Goodbye 2013....Hello 2014!!!!! 😄

So today is the final day of 2013, which is kinda bittersweet but good all in the same sense a lot has happen in 2013 some good and then some not so good..  

The start of 2013 was pretty good, Steven and I along with our children started the year off snuggled up in bed waiting to see the ball drop... That's when we took the Famous photo that DannieLynn was not having it in lol.. 

Lol it was a super long night and she was just ready for bed... 

Come February our baby girl turned the big ole 4 years old... It couldn't of been any better... 

Then onto the harder stuff, when Match came our family lost the one of the sweetest person we had in it.. The one that started the whole family Granny Hill.. I really hate that I never went and spent more time with her and I let life get me to busy to go down and just spend time with her... But before she passed I was able to spend time with her and help the family out as much as I could.. Which was a great blessing!! I sure do miss her so much also Grandma Martha too!! 

Also in March we were told our job was closing down and everyone would be without a job within 60 days maybe longer.. We it lasted longer then we were told but it still ended and everyone now is looking for work.. 

Our baby boy Braxton turned the big ole 2 years old in June.. Which was awesome.. He has came a long way although he still isn't talking much he is getting there, and everyone is helping him to learn new words and to talk much more!! 

We also decided that after our job closed down we would move out to California, which we did by driving here.. It was a lot of fun and we were able to see a lot of things we would of never been able to see any other way.. 

But we also miss our families back home every single day, and can't wait until we can see them all.. 

We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving and Christmas here which was pretty good.. For me it's just a little too hot here for it to be winter or the holidays!! I need the 20 degree weather and snow!! I can't handle the heat.. 

Now here we are spending New Years Eve in California which it just feels like any other day.. We woke up, sat around and just watched tv almost all day with the kids.. There isn't much going on or to do.. I have a simple headache and hope the kids will go to bed soon tonight.. 

Steven is working from 6:30pm-3:00am tonight so it's going to be an odd ringing in the New Year... 

But anyways 2013 was pretty amazing even with the bad... But 2014 is going to be a lot better and hopefully a lot more successful for us all.. It will also be odd this year that the ball will drop 3 hours after it has dropped East Coast time lol.. By the time we are seeing the ball drop everyone East Coast will be drunk and past out lol... 

I hope you all have an amazing night ringing in 2014 but please make sure to do it in a safe way and as always 

DONT Drink and Drive!!! 

I would also like to wish Gabby and Frances a very happy birthday for today I hope you two enjoyed it!!!! 

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!!! 

Christmas Christmas Christmas

 Well today is Christmas.. It's the first one in California for all of us, I can honesty say getting ready for this years Christmas I wasn't stressed out or worried much at all.. Other then the fact I didn't know what to buy my mom, but thankfully she isn't picky so I was able to find her something she liked... Today has been pretty good the kids woke up around 8:30am or 9:00am I'm not so sure I didn't look at the time.. They were super excited to know that Santa had stopped for them.. DannieLynn was super excited that Santa didn't eat all his cookies so she could finish the rest, Braxton enjoyed that our Elf on the Shelf "Jingle" had left them some M&M's so he finished those off.. 

Then it was onto the gifts, DannieLynn spotted her bike right off and was super Excited which kinda shocked me a little since she was with me when I picked it up and already saw it.. I guess she didn't really catch it was for her.. ( but I won't be doing that anymore I'll make sure they aren't with me when I get their gifts) Braxton was happy to see his little Lighting McQueen car that Santa left and was ready to ride.. Once he was riding he didn't care about any other gift at all.. (**Note to self**) hide those big gifts next time so they are ready to open everything up before getting the ride on toys lol..

We all sat around in the living room and opened up our gifts one person at a time when you was handed a gift, it was very nice to see what each person was getting and how they reacted to getting that gift lol.. 

Overall I think everyone was excited and loved what they were give... The kids were super excited for all their gifts and I was a super happy momma that I didn't have to spend my arms and legs to make our children happy!! Also they didn't get to much that only one thing is getting played with they are able to play with all their toys and enjoying their time.. 

We had a pretty good morning and now everyone is doing their own thing.. The kids are playing and hanging out.. Mom, Lenny and Myself is watching a Christmas Movie "Jingle All The Way" I love this movie I watch it all year long not just at Christmas time.. 

