KLARK World

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

I think that a good sign that the economy is improving is when we can afford to send out Christmas cards again. Ha! So, here is our Christmas card/letter this year! We hope you have a lovely holiday season and that you all have a marvelous 2012!!!

Marking the scriptures

2011-09-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we get so used to things that we hardly even notice that they are there any more. Such are the marks in my scriptures.

This morning while I was reading my scriptures, I was reminded of a funny thing that happened many years ago. It jumped out at me so strongly that I said "I have to blog about this!!"

When Amanda was about two years old, she watched me as I studied and marked my scriptures. One day I came in and found her with my scriptures and a black pen, and she was "marking my scriptures"!

Initially, I was horrified, but how could I get mad at her. She was doing something that I had modeled for her to do. (Just not in MY scriptures!! D-oh!!) She was helping me to mark my scriptures.

When I see these scribbles in my scriptures it makes me laugh and reminds me how much our children watch us closely and learn from the things that we do.

Now that Amanda is in Seminary she has asked me questions about marking something in her scriptures and I am glad that I set a good example to her of making the scriptures your own. HER own. : )

Straight hair

2011-09-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to get Amanda to do something with her long blond hair for ages, but the most she will ever do is put it in a ponytail for basketball. The other day a friend of hers offered her $5 if she straightened her hair the next day. So, Amanda asked me if I would help her. (She won't do it for her parents. but she will do it when a friend pays her.......hmmmm.......)

So, the next morning we spent 20 minutes straightening her hair. (I didn't even get a cut of the money. What's up with that?!) The girls at Church didn't believe she would do it, so we took photos as proof.

Katrina liked the way that Amanda's hair looked and asked if we could straighten her hair as well. I thought it would be really hard with her curly, curly hair, but it turned out great!!

Wow! They both said that they got a lot of compliments on their hair, but I have said don't think they are going to do this very often. It is a lot of work for Mom! : )

Canning Pickles

2011-08-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

I love this cartoon! (by Pat Bagley)

I had my first experience canning today! Thankfully I started with something fairly easy so I wasn't overwhelmed and never wanted to do it again. We had a class in Relief Society about Pickling and I was very excited to try it!

I got all the ingredients together and this morning I cut up cucumbers and onions and put them in a bowl with a sweet pepper and salt and let them sit for three hours.

I drained the cucumbers/onions and put them in the brine to cook.

When they were hot, I put them in the jars and put the lids on. I boiled them for 10 minutes to seal them.

Voilà!! I have beautiful jars of Bread & Butter pickles. They are delicious!!

First Day of School 2011-2012

2011-08-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Hooray for the first day of school!

It has been a great summer and we have had a lot of fun, but we are all glad for the beginning of school and the return to schedules! The school district made a bunch of changes this last year and so the school across the street from us, which was only 5th and 6th grade, is now K-6th. Woohoo! So, both Rebecca and Katrina will be walking across the street to go to school! (No more car pooling for Lora!!)

On the 9th of August we went to the High School to register Amanda for her Freshman year. (Yikes! Already!!) We got her all signed up and her scholarship from last year got her a yearbook and her gym clothes. She got the classes she wanted and she and all her friends were standing around comparing schedules. Amanda will be taking:

1st period - Percussion
2nd Period - PE
3rd Period - Honors English
4th Period - Ag Earth Science
5th Period - Social Science
6th Period - Honors Math - Geometry
7th Period - Keyboarding

Yesterday we received the STAR testing results and the girls did very well. Katrina was too young for STAR testing, so nothing for her, but Amanda scored Advanced on everything (even the things she professes to "hate". Haha!) and Rebecca was high Proficient in English and Science and Advanced in Math! We are so proud of the girls and how hard they work at their education.

Katrina is starting 1st grade at Liberty Elementary this year and is very excited!

Here she is in her classroom. Her teacher, Mrs. Kass was a teacher at Sun Empire last year, so she is comfortable with a teacher she already knows. There are a few kids from her class last year and she came home telling me all about how she made a new friend at school. She said, "I asked her if she wanted to be my friend, and she said yes!" Isn't making friends so easy when you are a kid?!

Rebecca is starting 6th grade at Liberty Elementary, and her teacher is Mr. Sanchez. Rebecca is very excited to have a teacher who is a man, as she has never had one before. When we went to Back to School Night earlier this evening and we were sitting in Mr. Sanchez' class he said something about this being the Honors class. I glanced over at Rebecca and she whispered, "I just found that out today." We were completely unaware, but very happy to find out that Rebecca is in the Honors class this year! She worked so hard this last year to keep her grades high and it paid off!!

Amanda is starting 9th grade, a Freshman at Kerman High School! Go Lions!! She is happy to be in Percussion again and her Ag Earth Science teacher is a very good friend of ours, so she is happy to have her as a teacher. Amanda plans to try out for the basketball team again this year, will continue in CJSF, will continue volunteering at the Library, and starts Seminary at the beginning of next week.

This is going to be a great year!!

Family Adventure Day!

2011-08-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

It's our 4th Annual last-weekend-of-the-summer Family Adventure Day!

This year we decided to head back to the beach. We went to Morro Bay. We haven't been there for about nine years, so we figured it was about time to go back. Lora's mom was visiting, so we took her with us to Atascadero, where we met with Uncle Rich, who took her to visit with Aunt Lindi.

We drove into Morro Bay and went out to the Rock. We ate lunch at a park, with a seagull standing hopefully by. Nearby a boy started throwing french fries to the two birds that were there, and within a minute, he was surrounded by over thirty birds, including six pelicans!

We left the park and drove to the Historical Landmark and got the answers for an Earthcache. We discussed how the rock was formed, whether by volcanic activity or erosion, and decided that it was both. It was originally formed by volcanic activity, but over the years has eroded to the shape it is now. We enjoy those kind of caches.

After the cache, we drove to the Morro Bay Aquarium. We have been here before, but Rebecca was two years old. The girls got some fish chum to feed the seals that are in the front of the aquarium. I can't believe those seals don't weigh a ton with all they get fed all day long.

The aquarium has seen better days. They used to have an octopus (see the photo of Rebecca when she was two), and the fish look a bit tired. It was fun though. They still have the shark, the anemones, the abalone and the horseshoe crabs. They did have a few fish I don't remember seeing before.

These fish seemed really interested in Rebecca! : )

When we left the aquarium we went to The Shell Shack and the girls got to pick out several shells. Then we walked around the shops, saw some of the sights, and let the girls each pick out a tshirt. We walked along the decks and we tried to get a photo of all of us, the long-arm way, with the Rock in the background. A waiter from the restaurant in front of us came out and offered to take a picture of all of us. The photo was slightly out of focus, but it was very nice of them.

We went up to the Morro Bay Natural History Museum. This is an amazing place! We strongly recommend this museum!! It has some of the most inventive displays we had ever seen. There were earphones shaped like "Rocky" that told the kids facts about Morro Rock. There were displays with drawers underneath them, and each drawer had even more displays in them. There were cylinders that had different pictures of different aspects of each of the ecosystems. There were really cool pull-out "windows" that showed the food chain. There was a great display that as you turned the "wheel" the louvers rotated to show different information. There was also a whale skeleton that the museum had put together themselves. Very cool!!

Lora's mom met back up with us and went down to the beach for a little while.

After cleaning up the sand from the beach, we went to dinner. We checked out a few places, but finally decided to go to the restaurant where the waiter had taken a photo of us. It was called the Flying Dutchman. We had a long wait for a table, but the food was worth it!

Amanda, Rebecca and Kevin had the fish and chips, Katrina had the chicken strips, Mom had the clam chowder in a bread bowl, and Lora had the special which was bacon-wrapped teriyaki tuna with jasmine rice, baby vegetables and cucumber salsa. Mom said it was the best clam chowder she has ever had, the fish and chips weren't overly greasy like some places, and the special was really good! We made sure to tell the manager that we came back because of his employee. They really appreciated hearing that!

Then, we drove home. : ) As usual, a lovely end to the summer!

To see all the photos from our Morro Bay adventure CLICK HERE

A really fun birthday present

2011-07-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

We are not big believers that kids need phones, but at the end of the school year when Lora couldn't get ahold of Amanda on several occasions, she called Kevin and said, "I know what we are getting Amanda for her birthday!"

We spent some time researching phones, as we wanted her to have a decent phone, but we don't have texting on our phones, so no texting, no internet, etc. We finally found the one that we wanted to get her, only to have another one start to look interesting. We finally decided on that one, as it had a slider, etc., and it would be a "cool" phone for a teenager to have.

When we called to order it, of course, they were out of the phone, so we did some quick deciding again via a three-way call with the service representative and finally came to rest on the Pantech Link. We also decided that it wouldn't be reasonable to have a teenager's phone with no texting capabilities, so we changed our data plans and added unlimited texting for all three phones, which worked out to the same price that we are paying now.

We ordered the phone.....and then came the fun part.

We bought an 8G memory card, as Amanda has been saving her money to buy an iPod, and we loaded it with several of her favorite songs. (So, now she can spend her money on earphones, as the audio connection on this phone is an oddball one.)

Lora created two ringtones, on Harry Potter and one Star Wars. A few days before Amanda's birthday we activated the phone and then tested them out to make sure you would be able to hear them from inside the box. It took a few tweaks, but we got it to work!

A few days before, Lora texted a ton of people and asked them to send Amanda a text at 8:30pm wishing her a Happy Birthday. We were afraid that if we took Amanda's presents to the restaurant (we always let them pick a restaurant to have their birthday dinner) she would not be able to hear the phone ringing, so we figured we would be able to be back from the restaurant by 8:30pm. We also figured her reaction would be too exuberant for a restaurant and there would be a mess of plates on the table.

Amanda chose Sizzler for her birthday dinner, as she wanted to get the shrimp plate. Gramma Carol joined us. We ended up leaving the restaurant much later than we expected.

Both Kevin and Lora had been very careful to erase or hide everything off their phones and off Lora's computer so that there would be no trace for Amanda to find. On the way home from the restaurant, Amanda asked if she could play on Lora's phone. We were five minutes from home and Lora knew there was nothing on the phone that might give them away, so she said yes. The FIRST THING Amanda said when she got Lora's phone in her hand was, "Why does it say that your phone called me?" Lora just about had a heartattack!! What?! She played it cool and pretended she had no idea what it could be (and in reality she didn't) as Amanda kept going on about how could Lora call her "future" phone if she didn't have one.

SOMEHOW Lora's purse had called Amanda's phone while we were all at the restaurant!! Talk about freakish timing! Arg!!

We got home at about 8:40pm, and we were getting Amanda's presents together and there was a soft chirping chime one of the boxes. The girls kept asking what the noise was and Kevin told them it was probably one of our cameras. Then Kevin called the phone and Harry Potter music started playing. You should have seen the looks on their faces!!

Amanda opened her gifts, and periodically the box would chime, or Harry Potter music would play. Each time the girls would stop and say, "there is the Harry Potter music again! I DID hear it!"

She opened the box from us last. As she unwrapped it, Lora called her phone and Star Wars music started playing. THAT really got her wondering.

She opened the box and was absolutely stunned. Like she just sat there with her mouth open, staring at the box! She said "I'm happy!"

There were already 12 messages on her phone and she began to read each birthday wish. As she did, the phone kept chiming as more and more messages came in. It was WONDERFUL!! Perfect!!

She sat and texted thank yous to everyone and texted back and forth with her cousins, and tried to figure out things on her new phone.

There are a big list of rules that go with the phone, but she was so happy to actually have one, and Kevin and Lora are very grateful that they will be able to get a hold of her when they need to!

Here is the video of her opening the box. It's several minutes long.

Thank you so much to everyone for texting her and making this an amazingly fun birthday gift for her!!

Laugh Out Loud moment of the day!!

2011-06-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

My good friend Camille is pregnant and yesterday when she came to pick up her kids from our house after an OB appointment, we were talking about how she was doing, etc. In the course of conversation, and as the kids were congregating in the entry way to get their shoes one etc., I mentioned about how when Rebecca was born, the doctor nearly didn't make it. I said that they barely had time to get his gown on before she came out. Rebecca asked what he needed a gown for, and I said, "because a lot more comes out than just a baby. There's blood and goo and water and palcenta." Rebecca blurted out, "plus Santa?!" We all started laughing so hard that I couldn't even say it again. It was too funny!

Katrina's Kitchen

2011-06-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

The other day Katrina saw a recipe in the Friend Magazine for Confetti Pizza that she wanted to try. So, we bought all the ingredients and Katrina made it for dinner tonight. It was a hit and we wanted to share the recipe, as it is a lot of fun!

For the recipe for Confetti Pizza, click here.

First, Katrina set the oven to preheat to 375 degrees. Then we took the two packages of crescent roll dough and rolled them out on our baking stone.

While we waited for the oven to get hot, Katrina measured out 1/2 cup of mayonnaise into a bowl.

Then she opened an 8oz package of cream cheese (softened) and added it to the bowl. Then she added the buttermilk dressing mix and stirred it up.

(Please note that the recipe calls for 1/3 of the dressing package. We missed that part and used the whole package and it was pretty strong. Good, but I am sure it would have tested better with less buttermilk mix.)

When the crust was done cooking, and had cooled, Katrina spread the cream cheese mixture on the crust.

Earlier, Mom had cut all the vegetable ingredients into little confetti bits.

Now, Katrina sprinkled all the vegetables all over the top of the pizza.

We cut the pizza into wedges, and served them with watermelon!

Delicious!!

We are so proud of our girls!

2011-06-08T11:22:00.001-07:00

School's over for the summer and our girls have done very well this year! I have to brag on them just a bit!

Katrina finished Kindergarten with all As and is reading at a Rigby level 26, which is the beginning of 3rd grade. She has amazed her teacher all year, who has had a hard time finding things to keep her busy!

Rebecca ended the year with all As and one B+. She really tried hard this year and worked to make sure her grades were up there! She really wanted all As, but is happy with the work she did for that B+.

Amanda got all As as well. 8th grade promotion was last week, and she received a medal and certificate for her GPA. They honored the top ten GPAs for the two cumulative years, and she and her friend Maggie tied for the highest GPA at 4.6667. Amanda also received one of ten KUTA scholarships, which was $100 towards high school (yearbook, gym clothes, etc.) Awesome!

We are so proud of our girls and how hard they work in school!!

Piano lessons

2011-02-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

I have been taking piano lessons for almost three years now. We have had two recitals during that time, but not everyone has been able to see them, so I thought I would post a piece that I have been working on so you can see what I have been learning. It's short. : )

Our very late Christmas greeting

2011-01-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, past the middle of January, and I am finally getting to our Christmas card and letter. Enjoy! : )

Greetings to all our family and friends!! We are little behind on getting our greetings out this year. We loved hearing from all of you this year and are happy to hear that you are all doing so well. We appreciate and love all of you and hope that you are planning a wonderful New Year! When we consider our blessings for this year, you are all at the top of the list!!

Amanda turned 13 this year and is in 8th grade. She is one of the best snare drummers on the Middle School drum line and she tried out for Girl’s basketball and made the team!! She is doing exceptionally well in school and volunteers at the local library. Amanda got to travel all by herself to Alaska this summer and visited with Gma Kathryn and Gpa Herb. Among many things while she was there, she got to do a Wolf Encounter at the Alaska Zoo. She liked that very much! Amanda also went to her first year at Girl’s Camp and had a great time!

Rebecca is 10 this year and in 5th grade. She is doing well in school and she loves writing her own stories like crazy! This summer Rebecca got to spend a week all by herself with Gma Carol and Papa in Auberry. She had a great time and Gma Carol helped her to sew her own skirt. Rebecca is also learning how to crochet and is enjoying that very much. Rebecca has continued with her piano lessons and likes to memorize the pieces so she can play them anywhere there is a piano. Rebecca is also growing her hair out so she can donate it to Locks of Love. She can’t wait for it to be long enough to cut off. She likes her hair short.

Katrina is 5 this year and started Kindergarten! She has been waiting to start school for as long as she knew what it was and she is so happy to be there this year. She loves her teacher and is doing very well, reading and writing above her grade level. Katrina loves to read books, and loves to sing, dance, color, and play games on the computer. Katrina is trying to learn her place in the world and sometimes is fussy about not knowing this VERY SECOND. It is very hard for a 5 year old to be patient. Sigh. : ) Katrina got her ears pierced recently and is taking good care of them and looking forward to when she can wear different earrings!

Kevin’s work has steadily increased over the past six months, for which we are very grateful. They now have a backlog which they haven’t had for 2 1/2 years, which is hopefully a good indicator that the economy is slowly turning around. Kevin is involved in many different organizations, continuing his position on the Kerman Planning Commission, and as President of the San Joaquin Chapter of the California Land Surveyors Association. This year he has been serving on Sheriff Mims’ Fresno County Sheriff’s Citizens Advisory Committee and has recently become the Vice President of the Fresno County Neighborhood Watch Committee. He also continues as webmaster of the Honda Rider’s Group.

Lora is doing a lot of volunteer work, helping in the girl’s classrooms, serving on two school site councils, the Bond Oversight Committee for the new school being built in Kerman, and this year became the President of the Friends of the Kerman Branch Library. Lora lost weight this year and then gained it back. Grrr! She continues to work her own business from home and also attends the Temple weekly. She has done a lot of family history this year and is working on trying to compile it all onto a program that she can share!

We have had a few adventures this year. In March Lora and the girls travelled to the coast to see Lora’s Gpa and to have some fun. We also drove to the Palm Springs area in November to spend Thanksgiving with both of Lora’s brothers and their families! It was the first time we had all been together in five years and four of the kids had not even been born then, so it was a wonderful time to spend together. The kids had fun and so did the grown ups!! We have had visits from Lora’s parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and past missionaries who served in Kerman. And, of course, we see Lora’s Gma Willie often and Kevin’s family almost every Sunday.

We hope you have a great year in 2011. Please keep in touch. We love to hear how you are all doing!

Katrina gets her ears pierced!!

2010-12-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Last year we thought that one of the most perfect Christmas gifts for Rebecca would be a gift certificate to get her ears pierced. We were in the mall and went into a store that offers ear piercing and we were surprised to hear Rebecca adamantly say that she never wanted to get her ears pierced. Katrina on the other hand, started talking about how she wanted to get hers pierced. Hmmmm. We thought Katrina was a little young, but when this Christmas rolled around and she was still talking about it...

We, her parents, talked it over, and decided that we would let her do that. And, as it happens, shortly after our decision, we were visiting with family and our 7 year old niece had her ears pierced at 5 years old, so that solidified it.

So, Christmas Eve Katrina opened her presents and was thrilled with her earrings and a gift certificate to get her ears pierced! She asked us every couple of hours for the next two days when she could go get them done.

Monday morning we took her to the mall. We had talked this over with her and warned her that it would hurt, but not for very long. I told her that I would be right there and I would help her to keep it from hurting as badly. (I learned a trick when I got my ears pierced for the second time: right after the ear is pierced, pinch the edge of the ear, right above the ear lobe. This keeps the blood from rushing to the wound, and keeps it from hurting as much!) I also gave her some Motrin before they did it. We told her she would have to keep the same earrings in for several weeks and then she could wear some of the new ones she got for Christmas.

Katrina decided on the 3mm cz studs and we filled out all the paperwork. Katrina told me that she would be brave. I was so proud of her!

