May 2019

Last week Lindzer and her family came up for the day.  It was fun to see them.

We went to the Oakland Temple open house.  It had been under construction for 1.5 years.  They changed almost all of the colors but it seems the hallways are narrower and the ceilings are lower.  I guess they had to make it to seismic code.   

After, we ate at Chipotle in Walnut Creek.  It was yummy. 

This morning I got the kids ready and took them to the gym.  I wanted to update Parker's wall photo and while he was posing, Hanna joined him.  I just couldn't resist not taking her photo too. 

Good old Mister.  His favorite thing right now is for me to jump him on the tramp.  He absorbs the bounce and gets frustrated that he's not going that high, and for me, it's a lot of work.  But he likes it.  "Daddy, can you bounce me?" 

Now we're gonna run the RC boat a little and then watch some TV.  I've been up since 5:30 working on things.   Okay, bye. 

2019 CYO regional meet

Laurel moved from American Fork, UT, to Eldorado Hills.  It's an upscale neighborhood 30 minutes northeast of Sacramento.  

Cute Missy with her baba

Living the dream!  Ha ha.  Assembling new patio furniture.

Also the American dream:  A 3 car garage.  It was fun seeing them and their nice pad.  I'm a bit jealous of it but not of Ryan's commute.

5/11/19 was the last track meet of the season at DVC.

Kira participated in the 4x100 relay, which took 1st.

Skylar finishes the 4x100 in 1st place.

Kira finished the 100m in 3rd place with a time of 16.2

Kira's medley relay took 1st also, with Mariah, Skylar, Skylar.

Overall, track was a great experience for Kira.  I was pleased that she could get herself to her events and that she made friends.  Also it's great that she was so fast with so little training.   I've been thinking about upgrading my old Rebel XTi to a Canon 5d mkiii since it can do video, but everyone warns me about buying used stuff on craigslist.  I understand they're worried that people get rid of defective stuff, but my experience has been that people need cash or the next model more and therefore post functional, good quality stuff. 

Okay, bye. 

Daily Events

Conference fun...playing with gears.

 The kids always find ways to make boring objects so much more fun.  Parker went through a stage that he liked pushing Hanna as fast as he could in this plastic bin.

 Everyone has been really into RC cars.  Danny seems to keep buying them.  Scott is trying to get one go really fast and into timing it. Below are all the kids at Heritage watching the cars.  Blake and Nick, our neighbor, play a lot because they both homeschool.  Nick is a great friend to Blake.  Glad they have each other.

 Date to McDonalds.  This is Hanna's scrunchie face.  It is how she smiles.  It is fun to see how Blake and Hanna have gotten a lot closer this year since he is homeschooling.  The benefit of homeschooling is having time in the week to go on special dates.  Blake liked that he got the #7 because he turned 7.

Horrible photo but this is the jazz band at the mattress fundraiser.  We all went to watch and support Scott.  The boys had just found out that they both made Jazz Band which they were so excited about and I am so excited about.  I thought Scott would make it because he was in it this year, but Tyler really just started dedicating time to piano about a year ago since he started lessons.  He is really talented and you has a gift of feeling emotion when he plays.  He and Scott practiced really hard and Scott did an amazing job getting a couple of kids together once or twice a week to go over the songs after school.  Our home became alive with Jazz.  It was neat to see Scott organize this.  Mr. Fallon was so impressed with Tyler.  It is the first thing that Tyler has had the opportunity to try out for and be a part of.  When he was born I was worried about him not being able to play sports but it is interesting how as kids aren't able to do one thing they fill their life with other things taht are equally as awesome.  A couple of his friends made it next year so I know it will be a great thing for Scott and Tyler to enjoy and be a part of together as well as Tyler be a part of with his friends.  Super proud of them!

A pic from Shawna's baptism from a long time ago.  So happy for her!  Not sure if I wrote about it but nothing compares to seeing the blessings of the gospel come into someone's life and the life of their kids!!  She is incredible.  I am so lucky to have her as a great friend.

Uncle Rich's Funeral

My Grandma's brother passed away and I decided very last minute to go to New Jersey to his funeral.  I didn't know how it would all work out but I really felt like I needed to be there.  I found a red eye to fly out Thursday night and be there in time for the funeral Friday morning.  My flight was delayed and I thought I was going to miss my connecting flight in Arizona but all the flights got delayed because the airport was shutdown from rain.  Phew!  I took the subway and bus to the chapel and my family was there.  It was so great seeing everyone!  The funeral was nice and afterward we went to a really great Italian restaurant that they opened up for the family.  It was great catching up with my mom's cousins and all their kids who are my age. As much time passes in between visits, I just feel this immediate connection and love for our Jersey family.  They were my mom and Grandma's life.  My grandma and her brother had a unique relationship.  He was such a connection from our family to our Jersey family.  I was so grateful for the brother that he was to my grandma. The coolest thing to see was how everyone just took care of everyone.  The family had 3 loses within about a month so when I was there was a lot of grief.  Sue travels about an hour every morning to pick up her great nieces and bring them to school.  Cindy helped Janine with pick ups and drop offs whenever she could since John was so sick.  Denise watched her grandkids whenever she could.  It was so refreshing seeing a family just working together to help in whatever way they could to make everyones lives better with nothing needed in return.  Helping to help.  Loving to love.  It reminded me so much of my parents.  It made me miss them and made me so grateful for a family that was all about unconditional love and help for a family.  Having an Italian family is something to be so proud of because there is something about being there for each other no matter what, no judgement, just love for your family. It was a magical week that I will forever treasure. 