Kinda sucks today though because Steven had to go into work from 2-10pm don't they realize he has children that he needs to spend some time with.. I mean he worked for you last night 4pm-12:30am and didn't get to help do their gifts for Santa or anything then you want him right back on Christmas Day at 2pm kinda makes me mad... (Ps. I don't care if it's a job) I don't like the fact of it.. Especially since the fact they don't get anything extra in pay for working today! 

This Christmas was also a bit different since we miss our back home family like crazy.. It's been kinda odd not having to rush and get things done to make it to someone's house in time lol.. Which is kinda good but weird all in the same sense.. 

I thought we would make it through today without any meltdowns but man was I wrong.. DannieLynn had a major meltdown because she wanted to play with Braxton's baby doll and he wanted it too, but we will get through it I believe it just a nap that's needed.. 

Well I guess we are going to spend some time watching spongebob and hoping naps come soon so we can have a more relaxing day!! 

I hope you all have a great day with family and friends!! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thanksgiving in California..

Happy Thanksgiving to you, 

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday, and spend a lot of time with your families, and just enjoyed the time you had.. 

We had a pretty good day, we woke up around 9:00am I think, me and the babies laid around in bed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (watching that is something I have done for years growing up) every single year I talk about how I would LOVE to spend Thanksgivingng in New York watching the parade... One day I will just need to save up for that.. 😜

I also usually ALWAYS watch the National Dog show too but having kids and they are wanting the tv I pick my battles wisely so cartoons it was. 

Carl Smith, cooked our whole meal for us today this was the first year since I have been cooking that I didn't have to cook anything it was a bit odd not being inside the kitchen cooking but it was ok, I kept my children out of his way as much as possible.. 

I even had the chance to get Braxton to nap around 2:00pm and DannieLynn also went and crashed with mom, so we all got some naps in and then when we woke up the food was almost all done. 

Carl is an amazing cook, we had some good ole food today.. 

Turkey, mashed taters, gravy, dressing, green beans and corn, roll, green bean casserole... 

Everything was very good and Carl did a great job.. 

It was even warm enough I enjoyed my food out by the pool this evening it was nice and quiet I was able to just sit down eat and then go back inside the house.. A few of us ate out side today it was a nice and pretty day not to hot or to cold.. 

After dinner and everything was put away, it was time for mom, Jeffrey, Carl and Steven leave to go shopping lol.. Steven has to work tonight he thought he had to work this morning he went in from 7:00am until 9:00am then his boss was like umm your suppose to work tonight so he had to come home and then go back in tonight from 8:00pm until 1:00am but it's all good it's a job and will help us with Christmas and everything else... 😄 

By far this was a very good Thanksgiving, it was a little different being in California and not North Carolina but it was still good.. We still enjoyed the day and had a good meal.. Also spent the day with people we love!! 

The kids have been playing and watching cartoons, while I cleaned up the dishes, now the night is winding down and we will be heading on to bed soon.. We put up the Christmas tree last night so that's something we don't have to do tomorrow 😄 

We can just relax and enjoy the rest of our holiday and then it's back to school on Monday for just one week and then it's out for Christmas time!! 

Mom is taking her last GED test on December 4th, it's her math test we are praying and crossing out bodies that she passes this test and then she will be all done with school, I am so very proud of her! 

I can't wait for her to be done with this high school stuff and be able to get a job where she doesn't have to over work her self and she can enjoy it.. 😜😃 

Well guys I done want to bored you up and I'm getting a bit tired so this is all for now I hope you enjoyed and be looking for more post coming soon!! 😄 😄 

For now Good Night Readers!!! 

-Danielle (Happy Turkey Day) 😄 

 

Three Months in California!!

Dear (please insert your name here) 

So we have been here in California just about three months, it's been going pretty good. We have had a little bit of a rough time missing home and also some really good times.. We all Three are in school Steven and I are going to get our high school diplomas and mom is getting her GED, the babies have been doing good, growing up like little weeds lol, DannieLynn has started Tap and Ballet dance 👯 she really enjoys it, she is dancing in December for recital. Braxton is just been little Braxton lol he can't fully talk yet but he is smart as a whip he has picked up some new words, he can tell you when he wants sometimes and make you understand what he wants!! Just hoping it won't be to much longer until his tongue is released and he can speak sentences.. 😃 

Steven has been working at Denny's since October 1st, he enjoys it some of the time but sometimes it drives him nuts, but it's some money.. 

