Halloween

Deiana had a couple different costumes this year for extracurricular activities.  For a Halloween gymnastics meet the girls dressed as minions.  For her girl scout party she was a "cat".  The girls had gymnastics practice on Halloween, but cut it short and went trick or treating together. Jon had Halloween off this year and was able to trick or treat with us, in a fun neighborhood!  It was lots of fun, and lots of candy.

The team girls, Deiana is the minion on another girl's shoulders

 

Cute Kitty

 

Fall Gymnastics

I know I post a lot about gymnastics, but that is what we do!  Deiana has so much energy she needs to channel it into something productive, and she loves gymnastics.  She works out four days a week from 4:00 to 7:30, but its more like 8:00 because the girls don't want to leave!  With meets on the weekends its a huge block of time. The team she is on is very close and their young coach is very dedicated and enthusiastic.  This is great for a girl that has no siblings or neighbor girls to hang out with.

 

 

 

 

 

Deiana is the third one in line.

We are well into the meet season, and the girls look really good.  Deiana has won medals at all the meets but not the first place sweeps we got use to last year.  She is in a higher level and the competition is a little tougher. There are several girls on her team that are her biggest competition.  I actually think she is having more fun and feels less pressure to be perfect all the time.  I will post more pictures when I have them all on my computer.  I am having trouble getting good action shots with my camera!  I'm too far away and they move too quickly.

Fall Trip

My Sister, my Dad and I took a fun trip this fall.  We went to Monteray, Carmel and San Francisco.  These are places my Dad has enjoyed visiting throughout his life, and with my Mom.  We started out in a Spectacular Victorian Mansion Bed and Breakfast.  I slept on the little sleeping porch which was very cool. I was hoping it was haunted but didn't seem to be! The weather was beautiful and we did a lot of walking and sight seeing.

We had some great food along the way.

And good drinks

 

Beautiful weather in San Francisco too.

 A bit chilly on the boat ride though.

 Deiana did fine with me being away from home. School and regular activities kept her busy.  She did however decide to "trim" her hair while I was gone.  She apparently pulled it all to one side and attempted to trim the ends.  When hanging back down it was severely uneven.  After I trimmed it straight she lost several inches.  It needed to be trimmed anyway, but I thought she was beyond the self hair cutting stage.  Two years ago when I went away for a father daughter trip she got her hair stuck in a round brush and cut a chunk out at the front of her scalp! That took a year to look normal! 

 

 The finished product, not too bad.....

 

First Day of Fourth Grade

Summer was fun but its Back to School now! 

Deiana got a "tough"teacher this year but I am happy about it.  She is a little behind in the reading and language area and I am hoping she can catch up this year. Previously they have always told me she is at grade level, but at the end of last year I found out this really was not the case.  Public school thinks she is "good enough" as she is but I know she is capable of much more. She loves school, so that's a plus, but she does not love reading.

 

 Unfortunately for Deiana, NONE of her friends are in her class this year.  She knows everyone at the school and makes friends easily so hopefully this won't affect her attitude regarding school this year.  It could help her learn if she is not doing so much socializing.

She was actually seated at a table with 4 boys and no other girls. Here she is with Nick, the boy across the street that she is friends with. 

 

Posing for the first day in an outfit she picked out.

Updates

Time to catch up on the blog!  We had an uneventful end of the summer.  Just lots of gymnastics and a final trip to the beach. 

 

 Deiana and Becky had fun running on the beach.  Last year Deiana met Emma, her newest BFF who has a beach house by ours.  They are both gymnasts and met doing cartwheels on the beach.  They were inseparable from then on.  We went by their house this year and they were there.  The girls were instant friends again and spent the rest of the week together and even had sleep overs.

We had lots of gymnastics team events this summer like parades and exhibitions.  The summer ended with a picnic at a local amusement park.

 Deiana conquered her fear of heights with this rock wall!  (Didn't know she had any fears)

 Deiana had her 10th Birthday, and celebrated with a slumber party with 9 friends.  Not a lot of sleeping going on but lots of fun!

 

 

The Big Photo Shoot

Get ready for some awesome pictures of our beautiful Deiana!  My very talented friend Debbie took these fantastic shots.  She has been photographing Deiana since she was tiny.  Now that she is older, she is much more cooperative so we got lots of great ones!  I am so thankful Debbie could capture images that reflect the beautiful girl I see everyday.