Fourteen

My beautiful daughter turned 14 years old yesterday. And I have to ask myself, when did this happen?! You know, being the oldest child, my dad would always say to me stuff like, "I can't believe you're 16", etc., etc., and I used to just roll my eyes at him. Well, I have to say, he was right! I just cannot believe that so much time has gone by! Absolutely unbelievable!

Here are some pictures from our party last night with our family and friends, and her party tonight with her friends.

Kelsey with her birthday cake:

Kelsey with the 4 Anderson girls (so cute!):

Lighting the candles:

Kelsey, at exactly 9:43 pm (the time she was born):

Kelsey and Grace (who couldn't come to the "friend" party tonight):

The girls:

Tag #3 -- Wedding Tag

Okay, this is my last tag! My friend, Maren, tagged me with this wedding tag. We just celebrated our 15th anniversary last month, so this is good timing, I guess. We'll see how good my memory is....

1. What date is your anniversary? May 8, 1993

2. Where did you get married? San Diego Temple

3. Who proposed and how? Victor proposed. You all know that Victor does screen printing. Well, I stopped by his work one day (I had never been there) and he took me in and showed me around. He showed me one of the manual printing presses, and actually printed a shirt right there. When he lifted up the press, the shirt had a pink heart, and said "Will you marry me?" Very unexpected, and very romantic! And yes, I still have the shirt! :)

4. How long were you engaged? 5 1/2 months (we were waiting for the San Diego Temple to open, and we were married the 2nd weekend it was open)

5. What was your favorite part of your wedding day? (And it can't be your husband!) It was a beautiful spring day in San Diego, and it was great to share it with all our family and friends! The whole day was great, actually, so I don't think I can pick a "favorite part".

6. What would you change if you could? Nothing comes to mind

7. Wedding colors? Royal blue and white

8. Do you remember anything special about your wedding ceremony? No...just that it was a great feeling and I think I cried, too

9. Were you clean or messy when you cut your cake? Clean! I told Victor he'd be in HUGE trouble if he tried to make a mess!

10. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Disneyland and the Grand Canyon (which was a spur-of-the-moment decision on our way back from California)

Okay, girls, now I tag Amy (happy anniversary today, by the way!), Gayle and Natalie!

And I was told I needed to put up some wedding pictures, but I don't have any scanned in, so I'll work on it!

Tag #2 -- My Crazy 8's

My friend, Kayelyn, posted this on her blog, and even though she didn't officially tag me, I thought it was great (and she did say anyone could do it!), so here goes!

Eight Things I Have a Passion For

1. My Family -- I love them and love spending time with them, and I will defend them at all costs (so don't ever cross them!)
2. Reading -- what is better than sitting down with a good book?! LOVE IT, and I don't do it enough.
3. Playing Piano -- I don't do this as much as I would like, but I just love playing the piano.
4. Listening to Good Music -- Music is such a part of my life, and I couldn't drive without it!
5. The Gospel -- I don't know where I'd be without it, and consider it one of my greatest treasures.
6. Education -- I was very blessed to have parents who encouraged (and expected) me and my siblings to go to college, and I am grateful for that.
7. Serving a Mission -- I think ALL girls should do this!
8. My Friends -- I have been blessed with wonderful friends throughout my life, and I love all of you and will always do what I can to help you.

Eight Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die

1. Take my children to Disneyworld
2. Go on a cruise with my husband
3. See my children "grow old"
4. Visit the Alps
5. Take my children to Mexico
6. Own a baby grand piano
7. Visit New Zealand
8. Go back to Chicago and visit my "mission"

Eight Things I Say A Lot

1. Love you

2. Did you make your bed?

3. Be careful

4. Smile

5. Brush your teeth!

6. Did you do your homework?

7. What's up?

8. "I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me."

Eight Books I Have Read Recently

1. Harry Potter, Books 1 through 7 (I know that counts as more than 1, but still....)

2. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

3. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

4. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

5. The Historian, by Elisabeth Kostova

6. The Spiderwick Chronicles, Books 1 through 5

7. Eragon and Eldest (SO excited for the 3rd book to come out in September....although not as excited as I am for Breaking Dawn!)

