We Have A Runner!

Heather ran the mixed relay event for her track team today.  She had an outstanding race.  She's got great form and speed.  Both of her grandpas won state championship titles for their high school track teams--Kelly's dad was a sprinter, and my dad ran the 440yd and mile relays.  We think it's in her genes, no?  The result of her team's race was unfortunately a DQ due to the 4th leg runner dropping the baton on take off.  Prior to that their team was in 1st place by a landslide.  What can you do?  We are so proud of Heather for her efforts.  She made the track team, qualified for an event, and ran a spectacular leg getting her team off to the right start.  You can't ask for better than that. We can wait to see what she does next year! 

 She's keeping up with the boys!  Go Heather!!!

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Jenna's 4th Grade class went to the San Juan Capistrano Mission Tuesday.  We have lived here forever and have not visited the mission.  It was a pretty cool place.  Heather didn't have a great experience there due to her docent not really having much of a personality, but Jenna's docent was fabulous.  My friend, Michelle, and I chaperoned our group, and we got a really good look at many parts of the mission.  I always love the gardens (even the cactus had flowers!) and my favorite is the chapel.  This mission has a ghost story too! In December of 1812, the original church (see last photos) was destroyed by an earthquake.  When the earthquake happened, the padre and several of the partitioners left through the front doors while the last half of the chapel left through the back.  Unfortunately, the bell tower fell over that part of the church killing 42 people.  One was a young girl who had been sent by her parents in a white dress to crawl on her hands and knees up the isle, holding a candle to ask forgiveness from God for meeting up with a boy alone.  The girl's body was found under the rubble with her outstretched hand still grasping the candle.  There were three different times thus far that the current care taker has come before dawn to open the mission grounds and has seen a figure in a white dress holding a candle and sitting in the window of the original church staring out over the rubble.  Spooky!   After the mission, we had lunch at the beautiful park.  The kids had a lot of fun, and Jenna and I got to hang out with our best buds which was super fun!

 Floating under the lily pads are hugh Coy!

 Jenna and Sarah at the doorway of the original church.  The pulpit is under the part of the church still standing at the opposite end.  Big church!!!

 Jenna and Sarah standing under the window at the front of the church remains where the ghost has been seen.

Weekend Wrap-up

Well, my weekend started Friday morning with my good friend, Sheryl.  We breakfasted (and could have lunched) at our local Corner Bakery.  Love, love, love that soul-filling visiting time.  It had been too long!  Heather had track practice on Friday afternoon, and we ended up chilling and watching a movie Friday night (Hannah; wouldn't recommend-too depressing).

On Saturday, Kelly went to the beach.  It is his first time playing weekend volleyball in the year 2012!  He was excited to go.  He got a snazzy hair cut that morning and spent a few hours on the sand discovering muscles he hadn't hung out with in a while.  The girls and I had a late breakfast and accomplished some chores.  Once Heather was all finished, she eagerly awaited her dad's return.  To kill time she texted him photos like this one...

Good thing he was on his way home, huh?  Kelly spent the afternoon with the girls helping them get out the pool and get it cleaned up.  I got a ton of take-back errands done, and then I headed out to spend the evening with some TwilightMoms friends.  We celebrated Sarah's and Mary's June birthdays (these are my movie-set-friends from a few years back), and then we went to see Snow White and The Huntsman.  Good film.  Charlize Theron is epic as the evil queen. Very entertaining!

Today we slept in, had breakfast and went to church.  I have taken to drawing names and examples on the chalkboard with my class to try to help them follow the time line of the scripture stories and link the people and places together.  My kids are all about 10 years old, and I feel like I lose them sometimes when I'm teaching.  Today one of them made a connection between one of my examples of being an instrument in the Lord's hands (like a hammer in a carpenter's hand or and flute in a musician's hand), and it was just the boost I needed to feel like I was getting through.  We teachers need those moments! After a taco-leftover dinner, I went to the 4th of July practice while Kelly played games with the girls.  I probably don't need to be writing all of this down, but sometimes a day-in-the-life post is good if for nothing else, but to show the kids what an average day was like when they were young.  It would be so fun for me to have read something like that from my parents!  Hope you all had a good weekend too!

