Nice People

Matt and I decided that our life is extremely blessed by nice people. We've lived quite a few places during our lives and we always seem to be fortunate when it comes to friends. Tonight, for example, we were eating dinner when the doorbell rang. When we went to the door, two women from our ward, Ann Pitts and Amanda Pitts, stood there holding scrumptious looking brownies. Good friends of ours are are moving away, sadly. At church they sang "Abide With Me" and I played piano for the musical number. Ann and Amanda wanted to tell me they really enjoyed it. How nice is that?!

One other thought. . . .was anyone else clueless about daylight savings last night? I woke up this morning after our late night last night to my cell phone alarm at 6. But the alarm clock by my bed said 5:00 and it was completely dark outside. I was so tired and confused. I went downstairs and the clocks all said 5:00, but the DVR said 6:00. I thought checked the computer and it read 6:00. I googled daylight savings and found out that the event had indeed occurred! How did I miss that? I felt a little better when people at church looked a little frantic as they sat down late because they too did not know it was daylight savings. I also saw people in the foyer that did not know too! Now I know, second Sunday in March!

Youth Formal Dance

Saturday evening Matt and I chaperoned the "Mormal" in Bakersfield. That is what they call the formal dance for the priest and laurel age young men and young women. Matt helps with the young men in our ward and so we were supposed to go the dance. I am so glad we did! It began with dinner at the Bishop's house with about 16 of the young men and women. I really enjoyed seeing them all dressed up, hair curled, etc. Then we went over to a stake center in Bakersfield and I was shocked from the moment we walked in. They selected an Egyptian theme, so there were adults dressed up as Egyptian guards outside, with torches lit behind them and white lights decorating the entrance. They put up black curtains on both sides of the door to create a long hallway leading the kids to sign a scroll. Pictures were taken and then we entered a room with lights, white partitians on either side to hide that we were actually in the cultural hall, and an amazing set up of food. The pictures really do not do it justice, but you can get an idea. It looked so nice and there were about 290 kids there plus chaperones. The chocolate fountain with fruit and all sorts of things to dip was a huge hit! We really enjoyed ourselves. Abby stayed with one of the young women in the ward that was not quite old enough to go and Abby had a wonderful time. Although she would not go to bed and poked her head around the corner of the stairs at 10 p.m. when we got home! Stinker!

Best Girls Night!

Matt is on a camp out tonight with the Young Men in our ward and so it was a girls night for Abby and I. We had such a blast. She is truly the best kid ever. We came home from dropping Matt off (well he ended up driving, so someone else brought us home) around 5 p.m. So we played for a while and then worked in one of her workbooks identifying things that are "different." Then we cut out any letter "B's" we found in a magazine and glued them on a paper. And then we went on a Blue hunt! That means we go around the house and find things that are blue. Soon it was time for dinner so we had leftover spaghetti. Abby took a quick bath and she opened up a new movie. She received this movie because she has not had any accidents in 2 1/2 days! Maybe we are almost potty trained! I'm convinced she is--at long last! She opened up "The Princess and the Frog" and we popped popcorn (at Abby's request) and cuddled up on the couch together in all of her blankets from Aunt Christie. It was such a cute movie. We then read the Book of Mormon, brushed her teeth, sang songs and said our prayers. Finally it was time to go to sleep. What a wonderful night. She is so special. Here is a picture before we watched the movie.

There are a few other pictures to share. Today Matt worked hard in the yard and made an area against the wall where we can plant flowers and such. It looks really good. His first time using mortar!
Last Saturday we invited our neighbors we hadn't gotten to know yet over for lunch. We were so glad that we did. We really like them and hope to get to know them better.
Saturday afternoon Abby and I went over to the entrance to where we live because it is covered in yellow and orange flowers. We had so much fun taking pictures! She even found a snail.
Here is a funny picture of Abby before Church on Sunday.
Tuesday--yes, gymnastics and this time I talked Abby's teacher, Teacher Sunny into taking a picture. The gym got some new rings for the young kids and Abby really liked them. Here is a picture.
Thursday I played for a voice lesson at Cal State University and Abby came with me. She was such a good girl. Sorry, no picture.
I was able to capture Abby working on the bars in gymnastics. Sorry it's not closer, but I'm not supposed to be in the class, so I had to take from a distance.

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Roger came for a visit Wednesday through Saturday and Abby had so much fun! She does not want them to leave tomorrow!

But first a few pictures:
Abby at gymnastics--she cried again at first for me which is so strange because if you know Abby she is miss independent! But she decided to be brave and had a great time!
I took Abby to the new Disney movie, Tangled. We had so much fun together.
Grandma brought Abby some cute pink boots and Abby put them on and would not take them off!
Thursday Grandma and Grandpa went to a Chinese food place and to an ice cream place called DeWars. This is a picture before they left.
Thursday night Grandma painted Abby's fingernails. It was the cutest thing!
Today (Friday) they took Abby on a train to a city called Hanford. Abby LOVES trains, so she was more than excited. Here are pictures from their trip.
Before they left for the train.
Buying tickets (hold on to Abby or she will run!).
Walking to the train.
On the train.
Arriving in Hanford.
When they went in a boutique a woman gave Abby legos to play with and she did not want to leave.
Superior Dairy--they said the ice cream was wonderful. They also saw cows and sheeps.
Abby with the dogs they found at the park.
Abby fell asleep standing up while they were in a restaurant. Here is a picture Grandpa took from outside!
Heading back home.
The backyard is coming along and Matt was working outside today. We will get it done eventually!
We love Grandma and Grandpa and are so glad that we can see them often!

