And the race is on.........

Well if you've read any comments on my post about the goldfish, you'll know that a dear friend and old roommate of mine from my Tucson days has also come into possession of three goldfish. We've been e-mailing back and forth today and this is what we've got.

My friend posted:
My sweet roommate from my single days has offered up a challenge. Or did I suggest it? Anyways.... After 12 years of being an animal free household she broke down and brought home three fish with accessories to her loving children.
We have never denied our children anything mind you....OK...yes we have....daily...We have had dogs, (not inside dogs) and a frog. Then on Thursday our family increased by three. Three fish that is. Free from a city carnival for Pioneer Day. (Yeah, whose dumb idea was that?) The kids were so excited to come home with their winnings. We couldn't find a fish bowl fast enough for them. In fact, before we could properly enter them into their new surroundings the kids had dumped them in...to cold water from the tap. No tempering our poor fishies in this family. Needless to say, I didn't think they'd last the day. The kids constantly touch them and then on Sunday they changed the water all by themselves. Neither Ricardo or I witnessed this and no one can explain exactly how they did it, but the water was clean and all three fish were swimming happily.
So my sweet OLD roommate and I have entered into a friendly competition. Or rather a Science experiment. Will free fish live longer than store bought fish? If I win she will send our family of six to Disneyland. If she wins I'll send her a gift certificate to the Dollar Store. I feel that is more than fair.

As of this post the score is 3 to 2. We lost one orange fish yesterday right after I left a comment on her blog that all three of ours were still alive after four days. We are already down by one. So stay tuned to see who wins. The race is on!



Okay so I just finished working on their family photo at Disneyland just in case she wins. I've got a little more work to do, but so far so good. what do you think Wendy?

The Cost of Happiness

1 Fish Bowl Kit $ 7.98
1 Goldfish named Nemo $ 2.88
1 Goldfish named Swimmy $ 4.68
1 Goldfish named Snowcone $ 4.98
1 .42 oz Goldfish Food $ 1.17
1 Bag Aqua Gravel $ 2.93

The look on my childrens faces this morning when all the fish were still alive...... PRICELESS

Meet the new members of our family

Well today we took the "Plunge". Yesterday Kayla came up to me and said...."What are we going to do tomorrow?" I responded with my usual...."um, I don't know, why?" She said "I think we should go to the pet store and get me a pet." So after 12 years of avoiding the pet issue.....the Branch family finally has 3 pets. We'd like you all to meet them, because really I'm not sure how long they're going to stay with us. I just hope they live long enough so that the kids have a great time with them. They are all so excited at the moment. So without further delay please meet the newest members of our family.



This is Kayla's fish who she has decided to name Nemo for the time being. I'll let you know if that changes.



Then there's Kyle's fish who he has decided to call "Swimmy" and Nathan has decided to call his "Snowcone".



Swimmy is on the left and Snowcone is on the right

Last night after discussing what kind of pet to begin with and deciding on goldfish, then Kayla said something that I thought was so cute. I told Robert after the kids were in bed that this is so much like what a girl would do.

You could see the lightbulb over Kayla's head and she turned to me and said...."But what will we do with the fish when we're gone away from home on a trip?" I said "I don't know, I guess we'll have to find something to do with them". Kayla then said that we could just get granny to come take care of them while we're gone. She would love to do that. So I guess you've been volunteered granny. We'll let you know when we're heading out of town. :)

I just thought that was so like a girl. Always thinking ahead. Even at the tender age of 6 years old she instantly thought about what would happen if we left home. I find it hard to believe that a boy would ever think of something like that. Just another one of those differences between boys and girls.

A mother in the making

Kayla was pretending to make dinner tonight and asked me to hold her "baby". But eventually she came and got the baby away from me because she was crying and wanted her mother. Kayla took the baby from my arms, turned to walk back to her pretend food pretending to cook on the stove and said..."I just don't know how i'm going to get this all done and hold my baby. I guess I'll manage somehow." It just made me smile. It's just like a girl at even such a young age to realize she'll have to multi-task when it comes to future life.

Time for a change

Okay....I've got it under my skin for a change on my blog. But I've been sitting here playing with this for over an hour now and I've really got to get on to other things.......like dinner. Okay, so it's gonna stay this way until I can figure something else out. So consider this blog....UNDER CONSTRUCTION....for the next week or so.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Yes....that's right. Today in our house was Christmas in July. Kayla has been asking and asking for two days now to please make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers and frosting. She has had such fun today just digging in the pantry to find things to decorate it with. She did a pretty good job. She used mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and trix cereal. I'm so glad she had so much fun with this. Oh yeah....and not to rain on anyones parade....but Christmas is only 5 months and 10 days away. But who's counting?

