Caitlyn's Birthday

We continued Caitlyn's Birthday celebrations this past weekend. We had to delay her birthday party a week since we spent last weekend celebrating Garth's birthday in San Diego.

She got a bunch more presents. She got a lot of gift cards this year...must be part of the whole becoming a teenager thing. It becomes harder and harder to shop for them. Christian put together a new electronics kit for her. He is getting her pieces to make her own touchscreen alarm clock. She will be able to program it to work however she wants and she will be able to upload her own music or sounds to it. She will be able to put it together this summer as she will have to get up on her own for seminary next year.

She had a huge growth spurt this past year. She grew 3 5/8 inches over this past year. She is very nearly my height. The difference is negligible (unless she insists that she is now taller than me, that's when I insist that I am still taller...at least for another month or so).

We had more cake. Her birthday lunch is always shared with grandpa whose birthday is about a week before hers.

Grandpa Caldwell and Jackie rolled out of the door after the festivities. Marian stayed for a movie (and laundry). We were all still too full for dinner so we opted to just have some popcorn with our movie and called it a night.

April

Christian and I drove out to Orange County to meet up with a couple of my old friends from my Isuzu days. One of them is about to get married and move across the country. It was really nice meeting up with them for dinner. I haven't seen them in so long. We are going to attempt to get together one more time before Cindy takes off.
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We went down to San Diego the day before Caitlyn's birthday to celebrate Christian's youngest brother's birthday. Garth turns forty this year. It was quite a mile stone since they was not sure he would survive this long. He is severely autistic and lives in a group home. Christian's dad had a big party set up for 3 or 4 of the homes along with family, of course. He had the party catered with Mexican food. They even made homemade tortillas and everything on-site. I have to say, it was pretty good.

Afterwards, we stopped by his sister's house to chat for a while before heading back home.

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The next day was Caitlyn's Birthday. She turned 13. She is officially a teenager. We gave her one of Christian's presents before church so that she could wear it.

After church, we were going to continue with her birthday celebrations. I came home early during the third hour to get lunch ready for everyone. When Christian came home with the girls, however, he saw that there was smoke coming out of one our neighbors houses. But the neighbor was outside walking around nonchalantly outside of his home. He even waved at Christian. Christian came in and told me about it. He said that it seemed like his house was on fire but didn't seem to care or notice. He went back out to talk to him. Jim, our neighbor, was just walking back into his house. He told us later that he was about to jump into the shower. Christian had to knock on his door to tell him that he thought his house was on fire. He didn't even know. He had apparently smelled something but didn't think anything of it. The fire started in the wiring in his attic apparently so the smoke went up through his whirly birds and didn't even set off his fire alarm. 

Jim called the fire department and shut off his gas and electricity. He then went up on the roof with a hose to try to send water down into the attic. It didn't seem to do any good. His direct next door neighbor came out of the house and took up her hose to shoot towards his house but she was down on the ground and not near the house, so the only thing she managed to do was to water his lawn! Christian came back to change out of his church clothes and we hear the fire department coming in the distance.

By the time the fire department got here, Emily said that she could see orange flames starting she shoot out above the roof. They sent at least six fire engines over. It filled up our entire cul-de-sac. Some got blankets and things out to cover some of their valuables inside. Others probed the roof and got a chain saw to get at the fire. It wasn't too long before they got most of it out. The roof is pretty messed up and there was a lot of water damage in the end but most of their stuff and house was saved.

If Christian hadn't gone up there to talk to Jim, he would have jumped into the shower and never noticed a thing until the roof came down over his head. It was pretty crazy. He came down to thank Christian a couple of times because, who knew what would have happened if Christian hadn't gone up to talk to him. His wife had taken off to go shopping or something when I got home and didn't come back until the fire was almost out.

They ended up renting a nearby house and packed up all their stuff while the house gets fixed. Jim's new wife figured that it would be a good time to redo their kitchen and flooring and everything, so they probably won't be back in the house until some time next year.

Anyway, that was pretty exciting, to say the least. 

We went back to Caitlyn's birthday celebration. Christian made her her favorite shao mai for dinner. She got a few more presents and cake.

