S U R P R I S E ! ! !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

Amanda came to me Friday afternoon and asked me if she could plan a SURPRISE Birthday PARTY for Alyssa.  I thought, how sweet, and then said of course you can plan a party!  GOOD LUCK!  And good luck is what she needed, because all of the phone numbers she needed to contact Alyssa's friends are in Alyssa'a cell phone.  We tried all kinds of lies to get Alyssa's phone away from her!  But in the end Amanda was able to get a hold of enough people, and there were 22 teens at the party!  Amanda knows how to throw a great party!  They BBQed Hamburgers with the fixings, went swimming, roasted marshmello's, danced, and ate lots of cake!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alyssa!  and  GOOD JOB Amanda! 

Getting ready for the SURPRISE!  I took Alyssa shopping while, Amanda, Adyson, and Justin set up and decorated.

Graduation - CLASS OF 2009!

Tuesday, May 19th Alyssa graduated from 8th grade!  I cried a couple of days ago when she graduated from kindergarden, and I worked really, really hard to not cry Tuesday night!  I really can't even comprehend how fast time goes by.  I am pretty sure that time went A LOT slower when I was a kid!  The graduation was really nice.  For the first time ever Marshall Ranch held their ceremony at Ironwood High School, instead of outside in the grass at Marshall Ranch.  I was really very grateful for that, I think we were experiencing record breaking heat for the month of May!  (113 degrees is what was showing on my car thermometer!) 

This limo belongs to the dad of one of Alyssa's friends.  They got to go for a ride in it to Peter Piper Pizza after graduation.  Lucky Alyssa, I didn't get to ride in a limo until I was 36!

Alyssa and all of her friends posing for a picture before leaving in the limo!

Finding a beautiful graduation dress with sleeves was IMPOSSIBLE!  My friend Linda Bennett once told me, "A modest dress"  "PRICELESS".  She was right, if you want a dress with sleeves, you are going to pay for it!  Did I really just pay $60.00 just for the sleeves? YEP  ($30 for the fabric to match the dress, and another $30 to have them made!) OUCH!!

She looked BEAUTIFUL!

18 years and counting!

Justin and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 17th of May! YEAH!!  It has been a good life together!  I love him more now than I could have ever imagined 18 years ago.  Sometimes I just look at him and can't help but think "He is ALL mine!"   Here's to forever!!!!  

This picture was taken on our honeymoon at Sandal's in Jamaica, May 1991.

This was taken in Las Vegas 2 weeks ago.

I wish this was taken in Paris, in front of the real Eiffel Tower!  Someday we WILL go there!

Promotion Festivities!

The Marshall Ranch Promotion dance was in our backyard Friday night.  The turn out was fantastic (75 of the 90 something kids attended) and everyone had a great time!  I have to say that it looked beautiful!  We have a lot of really great parents at Marshall Ranch that helped pull this event off!  And then we have my great friend Bethany that came over on Friday and spent 6 hours helping me clean my house, and set up the amazing food table and tables!  THANK YOU BETHANY!!!  It was so much fun, I hope we get to have it here again next year when Amanda graduates!

Alyssa with some her friends.

A side view of the food table.

An overall view of the party/dance.

A front view of the food table.

Friday morning started out with the 8th grade awards ceremony.  Alyssa received 2 awards,  Honor Roll, and the Presidential Award for Fitness!  Way to go Alyssa, GOOD JOB!

More Get-A-Way Pics!

Justin and I people watching at a cafe inside the New York New York Hotel

Scott and Linda enjoying a gondola ride at the Venetian.  The woman guiding the gondola sang Happy Birthday to us in Italian, it was much more beautiful than the English version!

This is the Beazley House Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in, in the beautiful city of Napa.

Napa Valley scenery. 

40 is Fabulous!

At least that is what I am trying to convince myself of!  Justin took me on a birthday get-a-way to Napa Valley, and then on to Las Vegas.  For a long time I have wanted to ride in a hot air balloon over Napa Valley, so we flew into San Francisco, drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and then on to Napa.  But due to unstoppable rain my balloon wish did not come true.  But we still had a very fun romantic weekend!  We then met our friends Scott and Linda Copp in Las Vegas.  Linda and I have birthdays 1 day apart, so we celebrated together!  We saw the Cirque de sole - LOVE, and stayed at the really fun New York New York Hotel.