May 28th, 2011
Say what?? Who said party? 
I did, I did! Lets get this party started!!!!!! Woof!
Cue the music:
Cue the dancers:
Get the desserts ready:
Can you see feel the excitement?
Finally it looks like the party is getting fun!
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May 26th, 2011
Hard to believe my niece graduated from high school. So many memories of her and Nichole dressed up in the same cute outfits, putting toothpaste in hair, and other fun stuff. Guess they could do that now but they wont be as cute as they were then. 
We are so proud of you Larissa, we will see you at your graduation from San Jose State in four years. Cant wait to see what your future holds for you!
Larissa with her grandparents:
With her great aunt Josie and “great” aunt Janell
Larissa with her brother J.B
Larissa with her friend Mason
From smiley face to tears, thanks to her mom. Larissa hates the last picture but I had to include it any way. Love you Rissa.
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May 25th, 2011
After a day at the school for Emily’s award ceremony, a last goodbye to the kindergarteners and getting things taken care of it was time for me to head to California.
I flew out by myself so I could be there for my nieces graduation the next day. The kids still had school so Rob and the kids drove out and joined me in Ca.
The evening started out with an hour delay on my flight out of Austin. There was bad weather going on in the upper Midwest causing delays and cancels every where. Finally I was off to Vegas where I was going to catch the connection flight. When I landed in Vegas we had to wait a half an hour on the tarmac waiting for a gate to open so we could get off the plane. Great, now I was really going to miss my connection! Turns out after speed walking to the departing gate a mile away, I am not kidding about that mile it really was the plane I was to catch was also delayed. Since there were a few slot machines right there at the gate I thought I would test my luck. Uh, no luck that night. I lost my $10.00 and call it good.
Finally I landed in California, STARVING. So my sister took me some where to grab a late dinner and we were off. As we were driving home she was talking about her just getting her EMT certification, how the classes went and what her plans were from this point. She was ready to use that EMT certification soon.
Off to our left a car spend right by us like we were standing there. I had commented to her, “Wow, we don’t see that in TX, everyone is SLOW there!” The car quickly reached a group of cars that were ahead of us. They got their quicker than planned and slammed on the brakes causing the car to fishtail and then it lost control and slammed into the center median.
My sister quickly pulled over and jumped out of her truck as she told me to call 911 with her cell. The dispatcher asked the usual questions, why am I calling, what service do I need, my name and location. It went well until it came to the location. I told her I HAVE NO CLUE where I am at, don’t you use a GPS thing when someone calls 911!? I am on the I-15.. rude dispatcher pointed out that the I-15 runs from the Canada border to the Mexican Border. Why don’t I know where I am at? Well I just landed at the Ontario Airport, Ma’am the airport isnt on the 15. I know that I was saying I just landed in Ontario from Texas, I am now about 20 minutes away from the airport driving south on the I-15. There are no signs and I wasn’t paying attention cause I wasn’t driving, just catching up with my sister!!!!! Someone who had seen the accident had called into 911 at this point and the dispatcher said HE knew where I was so I could get off the phone now. Uh thanks.. Now that was taken care of I needed to get out of the truck and see if my sister needed help. This is a new truck, it was now 2am Texas time, and that truck had a big door! I couldn’t figure out how to get out of the truck!!! It is funny to me now but not at the time.
My sister was with the driver and there were no passengers, she had everything in control. The lady who was driving wanted me to call her husband to tell him she was in an accident. That was hard to do, call a stranger and tell them that their wife was in an accident. The car was the families only car and they had three kids sleeping at home. I tried to give him as much information as possible but told him I will call him back after the ambulance arrives so he could figure out who could help him out with the kids and transportation.
It was about 20 minutes before any help arrived!!! A couple of sheriffs arrived and they were quite rude calling the driver a bit dramatic. I guess they been at the job a bit too long and it didn’t phase them at all. Finally the ambulance arrived and my sister gave all the stats and everything. Big sis was very impressed on how she handled herself. For the longest time she has been the one to panic and it was a change to see her be in control. I think she will do just fine as an EMT and then an ER nurse later in her future.
We think the ddriver had fallen asleep as she was driving and as she got drowsy she ended up pushing the gas pedal a bit harder than she thought she was pushing. She woke up fully when she she came bearing down on the cars in front of her and panicked and lost control and then hit the median. The driver had someone watching over her that is for sure, she only had bumps and bruises from the accident. If you had seen the accident personally like we did, it was a big surprise that is all that happened to her. She was very lucky.
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May 25th, 2011
It is crazy how time just flies by these days. My first grader is now going to be a second grader when school starts again. Who knows she may have the same teacher her older brother had when he attended second grade here. Crossing fingers we get Mrs. Castro, she is a good teacher.
They had a little ceremony for the first graders to give them a award, Emily got one for Math and a few ribbons.
Emily made a new friend this year, here she is with Kathryn in the first picture. A few other girls who she hangs out with are Vy and Carmen they are in the second picture.
Then a picture with her first grade teacher Mrs. Nordquist.
