The Alston Allstars

Grace's Swimming Lessons

2011-08-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

Grace took 4 weeks of swimming lessons with Miss Heather this summer. She started out kicking and screaming before and during lessons (literally!!!) and finished... swimming! It was a miracle! See the video below to check out our little fish!
Gracie learned to float on her back and then flip over and swim. When she needed a breath she would turn over and float again. She would also learn to "grab the side" when she went in the pool.

Here Gracie's floating with Miss Heather. She would sigh when she floated (haaah...) to show she was relaxing and breathing through her mouth. What a great idea Miss Heather!

Relaxing after a long summer day...

2011-06-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

The kids relaxed after a big day of doing chores, practicing piano, doing workbooks, riding bikes, playing in the sprinklers and jumping on the tramp. WOW! They were so exhausted. I put on a movie and they just layed there!

Dad was in charge of dinner...

2011-06-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

I put Johnny in charge of dinner tonight and look what he brought home!!! The pizza was gigantic! Really... it was huge! The pizza was as wide as my table is wide. The kids had a blast with the HUGE pieces! It was sooooo good too! We will definately get another one!

Crazy Gracie!!!

2011-06-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

I found Gracie asleep on the couch... the girl is crazy!

MCO in Salt Lake City!

2011-06-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to go to Salt Lake City this last week and record an Oratorio entitled "Messiah In America". I am part of the East Valley Mormon Choral Organization and we teamed up with the Orange County, CA half of the choir to record and perform this work by our director, Brett Stewart. There were 400 Adult Choir singers, 200 Children's Choir singers, and 200 Orchestra members who all worked so hard for this recording. We recorded for 24 hours total in Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City and then performed in the Tabernacle on Temple Square and then a second performance in Abravanel Hall which BYU TV filmed! It was an amazing experience in which I learned so much! I will NEVER forget it!
The EVMCO 1st Soprano Section! Top left to right: Tiffany, Heather, Elise, Ashley, Rochelle, Courtney; bottom left to right: Jamie, Lisa, Jen, Kira, and Paige.

Here is a look at Abravanel Hall! It was gorgeous!

Me, Courtne, Paige and Elise decked out in out MCO shirts!

The organ in the Tabernacle is absolutely as beautiful and grand as it is on TV! Here we are all rehearsing for our concert!

Courtney and Jen sat next to me all through the recordings. These gals have BEAUTIFUL voices! It was a privilege to sing with them!

EVMCO and OCMCO first sopranos waiting for the recordings to start!

Some of us outside the Salt Lake Temple... soaking in the sun!

I will NEVER forget this trip! i learned so much about music and about myself. I am so grateful for music and for EVMCO!

Happy Easter!

2011-06-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter family and friends!

Family Pictures

2011-04-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

We just had family pictures taken! Enjoy!

Roots and Boots Rodeo

2011-04-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the Roots and Boots Rodeo in Queen Creek this last weekend and it was a blast. We attended a VIP dinner since Johnny is on the Town Council and they handed us unlimited rides cards for the night! The kids had so much fun riding rides and eating our HUGE bag of kettle corn!!! What a fun family night!

Spring Round-up

2011-04-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

The kids school had their Spring Round-up this last weekend. It was super fun! There was face painting, train rides, bounce houses, a cake walk and a dunk tank where kids could throw balls at a target and dunk their teacher! Here are Emma and John throwing a ball to dunk Mrs. Abney, Emma's 2nd grade teacher. Here is John getting ready to throw his ball to dunk Mrs. Abney. This is the throw that he hit the target dead on and dunked her! Baseball is paying off!

The teacher in the dunk tank had a squirt gun and was aiming it at the kids throwing the balls.

Gracie loved the train!

The National Anthem

2011-04-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

Johnny was invited to sing the National Anthem at the Roots and Boots Rodeo at the Queen Creek Equestrian Ranch. He did really well! Here is a video of his performance...

DINOSAURS

2011-04-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Over Spring Break I brought the kids to the Mesa Natural History Museum. They have a great exhibit on dinorsaurs right now. Here are the kids enjoying themselves. We had a great time!

The kids panned for gold in an outdoor exhibit. They had so much fun trying to find the little pieces of "gold" in the running stream. They got to bring what they found home with them.

Student of the Month!

2011-04-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

Our John-John got student of the month for his class! He was so proud and happy for his achievement and so was I! He received it for being a good friend to others. What a sweet boy!

The Rehearsal Dinner

2011-04-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

My sister's rehearsal dinner, which wasn't a rehearsal at all- it was a party!!!- was at a fun seafood restaurant with yummy food and a live band. Family all attended and I think we had about a dozen people there. Here are some fun pictures from the evening (and see below for a REALLY embarrassing Jamie moment!). Here is my mom, my mom's mom A.K.A Mamma, and me. Me and the bride- my beautiful sister, Kari.

Johnny with Grandpa Fred and my Step-dad, Gary.

My sister Ashley with her new husband, Mike. They were married in September!

Here is Brandon's family.

OK... time for my MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT! Really... It was super embarrassing. The live band- who were actually pretty good- asked what parties were going on at the retaurant that evening. There were birthdays and then of course Kari, being the outgoing gal that she is, said, "I'm getting married tomorrow!". So, the band wanted to sing "Going to the Chapel" for the blushing bride- which I thought was a super good idea UNTIL... Kari announced that her sister (pointing to me) sang opera... thrown under the bus!!!!! REALLY! I was ambushed! Kari dragged me up on stage and we made Ashley come too- the more the merrier. The band- who I loathed at this point- handed us tamborines and proceeded to sing "Going to the Chapel" to Kari while we were playing backup and trying not to be totally embarrassed.

THEN... the lead singer handed me the mic and asked me to sing a song for the retaurant. She wanted to hear some opera. SURE! Why not embarrass myself infront of Brandon's family- who I just met. The lady literally shoved the microphone down my throat--- So, for your listening pleasure watch the video below for the most embarrassing moment of my life... thank you Kari and carzy band lady!

Kari and Brandon's Wedding!

2011-03-31T22:32:00.001-07:00

My sister, Kari got married to Brandon Lane on February 5th 2011 in Sanibel Island, Florida. Johnny and I were able to attend and it was such a fun weekend! Here are some pictures of the wedding! Me with my mom and sisters!

Me and my sweetie!

I LOVE this picture of me and my mom and sisters. We have all been through so much together and I love them and appreciate them so, so, so much.

The bride and groom. Aren't they just gorgeous!?

