Wall Family Blog

Laura Bishop Banks & family visit So Cal

2010-03-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

The Banks visited us while Gary was out here working and their kids were on Spring break. They came to our house for dinner after a day at Disneyland!

Gary & Laura

Isabel is 8

Isabel entertained Zorro for a VERY long time : )
Oliver is 6 and Elliott is 4

After Oliver finished off his brownie & ice cream there was still a bit of ice cream on his plate. I asked him if he wanted a piece of apple pie to go with that ice cream. He said "yes please". And he polished that off too : )
We loved hanging out with them! Gary is a great story teller, Laura is as sweet as I remember, and their kids are a delight!!!

City of Children

2010-03-10T10:10:00.001-08:00

City of Children, March 2010

What a great group of family and friends went to Ensenada this year! The Grandes, Giboneys, Katches, Davises, Walls, Pratts, and Thomases enjoyed serving together. (Mike and Austin are missing from this picture because they had to leave early to get Austin back for Tech rehearsals for Little Women).

Disney w/ Debbie

2010-03-10T10:05:00.001-08:00

I had a glorious day of fun at Disneyland/CA Adventure with a dear "old" friend recently.

I want Disneyland's gardener! (and budget for flowers!!!)
We both love to go on fun rides!

We started the day at CA Adventure and ended at Disney. The crowds were the lightest I've ever seen, so maybe Tuesday is a good day to go!

Valentine Cotillion

2010-02-23T16:09:00.000-08:00

The annual mother/son Cotillion is a highlight for me. This year, Mike got to go too as a chaperone! He ended up being used to dance with the young ladies, since there weren't enough boys.

The Awahnee

2010-02-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Romantic dinner for two at the famous Awahnee Dinning Room! I had roasted pork and Mike had venison. We finished it off with chocolate pecan pie a la mode. It was all amazing!!!
The view from our 4th floor room was of Yosemite Falls!!!!!

We caught the sunset from our room...

Looking through the screen of our bedroom window. It was so beautiful!

No school

2010-02-17T20:49:00.001-08:00

On Friday, Feb 12 we didn't have school, so we went to Disneyland/CA Adventure. The tulips at Disneyland were amazing : )
The lines were longer than we like (apparently the combo of Pres Day, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day made for a busy weekend at Disney) so we took the Monorail over to ESPN Zone for some arcade action. G & B played hoops for over 1/2 an hour on a broken hoops game...

California Adventure anyone? Last time we were at Disney w/ the cousins we didn't get over to CA Adventure, so we had to go ride our favorites : )

Ready for a day of fun - of course, any day without school is fun!

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-01-05T17:47:00.001-08:00

Amazing sunset on Christmas Eve!

Three beauties watching the sunset...
Cutie!

Cousins Rock!!!

Cousins...

Garrett has great form when throwing the frisbee

...and a great smile too!

Michaela on the Ripstick

Beach babe

The morning after a cousin party - playing Monopoly

Looking back on these photos, I'm surprised I didn't take any of the girls with Zorro. He's one of the reasons they came to visit : )

Christmas vacation 09

2010-01-05T16:28:00.001-08:00

The day after Christmas we went to Mammoth with the Katches. The snow was great but it was COLD!!!!! We had a GREAT time!

The whole crew on day 1
Just the kids

G & G came to Austin's Choral Concert the week before Christmas

Andy & Carrie and family came to our house on Christmas Eve to spend the day and to meet Zorro : )

Austin & G & G before his concert

We took lots of photos to get our Christmas card picture

He's a big boy - just 8 mos old and almost 10 lbs

Typical cat - wants to be on top of whatever you are doing! He is sitting on my paperwork while I try to work at the computer

Christmas Day at Andy & Carrie's

Ben, do you have pics from your trip out here at Thanksgiving???

More Zorro

2009-12-01T07:38:00.001-08:00

Blake and Zorro (or is it Zoro??)

Awesome cat - he loves people
We call this the "plop"

Blake is looking at the camera

Zorro is looking at the camera - love how this shot captures his blue eyes

A favorite position - on the couch for lovins...

Blake's baptism

2009-11-28T19:08:00.001-08:00

Blake Thomas was baptized on Nov 22, 2009 at the Conejo Valley Church of Christ by his grandpa, Philip Wall.

I now baptize you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, ...
First hug!

Proud mommy and daddy!

A toast for Blake

The cousins were there for Blake's big day

Tricky to get 10 cousins to all look at the camera at the same time!

Zoro

2009-11-28T19:02:00.001-08:00

We brought Zoro home today!!! He's not sure about his new home, but here he is sitting on the couch watching football with the boys : )

Unfortunately, the flash makes his blue eyes not show up...
SO soft!

We found out his b-day is April 1, which makes him almost 8 mos old

He is still considered a kitten! Wow!

Hawaii 0-9

2009-11-16T18:20:00.001-08:00

When Blake surfed in Waikiki this summer a guy sold me these awesome pictures for pretty cheap : ) This was a real highlight for Blake while we were in Hawaii!!!

Love the way he positioned Diamond Head in the background! We've hiked to the top of that crater with some very special people: Andy and Carrie, Jon and Becky and their family... When are we going back???

