tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1517935901042798212024-03-12T18:40:21.451-07:00Muhlestein MagicUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-63347461566458619542011-06-09T16:05:00.003-07:002011-06-09T16:24:24.850-07:00Where have I been?I have no idea if anyone reads my blog. They certainly haven't read anything new for 4 months. I am still dazed at how different my life is from 4 months ago.<br /><br />Here's the reader's digest version of what has been going on. Early in February I wen to Colorado for a conference for facilitators of Becoming a Love and Logic Parent course. I came back with grand ideas of how to get going with classes and such. I was still subbing at the kids' school as well. They called me to come and substitute again, and they asked me to work full-time as an Instructional Aide. I said yes, since it would only be a few more months until school got out. <br /><br />Life got exponentially busier then. I have never had to go to work and then still do all the mom and house stuff when I came home, I was exhausted. Then, just as I thought I was getting the hang of it and the end of Spring Break was coming to a close, the Bishop and 1st Counselor in our ward visited our home. They extended the calling for me to be the new Relief Society President. WWWhhhhhaaaatttt? Somebody upstairs has a sense of humor, huh? In a daze, I accepted and the days have all started to run together even more.<br /><br />I have wonderful counselors and a truly great set of sisters in the ward, but sometimes managing just a lot of details at once can be a bit crazy. Now, I am learning to keep my life planned out on my Ipod touch, and learning to delegate the things I can. <br /><br />I make no promises of more and frequent blogging. I will, however, be writing a talk I will give in church in a little over a week and preparing my lesson for Relief Society the first week of July, amongst other things.<br /><br />Pray for me, I need it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-85954917834820592512011-02-03T16:26:00.000-07:002011-02-03T16:26:00.585-07:00Sun, The Starfarer, and the Lucky Gold StarHave you ever wanted to write your own book and have the characters emanate people from your life? Have you ever wanted the main character to be a girl instead of a boy? Do you know anyone that's ever published a book? Well, if you know us, you know someone who has a book published. John and Sidney have been working on a book for some time and last summer they held a book club with a few of Sidney's friends to go over the manuscript and see if they liked it. They did.<br /><br />John approached his publisher that published his first book <em>("The Endowment")</em> and they said that they would publish this book as well. The news that it would be published was announced in mid-November and we received our copies a couple weeks ago.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7404GYF9GPB8cye0zO0L2G3XzQh7EDP3EP4Yw9_GshABwJJbJZX1M9N5ac21Ojd-RAbNGXW2AA_P-qWhRIaYDhyphenhyphenS6UYi3Bh_bP82003NuZLjupJt0PXyB-LSf_Aaoq9T9MN2BhUSHYHp/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7404GYF9GPB8cye0zO0L2G3XzQh7EDP3EP4Yw9_GshABwJJbJZX1M9N5ac21Ojd-RAbNGXW2AA_P-qWhRIaYDhyphenhyphenS6UYi3Bh_bP82003NuZLjupJt0PXyB-LSf_Aaoq9T9MN2BhUSHYHp/s400/005.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569241256770479282" /></a><br /><br /><br />Sun, the Starfarer can be ordered through Amazon. However, they list that the book is out of stock. Order one anyway. The publisher has only been printing what they have requests for. It may take some weeks to get it, but it will be worth it!<br /><br />The book is science-fiction, the main character is a girl and it's geared for young adults. Sidney was recognized at her school for getting a book published and many kids have been asking about it. <br /><br />We bought a few books to sell to friends, but we only have a few left over if you're really interested.<br /><br />So, when my husband and daughter are famous, you could say you knew them when.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-89934288962712824532011-02-02T21:37:00.000-07:002011-02-02T21:37:00.843-07:00Project LifeI enjoy scrapbooking, but it takes up more time than I have available now. A couple years ago a favorite scrapbooker started a new system of recording events of every day life. It started as Project 365. Now it's called Project Life. I have never found scrapbooking so easy. I take a picture every day. Average stuff. Funny stuff. Messes. Projects. Events. All kinds of stuff. Then I journal a small bit about each day, each picture. Then I slip it into my book, and ta da, it's done. I'm already done with last year's pictures! Isn't that great?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhmL9miudIDT5Zi61Mst1bL-Gc9pYkWo7ZcNmuy6uDfRGZRq5dVLqauyXMQBJmJiN_ZsGydEe-aYssLA-B_Xp2Gwu_NEkUeB7Bs03UdOeUA83hN0t_VbCxk9zPfpR99S-_xS0MYzby1pq/s1600/050.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhmL9miudIDT5Zi61Mst1bL-Gc9pYkWo7ZcNmuy6uDfRGZRq5dVLqauyXMQBJmJiN_ZsGydEe-aYssLA-B_Xp2Gwu_NEkUeB7Bs03UdOeUA83hN0t_VbCxk9zPfpR99S-_xS0MYzby1pq/s400/050.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568580971887947426" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWkS3D3id2LNe6Xi3IhssBtBP7ZKtv8GhaEiopJK1yWDM4eHyhLYtlTaI1buHF6x3Mo4R5aFEGcVldVPQpE5VUGdlpvBpGjxl8m8HTMwo_G336-7DL2wwVwPqkbXxoPdJ6Uh1BJEuk4Ng/s1600/053.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWkS3D3id2LNe6Xi3IhssBtBP7ZKtv8GhaEiopJK1yWDM4eHyhLYtlTaI1buHF6x3Mo4R5aFEGcVldVPQpE5VUGdlpvBpGjxl8m8HTMwo_G336-7DL2wwVwPqkbXxoPdJ6Uh1BJEuk4Ng/s400/053.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568580966343911474" /></a><br /><br />This year's albums actually came in two different designs. I got one for our family and the other design for a friend and their family. I love that my kids and family and friends want to look through it and see what's been going on. It's funny how the everyday stuff is just as interesting as the great big events.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2FCGsKE1WwqptByE2l5XZ7NT9QLEOmj7PLME5qqzVYyVvMrvTKabTSLvf7aibWtST5Q2z9s4xMwcBT21htFjDYjF2WKxVBHCbrHzrMGmTVN8GrB8bOOUkha41fPWiocwWp97gjD44T9W/s1600/055.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2FCGsKE1WwqptByE2l5XZ7NT9QLEOmj7PLME5qqzVYyVvMrvTKabTSLvf7aibWtST5Q2z9s4xMwcBT21htFjDYjF2WKxVBHCbrHzrMGmTVN8GrB8bOOUkha41fPWiocwWp97gjD44T9W/s400/055.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568580961058097730" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9e9oeBLDxMUoRl3FdhJaLBTcPSTkXdDW9pSQvB3MNeu75KunSVleqn0TcBSt2bN87znE-XZW0w9jwfyJ3bMtlcJIxUHBj86OW4fLZuA7_sAcBSBKiLYLMxATDna2lNN1wadIlGCr_LXC/s1600/058.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9e9oeBLDxMUoRl3FdhJaLBTcPSTkXdDW9pSQvB3MNeu75KunSVleqn0TcBSt2bN87znE-XZW0w9jwfyJ3bMtlcJIxUHBj86OW4fLZuA7_sAcBSBKiLYLMxATDna2lNN1wadIlGCr_LXC/s400/058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568580161124895490" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8eiqhj4t-u0UI5Yiw4_kYJlgwiHW2u7511jkh6feKUOIz04mKdhKb0vEdyTYDpg4IbXZtRB4zPEcf92JuLaoiNY7w04Ybo5Bd3tFIB-l9XSdsET-49nqyjQ06DmsfielYjQJVwUmNozo/s1600/059.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8eiqhj4t-u0UI5Yiw4_kYJlgwiHW2u7511jkh6feKUOIz04mKdhKb0vEdyTYDpg4IbXZtRB4zPEcf92JuLaoiNY7w04Ybo5Bd3tFIB-l9XSdsET-49nqyjQ06DmsfielYjQJVwUmNozo/s400/059.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568580159420936258" /></a><br /><br /><br />Bottom line...an easier way for me to capture the moments that will mean the most to our family.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-19628354771801710882011-02-01T21:14:00.001-07:002011-02-01T21:14:00.995-07:00Muhlestein Surprise Day of FunOn the early morning of January 17th, we woke Hayden and Sidney up, told them to get dressed and that we were going on an adventure.<br /><br />We drove to the airport, got in line to go through TSA security and watched the kids have perplexed looks on their faces as we told them just before we got to the gate that we were going on plane ride to San Diego.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinmM5eU4J0qIoGO6IgSmVet7K5UV1DZYtm7f13KSw03M0MOo7vSG7ZZb_-EyssUAuhLfcBakBj8kb80gO6PGZ2q-vP8qMPCmBRZOgv8Idy1k91UL7MhuvLdjjdQbeL9hwKy6KvmwRwsrz/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinmM5eU4J0qIoGO6IgSmVet7K5UV1DZYtm7f13KSw03M0MOo7vSG7ZZb_-EyssUAuhLfcBakBj8kb80gO6PGZ2q-vP8qMPCmBRZOgv8Idy1k91UL7MhuvLdjjdQbeL9hwKy6KvmwRwsrz/s400/004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568571677850746018" /></a><br />They were astounded! Hayden's never flown before and Sidney only flew when she was two or younger and doesn't remember.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlL3UYl0jx1aVEmtHBEIapaaEE1yvnPo0jh_gcl-wc2HIsEX6EQp-Lsc1rid7kOvWb1p82xBxINIlaSjjIhrnl0Sj9cPxoVlqzfwhpcl_A-kirmHrbrarjIqGP7K9D1SX5RYDdW1RF4g2/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlL3UYl0jx1aVEmtHBEIapaaEE1yvnPo0jh_gcl-wc2HIsEX6EQp-Lsc1rid7kOvWb1p82xBxINIlaSjjIhrnl0Sj9cPxoVlqzfwhpcl_A-kirmHrbrarjIqGP7K9D1SX5RYDdW1RF4g2/s400/012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568571678040790258" /></a><br />We ate breakfast at a superb restaurant in San Diego, right off the beach<br /><br />Then we headed over to Sea World for a full day of great fun!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbydvCM0vpUqsT7dbyEcj899yGZJACTtghoFST38dfCIOQHHhbfHV_vPDk7m52zKfNgT2IRyArlhcuxOclwNVJ3xF9dWxOFVJ8zC_N9oE5DyaiByaSUzEKzaeyViwuynTC0cA0fxqNty1/s1600/079.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbydvCM0vpUqsT7dbyEcj899yGZJACTtghoFST38dfCIOQHHhbfHV_vPDk7m52zKfNgT2IRyArlhcuxOclwNVJ3xF9dWxOFVJ8zC_N9oE5DyaiByaSUzEKzaeyViwuynTC0cA0fxqNty1/s400/079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568574023846709362" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabmb8eiQN4JuWfDu0WRt7QlXLS35EaV_BM3anUhW4tLpZ8QgjYIllYDS4iQpE0WbIDCvvwb4-NraEgOAqUS8cLXFEaikRBwkhJjGhbf9sFM3xEI50hpYZryCyoBUfKpLcNqKvObkoPSnQ/s1600/077.