Hillary's Big Day

Our good friend Hillary got married last Saturday. I love these Hanaike weddings and I am getting used to having one every summer. They are a great reminder to keep my recommend current and just one more reason to get over to the temple more.

I have watched Hillary grow up over the years and she has turned into an amazing woman. One that is a great example to my children and I love her for that. Congratulations to Hillary and Andrew (not my Andrew).

Sean loved being outside and enjoying the water. Thankfully no one had to go in after him.

The weather was great, probably not great for photos, but still warm and beautiful.

8th Grade Graduation

Today marked the end of Jr. High for Kira. There is some debate in our house as to whether or not 8th graduation should exist, but regardless we are proud of her. She wore ribbons around her neck representing Academic Honors in Science (no surprise) and History. She also wore a ribbon for overall Academic Honors, meaning she kept a 3.0 grade point average during all three semesters of 8th grade.

She is a smart cookie, I think we will keep her around.

8th Grade Dinner Dance

Helping with science homework, not so good. Dressing for dinner dance, that I can help with.

She looked beautiful, and I am sure will have a blast.

Her Last Jr. High Concert

Next year she will be in the "big leagues" playing for Terra Nova High School. This was the last concert of the year, and to make it all that more special, Rob Schneider was there to show his support.

Here is Rob conducting one of their pieces. Kira said she couldn't help but laugh through it since he was making funny faces the whole time.

The Rob Schneider Foundation has been funding the band program, at the Jr High level, here in Pacifica. While they are scaling back drastically next year we have been very grateful for the support they have offered. I am hoping the funding will come from somewhere else in the future to keep this program alive in our schools.

Our Summer Challenge

It is funny how my kids respond to a little friendly competition. All I had to do was mention the idea of reading the Book of Mormon this summer and how fun it would be to see who would finish first. They hopped up and wanted to start a chart to keep track. This morning I woke up to find Andrew's nose in his iTouch working his way through 1st Nephi. Kira was at the kitchen table reading from her iTouch over breakfast. I am working my way through Alma (since that is where I was when we started) and will work my way back around. It will be fun to see who wins, and if the excitement lasts. I have a feeling I already know the outcome, and it may involve Tom boasting and Andrew pouting, but we will have to see.

Regardless of the fun we are having with it, I do know there will be a lot of spiritual gain as well. There is nothing I want more then for my children to gain testimonies of this great book. I know it to be true, and I believe they are learning that as well. I feel blessed everyday to have this book along with the Bible to guide my decisions and bring peace to my life. If you haven't read this book yet, feel free to join. If you have, you are welcome to re-read it with us. I might just add you to our chart if you so choose.

Good luck and may the best Porter win.

Some may say I am crazy,

But that wouldn't be the first time.

Andrew has been begging to stop piano for some time and I finally agreed. Part of the deal was he had to choose another instrument to replace it. His choice, Drums.

So far I haven't minded the afternoon drum sessions in my house. It may be because I am married to a middle aged man that still pulls out his electric guitar and jams in our basement.

It is a good thing we are such nice neighbors to make up for the fact that we are also noisy neighbors.

Feeding the Fish

What do you do when church starts at 1pm and you have a house full of kids? You take them to local fish hatchery to feed the fish. Why not? By Sunday of our Memorial weekend my brother Jeremy and his family joined in on our party. We went from 9 kids to 15.

I have to say, it worked. It kept them busy and happy and

the fish were well fed. I think we spent about $20.00 dollars in dimes to get the food out of the machines to feed the fish. The kids just kept coming back for more food. At one point I filled up Andrews shirt with about $3.00 worth of food and watched him just dump it all in at once.

Here is Tom auctioning off the last of the dimes to the highest bidder.

I love the look on Noah's face. A guy in a small truck (in the background) had just driven by pouring out food for the fish. You can see them all jumping to get a bite and Noah obviously loved it.