SUMMER IS HERE!!

The weather is so odd this year. It is cold, hot, cold, WINDY for ever, chilly and then hot..... When I say hot, I do not mean high 80's, or even 90's. It just skips all of those digits and goes to triple digits of 107 or hotter.

It is great to be on vacation though. I cannot express my gratitude to all my family for their help in making Laci's graduation party so memorable. The family reunion was indeed something we all needed. Thanks to everyone who joined us. I realize how costly it was. THANK YOU!! Heidi was stupendous for all her hardwork in planning and organizing. Thanks also goes to my dad and Chris for working on the yard. I know everyone helped. Aunt Michelle and Don thanks for having everyone over on such short notice.

I enjoyed playing the role of an aunt for the few days that I was able to. I loved every minute of it. I enjoyed ALL of the Lutz kiddos, Hallford's, Hanke's baby Brooklyn, and of course Jeff's nephew Julien.

June has been a very busy month. Lots of birthdays and anniversaries: Britten, Julien, Nitu, Paradise and Austin have birthdays and Nathan /Amanda and Jeff/ I have anniversaries.
We attended a wedding on the coast and have been doing exciting things with the boys.

I have been cycling about 80 + miles a week in the early hours. I go for about 2 hours. I love it. I would like to go to the city and bike up hills and see the coast though. I have also been tutoring four students three times a week. Jeff has been taking the boys to swim practice and enjoying good books and movies before school begins. We walk in the country two days a week when I am not tutoring while the boys swim. Laci has been busy working at Cold Stone and organizing her room so Austin can have his own room.

July is going to be even more exciting. On the 4th of July we head to beautiful Lake Tahoe for six days with Jeff's family. The boys have a big swimming Invitational the weekend of the 11th /12th. I have to attend a coaching clinic on the 11th half day so I can coach Preston in soccer for the Fall. Jeff will be coaching Austin.

We hope to head to AZ on the 16th early to avoid the heat so we can see the new Hanke baby expected July 8th or so.


We plan on going to Jessica's baby shower on the 27th.

We begin school on the 28th. YIKES!!!!!

Laci leaves for Hawaii on the 29th..........

Jeff and I plan to go to Hawaii on Aug. 17 or so for a parent orientation. Laci moves in the dorms Aug. 18th. We will not take the boys because it is so expensive and we paln to go for a few days.

I feel very lucky to have such a great family! I hope we can get together more often!!

1st project completed

This is the coolest model I have seen because the hood, doors, and part of the roof lift and open. It has close to 650 pieces!!!

Jeff's dad got Austin a GREAT GIFT!!


This is the car Austin created in NO time at all. It is called the Lego Creator kit... 3 in 1. Austin hopes to build all 3 creations this week. The directions look too complicated to me.

Austin's 9th birthday

There is a park with a creek that the boys like to catch crawdads and climb on rocks. What a great way to spend your 9th birthday... CHEAP TOO!! After the wedding we met everyone at the park. It was a HOT day at home so we took our time. It still was over 90 at Jeff's dad's.

Shannon and Tanya (Jeff's sister's) rode to their dad's house to see Austin and Preston who were staying overnight because we went to the wedding. The girls biked for an hour and a half from San Fran to San Anselmo. It is pretty awesome! You girls are inspirational. It also happended to be Austin's 9th birthday. Yahoo!!

Our friend (Austin's former teacher, Preston's teacher this year) was married this past weekend in Half Moon Bay on the coast (near San Fran) for those of you not familiar with CA. It happened to be 108 degrees where we live so you can imagine how LUCKY we were to leave and head to the coast. It was neat to watch the fog come in so quickly. It was sunny, and then it became foggy. Jeff and I walked along the beach and collected shells for the boys. We stayed overnight and had a blast. It was good to get away.

Hiking in Contra Loma on Father's Day

Nature is never something to take for granted.

Jeff and I love to hike and thankfully the kids, including Laci have enjoyed this hobby as well. This is a new route that we took on Father's Day. It was beautiful. We hiked an hour out and found an old windmill and enormous water holders for the cattle that graze nearby. Austin spied little frogs inside the water holder way deep in the front, hidden. There are many hills. It is close to where we live, but once you get out in the hills it is faraway. PEACEFUL!!!

On this particular day it happened to be extremely windy! At times, there were gusts of 40 mph winds. We decided to go play tennis. WHY? I do not know. We ended up playing for over an hour. It was fun to watch the boys hit the ball. Three years ago there was a tennis clinic at our school. For a small fee the kids received lessons and rackets.

We had a delicious dinner. I am so glad that we were able to join our family in the city. It was such a long week for everyone. It was a fabulous evening.

It was freezing and windy, but it was so much fun!!

Austin and Preston loved hanging out with Deanna. She was always so polite to them! They will cherish those memories.

Hanging out at Aunt Michelle and Uncle Don's pool. It was a blast for the kiddos,.... and the adults!