My new project

2011-01-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

I went to a garage sale on Friday morning and I found the cutest dresser for $10! It was a little banged up and in need of a little TLC... new knobs, sanding, painting... what a fun project! So, I grabbed it and started work on Saturday. While I was sanding I found robin egg blue paint under white paint and I loved it! So, when I was spray painting it white I did it lightly so you could still see the cute blue coming through! I roughed it back up to make it shabby chic and this morning I went and got new knobs! It's adorable and I am in love! Oh, and the cute milk glass lamp on top was also at the garage sale- $4! I love finds like this!

I love you!

2011-01-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

We have been married for almost 10 years! And, not a day goes by that I am not floored that this man is still in love with me. I am so grateful for our ups and our downs that have shaped us and molded us to become the couple we are today! We are so blessed and lucky to have found eachother 10 years ago and look where we are today! 3 kids later... we are still saying: "It's a wonderful life!"

Family Pictures

2011-01-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

We had family pictures for the Alston Family after Christmas when everyone was in town! What a great looking family!
From left to right: Jason, Katie, Maria (holding Kaitlynn), Christopher and Rachael, Chris (holding Johnathan), Dad and Mom Alston, Rob (holding Kaitlyn), Becca, Josh, Amelia (holding Alex), Jamie (holding Grace) Emma, John, Johnny and Jaimie.

The boys: Chris, Johnny, Josh, Jason, Rob and Dad Alston

The girls: Mom Alston, Jamie, Jaimie, Becca, Katie, Amelia and Maria

Student of the Month!

2011-01-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

Emma got Student of the Month! Benjamin Franklin Charter School has themes each month and then awards students who show that attribute best the title of Student of the Month that month! Emma's theme was service. I was so happy to hear that she thinks of others and shows service to those around her both classmates and her teacher. Way to go Emma!!!
Proud Emma with her teacher, Mrs. Abney.

Standing outside listening to all the great things about the students who received the award.

Here is what Mrs. Abney had to say about Emma...

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas this year. We stayed home and enjoyed our family and just being together. On Christmas Eve we made cut-out Christmas cookies for Santa and we gave the kids pajamas, got pizza and wings, and gave the kids "Despicable me". We layed out in the living room with the Christmas tree lights lit up and watched the movie and had fun as a family! The kids laid their stockings out, set the cookies and milk out with carrots for Rudolph, and the kids went to bed. And in the morning.... Santa had come! It was so fun to see the kids reactions to their presents and the laughter that filled our home was magic! We truly are blessed.

The kids got a trampoline from Grama Kay and Papa... LOVE IT!!!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

2011-01-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

Grace turned 3 on December 20th! She is so cute and funny and she loved HER day. I am determined to make her birthday, which is so close to Christmas, special for her every year. This year we had cupcakes, which Grace licked the frosting off and that's it!) and fun presents for our Gracie!

Her favorite present by far was her princess dolls from Grama Kay! She loves Ariel and Cinderella...

Gracie loved getting a Pillow Pet Unicorn... purple is her favorite color!

Are all these for me???

Happy Birthday John-John!

2011-01-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

John-John turned 6 on November 13th and he celebrated his birthday at Amazing Jake's with his cousin, Christopher and Uncle Chris and Dad. It was a fun day!

John's cake had cool Star War's guys on it!

Emma gave John a football for his birthday!

John got Star War's Lego sets from Grama Kay and Mom and Dad.

Happy Birthday John-John!

Fire Truck!

2011-01-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

I took Grace and John to story time and they talked about firetrucks and had a fireman come and try on all his gear for us. The kids loved it! Then, when we left, they had their firetruck open for everyone to walk through. So fun for them.

Kirby Heyborne

2011-01-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

Look who I met! Kirby Heyborne! He was so nice and cool. My friend won a concert with him in her backyard and I got to come along. He played on his guitar and talked with everyone. It was super fun!

Kirby has been in some of my favorite LDS movies: R.M., Saints and Soldiers and Sons of Provo. He just appeared on a Visa commercial too. He is super cool and talented. So fun to meet him!

Our Little Gracie...

2011-01-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I have no words for this child! She is a sweet little angel one minute and then a crazy imp the next! She has gotten stitches 2 times in 6 months, she changes her outfit at least 5 times a day and she has no interest in potty training! But then, she comes up to me and gives me the biggest hugs, the sweetest (sometimes sticky) kisses and says "I love you Mommy!". So... no words...

Kids say the darndest things and we started calling Grace's "darndest things" "Graceisms". For example: the other day I got her all dressed for school complete with bow in the hair, cute (clean) matching outfit, panties (yes, I am STILL trying to potty train her!), socks and shoes. She was ready and I decided to get the kitchen cleaned in the few minutes we had before we needed to go. Grace had disappeared for a bit and was quiet... history has shown that is bad. I called for her to come down for school and come down she did: complete with a princess dress on (backwards), princess shoes, no bow, messed up hair, no panties... saying "OK mom... I hab been waiting for YOU!". To which I uttered "Geez Louise, Grace!" and she said, "I not Geez Louise Mom. I Grace!"

Yup... Graceisms...

Emma's Piano Recital

2011-01-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

Emma did so well at her piano recital! Here she is with her teacher, Julie Ann Cook. This recital was right before Halloween so all the kids wore their costumes! It was so fun! Her teacher even dressed up. Emma won best costume and I was so proud of her performance. She is quite the piano player... when she practices!

Happy Halloween!

2011-01-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween 2010! Emma was a sleepover girl in her P.J.s, John was Darth Vader, and Gracie was Cinderella!

Spirit Week

2011-01-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Franklin Charter School had Spirit Week. Here is Emma and her best friend Annie on Twin Day!
And here is Emma on Crazy Accessories Day!

Emma's Baptism

2011-01-16T18:11:00.001-08:00

Our beautiful Emma Kay was baptized on her birthday! What a special day. Her Grama Kay was here from NY and she looked so beautiful in her new whie dress. It was a very sweet evening. Definately one to remember forever!
Grama Kay and Emma Kay before Emma's baptism.

Emma in her white jumper all ready to be baptized by her dad with John, Grace, Mom and Dad.

Emma and her proud parents.

Daddy and Emma. This is the best picture!

The kids sang "If The Savior Stood Beside Me" at Emma's baptism. It was darling. I was so proud of them!

Happy Birthday Emma Kay!

