Kfrog's Divas

My Week at Scicon

2009-09-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Scicon really is a beautiful place- this was one of the views on the trail to the quartz mine. There are some large turkey vultures off in the distance .
3 of my boys and I doing what will forever be known as the "Single File Please" pose! When we did cabin visits, the boys were almost more excited for their teachers to see their cabins than the girls were! I wanted to put more pictures but they all have kids and I have to watch thier privacy (I will make sure it's okay with these three boys. I don't think they or their parents will mind. If they do, I will delete it...) So this week has been tiring, fun and memorable. I went to Scicon with my sixth graders and had a wonderful time. On the first day, things were pretty busy. Kids arrived at school with all their pillows, sleeping bags and luggage, slightly wound up and ready for their adventure. I was slightly scrambling around because my teaching partner Ms. Estandia was ill and would not be going. I am kind of embarrassed to say that I had left pretty much all of the pre-planning/preparations to her since this was my first trip there. She had actually worked as an intern there, so she is a Scicon expert. Mr. Redfield was highly qualified to substitute for her though. He has just retired and has years of Scicon experience too. He let me know that he would be there until about 3 or 4 each day and then head back home, which was completely fine. In taking attendance, I learned that morning that we had several absentees and would only be taking 44 kids between the two classes. Next, I found out that we were not taking any girl high school counselors. GREAT, I thought. SO we headed down the road to the camp. Bus ride was fine, we got there, and then I realized how organized these people are! They had enough counselors to cover us, and the first thing teachers always do is meet and closely review all the cabin and trail groups to see that there aren't any that are too heavily weighted with potential problems. Everything is highly structured and schedules and kid arrangements run very smoothly.

Once we did that, the week pretty much went off without a hitch. Sure, we had a few kids get strikes, and we actually made a call home on one of them, but they really did a great job behaviorally overall. We also had a couple homesickies who were sobbing and just sure that they could not make it through the week and would need to go home (funny how a few little "tactics" eventually cheered them up and they had a good time). Trails and the trail guides were great, and I think the kids walked away with scientific knowledge in one week that was much more hands on and fun than reading the textbook. I was so very proud of those who earned personal excellence recognition from every one of their trail guides thereby recieving their personal excellence bead (to add to their Scicon bracelet). Evening activities were a blast to watch and participate in. We played games together, the interns and teachers did skits (that the kids will now be parroting punchlines from for the rest of the year), we sang, danced, and went to bed exhausted but happy each night. I got a chance to spend some time with some really fun teachers from Delano, Shafter and Porterville. We were having such a great time together that on the last night, we looked at the clock and it said 2 a.m. before we finally decided to get to bed!

I really tried to have a great time and participate in everything. I went on trails at all the trail times except one, acted goofy, made up a cabin cheer for our cabin to do when all the kids did theirs, and played the part of Captain Scicon in the teacher skit. The only time that was rough for me was around 9 p.m. when I knew Kris was putting the girls to bed without me. I would walk out the back door of the cabin and keep walking until my phone got a weak signal so I could call (normally just a few steps). I got caught up on the major events of their day and said goodnight, then would spend a few minutes wishing I could be home with them. Then I would find myself gabbing away with my new friends again.

All in all it was a wonderful week that I will not ever forget. Walking out to the lodge on the last day, 9/11, was kind of surreal for a moment, as I noticed the flag at half-mast and remembered what had happened 8 years ago. Here is my "where was I?" story: I normally do not watch or listen to the news in the morning- I just mentally and physically prepare for my day at work. I had arrived at school to my bus duty, and a little 3rd grade girl was talking in a flustered voice about a plane in New York . I had no clue what she was talking about, but a couple more kids seemed to know, and were upset too. One even had mentioned the Pentagon. Then I later learned what had happened. We went about the rest of the day trying to provide normalcy for the kids. Inside though, this was the first time in my life that I had truly questioned my own safety and security. It was such a strange and unnerving feeling, and with a little baby Becca at the time, my mama bear instincts kicked in and I really worried for my baby. I remember getting a horrible rush of fear any time I heard an airplane overhead for quite some time after that, and I still do at times. Now flashing forward again to to 9/11/09, I feel it was a fitting end to my Scicon week to come home and enjoy pizza with my hubby and girls, and watch some television feeling very safe and comfy in my home. No matter how things get in the world, we should always stand for right, even fight to defend it if we have to, but we always need to look forward with a "perfect brightness of hope"...

Cammi's Transplant!

2009-09-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who don't know- Cammi Stohl Brady, Kris' sister, my sister in-law, and wonderful aunt to my girls had a life-changing day yesterday! For those who don't know, she has a form of cystic fibrosis that attacked her lungs, diminished her health greatly, caused her to lose way too much weight and concerned us all. She has been in Pittsburgh for almost a whole year waiting for a transplant, and yesterday morning when Kris and I woke up, we got a text that said they had a donor match and she was going in for surgery!
Cammi is that type of sister, or aunt who is always thinking of you- she sends little things in the mail, little cards or gifts that brighten your day and make you think, "I need to do this type of thing for people more often." She is so very thoughtful all the time of others, and sends lots of encouragement when you are going through a rough patch, starting a new job, etc., when clearly her mental and physical trials are much greater than pretty much anyone else's. Classic Cammi gifts have been: flowers and a "break a leg" card before opera performances, gift cards to our favorite stores and eateries, and care packages for the girls that always seem to be the perfect thing for them at the time! There have been a few events over the last year where she and my mother in-law have been sorely missed, like Mallory's baptism, which only come around once in a person's lifetime. Yet there is no way I can hold that against them! Cammi (and of course she gets this from her mother Judy) is one of the most thoughtful, loving people in the world! All of the "cousins" (meaning Dennis and Judy's grandchildren) adore her. I am beginning to cry like a baby right now just thinking that Becca and Mallory have never known a truly healthy Aunt Cammi. Last night, I told the girls that their aunt has been sick for longer than they have been around, and that daddy and I know I different aunt Cammi than they know, Becca gave me a very surprised look. Then she said, "you mean she has been sick for more than 9 years, Mom?" That is when it hit me and I told her, "Yes, now you will get to see the Aunt Cammi that Daddy and I know." Now I am crying because more than my kids, this will be about Cammi's precious kids knowing a mommy that they haven't ever known before. And she has done an INSPIRING job of raising them, despite her trials! Sure she has had the INSPIRING help of a SAINT of a mom and grandma, but still, they BOTH inspire me to always try harder at my parenting, even with my sometimes insane schedules and body that tires of the schedules! I have always felt blessed to be the daughter of John and Carol Harkey. They gave me a wonderful childhood and are two of the most wonderful parents, grandparents and closest friends a grown child can ask for. I am thankful for such a great sister who is tough, determined, and a wonderful loving sister to me and auntie to her nieces. I think of her as a best friend almost more than a sister sometimes. And one of my favorite types of days are the ones I can spend shopping and eating out with Amber. But when I think of Cammi- the question remains, what did I do in the pre-mortal life to earn the blessing of marrying my husband and being a Stohl??? All I can say is I must have done something right! Cammi, we love you so much and can't wait to see you again! Until then, we will be praying for you and hopefully enjoying phone calls/skypes with you soon!

FIrst Day of School, 8-13-2009!

2009-08-14T00:10:00.001-07:00

I was so thrilled this year to be able to take the girls to school on the first day!!! I usually have to be with my class, but this year, they started before we did, so I got to be there! I took pictures with my phone and took them to their rooms and helped them find their desks, and said hi to their teachers! yay! As you can see, yes, they are wearing matching outfits. This year though, this is only one of two that outfits that match. Everything else is different, I promise (I know Cammi totally understands, haha) :) -and I actually need to mention here that the girls decided that they both wanted this outfit, and that they really do think it is okay to match, sometimes! Here is Mallory as she found her desk in Mr. McNabb's 3rd Grade class. They had to look on the pocket chart behind her for their name, and find out their number, because they wrote their name on their name tag, and everything else. Oh, and behind her in the red shirt is Mal's best friend Megan. I really should have taken her picture too. Megan's mom teaches Kindergarten at Mountain View, and her dad teaches 5th grade. She is a sweet girl, and I am glad they are friends. Mallory was completely thrilled that they were in the same class!

Mallory and Mr. McNabb, she had heard he was going to be mean (from Becca!), but she came home and said, "it is so not true, he is nice!"

Bec and Mal in Bec's class. Becca's response about everything on her desk- there is a notebook for everything, and we will be writing a lot! She especially liked Science time already, because they are already learning all about rocks and minerals. She came home and was telling me all about it, and I just laughed and said, yep, this will be my first year NOT teaching that myself! It is so strange to me to have a 4th grader, because it means my baby is so big, and also since I am not teaching it anymore!

Rebecca and Mrs. Nixon, Bec said she was very nice

Ah school...we are off and running again! I think we are off to a good start though...

Beautiful Big Girls!

2009-08-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

We finally took the girls in for pictures in their baptism dresses. It was about time, since Rebecca is already 9 1/2! Thank goodness her dress still fit alright on her! These are not the best scans of the original photos- the originals are 11x14, and so they didn't even fit all the way into my scanner. Also, Mallory's dress looks like it has a spot on it, but in the original it is fine, nothing but white. Anyway, I was very pleased with the photo shoot and am excited to get some frames for them.

I love the one with them together too, so precious!

This was a great day at the mall. We went and took the pictures, and there are more that were so good, I am going to probably go back and get one or two more of the poses, as well as copies for grandparents. After the shoot, we walked around the mall, and the girls picked out book bags, not backpacks, mind you, after seeing some bags on sale at Pac-Sun. I had no objection with letting Mallory get a black Billabong bag that was only 6 dollars and Becca got a Hurley one that was only 7 or 8. Oh, and I need to add that they had brought their allowance and decided to buy them all by themselves, after paying tithing the Sunday before! This year the school shopping was fun- they really are starting to have their tastes, yet a lot of it is agreeable with what mom likes, YAY! (no Hannah Montana or High School Musical on thier clothes, even though they like them, they don't ask for the clothes- hahaha!). Well, after the school shopping and the baptism pictures, I realized how fast my babies have become these big, pretty girls in these pictures. I wanted to cry because it just makes me want to cherish the time I have with them more. And they are such sweet young ladies most of the time (occasional sisterly spats, but what sisters don't fight a little sometimes?). They like to read the scriptures with us and like to make sure everyone gets their turn at saying family prayers. I love them so much and hope they continue to be so beautiful inside and out!

