Friday, May 28, 2010

Emily Graduattion

My cousin Emily graduated from PV last night.  We were so worried about the weather.  It rained all day, and yet they said they would hold the graduation outside.  I am so glad because I wouldn't have been able to be with her had they done it inside.  They only let the parents in then.  This is Emily with her Mom, my Aunt Patti.  We drove over to PV together in a taxi.  We didn't arrive until an hour after it started, so we didn't hear any of the speeches at the beginning.  We did hear all of the names, however, and I was so happy to cheer for Kaylee Gillingwater, Sean Fogelman, and Maddie Ysasaga too!!

Racel never lets me take a picture of her, so she was really good to me last night.  I'm so glad to have this nice one of the sisters.

This is my grandparents with Emily.

Here we are.  I have to say that Emily as a very special place in my heart.  I was there when she was born and have felt a special bond with her all of her life.  I love her and I'm so glad that we are able to see each other more often than before.  I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see what she does with her life.  

Here is Mom and Gary with Emily.  For some reason, Jeff didn't come.  I shall give him a bad time about that.  Overall, this was a weird graduation due to the weather, but a very happy on.  Congratulation Emily!!

Macky's Last Day of 4th Grade

For Macky's last day of school, the fantastic room mom Lisa decided we should have a little BBQ.  I brought the cupcakes.  So, here are a few of the 45 froggy cupcakes that I made for Macky's class.  They were a big hit.  Mac said that we should make them look scared and sad since they were going to be eaten.
  
I got to the school at about 1:00.  The kids all were signing notebooks.  It was raining and like 58 degrees or so.  It was weird.  Anyway, the kids all wanted to do have a water gun fight.  Next thing you know, they're shooting each other with water while it's raining.  Those kids were soaked.  They had a blast, though.  They ate hot dogs and lots of treats.  

Mac had a great year.  We are so thankful for Mrs. Sloan and the nice kids in his class.  These two with Mac (Houston and Sean) are two of Mac's favorites.  They are very nice boys.  I am really sad because I forgot to get a photo with Mac and Mrs. Sloan.  I'll have to try for one next year!  

Happy Birthday Mom!

For my mom's birthday this year my parents took us out to eat at Logan's (Mom's favorite).  We ate until we were stuffed.  The kids had a great time.  It was really fun for us all to be together.  We missed Stephen, though.  One of the best parts was the cake.  I made a yellow cake.  Maddie frosted it with chocolate frosting, and Ryan applied the sprinkles.  It was festive to say the least.  Happy Birthday Mom!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Piano Recital 2010

Mac and Maddie both performed their piano pieces yesterday in front of a packed crowd.  Maddie was a bit nervous as this was her first recital.  She did fantastic!  Her little face was so red when she got back to the seat.  She was so pleased.  Mac acted as though it was all no big deal, of course.  They had a great fan club supporting them.  It all made me so happy to be in Chico!  



Chico Center for Learning

Last Thursday was Ryan's last day of PreKindergarten.  He was so excited for his special day.  All of the kids wore their special green shirts.  The first thing we did was hear about each kid and what they did over the year.  Each child was given a binder from Teacher Barbara.  She had filled it with the things they had done over the year and with photos, etc.  
Ryan loves Teacher Barbara!
Then Teacher Linda gave him his special graduation certificate.  He was so happy!

After each child had their special time, we got to look through the binders and the children each got a special gift from the teachers.  Then we gave the teachers a gift.  This is the first time I've been really sad to leave a school.  Ryan has learned so much and been so well taken care of here, I'm sad to have to go!  After all of the festivities, we took the kids over to Caper Acres for a picnic and all out play.  What fun!


Sunday, May 16, 2010

John's Hair Cut, Swimming and Snails

I cut John's hair last week.  I thought it was a good idea to give him a popsicle.  Actually, it was disgusting!!  There were clumps of hair stuck everywhere, and then he pooped!  Oh it was really something.  But, he's got a very nice little boy hair cut now.  I used the clippers for the first time. 

