Cute Family

Here are just some random photos that I love! Sure love this family of mine.

Emma's first "Salon" Haircut

So of course Emma has had haircuts in the past, and always by actual cosmetologists, but she has never actually been to a Hair Salon. She was a little nervous and so we really talked it up. She did SO well and was extra excited to get the sucker at the end. Yay! for a much needed trim.

6 Years and Counting

Every anniversary we say that we are going to get away and do something really fun, but then it comes down to it and we just never plan in advance or don't really have the money or babysitters for that matter, so we usually just end up going out to dinner. It is always really nice and we spoil ourselves while we are at it. This year we decided to try some place new. There is a Buck Owens museum/restaurant here in Bakersfield called The Crystal Palace. We had heard it was fun, but had never been. Pretty much it looks like this old southern hotel/saloon. There is memorabilia that you can look at and then the tables surround a stage and dance floor. There is also a balcony level. I wish I would've been able to get some good pictures, but honestly it was pretty dark inside and we were having too much fun to take pictures. So the food was great, but the best part was the live band. Every night they have a new artist and sometimes they have some pretty "big" acts. It is actually where Garth Brookes proposed to his current wife Trisha Yearwood. Anyway, so you have the band you can listen too as well as dance too. We could tell there were a few "regulars" because they knew every dance step and line dance. We haven't been country dancing since we were dating and so we had such a great time. We were there for 3 hours just eating, dancing and being entertained. It was such a great anniversary date, and I can't wait to go back again! This picture is pretty funny because it was so dark in the restaurant that when the flash on my camera went off it pretty much blinded us. Poor Mike. Ha Ha

End of Preschool 2013

Emma, as well as Vivian enjoyed their year of preschool. So Vivian didn't actually attend EVERY week, but she loved participating when it was at our house. She loves singing the songs and had to be included in every activity. A while back we had a presentation from a bird rescue organization. We did this last year as well and they came and showed us a baby owl. Lots of fun. By the end of the year Emma was the only girl left with 4 boys. She held her own, but I'm sure it got crazy at times. :) For our last day we went to Roundtable Pizza and had a tour. The kids had a great time watching the dough being made and getting to make their very own pizza's. That night we had a graduation/pool party. We had a great turnout and all the mom's made the cutest things to give to the kids. I'm not sure what we are going to do with Emma as far as preschool goes this coming year. I know that she will sure miss out on all the socializing and it has been nice for mom to have a break in the week. We'll see what I figure out. Crazy that she will be going to Kindergarten next year!

Updates and Videos

O.K. so my sister Kim wanted me to post some videos since we are so far away and it's hard to really see our girls growing up, so here ya go. So here is Emma singing I am a Child of God.  She knows it pretty well, but was distracted by my mouthing the words to her. Here is Emma dancing at Universal Studios

Swim Party/Preschool

So, our preschool group is almost over for the year and we had a fun water party at our home last week.  The weather had been really nice this past month and Emma has been itching to get out and play in the water.  We have participated for 2 years now and it looks like there won't be enough people to get a group together for this coming year.  Now that she is 4 I am actually unsure of what to do.  We will probably just help her get prepared at home and get together with some other stay at home moms to help her with socialization.  I know it is not necessary, but it has been nice for all of us.  Vivian has LOVED being involved as well, she feels like such a big girl. Oh, I think you can also see our new swing set.  We have been wanting to get one for awhile, but were holding off until we knew if we would be moving soon.  Well, luckily we were able to get one before the weather gets too hot.  The girls have been LOVING it!  They both can't get enough of their new swing set.  Definitely money well spent. 

 

Promotion

So it looks like we will be sticking around Bakersfield for awhile!:)

Internal Announcement

We are pleased to welcome Michael Sharp to the R&D group. He will be taking on a role of Research Scientist with the Retail/Packaged products team.

Michael might look familiar to some of you; this is because Michael has been working for the Dreyer’s Technical application since 2009 and has worked in developing various products for the Dreyer’s and Skinny Cow name brands. Michael received his Master’s degree in Food Science from Ohio State and started his career in ice cream working for Casper’s Ice cream doing quality assurance and product development.

Michael has a beautiful young family with his wife Amy and two daughters Emma (4 yrs. old) and Vivian (18 months old). He is a "huge" sports fan (of almost any sport) and his favorite ice cream flavor is cookies and cream.

Michael will start his transition from the TA group to R&D on Monday, April 29, 2013.

We are all very excited to have a new colleague and someone that is already familiar to many of us joining our team. Please help us in welcoming Michael to the R&D group.