We went on a trip to the Safari zoo that was pretty awesome, the zoo is made to where your closer to the animals then them being behind all those walls and stuff where you can't see them good, we where able to see a deer crossing the road within touching distances from us that was really neat.. 

We rode the Trolley last weekend to get a feel of it and now we take it to school and the city bus so that it's less hassle on Carl, during the week. But we really enjoy it the trolley is fun lol.. We also rode if downtown passed the Chargers Stadium and had a good time, we have talked about when we need to go down and shop at the malls we are taken the trolley and even if we ever go to a football game so we don't have to pay to park or fight the traffic lol... 

Jeffrey and Carl have went to LA three times since we have been here, for stuff the bought tickets for before we got out here, mom went up to LA one weekend but she didn't look at anything or go any place that me and Steven will be going to up go see we are all going up together to see it at the same time! 

I'm ready to see San Francisco but it's a long drive so we will have to rent a van plus stay in a hotel room so we are saving money for that trip before we go, plus we want to be able to have money while up there! 

The Holiday season is coming up it's almost Thanksgiving, this will be the first year in a long time we don't go Black Friday shopping but since I'm not working I don't really have the money, plus I don't like the fact that it's getting to early into Thanksgiving Day and those employees won't have time with there families.. 

This Friday the Santee City is having their lighting of the Christmas tree so we are going to go down and see that and they are turning the water area into a snow area for the children to play in so it should be really neat.. 

The Sunday we have the mother goose parade here in EL Cajon which Carl said is really big we are going to take the kids to that so it should be a lot of fun also.  

So this is a little bit about how it's going in California, we love and miss you all and hope all is going well, will blog again soon just keep watching back for something new! 

 For Now... Good Night Readers...

Our First week here in California

Dear (Insert YOUR NAME here), 

So we have been here in California for a week now, it's a bit different then back home but we are adjusting slowly!! 

As you all may already know the time here is 3 hours behind North Carolina so it's been a bit struggle getting Lynn and Braxton to sleep in past 6:30 AM time here! 

So the first week we didn't do to much we were just trying to adjust and get everything in order since 5 more people moved into the home! We still haven't gotten it all together yet but we are working on it slowly! 

It's really hot out here but we swim in the pool and take nice walks to try and cool off, also so we don't just sit around all day doing nothing! 

Our first Friday here we went to a birthday party of Carl and Jeffrey's friend that was really awesome we got to see the San Diego City at night and it was so pretty!! 

This past Sunday we went out on a walk around 11:00 AM and stayed gone until around 7:00 PM going to different stores and just getting a feel of where everything is at that was pretty cool I thought it would be a harder walk then what it really was it about killed our feet and legs because we didn't have tennis shoes we walked that long in flip flops, so Carl saved us by taken us out to get some shoes! 

Today we went down to the DMV to get our drivers licenses and let me tell you that place is CRAZY!!! North Carolina you think ours was bad you need to give this one a try if you don't have a appointment you are probably going to be waiting 3 or more hours, we failed out test tho so we have to go back and retake it we are required the Written and Eye test it's harder because some of the laws here aren't the same at home when it comes to some things and so I missed 8 and was only allowed to miss 6! Steven missed 11, there is 36 is on the test it is crazy questions on some of them tho!! 

Better Luck next time tho!!! 

Sorry it has taking me so long to get this blog up but I hope you all enjoy it and I will be posting another pretty soon! Just keep watching Facebook for when I post 

Also today was exciting because I filed for Steven to get unemployment and they sent us papers saying he was approved so that made the day way BETTER!! 

Well I love and miss all of you guys back home I hope that your all having a great time and all is well with ya! 

Until next time... Good Night Readers!

Arizona and California...

Dear (Insert YOUR NAME here), 

So we made it out of Texas and onto Arizona, I don't know how I didn't get a photo of the sign but I can't find it anywhere! 

