Inviting all who want to join in on a fun night at the Bakersfield Music Theater on Saturday, October 11th. Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma is on the stage and tickets range from $30-35. I will be purchasing tickets by October 1st. If interested, leave me a message and I will contact you with additional details.
Throughout all our travels, the one thing that we never fail to sample is chocolate. My love for chocolate is unwavering. My favorite is a Swiss chocolate called Milka and I haven't found a place in the US to buy it yet. Which is probably a good thing!! Anyhow, I thought it appropriate to bring back Dutch Verkade milk chocolate bars to all who gave a guess to how many braids were in Tayah's hair. The correct answer is 88. See you soon to claim your volle smaak.
Wednesday was my day to stay back from diving and help out with the wee ones. Elle and I had fun floating in the lazy river and feeding the igunas lettuce. We ordered strawberry daquiris by the pool and Elle didn't want to share at all. Who blames her? The divers returned with bad news for me. My camera had decided to stop working. Too say that I was sad would be an understatement. I have only had the camera a few months and I have been extremely happy with it. My wonderful father quickly went online and placed a service order in with canon. Hopefully it will be covered under warranty but I seriously doubt it. So needless to say, no more underwater pictures from Aruba. Who would have guessed that five days into the trip we would have a broken camera and one gone missing. Everyone split up for dinner . Steve, Kathy, my Mom, my Dad, and I went to Champions, a sports bar in the Marriott. We have grown to love their spinach artichoke dip. Its heavenly! We took a nice walk down the beach hoping to burn a few calories before we inhaled an Oreo Madness at TGIFs.
I am not sure who had the most exciting morning...the divers or non-divers. Lots of eels, a large barracuda, a puffer fish, and a sea horse were among the highlights of the dives. Back at the Surf Club, my mother was chasing Hispanics out of our room hoping that they didn't get there hands on anything. Elle and Teyah found themselves lost in the hotel for nearly 20 minutes. Teary eyed Teyah finally located the lobby where they asked for help. I don't know who was more shock up the kids or the adults. After looking around our room, we discovered that my parents camera had been stolen along with a USB attachment that went with the wireless mouse. My mother filed a report. Security came and tried to look official by taking pictures and doing a bunch of paperwork. Its no wonder they never found Natalie Holloway! Dinner was cooked by our personal chef, my Dad. We enjoyed chicken fettucini alfredo with salad and bread. 
Last night we all went out to dinner at Tony Roma's. This has become a tradition and whether the service is good or bad, we still enjoy ourselves. Last night was no different. The 15 of us plus two infants piled into the two vans for a short ride to the restaurant. We managed to get a table that seated everyone. We seated the hard of hearing crew at one end and the young fun at the other. It took nearly two hours for us to get all of our meals. Needless to say, the kids were getting pretty antsy by the time we finished. Adding to the equation was the fact that Elle was sunburnt and exhausted. Upon returning, 
Marcie made her famous carmel popcorn. It was delicious. Some watched football, others played card games, but I volunteered to take Elle to my room in hopes of getting her to sleep at a decent hour. No such luck! She entertained me for a good hour and a half with incessant talking and singing in the dark.
Check out Teyah's braids. It took four hours for the woman to put them in. Can anyone guess how many it took? I will bring a surprise home to the person who guesses the closest and leaves me a message. 
Getting up the first morning was pure torture since we hadn't got to bed until well after 2am Friday night. Krissy, Howard, Kenny, Dad, and I were barely awake 
as we boarded the van for a ride to Red Sail Sports at the Hyatt. We obtained our equipment and boarded the boat and set off for the south coast. The first dive sight, "Fingers" was a favorite from past trips. It didn't seem to be as great as we had remembered though. We saw lots of beautiful fish, a huge moray eel, huge brain corals, and some beautiful coral formations.
The second dive was a sight called Katilla, a popular destination for the submarine Atlantis because the reef is dotted with lots of colorful fish. The highlight of the dive was seeing the large barracuda in the deep blue.
I spent the afternoon napping trying to recover from the long travel day and poor nights rest. The rest of the group spent much of the day at the pool floating down the lazy river. We split into two groups for dinner. The Kents and Tuckers went to one of our favorite's.....Sole Mar. Krissy and I love their specialty which is spaghetti and lots of parmesan cheese. They take a bowl made of cheese and they light it on fire melting the cheese. Then the spaghetti is dropped into the bowl.....and mixed into the cheese. Its lovely!
