Monkey Pants

I'll post this every year because I cannot say it better. I remember...

2011-09-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

I remember 9/11/01
I remember where I was and what I was doing.
I remember what I felt.
I remember how I cried.
I remember how I held my kids tighter.

I remember this...

and all of these...

But, I also remember this...

and a Nation that looked like this...

and the Spirit that made people do this...

and most especially, do this...

I remember...

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

Easter was low key this year
We have no more "believers"
I'm not sad about that
It makes it easier

Coloring eggs is always fun

except when I tell Carson he can't save his egg till the next year...ick

Mitchell and the Triathlon

2011-04-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

Mitch's Varsity Team (the 14-15 year olds in Scouts) went to Pima, AZ to participate in a triathlon.
Mitch did nothing to prepare.
He borrowed a nice bike from the family he babysits for but that's about all.
They left Friday night and rose EARLY Saturday morning for the race.

Mitch sitting on a freezer watching the others play ping pong

The boys having fun the night before the big race

Varsity Team 6898 and their bikes

Mitch waiting to jump in the pool

Mitch needs some meat on his bones!

I miss the pool
Mitch does not

Done with the water...what's next?

Bike ride was the easiest part

I'm proud of Mitch for participating
He did better than everyone thought he would
I love his willingness to do what is right

Double Digits take 3

2011-04-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

My 3rd child is in her double digits
She loves that

She also loves monkeys
like this one that Carson gave her

and the ones on this purse that Chase gave her

Mitchell got her candy that will make her act like a monkey

G-ma got her crafts
She loves those too

Her Dad and I brought ice cream cups to her class
They loved that

Mrs McKenzie is great
We all love her

Rylee's bestie Emily McDougal

Picking up Carson at his classroom

Carson's bestie Caden Shear

Rylee's friend from CTA that goes to Navarrete now too
Her name is Hailey C

Rylee and her Daddy at TGIFridays
We all love it there

My best girl

10 years old

Rylee's birthday sunglasses and
Daddy's silly eyes

Yes...that is yet another monkey

She has a harder time shopping for stuffed animals than for herself

Happy Birthday Sweet Jelly Bean!!

Top 10 Reasons We Love Rylee!

10. Her nick name is Rylee Jean Jelly Bean
9. She still has the best blonde hair
8. Her blue eyes are so bright and sparkly
7. She can eat like a man
6. She loves arts and crafts
5. She can hold her own with 3 brothers
4. She's so smart and tries so hard in school
3. Her huge heart
2. She's very loyal to her friends
1. She's mine

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Growing up WAY too fast

2011-03-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Suddenly, Carson is losing his teeth.
They are falling out at an alarming rate.
Not alarming because I'm afraid he won't have any teeth
but because it means he's growing up WAY too fast!

He pulls them out himself
That makes him older than I'm comfortable admitting

Flag Football - Spring 2011

2011-03-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

We love flag football!
It's a great sport that fits my boys so well
They all have tender hearts...or maybe they're just wimpy
They don't like to tackle people
But to pull a flag...no biggie!

Some friends of mine volunteered their husbands to be coaches and put together a neighborhood team. There were enough boys to create 2 teams so they could play against each other. Practices were on Thursday evenings...games on Saturday mornings. Cost? A whopping $12. Fantastic.

Carson (blue shirt) playing defense

His normal face for the camera

Huddle up!

Carson played center quite often

Throw it to me! I'm open!

Gettin' the play from Coach

Coach Matt Steere and Coach Eric Richardson with Carson

He got a team picture and a trophy!

End of season potluck breakfast

Chowin' with the boys

Rylee came with me to watch Carson play
No...wait...really she came to babysit the little littles that were there
Carson playing was secondary

Now all my boys have played flag football

The Incredibly Super Circle K Boy

2011-03-03T13:13:00.000-08:00

We have a lot of Circle K cups lying around our house
Carson decided to put some to use
His alter ego has been revealed
I feel infinitely safer now

Lots of girl cousins

2011-03-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

Every time my Dad comes to AZ he gets together with his cousins from both sides of his family
He has lots of family history in this state...along with lots of extended family

He's also the only boy cousin that is willing to hang out with these cackling hens

Cindy loved this quilt that was passed down through the generations

Cousins don't shake hands...cousins gotta hug!

2011-02-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

My cousin Tony and his family live so close to us.
It's a shame we don't get together more often!
Dad was leaving soon...moving back to the KC
So we made plans to hang out with Tony and Amy and Family before he left
Besides...Tony works in Afghanistan and was only home for a little bit
Timing was perfect!

Pam, Amy, Tony

Rylee and Mark wrapped Carson up in the blanket

Family RULES!!

Kendall and Toby bonded

Dad and his stories

Kendall, Toby and Rylee

"New" 2003 Camry

2011-02-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

So...Scott was in an accident back in January.
click here for story
He needed new wheels
He loved his old Camry
So he got himself a "new" one
His old one was a 1992
The "new" one is a 2003
I love that it was made in the same Millennium as we are in

It's funny that this car came from Kansas City.
The little old lady owner brought it down to AZ for her son to sell it for her.
Scott feels right at home in this car.

I will miss the WOOF sticker on his old Camry
BUT! I'm so happy he has a newer car that is less likely to have issues

I less than three you

2011-02-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day 2011

Daddy's Little Girl

Rylee was in heaven getting this bouquet from her Dad!

Everything a little boy could want...a dog and candy

Roses from Scott to Pam
I <3 U!

Oh yeah! Vacation is not over yet!!

2011-02-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

I was looking for some things to do in LA on Saturday after the cruise.
There were so many options!
Most were pretty pricey
Except for Knott's Berry Farm
Everyone gets in for the child's price
OK! Let's do it!

I am not a roller coaster fan
I'm a wimp
But Carson walked right on to the huge wooden coaster the very first thing!
I was so proud!
He described the ride in detail

He's a bigger man than me

Stupid slow train

Log ride

Don't get wet!!

You got wet

Glass blower in his glass shop making a dragon

pretty cool demo

Nice

Gettin' on the Pony Express

OK
I'll say it again

BEST. VACATION. EVER.

Debarkation

2011-02-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

They gave us 2 options of getting off the ship - or debarking.
1. Carry all our own luggage off and be dismissed level by level
2. Have our luggage ready the night before so they take it off for us and leave at a time determined by the number they assign to you.

We chose option #2

Who wants to carry all that luggage when someone else can do it for you?!

However...we were assigned the very last debarkation number - 25
We had a wait ahead of us

No biggie...it was a beautiful day and we still had our unlimited soda cards!!

The gangway - only way off the ship

Mitch took a pic of us at the very front of the ship
Can you see the tip just to the left of us?
This was as close as we could get to the "I'm the King of the World!!"

Scott, Pam and Freddie

I love Freddie

Carson in orange and Rylee in green climbing on Freddie for one last picture

Chase joined them

Catchin' some rays

Mitch and Chase chillin'

The mini golf course at the very top of the ship
level 13

A great shot of the Lido Deck where we spent most of our time
Hot tubs, soda bars, and buffets

BEST. VACATION. EVER.

Ensenada, Mexico

2011-02-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Thank you Mother Nature!!

When I woke up on Thursday morning the boat was rockin' and rollin'!
I was so worried that the winds hadn't died down and we were still out in the middle of the ocean!
I couldn't wait any longer
The Littles and I went right up to the top level to see what the dealio was...

LAND!! Beautiful land of Mexico!

Such a beautiful day!

We are ready for some Mexican fun!!

