Who says I am old enoughfor a HIGH SCHOOLER?

When did this happen!?  Anyone want to tell me how I got to be old enough for a high schooler??Well... It happened... when I wasn't looking! She knew we were moving.. and totally didn't want to go to school. So .. what does Mom do.. get her involved... in SOMETHING...ad what do I know about high school?  I know that high school was the BEST BEST thing in the whole world... as long as I was with band!

Here is Gilbert and I in band... this was the year we started dating, so yes, of course we are standing next to each other... second row from the top... # 6,and 7 from the Right... that's us! :)
So.. greatest experience in my life.. so what do I do...:

YUP! Put her in the color guard! SHE LOVES IT!! She looked beautiful, had a blast, made some great friends with these girls!  Lets see this bottom picture... That's Kaitlyn, Sarah, Beck, and Alora.. in the top row... and bottom is Stephanie, Shasta and (I don't know her name, she wasn't involved too much, and ended dropping shortly after this photo was taken)

WE ARE WHAT!??

We are moving? What do you mean WE... WE are moving??
We had some BIG decisions to make... Gilbert's work had been investigating for some time, about moving to Nevada... and they were going to do it.. it was actually happening.. would we go.. would we stay...we decided we were going to visit first... Lets go out, see if we like it.. and go from there... so.. off we went...
We landed in DAYTON NEVADA... it instantly felt like home....

We decided that weekend.. we were moving!

We went site seeing:

 

I fell in love with this barn- its rustic, beautiful, got good lighting...
 

 

 Wild horses ... we were told they were all over... this was the ONLY one we saw... this trip.. it was all by itself.. this picture instituted the game of "Lonely Pony"... with the kids... every time we came to visit... they searched... for the "lonely pony!"

 This is an old school house in Virginia City.  I was not sorry Gilbert and I ventured out there before coming home... it was a great little city, lots to see. and lots to take in! 

 We found the firefighter museum there in Virginia City as well.  It was small and quaint, but had a TON of history in there!

We were even able to find a patch from Paso Robles... they had a San Miguel Patch.. but it wasn't "our" San Miguel.

 

 

We had some amazing family photos done by Cindy at Looky Loo Photography... while everyone was together for Becky's graduation!  Besides Kayla being grumpy.... we all had a great time and I love the way they turned out!

I think the last time we did a photo like this... we still lived in Los Osos... it was for Fathers Day

This was my favorite... The kids look great.. the sunset is beautiful.. and Kayla is ALMOST smiling

I don't think my sister and I have a photo together... ever....

YUP! A SMILE!!

She's a ham.. she's a clown... and she is beautiful!

Becky is always so gorgeous! I don't know what to do with her sometimes!

The following day after graduation, I went to the awards assembly... and I had gotten this great idea off of pintrest to give Becky the book "Oh the Places You Will Go".. Dr Suess... and well... We were all waiting on some late teachers that day, and so I took the opportunity to read the book to the whole school instead of making them sit and be quiet doing nothing... so I cried through the whole book, with Becky in mind.. knowing I had had so many people sign it and give her all sorts of good advice and well wishes.. not knowing what was going to be in store for her so shortly.

GRADUATION!!? WHAT!!?? I have a kid old enough to o a graduation for?!!? I don't know how this happened!

Yup- There she is... with her teacher.. the whole 8th grade class of Bradley School

She gave her speech which she didn't want to write... but her teacher said she needed to...

 

 Then we learned about Becky's driving skills from Kevin Richards... cause you see.. Becky is at the wheel of her life... she has to make the choices of which way to turn... and well... Kevin has been the only one brave enough to let her drive his car... he's a lawyer...he can be trusted....RIGHT?!

Yes, this would be her principal.. Mr Trejo in a kilt.... I think she almost died when she saw him!

Her teacher, Mr Sobraski, had this cake made for her.. by his sister in law//she did an amazing job, it tasted delicious!

YUP... DYING!

Mr Trejo AND Grandpa in Kilts!

This is when Kevin taught us about the "law of diminishing IQ".... The more girls that are together to do a certain task, or activity.... the smaller their collective IQ seems to be... its true... (for boys and girls!)

 

SO- an update is required?? Probably should have done this LONG time ago!

I got the pleasure of taking the Bradley 8th grade class to San Francisco for their 8th Grade trip. We took the bus driver too... OK, so Becky, me and Pops got to go to San Francisco for Becky's 8th Grade trip! It was amazingly fun...Got to watch the A's play a game... Becky and I were rooting for Coco Krisp... yes, this was his real name.. he pitches for the Oakland A's (or at least he did last year)

 Since she got to choose where we went.. we decided to watch the sunset from the Oakland Temple Visitor Center. It was beautiful, went through a little movie there... it was nice.. and peaceful.... who says you can't mix religion and school!?

We went to the San Fran Zoo, and had a blast.. TONS of monkeys which happen to be my favorite.. They had some beautiful flowers there too... Sorry, didn't upload those.. maybe next time?

Went to Alcatraz... on the "Night tour".. HOW cool was that.. nice ferry ride over, the grounds are "beautiful" in the respect to the plants and such.  Very informative tour... kinda wished we had more time to cruise around.  Recently (as in last week) watched the movie Escape to Alzatraz... which was a great movie to see after the tour... they left a lot of the movie props at the jail that are now used to tell the real stories of some of their most famous "residents"..such as Al Capone

 Before we left... we took the VERY tired 8th Grader to the Japanese Tea Gardens to take some "pretty photos" of her so we could use them for her program for graduation. BEAUTIFUL area.. peaceful, calming...amazing...

This is a bike rack outside an art museum.... I had to coax her into lying in it... she thought I was weird.. till I showed her what a cool picture it is! One of my favorite!

First Day of School!

Welcome to Bradley Elementary School, Day 1 of 2011-2012 school year! We have the one and only 8th grader... (not just in the picture,but in the whole school..yup- a class by herself!) McKayla a whamping 7th grader...and Mighty Hailey- grade 5!!