Southern California Helping Hands

Our family had the neat opportunity to go to our community park (Kit Carson) and work with our Stake to do community service. We all donned our yellow vests and t-shirts....and everyone looked like little worker bees cleaning up brush, clipping trees and removing trash. Our kids had the chance to shake the hands of two General Authorities. The newly called Area Seventy, Allen Haynie, and Elder Dobbins and his wife.

The younger children were able to do their service by making care packages for the soldiers over seas. They also were able to make love notes and include them in their packages. There were moms of soldiers their as well. They were expressing what a joy it is for these men in the military to get a piece of home sent to them. The kits included Gatorade and drink mixes, gum, mints, granola bars, toothbrushes and fun stuff like that.

The kids expressed what a good time they had serving, and managed to look pretty cute while doing it. They were slightly eaten alive by mosquitoes;)

Asking Chelsea to Prom

Dad's comment to Blake a few nights before he asked Chelsea Casserly to Prom was as follows....."Would you please just ask her, so I don't stress anymore about this!" Way to funny. Dad obviously thinks Chelsea would make a good fun prom date for Blake.

This took a bit of planning with their schedules, but Blake went on a bike ride in Kit Carson with his running/biking pal Chelsea. While biking, they just so happened to run into someone that looked a lot like Patricia Demorest. She was the hostess at the Kit Carson Bistro. Blake asked to be seated, and that he had already made reservations. They were seated in a great spot int he park. Jacob Clingo was commandeered to play the guitar while these two enjoyed a yummy dinner in the park.

It consisted of Chicken Salad Sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit and chocolate eclairs for dessert. After their meal, Blake asked Evan Nichols-roy, the head waiter, to bring him a rose. Blake got down on a knee and asked Chelsea if she would go to Prom with him. That little romantic!!!!!! She of course said yes.....and we will have to fill you in how the event goes down in a future post.

Mr. San Pasqaul Pageant

 Blake was selected by his Senior Class of 2011 to be one of the 10 contestants to represent the school for San Pasqual High School 1st annual pageant.  It was a lot of fun having Blake get ready for this event.  He was able to go to the tux shop and get a well fit suit to strut his stuff, and then he put together his talents, studied up on current events, for the judges interview question, and determine how he would show his school spirit.

It was a lot of fun watching the program and seeing that he was so happy for the young man "Negron", who won the pageant accept his award.  Blake got runner up.....and was very pleased with the outcome.

Got Milk?

This picture was shot for a Christmas Card a few years back.  I just thought it was funny.  The kids have grown up so much!  I laugh at how we got this idea, and that we seriously had to paint white paint on our lips.  There were tears, there was kids getting mad at each other, but all you see in this shot is one happy family!!!!!!!!

SP Rugby

Ok....these are pics...so that down the line we can prove to our posterity that Blake Ammon Farrow played Rugby. I don't do so good at watching my only son play brutual sports. I have been known to come running down bleachers when Blake was 10 and played basketball, when he got the air knocked out of him. So, when Blake asked me to come watch his first game and I did. I ended up leaving 20 minutues into the game.

Blake was indeed one of the superstars of the team, and he really, love playing it this season. He got great work outs, had good friends playing along side him and only had one concusion. As you can see his cousin, Landon came to watch him play. They later decided to call me to tell me he had been injured. I was cool.....came down to the field, made no scene, but after visions of Sunny Bono dieing after skiing into a tree, we took a drive to the emergency room. When we got to scripps, they got him in really quick, cause I had called earlier about if I should bring him in. When we got there, the image tech, said....wow, must be a busy day for injuries, a lady called in and is bringing her son in too. We laughed, cause it was us!!! Blake just said, "Yes, Rugby is brutual"!!!

