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I have been talking to a Jewish friend lately so when I saw this encryption for Alison's blog I was trying to figure out which Jewish holiday is it. You know it seems that all those holiday's are about food. I think I would like to be Jewish. If not that then pagan. They had good holiday's too. Also many about food and good weather.
Yes rambling but I figure that I haven't rambled on here for awhile and all y'all miss that part of my personality. Is it actually a personality trait to not have anything important to say but you still chatter on and on. I think it might be because often you will find people that do this frequently during conversations. Speaking of conversations the Ashcrofts came up this past weekend. That is great we love them and Keaton cried when he woke Sunday morning to find them already gone. Well, Justin had also invited Matt and Tanya over for dinner on Saturday. Here is a riddle: What do you get when you have Kat, Justin and Tanya in the same room? The answer: not a word in edgewise. I don't know if they have alot to say and not very many opportunities to share, or if they just like to hear themselves talk, or they think that others might not care to share but try to but in. I dare you. I will be on the sidelines with the bandages. They ususally have interesting conversations. Usually they have great insite and it is not a waste of time to listen to them but unless you have what it takes (James Fowler) I wouldn't try it. That is (James Fowler) there are rules to the conversation. One of which is you must try and respect all views of a situation. There is not always agreement but alot of respect.

I think I ran out of words. Until next time my dear followers of the rambling words.

Nellie Rai on the 4th of July

Sometimes Some Things Strike me Funny

Sorry Mom, This ones for you Kat

1st attempt

Leslie insists this is the wave of the future. So I thought I would try it. Here is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. Please give me suggestions (good and bad).

Hooked up

I need to give you the link to check all of
Justin's great photo's!
He is adding stuff weekly if not daily. So check it out!

The Bane of my high altitude existence

The CURSE has lifted

Yes bread. It has been 11 months living at a high altitude. These are the first loaves to turn out this beautiful, under 20 lbs, and edible. Mom helped me figure out a few of my issues last time she was here. Like pre-heating really does make a difference, and pan size, and rising time, and yeast temperature, and quantity of dough. I can now rest with a sense of satisfaction.

Home Remedy

Keaton has had limited experience with red ants. Unlike his parents who grew up with them as neighbors. Since moving up to flagstaff the boys have located a red ant hill in our neighbor John's yard. They like to go over and kill them with their friends. They have come to the conclusion that if they were to be bitten by a red ant the extremity would swell up with poison and eventually turn red like the ant and fall off. The other day while talking to Mom, Keaton comes into to room with a dire look on his face. He tells me that he was bitten by a red ant. I (being the loving and sympathetic mother that I am) wanted to tell him to suck it up. Instead I said, "Here tell Nana." Nana told him the old home remedy of baking soda and water. Just a little she said then mix it like play dough and put it on the bit. After I finished talking to Nana I went into the kitchen and saw this...

Yes it looks like the children in the neighborhood are bad examples. Or my son is the dealer. Either way this is pure stuff.

My question is, how big could that ant really have been?

I FIXED IT!!

My brakes that is, not the whole car. Every time we would drive down to Mesa we would have our brakes checked and we would ask them if we had another trip to Mesa on them. We did. This last trip the brakes started to intermittently scrape. I decided it needed done. The hardest part was taking the tire off and then putting it back on. Totally worth the savings. Those illustrious savings are going toward the real fix it guy who will figure out why it is stalling as I drive. I think it is about time to say good bye to our wonderful friend the Dodge Caravan (96) and look into something a little newer.
After a hard day working on the car, taking care of (yelling at) the kids, yard work, cleaning house... I fixed dinner. Yes very monochromatic, but what can I say it got cooked then eaten. I was not in the mood for presentation.

Alone Man in the Wilderness

The kids and I were down in the valley this last week and a half. We went to Kaisa's baptism. What a lovely girl. (Don't I sound like her old aunt) We also helped Nana clean out some of her furniture and sewing supplies. When I heard that the work had to be done. I knew that I was the girl for the job (of getting the stuff she didn't want). Here are some pictures of what Justin did while we were gone.