Bowling Fever

Well when it's too hot outside to do anyting else but swimming, we turn to the bowling alley for a couple of hours of fun. The kids wonder why they don't do as well as they do on the Wii game system. Kayla just can't understand why she doesn't get any strikes. On the Wii she can get 4 or 5 strikes in a row and she's not even trying. But when we actually go to the blowing alley then it's a different story. The boys like watching the score board. It tells you the speed of the ball as it goes down the lane. Kayla does her best....sbe doesn't want any help. So she lofts it hard as she can and sometimes it goes faster than other times. This last slow record was .88 miles per hour. The boys just loved it. At one point her ball actually even rolled back to the starting position and she had to throw it out again. What a trooper she is.


You have to keep in mind. This was a 7 pound ball.....Kayla only weighs about 33 pounds. So that's about 1/4 to 1/5 of her weight she's trying to carry and then throw with some speed.




This is how she stood after throwing the ball each and every time she was up. Girls are just so cute.



A little bend of the hips always helps the ball go in the right direction.

Fireworks

We did go into town for fireworks on July 4th.

Nathan did a great job catching the fireworks on his camera. Thanks Nathan for catching these.

More Mountain Pictures

The Tooth Fairy is a Genius

Pretty soon this little girl of ours is not going to have a tooth left in her mouth to eat with. Yes....Kayla celebrated the 4th of July in her own way. She lost another tooth thanks to the help of Aunt Jeri. Kayla's tooth was really bothering her and she was working and working on trying to get it to come out. So it was finally hanging sideways in her mouth and Aunt Jeri convinced her to let her pull it. Thank Heavens. It was so ugly just hanging there.



She soon discovered how difficult it was going to be to eat certain foods that you really need two front teeth for. I guess now she can say....."All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." I hope they come in soon.



Kayla was afraid that the Tooth Fairy wouldn't be able to come since were weren't at our house. She was really upset that evening when it was time for bed. We have a special tooth fairy bag at home that we put the tooth in and then the tooth fairy takes the tooth and leaves the money in the bag. Well....of course we didn't have that bag so Kayla wasn't sure she'd come. But sure enough the next morning there was something left under Kayla's pillow. Kayla told Robert later that morning...."Oh yeah....the tooth fairy found my tooth. She's a Genius". We're so happy for you Kayla that the tooth fairy came to visit you all the way in the mountains. What a special Tooth Fairy you have.

Here's the gang

'



My sister and her family were in the mountains with us and we all had such a blast. These pictures were taken July 4th evening after being at the river all morning and sitting through a rainstorm huddled under tarps to stay dry.

July 4th

Well we started the day off by going fishing yet again. And as you can see "MOM" is the one who gets the lines ready for fishing. It was my favorite thing to do when I was young and went camping with my family. So Robert gracefully turns that job over to me.



So once the poles were ready to begin fishing then the waiting game began.


And more and more and more waiting. Fish can be very patient with us fisher people. They're not in any hurry to get caught.



The questions also arose of who would catch the first fish of the weekend. And the winner was KAYLA. She caught the very first fish on July 4th, 2008. She was so proud of herself and her little Disney princess pole that the boys didn't think would be able to catch a fish. She showed them who could catch a fish. The Disney Princesses Rule.



But finally Nathan's patients paid off. He was sucessfull and caught three fish that day. Way to go Nathan.


So Kayla may have caught the first fish, but Nahan caught the most fish.

Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery

Over the 4th of July weekend our family went to the White Mountains for some fun with family and to enjoy the much cooler weather.






Our first stop on the trip was to the Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery. The kids had never been to a fish hatchery before so it was a good experience for them all. I think the boys enjoyed it the most though. As soon as we walked into the building where they keep the smallest fish, Kayla said...."oh, something stinks". Having that many fish in a building does make quite a smell. After the boys asked lots and lots of questions we went outside to see the bigger fish swimming in the raceways.



The kids were anxious to get to the river so they could start catching some of those fish.

But first it was time to help set up camp. We didn't actually camp at the river in tents or this motorhome for that fact. My sister's family stayed and camped out while us weaker campers stayed in town in a cabin. I mean someone's got to do it. Right?



This was right up Kyle's alley. He has always wanted to climb to the top of a motorhome. He was in heaven.

A good laugh for today

A good friend of mine sent this to me today and I got a really good laugh out of it. Thought I would pass it along.



