Still in Big Bear...

We are still in Big Bear, and it is crazy up here! The first night we got here it took us two hours to get into town and to the house, traffic is nuts! When we finally arrived at the house, we were SNOWED OUT! There was so much snow we had to dig our ways into the front door. My family has been coming up here for many years around this time of year and Wes and I have been coming together for the last three years, but I have never seen this much snow or THIS MANY PEOPLE!!! To get anywhere it takes forever, luckily I know the back streets! We have played a lot of WII and lots of play station 3. There are have been many laughs and a couple of tears ( tired, cranky, cold kids ). So far this week has been great! I have over 400 pictures so far! Yes, I know, it's a little much, but theses memories will last a lifetime and I have the proof to share with others. I apologize for no pics yet, there will be plenty when I return home! I hope you all are enjoying your week and have a SAFE NEW YEAR! Don't drink a drive.. Find another ride!! (remember that Kalin, and Amanda!)

Leaving

We will be gone for the next week at our house on the Lake in Big Bear.

I was trying to get my Christmas pictures up to share with you all, but there is not enough time in the day.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas, I know we did. I love spending time with our families.

Please have a safe and fun New Year.

I will see you again in 2009!

Love the Sons.

Meeting Santa

Well we did it folks. I was a good mom and took Logan to sit on Santa's lap. If you know me, you know I have NO patience and I HATE lines. Well guess what we got into. My first mistake was even attempting to go to the mall, but since I have done NO Christmas shopping I was left with no choice. I knew I was going to the wonderful mall so I got everything ready for Logan to take his picture with good Ol' Saint Nick. So after waiting and waiting... We did it. I was surprised to see how well he did.
First he was confused...

Then he looked to see what was going on.. (my favorite)

And then I got the "classic" Christmas picture of my wonderful son wondering what the hell he was sitting on, why did I do this to him, and why I wasn't running over to save him from this strange man with a white beard.

Merry Christmas!

Holy Snow

It has literally been snowing ALL DAY LONG. Like I said before, people who live in the snow are probably laughing at me.. But for someone like me who has NEVER lived in the snow.. this is fantastic. Well, to a certain extent. I feel like I am a prisoner in my own house. I have been cooped up in this house for the last couple days and I am at my breaking point. It also doesn't help that Wes hasn't been home, not last night and not tonight.
I am just REALLY hoping I can go to work tomorrow. I know that may sound funny, but I NEED out. I go outside and play when Logan is taking a nap, but that is really not good enough!
So until then.. here ya go..
a cluster of snow pictures.

Once again the highway

A tree

MailBoxes

Pete is loving the snow. He has ran away twice today.. (dumb dog)

Logan is a pretty happy guy in the snow.. too bad it's WAy to cold for him.

He was happy when Grandpa came over. Grandpa had to help me get the snow out of our dish so I could watch TV. (here's a tip... Spray pam in your dish if you know it's going to snow... it makes the snow NOT stick). Ha. betcha didn't know that.

Don't laugh at my COOL outfit. Adidas pants with cowboy boots.. Can you say HOT!

View from the front porch

This is as far as I can get my gate open.. Can you say Prisoner!!!!

Is it just me, or is that stop sign getting shorter?

Here is mi casa. Winter wonderland

Since taking these pictures, I have managed to watch The Notebook an all time great movie, And it has also snowed non stop. There is so much snow. I'm freaking out!

HELP!!!!!!

Mommy's little monster

Yep! Thats my kid..............

And this is what he has been doing when he wakes from his Naps!!

Eating his Crib!!! Really? who does that? Oh and he has started to chew on other areas!!

Who Me?!?!?

Yes you! Son, Please stop eating your crib. I cannot afford to buy a new one. Grandpa told me to put hot sauce on there, but I have this strange feeling you will like it.

Also, Can you please tell your mom to wipe that snot from your nose.. Thanks.

Marks Family 2008

Yesterday I took my parents picture yesterday so they would have a Christmas card to send out. Once again it was freezing outside, but luckily it hadn't started raining or snowing yet.
So here ya have it. The Marks Family, 2008 preview!

Why I'm Not at Work.

Well.... Here ya have it. I wasn't lying. It really is snowing at my house, and for someone who has never lived in the snow.. it's pretty neat! I have driven in the snow before, but I wasn't about to put my baby in the car and try to make it down the mountain without 4-wheel drive and then worry if I would be able to make it home. . . . Since I have NO T.V. ( the dish has snow in it) I am sitting here trying to keep busy and also trying to keep Logan busy.. Good luck to me! I could clean my house, but who wants to do that when it is snowing outside?

The Front Yard

Highway 74

The other direction

My street

A ball left in the yard

My tahoe

Don't eat the Yellow snow!

Hope you all are enjoying this day!!

Point Mugu

Here are some pictures of Wes and Kohl I took when we were at point mugu. Yes, it was the weekend Logan got sick. That is also why you haven't seen them before now... I forgot..

Picture Shoot.

So today I did my first photo shoot of my friend Stacie with her brother and sister. We have have this planned since last week. I was supposed to also take pictures of Ruhena and her family, a friend I work with, but the weather was poopy.. When I say poopy I mean COLD. It was cold, foggy and trying to rain. Driving up there there was no rain, or fog but it was cold. As soon as we got into Idyllwild it was 34 degrees so foggy you couldn't see in front on the car and trying to rain. I called Ruhena when I got there and explained the conditions to her and we decided that another day would be better. Especially since I found a neat lake, but it was so foggy you couldn't even see the lake.
Stacie was already on her way with her family so I called her and they still wanted to give it a go.
I was surprised of how well the pictures turned out. Mid way through taking them, it was raining, but they were troopers.
So here is a little sneak peak.

