Brittney!