Fall soccer season begins

2009-09-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

Garrett's team started off their season on Sat a.m. with a 1-1 tie. I think all the games this season will be very tough!
His team had a game on Sunday vs. his old club team. By half-time they were down 0-1, but in the end they came back to win 3-1. Good to see dear friends : )

I have great photos of Garrett's games because of Nora, a mom on his team who takes lots of photos with her amazing camera and then posts them for us all to share.

I don't have any photos of Blake's 1st club season game, but he did great and they fought tough against a very physical team. They lost 0-1.

Mike is on his way to Singapore tonight. He will be back on Sat night. Pray for safety in his travels!!!

Still summer...

2009-09-06T19:41:00.001-07:00

Garrett slips and slides all the way to the street!!!!

The block wall is gone, and on Sat we planted 3 big palm trees between our house and our neighbor's driveway. Garrett and Blake broke out the slip n slide with their boogies boards and enjoyed a summer afternoon...

A good shot of Blake and the new palm trees!

Blake putting on the moves!

We still need our mason to finish the stucco wall and we plan to put grass in up to the edge of the driveway. Seems like there is always something!

First Day of school!

2009-09-02T11:37:00.001-07:00

Our Junior in HS - he's an upper classman!

Our 8th and 7th graders!
Garrett was pointing out this week that he will always be in school with a brother. Next year he will be in high school w/ Austin, and the following year Blake will come to high school. Ah, the joys of being the middle child...

King's Kamp

2009-08-17T20:32:00.001-07:00

Paula and Phyllis - 6th grade teachers at King's Kamp!

Paula, Anna, and Ashley modeling the Kamp shirts
Extreme Makeover: Heart Edition was the theme - lots of construction!

Michaela and Blake went for the soccer ball at the same time - she drew the short straw this time... Jacey stuck by her side....

Anna and Markus were awesome Kiddie Kampers!!!

Matchie, matchie!

The hottest game was Ninja!

Anna helped in so many ways. Here she is in the snack shack adding the syrup to snow cones!

Girls' human pyramid from class one day. We had 2 boys cabins and one girls cabin for a total of 22 kids. They were great!

Ready for Barn!!!!

Even Ashley enjoyed Barn!

Ashley helped too! Plus she got really dirty....

For Tommy & Bill

2009-07-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

This is for Tommy & Bill (it's the local, current fishing report). bw

Water stained; 88 degrees; 6.84' low. Black bass are good on Bass Hogg spinnerbaits near the docks, and on redbug Grande Bass worms and watermelon red Berkley saber tails around docks and brushpiles in 12 - 15 feet. Hybrid striper are good trolling or drifting shad in Hybrid Alley and around docks at night. White bass are excellent on Li'l Fishies and Persuader crankbaits off lighted docks at night. Crappie are good on minnows and Li'l Fishies in 10 - 18 feet. Channel catfish are good on trotlines baited with cutbait and chicken livers in 12 - 20 feet. Yellow catfish are good on trotlines baited with cutbait and chicken livers.

Lake fun!

2009-07-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

Let me know if you didn't receive a map to the lake! See you soon! bw

Michaela's Braces!

2009-07-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Michaela got braces today! Her color choices were lilac and baby blue. Her top lip is hurting from rubbing against the braces but she's a trooper.

Here are the before pics:

...And after!

P.S. on East Coast Trip

2009-07-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've recently completed my summary of our trip to the East Coast (in 7 installments). Arlene, this is my electronic version of your scrapbooks. You can check it out at andybwall.blogspot.com. The people in our house are getting very excited about Brownwood and our little preview in Sedona.

D.C. Trip

2009-07-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

We have arrived safely back from our East Coast trip! We had a awesome time, learned a ton, did many many things, and made some great memories! Although I didn't post any pics on here, for you facebookers click here to see the photos I've posted there!

Happy B-day Phil!

2009-07-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

We are so glad you were born on July 12, 1935. You've been all over the world, seen all kinds of things, helped a lot of people, done a bunch of stuff... We are so happy to call you dad and grandpa! We love you so much!!!!

21 years...

2009-07-13T07:34:00.001-07:00

Mike took me to dinner Sun evening to celebrate 21 years of marriage : ) He surprised me by taking me to Sofi, which is the Greek restaurant where he proposed to me! We had increadibly yummy Greek food!!!

San Juan Cap tourney

2009-07-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Blake's new club team had a tournament in San Juan Capistrano this past weekend. We took Mikey with us cuz we didn't want to leave him home alone for so long! We are d0g-sitting him until Friday... Blake's team played well and ended up winning 2 games and losing 2 games. Only 3 goals scored against them all weekend.
Arlene and Bill came to watch game 1. We lost 1-2, but Arlene, Mikey and I enjoyed the shade of this tree and a nice breeze. We all went out to lunch after the game and had a wonderful time catching up. After lunch we went to their place for ice cream and cookies - Yum!

Hawaii (part 3)

2009-07-08T20:28:00.001-07:00

Hawaiian shave ice - yum!

Blake surfed on Waikiki beach!
Blake is out there somewhere!!!

Garrett's new friend - Mr. Turtle

Blake and his turtle friend

Garrett and Blake had just jumped off this big rock at Waimea bay!

