First Day of School 2008

wow I can't believe it is the first day of school Kyle is going to high school! A freshman at Leigh. Megan is going to Union middle school a sixth grader. Abigail is going to Noddin, a 1st grader. Abigail has Ms Asaro. we all hope it will be a great year.

boating Lake Anderson Aug 2008

This was a great day of fun, we went with Scott and Carol, Emily, Charlie, Uncle Todd and our family. It was a fun day.

Lake Tullock 4th of July 2008

The kids and I went up to Lake Tullock with Scott and Carol and their family. We had a really fun time. Scott was busy all week making sure that he gave the kids a ton of fun. What was the term again, oh yeah five finger death punch on the tubes. They all loved it! The only part that I didn't love was going to the initiation spot and plunging ,let me rephrase that, taking the arctic polar swim at the foot of Lake Melones dam. Wow was that crazy. It was like 55 deg. it felt like is was 20 deg. Chad went with us, we called him Rambo boy, for his crazy unwilling to quit attitude. We had a fabulous time. We had to go home for the 4th, much to Scott dismay. I couldn't go and have fun without Terry for the week and then desert him on the 4th. Besides his sister and chad were there and they couldn't party without me! We had a fun time, the kids did a ton of fireworks and we went up to boulder ridge and watched the firework with my mom and Janean.

Horsecamp June 2008

Well we had quite a group at horse camp this week. Kyle, Chad,Trent,Megan,Emily,Alyssa,Rebecca and Abigail. It was a fantastic week they all had a great time. Poor chad got the flu, but only really missed one day. Megan had Master, Abigail had Monte, Kyle had Nick, Chad had Rocky, Emily had Rocky too, Rebecca had Teddy and Alyssa had Sante Fe. The kids went on lots of trail rides, learned a ton of new riding skills, went swimming and mucked stalls. This is a must every summer.

Graduations June 2008

Graduation was great. Crazy since we had Abigail on Thursday morning and then Megan on Friday morning and Kyle on Friday night. Three graduations in one family. I bet that doesn't happen very often in life.

Abigail's graduation was so cute, they all sat in a group and sang a bunch of cute songs to us and then they called out the graduates names and they all got a picture with the teacher and a cute little certificate. It was so fun. All the parents with their cameras recording and clicking, grandparent and parents alike. I was sad to see Abigail leave this, and now she will be moving on, for me knidergarten has got to be the very best year of school! I love Mrs. Tully too.

Megan's graduation was a bit more formal. All the girls were dressed up and most boys too. There was one boy that looked like he just rolled out of bed. Megan got a new dress, she looked so grown up, heels and all. They sang the fifty nifty song and banana slug and last but not least the tear jerker shooting star. She tried to duck and not get photographed while doing it, so we tried extra hard to embarrass her. I think she won that one. I can't believe she is going to middle school! I feel like she is growing up so soon. It seems like as soon as they go to middle school they grow up 3 times as fast. The fun thing about her getting older is that she is now like my little buddy, thats' fun.

Kyle's graduation - This was of course the most formal. He got to wear a robe, and they had a huge ceremony in the quad at Dartmouth. Uncle Chad was visiting with us, so it was that much more fun. It was a hot day and since we have been having so many fires, the sun was being browned out by the smoke. It was kind of erie. Kyle looked fabulous, he was beaming with pride. He got great grades, most of the time all three years, not enough to get on the honor role, but he did get on our family honor roll. He tried really hard and most of the time got A's and B's. After the graduation Kyle got to go to his first real dance, being 14 and all now. I think he had lots of fun. I asked him if he danced with any girls and he said, well mom what do you think you go to a dance for anyway. I guess he told me. I still can't get a defined girl's aren't ickey from him yet. I know he thinks they are awesome, but he isn't sharing too much yet. My first born will be in high school! I will throwing him the wolves in just a couple of months, I don't know if I should cry for me or for him. He is really excited and the idea of high school and growing up, not me, I wish I could turn time back about 10 years!

Donuts with Daddy Day June 6, 2008

This was a special day for Abby and her Daddy! Mrs Tully planned a special day in celebration of fathers day. This was really nice because so many time the fathers get left out of the celebrations, because fathers day is generally after school gets out. Abby got to sing Terry some songs, which included take me out to the ballgame, bingo ( Daddy), she had a great time signing to her daddy. She wrote him a special poem too. At least on her poem to him he was only 55 years old, much better than the 89 she said I was.

Her poem

The important thing about my dad is that he is special

his name is terry, but I call him daddy

his hair is brown

his eyes are blue

his favorite food is popcorn

his favorite color is blue

he's only 55 years old (not!)

he works hard on work

he likes to play with me.

he does not like to watch shrek 3

one thing he says over and over is "stop fighting with your sister and brother"

he loves me because I don't bother him.

I love him because he plays with me.

But the most important thing about my dad is that he is special.

