SOPHIE'S FIRST DAY AT KINDERGARTEN

Ken writes, " A lot of her friends are in her class so she is really happy."

One happy little girl, on her first day at Kindergarten.

The classroom in action with lots of parents looking on.

Sophie loves her Kindergarten teacher, Mr. "K". 

(JP apparently loves him too!)

And on another note:  Coming home from church on a beautiful, sunny, summer Sunday.

McCOY'S FIRST DAY AT (PRE) SCHOOL!

Rhiannon sends us this:

McCoy had his first day of preschool and he loved it.

He goes to school with his best friend Wally.

 His teacher turned the whole basement into a preschool classroom.

 Every day he asks if he gets to go to school.

ASHLEE UPDATE

Ahlee's permit to work in NZ has expired so now she is enjoying the sights and doing a lot of hiking.

"This is me on a hike in island bay, one of the suburbs (of Wellington). You prob can't see but there where lots of sailboats out that day."

"This is the bldg, where I worked in Welly."

 "This is the first lighthouse in Wellington harbour, from another hike."

"Foruth is from the freezing all-black game. I was wearing three layers of NZ merino wool, my wind proof and two layers of pants. Pretty fun though."

The crowd across the way had to hold up signs for the introduction, the haka (hype chant at the beginning of the game) was really amazing.

BACKPACKING EAGLES!

Ready to take the tram.  All clean and nice!

Erik and Kristin are taking up backpacking. They have a good friend who is very experienced in this, and agreed to go with them this first time and show them the ropes. They rented their equipment to see how well they would like the experience. Having a back pack that weighs 70 pounds vs 45 pounds makes quite a difference when you're treking over mountains for several hours.

All set to go! Erik, Kristin & Dave.

They began their trip with Dave's wife driving the three of them to Palm Springs.  Starting in Chino Canyon near Palm Springs, the tram took them from Valley Station at 2,643 feet elevation to Mountain Station on the edge of the wilderness, elevation 8,516 feet.

The highest peak in the Mount San Jacinto region is 10,834 feet above sea level, and is the second highest mountain range in Southern California.

As the brochure states, "The mountain's magnificent granite peaks, subalpine forests, and fern-bordered mountain meadows offer a unique opportunity to explore and enjoy a scenic, high-country wilderness area."

Of course they had the permission and permits needed to do the trek.

They hiked the rest of the day and camped out in the open that night. 

Comfy???

The next morning, after breakfast, they continued their journey ending up at the mountain town of Idlewilde, where Dave's daughter picked them up and drove them back to Murietta.

It's nippy in the morning at that altitude.

Seasoned trekkers!

They said they really enjoyed the experience and plan to do more back packing. Expedition Impossible, watch out!

You go girl!

Great scenery!

THE NEWLY REFURBISHED CAMPING TRAILER

This in from Rhiannon.
 

"I am finally sending the pictures of our trailer. Over the summer Eddy prepped the trailer for paint by sanding it down and using bondo to fix a couple spots. Then he taped and painted it. It took a week to get it all painted and do the finishing touches.

If you're going to do it, do it right!

And he did.  Beautiful and unique!

It needs a name.  Suggestions?

I'm forever blowing bubbles!

Rhainnon continues . . .

Over the weekend we finally got to take our trailer out camping. We went up to Treasure Park on Mt. Graham and enjoyed nice cool weather in the 60's. There is a big meadow that is covered in wildflowers and has a very small creek running through it. The kids have so much fun exploring and pretend fishing. We even saw some deer. It was a lot of fun.

A picture is worth everything.  This says it all.

Poster perfect.

Cathch the bubbles!

ADAM UPDATE

As most of you know, Adam has moved to the Boston area to live with Keith & his wife.  He is enjoying the experience and had an opportunity to have a boating outing.  Looks very New Englishy, doesn't it?

Keith put Adam to work on the yard doing some mulching.

He seems to be enjoying it.

A job well done.

UPDATE ON DANIELLE

ZOWIE! This is one busy, busy lady.  Danielle applied for a position and got it.  Here is what's going on in her life right now in her own words in response to an email I sent.

I did get the job at Provo high school. I was hired Thursday and school starts tomorrow, quite a fast turn around. (that was the beginning of this week)

I just finished my first term in the graduate program. The next semester begins next week. I will be taking a special education law class and a thesis support class. I will be choosing my research question for my thesis and receiving authorization to continue with my research. I will also be choosing my chair and committee who will be guiding me through the whole thesis process.(WOW!)

I will also be starting a position at BYU as a research assistant to one of the professors in the special education department. Her area of expertise is using praise in the classroom and positive behavior support systems as well as teaching students social skills. This is one of my areas of interest for my thesis and I am very excited for the opportunity to work with her. (These are very coveted positions and look great on your resume. Way to go Danielle!)

 

This is probably where you will find Danielle if she has ANY free time.

I will be teaching a resource class at Provo high. My schedule includes teaching three math classes, co-teaching a biology class and American literature class. My other class is a literacy support class, where students can come if they need help with writing papers or other English assignments.

 (All I can say is whew!)

ARIA'S VISIT TO DISNEYLAND

Aria and her college pal Bree,took few days this summer to visit Disneyland.  Dad Ken had some miles she could use for her airplane ticket.  As you can see, they had a fun time.

I see a little face painting was evident.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN PAYAN, AKA "NATE", "NATER"

Loves music.

Loves sports.

Fierce competitor.

Loves hiking.

Loves water.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY JANE

A very happy birthday to our 7 year old Lindsey.

When this pictures was taken she was ALMOST 7.