AZ Powells - We like it HOT

Back on Track

2011-02-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

So if you couldn't tell I've been MIA for quite some time...oh there have been tons of things happening...photos taken...I've just been lazy...I think it is my middle name, along with procrastinator...so I am going to get back on track and start posting....We have a field trip coming up on Thursday so I plan to take pics with Tristen and tell you all about my exciting time on the 2nd grade fieldtrip :)

Wedding Nails

2010-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

The girls are sooooo excited for Tristen & Scotty's wedding this November 24th. They both struggle with biting their nails so I challenged them last week to grow out their nails so that they would look nice for the wedding...after all flower girls should have pretty nails :) So its been a week and look at what they look like!!!! I need practice painting nails...Lisette will have to come over and help - so please don't judge the painting...

Ashlen's nails

Tristen's nails

Hair wars....

2010-10-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

So I am not sure if other couples struggle with this...but I HATE to shave my legs and have managed to get away with shaving once a week....I should be grateful that Stevan has not really made a fuss, but he does complain that he is tired of sleeping next to sandpaper legs....So then I started making loud comments about how much I LOVE long hair on guys...we struck up a deal and he has not shaved his head in about a month or so...my part of the deal is that I have to shave my legs 3 times a week....aaarrrggggg.....I can tell its killing him - his hair is getting long (well long for him) and it is growing out all salt & pepper (which I like)....I guess its a small price to pay??

More Soccer Pics

2010-10-09T18:48:00.001-07:00

More pics of our Soccer Saturdays...we LOVE spending our Saturdays hanging out at Pathfinder park cheering on the Bruins and Ravens...then cheering on Stevan as he referees games :) The weather has been perfect and it is so nice to hang out on the blanket under any of the trees.....

Hall of Flame field trip

2010-10-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

This week I chaperoned a field trip to the Firefighters Hall of Flame with Tristen's 2nd grade class. I wasn't sure what to expect - except for the headache I got sitting on the bus with 60 2nd graders for 1 hour into Phoenix...but I am happy to report I was pleasantly suprised. The museum actually had quite a few early handpumps and steam pumps and then an area with at least 15-20 fire engines ranging from the early 1900's through present. There was an area dedicated to 9-11 with a piece of the Twin Towers, along with names of fallen emergency responders. The kids all had a great time and I'll have to admit I did too. I had a group of 4 kids including Tristen and they were great kids - we had a fun time :)

Taylor, Sami, Tristen and Sophie

Me & Tristen

Tristen

the bus ride to the museum

Nearer my God to Thee.......

2010-09-29T13:56:00.001-07:00

I made a goal earlier this year to go to the temple on a more frequent basis. I love attending the temple and enjoy the times I get to go with Stevan, but have struggled with depression more lately and in lieu of getting back on medication, decided that I would see if my attending the temple would help me. I started going at lest every other week when school started and have been so happy when there have been weeks I have gone twice because the opportunity presented itself. While I still struggle with depression, the boughts are becomming less frequent and my ability to pull out of a spell is easier. Never have I felt so much closer to my Heavenly Father than I have these past few months..I enjoy my trips and cannot wait for Clayton to go to school so that I can increase my attendance to weekly. I am lucky enough to have an amazing sister and friend in my ward who goes with me. I notice that my sensitivity to spiritual matters is heightened and I enjoy the little things more. I am grateful for my husband who made this suggestion - I am glad for his insight and his counsel which has indeed been a blessing for me. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves me and has answered my prayers. I think even my kids enjoy me more....I feel different, a good differnt and feel better more often than not. I am sooo sad that the temple is now closed for cleaning...I have already felt a void....how am I possibly going to make it 3 weeks until it re-opens....I am keeping busy, looking forward to conference and before I know it this too will pass - I will be back on schedule in no time.

San Tan Mountain Hike

2010-09-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

We went hiking the other day with the Arbons. San Tan Mountains is only about 10 minutes from here and I thought it would be a good thing to get out. Well we did okay...there was complaining and whining and the moviestar was irritated cause her shoes were rubbing on the back of her heal. Clayton was tired and it was too far.....and on and on and on. So we hiked in about 30 minutes on the trail, then hiked out. I promised the kids a treat at QT so we stopped for that on our way home....then the supermodel piped up "Can we do this tomorrow? I really enjoyed the hike!" What?!?!?! I think not my friends :)

Soccer Season

2010-09-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again..Soccer has started and we are happy to say that we have 2 players this year. Clayton and Tristen are both involved, although I didn't think too much about the fact that I'd be running between 2 fields the whole time trying to watch both games. Sadly Stevan has yet to see Clayton play cause he's busy coaching Tristen's team - the Bruins!!! Claytonis on Sister Yosts Rams team and he is a real go-getter. Not to brag or anything...but he scored 2 goals his first game :) Tristen scored 1 at her first game too. Clayton is a little too confident - apparently after scoring he was pretend shooting at the other team chanting "You guys are losers" - whose kid is this anyways!!!???? And Tristen wasn't sure they even won their last game cause the other team scored...not something they are used too...Stevan put her straight though...they did win :) Clayton was upset at the last game though cause he didn't get to score...so he told one of the kids on the other team his shirt looked stupid and then wouldn't shake hands or cheer at the end of the game. He had a little chat with Stevan about good sportmanship I think he will do a lot better this week or he will be in trouble :)

2010-09-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

So what is the summer without a couple trips to the river. My kids were disappointed that we ONLY got to go twice this summer...not at all like last year when we went on average every other weekend.....really - if only some kids could be this lucky. They had a great time hanging with everyone - riding on the boat and jet skiis, trying out the new tube Robbie bought, jumping off the rocks (Ashlen jumped and it was high!!) driving the golf carts, exploring, breakfast at Badenochs....yada yada yada........we LOVE the Farrers and LOVE spending time with them - they are, as Nacho Libre says, "Da Beeessssstttt" we only watched it 4 or 5 times this trip:)

Finally some rain!

