Trunk or Treat :)

Stephen and I had fun working at our Ward's Annual Trunk or Treat...although I will admit the 100 cupcakes I baked for my cupcake walk were not exactly easy to complete. It was worth all the work to see the smiles of all the kids and "Kids At Heart" enjoying my creations. Stephen had fun helping all the kids color. Then we headed out to see all the trunks decorated for trick or trunking. Someone even had an entire Halloween village, WOW! Hope everyone has a GREAT and SAFE HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Fun...Disneyland Style!

Stephen and I had the fun of going to Disneyland a little over a week ago. Thanks to Marcus for signing us in. It was a less busy day since it was a Tuesday, but the temperature was over 90 degrees which made it hard to tolerate. I wanted to go REAL bad and ride all the fast rides before I got pregnant so we stuck it out :) It was so fun to see all the fun Halloween decorations and we even got to ride the BRAND NEW ride...Toy Story Mania---it was a 40 minute wait, which Stephen said afterwards was well worth it. He got the high score, but I scored the better accuracy. We rode Matterhorn (Stephen's first time) and of course rode our favorite, Soarin' over California. We even stopped by and rode the Haunted House, which was all decked out in "Nightmare Before Christmas" style. The best was just spending the day together and not spending one penny. I love that Disneyland let you bring in backpacks with snacks now!!! Please enjoy the pics :) I am looking forward to going one more time if we can to see the Christmas Decorations.

A Tribute to my hero, Samantha

I just received the worst news...My Sweet Samantha passed away on Tuesday. I am saddened beyond words, but feel the only way to deal is to write all the wonderful things I know about her.

I was blessed to know this amazing girl. Her sass and spirit always inspired me. I met her a little over a year ago and immediately we clicked. Samantha had a heart defect and had already been through a few surgeries when we met. I took the challenge to make her as strong as possible before she would have her next surgery. Samantha and her family were on board and together the progress was AMAZING. Samantha went from only sitting and rolling to creeping, cruising, standing, walking, climbing stairs and jumping down from stairs all in one year. She was my superstar and her smile melted my heart. She and I had SO many laughs...I am devastated that I will not hear her laugh again. The first time I saw her take steps was inspiring and to watch her little fingers and lips turn blue/purple as she worked broke my heart but I was always in amazement as she refused to take breaks. She had no awareness of her limitations, but instead a strong desire to be a happy active girl. I was so excited when she almost didn't qualify for PT recently and felt that she would come through her surgery with flying colors.

As a pediatric physical therapist, I see children in pain a lot, but I have NEVER lost a child. Samantha will always be my hero as she quietly suffered through adversity with a smile and hug every time I saw her. I loved her dearly and wish I could do more for her. I know that she is with our Father in Heaven and she is on his errand now. I will miss her always and ask that you will all pray for her family as they attempt to cope with this horrible loss. May our Father in Heaven bless them with understanding and his love.

Welcome to Mr. Lineberry's Class

I am such an excited wife...I am so very happy for the accomplishments Stephen has made and know that the children are so blessed to have him for their teacher. Stephen has worked so hard for his credential and I am so proud to show off his room to you all. I got to help out with the set-up, which was the greatest thrill for me since I have the most tender memories of my time in elementary school. It was great to give Stephen some ideas I have gotten from being in so many classes throughout the years as I have helped kids and saw what REALLY worked. I hope you enjoy the tour. Tomorrow is Back to School night for Stephen, which should be GREAT fun!!

Welcome Fall!!! Oak Glen Style

This past Saturday while we DVR'd General Conference we headed up to Oak Glen elevation 4500 feet to start off Fall in a very fun way with our friends from church, The Parks and Zavarol's. We had PERFECT weather with high's in the high 50's to low 60's...just cool enough to need jackets, WHOO HOO!! Stephen and I had seen a travel show about the area last spring and were very excited to make the trip.

Our plans were to have the yummy doughnuts at Snowline Farm that has apple cider in the batter, followed by some apple schooling from Jim Wood at Wood Acres, ending with apple picking at Riley's Farm as well as lots of FREE apple tasting and cider tasting. I will let the pictures speak for themselves and you can decide how GREAT the day was...

Our time at Snowline with yummy doughnuts, apple tasting and yup that is a REAL sign inside the store :)








A quick pic of me and my boyfriend, Brock. SO CUTE!!




Our time getting yummy yummy apple samples of unique apples and APPLEOLOGY 101 from sweet MR. JIM WOOD...Stephen and I are huge fans of this man. He was so GREAT and I was so impressed with his knowledge and memory...he was sharp as a tack.







Good times at the Riley farm... Stephen showed off his skills finding the best apples available. He did after all begin at a very young age finding the best apples while he wandered around his land as a toddler and was found with random apples in his hands that he had found fallen from the multiple apple trees.

We all enjoyed all the fun activities, apple picking, cornmeal making, tomahawk throwing and cute pumpkin patch.


















And my favorite picture of the day...