March Air Force Base Scout Field Trip - written by Kirk

On Monday the Cub Scouts from the Chaparral & French Valley wards ( big thanks to the Stahls for setting this up) went to March Air Force base in Riverside for a guided tour of the base. The tour included a flight simulator of a C-17. Pilots train on this and it actually felt like we were flying - very cool. The scouts also did a sit-down training session, much like a video game. These areas were off limits to cameras so I do not have pictures of this. It definitely was one of the favorites of the tour. We then went to check out a falcon. They use them to scare off other birds to keep them from getting sucked into the jet engines. The handler informed us falcons can vertically dive, I believe up to 200 mph and can see pray in excess of 10 miles. The best part of the tour was going into a C-17 transport plane. The pilots were able to show the scouts and parents the cock-pit, the capacities, weight, etc. Justins favorite was going into the cock-pit and bunks. As you can see the inside of the plane is huge. The tour ended with the March Air Force base fire dept where the scouts were able to shoot 0ff some water from one of the fire trucks. A great time was had by all.

A Whole New World

A couple of weeks ago, in only a few days, Devin's world expanded quite a bit! He learned to ride a bike without training wheels, play Wii (his new obsession is bowling), games on the computer and drive (we finally bought a new battery for the car and he can't get enough). I have to say he's been a lot easier to deal with lately having these new fun activities. Just look at that smile. :-)

Little Ranger

Avery has a couple of weeks off baseball for Spring Break, so I thought I'd post a few pictures taken up to this point. So cute!

Some of Avery's cute fans...

It was FREEZING one evening when my mom came. Yikes!

Last year it freaked her out to be catcher, but this year she was willing to give it another try....still hated it and didn't want to do it the next inning, but good for her for giving it another try. She made such a cute little catcher!

Outdoor Movie Night

The kids school had a free movie night under the stars last night. So, after Avery's game I headed over there with Avery and Justin while Kirk took Devin home to put him to bed (he has a pretty early bedtime and gets rather cranky and not so fun to be around if up past that time, plus 2 hours in that type of situation would be too long for him). They showed the Chipmunks movie that just came out on video recently and we hadn't seen it. It was a really nice set-up with a huge blow-up movie screen on the field. They had free popcorn, but ran out much too early and the Kona Ice truck was there (snow cone truck - my kids favorite) for a nominal fee. We set up our chairs, had a couple of friends join us, ate their snow cones and enjoyed the movie. Fun times! I hope they start doing this every year. It was a great idea and very fun!

Smarty Pants

On Thursday Justin's 4th grade assembly was held to give out scolastic awards. Justin received 2! One for 100% on District Writing and Math Skills Tests and another for making honor roll. Way to go Justin! We're so proud of you and love you bunches and bunches!

2 Wheelin' stud

Yesterday, on St. Patrick's Day, Devin officially became a 2 wheeler. No need for training wheels anymore for our Devin. Avery's old Dora bike just sits in the back yard getting rusty and every so often a friend that comes over will ride it around the back yard. Yesterday I was out there with him figuring out where my garden will go this year and Avery tells me to look and he's riding that bike. The rear tire was flat, so he couldn't do it all that well, but when Kirk got home and pumped it up he rode it like a pro. This from a kid that only in the last several months just finally learned to pedal. Go Devin!

Activity Days

On Saturday I took the Activity Days girls to the San Diego Temple for a little field trip. We met at the church building at 9:00 am, divided the girls up between our 2 cars (the other leader and myself) and off we went. We were only there for about an hour, but I think the girls really enjoyed themselves and hopefully learned some things about the temple and look forward to going when they are 12. We even got to go inside and one of the temple matrons talked to them a little of what they can expect when they turn 12 if they decide they would like to do baptisms. We then went outside and walked around hoping to see some brides, but didn't, if you can believe that on a Saturday! So, we found a nice spot and had our sack lunches and talked and took some pictures. It was a very nice day...up until we were just about home and a dog ran out on the freeway causing the car 2 cars behind us to have an accident and roll over and the girls witnessed it. Yikes!