2010-09-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

In Arizona we have Monsoons. There is nothing better than seeing clouds roll in, hearing the thunder and seeing lightning. It is super hot and then it cools right down! A wonderful thing :) Anyways we've been teased something terrible out here in the good ole San Tan Valley...we see clouds just wanting to drop moisture pass over us, and then drop everything in Mesa :( So we were super excited when the heavens opened and dropped on us for 6 hours straight!! The roads flooded, the catch basins were full, the kids were out running around catching frogs - it was great :) We are so sad monsoon season is over....we didn't get much this year....

School is in

2010-08-20T14:32:00.001-07:00

I realize that this post is waaayyy late - but hey - I have been busy!!! School started and we were off with a bang. The kids were excited but then again not really....They are, as you can see from the photos, too cool for school. Mason is our incoming Freshman and has taken to high school like a fish to water. He is keeping a rigorous schedule of early morning seminary, school and then football practice after school...he is out the door at 5:45am and then has been getting home around 7pm. He has admitted that high school is pretty hard - duh?!? and that he has way more homework than he did in jnr high :) I told him he's gotta pull up his panties and be a big boy now :) Ashlen is in 5th grade and loving it. Her good friend Annie is in her class with her and she loves that..not to mention the fact that she has joined the drama club and is part of the school council :) She is really enjoying 5th grade :) Tristen is in 2nd grade and loves her teacher Mrs. Conte. She is a little bored with her class...but she is being tested for the gifted program - hopefully that will give her more to do so we don't have to hear her complain. She has also taken on a new love of reading - she finished her first "real chapter" book...as opposed to those fake ones she's been reading...and looks forward to jumping into way more exciting stuff...she is a master speller and I am proud to say she has beautiful penmanship - much like my own....yay - no more chicken scratch to read....no offense Mason :)

Another Oweeeeee

2010-07-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

Mason spent Friday night and Saturday at a scout overnighter...we've been pretty lucky and haven't had much incident but I guess Mason was mouthing off on this campout and Brother Brown let him have it!!!!! From what I hear...he threw a rock right at Mason's head to stop him from talking...or texting McKenna...it was one of those........

Just kidding.....Although that sounded pretty good right?!? So the scouts were at the watering hole and Brother Brown was at the top of a waterfall with his pvc watergun thingy and dropped it to Keith who was below who didn't quite get his hands on it...and it slipped and hit Mason.....nice.....apparently it was a gusher...Potterf held Mason's head under water to try stop it from bleeding ( or to finish him off ) and that didn't work too well...but holding it on the 2 hour drive home got it stopped.....Mason yawned and split it open again so we put a butterefly strip on it and I think he's as good as new.......scars are cool you know!!!!!

End of Summer Par-tay

2010-07-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Savannah Whittaker and Ashlen decided a couple weeks ago that they wanted to host an end of summer party so Friday night was the night. They both worked hard making keychains and then sold them to earn money, made invitations, went shopping for party supplies and cleaned the house to get everything ready:) In ordere to have just an evening with girls....Clayton went to Uncle Devin's house for his "party" and Tristen went to the Whittakers to spend time with Chase. Mason had a scout overnighter so all the planets aligned :) 9 girls came - Kenzi, Ryleigh, Morgan, Lindsay L, Lindsay D, Anna, Annie, Sarah and Xandri......Kiran and I were up for the challenge :) All the girls mete at our house and we took them over to the Indigo Sky pool where we ate pizza and swam for an hour or so..then we came back to the house and frosted cupcakes and played some fun get to know you games (as if they didn't know each other!!) We heard about Justin Beiber, what their favorite subjects were, what their avorite colors were and other juicy tidbits...and then they settled in to watch "The Spy Next Door" Kiran and I took that time to go outside and hang out on our trampoline and talk :) I think they had a great time - there was a lot of giggling and posing and shouting...their parents stopped off and picked up the girls around 9:30ish - I think the part was a success :)

Hostess Ashlen

Hostess Savannah

Savannah, Morgan, Ashlen, Kenzi ad Annie

a funk

2010-07-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been in a funk...i've had pity parties and have actually had a hard year so far ( which is in part to my crappy attitude)...2010 is not really what I wanted it to be. Stevan is always so positive...I really need him around more because he is able to pull me out of it, but its been hard because he has been working a lot (which is a good thing) and I miss him tons when he isn't around. I am grateful for so many things....I know that I am blessed and have been quick to forget......I know there are many who are in need..... and so I have decided to try to be more focused on things that matter...my family and friends, and not focus on things that I cannot change. I recently was called to be a teacher in Relief Society - yeah can you picture that - me a teacher - so I taught my first lesson and I think it went ok...and I am pretty sure I have this calling to help me focus more on what I lack - those things that I can improve upon......so this is my resolution...to be happy with what I have, to love those around me more than I do, to be more positive, to take time to do those things I KNOW I should be doing, to NOT let the little things bother me, and to be MORE charitable and giving to those around me....... I can do this - I am capable of these things and more...I have half the year gone but half to make better than the first half :)

getting back to business

2010-07-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

so its been forever since I have blogged...and my brother who apparently reads my blog all the way in France reminded me last week that he keeps checking and there is nothing new.

