Not just the Honor Roll, the Principal's List!

There was a letter attached to the report card that Gaby brought home about a month ago saying that she had made the honor roll! At her school that means the parents bring in lunch, eat with their child, the teachers pass out ice cream, then they are called up by the Principal to get their certificate. Gaby and my Mom work so hard to make sure she gets everything done, so congratulations to Gaby and a big thanks to my mom for doing such an awesome job! Some of the pics didn't turn out so well because of the fabulous lighting in the school cafeteria, but here are a few...
Gaby and her buddy, Ciera
her teacher, Mrs. Bainbridge
and here are all the 4th graders that made the honor roll...can you find Gaby?

Update, u-p-d-a-t-e, update

Yesterday was the final spell off with both 4th grade classes at Gaby's school. She was the 3rd best speller out of the whole 4th grade, and the best girl speller! Unfortunately they are only taking 2 kids to the district spelling bee. Apparently there was some miscommunication the previous night when I was told (by my favorite 9-year-old) 4 or 5 kids were going. If that were the case, or if they even took 3, or 1 boy and 1 girl, she would be going. Sadly that's not the case. I think she's a little disappointed, but I think she did fabulous, and now she has something to work towards for next year!

Spelling Bee, S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g B-e-e, Spelling Bee

Gaby's 4th grade class had a little spelling bee yesterday and she was one of the 4 or 5 (she was so excited she couldn't remember how many) top spellers! Today they will have a spell off with the other 4th grade class (yes, there are only two, actually 1 1/2 cause the other class is a 4th-5th combo) and the top 4 or 5 spellers from today will go to the district spelling bee. The best part to her is that out of the top spellers in her class, she is the only girl! I am so excited for her, not just because she did a great job, but also because she is so exicted about it. I am all for anything that will get her excited about school and boost her confidence. Awesome job Gaby!!!

My Tina

Yes, she's MY Tina. We met 17 (holy cow, I can't believe it's been that long!!!) years ago when she came out from Utah to go to church Girl's Camp. Her Granparents and I went to the same church and they introduced us the night before we left for camp so she would know someone before we got there. We were instant best friends and, although we've only lived in the same state for a few months, have stayed very close since. I love her like a sister (Gaby calls her Auntie Tina, and considers her girls her cousins), she's always there for me, and my life is better with her in it. She sent me these pics of her adorable girls and I just had to share them because they are so adorable! I really wish that we lived closer to each other because I would love to be a part of these girls lives. Here they are...

Maisie is 2, and very excited to have her pic taken
Maddie is 4, and likes to keep her Mom on her toes
and beautiful Alyssa is 8

Halloween

I just got these pics from my Mom. I totally got my $20 worth out of Gaby's costume this year. She wore it to a party at a friend's house, the Harvest Festival at school, Trunk-or-Treating at church, to school on Halloween, and, of course, trick-or-treating Halloween night. Here's my cute little blue witch...

At Savannah's party



BFF Sydney

Disneyland!

I just realized that I never finished posting pics from the weekend Gaby came down. We have annual passes that are good through March 2009 and I want to make sure I get every penny out of them so we went twice while Gaby was here! We actually went just to Disneyland the first time then just CA Adventure the second. We found a few things at CA Adventure that we hadn't done before, and of course went on the old favorites like, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Carribbean and Peter Pan.
Here we are on Pirates...with some guy who thinks he's hilarious waving in the background
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Trying to act cool while Mom acts like a dork...I love being able to embarass her!
Who knew candy corn grew the same way as regular corn?
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Gaby's attempt at making a G out of the C.

Crazy hair/clothes day

Today was crazy hair/clothes day at school...here's how crazy she got. :)

Gaby's weekend continued...

Saturday morning we met my sister, Mary and brother-in-law Ron at the beach while Ron was surfing...I forgot my camera in the car so I don't have any pics. After being whipped by the winds for about an hour we went shopping there at the beach. Later in the afternoon we went to Downtown Disney with Mary and had a fabulous time. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, did some shopping, Auntie Mary let Gaby make a Build-a-Bear, we did some more shopping, and had ice cream.

dressing her turtle
thanks Auntie Mary!yes, her hair is pink =)

Gaby's visit

Gaby flew down (by herself, and very excitedly) to see me this weekend and right after I picked her up at the airport we went and met up with my brother, Ed, sister, Mary, brother-in-law, Ron, and nephew, RJ. Here are some pics from her first night.
Here's Gaby with her cousin RJ These pictures are both perfect examples of their cute relationship
and here's Uncle Eddie
and last, but certainly not least, Auntie Mary and Uncle Ron

The cutest Lizzy and Lucy that I have ever seen...

I went up to Sacramento a few weeks ago to see Gaby and my parents...and my brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Suzy, were so wonderful and changed their plans and brought their sweet, adorable babies up for me to see too. It was a great weekend that, of course, ended too soon but I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family.
Here's Miss Lizzy:

And this is Miss Lucy:

And I had to add this one cause Gaby thinks it looks like Lizzy is trying to fly:

Gaby is broken

For those of you who don't know, Gaby is living with my parents up in northern CA while I am still in OC until I can move back up there. Last Wednesday, the day before school started, my sweet, intelligent 9-year old decided it was a good idea to ride her new bike with flip-flops. She was riding at the school with a couple friends and from what I can understand she went to turn around and fell and somehow the bike ended up on top of her and hurt her foot. She called my Mom who came to the rescue and got her home, gave her Motrin and had her ice her injury. My Mom then called me and we both thought she was probably ok, maybe hurt a little but most likely more embarassed that she fell in front of her friends. She was unable to walk on it and it was a little swollen, but we figured we'd wait until the next day thinking she'd be ok, and because she is "out of network" with our insurance. Well, the next morning it was still hurting, she couldn't walk on it, and it was so swollen she couldn't get her shoe on. Can you tell which foot it is?