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabmb8eiQN4JuWfDu0WRt7QlXLS35EaV_BM3anUhW4tLpZ8QgjYIllYDS4iQpE0WbIDCvvwb4-NraEgOAqUS8cLXFEaikRBwkhJjGhbf9sFM3xEI50hpYZryCyoBUfKpLcNqKvObkoPSnQ/s400/077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568574019607303458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO5DbKOGI9FhY78eDLnt-t5aWC2Ez_ola6htKY7696MH2pc0qOmV9rWMdgKV7AROA2oOfM1yboroSWPmQ0z40S1fsc1TVEwzXfXK2WW33VkdoIYqlg2fWQPdf5v8jZUTRN0U46cD4kQDY/s1600/039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO5DbKOGI9FhY78eDLnt-t5aWC2Ez_ola6htKY7696MH2pc0qOmV9rWMdgKV7AROA2oOfM1yboroSWPmQ0z40S1fsc1TVEwzXfXK2WW33VkdoIYqlg2fWQPdf5v8jZUTRN0U46cD4kQDY/s400/039.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568574017533922802" /></a><br /><br />It made for a very long day, but it was GREAT!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-19618236683082684072011-01-31T20:58:00.005-07:002011-01-31T21:14:27.408-07:00It's synchro season again...Now that Sidney has joined the competitive team for synchronized swimming, from now until the middle of June or so, there is a meet at least once a month. This season started off in Tucson a weekend or so ago. Sidney is swimming a team routine and a trio routine. The suits are so great.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8s4qta2ABacZBy8W-_-HLoKLmIjj7eEQjtnsBLLf2XKhQXNTxkNC4kUHhvMFLcWE9vUgMtixPkS6gNvCbnomEhh3EaNmNc-GqaNzkjy-mwnHX16TlNbQ-f9xuUFpqDgvFAduP5vZyH-r/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8s4qta2ABacZBy8W-_-HLoKLmIjj7eEQjtnsBLLf2XKhQXNTxkNC4kUHhvMFLcWE9vUgMtixPkS6gNvCbnomEhh3EaNmNc-GqaNzkjy-mwnHX16TlNbQ-f9xuUFpqDgvFAduP5vZyH-r/s400/008.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568567443804511330" /></a><br />Sidney is the 2nd one in from the right.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOpZAepF3KHS8n0NZgOywe5lXTEwF2ufgCZSIX4n1Ln5S-cYC93LQ7XCd1OaeAhgnmVfYFfx_KSv7HSVz1QApgZFshOQqeiMAqa7Mj85YTRtD6xIOTSLhtm6LWr0Vsg6hDVOopBX14DA2/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOpZAepF3KHS8n0NZgOywe5lXTEwF2ufgCZSIX4n1Ln5S-cYC93LQ7XCd1OaeAhgnmVfYFfx_KSv7HSVz1QApgZFshOQqeiMAqa7Mj85YTRtD6xIOTSLhtm6LWr0Vsg6hDVOopBX14DA2/s400/017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568567450848310978" /></a><br />Sidney is right in the middle.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMeUrK-ShM53FGawyHR_Q9pJM8r06IUTu57vlhRt_THbfKs6Ep72H0Nxu0Zp4BDQLVj5_ySCO0zHX0Q-LBJXeLDDgjjaTvefMdaR-AX50ssmRzr2NyFY3DR-rwq95SMLME3eY0AWfSlsi/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMeUrK-ShM53FGawyHR_Q9pJM8r06IUTu57vlhRt_THbfKs6Ep72H0Nxu0Zp4BDQLVj5_ySCO0zHX0Q-LBJXeLDDgjjaTvefMdaR-AX50ssmRzr2NyFY3DR-rwq95SMLME3eY0AWfSlsi/s400/020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568567453729395458" /></a><br />Sidney's trio, she's in the middle. These suits are so cute, right. I helped design then and them the team seamstress made them. I tried to get a better picture during the routine, but none turned out great.<br /><br />Way to go sweetie!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-55676066000086091642010-12-09T16:00:00.000-07:002010-12-09T16:00:03.680-07:00Aren't Grandmas Great!Early in October, it became evident that John's grandmother was not going to hang on to this life much longer. She passed on October 5th. Since she lived in Utah, we made the trek to attend the funeral and spend time with family there.<br /><br />It was wonderful to see family and nephews and nieces that have grown in the time since we've seen them, some more than a year. <br /><br />All of John's siblings were able to come, and we were only missing a few of the grandkids because they were either to young to enjoy the funeral services or not in the country. It was more like a reunion than a sad event.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYl6JAdhBDUfFz7nxzZ-TffO2q027aB3BJq6Bihp3SJbA3viQLivmjUbg3U4tUSDbzCrynathrTTGxAsdxsVe7DtvCVngtOGAAKJKpAbHgNVv4MBYqKKfDYzWvOJYZdmTK3bq7wc4WOnXs/s1600/051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYl6JAdhBDUfFz7nxzZ-TffO2q027aB3BJq6Bihp3SJbA3viQLivmjUbg3U4tUSDbzCrynathrTTGxAsdxsVe7DtvCVngtOGAAKJKpAbHgNVv4MBYqKKfDYzWvOJYZdmTK3bq7wc4WOnXs/s400/051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548147784036750610" /></a><br /><br />Here is all of John's family. It was his mother's mother that passed and she was the oldest daughter.<br /><br />John's Grandpa is a rock of a man. He spoke at his own wife's funeral and bore testimony of the gospel and making choices that will bless you and your family. It was great to witness that. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IjwVHyNQ2ET1-eb1wFyfEYlwfVdwkkPa6xRqbrhdS6z_7INo3MBF5QKzjHK1rGbkn8JbyX5S_dhgkgwobaO5Hy_SdAC52JPhHXS9E04isiQpnar4lgS6rkp5Hl1V0hk7cJ_oiKBgzQEH/s1600/058.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IjwVHyNQ2ET1-eb1wFyfEYlwfVdwkkPa6xRqbrhdS6z_7INo3MBF5QKzjHK1rGbkn8JbyX5S_dhgkgwobaO5Hy_SdAC52JPhHXS9E04isiQpnar4lgS6rkp5Hl1V0hk7cJ_oiKBgzQEH/s400/058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548147806511264850" /></a><br /><br />Here is John's parents and all their children. No spouses or grandchildren just their immediate family. They are each different in their own way, but you can see just a few similarities amongst them.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFgu_eKzuWdOpzXpaXKjl50MvbWiqExQt6K6l9a6OHBEfh-nwd-IVRx0nFpsXr8fN9y7ne14UJhbDggJWZIFJOtGTjXpAFihfQU-PTeUeZ9msW3op8GnW9kiEg1Rp0zcjrtl7AO_Ykd4Y/s1600/074.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFgu_eKzuWdOpzXpaXKjl50MvbWiqExQt6K6l9a6OHBEfh-nwd-IVRx0nFpsXr8fN9y7ne14UJhbDggJWZIFJOtGTjXpAFihfQU-PTeUeZ9msW3op8GnW9kiEg1Rp0zcjrtl7AO_Ykd4Y/s400/074.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548147813269219298" /></a><br /><br />We had to take the opportunity to capture our own family while we were dressed up and together.<br /><br />We will certainly miss Grandma Graff. She was a sweet, wonderful woman. She truly loved her family and the stories of her life were evidence of that. She loved to have family close-by and have get-togethers at their home. She was a simple, unassuming woman who cared so much about each individual. She listened well and asked with sincerity about how you were and what you were up to. She loved to give. She was a wonderful example to her family of genuine love. She will be missed.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-20376841919694203652010-12-08T15:00:00.000-07:002010-12-08T15:00:01.837-07:00Fall baseballBaseball is pretty big here in Arizona. So, when Hayden's friend's mom asked if Hayden would like to play baseball on the same team, Hayden said yes. At first, the practices were twice a week which was difficult to schedule in, but we did. As of now, there is only one more game to play and I think Hayden has enjoyed himself. In the very latest game he got walked twice to first which both resulted in scoring runs, he slid into 3rd base..."safely". AND he got an out at 3rd base. He had a really awesome game and he was awarded a game ball by his coach. The coach chooses someone each game to award the ball to that demonstrated effort and heart in the game. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tNTwZbP8R5JvSWa2NgHJfcrU-jqaCfx9ExfjDtaLsYAXwUSvm4U2CKqKaaQPgJYLDey5lCGCtR4nJpYPVeYekjDhtCg5pT-uEIk5zWC-YCMMzWrkMtcDDaaHLJjT40mun97dnYSq-H3g/s1600/203.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tNTwZbP8R5JvSWa2NgHJfcrU-jqaCfx9ExfjDtaLsYAXwUSvm4U2CKqKaaQPgJYLDey5lCGCtR4nJpYPVeYekjDhtCg5pT-uEIk5zWC-YCMMzWrkMtcDDaaHLJjT40mun97dnYSq-H3g/s400/203.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548144310032919442" /></a><br /><br />Hayden is so unethusiastic about all the sports we've encouraged him to try. It's hard to tell whether he will ever be excited about something. Baseball was good though since his friend was there to enjoy it with.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-76702928045914128632010-12-07T19:48:00.002-07:002010-12-07T19:51:43.161-07:00How sad...It has been so long since I have posted something to our blog that I'm not sure if I even remember how to post. Pathetic, eh?<br /><br />I haven't decided how I want to post, either by person and what they've been doing or chronologically, or by event.<br /><br />Anywho, stay tuned...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-1103883838087099942010-09-15T18:48:00.000-07:002010-09-15T18:48:00.366-07:00What are we up to?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XnUWgUZggDcm56KWmP9BLCIGGBUMIDE1K5-gbEfTmU5PI4mDJLNhbl9AK78E8oRHxA3ffJXYuzV743KmSeYXEdEvyHd7UqkC36cYp_rNwUiXE3hppKJYUX84ic2qeVP73Va17eXBXRGE/s1600/00438514.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XnUWgUZggDcm56KWmP9BLCIGGBUMIDE1K5-gbEfTmU5PI4mDJLNhbl9AK78E8oRHxA3ffJXYuzV743KmSeYXEdEvyHd7UqkC36cYp_rNwUiXE3hppKJYUX84ic2qeVP73Va17eXBXRGE/s400/00438514.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517267718784401922" /></a><br />So, my blog says to come and see what we're up to, but according to the lack of posting recently you would think, "Not much." This would be the opposite. We are exponentially more busy than we were before (if that's possible).<br /><br />John is taking on more responsibilities with his work because his partner and colleague is possibly retiring at the end of the year, so he is taking over some of her tasks before they all land squarely in his lap when she leaves.<br /><br />Sidney has joined the competitive synchronized swimming team. She was on the recreation team and it is less time per week. Now she swims twice as much on the competitive team, but she's still enjoying it. <br /><br />Hayden is now in 3rd grade and it seems that there's quite a difference in the homework area from 2nd to 3rd grade. It used to take him about a half hour, tops, to complete his homework last year. Now it takes hours. And I'm not exaggerating when I say HOURS! Even with me by his side to keep him on task, it can take over 2 hours on some nights. And he's still trying to adjust to that reality...all of us are. In a couple weeks, Hayden will start fall baseball with his best friend, so we'll have to squeeze that in, too. He hasn't tried baseball yet, and we're all hoping he at least enjoys himself.