Cow Assembly

 Yesterday I was subbing at Monte Gardens and they had the Cow Assembly presented by the Dairy Counsel. It was a fun assembly and we learned all sorts of things about cows.  This is Snickers, a 6 year old dairy cow.  We learned how to milk her, how they chew, about their one stomach (with 4 pockets), and how they have a lot of the same body parts as us.

This is the adorable 3 week-old calf, Tootsie.  She was so cute!  We got to pet her as we left the assembly. I'm glad I was able to be there for this fun assembly!

Happy 14th Birthday Week Calissa!

 Calissa started off her birthday week, with a dinner with family on Sunday.  She asked for homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (surprise, surprise), homemade rolls and a chocolate cake for dessert. 

 Wednesday, her actual birthday was homemade cinnamon rolls and birthday presents before school. 

 She was super excited to get a new bike!

 She even rode it before (and after) school! 

 Friday, she had a sleepover with friends.  They had pizza, brownies, opened presents, 

 played basketball and wiffle ball in the backyard.

They also played games, chatted, played on their phones, and watched The Princess Diaries. They ate food, drank lots of soda and got some sleep.  In the morning they had donuts, hot chocolate and played on the Wii.  She had a great time and a fun birthday week.

We love you Calissa!

CHS Awards Night

Conner had his awards night at Concord on Wednesday night.  They honored the Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors in the awards ceremony.

Conner received the Excellence in History award and also a 4.0 award for all of HS so far.  We are so proud of all of his hard work!

Hello, Shakespeare!

Last Friday night we attended Calissa's final play at Sequoia.  She was in Drama for 2 years and really loved performing each Semester.  The performed "Hello, Shakespeare!"

Calissa played two roles.  Celia and Paige.

She had a big part in the earlier play, so this one was a smaller part.

She did a great job and is a natural actress!

She was also inducted into the Junior Thespians Society that night as well.

We are very proud of all of her hard work over the years!

Congratulations Calissa!

Volleyball Team Party

Last night was our Volleyball team party at Fuddruckers.  We had a terrific turnout.  26 of our 28 players were there!  We ate, watched the DVD I put together, they gave out awards, and we had yummy cupcakes.

Drew doesn't like to talk about the players. He says it's his least favorite thing to do, so he assigns each player another player to talk about.  They are suppose to share something they admire about the other player and a favorite memory from the season. Devon talked about Conner.  He said he thought Conner was the best setter he's seen, he also talked about how broken he is! His favorite memory was about himself not playing much (Devon) and how when he did come in he was confused about rotation.  Conner would always tell him he was in the wrong spot (in a not so nice way).  It was a funny memory and hopefully Devon will recover from Conner's helpfulness.  

Conner received a scholar athlete award for a 4.0 GPA, and he also made 2nd Team All-League!  What an honor to receive that a Sophomore!  We are so proud of him and are excited to watch him continue to grow and improve over the next two years!

A trip to Boise

This last month has been a tough one for my Dad.  His brother Scott passed away in April, they moved to Utah, and then his brother Paul passed away in May.  His dad isn't doing well either.  My dad went from being the oldest to the only child in a matter of 4 weeks.  Andrew and I decided to go to Boise for the funeral to support my dad and our cousins.

 We left really early Thursday morning and arrived around 11:00 in the morning.  My parents picked us up at the airport.  We went out to lunch at Zupas and then went to the sight of the Old Idaho Penitentiary.  Drew and I saw a trail and a hillside, so we headed off on a quick 1/2 hour hike. 

 Along the dusty path we stopped to take a picture.

 This area we were hiking was called "Table Rock."  There is a 60 foot cross up at the top.  We would have gone all the way to the top, but our parents were waiting down below to tour the penitentiary.

The view from the high point.  It was a pretty hike!

 We found our parents and started a self-guided tour of the prison.

 Here's my dad in the Women's Ward.  When the prison first opened the women were housed with the men.  (Which we didn't think was probably a good idea).

 With the landscaping, the prison grounds almost look like a college campus.

 We took some pictures.

Andrew and I.

 My mom and dad.

 We also dressed up and posed for our mug shots.

 Just call me Chief Crazy Horse and Drew, Two Gun Farrel. 

 We got locked behind the bars.

