Soccer 2012

This was an especially great year for soccer because Kylie decided she wanted to play again. It has been a couple of years and it was fun to watch her get back into it. She learned that she is a better defensive player, and the coach had her play goalie often. She was much more aggressive when blocking than I thought she would be. Her team started out really well, and had a hard time at the end of the season. She really enjoyed it. Here she is playing for the Power Crushers!









At the start of the season, we thought we knew what to expect from Chad. He has played for a few years now, and David has always been his coach. This year David had the opportunity to coach again, and we enjoyed having some of the same players on our team from previous years. I will never forget the first game that I got to go and see Chad (I was often with Kylie at her games). I did not even recognize him out on the field. All of a sudden he became a different player. He scored multiple goals every game and never let down. He was extremely aggressive and went after the ball like I have never seen him before. He had all kinds of cool tricks and moved really quickly out on the field. I'm not sure how it happened, but it was sooo fun to watch. I honestly think he was one of the stars of the team. I know I am a little biased, but he really was! :) I was one proud mama! I think he really just developed an understanding and love for the game this season.

So cute...he's telling David that he scored goal #2 for the game that day.

Daddy was very proud too!

Mom's Birthday - Part 2!

The weekend right before my birthday, we got to go up to Lake Arrowhead with my mom and Ryan and Michelle. The weather was perfect and we could have stayed forever! My mom's friend has a condo right on the lake and so we are spoiled every summer when she lets us spend a weekend there as a family. She also had another client up there the same weekend, and he took us out on his boat two times while we were there. The kids had a blast on the speedboat and then anchoring and hanging out for lunch and swimming. We really do love the sun and summer. Wish it could last forever. Some day when David and I retire, we want to have a house in Lake Arrowhead. It is beautiful there, and only 40 minutes from home. Perfect!

Mom's Birthday at the Zoo!

School started early, but we still had fun celebrating my birthday in the middle of August. David's mom took us all on the train to San Juan Capistrano for lunch and to visit a petting zoo there. The kids loved it and it was a great day with the family. It was fun to spend time with Mary and baby Alex too.

My cute family waiting for the train. Cameron was anxiously waiting for it to arrive!

Getting ready to feed the animals!

Can you tell that my kids are animal lovers? I feel kind of bad, because I am not. Someday, I tell them, we will have a pet. But just not yet. So sad. They are so deprived.

Panning for gold.....

Cute boy cousins!

Thank you Grandma for a great day!

All Good Things Must Come to an End

School started early this year.....August 8th. We had such a great summer - it was hard to go back. We did have a few more adventures before the summer months ended, which I will post about soon.

About two weeks before school began, we busted out the school workbooks and it was so cute to see them all working so intently that I had to take a picture. This was Cameron's first official workbook, so he was extremely excited. It is actually a Ferguson family tradition to go to the teacher supply store to pick out a few workbooks during the summer for the grade that is up and coming. The kids love it, and that makes their teacher mom happy.

First Day of School

Kylie - 4th Grade - Mrs. Harris

Chad - 2nd Grade - Mrs. Pitts

Cameron - 2nd year of Preschool

A letter came in the mail in the summer, letting him know what class he would be in. It was from Ms. Erdman, and he found out he would be in the Cute Kittens class!

Random Post - Garden Food

Okay...this is kind of a random post. But before I catch up, I wanted to make sure I posted this awesome (but kind of blurry) picture. David made this AWESOME appetizer one afternoon with fresh tomatoes and basil from our garden. We might have been using some fresh avocados from my Dad's tree too. Tasted so amazing! Can't wait to plant a spring garden again soon! Yummy!

Principal Ferguson

So Uncle Dave has always played a game with our kids since the time David became an assistant principal a few years ago. The all line up and pretend to be naughty and then Principal Ferguson (uncle Dave) comes out and yells at them and threatens them if they don't shape up. It's really funny to hear about, and even funnier to watch. The kids love the game and will often refer to David as Principal Ferguson. Well this summer - that became a reality!

Principal Ferguson is now really Principal Ferguson and we are soooo excited! I had been telling him throughout the school year, that this was the year he was going to be promoted. I just had a feeling...I knew it was his time and that he was ready. He insisted that it was not and there was no way to know. He was always very negative, but secretly I know, wanted it to be true. No announcements of change were made at the end of the school year and he became very discouraged that he would be working in the same spot, with the same difficult principal another year. I still held out hope. The end of the summer came and still, no changes announced.

Then one day, we heard a rumor that David's principal was leaving and had found a new job in another district (knowing that the current district was not happy with his job performance, to put it nicely). I saw a light in David's eyes and he was ecstatic when he realized it was true. Timing is always perfect for David. He has been in the right place at the right time throughout his career, and this was no different. I know we have Heavenly Father backing us up at all times. David was currently one of the assistant principals at this middle school in the district, and the principal decided to leave, which meant that the principal job was now available! I just knew that it was all coming together like it was supposed to.

David immediately applied and was selected to have an interview out of 20 applicants (many of which have been principals in the district for many years). There were four people interviewing for two middle school principal positions. He was so excited that he might get to take over the school where he has been an assistant principal for three years now. He loves this school and the community there and had so many great ideas and plans to make it the great place it should be. I knew he was the guy for the job. He waited a couple of weeks to actually have the interview, and the waiting nearly killed him. It was a long end to the summer!

The day of the interview finally came - four days before school started! (And it just so happened to be the same day that I found out that it was going to be my "turn" to serve as PTO President at my kids' school.) The day was very long. David's interview was not until the afternoon and it took a couple of hours. He had a written exam and everything. When he finally called after it was all done, he said he felt really good about it, and couldn't have done any better. I wanted him to come straight home, but it was the middle of a work day. He had to go back to work and wait to hear. The kids and I were at home that day on pins and needles. The phone rang at home and I was just sure it was David calling to tell me he had the job. Someone from the disctrict office asked for David and when I said he was at the school they said they had tried to call there, and his cell phone and could not get a hold of him. They asked me to have him call back just as soon as he could. I was so excited - I could just tell by the tone of his voice that they had selected David for the job. I knew it. I mentioned to the kids that I was sure David got the job, but we were still waiting to hear it from him for sure. Let me tell you....the longest five minutes of my life.

But, five minutes later we got the call from David. He was so excited and the kids and I were screaming and jumping up and down. It was so fun to share the good news and the kids knew how bad David wanted this job. We were so proud of him. They decorated the mirror in our room with cute messages for "Principal Ferguson" and it was really fun to share it with him when he returned home. He was made for this job, I knew it was meant to be. We later found out that the District Office received many letters and emails written on David's behalf, trying to convince them that he should be the new principal at the middle school. People went out of their way for him. He is such a great leader and motivates everyone around him. He is seriously a breath of fresh air for this school. I am so proud of all of his hard work and look forward to all of the great changes that are coming for his school and staff!