Grand Canyon, Camping, and a Graduation

If life ever throws you a curve ball you swing, right? Well, I feel like you at least have to try your hardest. There is so much going on in our lives and expenses are tight. It's important to at least try to make special events to those close to us. Well, Matt's sister is graduating college. My niece graduated high school. Since we could drive to Matt's sister's event we decided I fly out my niece (to Denver) as her gift and we are driving to Mia's. We were able to camp along the way to get there and buy groceries instead of fast food.

Things have been going well so far. We had a good night camping near the Grand Canyon and were able to take lots of pictures of it this morning. Aside from the rock chip in our windshield and being exhausted from our travels things are good. William is an amazing traveler. We are truly blessed.

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Mother's Day Delight

Everything about Mother's Day is beautiful. Being a daughter and mother is a great blessing. I never imagined being so touched by my husband's words would bring me to tears on this special day, but it has. 

From my Mathew:

Happy Mother's Day to literally the most amazing mommy in the universe. You were made to be the most fun and biggest positive influence on some lucky child. I thank God that I married someone who is as incredible of a mommy as you are. I held my expectations of my ideal wife in the mommy department very high and you have delivered tenfold everything I had ever hoped for. We are blessed to have such a wonderful boy but he is equally blessed to have a mommy as good as you. Again happy Mother's Day to my amazing parenting partner, lover, and best friend!

I am truly blessed. I also received cards, a drawing and thoughtful gift. Will and I are headed to the park for a day of fun with friends. 

Cheers to all the mother's out there!

 

Growing in Colorado

Matt has been growing his business with VALIC to new heights in Colorado. His territory is huge and his clients are quite a few. He is loving the opportunities and possibilities. I'm so proud of how hard he's been working to support our family. Every day you can tell how motivated he is and it's refreshing. He also has been taking his health seriously. He eats very well (Paleo) and is working out 3-4x a week with FIT. It's really helping him with his energy.

Everything has been sort of a whirlwind with me. Last month I had 4 photo shoots. It was incredible. I love doing my photography. Working out has become a priority as I just turned 33 and need to be healthy. My birthday was so special as I celebrated with my family and some friends. It was nice having a birthday here. We went for Sushi, played laser tag, mini golf and went to Dave & Buster's. This year holds a lot of growth and potential for me. I'm going to open my own place called "14". It's going to have coffee, sipping chocolate, decadent hot chocolate, sandwiches, salads etc. I'm getting the chocolate from my dad's farms and they're processing it just for "14". I have 2 workshops this month and a meeting with Illy Coffee. This will all help me in opening. I am very excited for the potential success. I'm hoping to get an appointment with a gelato company as well. A great deal of progress happening.

Will is growing by leaps and bounds. He's starting to read, can count to 44 correctly, is doing so well in his extracurricular activities, and is really awesome at baseball. We are so proud of his progress. He makes his bed every morning, helps me fold laundry and gets his breakfast ready in the mornings. He has grown an inch since we moved here too. He's in size 5 clothes and 12-13 shoe.  We are truly blessed by all that God has made him to be.

Speaking of growth, we haven't totally given up on having another kiddo, but know that the likelihood that we'll adopt is very high. We are constantly reminded that we're not in control and have found peace with whatever happens.

Far Beyond Behind

The Lutze Family has begun a whole new chapter in our lives and so much has happened since November 2012.
Some Highlights:
In December, we went to Christmas on the prada in San Diego at the beginning of the month with my family. It was nice. We ate tons of food and saw tons. We really enjoyed our time.

Will turned 4. We had a joint birthday party in November with Makayla at our home in Lone Pine, but we had a party in Escondido, CA at Kit Carson Park the weekend before his big day. It was so much fun. It was a Spiderman party with pizza, chips, cake and lots of friends. Grandma Susan, Auntie Mia, Brian & Monica Fox with their daughter Madelyn, Sabrina Brock and her family, Lois Fox, Shari and Ty Daniels with Asher, Mamu, Grandma Vicky, Great Aunt Lori, Fontayne with her boys, Dianne LeVine and her kiddos and it was a blast.

