Scrappin' Around the World

Lisa put together a wonderful day of scrapping, eating, drinking and girl time to celebrate Shannon's return from her around-the-world journey. Shannon quit her job last fall and spent several months touring the world. Lisa organized a scrapbook afternoon at It's About Time and gave every friend a country from Shannon's travels. We did her pages from that country and put together a beautiful book at the end. I think 44 pages were completed!!
The ladies worked hard to win the prize for best layout and most pages completed. It was so fascinating listening to all of Shannon's stories and looking at some amazing photos. She visited Australia, New Zealand, India, Greece, Swaziland, Morocco, Bahamas, Argentina, England, France and many more. Notice the globes hanging from the ceiling and the flags on the table. Too creative! Lisa even put little gems on a map to mark each country Shannon visited.

I was in charge of Tanzania. This is my 1st layout and it won 2nd place! I did another spread of the Masai Warriors and one for Norway. After scrapping, we headed to Lisa's for a delicous dinner. She always out does herself with the table decorations. Everything was pink and green and beautiful as always. We ate a yummy strawberry salad, feta chicken and an asparagus orzo salad.

How cute are these cupcakes with the different flags? And then we each brought a bottle of wine from a different country and tasted them throughout the night. Lisa thought of everything!

At the end of the evening, Shannon gave us each a goodie bag representing her travels. The tag said "Friendship is the spice of life" and inside was a bottle of African seasoning and a chicken recipe from her African cookbook. She also gave us globe chocolates and her favorite candy bars and a CD of travel tunes. What a creative idea and wonderful momento.

Grandpa Al Visits

Grandpa Al came for a weekend visit from Arizona. We were excited to have him here for soccer games and some time together. Matt picked him up from SD Airport on Friday morning and took him on a SD tour before heading back to Temecula.
They went to Cabrillo National Monument(where Matt did a college internship), Pacific Beach for lunch and up the coast.
The girls enjoyed having him cheer them on during their soccer games. Taylor had a rough 1-0 loss to the Orange Crush and Allison's team tied in their game 3-3. After the games and some lounging around the house, Grandpa surprised them with a shopping spree at the mall. They each got a few outfits at the mall before heading to Harry's for a yummy dinner. It is one of our favorite spots and Grandpa Al agreed.
I captured this cute photo of Matt and the girls leaving the mall. They are growing up so fast. Today, we spent the morning at church and relaxed while watching the Ryder Cup and some football games. We are hoping to visit Grandpa Al and Audrey during Spring Training in March. Until then, thank you for a great visit!

1st Grade Cookie Night

All of the 1st grade classes have been busy reading and doing activities involving the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I volunteered in Allison's class on Monday and helped the kids decorate their cookie costumes and today they baked chocolate chip cookies. Tonight was a fun family event to incorporate reading, math, art and performance with the book. When we walked in the Multi Purpose Room, Mrs. Skinner handed us a list of activities to complete. Allison had to taste test Oreos, Lorna Dorne shortbread, Nutter Butters and Chips Ahoy and put her favorite on this cute class graph. She also guessed how many chocolate chips were in the cookie jar, made a cookie frame, did math problems with cookies and made a mouse puppet. The highlight of the night was when the kids came out dressed like cookies. Too cute! The recited some cute cookie-themed poems and looked positively delicious.
Wait-those aren't 1st graders! The dads wanted in on the fun, or maybe the moms wanted to have fun at the dads' expense. Anyway, aren't Byron, Matt and Matt the cutest cookies you have ever seen?

Add Another to the List

Well, we have added one more activity to our weekly list. Taylor has started tennis lessons. They actually started last week, but I forgot the camera. She is taking weekly lessons through the Rec Center and is really enjoying all that she is learning. Madison and Jordan are in her group too, which makes it extra fun! Taylor is hoping to someday compete in matches, but for now will just work on getting better. Between soccer, tennis, chorus and girl scouts, it is amazing she has time for homework and down time. We are just glad to see her trying so many new things.

Bailey's Ashes

It feels a little weird, or maybe morbid, posting this, but I wanted to journal for future memories. I picked up Bailey's ashes from the vet hospital today. I thought I had my emotions in check until I walked into the office. As soon as I saw the box, I lost it and cried the whole way home. Still can't believe she is gone. We got this very nice box with her ashes and paw print and a certificate and a poem titled "Rainbow Bridge". I hope this at least brings all of us some closure, but it sure doesn't make it any easier.

Soccer Saturdays

Another soccer season is finally underway and it couldn't have started on a hotter weekend. The temperature gauge only said 92 degrees, but it felt more like 102! Taylor is on the Black Widows and is #8. She is in her 1st season of U10 and the fields are so much bigger. Look, you can barely make out that it is her! She played center midfield all 3 quarters she was in and did a great job running back and forth between offense and defense. She even scored 2 goals in their 4-2 victory over the Angels. This is the 1st year of competitive play so the wins actually count!
Her coach had this great banner made and even gave the girls practice shirts that match. I think she will have a great season with some friends from the Mean Green Machine 2 years ago.
Allison moved up to U8 with her friends, Marley and Lorien. They are on the Glow Worms and she is #7. Don't you love the cute worm on their banner?
Allison played defender the 1st quarter, midfielder for the 2nd and 4th quarters and goalie the 3rd quarter. She made some great saves as goalie and scored a goal at the very end of the game. Despite some great play by the Glow Worms, they lost 2-1, but who is keeping score?
Allison was most excited when the game was over. She spent every break filling up on ice water and spraying herself down with the spray bottle. Hopefully, it will be cooler next weekend!