We will have her birthday party next week since we were in San Diego earlier.

Spring Break

The kids had their spring break at the beginning of the month. We didn't make any big plans as Christian still had classes. He doesn't get any break between classes except for after Christmas. The kids pretty much ran around feral around the neighborhood most of the time. Either playing with Caitlyn's friend and sisters whose grandmother lives a block over from us or the kids on our street. At some point, they all converged for a short time at our house and we were inundated with girls.

We took one morning off to take the girls climbing at the Riverside Quarry. There isn't really anything new there that we are actually able to climb. Most of the things that we can do, we've already done...many multiple times. But it's still good to get out to keep in practice. Emily chose to do Inter-Planet Janet. It is one of her favorites. She likes to pull over the overhang towards the top.

We each basically got to do two climbs. It's all we had time for. Emily led both sport climbs. Caitlyn hadn't really done My Planet Janet before because she couldn't quite reach to get up the overhang. But since she is basically nearly the same height as me, she should give it a try.

She wasn't very confident about going over it at first but she did great. It's more muscle than she is used to having to use. Christian went up like he was just scrambling over a hillside in his hiking boots. I like the climb but that last overhang is pretty strenuous. If I was a little taller (and lighter), it would be pretty fun. I guess that's why Emily likes it so much!

Caitlyn chose to do Taxman Max after. Emily set up the climb and Caitlyn and I went up after her.

That one was definitely too easy for Christian, so he decided to go up Dollars and Sense which is just to the right of Taxman Max so we were able to use the same anchor. 

After that, we were basically out of time. We went home to get some lunch and Christian had to get back to his school work.

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On Thursday, we met up with Christian's sister and her family again in Joshua Tree. They got a hotel for several days in Palm Springs and took day trips into Joshua Tree.

We went out to the Barker Dam area to take them climbing again. Our first climb was out on the Keystone Block. We climbed Keystone Crack (5.6).

That was a pretty fun crack overall. The Pierces did great...well the ones that attempted it anyway. Mike didn't do any climbing on this trip. For some reason, Brandon didn't even attempt it.

Afterwards, Christian looked into doing to arete but that didn't look too safe for everyone. Caitlyn decided that she wanted to go up the insane face of the block between the crack and the arete. Christian will usually encourage her to do anything she is will to try even if it looks difficult and crazy. 

She didn't quite go up in the direction she wanted to attempt but she found a way up and did really great. It was insane. Emily couldn't let that go without a challenge and attempted it as well.

After several attempts, she was not able to figure out a way up. Caitlyn is still the reigning face climbing champion. Emily is definitely a crack climbing kind of girl. Afterwards, since Christian had to go back up to clean the anchor and stuff, he made the attempt up the face as well.

He made it up and said that it had to be about a 5.10b climb. 

We moved on to the Dissolution Corridor. Christian had us climb up the blocky dike. I don't think that it is an actual route and it was pretty hard at one point because it is really awkward and slightly overhanging.

Everyone climbed this one. I think mostly because it looked easier with all the blocks jutting out, but in reality, I thought it was a lot more difficult that the previous crack. But everyone made it up...except for Mike, since he did not climb today.

Next was the Unknown 5.6, which is just to the right of the dike. I think that the dike was a lot more rigorous than everyone hoped so not everyone bothered to go up this last climb. Christian of course went up first. We used the same anchor Christian set up for the dike. Emily, Aron and I were the only other ones that climbed this one. Mason actually attempted it but couldn't find his way up the last hurdle.

That felt a lot harder than a 5.6. I didn't like it much. We were pretty wiped after the last two climbs, so we decided to take a hike to the actual Barker Dam since Aron's family had not been there yet. 

Afterwards, we headed out of the park together and Mike took us out to dinner. We had a bit of a rocky start but overall, it was a pretty good day.

We ended the week by sitting down together to watch General Conference.