So long Disneyland

Our passes expire this Friday, so last Friday we did it up big. The kids had the day off for no good reason other than budget cuts, so we headed off for a full day of fun. I purposely didn't bring a camera so we could fully enjoy it without stopping for photo ops constantly. We got there at about 10:45 and left after the fireworks at about 10:00 that night. It was pretty crowded, but still a lot of fun! We sure have enjoyed our passes this past year and certainly got our money's worth out of them, that's for sure. Now we're taking a break until at least the end of the year, if not a little longer. Aren't you excited? No more Disney posts for at least 9 months! :-)

Goodbye Bella

Although it was sad we decided to find Bella a new home. She was a very sweet dog, but not right for our family at this time. I still don't think we made a mistake wanting a dog, but we just didn't have the information we needed to get the right dog for us. She was much more high energy than we wanted. At the time we saw her as a cute and playful puppy. Her brother was calm and more subdued and the owner told us he was always like that. At the time we saw him as not being as much fun and so we chose Bella. Now, after watching The Dog Whisperer and educating ourselves more, we understand our energy in our home and Bella's excitable energy were not a good match. So, last Tuesday night we placed an ad on Craig's List and within an hour we had about 15 calls and then more the next day. She is now with a family with 2 children ages 1 and 8. I just got a phone call from them a few hours ago with a question regarding her food and was told how good she is doing and how much they are enjoying her. I'm so happy that she seems to be in a home that is more compatible for her and hope she will be happy. I don't see us getting another dog for a very long time now. I think our view of dog ownership has been somewhat tainted for the time being. We do have some good memories spent with our Bella, though and part of us will miss her.

Devin and Disneyland

Since Devin has finally discovered that there is more to Disneyland than just It's a Small World and the Monorail, I decided to let him skip speech last Tuesday and just he and I headed over to enjoy a couple of hours of fun all by ourselves. He had a great time calling the shots and going on all his new favorites, but he still made sure to request Small World once. We were only there for about 2 1/2 hours, but got about 9 rides in. We had a really good time together. Thanks for the fun date, Devin!

MVP

Avery's first baseball game of the season was on Saturday and I did it again. I forgot the memory stick in the camera! So, the pictures here are from when we got home. I really make myself mad. Of all games to forget the memory stick! She had an awesome game! She went up to bat 4 times and got hits every time. She's quite the slugger. She got 2 doubles, an RBI and 1 run. She's the only girl on the team again this season and is so cute in her pink batting helmet, gloves and cleats. She even got the very first MVP award. Instead of the classic game ball other coaches give out, her coach gives out Big League Bubble Game. She was a happy camper! Way to go, Avery! We're looking forward to a fun season! You go, big hitter!

Vegas

Back in September my mom and I made plans to go to see Donny and Marie in Vegas. My sister found out and wanted to meet us there, but not go to the show. We've been looking so forward to getting together for so long. The weekend finally arrived (February 26). Mom and I got there at about 2:00, checked in and relaxed until it was time to go pick Sandi up from the airport. We got In-N-Out for dinner (Sandi's favorite) and then went back to the hotel room and talked until 2:00 in the morning. Got up at about 9:00 on Saturday morning, had brunch at Chili's and then took Mom back to the hotel room so that Sandi and I could go do some shopping. That's when I got the call from Kirk that Marie's son had committed suicide. So sad! So, obviously no show for us. They refunded us the money and I used that to buy a new dress while we were out. We had a nice last bit of our trip visiting most of the time in the room, but also getting out to the movies to see 'Dear John' (loved it!) and to the jacuzzi. I love our weekends away together. We just have so much fun together even when we do absolutely nothing. And because we barely did anything, I only took at couple of pictures, but here they are.

Mom treated us to room service breakfast one morning. Spoiled!

Oceanside Mission

Justin has a project due in a couple of weeks on Missions. He has to make a scrapbook of one of his choosing, so a couple of weeks ago we drove to the one in Oceanside to take some pictures and learn more about it. Our next door neighbor (his good friend Hunter) and his mom came along as well since he has to do one also. The kids had a good time running around and seeing some cool stuff. Now we need to get started. :-)

A day at Disneyland

The kids had a day off school for Presidents Day a couple weeks ago and our passes weren't blocked, so we made our way back to Disneyland after a 2 1/2 month hiatus. The lines were short and the crowds light, so it was an all around good day. We met up with our friends, the Chases, during the afternoon and spent the remainder of the day with them. So much fun! Devin finally branched out and tried and liked more rides than just Small World and the Monorail. Here are some pictures from our day...