So i've had a few days to sit on this and now i'll share..

So I have had a couple of days to sit on this and gather my feelings on the matter so now i'll share..
A Dear Dear Man we grew to love in Texas we just found out passed away last month, by all standard way too young (he was in his mid-late 50's).. Bro. VanDremmelen (Bob was his first name but i have no recollection of ANYone calling him anything but Bro. Van) died of effects of an enlarged heart.. We got to know him when we spent almost the month at the Children's Hospital with Lane.. He is who i was inspired (and you won't be able to convince me it wasn't inspiration) to call to administer and help on many blessings of Lane.. he also gave Ben and I a blessing on surgery day that i can't even think of one tiny morsel to share because the whole experience was just too sacred.. He spoke at Lane's funeral and then because we were slightly damaged after the whole ordeal he got to be our Home Teacher even though he was a High Priest and Ben's an Elder he served as our HT for almost a year and really nurtured our soul's and was fun and was a diligent servant..

I contacted his dear sweet wife who i have to say also helped me in more ways than one through out our whole stay in Texas.. She is a remarkable woman who i hear is doing great and "pressing forward"... we got to know their youngest son Brad quite well when Sam lived with us one summer.. i guess the silver lining is the weeks before his passing he was able to welcome Brad home from his mission and witness his last daughter get married..

I wish i had a picture of Bro. Van to share but looking through EVERYTHING i can't find one.. but i will never forget his smile and his huge servants heart.. he truly did have a heart too big to be contained here on earth.. i have no doubt he is about our father's work and working as diligently there as he did here.. I also have no doubt he has met our little boy Lane and reminiscing about their time they spent together 8 years ago...

It will take me a bit to be able to wrap my mind around this but he will surly be missed but the effects of his work and diligence will be remembered and the effects of his work be recognized in the people he touched.. and that is the FOX family for sure!!!
ta ta

paradise??

Well we went to the lake today.. it was nice a little more busy than i like but EVERYONE had he same idea as us that with pending rain (forcasted for the rest of the week) it was time to get some sun and fun in before it was too late..

What i just HATE is these people who bring their pre-teen girls in barley there bikini's.. my boys turn into dorks and want to splash and rough house with the for mentioned girls.. i get annoyed (but i might even if they were in modest swim suits too) and am having to get after them every second instead of enjoying my book and shade and my snow cone i made before i left the house..... so Because I'm so not cool (OK that stung the first time i realized it but it's a badge or courage now!) i won't allow them to push off the girls from their blow up rafts or boogie boards.. and i insist they play nicely.. i do realize they only have an inkling of interest in these girls but any interest is what bothers me..

so now for good stuff I got some Farly decent pictures of the swimming area.. OK you can be jealous now...

OK so the first two are just of our swimming area.. i had a hard time fitting it all into one shot and i still don't think these represent the greatness of it all.. the rest are of the kids and our cute ducks.. they were tiny babies just a few weeks ago (I'm kicking myself now for not getting a shot of them when they were tiny) we are forbidden to feed them but people must because they come to the swimming area all the time.. I'm also constantly yelling at kids (not just mine.. cuz I'm just like that!) to leave them alone.. the momma has gotten a little protective and i have visions of someone loosing a limb to one of them.. but they sure are cute..


so I've sworn off the lake for the rest of the week due to the boys behavior today... and the whining i heard when i said it was time to go... but it's suppose to rain the rest of the week so really is that a punishment??? anyway we are planning on going to Arkansas end of next week so hopefully we'll get a few more times in before we leave..
ta ta for now..

Not much to report Today

Hey Y'all
not much to report today it was a great day weather wise but the kiddo's decided on a lazy day so unfortunately that means no lake (i think i'm more bummed than they are!) but i'm trying hard to stick to my guns on this one.. anyway
as for other news.. YES we've heard about the quake in Chino Hills/Pomona area.. YES Ben's Parents, Brother and new Sis in law live in Chino.. among lots of other friends and family.. we havn't heard anything as of yet.. but i'm sure we would have if something aweful had happened.. and Ben thinks (and i'm trying to be supportative!) that we should wait until we hear from them because EVERYONE is going to try to call down there and the news said there is lots of power and phone outages..
so please keep everyone down there in your prayers!
ta ta

Sorry I forgot!!!

so i forgot my camera as we were trying to dash out the door to beat the rain/storm.. we got a good half hour in hopefully the kids will get chores done sooner tomorrow so we can enjoy the nice morning that will no doubt give way to afternoon thunderstorms..
ta ta

dejavu

ok i know I've shared this pic from our wedding before but due to recent events (ie: Sammy getting married!) i had to share the comparison..

12/27/1994

7/19/2008

that's right folks almost 14 years later... awww the memories!

I'll probably post later I'm taking the kids to the lake and I'm bound and determined to get some good pic's to share.. ta ta

Back among the wired..