I keep thinking that I need to get back to it...but it seems so overwhelming cause there are things that have happened and had I been in the right mind I would have blogged about..and I have photos..and so on and so on..but trying to catch up would be too overewhelming so I figured I'd just start from today..there you have it...I am starting fresh....I did decide to note some of the worthwhile mentions though and then that will be that...I have pics posted on facebook for those who care to look :)

So here we go.....Rachael and Jens had my cutie newphew Dylan, Mason graduated 8th grade, I turned 37 (yikes), the kids got out for SUMMER, Lisette and Devin had my other cutie nephew Zander Reed Merrill 4 weeks early, Stevan and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and our 9th year beng sealed together, we took a 24 hour trip to CA for PaPa' 90th birthday party, Mason went to Leadership training camp, we went to CA for a week and hung out with the Farrers and had a blast, went to Heather and Jethro's wedding and it was a blast, Mason went to Scout Camp, we've been hanging at the library with the Arbon's and Whittakers, been to the AJ pool which is WAY better than the waterpark and saves us $$$$, Mason went to Football camp in Snowflake, the kids went to Book of Mormon camp and loved every minute of it (thanks to Brother Johnson for teaching Tristen how to make boxes....we have a million of them around our house) we've been school shopping and enjoyed hanging at our pool......whew

Wait...is that Dancing with the Stars???

2010-05-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Nope - it is Clayton and Jada, practicing in the Hunsakers kitchen. The kids were hanging out this afternoon...they've had withdrawls since they haven't seen each other in 2 weeks...and were listening to music I guess when Clayton suggested they dance. Michelle caught this, took a photo and emailed it to me....how cute is this???

He's Baaaaack

2010-05-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Clayton is back from his travels to CA. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa, Clayton caught a ride and hung out with his cousins, and gandparents and Maw Maw & PaPa. All our kids were chomping at the bit, waiting patiently for the little one to return...then we quizzed the heck out of him, asking him what he did and how much fun he had. He enjoyed playing with his cousins - all of them - but especially the "crew" aka Kaydence, Connor & Emma...it is sad that these 4 don't live close to each other..well the other 3 are, but Clayton misses them when he is here. According to him, they had the best time. He also got to see his newest cousin Chloe who is really cute and looks just like Connor. He enjoyed hanging with his older cousin Ethan and I am sure made him nuts :) Clayton visited Maw Maw & PaPa and got to go to the park and feed the ducks with them...always a treat. Maw Maw spoiled him as usual and made him a special lunch. He got to hang out with the Farrers and loved that he got to go in the car with Danica. He said she took him to 7-11 and got him slurpees. I asked him why his hair didn't get cut...he told me he told big T that he didn't want his hair cut so she listened to him, not me. Apparently Tristen loves him that much!!!! He loved hanging with her and Scotty - he said she took him to get donuts and chocolate milk, and that Scotty isn't cute anymore because Tristen cut his hair to look like a soccer ball?!? I need a pic of that. He said Debby made him cookies and did whatever he wanted !!!! Are we surprised???? NOPE. He loved going to the Father Son outing with Robbie - they didn't have to sleep in a tent - they got to sleep in the van on the bed and made smores that were really good - that was his favorite part. He also managed to get a present out of Lexie's boyfriend - an iron man wrist shooter thing...and then pulled out 2 baseball trophies from his suitcase and proudly showed them to us. He had a great time and was glad to be home...we were glad to have him home :) He already asked me today when he was going back to Cali.........

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

This morning I was woken up with breakfast in bed :) Then coupons valid for clean rooms / clean house / anything I wanted :) When I finally rolled out of bed, I noticed that my bedroom doors had been heart-attacked by the kids. Stevan then made fresh bread with his own two hands ( he is talented) because I asked for Grilled Cheese for dinner...we are havng gourmet grilled cheese on fresh homemade bread :) What a lucky gal I am - I am thankful for my kids and my wonderful husband who have made this an amazing day - I haven't lifted a finger - the kids are getting me drinks, and food, my feet are up and I have my favorite blanket on me :) I hope you all have an amazing Mothers Day also.

Tristen cheers

2010-05-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Tristen has a fellow student in her class who is in a wheelchair due to a car accident in which he was hit by a red light runner and caused paralysis from the chest down. Shaun and his family are raising money in hopes of getting to Costa Rica where doctors who are doing Stem Cell Research believe that he is the perfect candidate to receive stem cells and have full mobility back in his legs. Just this past week, the K-2nd graders at the small campus at Walker Butte had a "cheer" fundraiser. Participants could each pay a small registration fee, and then they had 3 after school practices led by some of the teachers, and got to cheer at the Coyote Girls Basketball game during halftime with the 7th & 8th grade Cheerleaders. Tristen was super excited and we went to the game just this past Wednesday afternoon. The lady Coyotes did an amazing job and were up at the half :) Our little cheerleaders then got up at halftime and performed their cheers. There were so many little cheerleaders - they had quite the turnout which was great, because all the funds went to help Shaun. Tristen was in her element :) Sadly only this one picture turned out - the others were all dark :( You can see she enjoyed herself and Ms. Madrid commented on our "future cheerleader" - she said that Tristen displayed leadership and even led practices during recess :)