The two store associates worked together to pierce both Katrina's ears at the same time (thank you Claire's!!) and as they counted down and SNAP!! there was a few seconds of hang time, and then the pain started to register!! Katrina started to cry! I held her ears and told her what an amazing job she had done!!

I tried to take a picture of her with her new earrings, but she was still hurting and didn't want to smile.

We paid for her piercing and by the time we had walked out of the mall and to the van, she was smiling and telling us that it didn't hurt any more! She was so happy and is telling everyone she can to check out her new earrings!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-27T23:05:00.000-08:00

This was a wonderful holiday weekend!! Absolutely wonderful!! A few weeks ago my brother Jordan -- who lives in Alaska with his wife, Sioux-z, and their two daughters, Isabel and Ivy -- called and said that they were going to be in Palm Springs (actually, La Quinta, a town a little bit to the east) for Thanksgiving, and he was hoping that we could come down to spend it with them. He was also going to call my youngest brother, Jeremy -- who lives in Castaic with his wife, Renee, and their twins, Lily and Zachary -- to see if they could be there too. It worked! The last time we were all together was five years ago. I was pregnant with Katrina, Sioux-z was pregnant with Ivy, and Lily and Zachary were not even a twinkle in their parent's eyes yet.

We left Kerman on Wednesday afternoon and drove out through the high desert and then down to La Quinta. As we drove through Tehachapi it was 29 degrees and there were mounds of old snow that had been plowed off the parking lot of the gas station where we stopped. It was cold, but the sky was clear and the moon was bright! We got to La Quinta very late and quickly unpacked and got some sleep.

On Thursday morning we had breakfast and then went to one of the community pools. It was a heated pool, and the girls had a great time! Jordan and I got to sit and talk and we had a great time. Usually when we are getting together it is for an event of some sort (wedding, graduation, etc.) and the event is the focus, but this time we could just sit and talk and relax. It was so nice!

When Jeremy and Renee arrived all the cousins were so excited to be together!

We started getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a ham, a turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, vegetables, sweet potatoes and rolls. We brought the large patio table in and, together with the dining room table, we had a perfect tablefor all of us. We set the table with the place cards that the girls made with Gma Kathryn while she was here visiting a few weeks ago.

Dinner was lovely! As we began to eat we offered a Thanksgiving toast and then Jordan asked everyone what they were thankful for. Most of us said how grateful we were to be together this Thanksgiving! After dinner we had pie (I made the pecan and pumpkin), checked out the deals for Black Friday in the newspaper (nothing enticed us out early), and watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

We also tried to Skype with Dad and Mom. There were 13 million people on Skype, so we had a bad connection with Dad. Later, we got to talk to Mom on Google video chat. (I forgot to take a photo of that one.) It was great to be able to have all seven grandkids waving in the camera for each grandparent to enjoy. And for all three kids as well. Technology is pretty cool!

On Friday morning we all went for a hike up the Indian Trail. When I say up, I mean UP!! The trail went up the hills behind the community. Sioux-z, Amanda, Rebecca and Isabel forged ahead and got to the top long before the rest of us. Katrina did not want to hike up, so she and Kevin stayed at the bottom. Jordan, Jeremy and I, along with Lily, Zachary and Ivy, worked our way slowly to the top. About 3/4 of the way up, the rest passed us on the way down. Sioux-z took the little kids, and Jordan and Jeremy and I finished the climb together and spent a few minutes at the top of the climb.

In the afternoon the kids went on the boats with Jordan, Jeremy and Sioux-z and then they went to the pool again while Kevin and I went to see what was in the area (we hadn't left the community the whole time), and Jeremy and Renee drove around so their kids could get a nap. Kevin and I found a few caches and then drove back.

Friday night, after the kids had gone to bed, the six adults sat in the kitchen and played Go Fish and War with Hello Kitty playing cards. We all laughed and talked and laughed and laughed and laughed some more! It was so much fun!! We wished that could have lasted forever!!

Saturday morning we packed up and headed for home. It took us seven hours to drive down, and we had a few other stops to make along the way, so we started how at a little after 10am. We all waved and yelled good-bye and waved some more! It was hard to leave after such a great few days!!

As we headed for Riverside, Katrina suddenly yelled out that she could dinosaurs on the side of the road, so we stopped in Cabazon to see the dinosaurs. It was incredibly windy, so we snapped a few photos and then got on the road. In Riverside, we went to the Riverside National Cemetery where my grandfather, Donald Caman, and his wife, are interred. The last time I saw my Gpa Caman, was when Amanda was 18 months old. I have a photo with me and Amanda, Jordan and Jeremy and Gpa Caman together. We found their headstone and took some photos.

We travelled back towards home, stopping here and there to find some geocaches. We stopped in Tehachapi for dinner, and we had sleet on the window. There was snow on the hills surrounding the city. It rained on us all the way down into the Valley and on and off all the way home. We got home before 9pm and were happy to be sleeping in our own beds! It was a lovely, lovely vacation!!! It was so nice to be together with my brothers and their great wives! The kids had a great time together and had a wonderful time!! I hope it won't be another five years before we all get together again.

Amanda and the Kerman Middle School 8th grade girls basketball team!!

2010-11-12T18:20:00.000-08:00

Amanda decided last year that she wanted to play basketball this year. She talked about it all last spring and all summer. We didn't want her to get her hopes too high, as she is still fairly short and she does not have a lot of practice at playing basketball. (She would pick a sport that neither mom or dad are very good at.)

So, last week practice/try-outs started. Amanda went to practice and enlisted the help of our good friend, Camille Fox, who played basketball all through high school and college, to help her learn some of the skills she would need to make the team. We still didn't want her to get too anxious about it, as there were so many girls trying out for the team that the coach decided she needed a few more days of try-outs to decide who was going to make the team.

Wednesday morning we got a call from Amanda to tell us that she had made the team!!! Woohoo!! I went to talk to the coach to find out what kind of shoes were the best to get these days. When I saw Coach Chappell, I said, "Yea! Amanda made the team!" She laughed and said, "She works so hard. How can you cut someone like that?!" She said that she couldn't guarantee that Amanda would get a lot of playing time, but that she had learned so much this last week and a half, so who knows!

We are so proud of Amanda and how hard she has worked to get this place on the team! I went in today and took some photos of Amanda and the team as they were practicing.

(Amanda got new shoes the day before this practice, and as she made the basket, the coach yelled, "It's the shoes!")

Go Kerman Lions!!!

Get it done ladies!!

2010-08-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today I went to a funeral for Kerrie, a woman my age who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three months ago. She bravely battled it, setting an amazing example of strength in adversity. She left behind her husband and three children. So, here's what I have to say to all my women friends out there. Get your exams done regularly!! So your boobs hurt (bad!!) during a mammogram. Deal with it and get it done!! So a pap smear is uncomfortable. Suck it up and get it done!! So you don't like needles and getting shots. Too bad and get an HPV vaccine!! Do your breast self-exams every month!! Do whatever it takes to be here!! Men, remind the women you love to get it done!! Cancer doesn't care who you leave behind. (I am in no way suggesting that Kerrie didn't do any of these thing.) We want you here ladies!! : )

Wreck This Journal - Week 2

2010-08-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

Wreck This Journal - Week 2

More fun!! This week I did some great stuff. Some things are in process, so I am mostly just showing things that I have completed. My favorite was "trace your hand". It is hard to see on the video so I am going to include a photo.

Keri Smith has also come out with a book called "Mess" and "This Is Not A Book." Both very cool!!

To see all the photos of the things I have done this week, click HERE.

2010-08-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have found the most wonderful book!!! It is called "Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith.

I was looking online for journalling prompts for teenagers, when I came across a link to a blog about "Wreck This Journal". Interested, I clicked on the link, which directed me to a gallery of photos of different pages of the book. It seemed to be from an art class project. I was fascinated. I enjoyed looking at all the creative, artful ways people had "wrecked" the book.

I clicked on the Introduction and Instruction links and the more I read the more intrigued I became. Then I realized that I could actually purchase the book!!! I immediately went to Amazon.com. I ordered two, as I knew my Mom would love this book too! I waited anxiously for the books to arrive!! Thankfully it only took two days to get here!! I started right away, and sent the second book to my Mom.

It has been so much fun having this book to stimulate my creativity!! I am having a great time, and even more fun, my girls are enjoying it as well. When we went up to Mom and Dad's in Auberry this weekend, I took Amanda with me out to the bridge over the gully. She had already read most of the instructions, so she said, "Is this where you are going to drop it?" I said, "I am going to throw it." Her face got an look of wondrous fear on it. "Can I throw it too?" she asked. "Absolutely!!" So, we took turns throwing the journal down the gully. It got all banged up and there are leaves and grasses in many of the pages now, but it was fun and that is pretty much the point!!

My Mom was thrilled and excited to receive her book. We are going to compare notes as we go along. Here are some of the things I have done this first week:

Wreck This Journal - Week 1

To see photos of the things I have done so far this week, click HERE.

Pencils? Check! Breakfast? Check! Backpacks? Check! Pictures? Mom!!!

2010-08-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

This year is a special First Day of School, as ALL three Nehring girls headed off to school today!!!

Amanda is in 8th grade at Kerman Middle School. She has all honors classes again this year and is in percussion again as well.

Rebecca is in 5th grade at Liberty Intermediate. The school is right across the street, so she is out of the morning car pool and walking this year.

Katrina starts Kindergarten this year at Sun Empire Elementary!! She has been waiting for this day for a long time. She was so excited!! She has her brand new backpack and she is in Mrs. Gragnani's class. There are a few kids that she knows already from Church in her class. It is amazing to think that Katrina is old enough to go to school! She has grown up so fast!!

And now, Lora is at home alone. : )

It's been three years now, so I guess we could start to call it a tradition……

2010-08-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

Each year, on the last weekend before school starts, we go on a family adventure. This year we decided to follow the route of the Climb to Kaiser. We started by driving through Burrough Valley and stopped at the top of Wildcat grade to do some maintenance on our WIldcat cache, which turned eight years old yesterday!! We traded the plastic cache for an ammo can. That should last another eight years, at least!!

We then headed up through Tollhouse and up the mountain! We stopped and took a photo of the view!! All the way along we told the girls stories and information about the bike ride.

We drove into the town of Shaver Lake and stopped at the Sierra Historical Museum. The lady at the desk answered a few questions and then asked if we knew about the caboose that was being restored next to the museum. We told her that Kevin's dad was one of the volunteers restoring it. Turns out the lady knew Kevin's family from when he was young and used to live around the corner from them. Small world.

At this point we started adding in information about the hydroelectric projects in the Sierras, as we were driving past much of it during this trip.

We drove down into Big Creek and looked at the Powerhouse there. As we started to climb out of the town of Big Creek, we stopped for a cache and while we were there, we saw a deer very close to us. That was pretty neat!

We climbed up Big Creek, which takes you up underneath the dam at Huntington Lake. None of the lakes in this area of the Sierras are natural. They are all man made with a series of dams and power plants that provide water and electricity to the Valley. We stopped at the Billy Creek Guard Station Museum. They have a beautiful museum and a great display about the WWII bomber that crashed in the lake, but you are not allowed to take photos in the museum.

We went around to the head of Huntington Lake and stopped at the Portal Powerhouse there. It is pretty impressive.

We drove up to the top of Kaiser Pass and the girls got out for a while to climb on the rocks and stretch their legs. We wished we had time to go for a hike. Next time.

We headed down Tamarak Pass back down into Shaver Lake. We stopped at The Hungry Hut for dinner. We sat at the counter, at Katrina's request.

The sun was setting as we headed from Shaver down through Alder Springs into Auberry. We stopped at Mom and Dad's for a few minutes and then we headed home. It was a lovely day! The weather was gorgeous and we learned a lot!

To see all the day's pictures click HERE.

Summer Fun!!

2010-08-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

This summer has been pretty busy, but mostly for the girls. This was a fun summer for birthdays. Amanda turned 13, so she is officially a teenager. Rebecca turned 10, so she is in double digits. And, Katrina turned 5 and gets to start school this year! Kevin, Lora and Katrina spent the summer at home, while Amanda and Rebecca took turns doing all kinds of things and going all kinds of places.

It began June 26th, when Amanda boarded a plane for Alaska to spend a week with Gma Kathryn and Gpa Herb. It was her first flight all by herself and she had a great time! While she was in Alaska she got to spend time with her grandparents, her aunt and uncle and cousins. They made candles, food, went to museums, to a musk ox farm, and the zoo, where Amanda got to help take care of the wolves for a few hours. We got to talk to her frequently on Google video chat and got to hear about all the fun things she was doing.

Amanda returned home just in time for Rebecca to start Literacy Camp, which is put on by the Kerman Branch Library. The kids spent the week writing and reading and in the end they received a beautiful book about animals. One of our favorite librarians, Miss Rita, was retiring at the end of the week, so we were glad Rebecca got to spend the week with her. (And, we did not get even one photo. Sad face!)

Then it was Amanda's turn to be off again. This time she headed up to Girl's Camp as a First Year. Girl's Camp is healed at Green Meadows in Fish Camp near Yosemite. Gorgeous area!! Amanda had a wonderful time! She loved being there with all the girls from our ward and she made a lot of new friends. Including a girl named Meredith, whose dad went to school with Amanda's dad. She took hikes, practiced archery, and her favorite part was the Faith Walk. Amanda did not stop talking about it for a week afterwards.

Every year when the Nehring grandchildren turn 10, they get to spend an entire week with their Gramma and Papa in Auberry. This year was Rebecca's turn. She got to help feed and brush horses, sewed a skirt, went to an unexpected funeral in Bakersfield, made a birdhouse and went swimming. She enjoyed her week very much!!

It was a busy summer!!

Sunrise and Moonrise

2010-07-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

I got some amazing photos recently of an amazing sunrise and moonrise.

Sunrise - 11 July 2010

Moonrise - 25 July 2010

Blogging my weight loss journey - Food

2010-06-22T08:16:00.001-07:00

Remember back a year or so ago and I was blogging my weight loss journey? Well, it's still a journey, and I am still working on it. I managed to gain back all my weight, and then some. I started again in October 2009, when my friend Camille introduced me to Body for LIFE. It was the perfect time and the perfect program. I also continued to do my favorite Turbo Jam workouts! I worked hard for eight months and lost 31 lbs. I was getting so frustrated, because for a long time I was only losing 2 lbs a month, and sometimes no lbs a month. I was trying so hard and having so little to show for it! Other people I know were losing weight like crazy and I was just sitting there.......

So, I decided to take a week break from dieting and exercise and see if it would shock my body into dropping the weight again. Well, that week has turned into a month and a little more. I have gained back at least 8 lbs and I have got to get my act together and get back on track.

There have been several things that have helped to do that. First, I was reading my friend Diana's blog and she was posting pictures of the food she was eating, and I thought, if I have to take a photo of the food I eat, then I will be accountable for what I eat! Great idea! So here is a few photos of the food I have been eating this week so far:

My staple breakfast - Oatmeal with PB2 peanut butter powder and dried blueberries

Lunch - Chicken and bean burrito (with lots of veggies) and watermelon

This is the protein powder I use for between meal shakes

Dinner - Lean ground beef and cheese tortellini with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, green beans with butter sprinkles and pepper, and garlic bread on a whole wheat sandwich slim

There were also a few things that I found and saw that really hit me. First, was a quote from Chalene Johnson (the creator of Turbo Jam - I follow her on Twitter @chalenejohnson) where she said, "Take joy in being who you are. God doesn't make mistakes, but we sometimes mistreat what he has made."

That was a serious reminder of what I have been doing. Mistreating my body. I need to stop doing that!! I deserve to take better care of myself!

Next, I saw a part of a Conference talk by Sister Julie B. Beck (I love her!!). She said, ". . .It is not possible to make real change all by ourselves. Our own willpower and our own good intentions are not good enough. When we make mistakes or choose poorly, we must have the help of our Savior to get back on track." That is exactly the wording I use! Get back on track! I know I can't do it myself. I have proven that many times over the years. I just have to figure out how to get help in the right way. I need to rely more on the help of others and not just plod along by myself.

Last was another quote from Chalene Johnson: "You don't have to be perfect. Just don't give yourself the option to not finish what you started."

That's the thing. I need to not give myself that option. I don't want to be out of shape. I don't care about being skinny and whatever, I want to be healthy and fit. That is what I am working towards. And I am not giving myself to option to quit!

Father's Day

2010-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!!

To see all the funny Father's Day photo shoot pics, click HERE.

The night before Father's Day we had the Fox kids over while their parents were on Date Night. We made Father's Day cards and the kids had a great time and did a beautiful job!!

Amanda's card

Rebecca's card

Katrina's card

To see all the pics of all the Father's Day cards (inside and out), click HERE.

Star Wars in Concert

2010-06-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see Star Wars in Concert. The girls have been begging us for two months to buy tickets, but we keep responding by saying how expensive the tickets are. Little did they know that Gma Carol had already bought us all tickets for our birthdays! When the girls found out they were ecstatic!!

The show started at 7:00pm, but at 5:30pm we were could go in and see a huge display of memorabilia and props from the Star Wars movies. There were displays of costumes, drawings, weapons, helmets, and much more! There were so many people there, the crowds were crazy, but everyone was polite and took turns. It was great! There were a lot of people dressed up in costumes. It was especially fun to see all the kids dressed up in their favorite characters! We saw a whole bunch of people that we know there!! Star Wars fans are a great bunch of people!

Katrina was a bit weirded out by the mannequins (she only had her photo taken in front of a picture of the Death Star and nothing else), and a lot weirded out by the crowds. Often there was a display of a favorite prop, like Han Solo encased in Carbonite, right next to a group of characters to have your photo taken with, so it would get really backed up. Katrina was disappointed too that there was no Princess Leia or R2D2 (we all were), so we waited on the balcony while sisters got their photos taken.

Amanda and Rebecca were thrilled to be getting their photos taken with all sorts of characters: Darth Vader, Rebels, Obi Wan Kenobi, Boba Fett, Stormtroopers, and much more! They even got an autograph from the actress who played the Ewok Tukkut in The Return of the Jedi. (She's the one who takes away Han Solo's gun.)

There were all kinds of mannequins of costumes on display from the movies, like Chewbacca, C3P0, Queen Amidala, Kit Fisto, Ewoks, Imperial Guards (one of Lora's favorites), and Yoda.

We went in to find our seats a few minutes early, and had something to eat. Katrina had been telling us about ever 3.5 minutes how hungry she was, so we coughed up $25 for hot dogs and a pretzel. Yikes!!

When the music started, the place erupted with cheering!! It was so cool!! The Star Wars music is so recognizable and creates such an emotional response. Kevin and Lora both said that it took them right back to when they were eight and experiencing all of it for the first time!! It was wonderful!!

The orchestra and the choir were amazing!! Perfect!! They played the music from the films while giant video screens showed clips from the movies. Anthony Daniels, who played C3P0 in all the movies, was the narrator, and he was very funny. (There was not nearly enough about Han Solo though!) The lights were all over the place and there were laser lights flashing that looked cool, but mostly just blocked your view of the videos on the screen. We could have listened to them play all night, and we were happy that they played an encore! Although, at the end the battery in our camera was dying, so it worked out okay.

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed it very much!! I think a marathon of Star Wars movies is next on the agenda! : )

See all our Star Wars in Concert pics HERE.

Double Digits!!

