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

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!!

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

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

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

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

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!!

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!!

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!!

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!!

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