Just Mom 'nd Me A to Z

Me

A. Age: 13
B. Bed size: Twin (covered in stuffed animals of course)
C. Chore that you hate: garbage and dishes
D. Dogs: love them and now have one
E. Essential start to your day: get dressed
F. Favorite color: blue
G. Gold or silver: silver
H. Height: 5'9"ish
I. Instruments you play: flute and voice
J. Job title: Student
K. Kids: better not have any!
L. Live: Logan, Utah
M. Mother's name: Joy
N. Nicknames: Cele, Celebeli, stinker, cutie-pie, silly goose
O. Overnight hospital stays: just when I was born
P. Pet peeves: people who believe they are better than anyone else
Q. Quote from a movie: "Jack Kelly? Yeah, he was here, but he put an egg in his shoe and beat it." Newsies
R. Right or left handed: right
S. Siblings: step-brother James (he's 4)
T. Time you wake up: 6:30 am M, T, Th, F and 7:30 on Wed. (late start at school ) Saturday and Sunday as late as possible!
U. Underwear: of course
V. Vegetable you hate: easier to say which ones I like!
W. What makes you run late: getting caught up in a book
X. X-rays you've had: dental
Y. Yummy food that you make: chocolate chip applesauce cookies
Z. Zoo animal: Giraffes and Zebras

Mom

A. Age: 32
B. Bed size: Full
C. Chore that you hate: cleaning the bathroom(s)
D. Dogs: love them and now have one
E. Essential start to your day: teeth brushed, deodorant, hair brushed, etc.
F. Favorite color: purple
G. Gold or silver: either depends on what I'm wearing and what goes better
H. Height: 5'9"ish
I. Instruments you play: violin and voice
J. Job title: Manager @ Subway, Student, Mom, Parent Board volunteer for CCC
K. Kids: 1 Celestra Alake
L. Live: Logan, Utah
M. Mother's name: Nedra
N. Nicknames: Never had any
O. Overnight hospital stays: 2, 1 week when I was 9 yrs old for a complete stomach blockage and 3 ulcers and 3 days when I gave birth to Cele
P. Pet peeves: Hypocrites
Q. Quote from a movie: "INCONCEIVABLE"...."You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Princess Bride
R. Right or left handed: semi-ambidextrous but I favor my right hand for writing
S. Siblings: this gets convoluted so, you have been warned! 5 older 1/2 siblings, 2 sisters & 3 brothers(names in order: Sheryl, Joseph, Donna, Robert, Jack); 1 full sister, younger (Penny); 6 adopted siblings 4 sisters & 2 brothers with 1 older and 5 younger (names in order: Desiree, {me}, Nicholas, Scott, Tonya, Alisha, Melissa)
T. Time you wake up: 8 a.m. M-Th & 7 a.m. F
U. Underwear: Never leave without them
V. Vegetable you hate: Brussel sprouts
W. What makes you run late: my schedule and not enough sleep or time in the day
X. X-rays you've had: dental, foot, and arm (foot and arm were both broken)
Y. Yummy food that you make: according to Cele about anything I actually bother to cook
Z. Zoo animal: penguins and monkeys

Welcome to the Family

We have a new family member! And she's adorable! At least we think so. Meet Maya, our new addition. Cele is super excited to finally have a dog of her own and we are looking forward to getting to know and bonding with our newest family member. Of course we get to have all the fun of house training and all the other little goodies that come with a puppy but its all good.

Here We Go Again

Well here we go again. Time to start the concert hoopla. Cele's (and usually mine as well) first 'performance' is again the USU Homecoming Parade on Saturday, September 24. Parade starts at 10 am. It runs from 100 S. to 800 N. down main street. So bring the kids and come have a blast! Holler at us and we'll even wave to you. I might even give you something special *wink* We are usually on the west side of the street.

Then for her second performance of the year, the choir will be performing at the Family Fair inside the Cache County Building. (Just south of 200 N Main) This will take place on Monday, October 3 at 5:30 pm. As I understand it, this performance also includes a carnival with fun things like a magician, ice cream, and other fun booths.

So come join us and help us start off our year with a bang!

Let's Play Catch-Up!