BYU Honor Code

As many of you know, BYU has been having an amazing year in basketball. However, we just lost our starting forward (and we only run two tall men in our offense with three guards--so losing that forward really hurts) due to his violating the school honor code. Consequently, we lost a game this week to crappy University of New Mexico, and questions loom about the Y's ability to compete this year. Similarly, last year's rough football season was made worse by the unexpected loss of the senor star running back who (along with his girlfriend) broke the honor code. Check out this video of ESPN sports pundits assessing the question, "Can schools win championships while upholding strict standards?"

I think it is nice to see these sports pundits supporting the idea of moral and educational standards for athletes. Sports illustrated and CBS recently did a in depth study of the top 25 football teams and found that quite a few are composed of violent criminals. The University of Pittsburgh led the nation in criminal teamates, and the report found that 1 in 14 athletes on these top 25 teams had a criminal past. Only TCU and Oklahoma had any system of assessing criminality before offering scholarships to students.

If we don't hold students accountable in college then what makes us think they'll be responsible adults?

Another Good Week

This last week we had some fun adventures.

Monday Abby enjoyed her 4-wheeler outside and I snapped a picture of her in front of the house.
We also played in the backyard on her playground that now has some rubber mulch! We still need the barriers to keep it in, so it's not quite ready for friends to play in yet.
Tuesday was of course gymnastics and I took a quick picture of Abby before we left--pretty cute! Gymnastics didn't go quite as well as last week. Abby actually ran out to me crying. I think it was because her class warmed up with some older girls and she seemed scared of them. That is strange because Abby is not really scared of anyone or anything, but I think it made her nervous. And I had to go in and sit for a few minutes. Then she did pretty well.
This weekend (Friday) I played for a voice recital at California State University, Bakersfield and it went really well. I enjoy playing and coaching the voice students and even made a possible contact with a pianist who would love to play for a choir--and I hope to start one here in Bakersfield!
Saturday we took Abby to Toys R Us to use a gift certificate from Amanda's (Abby's birth Mom's) Dad and his wife. She picked out a cute Mickey Mouse scooter that is currently in our house while she gets use to it. Then we will take it out outside!
Thank you Geoff and Maria!
Saturday night we had the missionaries over for dinner. I even talked them into coming to Ward Choir today! Sunday we invited Matt's office mate, Paul and his wife Sandra over for dinner and we had a great time with them. Abby especially enjoyed playing with them and screamed for more hugs when they left.
On Saturday morning Abby was sitting at the table with her Duplo Legos and was singing, talking and just being really cute. Every time I tried to get her on camera she stopped doing what she was doing! But I did manage to get some good moments on film. This ended up being a little hello to our friends Carric and Jenny who live in Arizona. Enjoy the video!

Valentine's Fun

This past week was full of fun adventures beginning with Monday--Valentine's Day! Matt went to school early in the morning and returned after 9:30 p.m., so it was mainly Abby and I! Abby had her 3 year pictures taken at JCPenney's in the morning and she wore her new dress which I actually think will be her Easter dress. Here is a quick shot before we went in for pictures. I pick them up Tuesday, so I will have to scan them and put them on the blog this week.

I told her if she was good for pictures we would walk to the food court and get her some ice cream. She of course had to take her Thomas backpack given to her on her birthday by friends!
Abby and I wanted to do something nice for Matt so we picked him up a berry drink at Costco and surprised him at school.
Tuesday we once again had gymnastics and Abby had a major break through--she listened AND followed instructions! I was so proud. Her teacher came out and said she did much better this week and also told me that Abby is really strong. We think so, but we realize we are biased! Her teacher said she has really strong arms and an amazing core. She hangs from the bar and swings her legs, then lifts them straight up like a lever to the bar. It's a little bit difficult to explain, but it takes an amazing amount of ab strength and she does it over and over. Her teacher also commented that she has a gymnasts body. It is so exciting to watch her learn and grow.
Wednesday night when Matt went to the Church for Young Men's Abby and I built a garage for her cars out of her Duplo legos and a house out of Lincoln Logs. She wanted to take a picture for Matt so that she could knock it down so I thought I'd include it here too.
Friday Matt and Ammon (a young man in our ward) put together Abby's new playground set. We've been watching for a good price on one and found it a few weeks ago at Costco on-line. It took most of the day and Abby helped out too. When it was all done Abby ran outside yelling "slide, slide." Now we are waiting for some rubber mulch and a liner so we can put part of the back yard together--hooray!
Saturday Matt and I spent the day completing one of the last requirements for LDS Services so that we can get back on the website and hopefully a birth mother will pick us! We took a CPR/AED/First Aid class from the Red Cross. It was a long day but fortunately our teacher told some pretty good stories. Abby played at our friends the Petersen's and had the most wonderful time. That night our friends the McCall's invited us out to dinner to take advantage of their excellent coupon. We s seldom go out to dinner, so this was a rare treat.
Today I snapped a quick picture of Abby before Church. She is wearing one of the cute dresses from her cousins Kylee and Kennedy. I thought they might like to see her wear it. After Sacrament meeting today I was playing organ postlude and Matt took Abby to nursery. On their way she saw her friend Levi and they gave each other a big hug. Then Matt said they held hands and walked all the way into nursery. She turned around and said, "Bye Dad!" She is already so independent! One of the Young Women's leaders commented on how funny she is and said that when Matt took her out during Sacrament meeting because she was being too loud she waved to everyone as she left! What a kid! There is just not a dull moment with Abby around!