Remembering...

My friend, Marta, posted this observation on her blog today in reference to the ever-changing toddler years...

it's true–i know–i am pulling at our moments and greedily pocketing them. every day there is something worthy of writing down and i try to nip it into memory. but then, swiftly it is taken by another toddler sweet-ism and the second makes me forget the first. these moments are like clean clothes pinned to a line in the breezy backyard. such a breathtaking scene, even in its ordinary-ness. though we are too busy playing beneath the waving material that i can rarely breathe in the pure beauty of it. and before i know it, suddenly a strong wind comes and we create a new game of picking the loose clothing up. a new and happy memory is already in the works.


Tears so easily flowed as I read her post.  I am sitting in my empty house after getting the girls off to school.  There are days where I long for those slow-moving, easy days of the toddler and preschool time.  Where getting out the paints was the big event of the day, and where fuzzy, pajama-clad cuddles were the norm of the evening routine.  It is going too fast.  It's true that each new experience and stage is fun and exciting.  It makes you forget for a moment about what has just passed until very quickly you realize that a year has gone by.  And then another.  I am again reminded why being a grandparent will be such a gift and the only way I will get to experience holding a tiny person in my arms who will mean the world to me all over again.

Heather will be 13 in just two months.  Jenna loves independence.  We have challenges and personality clashing moments, but those are not the things that stay with me.  Luckily, both of my girls still find me for hugs.  The long kind where we each take a deep breath and savor a moment.  Like Marta, I am also greedily pocketing the present moments.  There isn't much time to mourn with these beautiful young women in my house who still bring so much joy.  But every now and then, on a quiet morning alone, I remember those little cheeks, the silly giggles, and the sweet kisses of my babies.

Memorial Day

We drove to Orange and Brea today to clean gravestones and leave flowers for our parents.  We ran into some friends at Carmen and Ray's grave.  Bill served in WWII and he was visiting others from his ward and remembering his buddies.  He was very emotional.  Those of us who haven't served are pretty removed from the effects of military service.  I was actually glad to run into Bill today.  He offered an exceptional reminder as we stood among the veterans' grave markers (white crosses) in the cemetery remembering those we know personally who have served in war.  We shared with Bill and Lou that Kelly's grandpa served in both WWI and WWII, and his four oldest uncles served in WWII.  

We've also done a little shopping for future hikes today and looked at some furniture.  We had lunch together and have enjoyed Kelly having the day off.  The weather is beautiful (sunny and breezy 75 degrees).  We're planning on seeing Avengers in a little bit after the "kids" get done playing Xbox. We'll be glad when school is over in a few weeks and we can enjoy the summer.

Hike #1 - Hoegee's Campground

We completed the first of our pre-Half Dome conditioning hikes this weekend with an overnight hike to Hoegee's Campground in the Angeles National Forest.  The hike was 3 miles in and the same out as we  hiked the two different trails on the loop.  Although the altitude was only about 3,000 ft., it was pretty green.  A creek runs through this area, and we had to cross it quite a few times.  The troops did a great job, helped with camp set up and take down, and loved playing in the creek.  My personal favorite was falling asleep to the sound of both the creek and an owl hooting in the trees.  Our hiking shoes and poles were a great investment as were the small backpacks we found on sale for the girls.    Hike #2 is scheduled for June.  Stay tuned...

Blooming Beauty

Oh how I wish I had some fantabulous blog post for everyone today, but the truth is that we have nothing overly exciting happening around here.  Everyone is recovering from ailments (thank goodness), we're getting ready for our first adventure hike, Winston will have his first overnight dogsitter and we're simply doing the best to put one foot in front of the other each day (some of us do better than others).  I took a moment yesterday to soak in a little eye candy in the neighborhood (no, Channing Tatum was not jogging through).  We have some brilliant blooms coloring the landscape, and I LOVE it.  Beauty like this causes me to stop and take a deep breath, literally.  It is if I am reminded that someone is in charge and all is well.