2010-06-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

This summer is a fun one for birthdays in our family. Amanda will be turing 13, so she will be a TEENAGER!!! Katrina will be turning 5 and starting Kindergarten, and today.................................Rebecca turned 10! Double digits!!!

We actually had a day full of birthday parties. Miriam Flood turned 3, Anna Molloy turned 5, and then we celebrated Rebecca's birthday. We always let the kids decide what they want to do for dinner on their birthdays, and this year Rebecca decided that she wanted to go to the Old Spaghetti Factory.

We took all of Rebecca's presents, and she opened them while we waited for our food. She got a pink Zhu-Zhu Pet hamster, a Build-a-Bear gift certificateand a shirtfrom Mom and Dad, a craft bookfrom Amanda, sidewalk chalkfrom Katrina, a GAP Kids gift certificatefrom Gma Kathryn and Gpa Herb, and here is the reaction when I told everyone about the gift that Gramma and Papa are giving all of us this year:

We all had a delicious dinner (ironically, Rebecca picked a grilled cheese sandwich) and then they brought Rebecca an ice cream and sang a not-exactly-enthusiastic version of Happy Birthday to her. I think they need to work on that! Take some lessons from the staff at Applebees or something like that.

This morning Rebecca wrote herself a few notes with sidewalk chalk in the street. One said 9 + B-day = 10, and the other said Happy Happy Birthday to ME!!

Happy Happy Birthday Rebecca!!

Yard work!!

2010-06-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Our front yard pretty much takes care of itself, but every once in a while we like to change it up a bit. The agapanthus that have been growing next to the driveway are large and beautiful, but the bushes are starting to get int he way of the van and the flowers grow out over the walkway and get in the way. So, today we pulled them up and moved them next to the roses. That is no small feat, as the root system on agapanthus (agapanthi?? What is the plural of agapanthus?) are shallow, intertwining and invasive!!

The shrubs that were next to the roses also got pulled up. We moved those out onto the lawn. Our property line runs very close to the house that is directly north of us, and we have always had problems with the neighbors breaking our sprinklers. So, we moved the shrubs to protect the sprinkler heads and to better delineate our property line. We also eventually want to move the fence line out flush with the front of the house, so the other shrub is to kind of remind us where that will be.

We really like the ground cover that we have lining the entryway. It is called False Heather. We got some more and planted it near the driveway. It will take a little while to grow in, but even when it does, it won't crowd the van.

It looks really nice!!

The last day of school!!

2010-06-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

They are all done with school!! Woohoo!! Summer is here!!

One of my very favorite things about the last day of school is the farewell they give the kids at Sun Empire Elementary. The teachers and staff stand outside and clap and cheer and wave until all the kids have gone!! It is a wonderful tradition and emotional this year as it was Rebecca's last day at Sun Empire.

Amanda did very well in school this year. She ended the year with straight As, and considering that she had four Honors classes, that is impressive. In fact, it was her oral presentation on the next to the last day of school that brought her English grade up from a very high B+ to an A. She kicked it in Percussion too! She got an A+ and was put on a black snare, which is like a first chair kind of thing.

Rebecca worked really hard and got her grades up from a B average to an A average!! We are so proud of her! She met her AR goal in reading and brought up her grades in Language Arts and Writing.

For the last day of school and welcome to summer, I took the girls to get ice cream after school.

NEGLECTED!!! Abandoned!! Left for dead!!

2010-05-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Our poor blog!! With the rise of facebook and Twitter, our blog has unfortunately been a casualty! I keep thinking I need to get on here and write something, but there never seems to be enough time. However, with a new, faster computer, I may be able to get my act together and get more on here! That is if everyone hasn't given up on me and won't bother to check back. : )

The school year is almost over! Only five more days! This year has gone very quickly, but I am looking forward to a break. This summer will be even shorter than ever, as the school year is starting a week earlier this next year. The girls have done well. Amanda worked very hard to get her grades up to all As again. Four honors classes and percussion were a lot for her, but she did very well and worked hard! Rebecca has worked hard as well, improving her grades and her AR scores. She loves school and is not looking forward to the summer break! Katrina is looking forward to starting Kindergarten next year! I can't believe my baby is going to be in school! Wow! Time flies!

We are plugging along and doing well. Hope all is well with everyone else!!

A photo of us at the CA Mormon Helping Hands Service Project - May 8, 2010

The Nehring Family Christmas Card

2009-12-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! This year we were not able to send out Christmas cards to everyone that we wanted to! That would have cost a fortune! So, we are posting our card and letter here for everyone that we were not able to send them to!

Wishing you joy, happiness, and peace this season and throughout the new year!
Merry Christmas and a very happy 2010!
Love, the Nehring family

Giving Thanks!

2009-11-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

This year our children decided to make paper chains with all the things that they were thankful for.

Amanda is thankful for family and friends; books and toys; school and education; firefighters, police, CHP, doctors and other people who help people; feelings; movies and TV; the alphabet; and the gospel; food, clothes, warmth, a bed, a house, and everything else I need.

Rebecca is thankful for her family; the gospel; her friends; nature; food; holidays and the earth.

Katrina (who wrote the words she was thankful for herself) is thankful for clothes; food; toys; holidays; cleaning; the house; family; "me"; friends; Jesus; and the world.

It was so neat seeing them help each other put their chains together, helping each other with their spelling and how to write the letters. I am thankful for my sweet children!

On to the next test

2009-08-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

All findings on the Endoscopy were considered normal, so tomorrow we are on to the CTscan of my abdomen and pelvis. Tonight I have to drink a whole bottle of gluck and then two more in the morning. Yum! We'll see what results this test brings.
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Upper GI Endoscopy

2009-08-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to have my Upper GI Endoscopy done. I checked in and then waited in the waiting room for quite a while. I hadn't eaten anything since the night before, and after a while I was feeling really hungry and my head was starting to hurt.

They called me back and did all the pre-check stuff and then the nurse came in to put the IV in. He tried on my right wrist, and although he initially got in, when he tried to advance the needle it "popped" the vein. I am not sure what that means exactly, because I know it didn't literally pop. Anyway, he gave me a shot of Lidecane (sp?) in the top of my left hand and then put the IV in there. Ouch!! Then they wheeled me out of the pre-op and to the Endoscopy Suite. (I laughed when I saw that they referred to it as a Suite.)

I had a sticky note that I had put on my packet to remind them to make two sets of photos. (Kevin joked that I was going to put these photos in our Christmas card, as with the cost of the copay for the procedure, we were doing this in lieu of a summer vacation.) When the nurse was putting my IV in I joked that I should stick it on my forehead, but instead, I stuck it on the front of my gown. When the procedure nurse saw it, she laughed and said she would have stuck it on her forehead. I laughed and told her that I almost had. (When I came out of the procedure I noticed my sticky note was gone.)

In the "Suite", they hooked me up to a heart monitor, a pulse monitor, oxygen (in the nose) and a bp cuff on my right forearm. They had me roll over onto my left side and they put a block pillow behind me. The procedure nurse said that after they gave me the anesthesia they would put in the mouth block. They said that I would start to feel lightheaded and dizzy, which was normal. They put the block in my mouth and I tried to say something to the nurse and then my whole head started spinning and I said, "Oh yeah! There is the dizzy." And . . .it's pretty much black after that.

I do remember gagging really badly (must have been when it was going in), and at one point I opened my eyes and I could see the screen. I saw pink with red and yellow splotches on it (it looked like a Tutti-Frutti Jelly-Belly), and I could tell it was my stomach with blood on it. The next thing I remember was being in recovery and the procedure nurse was turning me over to the recovery nurse. I lay there for awhile, going in and out, watching the bp reads as they flashed on the monitor.

Eventually the nurse came over when he seemed to sense I was "back" and he asked if I wanted something to drink. I said, "YES!" He asked, "What would you like?" I looked at him for a second and came within a moment's hesitation of being a smart alec and saying, "Scotch, straight up." Instead I asked what they had and selected some apple juice. That tasted really good! They called Kevin to come back to the hospital, and when he got there he, the nurse, gave me my copies of the photos they had taken (one had my pink stomach lining with red and yellow splotches on it), told me that I had mild gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), that they found two tiny pollops (which they biopsied), and that they saw thickened folds in my stomach lining (which they also biopsied). He said they would let me know the results of the biopsies in a few days. He said I shouldn't eat fatty or spicy foods and I couldn't drive or cook on a stove or use a sewing machine for the next 12-24 hours.

They released me and Kevin and I went to Wendy's to get lunch and boneless BBQ chicken wings and french fries never tasted so good! I felt a lot better (more normal) after I had some food in my stomach. We drove home and I slept for about an hour until Camille brought Rebecca and Katrina home after school. I sure appreciate the friends who took care of the girls today, and Kevin for taking such good care of me.
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First Day of School 2009-2010

2009-08-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

This morning started a new school year. The girls were ready and anxious to get started. Their parents, not so much. : )

Amanda is starting 7th grade at Kerman Middle School this year. We know she will do very well, but it is still a little unnerving having our first child enter the world of Junior High. A few weeks ago we went to register her for school and she got her schedule, notebooks and gym clothes. She has all honors classes and percussion. She got to see several friends that she had not seen all summer and she has several classes with many of the students from her GATE class last year. We waved this morning as she and two other girls left to walk to school together. Yesterday was the fifth anniversary that we have been in our home. Five years ago these girls were starting second grade. It is amazing how fast time has flown by. I know that when we were kids you could walk miles to school and it was "okay", but the world isn't the same anymore and so we rely on our many talks about being safe and staying together, prayers for their safety, and resisting the urge to tail them in the car. They would be sooooooo embarrassed!! : )

We drove Rebecca to Sun Empire and the start of 4th grade. She has Mrs. Gaynor this year and we are very happy about that! Amanda had Mrs. Gaynor, so we know what an excellent teacher she is!! The traffic at Sun Empire was insane as usual, so we parked at the canal and walked to the school and across campus. Rebecca is excited to start this new year. She remembers all the things that Amanda did in 4th grade and she is looking forward to doing them this year. Rebecca (and Amanda both) received Advanced scores on their STAR tests last year, so I know that she is going to continue to excel this year in school! Mrs. Gaynor is going to be a great teacher to keep her focused and growing!

And then we drove home with Katrina. One more year at home and then she will be a part of the fray! : ) We are happy to have her home for another year! She is going to blow Kindergarten away. Last night she said, "Listen to this, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0." Wow!

Mariposa

2009-08-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Today we took the last Saturday before school started and made an adventure of it. Kevin has been to Mariposa, CA a few times on motorcycle rides, but we had never been there as a family. So, we packed some snacks and hit the road.

We drove up 41 through Coarsegold and Oakhurst and then on to Mariposa. We stopped a few miles south at the Mariposa Fairgrounds in a place referred to as Mormon Bar. There is a plaque there explaining why it is called Mormon Bar. We had a picnic lunch and then we went to the California State Mining and Mineral Museum. This is a very cool little museum. There were really great displays about all the different types of minerals found in California, a replica mine tunnel, a fantastic 100 year old model of a Stamp Mill, a few 3D maps of mines, and lots of displays about what minerals are used for in our daily lives, and then there was the gold room with some very cool gem and gold displays. This, sadly, is a museum that is slated for closure due to the state budget cuts, but hopefully, due to it's unique nature and requirements that the state will decide that it is more cost effective to keep it open.

We then drove into the town of Mariposa. We were going to start on the east side of town and work west to see all the sites, but the old church that is on the hill as you drive into town was very busy with a funeral for a firefighter. There were fire trucks all over the place and a lot of cars. So, we went past the old Jail and then on to the Courthouse. The Mariposa Courthouse, built in 1854, is the oldest continuously running courthouse west of the Mississippi River. It is a beautiful old building. We were happy to see that they were offering tours, so we were lead around the building by a docent who told us a lot of the history of the building and the county. While we were in the courtroom, the girls got to sit up on the stand. We also got to see the law library. The building was added on to in the 1930's with Roosevelt's WAP program.

From there we drove to the Mariposa Museum and History Center. This is an amazing little museum. We were not allowed to take photographs inside the museum, so we only can describe how great this place is! The docent told us that this museum was rated as the 3rd best in the nation (for it's size) by the Smithsonian, and we can believe it. There is SO much here! There were displays on Mariposa County history, California history, the gold rush, the Miwuk indians, the loggers, the ranchers, the churches, the surveyors, the settlers, schools, stores, etc. There were an amazing amount of artifacts, and someone had painstakingly hand lettered all the signs that were everywhere in the museum, as well as many murals and paintings depicting the history in the area. It was incredible! Outside the museum there were a lot of mining artifacts. It is a very well put together place!!

We went across the street to The Happy Burger restaurant for an early dinner. The girls were relieved to get something to eat (because you know we had been starving them all day!) and we were relieved to not have to hear how hungry they were anymore. (Sometimes the whining makes us wonder if it is worth it, but in the end it is always good to spend the day together as a family.)

Afterwards we did a little geocaching and looked at some of the souvenir shops, and then we headed for home. This is a beautiful area. No smog, just clear open sky and mountains. It was a lovely day.

Test Post

2009-07-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

I am just testing this out to see if emailing a post from my phone works like they say it will.

Into the future...!!
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The Nehring's Travel Blog - July 2009

2009-07-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

When we go on vacation somewhere, I like to do research to find out what is available to do and see while we are there. This month we were able to spend a week in the Pismo/Arroyo Grande/Oceano/Avila Beach area of the Central California Coast.

In doing internet research on the area, I found that there was not really any specific site that was very helpful. I had to really dig to find much of anything. Information about the area was scattered over several different and various pages. Sure, if you wanted to know which hotels were available or where the antique stores are, there was plenty about that. So. . . I am creating my own little TRAVEL BLOG about the Central California Coast.

**Oceano

I start here, because that is where we were staying. We stayed in a beach house that was very near the beach. Oceano Beach is pretty, but it is open to traffic, so you have to be very careful. The posted speed limit is 15mph, but it is posted waaaaay off to the side at the entrance where no one sees it. Basically, if you are there to sunbathe, I would pick another beach. If you are there to ride on the dunes, this is your place! Believe me, with the State trying to close State Parks this year to save money, this is one Park they are not going to close. It makes them far too much money. The girls had fun flying kites and they found a lot of shells in the shallows of the waves.

The Oceano Train Depot
Located on Front Street, across from the fire station.
www.oceanodepot.org
This is a great place to visit, especially if you are a train or history buff, or even if you are just mildly interested. It is dated from 1904. It is still in the process of being restored, but they have so much there! They do not have "regular" hours of operation, so you have to call to get an appointment to see the place. There is no fee, but they do accept donations. The number to call (currently) is 805-489-5782 and be sure to ask for Mark Wheedon. He was a GREAT tour guide!!

There is also the Rock and Roll Diner (south of Hwy 1 and Pier Avenue). We haven't made it in there yet, but it is made from two cars from the trains that have gone through Oceano. Looks like fun and kids eat free on Monday nights. Hopefully next trip.

The Pismo Nature Center
555 Pier Avenue
Pismo State Beach
Oceano, CA
805-489-8115
www.ccnha.org/pismo-nature-center.html
Open daily (except Tues & Thurs) from 1-4pm, June thru August. (Sept-May it is open Fri, Sat & Sun, 1-4pm)
This is located inside the Pismo Beach Campground in Oceano. It is small, but jam-packed with fun things to see and do. There are displays about things you find in the ocean or on the beach (with a mystery feely box); there is a display about clamming, (with a pitchfork and clams that can be "dug"); there is a display about regional wildlife with pelts to feel, pages to stamp with animal tracks and vegetation, and a sand box where there are large animal track stamps the kids can make in the sand and match with a poster on the wall; there is a display about the Chumash indians; and there are many displays depicting the local animals and birds. The girls had a great time! There are also many different gardens surrounding the campgrounds, but we did not make it to those this time. There is no fee, but they do accept donations. Be sure to sign the logbook, as it helps them with their funding.

**Pismo
www.pismochamber.com/

The city of Pismo is very much the tourist area. There are a lot of shops and places to buy t-shirts and magnets, etc. The beach is nice, and you have to take a walk out on the Pier. We saw dolphins in the ocean while we were out on the Pier. There is plenty of Public Parking and there are lots of pretty clean Public Restrooms. Stop in at the Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce on 581 Dolliver Street for additional ideas and information. They have a big, huge giant clam out front. You can't miss it. There are good places for fish and chips, Brad's was okay and I have had recommendations for Splash Cafe.

In the winter, Nov to Feb, be sure to visit here to see the Monarch Butterfly Grove. It is on Dolliver Street as you drive between Pismo and Grover Beach. It is amazing! There are butterflies everywhere and docents to talk about all the stages of butterfly life, their migration patterns, etc. It is wonderful!

**Shell Beach

Tide Pools

Shell Beach has good tide pools. There is a stairway down to the beach at Ocean Blvd and Pier Street. Be sure to check the tide schedule. We got a little tide chart from Moondoggies Surf Shop (781 Dolliver Street in Pismo). While we were there the low tides were still a good 1-2' above the average low tide, so we didn't get to see very much, but there were plenty of starfish, crabs, anenomes, barnacles, etc. Be careful on the slippery seaweed though, as a few of us got scrapes and bruises from slipping.

Dinosaur Caves Park
Corner of Price Street and Cliff Avenue

This is a fun park. There are no dinosaurs here (sort of). There is a gorgeous view of the bluffs and the ocean, and there is a park for the kids to play in with all different ocean animals (seals, whales, etc.) to climb on, including a dinosaur and some dinosaur eggs. There is a small ampitheater there as well and we saw some Shakespeare being acted out while we were there. There is also a Farmer's Market there on Saturdays from 8-noon (11am?) and there were some very nice booths.

**Avila Beach

Avila Valley Barn
560 Avila Beach Drive
805-595-2810
www.avilavalleybarn.com
Open 9am-6pm May-Oct, and 9am-5pm Nov-Apr
Do NOT miss this one!! There are no signs on the road to warn you that it is coming up, so watch for the RV Park at the corner of Ontario Road and then it is the next driveway as the road curves to the right. This place is great!! There is a fantastic fresh-picked fruit and vegetable stand, and the gift shops with all kinds of fun goodies. They have baked goods (be SURE to get an Olallieberry pie!! Sooooo good!) They will give you a bag of greens to feed the goats, sheep, cows, and other animals around the barn. There is a sweet shop with really good salt water taffy (we didn't try the homemade ice cream this time). You can go out and pick your own fruits and berries too, which is a lot of fun. Check online for their seasonal U-pick calendar. We picked apricots and olallieberries. We were all covered in dark red juice and we had a great time! There is a hay ride that will take you out to the orchards on the weekends, but it is not too far to walk if you are there on a weekday. We went back there twice while we were in the area!

Avila Beach/Pier
This is a very nice beach, and less crowded than Pismo. There are some fun swings and slides for the kids as well. The Pier is smaller, but we saw a lot of seals while we were out there. Some swam right up to the pier!

A little bit north of Avila Beach is the San Luis Port. There is a really good fish and chips place there called Fat Cats Cafe. We liked this one better than Brad's. Less greasy, bigger pieces, more sauces and curly fries!!