Christmas was sort of a blur this year.  Matt's best friend Adam became a dad to twin boys (Daschel & Colton). At Christmas we drove down to LA, Escondido and San Diego. We stayed at Brian & Monica's as we ran around and spent Christmas time with everyone. We celebrated Christmas on the Saturday before Christmas with my mom and family. We woke up, had our special morning breakfast, did gifts, and hung out the rest of the day. We headed home Christmas Eve and spent time with Matt's family. We played a lot of Wii U and ate a ton of food. It was a nice Christmas. The best part of Christmas day was probably at night when it snowed! It was so nice to have a day of snow ball fights and such the day after Christmas.

New Year's we went back down for fun with Rick & Cyndel. Their daughter, Kenzie, and Will played tons. We really had a blast. We also celebrated Madelyn's 2nd birthday. She's so smart it's hard to believe she's only 2 years old.

January led to a whole lot of changes. Mat was offered a job in Denver, we decided to take advantage of it. We had to pack, move out, and find a home in a span of 6 weeks. Talk about a whirlwind. I also joined Eastern Star with Matt's mom. Everything worked out. It was tough and stressful but it could've been worse.

February 16th William and I drove to Aurora, CO. We stopped in Utah to visit Gaylene and her family. It was so great to see her and meet her new baby. Then we made it to Aurora. It snowed 2 days after we got here. We had a great time sledding and learning the ins and out of the area. Matt made it here 2 weeks after with all of our stuff. We moved into our apartment and got settled in. We had great friends help us move in too. At this point we were signed up for the Children's Museum, Gymnastics and karate. Since then, Will already has his yellow striped belt. :-)

Matt had to return to Lone Pine for 2 more weeks after bringing our things because he had a lot to finish up there with his transition. He finally moved here are March 14th. Ever since then, he's been adjusting figuring out some sort of a routine. He also joined a FIT class that has helped with exercise and keeping him sane/healthy.

Will and I go to Lifetime Fitness everyday. I take Hot Yoga and a Barbell class. We're going to start swimming there more often too. It's been great for Will because he gets to socialize and I get some "me" time.

I would say the only real bad thing that's happened since we moved here is that William was injured at a trampoline place. He got kneed in the eye. His eye was so awful. Black & blue, swollen and scratched up. It's been 2 weeks and it's significantly better.

It's been nice hanging out with friends and doing fun things like laser tag, mini golf, painting pottery, and sledding. We're looking forward to the summer with rafting, swimming and some hiking.

More to come.....

Day 1 Georgia Bound

Monday night William and I traveled from Lone Pine to Las Vegas. A 4 hour drive with a chatty boy made the journey go quickly. We stopped in Pahrump to go to the restroom and to get frozen yogurt. We met up with a friend that drove us to the airport and stored our car.
We journeyed through check in, security and waited for our plane to board. Will was so good and helpful. He hasn't slept a wink and took an hour to fall asleep on the 3 hr plane ride to Georgia. He was truly wonderful though.
We arrived on time, met up with daddy, Brandon and Josh. It was great. So far it's been such a great time.

Weekend Wonders with William

Our William is truly an adventure. He is active, smart, fun, curious and truly the greatest comedian. I delight in his sweet and thoughtful words, hilarious stories and somewhat confusing jokes.

This weekend we had the opportunity to have Friday night movie night and wii game night. We played bowling and wii motion games. He likes to get the aliens and dinosaurs. He is so sweet when he cuddles up and tells me 'mom you are the beat girl ever' or 'mom, I gotchya, it's alright, I'm here'. I love it!
We watched Polar Express and had yummy hot chocolate. He danced and sang. Truly great moments.
Saturday we headed to ridgecrest with grandma. We had Taco Bell (which I would regret later), shopped, watched Wreck it Ralph, and shopped more. it was such a blessing and fabulous day.
Sunday....I was in bed sick, from food poisoning. After recovering, it wasn't a bad weekend. It was full of fun memories. Sunday evening we were even able to do floor puzzles and play the pirate game. I give it an 8 out of 10, only because daddy was missing and I was sick.

Thanksgiving Time

When planning for thanksgiving we talked about staying in Lone Pine, going down to my mom's or going to Georgia. We ended up deciding to go to Georgia. I haven't been back in 4 years and haven't seen my sister and her family in 2.5. It's time.
Mathew is there today. I can't wait to get there.