I feel so fortunate to have a large family! It was a very memeorable weekend.

Cousin Brittany with Hailey, Uncle Don, Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Flo.

Loving Swim Season!

I cannot tell you how much growth the kids have made from joining a swim team. The first time the boys swam I nearly fainted and threw up because they were rope lane huggers! The boys would look like they were drowning and worst of all parents are not allowed in the pool area so you can imagine how hard it was to watch them swim in 13ft. water. They both are terrific swimmers and have improved on all strokes that they have been taught. Last week, they were in a swim-a-thon to help raise money for the team. Preston swam 100 laps and Austin swam 140 laps! They both say they want to play water polo like Laci.

Laci has graduated!!

Congratulations LACI! Wow!

These past few months have been quite like nothing else I have experienced. It has been not-stop busy, but exciting. In March, Laci was on the swim team, I was team Captain for the Relay For Life, Laci was a team Captain for the Relay for Life (Senior Girls), I was nominated for Teacher of the Year for my school district, I became a Master teacher for a student teacher, I started the Master's program at Cal State East Bay, Jeff and I began coaching junior high track and field, the boys were playing baseball, and swimming began in mid-April. On top of everything lay-offs were still being discussed and Jeff was sure to be cut.
We went to an A's game, swim meets for Laci, Laci's highschool boys NCS Championships baseball game at the Oakland Collisum (first time since 1984) hiking to go inside a mine, and lots of bike riding.

Now.... things are much calmer. Jeff and I signed contracts for next year. Jeff will be in 6th and I will be a Reading Interventionist Specialist.

Laci has graduated and school is out. Family will soon be visiting to celebrate all of Laci's successes, and many more memories will be created. Jeff and I are so proud of Laci. She spoke in front of 455 graduates, and close to 5,000 viewers! She did an amazing job. Jeff and I also volunteered at GRAD NIGHT last night until 5AM. It was fun and memorable. She will be heading to Hawaii in mid-July. She is working quite a bit at Cold Stone. Our big vacation will be in Lake Tahoe for a week with Jeff's family and Lake Havasu to see Par and the family, and of course to see Mom and Dolan. My 20th year highschool reunion will be in Twain Harte in early Aug. (Oh My). Jeff and I plan to head to Hawaii to check Laci into the dorms in mid-Aug.
I am looking forward to the family reunion.

Mike, his dad Jules, Laci , grandpa Paul, and me.

Thanks for joining us Heidi. It was a very special day.

Leis from grandpa Paul. He had them sent from Hawaii so they would be fresh.

Preston and Austin were very excited. They were also very patient, despite how hot it was in the stands.

Laci with her cake from Cold Stone where she works. Unfortuantely, we had so much fun celebrating that we forgot to have cake when guests were here. Way to go Laci!!!! We are all proud.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

SPRING IS APPROACHING

Spring is near and how beautiful the days have been! We have finished our 3rd quarter and thrilled with the progress of our students. Teaching has been so rewarding! The hardest part of teaching is getting so attached the children and saying good-bye at the end of the year. We are heading to Arizona for some rest and relaxation. Looking forward to see the Hanke family, as well as, mom and Dolan.

Some things we have done most recently are taking the kids to Monster Supercross Motorcycle racing, bowling, hiking, and bike rides. I love the time change because we do so much more after work. The Delta trails are so beautiful to go for a jog and bike ride.

Jeff and I begin coaching Track in two weeks, Austin and Preston begin baseball and swimming. Thankfully baseball is a short season, because they both will overlap. Laci is swimming for the highschool.

Laci has come to the realization that she is really going to be on her own . She can barley contain her excitement of her soon to be adventure in Hawaii! Graduation is just around the corner. I never knew I could hold so much pride and joy! I am flabbergasted that the boys will be in 3rd and 4th grade next year. Time sure goes by.

3/13 PINK DAY IN CALIFORNIA!!!! Yes, this was not a rumor. Over 26,000 teachers were given pink slips or RIF letters by yesterday. Jeff and I recieved ours the week before. We will not know the our status until late April or May. Across the state in many schools, teachers wore pink to protest large classes and less teachers next year. Let's hope our job is saved!

In the past few weeks, we were able to see Jeff's dad, his sisters; Tanya, Natalie, Michael, Shannon, and baby Julien. On my side, we saw Jessica, Amber, Kiersten, two times, Dolan, and Mom, Aunt Michelle, Joseph, Chris, Heidi, Britten and Hailey at the Hallford house. How lucky we feel that we live so close and we have family in our lives.

We are hoping to head to Hawaii in August when Laci checks into the dorms. We miss everyone and wish everyone well!!

On The Creative Side

These first few pictures are ones that I mentioned to the family awhile back. Austin was so proud of his accomplishment of building these projects on his own that we wanted to share them. He literally worked on these for 2 days and was very focused. I remember when I was a kid and we played with the Erector Set. My brothers were very good at making neat things. The Erector Set is much different today.

Austin the Engineer

Very Busy