California Academy of Sciences-San Francisco

Today Ashlee and I went on a field trip with the 7th graders at her school.  We went to The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  Ashlee and I drove instead of riding the bus.  I was nervous about driving in the heart of San Francisco and navigating the Bay Area traffic, but thanks to GPS and Ashlee's navigating, we made it there and back just fine.  This is definitely a place to take a family trip to.  I had never even heard of this place.  They had a three story rain forest packed with animals I have never seen.  Tiny frogs, two-cans, butterflies flying around, etc,.   There was an aquarium, earthquake simulator, a garden growing from the roof top, and much more.  I never knew there were so many different types and colors of fish.  There are even parts of the building where you kind of feel like you are in the water with the fish, you can stand underneath them and look at them.  We had a nice trip.

The two-cans in the rain forest

Green Lizard on the tree trunk.

Looking up at the fish from the bottom.

This picture does not do this justice.  There were so many different types and colors of fish.  Nemo fish, purple fish, hot pink fish.  

The group of girls we chaperoned

Jelly Fish

Mini turtle

Ashlee on the roof top.  Those circular things let light into the rain forest.  This building does not have any heating or air conditioning.  It is all controlled through "natural means", and it does remain pleasant.  The rain forest was hot and humid though, but that is what a rain forest is suppose to be like.

Penguins.  

Albino Alligator.  Yes it is alive too!

Ashlee, Alyssa, Mariah and Lauren. Ashlee's group of friends.

Never say Never....

I was one of those people that said I would never drive a minivan.  And in 2006 we bought our first van and in 2011 we sold it and bought an SUV.  When we sold the van I said I would never have another van.  Well, after driving a mid-size SUV for a little over two years, dealing with blind spots, poor gas mileage, little cargo space, having to put seats up and down all the time, and repair bills on top of a car payment (fixing things that a car that is only a little over 2 years old should not have wrong with it).  It was time for something else, so after debating on the topic for about 6 months, going back and forth with John trying to find the time when he could go with me (he told me to go to do all the work and he would show up sign the papers, sorry it does not work that way)!  and trying to figure out what to get, we finally got rid of our mid-size SUV and got another vehicle.  Yes, we got another Mini-Van!  We were going to get a car or smaller SUV, but we felt like we would always be battling the space in a car or small SUV so we decided to get the van.  Lesson learned, Never Say NEVER!

Valentines Day

The girls were out of school the week of Valentines.  When I left for work they were still sleeping.  When I arrived home from work, this is what I found.

The girls along with John, heart attacked the kitchen.  John did some before he left for work, and the girls finished.

Church

A couple months ago I was released from being Young Womens' Secretary and called to be a Primary Teacher.  I team teach with a friend and we teach the 9,10, &  11 year olds.  We have a big class.  It has been going well. The kids are good and seem to enjoy our class.  I made these bags for them to carry their scriptures, handouts and Article of Faith Cards in to church each week.  Hoping to instill some responsibility into them! :)  It seems to be working. For the most part they are all bringing their stuff.

Cinderella

Mikayla was a choir mouse in the Cinderella Play that the K-5th graders performed in at school.  The girls are growing so fast.  It's sad to say, that this was probably the last time her or Ashlee will perform in a school play.  Next year she will be in Middle School and they only perform in plays if they choose to take Drama for an elective, and I do not think that will happen.

Mikayla and Allison performing for local schools at a day time performance/

Mikayla and Allison performing for parents and family at a night time performance.

Honor Roll and Life Skill's Awards

Ashlee and Mikayla both received awards at school assemblies today.  Ashlee received an award for Gold Honor Roll.  Ashlee has a 4.0GPA.

Mikayla received two awards today.  She received an award for Gold Honor Roll she has a 3.9 GPA. And she also received a Life Skill's Award for Cooperation.

Mikayla is in the pink and black jacket, receiving her award from her 5th grade teacher Mr. Sundy.

All the K-5 Life Skills winners for the month and the principal Mr. Viss.  They will also receive a lunch with the principal later this month.

Great job girls.  Keep up the great work!

Ashlee's 13th Birthday

Ashlee is officially a teenager.  When did that happen?  I have no idea.  It seems like yesterday she was just born.  And now she is 13 and in the 7th grade.  Ashlee is growing into a great young woman.  She is a leader and president of the beehive group at church, she is a straight A student with a 4.0 GPA, she is learning how to cook and experimenting with new recipes, she is making good choices and continues to amaze us.  For Ashlee's birthday she wanted to go to Dan and Teresa's cabin.  Dan and Teresa were very kind and gracious and allowed us to spend the weekend at their cabin and Teresa's added special touches to make Ashlee feel extra special on her special day.  It was nice to have some much needed time away as a family as well.  On Saturday we went to Moaning Caverns.  Ashlee and John had been to the caverns before,but Mikayla and I had never been, since it was Ashlee's birthday, she got in for free.  The cavern was neat. It was a different type of experience, lots of stairs to climb, some areas were really narrow, lots of people in a tiny area.  Your depth perception is really off in the cavern, and all the stairs start to make you dizzy after awhile.  After the cavern we went and ate pizza and then it was off to Downtown Murphy's to Lila and Sage's Cupcake Store.  Ashlee loved the cupcake she got.  She kept asking to go back and buy more.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the cabin and enjoying the hot tub.

Teresa's special touch.  Welcoming Ashlee to the 3 Bear's Room

A birthday gift from Dan and Teresa for Ashlee.

The gift was cute beanie and a purse.

 The Cavern:

The Wire Cage is the Stair Well you go down to get into the cavern.  Over 400 stairs total.  Going up was the hard part!

Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and went to Big Tree's.  After our lunch we went for a short hike and found some snow.  The snow had been there for a while and was very icy.  We didn't mess around with it too much, because I did not want to make any trips to the hospital.  Mikayla had one fall and that was enough.  Luckily she was okay and did not hit her head.  The girls got a hold of the camera and got a little crazy.

 Hanging out in the hot tub.  You can tell by the smiles on their faces that they thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you Teresa and Dan.  We had fun.  We enjoyed every minute of it.  No one wanted to leave and come home.  I am sure this was a birthday, Ashlee never will forget.