2011-01-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

Emma turned 8 on October 24th. What a special day for a special girl. To celebrate she has a "P" party... the girls wore their Pajamas, brought their Pillows, ate: Pizza, Popcorn, Popsicles, Pretzels and Pop. They decorated pillow cases and we did pedicures! What a fun night!

Emma got new scriptures for her 8th Birthday. She was so excited to get her new case to put them in too!

OK... to get her presents, Emma had to pop a balloon to get a paper with her clue on it to find her present. The hitch was she couldn't use her hands! It was hillarious! See the vey bottom of this post to see a video of her in action!

Happy Birthday dear Emma! Happy Birthday to you!!!

Here the girls are showing off their decorated pillow cases!

Here the girls are stuffing their faces with their "P" foods...Pizza and Pop!

Here is a video of Emma popping a balloon to get a clue for a present! It was so funny watching her in action! Enjoy!

Our Cruise

2010-11-03T15:44:00.001-07:00

Johnny and I went on our first cruise! It was a 5 day cruise on Carnival to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. SOOOOO FUN! We will definately go on another... only next time it will be 7 days! 5 just wasn't enough!

We left out of San Diego which is where we had our honeymoon in 2001! Here I am standing in front of where we stayed way back when... the Marriott.
Here is the bridge you can ride to Coronado Island where the famous Hotel de Coronado is.

We toured an aircraft carrier, the USS Midway while we were waiting to board our ship. Johnny had fun playing around... here he is in the brig!

Remember that famous black and white picture of the sailor kissing the nurse when WWII ended. Well, they have a giant statue of it in the ark next to the battleship.

We were standing out on top of the Midway and there were 4 real Aircraft carriers at ort at the naval base on Coronado Island. They are in the distance behind us.

Overlooking the planes from all the wars this retired aircraft carrier was in serve for. It was cool to see all the history on this ship!

AND... dun, da-da, dah... here is our room on the cruise ship! Complete with our very own balcony!

I was so excited about all the cool stuff on the ship! Here I am standing in front of the waterslide on the deck by the 2 pools and spas.

Taking off to Baja Mexico!

They had all these cool things on the ship. This was outside of Pharoh's Palace, the theatre on the ship. He was so cool looking I had to give him a kiss!

Here is Johnny fooling around again!

Here are the glass elevators and a look up into the ship... cool, huh?

Here we are in the dining Room for our dress-up night dinner. We had the best waiter, Sammy and the couple we ate dinner every night were so sweet. It was fun to talk with them and make friends! I ate soooo much... the food was so good. I literally ate 2 appetizers, a main dish and 2 desserts every night!!!

We tried to be aware of our virtue on the boat :)

And... he's fooling around again! Super funny though!

I woke up on our our 2nd at sea with this view from my balcony! Welcome to paradise... AKA... Cabo San Lucas!

We took a triple-decker boat tour around Los Arcos, a beautiful rock formation. Here we are on the boat tour with Lover's Beach behind us.

Yeah... it was super windy!Here's a view of our cruise ship from our boat tour. It was fun to see it and then know we could get back on it and have fun!Every night while we were at dinner our room assistant, Johnathan, would turn down our bed covers and make us a little animal out of towels. Here is a cute little frog!

This guy... yes it's a guy with gold all over him! He looked like a statue and scared us when he moved while we were looking at him! He grabbed johnny by the neck with his hook and I just had to take a picture!

Someone had caught a Marlin and Johnny got a pic next to it.

Welcome to Ensenada! It was a beautiful day and it was fun to arrive and get off the boat and tour around the town.

We went on a tour to La Bufadora, the blowhole. It was a cave in a little mountain by the coast and it would suck in water and the air would blow out and there would be a huge gush of water that would blow up into the air. Very cool! We toured a old hotel casino back in the days of Desi Arnez, Lucile Ball and Al Capone! They would all go to this resort and party!

We had a super time! I wanna go back!

Ashley's Wedding in Fair Haven, New York

2010-11-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

My sister, Ashley got married on September 18th! She was married at my mom and Step-dad's cottage on Fair Haven Bay right next to Lake Ontario. We took the whole family to New York for this special occasion! We were so worried about the weather because when we got there it was pouring! But Saturday teh sun was shining and the lake was calm and beautiful! Here are some great pics to share!
I was the Maid of Honor...

Here I am with my mom and sisters!

Ashley looked so beautiful when she walked down the stairs towards Mike. She was positively glowing!

Emma and Gracie were flowers girls and John was a ring bearer... don't they look so cute!

Emma and her cousin Ellia did a great job spreading the petals down the isle.

Here is John rolling out the isle for Aunt Ashley.

Here is Gracie waling down the isle with her cousin Riana. They were so cute!

Getting ready...

The Alston Family

Sisters at the reception!

My 30th Birthday!

2010-11-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

I turned 30 this year! August 29th to be exact! My sweet husband, who can never keep secrets from me, threw me the BEST surprise party! He had a double date planned with a couple we enjoy to hang out with. We were going to Bucca di Beppo for dinner. So fun! We arrived and Johnny went to go check on our "reservations". (I learned later that he went in to let everyone know we arrived.) We walked through the restaurant and came around the corner and there were some of my best friends... around the table in the "Pope" room. What a GREAT surprise! We had some great food and laughs. Needless to say it was a SUPER GREAT SURPRISE!
Here I am putting on my "30" crown!

The Pope and my friends!

The next night was celebrated with our kids! (If you're wondering why the ice cream cake is lopsided... the freezer was iced over and the cake started melting!)

The First Day of School

2010-08-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

The kids are back in school! They were so excited! Emma just started 2nd grade, John is in afternoon kindergarden and Gracie is in Circle Time. Here they all are on their first day of school...

Emma's best friend, Annie is FINALLY in the same class as her! They are so excited to be together at last! Here is Annie and Emma with Annie's sister Claire and Bryson, our carpool buddy.

John was sooooo excited to start kindergarden! (Well, maybe he was just excited about his new Star Wars folder he got to bring with him!)

Gracie was so excited to help her brother go off to school. She just had to wear her backpack!

Here is John with Claire at the kindergarden playground right before school.

Lining up to go into class. This is about when I started to tear up! Just look at how cute he is!

Wondering what is going on...

A little turn before he was off into kindergarden...Here is his teacher Mrs. Cammack. Emma had her for kinder too!

And here is Gracie... all ready to go to Circle Time! She is such a social butterfly. She was excited to go to school and play!

Alston Family Reunion

2010-08-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

Our family reunion this summer was at the Alston cabin in Forest Lakes, AZ. It was so fun! The kids had a blast with theur cousins and we all had fun enjoying some coller weather in the mountains... even a little rain and hail! We did so many fun things. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week up there!