I am not sure if Krissy and Dylan are going to let Elle come play with me anymore. Like a 16 year old, she is obsessed with makeup and a few other things. Tonight she found my permanent lipstick and smeared it all over herself. The other picture is self explanatory. Hopefully, her Mommy and Daddy will forgive me. I love you Elle. 
Katie Baer Hogue and I visited yesterday over lunch. Towards the end of lunch, we began reminiscing about our days together. Last night she found some old pictures and posted them to here blog. My entire family and I got some good laughs, so I dusted off a few photos myself to post. I hope these give everyone a laugh. Thanks Katie for your 20+ years of friendship! 
#1 
Katie & Anthony 4th grade
#2 Katie, Julie, Angie, & me "Walk Through California"
#3 Katie, Angie, & Heidi
#4 Julie, Sierra, me, & Katie 8th Grade Graduation Dance
#5 Me, Katie, and Ginger
#6 Me and Katie Flowergirls Junior Year
#7 Sarah, Julie, Me, Shelly, Selina, and Natalie More Flowergirls
#8 I couldn't resist posting this one. I won't mention any names.
Mark your calendars now......Saturday, March 28, 2009! The third annual "Race 4 Results" is being held in Bakersfield. This 5K/10K walk/run raises money for Friedreich's Ataxia research. This year the event was held on a Sunday so it was tough to recruit participants. But no excuses for next year! Sav
e the date and join the Kent family in the fight against FA. Want to know more about this horrible disease that afflicts three of my siblings visit the following website: http://www.curefa.org/whatis.html
I think I may have finally found a reason to vote for John McCain....and its Sarah Palin. This "barracuda" seriously stands for change and is a true American. I loved her speech tonight and I am anxious to hear more in the coming months.....hopefully years. GO SARAH!
A dear friend from high school emailed this get-to-know you questionnaire. Honestly, I never fill these out. There is a first for everything!
1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? YES...with big chunks of Blue cheese
2. Do you own a gun? No
3. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee shop? Peppermint Hot cocoa
4. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Yes...I never sleep well the night before. I dread getting on the scale.
5. What do you think of hot dogs? At the ballpark or Costco they are OK
6. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night performed by Ken Hurley
7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Grape Juice lately
8. Can you do push ups? Haven't tried but highly doubt it
9. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Don't wear much
10. Favorite hobby? Traveling
11. Do you have A.D.D.? No but I do have OCD
12. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I can't relax.
13. Middle name? Don't have one.
14. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.. I wish we left for Aruba this Friday instead of next. I need to come up with some half way intelligent comments for the book club meeting tonight. I wish I had a sugar daddy to take care of me.
15. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Diet Pepsi, Water, Crystal Light
16. Current worry right now? Where do I begin! I worry nonstop about everything.
17. Current hate right now? My weight....the heaviest I have been in the last 10 years.
18. Favorite place to be? On vacation
19. How did you bring in the New Year? Can't remember.
20. Do you like to travel? I LOVE to travel.
21. Do you own slippers? Yes
22. What color shirt are you wearing? Multicolored pastel scrubs(pink, brown, green, blue)
23. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Who owns satin sheets??
24. Can you whistle? No
25. Favorite color? yellow
26. Would you be a pirate? No....I get seasick when I am stuck on a boat for more than a few hours.
27. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower.
28. Favorite girl's names: I honestly haven't thought about that in years....since my dream of having children has never materialized.
29. Favorite boy's names: see answer above.
30. What's in your pocket right now? post-it note reminders
31. Last thing that made you laugh? My niece Elle always makes me laugh!
32. Best bed sheets as a child? Who remembers back that far.
33. Worst injury you've ever had? Can't think of anything that was that awful.
34. Do you love where you live? Its what you make of it.
35. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2
36. Who is your loudest friend? Nancy
37. I wish I could: do more volunteer work.
38. What is your favorite book? Memoirs of a Geisha
39. Do you brush your teeth with cold or warm water? Doesn't matter.
40. What is your favorite candy? Peanut M&Ms
41. Favorite Sports Team? San Diego Padres
42. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping
43. What was the first thing you thought of when you got up this morning? Do I really have to get up and go to work?
44. Jump over puddles or in puddles? Jump over
45. Favorite room in my house? My bedroom