Bailey Turns 14

The big "14" at our house means a party with boys and that you can actually now go to Stake Dances!!!!  Bailey was so excited to have a party with her buddies.  They are all good kids, and enjoyed the night taking walks to the pond, playing basketball, ping pong, eating pizza, drinking lots, and lots of soda, and blowing out candles.  How could I forget the scary movie they watched.....we would hear everyone screaming from time to time.  So happy that she wanted to stay close to home, and that she wants her friends at her house!!!

She is just as darling as the rest....so daughter number 3, here we come.  The big "16" will be the next big party.  Are house rules for now are boys are ok as long as they are at our house, and have little sis as the spy. Brinley did not miss a beat, and was in the middle of everything.   Bailey gets a payback, of all the pain she caused Brittany when she had her friends over.  So funny!!!!!  Bummer that we won't have anyone to bug Brinley.  I suppose we will need Brit and Scott to stay in California and we will have to do babysitting of grandchildren on the weekend, when Brinley turns 14.

Princess Brinley's 6th Birthday

I decided to kidnap Brinley from school and take her to Disneyland to the Bibbity Bobbity Boo Boutique.  Brittany, 7 months pregnant, also met us there for the magical day.  We had fun watching Brinley transform into a sparkly little princess.  She was such a good sport.  She saw lots of other girls getting all dooded up and she was not the least bit worried that she was not going to have a huge fluffy polyester dress to boot.  I leaned over half way through the experience, and asked her if she would be ok without the dress.....and she said, "No problem"!

We proceded to enjoy the rest of the day, with yummy food, easy rides that Brit could go on, and a lovely time seeing Aladin over at California Adventure.

The CUB

My last child to actually get to go to the Confederate Union Ball!  Bailey has always come to see Brittany, Brooke, and Blake, get all dressed up, and she was able to attend!  So fun for her and her good friends, Sam Haynie, Lexi Kunze and Jessica Breed.  They looked beautiful.  The dances they performed in my opinion were the best I remember.  I hope that I can find the other kids pics and post them along side this post.  That would be fun.

Bailey was able to wear the dress of Michele Fawcett, a good family friend of ours.  She looked beatilful!!!

The Cast Comes off!!!

 A little nervous to get it off....thank heavens a young boy before her came out of the ladies office and told her it just tickles...and then it if off!!!  I could tell it calmed her instantly.  Yahoo

Finally good!  After a long month of crying that she had an itch, and clobbering her family members who evers bed she ended in for the night. We are done!!! I have to say she is the first cast this family has ever had.  So surprised Blake has not been in a whole body cast!  Brinley's Kindergarden teacher shared with me that a boy in her class was clobbered by her on the playground and he now has a rash due to the cast abraiding his skin.  Not my little Brinley!!!!!  The teacher told the mom, that it could not possibly have happened, Brinley is just not that type.  What do you think really happened!!!!!!

San Pasqual Varsity Softball

 Brooke had a rough start with being sick at the beginning of tryouts....but now she is playing second base, and back on top.  She has a lot of work ahead of her to keep her spot.

 She hit a triple the other day and had two on base.  She really needed a hit under her buckle!

                                                       Cute uniforms...don't you agree??

Daisies

Brinley loves going to Daisey's twice a month!  She gets to wear her darling tunic.  She is hopefully going to earn her pedals as she finishes certain projects and tasks.  They are darling kindergardeners and a great bunch of moms.  Here are some cute photos of them hard at work completing a art project that shows being unique and at the same time unity.

Fun Times in Boston

Boston was a blast! We had a great 5 days touring, eating, shopping and enjoying all the history and beautiful scenery! So glad Brinley and I could visit while Britt and Scott were there!

The Top Places We Visited in Boston:

The Kendall Hotel in Cambridge! A historic restored firehouse with so much character & great service. The free breakfasts in the morning were awesome. The hotel's restaurant, The Black Sheep, was amazing as well! It is called the black sheep because the firefighters who used to live at the station were nicknamed that because it was a smaller station that didn't get a lot of work compared to the larger crews in the city. We got to try Boston cream pie...so light and fluffy and gooooood. We will definitely be staying here at the Kendall Hotel the next time we venture out to Boston!