<br /><br />I am adding some change into the household as well. I have a job. Two actually. I was hired by the kids' school to be on the substitute list and I've already worked once. And I already have positions lined up for future days. I'm excited to be working with kids and getting a chance to see different age groups. My first assignment was with 6th grade and my next will be with 1st. We'll see how much I like it after that.? My second job is independently consulting with parents for the Becoming a Love and Logic Parent course, which is distributed through the Love and Logic Institute. I am ecstatic about it! I am having so much fun. I love helping parents see that there are some practical methods to offer them through this course. <br /><br />I like that our new phase of life is pushing each of us to learn more and challenge us more and get out of our comfort zone more. So far so good.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-38218745125472374112010-09-01T18:03:00.000-07:002010-09-01T18:03:00.568-07:00School started a while ago...My kids have been in school for 3 weeks. I have been slacking in the area of blogging. So, here's pictures of my kiddos before they left for school.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiRAejmB0gPTTxZyN56WUSQXaX0LEULH8MVacFUnmJhITatZE9mbqyRhwfAyKlsyexIZ1qd52NTm30hyphenhyphenGvlQK790QF8ZzNA_r1FDtPIaRxBy7kaDe7QCAW1UsS6Y-2du4SowGxTk63c2t/s1600/015.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiRAejmB0gPTTxZyN56WUSQXaX0LEULH8MVacFUnmJhITatZE9mbqyRhwfAyKlsyexIZ1qd52NTm30hyphenhyphenGvlQK790QF8ZzNA_r1FDtPIaRxBy7kaDe7QCAW1UsS6Y-2du4SowGxTk63c2t/s400/015.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512096924759046114" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd47Q7BZqSfG45rM2ZCIJFzLGI7rl95YtS0Cn9wyO4ysrtAmqQBp84_esctyYfldllMISn9H8gGbD3K9n5Essa7-M_pbnB5SXfxN6hNGo-e2Wjd9iFpltWwqPiTqwnvQi4d-Srya-H5EkS/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd47Q7BZqSfG45rM2ZCIJFzLGI7rl95YtS0Cn9wyO4ysrtAmqQBp84_esctyYfldllMISn9H8gGbD3K9n5Essa7-M_pbnB5SXfxN6hNGo-e2Wjd9iFpltWwqPiTqwnvQi4d-Srya-H5EkS/s400/017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512096905944321890" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqW18kO2R0COgacRhyLMbTABoXbnHHop3N9kSEbeLd2HoSiIN4rRQU5BHoMiTXdkwGRDp_TA6HO03frdDXRBHcsuNRfI0YZVsBfweU9lrTatEZxj9WNQtFOdNanSNcXPcxQ5izOa0fV90/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqW18kO2R0COgacRhyLMbTABoXbnHHop3N9kSEbeLd2HoSiIN4rRQU5BHoMiTXdkwGRDp_TA6HO03frdDXRBHcsuNRfI0YZVsBfweU9lrTatEZxj9WNQtFOdNanSNcXPcxQ5izOa0fV90/s400/022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512096887871478514" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-45076378405070059692010-08-12T17:06:00.006-07:002010-08-12T17:55:43.338-07:00End of Summer...My kids claim that they didn't get to do very much this summer. In some ways I agree with them, but when I made a list, it says otherwise. You decide. <br /><br />First, here's a few pictures of some of the stuff we did or friends we spent time with.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_3XJrBAaVslKEX20aqhDDBT3XDEP4-3lHBkU2mMnXSj1pQGJdmEGTQoh-meckzfaNau2-sN20YXpbo4CEgiFAYtoJs2r8N8eVGeRPZgKs1S7meqdYN78An0JQJrMv1CfdfvDWHqUlOFi/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_3XJrBAaVslKEX20aqhDDBT3XDEP4-3lHBkU2mMnXSj1pQGJdmEGTQoh-meckzfaNau2-sN20YXpbo4CEgiFAYtoJs2r8N8eVGeRPZgKs1S7meqdYN78An0JQJrMv1CfdfvDWHqUlOFi/s400/003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504689816572833394" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyCjOiGA5YUGo4cBAMoZwcIzIldmSBan3TWoREHybLa2Xn9RxWTmRGm3cVHKnFC0eoFdWlJZFQARrBeOPBXsT5BK7V3K-yZNy6LxWHDFE3CayEcacpVzRKuQxU-fDRw5J9w-ifACeyGSn/s1600/007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyCjOiGA5YUGo4cBAMoZwcIzIldmSBan3TWoREHybLa2Xn9RxWTmRGm3cVHKnFC0eoFdWlJZFQARrBeOPBXsT5BK7V3K-yZNy6LxWHDFE3CayEcacpVzRKuQxU-fDRw5J9w-ifACeyGSn/s400/007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504689809386775058" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0JrO3VEOQoMvRcbimA2XDuB4Sks-2tK7RugmuphK-goy0-N3muOJ-ad44R9a8pZ9STOkF-CCw_L5gfovw4-mvuCh_VXIeFaLv2AToCXQzs9KZPTZfYq8hAvbTfVhq6gSEQdLKoP0gQwDq/s1600/027.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0JrO3VEOQoMvRcbimA2XDuB4Sks-2tK7RugmuphK-goy0-N3muOJ-ad44R9a8pZ9STOkF-CCw_L5gfovw4-mvuCh_VXIeFaLv2AToCXQzs9KZPTZfYq8hAvbTfVhq6gSEQdLKoP0gQwDq/s400/027.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504689795460572146" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-oPu90g3bmmoBw-h5xP0MFw3qtkVMu5VmXiMOxc5Ex0qsjczVr8MMCzBp17KG-efWwbKLvBvVc5bPmuCdb4RAFAqwqZCykXnFYYVGy0K0nJAFjogqlUop-u3oW2S8JeWbJQrHaWYze-w/s1600/002.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-oPu90g3bmmoBw-h5xP0MFw3qtkVMu5VmXiMOxc5Ex0qsjczVr8MMCzBp17KG-efWwbKLvBvVc5bPmuCdb4RAFAqwqZCykXnFYYVGy0K0nJAFjogqlUop-u3oW2S8JeWbJQrHaWYze-w/s400/002.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504689788250352418" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywE1YSWbaVdnWjng_upfam1APTz0Kfz8njIopHlmkaZCpGOdImLb8Pxrcj4goIWjISzjtCqyM3Em7p75KGVrtQWunl2s4o33ueUAHu1yX1jHRwTHM_jEx6ppsWlJSmYeXJPXZUtNaldJz/s1600/030.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywE1YSWbaVdnWjng_upfam1APTz0Kfz8njIopHlmkaZCpGOdImLb8Pxrcj4goIWjISzjtCqyM3Em7p75KGVrtQWunl2s4o33ueUAHu1yX1jHRwTHM_jEx6ppsWlJSmYeXJPXZUtNaldJz/s400/030.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504689780438742594" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwbg0BWj_ToyUUFTN1y2_TmxzN2m44x4k2UqPChDjIN0ihi3R_QtjJY9qy30dBC08sfZlWHsj2FGiFZ6T79P7JKr0yciSA4P65B972qBrhoM111UXF6NChI2l-beAepvSDgHR1gtG8tTv/s1600/047.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwbg0BWj_ToyUUFTN1y2_TmxzN2m44x4k2UqPChDjIN0ihi3R_QtjJY9qy30dBC08sfZlWHsj2FGiFZ6T79P7JKr0yciSA4P65B972qBrhoM111UXF6NChI2l-beAepvSDgHR1gtG8tTv/s400/047.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504688525432661794" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndt6vfJjdRGCGON7YkYHzo8hWlIsZe30t_9P2BuCJTvQHphwKujftMMRVB3oHi8h2-Of6cUPmzzhB1sSOMSzRsixF2u8FSPnHu70KehT0EV7KGDFZveBg9K6_bk8ewbAEOo5zGq3udUI5/s1600/049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndt6vfJjdRGCGON7YkYHzo8hWlIsZe30t_9P2BuCJTvQHphwKujftMMRVB3oHi8h2-Of6cUPmzzhB1sSOMSzRsixF2u8FSPnHu70KehT0EV7KGDFZveBg9K6_bk8ewbAEOo5zGq3udUI5/s400/049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504688514990229058" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_U_WfXMTtY4hdWpj1koPI-3sBpRMhyphenhyphen_nO0ad7BH6FaTTxR2GTjADTxFlS8hPouB3yGZvXhj0TUHoQZq381PfZ2Z-tSdN_XULYPNu8GxBZFRhyphenhyphentHz9kAL9rGNkVdL_JmFsaywzdGLeQyY/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_U_WfXMTtY4hdWpj1koPI-3sBpRMhyphenhyphen_nO0ad7BH6FaTTxR2GTjADTxFlS8hPouB3yGZvXhj0TUHoQZq381PfZ2Z-tSdN_XULYPNu8GxBZFRhyphenhyphentHz9kAL9rGNkVdL_JmFsaywzdGLeQyY/s400/003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504688509176598018" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqL2UB5ISb4Hl4Z7C6hvjHUOABUpgvAVeEp1-foKPMswvZqKpaz3NF3J02E3DRzVloqiSBKzTniuenCg6Z8aZktRNdrGv-UdFU2ciUGxGb7HPlzj8MrLDPj4dfeEpcuZJ-qF5l5GrEknIf/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqL2UB5ISb4Hl4Z7C6hvjHUOABUpgvAVeEp1-foKPMswvZqKpaz3NF3J02E3DRzVloqiSBKzTniuenCg6Z8aZktRNdrGv-UdFU2ciUGxGb7HPlzj8MrLDPj4dfeEpcuZJ-qF5l5GrEknIf/s400/019.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504688490167669922" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLsSo2nzCC3liA79ODOavwKCxRI00PDTlnb2mCZiP2Z7gFsuEeXL4PzRjgyQSgi9IngHRiEUBMEI0005y_OK2TTq89RjyG8F19pCjBULmapsZM6W4CodJbDAcrU8hpEU4LnBO38OjzQlL/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLsSo2nzCC3liA79ODOavwKCxRI00PDTlnb2mCZiP2Z7gFsuEeXL4PzRjgyQSgi9IngHRiEUBMEI0005y_OK2TTq89RjyG8F19pCjBULmapsZM6W4CodJbDAcrU8hpEU4LnBO38OjzQlL/s400/008.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504688481422459042" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJGM6Y_AUZp5xauWjqSTYclOV6o2GJpTjScrsnC7e784kIAr1F_sLVkSjHJ0SEao7yHmTovcFjR-2qUbPVf8PMzkiR1G0gCTOybDxBhVuBENHPmyTUk2JmuR6MLjI93ct__IB1C1vrwgP/s1600/055.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJGM6Y_AUZp5xauWjqSTYclOV6o2GJpTjScrsnC7e784kIAr1F_sLVkSjHJ0SEao7yHmTovcFjR-2qUbPVf8PMzkiR1G0gCTOybDxBhVuBENHPmyTUk2JmuR6MLjI93ct__IB1C1vrwgP/s400/055.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504687380119593346" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkXyS5-SG5BE9xvNMotKdiVWxXOG165EW3_lJBK-LwRp4AAgLYB09J_lbSWNMPtxUlptunvO5jfIloz2_YG5J9b_RczRoWQQLThgtNV4ZBepI40WA86nP8qRGdVIKngRJgWzPP0ZT5ASk/s1600/077.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkXyS5-SG5BE9xvNMotKdiVWxXOG165EW3_lJBK-LwRp4AAgLYB09J_lbSWNMPtxUlptunvO5jfIloz2_YG5J9b_RczRoWQQLThgtNV4ZBepI40WA86nP8qRGdVIKngRJgWzPP0ZT5ASk/s400/077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504687369882830098" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyXa-gTE_8TYHU5Zs-Lo_NcjJqiXwzCunm4qBkCwRVrIylypzMQjXNKiyb1YbP-CGbU5k1T9oOViryaohxxPn9F5k3xA4I7FojXNm6aDqVxX7wJqLnCZrl_h4pSWyql3eEfHo3dIfqRnj/s1600/092.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyXa-gTE_8TYHU5Zs-Lo_NcjJqiXwzCunm4qBkCwRVrIylypzMQjXNKiyb1YbP-CGbU5k1T9oOViryaohxxPn9F5k3xA4I7FojXNm6aDqVxX7wJqLnCZrl_h4pSWyql3eEfHo3dIfqRnj/s400/092.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504687360902785874" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZIbqdXnvjbWjf2hJwUGuXDD8U4u4gHKmZ1v6z64JbiIM7-MFBne6JZ7Td_XEYD3q1kfEe8RyZYdZTiL6jZH9kmDbHUEF3-MBqqXj0k99ftFgeg8AsGylNvxSRK9sCFiYWhwF8E2zuEaZ/s1600/104.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZIbqdXnvjbWjf2hJwUGuXDD8U4u4gHKmZ1v6z64JbiIM7-MFBne6JZ7Td_XEYD3q1kfEe8RyZYdZTiL6jZH9kmDbHUEF3-MBqqXj0k99ftFgeg8AsGylNvxSRK9sCFiYWhwF8E2zuEaZ/s400/104.