Avila Beach Fish and Farmer's Market
Avila Beach Promenade
www.visitavilabeach.com
Every Friday 4-8pm
I found this one online, and it had a nice, colorful flier advertising fresh produce, local seafood, food booths, family fun and live entertainment. The band was good, there was one booth with seafood and one booth with produce and all the rest were kettlecorn and food. So, not exactly what it was billed as, especially since we weren't there for the food booths.

**Arroyo Grande

Arroyo Grande is the community of the area. There are lots of shopping centers with Kmart, Wal-mart, etc. (if you want Costco, you have to go to San Luis Obisbo). There is also a LOT of history.

Museums of the South County Historical Society
805-473-5077
www.southcountyhistory.org
Downtown Arroyo Grande, between Branch and Nelson Streets and Mason Street and Traffic Way.

Santa Manuela School
Hours, Sat 12-3pm, Sun 1-4pm
This is a one-room schoolhouse that was in use until 1857. It was a lot of fun for the girls to get to see this. They sat in the desks and enjoyed seeing all the things that are different than in their modern classrooms.

The Barn
Hours, Sat 12-3pm, Sun 1-4pm
This is filled with all kinds of fun stuff. There is a player piano, an old printing press, lots of house and farm implements, some old vehicles and tractors, including fire fighting equipment that was used to help in the 1906 San Francisco fire. The docents here were wonderful, showing the girls all kinds of fun stuff, like how heavy the old irons were, etc.

Heritage House Museum
Hours, Sat 12-3pm, Sun 1-4pm
This is a beautiful house with some great displays in it. Lots of old clothes and furniture, a full kitchen with antique refrigerators, washers, butter churns, etc., and more pianos and organs than I think I have ever seen in a heritage museum of this size. One of the docents even played the pump organ for us. It was really fun!

The Swinging Bridge
Right next to the Schoolhouse is the Swinging Bridge, which is one of it's kind in California. It has been reconstructed, as the original, built in 1875, was destroyed in a storm when a tree fell on it. As you walk across the bridge, the whole thing shakes and sways, so the girls enjoyed running across it.

There is also the Pauling History House (Open the 1st Sat of the month from 12-3pm), Ruby's House (Open weekdays 1-4pm) and the Historic Hall (Open Fri & Sat 12-5pm), but we did not get to these on this trip.

The Pismo Beach Historical Park
Hidden way back where you almost can't find it is a historical park that is in the process of being restored. Take Highland Drive up the hill and then go left, down Pismo "something" Drive. (It's not even on my map, so I can't remember the name of the street, but it is in an undeveloped residential area at the bottom of the hill.) There are two historical landmarks, the Price house and the Meherin house, and a Chumash Indian village being constructed. The houses are surrounded by a fence, and there is a box that advertises newsletters put out by The Friends of the Price House, Inc., but the box was empty when we were there. You can walk up to the indian village. It is pretty neat.

Arroyo Grande Library
If you need access to a computer, or a good book, the Arroyo Grande Library is located on Branch Street, right next door to the Arroyo Grande Chamber of Commerce. It is a very nice library.

Klondike Cafe
104 Bridge Street, Arroyo Grande
805-481-5288
www.klondikepizza.com
A really fun place to go for something to eat in Arroyo Grande is Klondike Pizza. They have an Alaska theme and there are peanuts on the tables and shells all over the floors. The pizza is really good, and it is a lot of fun! They have an All-You-Can-Eat on Tuesday nights from 5-9pm.

We had a wonderful time on our vacation and can't wait to come back again to visit and explore some more!

Close call - Scared silly - Did everything right

2009-06-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a scary situation come up, but everyone handled it exactly as they should, and so it all turned out okay in the end. I start this blog with the end of the story, because it has to do with a rattlesnake and a 3 year old girl.

We were in Auberry, at Kevin's parents' house, and the kids were playing outside after dinner. We have told the kids countless times what to do if they see a rattlesnake while they are walking around on the property, because it is such a serious possibility. Laura and Stone had already walked over the bridge that Dad built over the gully on the north side of the house. Now Katrina was going for a walk with Papa over the bridge. She got to the far side where the boards extend past the end of the bridge. Here there is a two foot gap between the edge of the boards and the rocks. Katrina saw ants in the dirt at the end of the boards and turned around (she has recently been bit several times by red ants and does NOT like to get near them). When she did, she heard the rattle of a rattlesnake and screamed, "snake!". It was only a foot and a half away from her. Papa couldn't see the snake as from his vantage point it was obscured by a rock, but he heard the rattle too. He went running by it and grabbed Katrina up.

Laura was still outside, so Dad yelled to her to bring a shovel. This was the point that Kevin and I (we were inside the house) realized what was happening. We saw Laura running (in that way that you instantly know it is an urgent run, not a run for exercise or anything) and then heard Katrina crying. When I got to the bridge, Laura was holding Katrina and Dad was whacking the head off the snake with the shovel. I took Katrina in my arms and she cried, "the snake almost bit me!". We watched to know that Papa had taken care of the snake, then as we walked back to the house I praised Katrina for doing exactly what she was supposed to do and we talked about how this is why we ask Heavenly Father every day to keep us safe.

Dad brought the headless snake up from the gully and Katrina was very brave and wanted to feel the snake. She felt it's skin and shook it's rattles. I made a little video of her talking about what happened. She said, "Papa saved me.". Thank you Dad, and thank you Heavenly Father!

Dad and Kevin measured the snake. It was 44" long and had 13 buttons on it's tail. It had a big bulge in it's side, so we could tell it had recently eaten, and Kevin thinks that is why it didn't strike immediately. Whatever the reason, we are just very grateful it didn't!

California State Train Museum (weekend post: part 3 of 3)

2009-04-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

We made a wise choice and decided to stay another night after the State Finals. We figured that as long as we were there, we ought to take advantage of the situation and go do some things that we hadn't been able to do otherwise - make a vacation of it. Sunday morning we drove from Brentwood to Sacramento and went to the California State Historical Train Museum. We have been wanting to go there for years, but it has always been an all day trip that we never got together.

We had a fantastic time! The Museum is very impressive! There are amazing displays and TONS of information. The girls loved it and there were times that I looked at Kevin and he had such a child-like, sparkle-eyed look on his face! It was as if he were four again! There were locomotives, box cars, passenger cars, mail cars, dining cars and sleeper cars. There were all kinds of displays about the history of the railroad, our favorite being the display about the surveyors. There were photos and artifacts. It is an amazing place.

Amanda brought a notebook and wrote down all sorts of information about the different trains. Amanda's favorite train was the Governor Stanford locomotive. (She did a whole report about Stanford University this year.) Rebecca loved the sleeper car because it actually moved like a real train does. She thought that was really cool! Katrina was at first disappointed because she couldn't get on the trains and the displays, but the farther along we got in the museum, the more you could climb and she was loving it! Her favorite was the smiley face train.

The coolest part for Kevin and I was when we were looking at the humonsterous cab-forward locomotive. They had all been dismantled, but the museum got the last one in the world and reassembled it in the museum. It is amazingly huge, and weighs over a million pounds! They had a staircase that allowed you to go up into the cab and look around. Since we had the stroller I stayed down on the floor while Kevin took the girls up to the cab. I was standing near the front of the train when two ladies walked up and one was going to take a picture of the other in front if the train. I offered to take a photo of both of them. When they came back for the camera, we got talking and one of the ladies told me that her father had driven this locomotive. I said this type of locomotive, or THIS locomotive? THIS locomotive, she said. How cool is that?! She said he had driven it for 16 years inbetween Southern CA and Bakersfield, until the mid-1950s when the trains got switched to diesel. We stood and talked to them for quite a while. Her husband, the other lady's father, also drove the same train. When Kevin came down from the cab with the girls I introduced them and he was just as interested to hear what they were saying as I was. And, no kidding, the first lady had been the financial secretary at McClane High School where Kevin graduated. (Not at the same time though.). We talked about famous train museums and sites and when we mentioned the Tehachapi Loop, they said they had ridden over the Tehachapi Loop many times. We have been lucky enough to see a train go through that loop twice, whereas they had been able to actually ride it! It was really neat to get to talk to them! (We wish we had gotten their names.) Another really cool thing we heard about this huge locomotive was that since it was built in 1944 that means that it was built by women. Very cool!

We were asked by a docent later on if the kids were enjoying the museum. We told him that the girls were enjoying SEEING all the trains and things, but we were enjoying HEARING and LEARNING all the great things that there was to know about this great part of our nation's history. Trains changed this country in a dramatic way, and it is wonderful to see so much of that history preserved!

At the end there was a toy train play area for the kids and you know we had a very hard time getting Katrina to leave that area. We are not ones to bribe our kids on a regular basis, but the occasion called for it and it was the lure of a toy from the gift shop that got her to move along.

We were there for four hours and could have stayed longer. Okay, Kevin and I could have stayed longer, maybe Amanda, but the girls were tired and hungry. They were soooo good for having been in the museum through lunch time! We treated them afterwards with lunch and ice cream. We had a wonderful day and we highly recommend this museum to anyone and everyone!

We also saw the terminus for the Pony Express and then went by the State Capital building, and then we headed for home! We had a great weekend!

See all the cool train museum pics HERE.

Found it! (weekend post: part 2 of 3)

2009-04-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

There were several breaks in the State Finals competition that allowed us to do some geocaching around in the Brentwood area. We will always take any opportunity we can get to geocache together as a family!

We found sixteen this weekend (with only one no find, not bad!) and even reached our 1300th find mark! We found ones with magnets, ones with spiders, and even an ammo can! (You don't see those much any more, so we love them when we do see them!) Our favorite one had to be the Horse's Petunia cache. (Can you see the cache? It's there!) The girls thought it was hilarious! We also managed to crash a wedding in the process! Okay, so it was more like we crashed the reception. And, okay, we were sort of invited. There was a couple in the Brentwood area who met through geocaching and they were getting married and decided to make their reception into an Event Cache. There were several cachers there, including ones we had met before. It was neat to meet cachers whose caches we had been finding all day. One couple had a cache that we had a no find on, so I asked her if my assumption was correct on where the cache was located. I was correct, so later we went back and were able to find that one. We really enjoy caching in other towns and getting to see how other cachers hide their caches and what they think the ratings levels should be.

One of the things that we have really been enjoying is being able to cache using our phones! With the internet right in the palm of our hands, we can look up caches and log them right there in the field - on the fly, as I keep saying. Last night when we were driving home we stopped at a rest stop and we said, I wonder if there is a cache here? We looked up our coordinates, found that there was a cache 225 feet from us, found it and logged it. Technology is so cool! Geocaching is awesome!

Odyssey of the Mind State Finals (weekend post: part 1 of 3)

2009-04-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

Five months of work went into this very day, as the Liberty Intermediate Shock Waves Division II Team headed into the Weigh-in at Heritage High School in Brentwood, CA. (Between Antioch and Concord, not the SoCal one.) They had worked hard,a nd this was their chance to prove it. The way here was not without "shocks" however. . .

After the team won first place at Regionals, they went about making another structure, with a few modifications. The judges had given the kids a few ideas, so they wanted to see if they would work. At the test, it held 326.3lbs. The kids were thrilled! That was the highest weight held to date!

The next night, the team appeared before the Kerman Unified School District School Board and were recognized for their achievements! They also did a presentation of their problem, which held 275lbs. As coaches, Tammy (the assistant coach) and I were so proud of them and excited to see them recognized for all the hard work they have done.

At this point, we had run out of balsa wood from the box I bought at the end of last year, so we ordered a new one. In the meantime the kids had to relearn the skit, as one of the kids, Devin, would not be able to go to State and John had to learn his lines. (Amanda, Wyatt and Brenda were also in the skit.) When we got the new balsa wood the team built a new structure, and we bought a small gram scale so we didn't have to keep borrowing one. When we weighed the new structure it was 3 grams over the weight limit! Huh?! We tested the new scale and it was accurate. We could not fathom why the structure weighed so much more!

In the meantime, a week ago last Wednesday, I was calling one of the girls, Brenda, to see if she wanted to order trade pins. I got her sister, who said she (the sister) was at the hospital. Thinking something had happened to her, I asked if she was alright. She said they were there with their mother, who had stage 4 esophygial (sp?) cancer. I was so startled! Brenda had never said a thing! We had absolutely no idea! Her sister said that they hoped that Brenda would be able to make it to the State Finals, but they just didn't know. We completely understood, but at this point we didn't know if we could even compete with only four members if the worst were to happen.

After a few phone calls we found that thankfully they can, so we also started to prepare for the contingency that Karina would need to learn Brenda's lines as well. Last Monday Brenda came to the meeting to tell us that her mother had passed away on Saturday. The funeral was going to be on Friday. We hugged her and told her how very sorry we were. On Friday morning, Tammy and I and two of the team members attended the funeral. From there we went straight to Liberty to help the team complete the structure during their lunch hour. That night we all left for the State Finals. Time will tell whether the distraction of State Finals was the thing that Brenda needed as a consistency in her life that would help her through this most difficult time in her life.

In the meantime we think we had figured out why the structures weighed so differently. The wood that the kids used first had been sitting for a year, curing. The new wood weighed more. Crazy. So, with one week left the kids had to modify their structure. They had to cut the cross supports down from two to one piece of balsa wood. And, despite months of planning, we went to State Finals without having tested it. (Sound familiar?)

We all drove up to Finals on Friday night, except for Brenda, who was going to be driving straight up on Saturday morning. We had the weigh-in at 8:35 and the Long-term Problem (skit and weights) at 10:30. At 7am (with a three hour drive ahead of her) Brenda had not yet left Kerman. The team went in for the Weigh-in and handed in their smaller structure. They were nervous about it, but with the original structure being so far overweight, they couldn't even take the "over weight" penalty and use the one they knew would do well. And then, Karina began feverishly trying to learn Brenda's lines.

It was a gorgeous morning and the sun was shining, but it was VERY windy, so it was pretty chilly. Heritage High School is a very new campus, and it is huge! Several of the team members had purchased pins, and during the breaks Amanda had a great time trading pins with the other kids. They got eight pins of their own region and then traded with the other kids for one pin from each of the other regions. That process was like a feeding frenzy! She also got a tshirt. They were really cool! The back listed the school and each of the kids that were represented at the State Finals. (Amanda's name was almost right smack in the middle of the shirt!). There were six different choices for the front of the shirt and then they screen printed them right there! It was really cool to watch the printers do it right there in front of you.

At 10:00am the team went to check-in for the Long-term problem. They got ready with their costumes, props, etc. and at 10:25, just moments before the team was called in to present, Brenda arrived. Karina was very relieved!

During the presentation the kids were a little bit off, having had so much to deal with in such a short time, and their skit, which was only supposed to be less than 2 minutes long ended up being three and they hesitated when they were putting weights on and kept putting small weights on. Anyway, when they timed out there was 305 lbs on it! That was the most they had ever done in competition. The judges put a piece of paper on the top weight and then they added another 100 lbs! 405 lbs on a structure they were worried would take less weight! Never in any practice has their structure held that much! Tammy and I were so thrilled, but absolutely heartbroken for them that they timed out when they could have had 405!

The team members commented later that they liked the judges at the State Finals better than the experience they had at Regionals, as the officials here made them feel more comfortable. Their instructions and questions were clear and not confusing.

At the time of their performance they were far above any of the other teams, but as the day progressed, several teams did much better, with the highest weight being 580lbs! Wow! (We had checked the Regional scores and knew there was a team that had held 560lbs at the Regional level, but we never shared that with the kids so they would not walk into State Finals thinking they couldn't win.).

There was still a chance that with their Spontaneous competition scores and Style points they could pull off a medal. They went in to the Spontaneous Problem with cheers from their coaches and parents. They came out smiling, telling us that the Spontaneous Problem official told them that they had done really well. (They aren't allowed to tell us about the problem until after World Finals.)

There was a four hour break, in which we did some geocaching (see part 2 of 3). We returned to the campus at 6:30pm and after sweating it out for two hours in a crowded gym with 300+ screaming kids (that part always takes WAAAAAY too long), they announced the top six teams in each problem and division. (Thankfully they started with problem 5 this time and worked backwards. We were problem 4.) They said sixth, fifth, fourth, (we were getting all excited at the prospect that they might have even placed as high as third) and then . . .oops! We missed a tie for sixth place. Liberty Intermediate! Yea!!! The team stood up and got their applause and then we all got the heck out of there!!! As we walked out of the building and into the cool night air, I realized how close I had come to fainting. Whew! It had been way too hot in there!

The thing is, no matter how well they did or didn't do, they had fun! They worked out issues together! They stood by each other! Amanda, Brenda, Devin, John, Karina and Wyatt are awesome!

See all the Odyssey of the Mind State Finals pics HERE.

Out of this world!

2009-04-01T15:55:00.001-07:00

It's time again for the 3rd grade Science Fair. At Sun Empire Elementary the 3rd graders learn all about the Solar System and they each create a poster or project that shows what they have learned. Rebecca decided to do her project to show how far away each planet is from the sun.

We got styrofoam balls and yarn and Rebecca painted each of the styrofoam balls to look like the planets and then she used bright yellow yarn (to represent the sun's rays) and we calculated how far each planet is from the sun in terms of inches. For example, Mercury was 5.25" from the sun, while Pluto was 291.8" from the sun. (Yes, no matter what the Planetary Council says, 3rd graders still believe that Pluto is a planet.) And, of course, in between was Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Rebecca put a small note around each one saying how far each planet was from the sun in actual miles. On the base there was a paper with all the planet facts.

When she completed it, we took it out on the driveway to see how far it really was. The string for Pluto went all the way down the driveway. Rebecca thought that was soooo cool!

Today was the Science Fair where all the other classes and the parents get to come in and see all the great projects. The 4th graders, who did the year before, get to vote on which project they like the best in each class. Rebecca is really hoping that hers wins!

In the classroom, they tried to give her project enough room, but really, it didn't have enough and so the farthest planets were kind of draped over another project. But when I was walking into the classroom I heard other kids calling to their friends to hurry and come over to see her project because it was so cool!

There were some really creative ideas for displays. There was a solar system made from rice krispies and candy melts. There was one that was 3D. There was one that was a hat. There was one with the sun made from a large Tupperware bowl. There was one with a telescope that looked inside. There was one that the girls stood before and turned a knob to make the solar system spin. Katrina really liked looking at all the displays and on of my favorites was one with a smiley face on the sun!

Rebecca did a great job and we are really proud of her! She is out of this world! : )

Keyboard + Gatorade = new keyboard

2009-03-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Oh the irony of it all! We had our computer on the kitchen counter for almost three years. The potential for it to get food or liquid in the keyboard was very high. A few days ago it was moved into another room. Yesterday Katrina was not feeling well, so I let her play a game on the computer while Amanda's OM team met in the kitchen. I brought her a little bit of Gatorade in a cup. Rebecca, who was supposed to be doing her homework and not playing with Katrina either, knocked the cup of Gatorade onto the desk and it ran off into the keyboard. Arg!

I took the whole keyboard apart (not an easy task!), dried it all off, cleaned under the keys, put it back together. . .and. . .nothing. Sigh! It was working before I took it apart, so should I have left it that way with all the Gatorade sloshing around in the bottom? Hmm. I guess we will never know.

So, now I have a new keyboard. It's not a Mac keyboard, so I don't have all the buttons I used to have and I am trying to figure out ways to do things I have had buttons for all this time, but I will adapt. We always do, don't we?

No drinks by the computer!!!!!

