We woke up at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning to volunteer at the L.A. Marathon to help raise money for Child S.H.A.R.E. and Doug and I were in charge of passing out the Krispy Kreme Donuts.

The volunteer tables were set up and then in the middle of the worship service the sprinklers came on and caused an unusual disruption! = - )

Later on we settled down to wait for the bicycle race, the wheelchair race and finally the runners.

The kids loved passing out oranges to the runners and they especially enjoyed seeing Pastor Melvin (they almost didn't recognize him without his suit)!

It was a fun day and we were all inspired to ride in the bicycle race next year. On the way home we were treated to the beautiful city view of downtown LA with the snow covered mountains in the background.

We had visitors this week! Cousin Keith and his oldest son, Benjamin, left snowy North Carolina for a sunny visit out west.

Keith and Benjamin also visited the Grand Canyon and when they were here with us Matthew had a blast getting to know his cousin! = - )

The furry and wet members of our family deserve an update, so here it comes: Thomas is getting ready to celebrate his 1 year anniversary with us, the kitties are almost 1 year old and love to watch the birds in the front yard and Tucker is still swimming.

Softball season is in full swing and this will also be the girls last sports season with the league they have been a part of since kindergarten. Matthew will continue the tradition and begin his sports career when he starts kindergarten in the fall.

David ran the 100 meter in the city-wide track meet. He did well and had a great time with his friends.

The girls are showing off their science experiments at Open House. Jennifer proved that girls have a better memory and Angelica showed that an egg can float in salt water, but not fresh water.


Angelica and Jennifer treated us to a band concert - you can see Angelica in the flute section and Jennifer is hidden behind the music stand in the clarinet section. After their concert they relaxed with friends and listened to the rest of the bands.