Mormon Night and Dodger Stadium

Thursday evening we went to Echo Park and enjoyed the Dodger game with friends and many other members of the church.

Elder Ballard and one of the 70 threw the first pitch of the game. It was awesome!!!!! :)

Our friend, Bishop Ramirez, shook Elder Ballard's hand and spoke to him briefly.

We sat in the all you can eat section of the stadium. This is located behind right field.

The innings were very quick and a little frustrating for me personally. I love the Dodgers - but they let the Braves take home 4 times!!!!!!!!!!!! Manny Ramirez was not playing ball and should have sat out the game! He was very bad!! :(

We usually leave Echo Park once the 9th inning begins. We had brought Bishop Ramirez and his son so we stayed.

At the bottom of the 9th the Dodgers were down 4-2. I was very sad. When Andre Ethier was up to bat there were two players on base. I thought for certain we were going to lose. At one point he had 2 balls and 2 strikes.

If you follow the Dodgers you know that Ethier hit a home run and they won 5-4! I totally lost it. I screamed for almost 10 minutes. I had to buy a t-shirt with Ethier's number and name. Unfortunately they didn't have any my size so I settled for the child size. I am going to frame it with my Ticket stub, the news paper article from the next morning and the Dodger water bottle.

We had so much fun!!!!!!!!11

COUNT DOWN

The house has begun to buzz with excitement and anticipation as the Ventura County Fair fast approaches!

Last night we were talking about when we could go for the first time.

Opening Day, Wednesday, August 5th - Can't go. Activity at the church for Young Men and Young Women

Thursday, August 6th - Can't go. Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium (we are going with the Ventura Stake - we missed our own stake's Mormon Night). It's great to have friends from our old ward.

Friday, August 7th - MAYBE. It is date night and it will cost us $$$$$$ to get in.

Saturday, August 8th - Most Definitely. I have entries to take Saturday morning. The whole family usually goes with me to help me out with my cut roses and flower arrangments. We get stamped as we leave so that we can re-enter when the gates open. COSTS NOTHING!!!!! :)

We like going to the concerts and there are a couple really good acts this year. If you are into the 80's - Huey Lewis is playing - we are probably going to go to that.

There are a couple of country acts - we will probably go with a few of our friends who love country.

Saturday, August 15th - Most Definitely. I have entries to take Saturday morning. We will get stamped again. I take flower cuttings from all of the plants in the yard and enter them in the fair.

I also take items to the Ag building during the week. Vegetables; fuits; nuts, etc. Our Quince are the size of large grapefruits. I get a blue ribbon every year for them. They are very pretty this year. The squirels have been eating the guavas and the macademia nuts - so I don't think I will have anything to show this year.

Grapes; apples; oranges and avocados are not ready :(

We always go the last day of the fair - great deals with the Vendors trying to get rid of their inventory.

I can't wait to tell you how everyone did on their pre-fair entries. I am so excited.

WE MISSED YOU !!!!!!!!

Well, we were really looking forward to spending this past weekend with the Utah Clan!!!! :)

Chris and Tammy, we hope that your blessed weekend was wonderful! She is truly beautiful!

In case you were wondering what we actually did with our weekend...

We cleaned the house; ran some errands and baked for 12 hours on Saturday. If you haven't guessed it - The Ventura County Fair opens this Wednesday.

We had four children in the kitchen baking for 12 hours on Saturday; producing the following:

4 pecan pies
4 pumpkin pies
3 loaves of bread (zucchini; pumpkin and carrot)
two batches of muffins (easy and pumpkin)
about a dozen different types of cookies
4 batches of rice krispie treats
1 sheet of brownies
1 batch of brownie bites

While the baking was going on I washed 8 loads of laundry and we watched Harry Potter movies starting with #1 in the Kitchen - while Victor sat in the living room watching season 3 and season 4 of Stargate Atlantis.

Since we were tired of the kitchen, we went to Marie Calendars and ordered Potato Cheese Soup for our little bakers and a whole sheet of corn bread.

We woke up early Sunday morning and delivered the tasty treats to the fair grounds for judging. We were in and out of there in 30 minutes.

We spent the rest of the day recuperating.

We thought that we had properly covered all the remaining items from our baking frenzy - alas - while we were out Chiana discovered the baked items on the dining room table. We found one plate of rice crispie treats on the dining room floor - half eaten and three pumpkin muffins severely beaten on the dining room table. I would guess that Chiana did not like the pumpkin muffins.

Alex discovered that Zucchini bread actually tastes pretty good. He had complained and made faces while he was making it. Another triumph for me - I had told him that he should try it and then tell me that he didn't like it.

Victor's nephew, Kevin, was enjoying the mayhem on Saturday and joined in - making a 5th pecan pie and a 5th pumpkin pie. He took them with him when he went to Lompoc with Lucy on Sunday. Shared the baked goods with some of Victor's family up there.

Lucy told Kevin that he was learning from the best (referring to me). I was surprised and a little pleased with the compliment.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Well, I have finally decided that it is time to go back to school. I have general studies that are required for me to graduate, however, I have felt the need to brush up on my music skills.