Our "Wicked" Weekend in San Francisco!

2009-07-21T12:10:00.001-07:00

Here we go! We're "Off to see the Wizard", and have "One fine day, in the Emerald City..."

Couldn't leave home without the Nintendo DS players

Golden Gate Park!

Walking out on the Golden Gate Bridge. A little windy, and the fog would come and go, but it really was a nice day for walking out there. The girls really thought it was cool that you could walk on it!

The girls...

and Daddy with his girls

a cool shot I got

a freight liner going under the bridge

checked in to the Good Hotel, remodeled from recycled products, small but very clean, and very San Fran and "green". Only around the corner and a block down from the theater (Market and 7th Sts.). Except for a little confusion over the billing, it was a wonderful place to stay. We would totally go back!

Our farm girl and our witch are ready to go!

YES!!! Mommy is excited too!!! Here we are, at the Orpheum!

sillies...

Inside they tell you you can't take pictures, but I really wish I could have at least taken a few of the inside of the theater. It is beautiful. Anyway, the show was so incredible, and our seats were third row, so we really did feel like they were performing just for us. The costumes, sets, orchestra, vocals, EVERYTHING was amazing. Made me miss doing operas a little, but it was sooo fun to sit back and enjoy all the talent!!! The girls were totally mesmerized. It was great to see them experience it!

So throughout the whole thing, we were getting compliments on how great the girls looked in their costumes (a couple other kids were dressed up too, they said, but we never saw them). Because of this, one of the ushers said that we needed to go outside and wait by the stage door for the actors to come out, as they would get a kick out of seeing the girls. Sooo, we waited just a little bit and got to meet them, take pictures and get a few autographs. The first one is Glinda (Kendra Kassebaum), although Kris moved as he was taking ker picture and got a blur of her. Her resume is totally impressive, and she has played this role on Broadway and in the touring group, she also just finished a film with Lisa Kudrow and Natalie Portman. So cool! At least the rest of the pics are better...

Here they are with Boq- who later becomes the Tin Man (Eddy Rioseco). Awesome!Fiyero- later becomes the Scarecrow (Nicholas Dromard). Awesome acting and voice

And as Madame Morrible, the one and only Patty Duke!!! She was tiny and spunky, and soo sweet. She talked to the girls and gave them autographs, talked to everyone, and then got in a SUV with her husband and left. Soo cool to meet her. And despite being so nice to everyone that night and playing such sweet roles when she was younger, she did awesome job being the villain!!! (but then again, what do you expect from the person that gave us such an awesome childhood performance as Helen Keller in The Miricle Worker?).

waiting by the stage door!

Finally, we got to meet our other witch. She took a little while to get all that green MAC Makeup off of her! She was incredible and oh so nice. Such talent!!! Thank you Vicki Noon, and even though we love Idina Menzel, you are now "OUR" Elphaba forevah!!! posing with Dorothy and mini-Ephie- played by Becca :)

and our very own Dorothy, Mallory!

We were all tired and happy after the show, and it didn't take long for us all to fall asleep once we got back to the hotel. Besides, we had to rest up for Day two!

On day two, we woke up got ready and ate. Then we went down to the shopping plaza on 5th and Market, and bought our Cable Car passes. We enjoyed talking to people in line and watching them turn the cars around to go back down the route. Oh, this might be a good place to add a comment about the little pink purse that Becca had strapped to her on the rest of these pictures. On our way to the theater the night before, a man had walked by and complimented her on her costume and gave her a brand new purse for free. I told him he didn't have to, and he insisted. He was kinda one of those shall we say "earthy" city types. Later we speculated on how he had gotten this new purse with tags on it. Hmmm...Becca likes the purse though. Mallory, who had been a couple steps ahead with Kris wondered how she had missed out. So we may have to get her a purse next time we go shopping. Okay, back to day 2...

I had a little scavenger hunt mapped out for us in Chinatown, so we got off there first. We didn't find everything on the list, but we found quite a bit. Here are a few...

this is the The Fortune Cookie Factory. It is down an alleyway and somewhat hidden, but so fun to see how they are made. They start out flat and hot off the press, then they put the fortune in and fold it quickly before it cools. They were nice and let us take pictures, and gave out samples. YUM!

This next one is of an herbalist shop. Some of them do not like pictures being taken inside their shops, and this one had a sign on the window that said so. We took this picture so the jars with interesting-looking contents could be seen in the background. So cool to think they have used these remedies forever, and all of these things remind me of a children's book called The Last Dragon, which is about a boy staying with family in Chinatown. There was a street where each building was painted in different random colors and red lanterns out. Cool, although I didn't get a picture of it...The girls like the kite shop a lot!

One of the stops was the first Eastern Bakery in San Francisco. I wanted to try something Chinese, and the girls wanted to eat chocolate chip cookies. I made them get chocolate covered fortune cookie and share a chinese pancake with me. We didn't like the pancake much, it had some sticky, rice custardy thing in the middle. We did like the chocolate covered fortune cookie though...

Back on the trolley...

Being the thrill-seekers that we are, the girls and I were excited to stand and hang on to the outside railings. The next stop was Fisherman's Wharf, so this was our view as we went down the hill and towards the Wharf. We saw Alcatraz island out there perfectly...

Right before we got on the trolley, we took a picture of St. Mary's Cathedral. I love the different archetechtral styles you find in SF. Also, I wanted to get a dragon lamppost picture before we left Chinatown.

okay, back to the Cable Car ride...

Mandatory "we were there" photo...

another one, with Alioto's and the boats behind them

Awww, a cute shot of my babies!

Between Piers 41 and 39, where we chased seagulls and watched street performers. There were several "robots" there, a huge, "moon guy", and of course the bush guy, that didn't scare the girls. They saw him scare someone else ahead of us while we were walking and laughed pretty hard about that :)

Watching them make the sourdough bread at Boudin's Bakery and Cafe. We had seen this a couple time before at Disneyland, so it was cool for them to see the real place.

Back at Market and 5th, watching them turn the cars around again!

It was pretty crowded but we had a great time in the big city! The girls totally enjoyed it and said that their favorite parts were walking on the Golden Gate bridge, the cable cars, and getting to see Wicked, among other things. I am glad we could make some memories as a family. It was also nice to get out of the summer heat and have a change of pace. But at the end of the journey, as Dorothy would say "there's no place like home!"

The Return of the Dancing Diva!

2009-07-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, so today Becca FINALLY started back into dance! We are now going to a studio literally two minutes away called The City Performing Arts Academy. It is pretty intense, especially in the Jumps and Turns class she is taking. Becca has a lot of work to do this month if she is going to audition for their team, but we know she can do it!!!

I will be updating this entry next week to include a closer-up picture at the beginning, with her outside her new studio. Bec is the one in the middle of the frame in the black shoes.

The man walking by is JP, one of the owners of the studio. He seems very nice, and thought she did a good job trying to keep up with his fast pace. Becca is happy to be dancing again!

A Fourth of July at home!

2009-07-08T20:52:00.001-07:00

For this Fourth of July, we spent the day swimming, barbequing, making strawberry ice-cream, and of course doing fireworks!

As you can see, this summer season, our pool is full of inflatable toys, rafts, sharks, and this contraption- the "wave machine." And it TOTALLY lives up to its name. Once the girls get it going, there are waves everywhere and the entire deck is waterlogged! They love it!

Becca with her kickboard!

Bec and Daddy enjoying the nice water- it was 100 that day, so the water was really nice!

Then, Daddy was the grill master, making us hamburgers, hotdogs, and even a couple of cheddar brauts- yum!

the sillies eating...

the home-made strawberry ice cream, YUUUUM!

doing a weird ice-cream eating pose!

Mallory doing sparklers with one of our smaller "safe and sane" fireworks in the background- funny story: we did our "finale" one, this big monstrosity that Kris had bought at the fireworks stand.

Well, 10 minutes after it had gone out, it started smoking again, and burst into flames. It took three separate times hosing it down to get it to stop re-igniting! Glad it didn't take the fire department to get it out, hahaha!

A cute picture of Mallory at a Rawhide game, this time it was our ward activity! This girl loves her some baseball!

Well, that's it for now. These pics were all taken on our iPhones, since I killed my camera. I need to get a good one soon!!!

Mallory's Door Encounter

2009-06-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

So last week, we were at my school at a three day workshop, just two doors down from my classroom. It was a last minute deal, so they let me bring Becca and Mallory, and check on them every few minutes, as they read books, worked in their workbooks, and played with their Nintendo DS (they each have one and the only reason I was completely okay with getting each of them one this year for their birthday is because they have Math games and a Critical Thinking game that is pretty cool. They also have a cooking one that Mallory wants to get)
But anyway, I am digressing :) One of the times I went to check, it just happened to be after they had returned from using the restroom, and Mallory was crying. She had smashed her finger in the door, and it was already very blue. We gave her Children's Tylenol and urged her to keep it elevated, which made her feel better. In the 2 or 3 days after that though, it got even darker. These pictures are her finger when it was at its gnarliest, the same day I finally decided to be a good mom and seek the advice of her doctor. He said that it would be okay, the blood would dissepate eventually. Then the next day, blood oozed out the top of the nail- ALL the blood, and all the blueness disappeared. It isn't blue- except at the bottom of the nail bed, and the swelling is gone. So now we just wait for the nail to come off. Poor Girl!

As you can see by the smile on her face, when her finger was it's ugliest, it actually didn't cause her any pain!

Right after this, Kris came down with shingles! Whaaaat????? So weird! We didn't know what was going on with him, then he was feeling lots of pain and a little feverish, and that is when he went to urgent care and found out. He is on antibiotics and doing better. The rashes were on his armpit and one side of his chest. He wouldn't let me take any pictures though. I guess I don't blame him.

Well, I have been lazy with blogging, so I will try to do better. No excuse, since it's summer :)

How About This???

2009-05-21T00:31:00.001-07:00

Loving the Hollister top, Marc Jacobs purse/sandals and Juicy Couture Necklace!!!

and for a more casual look... by Kfrogdiva featuring Juicy Couture accessories

I Want This!

