Actually, he is a Leopard Gecko. We brought him home from the river. He is such a sweetie pie! He is so tender and gentle, just a baby, only a few months old! His feet suction onto your skin when he walks on you!
We got his home all set up in Luke's room. Luke keeps saying that it's his, but the kids remind him that it's all of ours and just stays in his room. We got it to match with Luke's blue and green in his room.
We decided to name him Cougar since he lives on "Cougar Blvd"! Cosmo is his middle name, after BYU's mascot, Cosmo the Cougar! We fed him baby crickets right away and he ate them up FAST!
Jeff flew up to Utah on Thursday to meet Drew and help him pack up and drive home. But instead of driving straight home, they went to the river and Luke, Shera and I met them there. It was so windy we decided to fly kites on Saturday. It was a perfect day for it!
Shera had a parrot kite!
Luke had a pterodactyl kite!
We had kite wars in the sky too! The kids had so much fun!
Sasha and Heidi hung around under the big umbrella and they were fine as long as the kites weren't hitting them!
Later on, we went down by the river. Luke and Shera got in for a little bit, despite the cold. It was a cool wind, but we would warm up from the sun when it subsided.
Shera was really cold after getting into the river and cuddled up with Drew.
That evening, we had a barbecue and then lit off some fireworks the guys got at the Indian Reservation!
We all love shooting cans with the BB gun!
The next day, while we were getting ready to go, Jeff found a leopard gecko in the sprinkler box and Drew caught it. So now we have a new pet! Yipeeee!!!!!
Here we are getting a rocky start to the kite flying, but then they really took off!
Noel did a great job for her second time in a voice competition! She is getting less and less nervous and feeling more confident. Way to go Noel!
Holly did great in her high school level. She got an Honorable Mention, but didn't win. She's always a winner in my book though. I am adding her song on the bottom here.
Noel had her open house at school on Thursday. All of her teachers were very complimentary to her and love her. She has really done well at RSM and has made a lot of new friends.
She and two of her friends did this project for history this trimester and aced it! It was a game that had a lot of different criteria. They made it into Medieval Pursuit.
They made a gold and velvet game board with jewels. And they made game pieces out of clay and painted them.
Holly visited her former choir teacher, Mrs. Kutcher. She sang a song for her and brought her to tears. She told Holly that she's coming to the Met to watch her someday! It was a great open house. Afterward, we all went to Woodranch Grill for dinner and celebrated Holly making it into ASB next year. She is the new Performing Arts Comissioner! She interviewed for the position and they loved her! Way to go Holly!!! :)
Don't look at this if you have a timid tummy! We had a mock DUI accident assembly at Mission High on Monday. It was pretty intense to watch how easily an accident can take place. There were twelve students involved and Holly was one of them.
The guy standing on the right was driving home from the after-prom party and had drank a few beers. He was only 2 blocks from his home with four of them in the car.
They pre-recorded the conversation saying he was fine to drive and then you hear the crash. Next, they lifted off the two tarps of the cars and revealed the "accident". The girl through the windshield was the boy's date - dead. She was our ASB President and Homecoming Queen this year.
Holly and her date's car was hit. They were not drinking - just the innocent victims of a drunk driver. They were both thrown from the car. He was dead on the scene and she was in and out of consciousness with a head wound and lacerations to the body.
The by-standers were all drama kids too and they did a fantastic job acting in shock and in rage and all the above!
They actually had KTLA and Mission Viejo reporters there. They also had the paramedics, OC Sheriff, firemen, and Mission Viejo Hospital accident volunteers participate in the program. They all surrounded Holly since she was still alive and treated her first. They gave her an "IV" and prepped her to be taken away.
This is where it got hard for me to handle it. It looked sooooo real and I felt my heart sinking and tears welling up in my eyes.
They all did such a fantastic job. They did everything like it was real: calling the hospital, taking vitals, using the terminology like "We have two dead on arrival." Noel skipped morning classes because Jeff and I wanted her to see this and how important it is to not drink. She handled it pretty well. Though at this point of the program we were hugging each other!
