Grandma Came to Town

Grandma came to visit and we had so much fun!! She came for Erin's graduation and also got to be here for Emily's year end program and all kinds of family and friend gatherings. One day Mom and I went together to the temple which was really special we don't get to do that, just us two, very often. One thing you will notice in these pictures is Mom has gotten skinny!!! She has lost a whole lot of weight over the last year and she is so happy, she gets around so much better it has effected everything. It is like she lost 10 years with all the pounds.

Grandma and Brutus (Jes's dog, we watched him for a couple of days while Grandma was here)

All the Family

Grandma and the Kids

All the Girls at Chilli's

It has become a tradition every time my mom comes into town we have a girls lunch. It started with just Joy, Joyce, Mom and I then through the years as the girls got older we included Jessica, Kristi and Erin and now that Keith is married and Kevin has a special somebody we included Sarah and Ingrid too, and of course with the group this big there was no way to keep Emily away. It was a really fun lunch and great to see how our little circle has grown.

Moms Adventure

May 5th, 2008
Most of the time everyone expects and gets the same things from us. We are the moms, we are responsible, we have everything handled. Well much to everyones surprise we are actually people inside these mom suits and sometimes it gets a little stuffy in here. Sometimes you just want to break out and do something different something outside the ordinary. Well this was one of these times, Kevin had just left for the MTC and Joy was wondering what she was going to do with this empty nest she just got and I have a 6 year old and an 18 and 20 year old living with me, enough said. So being the responsible moms we are we decided a trip to a tropical island, leaving no forwarding address was out of the question and being the slightly chicken women we are we decided skydiving was also out of the question. We compromised on a day in Sedona and horseback riding. Now I know this does not sound daring and crazy to the average reader but given our families reaction you would have thought we had decided to train to become navy seals or something. This may be a sad commentary on how predictable we are, a day off usually consists of scrapbook stores, lunch and a movie. But never the less we wanted to do something different and we had a blast. We went up to Foothills Ranch just south of Sedona and had an actual cowboy be our guide it was so fun. After the horse back riding we went up to Sedona and enjoyed the beauty there and then went on a harrowing adventure trying to find a restaurant to have dinner. Finally we just gave up and went in this little Italian place and had the absolute best Pizza ever!! (Pagos Italian Cuisine in Sedona, AZ) We had a wonderful day and got to shock the socks off of our kids at the same time, two for one pretty cool huh!!

Joy on her horse Vegas AKA School bus (so named because he would let anyone ride him)

Our Cowboy or should I say Wrangler Brin
My Horse Maude she just wanted to eat I spent half my time pulling up the reigns so she wouldn't stop and snack along the trail
Jennie and Joy Cowgirls for the day
Sedona (Honest! I took this picture! it is so beautiful looks like a postcard)

The True Purpose of the Cardboard Box

Our microwave broke YEA! oh happy day!! Emily gets a new box!! We may have thought we were buying a new microwave that happened to come in a really big box but as far as Emily was concerned we just bought her a fantastic new toy and how soon would we be getting our dumb new microwave out of it. First it was a playhouse then it became a race car with Erin pulling Emily around with a jump rope tied through the handle of the box. Then it morphed into a nest as you can see in the picture where she has slept for the last several nights. This whole process got me wondering about the true purpose of the cardboard box. It was made to insure the safe transport of our microwave from the factory to the store and from the store to our house but maybe it is the lucky cardboard that gets to have the greater purpose of bringing joy to a child. Maybe in the cardboard box factory all the boxes talk at night about what they hope they will be once they get in the hands of their kid, a castle or a firetruck maybe a spaceship and they hope, hope, hope that they aren't bought some old guy with no grand kids and end up with a trip straight to the recyclers. I like to think their true purpose is to become a playhouse covered with markers and a crooked door cut out of the front. But then it's also possible I have read the 'Velveteen Rabbit' a few too many times.

One More Lunch

Ya wanna meet for lunch...... Whatca doing for lunch..... Where do U want to go?... I'm not picking this time it's your turn... How about Chilis.... Not Chilis AGAIN.....and on and on the texts go back and forth. Over the last few years much of my friendship with Kristi has taken place over a lunch table. Kristi and Erin were raised with it since they were ordering off the kids menu while Joy and I tried to talk over them. Mostly at McDonald's playplace in those days. So meeting for lunch out is an integral part of us so it seemed only right for us to have one more lunch before Kristi leaves tomorrow morning! It is quite strange to me I have known the kid for most all of her life, she sat on my lap when she was 4 and has been a part of our lives forever but somehow in the last few years she has become my friend. Not just as the daughter of my friend but as my friend too. She is crazy fun to be around and I am going to miss her terribly for the next 18 months. I will miss getting random texts, and hearing about the crazy kids in her class, I will miss her hugs and I will miss lunch, I will definitely miss lunch. But I am so proud of her and the great thing she is doing, going to Texas to preach the gospel and serve the Lord. I know it will be a fantastic year and a half for her and when she gets back, we will definitely do lunch!!

Easter

Just a few pictures of my girls on Easter Sunday. Arn't they Beautiful!! OK I am a little prejudiced but dang. The reason Jessica isn't in these beautiful girls pictures is because she went to Utah to visit her Grandma for Easter. (and Jason was sleeping!)

First Swim of the Season

It was very cold, and it didn't last very long, but Emily and her friend Holly took the first dip of the season this Saturday! It was really warm outside over 85 but the pool water is still very cold they had a lot of fun getting in and getting out and getting in again. They even got Erin to jump in with her clothes still on! (unfortunately she got away before I could get that on camera)

Kristi and Her Girls

During spring break we meet Kristi at the park and had a little photo shoot so she could have pictures of "her girls" (the Skousens, same girls we went to the snow with last month) and Emily to take on her mission we had a lot of fun posing them all over the place, it was a little interesting getting Annie the littlest to cooperate but in the end we got some really great pictures.

Kristi and Emily

Our toothless darling!!

Kristi and all of her girls

Kristi's girls acting crazy