My daughter the film maker

This year Hannah was the co-director/co-producer of the Fountain Valley High School "Every Fifteen Minutes" drunk driving video.  This program re-enacts a drunk driving accident.  Last year, Hannah was on the award-winning crew that produced the video for Los Amigos HS.  This year, she again was recognized by the city and the police department for her work on the video for Fountain Valley HS.  The video she created allowed her to film at the jail, ride in an ambulance, film at the ER and film live on scene for the school assembly. We are so proud of her and the great video she produced!

 

"Mormal"

Mormal = Mormon Formal or Mormon Prom.  I love this event!  The stakes in North Orange County hold a prom like dance/evening for the LDS kids to come and enjoy with their friends who share their standards.  This was so refreshing for Hannah to be part of a group of classy kids who respect themselves and each other.  Such a contrast to the dance events held at the High School.
I love our church!

Hannah's friend LeAnn helped her with her hair and make-up. She looked amazing!

Hannah's date Greg is from HB North stake.  She has a music class with him at school.

Hannah made his boutonniere from guitar picks.

 

FV 3rd ward Laurel class.  Love these girls!

Hannah's corsage was made with film.

 

Such beautiful girls!

On The Road (again. . .)

The time arrived once again for another Huntington Beach Stake Musical Production.  This year the show was titled "On the Road".  We signed up for another crazy ride. It is always a challenging time with busy schedules, rehearsals, costuming and such.  But it is always worth it.  We love the friendships we strengthen and the singing and dancing we get to do. We enjoy sharing this as a family.  We are one of a few families in the stake with the entire family participating.  Our kids like that mom and dad get involved, especially when they have a dad that can sing as well as theirs can.  We were all very proud of each other and we cheered when our family was on stage.  We missed Brittany performing with us this year, but next time around we will probably be missing Hannah, so we tried to soak in every moment of this experience.  We are grateful for the memories we created!

The following is a list of numbers each one of us participated in:

Brett: Loch Lomand, I Got a Dream, Some Enchanted Evening, Wizard of Oz and Prima Donna

Shell: Rock-a-my-soul, Wizard of Oz and Pirates

Hannah: Welcome to the 60's, Africa, Proud Mary and Wizard of Oz

Jonathan: Dynamite, Proud Mary and Wizard of Oz

Caleb: Dynamite, Charleston, Proud Mary and Ghostbusters

Sarah: Fun Fun Fun, Charleston, Munchkinland and Princess

Happy St. Patty's

In the midst of our Stake Musical Production, we squeezed in this small holiday.  I had hoped to do something really festive this year, but our schedule was just so hectic.  I decided that at least the green eggs, green shamrock pancakes and beautiful flower arrangement made for a nice nod to St. Patty's Day.  My mom emailed me something on this day that I liked and thought was worth posting.

"Grandpa and I were studying about St. Patrick's Day to find out who he was. There is a huge cathredral in New York named after him so we looked him up in several history books.

We thought you might like to know about this man and why we celebrate him.

When he was 16 years old he was kidnapped by pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave for 8 years. He escaped and went back to England where he studied Christianity and had a vision that he was to go back to Ireland and teach the people about Christ. He was one of the first Christian missionaries to teach about Christ in Ireland. He baptized over 12,000 people and built almost 400 churches. He designated the shamrock as the Irish Christian symbol, the three leaves stand for the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost - 3 separate beings of the same branch. He was a great missionary for Christ. The color green for eternal life. This was around 400 A.D. Churches all over Ireland honor him and revere him as a saint.  Cool huh!!!"

Thanks Mom!  I like it!

Why I love our K-8 school

Today was our last softball tournament at Moiola School.  Fountain Valley School District is closing Moiola at the end of this school year.  As I sat and watched these boys play, I was flooded with memories and appreciation for the experiences my children have had with school sports tournaments because of this unique school. 

This years team were the underdogs of the tournament as all Moiola teams are at every sports tournament.  It was great to watch them cheer each other on and celebrate each other for their successes.  It is not about winning, but about doing our best and having great sportsmanship.  It warms my heart to watch some of these kids have this experience for the first and possibly only time in their school years. 

So as I am feeling grateful for what Moiola has provided to my kids, I wanted to go back and find some old pictures that show them participating in Moiola's sporting tournaments.  Yeah for Moiola! 

Moiola's last softball team - March 2012.  They ordered special souvenir shirts for everyone.

Did I mention how awesome it is that Brett gets be the coach of the school team?  This is another perk of having such a small school environment - parent involvement!

 Caleb played very well and was a leader for the team

And another perk - the younger siblings get to watch and cheer for their older siblings.  Sarah was so proud of her brother!

These are some pictures of Caleb at this years basketball tournament in January. Because of Moiola's small sports program, he got the chance to be on the team.  He played well, and although our little underdog team came in last, they were celebrated for giving their best and working as a team. I love these kids!

This was last year's (2011) Softball tournament where both Jonathan and Caleb were on the team and Brett was the coach. Unfortunately, Caleb had fractured his thumb, so he had to sit on the sidelines.  Jonathan's softball team from the previous year (2010) was the first Moiola team to win 3rd place.  It was a pretty special celebration for him to be a part of.  They kept a baseball signed by all the players that year in the office for display.

Jonathan and Caleb at last years track tournament - June 2011.  So cool for the brothers to have this experience together!

Jonathan was selected for the standing long jump for both 6th and 7th grade.  He was very proud of his accomplishments.

Jonathan running the boys relay in 2010

Hannah and her friend Marina playing for the girls softball team in 2007.  Hannah played softball all three years at Moiola.

Hannah running the girls relay at the track tournament.  She also participated on the track team all three years.  This helped prepare her for being on the track team in pole vaulting at the high school.

Brittany at the track tournament in 7th grade (2005)

Brittany's experiences with track prepared her for her successful cross country seasons her Freshman and Sophomore years at High School.

Brittany running the girls relay.

I will miss these experiences that Moiola has brought to our family.  I am sad that Sarah will not have these opportunities, but look forward to see what the Lord brings next.  For now I say thank you for Moiola School and the privilege we had to be a part of it!