They put Holly in the ambulance and took her away!
Then the firefighters started working on the other victim in the car. His legs were smashed in the backseat - paralyzed and stuck. They had to use the jaws of life to get him out. They actually cut open the top of the car like a can and took off the door to get him out. During this time his mom arrived at the scene. That got pretty crazy too. She was screaming and crying. The hospital volunteers were there to help her and the other bystanders.
The O'Conner Mortuary took the 2 dead kids away in body bags.
There were a couple thousand students and faculty that came to watch this non-mandatory assembly. It was an amazing thing to see the kids so quiet and intently watching. After the program was over, the OC Sheriff Chaplain explained how this was a real accident that took place in Orange County a couple of years ago. He talked about how important it is to not drink, not race, and not use our cell phones.
Holly and Noel Medina were interviewed afterward by the television station.
All of the students participating in this signed an agreement that they would not drink. That was easy for Holly to do! I can't imagine having to go through this in real life! I am so thankful Holly was able to be in a program like this. It is done every two years at MVHS.
Today was Luke and Shera's jog-a-thon at school. It was a nice hot day, lucky for them they ran in the morning.
Luke ran 12 laps around the field!
Shera ran 11 laps around the field!
Their principal set up the kid's wash for them to run through during the jog-a-thon. It was really cute to see the kids get sprayed and cool down.
It would intermittently turn off at times. Right when Luke got there it turned off at one point. He just stood there, waiting for it to come back on!
Luke's two best friends in his class are twins, Drew and Dylan. But Luke says they are really triplets because they were all born on the same day, May 9th! In fact, just yesterday, they all dressed the exact same for multiplicity day and went as triplets! Cute, huh?
Shera, Laron, and Devoree enjoyed their Otter Pops after their good, long run!
On Saturday we dyed 48 eggs! We always struggle with how many we should do, Jeff says we do too many. But they go so fast with all of us doing them! We only get 8 each this year.
Noel, Shera and Luke are showing off their faves that they did!
We made a deal with Grams Allred this year. She comes to church and we will go to the Santa Ana Country Club for Easter Sunday. (I made out the best in the deal - my mom goes to church with me and I don't have to cook! Ha! Ha!)
We were invited to go with some of our closest and dearest friends that I grew up with on my street when I was a child. Here are mom and me with Betty, Gail, Kathy, and Cheryl. We had a wonderful time!
I love this front entry at Easter. Holly bought the lilies while we were in Paris and we put up framed photos of past Easters with the kids. It is just so springy and happy!
This was the whimsical dining room centerpiece I did this year. I love doing up my dining table for the holidays. We didn't get to use it on Easter Sunday since we went out this year, but I pass through it every day and I love it! I may keep it up a while. :)
Shera and Luke found all sorts of eggs the Easter Bunny hid for the kids in the yard.
Here's the whole gang with the exception of Drew. He was still up at BYU and spent Easter with his Papa and Grandma Starr in Salt Lake City.
We all put our empty baskets out the night before for the Easter Bunny to fill. Luke was very worried when he woke up in the morning to find them untouched! But we assured him that the Easter Bunny would come while we were gone to church and brunch. Sure enough he did and Luke was very pleased. So was Holly, by the look on her face!
It was Shera's turn to go to Paris this year. Holly watched Noel and Luke while we were gone over Spring Break. I took over 1000 photos! Here are 19 of them! Very hard to choose! We first arrive and hit the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triumphe.
The Plaza Athenee's famous apple juice - we try to copy it at home!
The artist's square at Montmontre. Hajer has done four of our children's portraits now.
The Japanese Bridge at Monet's Gardens. So beautiful there, you can't describe it!
The castle ruins of Richard the Lionheart. Luke's Flat Stanley went with us everywhere! (School Project!)
Shera's favorite day at the Eiffel Tower!
We had lunch Jules Verne Restaurant on the second level!
Notre Dame from the Seine River!
