Katy's visit

Almost everyone looking at the camera for a picture with Aunt Katy during her quick visit in September.

Group selfie

Ryan and Alison begged for a group selfie at the high school football game we went to. Here we are..

The Three Potters

Night before school ends @ The Counter

Cancun 2014

Here are a few pictures from the trip John and I took to Cancun in March thanks to Arnold and Denise's trip to Europe and Grandma.  It was a great 5 days even though we were there during spring break!  We enjoyed speaking Spanish and watching the reactions to John's Spanish ("you speak Spanish so well"). We had a few classic "Stovall" moments which made me realize that perhaps I am the cause of many of those moments.  That was a humbling revelation.  It was hard to leave the kids and maybe we will take them next time we go. I guess that shows that we enjoyed it since we are already talking about "next time".

Pinewood Derby Champ 2014

John has finally hit his groove in pinewood derby car making (special thanks to Dan and his book recommendation).  Ryan took home top honors this year following in Jacob's footsteps from last year.  Ryan named his car "Shadow".  Congrats Ryan!  John and Ryan decided that next year (our last in cub scouts) they will help someone else in the pack with their car.

 

They're back!

But already going fast! Happy Easter! We'll save a bunny bun for you.

Fun at Happy Hollow

Trying to fit as much fun as we can in the last two weeks before school. Jacob is being a good sport since he is a bit too big for many rides.

Congo line at Smart & Final

Somehow we got in the slowest line at the store this morning. The kids were bored, the in-store music had a good beat, and the next thing I knew, some kids were dancing by the watermelons (ok, they were my kids). The free dancing led to a congo line. They weren't too loud, the store was not crowded, and the mother was too tired so the dancing was allowed to continue.

Ryan's Baptism

Ryan was baptized on his birthday, two weeks ago.  It was a beautiful day and Ryan says it was the best day of his life, so far.  His grandparents were able to be there along with many aunts and uncles.  Uncle Chris and Grandpa Stovall gave talks, Jacob shared some scriptures, and even Alison (and all the primary children) came up to sing a song.  I made a slide show of Ryan and will see if I can somehow post that. 

After the baptism, we had lots of green food at the church and then came home and had more green food at home.  We did not have corned beef and cabbage, but rather grilled flank steak (it was too warm to cook ham, which was Ryan's original main dish choice).  We had mint brownies for Ryan's birthday cake and apple/young berry pie for John's birthday.  It was a great day.*

* Grandma Stovall got the stomach flu the night before Ryan's baptism and so it wasn't quite a great day for her.  Luckily, two days later, only a few people who at the baptism/dinner came down with the stomach flu.  We feel pretty lucky that everyone didn't get sick.  

Pictures for the Bardsleys

Here are two pictures that I thought I would post for our family in Amsterdam.  The first is Alison in a dress that Mia gave to her and she has been waiting for years to wear! She was so happy to wear the dress today for Easter that she did not take it off all day.

The second picture is a tulip that came all the way from Amsterdam and was planted in our garden.  So, it was probably planted too late and it got warm here too fast, but at least there is a bloom (even though it is right at the base)!  We are all excited about it.  We will do better next year.    

New Year's Eve at the beach

This year we hit the beach on new year's eve instead of new year's day, and we went to Half Moon Bay instead of Santa Cruz, but it was still beautiful. We went tide pooling and saw snails, crabs, anemones, starfish, some mollusks, and seals.  We then ate at a restaurant near Pillar Point and watched the sunset. It was a nice day and a nice end to 2012. Thank you weather, for not raining. The beach in winter? Oh yes.

What happens when you drop an unopened gallon of milk on the floor?

If you answered nothing, you are wrong. The plastic container will break in several places and milk will fly everywhere. Maybe you can see the milk dripping down the wall and clock. I still need to clean the ceiling. The best was the dried milk spots I found on my face. Of course it happened 15 minutes before school on a day when I am gone all day. Fun times.

4 months til baptism

Ryan will be 8 in March and he is already looking older. He is looking forward to his baptism.

Third time is a charm

Ryan got hit in the face today with a baseball.  He and Jacob have become more interested in baseball because of the world series. It is the third time he has broken off half of the bottom right permanent incisor. Unfortunately, this time we did not find the piece that was broken off plus the tooth next to it was also broken in half. We did find that piece. The top gum and upper lip are pretty banged up but I am hoping those teeth will survive. The last time we were at the dentist having Ryan's tooth glued back on, the dentist said, "this tooth is not going anywhere for a long time". Well, Ryan and the baseball proved him wrong.
Other than that, it was a beautiful Sunday here in Fremont. Tomorrow it is supposed to be on the mid 80's.

Alameda beach, october 1

All weekend long, alison has been talking about going the beach on monday while the boys were at school. I am not sure what brought this about but the weather was very hot today so we went up to alameda and hit the beach. As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

Waiting for fireworks

11:30pm at the A's game. Bottom of the 13th inning. Freezing bay area summer weather. Waiting for the game to end so we can see the fireworks show. Not sure I can make it much longer. Now it is the 14th inning...

Ryan chillin at the swim meet

Ryan hanging out between races at the meet today. He swam on two relays and then did back and breast stroke. He is a tough competitor and works hard at practice. Both he and Jacob will be swimming at championships at the of July. Two more weeks of swimming.

(Since I am not on facebook and I have been feeling bad about not blogging, I have decide to post on the blog like others post on facebook. Maybe it is a babystep on my way to facebook. No commitments yet.)

Almost 4 years old

Alison will be four years old in just 10 days. Here is a picture capturing her last days of being three. Love it.

New park at lake elizabeth

Another reason to come and visit Fremont: there is a new playground. The city tore down the large tan playground (that used to be the big wooden one) and has put in a pretty cool new play area. No water features but I guess we will survive.

This blog is a test sending blog updates with my phone.

Halloween

We are bad, bad parents.  We were supposed to get pictures of our children in their Halloween costumes, which I think is parenting rule #107.  I did get a picture of Alison in her costume when she wore it to preschool on the Thursday before Halloween.  I also got a picture of everyone when they did a trick or treat service project on the Saturday before Halloween.  But did I take a picture on Halloween?  No.  Penance may be to eat 5 pounds worth of the Halloween candy that is sitting on my counter, including the tootsie rolls and the smarties. I am about 1/2 way through my punishment.   We did have fun trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and at the Hub (in the afternoon).  Alison lost all of her apparent shyness when it came to asking strangers for candy.  Jacob and Ryan discovered that they did not like strobe lights.

 Here are the pictures we did take. 

Alison as a butterfly

Jacob (hidden behind the green bag) is Charlie Brown, Ryan is a ninja without his hood,
and Alison is a butterfly reaching for the candy she just collected.