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504687352158646674" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSdkAZSGOETndNkaaj6eFnd053SO7z7NsInXZrOPW_XoW6X8tmqLddnLDvhq27cXsnSUinBLUEigcsj3o0NTJni1OEbHYkzw2Vb87FlCYmPEEsVGP9MtKemdkp3kKZhTGCEMBK_TrIphV/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSdkAZSGOETndNkaaj6eFnd053SO7z7NsInXZrOPW_XoW6X8tmqLddnLDvhq27cXsnSUinBLUEigcsj3o0NTJni1OEbHYkzw2Vb87FlCYmPEEsVGP9MtKemdkp3kKZhTGCEMBK_TrIphV/s400/016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504687344776956146" /></a><br /><br />Now, lets see, what did we do again?<br /><br />Slid down inflatable slides<br />Made a scavenger hunt and went on a scavenger hunt<br />Made blue cupcakes with green frosting<br />Sidney got her ears pierced<br />Went fishing<br />Made fabric rosettes<br />Hayden got baptized<br />Danced with a Native American tribe<br />Made homemade popsicles<br />Got rained on<br />Played at a playground/jump center<br />Swinged on swings<br />Hayden cut his head and got staples<br />Visited Cardinal Stadium for RV show<br />Went to the UFO museum<br />Tried to make paper mache pinatas<br />Rode bikes<br />Went skating at Skateland<br />Stood in a White Sand desert<br />Went swimming<br />Played at a water park<br />Sidney chopped her hair off<br />Toasted marshmallows<br />Ate fresh veggies and fruits from our garden<br />Went to a Bead Museum<br />Went to an underground cavern<br />Visited an aquarium<br />Played video games<br />Made homemade bread<br />Ate at many great restaurants with friends and family<br />Shot guns<br />Built sand castle<br />Rode a carousel<br />Made cookies<br />Saw sunsets<br />Watched lightning<br />Visited a temple<br />And played many card and board games<br />Sang songs out loud, really loud<br /><br />Oh yeah, and just had some good plain fun!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-88905819250405498102010-07-06T14:49:00.004-07:002010-07-06T14:56:40.780-07:00There is a time for every season...Sidney has had a blast with her synchronized swimming team. She's made some great friends, and she's learned to push herself farther for something that she wants. The regular season ended a few weeks ago and is allowing a healthy 2 month break before the new season begins. We are glad that she enjoys herself.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAq5huBtZr5JFO5hcaC6HuHS_cYOSZojVn9CIunJhQNoVwVcNtYtJ7-etiJYT6_xmuXqNj4vY5EZrODnB2jvSMZ6Bky5H1LkvsHTjlk-QGRRcQI6E592lEptFrv1zVabnHpV5NJU-x9EV/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAq5huBtZr5JFO5hcaC6HuHS_cYOSZojVn9CIunJhQNoVwVcNtYtJ7-etiJYT6_xmuXqNj4vY5EZrODnB2jvSMZ6Bky5H1LkvsHTjlk-QGRRcQI6E592lEptFrv1zVabnHpV5NJU-x9EV/s400/014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490914416797560306" /></a><br /><br />Here's Sidney at the end of her last meet where her trio placed 1st! (Can you see the moon behind her?)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-33600720880637524522010-06-15T12:21:00.004-07:002010-06-15T13:05:15.501-07:00A Banner Day...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79p7tcuG1Jlr6KQzwNGbUhOnVlmfVtAZMSBjjnxlPCSc48ocX9WXJd7CJ3-Kcg920pNroWSPYsEex-JFFEclCTrtY5z-iIay3TeXBL6fhJpUzNb4aTaLRevCnmBJ0Fa4ijJmHAV_rnC3v/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79p7tcuG1Jlr6KQzwNGbUhOnVlmfVtAZMSBjjnxlPCSc48ocX9WXJd7CJ3-Kcg920pNroWSPYsEex-JFFEclCTrtY5z-iIay3TeXBL6fhJpUzNb4aTaLRevCnmBJ0Fa4ijJmHAV_rnC3v/s400/014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483085456476085330" /></a><br /><br />Saturday was a wonderful day. We all got up bright and early and headed to church for a great event, Hayden's baptism. In our area there are many people who share the same faith(LDS, if you didn't know), so they set aside a day every month for those kids who reach the age of 8 to be baptized. Hayden had to wait over a month to be baptized since his birthday came right after the date during the month of his birthday.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjP-pkUUo1MdQ8r4GnXbpwVq97KsmpqQ-AJXwcBFoNiaCiGTGtwLyynbwt2dZbPbOGBHWOEcHMF8JyxBXyT6yF7mxZKAfvjN1rEWpDQHmSc4E-YfLvsQATiNZ5jeLFQ0SswzzMLnLM7lM/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjP-pkUUo1MdQ8r4GnXbpwVq97KsmpqQ-AJXwcBFoNiaCiGTGtwLyynbwt2dZbPbOGBHWOEcHMF8JyxBXyT6yF7mxZKAfvjN1rEWpDQHmSc4E-YfLvsQATiNZ5jeLFQ0SswzzMLnLM7lM/s400/008.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483089238413299042" /></a><br /><br />Anyway, he was the very first to be baptized that day. John baptized him.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW-sE-vHfsg0NXZGNdyJzZ4hBUegvTFHKwCmjplhIQ2PHx05BepMxMdCZAznsCTYhJGPq-iVLNKugZLr22EQ1SF3C4_kzIzax73pCC0HI33sMQL-UJCGzW_Fnf8aPYhMkj_n7_StpdLaUH/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW-sE-vHfsg0NXZGNdyJzZ4hBUegvTFHKwCmjplhIQ2PHx05BepMxMdCZAznsCTYhJGPq-iVLNKugZLr22EQ1SF3C4_kzIzax73pCC0HI33sMQL-UJCGzW_Fnf8aPYhMkj_n7_StpdLaUH/s400/012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483085471103498690" /></a> <br /><br />Hayden got a special present from his former nursery leader. She is now his Pack leader in cub scouts and she gets to see the kids that were in nursery when she was the nursery leader get baptized this year. She decided to embroider a white towel with their name and their baptism date on it in their favorite color. It's turned out beautiful.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaNKl9gzXvqKz3BRI9-9d0UN-HfzWNi54d3s8vwCaZHCwJ-6ZBjzzxg4CaNxa099-_1sZtxXj8D9UmwHJ3IFKtZfaWZLc1Id0Xa1_ujjQlaZKXE5TxIPWSHNZ2tyNi7cB-6hRvQA1TPsY/s1600/031.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaNKl9gzXvqKz3BRI9-9d0UN-HfzWNi54d3s8vwCaZHCwJ-6ZBjzzxg4CaNxa099-_1sZtxXj8D9UmwHJ3IFKtZfaWZLc1Id0Xa1_ujjQlaZKXE5TxIPWSHNZ2tyNi7cB-6hRvQA1TPsY/s400/031.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483089226635501186" /></a><br /><br />Everything happened very quickly. Next, after Hayden and John got dressed, Hayden was confirmed by his Grandpa Muhlestein. That was what Hayden had requested. We had many friends and family show up for the baptism and we're only sad that there were those that wanted to be there but couldn't. We did miss you.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtrK_GOKXlrmPyFg2Ki6AVRw9bknNBwhQlm4nDQONmyLggmzo4kh4RrmrbGh3kNnU-Tp3_wGfHP6TtbENVjRIY1i4k7nIVz944ise97md8gIiRvCHJxggL0ZtFYRYTz0SQiUAp1R2axAJ/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtrK_GOKXlrmPyFg2Ki6AVRw9bknNBwhQlm4nDQONmyLggmzo4kh4RrmrbGh3kNnU-Tp3_wGfHP6TtbENVjRIY1i4k7nIVz944ise97md8gIiRvCHJxggL0ZtFYRYTz0SQiUAp1R2axAJ/s400/016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483085450844422946" /></a><br /><br />We had a yummy brunch at our house right afterward and most everybody came to that as well.<br /><br />Hayden got a surprising present during the brunch from our home teacher. A sword. A real sword. A real, heavy sword. The script reads, "The Sword of Laban." <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJvqL51X1oly91yBIIgOZozpfX2TZAV0WtoCmKJ6uF2NL-EQPeIARn-8s9BJf-3-89y4n_OCmyEAAYykmIoGhFmN_lJyzYiKHk-jp31XC5OoCnA_7a9CNqcZvRA5R8x2vqkR2ot_eVTxq/s1600/029.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJvqL51X1oly91yBIIgOZozpfX2TZAV0WtoCmKJ6uF2NL-EQPeIARn-8s9BJf-3-89y4n_OCmyEAAYykmIoGhFmN_lJyzYiKHk-jp31XC5OoCnA_7a9CNqcZvRA5R8x2vqkR2ot_eVTxq/s400/029.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483085428488346082" /></a><br /><br />It has a little story that goes with it and has special meaning to it. Come check it out, Hayden would love to show it to you. He hasn't kept his hands off it since it arrived. Thanks to our home teacher, Hayden is grinning from ear to ear.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDfgwwZKUV55eMTWxPL4VVXIxAAKbrGwLEBjX7gD4STOH23WceIAxlkRPwo_0lb6gOaNt9Rw7JTasV1ta7BZUds_ZjIa5WVhnYdnsRiPNo67mFvJs4dMHP2OfAj0qECylXM628A5CgTH8j/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDfgwwZKUV55eMTWxPL4VVXIxAAKbrGwLEBjX7gD4STOH23WceIAxlkRPwo_0lb6gOaNt9Rw7JTasV1ta7BZUds_ZjIa5WVhnYdnsRiPNo67mFvJs4dMHP2OfAj0qECylXM628A5CgTH8j/s400/020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483085438940254626" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-64927700513960903382010-06-10T19:08:00.000-07:002010-06-10T19:08:00.600-07:00Only 2 staples...Saturday. Just a normal day. Hayden's friend had just come over to play. Next thing, shrieking penetrates the quiet. It's coming from Hayden's room. Both John and I are thinking, ok, I guesss we should go see what happened. Not really in any hurry.<br /><br />We arrive in Hayden's room. He's lying prone on his floor with his left arm holding the side of his head and we hear from his friend that they collided together. Hayden's shrill screaming is much more intense at this close distance. What could possibly be wrong?<br /><br />"I think I broke my arm!" Hayden cries.<br /><br />Next, he removes his hand from the side of his head to reveal a bloody palm and a red blur in his hair.<br /><br />The next few minutes fly very quickly as Hayden seems to have been scooped up and taken to the bathroom without his feet hardly touching the floor. His wound gets cleaned and old towels are stained with what seems to be too much red. It's not real bad, but bad enough. <br /><br />After a long journey to find an urgent care center that was open, on a Saturday, after 5 pm, we got Hayden fixed up. He received 2 staples in his head. He could have got more but he kept pleading, "Please no more staples, please no more staples..." And they seem to work just fine.<br /><br />Fortunately, the gash was in his hairline so it won't be very visible, especially when his hair gets long. Like now.<br /><br />Now, I have to show a couple pictures. They are not too bad, but then I don't get queasy with blood and stuff like that. You have been warned.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibC8oxXW5vmgYDMwCV5Y2G7dFqHhSfqcNXQQkv3iYnWhHlRM90S_LnRqlV2pyr10ay8tQ4EejG-62UXw4qRfFT3WHiP7iZGbGeQQ-Pzeepqt2-mDk9SDfyxED4Z4Cag3ghhU-4DlcLDGGw/s1600/259.