Growing up....

I am still trying to catch up, but I do this only because I do not scrapbook. I am trying to keep a record of what is going on with our family and the exciting things and accomplishments that happen. So.....

one of the exciting things that happened in our family was Kylie was able to get her YW Recognition award on May 3, 2009. That is the main reason that my parents and Nate's parents were here for Brooke's birthday. They think it is really important to support the granddaughters, just like they do the grandsons with priesthood advancements or Eagle scouts. We are very grateful they both came. I can't believe we did not get a picture of Kylie with them on this night either. Makes me mad actually. :) Anyways, here is Kylie with the table she set up with awards, interests, projects, whatever whe wanted to take. Our stake puts on an awesome night for these girls. They really make it a big deal. They had pictures of each of them all throughout their life, they had their testimony recorded and played it while they walked up to the stand, just made it a really special night. We are very proud of Kylie for getting this award!!

And then a few days later, she turned 17!! I can't believe we have a 17 year old daughter already. I still remember the day she was born. She came right on her due date and slept through the night from day 1!! Yes, that's right, slept through the night. (don't worry, my other girls did not!) Kylie is very independent and has been very responsible this last year she has been driving. She loves to hang out with her friends and is always doing something. She is counting down till she turns 18 now. I told her, "I don't know what you think is going to change once you turn 18." :) She is very excited to graduate from high school and has alot of goals. We are very proud of the example she is to her sisters, cousins and friends. She has a couple of friends taking the discussions and that has been very fun for her to be involved in.
Kylie chose to go to Red Robin for her birthday and she was surprised when they came singing to her. She did not know they had been told it was her birthday.
We LOVE you Kylie!!

Happy 11th Birthday to my baby!!

Brooke's 11th birthday was on Saturday. My parents were here and Nate's parents were coming that night. We spent the day and went to a place called Sky High down in Sacramento. It was very fun and Brooke had alot of fun. Here are a few pictures of them playing dodgeball. This is only part of the place. Here's Brooke with the ball, probably getting ready to try and hit her Dad who was on the other team.

Here you can see the whole dodgeball court and Kylie and Nate are on the opposite team as Brooke and Kelsie.
Here is a good picture of Kelsie up in the air. She ended up being the only girl left a couple of times against all of these boys.

Brooke with her birthday cake. (brownies)

And this is what we ended up doing after we played some of the games she got. (I know some of you will get a laugh out of this seeing Donna playing the drums) :)

I can't believe my baby is 11. It seems like she was just born. She was only 9 months old when we moved to California. We are so thankful to have her in our family and appreciate what a good example she is to everyone around her. She has lots of good friends and tries to always be a good friend to all. She is my best helper around the house and I appreciate all she does. She is a very good student and is on the track team at school.

We LOVE you Brookie!!

179th General Conference

On our trip to Utah for Easter we started it off by being able to go to the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. We have never been to the conference center for General Conference before so it was neat to be able to take the girls there.

Here are some pictures we took while we were there...
Pretty interesting to see this, but he was a protestor about conference and the church, so whats up with that?

It is really amazing how they get so many people in and out of there for every session. We even ran into 2 different families from home here in Cali.

Volleyball Champs!!

Ok, Ok, so finally a new post! I know and now lots to catch up on. But first of all, congrats to Kelsie's volleyball team that won the tournament this weekend after having an undefeated season!! They are an awesome group of girls and after taking it all in basketball, they took it all in volleyball as well!! This is what my car would look like most days of the week after school. Sometimes we had to squeeze in a couple more with the teachers just looking the other way trying get everyone to practice or games.

I tried to get some pics of them actually playing, but it's hard and most were too dark. Kelsie is number 2 here.
Here's the team after they won their last game. Kelsie actually had the winning save of the day to win the game. It was so exciting!! Their last game was so close and all of us parents were sitting in the stands just literally sweating! I had flip flops on and when I tried to walk in them after, I couldn't. My feet were so sweaty!!

But the other exciting thing was not just the 8th grade team won, but also the 7th grade team won the tournament. They had not had an undefeated season, but they won 1st at the tournament. This is so awesome for our little charter school!! So here is both teams after.

Here is our team after at a party at our coach's house. Our coach's husband is actually most of these girls doctor and they had a fun time playing sand volleyball, swimming and making s'mores. I think alot of them are going to go through volleyball withdrawels now that the season is over. It's been fun!! Great job girls!!

The reason I have not felt like blogging...

edited***look at the date***

I did get my Mom and sister though. :)

100 things...

Just for fun, here are the things I have done. Bold the things you have done and post it on your blog. Since I have nothing else to blog about... :)
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland or Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Olde Faithful Geyser Erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain'
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or on a TV show
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Had an encounter with a wild animal
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a Jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Taken a martial arts class

My wordle...

Happy Valentines Day!

I wish we could send you all some yummy cookies we made. We can't stop eating them though.

I'll be spending the day at basketball games and running kids around. Nate is working a show till late tonight. Just another normal day at our house. :)

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Beautiful..

This is what it looks like at my house today. Good thing the kids already had the day off school or it would have been cancelled. Glad we have no where to go and can just stay home all day.

Kelsie is out there in her pajamas still, cleaning off the tramp. She stepped up on the tramp and her foot slipped and she scraped her leg. That's what she is pointing at. It was sagging pretty bad. Then Brooke had to join her. It is sunny and is melting pretty fast, but we are supposed to get more tonight. Yay!! We need the water or there won't be any lakes to go boating on this summer.

Be thou an Example...

I made this tile up for our YW New Beginnings tonight. The YW Pres. asked me if I had anything that she could use for the table. I had already done some other YW vinyl for another ward, so I just made it bigger and put it on a 13 x 13 tile. This is the new theme for 2009.

If I don't want to die this summer....

I better get my butt on this...

instead of having it in the basement covered in junk. Nate and I were called about a month ago by the Stake to go on the Pioneer Trek with the youth in our Stake in July. They have asked us to be a Ma and Pa. I wasn't quite sure about this when they first called us and I am still not as excited as Nate, but after the fireside they had tonight, I think it should be fun. Not easy, but do-able. The things I am the most NOT excited about are the sleeping on the ground and the no showers. This will be us...

UGH!!! So, I get to get 4 people ready for this trip. Kylie and Kelsie both get to go on it this year. They both might not get another chance to go. This is the first year our stake has done this and depending on how it goes they might only do it like every 4 years. I know this could be a once in a lifetime thing for us, so I better enjoy it, huh? Any ideas for clothing? I know everyone who has ever gone on a trek has just had an awesome experience. There are alot of really awesome people from the stake going and it should be really fun. I am not a camper though and hate to be all dirty. The Stake camp director called me back in Oct. to see if I would go to girls camp and I told her I would go up and help for a day like I did this last year and help with crafts, but I didn't want to stay up there all week. I hate camping! Well, she is also going on the trek and a couple of weeks ago when she saw my name on the email list for the trek, she caught me at church and told me I was a traitor. She said, You'll go on the trek, but you won't go to camp? Oops!! :) So, wish us luck in our attempt to try and prepare. Everyone says... Get walking! Nate wants to do a biggest loser contest with me, but I didn't take him up on that offer. :)