California or Bust.........

We had our second annual Locksa family reunion. This year the entire Locksa family was able to attend. My Dad rented a house in Irvine, California. We are not a big "camping" family, so our reunions consist of beaches, beaches and more beaches :) The house he rented had a built in pool and jacuzzi. The girls went swimming every day! The water in the pool was pretty cold because the high in Irvine was never above 80, but my little fishes would just jump in. I was only brave enough to go in the jacuzzi. We had so much fun together. We went to Goofy's kitchen, Disneyland, the beach and of course we went shopping! It was great to have the whole family together, especially all 12 grandchildren!

My youngest nephew screamed when we put him in the pool, so he mostly stayed in the jacuzzi.

Goofy's Kitchen was a blast. Here are all 12 grandchildren.

The "teens" chatting before breakfast.

My niece Emalisa dressed up like her favorite character Sleeping Beauty in hopes that she might see her idol. Her dream came true and she met her idol, she was soooo excited!

Girls being girls!

Our family

My parents

I think Chip was telling secrets to Celeste and Ariana

Goofy and his biggest fan Cherish.

My nephew Hayden wasn't so sure about all these crazy characters.

Everyone dancing with Goofy.

Goofy, seriously attacking me!

Vanesa this ones for you!

Celeste, Goofy, and Ariana

Goofy, Savannah, Isabel, Ciera, Brendan and Cassy in the background.

Sleeping Beauty, Ciera and Savannah

Hayden wasn't so sure about all the characters, but he didn't mind Sleeping Beauty!

We also had the opportunity to eat at the restaurant in Disneyland that is in the Pirates of the Carribean ride. You seriously have to make a reservation 60 days in advance, just to get a seat! It was delicious, especially the "monte cristo sandwich. Thanks Tuggle family for the great recommendation! Here Chelsea is being, well, Chelsea!

First half of the family

and the second half

All Ariana wanted to do was visit her idol Minnie Mouse.

My nephew crashed back at the house. He looked so uncomfortable, so we straightened him out and he went right back to this position.

We had an awesome time at Newport Beach and of course had some people, who shall remain nameless (Chelsea and Kolena) that didn't put on their sunscreen and after four hours at the beach learned what extreme pain is!

We had such a blast together and have already started planning next year, San Diego here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Special Visitor

Today we had the opportunity to babysit my nephew Hayden. We absolutely adore our handsome little man. He is just the sweetest thing ever. My parents have 12 grandchildren and the last two are the only boys, so you can imagine how spoiled they are. The girls had so much fun today chasing him around and letting him chase them around.

He loves all of his girl cousins, but Ariana is his favorite. Ariana is the baby lover in the family and is so good with little children. She will be the best babysitter once she is old enough. I literally have hardly done anything today to care for our little man. They wanted to play with him, watch him and feed him. The only thing they allowed me to do was change his stinky diaper, oh lucky me :)

Our dog Twinky tried to get in on the feeding frenzy! The girls were feeding Hayden string cheese and tore off little pieces for him. At one point I looked over and Hayden was feeding Twinky the string cheese!

They played hard all day and then Ariana sat down to read him a book and he fell fast asleep on Ariana. It was nice to have a little boy in the house for a change :)

Kindergarten Graduates!

I can't believe how fast this school year has gone. Not only did my oldest survive her first year of High School, but my babies just graduated from Kindergarten! They have loved every minute of the school year. Ciera had Mr. Wray, who has taught at Alhambra Traditional for a gazillion years, he also taught Cherish and Ariana. What an awesome man. He just joined the LDS church about a year and a half ago and was just recently sealed to his wife Debbie. What an awesome man. I loved his slogan "You are #1 and you are special. Savannah had Mrs. Jones, who I had never had before, but heard such great things! Wow, she is an awesome teacher and Savannah loved every minute of her class. She is such a sweetheart and will be a lifetime friend. We found out she only lives about 2 miles from our house! The twins have thrived in Kindergarten and are great readers now. Savannah is even determined to read a Junie B. Jones chapter book! Time is truly flying by and I have learned to sit back and enjoy the ride because these moments are truly precious.

I was the homeroom mom for Ciera's class and they presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for all my hard work. I enjoyed these parties so much, but it truly was hard work!

Ciera ready for graduation.



Savannah all ready for her diploma!




Ciera and her friend Kylie.

Mr Wray, Ciera and Kylie

Mrs. Jones and Savannah

Savannah and Mrs. Jones Aide, Mrs. Paty

Savannah, Brynlie and Ciera

Ciera and Mr. Wrays aide, Mrs. Opel

Honor Roll Award Night

We are very proud of our girls for being on Honor Roll again this year. The twins were very disappointed that they don't do honor roll in Kindergarten, but they do start it in first grade. We look forward to many more trophies next year :) Congratulations Ariana and Cherish.

Cherish and Ariana

Ariana and her friend Sophia

David and his girls

Me and the girls

Ariana and her BFF Kia

Cherish and her friend Lorena ( one of the forever five)

Ariana's 3rd grade Field Trip

This week I had the opportunity to help chaperone Ariana's 3rd grade field trip. We really enjoyed ourselves and had a great group of girls. It was super hot (107), I think Ariana and I had a little heat stroke, but it was nice spending time with my daughter and her friends. This is my third trip to the Wildlife Zoo in the past two months. I have the place memorized now if anyone needs a tour guide :)

Talia, Sophia, Jessica and Ariana

Ariana liked this picture because it was a Mommy turtle with her baby turtle.

The girls were really excited about the Swans because in their class right now they are reading "The Trumpet of the Swan".

These girls were so cute!

They enjoyed feeding the giraffe.

This is at the new aquarium, they children are allowed to pet the stingrays.

Happy to be inside the air conditioned aquarium!