Trip to Orange County: July 23 - 27

My niece, Tess, was competing in a dance competition in Fullerton, CA and so I didn't miss the opportunity to spend 5 days in my old 'stomping grounds'. It was fun! While Lisa and Tess were at the dance competition on Thursday, Lauren and I spent the day at the beach. Then we all went back to the beach on Friday. Tess made it to the semi-finals for her age category (11-14 years old) and then was eliminated before the finals. (More pictures of her competing coming soon.) She did an awesome job!

Our favorite place to shop...Newport Fashion Island.

Our absolute favorite place to eat (just look at Tess' face)! The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach...

Emma's 4th Birthday Present

For Emma's birthday, I gave her a gift certificate for us to have a "Girl's Spa Day" and go get manicures and pedicures. We had so much fun!!! To put it in Emma's words, "Girls Rule and Boys Drool". Our song of the day was Brooks & Dunn's "Put a Girl in It" and Carrie Underwood's "The More Boys I Meet... (the more I love my dog)". Here are some pics of our day together...

Tyler Graduates from Pre-School

Today, I had the distinct pleasure of attending my nephew's (Tyler) pre-school graduation. After he asked me to go and told me "ALL off my aunt's are going", I found a way to work it into my calendar! It's funny, because he only has 2 aunts...me and my other sister! We were both there since his mom (our other sister) had to work. What a fun day! Afterwards, they had "brunch" back in his classroom...PB&J sandwiches and cookies. Way to go, Tyler!

Tyler is on the back row, far right (tallest one)!

Picture Day for Vicki & Magnum!

A special thank you to Mindy Kidd for her fabulous pictures and for getting me excited about having a photo setting done! (http://www.mindykiddphotography.com/) Last week, Magnum and I went out on the town for a photo shoot with Mindy. We had so much fun and Magnum was such a good sport. It was like he totally understood Mindy when she told us how to pose. He would sit right where he was supposed to and situate himself and then turn and pose for the camera. He is the best dog ever! (He even got me a Mother's Day gift again this year, thanks to Normandee...his sitter.) I ordered more prints of Magnum than I did electronic copies of the pictures, but below are some of the favorites. Mindy is a dream to work with and I highly recommend her talented services!

Huntington Beach Singles Conference

Many of you know that I went to a singles conference in California with some friends at the end of April. We got off to a rough start...a tire blew on my Tahoe about 30 miles east of Indio . We were out in the middle of nowhere and our cell phones wouldn't even work. Thankfully, we were near a call box. However, before the roadside service could make it to help us, a truck driver pulled over to help. It just so happened it was the same truck driver that we let cut in front of us in line at Wendy's back in Blythe! He remembered us and stopped to help...amazing, huh??!!! He kept telling us he had so much fun stopping to help 3 beautiful women and that we were really fun and so worth stopping for. Long-story-short...we got back on the road about an hour later and stopped at Costco in Anaheim Hills only to find out I needed 4 new tires (and those were new tires that were already on there...just the wrong size!). We ended up having a great time though. And who wouldn't at the beach!!! No "matches" at the conference, but it was totally fun. I even talked the other girls into trying the speed-dating there. If what I saw is what's out there and available, I'll stay single...thank you very much!

"Ferdinand the Bull"

Last September, I went into Tess', Lauren's and Tyler's classrooms to read Ferdinand the Bull as part of the "read for the record" event and fundraiser. The Mesa Art Center was putting on the play, based on the book, so I took the nieces and nephew to it. Afterwards, we stopped by Pete's Fish & Chips for dinner. Tyler tried fish for the first time and loved it. He wanted his picture taken by the fish afterwards. Here's some of the pics...

Tyler's 5th Birthday

For Tyler's 5th Brithday, I took the family (those that are baseball fans) to the pre-season exhibition game at Chase field. The Diamondbacks took on the Rockies and lost 9-4. The Dodgers will always be "my team", but I'm starting to like the Diamondback and even root for them now!