Easygoing Summer

Carina and Zach playing in their forts

These two are enjoying summer and just hanging out. They had an awesome school year filled with math facts, long division, California history, science projects, and lots of reading.

Zach was the peacebuilder for the month of February. He enjoyed soccer season of course and made several new friends. He is looking forward to cub scout day camp, boogie boarding, and our family vacation to Zion's National Park. He improved in many areas and had a really good report card.

Carina has become a reading machine. She is super fast at math facts, is a talented artist, and a great speller. She still loves Littlest Pet Shop and just made $7 at our yard sale. Yeah! More LPS she says! She looks forward to hanging out with friends, swimming, playing with her cousins, and going to the beach.

These two are buds. They get along so well. They are sleeping in their forts tonight. They always make me laugh and still enjoy cuddling. I love these sweet guys!

Magnificient Madeline

Maddie has had a wonderful school year. She turned 12 this past April and graduated from primary. She is enjoying young women and loves hanging out with her friends. Maddie was a member of Scholarship Club this year and a member of Junior Honor Society. She is also in the GATE program and had tough really tough assignments and late nights. But she was a trooper! She has adjusted to middle school beautifully. Maddie is very musical and loves being in band. She took up the french horn and religiously hauled that heavy instrument home 3-4 days per week and practiced and practiced. We attended two concerts and saw major improvement in Maddie and the Beginning Winds Band. She had an amazing band teacher. Maddie just adores her and because of her influence plans on becoming a music teacher. It's either that or an astronomer.

Maddie received two band awards this year. She was chosen by her peers as "Most Helpful" and was awarded the special director's award by her teacher for "Always being helpful, a person she can always count on, and someone who can unite the band to get the job done." We are so proud of Maddie! She had an awesome 6th grade year.

This summer Maddie is looking forward to her first year of girls camp. She has been working so hard babysitting to pay for it. She is also planning to visit her aunt and uncle and help with their baby. We love you Maddie! Maddie has grown so much this past year, in stature and maturity. She is a sweet and kind girl and a wonderful friend to everyone.

Simon's Cat 'Fly Guy'

Here is a new family favorite. Our family now meows as a means of communicating with one another.

8th Grade Promotion

*Wesley shaking hands with Dr. Hacking (principal)
*Wesley being recognized as straight "A" student
*Wes with Mom and Dad (yes, I had been crying) Even though he appears the same height as me, he is indeed taller. He is 5' 6". I was in heels.
 * Wes with his buddies.

Such neat milestones. It is so amazing to see our children learn, grow, and achieve. I am so grateful for my kids.I am so grateful for my family.

8th Grade Awards Night

We are so proud of Wesley. Last week was a day filled with fieldtrips, parties, and awards banquets. Wesley was one of only 12 eighth graders out of over 500 to receive straight "A" s all three years. That means that he had straight A's in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. He pulled this off while being in GATE classes for the past two years. He also received a medal that he wore at promotion which represents CJSF (California Junior Scholarship Federation) which is only for kids with a 3.5 and above. He also must contribute service hours during the semester. He is a member of the National Junior Honor Society, Scholarship Club, and also became a Life Scout last week. Wesley also received the Presidential Award for outstanding academics. He got a pretty nice letter from Obama too. He enjoyed Golf Club and played city Basketball and also takes piano lessons. Wes has many goals for himself and he is working really hard. This summer he is looking forward to Water Polo, Scout Camp and EFY(Especially For Youth)  He is gonna be going up to BYU and staying in the dorms for a whole week with his BFF Marshall. They are pretty excited!
So, there's my bragging for the year about Wesley. But more than anything, we are so pleased with him because of the choices he is making. His choice in friends, activities, and hobbies. He is really developing into such a fine young man and we love him so much! We know Heavenly Father is also pleased when we make good choices and we pray that our children will always seek the Lord and listen to the spirit.

