Irvine, CA ????? Is it True - Hasers are Moving?

I am afraid so... We are all kind of in shock over here. Todd was made a job offer in Irvine that he is very excited about, last Thursday, and the company will be relocating us out there. It is a really great opportunity for Todd and he wont have to travel 100% anymore - YAY! We are absolutely going to miss EVERYONE out here!!!! However, we won't live far from Disneyland (we are looking at Newport Beach right now) and we expect everyone to come and see us when they head out to Disney....

To entice you to come visit - we have included a link to the live cam at the beach:

Newport Beach Live

I would be remiss if I didn't include an update on our newest baby:

We finally have a name for her! Xia Lilu (pronounced, per us, Zia Leelu) Xia is a name that means 'glow of the sunrise' and Lilu we took from the name Liluye - which means Singing Hawk while soaring. We felt that she was like the glow of the sunrise bringing hope and light to a new day (after the darkness of losing our Lolly) and she is already starting to be a chatter box. We adore her she is so sweet!

Xia with one of her Cuddle buddies. She is starting to get a ton more feathers!

Super Xia - she is exercising her wings

Oh How Cute is She?!!!
Don't worry she will have all her feathers soon.

We love you guys!!!

Trip to Cali & our new baby

Last Weds, the kids and I left around 6:30am on our trek to Cali. The drive out wasn't really that bad, only 7-7 1/2 hours! We listened to The Hobbit on the way and that made the time go by much more quickly. . . As we arrived in town, my Sister Samantha met us at one of our favorite places to eat back home T.O. Meat Locker (the only place that Kayla will eat a BBQ chicken sandwich). I highly recommend them if you are out that way!

Samantha (or as we call her Mantha) and the kids with her new puppy!! How cute is he!

From there we headed to my Mom's house... and I finally got to meet her baby goats, well they aren't really babies anymore. They were so funny, very friendly and silly.

Mom with Goat babies

Jai with goat babies

Goat baby climbing Jai! LOL!

My Mom climbing goat?!!! No, really she is just scratching its bum!

Thursday we got up early and headed out to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Todd and I LOVE Magic Mountain and were regulars there in high school. I was VERY sad not to have Todd there - he is so MUCH fun at amusement parks and then I never get lost. Poor kids were stuck with just me, and we did walk in a few extra circles...

Mom and Kids

Ok, the rides are WAY different than they were 10 years ago or so. This ride the Tatsu was crazy. You are strapped on the outside of the roller coaster and are basically flying around being held in only by the bars that go over your shoulders! It was awesome.

My sister had some stuff to do, so my Mom was babysitting her puppy for her. It is a total love bug. It's little play pen was near where Logan was sleeping on the sofa and after he fell asleep it escaped from the play pen and crawled up on the sofa to sleep with him! LOL!!! So cute.

Logan and the Ry-guy

Friday Morning - It was time to go meet our new baby!!! We adopted a little baby Yellow-Bibbed Lory. She is only 6 weeks. We don't actually know if it is a girl or boy yet, but everything else in our house is a girl, so... After picking her up we picked up Todd (who flew in for meetings in Irvine, and so graciously offered to drive us home - even though he could have flown - what a great guy)!

On the car ride home. She really didn't like the car ride and cried most of the time. We tried singing to her, cuddling her, and nothing seemed to help. For a little while she finally passed out (it was very short lived), but she looked so funny passed out. She cuddled under her toy and just went to sleep.

Todd with Baby at home!!

Mom with baby. She had fallen asleep in my arms. She woke up when we took the pic.

Another pic of baby. We haven't named her yet. We are waiting to feel inspired!!! She is so sweet. We just love her. She is mostly covered in downy feathers right now, but should be getting her big girl feathers in the next couple of weeks. How cute!

Last Friday

After everything that happened with Lolly, we decided that Indy should have a wellness check-up. We made an appt with one of the best Lory doctors out here Dr. Driggers and took Indy to see him Friday Morning. Indy wasn't really excited about being checked-out. I think she felt a little violated! Poor little girl. Dr. Driggers said she looks beautiful and he even gave her lots of kisses! How cute!

Dr. Driggers checking out little Ind...

Friday night we went up to 4 Peaks to celebrate the 40th birthday of a super cool friend of ours Dean Moore! 4 Peaks is only about an hour away from where we live, but feels like you have gone to another world almost. Far removed from city life in the middle of rolling rocks, cactus, endless skies and beautiful landscapes. The weather was perfect and it was gorgeous. Of course, the company was good too!

Kids at 4 Peaks with the Hon...

Mom and Dad at 4 Peaks

After a long day there is nothing better than getting a good night tuck-in and kisses from a Blue-Streak Lory. Thank you Todd for bringing Indy up to tuck me in! She is so CUTE!

In Loving Memory of our Sweet Lolly

LollyPaya
2/2002 - 4/4/2008
We love you and will always miss you!!


This is one of my favorite pictures of Lolly right after we got her, she was still a baby. She wasn't too sure if we could be trusted yet.

Before long she decided it was much better to hang out with us and get LOVE then to hang out and play with her toys.

She was the smartest, most amazing bird Todd or I have ever had the privilege to care for. After 4 months of being very ill, and numerous rounds with medications she finally passed on to be with Heavenly Father. We pray that she is enveloped in His love right now and always. Yesterday even though she had barely the strength to eat and breath she asked for extra love. Todd and I spent most of yesterday telling her how much we love her, cuddling her, and singing to her (which she especially loves). We hope that when she passed (in the middle of the night) it was knowing of the great love we had for her. We will truly alway miss our sweet friend who died before her time.

We wanted to have a special memorial for her, so we decided that we would plant a tree in our backyard in her honor. We have no trees back there currently. Todd and I went and looked for the perfect tree for our baby bird. We both saw this one tree and knew it was the one meant for her. It will hopefully grow into a big beautiful tree that birds will build nests in. We buried her under the tree... We had a beautiful memorial for her with the children. We shared many of the wonderful memories that we had of her and said goodbye.

Lolly loved to sleep in her happy hut, so I washed it for her to be buried with. We also buried her with her favorite toy and a picture of our family with her...

Lolly's tree. Todd working hard to dig the big hole.

Lolly's final resting place. )o:

Lolly's tree planted.

Your family will always remember you!

T-n-T

Todd-N-Tammy