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May 21st, 2011
Every year Pflugerville has the Deuchenfest to help raise money for its parks and recreation fund. It starts with a small parade and since it was within distance to our house I decided to take the kids to watch.
There was all kinds of participants in the parade, remember we are in a smaller city/town.
First in line was the sheriff color guard, following behind we have the fire department color guard.
Here is one of my favorites, the Park Crest Drum line
Whoa, look here! Mr McGruff himself!
A cheer squad and dance squad from our local high schools.
I thought it was cool to bring some of the seniors from the assisted living centers and getting the seniors in the parade.
Now for some cool rides, some more than others.Guess it depends on your tastes.
Told you it is all about individual taste when it come to the cool factor for these.
These ladies jazzersized it all the way to the end of the parade…
One of the things that Andrew has to do for Boy Scouts is to be their Den Chief. Here are some of the boys in the den he is helping.
Cute puppy posing for a picture, love the outfit.
Now this one I just don’t get, it was the “BEST” thing in the parade. A truck pulling a trailer with a garbage dumpster on it. Bet you are all jealous that you don’t have dumpsters in your parades!
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May 20th, 2011
It is very dry here in the Austin area and when it rains we try to enjoy it. Even though the kids are forced inside and teachers have to try to control the classroom full of kids who are filled with energy with no where to play it out of them.
After school it started to rain again so we were outside watching and playing in the rain. It wasn’t one of usual spring/summer storms so even I enjoyed it.
Em’s reflection on the old Chevy
Lightening!! Cool!
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May 16th, 2011
You just have to sing our little heart out!
She didn’t know I was going to take her picture, can you tell? Love it!
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May 13th, 2011
I rushed out the door dressed ( good thing) with coffee in hand and out the door just in time to be there when field day started. Only to realize I left my memory card in my computer at home instead of in my camera. Ugh, so I had to quickly run home to grab it and come back.
I was busy running back and forth between two classes, Emily’s class as well as the kindergarten class. At this time I was trying to get pictures taken and gathered for their class slide shows. All year long I have been taking pictures of both of the classes for their slide shows.
Field day is a big highlight of the years, the kids and teachers alike look forward to the fun competition.
Look at that hair!
The thing that is looked forward the most is the TUG OF WAR!!! All year long the kids and teachers talk about this competition. They practice their technique when they have P.E. they keep an eye on their competition’s weakness so they could win and have bragging rights till the next year. ( These pictures are a mixture of Emily’s class and the Kindergarten class. )
It is Tug Of War Time!!!!! Grrrrr get your mean faces on!
Do a couple of push ups!
Show off your new dance moves ( not sure how this helps but it does
.
Don’t forget the hand stand, that is important. Again I don’t know why? But it is.
Then grab that rope and PULLLLL!!!
Celebrate those wins!
At the high school they have classes that are for students who want to be teachers. They start their student teaching hours while in high school and the credit gets transferred to college. During the tug of war the student teachers asked for a “friendly” competition against the Kindergarten teachers.
The Kindergarten teachers thought, why not. We still got it in us.. right??
On our left we have the kindergarten teachers, on the right the student teachers.
Come on PULLLLL!!!!! Show those youngsters how strong you are.
The kindergarten teachers WERE winning at one point… then one fell
even though she was on the ground she still hung on!
At this point it was over for the Kindergarten teachers, the student teachers won.
Later that day during recess as the Kindergarten teachers and I were talking one mentioned “ I think I hit the age where my brain thinks I could still do something that my body just cant. We are all going to be hurting tomorrow. Hopefully the student teachers don’t have to come tomorrow. We don’t want to let them see us limping.”
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May 8th, 2011
Cristine was one of Nichole’s friends from school and she is graduating this year. Her and her mother asked if I could take her senior pictures for them. I am always looking for opportunities to practice my photography skills so of course I said yes.
After the airshow I went to pick up Cristine with Emily in tow and we headed out to a nearby park.
Here are some pictures from the shoot:
I wanted to take some pictures of her with her hobbies. She loves to sew and create stuffed animals, purses and other cute things so I had her bring her sewing machine for a couple of pictures. She also is an artist and loves to paint so we brought along her easel as well.
Cristine is not a girly girl, no make up for her. She is most comfortable in her Converse and jeans. So I took a picture of one of her painting of a bunny with her Converse.
While Cristine and I were taking pictures, Em found ways to keep busy.
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May 7th, 2011
The Grisham family invited our family to their home to watch an airshow. I have never been to an airshow before so I was really excited to go. Their home is right behind the airport and close to the run way so we had awesome seats.
We got to see some vintage planes, an old bomber and the newer stealth bomber.
There was a fire started from the pyrotechnics from the older bomber that delayed the show a bit. They were simulating the bomber bombing the area and that caused the fire. There were a few acres burned from it. So if the city sponsored the show, do you fine the city for the fire?
We had to leave before the show was over so I could do a senior photo shoot of one of Nichole’s old friend Cristine. It was an awesome show and it is was neat to see how the planes have advanced in design, technology and speed. Thanks for the invite Grisham family!!
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