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibC8oxXW5vmgYDMwCV5Y2G7dFqHhSfqcNXQQkv3iYnWhHlRM90S_LnRqlV2pyr10ay8tQ4EejG-62UXw4qRfFT3WHiP7iZGbGeQQ-Pzeepqt2-mDk9SDfyxED4Z4Cag3ghhU-4DlcLDGGw/s400/259.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481261116324097842" /></a><br />First, Hayden is not excited to see what's going to happen.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUJdHuQMBBrlzoqNXZDAcCdDo7lodpiXyYIbonaVIx0ls6p07BaA87SR4jb1osthv1FDPPm5AEGADcoaVkTGNi3XFbSO99bauzH1JUz7yG6jyY1OxDaEspOlcr9-9KiR-LrHVbXfdeanC/s1600/260.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUJdHuQMBBrlzoqNXZDAcCdDo7lodpiXyYIbonaVIx0ls6p07BaA87SR4jb1osthv1FDPPm5AEGADcoaVkTGNi3XFbSO99bauzH1JUz7yG6jyY1OxDaEspOlcr9-9KiR-LrHVbXfdeanC/s400/260.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481261104556308930" /></a><br />The gash.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlhzQFA1PxKE1W30Zg8PmN9cJSwIcB6CdoRBUcfUbuKAvp1VlRoHjMXTIai1d17heX9xOPOIOLRFvziDqOVPjO1sOddRiNZ188MVL4r821OEvNGenQ3L9UP7GFb0AJzIKgmKFf0Zf2-6f/s1600/262.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlhzQFA1PxKE1W30Zg8PmN9cJSwIcB6CdoRBUcfUbuKAvp1VlRoHjMXTIai1d17heX9xOPOIOLRFvziDqOVPjO1sOddRiNZ188MVL4r821OEvNGenQ3L9UP7GFb0AJzIKgmKFf0Zf2-6f/s400/262.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481261098686322450" /></a><br />The staples. They will help keep things secure for about 10 days.<br /><br />At least he waited until he was 8 years old to require equipment or a procedure to keep him together. <br /><br />His baptism will be memorable as well. How many kids get baptized with staples in their head?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-91712948286324573112010-06-10T12:12:00.000-07:002010-06-10T12:12:00.896-07:00Weekend in New MexicoWe decided to start off our summer vacation by heading out of town. Since the budget was limited we decided to spend it with family. We went to Artesia, New Mexico to see my brother and his family. His little family is growing up so fast that we have to see them before they grow too fast.<br /><br />With it being Memorial Day weekend, it gave us more time to spend together.<br /><br />Here's some of the captured moments that were our favorites:<br /><br />On the way to New Mexico, we passed through eastern Arizona and visited the Gila Valley temple that had been dedicated just the previous Sunday. We weren't able to make it out for the open house, but I'm glad we got the chance to see it all nice and completed.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkw7TGNjmXE97ulLDR3jrOVDd09hJ_Jx7neXAYe8z3OJ0WSUpydNswL9HciIlmxKJ56t2_1Qb80NGhcwTsc_g4ykjQHdgSByXPOCqsLnqhrWDp33vzz92yiY6Bl3rm3-RyqW9b_nqXSfNh/s1600/036.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkw7TGNjmXE97ulLDR3jrOVDd09hJ_Jx7neXAYe8z3OJ0WSUpydNswL9HciIlmxKJ56t2_1Qb80NGhcwTsc_g4ykjQHdgSByXPOCqsLnqhrWDp33vzz92yiY6Bl3rm3-RyqW9b_nqXSfNh/s400/036.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481220146729255458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFXogOF4iDT3eNZp_dfT_SNFDzvTDG6Ttn1fuZ7m0d30i39lZWjMZ4XJcIJF80sDTRwHwgOyxrzBKJks6Mbxr15FKepEEnaXYbSzn47yg3nRTfPws8_iRNOR5qgu8J7kHfddJ-a74sLeF/s1600/037.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFXogOF4iDT3eNZp_dfT_SNFDzvTDG6Ttn1fuZ7m0d30i39lZWjMZ4XJcIJF80sDTRwHwgOyxrzBKJks6Mbxr15FKepEEnaXYbSzn47yg3nRTfPws8_iRNOR5qgu8J7kHfddJ-a74sLeF/s400/037.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481220137908768226" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDHEF8UwZKiAnpAz5_FHN277WNd-MJSHUvZuhhUeZMhIUTNlxf6E1xIDqv0XzETdLaICOSE9aPuUpeYE0tUZZR2nBkFS3gUSngGoTHbCDAxrwRYs3nQg8obQYrXiHqEpEBzuuGkffTo7B/s1600/039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDHEF8UwZKiAnpAz5_FHN277WNd-MJSHUvZuhhUeZMhIUTNlxf6E1xIDqv0XzETdLaICOSE9aPuUpeYE0tUZZR2nBkFS3gUSngGoTHbCDAxrwRYs3nQg8obQYrXiHqEpEBzuuGkffTo7B/s400/039.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481220121267363746" /></a><br /><br />Once we made it to my brother's place, the kids couldn't wait to play together and we were excited to visit and spend time catching up.<br /><br />The very next day we got to go to their local park event and the kids played in the water, built a sand castle, checked out a fire engine, and ate snow cones. Good times.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RgBKg5CyqFoyWdnjimd-UOGyVmDJ3AfQc5lSJiWk8ez-rsYxXU10pbldDioEikGliifLiiXan_Kh9D69EfxwVBHgFG1RP9gEzp6O6IQW40AcP_MGMpT7TmRXvuvB4rXG2j1gJk6wioKw/s1600/062.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RgBKg5CyqFoyWdnjimd-UOGyVmDJ3AfQc5lSJiWk8ez-rsYxXU10pbldDioEikGliifLiiXan_Kh9D69EfxwVBHgFG1RP9gEzp6O6IQW40AcP_MGMpT7TmRXvuvB4rXG2j1gJk6wioKw/s400/062.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481220626899464626" /></a>One of my nephews.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuRqW3YGrwDPAjcO4IHma8y3CMwqQJXGIjfVy60ikChaAOOIhfW6OZlt2C4wXlkaKs_vjruQhyphenhyphenqPUZw0Hx6Tmd9MXKJMWP-YFpljUZDtFFAQgAOA4xENfBymadhBiO5GZ3BuNTtXByOyD/s1600/066.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuRqW3YGrwDPAjcO4IHma8y3CMwqQJXGIjfVy60ikChaAOOIhfW6OZlt2C4wXlkaKs_vjruQhyphenhyphenqPUZw0Hx6Tmd9MXKJMWP-YFpljUZDtFFAQgAOA4xENfBymadhBiO5GZ3BuNTtXByOyD/s400/066.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481218892945642706" /></a>Another cutie nephew.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUgtT4VvUxGHYFcOkxsh485kgWtdALiwkw-7jesCmbZoVN_ffD3reFRkjQPj19oJWSaruo5mVgf02xFmdtrx9qCJXZ74eF53m76ZR8w1PVqrUd_KY-ETIIwtLQiApCEwXurODEg9EtKSX/s1600/067.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUgtT4VvUxGHYFcOkxsh485kgWtdALiwkw-7jesCmbZoVN_ffD3reFRkjQPj19oJWSaruo5mVgf02xFmdtrx9qCJXZ74eF53m76ZR8w1PVqrUd_KY-ETIIwtLQiApCEwXurODEg9EtKSX/s400/067.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481218883927976930" /></a>John with my niece.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXEy2XqIwaqwJSGdzG9jSz23vkZfNGKuunACEoKmDhmiyA_jvV7iKSBeVwe1jBQicRkKb8LH3fLsU65CSAsEr4VXDrM19wBzSob8_b1OE99-RmuDnr1auKi64bcnUKzkqID02pny_kuDT/s1600/070.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXEy2XqIwaqwJSGdzG9jSz23vkZfNGKuunACEoKmDhmiyA_jvV7iKSBeVwe1jBQicRkKb8LH3fLsU65CSAsEr4VXDrM19wBzSob8_b1OE99-RmuDnr1auKi64bcnUKzkqID02pny_kuDT/s400/070.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481218869255274786" /></a><br />My brother helping the boys put together a sand castle.<br /><br />We couldn't miss the opportunity to see the UFO museum in Roswell. It was interesting. We saw quite a few aliens in the vicinity, as well.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vj22eVP7bcdJs2b6LITDTX0EZHBUh2IBIBjpQVXJbdX3R2PRslHmOw0T-JBiBDij6SiYer1ifVGEpn-CiTeRt1ppyVV7eQ79u979oWNwEnlfk2ujFZNC9PzD521_zz0Fefr5Esjn01fk/s1600/089.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vj22eVP7bcdJs2b6LITDTX0EZHBUh2IBIBjpQVXJbdX3R2PRslHmOw0T-JBiBDij6SiYer1ifVGEpn-CiTeRt1ppyVV7eQ79u979oWNwEnlfk2ujFZNC9PzD521_zz0Fefr5Esjn01fk/s400/089.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481216866666722514" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb42mvGq2R3eYfWxoI9s68aCAFbN6DZVpIdc59m9SVGoo5tJzFNkTAwCQXDvDhdjY3KaiR9LNVFQUq0u1FkZC1-6gMLTVvdMEqu1ikzj2GnL_rJFOlLazVUM_YMRD7Olk5bb6YR2NHF3ol/s1600/084.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb42mvGq2R3eYfWxoI9s68aCAFbN6DZVpIdc59m9SVGoo5tJzFNkTAwCQXDvDhdjY3KaiR9LNVFQUq0u1FkZC1-6gMLTVvdMEqu1ikzj2GnL_rJFOlLazVUM_YMRD7Olk5bb6YR2NHF3ol/s400/084.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481218863135556162" /></a><br /><br /><br />We made our way to Ruidoso, up in the mountains to a resort on an Indian reservation and we got to see some dancers and even got a chance to join them. It was warm out on the lawn by the lake, but an enjoyable day nonetheless.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaB6whU8H3A8GcHNzz2fUT9OcQUeYLw54zau_53Idn5nT9Tx1L7zHTmYpE6NLjZEzvCS0UvJnWKck88pF31tkmV1zOyIIYGMo4a_kK5rax7YOB7LEN-dG01B5_tYtvQSpHHYI5T2D2ITv/s1600/122.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaB6whU8H3A8GcHNzz2fUT9OcQUeYLw54zau_53Idn5nT9Tx1L7zHTmYpE6NLjZEzvCS0UvJnWKck88pF31tkmV1zOyIIYGMo4a_kK5rax7YOB7LEN-dG01B5_tYtvQSpHHYI5T2D2ITv/s400/122.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481216859029261954" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NxVMrVcy8gi1yZjjfb_W_M_mE9BAn1MhVi0hj3Ejlt14o9VaN3wzvD_FC9G_0LzzyKNlIf116gAJDBt3Pz059TkmpKPk8bwUxaseNRO4PGaBKEvZ6Qtww2hUNLKGj2M4XNQSUSAddfjD/s1600/129.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NxVMrVcy8gi1yZjjfb_W_M_mE9BAn1MhVi0hj3Ejlt14o9VaN3wzvD_FC9G_0LzzyKNlIf116gAJDBt3Pz059TkmpKPk8bwUxaseNRO4PGaBKEvZ6Qtww2hUNLKGj2M4XNQSUSAddfjD/s400/129.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481216845617084562" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwdsZlyvzS4N1fqxGpgd0MiokelxWW_O_8q0blWiJOD0zFknb_6LvikI0NERGCUXiDkHehLR6Nzydh2zLcHofdHxd_AaZwTM1FV8IKNuAW40MfAAfCcIKsQku-4Tj49NEW__00_qmMuee/s1600/132.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwdsZlyvzS4N1fqxGpgd0MiokelxWW_O_8q0blWiJOD0zFknb_6LvikI0NERGCUXiDkHehLR6Nzydh2zLcHofdHxd_AaZwTM1FV8IKNuAW40MfAAfCcIKsQku-4Tj49NEW__00_qmMuee/s400/132.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481216830836473522" /></a><br /><br />They even had a blow-up slide and bounce house for the kids to play.<br /><br />We visited Carlsbad Cavern which is truly amazing! And pictures are irrelevant to the size and vastness of it all. If you have an opportunity to go, do it!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJc49fpuy4_O6NY4f9JjpgKdh0vtq4wwrdubVZdZibMgCVsfAlotCLgF2_c3q0-SChQqaM7DpCa7ELtX17lol_39TZYiMQZwilLjg5XYLzsXuIRWNkqddmb_ZrmIRhyf_d2mDwCcZDPmKH/s1600/186.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJc49fpuy4_O6NY4f9JjpgKdh0vtq4wwrdubVZdZibMgCVsfAlotCLgF2_c3q0-SChQqaM7DpCa7ELtX17lol_39TZYiMQZwilLjg5XYLzsXuIRWNkqddmb_ZrmIRhyf_d2mDwCcZDPmKH/s400/186.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481177691281938834" /></a><br /><br />We also stayed to watch the bat flight at dusk. There aren't as many bats during this time of year, but there were still plenty to see.