Gardening 101

2009-03-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

This year we are planting a garden. We have been wanting to do this for several years, but kept putting it off until it was too late in the year. This year. . .no excuses!

Earlier this week, we figured out where we wanted to put the planter box in the backyard and then Katrina and Rebecca put soil into starter containers and then they poked holes with their fingers and planted the seeds for basil, mint, oregano, and strawberries. They should be poking their little green heads out in a week or so.

Today we drove into Fresno to Home Depot and bought the wood to build the planter boxes, some soil and compost and a cherry tomato plant. Katrina had a great time helping put the wood on the cart and then got a ride around the rest of the store.

When we got home Katrina helped to plant the cherry tomato. She dug the hole and patted the soil back over the plant and then watered it. It is fun to see them get so excited about this whole process.

This next weekend we are going to get the planter box put together and get the garden growing! I can't wait to be eating vegetables out of our own garden!!!

Blogging my weight loss journey. . .Month. . .yeah. . .whatever

2009-02-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

Two things happened this week that have finally given me, I think, the impetus to get my act together and quit eating like an idiot! First was this photo:

Good heavens! Am I really trying to gain back EVERY pound I lost? For crying out loud!

The second was the fact that a friend of mine has lost over 100 pounds this year, and I gave her some of my "fat" clothes as she was on her way down. A few days ago I was bemoaning my weight gain to her, and so she gave the fat clothes back to me. How depressing is that!?

I try for a couple of days to eat right and then something knocks me off track! I just have to try harder. I just love chocolate SOOOOOO much!

We will, we will SHOCK you!

2009-02-21T23:04:00.001-08:00

Today was the Regional Tournament for Odyssey of the Mind in the Central Valley. I am so proud of this team! They have worked together so hard this year and they have accomplished so much! (See previous post)

This morning we drove down to Hanford High School. The team was competing in Division II, Problem 4 - Shock Waves this year and there were two other teams that we were competing against. The kids went to their Spontaneous competition first. They were given a verbal and non-verbal problem to work out as a team. They said that they did well on the verbal and terrible on the non-verbal (they are not allowed to discuss the problems until after World Finals). They had to weigh in at noon and then wait until 4:00pm to present their Long-Term Problem - their structure.

The kids did their skit and then they started putting weights on. They did a great job, but the crusher board started to lean, and it created an uneven weight dispersement. The structure held 206.8 pounds! (That is a fantastic weight, but disappointing, as the one they tested the day before held 283 pounds!) The other teams only held 188 and 66 pounds. We weren't celebrating yet, however, because they still had to add in the points from the Spontaneous competition, and Style (how they presented their over-all problem, including the skit, costumes, sound effects, team poster, etc.).

At the Awards Ceremony we were thrilled when they called out the Division II, Problem 4 - Shock Waves first place winner was Liberty Intermediate!!! The kids were so excited! They had huge smiles on their faces and were hugging each other as they ran down to get their gold medals! We got the scores back and they had even won the Spontaneous portion, even though they thought they had done so poorly. This team is AWESOME!!!

Now they are going on to the State Finals in Brentwood, CA on April 4th!

Tour of California - Stage 4 Merced to Clovis

2009-02-18T22:29:00.000-08:00

We are big cycling fans! Kevin has been cycling for years and we can both remember the day that Greg LeMond was the first American to win the Tour de France! (For instance, I was in a cafeteria eating breakfast at the University of Oregon for a Summer Architecture Academy.) Of course we watched as Lance Armstrong won every single one of his seven Tour de France titles. So, needless to say, we were very excited when we heard that the 2009 Tour of California was going to be coming to Clovis! Right here in our own backyard (so to speak)! Kevin signed up to be a volunteer and was assigned to be a Course Marshal. (His mom, Carol, did as well.) He would have loved to be on the course as motorcycle support, but you have to have done it for a while and be "invited", so maybe another time in the future.

Kevin's office is a block from where the race was taking place, so I was getting calls from him periodically throughout the day. First it was that everything was being set up all around Old Town Clovis, and then it was that there were helicopters flying overhead all over the place, then it was updates as he watched the live feed of the race on the internet. He was beside himself with excitement! The largest stage race in the United States was happening right outside his window!

I got the girls out of school early and we drove to Clovis. We parked at Kevin's work and went up to his office just in time to see a crash on the live feed. One of the victims of the crash was Floyd Landis. He is on the Ouch Team and I thought it was ironic to see Floyd Landis walking around with road rash all over his arms and legs with the word OUCH emblazened all over his clothing!

We walked out to Clovis Avenue between Seventh and Eighth and sat on some grass. It would be another hour and a half before the cyclists would arrive in Clovis. Kevin and Carol checked in with the volunteer supervisor and then took their stations on opposite sides of Clovis Avenue. We walked around and saw the race progress on the Jumbotron and then the girls hung out on the curb. Speaking of Clovis Avenue, it was pretty cool that the City of Clovis changed the signs on Clovis Avenue to read The Tour of California.

Just before 3:30pm the traffic on Clovis Avenue thinned as they closed off the street. There were official cars, photo motorcycles, a fire truck, and lots of California Highway Patrol driving up and down the street. There were people running out into the road to write things on the ground in yellow chalk. Then we could see the helicopters. We knew that when we saw the helicopters that the riders were very close.

It was almost 4:00pm when the peloton came into view. It was an amazing sight to see all those riders, so close together and moving so fast, as they screamed down Clovis Avenue. There was no way that we could even remotely pick out any specific riders, so we just held down the button on the camera and took as many photos as we could! In fifteen seconds it was over, they were gone around the corner. (Kevin's boss described the experience of seeing the peloton speed by as the most exciting fifteen seconds he has ever experienced!)

We all turned and ran to the next block west where the finish line was on Pollasky Avenue. There was no way we were going to be able to see anything, so I threw the girls up on a wall so they could see over everyone's heads. I had the big camera and held it up to get some shots, and Amanda took photos from the wall.

When we were done we walked back over to where Kevin was, and as it turns out, we should have stayed there. We didn't know it, but the racers, after crossing the finish line, turned and rode through the parking lot past the spot where we had been standing to watch the race. Since we had both cameras, Kevin could only take photos with his phone. As Lance Armstrong went by him, Kevin said to his mom, "It's Lance Armstrong!" and Lance looked over at them. Cool! Floyd Landis went by as well.

After the racers had all gone by we went over to where the racers trailers were to see if we could get any photos. Kevin talked to one of the motorcycle marshals and the girls went over to see the Jelly Belly car. We could tell where Lance Armstrong's trailer was, as there were a ton of people crowded around with their cameras up in the air. I was too short to get a photo of anything other than the backs of people's heads, so Kevin took the camera to try to get some photos of Lance Armstrong. In the meantime I helped the girls to get up to the barricade to get an autograph from Lance. Right as they got the barricade, Lance turned and got in his car and was driven away. Bummer!

We went over to Floyd Landis' trailer, but he had already left. We asked how he was, seeing as he had crashed earlier, and they said it was really nice of us to ask and said that he was alright. We went around to the Quick Step team trailer and Amanda got an autograph from Tom Boonen, a Belgian who won the World Championship title in 2005. We also got a signed poster from Tom Fowler, a rider on the Canadian Cervelo team.

While we were in line to get that poster, we saw a commotion down at the end of the parking lot. Kevin went down and when I saw him start running I knew it was someone important. We all went down and it was Levi Leipheimer, the captain of the Astana team! He has been in the Tour de France (on Lance Armstrong's team), and he has won the Tour of California twice and he is in the lead this year as well. The girls got an autograph and then they got a photo with him! Amanda was jumping up and down with excitement to have the autographs!

Mark Cavendish of the Columbia Team won the stage by the way. Tom Boonen placed second. Levi Leipheimer is still in first place over all. Lance is in fourth. It was so cool to be there and see all these great cyclists! We had so much fun!

See all the Tour of California - Stage 4 pics HERE.

Award-winning Writer

2009-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

Amanda won the Essay Contest at the library for the second year in a row! She won a $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for her essay on hibernation. And this year, they did a decent write-up about it in the Kerman News.

Crushed!

2009-01-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

I don't want this to be like last year where I write out a two month long post because I didn't have time to write about things that were happening while they were happening!

Odyssey of the Mind is back and MUCH better than last year! Four of the team members from last year returned and then there are two new ones. They decided to do the balsa wood problem again. This year's problem is called Shock Wave, because the structure has to withstand five "shocks" in addition to holding weight. The weights are put on the tester with spacers in between them and when the spacers are removed the weights drop and "shock" the structure.

This time we started in October and the team members have had time to test four different structures so far! Much better than last year when they couldn't even test the structure we took to the competition! The last structure tested held 271 pounds! Holy cow! That is so awesome! The team has really been able to test and refine their ideas and have learned a lot about structures!

This last week they cut their spacers and decorated them. They are also working on their skit and designs for their team t-shirts. Fun! The Regional Competition is on Saturday, February 21st, so we will post then about how the team does!

Sundae?

2009-01-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

Kevin & Lora went to Chevy's for dinner on tonite. Lora got a sundae for desert, a sundae described as "one of the smaller ones".

Surprise! "Small" is a relative term.

We think the guy in the back just finished one.

A White Christmas!

2008-12-25T22:31:00.000-08:00

We got a wonderful Christmas gift this year! Sure, the games,books, puzzles and the sweaters were great! We love them all, but when we were up at Gramma and Papa’s in Auberry on Christmas night, we got snow! SNOW! It wasn’t very deep and it was really wet, but it was snow! The girls were thrilled!

It has only snowed in Fresno twice in the last twenty years -- once was when Amanda was about a year and a half old. In the past we have taken the girls up in the high mountains to play in the snow, but the last time we did that, Rebecca was about a year and a half old. Katrina has never seen snow before, and she was enthralled! She ran out into it before we could even get her coat and hat on. She was startled when she slipped and fell, but she got right up and kept going! We had to convince them to come inside after a while so they didn’t get too cold. (Our apologies to those of you who are now existing in four feet of snow and below freezing temperatures to so blithely say that they were cold in their sweatshirts and hats.) We hope your Christmas was filled with wonderful surprizes too!

Katrina runs outside without her hat and sweater on

Katrina slips in the snow

Katrina makes handprints in the snow

Rebecca and Amanda run through the snow

our footprints in the snow

Bond. . . James Bond

2008-12-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I went to see the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace the other night, and I just wanted to put my opinion out there for anyone who is interested in knowing it. I have seen every James Bond film, as our family were fans as I was growing up. We were big movie fans in general, but there were several, like James Bond movies, that were essential. My favorites would have to be Goldfinger and Dr. No. Those were the best villains ever! "I don't expect you to talk Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

I have to say, first of all (and I am sure that most of you will agree with me), that there is no other James Bond than Sean Connery. He was, is, and always will be THE quintessential James Bond.

Now, most of the actors who have played James Bond since Connery have done a decent job, with the notable exception of Roger Moore. The only thing that Roger Moore did was play next to great villains, like Jaws.

That being said, I am really enjoying the newest James Bond, Daniel Craig. He has definitely brought back the gritty, physical, sexiness that is what James Bond is all about. (One major change however, is that the sexism that was prevalent in the early movies seems to have been diluted. I LOVE Judy Dench as M!) Gone are all the gadgets and back is the use-what-you-can-get-your-hands-on kind of fighting that makes James Bond what he is! That is why we also like Jason Bourne (remember the pen in The Bourne Identity? Ouch!).

He still has the one liners, the cars (Wow! The '64 Aston Martin! Okay, the new one is nice too.), the women, but it is on a greater scale than we have seen in a LONG time! I would even say on a different scale than we have ever seen. The opening scene in Casino Royale is amazing in it's physicality, complexity and sheer length. Who would have thought you would say that about James Bond?

In short, I am glad they picked Daniel Craig as the new James Bond!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

We have been seriously busy this last few weeks, so we haven't been able to stop and share all the fun stuff we have been doing!

Thanksgiving was great! That is one of my favorite holidays. No gifts, no decorations, just focusing on good food and what we are grateful for in life. Not to mention the fact that I have Mayflower ancestry. Isaac Allerton and his family. Kevin's parents were in Nevada with his sister, so we got together with the Molloys and Kaufmans. We each brought a part of the meal and then all got to take home leftovers. It was great! We all played games and had a fun time.

The weekend after Thanksgiving we put up the trees. This year we bought a new 6.5' pre-lit tree and absolutely covered it with thirty-two years of ornaments. You can barely see the tree! The other tree is all my nativity ornaments. We get a new ornament each year. This year I got a monarch butterfly ornament for the family. Amanda got a silver A, Rebecca got a pink tiara, and Katrina got a handmade Little Einsteins ornament (I just can't justify paying Hallmark $15 for the 3D one that plays the theme song).

On 2 December, we went for the opening walk-thru night of Christmas Tree Lane with the Molloys and the Kaufmans. We walked the two mile route in two hours (including a potty break with a very long line) and got to see all the displays up close. Many of the displays have been there since Kevin and Lora were kids, and others were brand new this year. We have many favorites that we look forward to seeing each year. The older kids were so excited to get to look for all of Santa's reindeer up close! They found Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. When we got back to the cars, we had hot chocolate, hot Tang, and really yummy gingerbread cookies that Andrea had made. It was a late night, but a lot of fun.

On 4 December, the girls went to make gingerbread houses at the Library. We have been doing that since Amanda was eighteen months old. Amanda is glad that there is not an age limit so that she can still go and do them. I am glad that Amanda is still wanting to go and that it has not gotten too "cool" to do it anymore.

On the 7th, Lora and Andrea Kaufman sang a song called "Baby Christ Child" for the prelude in Sacrament Meeting. That night we went up to Mom and Dad's in Auberry and we helped Dad put the lights on the tree out in the yard by the driveway. They had a live tree about six years ago when they first were building the house, and they planted it next to the driveway. Every year Dad puts lights on it. This year it is probably 12-15' tall! We were going to take a few photos next to the tree so that we could play around with the ideas tat we had and and then retake them later. Well, as luck would have it, we actually got the nearly perfect photo! The tree looks great, we are all smiling, the sun had just set so there was a beautiful glow in the background, AND. . . there was a star in the sky right behind us! (It is actually Saturn, but at this range, it looks like a star.) It turned out great!

On the 9th Rebecca went to the library for a Christmas Storytime and got to make an ornament. It is pink.

In between all of this Amanda has been having meetings twice a week at our house with the Odyssey of the Mind group. They are just about to get their first trial structure made so that they can test it.

On 11 December the Relief Society had their Christmas Party and I was in charge of it. It went really well. We had a progressive dinner of sorts and the soups were especially delicious! The focus was on service and we had a Christmas decoration swap and a Service Swap. Each sister filled out a card with a service that they would be willing to give to another sister, and then the cards were drawn in a "White Elephant" type game. It was a lot of fun! We also had several really wonderful stories that the sisters shared about how giving and receiving service has affected them. It was a lovely evening, and, as we hoped, the fog delayed it's encroachment until after we were done and home.

On 12 December we went to the Ward Christmas Party. This year was a dessert party, so we made fudge. Yum! We took the photos of Amanda and Rebecca with Santa just like we did last year. (Katrina again refused to have anything to do with Santa, even when we offered to sit on his lap with her.) Members of the ward shared family traditions and memories of Christmas and we sang songs. The kids got to decorate cookies. It was fun.

On Saturday I got together with Andrea, Cory and Camille to practice "O Holy Night". I am really proud of myself, because the version that we are singing did not have an alto line, and so I figured out what notes I would sing and created the alto line for Camille and I to sing. I took it to my piano practice on Wednesday and Sister Moses was really impressed and helped me to tweak a couple of spots so that it sounded even better. We practiced really hard and got to the point where we could have sung it a capella if we had to. We got so many compliments when we sang it on Sunday. It sounded so good!

Now we just need to make our Christmas cards and get the last few presents taken care of so we can get things in the mail!

Blogging my weight loss journey - Month 11

2008-12-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to do better in the two weeks remaining in November, but with Thanksgiving and too much fudge and a root beer float, I didn't get to where I was hoping to be, but I am heading back in the right direction.

I need to remember the phrase I said all the time at the beginning: Let the temptation pass. Temptations don't usually last all that long, so if I get the temptation to eat something I shouldn't, I should wait for a little while, and then my mind will have moved on, and I won't crave that thing any more.

I have been exercising in the mornings, getting up at 5:00am, to get in a 30-45 minute workout before the girls get up at 6:00am. I resisted getting up that early for a long time, but it is working out okay. I also need to get out and walk more again.

I lost 3 pounds and 3.5" in the last two weeks. I am really going to need added strength in this next month as there are many of my favorite foods that are going to be readily available around me. Let the temptation pass! Let the temptation pass!

Checkmate!

2008-11-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

This year Amanda joined the Chess Club at Liberty Intermediate school. She practices a lot, playing against her friends and her mom, and she has improved dramatically since she only started at the beginning of the school year. The Chess Club meets twice a week and the members practice with each other.

This Saturday they had their first tournament. Amanda did really well. She ranked 14th out of 53 in her division. She won two matches, lost two matches and the last one ended in a stale-mate. We were really proud of her! Her next tournament is in January.

See all the pics HERE.

Blogging my weight loss journey - Month 10. . .and a half. . .THE DETOUR

2008-11-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, I needed the kick in the pants to write this month's blog post about my weight loss journey. (Thanks Shea!) I was really depressed about this last few months. I have taken a HUGE detour on the weight loss journey, and I am having a very hard time getting back on track. I am not happy right now. I am upset with myself. I don't feel good. I get headaches. I am tired. Why would I purposefully make myself feel this way?

I do not understand why when I start to stray off the path that it means that I should go running as fast as I can in the other direction! After school started I got thrown off my exercise schedule, and so slowly I started to eat the wrong foods, but rather than just maintain where I was, I went completely off the deep end and ate everything in sight!!! ARG! Seriously! What the heck is wrong with me? Why can I not control what I put into my mouth?

I am telling you the answer right now - IT IS AN ADDICTION!!!

I have to treat food the way that a recovering alcoholic treats alcohol. Can a recovering alcoholic have just one drink? No! Can I just have one cookie? NO! I can't, because in my mind one cookie is the open door to eat as many cookies as I possibly can. Why? I will never know. But, with me that is the way it is. Lots of diets tell you that you have to splurge every once in a while, but I can't. A splurge leads to a surge, and I have to stay as far away from that as possible.

Hello, my name is Lora and I am a recovering foodaholic.

I have to accept, no matter how painful it may be, that I cannot eat chocolate chip cookies. I cannot eat ice cream. I cannot eat candy. I have to accept, no matter what my brain may tell me otherwise, that food is fuel. Food is not friend, just fuel. (Say that with the voice of the sharks from Finding Nemo.)

I whine about how unfair it is that I can't just eat whatever I want and that I have to work at this forever, i.e. I can't lose the weight and stop working at it. I have to do this forever. Well, if the doctors told me that I had a fatal, incurable disease, but that I could stay alive indefinitely by not eating chocolate, don't you think I would do everything I could to stay alive? I wouldn't be willing to risk my life by eating chocolate. So why am I so willing right now?

Satan is trying to kill me, and he is doing it with food. That sign is on my refrigerator. Currently it is buried by Katie's drawings and school lunch schedules, but after I post this it will come back out to the front.

Okay, I am getting more and more energized the more I write! So, gulp, here is the current stats (I have to accept the consequences of my actions):

weight gained: 13 lbs.
inches gained: 18"

Goals for the month of November:

*Pray like crazy for help every single second of the day!!!