Once again we decided not to buy and shore excursions from the cruise line
Once again, as soon as we step off the ship, we get on a bus to take us to town and there was a local who worked with the bus company telling us different things we could do.
He told us of a bus that would take us to see La Bufadora (huge blow hole) for $15/person
The cruise line wanted significantly more than that for the same tour
We jumped on his bus and off we went to see the biggest blow hole and one of only 3 this size in the world. The other 2 are in Australia and Hawaii.

Meheeco fun!!

This fun singer did not have personal space issues

Anyone need Mexican things in bulk?
Costco!!

The Mexican coast was beautiful!

Here's a pic of the blow hole not blowing
We have video...I'll try to get that up soon

The best part of the day was shopping...no, not shopping...
BARTERING!

The Jorgensen's are international travelers now!

A Day At Sea

2011-02-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

We were having so much fun on our cruise. We all enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. We could eat when we wanted, we could sleep in, we could play, we could eat, we could nap, we could eat some more!!

Our itinerary was this...

Monday - board the ship and set sail

Tuesday - Catalina

Wednesday - Ensenada

Thursday - Day At Sea

Friday - debarkation

On Wednesday morning we slept in...way in. Sometime around 7am, the lovely voice of our Cruise Director Jeff Bronson came over the intercom with some silly announcement. We ignored it and kept sleeping. Then again at around 8am I barely heard him again. Whatever...snore...

We finally get our relaxed behinds out of bed and begin to get ready for some Mexican fun! Our friend Ale came to us and asked if we wanted him to service our room soon. We told him that he could have at them as soon as we left for Mexico! (said Meheeco) - He said, "No, no, no...no Meheeco today." We said, "Yes! Meheeco today!" He said again, "No Meheeco - bad weather"

Huh?

Apparently, the messages we so lazily ignored that morning were to inform us that the winds had picked up and we would not be able to safely dock in Meheeco. So they were trading the Day at Sea and Meheeco Day. Hopefully the winds would die down before the morning so we could have our Mexican Fun!

Luckily for us...Mother Nature was cooperative...

Camp Carnival, Circle C, and Club O2

2011-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

The ship had 3 different clubs for the kids to go to.
They had all sorts of things planned almost all day and all night
Mitch got to hang out with the 15-17 year olds in Club O2
Chase hung with the 12-14 year olds in Circle C
Rylee and Carson got to go to Camp Carnival which was divided up into 3 different age groups
Toddlers, Carson's group was 6-8years and Rylee was with the 9-11 kids
Rylee and Carson's groups did some things together and some things seperately
They all had some fun and met some friends

We didn't get a lot of pictures of the kids in their clubs...none of the Bigs
(who wants parents hanging around taking pictures?)
Only a few of the Littles because we would take them to the club, drop them off and not see them for hours at a time. :)

We did get shots of the "graffiti" poster
Rylee and her R

Carson wrote Toby's name...we missed him a little

Can you see the BYU?
Amazingly, there were several other LDS families on this cruise.
Pretty cool!

Ship's Beauty

2011-02-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Even though this is possibly Carnival Cruise Lines' smallest ship
we were still amazed by the beauty and grandeur of it all

The Atrium was so pretty

Glass elevators

Looking down from the 12th floor to the 7th

Rylee and Carson pretending to be dead on the stairs

Who needs a porthole?

2011-02-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

Someday, maybe, we'll go on a cruise
and get a room with a window
We didn't see the need to spend the money to get one
We had just as much fun hanging out in our stateroom without one

Naps were easy to come by with the rocking of the ship lulling us to sleep

The upper beds were fun and very comfortable for the Littles

Rylee and I snuggling on my bed

Scott slept well

Carson's skull pants

Rylee and her obsession with monkeys
I blame myself
I love them too

Exceptional Service

2011-02-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

We hardly ever saw the cute man that serviced our rooms
But we knew he was there!
His name was Ale - pronounced Ah-lay
The towel animals were so fun to find!

Scott and Pam's bunny

Our "cool" ...um...dog?

The kids' crab

We LOVE this vacation!!

Compromise

2011-02-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

If the big pool and slide were not an option
at least there were 3 hot tubs for the kids to play in

Carson isn't a big fan of big pools anyway

So he was in heaven!

Rylee loved playing with all the kids

Accidents happen even while on vacation
Carson got bumped into the wall while they were making a whirlpool
He recovered quickly

Rylee the Brave

2011-02-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

So, yes, we went on a cruise in January
And yes, we sailed on the notoriously frigid Pacific Ocean
And yes, it was chilly and breezy but not too bad
Also yes, they put sea water in the pool
cccooolllddd

This slide was so inviting and just begging
for someone to slide down it

Rylee was our only brave one

I was so proud of her for trying but
she jumped out of that pool so fast

and RAN to the hot tub to warm up
She was a bit disappointed that the slide would not be an option

Catalina Island, California

2011-02-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Day 2 brought us to our first Port-O-Call
Catalina Island

LATER Freddy Fun Ship!
We had to take a small boat from the ship to the island

There was a couple heading to the island to get married.

Rylee was in HEAVEN sitting on the boat so close to the bride!

She loves that kind of thing, ya know.

So...on the ship you can sign up for "Shore Excursions"

Planned activities at each port for a hefty fee

We didn't want to spend that kind of money

We just went to the island thinking we would just walk around the boardwalk

and maybe find a shop for some souveniers

Right as we step off the little boat, we see a small shack offering golf carts for rent.

For a fraction of the price of what they wanted on the ship we were able to rent a 6-seater for some fun on the island.

The sign that made Mitch pout says
"This is NOT Disneyland! Do Not Let Children Drive"
Displayed prominently at the golf cart rental shack
Poor Mitch

I love palm trees!!

This island is beautiful!!

We drove to the top of the hill where there is a botanical garden
Saw they charged to get in and kept right on driving around the island

Well HELLO Carnival Paradise!

Sometimes when you ask a stranger to take a picture
you actually get a great one!

This is a famous Catalina house

The cruise ship comes in and the sale signs come out

Pensive Chase and seal

Peek-a-boo Freddie

Carson trying to hurdle the seal

What a View!!

2011-01-31T11:11:00.000-08:00

The views were amazing!
Even before we left port

All Aboard!!

2011-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited we're here!
Seriously, I'm about to jump outta my pants!

We arrived at the Port of Long Beach
After taking a while to figure out where we should be
we found ourselves arriving a little early

First peek at our ship...can you see the "tail" of the ship?

Our ship was docked right next to the Queen Mary

There it is!

After spending some time looking around
we arrived at the port
and found this line

Wait! Weren't we early?

yikes

But the line moved quickly
We found ourselves on the ship ready for some fun!

WE'RE ON A BOAT!!

We purposefully put off eating lunch because we knew they would have something for us on the ship
We found the 24 hour buffet easily and the feasting began!

We explored the ship

We learned that this exhaust pipe is called "Freddy Fun Ship"

Chase and Carson (and Rylee not shown) actually ventured out
to the dance floor to learn some line-dancing

A great start to a great week!

Gotta look good!!

2011-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Chase has a new thing about his hair.
It has to be just so.
He's starting to care.
I like that.
So, knowing he may meet some other teens, he insisted on a haircut.

We agreed!

and decided that Carson should get one too
He's not as enthusiastic about how he looks
Can you tell?

Agony

Rylee got a trim as well
Mitch got one from Scott the night before we left

They're all perfect!

Merry Christmas 2010 is finally here!!

2011-01-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

The countdown is over!

We waited 36 days and it's finally here!

Our Christmas Cruise...

Oh boy!

Scott's Accident - 1/17/11

2011-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

While waiting for Scott to meet us somewhere...I can't remember...I called him to see what was taking him so long.

Well...