Here are the kids at Woods Canyon Lake. We had fun fishing and canoeing. The kids even played in the water to cool off!
Here is Grace, Rachael, Emma, Christopher and John.

Our little blondie Gracie having fun in the water.

John-John enjoyed fishing in the lake. The fish weren't biting much but he had fun anyway!

Emma loved playing in the water and canoeing with her cousins.

Me and my babies! (Not quite babies anymore!)

We had fun watching the squirrels eat peanuts out of the feeder.

He is Emma in the tree fort.

Little Kaitlynn had her 1st birthday while we were at the reunion. She is such a cutie! Grandma made her cupcakes. She was a little scared at first with the singing and squeeling from the kids but she had a blast! We all did!

We did a service morning at the cabin and the kid's job was collecting rocks and making the borders on the driveway with them. They are the best of friends!

Pretty Gals!

2010-08-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Emma and Grace had their pictures taken. They looked so super cute! We took some pics of them before they went to the photo shoot. Here they are twirling...
Can you believe she is getting so big!!!

And here is our little princess...

As Grace said: "look me twirl mommy! I soooo bootiful!"

They grow so fast! I am trying to soak in every precious moment!

New York in the Summer!

2010-08-22T20:55:00.001-07:00

Emma and I flew to NY for my little sister's bridal shower in July. It was so fun to spend one-on-one time with Emma and see my family. We spent a lot of time with the bridal shower but we found some time to relax!

Here is the moon rising over the bay. It was truly beautiful watching it from the porch at the cottage.
This is the view of Lake Ontario from the cottage. My parent's cottage is on Little Sodus Bay right next to one of the Great Lakes.

My parent's cottage in Fair Haven, New York.

Emma was so excited to fly in the airplane!

My mom bought this super fun blow-up jet ski for the kids. Emma loved it. The thing actually proelled in the water and she had a blast steering it and squiting the water gun attached to it. The water was so warm we loved playing in the bay!

Bathing beauties! Roasting Marshmallows over the campfire outside! Yum!

Me and my beautiful sisters and mom!

Emma eating pizza before we took off to go home. The pizza slice was bigger than her!

Swimming Lessons

2010-08-22T20:10:00.001-07:00

The kiddos took swimming lessons over the summer. They are quite the little fish!

Wrapped up all warm! The kids were so excited to finish swimming lessons for the day and get their Otter-pops for a job well done!

Best friends! John-John was such a sweet big brother with his little sister during swim lessons... always encouraging her and giving her hugs.

Grace did NOT like floating at first! She cried and cried. But now she asks to float! This is her floating with her teacher Miss Chelsea!

John-John had the best under-water kicks!

Gracie had the biggest kicks! She splashed us all and would giggle and laugh when she got us wet!

John McCain in Queen Creek

2010-06-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Senator John McCain came to Queen Creek Town Hall today and Johnny and I got to meet him! Since Johnny is now Council Member Alston he was introduced by Senator McCain: "Thank you to Mayor Barney for having me here today and John Alston, the new Councilman and his beautiful wife. Thank you." It was quite fun to be thanked by a senator! He was very, very nice and kept making comments about Johnny's young age. He said, "John Alston, who is still getting asked for his ID." Everyone laughed, including Johnny. It was a fun afternoon! What a priviledge!

Council Member John Alston

2010-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Johnny was sworn into office on Wednesday the 2nd of June. Here he is sitting at his new seat in Town Hall. Here he is with Julia Wheatley on the left and Dawn Oliphant on the right. What a great experience it was for me to see him up there with the judge getting sworn in!

Emma's Class Party

2010-05-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Emma finished 1st grade today and had a class party! They had pizza and juice boxes and cupcakes and they made a year book that their classmates signed. Here is Emma at her desk in row 5 having a fun time!

Emma also loved her teacher, Miss Slota. Miss Slota made everything so wonderful for Emma this year!

Way to go Emma!!! We're excited to see you succeed in 2nd grade!!!

Look Who Graduated From Preschool!

2010-05-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

John graduated from Miss Autumn's Preschool last night! He has been attending preschool for 2 years and is now ready for Kindergarden!!!

In walked the graduates with "bubbles" in their mouths to keep quiet. Look at that smile. Doesn't he look so happy! They all made Alphabet Books and each shared a letter, it's sound and the word it makes. John said, "D, Da, Door". He then said what he wanted to be when he grew up- "a Firefighter, because they help people." They got their diploma's and showed us what they made with their names and letters and little hand prints." What a sweet graduation. We sure love Miss Autumn! Great job John-John!

Sleeping Soundly

2010-05-27T19:30:00.001-07:00

Look how Gracie was sleeping during her nap! How sweet our little girl is.

Vote for John Alston... again???

2010-05-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

I sent John-John outside today and he was pretty quiet for a while. I went to take the trash out and walked right into this.
Johnny's signs were in a box in the backyard and John decided to decorate!!! So... vote for John Alston... again!

Emma's Award

2010-05-24T20:34:00.001-07:00

Emma earned an Academic Achievement Award today at school. She earned A's and B's all year! Way to go Emma!!!

HE WON!!!

2010-05-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Johnny has been running for a spot on the Queen Creek Town Council for the last 6 months and after many debates, newspapers articles, interviews, and meetings the votes were in yesterday! Johnny won! We're so excited and proud of him!

John's Big Hit!

2010-05-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

John's T-Ball Days!

2010-05-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

John-John did T-Ball this year and had a blast. He is quite the hitter! He was a Sea Dog and Dad even got to be his team's assistant coach! The kids and Dad rode their bikes to the park for a couple games too! Here's John in his cute Sea Dogs uniform and the kids riding their bikes home from a game.

Emma and Paige

2010-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Emma loved her piano teacher, Paige. She is getting ready to go on a mission and Emma just had her last piano recital with her. You can see a video of Emma and Paige playing below.

Emma's Piano Recital

2010-05-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Emma did so well in her piano recital! She is getting to be quite the piano player!

Student of the Month

2010-03-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

Emma was Student of the Month for March! Her teacher wrote this about Emma: "Emma is such a hard worker. She always does her best in everything. She always has a positive attitude and a smile on her face everyday. I love having Emma in my class!". Great job Emma!

Fun in the Rain!

2010-03-10T10:36:00.000-08:00

Riding a "Horsey"

2010-03-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

HUGE GRAPEFRUIT!

