Shocking...

Wanna know how to shock a group of 12-18 year old young women? Try serving them green eggs and ham! Yes, tonight at Young Women's we had a late Dr. Seuss/St. Patrick's Day party. Their reactions were pretty funny!

Catching up with blogging...

So, can you tell that January and February were just a little busy for me??!??!?!?!?!?!? I did a bunch of travel for work and a little bit of travel for fun. Here are some photos to catch you up on what I've been doing...

Late birthday celebration (1/20/09) with the Hills in Concord.

Austin

Conner

YW's Valentine's Day Activity (Serah, Serina, Youjin, Michelle, Yeri, Adreana)

International Dinner with YM and YW (I even cooked Korean Soup for this activity)

I flew to Concord on February 21st for 24 hours for Allyson Hill's 40th birthday party. It was a whirlwind trip, but a lot of fun. Jason surprised Allyson by planning that two of her sisters and her brother come to the party. One flew in from Florida and the other two came in from Utah. While the siblings hung out in Walnut Creek for the day, Jason & I planned and prepared a big dinner for Allyson and her family and friends.

I made Allyson's six-layer birthday cake...Chocolate Heaven

March 6-7, 2009, my brothers, their wives, and boys were all home for Grandma Carpenter's funeral. Here are some of the "fun" pictures from the weekend.

Tyler and Aiden playing in Dad & Mom's front yard.

This is Aiden. Jack and Aiden love this horse that belonged to my brothers when we were growing up.

Jack loved wandering around the cemetary...there were lots of empty vases to look into and dirt and grass to walk around on. He had a great time!

Aiden and Aunt Jen

I was in charge of the display table in the foyer at the church for Grandma's funeral. Except for the religious painting on the wall, the other paintins are all watercolors that Grandma painted.

In Loving Memory of LaFrances Pauline Horn Carpenter (December 27, 1917 - February 28, 2009)

My maternal grandmother LaFrances Pauline Horn Carpenter lived a full 91 years before passing away February 28, 2009, in Modesto, California--the result of a heart attack. She joined my grandfather Ralph Everett Carpenter just days after what would have been their 70th wedding anniversary.

I was blessed to grow up just blocks from my grandparents; to live with Grandma for 8 months after I graduated from BYU; and, to visit with her for about an hour on February 28th. Many of my memories include Grandma...she was an amazing woman who could cook up a storm and never turned down an opportunity to spend time with her family or to serve people in the Church and her community. All 12 of the Carpenter grandchildren were together for her funeral. She would have loved to have been there with all of us!

Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Kay

Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter

Grandma and baby Jared (1976)

The Carpenter Family (1976) (That's me in the ringlets and plaid dress in the middle between my grandparents)

Eric, Grandma, Me, Grandpa

Jared

(1980)

Granda and Bryan (1982/1983)

Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter (1989--50th Wedding Anniversary Photo)

Grandma, Melissa, and Bryan (2006)

Jared, Grandma and Jack (2007)

Grandma and Aiden (2007)

Grandma's 90th Birthday Party (2007)

Grandma's 90th Birthday (2007)

Netsie, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Kay

The Granddaughters: Emily Stevenson, Melissa Stevenson, Diane Durfey Goodwin, Me, Denise Durfey Stewart, Michele Durfey Stewart, Sarah Stevenson

The Grandsons: Adam Stevenson, Darin Durfey, Jared Rowe, Eric Rowe, Bryan Rowe

Reliving the BYU Days

So, I have friends who have been posting photos from our childhood on Facebook. I was going through my photos that are saved on my computer to see if I had any to add when I came across these from the end of the year BBQ for the BYU 67th Ward my freshman year at BYU. We all lived at Deseret Towers together--2 floors of girls from T-Hall and 2 floors of boys from V-Hall. I can't believe those dorms are no longer there! We had such a fun ward that year!

Visit to San Jose

In order to get to Monterey for ACSA this week, I flew in and out of San Jose, rented a car, and drove down to Monterey. Bryan, Melissa, and Aiden are living in San Jose, so I decided to extend my stay. I arrived at their home early Friday afternoon and stayed through dinner on Saturday. It's amazing how fast Aiden is growing up. He's such a little boy now! Thanks guys! I had a lot of fun!

Monterey

No, I did not take this picture, but this was basically the "partial beach view" out the window of my room on the 9th floor (top floor) of the Marriott in Monterey this week. The weather was clear and 70 degrees all week. I was there for the annual ACSA (Association of California School Administrators) conference that highlights special education and student issues. It was basically a week of wining, dining, and marketing for work...but, not a bad place to do that! It was nice to have a change of pace for work; although, it would have been nice to enjoy the beach in this weather, too!

Star Sighting

I've lived in LA for over 2 years now. In general, I find that I wouldn't recognize a star in a crowd and that, in comparison to the entertainment junkies in my office, I shop, eat, and work out in the wrong places to have a star sighting. But, yesterday provided me some fodder for Monday's legal staff meeting...

Yep...that's right...Robert Pattinson...at the Arclight in Hollywood on December 31, 2008...he was handing his ticket to the ticket taker as I was headed out...