Summer 2014

We didn't have an extremely exciting summer, but we did have some memorable activities. At the beginning of the summer I had the opportunity to act in an episode of "Love the Way You Lie", which will be playing on the Discover I.D. channel this fall. The audition involved talking in a strong southern accent, lots of improv, and tears. My scenes were shot at mansions at Val Vista Lakes and on top of being a great learning experience, it was extremely fun. I also was involved in a cancer awareness modeling campaign (Love Out Lavendar) and a really amazing music video shoot for "Head Over Heart." Currently, I'm acting every weekend in a murder mystery dinner theater and am serving in the ward as Compassionate Service Coordinator.

Ken has been a Cub Scout Bear leader for the past few months, but was recently released and called as the Young Mens secretary. He's also been quite busy with work.

Alan went to a weeklong computer programming camp with his cousin Zach at the Microsoft store in Scottsdale. He said that it was a little boring, but he was glad he went.

We attending Phoenix Comicon as a family. It was a blast, as usual. Click here for pics: http://wearitworkit.blogspot.com/2014/06/phoneix-comicon-2014.html

Jessie came to live with us this summer. Now there are eight of us living here (Josh and Abby too). It's a full, but loving house.

Ellie was involved in the two week long Copperstar Rep. Company's "Annie" summer camp. She was a darling orphan and gave it her all while singing and dancing to, "You're Never Fully Dressed," "It's a Hard Knock Life, " and "Tomorrow." I spent most of the days with her at camp helping out with a variety of things in exchange for her tuition. She said it was a great experience! Dray went for the first couple of days of camp, but was a little young to enjoy the experience.

A couple of weeks ago, Ken, I and the kids took the kids to Makutu's Island in Chandler. We hadn't been there in years and the kids enjoyed climbing, sliding, and crawling through Makutu's jungle.

Yesterday we went to Sun Splash. Alan and Ellie swam with cousins and Abby, Jessie, and Josh, while I took Dray to the Tempe Town Lake splash pad. He was so excited that he spent a majority of his time there flapping his arms wildly and smiling, which is Dray's number one indicator of extreme excitement. He did get a little burned though (even after two applications of sunscreen.) Poor little dude.

Alan will be starting middle school Monday and Ellie will be in 5th grade. I'm in awe at how fast they are growing up. Alan is excited to start junior high and move on to something new, but Ellie is constantly reminding us how much she hates school, which is funny since she was on the honor roll last year. She also received the class integrity award and met her AR goal. I guess though school is torture for her, she manages to push through pretty well. Speaking of awards, Alan made the honor roll, Principal's List, the accountability award, and the Million Word Reader award. He was also nominated for the 2014 Gilbert’s Community of Character Award. I'm so proud of them both.

Dray has started reading small words, knows all of his numbers (up to 100), his shapes, and his colors, yet he has another year before he starts kindergarten. I'm looking for an affordable preschool for him. He loves to play Minecraft, the color red, watching Courage the Cowardly Dog, playing zombie and cooking games, wrestling roughly, swimming, jumping on the couch, and painting and crafts. He recently told me he wants to take a cooking class. He's also very interested in learning Spanish. His favorite food is macaroni and cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He definitely is an opinionated little dude, and we all love him so much.

 Alan receiving his Community of Character award certificate.

 Singing "who will buy my sweet red roses?" in Oliver!

 Ellie as a super cute schoolgirl in Oliver! She also played an orphan.

 Alan and his cousin Zach doing baptisms for the dead.

 Modeling for "Love Out Lavendar."

 Playing a psychiatric patient in Head Over Heart's "No Sleep."

 Dray showing off his handmade sock puppet.

 Looking a little sunburnt at Sunsplash.

 Abby, Alan, and Josh singing karaoke (complete with disco lights) in the family room.

 Ellie playing theater games at "Annie" camp.

 Waiting for 4th of July fireworks. We only watched them for 10 minutes before leaving to eat and visit Abby at Tailgaters (they were too far away to enjoy.)

 The kiddles swimming in our backyard pool.

 Enjoying lunch at the Rainforest Café.