It was pretty late by the time we made it into Arizona, but we were on a mission to make it into Tucson so that we could eat at this restaurant it was Vegan but we all were going to try it, the name was Sinbad's the food was pretty good it was on the campus of the college kids but it was pretty nice tho!! 

We got motel rooms in Tucson cause it was so late and everyone was so tired and we needed a good night of rest so we could make it to California on Monday!! 

Arizona is very hot with a lot of just mountains, not much to look at but we made it to Phoenix Monday morning and we went to this Vegan restaurant to eat, there the food was really good and beside of it was a Vegan Ice Cream shop which was good also! 

We saw a bit of cool stuff on the ride some airports, a lot of planes taking off and landing once we hit Arizona!! 

Steven rode with Carl about the whole ride and was supposed to be staying awake to give Carl someone to talk with and to keep in touch with our car since the Uhaul was so bad that Carl had to drive with both hands at all time but Steven fell asleep a few times on him and Carl was able to capture some good photos!! 

Even at one point this nap was so good he even was drooling!! 

Half of the trip Steven had a hard time with his tongue he decided he wanted to eat Cinnamon chewing gum knowing that it makes his tongue swell up, so he couldn't hardly eat, drink, talk or anything much at all... We finally stopped at a Walgreens to see about some Meds for moms legs and things and the lady working told him try some Orgel and that kinda helped him out some!! 

Finally we made it into California, in the afternoon hours! 

You might can tell by this photo but if not we were all VERY TIRED even Carl who took this awesome photo of us!! :) 

Now that we were in California it felt pretty nice but it was still hours away from the house, we drove and drove trying not to stop since we wanted to get there as early as possible! We took one bathroom break and then we were mindset no more stopping until we were in front of the house!! 

We went through this city called Indio I don't know much about that city or anything at all but what I can tell you by seeing it at night it's a Huge place there was city lights for miles it seemed like!! We also passed once again those big wind mills here in California if it would of been day light those pictures would of been awesome, they were way closer then those we passed out in Texas!! 

After we got through this city Indio I could tell the highways were getting wider and mountain roads were picking up, it was a mountain like ride with a lot of other cars and big 18 wheelers in which I can't stand so the best for me was to fall asleep! So that's just what I did I woke up a few times in between but for the most part I slept with the kids!! 

Lynn and Braxton both was really awesome on this road trip I tell you we had a little bit of ups and downs but not as many as I planned for, they did really good with no melt downs much at all but being a small child in a car seat for 6 days and not having a lot of big fits is truly awesome!! I am so blessed and thankful to have good kids! Although they do get wild at times, that's what four and two year olds are supposed to be doing!! 

We pulled into the driveway around 11:00pm California times Monday night, North Carolina your 3 hours ahead of us! 

When we finally reached the house it was such a great feeling to be out of the car and be able to sit or stand whatever we felt like doing instead of being in the car in a seat belt feeling strapped down!! 

We were also warmly welcomed by Carls mom Donna, his twin brothers Terry and Lenny also Violet (Cat) and Parker (Dog) they are all very sweet and it's nice getting to know each and everyone of them!! 

Well this sums up our move across the country, I really hope that all of the readers have enjoyed this move with us and thanks so much for keeping up with what we were getting into and how we were doing! I hope you all will continue reading as I post new things as we spend time here in California  and get to know the area!! 

This Beef Jerky picture was taking in a truck stop out in Arizona, it reminded me of my brother Chris McLaurin!! I love and miss you so much and hope that all is well!! I should of bought this and mailed it out to you but this darn thing was $7.99 and that's a little crazy! But I will mail you something just give me a little time :)

I don't have a lot of photos in these two states because there wasn't much to take them of since it was dark most of the ride!! 

 Until next time..... Good Night Readers!! 

Texas and New Mexico!!

Dear (Insert YOUR NAME here), 

We made it to Texas, was early in the morning around 4:45am or so, and we were pretty excited, we saw the Texas sign and just so happen it was at the rest stop area so we could get out and walk around a bit, also while at the sign getting our pictures made, we heard something messing around in the wood area so we stood real still to see what it was, when it came out we could see it was a Armadillo, that was awesome none of us had ever saw one other then a few hours before when we saw one dead on the road, we were taking some pictures when it ran off from hearing us, then soon it came back and I was able to get a real good picture on the camera!

