Gone Too Soon

On Saturday morning, Taylor got word from several school friends that the Vice Principal from her school had been killed Friday night.  We waited for confirmation and were so saddened to learn that Mrs. Graesser died at her family's blueberry farm in a tractor accident.
This horrible tragedy, for both a fantastic administrator and devoted wife and mother to two young children, comes only two weeks after one of Taylor's fellow classmates died of cancer. A lot to handle for all of these young students!
There was a candlelight vigil last night for Mrs. Graesser, but Taylor was very uneasy about going.  Instead, she brought flowers to the growing memorial in the school's courtyard and the kids spent much of the day with grief counselors...crying, talking, writing letters to her family and struggling through it together.  Our church message yesterday was all about suffering together and that there aren't any easy answers in suffering.  It couldn't have come at a better time!
She will be greatly missed, but the students and staff at VRMS will make sure she is never forgotten!
 

Allison's Birthday Celebration is Underway

Allison's friends all came together at the Promenade Mall to help her celebrate turning 10!

 Abby, Allison and Reanna

 We started with dinner, a little birthday singing/dessert and opening gifts at Red Robin.

 Reanna, Amanda, Abby, Kylee, Allison, Faith and Lorien

 This group was all about posing at any opportunity, so it was one last shot at Red Robin with their balloons.

 We had a little time before the movie, so the girls requested a visit to Forever 21.  They were all a bunch of "divas" picking out their bracelets...

 trying on glasses and hats...

 and posing once again!

Then it was time to see Chimpanzee!  We have seen the previews for weeks and it turned out to be just as good as we had hoped.  It is the story of Oscar, the cutest little chimpanzee, and the many adventures his little life takes.

The girls were wonderful movie goers and I think they all enjoyed it.  It was the perfect start to Allison's birthday celebration!

State Cup Recognition

Tonight, our State Cup Champs were honored at the TVSA Hawks Annual General Meeting.  Each of the girls were called up individually and presented with these special Hawks shirts for our big victory.  Another great honor for our team!

Surprise, Surprise

Two weeks ago, Audrey emailed asking if we could meet them in San Diego today to surprise Al for his birthday. They were on a 7-day coastal California cruise and would be docked here all day.We met the cruise ship downtown this morning and waited for them to come off the ship.
Al thought they would be taking a Trolley City Tour, but was shocked to see us standing at the Cruise Terminal!

His reaction was priceless and he was DEFINITELY surprised!
Our first stop was the tide pools in Point Loma. Unfortunately, we couldn't find parking, so we just took pictures and enjoyed the scenery for a while. Matt promised to take the girls back when we have more time to spend there.

It was a perfect weather day for some time at Cabrillo National Monument. We watched a movie about the tide pools
and took some pictures at one of the best San Diego viewpoints.


We worked up quite an appetite and had lunch in the Gaslamp at Rock Bottom Brewery. Matt got this "2:00am Burger" filled with hash browns, bacon and a fried egg!
We never leave the Gaslamp without a trip to Ghiradelli and we made sure to leave room. It was time to take them back to the ship, so we headed back down the harbor and said our goodbyes...a great day and a wonderful surprise!!

Easter

The Easter Bunny was hard at work putting baskets together and hiding eggs long before the girls got out of bed.

Allison was up first and dug right in. She loved her American Girl Dining Out book, Animal Planet Paint by Number, fancy cup, facial masks and candy.
She was quick to take it all apart in our bed while she waited for Taylor to wake up.
I finally had to wake Taylor up to get ready for church, but she loved her Teen magazines, nail polish, facial masks, fancy cup and candy. They had fun opening up all of the eggs they found scattered throughout the house too before getting ready for church.
Unfortunately, Matt had to work yet another holiday so the girls and I went to 9:00am church without him. We loved the worship music and the very meaningful Easter message.

After church, we met Matt at the Broken Yolk in San Marcos for a mid morning breakfast. It was nice to spend part of the day with him and he didn't get called out!!

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday so we packed bags for an afternoon at the beach after saying goodbye to Matt. We changed in the car and spent a few great hours in Carlsbad. The 56 degree water was a little too cold, but the air temp made for a perfect day!

Remodel Part 1

The first part of our remodel is finally done!! We have been living upstairs for two weeks...without a stove or washer/dryer and even our TiVo, but the results were well worth it! Jimmy and his brother Larry did a beautiful job and brought our vision to life...Our magic carpet inlay as you walk in the front door...
The tiles we picked are 20x20 and were laid in a staggered brick pattern. I can't wait to get the furniture back in tomorrow to see how it all blends in!
Jimmy used 13x13 tiles (same color as the floor) to finish off the fireplace and put two small inserts in that match the entryway.

We spent the day cleaning up all of the dust and will put everything back tomorrow. Then we will be ready to live in chaos again once we pick out carpet to replace the living/dining room, stairs and everything upstairs. We can't wait to have it all done!