2010-01-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

We picked grapefruit at the Alston's house last night and we just had to take a picture of this HUGE grapefruit we found on the tree! Here it is next to a regular-sized grapefruit... just look at the size of that thing!

TWISTER

2010-01-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

We played our new family game: Twister the other night. If you remember this game from when you were a kid, it is so much fun! A player calls out the right or left foot, or the right or left hand and the color: red, blue, yellow or green. You have to place that hand or foot on that color on the Twister mat and you have to use a circle no one has used yet! Emma and John-John were so good at it! Johnny and I did pretty well because we have longer arms and legs, but we were so tired by the end! What a fun game!

Family

2010-01-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

We loved being around family this past Christmas. Here is a picture of Emma, John and Mason in the hot tub at Grama Kay and Papa's house! The hot tub is outside so they would wrap all up in a towel, quickly run to the hot tub and jump in to get warm!

The kids watched movies and played all day together. We sure are lucky to have Mason as a cousin!

Mamma and Grandpa Fred enjoyed playing with the great grand-kids. Here they are all on the couch together! What a great picture to have forever!

Us girls all had fun being together too! Across the couch: Kari, Mom, Mamma, Jamie and Ashley. I sure loved being around family I don't get to see all the time!

Merry Christmas NY!

2010-01-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

This is the sunrise from my Mom's window. What a beautiful start to a great day! We had a great Christmas with my family in NY. The kids had a great time opening presents (after we made them wait until Mamma and Grandpa Fred arrived!!). We unwrapped books for Emma, a Little People Castle for Gracie, a race car for John-John and action figure costumes that the grand-kids all loved wearing! Mason, our cousin, had a blast with John and Emma. They dressed up and played all morning in those costumes!

I need to explain the "Jello" picture. My Mamma would always give us gifts in old food boxes. I got a Jello box this year, Kari got a stuffing box, Ashley got a cereal box... and so the tradition continues!

Johnny wrote a book called "The Adventures of Mortemus and Petunia" and had his brother illustrate it. We had it published through Heritage Makers and gave it to the kids for Christmas. They loved it and Johnny loved giving it to them after all his hard work.

This was our first Christmas together in 11 years. We had a great time together sharing memories and giving gifts. We were all so grateful to be together this year and remember the true meaning of Christmas is family!

Remembering My Brother on Christmas

2010-01-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

This was a special Christmas and a hard Christmas too. We lost my Brother, Craig last January and this is the first Christmas without him. We had a quilt made with his favorite tee-shirts that was so beautiful! And gave a peace sign to my Mom to put in the ground by his grave. We all wiped tears away as we presented these special gifts to my Mom and remembered the fun, caring, lovable Craiger McGregor.

A Visit With My Dad

2010-01-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

On Christmas we had a chance to go visit my Dad in Hospice Care at St. John's Hospital. It was a touching memory I will always remember, with all of us in the room with my Dad on Christmas. Family is what is so important at the holidays.

Puppy Love

2010-01-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

My Cousin got a new yellow lab puppy named Max and he brought him over. It was love at first sight for my kids! They LOVED this cute, lovable puppy! I have to say I did too!

Fun Activities in NY!

2010-01-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

We did a lot of fun things while we were in NY. One of them was going to The Sandbox. It's an indoor play area for kiddos. There are so many fun things to do! A huge sandbox to play in that had little beads instead of sand (very smart!) and a bunch of little houses to play in. The kids LOVED the bike slides and the bounce/slide inflatable thing! We all had a blast playing a dance game on a huge light-up board too! John-John had some moves! It was a fun day!

Snow in NY! The kids had a great time playing in the snow at my Mom's for Christmas! John and Emma collected firewood and Gracie just walked around in the snow. Saying, "Cold!!" They even went in Grama Kay's hot tub out side in the snow! They had a blast watching little snow balls they made melt in the hot water.

Birthday Party in NY

2010-01-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Gracie turned 2 this last December and we got to celebrate her special day in NY with my family. Grama Kay got Gracie some new outfits and a cute book she loved! Mamma got Gracie a scratch and sniff book. We had a yummy Ding-Dong Cake (YUM!) and we all had a great time!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

2010-01-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

Grace had her 2 year old Birthday on December 20th! She ate rice-krispie treat cake and got princess shoes! What fun! Happy Birthday Gracie!!!

Christmas at Our Home

2010-01-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas early at our home because we were in New York for Christmas! The kids had so much fun and were excited. Johnny got a new guitar! John-John got a sword that he loved and chopped all our arms off with, Emma got a cute hat that matched her sister and a Hello Kitty Gumball machine she loved, and Gracie was so excited about her new baby! I was also excited with my new measuring cups and spoons and crock-pot! Yeah Christmas!

Christmas Attire

2009-12-07T12:56:00.001-08:00

All decked out and ready for church in our new Christmas outfits! Aren't they beautiful!?

Queen Creek Christmas Festival

2009-12-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went to the Queen Creek Christmas Festival at Desert Mountain Park. So fun!!! There were rides and the playground and fun things to look at. It was pretty cool outside so we couldn't stay long but my voice studio sang in the performances they were putting on! Here are some pictures from the fun day!

Emma and her friend Abby getting ready to sing in the performance.

My studio singing their Christmas songs.

Thanksgiving Day Hike

2009-12-01T17:40:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving morning our family went for a hike up ASU's "A" Mountain. It was beautiful! 80 degrees a light breeze and a great hike. For those of you who don't know Johnny and I got engaged in "A" Mountain back in April 2001. We haven't been back since and decided it was a good time to go!

Getting ready to do the steep part of the trail.

Here's the "A"!

A bird's eye view of Tempe Town Lake.

Me and my kiddos.

ASU's football stadium.

Phoenix is way over there in the distance...

Taking a picture where Johnny proposed to me...

Our way back down...

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-01T15:13:00.001-08:00

We made gingerbread houses at the Alston's for Thanksgiving. Here is everyone and their masterpieces!!! In order of appearance:
Our beautiful sugar cottage...
Josh and Ameila's tree house...
Chris and Maria's cute house with Santa on top...
Rob, Becca and Kaitlynn's barn...
Emma and Katie's house of love...
and Johnny and Jamie's sugar cottage...