This was a favorite beach - Pupunae (or something like that)

This was a great snorkeling beach!

The North Shore is calm in the summer - the big waves are here in the winter

The Pali lookout is SO windy!!!!

Pali lookout

Sunset from out lanai

Hawaii (part 2)

2009-07-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

PV United, the 2nd place team (out of 14)!!!!

Sunset on the catamaran - just before the awesome fireworks over Waikiki!
Moon & Diamond Head - cool

Getting on the catamaran to watch the fireworks on July 4th!

Hanauma Bay - a favorite snorkeling spot

Hanauma Bay - just after snorkeling

A picturesque spot at the Dole plantation

Enjoying pineapple smoothies at the Dole plantation

Time of 36 min for the world's largest maze - pretty good!

These big guys were "parked" right next to our soccer complex. Crazy!

Rainbow tournament in Hawaii (part 1)

2009-07-08T13:56:00.001-07:00

One day the soccer team decided to play 3-D, indoor, glow-in-the-dark mini-golf!!!

Here is an example of the soccer fields - very nice!

At the top of Diamond Head crater, overlooking Honolulu
At the base of Diamond Head, with the Reeds!!!

Seal Life Park was small and FUN!!!

Snorkeling with the manta rays at Sea Life Park!

The dolphin show at Sea Life Park was fantastic! The view was great too...

Waiting for the dolphins.... ice cream cools us off....

Feeding the sea turtles - they really like lettuce and broccoli, and zuchini not so much...

Come to Brownwood

2009-07-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

We can't wait for you to come to Brownwood!! There's a new addition to help us relax!! bw

Prayers needed!!

2009-06-24T22:14:00.001-07:00

My friend Ron Stowe needs your prayers! Ron & I were Youth Ministers in SoCal but he has Acute Respitory Distress Syndrome resulting from the Swine Flu and is on life support in Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. Pray for his wife Lauren, and kids Ali (21), Aaron (16), Victoria (15) & Nathan (11). Will you pray with me? bw

Father's Day weekend

2009-06-22T08:49:00.001-07:00

In honor of Father's Day, we went to Yiannis for gyro and fried zucchini w/ tzatziki. YUM!!! After dinner (on Sat evening) we went to see UP!

Grandpa shows off his new Lakers' championship cap
Hangin' out at G & G's

Garrett's team went undefeated in their soccer tourney to take 1st place in their division. Since the tourney was in Moorpark, Andy and Carrie and Jessica and Michaela, PLUS grandma and grandpa got to see the Sat. afternoon match. Very exciting!!!

Congrats Mom & Dad (49 years & counting:)

2009-06-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

49 years ago on June 12, Lois Barnhart married Phil Wall and I'm one of many who are so glad God brought them together! Here's to you Mom & Dad (even if this post is a few days late:).

I'm looking foward to being with you next June for the 50th celebration! bw

Blog Link

2009-05-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

You can find a quick link to Andy's blog on the right (just click once and you'll be there).

Be safe bro--and have a great time! Lakers won impressively tonight! Lamar was a monster! bw

If You're Interested...

2009-05-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

I've created a new blog to keep in touch with family, friends and Conejo Church members during my sabbatical/ministerial leave this summer. If you'd like to see what I'm up to, go to andybwall.blogspot.com. Looking forward to being together this summer!

Baseball pix!

2009-05-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

Alex & Elijah have really enjoyed baseball this year! Elijah's team has tied every game. Alex's team is in 1st place and we play tomorrow & Tuesday to wrap up regular season!

Mike's b-day

2009-05-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear dad/Mike, happy birthday to you!!!!
On Mike's B-day we went to Disneyland - here we are on Dumbo!!

At the Blue Bayou restaurant they provided a dessert with a candle in it for Mike's b-day!

What a lovely place for a b-day meal! Very romantic! Who could ever guess it's the middle of the day? We had fireflies and a dusky sunset in the bayou... (as the boat floated by in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)

At the entrance to Disneyland!

Yes, for Mike's b-day we went to Disneyland without our kids! It was great! Since I'm a huge Disneyland fan, this was actually part of my Christmas present. Mike got in free since it was his birthday. We got to ride everything we wanted, all on our own time table.

Mike

2009-05-19T20:51:00.003-07:00

Mike

2009-05-19T20:51:00.001-07:00

Winners!

2009-05-17T20:47:00.001-07:00

PV United - first 1st place

What a great sports day!!!!! Blake's team wins their first 1st place medal at a tournament, and the Lakers and Dodgers win big! Yahoo!!!

building the pool deck...

2009-05-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

New do!

2009-05-04T07:12:00.001-07:00

Blake's new do!

Ready to cut off the curls!
Blake is ready for a shorter hair style for the summer. I think he's ready for it!!!

Ragnar Relay Race

2009-04-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, a team of 12 friends and I ran from Santa Barbara to Dana Point (about 180 miles) in the first Los Angeles Ragnar Relay Race. We had a great time, with each team member running three legs, ranging from 3 to 10 miles. Our team name was Beauty and the Beasts (1 woman, 11 men); Beauty was our 2nd fastest runner! We placed 11th overall, 5th in our division. We were very pleased with our results.