8. Honor Thyself, by Danielle Steel

Eight Movies I Have Seen Eight Times

1. Ben Hur

2. August Rush

3. Sleeping Beauty

4. Harry Potter (all)

5. Star Wars (all)

6. Indiana Jones (all)

7. Lord of the Rings (all)
8. Mary Poppins

Eight People I Have to Invite to Do This Meme

1. Kelsey

2. Amy

3. Gayle

4. Maren

5. Andrea

6. Tracey

7. Natalie

8. Lynn

(Sorry -- I had issues with my spacing....)

Tag #1

Okay, so I'm a little slow! I've been tagged by a few people, so I'm going to try and catch up! My sister, Amy, tagged me, so here goes!

3 Joys

1. Hearing Kent laugh
2. Seeing Kelsey's smile
3. Looking out my window and seeing the beautiful mountains every day

3 Fears

1. Seeing my children get hurt
2. Losing a family member or friend in an accident
3. Not being strong enough to help my son

3 Goals

1. Lose weight and keep it off
2. Start exercising more (and actually keep doing it!)
3. Be more Christlike in words, actions and thoughts

3 Current Obsessions/Collections

1. Twilight books! (I can't wait until August 2nd!)
2. "Fuego en la Sangre" (I know, I shouldn't have started watching it!)
3. Raising money for our PPMD Half-Marathon (see link at right!)

3 Surprising Facts About Me (which you'll already know if you read my blog about "100 Facts About Me")

1. I don't eat lettuce.
2. I send out 150+ Christmas cards every year (I know, I'm crazy!)
3. I do most of my thinking in Spanish.

Okay, I tag Kelsey, Maren, Natalie, Andrea and Tracey (only if you want to, and if you have time!).

In Memoriam

We lost a great journalist today. I still can't believe it. Tim Russert is probably the only political analyst that I trust and I believe he was honest in what he did. It is just another reminder that there is a higher power in charge, and that none of us know when our days here will end. We will miss you, Tim Russert. Rest in Peace.

PPMD Disneyland Half-Marathon

Most of you have probably already received my email, but I just wanted to post here about our latest adventure. Two years ago, Victor ran in his first half-marathon, to raise money for PPMD (Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy).

We were able to raise money to help fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), and we have decided to do it again! We have formed Team KenTZ, for Kent, Tyler (my brother) and Zachary (my nephew), and Victor and many of our friends (Brent, Yolanda, Justin, Natalie) are running to help fight DMD.

Here is the link to our team website, and I will also leave it posted on the side up until the race. That way you can check on our progress, as well!

www.parentprojectmd.org/goto/teamkentz

THANKS to all of you for your support!! Please remember that any amount helps in the fight, and we appreciate all you do!

Last Day of School and Yuba Lake

The kids had their last day of school on May 29, 2008. It's hard to believe that the year is already over! Here is Kelsey as she left for her last day of 8th grade (that's Kent's school in the background)!

And here she is at school (I "borrowed" this from her camera since I obviously was not at school with her!) with her friends, Grace, Jessica and Katelyn.


Here is Kent as he left for his last day of 4th grade!


And here he is with his teacher, Mr. Bradford.


Then, last weekend, we took a day trip down to Yuba Lake with some friends. I didn't get too many pictures, but here is darling Emery playing in the sand:

And here is Anthony doing the same!

Here is one of the other kids, after they had finished being on the boat, and some of them had changed by then (L to R: Eldon, Grace, Kent, Ethan, Kelsey and Leeza).It was a nice day, and the kids all seemed to have a good time. Hopefully we will continue to have good summer weather and can enjoy other outings like this one!

Breaking Dawn

For all of my fellow Twilight fans, I read the 1st chapter of "Breaking Dawn" today at Borders. Since I already own 3 copies of "Eclipse" (long story -- some of you already know it), I was NOT going to buy the special edition that came out last week, but I was near Borders at lunch today, so I took a few minutes and read it. I'm excited for the book!!!

And I'm also MORE excited to hear that "Midnight Sun" will be Stephenie Meyer's next project! http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html For those of you who don't know, "Midnight Sun" is "Twilight" written from Edward's perspective. She has the first chapter published on her website, and it's fabulous. THAT's the book I want to read!

Also, I saw on Stephenie Meyer's website today a link to the first completed scene of the movie. http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=237340 So much to look forward to!!