My Dad

2009-11-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

I just went and visited my family in New York. My Dad is in Hospice at St. John's Hospital in Rochester. Last May he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, brain cancer. It was inoperable and he underwent chemotherapy all summer. It looked like it was working because in September the MRI showed the tumor had shrunk. We were so excited for him! Then he developed blood clots in his lungs and legs and they had to stop treatment. Unfortunately his body is too weak to continue treatment and last month he was given 4-8 weeks to live. How sad we all are. I had a great opportunity to go and say good-bye to him. I cannot begin to describe the touching memories I will hold forever so dear in my heart. I know my Dad will soon be free from this awful illness and will see my brother, Craig again.

My sisters, Ashley and Kari, and me with my Dad, Gary DeRue.

The Sacred Grove

2009-11-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Grove in Palmyra while I was home visiting my family. This is such a special place to me, not only spiritually but I have a lot of wonderful memories walking through the trees in the Grove. For those of you who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I would like to explain the Sacred Grove. We believe in the Spring of 1820, Joseph Smith Jr. knelt in this grove of trees and offered a prayer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He wanted to know which church was true and which he should join. God and His Son appeared to Joseph Smith and answered his prayer, saying that he should join none of the church's and that he would help to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Earth. I believe this. I know that Heavenly Father appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and that he did restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Earth today. I have gone to this grove to pray and find answers to my questions. One of my favorite times at the Grove was when I walked through it on a cold wintry day in a freshly fallen snow, I was the only one in the Grove. I sang at the top of my lungs and I felt peace. I felt hope. I knew I could keep going though my trials. I love visiting this special place!

On this particular visit it was a sunny, 70 degree morning and I walked through the leaves and enjoyed the warm air and sun!

This is the Log Home restored to look like it did when Joseph was raised there

This the path you walk down to get to the Sacred Grove. It used to be a road but the town re-routed the road so it didn't go through the main area of the Church Sites. The road is off to the left.

So scenic!

Here is the Palmyra Temple. It over-looks the Grove from the hill. When I was a Senior in high school I helped a crew remove the trees so that you could look into the Grove from the Temple pane-glass windows.

More of the path with a view of the barn and shed off to the right and the Frame Home, the Smith's second home off to the left.

The Smith's Frame Home

The view of the Sacred Grove as you are walking in

My new favorite picture of the Grove!

As I was walking out of the Grove I ran into some old friends, Bill and Kathy Sherwood. Bill is the Palmyra Temple President now. I had a great afternoon visiting with them in their home right next door to the temple.

Halloween at the State Fair!

2009-11-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

We asked the kids a couple of years ago if they would like to go trick-or-treating on Halloween or go to the State Fair. To our surprise they said the State Fair. We have been going for 3 years now and LOVE IT!!!! Here are our pictures from our latest visit to the State Fair on Halloween...

Welcome...

Scoping out the rides and food when we first arrived

John couldn't wait to go on the Ferris Wheel

The favorite ride of the night was the bumpy car ride! Here are Emma and Annie (Annie is Emma's BFF) riding with their arms up- you're hot stuff when you are 7!

Here are John and Claire, Annie's sister and John's BFF, riding on the bumpy car ride. Look at the smile on John's face!

And look at the smile on this face! Grace had just finished one of the many fried foods offered at the State Fair- a whole potato cut into curly french fries, fried and drizzled with salt and ketchup... YUM!

John felt like Super Man on this ride where you rode on your belly!

Everyone loved the swings!

Once Grace warmed up to the goats at the Petting Zoo she loved it! They loved her too... she was a little over-whelmed at first when she was at their level and they would come right up to her. This one was safe though because it was laying down!

Not quite sure what to think of each other!!!

Grace was too little for a lot of the rides. So she waited...

...and waited...

...and waited...

until it was her turn!!! She got ride the little train and loved it!!!

This is the "spokesperson" for the State Fair. (In case you can't tell... it's John's face!)

And here's Emma!

Claire was not shy when she announced to us a couple months ago that she thought John was cute and that she was going to marry him some day. I totally approve... I LOVE CLAIRE!!!

Johnny likes fast rides and I DO NOT! So, Liz and Steve (Annie and Claire's parents) went with Johnny while he rode this crazy, cheating death ride. You started off going really slow in a circle and speeding up until it starts rocking side to side and you are basically flying over the whole State Fair! (I know it's an exaggeration but WOW that makes me queezy just thinking about it!)

After they cheated death...

We enjoyed the State Fair and we'll be back again next year!

BIRTHDAYS

2009-10-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate 2 very special birthdays! Emma and my brother Craig share October 24th as their special day and I wanted to share some special memories about each of them.

Emma was born on October 24th 2002 in Topeka, Kansas at 12:30am. When we saw our little girl for the first time we feel in love. She was perfect! 7 pounds 6 ounces, 19 inches long, 10 fingers and 10 toes and LOTS of dark hair! She had lots of visitors who fell in love with her little cherub face instantly... I am amazed at a mother's love. I didn't think I could love her more than when she was first born but that love has grown as I watch her grow and become who she is meant to be. Emma loves music... she sings all the time! She has since she was a little baby. She loves first grade and is learning how to read and be a good friend. I can't believe she is 7 today. How time flies!

Forever our little princess...

Emma can light any room with her smile

Our sweet angel

Emma is such a great big sister to John and Grace. She loves her family and takes care of everyone she knows, treating them with kindness. Here she is with the Alston family.

Happy 7th Birthday Emma Kay! We sure love you!

Today I also celebrate my brother, Craig's birthday. He was such a sweet son, brother, cousin and friend. It was so fun to call him on his birthday in 2002 and tell him that he shared his birthday with Emma. I asked him if it was OK and he said it was cool to share it with his niece. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Craiger- McGregor througout his life.

He was a precious toe-headed little imp! He loved to play "Rambo" in the woods and master the universe with his swords. We, his sisters, would be off playing house and he would be tackling the bad guys in the pine forest that was our backyard.

Since Craig's birthday was always around Halloween we would put together a haunted house in our basement for his party. The neighbors would get invloved and we would all get dressed up in costumes and create what was sure to be the scariest, funnest haunted house ever! We had so much fun. One year, Craig was into Ghost Busters. My Mom had a friend drive an old ambulance over to our house to be the Ghost Buster car and we all got a ride in it. Here Craig is with all his friends in front of the car.

Here Craig and I are dancing at a wedding. I tried to make him dance with the other girls but he just wanted to dance with me. It made me feel so special! He was such a great brother always taking care of all us. His sweet disposition and kindness was felt by so many people througout his life.

Craig was the BEST uncle to his nieces: Emma and Grace and Nephews: John and Mason. Here he is with Emma at the cottage. He loved playing games with Emma and she adored him.