2009-05-20T23:48:00.001-07:00

I got this site off a friend's blog. It lets you design outfits and even show you where you can order all of the items! It is fun just to look through everything and just create! This little ensemble includes Prada, Christian Loubotin, and Juicy Couture. SO appeals to my diva-ish self!!!!

So Me! by Kfrogdiva featuring Juicy Couture

Random Photos from the Eventful Week!

2009-05-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

me with some of the sweetest, cutest kids around!!!

These are some other random photos from our fun week, and a couple that aren't from that week, but we still wanted to share. This is the first night everyone came, and the girls camped out with Grandpa Dennis in the living room with thier Hannah Montana sleeping bags. This is funny, since they camped the last night too, in Grandma Carol and Grandpa John's motorhome in the front yard! They had fun this night with Dennis, and the next day when Mallory got her card games, and they played and giggled for a long time. They also did a puzzle together, of course- but they did it so quick, I didn't get the picture!

here's my gift from the girls on my team- an autographed, pink softball! So cool!!!

Becca's scriptures- blurry, but I had to take a pic to show she had gotten some on her baptism too, just to be fair! They are dark green with gold leafing and her name in fancy gold lettering...

Mallory chose blue with silver leafing and silver block lettering to match the titles on the spine (that is what she chose! :) )...

a crazy graduation shot Kris got...

Mallory writing in the fancy journal grandma Carol gave her

...and Grandma Judy, we are going to get cracking this summer on the Baptism books you gave them!!!! I will be calling and asking for you to email your testimony, etc. It will be a very special book, for sure!

and here are some Easter pictures I forgot I had taken. Don't think they made it into the Easter blog entry...

we had fun coloring eggs!

Mallory going up to bat! This may have been the time she hit a double! She is a slugger when she wants to be :)

The team shirt, compliments of an awesome team mom!!!!!

Okay, so I went over the top with photos and anecdotes, but we have had a lot of fun around here lately!!!!!

p.s.- I forgot to take a picture of my master's degree- that is the only thing missing! You can imagine it all fancy and saying Kim has a master's in school administration services! I am going to get it framed!

YES, I am a dork :)

Grandma took a pic of the girls downtown at the farmer's market. We walked around there for a while, tried to find white corn for our barbeque the next day (before Star Trek/the play/parents seeing friends). No corn to be found, but we had fun listening to the live music, looking around, and eating at the burger/mexican walk-up window place on Main and Church.

a baptism pic including all the cousins and grandparents in attendance- It is dark, arrrgh!

me, tired and thirsty after sitting in the hot, direct sunlight!

Graduation! Woo Hoo!

2009-05-17T19:29:00.001-07:00

My Mom trying to adjust my master's hood! It just wouldn't lay right! I didn't get a picture of the dean actually awarding it to me, maybe I will get it in the mail as part of the package- I hope!

If you look closely, you can see me going back to my seat from the podium

with my girls afterwards!

and supportive hubby

and proud parents- I am proud they are my parents!

It was a very hot day to be wearing all black with a velvet and satin thing around the neck, but it was a very nice ceremony. The speaker, the Dean of the School of Education, and the girl who sang, were wonderful. I didn't realize there would be so many graduating from the School of Education, the School of Business and the School of Social Sciences and Religion. Almost half of us were there to recieve a master's too. Afterwards, they served cookies, punch and grapes, and the girls thought that was cool. I also saw a fellow teacher from Castle Rock, there to celebrate with her daughter, who had recieved her bachelor's. I found this to be very crazy, since she was in my reading class the first year I taught, I am pretty sure! Commencement was supposed to be indoors in the event center, but because of all the scare over the swine flu, they moved it outside. It was a great day, and we followed it by eating at Famous Dave's Barbeque, and that was some wonderful food! Yummy barbeque, corn bread, beans, slaw, etc.etc., you get the idea. Woudn't be a Harkey/Stohl celebration without food (yes, Stohls that weren't there, we ate a few bites in your honor, too :) )...

OH, I want to thank everyone that honored me with cards and gifts, for my graduation, and for my softball team gift! The card from Judy and Cammi that said "Master's" was especially cool, and I am glad I could honor them and my parents with my married and maiden names both on the program and read from the podium. I am going to use the certificates/card/check to buy something special to remember them all, and how special they are to me!

A Little Princess

2009-05-17T18:58:00.001-07:00

Friday night before my graduation, Grandma and Grandpa had planned to go see a good friend, and Daddy planned to go and see Star Trek, so the girls and I went downtown to see the Enchanted Playhouse's production of A Little Princess. It had been a long time since we had enjoyed a play together, and we had a great time! I saw the main director of the playhouse, and he remembered me from my days of always being involved in a production, either there or at the Ice House. The girls totally enjoyed the story, and Becca really wants for her and I to audition for a play together. That would be so much fun!!! We just may put her in their summer acting workshop for kids. Mal was a little interested too, but I don't think as much...

a couple of pictures we tried to take in our seats, but the theater and an iPhone didn't mix!

afterwards some pix with some of the cute little cast members!

It turned out to be perfect timing too, because not more than five minutes after the girls and I got home, Grandma and Grandpa did too! What a fun girls night out!

Beach Fun!

2009-05-17T18:34:00.001-07:00

While Grandma Carol and Grandpa John were here, we chose the warmest day to head to the coast. We ate at the Splash Cafe (the best chowder breadbowls on the central coast, maybe anywhere for that matter!), we braved the wind on the beach, walked around, and had a great time! Yes, that first picture is of this very strange looking crab the girls found, kind CREEPY, but hey, everyone in our family loves sea life! We also saw a dead otter, which made the girls very sad :( Perhaps the coolest find though, was that it was low tide, and there were TONS of sand dollars everywhere! They filled a bucket and insisted on taking it home...

so here is their collection, actually pretty impressive, i think...

It was so windy, but lots of fun!

Lunch at Splash!

okay, they were starting to get annoyed at me insisting on pictures!

And as if that weren't enough fun already, we started talking back and forth on the walkie talkies about stopping at Hanford for some Superior Creamery Ice Cream! I didn't take pictures there, but the peach and the chocolate chip are the beeessst!!!!!! A great day, and a great way to get out of the valley heat!

Visalia Rawhide Game (formerly Visalia Oaks)

2009-05-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

One of the days my parents were here, we went to the recently remodeled stadium in town and enjoyed some good old fashioned baseball! I am still not sure why Visalia Oaks had to change their name to the Visalia Rawhides, but they did. In any event, the stadium is ver nice now, they have patio seating along the third base line and stadium seating, as well as a grass area if you want to bring your own blankets or chairs to sit on. They have a VIP box, a few snack barsm, and a gift shop too. We ate nachos, hot dogs and snowcones, so we got our fill of the good junk food that was there. And the kids met Tipper, the mascot. Later they got little Tipper stuffed animals to remember the evening. We had fun cheering and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and even did the wave a couple of times.

Mal and her friend from school

We had a great time, even with the boys that kept playing chase down our row back and forth repeatedly. Finally, I just put my chair right in the middle and told them this row is closed for running! (ha- don't mess with a teacher, right, lol!). Anyway, the team went in to extra innings because the score was 0-0, and we left before the final score. We found out that the Rawhides got a homerun after we left, so they beat the Lancaster Jethawks 1-0! Woohoo! Rollin', Rollin' Rollin'....RAWHIDES!

Mallory's Birthday/Team Bowling Party!

2009-05-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Mallory couldn't wait for her softball team party, since it doubled as her birthday party too! She got there and immediately got into her bowling game. SHe is the one on the lane in the far right, with the navy blue shirt on. There were so many kids here, and so much going on this weekend with it also being baptism weekend, and me doubling as the coach, that I didn't get very many good pictures. I even forgot to get a picture of the birthday cake, which was a baseball diamond with a mitt in the middle of it. It said "GO Comets!" and "Happy Birthday Mal"

some cousin fun!

Even the littlest cousin had fun!

That was an attempt to get a picture of all the gifts she got. Among them were a toys r us gift card, a movie- Hotel for Dogs, nail polish and lip gloss in ALL colors imaginable, a purse, a High School Musical secret pillow/diary, money, bracelets and beads, a fairy garden kit, and a snow cone maker (which all of us are enjoying!).

The girls got t-shirts with the team picture made my one of our moms, and had fun signing each other's. I gave them each a goody bag with a baseball theme (forgot to take pictures of them!). They had peanuts and cracker jacks, jolly ranchers, a bouncy baseball, a baseball keychain, a little clacker and a baseball pinball game, etc, just little things like that. I also called them up and gave each one a certificate and talked about them. Some of the awards were "No matcher for our catcher", second base- second to none!", etc.n They liked that...

Here I am with my "Thrilling Third Base" players!

my awesome first base, having fun bowling

my girls!

my boy!

fun!

It was a great party, but again, I am sooo mad that I was so busy and everyone was having so much fun that I didn't get a picture of the cake or the goody bags before I gave them out! Oh well. Everyone had a great time, and for the second time that weekend, Mallory felt very special! I am proud of my team, and who knows, maybe coach Kim will return next season!

Mallory's Baptism Day!

2009-05-02T21:42:00.001-07:00

We had a very special day May 2nd- our baby Mallory was baptized by her father! We got there and found out that there were 5 kids in all being baptized, so it was a very special event!

We had quite a crew there- here are the kids! We were excited that the Armenta family came, we got to be in a special ceremony at their church, and two of the boys, next to Becca and Grant were in my class. Sweet family. We also had the Greenes, the Clarks, Jeb and Amber and kids, Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Carol and Grandpa John, Art and Tisha Alvarez, Jeanne Liberato, and others at the church, like Sister Schofield, Bishop Henrikson, and Brother Pace.

I am glad that everyone was taking pictures! Mine didn't really turn out great, so I will be asking for copies burned onto CD for me...

Gettin' some Brooklynn love!!!!!

The three musketeers...

plus Keilana and Brooklynn...

opening presents with Grandma Carol- I am mad I cut my mom's face out partially and didn't even know it! Mallory got a CTR ring from Auntie Amber, a journal from Grandma Carol which we found her laying on her bed and writing in later, a necklace and bracelet, a baptism memory book from Grandma Judy, a beautiful little figurine from Aunt Cammi, another necklace, a stuffed dog, and lavender body wash. All this, and we haven't even had a birthday party yet!

