Sariah at Eight Months

Sariah is still growing, but at a much less noticeable rate.  She had her first hike in the snow this month, but other than that, it's the same old dog's life for her.  She sleeps, plays and takes walks on the trail.  We can't keep many toys around for long as she likes to dissect them and pull out all the stuffing.  Ropes and rubber toys seem to work best.  We are just happy that she takes out her need to shred on her toys and not on household items.  She is such a good pup.

Patriotic Concert

Heather and I attended OCMCO's patriotic concert tonight.  It was the best of the two concerts I've seen as an audience member.  I miss singing in the choir, but it was a treat to hear the beautiful music and see what they did with the lighting this time around.  Glenn Beck narrated, and there was some interesting history revealed in-between the great musical selections.  Brandon played the piano which was simply amazing.  There isn't really a good enough adjective to describe what it's like to watch and hear him play.  We were so happy that he was playing at this concert.  It was so fun to be with my girl who enjoys music with me.  She was a supportive friend to her Concert Choir friends tonight, and a great date who appreciated all the aspects of the concert that I did.

New Car

After a few test drives at the dealerships (Mazda, Ford, Toyota, and Honda), we finally settled on a Honda Civic.  Truecar.com was a great time saver when it came to purchasing the car.  The website tells you what a fair price is for the car you're looking at, and gives you a few dealers in the area that are willing to sell the car at that price.  We ended up in our married stomping grounds in Whittier to purchase our Civic, but the drive was worth the savings.

Although we sold my minivan, Kelly will be driving this car due to the extremely good gas mileage it gets (40 mpg!).  I am driving the Element until we decide what to do for our next car.  We have a teenager reminding us that she'll be driving soon, so we may keep the Element for her.  Who knows?  For now, we're enjoying our new ride with it's upgraded technology and great gas mileage.

Arizona Trip for Joanna's Wedding

While Kelly was off hiking, the girls, Grandpa and I set out for Arizona to attend Joanna's wedding.  We were able to score a sweet ride when our rental car wasn't available.  What else can you do, but upgrade for free?  We arrived on Saturday as did our cousins and our children.  We don't do planned family reunions, but we rock the impromptu family reunions!  I love that we all took advantage of this occasion and got together.  We celebrated cousin Jeff's birthday on Saturday with some yummy Krispy Kreme donuts.

On Sunday afternoon, Joanna and Mark were married at their church.  It was a beautiful wedding.  My sister, Michelle, and I were asked to photograph the occasion.  We were busy, but still able to take in all the beauty and love of our families.  The rest of the cousins helped Aunt Kathy with preparation as did some of the church members.  It was a very lovely evening, and we wish this couple much love and happiness!

First hug as Mr. and Mrs.

 My beautiful daughters

 Carrie, Brooke and Brody

 Kim, Sean, Conner and Nicholas

 Grandpa Ron

 Aunt Kathy and Uncle Chuck (the bride's parents)

 Michelle and Gavin

The handsome couple

The Spencer grandkids - Kim, Carrie, Joanna, Me, Michelle and Jeff

 And the rest of our gang!

Kelly's Weekend Hike - San Gregonio

Kelly planned a hike to San Gregonio this weekend with some friends and their sons.  This is a tough hike due to the elevation, but not a problem for this group.  Sariah went a long and had fun too.  I don't know if she knew what to do with the snow at the top, but it was pretty cold at the summit.  Congratulations to this hiking crew!

Track Banquet

Heather's first track banquet!  The hair, the make-up, the dress, and the SHOES! School colors and very sparkly those shoes were.  The banquet was very nice, and all athletes were honored and presented with a certificate.  Heather had a different year than we expected,  but she worked and trained very hard, and she had fun.  We hope next year will be a healthier year for her and that she will have even more fun than she did this year.  We're so proud of you sweet Heather!

Ice Blocking

There was the sliding, and then there was the wiping out.  All-in-all, ice blocking with the church youth group was a blast!

Cheerleading Tryouts

These two sweet girls have been working for a week on cheerleading tryouts.  They've learned their dance and their cheer, and they've practiced and practiced and practiced.  Tryouts were this afternoon.   Both girls felt really good about their performances.  Jenna got a callback, and didn't feel as good about that performance.  In the end, they did not make the cheer team.  As sad as they were, they were happy with the scenario--it would have been harder had one of them made it and one not.

Our sweet friend, Lucy, allowed the girls to come and swim in her pool to give them a little fun treat for their hard work.  We moms had mixed emotions.  We wanted our girls to be happy, but the cheerleading scene can be a negative one (been there, done that).

I found a picture and quote after the tryouts that was so fitting.  The emotion of pain from the dancer in the photo is palpable, and while I can feel the pain, I also know there is truth in the statement.  Jenna is at peace, and she says she'll try again.  She's also expressed interest in trying dance classes.   We're really proud of her effort and the hard work she put into the tryout experience.  We'll see where her journey takes her from here.

Brittany's Shower

My friend, Michelle's, daughter, Brittany, had her baby shower today.  They are expecting a baby girl whose name will be Jordyn.  Jenna came a long and helped Sarah with handing Brittany presents.  Heather hung out with her girlfriends by the pool (and later hopped in the driver's seat of my van to remind me it was only six months until she can get her permit).  All of our "Moiola Moms" came to support Michelle.  It's been fun to watch Brittany grow up, get married and become a momma.  Can't wait to meet baby!

Last Soccer Game

We have had an interesting soccer season this spring.  After deciding to return to Coach Paul and the rec league after finishing on the All Star team, there were not enough teams in Jenna's division to play rec.  Our coach got some other teams together to create some games, and Jenna's team practiced as usual.  There wasn't quite the same AYSO energy from parents, but the kids had fun and the coaches continued to train.  Today was their last game, and I finally made it out to take some pictures.  After the game, coach invited us back to his pool to have a barbecue.  Sarah came along after being at the game to support Jenna.  We love coach Paul and wish Jenna could keep playing with him.

Sunset League Pre-lims for Track

This weekend was the preliminary event for the Sunset League finals.  For Heather's 100m event, the winner from each heat advances to the finals the next week.  Heather has run sick at almost every track event this year.  She didn't expect to place here, and I was thinking the same only signing up to help with this week's meet.  Well, little missy won her heat!  Her time was not that great, but her win automatically advanced her.  She also ended up advancing in the 200m coming in with one of the top 9 times.  This was a huge boost for her confidence after having such a hard season.  We are so proud of her accomplishment and hard work!

Art Class Fun

Jenna is continuing to take art classes with my friend, Shea.  They come up with creative ideas and experiment with different mediums, and I love the out come.  Shea's studio, Make and Take Art, is a great place for exploring art, and Shea is fabulous.  You can find the studio website HERE.