New Beginnings

 Tuesday night was my first New Beginnings...and also Cali's!  Luckily, I have the greatest Personal Progrss leader, Sister Riddle.  She put together such a wonderful program and I am so excited for this year and that Cali gets to be a part of it all.

My contribution to the night...Chalkboard!

 We started out the program with 4 of the Laurels "spotlighting" each of the incoming Beehives.  Kaylee Riddle had Cali...

 Then, the Mia Maids and current Beehives each took a value and explained what the value was and how we apply them to our lives.  It was really cute.  Sister Riddle had each girl hold up a pair of shoes and it tied in the value and our theme this year of "Stand in Holy Places".  She also had a bouquet of flowers, representing each value color.  Whenever a value was presented, flowers were placed in 4 vases, one for each new Beehive to have.

 

Sister Riddle spoke more about Personal Progress and then the Bishop closed the night.  It was so special.  Here's our cute group photo:

 The "newbies":

 And since the whole Bishopric was there, we took a group pic with them because we love them:

 My little girl....will be 12 this year (sniff, sniff....)

Happy St Patricks Day!

 'Tis a find day indeed!

We didn't do much this year.  But we did manage to have green muffins and Lucky Charms for our breakfast before church.  We all wore green to church and then came home and hung out.  We spent most of the day listening to Cali and Daddy learn to play the ukulele.  Then I made a green themed dinner (no pic).  But I have to say, hanging out all day with my family makes me the luckiest person in the world!

Jeremy's Birthday Present

I really wanted to get something extra special for Jer's 40th, but with the amount of money I spent on the party, something big was out of the question.  So, I searched the internet for some ideas.  I stumbled upon "San Diego Adventure, Inc."  They do surf charters.  For $30/person, Joe will take you down off of Point Loma to surf some spots that are only accessible by boat.  I purchased a day for 5 guys and last Saturday was the big day.  Jeremy invited Jimmy, Adam, Jon and Trevor to join him. 

 They started the day by meeting Joe at the Shelter Island boat launch...

 Then it was off to Point Loma for 3+ hours of surfing!

 They surfed a spot called "dolphin tanks".  Jeremy loved it and loved that they were the only ones out there!

The surf was not amazing that day, but they all had such a great time surfing and hanging out!  And they made a new friend, Joe!  Joe?  Joe!  Who's Joe?  (inside joke...)

Happy Birthday Honey!

Blue & Gold / Pinewood Derby 2013

 Thursday night was a big night for Luke.  It was the annual Pack 711/788 Blue and Gold Dinner, and this year they combined it with the Pinewood Derby.  Luke was really excited, because he earned his Bear.  He also earned 5 belt loops, his religious knot and finally got his whittling chip and pocket knife.  He was one happy boy!

 He has spent the last couple weekends working with Papa and Daddy getting the #66 all ready to go-

 While the race took place, the rest of us got to enjoy these fun treats-

 And then, Pack 788 was up-

 Luckily for us, there are only 3 boys in 788.  So, each placed!  Luke got 2nd, for the 2nd year in a row...and he couldn't be happier.

Great job Lukey!

Family Ditch Day!

Monday, Jeremy took the day off of work and we surprised the kids with a family "ditch" to Disneyland.  It was so much fun!  It was a beautiful day and the crowds weren't too bad.  We just took our time and did whatever we wanted.  Since Jeremy was with us, I got to ride some rides with the big kids.  Here I am demonstrating my magical powers-

About an hour or so into our trip, we got a text from Gammy and Papa that they were at Disneyland too!  So, we met up with them and played with them the rest of the day.  Papa was so cute!  He had never been to the Animation Studio in California Adventure, neither had Jer.  We spent a lot of time in there.  In the Beast's library, Papa was most like Marlin and Jer was most like Jack Skellington.  I was Alice, Mom was Malefecent, Gavin was Gaston, Cali was Belle, Luke was Syndrome (or whatever his name is from Incredibles) & Brody was Aladdin.  We had fun in Ursula's Cavern too, doing the voice-overs and singing.

 Papa really wanted to go to Turtle Talk and he got to talk to Crush!  Cha Dude!  Brody got to ask him a question...he asked him what his middle name was.  It is "the"!

For some reason, my pix from my phone aren't making it to my emails.  So, the other pictures I took won't be on here :-(.  We had a lot of fun at both parks and finished the day with a trip to Cars Land to ride the Racers and Mater!  We left around 8, so the kids could get home and to sleep for school the next day.  I'm so glad that we all have passes and can play together like this.  Can't wait for the next one!

Happy Tyler Rohner Day!

OK...so when someone gets their Eagle in the City of Vista, there is a day dedicated to them.  Yesterday was Tyler Rohner Day!  It just so happens that Gav had a day off school.  So, to celebrate, he and I went to Disneyland for a few hours.  I got to ride the rides I don't normally get to ride.  I felt so special because Gavin doesn't seem to mind hanging out with just me!

The Riddle family was celebrating Tyler Rohner Day too!

 For lunch, Gav tried some Jumbalaya....AND LOVED IT!!

We only stayed for a few hours, because we had to get back and pick the other kids up.  But it was a great way to spend the day!

Today is Carter Troy McEwan day!  Sadly, I must work today....and Gavin had to return to school.

The Eagle

 Sunday night, we had the honor of attending Carter's Eagle Court of Honor.  He and 2 of his friends did projects at a Home for Homeless Women Veterans.  Carter headed up the building of a fence for the Home.  Gavin got to help on all the projects.  We are all very proud of him and Cole, Tyler and Quinten.  All 4 of these boys were once my little Wolves and Bears.  It was a really neat ceremony and look how proud the grandmas are:

 Here's the Fan (Fam) Club-

 And on the goofy pic, I tried to flash peace signs...and it just turned out all wrong!  I feel so bad that these people are force to be related to me!

Carter is only 14.  It is quite an amazing accomplishment to get your Eagle at such a young age.  He is a very special young man and I am so happy that I get to be his aunt.  Congrats Carter!