3-31-2010 Wednesday - My Favorite Flowers...

I love flowers...
All flowers - some of my favorites are: Pansies, Morning Glories, Lavender Roses, Tulips, Daffodils, Bearded Iris, Lilacs, and Cherry Blossoms.
But my all time favorite is one that I can only enjoy for a couple precious weeks in the springtime, Wisteria.
I can't pinpoint one thing that I love so much about them.
I love all the different lavender shades that melt into one another on the cluster.
I love how freely they hang and sway in the breeze.
I love the gnarly twisted vines and wispy leaves that flutter like butterflies.
They are romantic.
They are soft.
They are fragile.
I only wish I could enjoy them year round...

3-27-2010 Saturday - This Old House...

Last Saturday, Jeff and I were in Santa Ana and visited my old neighborhood. I hadn't been there in ten years. I lived across from this street corner -
2201 N. Olive Lane.

Here's my house - where I used to climb the olive tree in front, ride my bike on the driveway, I shut the garage door on our car roof, our big plastic Santa Claus was lit up on the front porch, and I'd look out the living room window and wait for my dad to come home.
So many great memories...
I loved my childhood...

Then we went by Jeff's darling house in Costa Mesa. He moved from here when he was seven. He loved playing kickball in the front yard for family night, walking to school with his brothers and sisters, and catching frogs in the ditch at the end of the street.

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. The Wonder Years...

3-25-2010 Thursday - Little Red Riding Hood

You see the little tree on the right? Yep, that's my Lukey! He was the best tree in the woods!

Here are all Luke's "Tree Friends"! Actually, he was on stage almost the whole time, which was fun for him. The trees had their own song and dance and acted like trees the whole time too!

All the guys - after the show!
Luke's class and another 2nd grade class were lucky enough to be able to put on the musical "Red".

3-24-2010 Wednesday - Noel's Spring Solo

Noel's spring choir concert was on Wednesday. The performance lasted about 45 minutes and she got nice solo part in "God Help The Outcast" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Mrs. Kutcher is both Noel's American History teacher and her choir teacher.
She retires this year - the kids will miss her.

Here is Noel's solo with the choir finishing the song:

3-22-2010 Monday - A Family Affair...

We celebrated Drew and Holly's birthday with the Allred side of the family last night at Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ.

Jeff started coming here 30 years ago with his family. Now it's a family favorite of ours - looks like Grams Allred was enjoying it too!

Cousins - Holly and Heather - can you see the resemblance?

Our friend, Drago, gave Drew some great cologne.

Afterward, we drove across the street to Frostings for cupcakes. It is a new shop on El Toro in Lake Forest and has delicious cupcakes!

All the cousins had fun playing tag outside and running around.

And there's Grams at it again! She couldn't wait to dig into that coconut cupcake!
Mmmmm......

3-19-2010 Friday - San Diego Weekend & Holly's 18th Birthday!

We went by train to San Diego for the weekend to celebrate Holly's 18th birthday. This gift was so huge, she opened it in the car a day early so we wouldn't have to take it with us!

The kids loved the train! It was very peaceful and no traffic! Then we took the trolley to the Marriott Hotel.

We had a beautiful view of the bay from our rooms.

We went to Morton's for dinner that night and Holly got lobster!

We opened gifts the next morning on Holly's 18th birthday!

The kids took turns on dad's back and shoulders doing all sorts of fun stunts in the pool a little later.

We walked all around Seaport Village and then some of us went to the Gas Lamp District to shop and some went to Belmont Park to ride the roller coaster. Drew went to see Elder L. Tom Perry speak in Vista.

We met up again for Asian Fusion which was Holly's dinner request.

While Jeff and Luke swam, the girls and I rented these fun bikes and went along the boardwalk by Seaport Village.

We rode over to the Midway Aircraft Carrier. It is HUGE!!! We didn't even make it to Old Town or the Mormon Battalion. We are just going to have to take another weekend getaway to cover more territory - we loved San Diego!