A lady was stopped in the left turn lane when she suddenly decided she would turn right instead.
She turned right from the left turn lane, right in front of Scott who was going straight.
He swerved but still hit her.
His car was totaled.
He's OK!

Oopsie!

Windshield was cracked by the airbag...not Scott's head

We got the bumper back

Thank heaven for airbags!

The other car was a minivan

Giving the police the report...luckily there were many witnesses

Lots of help came

Scratches from the airbag explosion

Whoa is me! The only casualty - a BRAND NEW drink from Circle K

We drove past the scene again after heading up to get Scott another drink. They were almost done with the clean up.

Now we get to buy a "new" car.
sigh

Chase version 12.5

2011-01-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

So...Chase turned 12 way back on July 26, 2010
Which happened to be the first day of school.
Not just any school for him...
The first day of Junior High!
So, not only did he have to start school on his 12th birthday
but he had to start a completely new, much bigger school
on his 12th birthday.

Birthday #12 is a big deal for us.
It's the start of many great things.
12 means graduating from Primary at church and
entering the Young Men's program
which also means receiving the Aaronic Priesthood.

See? Big Deal.

Since the Big Deal birthday had such bad timing...what with school starting and the whole "we just moved" business...we decided it would be best to wait till Big Deal Birthday version 12.5 came on January 26, 2011. Chase was willing to wait because he realized it would be better so he could make new friends at the new school for the Big Deal birthday party.

So the time came that we told Chase to make a list of friends to invite to this Big Deal birthday party. He thought for a while and then said he didn't want a Big Deal birthday party. What?! Why not?! Don't you want a bunch of friends coming with lots of fun and presents? Who wouldn't?!

Apparently, birthday parties, even ones for a Big Deal, aren't cool in Jr High. Chase had a hard time coming up with a list of friends to invite and he kept telling me he didn't need a party. I was getting worried! I did NOT want him to think we were jipping him out of a Big Deal party or feel bad that we didn't give him the same treatment that we gave Mitch when he had his Big Deal Birthday. He kept reassuring me that he was fine and he didn't need a huge party. When I asked him what he did want he said, "New shoes and to see TRON." What?! That easy?!

So that's what we did...

After Chase and I went to see TRON

He picked out a sweet pair of Vans

Then we met Scott for dinner at Texas Roadhouse

Where he had to sit on the saddle while they sang to him

Scott met us from work

We are lucky to be Chase's parents!
Love you Chase version 12.5!

Specs

2011-01-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Chase got glasses.

I think it's an awesome look for him

Rylee in January of '11

2011-01-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

My friend Kristin makes these very cute flower hair clips.
She had a clearance sale
I went a little crazy

Rylee did too!

Grandma gave her a bead set
Rylee made all sorts of neat things
She is all about the crafts, this girl!

Temple Lights

2010-12-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

We love to see the Temple all decorated to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ

Finding houses all decorated is fun too!
So is guessing what their electric bill will be...

The count down is on!

2010-12-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

It seems like forever away!
36 days!
How will we ever make it till then?!

Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Paradise
January 31 thru February 4, 2011
Family Fun For All!

I am so into this new tradition of ours. Traveling for a Christmas present instead of getting the kids a bunch of "things". 2 years ago we went to G-ma's house in Moberly, MO. We love Moberly but in the winter it's freezing!

Last year we went to Disneyland. Even though we braved the parks during California's worst storm in a century...it was still the best vacation ever!

This year...CRUISE!
5 days, 4 nights, starting in LA going to Catalina Island, then to Ensenada, Mexico. After a day at sea we return back to LA. Scott and I did the 3 night version of this same cruise on our honeymoon 17 years ago. Now we get to do it again with all of our kids! I am so excited!

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-24T23:45:00.000-08:00

Each year on Christmas Eve our tradition is to open presents from family.
Christmas Day is all about the fat man in a red suit and what he brings.

Scott loves the popcorn tins with 3 kinds of popcorn
Someday, someone will sell a huge tin like this with only caramel popcorn in it
Scott will then be in heaven

Rylee handing her gift to Carson

His very own video camera

Chase handing off to Rylee

A friendship bracelet making kit
She's all about the crafts, this girl

Mitch handing off to Chase

Chase's gifts have a story behind them.
Chase decided to sell his iPod and DSi in order to upgrade to the new iPod Touch 4. He was short some money so we told him it would be his main Christmas present on Christmas Day. He agreed to this so he got his gift a little early. Then...he really needed a new case to protect the expensive iPod. We found a great one and Mitch bought it for him about 2 weeks before Christmas. He received that early too! So when we exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve...Chase received an empty iPod case box from Mitch and the next morning he found his iPod (that he's had for a month) sitting next to the empty box next to his stocking. He had a great Christmas, just a little early. Christmas Eve and Day were a little anti-climatic for him but, oh well!

Carson's gifts for Mitch
It looks like a huge stack...bigger than the other kids. But Carson stayed within the $20 spending limit

Gum

Reeses Pieces

Gobstoppers

AND

4 cases of Dr Pepper!
Hopefully I will upload that movie soon!
So funny!

Crapaw got himself a Kindle - we got him a nice leather case for it

Toby gave Scott kisses

Rylee gave me some yummy raspberry chocolate

Carson wrapped up his Scripture book he made in Primary

I love my family

Random Christmas Pix 2010

2010-12-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures taken before Christmas Day.

Our tree is beautiful

Carson had an awesome list for Santa

Santa came for a visit

Grampa came to take naps on our couch

Rylee loves to snuggle with Grampa

Chase loves to jump out from behind boxes

Mitch loves to torture...I mean treat Toby like a baby

Carson loves to pose like a dead body

Scott loves to wear Santa hats

Merry Christmas 2010!!

Family Christmas Pictures 2010

2010-12-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

I have a friend.
Her name is Heidi.
She takes pictures.
Like these...

My sister did these kind of family pictures with my Dad as Santa last year and I was so jealous! So when we decided that Dad would come out to stay with us for a while I decided he needed to come before Christmas so we could copy those pictures! Hee hee...

Since we live in Arizona, I wanted these pictures to show Christmas in Arizona. That's why you see us in shorts, t-shirts and surrounded by palm trees! Just a typical winter day here in AZ!

Thanks Heidi! We love them!

Want to love your own?
See Heidi at...
http://daisydoodlephotography.blogspot.com/

Christmas Chorus Concert

2010-12-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Rylee has loved being in Chorus at school

She has to be at school early every Tuesday and Thursday

They sing at every school event

They are pretty good!

Big Chorus

We picked Grampa up from the airport and immediately made him start his Grampa Duties by coming to Rylee's concert

After, he took us out for Chinese food

Grampa Felshaw comes to stay

2010-12-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

We live in sunny AZ

Grampa lives in freezing KS

He decided he wanted to hang out in sunny AZ for a while

We told him to come on down!

Carson came with me to pick him up from the airport

He made silly faces for me to pass the time

We have fun

Grampa made it!

We hope he enjoys his stay!

Did you say it was cold? Psshh!

2010-11-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

On our way home from Vegas we passed through some chilly weather.
We had fun watching the temp drop lower and lower!

Thanksgiving Trip 2010 Part 5 - Las Vegas again

2010-11-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

We seriously had so much fun in Vegas on our way up that I really wanted to go again since on our way home we would have more time to walk around and see stuff.

We couldn't score another great deal on a hotel room in the Stratosphere again but we did find a decent rate at the Imperial Palace! While Scott checks us in, Mitch looks at the Best Buy vending machine drooling over all the iPods and video games. Pretty cool vending machine!!