There are more pics to come, I am sure!

with our long time friend Jeanne!

We love you Mal! She had a great day, but we missed Grandma Judy, Aunt Cammi and Uncle Lance, and Carter and Reilly a lot!!! We know they were there in spirit, though, and Mallory knows how much she is loved because she wrote " a lot of people love me" in her journal :)

Thank you everyone for truly making this a special day for a special girl!

Grant's Birthday Party- April 20th

2009-05-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

SO, this entry actually is backwards- sorry! This was the next morning, when they ran outside in their jammies and spent half of the day in the bounce house before Amber's friend came and picked it up. Grant had a Spider-man party with a bounce house, snow cone machine, hamburgers and hot dogs, cake, a pinata and a pin the web spinner on Spidey game. Lots of fun- we barely made it on time, rushing their after our double-header Saturday!
more jammies in the bounce house fun!

My sweet Brooklynn (sister-girl!)...

The after-party party! Becca, with Grant's play carpenter goggles, Grant, friend Maya, and Mallory

Plenty of pretzels, water, and a movie!

presents!

There were more kids, but some of them had been there a while and went home by this time...

and this is why their mouths are all red in the picture above this!- Messy snow cone face kids!!!

the other little one next to Becca is Isabelle, Grant's cousin (Jeb's brother's daughter)...

Good times! I don't have pictures of when Amber and I got in the bounce house. We had fun in there too, and were actually in there a while too, hahaha!....

Our Aunt is Awesome!

2009-04-16T03:05:00.000-07:00

We were SO very excited to get home today and see a package addressed to the girls from their Aunt Cammi for their birthdays. She was so sweet and thoughtful to send them something. This picture shows Becca perfectly when she gets a present. Carefully removing the paper and savoring every bit of opening it.

And then there is Mal, heehee! She always excitedly dives in, paper flying everywhere!

Such cute jammies Aunt Cammi, we LOVE them!!!

They couldn't wait to take showers and put them on! They looked so cute!

Again, thank you so much Cammi, you are the coolest aunt! We love getting cute and comfy jammies! Your gifts are always the best!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

2009-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

It was cloudy and windy today, almost too windy for flying a kite. On the way home, we saw some people at the park doing it though, and thought we might try it too. We were going to go to the park too, but then we realized that other teams had softball games tonight (we had a BYE), and so the people we had seen most likely were going to have to move. So we just did it outside our house, and moved whenever we saw a car coming.

Becca was the first to try. She did very well...

Everything was going wonderfully, till we got it stuck in our neighbors tree (not our big palm trees in the next picture, another tree a few houses down). I was so focused on rescuing the kite that I didn't take a picture of it stuck there, and only later realized that it would have made this little photo essay funnier...

Next, Mallory took her turn...

let some of the string go...

There you go...

Beautiful!!! :)

We did this for about an hour, and then the string broke and the kite bombed down. Perfect opportunity for us to have some fun on our off-game Tuesday. We will have to fix it and do it again, next time it gets windy!!! Hopefully those of you who are reading this and have snow outside will get some nicer weather soon-meaning our Pittsburgh and Oregon family that have reported snow within the last few days- Don't worry, we will probably be wishing for your weather when it hits 90 this Sunday! In APRIL!!! We will let you know how long we go before we break down and turn on our A/C... Love you all!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

2009-04-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is how we spent our Easter week. First, we knew we weren't going to be going anywhere special over the vacation, so we started out with a trip to the bookstore. The girls each got two books, and they are now on their second ones, and I have read three of my four (I had way too long to think about what I missed out on reading while I was reading textbooks and writing papers for my masters!). Rebecca is starting to read the American Girl books, and Mallory is starting to read the Ramona Quimby books. Since I love to watch Medium, I got two books written by the real Allison DuBois, and they are motivational and very interesting- if you want to know, call and ask me, and I will talk your ear off about it! I had also started reading the Shopaholic books, and so I got the third one. Lastly, I missed out on knowing what all the hype was about with the Twilight books, so I got the first one. That is the one I thought I would read first, but it turns out that it's the one I have left, and will at least start it tomorrow, since we go back Tuesday, and I probably won't read Tuesday since American Idol is on and I have to see what Adam will do :)
Next, we gave the girls a minor room makeover. It had been about 5 years since we had upgraded or replaced anything in their room, and I had been keeping my eyes out for a cute bedroom in a bag set that incorporated the green for Bec's room and pink for Mal's. We found this at Bed Bath and Beyond, and both of the girls fell in love with it. When I found out that they were on sale, plus they were going to honor a 20% coupon-and- ship it for free, I could not resist. It included the valence, dust ruffle, shams, comforter, two sets of sheets, pillow cases, and two throw pillows. They are thrilled, and I love it. Since I have a sister and sisters in law who have such a penchant for decorating (yes, Amber, Cammi and Angie, I am talkin' 'bout you), I am happy when I can even come close to something show-worthy :)
So, here is Rebecca's room...

and here's Mallory's

Here are the sillies on Easter morning with their loot. The Easter Bunny gave them peeps, See's Bordeaux eggs, toffee candy bars, and butterscotch and chocolate suckers. He was also very practical and got them flip-flops, and new socks and undies (some of you may think that odd, but we have no shame about getting those in Easter baskets or Christmas stockings around here, haha)...

the loot...

Thier dresses this year actually served a double-duty. About a month ago, they were invited to take part in a adoption/dedication ceremony at the church of a good family friend (they have children attendants that get be with the adoptees the whole afternoon and they get treated like guests of honor). One of the kids is in my class this year, and it was a special day, where we definitely learned that you can feel the spirit in other houses of worship other than ours. They loved the dresses, and asked if they could wear them for Easter. I was going to change things up a bit and find out about getting them altered to be short dresses but that never happened. And of course there are lots of things I would be perfectly fine with doing myself, but this isn't one of them. I never did learn how to sew a straight line to save my life, and because of that, I have never had the desire to even own a sewing machine. It's just as well, because the girls like them long, and I am pretty sure I wouldn't have liked the cost of having them changed anyway...

Okay, so they are pretty as long dresses :)

In the morning before church, they had looked for the hard-boiled eggs inside the house, so after church, they got to change their clothes and look for plastic ones outside. We even had found some baseball "eggs" to put the jellybeans and robin's eggs in, so Mallory thought that was cool...

The hunt was on...

One thing that both of the girls are into lately is wanting to help in the kitchen. Mallory especially has earned the title of "little chef", saying that she wants to go to cooking school when she grows up. Rebecca loves to help, so we definitely don't leave her out either. For our appetizer on Easter, we had chips and guacamole, and the girls did most of the work. All I did was chop cilantro. They scooped, mashed and squeezed like little pros. They even tried it, but after all that work, they asked if they could eat the chips with salsa.

Mommy and Daddy didn't mind, they were happy to eat it!!!

For dinner, I had been trying to convince Kris to barbeque something tasty, but all he and the girls could think about was the fact that it had been a really, really long time since I had made scones. So we did it up full Stohl-style with homemade bread dough, filling with shredded carrots, cheese, and corn and salad to go with them. It wasn't your traditional Easter fare, but it sure was tasty!

Now on to the dessert. I mentioned to Kris, "why don't we use the ice cream maker?" So we got on the internet in search of ice-cream ideas. We found a recipe for cinnamon ice cream that sounded very good. Then we got the idea to modify it to be like one of our favorite Coldstone Creamery creations- Dulce de Leche. So we did exactly what they do, except instead of putting the graham cracker crumbs in the ice-cream, we put the ice-cream in a graham cracker pie shell.

We made the cinnamon ice-cream just like they said to do. Once it started to set, we added some honey and caramel, then put it in the pie crust and froze it overnight. When we were ready to eat it, I took it out and smoothed some more caramel on top, squirted canned topping all over the top, and sprinkled some cinnamon over that. Here's how it turned out...

It was sooo good. I think just the straight cinnamon recipe would be awesome with warm piece of apple or peach pie too!

We will end our Easter by reading about the Savior's Resurrection in the scriptures, and/or watching the Living Scriptures version of it...

Anyway, that was our week. That, and dance-dance revolution dance offs, wii playoffs, watching conference, cooking other meals together, and just enjoying being home without worrying about a crazy schedule. Tomorrow is our last day off, so we will have to let you know if we decide to do anything special! Hope you all had a great Easter. We miss you and hope to see you soon!!!

Adam Lambert!

2009-04-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

The next American Idol at Universal Studios, performing a song from his role in the musical Wicked! I have read the book and Kris and I almost saw this group perform it at the Pantages Theater several months ago (a group from his work went- because of writing my thesis, we opted out, darn!!!!). Here is Adam, though, singing as beautifully as ever...

The Next American Idol!!!!

2009-04-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

I was a very faithful fan of American Idol the first two seasons, and watched the last couple episodes of the other seasons, just to see who I liked. This year, I am hooked again, and ADAM LAMBERT is the reason. He is probably the best thing to ever come out of this show so far! The girls and I think he is cute, has an amazing voice and stage presence, and he chooses GREAT songs! This rendition is wonderful, and I am a Tears for Fears fan (and I also really like the one that is by Gary Jules, whose version is on the video game "Gears of War" and in the movie "Donnie Darko"). I also loved his version of "Tracks of My Tears", by Smokey Robinson (If you haven't seen it, find the link to it after watching "Mad World", and be prepared to be amazed!). GO ADAM! You are the next American Idol!!!

Shana's Birthday Party!

2009-04-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, April 4th, we went to a birthday for my wonderful friend and co-worker, Shana (the bodacious babe in the polka dots, heehee). She teaches 4th grade at Castle Rock too, and she is my neighbor across the center computer pod. I think we get along well due to our common love of food, shopping, pedicures, 80's music, good books and light-hearted sarcasm. An added bonus is that when our husbands get together, they always have a lot to talk about too- they are both sci-fi, video game geeks (you know I say "geek" in the kindest way possible :) ). Shana is different from me and very interesting too, since she is a great hula dancer (and no, she isn't Hawaiian, that's what makes it cool!), belonging to a local Polynesian dance troupe out of Tulare. We got to meet a couple of her hula group buddies, and they were very nice. Heidi is the one in the white top, and she is way cool too. She and I had a great conversation that night about our faiths, our kids (she has two boys), how we met our husbands, even more stories of her trip to Europe last summer (I never tire of that) and other things. She also teaches 4th grade at my school, and goes with Shana and I on our weekly lunch time getaways. Debbie is also pictured on the other end. She and I have known each other the longest of this group. It is nice to know that after all this time, Kris and I can still have very nice conversation with her and her husband. That really did mean something special to me. Shana and my other friends at work make my school a great place to teach. I know that if I do ever change jobs/schools, I will be keeping in touch with at least some of my friends from Castle Rock. They are dear friends, especially Shana. I am thankful to call her friend, and glad we celebrated her birthday together. It was fun and the girls had a great time playing board games, computers, etc. with the neighbors across the street! Happy Birthday Shana, all the best to you! Love ya! (Lunch? Where are we going today???, hee hee)...