Finally! We're back! Now you get to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the rest of our summer! Cele finished her summer with two more camps, the funnest of the four she says. She got to, once again, spend an entire week in the Ephraim mountains riding horses and then two weeks later got to participate, for the first time, in CCC's vocal performance camp. She had an absolute blast at both. So, baring any operas with children's chorus's, she wants to do both again next summer. We also got to attend the opera Oliver! thanks to Grandma Eiko. Cele was super excited about this because several of her choir friends were in it, including one of her best friends playing Noah Claypool (the bully). Other than that its been back to school time and getting ready for that fun. Cele started back yesterday and I go back on Monday. Man this summer just flew!

Horsemanship Camp

Cele's horse Angel

A few camp friends

This horse sure liked the taste of the tree

Off to Oliver!

Can you believe it? I got her to dress up!

Cele with her friends Samantha and Riley (Noah Claypool)

Doesn't Cele look gorgeous! And so grown up.

Vocal Performance Camp

For The Beauty Of The Earth

He'll Make A Way

Be Our Guest

Happy Little Working Song

Back to School

Cele is now officially an 8th grader

More problems

So my blog is having issues again and I can't seem to post any pictures or videos for the time being. I have lots to tell everyone about and as soon as I can get the problem fixed I will do a proper update. Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten you!

A Family Visit

So I figured it was about time for an update. Sorry it took so long. This has been one very busy, crazy summer. Here's a rundown of what we've done so far.

1) We've moved out of Aggie Village. Hooray!

2) Cele has participated in two out of four camps she has scheduled for this summer. Both of her first two were through her school and were focused on science and engineering. In the first she got to build her own trebuchet and in the second she got to go on several field trips, including where her grandpa (used to) work in the Space Dynamics Lab, all focused on exposing the kids to the world of engineering. She had a blast at both.

3) We had a fun visitor for a week. Cele's favorite cousin came to visit from Spokane. What a blast the girls had together. We loved having her visit. Cele sure didn't want her cousin to go home at the end of the week! The pictures below are from her visit.

Cele waiting, not so patiently, for her cousin to appear at the airport

Celestra and Brianne together for the first time since Bri's High School graduation.

Nah they don't like each other now do they?

Hanging out with uncle Jack/dad in the front room

Hmm where to put you.... I think you will find your home in...

Ravenclaw!

And just where shall I put you? Why I think

your true friends shall be found in....

Slytherin

You might think they're excited about the last Harry Potter huh

As Part of Brianne's visit, we gave her a little tour of USU since her mom and I are both alumni (though I'm still going).

Having fun with the sculpture outside the Natural Resources building

The fountains behind the TSC (Taggart Student Center)

The view at the top of Old Main Hill

Old main's foundation sure looks like a castle

The cool Asian statue on campus

The Business building - tallest building on the campus

Me thinks Cele is tired

The new library

The Performance building - the newest building on campus

(fun fact: Cele and I have both gotten to perform here. It's AMAZING)

We're back!

Day 31 - A picture of yourselfWell since it didn't say it had to be recent. Here is a picture of me from a few years ago. Back when my hair was long enough to sit on and get caught in everything!

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss

Well this one was fairly obvious for me. I still miss my mom but I always will.

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

You gotta love this pic of Celestra. The story still makes me laugh. The day before pictures she was outside goofing off and scraped up her nose, thus the band-aide. Then right before school on picture day she does it again, and thus we have the scrape below the band-aide. The big grin? Yeah that's the best part.

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of
The one thing I am the most scared of is loosing Celestra. It would kill me and I'm not sure I could go on without her. It is amazing to me the strength shown by those parents out there that have lost a child and are still able to go on. That is beyond my imagining. She is my world.

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member
The bestest family member in the world. Even if she is a bit of a goofball most of the time. Love you tons baby girl.

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
My family is very important to me. I missed out a lot on the extended portion of that with my childhood and I am forever grateful that Celestra is blessed with an absolutely amazing extended family. We are also extremely blessed with an additional family that, for some odd reason, claim us even though we hold no blood relation to them. You are all amazing and we love you tons, both blood and adopted.

Day 25 - A picture of your day
Yep this is really what we did today. Made a trip down to the airport to pick up my niece and Cele's favorite cousin. Partly because Brianne is her only female cousin.