We got the most groovy room! It was huge with mirrors all over the place! The kids used this huge bathtub as a small pool which was nice since the hotel pool was outside in the cold...and closed for repair.

Yes...there were mirrors on the ceilings too!
Carson and I had fun with those!

Our room was in the corner...one window on the north wall and another on the west wall. Scott is taking this picture of the kids from the west window.

This time we were able to go watch the water fountain show at the Belagio.
VERY cool!

Belagio Self Portrait

We went to the Pawn Stars shop again...this time in the day.
My boys are as cool as those Pawn Stars

Thanksgiving Trip 2010 Part 4 - BYU/Temple Square

2010-11-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

Of course any time we go to Utah, we MUST stop in Provo and hang out at BYU!

It's been 17 years since I left that place and it's sooooo different! All in good ways...the students there now should be so grateful to have the campus they do. Very nice!

There's some snow on the mountains but if you look real close, you can see the Y
I wonder how many of my kids will be BYU Cougars?

Scott and I under the Y

Rylee is our only girl but she has wonderful girl cousins to love her! She loved sitting next to Andrea at dinner.
After Provo, we headed up to SLC again and met everyone at Buca de Bepo for dinner
Thanks again to Greg
We always have fun all together.

Mitch, Chase and Carson...you can see Allie's arm forcing Mitch to at least pretend he likes his brothers

Allie and Mitch

After dinner we went to see the lights on Temple Square.
It was soooooooo cold! We stayed in the Visitor's Center as long as we could!
We got to see the replica of the Salt Lake Temple which was very interesting!

Carson by the temple

After a while we took the frozen Littles back to the hotel. Chase stayed with them while Scott, Mitch and I went back to try to find the rest of the gang. It was hard and way too cold so we took some pix and left.

Bbbbrrrrrrrrrrr!

The lights were amazing and beautiful though...like always!

Thanksgiving Trip 2010 Part 3 - The Buffet

2010-11-25T16:51:00.000-08:00

The main reason for traveling up to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving was to join Greg and Cheryl and their family at the Grand America Hotel's Thanksgiving Buffet! They have come up for this for a few years and talk all about how much food there is and how good it is! When they invited us to join them this year, we were so excited! Let me tell you...with all their talk about it, it was even better!

Our family by one of the many hotel Christmas trees

Carson loved this Candy Cane tree so much we wanted our picture taken by it.

It was funny to see that 10 out of the 16 of us showed up in grays and black!
Very monochrome

Here are the coloful people

See my Thanksgiving dinner?
Bacon, berries, crab, oysters, salmon, prime rib, crab cake and under the bacon is sweet potatoes!

Brooke and Mitch

Chase and Carson

Greg, Chase, Scott and Mitch all pose with Carson, imitating his cheesy smile

Rylee Jean ate all the jello

Carson did eat healthy food before he attacked the kid sized candy table...I promise!

Allie, Jon, Brooke and Carson

Jon, Mitch, Chase and Scott

Brooke was so full she had to lay down on the floor...while we waited for the hotel photographer to take our group picture

Carson and I re-enacting the scene from Elf pushing all the buttons in the elevator

"It looks like a Christmas Tree"

After the buffet we went to hang out at Greg and Cheryl's room to chat and recover from the tons of food we all ate. However, the cleaning lady was in there so we hung out in the hall waiting and chatting.

Thanks so much Greg and Cheryl for the fantastic feast!

Thanksgiving Trip 2010 Part 2 - Whitney and Paul

2010-11-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

Although we know many, many people in Utah and would love to have visited them ALL, alas, there was no time. There are a few people you make time for though...

Very pregnant nieces about to have your sisters first grandchild and your father's first great-grandchild are a must visit!! Whitney is a very cute prego lady!

Just in cast you couldn't tell where the baby is...

The baby bump pic taken for my sister

Oh, and brothers that live in Salt Lake are a must visit too! So nice to have Whitney meet us at Paul's house to make it a very efficient visit!

Thanksgiving Trip 2010 Part 1 - Las Vegas

2010-11-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

We haven't traveled for Thanksgiving in a really long time. Family is just too far away for the short weekend holiday so we have opted to stay home.

This year, we were invited by Greg and his family to join them up in Salt Lake for the festivities. We packed our bags and every bit of warm clothing that we own (which is not much since moving to AZ) and drove on up.

On our way we stopped in Las Vegas! We had found an AMAZING deal on hotel rooms. We got 2 rooms in the Stratosphere for only $50...that's $25 per room! We could not pass that up! We took the kids out of school early on Tuesday (missed school all together on Wednesday) and headed for VEGAS BABY!

One of our favorite shows on TV is called Pawn Stars. It's about a pawn shop in Vegas and how they either buy authentic things or tell the person selling they have worthless crap! Our favorite guy on the show is Chumlee...awesome. Since finding out we will be stopping in Vegas, we all were excited to visit the Pawn Stars. We had no delusions of grandeur thinking we would meet the guys from the show, we really just wanted to go there.

Mitchell, with his obsession for Dr Pepper, loved this old timey vending machine. Really wished he could afford it...settled for a t-shirt with Chumlee on it instead.

Chase with a Chumlee mug

All Rylee wanted to look at was the jewelry!

For some reason, Carson begged me to take his picture with this golf thing. I don't even know what it really is...but here you go Carson!

Approaching the Stratosphere!

We stopped for dinner at the IHOP which we could see from our room.

On the Observation Floor. 800 feet above the ground...with angled windows!

It was soooooo windy at the top! We could really lean into the wind and it would hold us up a bit.
It was really cold too!

Cool pic of the Stratosphere

We kept driving past this gift shop...Worlds Largest! Can you believe it?

This made me laugh

15

2010-11-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

Man oh man!
Mitch is 15!

He leaves for school so very early in the morning so we decided to give him his gifts the night before. Toby helped the other kids give him some of his favorite things

We went and got lots of donuts and brought them to his seminary class.
And a drink from Circle K for Mitch
It's his last class of the day, luckily!

Now here are my 15 most favoritest things about Mitchell...
1. so helpful with the younger kids
2. great babysitter
3. things seem to come so easy for him but he still works hard
4. the best hair to rub
5. loves...no...obsessed with Dr Pepper
6. funny
7. friendly
8. respectful
9. plays video games a lot but knows how to stop when necessary
10. loves our dog Toby
11. gets good grades
12. almost taller than me...but not quite
13. goes to bed early so he can get himself up for school so early without too much complaint
14. loves his family
15. loves his Mother

:)

Running Man

2010-11-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

Carson wanted to join Running Club at school

I wasn't sure he would last

One, maybe two days I thought

He proved me wrong

Week after week he would be out there running his 5 laps

5 laps = 2 miles

Not too shabby for a 1st grader!

Rylee would help by handing out the sticks
Each time a child finished a lap they would get a stick
At the end they would turn the sticks in for credit

Here he comes!

Much needed water

There he goes!

Silly Rylee

2010-11-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

I love secretly taking pictures of my kids

I loved seeing Rylee so happy with her Silly Bands

Rolling around in them like money

Silly Girl

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

It was a fairly low-key event.

The costumes were not.

No comment needed

Chase's costume was my favorite
Here it is with the flash

And without the flash
It was so cool to see him walk toward you in the dark
Awesome

Crazy hair day at school

Devil's bride

Iron Man

Carson loves his brother Chase

Toby was Tigger

And Super Dog

W.E.M.L - Rylee in Oct '10

2010-10-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when Rylee gets a hold of my camera.