March

Caitlyn just finished an after school program with the city called "Hands On History." They took a couple of field trips to talk about the history of the city and got a tour of Mission Inn. They got some quick classes on picture taking, interview techniques, etc. and made a final project to present at the end of their program.
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We went to visit with my family for Tomb Sweeping Day. My brother in law took us out to a big lunch when we were all done. We were so stuffed. Both Christian and Emily had homework to do still so we did not stay to visit after lunch and headed back home to get back to work.
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Caitlyn already registered with her first fall classes in high school. She has decided to give the IB program a try. We'll see how that goes, I guess. It hasn't gone too well for Emily. She has given up on the diploma program but is still hoping to get something out of the certificate program.
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Emily and Caitlyn went back to the dentist. No cavities again! They got their cleaning and got their molars sealed.
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Emily and Caitlyn finished the 3rd quarter of school. On the last day, Caitlyn had the day off and we went spent most of the day together shopping and Caitlyn took us out to lunch to her favorite Panda Express. Emily and her friends went to Castle Park after school.
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Christian continues classes and working on the problem with his truck.

Emily's Birthday

Emily turned 15 earlier this month. I can't believe that she will be learning how to drive soon. It's a crazy thought. We had a her grandparents on Christian's side over for her annual birthday luncheon, along with Marian. My mom stopped coming a number of years ago when her cataracts got worse. She's not comfortable driving to unfamiliar areas. They are supposed to examine her eyes to see if surgery might be called for soon, at least for one of her eyes.

We made Chinese food this year. She got a big gift card from Grandpa Caldwell and Jackie this year. Marian got her some shoes, clothes and another gift card for more clothes. She also got a fancy bath and lotion set from her.

We got her a soccer ball and another electronics kit to make an oscilloscope. Plus Christian put another kit together for her with all the parts she will need to make her first big project: a big LED cube. She saw the project online some time ago and wanted to make it along with some even bigger endeavors. 

On her actual birthday on Monday, her friends surprised her with a ton of gifts, along with balloons and cupcake. One of her best friends actually bought her a new pair of Vans high tops! She got a teddy bear and some clothes as well (although the clothes are too small).  She was really surprised and happy.

At home, she requested a special Italian dinner. A pasta we had some time ago that she really liked. Christian cured and cold smoked the pancetta just for the occasion. I also made some crusty sourdough bread to go with it and some angel food cupcakes with pomegranate/raspberry whipped cream. Plus she got a birthday note from Grandma Cheri (Christian's mom) along with some more birthday money!

Her growth spurts have finally started to slow down this year. She has not changed shoe sizes in the last couple of years and she grew lest than an inch this past year which puts her just shy of 5'6".

February

We celebrated my mom's 80th birthday this year. We planned and sprung a fancy surprise dinner for her at my brother's house. I worked on a slide show for her of her kids and grandkids.

We also returned a couple weeks later to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Of course, we spent the day making and eating dumplings all day. It is our favorite part of the holiday! And for dinner, my brother in law brought an entire roast pig. We all made some dishes to round out the dinner. We passed out red envelopes of lucky money to all the kids. And my mom got us some souvenir's of her trip to China with my sister over Christmas.

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Emily finished soccer season. She really enjoyed it. I am more than ready for it to be over though. So tired of her long days at school and carting her around for practice and games. They are supposed to take a break and start practice again, but she will not be able to join them if she doesn't get her grades up.

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Christian had more problems with his pickup truck. There has been an intermittent problem with misfiring for quite some time, but we had not been able to pinpoint the problem. But clearly, the problem was becoming more persistent. This was happening right as we were trying to schedule time to get his smog check so it was quite stressful. We were able to squeeze through another successful smog check while the truck was running okay. Afterwards, he had to replace the ignition coil. Unfortunately, it has not solved the problem as yet, so we are still working on it. We ordered some new spark plugs and got some fuel injector cleaner. Now we need to see if anything has changed.

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Everyone has been a bit stir crazy couped up at home, so we took an afternoon to head into the back hills to do a little climbing. We climbed a short, but difficult, route called Broken Heart (5.7). The kids were amazing. They just clambered their way up.

It was not quite so easy for me. It took me several tries and in the end, Christian still helped me a little. I hate the start of some of these short climbs. They are impossible to get on and the route ratings usually do not take the beginning of the route into consideration when deciding on the rating. You have to be more skilled than I am or at least taller. I am neither and have put on a lot of weight this last year of not being active. That certainly does not help matters. I am so out of shape that I was tired just making the short hike to the climb from our house.

