On the Road Again

A new road was just opened connecting Ocotillo Ridge Elementary school to the Del Lago neighborhood. Previously, there was only one road leading to the school, which made for huge traffic congestion, and a dangerous commute for students. Last Friday there was a ribbon cutting opening the new road. Principal Chesebrough invited the whole school to come. As a member of Site Council, I was invited to help cut the ribbon. It was a great celebration for everyone! I love the picture above of all the kids walking back up to the school.
After watching the huge fight with developers, the county and the school district, I was excited to see this road finally go through. (A great big pat on the back to Tony LoMonaco. It's due to him that we have a road!)

Of course, Scott couldn't help but get his word in that morning. As we arrived, Mr. Chesebrough had speakers blasting the song "On the Road Again." Scott just had to tease him about Willie Nelson being a good role model for the kids. (Long Hair, Drugs, Tax Evasion). We all got a good laugh. Overall it was just a great morning!

Isabelle's Baptism

Isabelle was baptized on December 5, 2009. It was a wonderful day! She looked absolutely beautiful in her dress.
I was overwhelmed by different feelings. First of all my baby was getting baptized. This is a big step for a mom. But I also felt many feelings of gratitude. As we sat together for lunch, after the baptism, I looked around the table at my children, all who are following the commandments. How lucky can a mom get? Then I looked at my extended family...my mom and dad....Scott's mom and her husband...my brother-in-law and his family. I felt so fortunate to have such a great heritage. I have so many great examples to base my life on. I know I have been blessed. I felt so much love in that room that day. May I never forget the blessings I have!

Dad and Daughter!

Toller cousins with Grandma.

Our fun family!

Isabelle with Grandpa Gordon and Grandma Carol.

Isabelle with Grandma and Grandpa Baggaley.

Daniel is my youngest brother. (I'm first of 12.) Daniel is younger than Elizabeth! I'm so glad he could be here for the baptism.

Video of Elizabeth's Steel Band Concert

I love this picture! It just shows how much fun Elizabeth has playing the steel pan! Her concert tonight was so much fun. Bravo Elizabeth!

Thanksgiving at Todd and Lindsay's

We all traveled to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with Todd (my brother) and Lindsay. My Mom and Dad and Daniel came down from Salt Lake to be there too. I took a ton of pictures....so you will just have to muddle through. I tried to narrow it down to my favorites, but there are still a lot!
Todd took all the kids to the park Thanksgiving afternoon, while Lindsay and Mom cooked, baked etc. We joined him a little later.

This is one of my favorites. Keller looks so excited to be at the park!

Anne and MacKay

Izzie decided she wanted to go back to the park for her birthday. (It was the day after Thanksgiving.)

Izzie turned 8!

She made her own chocolate cream pie for her birthday. Aunt Lindsay didn't help at all! :)

Keller had to have a turn blowing out the candles. He and Izzie developed quite a friendship while we were there. He would walk around the house saying, "Where is my friend?" They built forts together, played games, rode bikes, and watched movies.

I just love Mac-A-Do! (MacKay)

MacKay was so sad we were leaving! It broke my heart.

When Keller heard we were leaving he hurried to get dressed, so he could, "Go live with us." It was so sad to drive away without him.

Glow Sticks + Crazy Kids = .....

Who says Family Home Evenings are boring?!

Pancakes!

Daddy made some scrumptious pancakes this morning! He made Pumpkin and Honey Oat. There was just a little bit of pumpkin batter left so I decided I would make a Mickey Mouse pancake. Whenever I make a Mickey Mouse pancake I always have one problem. The Ears! They always break of when I try to flip it. Luckly, this time they didn't. They stayed on! I was so excited. So then I decided to go a little crazy and put a face on it. So I took some of the other batter and with a spoon I made a face! It was had to do and his face ended up lopsided but I did it. It might be kinda hard to see but:







Here is the stack of Pumpkin:



Here is the stack of Honey Oat:

My daddy feeds me well!

-Janet

College Hunting in California

Last week Elizabeth and I took a short jaunt to California to check out a couple of colleges. We started out at California Institute of Technology, and then went on to Harvey Mudd. Both of these are excellent schools. We enjoyed comparing each on: types of classes, dorm rooms, types of internships available, Institutes, campus atmosphere, fatness of squirrels (LOL), and of course the food! (We ate at both college cafeterias. Sorry Caltech, Harvey Mudd beat you there fair and square!)

Before this trip, I had been to Caltech, and Elizabeth had been to Harvey Mudd. I think we both enjoyed showing each other our discoveries.

As a Mom, it is so hard to be objective. You just want the best for your child. I don't want to influence her too much. I kept bugging Elizabeth to tell me which way she was leaning, but she wouldn't give me an answer. So I try to keep my opinions out of the equation. But I have to say, I was honestly excited about both of these schools. I told Elizabeth she would have to make the decision. Hopefully we can get her to Boston to see MIT before she has to make a decision next spring. These are her top three choices.

She has some excellent opportunities. It will be interesting to see what the next year brings!