What

Ever

Major

Loser

Weirdo

TOFW - 10/15-16/10

2010-10-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

Time Out For Women 2010

Put on by Deseret Book

I went with my friend Angie Critchfield

It was awesome

I got to hear Brad Wilcox speak

And when I approached him to remind him that we actually worked together back in the early 90's at CES Youth and Family Programs, he fondly remembered how awesome the programs were back then.

We heard Mariama Kallon

She is from war-torn Sierra Leone. She witnessed the brutal murder of her family and literally had to run away to save her life. Eventually, she found refuge where she was introduced to the Gospel and given a hygiene kit by the Church. That kit was a symbol of hope for her as she continued to struggle. In the end, she was called on a mission to SLC Temple Square and now lives in Utah with an amazing story of hope and triumph!

This is Laurel Christensen, the Director of TOFW. She was our emcee. I loved listening to her just as much (sometimes more) as the presenters! She was awesome!

The other presenters were: Merrilee Boyack, Amanda Dickson (who is not a member of the Church), Deanne Flynn, Virginia Hinkley Pearce, Wendy L Watson Nelson, and Sheri Dew with Dallyn Vail Bayles and Mercy River as the musical presenters.

Here's Angie Critchfield and I.
We had fun together.
We almost got lost while driving to and from the convention center.
We had some good laughs.

When it rains...

2010-10-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

We had some amazing amounts of rain one day. AMAZING! Our street was flooded and the drainage catch at the end of our street was a sudden lake!

We took the kids out to have some fun but it was Toby that ended up having the most fun!

Rylee and Carson had fun in the lake but also
in the gutters!

10/5/10
What a great day!

Bounce Jungle - 10/2/10

2010-10-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

Kids love this place.
Parents love to watch their kids who love this place.
Parents also count down the minutes till they can leave the screaming behind!
I had some Groupon.com passes so we went.

Ever had a day like this?

2010-09-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

We have...

So the story goes like this. My car (the van) had been slowly leaking power steering fluid for months gradually getting worse. Soon it was leaking so bad that Scott would fill it up with fluid, drive to work, put a pan under the car to catch the leak while he worked, pour what leaked out into the pan back in and drive home. We would use Scott's car (the sedan) to go out and get more fluid when we needed it.

Then one day, Scott's car decided not to work.

We couldn't go get any fluid to make my car work.

Scott had to muscle the steering just to get Mitch to school.

I had to call for rides for the others.

We had 2 dead cars.

We called AAA.

Oy vey!

"School" Pictures - 2010

2010-09-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mitch age 14.5

Chase age 12

Rylee age 9

Carson age 6

Thanks to my friend Heidi for these awesome pics.
She does good work!
Wanna see?
Go here...
http://daisydoodlephotography.blogspot.com/

Anti-Bully Rally - 9/23/10

2010-09-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Littles' school started an Anti-Bully program this year.
They had a rally to kick it off.
Rylee got to sing with the Chorus.
Both got to yell out anti-bullying cheers with their grades.

Carson in the midst of several 1st graders

Rylee with the Chorus

Can you find Carson?
You can see just his little face

OCC at Basha HS

2010-09-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

Actually, it was the National Guard

OCC had made them a cool motorcycle and they brought it to Basha High for some recruiting.

Mitch just wanted to see the bike

Back to School - 2010

2010-08-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

The kids started school this year on July 26th
Chase's 12th birthday
They all started new schools

Mitch started a new school called
HIGH SCHOOL
He's now a Basha Bear

Chase had a good attitude about starting school on his 12th birthday
He started a new school called
JR HIGH SCHOOL
He's a Sevie (7th grader)
He is now a Payne Panther

Rylee and Carson started a new school because we moved
They no longer have to wear uniforms which made the change worth it
They started a new school called
NAVARRETE ELEMENTARY
Rylee is in 4th and Carson is in 1st
They are now Navarrete Nighthawks

Chase is 12!!

2010-07-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yes. He's 12.
Sadly, the timing of his birthday was not good.
The kids started school...ON HIS BIRTHDAY!
We just moved.
He just started a new school (Jr High)
We wanted him to wait a little while so he could make new friends at the new school
Time kept slipping away
So we had a chat with the birthday boy and decided
We will wait till his 1/2 birthday
He will have an awesome party
He will have lots of friends to invite
We will celebrate this important age
He will get to SLC for the Priesthood Sesson in April

We did get him his favorite cheesecake and sang to him
He did receive the Priesthood and became a Deacon
He did get to pass the Sacrament
He's an awesome 12 year old
I love you Chase Lee
Thank you for understanding,
taking one for the team

12 of the best things about Chase

1. Class Clown and learning to know the right time and place
2. Still plays with Carson
3. Loves hand-me-downs
4. Loves to read
5. Learning to work hard
6. Cool hair
7. Tender heart
8. Has many friends and makes them easily
9. Helpful at home
10. Awesome green eyes
11. Recommends good books to me
12. Good boy who tries hard

Shawnee 2010

2010-07-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

As always, after visiting with Scott's family,
we head on over to hang out with Pam's family in Shawnee, KS

Chase with bedhead

Carson has no cousins his age here so he must protect himself from the bigger kids

I love this face!

Shadow in his usual place...hiding

Scott and Carson
We found a great game at a little store called Aldi
We all loved playing TrackBall

The dock is new this year. So much easier for the kids to get into the canoes.
Collin, Mitch, Brayton and Taylor

Brayton and Mitch preparing fireworks

Collin in the canoe and Rylee and Mitch on the dock

Crapaw and Aunt Dianne

My brother David with the fruits of his labor
Well...veggies of his labor

Rylee and Taylor on the dock

Cute cousins

Rylee has so much fun on this lake!
Even when she gets eaten alive by the bugs!

That's Rylee WAY out there in the canoe
Also...cool back yard, eh?

Chase and his roman candle

Taylor and Carson jumpin'

Track ball is really fun...see?

Scott and Danene play too

Carson is a great photog

My brother's neighbor got a new toy and all the boys had to go out and see it!

Suzie and Pam

Pam and David

We stayed at the Rio Grande Inn on our way back through NM.
Scott loves this place because their logo looks a lot like the flag from Kiribati where he served his mission.

I have loved Shamrock, TX since we went to Ireland in 2005
but it really took on some meaning after being in the Shamrock Farms ward for 3.5 years.
Awesome ward...sad to have left it. :(

MO 2010

2010-07-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

Do I really have to explain where we are headed and why?

Our annual trip to Missouri for the 4th of July

On our way we decided to change up our route. Instead of heading up through Kansas to KC, we decided to head up through Missouri directly to Moberly.

We stopped at this McDonalds that spans the highway. It was fun to eat and watch the traffic go underneath us.

Pretty cool!

The kids in the car on our 3rd day of driving.

We stopped in Lake of the Ozarks
When we passed by this Go Kart place Scott just had to turn around and go for a ride. He use to come her with his family when he was a kid and he LOVED the nostalgia.

Pam and Carson
Carson didn't think I was a good driver

Scott and Rylee
Rylee thought Scott was a good driver

Mitch was a pro and tells us that he's ready for his real license!
Yeah, right...

Chase was unsure at first stemming from a bad quad experience.
We forced him to go...he had a blast!

Cheryl and I at Lula's.
Small place - HUGE food!

All that food was delicious.
Scott couldn't wait to dig in!

Sydney, Mitch and Brooke hang out at the community pool in Rothwell Park

Chase and Braden

Rylee and Aryn

Mitch, G'ma and Chase getting desserts at Golden Corral

Aryn, Rylee and Hannah

Silly, silly boys Jackson, Ben, Braden, Carson and Noah

Seriously amazing!
All 4 Jorgensen boys ended up in an orange shirt and they did NOT plan it!