This is our family picture from my Mom and Gary Clark's wedding in July 2005. I am so grateful for our family.

In January 2009 our sweet Craiger McGregor passed away. But today I think of him on his birthday and feel him near me, giving me a thumbs-up that he is OK and that he is happy. I am grateful for my brother. I love him and I will always remember his caring, loving personality. I know that it is no coincidence that Emma and Craig share a birthday and I am so grateful we have something to celebrate on his birthday. Happy Birthday Craiger McGregor, we sure love you!

OUR FALL TRIP TO NEW YORK

2009-10-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

We went to Grama Kay and Papa's home in New York last week! It was so fun... and soooooooo cold! With the 40 degree temps every day we went out for a little and then came back in to sit by the fire and get warm. That didn't stop the fun though!

Johnny stayed behind to work and I traveled to Buffalo with the 3 kiddos. Here we are on our flight from Phoenix to Buffalo. The kids did great on the 4 hour plane ride. They made friends with the little boy sitting behind us and Gracie took a little nap. They were chanting "Grama, Grama..." as we landed.

Grama Kay, the kids and I went to Power's Market with my sisters- Ashley and Kari and Kari's son Mason. It was such a pretty, sunny fall day. Here the kids are in front of the massive tee-pees they set up every year. They are huge structures with dried corn husks on them to make them dark inside. When you go in the first tee-pee there are carved, lit pumpkins all the way up to the top. Then you go through a little tunnel to the second room where there are skeletons and spiders and cob-webs hanging down from the ceiling. There are even owls with lit eyes peering out of the walls and when you make loud noises they move and "whoo". The kids thought this was hillarious and screamed and yelled to get the owls to make noise. I remember going here as a kid with my Mom. It was so fun to take my kids here and make more memories.

Here are John, Mason, Emma and Gracie after going through the tee-pees for the 20th time!

John-John, Grama Kay, Emma, Gracie and Mason

John loved the tractor pulled the trailor for the hayrides. He wanted to drive it! Here he is in the pumpkin patch as the tractor passed by.

Gracie and her crazy-Gracie smile sitting in the pumpkin patch!

OK... so there are these chickens in a pen and they are so cute and fluffy! The funny thing is they are colored! It's cute when you see the black and gray ones... then the blue and pink ones?! Gracie thought they were hillarious and giggled and pointed at them!

The crazy chickens up close!

Here's our pretty Emma.

The kids had fun feeding the deer grain at the petting zoo.

Grace was so funny when she fed the deer! You lay your hand flat and they lick the grain off. Grace did it and cracked up laughing!

Emma with the witch in the store at Power's Market. This witch was there when I was little!!!

Yummy home made donuts completed our day at Power's Market!

YUM!

Hi Guys!

Me and my beautiful sisters: Ashley and Kari

Grama Kay with her grandkids

The whole group: Kari and Mason; Jamie, Emma, John and Gracie; Grama Kay and Aunt Ashley

The boys loved swimming in the hot tub at Grama Kay's house. It was 40 degrees outside but 100 in the tub! They loved it!

Emma and Grace made iced pumpkin cookies with Grama Kay. Here's Gracie covered in icing smiling her crazy-Gracie smile!

Icing yummy cookies

John-John helped make the fire with Papa so we could all warm up after a long day. Here he is in the living room at their home.

We stopped and bought some pumpkins to carve at a cute little wagon parked by the roadside. Doesn't it look cold out?!

John with his pirate pumpkin. ARRRRG!!!

Yucky! What a mess!!!

The pirate...

Helping get the "guts" out

Playing with the "guts"!

Here's Grace's baby pumpkin.

Riding the tractor at Mamma and Grandpa Fred's house

We put Emma's pumpkin by my brother, Craig's grave. It was a sweet moment. I haven't been there since the funeral in July. We carved a peace sign in the pumpkin for him and smiled knowing he would have liked it!

The kids and Grama Kay with the pumpkin for Craiger.

Here are the kids at Chase Farms. This is a great farm just 2 minutes away from my Mom's house. They have the best produce ever!!! We got raspberries and went in the corn maze, saw a huge pumpkin and played until we were too cold!

Looking at the horses at Chase Farms

The sisters in the little corn maze

John and Emma find their way out of the maze!

Driving the tractor

What a HUGE pumpkin! We had so much fun at Grama Kay's.

CHOCOLATE PIE

2009-10-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

Last night we had yummy chocolate pie while Daddy was at Priesthood Session of General Conference. It was so pretty I had to take a picture of it! Then the kids were so funny eating it I had to take more pictures. Come on... I know you all licked beaters when you were little... it's the best!

Mom's Chocolate Pie
1 3/4 C. milk
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/4 C. light corn syrup
Whisk together in a sauce pan over low heat until the chocolate is melted.

1/4 C. milk
4 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt
2 egg yolks
1/2 C. sugar
mix together and add some to hot chocolate mixture. Stir then add the rest to hot mixture. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. When thick, remove from heat, add 1 T. butter and t. vanilla. Immediately place in baked pie shell, cover with wax paper and chill for several hours. Top with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream
1 pint heavy whipping cream mixed with beater on low until thickened. Add 1-2 T. sugar while beating to sweeten. Top pie and enjoy!

The prettiest pie!!!

Gracie loved the beaters and thought they were the best until she got her slice of pie. She kept saying "UMMMMM..." the whole time she was shoving her mouth full of chocolate pie!

Emma and John decided they only liked the chocolate inside. They are chocohaulics just like their mommy!

Just look at how pretty that is!!!

Circle Time

2009-10-01T19:08:00.001-07:00

Gracie started Circle Time. She LOVES it!!! It's a 2 hour class with 2-4 year olds learning how to play together while they learn basic fun themes. Today the theme was Fall and they painted Fall leaves and put little leaves on trees that they drew. Last week Grace learned all about food. Our favorite day was Dessert Day! Gracie came home with a paper cupcake decorated with sprinkles. ADORABLE!!! She also cut out a cookie and pasted little paper chocolate chips on it. She actually tried to eat it in the car on the way home!

Here is Gracie with her backpack on all ready to go to Circle Time.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME!

2009-09-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

John and I went to the D-Backs game last night. It was John's first ball game and he loved it! He cannot wait to go again!

Bowling Party

2009-09-12T14:17:00.001-07:00

John-John went to a friends birthday party today. He had so much fun learning how to bowl! There were cool lights and tons of kids. He loved it! Here are some action shots of our little bowler! Oh... John won! He had the highest score! Yeah, John-John!!!