We drove into Texas until Jeffrey and Carl could rest up some, we all slept in the car, then headed back out!! 

I never thought we would get out of Texas it took us forever, that darn state is HUGE!! 

Finally after forever in Texas we finally hit Dallas, that was pretty cool that city is really nice and beautiful, here is some photos of Dallas 

We even passed by the Cowboys Stadium but I couldn't get a good picture!! It was really cool when we passed Six Flags over Texas!! 

Miles and miles after Dallas we drove through a lot of country and mountains, we got to see these really cool wind mills I really enjoyed those a whole lot, 

Heading to El Paso you get really close to the borader of the US and Mecixo that was pretty neat ill never seen anything like that at all.. 

Well Finally after a long long ride in Texas we made it into New Mexico.. 

When we entered New Mexico it was very hot and you could tell you was in the  desert area! Our very first stop was at the rest area not far into the state so we all could use the bathroom and be ready to drive through there isn't a bunch of places to stop out in desert area, so we all get out to walk around and all the first sign we see is this... 

That's right "BEWARE" of "RATTLESNAKES" so I was freaked out and everywhere I stepped I was looking for dang snakes!

New Mexico is a little bit of a boring state all we see is mountains and roads with trains, I promise I think the West Coast has the Longest Trains I've ever seen in my life. 

We made a stop at this little store out in the middle of New Mexico, so everyone could walk around, or just get out for a bit and we came along these Grass Hoppers they were wild and would scare ya cause they were just big and EVERYWHERE! 

They don't mess with you or anything but there was just a lot of them and they are really big lol... 

We also in this shop ran across a lot of hats and things like that and our babies ESP. Braxton fell in love with the hat he hasn't harder taken it off since we got it for him, he loves to put it on for a picture to be made.. 

They also had this Tee Pee looking thing we went over to check out while we let the dogs walk some and exirsce their legs and all.. Carl had me freaked out that there might be Rattlesnakes under there so I was tripping trying to hurry up and get away from it.. 

While on this little trip over to the Tee Pee Steven found him a little friend he wanted to scare us all with lol.. Once we knew what it was we were fine tho.. :) 

After all of this little adventure it was time to head back into the car and Arizona here we come!! That will be in the next blog along with Califonia... 

Until next time... Good Night Readers!! 

I love and miss all of you back home I hope that you all are doing good, and enjoying my blog.. Lynn and Braxton is doing really good and have handled this ride amazingly,  everyone that said they felt bad for the babies in the car this long know they have done really good and we have only had a few melt downs! 

Mississippi and Louisiana!!

So we made it to Mississippi, after that long travel through Alabama!! We had a good time driving through Mississippi it didn't seem to take as long as other states did but it was still long! We was looking forward to seeing the Mississippi River the whole ride, we got into a real bad rain storm that we had to drive real slow for a bit then it passed on by and we made it to the river! 

At the Mississippi River there was this over view look thing we went up to and it was awesome, we were able to see the bridge really good, and another bridge that had a train track on it, they also have this little walk up thing so you kinda feel to be on a small mountain and you can see better and also see the big Casino that's at the Mississippi River!! 

Also they had this really cool bridge we could walk across and like different things that was pretty amazing! This bridge made me a bit scared because Braxton is so small it was like he could slip through there so I hurried him on down the other side!! 

We also let our dogs out to walk about every single stop we make and even at some stops Jeffrey or someone will run the dogs around the truck in circles to exercise their legs and the babies chase behind getting tired out so they can go to sleep, Lynn hasn't been napping as much as Braxton and let me tell you we can feel it lol, Jeffrey and I both had headaches yesterday from her not having a nap or anything else! 

Jeffrey was talking about all the history of this bridge and its pretty cool, makes it be cooler, than just a really long bridge over water!! 😄 

After all the cool site seeing it was finally time to cross it, which means that we would be crossing into Louisiana!!  

Which we do have a welcome to Louisiana picture but I don't have it on my phone, this was the scariest stop for me, because people were flying off the bridge crossing in and the traffic was

Really heavy at the time we went in, so we hurried up as fast as possible!  