3-17-2010 Wednesday - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our puppies were all ready for the big day!

When the kids came down for breakfast, Drew saw some gold dust left by the leprechauns. Shera followed it and found a pot of gold in the freezer!

Shera, Luke, and Noel were all decked out for the day. Shera and Luke even sprayed their hair green!

Luke found some chocolate gold after school by following another trail of leprechaun gold dust.

We had a traditional dinner of corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, and green dinner rolls. Later, we watched "Darby O'Gill and the Little People".

Here is Luke finding the chocolate gold!!!

3-15-2010 Monday - St. Patty's FHE

We had a fun family night last Monday and celebrated St. Patty's Day early.

Holly made popovers and we had green beans and Irish meatballs with green mashed potatoes too!

The new way to teach a lesson is with the laptop! Drew talked about who St. Patrick was and how he helped the Irish gain religious freedom.

Then we sang and danced to our favorite Irish jig,
"McKinney is Dead".

Instead of "Duck Duck Goose" we played "Blarney Blarney Stone".

Shera made up a "Shamrock 3 Wishes List" for us. I wished that I could eat anything and not gain weight, that I could stay awake all the time and never need sleep and still not get sick, and that my dad and our old dog, Tawny, could come back to us and be healthy. I was a terrible example and very selfish with my wishes. Our kid's wishes, on the other hand, were more selfless and loving to each other - wishing for Holly's jaw to heal, Drew to get back on his mission, and world peace!
(Again - am I a BAD MOTHER or what??? JK)

For dessert, Holly made green cupcakes! Yummo!

3-10-2010 Wednesday - Drew Turns 20!!!!

Yep, that's right! I can't believe I have a son who is out of his teens and into his twenties! Such a surreal feeling!

I was on the cruise when Drew's birthday came - but Jeff took good care of him. They had steak that night and the next night they went to Shogun's for Japanese Tepan! Our family loves it! Then he forgot where I hid the gifts, so Jeff wrapped up a bunch of little gifts and put in rolled up small bills in each of them. Drew loved it!

Sunday, when I came home, we opened up the rest of Drew's real gifts. He got this really cool picture of Moroni for his room.

And Drew also got his new favorite games - Catan's Cities and Knights and Catan's Seafarer's. He and his friends are hooked!

They made Drew a lemon birthday cake. Jeff got these fireworks sparklers to put in our cakes a few years ago. They are always fun to add to the regular candles, but you have to shoot them out to the side because of the ashes! Ha! Ha!

3-7-2010 Sunday - Girl's Trip!

My best friend, Barb Hehl, and I went on a Mexican cruise last week - just us two!!!
We planned it just barely a month ago - and were so excited to have a little time to relax and just be girls again! Barb and I have been friends for almost 30 years now! We were maid's of honor in our weddings.

Snorkeling in Cabo...

The view of Los Arcos from our balcony as we left the bay...

Mexican in Mazatlan...

Shopping for jewelry for our daughters...

Zip lining in Puerto Vallarta... (Don't Laugh!)

But our main reason of going was for the scrapbook tour we signed up for...
I got 2 albums done, but still only got through July. We worked on it the three days at sea and every evening after we left port. We were absolute die hards - listening to MP3's, watching movies, snacking (we didn't do the formal nights), and being the last to leave every night around 2am! Our host also gave us a ton of layout and card kits, albums, and other goodies along with classes of new "how to's". It was heaven!!!! If you don't do photo albums then you don't know what I'm talking about - but you should try it sometime anyhow!

3-6-10 Saturday - My Style Modest Fashion Show

Holly modeled in our church's fashion show Saturday along with other girls who want to promote stylish modest fashions. Everything was so cute and modest!

An article about the show and some photos were in put in the online Meridian Magazine. Two photos of Holly appear in the article. Here is the address to see it:

http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/100310fashion.html