We climbed to the top tower of Notre Dame to see the Gargoyles. They really are as cool as you can imagine! Lifesize!
Shera took this on our boat ride!
The Champs Elysees at night! They say it's the most famous street in the world!
In the Louvre, we saw the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa and several others!
Le Grand Colbert for lunch. This is from the movie, "Something's Gotta Give"!
Tea Time! And Dessert Time!
The Tour of the Sewers of Paris. Think Les Miserables and The Phantom of The Opera with a REALLY BAD SMELL!
She just looks Parisian!
The Gardens of Versailles were gorgeous!
Re-gilding the roof line. A 17 year updating project on the whole palace!
The bridge Shera knows from the movie "Anastasia".
Today I was finally making good on my promise to make Pistachio Ambrosia for Holly's birthday. The weekend of her birthday was so crazy, I had remembered the beef stroganoff and BTS cake she wanted, but forgot the special salad. So Luke and I took a little time off and did this together for her to enjoy that evening. The other crazy thing was, I wanted to do this because I was leaving for Paris the next day - and if I should die or something while I was gone, I didn't want her thinking I never made it for her. I know - it's crazy!!! But Luke had a fun time as you will see from the video below! :)
The finished product! Holly will be soooo happy!!!
Okay so here's Jeff's mom's recipe:
Pistachio Ambrosia In a large bowl put in 2 small cans pineapple tidbits and 1 small can of crushed pineapple with the juices. On top sprinkle 1 small package of instant pistachio pudding and let it set for a few minutes. Then stir in 1 cup of shredded sweetened coconut and 3/4 cup chopped pecans. (My family won't eat the nuts, so we leave them out.) Fold in 12oz. regular cool whip and 1 cup of mini marshmallows. Don't over mix - just do it until it's all green. Chill for about 2 hours. Super easy and fun for the kids to do!
Holly sang in the MVHS Concert on Wednesday. It was so beautiful. Her teacher, John Elg does a fantastic job with the choirs. I hope he stays long enough for all my kids to sing with him. He asked Holly to sing "O Mio Bambino" in between choirs. So here it is again. I know I've already put it on before, but I think she just gets better and better each time she does it. I think part of it is getting over nerves and just being more comfortable with singing in Italian. Anyway, here it is again...
Yay! Spring has sprung at our home and we are so happy! We have lavender wisteria covering our backyard fence. I think wisteria is my all time favorite flower! Let me know what your all time favorite flower is!
For family night last night we made Great Aunt Doris's Strawberry Cream Cake. It was delicious! We had the Penrod family over for dessert and games too!
Noel had two girlfriends, Arelli and McKenna, over today too. They played on the swing and worked on a school history project together. It's just been a nice week so far with beautiful weather. I love Southern California!
Noel won Castille Elementary Student of the Year from the Kiwanis Club. She's here with Peter Vidmar - 2x Olympic Gold & 1x Olympic Silver Medal winner.
Church History Tour Easter Break
Palmyra - Joseph Smith's home where he grew up!
We went to Niagara Falls too!
The Angel Game!
We got on the big screen!
The Starr Mantra This Week!
Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong.
The Starr Clan
In front of the Hawaiian LDS Tabernacle
About Us!
The Starr Family
We Are A Happy Family! Drew is 19 - working and college. Holly is 17 - 12th. Noel is 13 - 8th. Shera is 9 - 4th. Luke is 7 - 2nd.
Actually, he is a Leopard Gecko. We brought him home from the river. He is such a sweetie pie! He is so tender and gentle, just a baby, only a few months old! His feet suction onto your skin when he walks on you!
We got his home all set up in Luke's room. Luke keeps saying that it's his, but the kids remind him that it's all of ours and just stays in his room. We got it to match with Luke's blue and green in his room.
We decided to name him Cougar since he lives on "Cougar Blvd"! Cosmo is his middle name, after BYU's mascot, Cosmo the Cougar! We fed him baby crickets right away and he ate them up FAST!
