RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY !!!!!!!!

Saturday morning came and sure enough the clouds rolled into town. We tried our best to beat the clouds, but they eventually won out. We started this project of Kyle's at 8:00 that morning and by 10:30 we had to close up shop because the clouds were going to let loose. If we had a couple of more hours we could've had the rest of the trim painted and been completed.

We did however get a lot accomplished in the 2 and a half to three hours we were there. All the base coat of yellow was finished. Just the trim painting of brown needs to be done with some touch up still.

We will try yet again this Saturday to complete this project if the weather will cooperate. We keep watching the weather reports on line and it changes every day. One day it says 20% chance of rain this comming saturday and then the next day it will say 80% chance of rain. MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY!!

So wish us luck and please, please, please....whatever you do....please don't pray for rain. :)

Kyle's Eagle Project

Yep...this is it, the Eagle Project. Kyle has decided to help the Arizona Railway Museum by painting this double-wide trailer that they are trying to make their Museum building. It used to be a temporary firehouse for the City of Chandler Fire Department, but now will be used the by Railway Museum. Kyle has finally finished the paperwork and gotten the approval of all necessary people to be able to start working on the project.





Kyle's project will be on the 20th of February (if it's not raining !!!!) Kyle met with the museum manager on Saturday and they showed him the colors of paint. I hope they like their choice after it's all said and done. I'll have to post before and after pictures once the job is completed. It will be a two-tone paint job. The building itself will be painted a yellow (more gold) color and the trim will be a dark brown color. Should be interesting. We'll see what happens.

How much snow do you really need?

After all we live in Arizona for cryin' out loud. How much snow does it really take for us to be excited. Well apparently.....it doesn't take much at all. Just the talk of snow brought us to Granny's house for the day. This winter storm that stuck around for several days did dump a small amount of snow (mushy at that) at Granny's. So we took the kids to play in the mush. They didn't mind though. They all had a wonderful time getting wet and cold.

Then of course we had to have the memorable marshmallow roast out in Papa's shed. The kids live for this. They just love to roast marshmallows at Granny's. What could be more fun. Wish Papa was here to see them enjoy his "potbelly stove" in the shed. They put it to good use every time we come. Thanks Granny for letting us come and play in the mush....I mean snow. We had a blast.

YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM

Arrow of Light

Congrats to Nathan. He completed all his requirements in the Cub Scouts to earn his Arrow of Light. They had a wonderful ceremony for him this past Wednesday night at Cub Scout Pack Meeting. It was supposed to be outside, but due to the lovely winter storm that pounded us for 5 days we weren't able to be outside. Nevertheless, it was a great ceremony. They get this gentlemen to come and do the awards. The boys just love it. Nathan had a lot of fun and is looking forward to joining the 11 year old scouts in February.

Congrats Nathan. We're so proud of you and all that you do. Keep up the good work.

3 Mile Hike.....am I crazy?

Nathan needed to go on a 3 mile hike to complete his requirements for his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts. So today, New Years Eve was the day to do the hike. Nathan's den leader is my best friend Trudy. She took her two sons and I took both of mine. Kayla was the lucky one and got to spend 4 hours at a friends house instead. It's a good think too....it was more of a hike than I think she could've done. It was fine at the beginning, but the quicly got very rocky and steep.

It was a great day for a hike thank heavens.

So here we were....two women hiking with these four boys. They did such a great job. Of course they were far ahead of Trudy and I and wondered why it always took us so long to catch up. They'll understand in about another 30+ years. They think it's funny now, but I'll guarantee it will eventually catch up with them.

Here's the gang. Dallin, Kyle, Ryland and Nathan. Such great boys.

They climbed over these rocks like a bunch of mountain goats. They made it look so easy.

Can you spot all 3 boys?

Me & My boys. Love you guys !!

The two most oustanding moms!!

Jumpin' Jelly Beans

This is for you Granny. We all went to Jumpstreet today. The kids couldn't wait to use their gifts from you. I couldn't get pictures of the boys because they played dodge ball the whole time and you can't get in the enclosure to take any picutres. So all the pictures have major reflections off the glass enclosure. But not to worry, the boys had a blast. They invited Kyle's fried Lucas to go with them. So much fun. They all came out after an hour of jumping all sweaty. They get a really good workout playing dodge ball. Kayla has a lot of fun too in her area. She practiced her gymnastic moves. She loves Jumpstreet.












