Swim Team 2011

We embarked on a new chapter of our lives this year - the swim team chapter! At first, I wasn't sure if I could make the commitment of practice 5 days a week plus meets every Saturday (early, early, early) morning. Making the decision to be a "swim team family" was one of the best ones I have ever made. The girls learned so much - not just about swimming, but also about life. Their coaches were such wonderful mentors and role models and they worked tirelessly to teach the girls their strokes. We have caught the bug and I can see us doing this for many years to come.

Zoofari-Kindergarten Zoo Trip 2011

The MACLanders went on an overnight trip to the zoo this year and the next day, the kindergarteners went on their annual field trip to the zoo. Jeff took Maya overnight on the Zoofari and James, Marisa and I met them the next morning. Maya had a great time with her favorite teacher, Rachelle, and with all of her buddies. We capped off the trip with pizza at our favorite New York style pizza place and then with ice cream at our favorite ice cream joint. Can't beat that!

Jimmy's Graduation

Here are pics of Jimmy's Sac State graduation. I am so proud of his accomplishments and of how hard he and Katie have worked for this. It is amazing that out of all my mom's kids, we have now graduated from college -- what a feat! Now Jimmy is on to dental school and the army. Congrats Jimmy and Katie!

Jeff's Anniversary Present 2011

For our 10th anniversay, Jeff had an elaborate weekend get away planned for us, and he was quite disappointed when I confessed to him that I just wasn't ready to leave the baby for that long. I tried to make up for it by making this special letter for him with some of his favorite candy. It was a big hit!

Character Matters Performance 2011

Here are pictures of Maya's "Character Matters" performance. Her class explored positive character traits by dramatizing several different fairy tales. Maya played a part in the "Red Riding Hood" part of the play and was absolutely adorable and she had a great time practicing for the play. She sang the songs for weeks around the house -- especially in the shower!

Spelling Bee 2011

Maya was on the spelling bee team this year and she had a great time. It has been over 10 years since Sierra school has taken home a ribbon and Maya's team won second place. It went into an intense overtime with another school and they won second place by spelling "fantasy". Go Sierra spellers!

Disneyland Feb 2011

This last week we spent three days in Disneyland with a lot of our extended family. Jeff had a conference down at the Disneyland Hotel, so we all decided to tag along. What a treat it was for us to stay at the Disney Hotel - it was swanky and quite convenient. It was so neat to ride the Monorail through Downtown Disney straight into Tomorrowland. We went to the park for three days - something we had never done before. With so much time (and so few crowds), we didn't feel pressured to hurry and see everything. We even got to go to some of the more obscure places like Tom Sawyer Island and the Enchanted Tiki Room - attractions we would have skipped during shorter trips. We were joined by much of our extended family, too. My mom, Aunt Mary and Aunt Pam stayed at the room next to us in the Disney Hotel. Cousin Gretchen and her girls joined us for a day and Rachel and her family joined us later. It was a very memorable trip - one that our kiddos will treasure for the rest of their lives.