We had a brief rest-stop in Palos Verdes at the Thomas home (11:30 p.m. - 5:00 a.m.). And I had a couple of special friends meet me a the finish line (see below)!

Ready to run my next leg of the race

Another leg completed

Dinner stop in Malibu

At Huntington Beach, Brookhurst Ave.

At the finish line -- we did well!

Fun to have Bill & Arlene there to greet me!

Earn that breakfast!

2009-04-27T14:46:00.001-07:00

Saturday dawned clear, coolish and beautiful. We chose to ride our bikes as a family to a landmark restaurant in Redondo Beach for a late breakfast. Eat at Joes did not disappoint! It was delicious and bounteous, so we counted the meal as breakfast and lunch. We burned off a bunch of the calories with our over two-hour bikeride. It was lovely to not have a soccer match on Saturday!

Stiches or not???

2009-04-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

I couldn't decide if I should have stitches on this gash, but ended up not going to the ER. Didn't want to waste my Saturday there, and didn't want them to shave my hair. Vain yes, but I also didn't think it was deep enough. It bled a bunch, as all head wounds do, but stopped pretty quickly.

I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and managed to get in the way of a log that was coming down the hill that took a bounce and went the way Mike didn't expect it to go... We were trying to clear out a dead tree that had fallen during the crazy winds recently. I will have a headache for days, I'm sure!

Final Cotillion

2009-04-18T15:24:00.001-07:00

Blake is ready for his last Cotillion of 6th grade!

Did you notice that the cast is gone???
Garrett's ready for his last 7yh grade Cotillion!

What gentelmen!

Yummo!

2009-04-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Garrett rolling out the dough...

"this ought to be good!"
One of Garrett's electives this year is a class called "Chef." (We called it cooking when I was in school). He is learning how to follow recipes and how to work safely in the kitchen. This week he made biscuits in class, so he made some for us this morning. They were yummo!

Galaxy day

2009-04-07T07:18:00.001-07:00

Landon Donovan just signed the back of Blake's shirt!

Landon Donovan signing Blake's cast!
Blake and Thomas at Galaxy Day!

The Galaxy came to PV for an afternoon this past Sunday. Blake met up with Thomas (from his select team) and they did a few drills together before getting to meet the players. Blake's main goal this day was to get Landon Donovan to sign his cast. Landon talked to him, asked how it happened, signed it, and also signed his shirt. Classy guy. (For those of you not so into soccer Landon Donovan is the most well known of the Galaxy - we don't actually count Beckam because we've never seen him play for the Galaxy).

Great Race of Agoura

2009-03-30T15:49:00.001-07:00

Early in the morning, the day of the Great Race of Agoura

After the Great Race, we enjoyed watching Michaela at her track meet
Michaela warming up...

...the fans watch from above...

...as Michaela runs the 440...

...and the 100 yd dash

Today we celebrate Ben's b-day! (40!!!!)

Mom made him a precious Memory book and we enjoyed Mary's Choc Cake!

Ben's weekend in CA

2009-03-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

So great to have the brothers together!!

The hostess with the mostest and #1 daughter!

Hard to tell the mom from the daughters...

We'll just take our own photo...

Michaela & Jessica wanted cookies & ice cream for their b-day treat : )

Cousins by the 1/2 dozens!

G & G wouldn't miss this get-together for anything!

Andy presents the cookies & ice cream w/ candles...

... everyone sings "Happy b-day to you",

...and the candles are all blown out!

Ben's iphone was popular with the nieces & nephews...

?????

2009-03-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Now I just knew I'd click on here and find pictures of the Wall Family Runners and such! I hope you have some--you know, for the 80th birthday scrapbook:)

Thanks for loving on Ben this weekend, everyone! He has had such fun and as always when we're with you, his heart is full! We only wish we could have been there too!

Aunt Carrie, I wish you could have seen O's face light up last night on the phone when she heard your name (or maybe you?)! It was priceless. "Aunt Cawwie!"

I can't even begin to tell you how excited the kids are for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive. Elijah has declared a plan for your arrival. "We'll just GO to the airport, RUN up to Grandma and Grandpa and give them GREAT BIG HUGS!" He's our little man with a plan.

We love you all!

No sports for 6 weeks!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-24T20:30:00.001-07:00

After the temporary splint came off we could see the deformed knuckle...

Poor finger can hardly point to the Xrays...
After a shot of novacain, Blake was very brave while the doctor manipulated his bone. Then they set the bone with this plaster splint.

Since the splint looks like a sock puppet, Blake and I added some touches to make it more personal. Blake named his new appendage "Dr. Pain"

He can't wait for the cousins to sign it this weekend when we are in Oak Park!!

A first...

2009-03-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

A broken finger!!!

In Blake's soccer game today he got kicked in the hand while he was diving for the ball in the goal. This happened in the 1st quarter of the game. By half-time his pain was getting more severe, and his hand was swelling, so we left the soccer game and went directly to an urgent care center for x-rays. The conclusion was that it is broken, just below the knuckle, and includes part of the growth plate. We will take him to a specialist this week, but for now he is in a splint. Pray for complete and quick healing!!!!!

Happy St Pat Day!