Brooke and Mitch

Brad, Jen, Brooke and Andrea

All the Jorgensen sisters
Cheryl, Jana, Jen, Pam and Connie

Cheryl taking a pic of me taking a pic of her

We all went to Columbia to celebrate
the 50th Wedding Anniversary of John and Jackie

The cute girlies again

Andrea and Connie

Allie and Jon Dixon

The happy couple of 50 years!

Jen and Jacob

Jana and Matt

Pam and Scott

Carson's eyes

Brad and Connie

Greg and Cheryl

Aryn and Chase

The younger half of the grandkids
Jackson, Ben, Braden, Rylee, Hannah, Aryn, Sydney, Chase

Cake time

Pam and Mitch

Jen showing off her maternal skills

Braden, Brooke, Chase, Mitch, Mike, Aryn

I started taking random pictures saying that I was paparazzi
I got some fun pics

Chase and his new hair

Brooke, Cheryl and Andrea

Carson John

Brooke's eyes

Connie

NoJo
Noah Jorgensen

Matt

Allie, Mitch, Cheryl and Brooke's lips

Allie, Stranger, Cheryl

Matt, Andrea and Jana getting photoed by me and Cheryl

More of Brooke's lips

Allie and Brooke love each other

Mitch laughing at a squashed bug

Brooke and Cheryl are not shy of the paparazzi

G'ma and Cheryl took these 4 to Lake of the Ozarks for some fun
Mitch, Brooke, Aryn and Chase

Mitch's finger - victim of his knife obsession

2010-06-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

He has far more knives then he will ever need.

Scout camp, campouts and knife activities feed his addiction

One night at 11:00pm - his addiction gets the best of him

He was only sharpening the knife...no big deal! Except that now it was so sharp that when it almost sliced the tip of his finger off, he felt no pain!

He came into our room with the finger wrapped in paper towel saying he cut himself.

Of course.

Scott takes a look...yep! It will need some stitches.

So off to the ER they went

Where they took a look...

...cleaned it out, numbed it up...

...and put 3 stitches in.

It did start to hurt eventually

I think he's excited about the gnarly scar he's gonna have!

Mitchell at AP Camp June 7-12, 2010

2010-06-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

I am publishing this post for my Dad. I will have Mitch help me caption the pix when he is home from ABQ.

Carson John turns 6!!

2010-06-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Carson is 6 now?

Did you know that he has hazel eyes like his brother Mitch?

Did you know that he is a comedian?

Did you know he has laser-eyes and can melt you down in mere seconds?

Did you know he can whistle already?

Did you know that he loves his dog Toby very much?

Did you know that he's very good at Lego Batman?

Did you know he regularly beats up his big brothers?

Did you know that he's the youngest in our family?

Did you know that he has a kind heart?

Did you know that he is missing a tooth?

Did you know that I love him more than any thing in this world?

Did you know his birthday is in the summer so he had to celebrate a little early at school?
We served up some yummy ice cream cups.

Did you know he has lots of friends?

Did you know that he loves gum?

Did you know that G-ma J sent him a volcano kit?

Did you know he LOVED making that volcano with his Dad?

Did you know that Carson and Rylee can paint a realistic looking volcano?

Did you know that Carson loves to eat at Golden Corral?
For the ice cream and rolls.

Kindergarten Celebration

2010-06-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

Carson passed Kindergarten.

With flying colors!

He can read.

He can write.

He can add and subtract.

He knows a lot of stuff now.

So they had a Celebration for all those Kinders

They sang songs to us to tell us what they learned and how excited they are for 1st grade!

They each got these cute picture trophies with an added Freedom Bear.

I'm happy about the Freedom Bear as Carson will be going to a different school next year. It will be a great reminder of CTA Freedom Elementary school.

He's got the moves...just not the excitement

2010-06-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

He's ready for first grade!

2010-06-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

Book Club Field Trip

2010-05-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'm in an amazing book club.

Love all the ladies in it.

We have so much fun!

Every time!

So...when we read the book, "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop and then found out that the author herself would be speaking at a local bookstore on the very night we meet...well, we just had to go see her.

She was very interesting. We all wanted to meet her.

She answered more questions to those getting their books signed.

We had a large group and of course had a great time!

Jennie N getting her book signed

and a picture

Pssh! 39? Whatev!

2010-05-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

It's true.

Last year of my 30's

Cake and flowers

Sushi...always sushi

I want some right now!

My free Creme Brule at Kona Grill

See? 39 ain't so bad!

Rylee's 9th Birthday

2010-04-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

My Princess is 9!

9 things I LOVE about Rylee Jean Jorgensen:

*Just look at her beauty!
*She has so much energy
*She can hold her own with her 3 brothers
*She burps like a man!
*Her devotion to her friends
*Her hard work in 3rd grade so we wouldn't hold her back
*Her amazing blue eyes
*Her spunk
*She's mine!

Opening presents

from G-ma J

We all love the "bread and butter" gifts from G-ma J

Her favorite restaurant

She LOVES to get up on the saddle while they sing to her!

The best cake for Rylee

STRAWBERRIES GALORE!

Thanks Swirl Bakery!

Statistical Move

2010-04-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

We are a statistic.

We couldn't afford our house anymore.

We moved.

Renting. Bigger. Cheaper.

The jury is still out on how good a move this will be.

We love our ward. We love our neighbors. We love our school.

We'll let you know...

Toby didn't care...as long as we didn't leave him

I sent out an email asking to borrow a truck and trailer thinking we would get a truck from one friend and a trailer from another and would have to quickly use them and return them.

Amazingly, a total stranger offered us his truck AND trailer and said we could have them for the whole week!

I love our church and it's members!

The first thing we moved were the beds.

Our new family room.

Thanks to G-ma J for the awesome new entertainment center from IKEA. She helped us make this new house a home...even if we don't own it.

Rylee gets her braces off!

2010-03-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of Spring Break to take Rylee and Mitch to see our favorite Orthodontist Dr. Uncle Greg!

Rylee was lucky and got her braces off! Done with phase 1!

Beautiful smile!

Thanks Dr. Uncle Greg!

So happy to have such pretty teeth!

Mitch's treatment wasn't quite done. He has bite issues so he got to have these awesome springs put in.

He has robot jaw now!

Bad Gum

2010-03-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

I honestly don't know how these things happen.

Rylee got gum in her hair.

First we tried to freeze it out with ice...

...Rylee liked that because it didn't hurt.

But it didn't work...

...so we tried peanut butter

...which worked but Rylee wasn't a fan

Hall of Fame

2010-02-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

One night we got a call from a member of our Bishopric. He asked us if we were going to the District Scout recognition dinner. We were not planning to but he said he had free tickets for us and that we should go. Also, we should not be surprised if Scott gets called up to receive an award. A Little Birdie had told him it might happen.

So we went...'cause hey! Free dinner!

All my scouts

One future scout and my princess

My friend Rita Thompson got an award...

...and wouldn't you know it?! Scott's name was called to be inducted into the Boy Scout Hall of Fame!

My friend Sherrie Bulechek got one too!

We still don't know how his name was entered for this award. We have our suspicions. No matter! It's awesome to have Scott recognized for all his hard work!

Daddy Daughter Dinner

2010-02-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Not much to say except this Daddy loves his Daughter!

Achievement Days Daddy Daughter Dinner

February 2010

Valentine's Yummy Goodness

2010-02-14T23:20:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day was so yummy this year!

Strawberries were on turbo sale and I thought dipping them in chocolate would be the BEST idea! Also, we had some people to thank for helping us and chocolate dipped strawberries are a great way to do that!

