Walk Through California

J's 4th grade class after their "Walk Through California". J is the 4th from the left.

J is in the 'expert' chair. During the presentation, when the presenter says your "expert" word, you have to quickly get up to the expert chair and explain the word. There were cards to memorize. If they had it completely memorized, including a full-sentence answer to her question, they earned more points for their team. J did great! He had 2 expert words to share.

This was the first time I was able to watch this wonderful program. It is a living history lesson for the kids and it was great! They came in costume, anything they chose to represent California history. It was a 2 1/2 hour interactive and FUN history lesson. The kids were loving it. I really enjoyed it myself! I somehow ended up being asked to be the scorekeeper. They were divided up into 4 teams, and I kept a running count of the points. This is well worth the $$$ the PTA spends on this program. Next year for 5th grade, they get to do the same thing, but it is all about the Revolution.

Soccer!

T is right in front of the ball, ready to assist his team

T and one of his dear friends on his soccer team

J after a victory

J has had a very successful season in soccer. He thrives as one of the team's defenders. At the team party, the coach said that J has an infectious smile and spreads his positive attitude to the team. He is the most improved player and has had THE most spectacular 'headers' this season. He has popped a couple balls right out of his territory down to mid field!! Impressive! He has an awesome coach and has really enjoyed playing this season. It doesn't hurt that their record is pretty impressive ....

T FINALLY has been able to rejoin his team for most of the 2nd half of the season. Even though his cast came off at the half-way mark of the season, his doctor would not give us the 'go-ahead' to have him play soccer for 2 more weeks. He has surprised us with being able to just slide right back into playing ... probably even better than before! Go figure! He has some good hustle out there and has made an assist for a goal.

There is just one more game of the season. It's been a great year for the boys. Hard to believe it's wrapping up already.

Rank Advancement: 1st Class!

On Thursday, B received his 1st class rank advancement at the Court of Honor. He also earned 3 merit badges: Disabilities Awareness, First Aid, and Emergency Preparedness. He has quite a few other merit badges in progress. He's been working really hard! He finishes up his Cycling merit badge today (Saturday) and will receive that one at the next Court of Honor. That merit badge was a HUGE challenge to complete! Way to go, B!!

Meeting Paul Cardall

Here I am with Paul Cardall. So happy!!

He's signing my copy of his new book about his amazing journey with his heart defect and heart transplant. I also had him sign one of his CD's.


On Thursday, my friend, K and I drove over to the church bookstore to meet Paul Cardall. G took a bit of time off of work to come by, too! I have LOVED his piano music over the past few years. He has composed some amazing arrangements of LDS Hymns as well as composing original music. I immediately fell in love with the music, and I listen to it often. Then I started to follow him on his blog and was amazed and touched by his personal story. I was following along while he was waiting for his heart transplant and when things didn't look good. Some days, I'd actually get nervous about peeking in at his blog because I was so sad about his condition and the possibility of his early death. His blog entries were so inspirational and sure put things in my own life in perspective. So, when I actually read the newsletter from the local church bookstore, my heart skipped a beat when it said that Paul would be coming in for a book/CD signing and that he'd be speaking and performing later that night!! We took the whole family to the fireside and loved it. I could seriously listen to him for hours!! (I would have been devastated if I found out after the fact!)

So, if you haven't heard of him before now, go check out his website and check out his beautiful piano music. It will blow you away.

I am so thankful that I got to meet him. What an amazing and very humble man. I am thankful that he is sharing his beautiful talents with everyone.

Hot Pink Run '10

HOT PINK RUN 2010

N after the race. It was nice having a running buddy. It was tricky for me to keep up with him and his VERY BIG STRIDE!!


Here we are at the beginning of the run. We did the un-timed run together. We didn't register until this morning and they ran out of number 'bibs' and t-shirts. We'll get our shirts in a couple of weeks. We ran side-by-side most of the way. It was a fun thing to do together AND it was for a great cause: breast cancer awareness. G brought the boys to cheer us on. It was a fun way to start the day. We'll have to do it again next year. Hopefully B will join us then. He just recently sprained his ankle and it is still healing.

General Priesthood Session of Conference

G and B took a road trip to Salt Lake over the weekend so that B could attend his FIRST Priesthood session in the Conference Center. We were able to land 4 tickets, so both Grandpas were able to come. So, here is my Dad, B, G and G's dad. I LOVE this picture! B loved all of the junk food on the trip and time with Dad. He loved being in the Conference center (saying it was HUGE) and hearing the prophet and apostles speak IN PERSON! This will be a fond and cherished memory. They were able to stop by and see some dear friends on the way back to California, too (wink, wink, Krista!). I'm SO glad they had fun and am so thankful they returned safely.