2009-03-19T11:50:00.001-07:00

Garrett with his corned beef and cabbage with green milk!

Did anyone get pinched???

Looking forward to summer!

2009-03-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

Hey family!
We just got back from a few days of spring break at the lake and it made us excited for our time together this summer! We have a new "cabana" going up that will be home to 8 hammocks down by the water. It will be a wonderful place to relax and watch the kids! Plus we enjoyed the go-cart, the giant pile of dirt and all the normal fun stuff.

Can't wait to be together!

Working...

2009-03-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

working at our comcast booth on saturday with my dear friend kim.

Math Counts

2009-02-21T16:53:00.000-08:00

Garrett and his trophy!

Today was the MathCounts competition for the South Bay/Santa Monica chapter. This is the largest chapter in the US, with 41 middle school teams competing. Miraleste came in 5th, which earned Garrett's team the right to compete at the state competition on March 21. The other middle schools on the hill came in 1st and 2nd, so PV rocks!!!

Mother/Son Cotillion

2009-02-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Garrett and his mom after Cotillion

Friday night's Cotillion included the Mother/Son (or Father/daughter) dance and the Waltz competition. I was lucky enought to attend the 6th grade dance and the 7th grade dance, so I could dance w/ Blake and Garrett. I got a pic of Blake and me on my cell phone, but I don't know how to transfer it onto my computer... We took this pic after we got home so he could show off his new hardware: the trophy from the Waltz contest!!! He and Lauren (a friend from our neighborhood whom he selected to dance with) were "crowned" prince and princess of the Waltz! (2nd place) The King of the Waltz was another soccer player from Garrett's MIS soccer team. It was quite a thrill. But my favorite was dancing with my boys - they are both very good at leading : )

Home Depot Center!

2009-02-19T19:06:00.001-08:00

Blake is ready to play a match at the Home Depot Center!

Blake and his teamates line up to go out on the field...
Blake's soccer team, PV United, was invited to play at half-time of the Pan-Pacific playoff soccer game last night. They got to play on the game field of the LA Galaxy. Blake played keeper, so he wore a different color than the rest of his team. At the end of the game, the score was 0-0. Not a huge crowd there to watch China vs Korea (well, teams from those countries), but all the parents and some fans were there : )

Around the house

2009-02-08T08:44:00.001-08:00

We are redoing the hallway floor so "our" sisters, Tina (in front) & Kelly came to help. Also, Chloe & Beatrice were very interested in what we were doing... And the last picture is Chloe in the backyard loving the warm sunny day. :)

girls just wanna have lunch...

2009-02-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

Had lunch this week with Sonserae, Deanna, and Loretta. Fun stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet Josie!!

2009-01-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

Josie is really alive and well at the Wall household! Here she is with Elijah & Alex--she really is a cute puppy!

A Noteworthy Performance

2009-01-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

Michaela performed as Gabriella in High School Musical, her school play. She did an outstanding job singing her extremely difficult solo, and blew the audience away every time she hit a high note. We are all very proud of her!

Three sisters

Michaela had a fun, sparkly dress!

Cousins by the dozens!

An Unforgettable Night!

2009-01-20T21:45:00.001-08:00

At the welcome home party for George W. Bush tonight I was truly blessed. It was a night I'll never forget--and I hope my kids never forget. Through a series of simple events, we got bumped from white (general admission) to red (VIP admission) and then to blue (event level admission) and were able to sit in the handicap section with our stroller & kids. We had a great view and were just blessed by getting to be near such an amazing person.

It is truly amazing to hear George Bush talk about what matters to him--and to hear his fondness for his wife and parents and the people of America--just so great!!

Here's a picture, and a link for more!!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30157915&id=1523289963&ref=mf

Middle school Math Field Day

2009-01-10T14:12:00.001-08:00

Our medal winner: Garrett

The entire Thomas family went to the middle school Math Field today. Garrett and Blake competed, Mike was a scorer, Austin was a proctor, and Phyllis was the snack lady. Garrett came away with a medal - way to go!

Christmas Fun

2009-01-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

The Walls, Grandma and Grandpa, and the Thomases came to our house! Family + Christmas = fun!

Olivia and Alex with stocking stuffers

The dessert table! (Delicious!)

Dogpile!

A fun Christmas dinner

I can't wait!

2009-01-05T12:34:00.001-08:00

I can't wait to see our "official" pictures--but this will have to suffice for now!

2009-01-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

here we are at my company christmas party. we took the picture oureslves. not too bad jst a little off centered.

Aunt Carol's Funeral

2009-01-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

We attended my Aunt Carol's funeral this December. She was a wonderful women that served God with all her heart. The service was very nice, filled with many fun stories of her life. Even the younger cousins shared memories. After the service, we laid flowers on her grave and ate a delicious dinner at Mimi's Cafe.

Ashley was there- yum!

Fun cousin table at Mimi's

Cousins by the dozens came to the service

Christmas vacation is for fun!

2009-01-01T11:47:00.001-08:00

Our last day at Six Flags this year (Dec 31)...

Lunch at Mooseburger
The whole family got to go!

When possible, Austin loves to be in the front car!

Viper is one of Austin's favorites...

The lines were so great we rode multiple times!