Max and Ruby

Carina's class went on a fieldtrip to Caltech to watch the performance of "Max and Ruby." I was lucky enough to accompany 5 first grade classes. Here's Carina with some of her classmates. They are all so adorable. We ate lunch on the lawn under a shady tree and then went to the auditorium. They kids enjoyed the performance and of course the bus ride on the freeway too.

2nd Place Winner

The Crew came in 2nd at the championship game. Zach was ok with it. He received a trophy and was pretty happy about it. He doesn't particularly enjoy having girls on the team because he says they don't try, but it was a good experience for him. He's crazy about soccer and can hardly wait to play at the middle school level. School's out and he's a 5th grader now. Big man on campus! I love this boy!

They Just Keep Growing!

We seriously need a new family picture. The one up top is from last summer. Wesley is almost 2 inches taller than me and Maddie is almost as tall I am. Zach and Carina have grown lots too. Family pic soon to come.

OUCH!

Zach had an eventful day a couple of weeks ago. He got home from school and started to play kickball in the front yard with his friend Hayden. They use a palm tree as one of the bases and as he ran passed and tagged it his hand got stick on these insane stickers along the sides of the leaves or fronds or whatever they are called. He tried to pull it out and it sliced his hand open. Off he went to the E.R. Six stitches and 6 hours later he and Willie were home. To top it off, this happened as I was pulling in the driveway with Maddie and her four friends who were coming for Maddie's sleepover. I couln't leave so I had to call Willie to come home and take the poor kid. He was very brave and Wes was an awesome first aid scout as he helped stop the bleeding and knew exactly what to do to make Zach more comfortable.
Zach had to miss his first soccer game which made him very sad. I was not gonna let him play with stitches. They are off now and his hand looks great!

The Crew

It's soccer time for Zach! This is what he lives for! His team name is THE CREW. He played his first game this week and he could hardly wait. The Boys and Girls club sponsor a free soccer program in three schools in Burbank. We are lucky enough to be in one of those schools. It's great and very low stress as far as time goes. He has one game a week at their elementery school and no practices. It goes until the end of the school year which is May 27th for us. They lost 2-0 but Zach ran his heart out. He is such a fast runner! He played forward and he really likes that position.

Malibu Lagoon State Beach

Last Saturday we went to the beach. It was a gorgeous day but too cold for swimming. The kids got in anyway though. They are so brave! We had such a great day collecting shells, flying a kite, having a picnic and just exploring. We came home with a huge piece of driftwood and shells and rocks. The kids tease me because I want to use it as decor for the house. I love the beach! I love the smell, the tranquility and the spirit I feel when I am there. I feel Heavenly Father's love for us as I am surrounded by the beauty of his creation. This beach is known for it's lagoon. It is a marshy area ( an inlet) where the river and ocean meet. The seagulls and pelicans gather by the hundreds. We figured that about every 15 minutes hundreds of them would take off and go hunt for fish. It was so amazing to see so many birds at once fly over our heads. I love the ocean and I am so grateful that we live so close to it.

Beach Day

Perfect kite flying day

Wes doing the long jump. Look at those long legs!

The loot. Isn't it awesome?

I found another stick Mom!

Our Newest 12 Year Old

Our sweet Maddie is 12 years old. She had her very anticipated sleepover. First one ever! We make our kids wait until they are 12 to have a sleepover or go to someone's house for one. The girls had a fun movie night and giggled and giggled tons! Maddie didn't want a traditional birthday cake. She wanted doughnuts! We stacked them and put strawberries all over them. Instant treat. Ta-Da!! We are so proud of Maddie. She works hard at all she does and has many talents she is developing. She is an excellent sculptor. She draws beautifully and plays the french horn. She also is a wonderful student and gets very good grades. But her best talent is reading. The girl can read all night if we allow it. She procrastinates homework often because she is completely consummed in her books. We love her! She is very considerate of others and always has kind things to say about people. Maddie has had many babysitting jobs lately. The word is out! Maddie plays with the kids she watches and people really like that. She doesn't sit around watching t.v. She is actually out babysitting as we speak and making money for girls' camp. She is really looking forward to that this summer.