Will the almost 4 year old

William is almost 4. He had a joint birthday party with Makayla. He had so much fun with friends, playing games and having cake.
Today, Will was able to play with his gifts that people so generously gave him. We had a mommy and Will day.

Weekend Bliss

There has been a lot of stress and craziness in our lives lately. Friday we started to relax a little and gain some perspective on what was important and what was a MUST to get done. It helped a great deal.
Friday night we watched a movie with our boy and I was able to get some photography things started. Saturday we were able to have family time, photography projects were completed, household chores were started and I had a photo shoot. All in all a great day. We even played hungry hungry hippos with Will. Today we had a great time cuddling together this morning and then being super productive. I'm very happy so many great things happened.

Bound and Determined

Lately it seems like is pitching some wild curve balls. I can't believe how much everytime I turn around some thing non pleasant happens to me or my family.
I know God is in control and that I'd we don't wade through the struggles we can't grow strength and appreciate the blessings that He bestows. It's just tough when you're I. That haze of confusion and stress.
There was a hurricane in New York and New Jersey. Those people are struggling to overcome the wrath of Sandy and just survive.
Today I fin perspective that it could be worse. There could be more trials. Sickness is tough. Matt, Will and Vicky have been trying to overcome. My mom doesn't know what is happening but she is having chest pains and is way over tired.
God, I lay everything at your feet. You are my solid ground and can handle my burdens and struggles better than I can on my own. Amen

Halloween 2012

We weren't sure if trick or treating was going to happen this year. Will was sick and Mat was out of town. I thought I would help by getting Chinese food for my boys for dinner but apparently I couldn't have made a worse decision. Mat got sick. He is highly sensitive to cabbage. It makes him violently sick. As Will was getting ready everything plummeted.
We made it out, just mommy and Will, to where we were meeting Kishori and Dev. The trick or treating began.
Mat's mom met up with us about half way. We had a lot of fun, and daddy even met up with us for a little bit. It wasn't the best Halloween, but it was nice.

Crazy September

What did September bring? Let's see...a trip to Disneyland, a lot of photo shoots, hiking, car problems, traveling, celebrating our anniversary, back to school, football season and lots of work.

Four Years and Counting

Four years ago we found each other at the alter on the beaches of Santa Monica. Surrounded by our family and friends we proclaimed our vows that we'd written and then the traditional vows. We celebrated the joyous love we've shared for one another.
This weekend we ventured to share a beautiful time together in honor of the vows we took four years ago. On Thursday, the 13th, we rushed around to get everything situated and headed to Temecula/Rainbow area. We stayed a beautiful, secluded Bed & Breakfast called the Rainbow Inn Bed and Breakfast. It was perfect. We arrived at sunset, met our hosts, and unpacked. We went out to a movie, Lawless, and had a light dinner. When we returned to "our place" we relaxed, talked and went to bed.
Our Anniversary morning brought breakfast and a horseback ride. After we got our morning Starbucks, we went to the wine country and had a beautiful horseback ride at Green Acre Ranch. Afterwards we headed to our first wine tasting at Robert Renzoni's Vineyards. This was our favorite place. It was so fun and tasty. We had an exquistie lunch at Leonness Winery. It was a beautiful outdoor restaurant. We then tasted more wine. Not our favorite, but it was still fun. We managed to make it to one more tasting at Lorimar Vineyards. This one was a lot of fun. The wine was good and the people were very nice. The conversation was great too. We headed back to our B&B and went swimming. It was wonderful! An amazing nap took place afterwards. Feeling refreshed and revived we went to an Italian restaurant in Fallbrook, Turpianos. We took the food to go. We watched movies and relaxed the rest of the evening. My stomach wasn't doing so great, but it was still very yummy. We even had Tiramasu for dessert.
Saturday morning was a time to enjoy breakfast on the deck, with a beautiful view. We had our coffee, and then packed up. We needed to stop at Nothing Bundt Cakes and then head by my mom's on the way to Coronado for kayaking. The cakes were incredible! We bought 4 small ones so we could try each one. We didn't eat them until we got back from kayaking, but still, so good. We dropped off the wine and luggage, got dressed to kayak, and were off. Coronado was beautiful, but very very hot. Much hotter than it usually is. We had fun going around the bay in the kayak, but it wasn't very "adventurous". It was more of a leisure trip. It was fine with us, but when you're not moving, it's just hot. A fire broke out on the island while we were out in the water too. It was so strange to see from the ocean. When we were done we helped a guy move his seedo that got stuck on the shore. Talk about a work out. After we went to Coronado Beach. We walked around and had some drinks and dinner at an Asian Bistro. We walked in and out of shops, laughed and had a lot of fun. We hung out at my mom's that evening and stayed the night.
The trip was definitely one of the best ones we had in a long time. We needed the quality time together. We look forward to every year to come and all the memories that come along with it.