Santa brought us passes to Mulligans, so we went on Tues

Mini golf was very competitive - Garrett won by one stroke, the rest of us tied!

We play seriously... (ha)

Garrett and Blake attempt to scale the rock wall

We are having a great Christmas vacation! Since our season passes to Six Flags expire on 12/31, we went one last time. The crowds were few, and all the coasters were going, so the lines were great! We rode our fill of rides - I think Mike finally said "I'm coastered out!". We also enjoyed a fun day at Mulligans on Tues, where we played mini golf, go-carts, video games, and climbed the rock wall. We had planned on doing some projects around the house over the break, but who has time for that? We are too busy playing : )

Wicked

2008-12-30T20:31:00.001-08:00

The cousins were right: we did LOVE the play Wicked!!!! It was great! Funny, entertaining, interesting, great, etc. Blake summed it up this way: "I never felt like going to sleep!" We were a bit surprised that it was so humorous. It was delightful and wickedly funny. We all enjoyed it very much!

New wheels!

2008-12-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

Austin's "new" car has pop-up headlights!

Two brothers going for a ride!
Let's put the top up!

Boys just want to have fun...

Austin bought a used Miata. Wahoo!

We drove back to Thousand Oaks on Monday to buy Austin's car. It was close to where we run the Turkey Day Dash! His '97 Miata is a special edition STO (only 1,500 were made) so he feels like it is pretty special! It's in great shape - midnight blue exterior and tan interior with tan top. It is FUN to drive! He drove home through Malibu, just for fun! Please pray for him that he drives safely!!!

Build-a-Bear Workshop

2008-12-30T12:07:00.001-08:00

Olivia tests a mini chair at Build-a-Bear

Elijah picks a turtle and names him Franklin
Elijah kisses the heart and puts it in Franklin

Olivia picks an elephant and names her Ellie

The stuffing is "just right"

Olivia picked out a heart, kissed it and put it inside Ellie

She shows her masterpiece to cousin Garrett

Alex made a penguin and named him Icee.

Katy selected a cute dog, and named her Alice. She chose a heart that says "I love you" and kisses it before putting into Alice

Now that Ben has finally found a parking space, he joins the adventure. It's off to the fluffing table where everyone fluffs the fur of their new friend

Next, it's time to pick out outfits. I wonder if Katy will find something pink for Alice??

Here we are with our pets and their boxes!

Lined up with our new pets

They are all SO cute!!!

Carrie and Andy got the TX cousins gift cards for Build-a-Bear workshop, so we enjoyed watching them build them on Friday. The mall was pretty crazy, so not everyone was with us, that's why I posted all the pics I took....

Christmas in California

2008-12-30T11:32:00.001-08:00

Cousins love to eat together, even at Target!

Uncle Ben pushes a full cart!
Anyone wanna play Monopoly??

Cousin breakfast

Olivia is in on all the action

It's great to stay in jammies all day!

Look at us -we climbed up here on the rope wall!

Digging...

Building...

Cousins all around!

The yummies : )

The TX cousins visited the Thomases for a couple days. Can you say FUN?

We went to Aunt Carol's funeral service on the 23rd. She was such a lovely lady, and the service was a wonderful remembrance of her life.

We go to In N Out as often as possible!

It was fun to go the Cabrillo Aquarium with the TX cousins.

Everyone started looking like a fish after a few hours here...

The hands-on touch tank was interesting

There we some small sharks in the water...

It's great to be together!

A favorite memory for me is when Olivia came and snuggled with me one morning : ) I loved getting to know her better this trip!!!!

Ben and Trisha arrived on Dec 22 and spent 2 nights with us. What a special time! We went to the Cabrillo Aquarium for a few hours on Tues, which was perfect. The adults went to Carol's funeral, where Ben led the singing and Andy offered the Eulogy. The grand-nieces did a fantastic job recalling memories of Aunt Carol. On Christmas Eve we all traveled to Andy & Carrie's house, where they hosted us all! Bring on the cousin party!!! My camera battery died on Christmas morning, so I don't have any pics of Christmas Day - anyone else???

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-12-25T15:40:00.001-08:00

Mom & dad came over for breakfast this morning. Tommy enjoyed cooking breakfast & the babies loved seeing their "grandpa" & "grannie" ;)

The only baby that would let us take her picture was Chloe. This is the dress her "daddy" got her for Christmas. (I know I sound riciulous!!!)

Blake's Christmas Concert

2008-12-16T21:37:00.000-08:00

Blake, the French horn player

Grandma Wall and Phyllis enjoying the concert in their Christmas sweaters!

The crew at the concert
Blake participated in the Christmas concert at MIS tonight. The 6th grade band performed two songs, which both sounded great! G & G were there for the short, but lovely, concert. So, is everyone ready for Christmas???

The "girls" are helping their daddy rake fall leaves

2008-12-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving with mom & dad & "our girls"...

2008-12-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

Blake & Garrett getting into the Christmas spirit!

Blake loves to walk Mikey

Blake also loves to tease Mikey with his chew toy

Blake's soccer team takes 4th place at the Cerritos Thanksgiving tournament

We got to keep Mikey from Thurs - Mon. Fun!

