CLAM Mission Reunion

I never thought I'd go to another mission reunion again. Not because I didn't necessarily want to, I just thought that well, it's been over 10 years since I've been home, so no more mission reunions....right?....so wrong!! Over the summer, Nate Creer emailed a bunch of us saying that they wanted to put together a mission reunion for those that served in the California Los Angeles Mission (CLAM for short) under President Karl Farnsworth. My first thoughts were..."there is no way I'm going to my mission reunion....I won't recognize or know anyone." Well, I was talking to my dear friend "Kasper" and she talked me into going saying that she and a couple other ;sisters wanted to do kinda like a "girls getaway." Girls Getaway?...o.k., I'm so in!! So here we are over 10 years after coming home:

That's Jennifer Whitlow-Taylor; Me; Jessica Kasperian-Gomez; Julie Wilson-Meikle (did I spell that right?). We did dinner before the reunion, gossiped and then headed over to the reunion and finally finished the evening hanging out at Red Mango till it closed (midnight, or so).
This is a pic of us girls at the reunion PLUS Brian Taylor...he was our ever awesome District Leader. I just realized that I didn't get a pic of his beautiful and super cool wife Gina (sorry Gina!!..next time!)

And here we are over 10 years AGO in one of the sister's apartment on Temple Hill (right behind the LA Temple)...and yes, I had a short, A-line haircut then:
The three girls were called to be VC (Visitor Center) Spanish speaking sisters...so how did I get in with them since I was called as a proselyting, english speaking sister?....well, I was temporarily called to the VC to be with Sister Julie Wilson and to serve in a english speaking area and during that time, I got to know the best sisters ever. We had such crazy times!! This my beautiful greenie, Jill Smith-Judson, she's the mom of 5 kids: 1 daughter and 2 sets of twins (1 set of girls and then another set of boys)

...and of course, , my mission president: Pres. Karl Farnsworth and his beautiful and so sweet wife.

It was fun everyone, can't want to get together again!!

Some blogs to check out in regards to the Twilight Series

I was "blog surfing" and came across a blog entry on Jen and Doug's site. She shared the following blog site and entries. So if your a Twilight Series fan, you'll have to check it out. It's pretty funny and the hilarious thing is.....the author is a "guy" - yep, and he's read and has blogged about the Twililght books. And as for me, I have to admit that I am alittle borderline obsessed over the series, although I do have to keep it in check since I am so busy with so many projects from family to Primary to Ward Choir stuff to HOA stuff....will it ever end??!?

http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/02/twilight-series-for-dummies-and-totally.html

The Cold Hard Truth about Edward

He also wrote his own version of Breaking Dawn (don't worry, no spoilers here):

Part 1: http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/07/breaking-dawn-spoof-part-i.html

Part 2: http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/07/breaking-dawn-spoof-part-ii.html

Part 3: http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/07/breaking-dawn-spoof-part-iii-dramatic.html

Have fun with the following and thanks Jen for sharing!!

Father-Daughter bonding...

Ashlyn "hanging out" with dad while he's logging in some XBox 360 time.

Preschool

Ashlyn did quite well on her first day of preschool. She was just a little hesitant at first but then got into the art project shortly after I left. I do have to say that I had a harder time leaving than expected of myself. Her teacher, Ms. Heidi, is super cute. She told me that Ashlyn kept on saying that she wanted to go to "college." Well sweetheart, you'll soon get that chance. We're so proud of you Ashlyn. We know that you'll learn so much and we hope that you'll continue to be enthusiastic about school and that you will reach your goal of going to college and hopefully, if your given the opportunity, continue your education.

Hide and Seek with Ashlyn

Me: 1...2....3...
Ashlyn: Mom, make sure you come into the TV room!

Me: ...o.k....4....5....6....

Ashlyn: Mom, mom...make sure you come into the TV room!

Me: ....o.k sweetie.....7....8....9....

Ashlyn: Here I am!!

I love my daughter!!

I'm finally on the bandwagon...

...after many blogs (of friends) that I've read on these books, I've finally caved. The first 2 books just came today...thanks to Amazon. I also found Stephanie Meyer's official website. And I'm also looking forward to the movie in December. Can't wait to do a girl's night out on this one.

North Family Reunion 2008 in Sunny San Diego!!

It was so great to be back at our old stomping ground. Todd and I had memory after memory of our 2 years in San Diego and all the friends we made and missed so very much. So coming back to San Diego was awesome....especially to see all the family we hadn't seen in so long. We first spent 2 days at Sea World. The shows were great, the rides for the kiddies were super fun and we got a chance to stay for the night time show of Shamu. Definitely awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone. The kids had a great time even though they were so dang tired! Sea World added a new kiddie play area in which there were rides as well as Elmo and friends coming out and singing as well as posing for pictures:

We also got a chance to spend some time at the beach....oh the beach. I've forgotten how calming and soothing it can be to just dig and play in the sand as well as play in the ocean. Well, maybe not for Ashlyn or Ethan. Neither one of them liked the ocean at all!! Oh well, maybe next time.

After the beach, we cleaned up, gave the kids a nap and met at the SDSU Institute for dinner, swimming and a fun activity for the kids...hitting a pinata. It was fun!!

The cutest part were the little kids trying to hit the pinata...they were great!!

On our last day, we had a kiddie talent show. We saw cartwheels, summer saults, piano and vocal duets as well as some pretty cool karate. The kids ended the talent show by singing "I Am a Child of God." They were amazing.
Thank you Grandpa and Myrna for putting it all together.

And to all the aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews....we miss you already! Love you tons.