After the hair cut, we went swimming with our Stapf cousins.  The kids were freezing, but had a great time!

Lilly tried ice for the first time.  It was hilarious!  She was shocked by the cold, but then kept right on playing with it.

I came outside yesterday to this.  The kids had pulled leaves off of a bush and collected all of the snails that they could find in our "jungle."  It was so disturbing to know that these all came from a very small area in our yard.  ICK!  I couldn't believe that Maddie and her buddy picked these all up.  Ryan was in charge of the food for them.  Oh so gross.

Grandpa's 60th Birthday

Grandpa Gary turned 60 this month!  We all met at DeGarmo Park for a picnic lunch and cake to celebrate.  Some old friends showed up and we were able to really spend a nice afternoon together.  The kids had a great time climbing and playing tag. 





We sure love Grandpa.  We couldn't make it without him!

Campbell and John

He takes the ball and makes her oh so mad.

She takes the ball and makes him oh so mad.

These two are just so much fun!

Maddie's Hike in Upper Bidwell Park

Maddie and I went on a field trip with South Sutter Charter School to Upper Bidwell Park.  There were kids of all ages and we got to learn about the geology found in the park.  The Naturalist who lead the hike took us to many familiar places as well as some new.  I can't wait to take the boys on this same hike.  The first picture is of Big Chico Creek.  
This is a shot of Monkey Face.  When we hike as a family, this is usually where we go.  Then we sometimes wander down to Horse Shoe Lake.  



Friday, May 7, 2010

Joseph Miller the Fourth

My niece, Maria, had  beautiful baby boy this morning!!  She was in labor FOREVER but he finally came!!  He is 7 pounds 9 ounces and 21 inches.  His name is Joseph Miller.  He is the fourth Joseph in a row for the Miller family.  Awesome.  It is killing me to not be there to hold him!!


Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Happy Birthday Spencer and Ryan!!

Happy Birthday to Spencer and Ryan!!  Spencer's birthday was yesterday and Ryan's is tomorrow.  The family came over to celebrate on Sunday.  Uncle Doug cooked some great chicken and Aunt Delayne made this spectacular raspberry cake.  It's Spencer's favorite.  Thank you everyone!!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Superheroes Unite!

Ryan's birthday party was yesterday.  We had a marvelous time!  I had a lot of fun planning this party.  We had a superhero theme.  The kids came dressed up.  They were welcomed by a huge sign I made that said "Welcome Superheroes!"  Once inside they received their cape.  I cut out the felt capes, my mom sewed on the ribbons, and Shannon embroidered their names on them.  Once dressed, they could go in the backyard and color with chalk on the patio or get their faces painted.
My awesome cousin Emily and her friend Chelsea came and did the painting.  The kids loved it.  Once all of the kids had their faces painted, we went in the backyard again.  Mac, aka Superman, was feeling terrible.  Someone had dumped a bunch of Kryptonite in our backyard.  My little superheroes had to search all over for those green rocks!  Once they found the rocks we had a superhero obstacle course for them.  They ran through cones, punched a blow-up guy, crawled through a tunnel, etc.  When they were finished with the obstacle course, Spencer set up the pinata.  We had a Spiderman pinata filled with Ryan's favorite candy.  Spencer got out the metal bat and the kids went crazy.  We had them really well organized and everyone got some yummy candy.    
Then we went in for ice cream cake.  Ryan picked out cookie dough ice cream with chocolate cake.  It was decorated with Superman on it.  He loved it.  
After cake, the kids went into the living room for presents.  I took a couple of pictures after the presents were opened.  Aren't they a good looking group?



Matt didn't want to be in the group shot, so I took one of him flying solo.  All of this was accomplished in an hour.  !!  So, they had half an hour left to play around in the backyard.  I think they all had a great time.  I know that I did!!  Ryan is really lucky to have such a nice group of buddies, who all have great parents who came and helped out.  A big thanks to everyone who came and helped out.