Little Orphan Kate

Natalya has had the awesome opportuinity to participate in a musical theater class at Bunker Dance Center. She has grown so much since she began the class last August. Her class has learned to: use their imaginations, tap into their emotions, sing theatrically, audition for specific parts, experience "call-backs", practice routines that include solos, and a whole lot of who-knows-what. It's amazing to see her gain so much confidence throughout her experience.

For the last several months they have been practicing for their year-end recital in June. They will be performing a musical medley from the play, Annie. Natalya plays the part, Kate, who is the second littlest orphan. She has a small solo in "It's a Hard Knock Life" that she is very proud of.

Here she is - looking like an orphan for picture day.

We're so proud of all her hard work and dedication. She truly loves musical theater. This class has created such a positive experience for her that she now wants to continue singing, dancing, and acting for the rest of her life.

At the Car Wash, Yeah

As a little girl, Saturdays were my favorite day of the week. They still are. I use to wake up to the sound of my dad mowing the lawn outside. Then I'd help him pull weeds. But my favorite thing was washing the car. Some of my happiest memories were washing the car with my dad. It's cool to see my kids love the same things that I so enjoyed growing up.

Disney Magic

3 Kids. 2 Days. Disneyland. It was magic. From start to finish, our trip to Disneyland was pretty great.

The kids earned this trip. We gave Natalya and Branson each personal goals. When both of them reached their goals they earned a trip to Disneyland. It took several months - but it was definitely worth the wait.

Our house knows her as "Nana" but the rest of the world knows her as Kathy, Brian's mom. Brian asked her to come, and to our happy surprise she was able to join us! Kathy drove down from Utah the day before we left together for California. It was so nice to have an extra adult around. And the kids (big and small) loved reconnecting with their Nana. :)

I took a million pictures. Here's a few...

This is his, "I'm excited to be driving to Disneyland" face.

Our hotel was just what what we were looking for. A block away from Disneyland, continental breakfast, free parking, a cute little spot for Irelynn to sit, AND...

BUNK BEDS! A total hit.

These faces aren't just happy because they're headed to Disneyland - they're happy to be on a BUS headed for Disneyland. Who knew riding on a bus would be just as exciting as riding on The Matterhorn?!

During my early childhood years, much of my time was spent going to Disneyland with my BFF Monika. Now that she's grown, she gets to work for The Walt Disney Company at Disneyland doing technical stuff. I don't know exactly what all that entails, but it sounds awesome to me. It was nice to spend some time with she and her husband while we were there.





First ride excitement!


Toon Town roller coaster - one of Branson's favorite rides.

This was Natalya's first time on a roller coaster. And this was her, "That freaked me out, but I want to do it again" look.

Do you think Natalya and Irelynn have the same hair type? Lucky girls.

Irelynn was fascinated with the White Rabbit's little door that was just her size.

Ahhh. Every parent loves a sleeping child. While they were asleep, the "big kids" got to go on Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

Branson had a hard time deciding whether it was more important to smile for the camera or keep his eyes on the road while driving his car on Autotopia.

Natalya got to meet Rosetta, Tink, and Terence at Pixie Hollow.

We're about to go on The Matterhorn! These are our scared faces.

Kidding! We're excited. And The Matterhorn ended up being Natalya's favorite ride. We rode it twice.

As much as Branson loved the roller coasters, I've never seen him more excited than he was on It's A Small World. I think we heard, "Look at that!" about a hundred times.

We spotted Lightning and Mater while at California Adventure. Branson was in Heaven. Although there was a line of people waiting to take their picture after us, we had a hard time coaxing Branson away from his favorite cars.

Sully was such a tease. Every time someone tried to take his picture, he'd walk away. We were lucky to get this shot.

Minnie has a sweet tooth! We were all eating churros by the time we got to take our picture with her. And she snagged one.

We can't leave the park without dropping a penny in Snow White's wishing well.

"Who so pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise ruler born of England..."

When I was little, I actually pulled the sword out of the stone! Merlin made me "Ruler of the Realm". He dressed me up, gave me a certificate... I'll never forget that.

We didn't have tears very often while at the Happiest Place on Earth, but I knew it was coming when we told Branson it was time to go.

We had a great time. 'Till next year, Walt!

Attorney Retreat

Once a year, Brian's office invites all associates, partners, and their spouses to a business retreat in Phoenix. My mom, bless her sweet heart, agreed to watch the kids for us. She's a saint. It was such a relief knowing that our kids were well taken care of so that we could relax.

The weather was gorgeous. It certainly didn't feel like the desert. We had blue skies, mid-70's temperatures, and the resort grounds exhibited beautifully manicured lawns and flowers. You could smell the flowers from just outside our room.

We stayed at the Biltmore. Wow! What an amazing resort. (I didn't take tons of pictures, so here are a few stock photos along with some pictures that I took.)

Looking at the front of the Biltmore. (stock photo)

One of the bazillion pools. (stock photo)

Lobby. (stock photo)


This is the courtyard outside of our building. It was so beautiful to walk past all the fountains and flowers on our way to breakfast every morning.





In between cottages you could play golf on the putting green.


Or your choice of chess or checkers on the life size game board. There was also croquet.


I'm the queen :)


Dinner on the terrace.








On our patio, looking out from our room.



Brian kept in contact with a girl he baptized while on his mission in Brazil. She and her husband live in Tuscon and drove to Phoenix to meet us during our trip. They were really good to us; they took us out to lunch and then to an outdoor shopping mall. I was glad we had the chance to meet them.

Despite the stress of trying to leave town and making arrangements for the kids, we were miraculously able to relax and enjoy a quick trip - just the two of us.

A Baby Party

My good friend, Chelsea, is expecting a baby boy! And because her first little sweetheart is a girl, a mutual friend and I offered to throw her a shower.

I love a party. We served a Saturday morning brunch and had a great turnout. I had never made a diaper cake before, but it turned out to be pretty easy. We took a simple approach to the shower - food and friends.

Chelsea is a great friend and a fantastic mother. Their baby boy is lucky to join the Vocanna crew.