I am taking a beginning orchestra for winds on Monday evenings and taking a beginning guitar on Thursdays.

I am also brushing up on my Spanish skills by taking Spanish 01 on Tuesdays and Thursday.

Victor has decided that he also is going back to school and is taking the beginning guitar with me.

I already own a guitar that I had restrung about a year ago. Victor, had to purchase a guitar.

We picked up his new guitar Thursday night. He and I spent some time learning how to tune our guitars. Victor broke his first string. I laughed... He didn't think it was funny. I told him that he was going the wrong way when he was tuning and that he was going to break the string.

I had my guitar tuned in short time. It took Victor a long time and eventually he began to understand the difference between sharp and flat sounds.

Can I tell you that it is extremely difficult to explain musical terms to someone who has never read music before? It is doubly difficult when the person is stubborn and wants to do it on his own...

I'm glad I am not the instructor... :)

Any way, this will be a fun adventure. We begin classes August 17th.

Health Update

Well, I know that some of you have been wondering about my health...

DISCLOSURE - this is not for the male gender who are faint of heart.

I had my follow-up visit yesterday with the OBGYN and I will know something in the next week or so. As for the rest of me, it appears that I am para menopausal - so my hormones are waunky and will remain so until my body decides that it is menopausal - :)

Added bonus: My pelvic muscles are relaxed (lazy muscles) and so things are a little lower than they should be. With a few exercises learned while pregnant this wonderful phenomenon should correct itself. I was told that I need to religiously perform these exercises 6 - 8 times a day for the next couple of months. In the event that it doesn't I will be referred to a specialist who can pin/lift my internal reproductive organs back to where they should be. NICE!!!!!!!!!

Any way, just thought I would you let you know.

FAMILY ADVENTURE

This past weekend Victor and I took the kids to Hurricane Harbor. This is the first family activity of the summer (now half over) and the first activity since Victor came home from the hospital.

We arrived before the park gates opened and stood outside the gates for nearly an hour before they decided to let us in. The dissappointing part is the fact that the gates opened 45 minutes late... :(

I tried to stay in the shade as we waited. The heat in Valencia, CA can be unbearable without shade.

Evan and Alex were given the assignment to locate 6 pool side chairs in the shade. So, they walked very quickly (no running allowed) to the designate area and acquired the coveted spots before any of the other Hurricane Harbor guests.

Our area was quickly set up and we rented intertubes for the kids (including the big kids... ). The Lazy River is more fun on a tube... :)

Victor and I stood in line with the kids for a few of the water rides - some of which scare the crap out of me, but I was a sport and played along... :) We spent quite a bit of time on the Lazy River and relaxing poolside. We were careful to apply sun screen to every part of exposed skin and except for a few missed spots we all escaped some serious sunburns.

Victor is quite pleased with his not so pale looking skin and can proudly say that he is native american without getting funny looks :).

The kids had a great time. They all made new friends. Alex seemed to be attracting the female gender and ended up spending the bulk of his "missing in action time" with a few girls. Aislyn and Allisa made friends quickly with a very sweet girl, Elizabeth, who was a lot of fun.

I even made some friends while standing in line for food. Two very nice looking young men who just love to chat you up and talk about "girly" things including clothes and where to buy them... :)

After about 7 hours of water and sun we thought we should go next door to Magic Mountain for a few hours. 20 minutes into the adventure at the mountain, Victor and I decided we had had enough and told the kids we were going home. They didn't put up a fight...

As of 11 a.m. this morning my children were still sleeping. We were going to go back today and then were reminded by Allisa that she has a violin lesson at 5 p.m. - so we are going tomorrow.

WONDERFUL WEEKEND

Victor and I just wanted to let you all know that we enjoyed spending the weekend with you.

We also wanted to express our gratitude to the Nakais and Hydes for allowing us to bunk at their places - making our stay that much more enjoyable.

Thanks to the Thompsons the Nakais and mom and dad for making sure that we did not go hungry. Victor and I both lost weight this weekend... :) Not sure how that happened.

We especially enjoyed spending time with our nieces and nephews. Their sweet spirits are such a blessing to our ever growing family.

Mom and Dad, thanks for spending time with me and Victor. We really appreciated the information; knowledge and advise that you are so willing to impart. Please tell Grandma we really enjoyed the little chats and that we love her and miss her.

I have spent a great deal of time the past two days reflecting on the powerful relationships we build by being in families. We would not be the people we are without each other. We have many opportunities to grow. I value the relationships that I have with each one of you and you are of great value to me. I am thankful that I have learned to appreciate your individual personalities; gifts and talents and I am grateful that you have been willing to share who you are with me.

As I would not allow others to come between me and my wonderful husband I would not allow others to come between me and my brothers and sisters. You are important to me.

I hope each of you feel the strong bonds of family ties as I do and value one another as precious stones. There is no conflict or strife worth the breaking of family bonds. Don't forget to tell each other how much you love another; don't forget to be compassionate; and don't forget to forgive. Be kind toward one another; be supportive of one another; and be generous with one another.