Step Mom

What does this word mean to you?
To some, this word means nothing. To others this is an evil, ugly word that they would rather not talk about. And to few, this word mean a lot to them.

I was watching a Hallmark movie that I had recorded this week, Front of the class. In the movie the parents are divorced and the dad has his two children in the car and is trying to explain to them he is seeing someone. He says " how would you like to have a step mom?" The one boy responds "I already have a mom" Dad responds with.. "well you're going to have two!"

This is happening more and more in today's families, and coming from a divorced family, let me tell you it sucks. I don't think it matters what age you are, it still is a hard thing to cope with.
I was seven when my parents divorced. It was rough. Rachel Larkins (now Marshman) was the person I went to. Funny, because we were only in second grade. I can remember crying in class and her telling me it was going to be alright. Who would have known... she was right!

My mom had a boyfriend shortly after. Things were great at first, but he was strict. We had to have manners around him, and you bet we had to do good in school. To jump to the point, in a eight year old prospective, I hated him. There were rules, and there were consequences for breaking those rules.
I look back at that time now, and I am SOO thankful for Jim. He was the one who kept our house under control, he was the one who taught me manners and respect. When he spoke, you listened and you knew he meant business. He is a very successful man with his own family now, so he must have know what he was talking about.

I think I was 10 when my dad married Nancy. I too didn't care for her much. Who did she think she was coming in trying to take MY dad and be MY mom. I had a mom. There was no way I was going to like this lady. She was taking my dad from me. I remember the day of their wedding. It took everything I had in my not to yell something, anything, when the pastor asked if anyone objected. I laugh now, how foolish of me. At the age of 10 all you see is yourself, not others. At that age and for several years, I couldn't see how happy she made my dad, how much better his life was now with her in it. They had a baby a year after being married. This made things even worse. Great! Now I have a little sister I have to share my time with. Now I need to fight for attention from a baby. As a child, these are all things I constantly thought of, these are all the things that brought me down and made me worry. But the truth is, I had NO reason to worry, or to even think about these things. But, these things happen to me for a reason.

Things happen for a reason, God has a plan, I truly believe this. Nancy has been heaven sent, not only for my dad but also for me. Without her I don't know what I would have done in many situations. When I am having a bad day, she is the one I call. When I need advice, she is the one I go to. She is my mom, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Over the years my own mother and I haven't seen eye to eye. I have see her true colors and I am not a big fan. Without Nancy this would mean I have no one, But because of her, I don't have to worry about this. She is the one Logan calls Grandma. She is the one I lean on for everything.

If you have not gotten bored, you are probably wondering why am I writing this. Well, that's because my life in one aspect has come FULL circle. I too am a step mom now. I am that BIG, UGLY, EVIL word that Kohl thinks of when he looks at me.

It is a horrible feeling. Being a step mom you at times feel so lost and out of place. When you a step mom you see things in a different way. You kind of are outside the bubble looking in. Even though you are married to this child's parent, it still doesn't give you the right to change what you think could be better. Picture a soccer game that everyone is in ( mother, child, father) but you are sitting on the sidelines, mute. You can wave you hands, try to make loud gestures, they can see you and they know what your trying to say, but you are ignored. This is sometimes how I feel. I try to take all my life's experiences and use them, but they just aren't working. I will never give up, that is for sure. But how do you explain to and eight year old, yes you are his step mom, but you will NEVER replace his mother or have any intentions of doing so. When you are step parent you have more boundaries than you would with your own child. At times it is hard to know those boundaries and also not to cross them. I have rules, I am strict, I want my children to have respect and manners. Yes, I probably got this from Jim, but to me this is a good quality to have. At this point the only thing I can hope and pray for is for Kohl to one day understand that I love him more than anything, I love him like my own, I will always be here for him, and for him one day be proud to call me his step mom just like I am proud to call Nancy my mom.

It was a Mission.

It was a Mission this year to take a family picture. This is the time of year that EVERYONE is trying to get a "good" family picture so they can send them out with their Christmas cards. Well, our family is no exception.. ... Except.. I think this is our ONE and ONLY family picture since Logan has been born.. WOW. can you say horrible mom.
So we had Kohl this last weekend ( and what a weekend it was) so I knew this was my only opportunity to take a picture. Well Wes has been working seven days a week so I was stressing, then my parents ( who I was going to have TAKE the picture) had to leave for a funeral. Push came to shove and Wes got off early on Sun then I told my sister she WAS coming with us.
We drove up to Idyllwild, which is about 15 min from us. They have this creek that is so pretty and I thought it would work great. So we get there, walk down to the creek in 40 degree weather, not dressed the warmest... (because we have to look good in this picture.. who cares about being warm) I find the perfect place set the family up get the camera out and it's DEAD!!!! What the hell, my camera is never dead, it's 40 degrees and I am NOT driving home. We then walked back up so I could try and find an outlet to charge this stupid thing. 15minutes later I spotted the Post Office in the parking lot, told Stacey to go check inside and Waa Laa. They had outlets. I jammed in there, stood there for 15 min so I could get just enough power to take a couple pics and off we went. This time a little further up the creek so I didn't have to walk down 500 stairs with my bad knee everyone seems to forget about!!
Pictures were interesting. Try taking a "good" family picture with a 10 month old, an eight year old who doesn't care and is pissed off at you, and a guy who doesn't smile in pictures.. Yeah! Good times. Everything ended up working out great. I got the shot I needed, or that I could make work and we were off.
So here are some of the great pictures we got that day. And as you look you will see what I mean when I say it was a mission.

My test shot.

Look at those expressions.. It says it all.

This would have been nice, if Wes didn't feel the need to hold Logan's head up.

This was at the end... Can you tell?

But finally.. we got a few good ones...

I hope to be sending our Christmas cards out soon. If you have moved or would like one, please send me your address