Overdue for an update

Well, it has been way too long since we have updated. Be forewarned, this entry may end up a little lengthy. Here is what we have been up to since the last time we posted.

Back in early May, I received tickets from a co-worker to attend one day of a HUGE country music festival. I went to one of the three days. It was amazing! I was thrilled to see one of my favorite American Idol alumni, Bucky Covington. (My very favorite Idol alumni, Carrie Underwood performed the next day and I missed it.) Taylor Swift was incredible, it is not hard to see why she is such an up and coming new star. Other acts I saw were Dierks Bentley, BOTH Judds (AMAZING), and to finish off the night, Rascall Flatts. That day was probably one of the coolest concerts I have ever been to.

The next day, Joey and I went to an air show at March Air Reserve Base. The base is not too far from our house and their planes fly over our house on a regular basis. It is hard to catch those planes on film, they move so fast, but below is my best photo. The coolest part of the whole airshow was watching the plane in the middle fly around. It was so fast and LOUD. It buzzed the ground and set off every car alarm in the parking lot. Then it joined up with the other two planes in the photo, old meets new. It was a wonderful sight to see. Here is a shot of Joey and I sitting on one of the HUGE carrier planes. I'm wearing my "Survivor" hat the I bought the day before at the Stagecoach festival. (By the way, the camera added about 30 pounds ; ) Bad camera angle.)

The next day, Joey and I set out to go to the movies and stopped by the grocery store first to buy some treats to smuggle in. Fate intervened and we left with a puppy instead of treats for a movie. Joey and his soft spot for dogs!!! The dogs now outnumber the humans in the house. The new puppy was finally dubbed Duke, named after a John Wayne character. He is half boxer, half pit so Joey thought he should have a tough name. He is adorable and we love him to death, even when he is making a mess which is most of the time.

On Memorial Day, Joey had to be to work by about 5:00 in the morning to help with a HUGE motorcycle ride, West Coast Thunder. Over 7,000 motorcycles showed up to ride from the dealership to the Riverside National Cemetery. People line the streets and wave flags and many of the bikes are decked out with flags as well. Maybe next year Joey and I will get to ride in it instead of Joey working it.

Being an 8th grade teacher this year, I had to say goodbye to a wonderful group of students this year. This group has long been dubbed the worst behaved group of students our school has seen in a long time. While it is true, some of them have given me the most trouble I have ever had, the rest of them are perhaps the best kids I have ever seen. I will really miss them. Making the goodbyes twice as hard is the fact that I have now taught at least half of them two years in a row. A few of them have even been my students all three years they have been at Wells, I taught one 6th grade class a few years ago. I am so grateful I got to be a part of all the special events at the end of the year that only 8th graders get to do. It gave me a chance to say goodbye and have some good times with the students I will remember forever. I know it sounds cliche, but I truely believe I will see amazing things from many of these students. Some of them have probably already forgotten my name, but I feel as though I made a lasting impression on others. Whatever happens I wish ALL of them the best.

That brings us up to date. Joey is working like crazy as motorcycle session is in full swing. His dealership gets more and more business all the time. Me, I am working around the house to finish up some of the projects we started when we moved in but didn't get a chance to finish. I also have a computer class for teachers I have to complete this summer in order to renew my teaching credential. It is hard to believe we have been in California for 5 years now. Time flies. We hope to see many of our friends and family this summer as we vacation and attend weddings. We send you all our love until the next time.