*Exercise, even as little as twenty minutes, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Get up earlier on the days that I have to!

*Write down everything that I eat! Get back on course with the five meals a day! PORTION CONTROL!!!

*Get back down to the weight I was in August!

This is a journey right?! Sometimes you run into hazards along the way. As long as you are going in the right direction, you will eventually get to where you are going. Sometimes you go slow, sometimes you go fast. I will get there. I have already lost 41 pounds. I have already reached many of my goals. Granted, I have to meet several of them again, but I will. If you sit on the side of the road feeling sorry for yourself, you are not going to get anywhere.

I am going to get back on track. My name is Lora and I am addicted to food. I will overcome that addiction! I will be fit! I will be healthy! I will be strong!

By the way, it is good to have road signs and AAA to help along the way, so all of you out there feel free to be my road signs and say, STOP! WRONG WAY! SLOW DOWN! CAUTION! when you see me eyeing that piece of pie or a cookie or telling you that I am off track like that makes it okay. You don't have to be the police, just a positive, gentle reminder. Thanks!

The good news: I have still lost 28 pounds and 39.25". I have not returned to where I was before. I am facing up to my mistakes and getting back on track. Back in the right direction.

Butterfly Road Trip

2008-11-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

This year we "hatched" some butterflies, and Katrina's favorite DVD is Little Einstein's Big, Huge Adventure, in which they meet a caterpillar that eventually changes into a butterfly and migrates to his "butterfly family reunion". Our friends, the Kaufman's "hatched"some butterflies too. So, when we heard that we could see the butterflies at the Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach, we planned a road trip to go see them!

We left early this morning, driving through the farmlands of the Valley and then up into the foothills of the Coast Range. It was a cool, autumn day, but clear and sunny! Gorgeous! We did a lot of geocaching along the way. We found some caches that we had not found before and also stopped at several caches that we knew that the Kaufman's would like.

As we got into Pismo Beach, we went to the Butterfly Grove. That was so neat! The count for the day was 7500 butterflies! Wow! The butterflies were absolutely dripping from the trees. There were some flitting here and there, but most were just hanging out. We got there just in time to listen to the docent talk about the butterflies and their life cycle and their migration to and from the Grove. One thing that we learned that we did not know was that the butterflies that lay their eggs there and that move on do not ever come back to the Grove. It takes four or five generations for the butterflies to come back, which means that the children of the butterflies that leave there will never see this Grove. Yet, their descendants all know to go back there. That is amazing! We will definitely be coming back here again!

After the butterflies, we drove down to Santa Maria to visit with my Gpa Marshall. He recently moved to a retirement home there, Santa Maria Terrace. The girls played with Gpa's walker and we got to visit with him for a little while before he had to go down for dinner.

Afterwards we went to dinner at a restaurant in downtown Pismo and then walked out onto the pier and then we got back on the road to head home. As we left, it began to rain, so our timing was perfect!

Date Night!

2008-11-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend Kevin and I went out on a triple date with our good friends Eddie and Cory Molloy and Steve and Andrea Kaufman, to celebrate Steve's birthday. We went to the Yosemite Falls Cafe for dinner. We laughed a lot, ate some delicious food, and took some great photos! The staff of the restaurant even came over to sing to Steve and brought him a special ice cream sundae. After dinner we went back to the Molloys for a movie and root beer floats. It was a lot of fun! It is so nice to spend time with good friends!

Andrea Kaufman, Cory Molloy and Lora Nehring lookin' smokin' hot!

Lora and Kevin

Halloween costumes

2008-10-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

The girls costumes look great this year!

Amanda is dressed up as Marco Hietala, the bassist/vocalist for our favorite Finnish symphonic metal band, Nightwish. She looked great! I made her costume by painting the band name on a t-shirt and making a foam core replica of Marco's guitar. (A Warwick Infinity NT) Because most people do not know who he is, we put photos of Marco, the band, his guitar and one of me and Marco, on the back of the guitar. We made her goatee by gluing crepe wool on with spirit gum. (I spent an amazing amount of time trying to figure out how to do the goatee, as I could only find ones that were black or brown, and then finally I found crepe wool and it was PERFECT!!)

Rebecca was a fairy. We got her wings and skirt from a neighbor down the street who was giving away costumes last month. All we had to buy was the leotard. We painted her face and she really liked that part!

Katrina was a princess. She wore the same dress that Rebecca wore when she was five, but we bought her a new tiara that was just hers! She loved it.

We went to the Ward Halloween Party last night. There were a TON of people there (word sure gets around!). It was fun. There were lots of game booths, like the ever-favorite cake walk, etc., and then afterward everyone went out to the parking lot for a trunk-or-treat.

We did a booth that people could get their photo taken in their costumes. We had a backdrop with a big spider web and spider on it and a table with a candelabra with drippy candles, a skull and a cauldron with mist coming out of it. People stood next to the table and we took their photos and then we printed them out for them. It went really well.

Amanda gets to dress up in her costume on Friday for Halloween, but at Rebecca's school they do mismatch clothes and crazy hair day. Tomorrow Katrina gets to "trick-or-treat" at the library for Storytime. This is a fun time of the year.

Primary Presentation

2008-10-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today was the Primary Presentation in our ward. Amanda was the Narrator and Rebecca had a talk and sang the first verse of "When Jesus Christ was Baptized" with her friend Brooklyn Kaufman, who sang the second verse. The girls both did really well and the whole Presentation was really nice. The children did a great job. One of my kids from my Valiant B class gave a talk about prayer and told a story about how his family had prayed to find his mother's car keys. I was so proud of him for sharing such an important experience that he had.

Speaking of my Valiant B class, I was released today. I have known about it for a while, as they told me about the change a little over two weeks ago, but I wasn't going to be changing until after the Primary Presentation. So, today I was released and taught my last lesson. It has been a hard change for me. As much as I have complained about the kids and how much they drive me crazy, I was heartsick to learn that I wasn't going to be their teacher any more. I love teaching the Book of Mormon, so I was sad that I won't get to finish that either. Their new teacher is going to be great though, so I am not too worried. The release also means that I won't be the Activity Days leader any more either.

Change is the most unchangeable part of life.

Geocaching and Pumpkins

2008-10-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a lot of fun and it was a gorgeous day! We went geocaching with our friends, the Kaufmans, and then we all went up to Mom and Dad's for the annual Pumpkin Carving Fest.

It was a hot day for October (88 degrees!!), but nice! We started out by showing the Kaufmans a few of our caches and a few other cool caches in the area and then we headed up into the foothills, by way of Auberry Road, to a geocaching get-together that was celebrating the return of a cacher who had spent the last eighteen months traveling around the US by Amtrack train and finding caches in each of the contiguous 48 states. What a great goal to accomplish!

From there we drove up into the mountains around Kerkoff and Redinger Lakes in the Sierra mountains past Auberry. We drove as far Cal Center where there is a benchmark showing the exact center of California. There is also a cache there. There was a different one there six years ago when we were last there, so it was fun to go back and see it again and find another cache. We found a few other caches on the way back towards Auberry.

As we drove through the mountains and around the lakes we stopped to take photos here and there, as the Kaufmans had never been up in the mountains here. It was a perfect day to show off the beauty of this area! Kevin stopped short twice to get out and look at tarantulas that were crossing the road (I stayed in the van, thank you very much!). That was the only "wildlife" that we encountered.

We got up to Mom and Dad's house and had dinner (Mom makes the best soups!). Besides us and the Kaufmans, there was Wes and Laura and Stone and Scotty and Lea. We hadn't seen Scotty and Lea for a few months, so it was great to be able to catch up with them a little bit.

After dinner we all headed out to the garage where Mom and Dad always have the table covered and there are tons of bowls for the pumpkin guts (This year, Scotty not only brought gloves, but a surgical gown as well! Too funny!), and every cutting implement you can think of. There are all kinds of patterns to choose from as well, although most of us come with designs in mind. I found an idea that I couldn't wait to try. I spray painted the pumpkin black and then carved out the design. It looks really neat! Amanda carved the face of Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, Rebecca wrote several things on her pumpkin and then carved a jack-o-lantern face on it, and Katie just drew a face and some squiggles, took out a few pumpkin seeds and then declared that she was done.

This is always a fun part of the Fall/Halloween season and we always love being there, not only to carve pumpkins, but to talk and enjoy the company of our friends and family.

See all the geocaching pics HERE.
See all the pumpkin carving pics HERE.

Family Home Evening

2008-10-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had a fun Family Home Evening! (Not that all our Family Home Evenings aren't fun, it's just that this one was different!) The Kaufman's came over to share it with us. We started out by singing "Jesus Once Was A Little Child" and then we talked about what Jesus' life might have been like when he was the same age as each of the kids. We talked about how he would have played with his friends, helped Joseph in the workshop and learned how to be a carpenter, and helped his mom in the house with his younger brothers and sisters.

Then we talked about what Jesus might have eaten. We tried to remember all the references about food that we could from the Bible -- bread, fish, honey, seeds, milk, fruits, etc..

Then the kids got to try some of the foods that we had talked about. I had prepared a tray with figs, dates, smoked fish, almonds, homemade cheese, a pomegranate, bread and honey. They also got a cup of lukewarm water. Jesus didn't have a refrigerator after all. Anyway, the kids tried the foods. Some they liked and some they didn't, but it was a neat experience for them to see what people ate long before the days of artificial preservatives and ingredients.

Lora the Cheesemaker

2008-10-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

A few months ago when I was reading the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" the author mentioned making her own cheese. I was really intrigued with the idea and looked online for the company she mentioned. I found the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company online and ordered their starter kit.

I got the kit a few days later and I was very excited to try it out! I even enlisted the girls' help and they were excited too. We poured in the milk, heated it up and stirred and added the acid and the rennet, we let it cook, and it kind of, sort of separated and then when we put it in the microwave, it just sort of turned to curd soup. Hmm. Not very inspiring.

The recipe very clearly states that you are not to use ultra-pasteurized milk, which I hadn't, but it also suggests trying a different brand if it doesn't work. So, I bought a different brand and tried again. Again, curd soup. Even soupier actually. I was supposed to be making mozzarella cheese and instead we had wasted two gallons of milk.

I emailed the company and said, "Help! I really want to do this, but I am having trouble!" They emailed back saying that dairies are getting away with heating the milk hotter and hotter and so the "regular" pasteurization is actually too hot to make cheese.

So, I went in search of a place where I could get milk straight from the cow. As luck would have it, we have an organic raw milk dairy just a few miles from our house. I went and bought the milk (and holy cow! -- no pun intended! -- it is amazing the prices they can get away with when it is organic!) and tried again. This time as I was getting everything ready, I was refreshing myself on the instructions and I read that the water you use to dissolve the rennet and the citric acid needs to be chlorine-free. I asked Kevin if he knew if we have chlorine in our water, and he said we probably did, so I used a bottle of drinking water instead.

I started to make the cheese and it all started working just like it was supposed to! Yea! I fact, it worked so well that the cheese was already stretching before I even got it out of the pot! A few minutes later I had a beautiful, shiny ball of mozzarella cheese! Wahoo! Finally!

I emailed the company and told them of my success and asked about the chlorine. They said that would definitely affect the rennet, so I am going to try again with a regular gallon of store bought milk and use drinking water instead and see how it goes.

We tried the cheese out with some crackers and it was good, and tonight we are going to have spaghetti and I am going to grate some to put on top! Yum!

Front Page News

2008-10-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

I submitted another article to the Kerman News and not only did they publish it (my second byline!), but they put it on the front page. In color even! Cool!

We have known the Hergenroeders since about six months before we moved to Kerman. They live across the street from our home. The pumpkin patch they have been working on had their grand opening on October 1st. Susie knew that they would not have time to take any photos, so she asked if I would come and take some photos for them.

While I took photos, Katrina had a great time running around looking at the animals, going through the hay bale maze and checking out all the different sizes of pumpkins.

We stuck around for a while when the first field trip arrived and took some more photos. We even went on the hay ride. I sent several photos to the Kerman News, but they only used one, so here are the others:

Then here are ours:

Katrina checked out all the different sizes of pumpkins, but she was most impressed by the huge pumpkins that were as big as her!

They have all sorts of animals at the patch that the kids can look at.

Katie and I on the hay ride.

See all the pics HERE.

The Big Fresno Fair

2008-10-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Every year at the beginning of October we get the girls out of school a little bit early and we all go the Big Fresno Fair. We really lucked out this year too, as the weather was in the mid-nineties the day before, but in the mid-eighties yesterday. It was a gorgeous afternoon and evening. We went on Smoke-free Kid's Day, which meant the kids got in free, but unfortunately it did not mean that anyone paid attention to the No Smoking signs posted all over the whole fair grounds.

We got smart this year and took photos of each of the girls at the entrance to the fair so that if anything happened and we got separated we could show pictures of exactly what they looked like. Why didn't we think of that before? Luckily we did not have to use them!

We started at the Junior Exhibits and hopefully got the girls interested in the idea of entering things into the fair. We also think we may have finally convinced Amanda about the idea of joining 4-H, as many of the projects that she saw in the fair that she said she would like to do were done by 4-H groups.

Next we went to the Kid's Zone, and they had a new exhibit in there that was SOOOO cool! It was a kaleidoscope exhibit and it had all sizes and shapes of kaleidoscopes that were made from all different types of materials. There was even a kaleidoscope with a camera inside of it so that when you stood in front of it, you became a part of the kaleidoscope. It was so much fun and it was hard to get the girls to leave so that we could see the rest of the fair.

We went into an exhibit of old cars and machinery, which is always a favorite. Interestingly enough - and this may seem like a tangent, but it will come around - CalTrans is almost done with the extension of Highway 180. In the meantime, we are being routed on a detour. The detour is long, so those of us who have been doing this periodically for the last four years, we know a different road to turn on and it cuts about a mile off the detour. As we were driving down that road on the way to the fair, Kevin mentioned that he had noticed a house on the road that had some really nice old, restored trucks that were out in the driveway. We didn't think anything more about it. When we went into the exhibit, I made it around a partition before Kevin did and I saw a truck that was absolutely gorgeous and I told Kevin to hurry around and see this truck. As Kevin went around the corner he said, "those are the trucks!", referring to the truck I pointed out and the one next to it. Two of the trucks in the fair exhibit came from the driveway of the house we passed on the detour. Cool!

We were out on the grounds when the Anhieuser Busch Clydesdale horse-drawn wagon went by. Wow! That is impressive up close! All the gear on those horses is amazing!

We then went to the family favorite, the Rocks and Minerals building. The girls LOVE this exhibit! They spun the wheel to win different types of rock prizes, went through the florescent rock exhibit, bought a $1 bag of rocks and this year we bought a small geode that was cut in half for them. (That was LOUD!!) There were all sorts of displays of different rocks and minerals. Amanda loved a diorama scene that was made out of rocks, and Katrina loved a huge crystal display. She pointed at it and said, "grass rocks!"

We went over to the HUGE play area that has a huge fort and a pirate ship and they played there for awhile. Then the went over to the gold panning area and then we went over to the Livestock building. We saw the chickens, bunnies, cows and sheep. They don't have a petting area anymore but this year they had a great interactive play area. You could saddle a big stuffed horse, dress a scarecrow, play in a corn crib, "milk" a cow, and Katrina loved riding the kid-sized tractors.

Then we headed over to the Fine Arts building to see how my photos had done. I only got one ribbon, an Honorable Mention, for the photo of Amanda jumping off the dunes at White Sands National Monument. We looked at a lot of the other photos and then we got some dinner. We always get to pick our favorite "fair" food.

Then we headed to the much anticipated midway! (Rebecca must have asked us at least twenty times when we were going to go there.) The girls went to their favorite ride where they sit in swings and then get spun way up high. We took Katrina to the merry-go-round and she was very anxious to go on it until we got on it. She started to cry and fuss and Kevin took a picture of her on the horse. The ride started and by the time we got back around and he took another photo of her, she had a smile that went from ear to ear. We got off she said she wanted to go again. We went a second time and she waved to her sisters as we went by, and I told her how brave she was to let go with one hand!

We walked back through the Commerce Building where all the vendors are and then we went into the Ag building. The Kerman display is always beautiful and this year was no exception. We bought a big cup of fruit and had a late night dessert snack. Then we made our way though another one of the Commerce Buildings and then out to the van and home. We have several family traditions that we have formed over the years and this is one that we enjoy very much!

Blogging my weight loss journey - Month 9

2008-10-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

I am not sure which language "plateau" translates into "just quit trying", but apparently in Lora-ese that is exactly what it means. I get frustrated when I am not making progress, and then I soothe that frustration with food. (Curse you Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream!!! You are so good!!) It's a vicious cycle!! I don't feel good and I am tired. I get so fed up with myself, but it always takes SOOOOO much longer to get back on track than it does to get off it. More frustration, so more food.

It was really disheartening to realize that I will not be able to reach my main goal. I thought that my goals were very reasonable, so I am depressed that it looks as though I will not be able to reach it. It took me eight months to lose 40 lbs., I can't imagine that I can safely lose another 40 lbs. in the next 2.5 months. Arg!!

I have to say that it is not as fun to blog about losing weight when you are not actually losing weight. I know I have gained weight, as I am feeling tubby, but I am still fitting into the same clothes, so I know I haven't gained TOO much weight back. Although any weight is too much weight. The worst part is that I absolutely stopped exercizing!! I exercized last Thursday for the first time all month! Not very productive. All out to nothing!

The sad thing is that most of the things I have been eating don't really taste all that great (except for the Ben & Jerry's ice cream), and I don't feel good after eating them. But, unfortunately that doesn't ever seem to stop me.

The thing to focus on is what I have accomplished! I have lost 40 lbs. I am healthier than I was at the beginning of the year. I have to get things back in the right direction. I think I will be blogging a little more often than once a month, as I feel like I try to straighten up right before a blog post, so if I do them more frequently, then I will straighten up more often!

A New Record - 36 finds!

2008-09-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

On our trip to LA and back, Kevin and I managed to break our family's previous record of 34 finds in a day! Today we got 36! Awesome!

On Saturday when we were heading down to LA to the concert, we weren't going to do any caches on the way down, we were just going to hustle down there and cache on the way home. As we were heading into Tulare, Kevin suddenly went veering off the freeway onto the offramp to get a cache that he decided at the very last minute that we had to get RIGHT THEN! The cache was in a mobile home park and it was hidden in a cairn in the front of one of the mobile homes. It was really good that we stopped when we did, as the cache owner, California Cash Cow, and his wife, were packing all their belongings into a trailer to move to a new house. We were probably the last ones to find the cache at this location. We ended up being there for an hour, swapping stories and discovering each others geocoins and travel bugs. His dog and his truck are both travel bugs, which we thought was GREAT!!

On Sunday, after we had a nice visit and breakfast at Denny's with Jer and Renee and the twins, we were on our way home - the LOOOONG way! We started with several caches north of Castaic and then we headed out the 138 towards Palmdale to the northern Ridge Route. There were 18 caches on that leg of the route that we hadn't found yet. We love those caches! Great scenery and great history and we even met a few other cachers along the way. We also did a lot of benchmarking. Kevin even found a gravity station, one he has never found before! He was very excited! Out of all the caches we went looking for today we only had 2 DNFs (did not find), and those are pretty great stats! At one cache we saw a bobcat! It was too fast for our camera, but impressive none-the-less. We had a great time!