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT422G-FMeR6Pvb3G9GtIgAGEkBZsR8fnCgV0dtRYRdsEIfkQdec5JfFSrMkuZZdqCWSLJeDORHoMyN_FBmP3RIwKV4X4GObyMC8Qb1elTTqyXgY5m1A-8H-qenIKuIW6ggOXet5e4lU1D/s1600/224.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT422G-FMeR6Pvb3G9GtIgAGEkBZsR8fnCgV0dtRYRdsEIfkQdec5JfFSrMkuZZdqCWSLJeDORHoMyN_FBmP3RIwKV4X4GObyMC8Qb1elTTqyXgY5m1A-8H-qenIKuIW6ggOXet5e4lU1D/s400/224.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481177681561148770" /></a><br />This is the natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns and the location of the evening bat flight. Instead, we rode an elevator 70 plus stories to visit deep down in the belly of the cavern.<br /><br />On our way to Carlsbad we stopped at a shooting range to get some practice in. I haven't been shooting in a very long time. My kids have shot a BB gun once, but this was their first time with real bullets.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisikNqk-I8ZQEUnfnBg_F5ZjmcbHCbGeDDZZWMZjqe4OcIyENgSexUKQ6gAmsMty1KzkBeQT5o6859AFDh1S7-mB5suQm39HUloXCdowxMgcdAQ-kFPy6lQbMnPyW8esUYbWZm8Ndv_DN/s1600/154.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisikNqk-I8ZQEUnfnBg_F5ZjmcbHCbGeDDZZWMZjqe4OcIyENgSexUKQ6gAmsMty1KzkBeQT5o6859AFDh1S7-mB5suQm39HUloXCdowxMgcdAQ-kFPy6lQbMnPyW8esUYbWZm8Ndv_DN/s400/154.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481179460689396114" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqGN0dUjGERW9XOkF_AF-fjOr1OgbdY3InIESih8kK16dZKxnE1Tt0ZqFyaMPsjxVRDa6B4UJE8ThTP7QnNfwzmo9a-AvNrAGwi7tTHFIAz4UI4c8WI72X9HnAWS2t0dDpG742urC3Ua5/s1600/162.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqGN0dUjGERW9XOkF_AF-fjOr1OgbdY3InIESih8kK16dZKxnE1Tt0ZqFyaMPsjxVRDa6B4UJE8ThTP7QnNfwzmo9a-AvNrAGwi7tTHFIAz4UI4c8WI72X9HnAWS2t0dDpG742urC3Ua5/s400/162.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481179449217254850" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHzBJqaqQnXpYGtyfv7Hyf69h7hR0vSJ7DB6kTQUIYnN-aALAdDCemF9s2lqJD2gBhvOcd_lVGqYssJk_vfG1IREF5CN2vZ6sBo5zfkyrIkR8cA_g41LqdvzBtrsgNXyXYgB-5B1DYWkT/s1600/167.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHzBJqaqQnXpYGtyfv7Hyf69h7hR0vSJ7DB6kTQUIYnN-aALAdDCemF9s2lqJD2gBhvOcd_lVGqYssJk_vfG1IREF5CN2vZ6sBo5zfkyrIkR8cA_g41LqdvzBtrsgNXyXYgB-5B1DYWkT/s400/167.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481179442475928898" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZkz1UQ6p0Ve9w-1pESa5liaVkxFRgpPS4N5FYQVtmaG5Dm5-baWizZG2TKJdaXZEAZAtkA1SAmi_ef7H6miSU4rqEMkOqVru-VAtLf6M0SAskuhn-degiFlo_W-jZ89fMeMx0IyTJsAb/s1600/172.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZkz1UQ6p0Ve9w-1pESa5liaVkxFRgpPS4N5FYQVtmaG5Dm5-baWizZG2TKJdaXZEAZAtkA1SAmi_ef7H6miSU4rqEMkOqVru-VAtLf6M0SAskuhn-degiFlo_W-jZ89fMeMx0IyTJsAb/s400/172.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481223627223413810" /></a><br /><br />On our way headed home we stopped at White Sands National Monument. It was very hot, but it was amazing to see white sand dunes go on forever. The kids liked playing in it, except that it was hot.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqFpk_ntS6wd3_jVVdXMhD3XBxk3rDWDx8eCEZ6xsX_adwthl9AAhjdgtngHyvk3ueozrCP6G78db4Grg3lGFO9Xuui3qJV0kBjjStRsDnnNLEEGgKev0OML5qJPLTxSbr-v8zvfeniyz/s1600/236.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqFpk_ntS6wd3_jVVdXMhD3XBxk3rDWDx8eCEZ6xsX_adwthl9AAhjdgtngHyvk3ueozrCP6G78db4Grg3lGFO9Xuui3qJV0kBjjStRsDnnNLEEGgKev0OML5qJPLTxSbr-v8zvfeniyz/s400/236.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481177674207290194" /></a><br /><br />Overall the vacation was a great success. Too bad it's over so quickly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-74631349980614003402010-05-23T08:26:00.003-07:002010-05-23T08:36:11.791-07:00What's left of him...I mentioned several weeks ago that John had begun a new diet. Well, he's on the tail end of it and a noticable change has taken place. It's easier to show in pictures. Check 'em out.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-4LC60HLPmCJKCrEVZqVMtPVmFoh3z4H_Y1Hqy5A6HoYdXaWH2m0SXizvcBulDlHNhOJchw9K78SPEqnP18EbSurH6XNMEBRyO3Ugwnis0SDWXh9n8l_LRSj6dgwvQMVNxnt4ABhIjLK/s1600/Week1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-4LC60HLPmCJKCrEVZqVMtPVmFoh3z4H_Y1Hqy5A6HoYdXaWH2m0SXizvcBulDlHNhOJchw9K78SPEqnP18EbSurH6XNMEBRyO3Ugwnis0SDWXh9n8l_LRSj6dgwvQMVNxnt4ABhIjLK/s400/Week1.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474488857125257346" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAId08EzN0_G9VPnfVTEzhwipOWRBG15-hH2B4pPWlWDOWzzi23cI-RC-e6kn68hmuJ9ZhnnGgfJb-4YbaidAeQJm3sYaAp_yFHCZmZ9LvUlJKrhUYYmUSQYXRLpOcLYsyRfjtXaO_-jmL/s1600/week4.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAId08EzN0_G9VPnfVTEzhwipOWRBG15-hH2B4pPWlWDOWzzi23cI-RC-e6kn68hmuJ9ZhnnGgfJb-4YbaidAeQJm3sYaAp_yFHCZmZ9LvUlJKrhUYYmUSQYXRLpOcLYsyRfjtXaO_-jmL/s400/week4.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474488850912022002" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTaXG4OYIJGSCeTdNmbubKSQhdcRT_mi7lXVFCOjGSss9Eo8r2THerRw0UtYYk1GhubcC2tya-SuQHUBcKW5OsozPRW7r0IvfTp0AilspqrpqZoyXnY190fVb0lVl0X0UbJmOs6sZa_YUS/s1600/week6.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTaXG4OYIJGSCeTdNmbubKSQhdcRT_mi7lXVFCOjGSss9Eo8r2THerRw0UtYYk1GhubcC2tya-SuQHUBcKW5OsozPRW7r0IvfTp0AilspqrpqZoyXnY190fVb0lVl0X0UbJmOs6sZa_YUS/s400/week6.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474488840690336034" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nz97RFVuiFF1llmDfbzIO8hKnm1LYjoHiIUkAqDOA8juOpiU5NiVilbetssG1UAQbLWzfCmKEmf21FQfSqOAwxMc7FXpY0qlRGAXZETPiHN33FQr5ty5voedN-6pIA0a6buLso9jju2p/s1600/Faceweek1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 325px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nz97RFVuiFF1llmDfbzIO8hKnm1LYjoHiIUkAqDOA8juOpiU5NiVilbetssG1UAQbLWzfCmKEmf21FQfSqOAwxMc7FXpY0qlRGAXZETPiHN33FQr5ty5voedN-6pIA0a6buLso9jju2p/s400/Faceweek1.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474488838679298514" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONM-r-tW79HDjps3jtvbZDTe9zWHQWkIqaKSm62CXh8nIMTaM6ij_VyJzgHdCb-3hir9gkEg6Vi2GRZfNgNu9EeEHo2NhoAanymIFbKxHFD0DORenqIzhFPQExnk6OkMxdbtaBE7ysNzD/s1600/Faceweek6.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONM-r-tW79HDjps3jtvbZDTe9zWHQWkIqaKSm62CXh8nIMTaM6ij_VyJzgHdCb-3hir9gkEg6Vi2GRZfNgNu9EeEHo2NhoAanymIFbKxHFD0DORenqIzhFPQExnk6OkMxdbtaBE7ysNzD/s400/Faceweek6.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474488828091280242" /></a><br />Even after these pictures were taken, he's still lost a couple more pounds. Yay, John.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-18189545912424270442010-05-14T09:01:00.000-07:002010-05-14T09:01:00.842-07:00When chipmunks come to your birthday.Hayden had a birthday this week. Number 8! We had just a small celebration on his birthday. The funny part was what we caught with the flip video. We had received a helium tank with balloons in a silent auction with some other great birthday stuff, so I filled up a few balloons for his arrival home on his birthday. <br /><br />Later, the kids wanted to try inhaling the helium to see if it made their voices high-pitched. Of course, John was willing to model for them how it's done.<br /><br />I do not recommend trying this at all. Learn from us. It makes you loopy.<br /><br />Enjoy, though. Watch out chipmunks, you're jobs are in jeopardy.<br /><br />Oh, and listen for my mom encouraging them to "suck it in".<br /><br /><OBJECT id=BLOG_video-f8433b7b95a1ade9 class=BLOG_video_class width=320 height=266 contentId="f8433b7b95a1ade9"></OBJECT>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-88080973506161424152010-05-13T17:06:00.003-07:002010-05-13T17:27:21.077-07:00Sidney's debut solo...A few weeks ago, my daughter sang a short solo to open the 5th grade musical program. She tried out on her own and got the part with little or no encouragement from me. I'm so glad to she did something out of her comfort zone! She is usually very shy and reserved in large groups. I'm so excited for her. <br /><br />She is the one in front of the mic, with the tie-dye white and blue skirt. You can hear me taking pictures throughout her performance.<br /><br />It's not the greatest quality. We didn't get the best seat even though we showed up pretty early.<br /><br />Anyhow, enjoy the drama.<br /><br /><OBJECT id=BLOG_video-be2193987e9886db class=BLOG_video_class width=320 height=266 contentId="be2193987e9886db"></OBJECT><br /><br />Way to go Sidney, we're so proud of you!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-82106968699059429332010-05-10T13:33:00.009-07:002010-05-10T14:29:38.172-07:00A Lovely Mother's DayMother's day is usually very nice, but nothing too fancy. I like simple. I like small and cozy. But this Mother's day was especially lovely, and partly because I wanted to make it special for my mom.<br /><br />First off, we all got to chat online via Skype with my brother and his family. Even though the connection wasn't great we got a chance to SEE his kids and how much they are growing.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KHl3pzr54ljxf6QlliAbLmWtKJzEYEVa-vSsmkv5PdJMtQFTLNYqAlHRmcEn192C17fbMsnnASuK7k6_j8p2lYRF7CnSUiI5f4tsQd_3jFxHHt2TRnoWjRntpGlPtKuocWGm5nudvqpG/s1600/007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KHl3pzr54ljxf6QlliAbLmWtKJzEYEVa-vSsmkv5PdJMtQFTLNYqAlHRmcEn192C17fbMsnnASuK7k6_j8p2lYRF7CnSUiI5f4tsQd_3jFxHHt2TRnoWjRntpGlPtKuocWGm5nudvqpG/s400/007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469755492694701666" /></a><br />Here we are stooped over the computer trying to talk back and forth.<br /><br />My mom headed back home for a Sunday nap, while we got ready for her surprise. We set the table with the fancy dishes she got when she was very young (about 16 or 17). <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgmKSJBKJ6hdbZT78DjMpyzsTj9QcSs8rP3sElHsDOY6E7A0YZ_jh9ccmj9_fmzAnKT2_RhPknoprCJSnDug8DwacQD_w9jY5bVC9fpZ45hZvZD7uANooGlUQzXVbxOrupa0T2Ah8lYpL/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgmKSJBKJ6hdbZT78DjMpyzsTj9QcSs8rP3sElHsDOY6E7A0YZ_jh9ccmj9_fmzAnKT2_RhPknoprCJSnDug8DwacQD_w9jY5bVC9fpZ45hZvZD7uANooGlUQzXVbxOrupa0T2Ah8lYpL/s400/009.