Swim Lessons-- Mission Complete

Emma took swim lessons for 2 weeks at the gym we belong to. It was a bit stressful because she was nervous and reluctant each time, but she would always warm up by the end of the lesson. Skylar, her teacher, said she passed the Turtles class and he recommended her for the Seahorses next year. Go Emma! He also recommended her to have a one-on-one class next time because she was easily distracted when she was waiting for her turn. But I say that's just because she's smart and active!
Grandma got the girls matching swim suits. Aren't they so stinkin' cute?

Gladys Knight for President!

Ah, the world of politics. Today at the gym I watched the rally held in Unity, New Hampshire on CNN where Hillary and Barack joined forces in an effort to unite the Democratic Party. Despite losing to Barack in the race for the Democtraic nomination, Hillary expressed support for him today and encouraged unity among the Democratic voters. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they were quite brutal towards eachother over the last year or so. And today she repeatedly encouraged voters to support him.

Is it just me or do you question if she's singing his praises now just because he's paying off millions of dollars of her campaign debts? And is he just doing that to win over her supporters? And why are politics so complicated? Is anyone ever really being honest? I mean, one day they're ready to rip eachother's heads off and the next day he's greeting her with a kiss on the cheek and she's showering him with admiration. But the funniest part of all was when she implied that unlike President Bush, when her husband was president he was respected world wide. But I'm thinking to myself-- Bill Clinton? respected? He basically became a joke after all of his shananigans. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Don't get me wrong-- Hillary and Barack both seem like great people, (not to mention I'm a registered Democrat in support of my firefighter dad) and it's been incredible to see the first female candidate and the first African American candidate, but don't you ever wonder what's real in politics? What you can believe? It's all freaky. That's all I know. Very freaky. And that's why this quote is the best quote EVER:

"There's no doubt history is in the making with the 2008 presidential race. [We've had in the running an African American, a woman, and a Mormon.] Why don't we kill three birds with one stone - elect Gladys Knight president and call it a day?" - source unknown

Elegance

Isn't my Grandma Glee so stunningly beautiful here? I've been scanning old photos onto the computer lately and it's so fun to come across ones like this. She was such a classy lady--the epitome of elegance--but she was also remarkably strong and could throw a pretty mean softball.

She was sick for the last five years of her life and it was painful to see such a dynamic person become so frail. She's been gone for several years now but she is still very much with us; her legacy of love and good works lives on still. We miss you and love you Grandma!

Trying My Hand

I've become more and more interested in trying my hand at photography lately. I have A LOT to learn, but it's become a satisfying hobby. Maybe with enough practice I'll be as awesome as people like Angie and Carin someday! :)

It's Official!

It's Official-- We received Alan's final grades and he WILL be continuing on at McGeorge school of law in the Fall. We had reason to doubt that he would because we bit off way more than we could chew this last year and his grades suffered for it. But somehow he pulled it off-- always recognizing that the credit is given to the Lord . And now that it's summer, he's actually around to help me . . . Look-- I have proof!!!

Vacation-- La Quinta Style!

We just returned from a sweet get-away to La Quinta, CA which is just outside of Palm Springs. This was WAY over due for us, especially after the torturous first year of law school we've just had. So we left the girls with my parents (thanks mom & dad!) and jetted off to this desert oasis!

Here's what we did:
We swam in this pool (mostly at night though because we roasted during the day). . .

Alan beat me at Mini Golf. . . twice.

I was happy for him. . .

We hung out at our hotel and acted embarrassingly unruly-- (ok fine, it was just me acting unruly). . .

We went to the movies-- several times. . . (Kung Fu Panda rocks! Skadoosh!)

And the best part was being completely silly together for 4 days straight-- something we haven't done in a long time. I forgot how much Alan makes me LAUGH! And I mean to the point of tears! On the plane we flipped through one of those Sky Mall magazines and he cracked tons of jokes about some of those crazy inventions-- like a treamill for dogs-- need I say more?!I was sad to see it end, but I'm happy to be home because I missed my girls. Good times.