Nellie Turns 2

Mother MAY I

My mom has reminded me a few times to update. I will try to remember all the fun we have had but it's late, no guarantee.

Today we went to Noah Merrell's birthday party. It was a blast. I was totally impressed at Vonessa's party hostessing skills.

Yesterday was the first official day of summer for the boys. They have been so patient. Sam can't wait for the summer to be over so that he can go to kindergarten and be at Keaton's school. They got to play with Avery and Laynie Brown most of the day. I was able to go to the Prescott mall to train for my new job. It was worth the trip to learn what I needed to know. I could not have learned it without seeing it. However Prescott was not as close as I pictured. 204 miles round trip.

Thursday to celebrate the last day of school for Keaton we went and saw Shrek the Third. It was a very cute movie. We were some of the last people there so we got to sit in the very front row. It worked out well for Nellie who liked to walk around and dance. The rest of us? Not so much fun.

Tuesday Keaton's class was going on a field trip to the bowling alley. Sam, Nellie and I grabbed the stroller and went with. We walked from the school to the bowling alley. Played a round (Sam did an awesome job with the 7 pound ball. He his most of the pins every time.) then walked to our neighborhood park for lunch and to play. It was a fun day and worth it to come back to school after a 4 day weekend.

Last week was Sam's special week. He graduated from Head Start. There was a wonderful ceremony were the children said their names and their parents names and then what they wanted to be when they grew up. Sam was very well composed and spoke well. He would like to be a firefighter. Some of the other kids wanted to be princesses, a mailbox, and a monkey. There are quite ambitious children in that class. The parents were invited to stay for a little reception afterwards. There was snack and wonderful company of the children.

The next day the school provided a BBQ at the park. It was fun too. The staff of Sam's school really care about the children and the families. It has been a hard year for them, with quite a bit of turn-over. They have excelled and made a huge difference in more than 87 children's lives.

Justin and I have been married for 10 years. Yea us!

Nellie is officially 2. On her birthday we went to Sam's class and Keaton's class to share gifts with all the children. It was a foam smiley face glued on a craft stick. She loves to play at each class. As each of the classes sang "Happy Birthday" to her she found the nearest table and ran around it. I guess she was dancing and thought every one should conga with her. Oh well. The big kids thought she was adorable. That night we went out and got her a new bike so she can be big like her brothers. (ok it isn't really a bike, I don't think it is even in the same category but that is what she calls it and that makes it ok. It is a little Dora singing ride along toy) She also got an ice cream cake with her name on it. What fun!

Mom came to visit. Our first official long stay visitor. I think my family ate better and was treated better than any other time while my mom was here. I wanted her to think life was always like that. I think I had her fooled with all the good cheer and dinners that consisted of more than one food group. We loved having her visit.

Justin turned 32 years old. He is one year older and wiser too. Happy Birthday to you.
32. He has nice hair
31. He sings very well
30. He writes wonderful poetry
29. He is dedicated
28. When he loves it is with his whole heart
27. He likes U2
26. He likes music
25. He is an awesome reader (he reads books I would never attempt)
24. He loves his children
23. He is an awesome cleaner (he cleans things I would never attempt)
22. He is a great cook
21. He loves garlic
20 He is 1/4 Italian
19. He looks like his dad
18. He speaks Russian
17. He likes to drive
16. I like the way he walks
15. He has a distinct cough
14. He cares for others
13. He wants to make a difference in the world
12. He hates traffic
11. He knows all the short-cuts
10. He likes to talk (more than I do)
9. He likes fashion
8. He likes big breakfast's with lots of meats
7. I think he is cute
6. He is not very patient when he wants something
5. He writes in only capital letters
4. He likes a clean house
3. He works hard
2. His children love him
1. I love Justin

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Samson's school invited us to participate in the parade. We had a lot of fun as soon as we were walking and warm. Snow on May 5th, who would have guessed.

Justin wants one too

He saw Nellie's and said it was wonderful and he wants one in black. So I am half way through. I think I will finish this one a little quicker.