River Otters

I made it through my first month at River Otters.  So far it has gone well and I really enjoy it.  The kids and parents are all really nice.  The kids are eager to learn and there is so much to learn.  There are some really athletic kids but they just have their arms go as fast as they can through the water.  So it takes a lot of time to slow down and relearn.  In some ways that is really exciting.  The hardest part is that we have all the kids into two groups so getting to know all the kids and being able to direct the groups is impossible.  Luckily I have 3 great coaches who are so eager and capable of coaching.  They are all fairly new coaches so I try to help them coach while also coaching a group so that is the most challenging part.  Overall, it is a great fit for our family.  I am excited to help swim in our community.  There is something really rewarding about that. 

Easter Egg Hunt

Shawna had an easter egg hunt at her house and the park. The kids had a great time.  Kira and Tyler are in between wanting to be young and old. Kira invited Kinzie to the egg hunt and they had a great time.  It was great watching them search for the easter eggs and just be kids. Tyler put his airpods in an easter egg and told people he got the golden egg.  It was pretty funny seeing one of the teenage girls reaction.  Great time.  We also did an easter egg hunt at our home which Parker was so into.  He talked about easter egg hunts all week.  It was cute.  His expression of finding a $1 was priceless and I got a picture.  It makes me smile.

Karate

Danny and I have been feeling for a while that Kira should try other sports.  She likes gymnastics but I don't think loves it.  I worry that in a couple years she will wish she did other things and not just dedicate yourself to one sport that somehow gymnastic seems to do.  She liked hanging out with her teammates but I don't think that in her heart of hearts loved it to be there 12 hours a week.  4 hours a day was a lot to be away from home doing one thing.  Scott was doing track so we asked Kira is she wanted to do it and she agreed.  Day 1 she cried, was scared of the coaches and didn't want to do track.  I thought maybe I was wrong to make her try other sports and just settle with gym.  But she went to a meet, made some friends and loved it.   She had no problem going to practice after that.  Scott's feet still really hurt so he ended up not being able to do track but Kira kept choosing to do track over gym.  Same with swim.  When I told her we were going to take a break from gym she didn't want to but I told her that anytime she had a conflict she chose the other sport or activity.  So she agreed.  Not loving the idea of not doing gym, but equally loving the other sports she had time to do.

It is so hard sometimes to be able to follow wisdom that a child might not be able to see and help them see that.  I wonder if I am doing the right thing as a parent or not.  But then I feel peace and know it is the right decision not just for her but also our family.

She loves being active and being with friends so I asked her if she wanted to do karate with Blake which she agreed to.  I have been so impressed with his program and it is literally across the street from our house which I LOVE!! I thought just for the excercise it would be great.  Not to mention less fighting  television or computer or other time wasters.

I didn't know if she would like it but she loves it and it is really fun to see her and Blake together.  They ask to stay for 2 classes and then they go to swim together when Kira doesn't have track.  I never, ever thought my kids would do karate or martial arts and so glad Blake begged to try it.  I love that it a combination of excercise and agility, learning new skills that they have to think about and life mental skills. 

Blake did a jiu-jit-sui camp that he liked.  He is smiling so much more and happy most of the time. What a change from last year when he was so upset all the time.

Sacramento Temple

The boys got to go to the temple with the youth.  It was a great experience for both of them.  I have been trying to get them more involved in doing family history but they haven't caught the family history bug yet.  I am going to keep trying.  Proud of them for going to the temple.  Melissa Fisher got to take them in her car and she said they had a great time.  One story she shared with me was how Scott wanted to listen to classical music on the way home.  Not sure why but she thought it was funny and cute. So excited for the Oakland temple to open again!!!  Can't wait to have one closer.  We are so spoiled but getting to the temple in an hour is such a luxury.

The Flossers

Shawna asked if Blake wanted to be in the Vista Oaks talent show.  He said he did but I was doubtful that he would actually do it.  We went to an easter egg hunt in the afternoon and then he stayed with the kids to rehearse.  When I got to the talent show he was laughing, having fun and seemed excited.  As his time get closer, he started to get a little more nervous but he went up and did it.   He was so serious in the beginning and then went into a great fort night dance.  It was awesome and he did great.  It was fun to have fun and be with some friends.  I know it wasn't easy for him and he did it.  Go Blake! After we went to BJ's to celebrate.  It was a fun date.  Danny met us there from the mens pinewood derby meeting.