Gila Valley Temple

2010-05-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

The Gila Valley Temple Open House is happening right now. We decided it would be a wonderful experience taking the kids - it isn't often that there are open houses and we have been lucky to take the kids to the Newport Beach Temple and now the Gila Valley Temple. We are super excited for the Gilbert & Phoenix Temples to be built can't wait for those open houses. How wonderful is it that our kids will have experienced living in 2 different Temple districts and be able to participate in the Celebrations that go with getting a new Temple. Due to mass work, I ended up going without Stevan :( and Clayton will have to go with Grandma & Grandpa when they get back in town (he REALLY wants to go insdie a Temple - I think he's still committed to finding Jesus' bedroom and hoping he can have a chat with him). We left early - Google Map said it would take 3 hours, so with our reservation being 12:45, we left at 8:30am, to allow for a stop or two and lunch before getting to the Temple. On our way, there was a report that there had been an accident between Superior and Globe, and that the 60 had been closed down, but that it should re-open by 10am...so as we get closer - and its almost 10am, I notice traffic slowing down...great...I take a back-road through Superior and get past where the cars are lined up, but they still wouldn't let us on the 60...so listening to the radio we hear that they extended the closure until 11am. We decided take an alternate route rather than sit there for an hour - roughly an 80 mile out of the way detour to get around the closure and back to Globe so we can then get to Pima...We got to drive south through Kearney to Winkleman ( no need to go see those places people - boring) and then back north to the main highway at Globe...then back on track. Luckily we took this route instead of waiting it out, cause no sooner had we gotten back on track, we heard on the news that the closure was extended again until noon :( So we made it to the Temple just a little before our appointment time :) From the outside the Temple actually looks smaller than Newport Beach...It is beautiful inside as it should be and the kids really enjoyed the tour. They loved seeing the baptismal font, to which they noted that in the Newport Beach Temple they still had their scripture stones under the oxen...they hope they will be able to do this also for the Gilbert Temple. The girls LOVED the brides room with its beautiful chandalier and mirrors. The mural in the ordinance room was amazing...a beautiful desert scene, quite a change from the beach scene in Newport, and the last ordinance room was beautiful with slight blue accents in the filigree on the ceilings and in the lighting. The Celestial Room was also amazing as it should be, the girls were especially inpressed, as was I, of the huge chandalier in the middle - it was so bright and amazing to look at. The tour ended in 1 of the 2 sealing rooms which were also beautiful - the kids really enjoyed being at the altar looking at the mirrors. Mason talked with Ashlen about the sealing room we were sealed in and asked her if she remembered sitting on the altar as we were being sealed...what a memory - I don't even remember that!!!! He also thinks that the mirrors were full length in that room...anyone anyone....are there any full length mirrors in the largest sealing room off the Celestial Room in the LA Temple??? I guess Stevan and I need to go back and look...its been forever since we've been there...sorry for the digression...so the kids loved it - we then went to the building next door and enjoyed the cookies and displays, grabbed our cameras and headed back to take some photos outside the Temple. We ended up leaving after spending about an hour at the Temple and started on our trip back home. We stopped at this awesome little place for lunch on our way out of town...Taylors Freeze - we highly recommend it - good burgers and onion rings - and got back with no detour in 2 1/2 hours...the ride between Globe ad Superior is only 17 miles!!!! aaarrrggghhhh...well we made it and that was the point - detour or no detour. What a great day :)

Messing around

2010-05-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

So we got new phones...which is a good thing I guess....my poor old phone has to be plugged in constantly in order for it to be charged and then it would get really hot and so it burned my ear when I used it...and then when we unplugged it it had a charge for maybe an hour if I was lucky :( ...so needless to say I needed one - I'd been putting it off waiting for the "upgrade" time..but when it came I only qualifid for $75.00!!! really??? what can you get for that these days...a whole lot of nothing!!! So I played the game and came out with 2 new phones, changed the plan, canceled an old line and got a new line :) I got a Blackberry and Mason got a samsung something or rather to which he was playing around with today on our trip to the temple and found out it had cool photo features and took this pic of Tristen!!! There are a ton of fun things it can do!!! So - bottom line - we got cool new phones :)

Missing Clayton

2010-05-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

I was missing Clayton this morning and someone must have known....thanks for sending me this Big T!!!!! I sure hope you guys are enjoying him!!!!!!

Snake Bite??

2010-04-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Mason went on a scout overnighter and while on his walk out - was bit. He spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa so when we saw him that night - he told us his ankle was sprained. I told him to let me see it so I could wrap it and I saw this...........................

So we asked him what happened...he said that he was hiking out and he felt a sharp pain..he thought he walked into a cactus or something and blew it off. When he got home his ankle hurt but he figured he had just sprained it. Gotta love that!!! So we called Brad Davis to see what he thought...we were correct to assume that if something were to happen it would have by then- he had been bit several hours earlier and there was no line going up his leg from the bite. He was bit right on the ankle bone so 1 of 2 things may have happened...first - the snake hit bone - so there was not really any flesh he could sink his fangs into....second - the snake had previously struck at something within 24 hours and there was not enough venom left to create any real problems. Whatever the reasoning - we were pretty glad nothing happened and told Mason to try be a little more observant next time he was out hiking :)