When we went through Bakersfield we stopped to see Kevin's grandparent's house. Kevin's dad has been down for weeks getting the house ready to be sold, as his grandmother lives in a nursing home in Modesto now. As we walked around the back porch and yard, Kevin was pointing things out to me and telling me memories he had about them from when he was younger. He took a lot of photos, too.

Then we headed back to Kerman to gets our girls. It was a nice weekend to spend together!

See all the Geocaching pics HERE.
See all the CA Cash Cow pics HERE.
See all the Bakersfield pics HERE.

Nightwish - Part 3

2008-09-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Okay! It's official! We are Nightwish groupies!! This is the third concert in a year that we have seen them. (We actually debated about going to the San Francisco show the night before, but we really thought that would be excessive!)

We drove down to LA on Saturday morning and we got to the Wiltern at about 4:20pm. There was already a line forming on the north side of the theater. Since we had seen told that the box office would open at 5:00pm, and there were only six people ahead of us, we figured we would just stay there to pick up our will call tickets. 5:00pm came and went, and the will call line got longer and longer. 5:30pm. Someone comes out and tapes a sign above my head that says this line is for LiveNation.com ticket holders. (We bought our tickets from Enter the Vault.com) 5:45pm. A few people in Wiltern shirts came out and everyone would try to get information out of them, but each time and with each person there would be different and conflicting information. We were told at one point that if we had enterthevault.com will call tickets we were to definitely stay in the line we were in. Ten minutes later, at 6:00pm, the same lady who said that walked by us saying that the enterthevault.com ticket holders were to follow her to the back of the building. Since she was walking from the front of the line to the back, the line kind of reversed itself and we ended up being much farther back in line. Arg! Now we waited at the back of the building for another 45 minutes before they started giving us our tickets. (We got a kick out of the fact that there were signs that made three lines, A-G, I-Q and R-Z. Those of us in line speculated as to what would happen if your last name started with H. Would they not let you in? Was there a separate line behind the dumpsters just for the H's? Too funny and very indicative of the chaos and disorganization we experienced.)

I should say though that we had a great time talking to several of the people that we were standing next to. The two guys who had driven from SLO were the best! It was also fun to people watch all the cars and pedestrians going by. When the cars would pull up to the light we would watch the passenger crane their necks to see the marquee and then you could see them mouth, Nightwish?! Their reactions to the lines around the building were varied and often comical. Most of the people in line were dressed in black and looking very goth (in fact one of the Wiltern staff actually stopped twice and jokingly told Kevin, who was dressed in jeans and a red plaid button-down shirt, that he still had time to go home and change) and one mother and several small children walked by looking a bit fearful. Kevin said he caught the eye of the smallest child and smiled and the kid broke into a big grin! It was funny!

At 7:00pm we finally had tickets with our names on them in our hands and we now had to go around the building and join the line that had been steadily increasing in size since we got there. We first went across the street to a pharmacy, used their restrooms and then bought two granola bars so that we would have something to "eat" before we went into a three hour show. (After standing in line for two and a half hours by now.)

At 8:00pm on the dot (the watch on the arm of the man standing behind us in line beeped at exactly the same moment we started moving forward) we started into the theater. The Wiltern is a gorgeous old Art Nouveau movie theater that has been converted to a music venue. The outside was impressive, but the inside was phenomenal! Our photos do not remotely do it justice! It was beautiful!

We got a spot on the second tier back from the stage and we were behind some people who were standing at the railing. From that vantage point we were level with the people who were on the stage. It was a great spot to be in! There was a screen above the stage that people could text messages to and they would scroll across the screen. It was a great time killer reading all the texts and so the concert seemed to start pretty fast, even though we stood there for about another 45 minutes. (I honestly have to write to Rocket Dog, as this is the second concert I have stood through with their shoes on and this time it was 9 hours!)

The concert started at 9:00pm with Sonata Arctica, another Finnish band. Kevin had played a few of their songs for me before we came, so I had heard them, but I didn't know their music very well. They were great! Apparently though, as the opening act, they didn't rate a spot light so I never really saw what the lead singer looked like, as he stood in front of the stage lights most of the time. The lead singer is very energetic and has great voice quality! He had some power behind those notes he was singing! They played for about 45 minutes and then they were off. Not enough time for them. We wanted to hear more. (YouTube Video Links: Don't Say a Word & Paid in Full)

During the set change Kevin had a funny conversation with a guy who was trying to convince Kevin that he was a bigger Nightwish fan and so we should let him stand in front of us. (He looked a bit like Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley, only with a mowhawk.) First he said he was shorter than me and so we should let him go in front, then he tried see what CD Nightwish had released when we started listening to them. Dude, if you wanted to stand in front of me, you should have been in this spot before me. He tried this ploy out on a couple of other people around us before he gave up and just stood where he was.

At 10:30pm the lights went dark and the crowd went wild! Nightwish came out and even though we had seen posts on blogs about earlier concerts, it was still weird to see Anette with blond hair! She looked great, but different! The concert was great! The sound was great! They have really been putting their own style into things! Marco is actually a classically trained guitarist, so it was nice when he was playing "The Islander" that he added in some great extra riffs to the song! (And, this time, Anette was wearing the tiara again! Cool! Her part in that song doesn't seem right without it.) Jukka was fantastic as usual. With our vantage point we got to see more of him than we have at any other show! The same thing with Tuomas. We were able to see him better than before. We could see his fingers moving as he played the keyboards. It was great! And Empuu was his amazing self! His solos are so impressive!

They started with "Bye, Bye Beautiful" and ended with "Wish I Had An Angel" as they have through all phases of this tour. This series of concerts was actually billed as the North American Tour - The Final Chapter, as they are finishing up their Dark Passion Play tour and heading back to Europe and then to the studio. They won't be back in America in 2009. (:( Sniff!) Where are we going to get our Nightwish fixes now? They sang several songs off the Dark Passion Play CD - Amaranth, The Islander, The Poet and the Pendulum, Whoever Brings The Night, Sahara and 7 Days To The Wolves - and then they also sang The Siren, Dead To The World, Wishmaster, Higher Than Hope and Come Cover Me (this is a really old one that I didn't even remember hearing before!).

We talked about the difference between the three shows we have seen. Back in November Anette had just started and so the songs all sounded very much like they do on the albums. The band was tight and it was mostly the new music. In Vegas Anette had learned more of the older songs and so there was a lot more variety to the set list. This time they are more comfortable and were putting their own spin and sound into the songs we all know and love.

After the show was over (at midnight) we went out to where the buses were parked to see if we could see the band. We weren't able to get VIP tickets this time, and I had brought the photo of me with Jukka and Marco from Las Vegas and I was hoping to get it signed. We stood there and talked some more with the guys from SLO that we had been in line with earlier. One of them had actually got a copy of the set list off the sound board and was going to try to get it signed.

We didn't have to wait long and Jukka come out! I got right up there and he signed my photo first! I said again how great a drummer we think he is. He said thanks and then I backed up. Kevin said, didn't you want a picture with him? Arg! People were really packing in, so I couldn't get back up there. Then Marco came out! When I held out the photo for him to sign he looked at it for a minute as if he was trying to figure out where it was taken. He said, "I look sober!" He signed it and I got another picture with him , and this time he made sure he didn't look sober! :) I was very glad to have been able to have my photo signed! By this time I was able to get back in to where Jukka was and I got another picture with him as well. Then Tuomas came out and I was able to get a photo with him as well! I shook his hand and told him how much we appreciate his music. We waited until 1:30am but Empuu and Anette never came out, so we got in the van to drive to Jer and Renee's house where we were going to crash for what little of the night was left!

This has been a fun adventure this year heading off to here and there to see this band that we have grown to like so much! It has been neat to see the crowds growing at each show (and the prices of tickets going up with each show) and seeing that Nightwish's fan base is really growing here in the US! Hopefully they will get that new album done soon and be back to the US as early as possible in 2010. Because, when they do get here, you know where we will be!

See all the Nightwish at the Wiltern pics HERE.

Marco, Jukka, & Tuomas!

2008-09-14T01:31:00.000-07:00

Lora got more pics with Nightwish!

Never Forget

2008-09-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

Lily and Zachary's 2nd Birthday Party!

2008-09-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

This morning we left early and drove down to Castaic for Lily and Zachary’s 2nd birthday party. They had the party at Scooter’s Jungle which is like a big, huge bounce house! (We all laughed at the irony that last year when the party was outside it was 107°, but this year, when it is indoors, it is only 85° outside. Go figure!)

There were slides and bouncy houses, games (like ping-pong and air hockey) and a zip line. All the kids were having a great time! When Amanda and Rebecca first climbed to the top of the slide, Amanda stood there nervous for a moment, and then Rebecca went flying by her and down the slide. She must have figured that it couldn’t be that bad, and then after that we could barely keep them off the slide! Katrina went down a few times with Kevin and Lora, but she mainly stayed in a little toy area that she was comfortable in.

There was a lot of food and the kids got pizza for lunch and then there was a yummy cake! We all song Happy Birthday to them (one half of the room sang Zach and Lily and the other half sang Lily and Zach so it would be even!) It was a fun birthday party!

After the party we did a few geocaches (15 of them today!) while Jeremy and Renee got the kids to sleep and then we went over and visited for a while. The twins opened their present from us (we love these books by Leslie Patricelli - Yummy Yucky, Quiet Loud, Big Little, and No no Yes yes) and then our girls opened their gifts from their aunt and uncle. The kids had a great time playing!

We finally had to go and we got a few more caches on the way home. We stopped in Gorman, on the Grapevine, on the way home for dinner. Traffic was pretty light, mostly because we were traveling the opposite direction of the holiday traffic, and believe it or not, we made it home before 10:30pm!

See all the birthday party/road trip pics HERE.

Blogging my weight loss journey - month 8

2008-08-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

Because of our schedule tomorrow, I am not going to be able to weigh and measure in the morning, so I am doing it one day early this month.

Can you say PLATEAU?! Arg!! I am exactly the same as last month. I don’t want to discourage myself, but at the same time, my final goal, which seemed so reasonable at the beginning of the year, is now looking less and less reachable. That’s ten pounds a month for four straight months, and that seems fairly unlikely given my track record of the last four months.

My weight is the same and my inches are the same. Nothing has changed. Actually, that is not exactly true. Three days ago I changed my exercise videos. I am hoping that a change to my workouts will jump start me past this plateau. I am using the FIRM workouts, which have been my favorites for nearly twenty years. There is a lot of paraphernalia involved, so when I started again this year I wanted something really easy and simple, so I went with Turbo Jam. Now, that I have been exercising regularly for over six months I can deal with all the extra stuff (weights, boxes, sticks, 2x4s, etc. -- it sounds funky, but you’ve got to see them!) Even with eight months of exercise under my belt, the last three days of FIRM exercises have given me sore muscles, so I know I am working harder and that is a good thing!

Also, my friend Cory and I started walking at night and that lasted about a week before all our schedules got in the way, but I am hoping after this holiday weekend we can get back into that habit, and that may help as well.

Hopefully the next month’s blog post will be much more exciting!

Excited!

2008-08-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Letters to the Editor only allow you 200 words, so I thought I would post about this! I am not one to wear my politics on my sleeve, but often that is what a blog is for, right?!

I feel very strongly about my right and responsibility to vote! Yet I have had little to be excited about in the political process for a long time. For many years I feel that our choice for president has been a vote for the lesser of two evils. I was feeling that way about this election as well. . . until today!

I am so excited that Senator McCain has chosen Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate!

For the first time in this and many elections I am excited and wanting to talk to people about what is happening. I called my mother, who lives in Alaska, this morning and we had a great talk about Sarah Palin. I have not lived in Alaska since before Palin was elected, so I am not familiar with her as a politician. My mother said that she is sad that Palin could be the VP only because that would mean that Alaska would lose her as it's governor. She really likes Governor Palin and all that she has done for the state of Alaska and it's citizens. Governor Palin has an 88% approval rating in her state!

Now, I am not so naive as to believe that there were not some powerful politically strategic reasons that McCain chose her -- the fact that she is female may draw voters who are still upset that Hillary didn't win, the fact that she is pro-drilling fits with his energy plan, to name two -- but the fact that he chose her makes me happy in two ways. One, McCain had the gumption to put a woman on the ticket and not play it safe with more of the usual. Two, she is really a great person. When I heard that she was the choice, I was excited just because she was from Alaska, and how cool is that! Then I heard her speak! She is genuine and sincere and that is missing from so many of our politicians today and it has made most of us very cynical about what we hear coming out of their mouths. So far, from what I have seen and heard, all that she says about herself can be backed up with reality. I like that! Her acceptance speech blew me away and I am excited to see where she can go from here!

For the first time in a long time, I can't wait for November 4th!!!

-Lora

Read an article about Sarah Palin HERE.

Butterflies!

2008-08-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we were given a Butterfly Treehouse by a friend of ours. She had ordered it for her grandson, but it arrived too early and the larvae would die before he got there. So, we took it home and the girls were excited to watch the lifecycle of the butterflies.

The larvae had their own food stuff in a small cup and they would feed off that for several days before they went on to become butterflies. The girls took a close look at them and decided to name them (although I am not sure how they thought they were able to tell them apart). They called them Climber, Eater, Hanger, Small and Cat Deeley (caterpillar - cat - Cat Deeley, from So You Think You Can Dance). Anyway, we watched them grow, pretty much doubling their size each day.

After a few days the caterpillars crawled to the top of the cup and attached themselves and formed their chrysalises. The chrysalises were attached to a paper disc in the top of the lid of the cup and so we opened the cup and took out the paper disc and attached it to the mesh side of the Butterfly Treehouse.

And then we waited. And waited. And waited. For the girls seven to ten days is an eternity. One morning the girls woke up and were so excited that four of the butterflies had come out of their chrysalises. We put some flowers and a slice of orange on a plate with some sugar water sprinkled on top and we put it in the bottom of the enclosure. There was one more that hadn't come out yet and I was hoping to take a few pictures as it emerged, but in the five minutes it took to run to the post office and back, the last one came out of it's chrysalis.

We fed them for a few days and then today we released them. We figured they were anxious to go, as there were several of them that would flutter madly around the enclosure, but when we opened the enclosure we actually had to pretty much chase them out. They stopped long enough to perch on the girls fingers for a moment, but then they were gone. It was fun! Rebecca is already asking when we will be doing it again!

To see all the day by day photos of these butterflies CLICK HERE. .

Back to School

2008-08-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

This morning the girls went back to school. Amanda was nervous and excited! She was up nearly the whole night with a nervous stomach. Rebecca was pretty even keeled. It’s just another day for her.

Kevin went in late to work and we all took Rebecca to Sun Empire (which was extensively more chaos than usual!) and got her to her third grade class with Mrs. Sutherland. When she walked into the classroom there were several kids who called out, “Rebecca! Over here! Your desk is over here!” I was glad to hear that, as ever since Kindergarten, Rebecca has been in classes where she had only one other student from the class year before. This year there are quite a few kids in her class from last year, from church, and, ironically, from Kindergarten. Wonderful! When I have told anyone about who Rebecca’s teacher is this year they have all told me what a great teacher she is! I am glad to hear that as well!

Next we took Amanda over to Liberty Intermediate. Much less chaos there. That campus has pretty well got it together. (It’s the parents that cause issues.) Amanda’s class is in the new building that was completed just before the end of last year. Her teacher is the 6th grade GATE teacher, Mr. Kismet. Most of the kids from last year are in her class again, so no worries about friends there!

They are going to do well! Both of them did very well on their STAR tests last year and they have done a lot of reading during the summer. We are very proud of our girls and how much they love school! Now Katrina and I get some time together!

Road Trip 2

2008-08-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to figure out why Lora would think that I had the camera in the first place. She took it into the resturant, one would think she would take it out. While we were there, I even asked her why she brought it in. (I know, it sounds funny. It sounded just as funny when I was asking it. She doesn't go ANYWHERE without it.) But somehow, since I was the one who left it behind, I was the one who had to go get it.(?)

I figured I could make a ride out of it on the new bike. The fact that the new ST gets better than 40mpg made it an easy decision. I'm not one to ditch church, but I really didn't want to be riding accross the Valley floor on a near 100° summer afternoon, so I headed out in the morning.

I got to the resturant right at the noon rush and met a harried manager who would have been happy to have one (or six) less things to deal with at that moment. I told him who I was and he quickly told the hostess, "I'll be right back. I gotta go get this guy out of the doghouse." (What did Lora tell them on the phone last night?) A moment later, the manager was back, he tossed me the camera over the counter (literally), and I'm out the door.

As I'm getting on the bike, a quick look at the GPS reminds me that I'm only 6-8 miles from the top of Hecker Pass. This is the pass between Gilroy & Watsonville, and while it's short, it's twisty and one of the prettiest roads in the State. Since I was right there, I ran up to the top, just in front of a local Mustang car club. I snapped a few pics and headed back down.

On the way back, I stopped in Casa de Fruita for a moment. While I was sitting there, two more bikes, a Yamaha FJR and a Harley Fat Boy, each with two riders, pulled up and stopped next to me. The guys & I talked bikes for a while, and I overheard one of their wives saying how funny it was to be out on a trip with two Kevins. I looked at her and asked if her husband's name was Kevin. She said "Yes" and added that both of their husbands were named Kevin. I raised my hand and said, "Well, so am I!" She then asked if my middle name was Wayne. When I said it was, she yelled at her husband (the FJR rider) "Hey! This guy's your twin!" It was his middle name too. When she asked the other Kevin (the Harley rider) what his middle name was, he declined to answer.

Over Pachaco Pass, past the San Luis Reservoir and B. F. Sisk Dam and through the Valley's inversion layer. Up in Gilroy, the temperatures were in the 70's. Headed into the Valley, the temps were climbing into the 90's. The wind was very strong blowing into the Valley; between the downhill grade and the tailwind, my fuel consumption gauge was showing 60-70 MPG! Very nice. I stopped at the San Luis Drain visitor's center on top of the dam to look at their exhibits about the dam construction. (Interesting to me, probably not so much for the girls.) The water was very low behind the dam, so low, in fact, that the dam power plant intakes were exposed. They're usually under 50 feet of water. Interesting to see. After a short visit, and a few pics. I was on my way again.

By the time I got to the Valley floor, it was afternoon and well above 90°. Just where I didn't want to be and the reason why I left early in the morning. No matter. It was fun to get out on a second road trip in two days. I may have to start leaving things behind on all of our family road trips.

Total trip: 260 miles.
Average fuel: 46.3mpg.
Camera: returned (with a few extra pics).
Lora: Relieved and Happy.

Mission accomplished.

Road Trip!

2008-08-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

We decided to spend yesterday, the last day of summer vacation, on a road trip to the coast! It was a spur of the moment decision the night before, so we just played it by ear. It has been so hot here in the Valley that we decided to escape for the day!

We left a lot later than we wanted to, but that seems to be par for the course. With snacks, sand shovels and cache pages in hand we started our way towards the beach.

We drove up through Mendota and Firebaugh and then caught the 152 west. We drove through Pacheco Pass and stopped in Casa de Fruita near lunch time. There were a few caches there, so we got them first and then the girls got to pick out a fruit to go with their lunch. Amanda picked half a watermelon, Rebecca picked half a cantelope and Katrina picked a basket of strawberries. Yum! We also got some dried fruits and nuts as well. I picked up some dried figs and dates and have plans for a future what-would-Jesus-eat lesson. The girls also watched the train go by, played on a train engine and explored other fun things they have there.

