amy & gaby

Last Disneyland trip

2009-09-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

When I moved back up north last November, I convinced my parents (who had come down to help me pack and move) that they needed to go to Disneyland since it had been almost 15 years since they were there. Gaby and I had annual passes and after going so many times in 2 years, believe it or not, we had grown somewhat bored of Disneyland. We were both very excited to share the fun experience with people who hadn't been in so long. Of course my camera ended up getting packed, so I snapped a few shots on my phone. I just recently transfered them to my computer and wanted to get them posted.

Changes

2009-08-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

This summer we've had more changes than I was ready for. Gaby turned 10 in June, finished 4th grade with 3 A's and 2 A+'s, and started 5th grade today. On Tuesday she got an expander and 4 braces on her top and bottom front teeth. She should have everything on for about a year. I have to crank the expander daily for 2 weeks, then she goes back to the orthodontist to check her progress. She was in great spirits until she tried to eat. As some of you may know, Gab is very sensitive to how things feel, therefore she is having a very hard time feeling food get stuck in her braces when she tries to eat. Besides that, her teeth are sore, food also gets stuck on the expander, and her tongue is scraped up from trying to swallow and hitting the expander. Presently her diet consists of soup, soft bread, jello, yogurt, and oatmeal. She is also taking Motrin regularly. I keep telling her it will get better as she gets use to it but she doesn't seem too encouraged.
Before...

After...

We're moving!!!

2009-05-31T23:05:00.000-07:00

So, as we were out and about running errands last weekend I found the perfect place to move in to. I wasn't even looking, we just happened to stop right in front of it. It's very affordable and in a fabulous location. Don't ya'll get jealous now...but here's a pic...

And these

are my new neighbors...see what I mean about great location!

*Disclaimer - since you can't hear my voice dripping with sarcasm, I just want to clarify that this is a joke. I saw this for rent sign on the tree and thought it was hilarious. I hope you can see the humor as well.

Gab's breakout rock video

2009-04-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

So, my little sunshine has major aspirations of becomimg a rock star...and who am I to crush her dreams? She asked for and got a guitar for Christmas a couple years ago, and would love to take lessons but I'm not sure I can work that into my budget as she doesn't want to give up gym, and wants to be on the swim team as well. Someday we'll work it out, but until then...
We went to Livermore last weekend for the state championship meet for her gymnastics, and since my step-parents (not really, but I'm the Camilla they never had :)), the Coolbears, live about 5 minutes away from where the meet was held, we had to take advantage of the great opportunity and spend the night with them. Being the wonderfully fun dream-makers that the Coolbears are, they helped us make Gaby's first rock video. Thanks to Kayla and Rosemary for being awesome back-up dancers, Mary for her mad drumming skills, and David for his videoing and editing to make it a masterpiece. And Ian, we're gonna suck you in next time! Without further ado...here it is, (Oh, and enjoy the free video, I may have to start charging after this goes public)

Gaby's new blog

2009-04-08T09:20:00.001-07:00

Gab was at a friend's house last night and this friend has her own website, so she decided it was time she have her own blog. I am making it private, since I'm sure there will be many pics of her friends, so please send me your e-mail so we can invite you to follow her blog...if I haven't already.

Gab's trip to the living history center

2009-04-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

The 4th graders at Gaby's school went to another school in our district that has this awesome little log cabin and pioneer-type activities. They made butter and cornbread, panned for gold, made ropes, and learned about indians and blacksmiths. They also sang some songs and played games. Gaby is lucky enough to have a Gaga (my mom) that chose to share the experience with her.