Work Day at the Temple & Deep Thoughts

2010-04-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

We took the kids last Saturday to go do some gardening at the Mesa Temple. We bought gardening gloves and were all excited to "put our shoulder to the wheel".....so we were put on grapefruit picking up and raking duty ...which was fun...and we got to hang with the Baileys. Stevan and Tor were busy getting the grapefruit from the tree and the kids were picking up the grapefruit and tasting it. I spent time raking leaves and after a while we were all done. According to the kids - the grapefruit was super sweet...go figure...they were all sitting around sucking on them :) So the groundskeeper gathered us all together for a closing song - I love to see the Temple - and a closing prayer - what a wonderful morning. Before we closed, he talked about the power of the Temple and encouraged the children to all go up and touch the Temple walls. Of course my kids wanted to do this, so while Stevan got all our junk together, I took Tristen and Clayton and we walked around the Temple so that they could touch the walls at the front of the Temple. While we were walking Clayton started in on his questions....the conversation went something like this.......So mom, this is Jesus' house right?...Yes Clayton this is our Heavenly Father's house...so is he inside right now? can we go inside and see if he is home?.....well Clayton, first off we are not dressed to go inside the Temple, we need to wear our very best church clothes, and second Jesus is not inside for us to meet with, he has lots of houses and he doesn't "live" here......ok - maybe he is taking a nap in one of the rooms and we could ask them if we can check real fast........Clayton, you cannot go inside until you are 12 - and you are not dressed to go inside - I am sure that Jesus is not sleeping in one of the rooms inside the Temple........so when do you think I can see him, I really want to talk with him and see him......Well when you pray you can talk to him Clayton, you will see him someday........Are you sure mom, you know that I will see him.........Yes Clayton - the day will come when you can see him.....So I need to have my church clothes on and we can come back when I am bigger and then I will get to see him?..........Yes Clayton :) I then told him about the upcoming Gila Valley Temple Open House and let him know that he would be able to go inside that Temple, to which he was pretty excited about - he added that he would make sure he had his church clothes on so they would let him inside. After that both he and Tristen walked up to the Temple and touched its walls - they were pretty excited. What a great moment we had, a teaching moment and a glimpse into the mind of a little guy who has perfect faith, believing that he can talk and see Jesus. On another note - he and Tristen are very unhappy that they cannot attend the Temple dedication...Ashlen "rubbed it in their face" and they were not pleased...Tristen was reassured that she would be old enough for the Gilbert Temple dedication...Hopefully there will be another one close by when Clayton is older :)

"Work" week at the River

2010-04-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

Jason, Stevan and Joyce

Robbie

Me & Clayton

Stevan

Clayton is not too sure about a QUAD - these bikes are for girls!!!

See - they are working...................

And more working.................................

Joyce and her stuck quad :(

Clayton & Danica

The boys are on the hills

Yay - We had our first weekend at the River for 2010. So officially it wasn't really a "weekend away" and technically I wasn't even invited, but the guys had decided to make it a Work Weekend and do some repairs at the house...and since I've been running like a crazy person for forever, Stevan suggested I come along and spend time laying out relaxing without kids :) Love him!! So the kids were packed up and stayed with Grandma & Grandpa minus Clayton, who I decided could come with us last minute. He really wanted to go and see Robbie & Debby....Debby didn't end up going, but Danica did and I figured he'd keep her company so I could relax :) We also had complaints from the kids who wanted to go and "help"....they were sure we'd get the boat out to which I said "no way - we are WORKING!!".....so imagine our surprise when we pulled up and saw the boat out :) We went for a quick ride and then went to dinner at Crossroads (yummy) and then went home and watched movies and hung out until the morning. Clayton and Danica went on golf cart rides...a highlight if you ask him. Stevan got up at the butt crack of dawn and proceeded to hammer away at the deck :( I finally got up and did some more relaxing until we decided to break out the dirtbikes and take a little break. we had fun - I rode the quad and took Clayton on his first quad ride...you know quads are for girls!!! He was unsure but ended up liking it - he was mad that he didn't have his own riding gear, but he got over it quick. Jason Mackay's fiance was there riding for the first time and rode the quad into some water...the boys were off on the hills so I had to ride home, get the truck and tow the quad out....ha ha - poor thing was scared she'd wrecked the bike. After testing the bikes I laid out and read my book while Clayton played with the beach toys - we went up for lunch and then back for more laying out and a new book......all the while the boys did some work. We ended up not getting the boat out and everything cleaned up and put away until 6ish, so I was dead and not willing to get in the car and drive 3 hours home...so we stayed the night and woke up super early and drove home to find our happy kids frown when Clayton told them about all the "work" we did....woo hoo - I did a LOT of relaxing - it was much needed.

A Hiking he will go...

2010-04-19T21:34:00.001-07:00

Clayton has been going hiking with Grandpa Powell and is a pretty good one at that. We've been lucky - all our kids have enjoyed hiking...not that we go frequently, but when we do go, they walk and do not complain. We take them when they are young and let them go for it, so that probably helps. Clayton takes his UCLA backpack and has a walking stick and water in his bag. He really enjoys it :)

Happy Birthday Tristen

2010-04-19T21:07:00.001-07:00

Our little T is SEVEN. She is a fun kid - she always has something to say and she is not afraid to say it, whenever, wherever. For her birthday we picked up donuts for breakfast and then her friend Chase to spend the day together. We started out making a pit-stop at her most favorite store ever...Justice, where she picked out some cute clothes, a swimsuit, flip-flops and earings and smelly lotion. Her and Chase got "Best Friends" bracelets (they broke) and Stevan got pics on his phone...but I don't have any. We then went to San Tan Village and ate lunch and then saw "How to Train your Dragon". It was a great movie - we ate tons of popcorn and had a great day. She has been a real turd since she turned seven....We really miss the old Tristen...but I guess she is spreading those wings of hers...growing up and testing the waters...we'll get over it - I guess she had to grow up sooner or later..we just hoped she wouldn't be as defiant as she has been...Guess that comes from Stevan?!? We still love her :) Can't wait until she's eight!!!!

Spring Break part II

2010-04-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazy - we have been busy and I have not been good about keeping things updated. The kids finished their last week of Spring Break with Grandma & Grandpa Wasilewski up in Concho Az. The kids had a blast - they tended to the chickens, they played with the dogs, they went exploring, they hung out and ate lots of ice-cream, they did whatever they wanted and loved spending time with Grandma & Grandpa.