So we just replaced the modem.. and we are back among the internet.. so it's time to share our trip... brace yourselves this is going to take a bit to get through...

we'll start from the beginning... or at least the beginning where i started taking pictures... We had a Fox Family BBQ it was fun and yummy and we swam and just visited and had a great time.. the kids had a ball playing with Levi their cousin who they only saw one time before.. and KayLea was just in love with Dylan the new baby cousin... everyone but Sheri and the happy new couple was there (actually Sam made a short appearance to eat and run but i got ho photographic proof) KayLea's most exciting thing to share was that she no longer has a phobia about swimming and infact LOVES to jump in now... she was a little fish...

Levi and Dylan were just adorable and Dylan even tolerated me getting him out of his pack and play and onto the grass so i coud get some cute shots of him... we realized this trip that i have completely lost my mojo for babies.. i mean i still love them but they not so much love me... i think it must be the baby factory closed sign that my faramones give off, and Levi was giving his parents a heart attack by "learning to climb a tree" (his dad is just out of camera shot)...

After our lovely BBQ (actually later that evening), the Fox girls (Me, Shannon and Trisha) took out the soon to be Fox girl (AmberLee, Sam's then fiancea) out for dessert to get to know her better and welcome her with open arms.. hopefully i won't be thrown out of the club for posting these but it was such a fun evening i just had to share.. Shannon got the prize for turning her checks a cute shade of red but come on,this picture is pretty mild if you ask me! i won't share what else was in the bag! haha! Amber is a great girl and will fit in nicely.. I'm sure she and Sam will be so happy!

Ok so the next fun thing was wedding day.. the morning of the wedding Ben decided would be a great time to teach the boys how to tie a tie.. i couldn't resist shooting some pic's of this.. it was funny but very touching!

Ok so i'm going to publish this and start a new one for the wedding

California take 2

ok so i was getting some fits from blogspot and it got me nervous so i decided to publish and start a new post.. where did i leave off, oh yea.. the wedding it was a great day, the weather was hot but clear and the sealing was great.. the absolutely only hitch was that Sheri (Ben's Mom) couldn't attend the Temple.. she had such a great recovery from just the week or so before but she still wasn't well enough to be released from the hosp and make the trek to LA.. I'm posting this group of pic's in small if you want to get a better look click on the pictures..

The kids of coarse got board to tears during the pictures so a great girl Jenae (formerly Dalton but she's married now, don't know her married name) played games with the kids and got them coloring etc.. what a great girl, i knew her when she was just a little girl.. be still my old heart!!

So i think the highlight for my day was going to see Sheri, we had promised her we'd bring the kids up all dressed up and Sam and Amber also came all spiffed up in their wedding attire.. you could tell she was a little sad that she missed the temple but i think it brightened her day to see everyone.. the hospital staff couldn't have been more nice, they really overlooked allot of stuff (there was more than 10 of us there) and i have to acknowledge the good deed of the photographer.. when she heard Sam's Mom was in the hospital she asked where it was then said she'd meet us there.. this wasn't pre arranged or part of her financial agreement etc.. she just realized how much it would mean.. i wish i knew her name so i could give her some free advertisement but if your in the market for a photographer in the S. California area let me know and I'm sure i can get you her name!
here's the only decent picture i got with the kids and Sheri... but it's only because my camera somehow got off of manual focus and i didn't realize it until i had taken a few quick picks (didn't want to tick off the photographer!)

I almost forgot the reception.. it was decorated really nicely (I'm not just saying that cuz i helped decorate!) and the food was great.. the kids had fun and KayLea zoomed in on all her 2nd cousins (all of Ben's cousins came with their little kids.. just the right age for KayLea..) she had a blast dancing and playing.. all the kids were asleep before their heads hit the pillow...

So the last Fox kids is married... hard to believe! it was really a great day!

OK one more post of Disneyland!

Disneyland

Ok so we had a BLAST at Disneyland.. and of coarse it did quite a number to our wallet so we might be eating ramen noodles for the next 2 weeks but my vote is that it was worth it.. (don't ask BEN!)

KayLea spent the first half of the day with Uncle Matt, Aunt Shannon, Levi and Grandpa Budd she had SOO much fun she didn't want to leave them.. they did all the kiddy rides and took pictures with tons of characters.. i don't have those pic's yet but if you click on Shannon's blog (to the left) there's a cute one with KayLea, Grandpa Budd and Eeyore.. here's just some random one's of the day... again i did these small if you want a bigger pic click on the picture..

so here are some things we learned at Disney,

1. KayLea LOVES, loves loves her Aunt Shannon and Levi (frankly whats not to love),
2. Hunter HATES anything that remotely resembles a roller coaster (ie: space and Thunder Mt.)
3. Bradley by the end of the day loved being the kid who would go with Ben on any ride.. (even though he was a little skeptical about space Mt. at first)
4. all the restaurants at Disneyland HAVE to give you free ice water (thanks Shannon for that tid bit of info)
5. I'm not certain if Disneyland IS the happiest place on earth but seeing your kids experience something you grew up with is pretty awesome!
6. KayLea may have to her her princess Disney ears surgically removed.. the boys also got ears but they were attached to a top hat and they were FAR too cool to be photographed with them on..
7. I love my family (but i didn't just learn that at Disneyland)