Krista Montana

Although she denies it to all of her friends, Krista loves Hannah Montana. She and Leah both watch the show in secret, and then profess to their friends that they can't stand it. So imagine my surprise when Krista tells me that she wants to dress up as Hannah Montana for the "Dress like a Pop Star Day" at the Boys & Girls Club.

We went to Justice (formerly "Limited Too") and got the outfit. I only bought the skirt and vest, she bought the gloves, sunglasses and hat. Then we went to the Disney Store where she found the wig on sale. She was thrilled to discover it was only $4.

When she put the wig on, she said, "See, this is why I wish I didn't have tan skin and brown eyes. I look ridiculous with blonde hair!" But I could tell she felt beautiful.

She kept saying that she wished it was a contest, because she would TOTALLY win (she's a little bit competitive--don't know where she gets it). But it was just for fun. Here are a few photos.

Mom is 73 Years Young!

In honor of Mom's birthday today, I am starting a list of 73 things I love about her. Since I know that many of the readers of my blog also love her, you can all add to the list until we get 73 things. Just be sure to number them in your comments.

Here are the first 10:

1. For setting the example that marriage is "for better or for worse," but mostly making it better for Dad (and him for her)
   
2. How she would cook banana pudding for special occasions even though she doesn't like it
3. For telling us to "look it up in the dictionary" rather than just telling us how to spell a word, so we would really learn how to spell it
4. For making sure we always had dinner together as a family, even if sometimes it was just biscuits and jelly
   
5. For loving ALL of my children equally and unconditionally
6. That she's so much stronger than any of us gave her credit for
7. For sharing her faith and making sure her kids grew up knowing Jesus
8. For teaching me that it's "all of a sudden," not "allah the sudden" when I was like 12
9. For having to be the disciplinarian even though she knew we would resent her for it
10. For all the memories of growing up as a Jinks
    

Thank you, Mom! I love you, and hope you have a wonderful birthday, and a fantastic year. I can't wait to see you in August!

Father's Day & Graduation

June was a busy month for us! First, Ryan left for Japan (sad, sad day). Then there was my surgery on the fourth (not fun). Next, the girls graduated from Middle School (Leah) and Elementary School (Krista). Last, but not least, was Father's Day.

In between all the special days, everyday life went on. I'm taking two online classes at San Diego State University (SDSU) towards a certificate in Educational Technology. I'm hoping this will help me get a job, but I won't finish the program until next summer. So far, I've been keeping up pretty well with the assignments for both classes, but it's been challenging to do while working on my freelance project with IVID, which is thankfully almost finished.

We've also been trying to get our back yard cleaned up, because we're having a 4th of July BBQ with some of Carla's kids on Saturday. We've kinda let our yard go over the winter and spring, so it's been a lot of work just to get it back to what it was in the fall. And, of course we keep getting sidetracked with other small projects. It never ends!

Here are a few photos from Father's Day. We went to Black Angus after church.