A trip to Cedar City

While the boys were playing in the woods, the girls headed to Utah to check out St. George and try to find housing for the upcoming move.  

Tress lives in Cedar City and played Hostess for Gma Marie, Elliot and I.  (We had dropped off Caleigh with Aunt Shannon and Ashlyn).  

Tress showed us a great time.  We hit a green show at the Shakespeare Festival, a movie night, and swimming.  Every night she cooked us a yummy dinner with tons of produce from her garden.   

During the day we would head to St. George to look at rentals.  Elliot was such a good sport we took her to TJMaxx to buy a prize.  She ended up picking out a tattoo kit.  She loved giving everyone tattoos!  

We didn't find a rental, but got to see family (thanks to Lucas for driving us around, and Kiva for watching Elliot).  It was a good trip, and got Elliot and I excited to move to St. George.

Cabin Trip 2013

The boys talk about this trip for months.  They have such a great time, and come home with many stories and memories.  This trip was injury-free, thank goodness!  Uncle Matt brought his tree camera and got a lot of great pictures.  One of them was a mamma moose and her calf.  

 The scout pond is a great place to fish and relax.

some odds and ends

At the end of the school year(last school year) Griff, Miles, and Caleigh all received awards.  They had all taken the California standardized test and gotten high scores.  Griffin's was in the Math portion.  Miles was high in both math and reading, and Caleigh was almost to the top with reading.  I'm so proud of these three and their efforts in school.  Miles and Caleigh even received the presidential award!

At work with Dad

Summers are slow at a University, so Mike would take one of the kids with him.  Not everyday, but I think they all got a turn once.  He would let them look at books from the library, shred papers, play on his computer, then he would walk them around campus.  UOP is a beautiful campus, so it was a treat.  Griff is our sporty boy, so Mike knew he would enjoy seeing the baseball stadium.  

And then some fun with the schools mascot.  

Micke Grove Park in Stockton, CA

A quick visit from Gma and Gpa Head is just what we needed.  Gma always magically cleans my house, and does all my laundry.  It's amazing.  She helped me get the house ready to move and packed a bunch of boxes.  

So we needed a little outing for a much needed break.  A few miles from our house was Micke Grove Park, so we packed a lunch and went over.  The best part about the park is the Japanese Garden.  It's small, but has some really fun rock bridges.  

We were so worried about not letting Gma fall and get hurt, that Caleigh took the fall for her.  She slid on some wet pavement and ended up with some pretty good scraps on her thighs, but she rallied quickly.  It was a fun day watching Gpa play with the kids.  We ALL got dizzy on one of the spinning toys at the park.  

Such a fun day!

Mission Field Trip

I was lucky enough to accompany Griffin and his class on a field trip this year.  California has such a wonderful history and a big part is their Missions.  We visited: 

Mission San Juan Bautista

Founded by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen in June 24, 1797. Named for Saint John the Baptist, son Zachariah and Baptizer of Jesus Christ ( Patron saint of monks). This Mission is the largest in the 21 Alta Californian chain. Damaged by 1906 earthquake; restored in 1949-1950. The walls of this mission are four feet thick and took the indians 15 years to build.

The Docent tour was wonderful, they kept the kids entertained and taught us all about the rich history of California.  

Did you know California has been owned by 3 Countries?  Can you guess...

The mission is still in operation today.  The dimly lit chapel smelled wonderfully of burning candles.  

Along with the mission, we saw old wagons, learned about branding, and went through an old hotel.  

The Mission San Juan Bautista is located very close to the San Andreas Fault line.  And it was a beautiful drive to get to it.  What a fun day it was!   

A River Runs Through It

A few months ago my friend Rhonda invited our family to go rafting...if anyone really knows me I am not a adventurous person and the idea of "rafting" scares me.  And I REALLY don't like water that has fish in it.  I love to sit by the ocean and watch my kids play in the sand, and occasionally I will boogie board in the waves, but I'm not really a lake or river person.  So I told her, "thank you, but we can't"  

But she persisted, assuring me it would be a fun, LAZY, day.  So I changed my mind and we went.  It was a fun day.  The river was so peaceful and I snacked on cookies and watermelon while we floated along.  The kids had the best time ever.  They loved it and wanted to know when we could go again.  

It was very fun to have Randy Rooker as our guide, and supplier of rafts.  He is so laid back and happy all the time.  The Campbell family also joined us,as well as Todd Rooker.  And Rhonda, Scott, and their cute kiddos.  

Thanks Rhonda for talking me into it.  I do like Rafting, I do! I would do it here or there, I would do it anywhere...okay not anywhere.  As long as it's a "Lazy River."

Teddy Bear Picnic

Elliot's class had a Teddy Bear picnic for their end of the year Celebration. All the kids were invited to bring a Teddy bear from home. We had pb&j sandwiches fruit and you candy bar cars with little teddy bear drivers!

Elliot is such a home body that school was a little tough adjusting to. But she always had a good time once she got there. Plus she had her first crush on a boy named Christian. So cute!

Here's Ell's, Christian, and Emarion. And below. Elliot with her tiny friend Lexi. Lexi has the cutest little voice you've ever heard!

It was a great year and hopefully she will get on board with this school thing soon. 

Griff's last day.

Griff had a great year. He learned so much. And really pushed himself to read better. He made some really fun friends.  Daniel was one of his first friends at Julia Morgan and his mom was Elliot's teacher. Anne quickly became one of my best friends too!  We were so blessed to meet the Garcia family.

 We all love when Daniel comes over. The boys just run and wrestle the whole time. And that cute smile never leaves his face. 

Griff with Daniel and Mrs.Sage. She was a wonderful teacher and a good fit for Griff.