Personality

Power Rangers!!!

Wisker Kisses

It's not earth shattering news that personality is big with William. He's always ready to make you laugh, be silly and just plain 'ol have fun. Recently, he is all about Power Rangers. He loves pretending that he is one and that he's out to defeat the "bad guys". Between being the red power ranger and Buzz Lightyear, we're constantly imagining, playing and creating a world full of bad guys vs. good guys.

Silly Will

In all the things that plague the world of evil, sickness and hurt today, William can make it fade away in an instant. We are incredibly blessed to be his parents. His personality and innocense is incredibly refreshing and needed in our world.
                   

Blowing Kisses to the Moon

This weekend I took Mat and William out on a photo shoot, to do test lighting for a wedding I'm shooting in two weeks. We had a lot of laughs and fun together. Here are some pix of Will and his daddy playing power rangers, and just being plain silly.

William 3.5 going on 5

Our beautiful and strong baby boy is definitely not a baby anymore. Though he continues to have me carry him to bed like one and sing "mommy's baby, mommy's baby." He is my cuddler, comedian and love bug.
William can sing the months of the year, knows how to count to 5 in Spanish, and 20 in English. This little guy is learning to read. With a knowledge of letter recognition and sounds he's well on his way. He is still our little artist and musician. We love to hear him sing on his guitar and draw us pictures for our fridge. He goes goes goes all day long. He is always wanting to help and be part of whatever it is we're doing.
This summer has been full of travels. We went hiking in Horseshoe Meadow, went to our first Padree's game as a family, have many trips to the beach, Disneyland and San Diego. He saw Gina and her family, Auntie Brianna and Uncle Club (Adam). Time with his cousins is always a highlight of any of our trips.
Medically, Will has been, and will have, had quite a bit of attention. He is having a cyst removed caused from his circumcision. It is definitely hard to not be nervous with him going under, but I know, to him, it won't be a big deal. Will also had a big visit to the dentist. This is his 3rd visit in a year. He had 5 cavities this time. Jeesh! Well thank goodness it's his baby teeth. Even though it's tough being a parent with a kid that has porous teeth in addition to his grinding them, we try to be too hard on ourselves. We know we do the best we can. We're just glad everything will be taken care of this weekend.
Will's current favorite things are to play baseball, sing,  play swords, talk to people in person or on the phone, go for walks to the park, play Candyland, play wii fit for kids and watch Blue's Clues or Thunder Cats with dady. He loves doing imaginative play as well. He pretends to be a Ninja, Spiderman, or Batman...daily.
We could not be more happy about how well Will's growing and shaping into the kind-hearted boy he is. We absolutely adore him.

Jennifer's 22nd Birthday

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Goodness, I can't believe it's been so long since I've written. Things have been busy. Mat and I had found out we were pregnant in March and then I had a miscarriage. It was heart breaking. I didn't deal with it very well. Mathew was a complete sweetheart though. He bought me my camera I've always wanted, and suddenly taking pictures began to heal my dispair. I have thoroughly enjoy capturing people's special moments and milestones.


At the Wave we played in the pool the whole time. At least it was heated.

 I turned 32 this May and we definitely had fun celebrating. I spent some time in Vegas with some friends. It was wonderful, sitting by the pool, sharing meals with friends and relaxing. We went to the Hotel Del Coronado with my family, and then Mathew and I had a weekend down in San Diego, just us. It was a very memorable birthday.