My Mom called me right after she took her to school Thursday morning and said she was going right then to get her some crutches. Keep in mind that I am almost 500 miles away and feeling kind of helpless throughout all of this. During this conversation with my Mom, I decided it was probably best for Gaby to go to the ER. Because I haven't changed her doctor from OC to where she is, she is "out of network", and our co-pay for urgent care or the ER is $75 but I figured it was worth it for my own peace of mind. After school my parents took Gaby to the ER and I got a phone call right after I left work and my Mom told me that she had broken her foot in 3 places! The ER doc wanted her to see an orthopedic surgeon this week, so being "out of network" as far as our insurance goes, I had another battle with our insurance company on Friday to get her visit authorized. I am so grateful that we have health insurance, but sometimes they can be so difficult. So she went to the ortho surg. this morning who used to go, lucky for us, to the same church as my parents. He put a full cast on (the ER only put a partial cast on because of the swelling) and she goes back in 2 1/2 weeks to have it re-x-rayed (is that even a word?). She called me as they were leaving the Dr's office and let me know she was a little disappointed because there were no cast colors for her to choose from, she had to go with boring white. When I called back to get all the details from my Mom, she was at Target getting colored Sharpies for Gaby to use on her boring white cast. I'm glad that Gaby was with my parents when this happened because it would have been really hard on both of us if she had been here. I wouldn't have been able to give her the extra care she needs. So a BIG thank you to my wonderful parents for doting on my little girl in her time of need. Hopefully she won't drive them crazy in the process!
Here is her poor swollen foot after the Dr removed the partial cast and before he put on the full cast.
And she's still smiling! Gotta love her!
The boring white cast before all her friends get a hold of it.

Idaho

Gaby went to Idaho with her Gaga and Papa last week and got to see my oldest brother, Don, and his family. My niece, Maggie, just sent me these pictures and I thought they were too great not to share. Gaby is obviously having an awesome summer and had so much fun in Idaho.
Gaby with Carson and Dalton. I can't believe how huge they are!
One of the first things she told me about was jumping into the pool from the tramp. Great shot Mags...Gaby thought this pic was so cool!
Playing chicken...Gaby's on Dalton's shoulders and Carson's on Jason's shoulders.
The Gabster holding the cutest Westley in the world!

I can't wait for the Olympics!!!

This one gives me the chills everytime I watch it.


Go Team USA!!!

Gaby's new bike

I have been wanting to get Gaby a new bike for almost a year now, and finally got her one this week as a late b-day present...only a month overdue. We went to Toys R Us first, then Target, then Wal-Mart. We ended up going back to Toys R Us and purchased the winner. When I was taking pictures of Gab with her bike she told me these needed to be on here...here ya go, Lou!

Lizzy & Lucy's blessing

I went up to the bay area last weekend to see my little brother bless his baby girls. They didn't make a peep and the blessings their Daddy gave them were beautiful. We took these pics at a park we went to after church where we met up with other family. I am so glad I was able to make it up there for their special day.

This is my little brother, Paul, holding Lucy, and his adorable wife, Suzy, holding Lizzy.

My brother, Mark, me, Paul with Lucy, Suzy with Lizzy, my Mom and Dad. These two brothers and I were known as the "3 little ones" until just a few years ago. :)

Gab took the next two pics and I thought they were too cute not to post. She sure does love her uncles and she is so lucky to have 8 that are so wonderful to her.

And here is the last pic, Gaby thought it was so cool that she was up so high! I was amazed at Uncle Mark's thigh strength to climb up on this table with an extra 60 pounds on his shoulders!

My new accessory

In celebration of the 30th (yikes!) anniversary of my birth I went to the optometrist as I noticed I wasn't seeing quite as clearly with my now 30-year-old eyes. As predicted, the kind Dr. informed me that I needed glasses. I have now joined the ranks of the near-sighted members of my family.

My highly over-paid (in my opinion) fashion consultant assisted me in choosing these bad boys that I just picked up last night...
I think they make me look much more smarterer...what do you think? And yes, I am in my car but I was stopped at a stop light, and no, that's not a pile of towels and blankets you see in the back. :)

Our trip to Florida

On Tuesday the 8th Gaby and I left Orange County to fly to Florida to my brother and sister-in-laws (Matt and Debbie) house near Tampa. In order to save a few hundred dollars we flew overnight. It was the longest 4 hours of my life. Fortunately Gaby was able to sleep fairly well, but unfortunately, I was not. Luckily we were able to see my parents who just finished serving a 2-year mission for our church, and meet this adorable almost 1-year-old. Look at those eyes!

This is my sweet niece, Ellea. The uncomfortable plane ride was so worth it to get to see her for the first time. Here she is enjoying her first birthday cake...way too cute!

While there I got to enjoy some much needed relaxation. It was nice to be able to sit around and enjoy the company of my family.

We went to a pottery place and Gaby painted a frog and my Mom painted a plate for me...

We also went swimming and Auntie Debbie is such a good sport that she did handstands in the pool with Gaby!Gaby is still in Florida with my Mom and Dad. They are in Daytona Beach at my sister and brother-in-laws (Mary and Ron) condo on the beach. I think they are leaving Sunday to start the long drive back out here to CA. I wish I could have joined them on their road trip but I had to get back to work.