Clayton and Grandpa resting after a walk

Tristen and Clayton at the wash...

Feeding the Donkeys

More exploring

Chatting with the horses

Mason and Grandma worked on the Plasma Cutter

Sitting in the chicken coop...they collected eggs each day

Mason dug some ditches to help out Grandpa

Clayton showed Ashlen how to crush cans

Tristen hanging out with Moe

Week 1 Sum Up

2010-03-22T19:09:00.001-07:00

What a great time we had as you can see......we ended the week going to the movies...Mason, tristen and Damien saw Alice in Wonderland, Ash and Z saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Clayton and I saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians...FUN...then we went to the CYP2 ward auction...Debby made sweet rolls and we did eat....we had a great time and got a few bargins...then we stayed up super late playing cards, crying over our March Madness Losses...oh well there is always next year...only this time next year we will be back in SoCal with Tristen's baptism...boy does time fly!!! We LOVE the Farrers and were sooo happy to spend this week with them.

the Tide Pools

2010-03-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Damien and Z had a great idea....we went to the tide pools in Dana Point....the kids had a great time, although Clayton was quite apprehensive at first...he got over it :)

Ash didn't make it across the sand without getting wet

Mason and Ash had to run across and jump up on the rocks when there was a break from the waves coming around.....he made it..she got caught on the way back

BRC didn't like the cold :(

Ash taking a break

Clayton was showing me that he knew how to surf........

Sea anename...Big T kept sticking her fingers in to show the kids what would happen...I think Ash was brave and did the same but little T wouldn't go near it

we were looking for dolphins and watching the surfers

Mason and Damien...or should I say tweedle dum and tweedle dee.....

Danica, Big T and Ash

Danica and Ash

Another Haircut

2010-03-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

Both boys got haircuts this week...we LOVE that Big T cuts hair!!!! Of course Mason didn't pose for a pic - he hates the fact that we make him cut it...it is still long!!! and Clayton posed just like he always does...Big T is the ONLY one who is allowed to touch his hair :)

SURPRISE

2010-03-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

Debby had an awesome surprise for us all..she let me in on the secret a few days before because I am sure she couldn't contain the excitement....we already knew that RJ was heading home to spend the weekend but we didn't know that Damien, Z and BRC (Blake Robert Cavanaugh) were coming with him. We kept it a secret and the look on the kids face was priceless. I am glad RJ walked in first without the entourage...the girls ran up squealing and hugging him and then caught a glimpse of the Cavanaughs outside...RJ was tossed aside and more squealing ensued as they realized that the baby as here to visit. They had so much fun holding BRC and kissing him and jumping all over everyone. Clayton was however, disappointed to see Damien wearing his DUKE shirt...we are UNC fans in THIS family....we LOVED all the time we got to spend with everyone.

Danica, little T, Clayton and BRC

Clayton holding BRC

Swimming

2010-03-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

little T working on her surfing paddle

Clayton holding the ring...not sure why....

Check out that look....nope its not cold mom.....

It WAS hot enough to swim if you ask the kids...if you ask me...not so much :( Debby and I laid out after we went to the session and sadly we lasted a mere 30 minutes...thata was BOTH sides...but it did not stop the kids from jumping in and having a great time. I did manage lasting a little longer the next day...I pulled my chair over to the grass area and read for about an hour and a half :) It never fails though...the kids cannot come to Debbys and NOT swim.....maybe they would have lasted at the river!!

Aunt Jaci's Visit

2010-03-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

So Crazy Aunt Jaci decided to visit while we were at Debbys....a real treat for me and the kids...Jaina and Jocilyn and baby Z came and they got to frost cookies and hang out. We LOVE it when Aunt Jaci is around...the fun factor goes up a few notches and the good times just roll on.....we got to see her 3 times this week and can't wait for her to come visit us in AZ.

Ash & 1 of her cookies

little T, Aunt Jaci and Clayton

Mason, Jocilyn and Jaina......I told them to show me their cookies....Mason and Jo had already eaten them

Little T & Lexie

Clayton and baby Z

Lunch with Maw Maw & Pa Pa

2010-03-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

The kids got to spend a ton of time with their Maw Maw & PaPa (Stevans grandparents). They had such a great time....we had lunch together on Sunday and Maw Maw made chicken, potatoes and carrots...Mason called ahead to make sure Maw Maw had his menu for the visits. The kids got to eat outside in the backyard and enjoyed the sun. They also got to spend Tuesday with them so I could go to the temple with Debby - they went to the park and fed the ducks...Mason and PaPa went on their bike ride and they really enjoyed themselves. Then, they spent the night on Wednesday and got to sleep in the camper..they had a blast and were spoiled rotten...thats what GREAT Grandparents are for right?!? I am glad they got to spend so much time with them...they miss out with us living in Arizona so they made up for lost time.

Eating lunch in the sun

I guess they got tired

Even the big kids were out

Ashlen with her Maw Maw

SPRING BREAK FUN

2010-03-22T18:17:00.001-07:00

We headed to CA for Spring Break this year....this time last year the weather was hot and we were already headed to the River...which the kids did remind me about..but this year...not so much sun. We had a great time and the kids got to spend lots of time with their Maw Maw & PaPa, the afternoon with their cousins, and lots of time with the Farrers. Sadly we came home after a week of fun :( but the fun is continuing...the kids are currently in Concho enjoying the farm with Grandma Judi and Grandpa Al...annoying the heck out of the dogs and chickens. photos to follow :)

Dance Team

2010-03-08T12:48:00.001-08:00

Ashlen had a parade she danced at on Saturday - the Chandler Ostrich Festival - the parade was nice - just Tristen and I went and had a great time. The girls did a great job and the parade route was waaayyyy long - we saw tons of fun stuff...minus bands..whatever happened to the high school marching bands - those are ALWAYS fun...but they didn't have any...wierd...but it was fun.