Mother's Day at Merry Go Round

Mother's Day at Disneyland's Rainforest Cafe

For Mother's Day (Saturday before) we went to Disneyland with my family. My sister Kelly, my mom, Vicky and all the kids went. It was a lot of fun. Mathew, Will and I stayed at a hotel near Disneyland so he could take a nap and we could stay late at the park. It was honestly the best decision ever. Sunday, on actual Mother's Day, Mathew, Will & I went back to Disneyland for the morning. It was really nice to relax and enjoy the characters and get on some rides right away. Will even rode his first rollercoaster that morning. He rode Thunder Mountain like a champ. He sat between Mathew and I and it was a blast.

Later on Mother's day we took Mathew's mom and his grandma (Ramona) to dinner at the Merry-Go-Round Chinese restaurant. We had a nice visit and were able to relax the rest of the evening.



Swimming at Cyndel's & Rick's

Cyndel & Kenzie, poolside

Mathew's birthday came full force in June. With his big 30th birthday on the brink, I made sure it was the best yet (per his words). He had not one, but two surprise parties, pilot's lessons, and a big trip to Hawaii. His birthday celebrations expanded over a 5 week period. For 15 days (2x a day, equally 30 items total) he was showered with all of his favorite things and fun moments. We played pool, he got his favorite coffee randomly in the morning, a love poem, a massage, a movie out, a dinner out, and lots of other things. Things have definitely been on the celebratory side over  the last few months.



Counsins!

July is here, and we were in Hawaii this time last week. Hawaii was beautiful and was an awesome vacation. Mathew's brother and his girfriend joined us in all the festivities of Hawaii. We went snorkeling, catamaran-ing, to a luau, drove around the island in a convertible mustang, swimming with turtles, and kayaking. It was perfect.

Birthday Celebration in Escondido

Today we're going on our first real hike as a family. We're super excited! I've never been to horseshoe meadows, and I'm thrilled to take pictures and enjoy a picnic with my boys.

Stay tuned....

Gina & Jeanna Fun

Life brings many people in and out of our lives. I have to say, one of my favorite friendships is with my friend Gina. I've known her for 13 years and we've really become close in the last 4 years. She has a beautiful, fun-loving daughter, Kylee. She is very close to Will's age. Gina also has a baby boy, Blake, that's about to turn 1 year old. Gina and her family are awesome! The only dilemma is that they live in Washington. This year we were fortunate enough to get to be part of their June Vacation.

      Gina and her family came out and we were fortunate to welcome them to LA. We all rode in the car together (all 7 of us) to Gina's parent's house in Marina Del rey. It was so fun to catch up. Nothing can quite describe how completely adorable it was to listen to Will and Kylee. They became the best of friends instantly. We had a wonderful dinner with her family. All of the kids played so well together. Her sister, Gwen, was there as well with her family from Colorado. It was a great way to start the weekend.

 

 When Saturday arrived we all traveled together to Santa Monica beach. This beach is our absolute favorite it because so many wonderful things happened there in our life. We watched and played with the kiddos as we soaked up the sun's rays and enjoyed great conversation. We spent many hours there. Gina was more than burned, but she didn't seem to mind, as long as we kept lathering on the aloe. I sincerely loved our time together. Gina and her family went out for dinner and we took William out to see Brave, the new Disney movie. Afterwards we picked Gina and the kids up and headed to Fullerton for a slumber party. We all crashed out pretty quickly.

First thing Sunday morning we headed to Disneyland!! What's more fun than taking 3 kids to Disneyland...NOTHING! I love how children get so bright eyed and joy-filled when they enter the park. We rode the train that was around the park, where we stopped at It's a Small World. We were able to get on quickly, which was great and the kids were in awe. Then we waited in line to see Marida from Brave.  Lunch was after than, then Toon Town. I think the greatest thing about this visit was that we weren't stressed or rushed to go on any particular ride or be anywhere. We just enjoyed the kids and let them be kids. There's no better way to do Disneyland.

It was truly a fun filled weekend with one of the greatest friends I have. I look forward to many more family adventures in the future.