Happy Anniversary

15 years

Thanks for sharing your anniversary with us, mom and dad.
We love you.

Thankful

Oh, where to begin? Are you ever so far behind on something that you feel too overwhelmed to even start? That's how I've been feeling about my blog lately. I love it. I'm sorry I've neglected it. I hope it (and you) will forgive me and let me catch up.

We had a GREAT summer. (I can say that now that a few months have passed and the kids are all nicely settled in school for 5 to 7 hours a day. I probably didn't feel like it was so great in the middle of July. Isn't it nice what a few months and a terrible memory will do?) Here are some pictures of the things we did.

Griffith Park
We started the summer with a trip to Griffith Park. The observatory had been closed for a few years, and when it reopened, it was so busy we didn't want the hassle of crowds, reservations, etc. So it had been a long time since we had been there. It's a beautiful place with amazing architectural details.


That's the "Hollywood" sign in the background. Sometimes I forget we have some pretty cool landmarks so close to us.



I love how curious they were about everything there.

We went up to the roof of the observatory. Fifteen summers ago, Brent took me to the roof of the observatory on a Friday night and told me he loved me. A few weeks later, we went back again. He made arrangements for us to be on the roof after the park closed, and he proposed. I like the roof of Griffith Observatory.

Horse Rides
A good friend from our ward, Amy Rex, made arrangements for the kids to go to a friends home and ride her horses. The kids had a great time.

This picture is so Nate, trying to figure it all out.





Adventure Playground
All the years we've lived in southern California, I had heard about "Adventure Playground" in Huntington Beach, but we had never been. There was always a kid who wasn't old enough. This year we finally went, and wouldn't you know it, Nate had scout camp that week. He is probably the kid who would have enjoyed it the most all these years, and he missed out. If you have kids who like to build and/or get muddy, this is a GREAT place.
















Dog Beach
Well, summer wouldn't be summer without a trip to the beach. Poor Sammy doesn't get much attention, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone and take Sammy to the beach with us. Bad idea.
Sammy isn't much of a "social dog." When I take him to the dog park, he gets really nervous and tense, and refuses to drink out of any communal water bowl, so he winds up with all this saliva around his mouth and looks like a huge, rabid, nervous pit bull. Not the most friendly looking sight. The funny thing is, I can tell he is scared to death, but his looks scare the bejesus out of everyone else. The dog beach wasn't too different from the dog park.



The kids had a good time playing at the beach until I realized how doggy potty issues were handled at the beach. Ugh, how much dog pee is in that pile of sand?

This is how the afternoon ended. Notice how happy Allison looks? Did I mention that Sammy marked his territory? And by "territory" I mean the back of a nice woman who was sitting on the beach, watching her dog frolick in the waves. Yeah, we haven't been back.

Dad builds the kids a tree house. Well, sorta.
Ever since we moved into this house, the kids have been asking if we could build a tree house. The problem is, we don't really have a good tree for a tree house. That didn't stop them from asking over and over again. When we explained that our trees were just not strong enough and/or didn't have a big enough space for a tree house, Allison asked if we could take her apple seeds and plant a tree so we could build a tree house next year. So finally (I think just to get them to stop asking) Brent decided a tree platform would do.



We like to think of it as our little vacation cottage...

Japanese Gardens
I had heard about this great Japanese Garden by our house, but we had never had time to check it out. One Sunday Brent had meetings all afternoon and I thought it would be a nice, "enjoy God's creations" type of activity. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Of course, my kids were running around, destroying the sense of calm and quiet.







Beach
We took a last trip to the beach before school started, and it was a perfect day. Seriously. The kids all got along well, the weather was beautiful, the beach was hardly crowded at all.

Proposition 8 in plain english

Birthday wishes...

Allison has always been obsessed with her birthday. She's always planning the next birthday party, who's invited (and who's not), what she wants to do, and most importantly, what she wants to get. Tonight, as she was drifting off to sleep, she was again making plans. She asked if I thought Jesus could come to her birthday, and would he bring her something good. So I asked what "something good" would be. "Maybe he could bring me a lizard. Or a box of steaks."

I have a feeling that no matter what we do for her, it's going to be a letdown. I mean, what could beat a lizard? Or a box of steaks?

I know, I know. I owe you all of summer and the first days of school, too. I thought life would slow down once the kids are in school, but it has only got eight times more crazy.

Brent found this and we both got a laugh out of it. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Or that it describes our lives in ANY way, shape or form.