We ended up with a nice spread

Happy children eating chocolate covered goodness

O.M.S.G
Oh My Strawberry Goodness

We loved the white chocolate on the pretzels the best

Milk chocolate on the fruit

YUM

Former Bishops especially love chocolate covered strawberries as thank you gifts.

Thanks again for the Late Night Truck Bishop Guttery!

Renaissance Festival - 2/11/10

2010-02-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

At CTA Freedom, the 6th Graders get to go to the Renaissance Festival. When Mitch went, I couldn't volunteer because Carson was still at home and they didn't allow younger siblings on the field trip.

This year, however, Carson was in Kindergarten all day so I was free to hang out with Chase's friends at the Festival!

I was put in charge of this group of boys.
L->R: Kaden, Brian, Chase, Ethan, Connor, Brigham

Waiting for the jousting to begin

The KING up there in the balcony is declaring something

We cheered for the guy in green

Chase couldn't decide on a souvenir but tried out many hats

I had a hard time getting these lazy boys out of these cool chairs

Gypsy Jeff was HILARIOUS!

Watching the Mud Men

The 6th Grade Teachers
Phillips, Geisler, Pisano and Suhre

The Mud Men

HUGE turkey legs for lunch!

The Birds of Prey show was awesome!
VULTURE!

Pretty owl

Day 6 - Both Parks

2010-01-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

Can you see the sunshine?

We added a day to our trip because of the rain. We saw that Saturday would be nice and sunny so we decided to save our 3rd day at the parks for then. YES, it would be more crowded because the sun came out AND it's a Saturday, but we didn't care! We didn't have to lug around all the ponchos and umbrellas and we could wear our comfy shoes instead of the rain boots.

Walking to the parks

Mitch liked the sun

Rylee was so happy

Chase was excited

Carson liked the scenery

Scott and Mitch on California Screamin'

Disneyland Churros are yummy and not as expensive as I thought!

Toy Story Mania - still the favorite ride!

I survived the Tower of Terror
3 times!

Waiting in a LONG line for the Aladdin show
I love these two!

My Disney Princess Rylee Jean Jelly Bean

My big boys
I love them too

Rylee and Carson showing off their Mickey and Minnie shirts

Scott chillaxin' in the chair we loved so much

Aladdin show was so worth the wait!
Hilarious!

Wait...a pic of Scott and I? Who's the photog?

Thanks Mitch

Rylee with Walt and Mickey

Buzz Blasters again

Jungle Cruise
We couldn't ride it on earlier days because the rain closed it down

Funny Scott

Real funny

The room was fantastic. A room with bunkbeds and a pull out bed which could be closed off from our room with a king bed. TV's in both rooms. So great!

We also had a leak (record breaking rain, people) in our first room that got pillows and bedding and jackets all wet. We called to see if they could fix it. They decided to move us across the hall to a dry room and then lowered our nightly rate by 50%!!

The massive rain ended up helping us have fun as much as it hurt us!

On the last night, we still had to return our wheelchair to the park. Amazingly, the kids were too tired to join Scott and I. We gladly left them at the hotel and had a little Disney Date a by ourselves. I got to meet Minnie!

The fireworks were amazing!

Can you see Mickey's head?

LOVE

Here's the place we went to get our chair each day.
Best idea EVER! Thanks Kristen S.!

Day 3 - San Dimas

2010-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

It had been 10 years since I had visited San Dimas, CA where I grew up! Too long! So I made the family suffer through a nostalgic drive through my home town!

This is where I spent most of my teenage years

Teaching little swimmers in this pool

Training with my team and Coach Dave in this pool

Alma Mater - San Dimas High School
You may now make all the Raging Waters and Bill and Ted's jokes...now!

Driving up Fernridge Rd on the way to my childhood home

Lela's house across the street

1856 Hawkbrook Dr
San Dimas, CA 91773

This house looks NOTHING like it did when I lived there!
BUT! This tree I'm leaning on is exactly the same! I use to climb to the tip top!
I love this tree for staying the same!

Nothing

Kent, Caren and Karla Brownsberger's house
Next door neighbors since I was 1 year old! Karla and I are the same age.
Loved them!

Chris' house.
We used to get huge boxes and roll down his lawn and driveway in them.
Fun.

San Dimas Canyon Park
Also much different than when I was scared to go there because of the drugs and scary people. It looks so much better now!

We used to ride our bikes all the way to this 7-eleven for penny candy and Slurpees

My original In-n-Out in LaVerne
Debby Wieder and I ate here on Graduation night

The corner of Mr Godbey's room R-2 at SDHS. My favorite English class, Senior year (1989). My friends and I took a picture in this same corner.

Mr Godbey is still there!! But will be retiring after this school year.

Rylee holds the flowers for G'ma F's grave

Visiting my mother's grave in Glendora, Ca.
It's been 10 years since she passed.

I miss her

Scott pin-pointing her grave site with GPS coordinates

After the family survived my stroll down memory lane, we took the kids to...

Evike - Airsoft gun super store

Scott poses with the mannequin in Moberly style

This is what Carson is saving his money for
Ha ha

Rylee is funny too

Really Chase? A gold gun?

Mitch was in heaven!

We got to shoot the gun to make sure we liked it before Mitch bought it
Works for Chase

and Scott

and me

Rylee and Carson LOVED collecting all the BB's

Do you think he's happy?

We also went to see the New Port Beach temple
From the car...it was raining

again

Day 2 - California Adventure

2010-01-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Dad to park the car again

Carson's C

Chase's C

Rylee's R

What?! No M?

Pam's kind-of P

Scott and the fearless pelican

Only Scott and Mitch wanted to ride the big coaster, SCREAMIN'
The rest of us opted for the carousel

Getting on the ferris wheel
Chase and I opted to stay closer to the ground

Favorite ride ever!
TOY STORY MANIA!

Bug's Land was fun to see everything real BIG!

And the show was 4-D! We got sprayed and stung and smelled
Awesome

Bug 3-D glasses

Scott was the KING not the DUNG!

I told the family for weeks before the trip that I wanted to try the Tower of Terror ride. At least once! I can't be THAT big of a wimp! While in line waiting, I asked the ride operators where an extremely scared person should sit. They told me the back would be best...that's where I went.

After the ride (which was AWESOME!) was done those same ride operators were there waiting to ask me what I thought. I told them I was shaken but loved it! They gave me this Mickey pin for facing my fears! I was so touched! Then we went on the ride 2 more times!!

Instead of buying the way over-priced t-shirts, we took pictures of them.

Chase got this hat at the near-by WalMart
Carson liked it too

Why does my girl look like a gangsta?

Chase in his new hat with Carson's Buzz blaster in the hotel room

Sadly, the XBOX came with us
Although it was helpful for the 2 rainiest days that we stayed inside for

Rylee's treasure

Day 1 - Disneyland

2010-01-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

Regardless of how much rain was predicted, we wanted to have some fun!

In the hotel lobby on our way to Disneyland!

Waiting for Dad to come back from parking the car.

Family shot at the entrance.
Crazy Arizonians with shorts in the rain!!

Love them.

We were told by a good friend that getting a wheelchair is a great way to get to the front of the lines. I agreed but realized how much a chair would save my knees too! It was the best $36 spent! I didn't need it the whole time so the kids were able to take a break too. AND we could fit up to 3 people in at a time! Totally worth it!

Buzz Lightyear ride was a favorite

Why am I on the Rockets?

Carson's not scared...

...but I am. Never again!

Mitch loved them...

...and Chase was more like his Mom.

In the Finding Nemo submarine

Because of the rain Jasmine was the only Princess Rylee met.
Princesses are divas, I guess, and didn't want to get their dresses wet.

