3-14-2009 Saturday - Rascal Flatts Concert!

Saturday night we went to The Rascal Flatts Concert at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine. It was the last night of their tour and it also happened to be their ten year anniversary as a band! So they were very nostalgic and talked about the band and what it meant to them. You could tell it meant a lot to them that evening.

It was an all girls night, just Holly, Noel, Shera and me!

We had great box seats in the front row of the second tier so no one was in front of us or blocking our view. Of course, that didn't stop us from standing and dancing for most of the concert.

Jessica Simpson opened the show and she actually was really good! I had heard her sing the National Anthem at the Angel's World Series game 5 and she was good back then too. I feel bad, I think she gets a bum rap from the media. They should just leave her weight issues alone!

Joe Don is our favorite in the band
(cuz he's sooo cute - according to Holly!)

Their scenes were so fun! The background here were stars falling down over and over - really cool looking! After Gary sang "The Broken Road" they brought a couple up onto the stage and the man got down on one knee and proposed to her and then Gary sang another verse while the man put a ring on her finger! It was so romantic and everyone went crazy! What an amazing guy to plan all of that to propose marriage!
What a fun girl's night!

3-14-2009 Saturday - Knott's Berry Farm Adventure!

3-14-2009 Saturday - Noel's SCVA Classical Comptetition

Noel had her first classical competition in voice today. It was the finals for the Southern California Vocal Association. It is a pretty awesome experience and overwhelming also! She was quite nervous singing in an Italian aria in front of a hundred people, but she held her own and we are so proud of her. It's the beginning of many to come as she wants to follow in her sister, Holly's footsteps. After the competition, we went out for dim sum to our favorite place in Irvine! Congrats to you Noel!

3-13-2009 Friday - Drew Recieves His Mission Call! Yahoo!!!

A lot of us took our guesses at where we thought Drew would be serving his mission. We pretty much covered all of Europe, South America and even parts of Africa and Asia.

Here is Drew about to open his letter. He waited four hours for Holly to get home from school so that she could be there.

After Drew read his call, he and his dad hugged.
Isn't that a sweet one...

Grams and Drago came for the opening too!

Afterwards, we celebrated by going to one of Drew's favorite restaurants, Five Crowns. Noel had sewn him a homemade teddy bear to take with him on his mission!

Holly is already having withdrawal issues.

But she is very happy for him though.
So, the big question is where in the world is Drew going???
Well, watch below for the details... :)

No one guessed the place he is going...

3-10-2009 Drew is Nineteen Years Old!!!

Drew turned 19 today! He was up at school and it was our first time away from him on his birthday. It was so sad to be away from him, but it's something we've got to get used to with the upcoming mission. We used Skype to talk to him for a few minutes and watch him open up his gifts we mailed up to him. This is the photo we took of him from Skype! He is going out for Japanese food with his friends for birthday dinner tonight.
Happy Birthday Sweet Drew!

3-7-2009 Saturday - Holly Asked To Mormon Prom!

Holly was asked to Mormon Prom last Saturday night at the church dance. A boy she knows from the Foothill Ranch Ward, Trevor (...?) was talking to Holly as they took a little walk around the church building to cool off. He asked her if she was going yet and she said "No". Then he asked if she would go with him. But she said, "You have to ask me cute!" He must have been quite taken back but said, "Okay, so if I brought you cookies, is that cute?" "Hmmm...." she said. "If I brought you brownies, is that cute?" "Hmmm...." she said. So they parted and she went back inside. Little did she know while she was dancing he ran down the street to Trader Joe's and quickly bought red tulips and magenta hyacinths, ran back and found her in the dance! He got down on one knee and in front of all her friends said, "Holly, will you go to Mormon Prom with me???" All the girls went crazy, especially the beehives, and then she said "Yes!" It was very cute!!! :)

3-6-2009 Friday - Drew's Mission Papers Are In!

Hi Everyone!

Thought you might like to know that our son, Drew, just sent in his papers last week to become a full time missionary for our church. He will be gone for two years somewhere either in the United States or abroad.

Our family is playing a little guessing game if you'd like to participate. I have a world map on the wall that we are peppering with guesses. Tell me your guess of where Drew will be called to serve for the next two years! I will let you know when we receive the letter sometime next week.

Lots of Love - The Starr Family

3-6-2009 Friday - Noel "Plays" Cinderella

Noel got to be in the 7th grade drama production of
Cinderella this morning. She did such a great job and we are so proud of her!

Here she is right before the play began.
She made the apron herself too!

Noel and her friends were all terrific.
They deserved a standing ovation!

3-4-2009 Wednesday - Pizza Picnic!

Everyone has still been feeling lousy at our home, so I decided to mix things up a bit last night. We had an Italian Pizza Picnic - complete with grape juice and the movie Moonstruck!

Of course Heidi wanted to share in the festivities too!

Don't you love Luke's eyes in this photo???

3-1-2009 Sunday - A Big 'Ol Beehive!