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469745304444483250" /></a><br /><br />We used fancy glasses and candles at the table, even. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80fTD_xBgJTEb1zh3qvvXBzxzTlj3ihoFUZnXCZcvInFNcP3gT3u9hIIw6XBaMrmuaDam_10OdtQA5S5ko-LKTabPTjsB17KmhWHyl9kze78pp1s5ydR6-1HfQ69MVVw7cpTT9VeO74qO/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80fTD_xBgJTEb1zh3qvvXBzxzTlj3ihoFUZnXCZcvInFNcP3gT3u9hIIw6XBaMrmuaDam_10OdtQA5S5ko-LKTabPTjsB17KmhWHyl9kze78pp1s5ydR6-1HfQ69MVVw7cpTT9VeO74qO/s400/011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469745317560569170" /></a><br /><br />We had note cards at each place setting that told what the menu for the night would be.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcko6Jx0ZzAztlqqhwSuztI9NF1Wp815RLiXCQ9l9jmmpirYqcIzpFYwsuBB68EA7jXMt6V2YgziwvBELtYSbdl5M7JBbdZK-ti6SgAjgJX12D4ELNXBeA5Cq4J5rlHyDLHM1GXWEGB0R/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcko6Jx0ZzAztlqqhwSuztI9NF1Wp815RLiXCQ9l9jmmpirYqcIzpFYwsuBB68EA7jXMt6V2YgziwvBELtYSbdl5M7JBbdZK-ti6SgAjgJX12D4ELNXBeA5Cq4J5rlHyDLHM1GXWEGB0R/s400/012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469745319780745010" /></a><br /><br />Then the kids wanted to make it seem like a restaurant so they made a sign, "Welcome to Cafe de Muhlestein."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dIPEFkpbY3FffX8kE27RGkftnNASu3OwvsdCU4BBMHtAgFrVot_wxEWFvuRhGJOSyoUtbLunY3BEjNcPYuGl_ReIIWBe7idrQJXcFYlR9RGvut-4UiWj4fG2fMYEJqRf-73-3dLOmq_E/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dIPEFkpbY3FffX8kE27RGkftnNASu3OwvsdCU4BBMHtAgFrVot_wxEWFvuRhGJOSyoUtbLunY3BEjNcPYuGl_ReIIWBe7idrQJXcFYlR9RGvut-4UiWj4fG2fMYEJqRf-73-3dLOmq_E/s400/014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469749305136801458" /></a><br /><br />And then the fun began. John was such a sport to help plate each course when he could only eat certain things because of his diet. Sure do love him!!<br /><br />First came the "Spring mix with baby spinach salad." We had our choice of dressing; Ranch or Tuscan House Italian. Oh, how I love a good salad and this one was top notch.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYP5DpObORyhTxLgF6KK7A8EKNE3nPKhOBVfUGz24nC7d6vAMjBgvndmJFN7kSCLI8Qvuk9rY71eibgQA95cJh8tiE5grUt6pYGfm-tVca7nCvH0b016hcXMGJUGtMYsOcf1nn2I9IXh4/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYP5DpObORyhTxLgF6KK7A8EKNE3nPKhOBVfUGz24nC7d6vAMjBgvndmJFN7kSCLI8Qvuk9rY71eibgQA95cJh8tiE5grUt6pYGfm-tVca7nCvH0b016hcXMGJUGtMYsOcf1nn2I9IXh4/s400/020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469749318581915490" /></a><br /><br />Next, came the main course; Mediterranean Garlic Roasted Chicken with Garden fresh Red and Gold Roasted Potatoes (fresh from our garden), and savory herbs stuffing.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7upBX3cljNUAVDAdW1czngZNjoBqrqFhLTT42ZxBkt9LoHGZp5wvL7tkKYrRNRY3kwHLIgxnAIZrYTuvOpsROHKCuZiSso5hulTt2B7xKpsq7F0Pfol9NwDAFWq5it-oJDxUyRmhL_8fF/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7upBX3cljNUAVDAdW1czngZNjoBqrqFhLTT42ZxBkt9LoHGZp5wvL7tkKYrRNRY3kwHLIgxnAIZrYTuvOpsROHKCuZiSso5hulTt2B7xKpsq7F0Pfol9NwDAFWq5it-oJDxUyRmhL_8fF/s400/022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469749330370072066" /></a><br />Here's my mom and I getting ready to dig in.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbCXlvX4JT14kp2SDJaZgsTMWIac1W5ITGjdg6EvsNt69cqWG8O1ev_aIyYMmojAA6a2Xb4eqS011WEqGQBs3UoR5MYSOXPFpxGazKIvuMT2TVi_5hyphenhyphen6uJKxLzAttEdCk2h290jHMEIb7/s1600/023.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbCXlvX4JT14kp2SDJaZgsTMWIac1W5ITGjdg6EvsNt69cqWG8O1ev_aIyYMmojAA6a2Xb4eqS011WEqGQBs3UoR5MYSOXPFpxGazKIvuMT2TVi_5hyphenhyphen6uJKxLzAttEdCk2h290jHMEIb7/s400/023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469749347346094770" /></a><br /><br />And finally, the piece de resistance; the choices for dessert were Vanilla Strawberry Sorbet Swirl or Strawberry frozen yogurt with Chocolate Chunks. Either choice was placed in an edible bowl made from Vanilla almond bark. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CTMSEU7AOKeXiL12Mr_RwfSbJ4EYvlsWXhnxUMAyGzWv6w67l3M5YlFlTS-ugOYmUYyO_xMuGirVDhADpeEPY4qA0JxHr8RjxXqZiIyYrbg1g7Hi23YjvaFXedXgb6OoUBG2MugpsQhj/s1600/027.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CTMSEU7AOKeXiL12Mr_RwfSbJ4EYvlsWXhnxUMAyGzWv6w67l3M5YlFlTS-ugOYmUYyO_xMuGirVDhADpeEPY4qA0JxHr8RjxXqZiIyYrbg1g7Hi23YjvaFXedXgb6OoUBG2MugpsQhj/s400/027.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469752797305860594" /></a><br /><br />I was in heaven. How can you go wrong with a dessert like that?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliq7FcXkv_RgZDZwAgT_ZNer48I1uzHkq7WmvLEtM1DoXHKrLtmOZwVi4RylMq6Zb02H9qim-hM6q41M40uw1k5Se-TKaggF9LgOvgy1rdZic8OV3_xbZew-5GCLxKvValaHGqh3vstuY/s1600/031.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliq7FcXkv_RgZDZwAgT_ZNer48I1uzHkq7WmvLEtM1DoXHKrLtmOZwVi4RylMq6Zb02H9qim-hM6q41M40uw1k5Se-TKaggF9LgOvgy1rdZic8OV3_xbZew-5GCLxKvValaHGqh3vstuY/s400/031.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469754430558577826" /></a><br /><br />I was so excited to get pictures of the food that I didn't get a picture of mom and I together enjoying our Mother's day meal, so we got pictures outside afterwards.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrShgq0PmCUvUX8DRcBb_eFLHRaBHZ_1mVJPXvbRl0Bbg4-F6p7DX01Bz0poRd1JxQ3TfhltQoSVyReP3w22zS88ZZU98n-lop4vX9lmxip8uSCOfYD_mXrzi7WRT-ih17-7uVi7NeX3I/s1600/033.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrShgq0PmCUvUX8DRcBb_eFLHRaBHZ_1mVJPXvbRl0Bbg4-F6p7DX01Bz0poRd1JxQ3TfhltQoSVyReP3w22zS88ZZU98n-lop4vX9lmxip8uSCOfYD_mXrzi7WRT-ih17-7uVi7NeX3I/s400/033.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469754440382931458" /></a><br />Here's me and my wonderful mother.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFebd27gfbEUsrKOZE6qf7_eel5kTevNSlZvS13QO3WQVEdmKTc8cCQgbkGgwyPx1_ZvXMYm-oXbIEqp440f_YNn_jaZnmuercfTYNulwnL4Dsu360WHAJGa3KRPNn7LAZy7NoVRZ48jj_/s1600/036.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFebd27gfbEUsrKOZE6qf7_eel5kTevNSlZvS13QO3WQVEdmKTc8cCQgbkGgwyPx1_ZvXMYm-oXbIEqp440f_YNn_jaZnmuercfTYNulwnL4Dsu360WHAJGa3KRPNn7LAZy7NoVRZ48jj_/s400/036.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469754446256348962" /></a><br />Here's me, mom and my two reasons that make this day worth it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNYRcCHB2CC04Zckv89hWjHi4L-69cfpni_8_1rpUSyOAlYdkfjAqa5KCrzvwBHCpLiNksEqm6Uuh-K59mpiRWzZzsWfKqikssq7RHSlT6PNreS-AE2qR4_M3Hcv8IE6wkEccA67UcmnX/s1600/040.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNYRcCHB2CC04Zckv89hWjHi4L-69cfpni_8_1rpUSyOAlYdkfjAqa5KCrzvwBHCpLiNksEqm6Uuh-K59mpiRWzZzsWfKqikssq7RHSlT6PNreS-AE2qR4_M3Hcv8IE6wkEccA67UcmnX/s400/040.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469754461764625218" /></a><br />And here's the most wonderful husband and myself. He went right along with my plan and exceeded my expectations of how I wanted the evening to go. Thanks, dear!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-77533179700974338742010-05-06T17:14:00.000-07:002010-05-06T17:14:00.582-07:00Everyone needs a friend like this.Over 6 years ago, I met a woman who was so easy to talk to. She was thoughtful, caring and we seemed have the same values. She still is all those things, but she doesn't live just a couple streets away anymore. I know that shouldn't put a damper on friendship, but we kinda lost touch after she moved to the other side of town (almost to CA(J.K.)). Well, I found her on Facebook recently and we finally got together for lunch and some serious chat time. <br /><br />I just love the kind of friends that you can just pick up where you left off. We caught up on kids and husbands, jobs and interests, concerns and hopes. It's just great to know someone that awesome. Man, I really am spoiled!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahRHsowoi26XFLKgKvbwRbrKMQXmFH1UAIDROMgrVVFWNnBR-nMV_WavfZm9zp2kntymIWMJQY0Fr8NeEzVcBVuJQqj0Jw3tXTVlj5QlfHmo5f-4N2AnRKUcURTTF28o6D-GRvILcYcLp/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahRHsowoi26XFLKgKvbwRbrKMQXmFH1UAIDROMgrVVFWNnBR-nMV_WavfZm9zp2kntymIWMJQY0Fr8NeEzVcBVuJQqj0Jw3tXTVlj5QlfHmo5f-4N2AnRKUcURTTF28o6D-GRvILcYcLp/s400/009.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468312892044238946" /></a><br /><br />Thanks Jami, for an incredible time. And almost 5 hours was still not enough!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-49953262443925347082010-05-04T09:35:00.004-07:002010-05-04T09:45:05.782-07:00The corn had to goOur garden is growing, sort of.<br /><br />Last year when we planted corn it was growing over the kids' heads and eventually over mine & John's. It was a deep green and had the most beautiful texture to it. I loved it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nlpJS4XYvLq2nKZKza8PZS8WGEcCJzM3-5zSrdwMTrevSmT0Tr5Gl8ahre6A5NvOzqaHrqeixrw7UboaK2rR_wJa7V6WxXI2iPCn-INopA4NrwxQPbWpvI6GEUjYsSB7O6oSW23pttOU/s1600/107.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nlpJS4XYvLq2nKZKza8PZS8WGEcCJzM3-5zSrdwMTrevSmT0Tr5Gl8ahre6A5NvOzqaHrqeixrw7UboaK2rR_wJa7V6WxXI2iPCn-INopA4NrwxQPbWpvI6GEUjYsSB7O6oSW23pttOU/s400/107.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467456048615538418" /></a><br /><br />This year the corn is pitiful. It didn't even grow. It turned yellow. And it went to seed faster than it was supposed to. So it had to go. No corn.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAdcLHf87WNp3jOrsf3-Ji1cRQBDeHHDmdaizKKEIlUy6Zz91oJh-FIaTOxnyOHvqmiD1KlRav2YFRSTx7oIR-l4Q60FcrwLmgszbZRRuuaWtlSMyhI8E-lcPhNH7RF-FV5jw_8jwkcqs/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAdcLHf87WNp3jOrsf3-Ji1cRQBDeHHDmdaizKKEIlUy6Zz91oJh-FIaTOxnyOHvqmiD1KlRav2YFRSTx7oIR-l4Q60FcrwLmgszbZRRuuaWtlSMyhI8E-lcPhNH7RF-FV5jw_8jwkcqs/s400/017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467454919845825426" /></a> <br /><br />No yummy kernels to nibble on. No buttery flavors to mix with. No corn.