Alicia receives Young Womanhood recognition

Tonight was "Young Women in Excellence", and Alicia was awarded her Young Womanhood Medallion and recognized for her achievements. It was a wonderful night and there was a great spirit there. Her Young Women's President created this video to honor her.

Congratulations, Alicia!

Natalie at Nationals

I'm still trying to catch up - here's the videos of Natalie clogging. It took me a while to get motivated enough to trim them down to acceptable size for blogging. They are still a bit large, so please be patient while they load.

Here's Natalie's duet from nationals last May with her good friend Julia. This dance won first place for their age division.

This is one of three team dances they performed, and this one took first as well. Be sure to turn up the volume - you don't want to miss "Cotton-Eyed Joe". Natalie starts in the back, just to the right of the girl wearing the number bib.

The Beard

Riley's back from a two-week, 85 mile backpacking trip through Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico. I'll let him share the stories and experiences, but I have to get some pictures up of "the beard."

Two week's growth looks good on him - he even went to the stake dance without shaving.

Looks a little like Bret from "Flight of the Conchords" with shorter hair.

Riley's Eagle Slide Show

I'm trying to do a little catch-up here. This is the slideshow we created for Riley's Eagle Court. I know a lot of you were unable to attend, so this will be new for you. Included are several pictures of his project, which involved building and installing shelving in the PE room of his old elementary school.

Lap 1

I just finished the first lap of the "Tyler Challenge" - I've read completely through the standard works since the beginning of the year. The final lap will not include the Old Testament, just the New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. I will be done before the end of the year. Thanks for the challenge, Tyler. It's more fun when others are doing it with you.

Stanley has moved

Please follow all of Flat Stanley's adventures in San Marcos by clicking here.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Natalie's ON!

We all love Natalie, and she now has her own blog! Click here to see her insights, musings, and antics (or just follow the link on the right.)

Spring Break

Beckett spent the day with us. We had a ton of fun (as shown in this picture)! He brought his skateboard, and we taught him how to Indo Board.

Lucy is precious!

The Angel game started our Spring Break off right! We thought they won when we left at the top of the 8th inning, but it wasn't to be.

Some of the fun caught on camera.

Our seats were terrific! We were in a secluded little corner looking at left field.

Thanks Mom and Dad! We had a great time.

The Getty Center was our next adventure. This is Natalie's favorite bed.

Tanner helping to show perspective by standing next to this massive painting.

We were lucky to have Grandpa and Grandma Stevenson spend the day with us.

This was the children's first time at the Los Angeles Temple.

It was a quiet, beautiful day at the temple.

Riley's Eagle Project

Riley finished his project, and life has slowed down enough to document it! Maybe you noticed last week I posted a picture. It was a couple years old, with no text. Here's my attempt to do better.

Riley and Trevor loading the wood into Trevor's truck.

All good scouts wear eye protection- and every good scout troop has a leader with a beard.

Beautiful Brooke.

The whole crew cutting the shelves to size.

Gettin' 'er done.

Show me "sand the floor." Mike is filling in for Mr. Miyagi. (Karate Kid)

Look how smooth that wood is!

Alicia is focused.

A bonding moment.

Only one casualty. We checked a week later, and he wasn't playing possum as some suggested.

Safety first.

T.K. was so generous to donate dinner the night of the project.

In the PE closet with the jump ropes.

"Bracketology."

Clark was kind enough to help us out!

Look at how sturdy that shelf is!

The finished project.

San Diego Auto Show

We got to visit the San Diego International Auto Show on New Year's Day, courtesy of Scripps Healthcare. Our family tradition is to try to find cars that match the kids' personalities.

Here's Lauren with the Mercedes Benz CL 500 Coupe. This car is a 400 HP, 5400 CC V8 beast that goes zero to sixty in about 5 seconds - not bad for a car that weighs 2 1/2 tons. And all that for only $107K! Look how she just belongs behind the wheel of this luxury cruiser. One drawback - she's not a fan of the "wood paneling".










Gratuitous photo of the CL 550 coupe. I had to add this as you can't see much of the car in the photo above.











Brooke at the helm of a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta. It's a cute and sensible car for Brooke. This is actually not the car that Brooke looked best in, but we didn't want to wait in line for thirty minutes to get a shot of her in the BMW 650i convertible.












This is two straight years Riley hasn't been able to come with us. Last year it was basketball practice, this year it was work. So in honor of his dedication to his job and saving for his mission, here's the cars he was hanging around with.












Alicia behind the wheel of the 2009 Mazda MX-5 Miata. This is two years in a row that this little two-seater has fit just perfectly with her attitude - must be destiny.













Tanner got to sit behind the wheel of a Mustang Shelby GT500KR. This is an $80K, 540 HP road rocket that had quite a crowd of folks around it (all guys). Tanner got a big laugh from the crowd when he stepped out of the car and proclaimed "it's ok". Too many people were around to get a good photo.





Natalie is definitely a Mini girl in my opinion. And this is the exact model for her - the John Cooper S Works in red with the black and white checked roof. It's the perfect combination of sporty, sassy, and cool, just like Natalie.

Of course all this may change next year...