FALL Update!

Wow! where do i begin! I'm the biggest blog slacker ever! Have been posting on facebook lately, cause all the family is on there. But let me try to give you guys the fastest 4 month update ever!
1: We left for Europe in September! Loved it! Ireland, got to drive on the opposite side of the road and visit beautiful castles. Our friends in there are such great hosts, my hope is that i can return the favor one day! London...its such a cool hip town, and super clean, with the best indian food! Paris, C'est for lovers! And the wine and cheese are to die for! We got pretty intoxicated for Oktoberfest, as expected, and sang german songs! 3 weeks go by quickly when you're having fun. But I was happy to return home...it was a nice breather to get away for awhile!
2: two weeks after the Europe trip, i ran my first half marathon (13.1miles to be exact) in good time 2:07 minutes! not too bad! Will look forward to doing another one again. I had a great time, but was sore for two days!!
3: Went to a CAL game! The bears won!! woohoo!
4: Went down south to visit my parents. Everyone is doing great and the foster girls are thriving!! My parents are pleased with their progress, and the girls love to live with mom and dad!
5: Last week, Trav and I finished our two weekend course for Scuba! We are officially Scuba certified. Had our open water dive in Monterey! It was very cold, but we got to see some beautiful star fish, crabs, and snails! We had a wonderful time, but I've never been so exhausted from any recreational activity like this before. Scuba really wipes out all your energy! Having 65lbs of weight on your back and doing shore dives is tough!! But I love IT!! We are planning to go to Hawaii in February, and go diving! I'm looking forward to the underwater treasures Hawaii has in store for us!
PHEWWW!!! I think that's all the highlights for now! I wish i had pics of us in our scuba gear, but i don't, maybe next time!!

My birthday weekend:)

I had a great 27th birthday! Filled with family, friends, tea, mexican food, garlic, and the beach to name a few! Shirley, aunt Wendy and Kristy took me out thursday for lunch to a tea house in downtown Niles. where we dressed up in hats and had tea and scones, after lunch we shopped around in the antique stores! It's a really cute, quaint district, and mom and A. Wendy had fun shopping:) That evening, we met up with friends and coworkers and went to a mexican restaurant where pitcher's of Margarita's were served! The food was good, but the Margarita's were the best! We ended the night back at my place where mom and A. Wendy made me a homemade carrot cake....it was soooo yummy!!

Friday, we went to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, where we met up with my Bro and Michelle visiting from Lompoc! We had everything garlic...scampi, fries, corn on the cob, and ice cream! We ate so much garlic that by the end of the day, we had ruined our taste buds, (but at least we won't be eaten by mosquitos;) Saturday, we went to visit the city, (andrew, michelle's new boyfriend) had never visited. We walked through chinatown and the wharf, had lunch at the Cliffhouse, and drove up to Napa to surprise cuz Wendy for dinner!

On Sunday, Shirley, trav, josh and I drove back to Lompoc to visit my parents! I was welcomed by the whole family, mima and mipa were there too, and we had Arroz con Pollo for dinner that mom made.....super delicioso!! Monday morning we took Shirley to Santa Barbara to visit downtown and have lunch on the pier! Annette and Reynna had never been to the beach, so we let them get dirty and play in the sand! It was so much fun watching the girls enjoy themselves:)

The week of fun ultimately ended, shirley went back to Oregon, and Trav and I went back to work. I had such a great weekend, pure enjoyment...unfortunately i only have a few pics! I was too busy having fun:)

Kinyon Kamping

I've been meaning to get on blogger and download pics of our awesome camping trip to east park reservoir, but unfortunatly i'm at work, and I'm fearing i might be too busy this weekend! But just wanted to drop a line and say what a great time we had camping. I wish we could do it more often...just brings you back to simple fun with family and friends! There was keg stands, beer pong, and a 4-man beer bong! What more could be asked for! great food, and some good weather and chillin' in the water! (my burn has turned into a nice tan:) we really missed those of you who couldn't attend, and hopefully next year we can plan another camping trip, and have all our friends there!
luv,jen

CANADA eh?!!