<br /><br />I'm sad.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-70322460754706071942010-05-03T07:22:00.002-07:002010-05-03T07:32:01.280-07:00Just some fun.While we were at church yesterday (Stake Conference), each of us had a small notebook to doodle in, take notes, make lists, etc. John decided to ask the kids some questions by having them write their answers down. I figured I could get in on the fun, too. My question was: Name 10 activities that sound fun to do for the summer. Each of the kids wrote their own answers down.<br /><br />I got some great responses: swimming, camping, mini golf, hiking, road trip, a jumping center. Then, one caught my eye written by Hayden. <br /><br />It read, "a month of fun."<br /><br />Nothing big, just a whole month.<br /><br />Now you try stifling a laugh at church.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-68488276797203836732010-04-30T12:12:00.000-07:002010-04-30T12:12:00.601-07:00Another synchro event...Last weekend, Sidney and I made our way to Tucson for a Synchronized swimming event. I makes for a long day and we weren't even there the entire meet, she only had Saturday events. Anyway, she did her best and got <strong>1st</strong> in her duet for her age group and <strong>5th</strong> in figures for her age group. Yay!!! She's really enjoying synchro, and getting some confidence by doing this herself. I got video of her, but can't seem to get it to cooperate to download to blogger.<br /><br />So here's pics of the edge of your seat excitement that goes on at a synchro meet. The swimmers are either in the water or waiting.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtPuk8pslyzgjyJWkFXxKSk8ZkOuM8R95SZNQZxNb-pNafidLabKlNaKr7h4eaXEWMukUq18nGmrxC5JsDvYPDmoDxUAxy8YJS09CqO2WMvhnUv5lxGYNjmsVsTrz0CQasbzp5ccH-qh-/s1600/033.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtPuk8pslyzgjyJWkFXxKSk8ZkOuM8R95SZNQZxNb-pNafidLabKlNaKr7h4eaXEWMukUq18nGmrxC5JsDvYPDmoDxUAxy8YJS09CqO2WMvhnUv5lxGYNjmsVsTrz0CQasbzp5ccH-qh-/s400/033.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465976078527959938" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVU9KlyHv1qWQ9mWwXxWkTh90lnm7uPEi2pReIdOR_RzXOqRZ5x0bQtbv5dFV05Lm3UhQdO5XiFyH4xM1x3SoFNkm0l-qmI-f3RaHtBQ_fkg8i6nxhAF_-DEfSeflovWA9ARly1bIUj4M/s1600/035.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVU9KlyHv1qWQ9mWwXxWkTh90lnm7uPEi2pReIdOR_RzXOqRZ5x0bQtbv5dFV05Lm3UhQdO5XiFyH4xM1x3SoFNkm0l-qmI-f3RaHtBQ_fkg8i6nxhAF_-DEfSeflovWA9ARly1bIUj4M/s400/035.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465976085912689794" /></a><br /><br />Way to go, Sidney!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-7888960460121994282010-04-30T09:37:00.003-07:002010-04-30T09:51:56.473-07:00I've lost my personal chef...For 3 weeks now, John has been on a special diet program. I'm excited for him, especially since he's lost more than 30 pounds already and he's more than half-way through the program. I was really supportive of him before he started the program because I wanted him to have some success. I didn't foresee any problems with my lifestyle.<br /><br />I didn't realize how much John helps me when it comes time to cook and clean-up. In fact, we're kind of like a good team. I don't really need to ask him to help because he's anticipating what's next and doing it. I didn't realize that he wasn't going to be there if he chose this program.<br /><br />John has some food restrictions, as with any diet. And it's difficult for him to help me make food for me and the kids because he has to prepare other food for himself. AArrrggghhh. I lost my kitchen help. I lost my partner in preparation. I lost my personal chef. Sometimes he would completely take over the meal and I would just get to enjoy the yummy goodness. How could I have not thought this through?<br /><br />Yes, I know that I'm spoiled. And, yes, I have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle. And just like anyone else, I have difficultly with change. I'm just glad that he's more than half-way through the program and my cooking cohort will be back by my side in less than 3 short weeks. We might even be making healthier dishes together, what a plus!<br /><br />In the meantime, I've been replaced by this:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhontkNBo9N-0rUl4JcDWxlsmDit9vWUiAa_5kW8_YvLN4kWfei6goHwOgieFhAsV7DmmLYVrxESCk7DHCJTIsqsTMPMbAiWr1z3hYmx4XenbRO5NKJOTKQ3nhByi1s89bXnv5hfTnj9QGX/s1600/028.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhontkNBo9N-0rUl4JcDWxlsmDit9vWUiAa_5kW8_YvLN4kWfei6goHwOgieFhAsV7DmmLYVrxESCk7DHCJTIsqsTMPMbAiWr1z3hYmx4XenbRO5NKJOTKQ3nhByi1s89bXnv5hfTnj9QGX/s400/028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465973749121606530" /></a><br /><br />That digital food scale is lucky that I like red!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151793590104279821.post-89996945424335027922010-04-16T15:11:00.005-07:002010-04-16T15:52:12.383-07:00Making some changesSo, as of late, I've been doing more than my fair share of complaining. What do I have to complain about? Oh, we don't need to go into that. It's sad, really. <br /><br />Anywho, I decided that the best way to get out of this funk is to be more grateful for the things that I do have, and to be honest...I'm spoiled. I was thinking first off that I have some great friends. Friends that I've had since grade school, since high school, since college and many since I've been married. I have friends that live all over, some on the opposite side of the country and some that live right around the corner. I have friends that I get to share my fears with and others that just make my laugh until I cry. Best of all, I got to marry my best friend. Lucky me!!<br /><br />Now, I am not a natural at being grateful and thankful. I rarely send thank you notes, and I'm always the second or last to thank someone in person and usually only because someone else beat me to the punch. I don't know why I'm such an airhead in this area. But I want to get better. So, be patient with me. <br /><br />I want to thank a particular set of friends. I feel like sometimes I am the one that drains them and needs them more than they need me, but thank heavens they still stick around. They are always giving us stuff too. And just because. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgov4taUbnzoR2Ku5o0mtoGW8BaCJ33qCieoLhcHC7zmG5b0YwdfNcYvpT3BUrUCMeLmw4A8LIF7uu0xThUdPIUevXB8OOVoxmBGaM5O-1Lf6tMbwz1oPR5HZ7KXqdVb404TYL-fD7tup/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgov4taUbnzoR2Ku5o0mtoGW8BaCJ33qCieoLhcHC7zmG5b0YwdfNcYvpT3BUrUCMeLmw4A8LIF7uu0xThUdPIUevXB8OOVoxmBGaM5O-1Lf6tMbwz1oPR5HZ7KXqdVb404TYL-fD7tup/s400/003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460863526052445570" /></a> <br /><br />I hope you can see this beautiful glass paperweight. I don't know how they get a laser to engrave it, but it's amazing. Our friends gave it to us after they came back from Hawaii. And they gave something to each of my kids too. I know I said thank you, but it doesn't seem enough. I am so grateful that I have this sitting on my nice side table so that when I walk by it I can remember that we're important to someone. And that means a lot!<br /><br />So, if you're reading this, than you're probably a friend. If you're a stalker, than I'm kinda flattered (because I'm not really that interesting to be stalked). <br /><br />I thank you. We could be just acquaintances or have known each other for many years. I thank you! I feel blessed to know you and to be your friend. And most important, I hope that we get to continue to be friends!<br /><br />Here's some recent captures with friends:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLLINCMAChyphenhyphen1kWs8NKg6eyWBxM0p49jAUiQneHQYHtut6AS3705s3QTdS1Se3pDAeNHbo5qWC68jdWOJIOK2GabSNEIDCnqPa1z9qeqkuXca-0XW7U-cjTklUhp4tpfQKR-DTJTFFvh0Z/s1600/047.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLLINCMAChyphenhyphen1kWs8NKg6eyWBxM0p49jAUiQneHQYHtut6AS3705s3QTdS1Se3pDAeNHbo5qWC68jdWOJIOK2GabSNEIDCnqPa1z9qeqkuXca-0XW7U-cjTklUhp4tpfQKR-DTJTFFvh0Z/s400/047.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460871086439507762" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xvxa4EEdFnWpq1ajvJykaMkwJSn07ZwAIBxCOIg2Zbhm_Mx7csh9EGTxw1S-SoLmg-2EuJMmHNMsyeKinJLhqSvYecOJk-zsbUtB7Q9GvGqTulPsZ29XbGn43LecGzLdgVYxgGTnnz8z/s1600/007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xvxa4EEdFnWpq1ajvJykaMkwJSn07ZwAIBxCOIg2Zbhm_Mx7csh9EGTxw1S-SoLmg-2EuJMmHNMsyeKinJLhqSvYecOJk-zsbUtB7Q9GvGqTulPsZ29XbGn43LecGzLdgVYxgGTnnz8z/s400/007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460871072745682402" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtFYvekCc2DpkwzKbd8zzRETgtvogkJGkhq8FKo0qqATt1jLvtW8g8SUBu-aClv_0IQBtnQ9JaidUZUP1mmc_PIOKWufkC_fbRE9yCIcNEZEZkU2_r5UwvzdphWZ1lTfXkFn5hMggTzv0/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtFYvekCc2DpkwzKbd8zzRETgtvogkJGkhq8FKo0qqATt1jLvtW8g8SUBu-aClv_0IQBtnQ9JaidUZUP1mmc_PIOKWufkC_fbRE9yCIcNEZEZkU2_r5UwvzdphWZ1lTfXkFn5hMggTzv0/s400/020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460871066840208818" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg47WuTSFuZj8AU7JWbgTjzm1F9rRFonf0V__ixRIjZD_UavdKUQr1MwUuFfxJgBr9Y21E5KES34jKi_pDwp_Ia_t8_krbeQ6KUOTQVhGwKiiCu0mUqEHfw6aSzqDpSL4xJReaNaIIDpr9H/s1600/051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg47WuTSFuZj8AU7JWbgTjzm1F9rRFonf0V__ixRIjZD_UavdKUQr1MwUuFfxJgBr9Y21E5KES34jKi_pDwp_Ia_t8_krbeQ6KUOTQVhGwKiiCu0mUqEHfw6aSzqDpSL4xJReaNaIIDpr9H/s400/051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460871057965609506" /></a><br /><br />You guys are awesome, so again, Thank You!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1