 Visiting at Banner Gateway hospital with Scott, Bethany, and Celeste.

 Alan and Zach sharpening up their programming skills.

Crazy summer selfie in the van.



Happenings

I’d almost forgotten about this blog, until Alan reminded me that I haven’t posted any family news in forever. So, here I am, posting family news, and feeling very glad that Alan reminded me to do so. There has been so much that’s happened since I posted eight months ago, so I’ll just recap some memorable things that have happened lately.

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            *  Dray has changed so much these last few months! At 3 ½ he loves to jump on the trampoline, play computer games, and draw on his Magnadoodle. He’s pretty much one of the big kids now and wants to do everything they do. His speech has improved in leaps and bounds (he’s been taking a weekly speech class) and we can understand what he’s trying to communicate to us. He recently learned to read simple words (cat, sat, dog, etc..), knows his colors in Spanish and English, and can count to ten in both Spanish and English. He loves to learn! Unfortunately, he won’t be starting Kindergarten until August 2015. I’m looking for an affordable preschool to enroll him in this fall. His favorite foods are pizza, mac-n-cheese, V-8, and Gogurt. His favorite show, hands down, is Team Umi Zoomi. He's a very snuggly and loving kid. He often says, "I will never quit loving you!" and throws his arms around my neck. I love it. 

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      * Alan has done well in school this year. He recently came home with straight A’s, earning a place on the Principal’s Gold List and won an award for reading 2 million words this year. He was able to choose a special prize, and chose a kitten poster for Ellie’s bedroom instead of something for himself. He is conscientious, kind, and hard-working. At a recent school choir performance, a girl in his class came up to me and asked if we were all as quiet as Alan. I informed her that he definitely isn't quiet at home.

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      * Ellie, who also earned straight As, was recently awarded the 3^rd grade character award. Her teacher read aloud a special poem about her at the end of year assembly. She loves to play Minecraft, gawk at photos of cute kittens, sing, and jump on the trampoline. Last week she sang a solo at the school’s night of excellence (a part of N.Y.C. from Annie.) She is sweet enough to play house and Monster High dolls with Dray every so often.

DISCLAIMER: I feel like I am bragging excessively about my kids, so I must throw in the fact that they fight just as much as any other kids and eat way too much candy. Also, Dray has been chasing family members around trying to toot on them.

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      * I’ve been kept busy with lots of fun projects lately. Since the end of January I’ve been able to act in commercials for Peter Piper Pizza, University of Phoenix, Everyday Health, VirTra and Arizona Power Supply, as well as act at a live event for Farm Bureau Financial Services. I’ve gone on lots of auditions, and learned a lot of really interesting things on set. I’ll never look at commercials the same way again. Now I understand that a 30 second commercial isn’t just a 30 commercial; it’s hours and hours of shooting, adjusting lights, changing scripts, re-applying make-up, changing clothes, and readjusting microphones. I have to say though, the on-set catering has had some of the tastiest foods I’ve ever eaten (hello parmesan grilled eggplant with basil chicken and buttery rolls! ) I’ve been called in to audition for a movie next week. First movie audition (gulp). Cross your fingers! I never thought that at 35, I’d have such an interesting, fun part-time job! Also, if you haven't already visited the frivolous, superficial style blog that Abby and I created, check out www.wearitworkit.com

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           * Ken has been busy lately with work, cub scouts, and as a priesthood teacher. He has a thick, Tom Selleck-style moustache that he’s been growing for his Comic Con costume (much to the amusement of his friends, family, and acquaintances.) I can’t spoil his surprise and write who he’s dressing up as, but I’ll post photos of him in costume soon. You will not be disappointed.

In other news, tomorrow is the last day of school and I am so excited! I figure if you have one kid home, you might as well have them all home. Dray is really looking forward to having Alan and Ellie around, and I’m looking forward to not helping with hours of homework every night (and of course, spending time with my older kiddos.) 

 Alan with his awards from the assembly.

Dray looking mischievous with hands on hips. 

 Ellie feeling very proud about the t-shirt she was awarded.

Dray kissing Dinah (Abby's cat.)