Trav and I finally got to visit Canada! We've been planning this trip since January of this year, and it has already come and gone! crazy how vacations only last for a few brief moments! Either way, we had a fantastic time visiting with my friend Caroline (who i worked with at stanford). She showed us downtown Calgary (which is over 1 million people...i never knew it was such a big city) and showed us how to party "Cowboy Style!" Trav of course knew all the songs, and loved every minute of it! We went to the Stampede Festival, a big "state fair," got to see chuckwagon races, eat bison burgers, and watch the grandstand show with acrobats, dirt bike stunts, and fireworks...it was so much fun!


Caroline and Us!

Free Pancake Breakfast!

After spending a few days in Calgary, we rented a car and headed towards to Rockies! We visited Banff National Park, what a beautiful place to see! Our first day we visited Lake Louise, a lake whose water is torquoise in color due to the fine rock deposits being etched away from the glaciers. We hiked up a steep mountain whose 1.5 miles took us an hour and a half to climb! The views were amazing and their was a small secluded teahouse that welcomed hikers to stop and rehydrate before the trek back down the mountain. That same day we hiked a much smaller climb though Johnston Canyon to see a waterfall! The next day we went water-rafting on the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park. The water was 5 degrees celsius....almost freezing, running down from the glaciers. We had to wear wet suits in order to raft. The rapids were class 3 and 4, we had such an adventure!! We were welcomed back to base lodge with bison burgers, fruit, and warm hot chocolate! We had a great trip and here are a few pics! (sorry no rafting pics)

Lake Louise
Tea House

Mirror lake

Johnston Canyon

Merry MAY!!

The month of May has been soo much fun, and yet hardly had time to catch a breath! We have been enjoying the weather and fun times as much as we can. To kick off, Trav and I had a great time beating each other up with some Sumo-suits, that my coworkers rented to celebrate May birthdays! It was a blast! Travis was much better than i was, those suits are so heavy and large to move around in, but i had a great time anyways...even though i was mostly on the ground! The following weekend i had off, my parents visited with the children. We had a good time together, taking them to pier 39 and sky high sports in Santa Clara, also took them out to the trail i run and walked Samson! The children had a fabulous time and behaved pretty well...I don't think they're use to lots of walking:) It was nice to have them visit us and get to know where we live. Memorial Day was spent with fellow coworkers BBQ'n and drinking:) Went to an A's game with cousin Wendy last wednesday...we lost, but still had fun with $1 hotdogs and beer! Last weekend, was spent at the Saddle Rack and a party bus for a Bachelorette party...Sooo much fun...very drunk...pics not included!!!
We're getting ready now for our Canada Trip this coming July and our Kinyon Kamping trip too! I wish there were more months during the summer to spend with friends and family!! They go by so fast!

Enjoy the pics!

EASTER at the Chavez Home!!

So, i'm not so sure if I've updated everyone on the series of events that have been happening at my parents house lately. If you haven't heard already...my parents have chosen to foster three children. My cousin's three older children. My cousin Angie hasn't been doing so well...ever really, and her children were taken away from her 3 weeks ago. The social worker called my aunt Maribel and my mom to see if they were interested fostering the children. Being so many (5) total, the fostering system was unable to find a placement for all of them, and they would have to be seperated to different homes. So my mom and my aunt filled out the papers and decided to foster the children so they could be together and see each other regularly. Last Friday was the first day they arrived. My mom is fostering Matthew (age 11) Annette (6) and Reynna (4). My aunt is fostering Sierra (3) and Alicia (2). Travis and I travelled home last weekend to meet the children and spend Easter with the family. The children are staying with mom indefinately for right now. The court gives Angie 1 year to get herself together, and provide a home for her children. After that 1 year passes, my parents are given the option to continue being foster parents or adopting the children.



These children need a lot of love, teaching, and just a good ol' loving home. In three days, my parents and I could already see the difference in the way they behaved with each other and us as well. They need so much love and affection. This was a big choice my parents took, and I'm so proud and thankful i have good parents that can give much love to these children. By the way, my bro is stepping up and helping my parents out too, he's assumed the role of big bro...it's cool to see:)

p.s. this is my first video...i hope it works:)

Meet the new Chavez Family addition: From left- Reynna, Luis(dad), Sierra, Annette, Alicia, and Matthew

March B-days!

Last week was filled with several special birthdays! Travis turned 27 last thursday, and we were able to spend the day in Monterey! I took him to the Aquarium, and got to watch sharks being fed, jellies, swim, and otters play. We took a stroll in Carmel on the beach and took pictures of the crashing waves and beautiful sunset. Later, we went out for dinner to this little french restaurant. I ate so much my stomach hurt on our drive back home:) but it was worth it...the food was delicious!