What's With Me???

2009-03-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I posted about the girls, mostly, with a tiny bit about myself at the end. I am busy enough for two people, so generally, my time is limited to read other people's blogs. Well tonight, I feel like I have been a stalker! Yet most of what I read and saw has affected me deeply, I think in a highly positive way.
One blog I read addressed the fact that all of us think our children are the cutest, brightest, best, etc. I can't argue with that. And this friend is right to say that every child deserves to have someone who adores them that deeply. Then just as I mentally digested that little morsel of light and truth, I read one about how it is sometimes hard to open up and blog about "real" and "deep" feelings, beyond the trivial or somewhat shallow. Let's face it, we are all probably MUCH deeper than our blogs merit. I for one have not really spent much time at all blogging about myself, let alone anything that lets anyone know any of the complexities that I try to wrap my mind around sometimes. THEN, I came across the beautiful video I posted by Dieter Uchdorf. It built up everything I was feeling in my mind and heart like a musical crescendo, a bit of an epiphany, or more of an "Aha" or "Oh yeah" I guess. Especially the very last line, about how our trust and reliance on the spirit (faith) is directly proportional to our power to create. So guess what??? This could be the first of the occasional random gush of personal emotions on this blog.
I have done so much with my life in the past two years or so. There is so much to be happy about and thankful for. Yet, if there has ever been a time in my life where I battled self-pessimism, lack of confidence, and stuggled not to become depressed, it has been this last two years. I have prayed, but need to pray more. I have asked for husband's blessings, and my wonderful husband has always brought me comfort. I think what I have been trying to create is a stronger, new-and-improved
me, and the growing pains of this have made it excruciating at times. I think the reason for this is that I have have not once tried to simplify things so I can focus on the aspects I need to focus on most. I have just thought I can do a LOT of things at once and when they are all finished, I will be fulfilled. To a point that is true, but in a big way, it still leaves me right where I was in the first place- thinking of the times I feel asleep without reading scriptures, the times the girls fell asleep and we didn't say prayers, things like that.
I need to say this too, this "Superwoman Syndrome" has got to be deeply embedded in my very soul somewhere. I can honestly remember as a young girl thinking that I wanted to "have it all"- that I was going to be married and have kids, that I was going to have callings at church, that I was going to have a career, but one that allowed me to have a schedule very similar to that of my kids', that I was going to be there for all of their games, recitals, etc, and even be one of those parents that voluteers their time with those activities. The problem is that I love everything I do- but when I take on something new, I lose perception of the time commitment involved. Then I realize how insane everything is getting, and I long to simplify my life. Once something ends, it is easy to replace it with something else- and so the cycle continues. I did this before the girls came along, when I was a regular in the local theater circuit and in the opera in Fresno.
Okay, so I like to use my mind, learn, create. That isn't bad at all. It seems though that I do it at the times when I am longing most for a change in my life. When I was doing all that theater stuff, I did it all the while proclaiming that it was what I wanted to do until I became a mommy, a last little "selfish streak" if you will. Then the girls came along and it was pure bliss and excitement. Don't get me wrong, it still is. I guess what kind of changed for me is when I decided to go back to school and get my Master's. I got a little self-centered again and set some big goals for myself. It was so totally incredible to finish that, and I can't wait to formally celebrate it at commencement in May. The one little thing, the icing on the cake of reward though, is the new job. I KNOW, I should be so very thankful that I have the job I have, and that I can stay right where I am and get a nice little raise in August. However, the stars are still in my eyes and the fire in my belly when I think of being offered a position as an administrator. I have already had the opportunity to go to a few interviews, but for whatever reason, the one that is meant for me is still yet to come. I know I need to be patient. The Lord will guide me towards a place where I will be happy and I will know it's where I was meant to be. That is how it was with my teaching job. My mind and my spirit are at odds with this, and it is so easy for me to say what I need to do and how I need to feel. But actually allowing myself to do it is another story. Kris told me that when we were praying the other day, he had a feeling come over him and he could 100% see me attaining my goal. Of course I asked him "when?" like he would be able to answer that. You see, that is another thing that is engrained in my spirit somewhere. I have a hard time living in the here and now sometimes. I was one of those kids whose parents were always having to remind them to be happy, and not live too much in the future (like how great life will be once I can date, drive, when my missionary comes home, etc.). I have tried to control this, but so far only to a marginal degree of success. I do the same thing with finacial matters, too. Suffice it to say, that could be a another long blog...
So, this (in a very long winded and round about way) leads me right back to the title of this blog- What's With Me??? Well, what is with me is that the experiences of the last 2 years or more have changed me. In some ways they have made me stronger. In others, I still need to "step it up." Is it healthy to try to be "Supermom"? I think it is as long as you define and stay within your own limits and always allow yourself enough room/time to learn and grow spiritually. When you have that, you are also working on being the best wife and mom that you can. This is what I think has been wrong with me, and has left me feeling a bit "devoid" despite my crazy schedule. Thank goodness it will slow down a bit in April, just in time for Mallory's baptism, family coming to town, and then the end of the school year. I plan not to take on any extra responsiblities this summer. You heard me! Please help me keep this promise to myself and my family!
In all seriousness though, I will be fine, especially since tonight seems to have pulled me more towards my center of balance. Thank you for letting me read your blogs. I think most of you are younger than I, but your goodness and wisdom went beyond my years tonight! If you have any additional comments or wisdom to impart, feel free :)

CREATE!- This speaks directly to my soul! Thanks Christa!!!

2009-03-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

Busy Busy!

2009-03-29T19:44:00.001-07:00

Our first track meet- Becca is ready!

Becca and her little friend who was a high-jumper!

Warming up on the field, they are on the far end in the darker green shirts. The light green is Royal Oaks

Becca is throwing the shotput (behind the net, not in front). She said that she didn't do that well because the ball was heavier than she was used to. Here you can see her crouching to push the ball forward as much as possible...

another shotput picture-

Becca is one of those specks on the far end of the field. I couldn't get a good picture because she was in the 4x100 meter relay, and her starting mark was way over there. She passed up two girls and was so very fast. I so want to see her do the 100 meter dash!

Mallory going to practice last Thursday

...and the same pose, after the game on Saturday. She is liking softball a lot, but after getting a pretty good start, we are now in a slump. Hope we can come out of it in the 4 or 5 games we have left!

So anyways, these were the highlights of our week. That, and I put another yearbook "to bed", and had a pizza celebration with my GATE class/yearbook staffers. We were proud of Becca for getting 4th place in 3rd and 4th grade girl's 4x100 relay, this being the first time they ever started with a starter "gun". Her school got so many of the awards, they were so proud, especially the principal, who we sat near for a while. Our neighbor Austin got first place in one of the boy's races, so he was pretty excited about that. The next meet will be later this month, so we will let you know how it goes!

Report cards are supposed to be done tomorrow and I have barely started. I can't do it at home because they are computer-generated, and only accessible from school. And I can't cancel practice tomorrow because we have a game on Tuesday! ARRRGH! I am going to try to leave the house really early tomorrow to get lots done! Wish me luck with my overextended self!!!

Mallory, the Model Citizen!

2009-03-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Mallory was surprised to see us at the assembly, and equally surprised to hear her name called as the student of the month from her class! She was even more surprised to get the colorful bag with a card and a giant Hershey bar.

She noticed us once she was on stage with the principal, and gave us a smile and a wave

standing on stage as the last of the students were called up

Mallory and her teacher, Miss Fox

Mallory was recognized as a student of the month this morning at a very nice assembly at Mountain View Elementary. Her daddy and I both took time to be with her as she was honored by her principal Mrs. Merkel and her teacher Miss Fox. Of course as a teacher/administrator, I was watching to see how the whole thing was conducted, and I was VERY impressed. The kids were well-behaved and it was so cool to see the student council (6th graders) lead the assembly along with the principal. They had behavior monitors that watched the classes and at the end they awarded the best-behaved class with a tray of cookies. There were all kinds of other awards, too, for attendance, Happy Meal tickets for lunch with the principal, spirit awards, and so on. We do lots at our school too, but it was interesting to see how another school does things. I may have to give my boss Robert an idea or two!

But this is Mallory's day, so I really should be writing about her! We are so proud of the sweet young lady she is becoming. She is doing beautifully in school, proficient both academically and behaviorally! -and it is so fun to coach her softball team and watch her play, especially when she goes up to bat! We can't wait to celebrate her eighth birthday next month and her baptism! Mal, we love you!!!

Opening Day! Mallory's First Official Softball Game!

2009-03-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

We had a fun and exciting first game/opening day. Our team, the Comets had a lot of spunk and spirit, and they made a few really nice plays out on the field. They also got a few very good hits in. I was very proud of our pitchers too, they are working on everything another mom and I have told them to do. Mallory played third base, and got in a good play where she got the ball and helped get an out. She also learned that sometimes you have to wait for someone on the other team to hit the ball and that can sometimes be boring. She got a really good hit in, and ran to first with a very excited look on her face. It all happened so fast, and being the first game we coached, we were so concerned about everything that we didn't get a picture of it, but we will work on getting good pictures again at the next game. Here are some fun pictures we got!

It was a nice day in the low 60's, although when we were getting ready to take the field, we had the girls run a bit because they were a little cold.

In the dugout, they had fun cheering for their batter and waiting for their turn in the lineup.

In the foreground and smiling at the camera is our "budding Jenny Finch." She did an awesome job pitching her very first game!

On the field and ready for defense!

Hustling in after a third out! GO COMETS!!!! The final score was O-O, so we tied. Can't wait till our next game!!!

ps- This evening, Mallory was still wearing her uniform and not wanting to take it off to take a shower. She said "No, I love it, it's comfy!"