This year we went to Pam & Mike's club house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was very spacious, and the kids enjoyed the pool tables, basketball courts, and big screen tv. The food was amazing, as always...

After the Turkey Day Dash, we were all tired!

The Walls look great - and this is after the race!

The Thomases look like we expended some effort : ) Austin led the way for our families, with Jenna on his heals.

Before the race, we love hanging out with cousins and carbo loading! The older cousins hang out by the computers.

The rest of the cousins play games like Monopoly! Everyone plays Biddle later on...

Andy made some fresh cookies for the crew. Mike supervises...

The Wall family made the cutest gingerbread houses!

Happy Birthday Jenna!!!!!

2008-11-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

Jenna, we are blessed that you are part of this family. We love you and wish you Happy Birthday today, on your 15th birthday. I remember the day your were born... (and I am painting my fingernails today, in memory of your birth!)

A Celebration of Friendship and Life

2008-11-13T19:19:00.001-08:00

In late October, I (Andy) had the chance to spend a week with three long-time friends who have served as sounding boards, encouragers, and accountability partners in ministry for nearly 20 years. Jon Reed & I kidnapped Scott Lambert at 4:00 a.m. and we caught a flight to Omaha, Nebraska. From there, we gathered with Scott's relatives in Western Iowa to have a 50th birthday party on the old family farm. The next morning, we drove to Ames to see Iowa State take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers (Scott's all-time favorite). From there, Jon, Rick Krug, Scott and I drove to Chicago, where we spent a few days taking in the sights and sounds of the windy city. From there, we returned to Iowa, where we visited the actual Field of Dreams from the movie (which is Scott's all-time favorite). We also received a tutorial on farming corn and soybeans (from Scott). We spent our final day back around Harlan County, where Scott showed us some of his favorite childhood haunts.

At the "Field of Dreams" bleachers in Eastern Iowa

At Wrigley Field in the Rain

Atop the Sears Tower (tallest building in North America),

which had 30 feet visibility due to rain

On Michigan Avenue, with the Sears Tower behind us

At Iowa State, watching Scott's beloved Cornhuskers win

Window Cleaning Atop the Hancock Tower

Taking a friend to Six Flags

2008-11-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

Riding on the Jet Streamer!

The Ball Pit is always a favorite!
Front row, Viper

Awesome ride!!

We had fun taking a soccer mate of Garrett's to Six Flags on Tuesday (his first time there). We managed to avoid the worst lines and still got to ride most of our favorites! Just grateful Blake was well enough to go, but it wore him out...

From the couch...

2008-11-12T12:14:00.001-08:00

Blake spent most of this long weekend on the couch because he was sick. One of the evenings we watched the sunset together (from the couch) and thought it was so beautiful we would share it! Blake hopes we don't share a sickness while we are together this Christmas, so he got his out of the way already!

G & G in Odessa

2008-11-09T09:09:00.001-08:00

Ben and Trisha ready to celebrate Alex's b-day!

A few "mean looking" pirates at Elijah's b-day party - ARG!

Alex & Elijah playing catch - aren't they getting big??

Four kids ready to help blow out the candles!

The Odessa cousins are getting BIG - grandma and grandpa got to help celebrate a couple of birthdays during their trip. Won't it be great to be all together at Christmas??

Dear friends

2008-11-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Kay and Ervin Bishop

Joyce and Gene Megas
G & G Wall enjoyed their trip to Texas so much! One highlight was getting together with dear friends from long ago (Greece). Everyone is older, but they all still look great!

Jenna's Cross Country

2008-11-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

Jenna ran last Friday in the Ventura County Cross Country Championships. She placed 23rd out of about 75 runners and ran a PR (personal record) of 21:50 on a very hilly 3-mile course. The video here shows Jenna running the final 150 yards, holding off one runner and passing another in the final 50 yards. Way to go Jenna!

Climbing the hill

Medalist!

Grandma & Grandpa rule!!!

2008-11-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

Grandma & Grandpa left today after church and we are all so sad to see them go! We had so much fun with them! Here are a few highlights of our time together!

G&G Wall arrived and Elijah was stoked to open up another present!! As you can tell, each picture we add a few more people.

G&G rocked the house at our harvest party as pirates!! We were quite a gang of skalliwags!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Goin to the neighborhood party....

In my cauldron I have "slimy eyeballs" and "pink cat intestines". I allowed my pretties to touch them at the neighborhood Halloween party, and also used it as my "trick" for the trick or treaters. It was a slow trick or treat night - couldn't give away the 40 full size candy bars we had! Garrett and Blake didn't go for long, prefering instead to come home and play video games with their friend Josh. Austin helped with the Harvest Festival at church, and after that the Praxis (HS Group) had a movie night. The scary thing is: Austin drove himself there and back. Ack!!

Michaela's Halloween Parade

2008-10-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Michaela had her last Halloween parade this morning at Conejo Elementary School (sniffle, sniffle). She is dressed as Lucy Pevensie, the brave young heroine from C. S. Lewises' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." For those of you who know them, see if you can also spot Michaela's teacher Cindy and friends Ashley and Caroline.