The Mom Test:

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that. 'Why?' my daughter asked. Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty, and probably has germs' I replied.

At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, 'Momma, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart.' I was thinking quickly. 'All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mom Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mom.'

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. 'OHHH . . I get it!' she beamed, 'So if you don't pass the test you have to be the dad.' ''Exactly' I replied back with a big smile on my face.

When you're finished laughing, send this to a Mom.

Christi's Married......Welcome Daniel :)

Well it's official. Christi Larimore is now Christi Stone. The Wedding was on Thursday, June 5th and the reception was held in Tucson on the 7th. It was a beautiful wedding. We couldn't have been more lucky with the weather. It was the coolest day of the week. It was only in the low 90's for the actual wedding and picture taking at the Temple. It was so wonderful. The reception was also very beautiful. Christi wa so pretty in her dress. They are very happy together and we are all so happy for them. Good Luck Christi & Daniel as you begin your new life together.

One, Two, Three.....JUMP !

Yes that's our son. Kyle went on a day hike with the Scouts right before school got out. They went swimming or better yet....cliff diving. I'm so glad I didn't have to be there. When he came home he was so excited about the trip and had so much fun. I was really glad for him. Then he tells us of jumping off the cliff. That scared me a little....to be honest. Then the next day at church the leaders tell me that he was the 1st off the cliffs. No one else would go off, but sure enough Kyle was more than willing to demonstrate how it's done. I was honestly shocked that he went off first. That is not something that I would think that Kyle would have done 1st anyway, but good for him. He's got bravery in his bones I guess. Then yesterday at church I get a look at these pictures.....I'm glad they all broke it to me gently and slowly. First Kyle tells me of the event, then the leaders tell me he went first, and then the pictures. I just had to post them today. Kyle is growing up so fast and I can't believe it. We're glad that you had so much fun Kyle an

It's official......It's SUMMER

Well the kids went swimming today for the first time this summer. Yes the water was very cold, but they didn't care. They all jumped right in. I don't think kids actually know what "COLD" is. It hasn't been hot enough (did I just really say that ?) yet to make the pool warm. But time's a wastin'. So as for us here in the Branch Household.......yes, it's now officially summer.

I know....it's been a while

Okay, so it's been a while. I've been busy.....well more like playing. I've gotten myself into this Photoshop stuff and find myself spending hours working on learning all the in's and out's of the program. I'm having so much fun. But today I finally decided to get all the pictures off of both of the camera's from the end of the school stuff and get it posted. So here you go..... This is what's been up with us lately.

We can't forget Nathan

After all we can't forget about Nathan. He also had a wonderful year with a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Hunter. It has been one of the best years so far. Each one of our children had a really great teacher. Mrs. Hunter really made this year fun for Nathan. Nathan likes to write and Mrs. Hunter really helped in that area. They did lots of writting and she kept it all and made it into a book for the end of the year for each student. I love to read his stories and see things from his view. Good job Nathan. You're a great kid.

Kyle's Done......What?

I can't believe that our first child is done with grade school and ready to head to Junior High. That seems like such a giant step for me. Probably not so much for Kyle as he says he is ready to move on. I keep thinking that I can't really be old enought to have a child in Junior High, but sure enough come August 6th, Kyle will officially be a 7th grader. Wow how time has flown by.

This was at the awards assembly. Kyle did such a great job this year. He is really growing up and we are so proud of him.


This is Kyle's best friend Brent. They have been buddies ever since they were in Kindergarten. They are two peas in a pod. They are so much alike. They have had the best friendship and I'm so grateful that Kyle has had such a good friend for all these years.


We were also blessed to have such a wonderful teacher this year for Kyle. A big thanks to Mr. Ihns for making this year a GREAT year.

Kayla's Kindergarten program

Kayla's kindergarten program was so much fun. This is the first year that two of my children have voluntered for a speaking part. Nathan had a speaking part in his 3rd grade program and Kayla had a speaking part in her program as well. We are so proud of both of them.





I can't believe she's done with Kindergarten. The year went so fast. I can honestly remember the 1st day she went to school and the tears that were shed.....Mine mostly.

What a sweetheart

My dear, loving and every so patient husband spent the evening with me trying to capture a special shot for my photography class. We had an assignment using our flash and slower speeds on our camera. I had so much fun doing this. Robert was so patient and just kept drawing hearts in the dark for me. True Love. Today is our final day in class. Our semester project is due along with our last assignment "flash". I'm sad to see it coming to an end. I have really enjoyed every minute of it.