Summer Vacation

Tomorrow is that last day of school for the kids. I am so proud of the progress each has made this last year. They really have put forth a great effort to get good grades. Even though each has struggles, they have worked so hard to overcome them and have finished the year on a high note.
We are going to have a busy summer with lots of camps and sports, and hopefully an eagle project. I started school last week, so I will be busy with that too. I love my little kids teachers they had this year and I wish they could change grades and teach them again. But I have hope that the teachers next year will be just as concerned and careful with the help that they get and their interest in seeing them progress. Lizzie is going to be an 8th grader; that is just crazy to me! She is a wonderful student and has been blessed with some wonderful teachers at the Jr. High. I know she will have a fun summer and will enjoy the soccer camp, and girls camp. Steven will be in High School, and you can be assured that I am just as nervous as he is. He is already working out with the basketball team and the football team in hopes that he can play both sports. I love him and hope that he can have this happen for him. He is a hard worker and it would be great to have him busy all year. I think he stays more focused on his work.
Well if you have advise for a mom of a High School son, or want to tell me what you are doing for your fun summer leave a comment. (BTW I am still hoping for some really good sunshine to enjoy)!

She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, When She Comes.

We had a very busy and eventful Spring Break. It actually felt like spring where we were! We packed up our "Big Cat" and left the comfort of our home on a trip like the Donner party, our sights were set on California. But we made a stop in Reno at the Silver Legacy and rested so we did not end up like the Donner party. We made our way down the mountain into Stockton to surprise Dave's Uncle Lod and Auntie Cherie. They have this amazing wall at there house that the kids have been measuring their height since birth. Steven had grown about a quarter of an inch since last October and Lizzie and Robert both have grown over three inches since last April. It is amazing to see how they grow. I knew that Lizzie had grown a bunch but it is amazing to see it on the wall. Glad that his Aunt and Uncle were feeling well when we saw them; they are wonderful.

After we visiting in Stockton we went to Manteca, where I got my hair cut. I have such a hard time letting anyone cut or color my hair, it is weird I know I should just know what I want. But I don't. So the girl who has cut my hair for the last 17years fixed me up. It looks cute, a little shorter than I wanted but it will grow, and the gray will show. oh-well. Then we went to dinner with the Sousa family at Dave's favorite Mexican Restaurant, Los Consuela's. It is so fun to be with friends and chat about the things they have going on, and what we are busy with, and how our lives will be different in a few months with High School children.

Friday, I took Dave to work at his office in Lathrop. And the kids and I went shopping, over to our good friend Nonnie's home. The kids played video games while Non and I chatted. I love having friends that have been my friends for over 10 years. It is an amazing thing to know someone for that long and have so much to share with them. I took the kids to the batting cages and the bowling alley to feel like they were doing stuff. That night we had dinner at the Alviso's with the Farruggias more great friends. I would not be the same without these people in my life. There are so many other friends that I wish I could have seen in Manteca, but there is never enough time to see everyone.

Saturday brought the Jamero Family Easter Party in Gustine. I love our family. we are a collection of all different types of people but it is really amazing the Love that we have for one another and the sense of belonging to something bigger than just yourself. The kids had a good time.

Since we were within a car drive to my favorite place, Monterey,California we went on Sunday morning and met up with the Sousa's again, since they retrieved my lost keys from the bowling alley in Manteca. We had dinner and some swimming for the kids at the Hotel. I love Monterey. It was the first place that I had seen the beach, it was when I knew for sure that Dave and I had the potential to be married. It was a place Dave's mother loved to go. We have had wonderful memories there together for just shy of 18 years. Memories with our children, friends and extended family. To me outside the Temple this is some of heaven on earth.

Then Monday brought us to Vegas, Dave needed to work in Vegas so off we went. Our trip was focused on seeing the owners of the Gold and Silver Pawn shop in Vegas, better known to American viewers as the "Pawn Stars". Those stars are not camera shy; but they certainly don't seem to like the fans. The workers at the store said they very rarely come out to talk to people. Dave stopped in there last fall just on a whim, and the "old man" asked him if he was going to take a picture. Dave said no and just looked around. We have come to think of that as a rare day. The kids were a little disappointed that they did not get to see Chumlee.

We also went to see the Las Vegas Temple, Steven thought it was a very neat architectural design. He will love the Portland Temple too, if that is the case. I love how you can drive and see all the Temples. That has been a big tradition of ours to always stop at the nearby temple on our trips. The kids will appreciate that later in life (I hope).

Then today we drove home. We stopped to visit a friend of Dave's from High School and when he joined the church. It was fun to see our little kids just start playing while we visited. It was fun to talk with them and get to know them a little better. Pictures will get posted soon. I just don't have the energy to get the camera.

Glad we all made it in the 2000 mile trip around the western desert and the beautiful mountains that surround it. Not something we will do for awhile but it was so much fun.

Two Semester Down and Maybe Three More To Go

So those of you who read the sunshine report are aware that I am going to LDS Business College. I absolutely LOVE it. What an amazing blessing it has been to study at a "church" school. I have amazing instructors and I love being able to associate with the young adults at the school. It is fun to see them learning and growing. I was especially blessed this semester to facilitate a class that is exclusively at the BC. It is called Foundations of Learning. It is a principle based curriculum that teaches how to learn the Lord's way and understand their unique role as students in the Lords Temple of Learning. I had an amazing group of Young Adults in class and I will miss talking and discussing with them the principles that the Lord wants us to build our eternal foundations on to return to him.

A couple of other interesting things that have happened to me this semester was my keyboarding class. Again early readers of the blog would be aware of my chickenpox typing handicap. But thanks to Sister Meier I can type a turtles pace by touch, and hopefully with some practice next semester I will be able to type at unforeseen speeds. I am grateful for the skill and hope that it will help me in the future to be a better paralegal.

And my last note for the semester, I feel like there will never be enough time to learn all the stuff I need to know and understand to be a paralegal. There is so much information and I have tried my best to do all that I can to understand it but somehow it just feels like I learned stuff, but the confidence of knowing and applying it is still a little ways off. I suppose that is why I still have a few more semesters to improve my skills.

So school starts again on May 18, and I will be taking Legal Research and Writing, Contracts, and Torts; along with Skill building and a Religion class on the Pearl of Great Price. I will love it. It sounds like it will be a challenge but with the Lord's help and the help of my little family we will get through it. I am just so grateful to be able to go to school and hope that we will be blessed for it.