6-24-2009 Wednesday - Drew's Last Days...

Drew's last week at home has been very busy saying goodbye to friends and family. He has been doing the last of his packing and paperwork.

His things were laid out on the air hockey table to pack.

On Tuesday Jeff and Drew went to the Los Angeles Temple. Drew got to see the sealing room where Jeff and I were married.

Wednesday night we had dinner with Grams Allred for the last time at Five Crowns Restaurant.

There is an old English phone booth in front of the restaurant.

Our whole family was there except for Holly and Noel. They were at girl's camp.

This is one of Drew's favorite restaurants. It is one of ours too. We ate here with Jeff's and my parents the night before our wedding.

Luke was entertained by Drago and the iphone!

Drew and grams said their last goodbye for two years.

Last night, Thursday, was Drew's last dinner at home. He requested Tara's Chicken Enchiladas and La Fonda Salad, a family favorite!

Later that evening, Drew was set apart as a missionary of the Puerto Rico San Juan West Mission by his Stake President Brennan. His Bishop Barnes and his dad stood in the circle. We all bore our testimonies before it took place. Tears were shed and hugs were given. Now, this morning we are off to Utah!

6-21-2009 Sunday - A Double Celebration!

Happy Father's Day!
We all got up first thing Sunday morning and got dressed then came down to prepare for Father's Day. Luke wrote in Daddy's card.

Everyone helped cook breakfast. Drew made the scrambled eggs, Noel made the orange rolls, Shera and Luke set the table, Holly did the flower arrangement, and I made the hash browns.

Dad came down to eat because he doesn't like to eat alone in bed!

After church, we had beef stroganoff (at Jeff's request), watermelon and a tomato basil mozzarella salad. Then he opened gifts. He got his fave - See's Polar Bear Paws!

The kids got him a totally cool hammock and we set it up in the family room! It's still there!

It was also our 23 year wedding anniversary.
And they said it wouldn't last...

6-20-2009 Saturday - A Whale of a Day!

Today, Shera's Achievement Day class had their daddy-daughter bike ride. Jeff said it was really cute to see all the dads come out to ride with their daughters. It was a great start to a fun Saturday. The rest of the day Jeff took the kids and met his brother, Brad and his family, at the swap meet. Shera and Luke got skateboards there. They are having a great time on them too. And so is Sasha...

Then for dinner we tried out a new burger joint called TK Burgers that is right next to the high school. This restaurant is now where the old KFC used to be on Chrisanta. TK stands for "The Kind". The inside of it is all decked out with island and surfer motifs. It was a very cute place with record covers all over the ceiling!

Got a whale of a tale to tell you lad... (20,000 Leagues) Just outside TK's is a cultural site that has been here since 1977. It is a whale skull fossil that was found in Southern Mission Viejo. At night it is lit up in greens and blues. It is surrounded by bars and looks pretty cool! Jacques Cousteau came to visit this site back in 1981.

The marker states that this baleen whale is at least 3.5 to 5 million years old, 58 feet long, and weighs 50 tons with a skull 9 feet across! This is also the only fossil of this type on scientific display in California! And we've got it right here in good 'ol Mission Viejo! Wow!!!

6-17-2009 Wednesday - Jeff's Birthday!

We celebrated Jeff's birthday on Wednesday with going out to dinner at a favorite restaurant of ours, Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque. You fill the bowl with turkey, lamb, beef, or pork and then all sorts of different veggies. Jeff carefully added his sauces so as to not spill his overflowing bowl of goodness!

Drew awaits his masterpiece to be cooked by the chef.

The best part of the meal is the little freshly made hot pocket breads. We tear them open and stuff them inside with the seasoned cooked meats and veggies. Yummy!

After dinner, we came home to watch Jeff open gifts. He wanted new soft bath towels. So... he got them!

Afterward, we had one of his favorites, lemon cake.

6-14-2009 Sunday - Drew's Farewell Talk

Drew's farewell in our ward was this last Sunday. We had about 50 people come and probably half were not LDS. Some were family and others were friends. It was a great missionary experience for Drew as he was able to share his testimony and how excited he is to serve the Lord.

After the meeting Drew visited with friends in the foyer at church. Then we came back to our home for a brunch and more visiting and of course, photos.

