Nearing the Finish Line for School

Heather is nearing the finish line with school. I hung her uniform up to dry for the last time and had a sentimental moment. She is working on some service hours for her government class. Heather is already receiving a service cord for service rendered over the past two years, but government wants the service in the time frame of the semester she's in government. So, Heather has added some activities. She helped feeding grandpa this month, she helped box some clothes for a shelter, and she has been working with her former first grade teacher, Miss Ashlock/Mrs. Hunter. It's cute to see her being teacher grading papers and organizing, and super cute that she's doing it for her first grade teacher. Although I'm a little bugged that the Government teacher was so particular about the service the kids logged, I'm happy Heather has had this experience to reach out, outside of church, and serve in the community.

Mother's Day

Shout out to my man who made me a delicious Shepherd's Pie for dinner. He was up early with a horrid headache, but he prepped food, set up a delicious spread for our church sisters, cleaned it up and continued serving when he came home. He made a delicious meal and he did the dishes! He's a on-of-a-kind, outstanding man. Love you Kelly! Thank you for making my Mother's Day special.

Monster Mash 2016

Tonight was the Stake's annual Monster Mash dance. Heather has been hard at work serving on the Stake Youth Committee as the chair for the maze. With the help of her committee, she put together a creepy circus themed maze that was the hit of the night. Jenna attended as a vampire queen, and she had a blast with her friends.

January Stuff

The 2015 LDS Youth Theme video is out, and we're in full swing finding ways to Embark in service. The girls helped make dinner tonight for Jenna's teacher at church whose family has been down with some awful sickness for a couple of weeks.  We hoped it would help them have a nice break, and it did. They were very appreciative.

 Heather's science final included mapping a gene using an object that was familiar to her. Of course it was The Doctor's spaceship.

After our Christmas oops in getting desk that was way too small, I found this one on Craigslist for $30. It fit's nicely in Jenna's room, and she loves it.  Love great finds like this.

Random November, Nature and Hiking

 Sariah on a rare morning walk to the park.

 Jenna invited Abbey to a youth activity.

 While helping a momma with a new baby, Heather had a cuddle moment with the toddler that was too cute for me not to secretly photograph during church.

 Heat and moisture have caused our Plumeria tree to bloom as well treating us to some spectacular sunsets.

Kelly (just turned 51) and his friend, Smith, hiked Iron Mountain on November 22. Why? Because Kelly is over 50 and wanted to prove that he could. It's only a 7 mile hike with a slight elevation gain (7,000 feet!!!!).  A difficult hike, but worth it. And yes, he's still got it. 

Day of Community Service

Today was the LDS Church's "Day of Community Service," formerly known as, "Mormon Helping Hands."  On this day, around the world, LDS church members join with other churches in their communities to offer services to various establishments in need.  There are projects for homeless shelters, senior centers, parks, the city and many more opportunities for services set up by each individual stakes for their respective cities.  Our stake covers Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. Our family was asked to serve at Heritage Park in  Fountain Valley behind the police station and adjacent to the Fountain Valley Library.  This park is a historic area that houses office buildings and artifacts from the late 1800's to early 1900's.  Heather, Jenna and Kelly were involved in painting one of the outbuildings, and I was able to go into the real estate office to dust and sweep.  I geeked out being in this building and getting to see the antique furniture and office machines.  I even found a Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog from 1908!  The girls came to find me after a while, and I showed them all of the fun things in the office including where one may purchase a telephone or buggy and horses.  Sears had everything back in the day!  This was an especially fun service project because of the history here.  Can't wait to see what we will get to participate in next year!

Mormon Helping Hands

April 27th is the official "Mormon Helping Hands" day around the country.  We look for projects in our communities where we can have hundreds of volunteers serving.  I am the most recently called Public Affairs Representative in my little ward, and I had a small part in organizing the project for our Huntington Beach Stake.  We had five wards at our Mile Square Park project as well as volunteers from Saint Simon and Jude Catholic Church and a few community services folks.   There were close to 500 volunteers that came between the hours of 8:00AM and 1:00PM, and we were able to clear weeds,  dig holes, plant and mulch a large area of the park.  This is such a great community event, and we look forward to it every year.  Many things worked in our family's favor for this event which until the day before were looking a little stressful, although doable--I was not overly taxed after our rehearsal, recording and concert the evening before, and Heather's volleyball game got moved to the afternoon at the last minute allowing Kelly to take Jenna to soccer in the morning.  Last year's PA representative was able to relieve me late morning so that I could be free to meet my family for Heather's tournament.  I tell ya, things work out when we're serving the Lord!