Afualo Family Reunion

The Afualo Family Reunion was held in Salt Lake City this year.  It was a 3 day event filled with lots of food, family and fun.

At the talent show the kids sang a Patriotic medley and then Lily sang the national anthem all by herself.  She did such a great job!

There is no rest for us.  From  here we head up to Yellowstone National Park for our family vacation this summer.

Remodeling fun!

With the kids gone we figured it would be a good time to improve some of the areas of our house.  The boys room is getting a make-over as well as the hall closet which used to have a furnace in it, but now it's in the attic.

I took the kids up to Vegas with my mom to meet up with Nana.  We had lunch at Subway and then drove back down to San Diego.  It was a quick trip, but a worth while one.  Lily thought it was great having lunch with both her grandmothers.

So a nice peaceful week without kids has been filled with banging, spraying, trips to home depot and the not so wonderful smell of chemicals.  It should all be worth it in the end.  The room is not done yet, but we will post pictures when it is.

We managed to have a little bit of fun while the kids were gone.  We went out to dinner twice, once with our friends, the Woodard's, saw Harry Potter and Midnight in Paris and just took it easy when we could.  The week went by way to fast.

The Final 2 Weeks

I have been at the kids' school more in the past 2 weeks then I have all year, or so it feels.  There have been parties, field trips, more parties and promotions.  It's been busy, but fun.  Here is a look back at the past and final weeks of school.

 Noah's class went on a field trip to the Science Center where they were able to participate in the Challenger Space Program.  They all had assignments and had to land their craft on Mars and then return back home.  It was fun.

 Lily received her kindergarten scrapbook and was very happy about that.  She had a wonderful year!


Adam's class had their class party and the neighborhood pool.  They also celebrated all the August birthday's.  It was a lot of fun.  Adam had a great group of kids this year.

Adam's teacher, Ms. Hobbs, retired at the end of the school year.  It's sad to see her go.  She was Noah's teacher too and the boys both loved their 3rd grade year.  The class threw her a surprise retirement party.  It was a lot of fun.

 Lily's class party was on her birthday.  She thought that was great.  They had a party group come out and host a water party.  The kids did all sorts of games and got really wet.  They had a lot of fun though.  Since it was her birthday she brought in Popsicles to share with everyone after all that fun in the sun.

Last, but not least, was Noah's promotion.  It's been an emotional week for me this week knowing that Noah was all done at Jerabek and the kids weren't going to be together anymore.  Dropping them off the last day together was hard.  It really was a special year for our family.  I'm glad they are growing, but it's sad too.  Promotion was fun.  We all got to stand up and cheer when Noah walked across the stage.  We are so proud of what he has been able to accomplish during his time at Jerabek.

 Noah and Audrey.  These two did not want me to take that pictures. 

 The Last time all 3 will be at Jerabek as students.  We love those kids.

Pictures of Noah's first day at Jerabek and His last day of Jerabek.  It's amazing how fast the time has gone.

YEA!  We are FINALLY done!  Now it's off to Nana Camp and summer fun!

Happy Birthday to our Baby Girl!

 It is Lily's Birthday today.  She's 6!  She has added so much life, color and of course Drama to our household since day one.  She's spunky, but caring and she got the best of Damon and me and maybe a little bit of my worst.  All of us love her to pieces and are glad she chose us to be her family.

Unfortunately Lily had to go to school today, but they were having an end of year party.  She wanted crepes for breakfast and broccoli beef for dinner.  Quite my international child. She got hamburgers for dinner though because we had just had Chinese.

She asked for a yellow cake with strawberry frosting.  I don't like strawberry frosting from the store so I made my own.  It was quite the experience, but it tasted really good.

 We had 3 of her friends over for a non-party.  It was a surprise for her so that was kind of fun.  It's a busy time of year, but we hope we managed to make it a fun day for her.  The party had pink everything including the drinks.  The girls all loved that.

 We Love our Lily-flower!

Another Dance Recital

Lily had her dance recital this weekend which made it a busy weekend.  Friday I had to take the kids all out of school early for dress rehearsal.  Damon met us there and we watched her practice the dance a couple of times.  We also watched some of the other dances.

Saturday was the big day with 2 performances.  Lily did a great job and was all smiles the whole time.  After her performance that night we came home and made ice cream sundaes to celebrate.

July 4th Weekend fun!

We've been having lots of fun this extra long weekend.

Saturday we got our chores done early and then headed to Coronado Island to go to the beach.  It was a lovely day and we had a fun time.  The kids caught some waves and were just all smiles and happy to be there with mom and dad.

Sunday we drove to the Inland Empire to participate in some family fun.  Our niece, Sophie, was blessed and lots of fun was had.  The whole family with their except my brother, but he called so he would feel included.

Monday we were actually at home for the 4th and watched our neighborhood's parade for the first time.  We met up with our friend's, the Woodard's, and watched the parade with them.  Later that day we went back to their house to BBQ and enjoy the 4th.  Good food and good friends.  Sadly no pictures.  I just plum forgot the camera.  After the kids went to bed Damon and I finished off the 4th by reading some quotes from some of the amazing men that have lead this country in one way or another.  It was a fabulous day.

I love this holiday.  It's one of my favorites.  I love this country.  I love the principles that it was founded on.  I love hearing my children sing patriotic songs with their sweet voices.  Happy 235th  Birthday America!   "Long may our land be bright, with freedom's holy light, protect us by the might, Great God our King!