Indiana Jones ride

Carson's stoic face modeling an Indiana Jones hat

Rylee is my Princess

Woody and Jesse weren't afraid of a little water!

Waiting for the Dumbo ride

Peter Pan

Snow White

We got to meet Mickey in his house!

We tried to catch Minnie but missed her my a few seconds!
Goofy missed her too!

Rylee purchasing some treasure after the Pirates of the Caribbean ride

Day 1 = successfully fun!

On our way to return the chair

California Trip 2010 - Videos

2010-01-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

Evidence of the amount of rain we endured

Cool HUGE marble floating on water

Finding Nemo Submarine

Dumbo ride

Cool pelican at California Adventure

Putting flowers on my Mom's grave

Mitch trying his gun before he buys it

Scott and Mitch on Screamin'

Tower of Terror

Bug's Life ride that kinda scared me - a bit

Overcoming Fears...

The HUGE crowd waiting for the fireworks

Stoic

2010-01-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

I was so very proud of Carson. He braved every ride he was big enough to go on. He never questioned us as we walked him right onto the ride. After, he would say it was fun but when we looked at his face in the ride pics...we wondered if that was true

No emotion

Straight faced

I'm posing my fear but Carson is Mister Stoic

Hanging on with no emotion

Tiny bit of fear but still a neutral expression

Here he's demonstrating his look

He really did say that he had fun and only said NO to a ride once.

His lack of expression makes me wonder though...

Coaster Shots

2010-01-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

As most people know, rides have cameras positioned in strategic places to catch you making funny faces while either scared to death or thrilled to pieces. We loved looking at them every time we got off the ride. Here are ours...

Space Mountain was our very first coaster and we didn't know about the cameras at this point.

Mitch and Scott on their first ride on California Screamin'

The next time they went, they were better prepared for the camera

The 3rd time they posed...oh my hilarious boys

Mitch loved Cal Screamin'

The 4th time - poser

Scott loved the ride too!

This is our first ride on Tower of Terror

This is our 2nd - Chase and Carson wanted a break

This is our 3rd - I'm actually posing my terror in this one...
I promise!!

Storm of the Century

2010-01-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

It really, truly was.

We had planned this trip to California and Disneyland for months! The week before we decided to check out the 10-day forecast to make sure we packed the right kind of clothes. SHOCK! They were predicting a storm that would bring record breaking rainfall A record from 1902, hence "Storm of the Century"! Other terms they used were "coastal erosion" and "flooding with debris-flow". How are we supposed to enjoy our time at Disneyland when there might be debris? We had to postpone our trip for another week. Thank Heaven for trip insurance!!

I lamented on Facebook and had several responses! They all said we should go anyway because the parks would not be crowded and we would be able to walk on all the rides!

We decided to go ahead. Here is what we endured...

On the way to California

Finding an open spot inside was hard so we opted for anything dry outside.

Luckily we came prepared with our own, much less expensive, ponchos

Umbrellas came in handy too!

Taking pictures from the car so we don't get wet

So.much.water

Scroll down to the video posts to see the ducks SWIMMING down Main Street.

Christmas at CTA Freedom - 2009

2010-01-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

Teacher gifts are REALLY hard for me. I never know what to get them and what happens if you don't like the teacher??

I had it easy this year...whew!

Carson REALLY wanted to give his teacher a baseball. We went to WalMart and got her one but felt a little bad only spending $1.50 on a simple ball. So I asked Carson what else she likes. He said, "Just baseball...oh and sparkly things" So, we blinged out a baseball. We couldn't decide if glitter or jewels would be better. I like the glitter idea and Scott liked the jewels. I did my idea and he did his. Which one did Mrs Holland like the best?

.....................

Scott's

Carson and his friend Hayden

Rylee and Mrs Milot - L.O.V.E her

Rylee and her bestie McKenna

Crazy 6th grader

Chase's class did a White Elephant exchange. Boys brought boys gifts and girls brought girl gifts. It was fun to watch them TRY to be mean but not really.

Sweet 16

2010-01-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Who put these roses in my way?!?!

Thanks Honey! 16 years of wedded bliss down, an eternity to go!

I love you Poopy the Clown!

Love, Stinky the Dog

Our life in ornaments

2010-01-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

1994 - Our first together

1995 - Our first child was born

1996 - Our little family

1997 - We included our first dog on the ornament

1998 - Our 2nd child is born

1999 - We had a cat that wasn't nice

2000 - Scott's first sabbatical was spent in Missouri

2001 - Our 3rd child, our only girl and the only child born in Oregon and not New Mexico is born

2002 - We move back to NM

2003 - Our little family is getting bigger

2004 - Our 4th and final child is born

2005 - We deviate from the salt dough for a year

2006 - We move to Arizona

2007 - Just the kids on this one

2008 - This Christmas was spent in Missouri too

2009 - Our family gets a trip to Disneyland for Christmas but the picture for the frame won't come for 24 days!

We'll take 'em...even for just one night!

2010-01-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

It use to happen more often. When we lived in NM, my brother and his family would stop at our house on their way to California. It hasn't happened in a while so when they called we jumped at the opportunity to spend some time with them.

Of course we had to go to In-N-Out

Of course we had to play Band Hero and sing all the Taylor Swift songs

Courtney rocks!

My brother David writing an email to his son Ryan who is on a mission in Mozambique, Africa!

Of course there were make-overs!

Christmas Day - 2009

2010-01-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day
2009

We actually had to wake the kids up ourselves

That NEVER happens!

Mickey and Minnie told the kids about our trip to Disneyland!

I LOVE this tree

Rylee and her DS

Scott's iTunes

Chase's favorite game

As Seen On TV Brownie maker

Carson's DS

More family games

Band Hero was really for me

Toby loved the whole day of fun

Pam's iTunes

Toby got a "snausage" toy and loved it to pieces...literally!

See? Love

Mitch and I loving our iPods

24 days till Disneyland!!

Carson couldn't wait...he packed right away

Scott loving Toby

Rylee and Carson loving Toby

Tip it!

Pam and Toby catching up on LOST and taking a Christmas snooze

Christmas snooze

Sadly, several months back, Carson had an unfortunate accident and broke the Skittle Machine

We replaced it for Christmas and I'm so glad

Mickey waiting out the time till our trip in the Christmas tree

How to...

2010-01-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

When you're 5 and kinda short,

how do you get a Candy Cane off the tree when it's at the top?

Like this...

My Carson is a smarty pants

Bad Dog...

2009-12-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: Toby has NEVER pooped in my house...EVER!

Scott got this funny fake poop as a white elephant gift from his work Christmas party. The kids have been having so much fun with it. It's amazingly realistic! So much so, that when my brother was here he came out of his room saying that he thinks or dog is sick and we need to clean up after him. BAhahaha! Faked you out, David!!

Christmas Eve - 2009

2009-12-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

Our family traditions on Christmas Eve are...

*Gather around the Christmas Tree
*Read the story of Christ's birth from the New Testament
*Give the gifts we got for each other
*Open gifts from G-ma J

Another tradition?
The reading of G-pa J's annual Christmas poem.
He has written an epic family update in poem form for the past 39 years!

Chase loves to draw and G-ma got him a book to teach him how

Rylee and I spent an entire day doing these Shrinky Dinks from G-ma

Carson is really getting into Legos lately

Mitch didn't pose with his gift from G-ma which was an iTunes card.
He posed with his new AirSoft rifle that Rylee gave him BB's for

Carson got Rylee some new make-up and a sturdy make-up case
She loves giving make-overs...

...and getting them
It's a girl thing!

Mitch building Carson's Lego plane while Chase and Carson play Bakugan

I love this time of year