The Trolley Tour around the city was a perfect thing to do on a cold day! We were able to sit back and relax while listening to our tour guide show us the way around!

The Boston Common & Beacon Hill! Even though it was a very cold day we explored some of the cute shops on Beacon Hill and different monuments on Boston Common! Brinley was obsessed with the snow and kept wanting to keep some to store in our hotel's little freezer! She also screamed, "I hate Boston! I want to go home!"...when the wind blew a little too hard that day! Haha. It was very cold the first day but we were lucky with sunshine the rest of the week until it rained on the last day! It was crazy weather that was always changing!

The No Name Seafood Restaurant! We got to try their famous seafood chowder and Fried Scrod fish! Pretty tasty place right on Boston's Harbor...so you knew it was really fresh stuff! Yum! It is called the No Name because they didn't have a name for the restaurant when it first opened and then it just became known as the restaurant with no name so they kept it that way! Love stories like that!

The Boston Public Library! It is nicknamed "A Palace for the People". We were so glad we went inside. It was filled with gorgeous marble all around and golden murals and statues. It was amazing!

Filene's Basement! We heard this place had some great bargains. It was fun to shop til we dropped! We were pretty much poooped from walking all day! 

Mary Poppins at the Boston Opera House! What an amazing Broadway show at a beautiful and historic venue! It reminded us of the theater from Phantom of the Opera. Brinley was so excited to see the real live Mary Poppins. She wanted to get her autograph so bad! She talked through the whole show asking us all these questions. She is quite the little jibber jabber! We got pretty good priced seats and sat all the way up in the balcony. Still a great view of the stage! I don't think there was a bad seat in the house!

The Freedom Trail! We decided to leave the freedom trail for when Scott came to meet up with us during the weekend! It was a 2.5 mile trek through some of Boston's most historic sites and landmarks. You follow this red brick line on the side walk that leads you to each site. We kept singing, "Follow the Red Brick Road!" We didn't get it all done in one day but got to see everything we had wanted to see! It really was an inspiring trek. So grateful to our forefathers! It was also fun to take the T line, Boston's subway around town. We got pretty good at navigating the city!

Old Churches & Cemeteries! Well we definitely got our fill of century old grave sites and churches. There are so many in Boston. We were amazed they are still standing. Some are even from the 1600's. Brinley would ask questions when we were in the churches like, "So where do they go for Primary?" Hehe. It was interesting to read the tomb stones as well as learn about the historic churches and who attended them. We got to see where the signers of the Declaration of Independence were buried as well like John Hancock, Ben Franklin and Sam Adams. Pretty cool!

Quincy Market! It was a fun happening place with street performers and a great food court. We got some creamy hot clam chowder that was super yummy. We also got to go inside Fanuiel Hall across the way where early colonists would go to debate British rule. Oh we also snacked on salty pretzels and hot carmeled nuts right where the Boston Massacre occurred. A little strange if you ask me...

Mike's Pastry! We went to this awesome bakery to get some super yummy cannolis. It is fun to watch how fast they wrap the iconic boxes with bakery twine! It was a just an all around fun experience and super tasty to try different flavors like lobster tail cream and chocolate mousse. Still I think the original is best! We kept joking that we were going to turn into cannolis because we ate so many sweets there!

The USS Constitution! Nicknamed "Old Ironsides", it is the worlds oldest commissioned military ship still afloat! It never lost a battle so you could say it is Boston's only undefeated team. On duty US Sailors gave us a great and informative tour through each of the decks.

Regina Pizzeria! Our last major stop was this great and famous pizza place. We got the Giambotta pizza with all the traditional toppings. We all just scarfed it down it was so fresh and yummy. The crust was perfect and not at all greasy! So worth the wait in line to get in!

So that about sums up all the great places we got to see!!!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!