By abigail June 6, 2008

Doug and Kat's Wedding May 31st

We had a weekend of fun in LA. First of all, I had to drive all by my self. For anyone who knows me well enough, that was a feat for me. But I did it and it wasn't too tough. Terry flew down the next day. We came for Terry's brother Doug and his wife to be Kat's wedding. It was a really nice day and we were so happy to see Doug and Kat finally tie the knot. Vickie and her family went with us and we got to spend the day chatting it with family. We even got to see Terry's uncle George. He had his 80th birthday the following weekend. The bride was beautiful and the groom never looked better.

family fun night with the Hutchings

We had fun night of dinner out, bowling, miniature golf, and ice cream to top it off! Whirl wind. It was great fun, The Hutchings team pulled out a win bowling! We'll get them next time! Golf was interesting, the kids end up not caring about the score. So it was an adult game, Scott winning, Terry coming in second, kyle coming in 3rd and and Me last! What was that about! I better sharpen up on my putting skills!

Sicky

Abigail is home sick today, she got the 24 hour flu bug from Megan. she is feeling pretty good today but she is happy to stay home!

Boardwalk

Today was a fun day. We went to Boardwalk for builders exchange company party. Wow was it a beautiful day! The weather was perfect and the view was wonderful. Kyle brought a few friends, Ian and Trent. Megan brought her friend Natalie. The whole family was there except Scott and Carol and the crew, they were out of town. When we were shopping on the boardwalk we ran into Lex from Survivor, he was shooting a commercial for the boardwalk. I tried to get a photo with him, but they were taking tooooo long. Mom was taking photos of those wearing plaid pants so I had to buy a pair while I was there.

Mothers Day

Today was a busy day. We went to church early because Kyle was being ordained to the office of teacher at church. Then we had lunch with my brother and mom at the golf club. Then we had a barbecue and swim at my moms with my sister and her family too. So it is 915pm and we just got home. Wow what a mothers day! All and all it was great. I got my mom a panini press that she wanted for Christmas but didn't get, as well as a mothers family birthstone necklace. Terry got his mom the same necklace and a beautiful vase. I got a the same necklace and a cookbook. None of which is really as important as the time and love and fun that we all got to share for the day. Next year for mothers day, my sister said all the mothers should go to the spa and lunch the day before. Sounds good to me, then on mothers day maybe I could just take a nap. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz. Diane is going home tomorrow and we are all sad. It is fun to have her around and hang out with us. She is always happy and fun to be with. Happy Mothers Day.

Kyle's 14th birthday

Kyle turned 14 on Wednesday! Wow how could that be possible! He will be in High school next year. He had a great day. I let him stay home from school. ( My mom would have never let me do that!) Took him to lunch with Dad, Megan, and Grandma Diane and ME at Teske's - a german restaurant in downtown San Jose. It was good he had a pork shank sourkraut and german potato salad. WE all decided that when we go back again we will all get jaggershnitzel. He got the Mountain dew green label bottles to add to his collection, a big black shirt ( rob and big show) and a pin bag and lanyard, plus lots of cash. We got him a Itouch for his birthday and he had to pay 1/2 so the cash will go to good use. Tonight we are going to Kyoto Palace for dinner with the family, Grandma Joan, Emily and Charlie and then tomorrow he is going to see Iron Man with some friends (Ian, Trent, Jaden and Michael). I would say he had a great birthday! Happy Birthday Kyle!

Abby is learning to balance and roller skate, Kyle was being a good big brother and holding her up so she didn't fall. They are so cute, when they are not beating each other up!

Mothers day tea - kindergarten

Today was an awesome day at kindergarten. Mrs. Tully (Abby's teacher) had a fun mothers day tea for the class. The kids sang us some cute songs ( bumdiada, abc mothers and m-o-t-h-e-r). It was so cut to see these cute little kids honor us like that. Then the kids served us angelfood and strawberries as we wore crowns that they made for us. Abby wrote an all about my mom poem. See below:

The important thing about my Mom is that she is SPECIAL!
Her name is Jenifer, but I call her Mom
Her hair is like mine. Just like mine, but it is curlier.
her eyes are blue.
Her favorite color is blue.
Her favorite food is cherry pie.
She's about as tall as our refrigerator
She is only 89 years old or so.....
She works hard on her computer, but she doesn't work too hard.
She likes to cook
She does not like to play
she loves me because I am cute
I love her because she is pretty
But the important thing about my MOM is that she make cookies!
By Abigail

Wow how cute is that, she got most of it right, except hello I am a long way from being 89 years old! And, I do like to play!

I was sad thinking this is the last time I get to share a kindergarten mothers day tea! I wish I could stop her in time and freeze these moments.

I can't wait until sunday. I love mothers day! Not because I get spoiled, which is a nice benefit. Because I get to get those sweet loving hugs and time to reflect on how much my family means to me. I also get to enjoy spending time with my mother. Every minute I get with my mom is special for me. For the first time in a very very long time Terry gets to also spend mothers day with his mom. Mothers are so important to all of our lives, we learn so much from them. We learn how to be good mothers through them and most of us will see our mothers in ourselves at some point in our lives. It is a very special day.

May 1 - May Day 1st post

Ok so finally I am going to start a blog, mostly because my Aunt Chris does it and I absolutely love going on there to see what is going on in her families life! She make it look so fun! The other reason to do it is I am not so good at journaling. So I thought it would be a good way to keep up on my own life and what's going on so I could look back in the future. Anyway hopefully it will be fun! I also hope that it will be a fun thing for my family and friends to see what is going on at the Stanly household. The pictures are the best I love to see everyone's pictures. Well here we go!