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.

2-9-2009 Monday - A Valentines FHE!

Luke and Shera were in charge of our Family Night the other night.
They had made an FHE kit up in their ward primary activity with a Valentines Theme.

They both conducted the meeting and prepared everything for it!

Even Sasha and Heidi were in attendance!

Shera read from the scriptures.

They had visual aids for the song, "Love One Another".

They had a fun game to play with us.

Noel had her heart for the game.

Their kit even included a cookie mix and they made the cookies themselves! It was a really cute family night that we all really enjoyed!

2-8-2009 Sunday - The Duet...

Last summer, our ward had a fundraiser for the youth. It was where people shared their talents by auctioning them off to others in the ward. Holly auctioned off singing a special musical number with someone during a sacrament meeting. This Sunday was the day it all came together. Laney (Delaney) Whitaker got to sing a beautiful primary song with Holly. It was, "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus" with a wonderful arrangement that Sister Fawn Penrod accompanied them with. She was so cute and they had a great time. Holly said she would love to do it again. She loves being with children and will be a great mom someday.

2-7-2009 Saturday - A Weekend With The Starr's!

We always love it when Brad and Berta and the cousins come to visit us! This weekend they came for just a quick overnighter. We went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Yummo!

The kids ate at one table and the adults were next to them. They felt pretty independent doing it that way. And it was a lot easier to get 2 tables of 6 and 7 also! Brad and Berta's new little girl, Talia, was a doll and the kids had so much fun together too!

But earlier on Saturday, we had run into a little trouble with Dallan's finger. He put a ball bearing ring onto it, but it was a little too tight. His finger started turning red and swelled up on him. We couldn't get it off!

So, who ya gonna call??? Our dentist and good friend, Carey Penrod. Luckily, they weren't too busy (Only just about to have 25 kids over for Trabuco's Winter Formal dinner!) But he was so sweet - he drove Dallan over to his office and cut that ring off with some dangerous tool that only dentists like to use! Ha! Ha!

It was a good thing too, because once it was off,
we could see just how much damage it had made in only a few short hours!

Dallan says he's keeping it for a memory.
Aren't memories fun to make???

Thank you Dr. Penrod for saving the day
and helping us to enjoy the rest of our weekend!

2-6-2009 Friday - Shera Cheers at MVHS

Shera cheered at the MVHS home basketball game on Friday with her friend, Sloane Werner. They have done this for several years now and always look forward to a fun evening of pizza, singing songs, and learning new cheers and a dance to perform for the fans!

They wear a colored wristband to keep them in the same group. They were in the orange group this year. They loved to hang out with the cheerleaders.

The girls performed during the intermission. Since they are getting older, they are more in the back now. They are both in 3rd grade and have been friends since they were in the same 3 year old preschool!

Even though we lost that night, the diablos are still winners in our book!

1-31-2009 Saturday - Holly Goes To Winter Formal

Holly went to Winter Formal with Michael Klapp from the Live Oak Ward in our stake. He is a really fun boy and they have been good friends for a long time. He's kind of like another brother to Holly. And that's okay with Drew, because he and Michael are great friends too!

This was such a sweet photo of them together. We went to the RSM City Center to take group photos and this was taken while waiting for everyone to arrive.

Here they all are with their dates and beautiful gowns and corsages. After the picture taking, they went to one of the kids homes for an Italian dinner, then off to the dance.

They had all different fun poses. I had suggested the girls looking over the guys shoulders and it turned out really cute!

The girls shoes were so cool! Some of them were really fashionable and wild! Holly's were outrageous! She had a 4 1/2 inch heel black satin platform shoe with a giant clear square stone on the toe. The shoes didn't stay on for long though. Most of the girls take them off once they arrive at the dance. Holly made it halfway through it at least! Ha! Ha!

The after party was at our home. They had turkey chili and creamy potato soup, rolls and warm bread sticks, and three different cheesecakes and eclairs for dessert! About 40 people came and they all left by about 2am! Whew!!!!