While we were in the fruit stand we saw an accident happen out in the intersection. A semi was swinging wide to make the turn back onto the freeway and the trailer completely ran over a mid-size pick up truck! I don’t know if the guy in the pick-up truck didn’t realize the semi was swinging wide and tried to get passed him on the right, but the semi just drove along the side of his truck and knocked him clean off into the dirt on the side fo the road. The semi didn’t even notice and kept on going, getting on the freeway before we could even think to get a license plate number. The driver of the pick-up truck couldn’t even get out his driver side door and had to climb out the passenger side. He got on his phone as he walked around the truck. Kevin went out to go let him know that we had seen the accident, but before we could, he took off. We called the CHP to let them know we had seen it, but without an identifiable victim it is hard for them to follow up.

Anyway, after lunch we got back on the road, heading through Gilroy and Hecker Pass (that drive is so beautiful!) and then down through Watsonville to the coast. We stopped at one beach, near Aptos, and walked down under an old train tressle. That was fun! (Again, this is why we love geocaching! We would not know to have stopped at this spot if not for a cache nearby.) We decided to go to another beach a little farther down the coast, and we really liked it. It was Manresa State Beach, and there is a campground there and everything. (We want to come back another time and camp there!)

The beach was nice, although the sun was firmly behind the clouds (thanks to the hot weather in the Valley), so it was cool and windy. Amanda and Rebecca had a great time playing in the waves! They made a friend and they all collected sand crabs and put them in a bucket that we had brought. Katrina spent all her time digging in the sand up higher on the beach. She was not keen on the waves getting too close to her. The clouds were really low and there was so much mist it felt like it was sprinkling on us.

When chill and hunger had got the better of us, we left the beach and took the long route back, walking up through the campground area. By the time we got cleaned up and back on the road home it was nearly 7:30pm. We drove through Watsonville, but not being familiar with the town, we didn’t know a good place to stop for dinner. We kept going, back over Hecker Pass, and stopped in Gilroy. We went to the Black Bear Diner, which we had been to once before on a trip up to Oregon. There was a wait, so forty minutes and three very hungry, whiny girls later, we finally were seated and ordered dinner.

It was about 10:00pm when we finished dinner. Katrina was already resting her head on my shoulder and everyone seemed to be listing slightly. I got up to pay and then we scooted the girls out to the van. They were all sound asleep before we got to the city limits.

We called Kevin’s mom to see how she was doing (her long-time boss and friend, Jeff Dockstader, passed away on Friday. She called us this morning to let us know. He had a heartattack on the way home from work and his car slammed into a house. Jeff was one of the witnesses at our wedding, so we knew him well too. What a sad thing to have happen.). Then we called Lora’s mom to see how she was doing (he’s heading to Homer this for a week of glassmaking!).

We arrived home at about 12:20 in the morning. We had found nine caches, carried home a lot of sand and had taken a ton of photos to document the whole thing!

We got the girls into bed and started unloading the car. We had done it a little at a time separately, so it was a few minutes before Kevin asked where the camera was. We both said: “I THOUGHT YOU HAD IT!!!” Yikes! We got online and looked up the Black Bear Diner and got the number for the restaurant in Gilroy. Thankfully an employee was still there! I described where we were sitting and what the camera looked like and they confirmed that they had found it! Whew! She asked if we would be back tonight to pick it up. I told her we were all the way back in Fresno and so we would be there the next day. They said they would keep it in the safe for us.

So, this morning, at about 8:30am, Kevin hopped on the motorcycle and headed for Gilroy. He has been gone for over seven hours. . . can you say Road Trip? : )

See all of our Road Trip pics HERE.

Blogging my weight loss journey - Month 7

2008-08-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Since I have been talking so much about my size 16 jeans, I thought I had better take this month's photo with them on! (Thanks Amanda for taking my picture!)

The word of the month was definitely TURNAROUND! I feel really good about how things went this month! I exercised a LOT more this month! (Again -- LOVE Turbo Jam! I am especially enjoying my Turbo Jam LIVE! workouts!) I can really tell that all my exercising is improving my metabolism! I also got my portion sizes back down to where they need to be. AND, I started writing down the foods that I am eating again. I HATE doing that, but I really needed to make sure that I writing down what I was eating so that I would be accountable for my food choices.

I honestly did not think that I would have lost that much weight this month, although I hoped to reach my goal of passing 178 lbs, which is the halfway mark, but I know that I have lost inches. With all the exercise and strength training this month I know that I am building up muscle, which weighs more than fat, so even though I am losing inches, my muscle mass is balancing out the fat loss.

I am sloping down in my hips where I used to bump out. When I lie down on my back, my stomach doesn't fold over onto my legs. This is all very exciting!

For the first time I am seeing photos of myself and I am not thinking, "look how fat I still am." Especially when I see photos of me from around Christmas time. I can really see the difference then! It is easier to tell when you have that type of comparison!

So, to recap my goals:

*140 lbs by the time I turn 40
*to get below 200 lbs COMPLETED!
*to get back below last years 32 lbs. lost COMPLETED!
*fit into size 16 jeans COMPLETED!
*pass 178, the halfway mark COMPLETED!
*my stomach no longer touches any other part of my body

I have added three more goals:

*waist measurement less than 32.5"
*body fat less than 30%
*change my eating behavior for good!

(Back in 2004 I had my body mass measured, and it was a depressing 47.6% fat. That is nearly half my body mass in fat, AND, at the time I only weighed 198 lbs. So, when I started this year, I had another 20 lbs. on top of that.)

I feel that I have set realistic goals and I am pleased with my progress.

So, for this month:

weight loss this month: 4 lbs.
inches lost this month: 12"

TOTAL weight loss: 41 lbs!
TOTAL inches lost: 57.25"

Awesome!!!

May the Force be with You

2008-07-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today was Amanda's 11th birthday party. She wanted a Star Wars theme last year, but since there was so many Harry Potter things going on last summer, we did Harry Potter last year and saved Star Wars for this year. As a huge fan of Star Wars (my brothers and I can probaby recite the entire original Star Wars movie by heart!) I was excited to do this party for her and had some great ideas for fun stuff to do at the party!

The invitations we sent out looked like a light saber handle and then when you pulled out the "blade" it had this printed on it: "In a galaxy far, far away, on the morning of 28 July, a baby girl was born. The Jedi Council named her Amanda and they knew she was the chosen one. In the 11 years that followed her birth, young Amanda has been learning the powers of the Force. Meanwhile, the Republic discovered a new enemy. The Jedi Knights felt a strong disturbance in the Force. Fear, pain and suffering have opened the path to the Dark side. Many Jedi Knights have been lost. The very future of the Jedi Order is in jeopardy. Young Padawan Amanda has been called by the Council to seek out future Jedi. Master Yoda is urging the younglings to complete their training and take part in the upcoming trials.

Each Padawan’s presence is requested to complete their Jedi training and prepare for the trials on 26 July 2008. Transport to the Jedi Temple, on Coruscant, will be departing promptly at 10:00am from the Nehring docking bay. Please advise the Jedi Council as soon as possible as to whether each Padawan will accept the challenge of the trials.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Please note that due to new security protocols in the Republic, no weapons will be allowed on all transport vessels. Rest assured that the Jedi Council has secured enough equipment for the Padawans to complete their training."

The guests arrived at 10:00am. We had a sign on the front door that said Welcome to the Jedi Training Academy. We had Padawan tunics for each of the trainees to wear. The house was decorated with black and silver foil stars, Star Wars figurines and the dining room table had a black tablecloth, napkins, forks and cups and a large black plate with a smaller red, green or blue plate on top of it. There was also some Star Wars confetti sprinkled all over the middle of the table.

First we made lightsabers (foam pipe insulation wrapped with electrical tape) and they got to choose which color of light saber they wanted - red, green, blue or purple. Then the Jedi trainees went outside into the desert wasteland of Tatooine (our unfinished backyard) and had light saber agility training. They each got a red balloon and tried to keep it up in the air with their lightsabers.

Then it was time to break the Death Star pinata. Amanda helped me to make the pinata and I painted it and drew all the details on it. Then we took a wooden dowel and wrapped it in electrical tape so that it looked like a lightsaber and the trainees used that to break the pinata.

When they came back inside, we took photos of them with lightsabers. The photos turned out really cool! It really looks like they are holding lightsabers! We told them to make their best Jedi faces, and we got some good ones!

The trainees then took a break for lunch, and they had Saber Dogs, Tatooine Tortillas, Millenium Melon and Jedi Juice. (That's hot dogs, blue tortilla chips, watermelon chunks and green kool-aid with purple kool-aid ice cubes.) For dessert they had Force Floats (blue kool-aid and Sprite mixed together with vanilla ice cream).

After lunch they made pretzel lightsabers. They dipped pretzel sticks into red, green, blue or purple candy melts. Then they watched the movie, Star Wars, Episode I. (As her parents, we kept trying to convince her to watch the REAL first episode, but it was her party after all, so we let her choose.)

While the trainees were watching the movie, I put together a certificate that congratulated them on completing their Jedi Training that had their photo on it. After the movie ended and they were ready to head home, they each got a goodie bag that had coloring pages, some scratch magic stars, a package of pop rocks and a light stick in it.

The trainees had a great time and were ready to go out into the galaxy and fight the forces of evil!

-Lora

See all the Star Wars party pics HERE.

Observation

2008-07-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

How observant are you? Can you pass this test?

Just for the record, Lora & I both failed.

Mid-Life Crisis

2008-07-12T16:38:00.001-07:00

I've been planning a mid-life crisis for a few years now. The planned answer/remedy was to be a new BMW motorcycle, particularly a R1200RT. During a recent visit (of many) to the BMW dealer who services my 1993 BMW R100GS, I started seriously looking at them. While I was well aware of the price of admission for one of them, the thought of actually chewing on that high price - nearly $19,000! the way I wanted it outfitted - almost triggered a crisis of its own. No new RT this time around. I'd have to make due with the GS.

On the way home, I made an unplanned stop at Madera Honda Suzuki. I was in the neighborhood and had never been in. Being a bit depressed from the above mentioned BMW shop visit, I went in to take a look. I walked around, looked at the bikes they had, and was headed for the door when I saw this 2006 Honda ST1300; Honda's version of the BMW RT. Comparable to an RT in purpose of design, the differences are mainly in engine architecture and electronic gizmos. Another difference is the price tag. I had walked right by it when I came in and didn't see it. I had never thought about an ST, but this one caught my eye.

It was used, but not much. The previous owner had bought this one new to replace his ST1100. He had the dealer trick it out with a few after market items before he even picked it up: a Heated Corbin saddle and Corbin Smuggler trunk (that's what really caught my eye first), Helibar riser with attached RAM GPSr mount, dual power outlets, Honda tank & knee pads and saddle bag liners. Being more than a year old, the price on the sticker was less than a new one (and much less than a BMW). The price would have been worth it if the bike was bone stock, without the after market add-ons, but the add-ons were there as well as the stock seat. And most suprising was the mileage: 376 total miles! The bike hadn't even had it's first service yet and still had two years left on the factory warranty! I suprised the salesman by looking for him, handing him my card and telling him I would be back to ride it.

I left the shop and spent the next 20 minutes driving home figuring out how to tell Lora I found a new bike. That conversation obviously went well.

I'll post more about living with the bike later.

See many more pics of my first week with the bike HERE.

Rebecca's new glasses

2008-07-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Rebecca got her first pair of glasses shortly after she turned three years old. They were light brown metal frames with Spongebob on the ear pieces. Over the next three years she got two pink pairs in a row. She has worn this last pink pair for about two years.

Recently we went in to have her eyes checked again and even though her prescription did not change, her glasses were small and her lenses were scratched. I hadn't planned on getting new glasses for her unless the prescription had changed, but the doctor's office suggested we see what the insurance would pay for towards a new pair of glasses. Since we had different insurance than the last time, we decided to give it a try.

We went to the glasses shop and while the sales lady was checking with the insurance, Rebecca started trying on frames. She had a great time and picked out a pair of pink wire frames. The sales lady came back and told us that insurance would cover everything! Cool! I was excited about that! At the last minute, Rebecca changed her mind and chose a dark red plastic frame. I asked if she was sure that was what she wanted and she said yes.

So today we went and picked up her brand new pair of glasses. The frames are bigger so they fit her better, and she got transition lenses which she was very excited about! She looks great!

Happy 4th of July!!

2008-07-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

We have been out of town on the Fourth of July for the last two year in a row (New Mexico on the way to Texas in 2006 and Alaska in 2007), and this year the girls begged us to be home for the fourth of July. So we did, and we had a great time!

On Wednesday we decorated our house. We put out a bunch of flags and hung some twirly foil star things that looked pretty cool. (Unfortunately the wind played havoc with them for two days and pretty well destroyed them.)

On Thursday we went to the Kerman Ward potluck BBQ. There was a whole lot of food and we all set up our chairs and blankets on the back lawn of the chapel. When it started to get a little bit dark, the kids all got sparklers. (Most of them started writing with them on the blacktop. What's up with that? What ever happened to twirling them around in the air?) Then the kids moved back and the Young Men lit some fireworks there in the parking lot. When it got dark, the fireworks started. The city of Kerman shoots of their fireworks from the high school stadium, which is a block away from the chapel, so we had great seats! The fireworks display was awesome! We got some great photos! We love our new camera!

Today our culdesac, Michelle Avenue, all gets together and has a big block party. This is the fourth year we have done it. Everyone really got into the 4th of July spirit. There were things going all day long, snow cones at one house and swimming at another, water balloons at another, etc.. We had a potluck BBQ, and we all got a chance to sit and talk. We even got a fly-over of sorts. Some jets who were lining up for a fly-over of the downtown Fresno stadium flew over us and it was really neat!

As it began to get darker, we got out the poppers (they make a popping, craking noise when you throw them at the ground) and sparklers for all the kids. There had to be at least 30 kids out there, all going through what had to be a million sparklers. We had a huge bag that we had been kind of collecting over the last several years, and then everyone else had some too. Then we all pooled our fireworks and had quite a show. We had bought the Moondance Fountain and the Red, White and Blue Salute or something like that from Phantom Fireworks and I want to remember those for next year. They were great!

It was a fun way to celebrate the birth of our nation and the freedoms we enjoy and should never take for granted.

-Lora

See all the July 3rd pics HERE.

See all the July 4th pics HERE.

Blogging my weight loss journey - Month 6

2008-07-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Setback. That is the word for the day. Or the month, as it were. Apparently I am still under the delusional expectation that I can eat things I am not supposed to and not gain weight. I find it so frustrating that I can't just get to where I want to be weight-wise and then not have to work at staying there for the rest of my life.

And, yikes! I started sneaking food again. That is always a HUGE red flag. Things are definitely going in the wrong direction if I am trying to sneak food!

My back started hurting right around the middle of the month and I was one, mad!!! and two, worried that I might hurt it worse, so I backed off on the exercise, which, of course led to no exerise for the rest of the month. Arg!

I am halfway through the year and I am halfway to my goal. I have to get my act together and get going back in the right direction. I have to get my portion control back under control. I have to stop eating after 7pm. I have to stop buying sugar-free desserts, because I have been eating them as though it's okay to eat three of them at a time. As much as I HATE to have to do it, I need to start writing things down again so I have to be truly accountable to myself for the things that I eat.

Month 6
weight lost: +1
inches lost: +5"

Next month's word - turnaround!

Katrina is 3!!

2008-06-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Katrina's birthday party! Katie is three!! She has been telling that to everyone who will listen!

We had a zoo theme for her party and it was a lot of fun. We had family (Gramma, Papa, Uncle Weston, Aunt Laura and cousin Stone) and lots of friends (the Foxes, the Molloys, the Jorgensens and the Bouds) to help Katrina celebrate. We had hot dogs and chips and lots of yummy fruit and then we all sang "Happy Birthday" and Katrina blew out the candles on her cake. We put in the movie, Madagascar, which is the zooiest movie we have, and the kids all had fun goodie bags to take home.

Katrina is a wonderful three year old and we are sure glad she has been a part of our family for the last three years! We have been very blessed to have her here.

-Lora

See more Zoo-Party pics HERE.

My brush with Jury Duty

2008-06-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have been called to Jury Duty many times in the past, but I have either had a reason to be excused (leaving the country, giving birth, etc.), or I called several days in a row and was then excused over the telephone. This was the first time that I was actually called to go down to the County Courthouse to report for Jury Duty.

When we arrived on Tuesday morning we registered and then, just as they were about to show the Orientation video, they called a large group of us up to one of the courtrooms. We got there at 9:30am and they started calling a group of eighteen up to the jury box. The judge questioned these eighteen, replacing those that were excused for hardship or other reasons. (I learned a LOT about the jury selection process that I was unaware of. I thought that they talked to all the prospective jurors and then whittled it down to the ones that they needed.)

Early on in the discussion the judge named the charges that were being brought against the defendant. He was being charged with rape of a minor, lewd and lacivious acts on a minor and felony threat. When I heard that my heart just about dropped out of my chest, and you could see that many of the other jurors felt the same way that I did. I did not want to have to sit through a case in which I had to hear all the details of how this man allegedly raped and abused this twelve year old girl. Many of the jurors said they could have sat on a trail for burglary, possibly even murder, before they wanted to deal with the nature of the charges in this case.

It was fascinating to me to watch all the people who, within their minds, knew what the law was and how a person is innocent until proven guilty, but in their hearts, grappling with the idea of being able to be fair and impartial, given the nature of the charges. Several people were saying that they figured he was guilty because the district attorney's office wouldn't bring a case to trial in an overburdened judicial system if they didn't have some good evidence. The public defender and the district attorney asked several very leading questions that gave us a little bit of insight into the possible evidence and arguements in the case. At one point the public defender asked one of the jurors that had recently been through a divorce if she would be bothered to know that the twelve-year-old girl's mother was married to the defendant and they were going through a divorce at the time of the incident. (The DA objected to that question, so he didn't pursue it.) The DA asked several times if the jurors felt that being under the influence of alcohol and meth meant that you were not responsible for your actions. She also asked if we thought that having a mental issue meant that you were not responsible for your actions. The jurors all agreed that being under the influence, or mentally ill, did not mean that you were not responsible for your actions or that you were not capable of intent. And so it went for most of the day.

At 4:30pm a full jury has not been selected, so we had to come back again this morning. At 9:30am we were invited into the courtroom, but then a few minutes later we were asked to step out again. We waited out in the hall for nearly forty-five minutes before we were asked to come back into the courtroom. The judge apologized for the delay in the trial, but explained that the defendant had decided to accept a plea deal and that the case was over and we were all excused. Whew! His voice seemed to get kind of tunneled and far away, as though it wasn't real at first, but when I heard the collective sigh of relief from the rest of the jurors, I knew that I had heard what I thought I did and it was over. I am glad that the twelve year old girl didn't have to sit on the stand and relive all that she had gone through. We all wondered if the depth of the discussion we all went through yesterday made the defendant doubt how well he would be able to do in a jury case, and so he decided to accept responsibilty and go to jail. I am just so grateful for the blessing of not having to be on this jury.

-Lora