Night

These three beat me to the punch but I'm headed there in a few minutes.

Buckhorn Trail

We tried a new trail today. It was really nice out and lots of fun!

Zivers loves our outings!

Both girls wanted to come and had a fun time. Grace did great and didn't complain at all.

Ethan and I made a deal that he only had to come hiking every other time so he stayed home:(

We had to scramble down the side of the path and use a rope to reach the bottom of a waterfall where dad and Grace fished.

The hike out was hard but worth it for the fun we had.

To our great surprise we ran into the Lancaster ward scout troop there. Emmett Roberts and Brian Hook were their leaders! So random!

After we went to Wrightwood and enjoyed the little town and a nice dinner. Ethan missed out. The rest of us are tired now.

Friday

So I worked one day in a row.  Then today Rob had his off Friday so obviously I couldn't work.  This morning we took the jeep to the movies and saw Jack Reacher. It was a lot of fun to see. I liked it.  Then we went to LPAC and I bought tickets for the YW Christmas party.  Can't wait!!  Then we got really good fries at Doubw, which is a really good hole in the wall in the middle of the ghetto...with good fries and diet coke so....

We had to cut our date short to pick up the kids...then the kids were cranky so we told them we were on an intermission and went back out :)  We went to the Verizon store, and the auto parts store and the grocery store and most importantly the gelato store.  So yummy.  Rob talked to the owner for a really long time.  He had 3 tours in Vietnam and a lot of other war stories.

When we got home R went to the garage, E played video games and the girls and Steve and I netflixed Gilmore Girls.

My day

I subbed 6th grade science. Grace was in one class with me which was fun. It was fun also to meet a lot of her friends

Right after school she and I went to pick up Steve from his surgery. It went well and he seems to be doing fine.

Then I went to get Ethan and we went to the clinic to get his sports physical done. He has to turn in the forms tomorrow so he can try out for soccer next week. We had forgotten and so were down to the last minute and had no other choice but the clinic. We sure paid for that poor planning.

We were in the waiting room for literally three hours before it was our turn to see the weirdest doctor in the world.

Luckily for me I had a funny waiting companion.  We laughed at a lot of dumb stuff and found ourselves very amusing.

After we were finally done E wanted to call Hannah and tell her about the weird doctor so he took my phone and looked at the contact list.  

He said "Cita? What do you have Hannah listed under??" 

I said "Hannah Utzinger"

He said "I looked under Shartifa and it wasn't there." 

I thought that was funny ...and so it went.

351 months

That's how long ago I met Dani:) in mortality at least. Almost as many months as days of a year. 

Ten things I love about Dani now:

1. I have to start with this, she is an awesome trip planner. Our Ireland trip this past spring was my favorite and she planned every detail!

2. She is a patient and kind mother. Who finds the joy in every day and helps her children see the same.

3. She is an awesome big sister.

4. She is creative and crafty.

5. Her testimony is strong and she is anxiously engaged in doing good.

6. She is a reader and it's fun to talk about books with her.

7. She is always up for adventure, driving across two states for a visit, staying at Disneyland until the park closes, jaunting to parts unknown to see what is there ~ it's all up her alley!

8. She is super kind.

9. She's fun to play games with.

10. Dani is amazing, she is not only my dear daughter but my best friend.

10 things I love about Grace at age 11

1. Grace is an animal LOVER! Seriously this girl would live in a zoo if she could.  She loves them all.
2. Grace is SUPER smart, Rory Gilmore smart. She remembers everything and spends a lot of time researching and reading stuff.
3. Grace is funny, she has a cute sense of humor
4. Grace loves her dad, they are partners.  
5. Grace is very friendly and social. She likes to have friends.
6. If it doesn't involve hiking she is adventurous and up for anything....not eating adventures though she is a chicken nugget, french fries, mozzarella cheese sticks, bread kind of a girl.
7. She has big plans and I think she will accomplish them.
8. She is creative and also handy.  
9. Grace has a sweet singing voice.
10. She loves to snuggle and will hop in bed with me and talk and hang out in the mornings, or at night if Dad is gone or working in the garage or playing video games. 

Grace has been a delightful caboose for our family, she knows her own mind and is strong willed and stubborn but those are going to be great qualities when she is a grown woman and I feel very blessed to be her momma (when I am not feeling frustrated :) )

Field show

Rylie, Heather and Katie are in the band.  We went to watch them play and it was really awesome if not a bit cold.

I had never been to a band competition before and I really enjoyed it. The bands were super creative and the music was upbeat. The girls were cold but I think they were glad that we went