Last Friday's Field Trip to Monterey

2009-03-04T23:14:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, my class and two others went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and then to Mission San Juan Bautista. It is always fun and definitely the highlight of the year for the kids. I have gone several times now and always marvel at the ocean life, so I wanted to post just a few of the many pictures I took. There are more of the aquarium and mission, and lots of kids enjoying it that I didn't want to include, but these were just a handful of my aquarium favorites! March 12th, it's off to Fresno State University for the Peach Blossom Oral Interpretation Festival...

Spoiled Divas

2009-03-04T22:10:00.001-08:00

Okay, so here is how our afternoon/evening went on Tuesday, March 3rd:

Kim is greeted by the girls- "tonight is the Dr. Seuss celebration at school. Can we go, pleeaase?"
Kim says- "Yes, let's get home and wait for Daddy. We'll eat something real quick and go"

Kris says-"grrrr, I'm tired"

Girls say-"Come on Daddy, let's go!"

Kim then says-"Hang on, you look scary, let's fix your hair and change your clothes"

end result- we end up missing the Dr. Seuss Day Celebration. We felt really guilty, so we took them to Baskin Robbins to make it up to them. Rebecca has a new favorite flavor, peppermint (what can I say, she is my girl, that is one of my favorites too!!!) and Mallory loves rainbow sherbet. So even though we have been mindful of he recession like everyone else, we have had a couple spoiled moments lately! Did we mention the Claire's boutique mini shopping spree they went on for Valentine's Day? Well, Claire's was having a major blowout sale, so that was the only reason, and they had fun, since that is usually just a "look around but don't buy" store when we are walking around the mall. The first picture in this entry is a sampling of what they got. Well, they got lip gloss (couldn't find it for the picture), cotton candy scented perfume, black cat jewelry ("We have to get them because our cat Seuss is black!"), earrings, Hello Kitty press on nails, and new diva tiaras. Such girly girls!

It's Cammi's Fault!

2009-03-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

I saw Cammi's great Target finds and had to check it out for myself at our store. Once again, I too was a slave to the Target girl's section! Cute stuff! Way low prices! Gotta love it! Cammi, I agree, there are worse vices out there. This is how I spent my day off today- that, and several other things:

1) Went to see my doctor, Dr. Wu. My blood sugar is 100, so that is on the high end of the normal range. My cholesterol is up again, so I have to watch my diet and start exercising more again (no more excuses!!!).

2) Met Kris at home during his lunch break and ate lunch together

3) Picked the girls up from school early and we all 3 went to Dr. Henrikson for our dental checkups. No one had cavities, Mallory lost a tooth while the hygenist was cleaning it, and Becca may end up needing braces in the not so far off future. I wish I had thought to take my phone out and get some pictures!

4) Dropped Becca off at school again for track practice. She says she and another girl are "the fastest 3rd graders on the team"

5) Mallory and I went shopping for her baptism dress and it is BEAUTIFUL! I want to post a picture but I don't know...I know, it's not her wedding, but still...(let me know if you think I should)

6)Went to Target and got the stuff pictured above

All in all, it was nice to break the monotony and have a day off. It didn't really feel that relaxing and it went by fast, but it was still good. Now I realize how "stay at home" moms can also feel like they are always on the go. I didn't go to work, but I wasn't really home much either!

Super Bowl Mania!

2009-02-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we aren't sports fanatics, but when it comes to things like the World Series and the Superbowl, we like to get into the spirit a little. We probably would have watched it. But when Kris won a drawing for a superbowl basket full of lots of goodies, well, we had to use them. It came with chips, dips, nuts, m&m's, soda, plates, napkins, decorations, a shirt, and even Steelers and Cardinals hats!

our "head to head" display- I put the Steelers hat on after I took the picture, Kris wore the shirt, so it's not pictured, and Doug and Becky's son Dylan wanted to wear the Cardinal Hat, so he and Mallory took turns wearing it throughout the game...

We added a Port O' Subs sandwich tray, a veggie tray, and more chocolate and soda, and it was a feast!

Balloons and Cardinals poster- came out dark!

Sweet pictures of Becky and their newest family member, Kylie

Bill, Liam (one of Bill's boys), Doug, and Kris talking and watching the game

and Keilana in the foreground- hi sweetie!

None of these pictures came out great, especially the ones of Dylan. He doesn't pose long for pictures, but he is a cutie too!

Keilana with her balloon- don't know if this is the first one, that popped, or the second one we gave her!

Bill's boys in our room playing Guitar Hero. They are really, really good!!!

You may have noticed some card-looking things in one or two of the pictures. That was a game where on one side, you had to match the helmets with the years they played, and on the other side, you rated the commercials. I thought that was fun! We absolutely loved the game, it was a very close and good one! The last minute when the Steelers got that touchdown was the best!

All in all, it was a great party, and we felt thankful to have our friends come over and have some fun with us.

A Birthday for a Diva: Becca Turns 9!

2009-02-04T19:29:00.000-08:00

When we asked Rebecca what she wanted to do this year for her birthday, she said, "I want to have friends over to play video games, eat pizza and red velvet cake, and do make-overs." So, we accomodated the diva's party demands, and had a slightly chaotic but fun time. She invited 8 friends from school and church. Amber and I did the hair and make-up, while girls played Guitar Hero and Wii (Wii Sports, Disney/Pixar Cars, High School Musical Sing It!- thanks to Cammi back when we got the Wii), dolls, and played with Gretchen, our dog. In fact, the girls wanted to take thier pizza to the patio table outside, and next thing we knew, the dog had enjoyed a couple of slices too. Needless to say, she was happy!

Princesses Ryan and Mallory!

Time for cake!

Let's cut into the delicious red velvet!

Ryan, Sami, Becca, Grant and Ashley

Aracely, Grant, Becca, Danica and Ashley

Mallory and Ryan playing Wii

The birthday girl with all her fabulous loot! She still needs to be a gracious host and write thank-yous...

Grant, Aracely and Becca playing the Disney/Pixar Cars game

The preparations- Hair basket, makeup basket, and goody bags. We had three different hair glitters, lots of hairpins, face and body glitters, and plenty of q-tips to apply all of it! I was pleased to find plates and napkins at Target that matched my homemade goody bags very well!

Each goody bag was hand sponged and glittered, hole-punched, and tied with raffia. Inside, they got their own hairbrush and ties, lip smackers, lotion or body wash, stickers, gel pens, jolly ranchers and note pads. The girls and I had fun going to the dollar store and putting them together.

make-up and polish basket

and the very pretty and delicious red velvet cake from Bothof's Bakery. We almost got the cup cakes instead, but I just couldn't do it-I wanted her to have a cake!
A simple party, yet still fit for a diva! We all had fun celebrating with her!

January 17th- Grandpa Stohl Came to Visit!

2009-02-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

SO, Grandpa Stohl came for a really quick visit. On Saturday afternoon, he got here and we went to Sizzler. This was Becca's choice, in honor of her birthday! We went to church on Sunday, and forgot to take pictures of the girls with Grandpa, although we had a great time. Sunday night, we went on a walk with Grandpa. He and Kris got tired and cheated on the cul-de-sacs, cutting across after I came around the curves with the dog. The girls kept going back and forth on their scooters talking to all of us. The main event though, seemed to be the Wii Fit which Grandpa bought, and the girls missed it so bad when he left that all three of us begged Kris to give it to me for a "belated anniversary gift" so we all could enjoy it. Here are some pictures of Mallory doing Wii Fit while grandpa was here, and Becca taking a break...

Mallory was a crazy girl, going so fast that she would make her Wii self fall down, then she learned that all she had to do was move her hand and it would go fast. Cheater! I tried to load a video, but couldn't get it to upload. I will try to do it again later! Thanks Grandpa Stohl for a fun weekend!

Up next...

Becca's birthday party and the Superbowl party!

What Grandma Judy Got Us!

2009-01-06T21:12:00.001-08:00

Okay, so this first picture of Becca tells it all- they are starting to love clothes, and since we were all made up already from playing Rockstars, they didn't mind posing in the clothes they got with the money Grandma Judy sent them. I had a great time bargain hunting, and got a lot! Here they are in their new jeans and sweaters. Becca's grey sweater has some silver threading around the middle, and its really pretty (you may be able to see it if you click on the photo and enlarge it)...

yes, she said she felt like a princess today, and had to wear her tiara...

They each got their own pair of these Mudd brand boots and Champion tennies, RIDICULOUSLY marked down...

Mal wanted to make sure you knew that she still has and loves "Pinky the Birthday Poodle" very much!

Her sweater has little rhinestones around the top of it...

I love my jeans and sweater!

And now for the Camp Rock jammies and slippers (they decided they had to wear the wannabe Ray-Bans at this point, since they had forgotten about them earlier)....

Thank you so much for all this great stuff! We had lots of fun modeling our presents from you, and we will think of you when we wear them!

Girls Day Out and Makeovers!

2009-01-06T02:06:00.000-08:00

On December 30th, the girls and I went to Fresno for a really fun girls day out. We had a great time at both Fashion Fair and Riverpark Malls; we shopped, went to Color Me Mine, and ate dinner. I got to spend my birthday and Christmas money and gift cards for Anne Taylor Loft and Sephora (THANKS, Judy and Jeb and Amber!). I did pretty well, ending up with 2 blouses, 2 sweaters and a pair of sunglasses from Anne Taylor, and perfume, lipstick, eyeshadow, moisturizer and shower gel from Sephora. We had to walk right past Club Libby Lu to get to my stores, and the girls were being good, so we went in, and this was the low point of our day- LIBBY LU IS NO LONGER! Apparently they are owned by Saks' Fifth Avenue, and in these uncertain times, they have decided to absorb Libby Lu so they can focus all their energies on Saks'. This blew my mind, since every time we have been by this one or the one at Disney, there are plenty of girls and their Moms buying stuff. So anyway, they were having a huge clearance on everything, and the girls got "I Love Joe Jonas" shirts, play rockstar headsets, fake Ray-Bans and "PiNK!" glitter hairspray to play with at home (You can't leave there with at least one can, it smells so sweet and girly!). Sooo, this is a little photo spread of the makeover fun we had today...

