Laugh Out Loud moment of the day!!

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

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!

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

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

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!!

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!!

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!!

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!!

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

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.