Is school starting already?

Much to the disgust of Hailey, I had to take the obligatory first-day-of-school picture. I think she thinks she's a little beyond that -- hey, this isn't grade school anymore, remember? She is now a senior and Alexis is a freshman. Hard to believe but nonetheless true! It seems school starts earlier every year. So it's back to the grind of early mornings (seminary starts tomorrow!), homework and having to be organized again. I guess that's a good thing though.

The end of a season...

I know I've been a pathetic blogger the last ten months -- in fact, I can't even call myself a blogger since it's been so long since I've posted. However, I can't keep procrastinating because of how long it will take me to "catch up" on what's happened over the last year, so I will begin with yesterday...

Yesterday, August 17th, Bill was released as our ward's bishop after serving almost exactly five years. It's a little sad and exciting at the same time. I know it will be an adjustment -- for all of us! -- but we're ready to have dad home again. We feel truly blessed as a family over these past five years and have grown immensely from the experience. Obviously, Bill has grown the most, but much has also flowed over to the entire family. Hats off to my wonderful, patient, understanding and spiritual husband for doing such a fine job. There were many tear-filled eyes and heart-felt thank yous to him, which I thought was a nice perk, though not expected. I may be prejudice, but I think he did a wonderful job as our bishop.

Having said that, I am thrilled with our new bishop, our dear friend Doug Hansen. He is one of the most spiritual men I know. He and Bill are so similar (and very good friends). They are like peas in a pod, and the transition will be seamless. He has great counselors too, Gregg Lloyd and Roy Sorenson, and I'm sure the ward will see much growth under their leadership too.

Here is a picture of Bill and his counselors right after the new bishopric was set apart. L to R is John Larsen, 2nd. Counselor, Bill and Richard Jackson, 1st Counselor.

El Camino Homecoming 2007!

I admit I have been a TERRIBLE blogger the last couple months. I owe this to the fact that I just began to work full time after 28 years -- quite an adjustment!

On to news...Hailey went to Homecoming a couple weeks ago. She looked beautiful, and I wanted everyone to see how pretty she looked. She turned 16 last April and has gone on several "dates," but this is the first dress-up, prom-type date.


Hailey is pictured here with her date, Spencer Hansen, who she has known since she was a baby! They have gone to school together since preschool.









After having to switch hairdressers at the last minute because the original one was running late, Hailey ended up with a spectacular up-do -- thanks to my former hairdresser Lynne!



Exchanging the corsage and boutonniere.




Here's all the girls in their group.








Here are the lovely couples all together.






And finally...here is Spencer and Hailey at dinner. They went out to Macaroni Grill, which was delicious. After the dance the group came to our house to watch a movie and dad and I made them an early (or late, I suppose) breakfast of crepes. They all had a great time together. They are all really good friends and attend seminary together, except for one of the girls. It's great that Hailey has such a strong group of friends to hang out with.

I admit -- I'm addicted!

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Brooklyn Singles from Mingle²

I didn't think I'd be as addicted to blogging as Morgan, but there you go, I was wrong again!

I'm an employee!

I did something I've been thinking about for about a year and a half -- I applied for a full-time court reporting job with the Superior Court in Sacramento County -- and got it! I applied on a Friday night via the internet, got a call the next Tuesday for an interview on Friday, went to the interview and then was offered the job the following Wednesday. That was a quick week and a half! I will be starting on August 20th, which is also the first day back to school for Hailey and Alexis. I'm a little nervous about the full-time deal and being an actual employee versus an independent contractor, but it will be fun to do something new and challenging. I always like a good challenge. The money won't be bad either ;). I am finishing up my deposition work next week, and then I have a fun week and a half to enjoy with the entire fam up in Tahoe and in Provo for Ben's graduation. So keep me in your prayers!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Like true Harry Potter fans, we secured tickets for the midnight showing of the fifth Harry Potter movie, and I must say it was worth staying up late for! Squeezing 800+ pages into a little over two hours was no easy task, but they did a good job of capturing the most important points of the book. When we came out of the movie, Alexis and I were interviewed by a TV station -- I think they were all there! Lexy said her favorite part of the movie was "the kiss." The reporter asked her if she would like to kiss Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter), and she responded with a resounding, "Yes!" Hum, should I start worrying about her now that I know she's wanting to kiss boys? Bill didn't want to stay up so late on Tuesday, so the two of us went today after work, and of course he loved it just like the rest of the fam. I highly recommend this very entertaining film -- but be sure to read the books because movies never do them true justice!

Galena Tour 2007

Hailey went on tour with the performing group Galena Street East for two weeks in June, from 6/12 to 6/26. They went to Washington, D.C., a cruise to the Bahamas and New York City. I had to laugh at Hailey's picture-taking abilities. For the most part, you can't tell where she went on tour because her pictures are all of her and her friends doing crazy things, making funny faces and just plain looking cute. I put together the following montage of her pictures. I'm sure when she gets the digital pictures from the rest of the group she will have more scrapbook-worthy pictures to document her trip and the sites she saw. They had a wonderful time, everyone got along, and very little, if any, drama -- so I'm told. This is the first tour I haven't gone on with one of my girls :(. I was very sad to miss it. Next year I'm going for sure! Some of Hailey's favorite things she did on tour were the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., swimming with the stingrays in the Bahamas, and of course shopping! She also saw "Legally Blonde" and "Tarzan" on Broadway, which she both thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you Alison, Karen and Kristen for taking care of my girl for me!

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