Poor Steven his tongue is all messed up and kinda swelled because he ate some Trident Cinnamon Gum which he knows he isn't supposed to eat that but he is a bit hard headed... Then while we are stopped to take pictures on this scary stop into Louisiana, Steven steps down into a fire ants nest and they attack him really bad, and he is all burning up and fighting the ants off... 

We finish up at the rest stop with pictures and getting Stevens ant bites chilled out and we head on into Talulah Louisiana looking for a Vegan like Restaurant, they ask Siri where this place is and she leads up to a little city and we can't find the place no where at all we drove around for about 10 mins looking and I guess down there it's not required to have numbers on business we couldn't find the addresses for anything, so Jeffrey decided to tell mom call the place and see where they are located at, and they told us they were in New York, so you can say that was a "Siri Fail" which sucks that wasted a lot of our time but it was fine!! 

We were on to West Monroe, still looking for somewhere to eat at, google is usually a very good help but Monroe is small and doesn't have much out of the fast food restaurants, they asked me to control the looking for food while we were riding down the road since my phone was charged the most, Jeffrey said to look up Thai Food, so that's what I found a place called Bangkok Spice, so that's where we headed too, they had a good choice of food one thing on the menu was "Curry" I haven't ever had any of it but I knew that Jeffrey eats it all the time from talking to him when he was in California so that's what we all tired for the first time, it was really good food I didn't think it would taste that good!! 

Lynn and Braxton had some egg rolls and fried rice, which they didn't eat much of because we had to wake them to go eat but they had a little bit of it!! 

After dinner it was on to meet my sister Savannah, up at the truck stop off her exit to home, it was a really good feeling to get to see her again and meet 2 of my 5 nephews I wish they all could of been but the timing got crazy for a little while and it was so late before we got into Louisiana, so it was alright I will meet them tho ;) the kids played together, walked the dogs and raced back and forwards on the grass, it was a really good meet up and we all had a lot of fun and took some pictures!!

Well readers this is our trip from Mississippi to Louisiana, tomorrow we will be talking about Texas and New Mexico!! 

Until next time... Good Night Readers!! 

One the road again!!

Finally we made it into Alabama around Thursday morning!!  We drove and drove for what seemed like years, Alabama is such a long state with a lot of road work going on that its not even funny, finally after hours we made it to Birmingham Alabama!! 

Birmingham wasn't one of my favorite places it was so busy with a lot of people and it didn't look like what it's all cracked up to be, in my opinion, it was alright but not as nice as you would think when you talk about it, but Jeffrey did find this really cool restaurant called (Mellow Mushroom) that we all tried out, it was something new and a little different but the food was really good, it's a pizza place they make really good pizzas but they are a bit pricy, a large Meats pizza was $27.99 WOW!!!! But it could of been higher If we wouldn't of shared a large pizza!! 

Steven wanted some root beer and needed a picture of the bottle lol, he thought it was pretty cool! 

After dinner we were going to head onto Louisiana and stay in a motel, close to my sister but it was still pushing 9 hours away maybe 6 hours, and everyone was just SOO TIRED, then Carl rented us all motel rooms to rest up and take showers so we didn't start to stink, the only motel we could find in the area was a Motel 6, which was pretty good until Jeffrey and I at the same time tried to connect on their wifi and found out you have to pay $2.99 Per Day to use the wifi which is pretty lame since you pay so much per night to stay there! 

Morning came we all loaded up to leave Alabama, which still was taking FOREVER to get out of that darn state we had to stop like 50 times for different reason, but one of my favorite Alabama stops was at the Truck Stop TA in 

TUSCALOOSA, Home of the "BAMA FOOTBALL" "ROLL TIDE" 😄 I went to get me a t-shirt but they didn't have any there but it's all good... 

After this stop it was no stopping again until we get to Mississippi, everyone was so tired of Alabama cause it was taking so long to pass through! 

Dannielynn and Braxton are still doing great not sleeping as much in the car so it gets a little tough at times but for the most part they are being good and enjoying the ride... 

Blake and Ozzy is riding too we stop and walk them every single stop so they get to stretch out and potty!!! 

Tomorrow will blog about Mississippi and Louisiana, so stay watching to see what's good in those two states!! 

This is Blake and Ozzy in the motel being tired, they slept really good last night, riding is making them tired too 😄 

Until next time.... Good Night Readers!!