They were so excited for me to do hair and makeup on them! I did a twisty-up-into-two-little-poofy-pompoms thing, and sprayed glitter all over it, although the glitter didn't show up on the pics too well. Probably not as good as they do at Libby Lu, but we had a lot of fun trying. Of course there was lots of pink, silver and glitter on the eyes and lips too!

Mom took a little while figuring out how to do it...

When is it my turn????

Almost ready to rock!

Now we're rockin' the pop-princess style!!!

Mal, looking cute...

"Rock on, dudes", as Becca would say when she plays Guitar Hero

My turn with the guitar!

Love ya! Here are some possible poses for the cover of our first album! (haha...)

Thanks, Mommy for the Rockstar Makeovers!!!

SO ANYWAY, back to the day in Fresno...

We left Fashion Fair and headed to Riverpark, for Color Me Mine. We had never done this before, so we were all pretty excited to try it out

Mallory painting her plate, entitled "Princess Mallory"

and Becca working on her creation, "Princess Becca." It is funny how when one of them gets a good idea, they both want to go with it...

At first, they didn't understand why they had to leave them there, and that they would pick them up on January 7th. I had to explain how they would fire it in a big oven, and it would make the paint have a shiny finish. We will have to take a picture of them holding the finished products when they pick them up.

Last, we went to dinner...
All that shopping and painting made us hungry, so we ate at Johnny Rocket's, also at Riverpark. It is a 50's style diner with great burgers, fries, and shakes. Here is Mallory dipping her fries in the happy face the waitress made with ketchup in the little dipping bowl. Becca was sitting next to me acting strange, and not wanting her picture taken much. We finished the meal by sharing a strawberry shake!

This day made me realize how fast our lives are going by, and that we need to do this more often! We love having Kris around, but I think it is so important to have some mother-daughter bonding time! I know the girls agree, so we will keep you posted on what we decide to do next time!!!

Christmas in Oregon!

2009-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in Oregon for Christmas!

December 24th

After some delay on Shasta getting over the pass, we finally made it late on Christmas Eve. The girls were so excited to be there, we had to let them wind down a little. Then we reminded them that we "barely beat Santa there" and they had better get to bed...

On the way through town, we saw many lights. This is one we found later on while driving around after dinner one night. We joked that the house should be spinning, not the electric meter! It was cool to drive around the town and follow the "trail of lights", different businesses had light displays, ranging from the manger scene to deer, ducks, fly fishing you know, "typical Oregon stuff" :) ... I really should have taken more pictures, but I had misplaced my camera before we left, and had to rely on my iPhone, which actually didn't do too bad. Wouldn't you know it, Kris and I were straightening our room up this week, and he found my camera, though!

December 25th CHRISTMAS!!!

The girls were so excited to open all of their gifts! They were especially excited to get the Pixos

and Troy and Ryan dolls (High School Musical)...

and new scooters! Thanks sooo sooo much Grandma Carol and Grandpa John! I have to post some pictures of them riding them for you...

They also had a great time opening gifts that I bought with the money that Grandma Judy sent them! I had a great time seeing how much I could get with the money, and she will be amazed when I take pictures of them modeling their pajamas, slippers, jeans, sweaters, and two pair of shoes EACH (Yes- three of my favorite stores- Target, Famous Footwear, and Payless were all having sales!!!). And before you say "booooorring", just know that they are starting to get in to clothes and shopping. You will see when they model them for you, they absolutely love them, and will be sending you their Grandma Judy a thank you on this blog and in the regular mail too! We were also excited to get a web cam from Grandpa Dennis, and figured out how to use it when we got home! Now we can talk to everyone who has a web cam that way. That was truly a great gift that will definitely keep giving every time we get to see and hear all of you! Thanks so much!

We spent the rest of the day playing with the girls' new toys, eating a yummy dinner, and watching A Christmas Story...

December 26th
The day after Christmas, we played in the snow, both at the park and around my parents' house.

The first thing they wanted to do was attack each other with the snow, then they both got mad at each other, and had to make up. They made angels and started to get along better, though. I had bought them new snow pants, so they just wanted to live in those the whole time, and they pretty much did! After eating lunch at a delicious Barbeque place called "Wubba's", we went sledding. They had a great time with the sled that Santa left for any grandkids who happen to come visit. This hill doesn't look steep, but it was a good one, with just enough incline at the beginning to get some speed and a long ride. Mom and I also made cookies and peppermint bark candy that day. Yum!

This is the view down my parents' street! After we left, it rained several days in a row, and some of the snow left. It snowed a lot while we were there, though!

Here are the "Snow Chicks" again, having a great time!

That evening, we had fun staying up till the wee hours on the computer giggling getting my mom set up on blogger and myspace! I hope she keeps up with both of them!

December 27th

The next day, Saturday December 27th, was our 18th wedding anniversary! It is so hard to believe it has been that long. We went to a special dinner at a restaurant by the golf course called "Nibbley's on the Green". It was very nice, and I am sad that I forgot to take pictures. I don't think my parents or Kris remembered to either. The food was OUTSTANDING!- Kris got a ribeye steak with coconut shrimp, potatoes, and vegetables, and the girls and I shared the biggest and most delicious plate of chicken alfredo ever!. My dad let me taste his plank salmon, and it was so tender and delicious. Before the meal, they gave us some soup that had vegetables and spicy italian sausage, and that was good too! Since we weren't holding back, we had to share an order of the italian cream cake- out of control good!! The girls shared a huge red velvet cupcake with white buttercream frosting, and now Becca has decided that is the best kind of cake ever, and she wants one for her birthday cake.

December 28th

We packed, enjoyed the coziness of parents' house, and loaded up. We went out for pizza, then headed home. It was a fun-filled few days! We didn't end up leaving until 2 p.m., but the drive home was so smooth, we were home at exactly 10:00! Kris did an awesome job of getting us there and home safely!

WE MISS YOU GRANDMA CAROL AND GRANDPA JOHN! Can't wait till you come see us in April!

Catching Up! September-December!!!

2008-12-23T02:11:00.000-08:00

OKAY, so I have been a LITTLE busy completing my thesis and Master's program! It was so crazy to do a thesis in under 4 months! WOOOHOOO, I made it though, and am so glad that I did it! Now that I am finished, I am so much more relaxed, and have time to spend on this blog! SO I will start with the more recent events, and work backwards...

December

Small World looks so pretty at Christmastime

December 13th, Disneyland!

Okay, So on the weekend of my birthday, December 13, we went to Disneyland, to see it all decorated for Christmas. What was funny was that I was one of 3 members of my staff that decided to be there on a Friday with their families. Kris and the girls and I had a great time, and did a few things we hadn't done together before, like go up into the castle and see the new display of the story of Sleeping Beauty. It used to be dioramas, but now they move, and have animations with lights and sounds. The girls rode the zip line in the Brother Bear Forest and loved it, and watched the Muppet Show 3D. Later that night, we met up with my friend Heidi and her family and we went in the Haunted Mansion together. It is so cool at Christmas because they change the whole thing to have a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. The girls love it. However, they will both tell you that their favorite things are the rollercoasters there- the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and California Screamin'. It was a great day, and we were back at my sister's by 10. The next day we went out to Mama Carpino's, a YUMMY Italian place not far from their house. The chicken parmagiana is to die for, and the kids shared a pizza, which they loved! We also exchanged Christmas gifts, and had a great time relaxing at the house!

The castle at night, and during the day!

Of course, we had to eat with the monkeys, fish and elephants at the Rainforest Cafe...

and see the HSM 3 Performance, which I must say, was a pretty good show...

and enjoy the big tree in California Adventure!

and hang with Pluto...

and Stitch!

Flippie Hair Cuts!

Toward the end of my parents' month here in September, my mom and I decided to take Bec and Mal in for a makeover. They looked so cute with this cut that we couldn't believe it! This is after a trim they had when we returned from Disneyland, and it flips much better again! I absolutely love this cut on both of them! (Becca has no bangs because it's easier for dance, when she starts up again someday soon)...

Ahhhh, sisterly love!!!
I took these pictures in the park by our house with my iPhone, and was so impressed with myself that one of them is going to end up on our Christmas card! It's not often I take pictures that I am totally happy with!

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

We were invited to spend the weekend with Jeb and Amber, and we had a great time. We ate lots of great food with them, Jeb's parents, his aunt, and his Grandma. They are the nicest, and always treat us like part of the family too. Amber and I went stark raving mad with our shopping ALL NIGHT LONG on Thanksgiving night in Barstow and the next day at Target, Kmart, and the Victor Valley Mall, with Brooklynn in tow for much of the journey! She was a very good shopper too. Somehow, we rested some, and still managed to make cookies with the kids

Becca got caught in the act of sneaking frosting!

they had so much fun customizing the cookies, although I didn't take pictures of the cookies, just the kids in the process of decorating.

HALLOWEEN 2008!

It just so happened to work out, since it was on a Friday, that my my sister came to visit. That, and they had an engagement party to go to. So we had a great time going around the neighborhood with the superheroes! After that, they got hungry, and they got to wear their costumes to Me'N'Ed's pizza, where a bunch of other kids and adults had costumes on still too.

using their super powers! and being super cute!

WELCOME BROOKLYNN SIERRA!!! SEPTEMBER 15th, 2008!

Brooklynn arrived, and we got there a couple of days later to meet her. I felt bad, because I didn't get to be a part of the delivery, like with Grant. But once I held her, I think we bonded. I like to think I am one of her favorite people, since a lot of times, I can get her to calm down if she starts to fuss. She is the sweetest little thing, but very wriggly and strong. The girls get a kick out of making her laugh-she is so good-natured. She is our "sister girl" and we love her very, very much!

aren't they the cutest family?
Grant loves being a big brother, and it's so cute to see him come up and give her the random kiss on the cheek :)

Brooklynn's first studio shot- 2 1/2 months!

SOOO, now you are officially CAUGHT UP. I am going to try not to get so far behind anymore!

It's too hard to catch up!

