My Mission President

I served my mission in 1991-1993 to the Japan Tokyo South Mission. It was a wonderful 1 1/2 years of life that I wouldn't trade for anything. I have a million great experiences I could share, but one I want to share now is about my Mission President. I truly felt like he knew me and knew exactly what I needed and what I was capable of. And I am so grateful for that and for his inspiration. It has been nearly 20 years and we still keep in touch. He is now a general authority. You can find out more about him Here! When he found out we had moved to Bakersfield, he let me know that he was going to be on a mission tour that would take him through Bakersfield and said he would love to see me. So, I showed up at the zone conference and had lunch with him and his sweet wife. He works with President Monson on a regular basis as he is the general authority over the temples. It was great to reminisce a little and glad I was able to visit.

New Frig

Just one of those things....I got to buy a brand new stainless steel refrigerator to match the rest of the appliances in my kitchen, of course. Just a little excited! I hadn't even taken off all the plastic protection liners inside yet, when a very helpful child put a big bottle of fruit punch Gatorade with a loose lid on it's side away. Red Gatorade was in every drawer and on every shelf, even those in the door. What a nice surprise to find after all the kids had gone to bed. My hands and my pants were stained red from trying to clean this mess up. I know there are bigger messes out than this, but this one really got to me.

The Condors

Our first experience at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield and in Steve's work suite. It was nice. But to be honest it wasn't as nice as what we were able to use at Minute Maid Park in Houston. {There was always lots of food provided}

We only had 4 tickets to the Condor's Hockey game, SOOOO it was date night with the twins, Matthew & Rachel. Great memories with some cute kids.

The Apartment

We stayed in this 2 bedroom duplex for about 2 months waiting for our new house in Bakersfield to be finished. Matthew agreed to be paid to sleep on the floor, Ethan and Rachel got twins bed and Lauren.  Our memories:  Matthew threw up on his birthday after BJ's, spelled words with alphabet cookies, wrestling matches, Dad taught Rachel long division, Ethan did homework outside for some quiet.

Aunt Rebecca's Birthday Breakfast

The annual New Year's Eve Birthday Breakfast at Allison's was postponed a day, since we were out all day and night celebrating bringing in the New Year at Disneyland and a few of us had tummies that weren't feeling up to it. BUT we did get there.

Happy 30th Birthday Aunt Rebecca. SO glad that we could celebrate it with you. We wish you the best and love you tons.

The Twins are 9

Their 1st Birthday

Their 9th Birthday

Happy Birthday Rachel & Matthew!

Making their wishes and getting ready to dive in.

This is Matthew's favorite kind of cake. So one of his wishes came true.

Some of our favorite people that were able to celebrate with us.

Ear Piercing

Here it is. THE BIG DAY!!! FINALLY!!! I told Rachel last year that she could get her ears pierced for her birthday, but Dad just wasn't ready to have his little girl grow up so fast. He still wasn't ready this year either but.....

It turned out to be a great all girls outing with Grandma, Aunt Rebecca, Aunt Sarah, Little Sis (who was extremely jealous) and Mom. Here are a few step by step photos. But we also have a video of the whole event at the end of this post, if you care to watch.

Rachel, not freaking out.

Getting her ears marked so the holes are even.

Holding on for support. And still not freaking out.

One ear down, one more to go.

Getting ready for the next punch.

Whoala! Second ear done and the tears were held in very tightly.

Apparently, blowing on her ears helped them to feel better.
Happy 9th Birthday Rachel!

The St. John's Know How to Party

What a great surprise to find a message on my phone from my Aunt Virginia inviting us over for a New Year's Day Celebration with the St. Johns. Oh My Gosh, so much crazy fun. We ate lots of yummy food. ALL the boys played some football and watched some. Jenna found a piece of vegetation, we think it was a mix between a cucumber and a watermelon. We all participated in one fun chaotic white elephant gift exchange extravaganza. What a bunch of great sports. Everyone knew how to make it so much fun, especially when the little one, Lauren, was NOT going to let go of her gift. Jani came prepared to help us all make the cutest little craft, a Christmas ball decoration made out of paper circles. Loved it! Rachel also got some art lessons from Jenna. I love hanging out with my cousins, their almost like the sisters I never had. Thank you ALL for such a great time. Happy New Year!

{I hijacked some of these pictures from my Aunt Virginia's facebook and Linda's blog, Thank You!)