This is a picture of my sister Debbie(and Darlene). She is in the red tank-top. The reason I have posted this is because she is a community organizer. At the risk of opening up a political can of worms, I am writing this post in defense of community organizers. The republicans are seriously making me angry. They are belittling people who actually use the political system to give a voice to those who feel voice-less. They talk about not depending on the government to help you change something, but taking the incentive and doing it yourself. Well, that is what a c.o.(communiy organizer) does! I know that a lot of people have never heard of one before, let alone knows what one does, so let me educate you. I will use Debbie as my example. She works with faith-based organizations, mainly churches, to identify a problem in their community that they want to change. Then she helps them make a plan. Who do they need to contact, who do they need to meet with etc. For example, she is working in San Juan Capistrano right now. They have a huge gang problem, so she has helped them meet with the police department, and city council to start addressing the problems, and come up with solutions. Mostly it is about helping the churches understand how to work with the city they are in to address the problem. Sometimes however, city aren't necessarily interested in helping their lower income residents.(Welcome to the O.C. B#%*#) So she will also organize demonstrations, such as a march to the city council, and having the residents address the members with their concerns. Also talking to the press, basically helping churches realise their power, and helping them fight for justice, in a peaceful way. I happen to think it is a great stepping stone, for running for office. It helps remind you of who you are representing, and shows you the political process when it is working for the people. And no Debbie can't see Russia from her house, but I for one would vote for her in a second. Phares 2012!

August 10-16 Lauren, Gracie and I went to camp with the Flipside. It was a space theme so my name was Starri and we were the Shooting Stars. I only had 4 campers, Lunar Lauren, Grace from Space, Devo Devon, and Reading Star aka Maddie. Jennifer aka Jupiter J had the other 4 third graders, so we did everything togeather. It was a lot of fun and the girls can't wait to go again. That is a picture of our teepee, and yes it doesn't close. We were lucky and didn't have any visitors, but my sister,s teepee woke up the first morning and found a hamster. Yes, that is right a hamster. They named it Mr. Nibbles and it now lives with Devon. It was great and I highly recomend sending your kids!

For those of you who don't know July 18th was our ten year anniversary. We went to New York to renew our vows in Central Park. Kyle and I went to New York a year and a half ago, and we loved it. We invited our family and friends to come with us and make it a big celebration. Paul did the ceremony and it was really sweet. It was a great trip, we got to do things we didn't do the first time. Like go to a Yankee game, and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The minute we stepped on it starting pouring, and the minute we stepped off it stopped. The first picture is of all the girls, the next is
Central Park, then the Yankee game. The Angels won! And finally Kyle and I on the Brooklyn Bridge.

So one of the great things about our campground was it was small and flat. So the girls rode their bikes all day. Merrick taught Lauren how to skid, so they were racing everywhere. Gracie learned how to ride without training wheels. If you look at the picture, you can see she's crying. Even though she didn't fall one time, she is terrified to ride. Isabel on the other hand cannot do it by herself at all, but is constantly asking you to let go. Maybe next summer Izzy.

So what have we been doing all summer? Well we started out slow, first wacky week of fun. Then the girls had 3 weeks of swim lesson. After that our slow summer really took off. At the end of July, we rented a trailer and went camping with the Verlangieri's and the Barragans. We went to King's Canyon and Seqouia National Parks.
The girls had a blast. We went into a cave, saw the biggest living thing on earth, the General Sherman tree. And just relaxed and had fun. Our campsite was right next to a river, that was perfect for the kids to play in. They also had lots of fun with Bryawna, although I think by the end of the week see was glad to get away from all the attention. It was really fun, and we had a great time.

Here are some of Paul's pictures from Yosemite.

Yosemite is one of our family's favorite places. We just love it! For christmas this year my parents gave us a trip there. We went during the girls spring break. My whole family went and we had a wonderful time. We have never been during spring and it was amazing. There were waterfalls everywhere. It was beautiful. These are some pictures Darlene took.

Hello everyone, it's been awhile but my camera doesn't work and I like to post pictures. So sat. was the glitter glam party that Jane puts on for the church. It was fabulous as usual and my girls had a wonderful time. Danielle Williams sent me these pictures so I thought I would share them. Thanks Danielle!