First Day, New School! August 14, 2008

2008-08-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

Becca and Mallory started school at our neighborhood school, Mountain View Elementary! They love it so far. It was quite a decision for me to make, since I have had them with me in Woodlake since pre-school, but it didn't seem to bother them at all. They were very excited to start a new school, and Becca even knew three kids in her class before the first day (Carson Crockett, a friend from church, Austin, a boy who lives right across the street, and Alyssa a girl from gymnastics/dance). They love their teachers and the afterschool program. In fact, Mallory came home the first day and made her teacher a card that said "I love you Miss Fox!, Love Mallory". My only feelings of guilt came today, when I saw the third graders at my school going to lunch, and Becca's friends were there, but she wasn't. I have also had to explain to everyone at my work, since they were expecting her. I could have had her at school with me this year, but she wanted to go with Mallory to Mountain View. Well, now regardless of what my next career step will be, at least they can stay where they are until they finish 6th grade and are ready for middle school!
They already have back to school night this Thursday, so we will take pictures and let you know how it goes!

Flashback to March- Becca's Big Baptism Day!

2008-07-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

The kids had a blast together!

Amber was barely pregnant, but showing a lot :)

The cousins were adorable, as usual!
We learned that this little guy really loves him some lasagna!

A very proud moment for mommy!

and Daddy!

The beautiful and delicious cake!!!

Flashback to June! Amber's Graduation and Disneyland!

2008-07-29T10:57:00.001-07:00

We had a nice visit at the beginning of June with my parents, sister and family. As soon as school was out for us, we headed down for Amber's graduation from Victor Valley College. We are proud of her for finishing up and becoming a full-fledged Respiratory Therapist. She passed the boards too! Yay! The long weekend was jam packed with fun stuff to do, as usual. We went to the graduation ceremony at the college, out for pizza, rode quads, played whiffle ball in the back yard, the guys went to L.A. to watch a Dodger game, we celebrated Grandma Carol's birthday at a yummy BBQ place called Lucille's, and went to Disneyland (of course, gotta get use out of those annual passes). I was actually surprised that Amber wanted to go to Disneyland, being pregnant and all. But she did, and we had fun! Here are some pictures of the weekend fun...

Thumbs up to the graduate, and Victor Valley Hospital's newest RT

Becca's first time on a quad. Watch the gas!

Mallory was a little more cautious...

but they both had a great time, asking us if they could get some of their own!!! (haha!)

At Lucille's BBQ at Victoria Gardens (Rancho Cucamonga) for Mom/Grandma's Birthday. Notice Dad/Grandpa is wearing his Dodger Blue. They had met us there after the game. It is surprising after all those Dodger Dogs, ice cream in the little plastic caps and nachos that they still wanted to eat. But it was Lucille's after all, with the yummiest ribs, chicken, beef and pork around!

As Kris said, "Heck Yeah!"...

Here is Dad with the pregnant girl...

and here is the birthday girl!....

Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure fun...

Amber did well. Here she is with Grant, and Brooklynn (still in the tummy, of course)...

this is Mallory's look of terror before going on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. She loves this ride, and thought it was funny that at the end, the guy asked, "Which gentleman in here was screaming like a little girl?", and she pointed to Kris and said, "MY DADDY!" We got to see Mr. Incredible...
and Sulley from Monsters, Inc...and...duh duh duh duh!!!!....CINDERELLA!!!!!We saw Pixar on Parade, which was very cool. It was happy, colorful, and left us literally "Dancing in the Streets", which I think was actually the last song they played for it...

Just a few highlights, cause I took lots of pictures...Here's Tow Mater!...

Lightning McQueen!

Jesse from Toy Story playing the cool new ride/game Toy Story Mania!!!

We always have fun when we go to Amber's, and to the "Happiest Place on Earth"...

Rainbow Nationals Dance Competition

2008-07-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

July 18-24

We had a fun but busy week! It started out with a weekend at Jeb and Amber's house. We had fun staying cool in their doughboy pool and playing Guitar Hero. The kids had a great time playing, and we had a great time relaxing and visiting. We also got to see Brooklynn's room. It is painted lavender and has lavender and pink butterflies, with a beautiful crib set to match. She is already being loved and spoiled by her parents, and we are excited for her arrival. I got to go to a Dr. appointment with Amber, and see the baby on the ultrasound. I saw an arm, a side view, saw that she is definitely a girl, and heard the heartbeat. I am lucky and thankful that I have such a great sister. It was so cool to get to go!
On Monday, we got Becca's hair and make-up ready and went to Rainbow Nationals in Anaheim. She got there, slipped on her costume, warmed up, and did her dance...

"I want fabulous, that is my simple request, all things fabulous, bigger and better and best"...

She ended up getting a First Place in Petite Jazz and 4th overall in Petite 8 and Under.
Her aunt cried, and I screamed! Becca proudly held the bigger trophy over her head during the awards ceremony

Here she is with her teacher, Miss Kim, her friend Crista, and their awards...
After the awards, it was time to eat, so we went to the Rainforest Cafe. The girls and Grant had a fun time making weird faces and sounds, and waiting for the storms every few minutes.

Then we walked around Downtown Disney for a while, and took these pictures at the Lego Store with Darth Vader and R2-D2...

a cute pic of Grant with his daddy. We were glad they could come with us Monday and watch Becca. Love you guys!!!
We ended up (after a move) with a poolside view at the Disneyland Hotel. Along with getting in to the concierge with our friends and getting to eat all the food up there and watch the fireworks, this was their favorite thing at the hotel...
yeah, I was pretty lucky to get this picture of Becca at the very moment of pool impact. On Mallory's, I forgot to zoom in...
On Tuesday, we had fun at Disneyland all day, but I wasn't very good at remembering to take pictures. I will have to go back and do a blog of our trip there with my sister when we came down for her graduation in June. Well, here is Tarzan's Treehouse, anyway...

Becca being a Tarzan...

On Wednesday, Becca did her team routine, and they got 1st place and 5th overall! We were proud of them! Then they went to a jazz master class with one of the judges. As you can see, they didn't group them by age or anything. The dance was difficult, but by the end, Becca was getting it...

They said they were the Cheetah Girls, and were posing and yelling "CHEETAHS!"- so silly, and so much attitude!
Becca and Crista on one of our several walks Downtown...

with the parrot in front of Rainforest Cafe...

I am so proud of Rebecca. She is one talented little dancin' diva!More pictures of my divas doing their things (Bec's dance and Mal's gymnastics) to come...

4th of July Weekend in Utah!

2008-07-11T00:20:00.000-07:00

July 4th

We had a great Fourth of July weekend in Utah! We caravaned up with Cammi and Lance in their car, and the rest of us in Dennis' car. The kids had a fun time together, with Becca and Mallory switching off riding with Carter and Reilly, and talking on to each other on walkie talkies.

They also had really fun travel bags which were put together by Grandma and Aunt Cammi, with workbooks, sketch pads, songs, card games, and road trip bingo. When we got there, we celebrated Kelly's Birthday and the Fourth at Angie's parent's house. We enjoyed "Cafe Rio" pork sandwiches, potato salad, chips and birthday cake!

Uncle Kelly was the official lighter of the fireworks!

He did a great job helping the kids! We were sorry to hear later that he singed the hair on his legs and burned his shirt! Afterwards, we headed to our nice hotel at Thanksgiving Point, and watched the town fireworks display from a grassy area there. Instead of the regular "oooh" and "ahh", I got the kids (Carter, Reilly, Becca and Mallory) to yell "pancake" every time they saw a round oval shaped one explode. They were funny, because they kept asking me if this was "finale time". Finally it was, and they all said "Awww! It's over???"

July 5th

The next day was a very special day! We got ready in our color-coordinated outfits and went to the park to take updated family pictures, since the Stohls now have two wonderful additions, Kevin's wife Stephanie, and Kelly and Angie's new baby, Laynie Lynne. Getting to the park proved to be a bit tricky, but we took a nice scenic drive through town with Uncle Sid, Kevin and Lance driving behind us (haha, Dennis!). We are thankful Cammi made it through the rush to get everyone situated at the park! From the park, we reassembled at Angie's parents house again to bless baby Laynie, and have a wonderful brunch prepared by Angie and her Mom...

Isn't she beautiful? She looks like a Stohl!

She had both of her Grandpas, Uncle Sid, Uncles Kris and Kevin, Uncle Lance, both of her Uncle Jasons and a couple of neighbors in her circle...

She had the three girl cousins (Becca, Reilly and Mallory) totally adoring and doting on her! Mallory was a natural at holding the baby, and the baby was good while she got passed around for all the kids to hold...

But of course, the boys love her too! Here are all 7 of the Stohl grandkids!
Laynie with her mommy...We also got to know Kevin's wife Stephanie. She is pretty and is very sweet! We are excited that she and Kevin are so happy, and excited to get to know her even better. We all loved her instantly. Here is Becca with Stephanie...

The rest of July 5th was spent near our hotel at Thanksgiving Point. It was a fun place, with a big dinosaur museum, movie theater, farm/petting zoo, gardens, food and shops. In between swimming in the hotel pool, we took the kids to the farm, where they fed goats, llamas, chickens, cattle, pigs and horses. They even got to milk a cow!

Kris fed a very big horse and got slobbered on...Becca liked milking the cow a bit more than Mal did!

They ran around so much we finally decided to put them in jail!

It was in a pretty setting...

After that, there was more swimming, and a trip for the adults to the movies, while grandma hosted a pajama party in her room for the grandkids (actually, they tried to do this every night, and by the last night, they actually decided they were too tired from all 3 late nights!)

July 6th

We got ready early and went to the Conference Center and Temple Square. We watched a live broadcast of "Music and the Spoken Word" with the Tabernacle Choir, so awesome!

Before leaving the Conference Center, we got another personal tour from Uncle Sid, who works there. We got to see the teleprompter booth, as well as the translating booths, then we walked around and looked at all the paintings and statues on all the levels, and went all the way up to the top, to take this picture...

We had to take a picture in front of the Christus... and by the reflection pool in front of the temple...

After that, we took a train ride to Applebee's to eat lunch...

This day of course was rounded out with fun times again at the hotel...

July 7th

We ate breakfast one last time at the hotel- eggs, sausage, muffins, a whole spread (the girls' favorite was making their own waffles). We said our goodbyes and headed home. On the way home, we stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats to let the girls stand on the salt and see it up close. They took a few small rock souveniers, and Becca decided that she wanted to research salt when she got home. Mallory chose to research the state of Utah. Here they are at the Salt Flats...

It was a quick but very memorable and fun trip! We are greatly indebted to Judy and Cammi for being the main organizers of it, helping us all be together and have a great time!