Grandma's 90th Birthday

In May, my grandma turned 90. My aunt and uncles decided that turning 90 was an important milestone, so they decided to throw her a big birthday party. With my dad and mom in Africa, and all their children living at least a 12 hour drive away, Grandma figured none of us would be able to attend. But my brothers and sisters decided to travel from Long Beach, Philadelphia, San Antonio and Utah to Lethbridge, Alberta to surprise her. I think you can see from her expression that we succeeded!
After a delicious lunch with many cousins I haven't seen in a while, we got to pose with the birthday girl.
Back row: Kirk, Tyler, Kevin and Drew
Front row: Shannon, Kendra, Grandma, Amy, Heidi
p.s. I LOVE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

The party was lots of fun. My grandma and grandpa have lived in Lethbridge for many years and are very involved in church and the community. There were so many people who came to see my grandma and tell her how much they love her. Lots of people came up and told me mischevious stories about my dad when he was a kid.
After the party, we headed over to the cemetary to see grandpa's headstone.
Then we went to another FABULOUS Lethbridge hangout, Bridge Valley Golf. My grandpa and grandma own this small golf course. It was always fun to visit the golf course as a kid and hit balls on the driving range (trying to see who could also hit the tractor that collected the balls) and more important, get a free soda and candy from the snack shop. Grandpa always had a sweet tooth, and always made sure his grandkids were treated right! We got a few buckets of balls and had fun!
Tyler, making it look easy.

Kendra is stylish doing ANYTHING.
I took a few shots, having NO CLUE what I was doing.
She's still got it at 90!

More shots from the golf course:


Why Bridge Valley Golf got it's name.
(I lifted this picture from my brother, who is a much better photographer than I am.)

My grandma is an incredible woman. She has been such an incredible example of hard work while having fun, love and kindness. Love you grandma!

End of school fun

So...since it's AUGUST already, I guess it's about time to post about some of the end of school year activities the kids participated in. I can't believe how quickly summer is passing us by!

Allison
Allison's preschool put on an Easter/spring program. It's just an opportunity to let the kids dress up before spring break and sing a few songs, but it was cute.
Preschool is SUPPOSED to teach kids about sharing and getting along. This is Allison during the last week of school, fighting and pushing one of her classmates to be last in line. Money well spent...

Enjoying some of the playground equipment.
For some reason, kids "graduate" from preschool. Ceremony and all.
Allison getting her diploma from her teacher, Mrs. Hayes.
Here's the "graduate" eating her "diploma"...again, money well spent.
Allison and her classmates.

Sarah
Sarah's class put on a play based on the story of "The Great Kapok Tree." She was very excited about it, and sang the songs for weeks. She also got very interested in the conservation and is constantly reminding us of all the things were are doing to destroy the earth.

With her good friend, Liliana.
The sets were pretty impressive for a third grade production.

Nate
Being a 5th grader has some perks, especially if you have Ms. Colburn. She works the kids hard, but also does a few extra activities that are both educational and fun. Begining in January, her class started learning about and caring for trout eggs. It was a great lesson in the life cycle, and culminated in the kids releasing live trout into a river. I got to tag along on the field trip.
Checking out what other critters live in the river.
Nate's babies.
Letting them go...they grow up so quickly!
Tour of the nature center. Our guide was such a ham, and the kids loved him. I did too, til he draped this snake around my shoulders! I have a HUGE phobia of snakes, and he wanted to demonstrate how harmless this one was to the kids. I'd post the picture of me, but I have my eyes closed and a painful look on my face!
Probably the last picture I'll get of Nate and I on a field trip. I imagine that hanging out with mom is not cool in middle school!

Another great thing about our school is that they bring a science based activity to the campus for each grade level. I actually handle all the scheduling, etc for the PTA, so I sometimes get to pop in and make sure things are running smoothly. The 5th graders got to dissect squids! Not something I'd want to do myself, but Nate enjoyed it.


And finally, PROMOTION!! Nate has worked so hard, been such a great student, and really enjoyed his experience at Mark Twain Elementary. It was a fabulous school, but he is ready to move on. I know he'll do great at Stanford Middle School.
The Principal thanked myself and some of the other parents who worked throughout the year to plan and organize the special 5th grade activities.
Nate getting his diploma from Ms. Ryan, the principal.
Ms. Colburn was Nate's teacher. She pushed him hard, but was a great teacher.
The last day of school was the big "end of the year" party that I had to plan. We arranged to take the kids to a local pool, served them In-N-Out, and let them just hang out. It seemed like everyone had a great time, the weather was perfect, and it was a great way to end their elementary school experience.

Mom
Earlier in the year, the PTA thanked myself and a few other volunteers who have made significant contributions to the school. It was totally unexpected, and certainly not the reason I give my time to the school, but nice to thanked by the teachers and staff. This is my friend, AnnMarie Alvarez, who was also honored.
Brent had to get me there without explaining why, AND deal with Allison. Two snaps for you!