Michaela as Lucy Pevensie

Michaela, Ashley and Liney Loo

Jessica's volleyball

2008-10-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Jessica will be wrapping up her final USYVL volleyball season this Saturday. She is very ready to pursue the next level of competition and so we have signed her up for a club volleyball team that will begin around the first of the year.

Here is a clip of Jessica serving at a recent game in Moorpark.

Sat. Soccer

2008-10-20T07:24:00.001-07:00

Hopefully, mom and dad can "catch up" with the Thomas news while in Texas. I didn't post this in time before their trip! We pray for safety in travel today and tomorrow.

Saturday we had two losses in our soccer matches. Both we exciting to watch! Garrett's game was tied at 1-1 at the half, with Garrett scoring our one goal with a beautiful kick from the 18 (?) that went over th goalie's head. But in the 2nd half, the other team had a 5 min. streak when they scored 3 goals. That just was too much to overcome... Blake's team played the 1st place team and by the half they we tied, 0-0. But in the dreaded 3rd quarter, when our best goalie comes out, and all players must play 3 quarters, our line up was no match for the other team. I think they scored 3 that quarter. So, we ended the day with 2 losses, but 2 well played games. In the afternoon we went to the beach to hang out, dig, and boogie board. We sure enjoy So. Cal. weather!!!

Halloween Cotillion

2008-10-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Blake, the pirate

Garrett, as Ash Catchum
Friday night Cotillion was Halloween dress up themed. So, I made costumes last week! The boys enjoy this Cotillion because they don't have to wear their suits. As usual, we host some friends after Cotillion for pizza and video games : )

Running along...

2008-10-20T07:15:00.001-07:00

Here's the start of the XCo race - can you spot Austin?

At the end of the race, Austin and his friend Teddy sprinted to the finish line
The XCo meet this past week was at Redondo Union HS (RU High). It was a beautiful day for a meet (I guess they all are here!) and there was a HUGE group running for boys JVs. XCo is an interesting thing to watch - you cheer at the start, move to another location to cheer, then head to the finish line to cheer. Those students work very hard! Jenna, will you be going to Mt. Sac next weekend?

Go Gators!

2008-10-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ok Cuz, I'm thinking about you tonight as I watch the Gators tear up the LSU Tigers--I'm a bit on delay but the linebacker who just kicked the ball into the crowd after the interception touchdown made me laugh!! I'm definitely a Tim Tebow fan--so this picture is for you!! Love ya!! bw

Soccer updates

2008-10-11T19:11:00.001-07:00

Watching Garrett's game...

Let's eat tacos!!!!
Tito's Tacos rule!!
Well, soccer today was a mixed bag. Blake's team won (finally) 6-3, with Blake scoring in the first quarter, so G & G could be witnesses. Garrett's game was in Santa Monica, so after we lost 0-3 we went to Tito's Tacos for a bit of reminiscing. Grandma and Grandpa were great sports to go to all these games and hang at Tito's with us. Thanks!!!!

Fall Frenzy

2008-10-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Orange and black hair - you like?

Garrett earned a ticket to Fall Frenzy at his middle school by getting good grades and good citizenship (and a bit of luck in the drawing!). He enjoyed bouncy things, booths, food and hair spray painting!!

To G & G's

2008-10-06T09:26:00.001-07:00

Blake 'n Bunny

Sure was great to spend the night in Fillmore with mom and dad. They had an amazing tri-tip dinner waiting for us when we got in Sat evening! Yum! I didn't get a photo of mom and dad, but I grabbed a photo of Blake with his favorite bunny from mom and dad's house.

Guess who's in town?

2008-10-06T09:21:00.001-07:00

Ben's in town for the Dodger Game!!!!

Ashley wants to be like her sisters, shin guards and all!!
Cute couple!
Cute father/daughter!
It was great to see Ben, even for a few hours! Thanks for sharing Trisha!!

Switchfoot Rocks!!!

2008-09-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

Cousins rockin' to Switchfoot!

"Irvine Meadows" Amphitheatre was a great venue
The Thomas family joined a group from Conejo C of C for the Switchfoot concert Friday night. WOW, was it GREAT!!! We missed Jenna who is at Pismo Beach w/ the Youth Group. Good stuff : )

Ebony's Belated Anniversary

2008-09-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Anniversary, Ebony! Our hamster, Ebony (dubbed 'Ebbers') was officially part of the Wall family last September, early in the month. I thought I might share a couple pictures of "our favorite pet yet" to celebrate.

An Ebony close-up

Ebony as a baby (literally!)

Ebony head-shot- what a cute creature!

Money

2008-09-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

Austin discovers that money really does grow on trees!

Much to Austin's delight, we surprised him with a money tree for his b-day! He realizes this driving thing is going to take a lot of the green stuff!!

Happy 16th b-day Austin!

2008-09-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Wish grandpa was here to help us eat this yummy carrot cake!!! We had two different groups over on Saturday to help eat this huge cake, and we still have some left in the fridge! Austin is 16 today - I remember getting my driver's licence on my b-day, thanks to mom and dad and the le-bomba Pontiac : ) With all the new rules teens have now to get their licence, Austin won't be able to get his licence until next month. They have to have their permit for a minimum of 6 months and have documented 50 hours of driving time (10 of those hours at night, which is tough to do!) He'll be ready next month.