Thanks again for the wonderful Christmas present. The kids really enjoyed themselves. What a great way to wear them out.

What do you get when you......

1. Have a sister who gives your boys a harmless yet explosive gift for christmas?

OR

2. Combine 1 liter diet coke with one package mentos......you guessed it...they both lead to the same results.

LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN

How many people does it take to rig a bottle of diet coke to explode?




Never the less the boys have always wanted to do this and just haven't had the opportunity to do so. Well their loving aunt Jeri made all their dreams come true this christmas. They were so excited to get this present. They just couldn't wait to give it a try.










The first try was trial and error and so the next day I went out and bought them both another bottle of Diet Coke so they could use the second package of mentos my sister had given them. This time the results were much, much better.

Thanks again Jeri for the boys wonderful memories. They can't wait to have friends come over and try it out.

I'm on the ball

Yes, I'm on the ball this year with my Christmas decorating. In fact yesterday we got the tree down and it is now in the house and decorated I might add. Seeing there is only 26 more days until the actual "event" I thought i'd better get started. So today I officially changed my blog as well to signal my holiday cheer.


YIPEE!!!!

Daisy

Yes it's official. We've named the cat so I guess we're keeping it. She comes and goes and she pleases, but she's hanging around more and more. Everytime we open the back door she comes running from the neighbors tree. She likes to hang out up in his tree. Daisy is a really good cat with the kids. She very gentle and loving. The kids are in heaven with a pet. I would've never picked this cat out of a million cats, but I'm glad she's come to spend some time with us.

Welcome home DAISY!

Wheels Off......

Yes it's official. Our little girl has gone training wheel free. Saturday evening she was riding her bike with her training wheels on and they were so bent and wobbly that she was completely frustrated with them. Maybe that was a good thing after all. She was complaining to me about the training wheels so I casually said...well maybe we should just take them off. That was all she needed to hear. She said yeah...let's take them off. So Sunday afternoon without my knowledge, Kayla convinced Nathan to take the training wheels off. I was in the house and the next thing I knew Nathan was handing me the training wheels. So outside we went to begin the process.

Nathan was such a great big brother. He really helped Kayla with learning how to ride her bike. After about 4 or 5 attempts on my part to be "helpful", Kayla made it known that she prefered Nathan to help her. So the two of them spent about 40 minutes practicing and practicing. I couldn't believe how fast Kayla got the hang of it. I'm so proud of them both. Nathan is such a sweet kid. He gave her so much encouragement and cheered for her every time she did well. It was a really neat opportunity to see them two of them work so great together. She still prefers Nathan to help her get started. She says that I don't do it right. I can handle that.

San Diego Maritime Museum

We took another day and went to the San Diego Maritime Museum. We actually an advertisement on the TV on day talking about the US Dolphin Submarine. I've always wanted to see a sub, so we thought this was our chance. It was really neat. A lot, lot smaller than I expected. Of course the US Dolphin was a research sub, so maybe that has something to do with it.




This sub is the Russian Foxtrot B-39. It was a lot longer and quite a bit bigger than the Dolphin.


This is Robert inside the US Dolphin. This really is what it looks like. There is nothing on either side of the picture that you're missing, well except the hull. It's only wide enough for one person to walk at a time.

The boys at the periscope inside the Dolphin. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was nice to actually see for ourselves what it's like. It was really interesting. Even the kids thought so.

Kayla's driving this sub....we're all in a lot of trouble. Can you imagine? There was only room enough for one person to squeen themselves into this hole where they steer the sub. Talk about being claustraphobic. Not for me. No thanks....I like land.

Then of course there were lots and lots of other ships to tour. There was the Star on India, Berkeley, Medea, Californian, HMS Surprise, Pilot and the then 2 subs.

Of course we went to Sea World :)

Just when we thought we had all had enough of walking and walking then we headed off to Sea World. We hadn't been there since Kayla was just about 3. She didn't remember it at all, so this trip was really for her. The crowds at Sea World were so much better. We all enjoyed the shows and had a great time. It was a lot of fun trying to get SHAMU to take a picture with the kids. I don't even know how many times we snapped the camera trying to get it just right.

Kyle and Nathan are in the front with Robert and Kayla in the next seat. You can just barely make out Kayla's head in the pink rain poncho.

I don't know if you can see Kyle's face, but it's priceless. Kayla is by far our Roller Coast QUEEN. She loves them all.