Kella's 9th Birthday

We just celebrated Kella's 9th birthday. She's been so excited to turn 9. This was the first week of school and the first time that she's been in school when her birthday came around. As you can see ... she is growing into quite the young woman. She has "teenager" written all over her already.

It's really cool living close to family ... we had everyone over to the house for pizza, birthday cake and swimming. Kella was very grateful for all the cards and gifts she received. She REALLY liked all the attention on her special day.

Little Lyssie is the splitting image of Kella. As you can see, she wanted to be right in the middle of all the attention. She can't let her big sister be in the spotlight alone.

We capped the evening off in the pool. What a fun evening!!!

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY KELLA!!!

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day. We had some gifts that we gave to Donnie, but what was so thoughtful was that Donnie surprised us and gave us each a card. Inside the cards to David, Machella, Elyssa and Joshua, Donnie told them how much he loved them and how they were special and how grateful he was to be their Dad. He also included a little extra "surprise" in the cards for them. The kids loved the cards and leave it to my wonderful husband to think of everyone else on his special day. Later in the day we went to Donnie's families house and had a lot of fun. It is so great to have family close. The kids love going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I am so grateful to be married to someone who truly loves being a Dad and is so involved in his kids' lives and is such a great example to them.

Our Soccer Princess

Kella started playing soccer this summer. She's never played before, but since her brother was playing basketball she wanted to do something and thought soccer looked fun. We let her know that there would be a lot of running ... but this didn't dissuade her. So ... we took her to buy soccer cleats, pads, shorts and her own pink soccer ball.

She has never played before ... so it has been a lot of fun learning how to dribble, pass, shoot and all the other soccer rules. She has great ball control and has picked up on the game really fast.

All the running hasn't been too big of a deal for her. She's tired after the practices, but can really move and keep it moving the entire time (it probably helps that her father is on the sidelines yelling "encouragement" at her the entire time).

Her team put up a good showing at their game on Saturday, but fell short of the victory. Kella played goalie the 2nd half of the game and no one scored on her. She blocked quite a few shots and didn't let anyone intimidate her (way to go girl!!!). It's fun watching her learn the sport and push herself.

David's First Basketball Game

David started playing basketball with the YMCA this summer. He's always had an interest in basketball and played on the intramural teams at school in Bakersfield ... and now gets the chance to take it up a notch. His practices are at least 2 hours a day 2 days a week and he has games every Saturday. His coach runs and drills the team hard ... which paid off since they won their first game this past Saturday.

David is one of the fastest kids on the team. He is aggressive on the court and doesn't let any of the bigger boys or boys with more experience intimidate him. He keeps up with them and gets in their face. During the game on Saturday he had some great rebounds, blocks, steals and passes.

We're really proud of David and happy that he is really getting into basketball.

Memorial Day at Sabino Canyon

This morning we went exploring and hiking at Sabino Canyon. The last time we were here was when David was still in a stroller (about 10 years ago). We took the trolley up the canyon and then rode it back down until we hit Stop 2 (1.4 miles from the visitors center). We then hiked the rest of the way out ... exploring along the way.

The river bed is usually dry this time of year, but due to an unseasonal bit of rain last week, the water was running deep enough in some areas where people could swim. The rock formations are also impressive ... you would never know that this little oasis is hidden within these desert mountains.

Everyone enjoyed the trolley ride up the canyon. This is at Stop 9, the last stop before it turns around and heads back down the canyon.

We got off the trolley at Stop 2 and the exploring began.

The kids are always fascinated with lizards. We didn't see many of those in Bakersfield ... and they are everywhere here in Tucson.

Joshie surprised us a little ... we thought that he would be the one to run around so much that we'd have to keep a good pace to keep up with him. He actually wanted a ride most of the way back AND only with his mom. Amy did great carrying him for 1.2 of the 1.4 miles back.

Elyssa rode on my shoulders 2/3 of the way and walked the other 1/3. There was one point where we were walking up this hill and she said "Daddy, run." I tried ... for about 100 yards and then was done running any more.

We took a short break in the shade once we got back to the visitors center before calling it a day.

David - 5th Grade Graduation

Friday morning David graduated from Desert Willow Elementary. He had a stellar semester even though he started half way through the school year when we moved from California. Some of his accomplishments from the 5th grade were that he continued his straight "A" trend ... AND ... he performed VERY well on the tests for the gifted program in the 6th grade.

All the kids who received their certificates of promotion to the 6th grade hugged their teachers and then the principal. David was the only boy who stuck out his hand to shake his teacher's hand rather than hug him. He definitely doesn't have an issue blazing his own path. I can't wait to see what he does in college and after. It should be interesting and exciting.

Another cool thing to celebrate David's day was that Grandma and Grandpa Doll, Aunt Jenn, and Grandpa Mark & Grandma Mindy could be there.

We are so proud of David. He works VERY hard and always wants to perform at the top of the class. Good luck in 6th grade ... we know you will excel!!!

Grandpa Mark & Grandma Mindy Come To Visit

Grandpa Mark and Grandma Mindy came to visit this past week. The kids had a lot of fun with them ... especially Elyssa and Joshua. The first night they were here we had an "American Idol" party. Kella and Lyssie had fun dancing with Grandpa ... he can really "cut the rug."

One of the days they were here while David and Kella were in school, we went to the Children's Museum with the twins. As you can see from the pictures below ,,, it was right up the twins' alley.

Lyssie and Grandma Mindy had lots of fun together on the climbing wall, drawing, playing on the motorcycle and then sliding down the fireman's pole.

Likewise, Joshua was all boy driving Grandpa and Lyssie in the fire engine.

Grandpa brought his laptop with tons of family pictures. The kids thought it was great to see pictures of mom when she was little ... especially the one with the blue "Bruce Jenner" shorts, with the matching socks, shirt and feathered hair (GO 1970's).

We're so glad that Grandpa Mark and Grandma Mindy came to visit. We look forward to seeing them again in October.