Drew's Aunt Christy, Aunt Becky and Uncle Brad came with their families. It was so nice to have some time to visit with everyone.

One of Drew's favorite people came to see him as well, our home teacher, Brother Bob Moncur. He has been our home teacher for almost 12 years. We love him!

My brother, Dean, and his family came as well to support Drew. Drew's middle name is after Dean and they have a special connection because of this I think.
My only active blood relatives came for Drew's farewell. They are my cousins Casper, Dan, Karen, and Walt. They are our San Bernardino cousins!
Noel, Holly and Allyse hung out later in the day and vegged after the long weekend.

So did his cousins Brent and Dallan. It was nice for all the cousins to be able to visit and spend some time together. It was almost like a mini-reunion.

Saying goodbye can be hard sometimes. Andrea is Drew's cousin closest in age. They are only 3 weeks apart and they are so cute together.

6-13-2009 Saturday - Drew's Going Away Party!

Since Drew will be gone for 2 years, we gave him a going away party for friends and family this past weekend.

We put up the map which showed where everyone had guessed Drew would be going to.

Puerto Rico!!!

We had fruits and dessert laid out for everyone. We had about 150 people come to say goodbye to Drew. The food was all gone when the night was over.

We had plenty of flavored waters so nothing had to be refilled during the party. We got to relax and enjoy ourselves without working! It was awesome!

Drew's Aunt Christy, Uncle Matt, and cousins Dane and Nicole came from Utah for the event.

Drew's Grams Allred and his cousins Lisa, Heather, and second cousins Finn and August came too.

We had a lot of family there including Aunt Roberta's and Becky's family too!

Drew had a ton of friends come from his high school including some of his teachers and administrators.

Here are some of his ward friends who came to support him.

Jeff made up some little cards with Drew's mission address on it for people to take with them. He even made some magnet cards too. Those were cool! It was a wonderful night and we really appreciated all the love and support shown to Drew. Thank you so much everyone!

6-10-2009 Wednesday - Noel Sings!

Noel had her last RSM Choir Concert of the year on Wednesday. She is going into 8th grade next year and will take choir again. She loves it! And her teacher, Mrs. Kutcher, is so sweet. Here she is with one of her good friends, Caitlin Ramsey.

Afterward, our family went to TGI Fridays for dessert.
Yummy!

5-30-2009 thru 6-7-2009 - Aloha!

We went on our last family trip with Drew before he leaves on his mission. We went to Oahu, or as the Hawaiians call it, the Main Island. We had such a fun week together - it was great! Here are just a few photos of about 1000 we took!

We stayed at the Halekulani in Waikiki. It is a gorgeous hotel and a favorite of ours. This was the view from our room. This is the Diamond Head Volcano. The weather was hot and dry, only a couple of afternoon showers with the trade winds that came in.

Our morning breakfast buffet was beautiful.
(And so was Noel!)

We visited the Pali one day. It was probably the most calm I've ever been there - almost no wind! Totally not normal! Usually you can lean into the wind and not fall down!

We went swinging on the vines. When Luke found out we were going to do that, he wouldn't stop talking about it. So we went the next day!

Wailea Bay has a huge rock where people jump off into the water. Here is the photo before Jeff, Noel and Shera did it. Then Shera backed out - it's very high up there! :)

The kids took surfing lessons next to our hotel on long boards. They had a good time! Luke even got on his instructor's (Jacob) shoulders!

The Pan-Pacific Festival was happening over the weekend there and the main drag was closed. They had all sorts of island food and crafts, music and hula dancing, even Elvis was there!

We went to one of our favorite places for dinner one night. It is on the windward side of the island and it's called Haleiwa Joe's. It is actually in an old volcano! You can walk down to the gardens where there is a pond and Drew caught these bull frogs there!

We stopped at some lookout points and walked down to where the waves were crashing on the rocks. Fishermen were getting totally soaked by the water. Actually, we all did!

We got some shaved ice too. No where does it taste the same as in Hawaii!
Aloha Oi...

Here are Jeff and Noel jumping off the big rock in Waimea Bay!


Here, I got splashed while trying to take a photo of the family!