The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent Was a Summer in San Francisco

Our lovely and talented babysitter of forever, Jill Robinson, just happened to be in town from college when Dave just happened to need to go to San Francisco. So she watched the girls and I just happened to go along with him. We got engaged there 10 years ago. It was over 100 degrees in Austin and in the 50's in SF. Brrrrrrr. I remember this from living there but it still hits you like a brick. It's 70-something at the airport and drops 20 degrees as you cab it into the city. We saw 'Wicked' just down from the St Francis in Union Square where we stayed. Dave had a massive headache when we arrived. I hate that he has headaches everyday. He powers through them and I am amazed. We drove over to where we got engaged across the bridge and took some pictures with the Golden Gate in the background.

Madison learns to swim

Madison is 4 years old. She likes to be in the pool and I like to make sure I watch her in the pool because drowning is bad. However, this summer Madison has decided to paddle and thrash and work and almost, but not quite, drown in order to learn how to swim. She tells me to go away (which I don't) and has this steely determination to figure it out. I love watching her! She struggled and splashed but finally taught herself how to stay above water and get around the pool. She is a little fish now! It was scary to watch at first, but now I see her paddle across the pool and I am amazed. And proud!

Visit to Grandma Tinkerbell's

School is fast approaching so we, of course, took off for Grandma Tinkerbell's. The girls love the catfish farm and restaurant, Dori's - so we took Dave to show him the place. They have a petting zoo of sorts with horses, donkeys, goats, deer, turtles, and some of the biggest catfish I've ever seen.

Mackenzie was a little scared to feed the goats at first, so Grandma showed her how.

This is us on the bridge where you can feed the catfish. They are huge! Don't let your kids fall in this water, that's for sure!

And of course, we had to stop in to see Camille and the babies on our way home. SO cute!!!

Get a Job

After I passed my exam in May I went to lunch with Khiem Ngo from Rudd & Wisdom (the consulting firm I want to work at). We talked exams and studying. I wasn't really ready to put my resume in for consideration yet but apparently Khiem did it for me because in July I got a call for an interview. I met with Michael Muth and Mitchell Bilbe and it went well. In August I got a call that they would like me to intern for them!!! Yeah! I asked if they could wait until October since I had some previous commitments I need to resolve (like our 10th anniversary trip to Tahiti which I kept to myself) and they agreed. I am so excited. All that work paid off!!!

The Fourth

For the first time in our 6 years of living here, we went to the Cedar Park Fourth of July celebration at Milburn Park (2 minutes away). It was huge: bouncy castles, petting zoo, face painting, shaved ice, food booths, human ball-running (see picture) and at the end, fireworks!

June 2010

June 2010 - In a nutshell: Madison's first dance recital, Family trip to Disneyland and Newport Beach, Wanda runs the Ragnar Relay Madison took a ballet/tap class this year and had her first recital on June 5th. Her class is so adorable - they are all so little! It's such a cute age. And look how proud she is standing next to her Daddy. We traveled to Anaheim, California, on June 9th and met Dave there (he was there for work). We spent the week at Disneyland and also visited Layne (my childhood friend) and Johnny Gehris in Newport. Their girls are 10 and 12 and watched ours while the four of us adults went to dinner after playing at the beach. The girls still talk about Brooke and Taylor's guinea pigs. Layne and her girls came up to Disney one day with us as well. They are sweet kids. Loved hanging out with them all. Oh, and Layne's pregnant - due in October. More power to her. I. am. done. :) Layne and me. We've been friends since we were 2 years old. She lived 2 houses down from me on Wind River Circle in Huntsville, Alabama. Who knew 35 years later, we'd hang out in Newport Beach with our families? This is our team of 12 that ran the Ragnar Relay/Wasatch Back. Natalie Anderton enlisted me for the adventure and it was awesome. I flew to Salt Lake straight from Anaheim late on June 16th, and Dave kept the girls. June 18-19th, 2010 - 188 mile in 36 hours. Each person runs 3 legs of 4-10 miles each. I was the first runner and ran 8.5, 8.0, and 5 mile legs. It was HARD to run in the mountains after training at ground level, but I finished. The last 5 miles ran at 5 am were brutal. But then I was the first one done. Yippee! Our van of the Tawanda 12 team was me, Natalie Anderton, Janelle, Julie, Sarah, and Jevonne. We had a great group of positive, powerful women. Love 'em. Me at the starting line in Logan, Utah. The route was absolutely gorgeous - and such a perfect time of year. Cool in the mornings, warming up by noon, cold at night - perfect for running. We ran the back routes all the way to finish in Park City, Utah at the Canyons Resort (where Dave and I own a property). Me and Nat spent the night in the hotel and then she took me to the airport the next day. Bye Utah - thanks for hosting such an awesome race!

Last day of First Grade

June 5, 2010 Mackenzie successfully completed first grade. Her teacher was "nice, but also a little mean," and she wasn't Kenzie's favorite. But she was an excellent teacher and Mackenzie learned a ton. Her reading is excellent and her math skills have increased greatly in the past 9 months. Bye First Grade! Mackenzie and her best friend Meredith going to the bus stop.