While we were all down with colds last Sunday, I looked out our window and saw a fantastic sight! In front of our house on the street was a massive swarm of bees! I called Jeff and the kids to take a look as they slowly disappeared. Then Jeff walked the house, looking outside and noticed something was going on behind our pool in the big carrot tree.

Yep! It was a huge beehive that was formed in a matter of hours! It was about 2 feet long and 1 1/2 feet wide! Lucky for us, it was on our association's property, so we called them up to take care of it with no expense to us.

The next day the beeman came and sprayed the hive. It happened while I was gone or I'd have a photo of him. Jeff was hoping he'd just transfer the bees somewhere else. That's what they do at the high school. Did you know there is a bee shortage???

2-26-2009 Thursday - Our Disney Adventure!

*** Time out from school ***
It's Disney Time!!!
If you've ever been here, you know this is the "A" in California!!!

Next time you are at California Adventure, stop in at the Mission Tortilla Factory for a tour. They show you how they make their delicious flour tortillas and the best part is you get a free fresh from the factory hot tortilla. I've never tasted a better one! Yummy :)

Luke was just barely tall enough to go on California Screamin' for the first time. It took a little while to talk him into it, but once he went - he loved it and it instantly became his favorite ride of the day! The only problem was when we came back later that afternoon for another go, they said he was too short. Well, you can imagine the tears that came as he watched his sisters ride. But the attendant was very nice and gave us a walk up pass to any ride Luke wanted - so right after, we rode Thunder Mountain! Guess Luke will have to wear his taller shoes next time...

Jeff met us at the circle for a late lunch. There are his "Little Birdies" waiting for the next bite. He's feeding them a turkey leg. He's really good about getting his hands all greasy!

The reason we went to Disneyland in the first place was to watch Holly sing with her choir. They sang Disney songs and it was really fun to listen to and sit down to take a break!
Can you believe this was the only good photo that came out? :(

We tried to talk Luke into going on The Tower of Terror, but he wouldn't budge.
Maybe next time...

But he did love the parade!

2-23-2009 Monday - Our Puppies Are The Cutest!

After family night last week, we watched a little bit of a movie together and guess who fell asleep on the sofa? Luke and Heidi! They were so cute - I just had to take a photo!

Sasha was adorable too all cozied up.
She is our sweet little 'ol girl...

2-20-2009 Friday - The PBR!

Now, for those of you who haven't watched the PBR up close and personal, then I can truly say you haven't lived a completely fulfilling life yet! What the heck is the PBR you ask?

Well, it's the Professional Bull Riders!
We like to trade off and do surprise dates when we can and when I heard they were coming to town, I just knew we had to give it a try! BTW - That fire is coming out of pyro bull heads!!!
Yahooooo!!!!

The show we went to was a big one at The Pond. (It'll never be the Honda Center to me...) It had the top 40 bull riders in the world and was a 2 day event! Some of these bulls weighed up to 1,700 pounds! We saw the #1 (26 yrs old) and #2 (21 yrs old) best in the world ride that night!

It got pretty crazy at times watching these riders get bucked off. We watched one do a flip off the back (unintentionally), another get his hand caught and dragged, and another riding with a cast on his arm because he'd had surgery the week before from breaking it at a show 2 weeks prior! Whoa! These were tough guys! The world finals will be in November in Vegas - maybe....

Take a look at this!
Brian Canter is 21 years old and #23 in the world!

2-14-2009 Saturday - Happy Valentine's Day!

It was quite a trip for Valentine's this year. Actually, we were still in Utah, which was fun because we got to be with Drew and Jeff's family. After skiing earlier that day, we got cleaned up and went for my favorite, Mexican food. We ate at a restaurant called, El Farol's. The fun part was that they had a Mariachi Band there that night to bring the "Romantic Spirit" to the meal. So, all 13 of us cuddled up together and enjoyed the music! Ha! Ha!

After dinner, we went back to Papa and Grandma Starr's and opened a few Valentine gifts.

This was really the fun part for the kids. Luke got a personalized card consisting of one free trip to Knott's Berry Farm with Dad! He carried that card around with him all evening, looking at the wild rides there. It was the perfect gift for him, now that he's tall enough for all the rides!

Holly, Noel, and Shera got tickets to the upcoming Rascal Flats Concert in our hometown at the Verizon Amphitheater! Guess who else is going too... :)

Drew got tickets to Rascal Flats as well up in SLC!
Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2-13-2009 Friday - Ski Utah!

We flew to Utah Thursday night for the long weekend.
The snow in front of papa and grandma's house was terrific for sledding!
Shera loved eating it too on the slopes.

Drew skied with us at Deer Valley. It was so great to be with him.
Here we are in front of the raccoon house, on Last Chance, our favorite run!

We had lunch down at Snow Lodge with Mit Romney.
(Well, at least next to him...)

But the highlight was of course being with my honey!

Shera and Luke made a snowman with
what snow was leftover in grandma's yard.

Dane taught us a rip roaring new game called, Kerplunk.

Drew's friend from BYU, Meredith, came over one
evening and accompanied him and Holly with a duet.
It was so nice to hear Drew sing again, we've missed it a lot.