We had joked with Caitlyn, that it was so easy for her, that she should do the difficult face climb up between the cracks and she readily agreed to give it a try! There is actually a real route that goes up between the cracks called "Hands off the Crack." It is a 5.10a! We pretty much let her go up however she liked as long as she attempted it and didn't get fully into either crack on the side. She only put one hand on the right crack of Broken Heart near the top.

It was pretty incredible. Of course, that brought out the competitive nature in Emily. She could not be outdone by her little sister. Face climbing isn't really Emily's thing. She's loves crack climbing. Caitlyn regularly climbs up more difficult face climbs rather than get into an easier crack for some reason. Emily had a little more difficulty that Caitlyn but worked her way up as well. While her sister leaned to the right going up. Emily leaned more towards the left of the face and only put one had on the left crack once near the top. She had hoped to get into the crack to finish at that point but her dad made her stay out.

The kids were on fire! I was wiped just attempting the "easier" climb in the beginning and wasn't even going to attempt it. Christian went back up Broken Heart using an even more difficult start and traversed over. Emily was feeling extra competitive and wanted to see if she could match her dad but was not quite able to do it. She got very close. She got up and traversed but then could not quite make the transition into the crack of Broken Heart. She was very determined and made many attempts, but in the end, she ran out of steam and we were out of time.

January in Review

January was a pretty slow month. The kids spent the rest of their break occupied with their Christmas gifts. Caitlyn took the rest of her fun money, gift cards and the money she is supposed to earn at the end of the first semester for her good grades to buy a little robot since she was enjoying her electronics kit so much. She has to put it together and program it to do what she wants.

It's a pretty expensive and complicated project.

Emily played with her electronics kit too. They are learning how to work with resistors, diodes, LEDs, circuits, etc. But with less discretionary money to work with, she spent some time just looking for simpler projects to do and then playing with the calligraphy pen that her sister gave her for Christmas. Emily seems to show a knack for programming. We are trying to get her more involved so that she can decide if it is something that she might want to do when she graduates or something as she still has no idea what direction she wants to take past high school. It seems difficult to get her into anything for very long. She takes an interest in a lot of things but never sticks with anything that long. She'll work very hard for a day or two on a project then doesn't pick it up again for quite a while. 

Caitlyn had been sick for 3 weeks or so before the holidays and Emily started getting sick just after Christmas. They supposedly had soccer practice all that first week but we didn't let her go. She did end up going during the last week of vacation though. In fact, they had an actual game over the break, which we thought was pretty ridiculous.

North vs Rialto

They asked her to play on the freshman team this time since they did not have enough people on that team show up. She has subbed for the team before when they needed help.

Because the JV team got a couple of extra people that played her position right before the season started, they either had her sit out nearly half the game, rotating her in occasionally or trying her out as a forward.

Now they are putting her and her friend down in the freshman team since their defense is pretty weak. At first Emily wasn't that happy about it, but I noticed that she was having a lot more fun while playing. I think in the JV team, she was frustrated being benched part of the time and then having to fight her own teammates who wouldn't stay in their own positions. So not only did she have to fight with the opposing team, but her own teammates as well. There is too much of a division on the JV team and not everyone got along.

Plus, on the freshman team, she got to be one of the superstars. She not only got to play the entire game again, but she got to play with her friends as well. 

North vs Poly and Arlington

Christian spent most of his waking hours studying for his science CSET exam. After his test, he also went down to San Diego a couple of times and spent several days each time helping Christian's dad redoing a portion of his roof.

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The kids finished their first semester of school. Caitlyn has a strong 4.0. Emily's grades left much to be desired, to say the least. Christian also finished another session of his classes and did really great.

Caitlyn also participated in the district History Day contest. She is actually the only student in her school to enter as they decided not to do it this year. She won last year as well but couldn't make it to the district contest even though it was held at her own school that year because we had family obligations to celebrate Chinese New Year. This year it was held at Amelia Earhart, so we had to drive back and forth for that but she didn't place to move on. We think she didn't do that well on her interview as she is not very good with verbal communications...hopefully this will give her some practice anyhow.