Sun, The Starfarer, and the Lucky Gold Star

Have you ever wanted to write your own book and have the characters emanate people from your life? Have you ever wanted the main character to be a girl instead of a boy? Do you know anyone that's ever published a book? Well, if you know us, you know someone who has a book published. John and Sidney have been working on a book for some time and last summer they held a book club with a few of Sidney's friends to go over the manuscript and see if they liked it. They did.

John approached his publisher that published his first book ("The Endowment") and they said that they would publish this book as well. The news that it would be published was announced in mid-November and we received our copies a couple weeks ago.




Sun, the Starfarer can be ordered through Amazon. However, they list that the book is out of stock. Order one anyway. The publisher has only been printing what they have requests for. It may take some weeks to get it, but it will be worth it!

The book is science-fiction, the main character is a girl and it's geared for young adults. Sidney was recognized at her school for getting a book published and many kids have been asking about it.

We bought a few books to sell to friends, but we only have a few left over if you're really interested.

So, when my husband and daughter are famous, you could say you knew them when.

It's synchro season again...

Now that Sidney has joined the competitive team for synchronized swimming, from now until the middle of June or so, there is a meet at least once a month. This season started off in Tucson a weekend or so ago. Sidney is swimming a team routine and a trio routine. The suits are so great.


Sidney is the 2nd one in from the right.



Sidney is right in the middle.


Sidney's trio, she's in the middle. These suits are so cute, right. I helped design then and them the team seamstress made them. I tried to get a better picture during the routine, but none turned out great.

Way to go sweetie!

End of Summer...

My kids claim that they didn't get to do very much this summer. In some ways I agree with them, but when I made a list, it says otherwise. You decide.

First, here's a few pictures of some of the stuff we did or friends we spent time with.

















Now, lets see, what did we do again?

Slid down inflatable slides
Made a scavenger hunt and went on a scavenger hunt
Made blue cupcakes with green frosting
Sidney got her ears pierced
Went fishing
Made fabric rosettes
Hayden got baptized
Danced with a Native American tribe
Made homemade popsicles
Got rained on
Played at a playground/jump center
Swinged on swings
Hayden cut his head and got staples
Visited Cardinal Stadium for RV show
Went to the UFO museum
Tried to make paper mache pinatas
Rode bikes
Went skating at Skateland
Stood in a White Sand desert
Went swimming
Played at a water park
Sidney chopped her hair off
Toasted marshmallows
Ate fresh veggies and fruits from our garden
Went to a Bead Museum
Went to an underground cavern
Visited an aquarium
Played video games
Made homemade bread
Ate at many great restaurants with friends and family
Shot guns
Built sand castle
Rode a carousel
Made cookies
Saw sunsets
Watched lightning
Visited a temple
And played many card and board games
Sang songs out loud, really loud

Oh yeah, and just had some good plain fun!

There is a time for every season...

Sidney has had a blast with her synchronized swimming team. She's made some great friends, and she's learned to push herself farther for something that she wants. The regular season ended a few weeks ago and is allowing a healthy 2 month break before the new season begins. We are glad that she enjoys herself.



Here's Sidney at the end of her last meet where her trio placed 1st! (Can you see the moon behind her?)

Sidney's debut solo...

A few weeks ago, my daughter sang a short solo to open the 5th grade musical program. She tried out on her own and got the part with little or no encouragement from me. I'm so glad to she did something out of her comfort zone! She is usually very shy and reserved in large groups. I'm so excited for her.

She is the one in front of the mic, with the tie-dye white and blue skirt. You can hear me taking pictures throughout her performance.

It's not the greatest quality. We didn't get the best seat even though we showed up pretty early.

Anyhow, enjoy the drama.



Way to go Sidney, we're so proud of you!