Fire Station Fun

Isn't this so cute?! This is my dad Jeff with his 4 grandkids, for those who don't know. He is a fire fighter-- obviously. ;) He took them for a ride on the fire truck yesterday (except baby Owen) and they went to get ice cream! Luckees! I thought this picture was definitely blog worthy. Happy Father's Day Dad! We love you!!!

Help with Blue Carpet. . .

What do you think???As you all know, we're moving in with my parents in July until Alan finishes law school. They have a little granny unit we're blessed to be able to stay in. It has blue carpet, which can be hard to design/ coordinate colors with. It's fairly new and in great condition so there's no reason to replace it. Do you think these paint choices go well with it? Alan did this rendering and after much trial and error, it seems to be the best color combo. We were going to do all light brown/ tan paint, but it seemed cold. The pumpkin color accent wall warms it up. Any comments/ suggestions? Maybe we just watch HGTV too much. . .

Sacramento Temple

Our ward just switched buildings so we now meet at the Mormon Center which is right next to the Sacramento Temple. We're so lucky we get to be so close to it every Sunday! I feel such peace being there.

Class of 2008!

My super cute cousin Cameron graduated from Casa Roble High School last night. His plans now are to go to Sac State and study construction management while getting ready for his mission. (So all you single ladies out there will just have to form a line to wait in until he gets back!) You can see what a great relationship he and his sister Rachel have-- always crackin' jokes and making everyone laugh. Good times! See- this is why we moved back to California-- to be here for stuff like this!

The Little Engine That Could

Yesterday we went to take a ride on Folsom's mini-train called "The Folsom Valley Railway," (but a more fitting name seems to be The Little Engine That Could.) Brooke kept saying Choo Choo! and Emma was very conscientious about not losing her ticket. We also stopped by the library where we saw tons of our friends. We checked out books and Emma showed me a great computer program called "Reader Rabbit" by The Learning Co. that she discovered at preschool. She LOVES it so I came home and ordered a copy online for $9.99. We highly recommend it if you're ever looking for that type of thing.

Just for Fun

Some things I LOVE that people tend NOT to like-- From A-Z:

A-artichokes
B- badminton
C-changes
D-dairy-free ice cream
E-errands
F-flossing
G-geology
H- hot weather
I- inventing weird lists like this one
J- jazzercise
K-kool-aid without adding sugar (yes, hodges-- that's for you)
L-lawyers (one lawyer-to-be in particular) ;)
M-milli vanilli
N- norris, chuck (yes, bruce--that's for you)
O-obsessive organizing
P- post colonial studies
Q- quinoa
R-rice milk
S- swiffering
T- teeth cleanings
U-uncle ubb's umbrella and his underwear, too. (thanks dr. seuss-- I was really struggling with that letter!)
V-vegetarianism
W-working out
X-xtreme read-a-thons
Y- yodeling
Z- zen bakery products

Whew! That took FOREVER! And obviously some of these are just for laughs-- but it was sure fun!!!

A Cruel Irony

When Alan and I first got married, he was toying with the idea of joining the Air Force. Although I am a patriotic person, I was against it because I did not want to move every few years like military families often do. Now as we prepare for moving yet again this summer, I've been reflecting upon all the places we've lived since getting married: Idaho, Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, and California. This will be our 8th move in 6 1/2 years. That's an average of one move every 10 months. Chances are very good we would have moved LESS if we actually had joined the Air Force. We don't regret the path we've taken, but it's just one of those cruel ironies, ya know? But we've met so many wonderful people along the way and it's nice to have friends from all over the place. Moving so much is the reason I have so many blogs to check all the time! -------->

(This photo was taken at Fort Irwin military base by Alan's dad who is a retired Army Dentist & Colonel. We love you!)