Reno meet

2009-03-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

Gaby had a meet the beginning of March up in Reno. She had to be there by 8 am on Saturday, so we opted to drive up there the night before and stay @ the glorious Boomtown. Most of the other families chose to do the same, so there was no shortage of kids for her to run around with. This was the first time we have stayed at a hotel for a meet so it was so exciting for Gaby. I think she enjoyed playing in the snow and at the hotel more than she did the meet, but that's alright. She "interrupted" (messed up in the middle and the judges stop scoring at that point) during her tramp routine, but was 2nd place on tumbling and double mini! The scoring actually got messed up at the meet, and 1 of her 2 passes for double mini was not entered, so she was actually given a 5th place ribbon. We found out on Monday after the meet that she really was 2nd. It was her best meet so far this season. Next stop, state in Livermore!

Gab's mad skills

2009-02-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

At her Auntie Debbie's request, here are some videos of Gaby doing some of her trampoline skills. The quality isn't the best, these were taken on my digital camera, not a video camera. As soon as I get some tumbling videos I'll post those as well. Enjoy!

Gaby's first meet this season

2009-01-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

Gaby had her first meet for the 2009 season last weekend. She got 1st place for tumbling

4th for double mini...double mini is similar to vault in artistic gymnastics because they run up to it and do some type of flipping and/or twisting off but instead of having a table or horse to push off of, there's just a smaller, ramped trampoline. so they do one skill (flip, twist or just a jump) on and another off. i think she's getting ready to do a barani off on this one which is a front flip with a half twist.

and she was 5th on tramp.

she did great and had a blast. this meet was held at her gym and i'm not sure if she had more fun competing or selling raffle tickets, handing out awards, and running around with all the other kids the rest of the weekend. the front row below is the portion of her gym that competed in the same session as her.

Christmas pics

2009-01-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

I'm using my move right before Thanksgiving and training for a new job as an excuse for not getting out Christmas cards this year. I actually have them in my possession but haven't sent them out yet. If I don't get to it in the next week or so, here's an idea...

Can you tell how freezing we are?

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year's celebrations last night. Mine was spent with two 9-year olds and my parents! Hmmm, maybe one of my New Year's resolutions should be to get a life. Anyway, here's to a great 2009 for all of us.

Gaby and Anna waiting to pop their poppers until the stroke of midnight
Happy New Year everyone!

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

2008-12-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-03T09:21:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-10-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

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
>

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?
>
Gaby's attempt at making a G out of the C.

Crazy hair/clothes day

2008-10-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

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

Gaby's weekend continued...

2008-10-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-10-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-08-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

This one gives me the chills everytime I watch it.

Go Team USA!!!

Gaby's new bike

2008-07-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

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.

4th of July

2008-07-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

We spent our 4th of July cleaning house in the morning then we went to the pool for a few hours. After that we went home and ate lunch then went back to the pool for a few more hours. My little fishy loves to be in the water and by staying out of the house I didn't have to turn on the air! After dinner we walked across the street to the lake and enjoyed the fireworks.
Here are Gaby's patriotic fingernails...
Waiting somewhat patiently for fireworks to start (she's doing a handstand, it's kinda hard to see but she's just barely to the right of the middle of the pic)...
And playing with sparklers...

2008-07-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! Hope you all had a great holiday!

Niagara Falls

2008-07-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

K, so I'm slightly jealous that my parents are there and I am not, so I am posting some pics that they just sent for everyone to enjoy.

Tramp & Tumbling!

2008-06-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

This was Gaby's first tramp & tumbling meet and she did fabulous! She was 6th on tramp, 7th on double mini, and 3rd on tumbling. She had a blast and a few weeks after this meet decided to leave artistic gymnastics (vault, bars, beam, floor) and just focus on tramp and tumbling. I think it was a great choice for her because tramp and tumbling is so much more laid back than artistic. It's just more her speed.

Round-off 4 backhandsprings

level 5 tramp routine

bars & beam @ level 4 State

2008-06-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Despite having mono she had her best meet of the season. This is from the So Cal level 4 meet in San Diego in Nov 2007.

Happy 9th, Lou!

2008-06-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little girl is one year closer to the double digits! The first 9 years flew by...I hope the next 9 go a little slower. Wishful thinking, I know.

Happy Birthday, Gaby! I hope you had a great day at Disneyland with Taylor! I love you!