So I have seen a lot of different posts about home births and I just wanted to put in my two cents. When Lauren was born she had breathed in her meconium during the birth, and spent 3 days in the N.I.C.U. If she had been born at home the time it would have taken to get her to the hospital would have probably resulted in brain damage. My sister who works in the N.I. has babies all the time that need attention immediately. Fifteen minutes is the difference between life and death, or brain damage. These are babies who had perfect sonograms, but things happen all the time that are unexpected. If these babies are born in the hospital they can be healthy with no ill effects. My sister after seeing everything she's seen wouldn't deliver in a hospital without an N.I. I know some of you are saying my baby would have been perfectly healthy. But that's not the point. Some babies are not, and you cannot predict meconium or any other complication before hand. The percentage is small by why risk it.
I know that some people will say that women have been having babies for thousands of years. This is true, but childbirth used to be the biggest killer of women. And it was common for mothers to have one or more of their children die due to complications from birth. Just look at Afghanistan today, the percentage of women dying in childbirth is alarming. I agree that c-sections and pitosin are used more than necessary, but take a step back. Women all over the world would love to have that problem. In Africa women walk hundreds of miles to give birth in a hospital. The rise of c-sections is two-fold- One dr.s have to show they took some sort of action if they are sued. And O.B.'s are sued the most. So doctors are going to fault on that side. People expect perfect babies and sue if they don't get one. Second women want c-sections so it can be scheduled, they don't want natural childbirth, and they want to have the baby early to avoid stretch marks.
We are so spoiled in America to complain about c-sections, pitosin, heart monitors. All these things were invented to save lives, and they do. The thing is, it is easy to blame dr.s and not take any responsibility for ourselves. Your heath care is a partnership, you need to be informed and make your choices be know. You don't have to have a c-section, or pitosin, or a heart monitor, or even an I.V. If you don't like your nurse ask for a new one. Who cares if they think your a b****.
Find a dr. or mid-wife who understands your wishes. But even the most trained dr. cannot help your baby if you are not at the hospital. I think that we have a long way to go, to get childbirth were it should be. But it should be a positive dialogues, because we are blessed to give birth in the U.S.
The second thing I want to comment on is that dr.s give women c-section to make more money. Or the only reason you are treated well at the hospital is because you know someone who works there. That is so offensive to me. Most people have no idea what it takes to be a dr. The time and money is staggering. When people express this idea that dr.s are just in it for money, you are questioning my husbands ethics. I know a lot of drs,some are very arrogant, have horrible bed-side manner, but I know of only 2 who are in it for money, and even they wouldn't do anything to hurt someone to make more money. My husband devoted almost his entire adult life to becoming a dr. And when people make these statements they are disregarding everything he has done, and all the sacrifice our family has made
he can serve his patients, and be a wonderful dr. The amount of time and money it takes to be a dr. pretty much weeds out the incompetent(there are still some) and the money hungry. The H.M.O.'s are really the ones making the money. I'm not going to say that Kyle doesn't make good money but we aren't rich.
And finally I want to say that I had wonderful nurses who treated me great because they are professionals and care about their patients. So thank you Barbara and Jen, and all the nurses in the N.I. who took care of Lauren. I know your not perfect but I will defend your integrity and care for your patients.
I know it was long but I had to get it off my chest.

These are pictures from the Flipside Christmas musical. It was a lot of fun, and both Lauren and Gracie had solos. Gracie took hers very seriously. She told me she couldn't smile when she sang. Isabel was a kitty during the manger scene. The 3 and 4's were supposed to be sheep, but they all decided to be different animals, but with sheep ears. They also sang Jingle Bells and Away in a Manger. Isabel cannot wait till she gets to sing her solo, in about 2 years.

We got to go the Cancun again this year in Nov. It was so much fun. My parents and Kyles parents came and it was great for the girls to share the fun. We learned how to find Sharks teeth, we went to Excaret, we put baby turtles into the ocean, and we went zip-lining in the jungle. It was a great family time, and the girls can't wait to go again! (Me too!)

So I know it has been a long time, but life is crazy with 4 girls. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it. So here is a snap shot of the last little bit of our lives. We moved in to our new house! We are so happy, and love all of the space. Lauren and Gracie each have their own rooms (pink and red), and Izzie and Soph share. It is so beautiful nestled up next to the mountains, and it is actually colder here. We are hoping it will snow here at least once. Now on to soccer. That was almost a full-time job for me. Mon. and Wed. for Lauren, Wed. and Fri. for Grace. The girls had a lot of fun playing. Gracie loved practice and being with her team. Lauren loved the competition and really came into her own. The highlight of the season for Lauren, was scoring goals, for Grace was getting her trophy.