Sabbath afternoon hike

2-28-09: It's a gorgeous winter day in Loma Linda, CA, and the kids and dogs want to go out and run around in nature, so off we went to the local park to hike in the hills. A great way to spend the Sabbath afternoon with family and friends.

We ended back at the park and sang some songs with our featured guitar players, "3 Shades of Heaven", and then after sunset, headed to Souplantation for dinner! Nice end to the Sabbath.

Sat. night craziness!

2-21-09: After Easter play practice, the kids wanted to get together, so we had a "short" get together (some of the kids are going tubing tomorrow with Adventurers, while others have a swim meet!).

Here are some of the crazy stuff that we did at the Makowskis after sundown worship. These kids have endless energy!

Pathfinders hit the slopes!

2-15-09: The Azure Hills Pathfinders hit the slopes of Snow Summit for a day of skiing and snowboarding. Although a bit crowded because it was a holiday weekend, and because we were in between storms, the snow, weather, and most of all, the friends were great! Check out the videoclip. Sorry I didn't get everyone in there (like the Choi family), and we're glad that Moriah, who had a couple of crashes on her first run and spent time with first aid and the ER, is fine.

Newest all-girl trio!

2-14-09: Watch out Dixie Chicks, you have another all-girl trio coming out of Azure Hills! Check out this video clip of Hannah (recorder), Gaby (trumpet), and Chloe (violin) jam as they practice for their debut in church in a couple of weeks.

AU Alum get-together

2-8-09 Braving cold drizzle, about 100 SoCal AU Alum gathered together at the Spaghetti Factory in Riverside to catch up on the news from AU. It was great to see our friends from AU--Alumni Director Tami, Recruiter Chris (not pictured), VP Faehner, and President Andreason.

Great meal and great fellowship!

IE Piano Competition

2-8-09: Summer, her cousins Josh and Jake, and some swim teammates, all played in the Inland Empire Piano Festival. They played before 2 judges and awards were given. While she didn't win any awards, she did very well and we were all proud of her. It's very high pressure, and a great experience, sort of like swimming in a competition when everyone is watching and you're being judged!

Congrats to Jake and Josh for getting "honorable mention" in the duet division. You can see a clip of their piece here. I haven't converted Summer's solo and duet yet, but will upload it here when I do.

Dee celebrates his 50-something b-day!

2-7-09: Dee "The Sultan of Slam" Elias celebrated his 50-something b-day by inviting a few close families out for his fave treat, Cherry on Top yogurt. It was very yummy and a new way to get yogurt--we can see why it's his fave!

While the adults had a nice time chatting in the warm yogurt parlor, I had the good fortune of bringing all the kids outside in the cold drizzly rain to play games (or they would've torn the inside apart! LOL!)

We had fun playing all kinds of games, and fortunately, no one ran off and got lost. Too bad I didn't take a picture of the security guy asking us not to play on the lamp post--I did ask if he had handcuffs and would he handcuff one of the kids, but he just smiled and walked away.

New fence for future dogs

1-28-09: In order to get new dogs, we had to replace our broken fence (Ozzy was too old to try and get out of the backyard). Thanks to our 3 neighbors sharing the cost and AAA home insurance, we were able to get a vinyl fence! No more staining and sealing--yeah!!!

Pathfinder Gamenight!

1-24-09 What fun we had at Pathfinder Game Night! After a short vespers, we made cookies and played games! Directors Mike and Ellen are doing a great job with our Pathfinders.

1st trip to snow in '09

1-20-09: Rasheed, Mike, Steve, and I took the AM off to head up to Snow Summit for some ski/snowboard time. It was gorgeous, as you can see! Check out Steve's jump on the video clip...he's young!

Sydney & Sophia visit their SoCal cousins!

1-18-09: Our visit visit with Sophia Taylor, the newest cousin. And Sydney is growing so much!