 The youngest inmate was a 10 year-old who killed his mother when she asked him to do the laundry. Yikes!

 The benches were for guards only.

 The safe in the warden's office.

After exploring, we headed to Nampa to check into the hotel and rest for a while.  Drew and I had a nice chat that afternoon and then we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my parents.  They were celebrating their anniversary. After dinner we were trying to find a place to walk/run in the morning.  We could see that the Boise River was only about 4 miles away so we drove down there to see if there were any trails to walk along.

 Sure enough, we found the river and found a beautiful trail to walk/run on in the morning.

 The next morning we got up early and drove down to the Star River Walk.

 It was a beautiful morning and we didn't see anyone else on the trail.

 It was a peaceful time as the sun was rising to think about my Uncle Paul.

 

 After our adventure, we headed back to the hotel to get ready and have breakfast.  Then we headed to the church for the viewing and the funeral.  I was asked to play the piano for the service, I accompanied a cousin's daughter and played a piano solo.

 It was great to catch up with cousins I hadn't seen in a while, but sad at the same time too. I also enjoyed learning more about my Uncle Paul.  He was a special man who had a great influence on his family.  He will be missed!

Keith, Paul, Lindsay, Ethan, Mark, Aunt Patricia, Bobbi, and Carrie

 The flowers that were sent from Kevin and Kellie and our family.

Friday afternoon we dropped Drew off at the airport to fly back to CA and my parents and I drove to Utah for me to see their new house and spend another couple of days with them.  They have a beautiful new house and were excited to show it to me.  Saturday, my dad and I went on a walk, went to Charlie's soccer game, went to Abby's bake sale for the refugees, went out to lunch, visited with my Grandpa,visited with Kevin and Kellie, and met Robert and Melanee for dinner. It was a busy but great day.  Sunday, we went to church and the Kevin took me to the airport so I could head home. I'm glad that I was able to go spend that time with my parents and Drew.

RS/YW 5K

While I was out of town, our stake held the annual RS/YW 5K Fun Run.  Travis and Conner were at the Father and Son's Camp-out and I was in Idaho.  I looked at Facebook on Saturday afternoon and there was a picture of Calissa with other people in my ward that had run the race.  I didn't know she was going and I didn't know how she had gotten there.  Evidently, she came in 5th overall.  She did great and is getting excited about Cross Country! I'm glad she's enjoying running ... I hope it continues!

Mother's Day Skype with Elder Burr!

Mother's Day was a great day, but the best part of the day was being able to Skype with Parker from Suriname. He said he was going to Skype around 1:00 our time.  I told Trav he had to be home by 12:45 so we could be ready for his call.  He showed up right around that time and then all of a sudden, my phone rang and it was Parker calling.  His companion wanted to start his call a little earlier, and the Skype wasn't set up yet, so he called my cell. We chatted while Trav got it set up and then we were able to Skype.  Conner came in right around 1:00, so he got there right in time!

It was a great call and we were able to Skype in Trav's parents about half-way through so they could listen in too.  Parker was so happy and it was great to hear him and see him.  The time went by super fast and then it was time to go. Parker said a family-prayer in Dutch before we got off. No tears, just happy smiles as we said good-bye until our Christmas Skype!

Mormon Prom

Conner decided to go to Mormon Prom and asked Lovelyn Helu if she would like to go with him.  He and I made this poster and got some flowers for her.  He decided to take it to Seminary and sneak out during class to put the poster and flowers on her car.  He texted me during class and said she was sitting in her car and what should he do. He finally just went to her car and gave her the poster.

She said yes!

 Here's Conner looking handsome at home before Lovelyn came.  She decided to pick him up since he still has a few months till he's legal to drive other people in his car.

 Lovelyn showed up and we took a few pictures.  He's taller than her, but she came in 3 inch heels.  She looked beautiful and they looked great together!

 After a few pictures, they headed over to the Nausin's house to meet other couples and have dinner.  The exchanged corsages 

 and boutonnieres. 

 Then they took more pictures.

 The girls ...

 and the guys.

 Being silly! 

A picture with mom and dad.

 They had a yummy dinner 

and then headed off to dance the night away at "A Starry Night."  Conner had a fun time.  After the dance, they went to Nations and had some more food.  He made it home around 1:00 am.  I'm so glad he decided to go!