On Friday morning we were up around 7:00 am and on the road by 9:00 am.  We were heading up to Oroville where the Family Gathering was going to be.  We took our time on the trip and got in just before 1:00 pm.  We then started getting things ready for Saturday.  We went to the store, printed pictures, cleaned the house, organized food, took a walk, and played with Melissa.  We had a great time and were all ready for the next day.  

On Saturday morning family started to arrive at 11:00 am.  We had a great turnout, about 75 people showed up to honor Grandma Margie.  It was great to meet family members that I hadn’t gotten to before.  Being with Melissa and the rest to the family made the whole day perfect.  We left there around 4:00 pm and enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  

Of course on Sunday we had church and the a Memorial Day church picnic.  It was freezing and no one had the proper clothing so we went to Target and found absolutely nothing to help keep us warm.  We headed to the Giant’s Dugout… a store that sells only Giants gear.  We found sweatshirts, beanies, and jackets to keep us warm.  Then we headed to the park.  It was a lot of fun even if it was really cold.  We got home around 4:00 pm and the siblings started to go through old pictures with their parents…Melissa and I both took a nap.  James fixed dinner and dessert.  We enjoyed spending time together as a family.

Today we are going through more pictures and having Bar-B-Qued porkloin for lunch.  We are also going to make ice cream.  James, Ruth, and I plan to leave around 2:00 pm and head back to LA.  I have really enjoyed being with the family.

Melissa has entertained us all… she will sign words or say them.  She now signs and says Auntie and Uncle.  She also says Grandma and Grandpa.  She is a charmer and so cute.  I love her and am really going to miss her.  I am glad that we got a lot of pictures of her.  I also got video footage of her playing with all of her aunties and uncles.  

It has been a great trip. Pictures will be up soon.  I will let you know.

I got 5 shirts, 2 pairs of pants (black & khaki), and 2 skirts.  I also got a shirt from Aeropostale!  Jireh made me oragami flowers and Tim got me an iPod arm band!  

All the presents I have gotten

The flowers Jireh made

I figured it would be fun to put up a pic from my senior year in High school and a pic of what I look like today!  By the way, the little girl is my niece, not my daughter!  :)

We started the day off in the special exhibit that they had.  It was a CSI exhibit.  You wait in a  line and are given paper to record the facts from your crime scene.

Paper for the crime scene

 Then you are taken into a room and briefed on what to do, and then the real fun begins.  You are taken to your crime scene and told to note the things you see, you have a place on your paper where you can draw in the things from your scene.  Ours was a lady laying by a dumpster, her purse was on the ground and it’s contents spilled out, a little bag of some white substance was laying on the ground, and she had tire marks on her, there was no blood and there was a fly on her arm.  After going over the crime scene you head back to the labs.  This is where you start checking your evidence.  They had cool computers that showed things like who the girl’s last text message was from, 

Seeing who the last message was on the cell phone

there was also a place to find out who’s prints were on the picture found at the scene

Drake looking for fingerprints

They had four different patterns of tire tread to match to the cast from the crime scene

Matching tire tread

Another thing that they could investigate was when “Penny” died.  They had a microscope with a larve fond on Penny’s body. She had been killed 3 days before her body was found. 

Figuring out when she died

We then found out that Penny wasn’t her real name. So we got to try and match a DNA chart from Penny to Parents who had missing children.  Penny’s real name ended up being Lucy Cannelli.  Penny Golden was her stage name. She had run away from home at 14.

Everyone writing down the real name

ONe of the last things that you do is get a medical examiner report.  they did an awesome job at this part.  they had a table with a dummy lying on it and a projector over head made it look like you were right there for the whole thing!  A screen on the back wall had the dr talking to you and you could see everything he was talking about on the dummy.  

Medical Examiner Report

At the end you file your report.  So our case:  Penny Golden AKA Lucy Cannelli met up with a friend on the evening of May 4th and was given some drugs that she took.  If you remember me mentioning that there was no blood on the victim, yet she had been run over by a car.  This is because she was already dead when the car ran over her.  She had died from drug overdose, or the combination of drugs and alcohol.  Her friend, Diana was the last person to see her and had given her the drugs!  So Diana was arrested for selling illegal drugs.  

The whole thing was an awesome experience and look into the life of a forensic scientist.  I really enjoyed it.  

The California Science Center is free.  The CSI exhibit will be there until April 26, 2009.  If you are interested in this kind of stuff or just want to check it out.  The rest of the museum was great fun also.  there are a lot of interactive things for kids to do.  It is open from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.  You can bring a picnic lunch and only spend money on gas and any souvenirs you might buy.  

The rest of the pics can be viewed in an album on the pictures page!  :)

I was tagged by Jen-http://jenmarie33.wordpress.com/

Christmas 2008

Hope you enjoy!

I will be heading to Arizona as soon as we find out when Randy’s memorial service is!  It looks like it will be in a couple of weeks!  Please be in prayer for my family as we face this death!  

Here are a few pics from yesterday!  If you click on the photos tab you can look at the whole album!  Enjoy!