Muscle men! This is right after John got a strike!

Bowling can sure tire a kid out! eating pizza and drinking rootbeer!

A Night Away!

2009-09-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Alston's gave us a night away at the Scottsdale Marriott. It was so fun! We dropped off the kiddos to Josh and Amelia at 5:30pm last night and took off. We dropped off our stuff and checked in and went to my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory... yum! We had Thai Lettuce Wraps (totally recommend having these sometime in you life!), I tried Chicken Costaletto and it was so good. Johnny had our fav... Chicken Madiera. We got Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake to go because we were so full (which is all 7 kinds of Godiva chocolate in one lucious, irresistable slice of heaven on Earth! Must try!) . There weren't any good movies playing so we went back to the hotel and ate cheesecake and watched "The Proposal". Very cute romantic comedy! This morning we went out to breakfast and picked up the kids and resumed the role of parents once again. We recommend a night away to everyone. Very fun! Thank you Alston family!

Here we are at the fountain at the front of Marriott... just before a huge thunder and lightening storm! We just made it before it started to come down!

Here is the front of our hotel.

9/11

2009-09-12T14:02:00.001-07:00

Today was Patriot Day and the Boy Scouts in our development put up flags in honor of 9/11. Here are Gracie, Emma and John-John before Emma went to school this morning. Emma had red, white and blue day at school to honor the day.

THE 2 PRINCESSES...

2009-08-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Emma had a half day of school today. So, John and Emma had a lot of time to play. They came downstairs dressed up like this... 2 princesses! Emma was curtsying and smiling like a pretty princess and then... there was John-John. Heaven help this little boy sandwiched between 2 girls. I had memories of me and my sisters dressing my poor little brother up in dresses and doing his hair, nails and make-up! Ah memories! What a pretty princess you make John-John!

Staying cool in the pool!

2009-08-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

We went swimming for Family Home Evening at a friends home last night. It was so fun! After a hot 105 degree day nothing beats the heat like jumping into a cool pool!

Here's Emma doing some tricks!

John-John smiling all the while!

Our funny boy!

I brought chocolate chip cookies over for a treat. Gracie had a few!

A full shot of everyone in the pool. Emma, John, Savannah and Micah Bramwell. Thanks Bramwell family for a great swimming party!

John's First Day of Preschool!

2009-08-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

John-John started preschool with Miss Autumn on Tuesday the 4th of August. He absolutely LOVES it because all his friends are in preschool with him! On his first day he was practically bursting to get in the car and go already! He had his Cars backpack on with his show and tell inside. It was the letter "A" so we brought Almonds (one of John's favorite snacks) to share with his class. He memorized "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for his poem memorization and recited it in front of the class (John is not shy!) and now he is working on memorizing "Mary Had A Little Lamb". He goes from 9am-12pm every Tuesday and Thursday. His favorite part of school??? Snack time! Go figure!

Miss Autumn and her preschool class

Making funny-faces!

Claire Richins is our backyard neighbor. John and her are best buds! They're in preschool together this year.

Handsome preschooler!

Emma's First Day of 1st Grade!!!

2009-08-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Emma started school on Monday the 10th of August. This is her second year at Benjamin Franklin Charter School in Queen Creek. She's an all-day 1st grader!!!! Don't get me started. I had a hard time sending her off but she was so excited! She gets to play on the big playground until the P.E. Coach, Mr. C (who every kid loves!), blows the whistle. The kids all line up at their classroom numbers and say the pledge, repeat a quote from the Constitution, sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and get the announcements. They then file off with their teachers to their rooms and start their day. She's gone from 8:15-3pm every day cramming her head full of good-old knowledge!

Emma in her pretty dress for her first day of school.

Look at those baby-blues!

Emma's classroom is #20

Already to go into her new classroom!
Emma was all smiles the whole morning!

There she goes! (Her teacher is Miss Slota- I told Emma it's "soda" with an "L".

Gracie meets the slide

2009-07-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

Gracie loved the slide at the hotel. She was so cute!

Alston Family Reunion

2009-07-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

And they're off! The Alston family had a reunion in Newport Beach, California te last week of July. We left on Saturday July 25th. It has been so much fun having time to play at the beach, Knott's Berry Farm, and the Aquarium. We had so much fun with Johnny's family in California!

Here are the kids in the car driving down the I-10 heading off to California.

Our little Gracie

Emma Kay and John-John having fun in the back seat

Welcome to California

Our pit-stop at McDonald's. They had a great Playplace!

I love to see the Temple...
I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray
For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty
I'll prepare myself while I am young, this is my sacred duty.
I love to see the temple, I'll go inside someday
I'll covenant with my Father, I'll promise to obey
For the temple is a holy place where we are sealed together
As a child of God I've learned this truth: A Family is Forever!

The Newport Beach Temple!

The Alston family

The Alston Allstars

John and Delia (parents); Johnny and Jamie with Emma, John-John and Gracie; Chris and Maria with Christopher, Rachel and Jonathan; Josh and Amelia, Jaimie, and Katie.

future missionary

Having fun in the game room at the Newport Coast Villas

Playing chess out at the pool

OK... I, Jamie, did a 12 week white-free challenge. This was so hard! The challenge was no white sugar, white flour, white rice and pasturized milk for 12 weeks. We started on the 1st of May and ended the 25th of July. Basically what saved me was having 12 free days to use whenever I wanted throughout the 12 weeks. My sister-in-law and I were the only ones to make it all 12 weeks! The reward was $100 and prizes for your left over free days. I had 3 free days left so I got 3 prizes and $100!!!

Here's me with my fruit leather and my Jamba Juice Gift Card.

Here's John-John at the park, just monkeying around

There was a Koi Pond at the front of the hotel with lots of big fish. The kids would have stayed here for hours if we let them! Grace kept yelling: "Fishy, fishy!!"

Playing golf with Daddy at the hotel

Making sand castles

Our little Gracie

On Monday we went to one of the many beaches in Newport. There was a lot of sand, sun and GREAT waves!

The cousins all built a sand castle together. It was later wiped out with the waves!

Building sand castles with daddy

We had so much fun swimming in the awesome pools at the hotel

We went to Knott's Berry farm on Tuesday. It was our first visit there and it won't be the last!

Bobsledding through the... warm pavement???

John-John and his cousin, Christopher loved this car ride. The car would go really slow in the circle and then whip really fast around to turn the corner. The boys would crack up every time they whipped around. It was hilarious!

Our big girl