That Saturday, we drove up to Chico to visit with the Ellsmore's and celebrate the twins' 1st birthday..and Jamie's too! The girls are getting bigger every time i see them. Their such sweet girls! I, unfortunately was ill and couldn't hold the children as much as i would've liked too:(

Overall, we had a good time watching the girls play and smile! The afterparty with the adults was enjoyable too! we had a good group of friends to party with!

The adults playing water-balloon toss!

The Twin's 1st Birthday Cake!!

Visit with Mom and Michelle!

I'm sorry for the late entry, but i wanted to post some pics of mom and michelle's visit for St. Paddy's Day weekend March 13-15th. I had such a good weekend....you know, those weekends that you lose sleep just to hang out with people you love! Trying to absorb every last minute with them. I didn't want the weekend to end, and it was sad to see mom and michelle go.....i luv 'em so much! We all went out for the Parade in the city....and thanks to mom, we all dressed in our cool paddy's shirts and beads! We had lunch we Uncle Keith and Aunt Wendy, and celebrated Mom and Aunt Wendy's birthday in the city:)

That saturday night... we decided to take Michelly out dancing! She came to visit me as a little vacation for herself. She needed some time off, just to have a little fun:) And we showed her some fun! Some of my coworkers along with friends and family met at my place for drinks, and headed off to the Saddle Rack for good wholesome dancing!! HAHA We had a blast, and I really enjoyed Michelle's visit! Here are just a few of the pictures! I luv this place...always have a good time:)

Almond Blossom Run!

Our 5K run!*@#!
Happy to have run a race with my hubby and friends! The crowd and adrenaline really helps propel you forward, even though your lungs and legs are telling you to STOP!!! I acheived my goal in beating Travis...hehehe...though not by much:) He's pretty fast for not training, or maybe he did and not tell me. Either way, we are both happy with our time in the race 26:17 and 26:29...not too shabby;)This race will not be our last, i think it has fired us to do more! I'm glad we have found something productive and healthy to do together along with our friends, (even though drinking, eating, and partying is always Fun too!!!) can't wait to get more friends out there next time and race to the Finish Line!

Humboldt Posse....after the race!!

Gavin cheering us on!

We warm up with Big Smiles!

The Gang's all here!

Thank you Ellsmore's for having us over the weekend! Jamie, thanks for the encouragement to run! Now, we are both left with anticipation for the next race! It's always so nice to hang out and catch up with everyone!

Superbowl Fun!

Superbowl Day was spent visitng Chico where Jamie and Scott hosted yummy turkey and drinks for everyone. The whole gang was there...but you can't tell that by the pics i took:) haha I realized i only took pics of the girls and the babies! Oops..no guys, there were too busy watching the game, or playing rock band! Too bad the Cardinals didn't win...but at least i won some extra cash! Thanks you guys! :) Had a great time spending it with the crew like always!

The Girls!

walking in the park

Trinette and I practicing for mommyhood!! (later, later)

The twins with Gavin!

Tahoe trip

Travis and I took my bro to Heavenly for his birthday last weekend! I still fell, but I'm happy... no bruises this time! Yay! We had a fantastic time, it was sunny all weekend long, met up with a coworker on the mountain. Had a few beers, and almost fell off the lift (my bro dragged me down...it was hilarious!) But luckily no one got hurt. We went out to the casino's that night...partied, but lady luck wasn't on our side:( Maybe next time!
Can't wait to go back and get some more snowboarding in soon!!

New Years 2009!

Snowboarding in Willamette Pass, Oregon! We had a great time! I still have bruises in low places!! hahaha

All one really needs is a good couple of friends...some alcohol...and a board game, and that makes a great recipe for fun!! We surprised Travis' family for the new years. We were planning to keep it low key this year... or so we thought! The Kinyon's really know how to have a good time, and forget trying to keep up with them drink for drink...they each have two livers!!! Dan and Lacey were there two, and yup we party'd pretty good!! We danced, drank, laughed, lit fireworks, and played war with air-soft guns! We all celebrated the night away...save a few that couldn't hang:) My most enjoyable moment was tackling my sis-in-law (Amy) in the snow and making her my POW!!

Our New Year Faces!!

Liar's Dice....a cruel, debilitating, drinking game!