Mason's High School Registration

2010-03-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

It had to happen sooner or later...I was just hoping later...We went to Mason's high school orientation meeting last week :( He filled out his paperwork and has turned it in...Poston Butte Freshman - go Broncos!! The high school is HUGE!! I was amazed when we got there...I've been outside and in the stadium for the football games, just never realized how big the inside was. We had the meeting in the gym...3 basketball courts in that gym, plus another practice gym - so excited. We LOVE sports and love that we will be immersed with Mason being at the school....Mason is taking English, Math, World History, Science, Spanish and Football/Baseball.

Spirit Week at Walker Butte

2010-03-08T12:32:00.001-08:00

Last week was spirit week at Walker Butte...the kids weren't too spirited but they did dress up a couple of the days..Monday was "dress up in what you want to be when you grow up" day...so little T dressed up as a hairdresser and Ash dressed up in her dance clothes. Tuesday was "crazy hat" day...then they dressed up for "pajama" day and then Friday each grade had a different color they needed to wear. Clayton got in on the fun and even tried to wear his pj's all day even when we had to go out in public :(

Clayton's crazy hat - both Ashlen and Mason wore hats just like these...Tristen didn't want to.

Little T - you can't see her apron with clippies and a comb and hairspray that she had...she also insisted I do pretty har for her so here is what I did.....

Ashlen's dance costume.

Party time with the Merrills

2010-02-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we were busy..Stevan and I went to the temple with Spencer Gibson who was taking out his endowments and had asked Stevan to be his escort, Ashlen had a Dance Team performance at a Mesa resthome AND our kids are STILL grounded due to the fact that they have been unable to go 7 days in a row with a clean room...this has been the case since January :( So...we arranged for Lisette to drop off Ash at her dance teachers home at 2pm so she could catch a ride..the other kids were going to remain in their rooms all day like they have been since January, with Clayton hanging out with his favorite Uncle and Aunty (they spoil him waaayyy too much) and Stevan and I left a little before noon to meet Spencer and Christina at the temple. Well Lisette and Devin must have been on something...it was raining a little and they decided to take a bike ride. They came over to pick up Clayton just before we left, borrowed the Hunsakers bike with trailer and went on their adventure...dropping off dry-cleaning, getting ice-cream, going all the way to QT!!!! I guess that they lost tack of time - Ash freaked out at 1:45 cause Lyse wasn't around to take her, got Grandma & Grandpa to drop her off, meanwhile Lyse and Devin realized what time it was, Lyse pedaled her little heart out and butt off and booked it all they way back home, leaving Devin and Clayton to fend for themselves and make it home...to find that Ash had left and everything worked out. She got her workout and lesson 1 in raising kids...total chaos is normal!!! I am so glad we are here to help them :) Clayton is pretty much indestructable so they can't do much damage there...ooohhhh but what a wealth of information he is and he is always ready to share - he will be able to get them ready for Zander :)

Tristen's style

2010-02-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

You all know how much of a fashionista Tristen is....this was her latest outfit that Stevan absolutely hated.....she wore it to school anyways cause I said she looked just fine :) This girl is going places I tell ya!!!!

Coyotes lose :(

2010-02-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

The Walker Butte were undefeated until the championship game last week...what a sad evening for us all. It started out fun - Clayton, Jada and I went to a pep rally at the school and then we all went to the game...but it was not in the cards. I guess the coaches told the starters that they could come out when they got tired and let the others go in for them...that didn't happen - so they got their butts kicked. The funny is ...the coaches already had their championship t-shirts made up...a little too confident I guess...ha ha...and poor Mason was told that they weren't going to play him....they think he is too small and it isnt fair that he would have to go up against guys twice his size....Really???? UUHHH hello people - its football - and if he can't take it then he shouldn't be playing...Mason is on D-line and can handle himself just fine....there is NO WAY I am going to let him bulk himslef up - I think 140lbs is big enough for him as an 8th grader...he weighs more than me!!! So...season is over - we look forward to next year being a Bronco!!!

Two Sisters One Heart

2010-02-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

We helped out at a fundraiser for our friends just last week. What a great experience!! Emma and Taylor are 3 year old twins that are also conjoined, sharing one common heart and liver. They are face to face, from the breast bone down to the belly button. They are the sweetest girls ever and are adorable.

So there was a fun run and lots of carnival type rides, face-painting, balloon animals, princess hair booths, lots of food. We got there at the butt crack of dawn to help set up. Mason went at 7am to help with the Flag Ceremony. We picked up the kids (who got off grounding for this event only) and they were off and running. I was a volunteer for the 1st shift and so Stevan walked around with the kids..sort of..to keep an eye n them. Then Stevan took over the 2nd shift driving the train around with kids. Our kids were coming up every 10 minutes asking for money....they had princess hair and painted faces and were eating non-stop. Our Bishops wife was manning one of the booths and the kids were telling her their secret...they were coming up asking for small increments of money in hopes that we wouldn't realize how much we were really spending........as if!!!! It was a great day - we had a ton of fun - the money was well spent and went to a GREAT cause...we are so glad to know the Baileys and their precious girls - they are in our prayers as they work towards spearation of the girls. Check out their blog http://www.emmaandtaylorbailey.blogspot.com/