With a talent agency co-worker after playing a sassy C.E.O.

Dray using headphones as futuristic eye wear. 

The kids trying fresh coconut milk with cousins. 

snuggle time = happiness

Dray's drawing of Ken

Dray's drawing of Alan 

 Ellie and Dray getting their faces painted at the neighborhood spring carnival. 

Summer Summary

The summer has flown by, as it always does. It's taken almost three months, but fortunately, Alan and Ellie are ready to go back to school. I showed them their teachers' official school websites tonight, which greatly increased their levels of anticipation. Ellie is especially excited that her teacher has a bright blonde faux hawk and a small dog named Pepperoni. Alan likes that his teacher enjoys taking pictures and has a dog named Buster. They both seem like very exciting people. Since the kids are starting a new school, they're a little nervous as well, but I think "Meet the Teacher Night" this week will help to calm their anxieties.
This summer:

*Dray fractured his right pinky finger after pulling a tall table over on himself at subway. A surgery involving pins, a handful of casts and splints, and several hundred dollars later, he still has a crooked (but functional) little finger. He's definitely the most accident prone of all three children. I'm just glad that he's okay.

* We've had lots of fun visits with family this summer, which the kids always love. Alan, Ellie, and Dray especially enjoyed Josh's extended stays.

* Here we are spending family night at Organ Stop Pizza. After a few songs, Dray plugged his ears and said, "It's too loud. Let's get outta hear!" Still, it was a fun evening.

* Abby went on a two week student tour to Europe and had a fantastic time.

* Ellie and Alan were in a summer sport's camp with their cousins for three weeks. They really enjoyed being with their cousins, but didn't enjoys the sports aspect so much. Alan even went so far as to say that, "it was like being trapped in Walmart for four hours every day." Just to clarify, Walmart is his least favorite place to be, ever. He also asked, "Why are you making me kick a ball around for hours? I want to be a scientist!" Ellie also didn't appreciate the athletic part of camp. She made me promise to put her only in swimming and drama camps next year. So, there goes my hopes for future full ride athletic scholarships. ;) Oh well, at least they had something to do for three weeks, whether they loved it or not.

* We spent a fun 4th of July with Crandall cousins in Tucson. Laurel and Bill rented a ranch in Tucson (which was a really great idea.) The kids painted ponies, went horseback riding, played on a water slide, and petted a variety of furry and feathered creatures. We ate tasty barbecue too. It was fun to spend time with family. While everyone else went camping that night, we stayed in a hotel (Dray had to keep his splint clean and dry- which would not have happened while camping.) While in Tucson we visited the Tucson Children's Museum, watched fireworks under A mountain, and went to the International Wildlife Museum. It rained most of the time, which cooled off the air quite a bit. Gosh, I love Monsoon Season. It's nature way of saving us Arizonans from insanity. Just when we feel like curling into a heat-induced fetal position, nature provides us with a brief respite that somehow tides us over until fall.

* The kids and I went to Safford (or Pima, to be exact) for Pioneer Day, where we watched a parade (which consisted mostly of people on horses throwing lots and lots of candy, a couple of firetrucks, and a few floats.) We also watched a great pioneer pageant and some incredible fireworks that exploded and sparkled right over our heads. The weather was around 70 degrees that evening, which felt wonderful. We also spent some time with my brothers. Dray roasted marshmallows and played drums at Chad and Selena's place. The kids rode a dune buggy at Aaron and Erin's house and played with his super well-behaved Labrador dogs. We had lots of country summer fun.

* Ken and I have new ward callings. I'm the ward historian, which I am super excited about. I'll just pretend I'm working at a newspaper again and take lots of pictures. And like always, I'll satisfy my curiosity by getting all up in people's stuff. :) As far as I've read, it mostly involves keeping track of big ward events, important anniversaries, service projects, deaths, graduations, weddings, missionary experiences, etc...

Ken is a Cub Scout leader for the Wolf Den, which is the most recent calling we had in our last ward. 

* We are loving our new home and ward, and as always, are extremely thankful for so many things, especially family, our health, and the gospel!