Nellie's Sweater

Home Is Where Your Story Begins

Did you see it

A few weeks ago a huge meteor fell from the sky and landed not 20 yards from my house. This explains why I have not been on line and posting. There was some residual damage that left my mind a shambles, my house a hostile (for clutter, dirt, children, and family), and my camera missing. During the recuperation period nothing got better. Finally I was called from the depths of wo by my mother who said (in her sweet, innocent, I'm not telling you what to do but what I am telling you is the best thing to do voice), "I haven't seen recent posts" So here you go world. I am back.

ps if I don't blog again for awhile don't hold it against me :)

If...

you are looking for your favorite band, check here.

The week before Spring Break

This has been a busy one. Justin was out of town from Thursday the 1st, (I had to get my calendar down to remember it all.) until Thursday the 8th. He went with Matt to Washington D.C. to a meeting. Matt is the chairperson for the Governors Council for Disabilities. Justin went to do patient care and to interpret for him. Busy week for both of us. I survived but my house was on its death bed. We were planning on me driving down to get him from the airport on Friday but we found out his parents were planning on driving up. They had switched their time share from San Diego to Flagstaff and were staying there for a week.

Finally Justin made it home on Friday evening. The whole family was very happy to see him. He brought gifts from the air and space museum.

The next day Saturday we spent catching up with the Harris'. They brought the horses so we went out to the Ranch and rode around. At the condo they have a little goofy golf course. Granny loved taking the boys there. They did such a good job. On Sunday we went to church and then had dinner over at the condo. It was a nice evening. We met up multiple times throughout the week. Each boy got to spend some special time with Granny and Linsay. Then this bunch of Harris' were back home by Thursday evening.

The rest of the week was crazy. I had volunteered for multiple things with Sam's school not realizing that we would have family up all week. I ended up working for twenty hours. Thank you Vonessa for watching the kids. The check is in the mail.

That was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. During the later part of the week Justin's cousin Angela Dennison called and said that they were in town that week also. They wanted to spend time with us on Friday night. I was excited because she has 3 girls and our kids tend to play well together. Did I mention that I called my Dad earilier in the week and invited him up for a day or two. I heard he had the whole week off and it would be fun to have him visit. So on Friday morning at 7:15 my dad called and said he was on his way. Yipee (Doesn't he know we don't wake up until 7:30 at the earliest?) I got Keaton up and off to school. He rode his bike with the neighbor. Then Sam woke with a wet bed, he got a bath. Nellie saw the bath water and was ready to hop in. After that I needed to wait for the hot water to replenish for my own shower, quick as it is. All of a sudden it was 9:30, I voluteered in Keatons class to bring a St. Patrick's Day project. (dyed noodles and yarn for necklaces) Grabed all the now clean kids and ran to his school. It was great fun. All the kids enjoyed not doing real school work. My Dad drove just fast enough, or slow enough to get to my house while I was at school. He came over and met Keaton's teacher. Great fun. Miss. McFall is great with Keaton. She gives him just enough room to express himself. Every time I see her she says, "I just love your son."

Finally we got home. Grandpa was tired so he got a nap. I prepared a snack to take to Sam's teachers for thier planning day without the kids. That night we went to the Olive Garden with Angela and Tyler and the girls. Grandpa paid for us Harris' (THANK YOU). Angela checked on the Lowell Observatory times for viewing. We went up the hill. It was amazing. We saw Saturn, Venus, a star nursery in Orions belt, M-35, M-81, M-82, and the bathrooms. It was a great time. Maybe next time we will take just the big kids or none at all.

As we were up on the hill of the observatory the wind brought in all the smoke from the prescribed burn they had to the west. It got very sneezy, and coughy (not coffee). Gratefully the wind didn't carry it all the way to our house. We had a very nice night. Grandpa stayed with us and was even comfortable. (Right Grandpa? As soon as you send me pictures I'll put them up)

That was last week now into Spring Break - day 1

This kid needs a video camera

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