Annual C Street Halloween Party

 We had our annual Halloween Party and it was very fun. The food truck was a hit. This year, Ethan and Caleb stayed and hung around which was fun. We invited our friends from outside the neighborhood and ended up mostly hanging out with them. I was a pirate, Fred was a nerd. Ethan was a country singer, Caleb was Nacho Libre (a costume I found at Goodwill!) and for school Caleb was a scarecrow. He made his costume with my help. Asher was Eminem the rapper and Macie was a witch. 

Ethan's Open Mic Night

Ethan had his first Open Mic Night at Impulse Music Co. He sang Folsom Prison Blues. He has both sets of grandparents and a bunch of friends come to support him which was so awesome to see. He did so well. He's also started an Instagram for his budding music career and it's going great!

 

18th Anniversary

Fred and I celebrated our golden anniversary today. 18 years on the 18th. Other than taking the kids to Castaic Lake to play on the splash park, this is what we did:

We snuggled in bed together. 

We were both tired from our concerts the night before and were too tired to get ready and go out to eat to celebrate. So, this is what celebrating 18 years looks like. Hahaha We will celebrate another time but it was worth mentioning. It feels like we've been married for ages. Neither of us hardly remembers life not being married to one another. Probably because we got married so young. 

Well, we love each other. Marriage can be really hard but it's also so good. With anything, it ebbs and flows but regardless of what happens, we love one another and I don't ever want to do life without him. He's my best friend.

Here's to another 18 years!

 

Sara Bareilles

 My friend, Sarah, got an early birthday present... to go see Sara Bareilles at the Hollywood Bowl and she asked me if I'd like to come with her. I immediately said YES! We both love Sara Bareilles and the musical Waitress, which she composed. So, while Fred took Ethan and Caleb to the Gambler's Mark concert, I went with Sarah to the Sara Bareilles concert. Macie hung out at Sarah's house with her girls and Drew and Asher went to the Boyd's for the night.

Sarah and I grabbed dinner beforehand and had a lovely picnic before the concert in a little grassy nook we found near all the tables. It was delicious. Then they had Renee Elise Goldsberry perform before Sara Bareilles. Renee is in a TV show with Sara called Girls 5 Eva. She was also in the original broadway company of Hamilton. She even sang a Hamilton song!! After she was done, Sara performed with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. She sang all her big hits. I completely lost it and embarrassingly sobbed when she sang her song Gravity, new song called Enough and her closing song, Used to be Mine. I just cried and cried. This concert was probably just as good as, if not better than Michael Buble's concert which up until Sara's concert, was my ultimate favorite one I've been to.

She was so funny, so humane and just simply transcendent. I am so grateful Sarah asked me to go with her. It was such an impactful, meaningful and incredible night I will never forget. 

Gambler's Mark Concert

 Fred took Ethan and Caleb to a Gambler's Mark concert. Both boys have been wanting to go to a concert so badly and Ethan had discovered this band not too long ago and found that they were playing close by and tickets were relatively cheap. Asher said he wasn't interested in going but after learning how the concert was with the most pit and drunk people, it's probably better Asher wasn't there.

Fred and the boys said they had such a fun night. They were right up front and Fred protected them from the mosh pit. Fred said he had a drunk lady try to kiss him and was all up on him and that it was a crazy night. I'm glad the boys were able to experience a fun concert with their dad. Hopefully it's the first of many like that. They were sweet and took a picture because they know I want them too but all they did was take that one picture so here ya go...

Uncle Jake Visits

 Uncle Jake came to visit for the first time in 5 years. We were all so excited to see him. He brought his boyfriend, Ian, who is from Taiwan. He didn't speak English all that well but he did pretty good. We showed them our house, I made dinner, we talked and chatted and went out for ice cream afterwards. Ian had never had cookie dough ice cream before so we made him try it. 

It was so fun to see Jake. The kids all said he is so epic. Macie hadn't remembered him whatsoever so it was fun for her to essentially meet him for the first time. Jake says he's going to hopefully move soon to another country that is closer and easier to visit so he doesn't have to wait another 5 years to visit again. But it's been so long because of Covid and the strict rules Taiwan has for Covid and being in quarantine. 

It was a fun night full of laughter and getting to see Jake again. We wish he could be around all the time!

Happy 16th Birthday, Caleb!

 Caleb celebrated his birthday with his friends on Saturday, August 10th. We had a party at the pool for about 3 hours and then everyone went back to the house to hang out and they all ended up playing hide and go seek in the dark. The party started at 3pm and we finally kicked everyone out at 10:30pm! They all had so much fun. Caleb got a lot of cool things from his friends including records, shirts, money, Playstation gift cards and sweet handwritten cards. Macie made him a card too and put her own money in it which was so sweet. Ethan had a custom vinyl made for Caleb which he bought with his own money. Ethan, Caleb, Asher and Macie all love the Color Songs by the StoryBots (which is a little kids show) so Ethan had the color songs put on a vinyl and designed the front and back cover art. Caleb loved it.

Caleb's actual birthday was on a school day so after school, Fred surprised him by taking him to T-Mobile to get a new phone, something he REALLY wanted and he was SO excited. After he got his new phone, he decided on Lucille's for his BBQ dinner. I tried to get pictures but teenagers are not into taking pictures. 

Caleb at 16 years old is such a vivacious, full of life, silly, fun-loving, loyal kid & friend. He has a big personality & is always singing, listening to music, laughing, dancing and telling jokes. He is charismatic, happy and such a handsome boy! He continues to unify his siblings and has a kind heart. He really loves his people. Our family would be so different without him and we are so happy he is a part of our family. We love him so much. Happy 16th Birthday, Siffy Woo!