Snow Camp

2010-02-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Mason and a group of the Young Men had snow cam a couple weeks ago. He was so excited to go - the boys were going to be building snow caves and sleeping in them :) sounds like good times right?!? So his pack was full and I don't know how h even managed to carry the thing...the week wass the slowest ever according to him, but Saturday finally came and we dropped him off at Lopez's house at 5am for them to take off to Happy Jack, AZ. The boys were supposed to be gone all day Saturday, stay Saturday night and have sacrament meeting and testimony meetingup there and then come hom, but with a storm advisory coming in after they left, I guess plans changed. They got a TON of snow. The snow cave was well made according to Mason but he and Wyatt were squished and were up against the edges so they got wet...they got out of the cave and set up everything outside near the fire (their sleeping bags and tarps) and then it started snowing :( They managed to get into one of the cars and slept in there for the night, then set their things next to the fire to try get them dry. I guess the boys were a little cold in the morning and they had a bonfire...Mason's shoes were a little too close and they got burned, along with his jacket :( They also found their cars buried so instead of hanging around for a meeting they dug themseslves out and headed back home. Mason said it was the most miserable time ever...but he had a smile on his face the WHOLE time he told us about it AND they are planning on going again...so whatever!!!

A good fight :)

2010-02-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

While reading scriptures last night I experienced a first...my kids started a little "fight" of sorts over reading. Normally we each read a few verses...Clayton gets to repeat 1 verse, Tristen reads between 2-3 verses depending on her mood, Ashlen 4-5, Mason, Stevan and I around 5. So we are in Alma and the wars are going on and we are right where the 2000 Stripling Warriors are ready to take up arms, they are asking Helaman to be their leader and Moroni is writing his epistle to Ammoron. The kids have been so excited by these recent chapters but I guess I didn't know just how much. So we started reading last night and Clayton repeated his verse, then Tristen started reading and stopped after reading 3, then I asked if she was done and she chose to read another one, then paused so I asked her if she was done, and she chose to read another...and this went on until she had read 6 or 7 verses...mind you both Mason and Ashlen were getting impatient and sighed heavily each time she started reading...so after reading the 7th verse, she paused a little and before I got out "Are you done yet" Ashlen jumped in and started reading :) Both her and Mason were giggling and Tristen was not happy...Then Ashlen decided that she wanted to keep reading cause it was getting real good and Mason was sighing..so after she had read more than normal, Mason jumped in and took over before she was done....so there was a little tension. It was funny - I really enjoyed their enthusiasm at the reading and thought if anything...I couldn't have been happier hearing them fight for once in my life :)

Sweet boy

2010-02-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

So we have great kids.....pretty much goes without saying...but Clayton is by far the sweetest and says the cutest things at the most opportune time without prompting. We were sitting at dinner last night and Tristen was busy talking about something...who knows what about...she is ALWAYS talking about something...when Clayton who is sitting opposite her says "Tristen, you are pretty". I honestly don't think she heard him because she kept talking away and he looked over at me with that look of "she didn't even hear me!". So he waited a few minutes and the said a little louder "Tristen, I think you are really pretty". Without skipping a beat she acknowledged his comment and said "thanks Clayton" and then kept on talking away. I was a little amazed..I mean..does she hear that she is pretty ALL the time and it doesn't phase her when she is told this or what???!!! He is soooo sweet!.....so Ashlen was sitting to the side of Tristen and I am sure heard what he said and may have been a little discouraged..so I leaned over and whispered to him.."what about your other sister?" to which he loudly blurted out "Ash - I think you are pretty too!" She thanked him and we went on with dinner :)

Stick in the MUD

2010-01-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

I do property inspections part-time and have the Florence / Coolidge area as my route. There are some dirt roads that I have to travel on and being that we have had rain for the past 5 days straight...I had some inspections on some of these dirt roads that I'd been saving, hoping that the dirt would be dirt instead of mud. So Stevan came with me in case I needed assistance on these roads...and I got STUCK :( Not fun - I felt super bad, I almost started crying.... as Kiran put it "a small part of me was dying inside" We were in mud up to the running boards, the axels were in the mud. So Stevan took a walk to try find help...he found some 2X4s to put under tires....Stevan's dad came and brought some shovels and we dug out...moved a little, dug out more, moved a little more, and then Stevan got us all the way out and back on track...It was a couple hours of "this really sucks" and Stevan has a blood blister on his hand...it was cold and basically I felt like crap for the mess I'd gotten us in. Stevan had a great attitude and tried to cheer me up about it :) I am over it...Let me say it again I HATE RAIN..... end of story :( I took photos AFTER we were out of the mud...I saw some humor after the fact...

Its Raining :)

2010-01-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

Some pics of the recent rains here....I am over it - rain is ok - flooding, high winds and creating havoc not so much :(

the soccer field Tristen plays on :)

the catch basin next to the kids school...looks like a swimming pool

the Sheriff sub-station on Hunt Hwy down from our house

Our backyard...nicknamed Lake Powell

Little T's NEW GLASSES

2010-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Little T is near-sighted.....pretty bad in her left eye poor thing and not so bad in her right. So we went last week and picked out new glasses for her. She was super excited to wear them but no so much when the optometrist told us she'd have to wear an eye-patch a couple hours each night to try strengthen her left eye. Clayton told her she was beautiful in her glasses and while the other kids shouted AHOY - they are being good sports and trying not to tease her about the whole eye-patch thing. She chose cute pinkish/purple frames and does look really cute :)

OOOOWWWWEEEEE

2010-01-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

So I thought I was gonna die....Stevan did this the other day and I hurt just looking at it. We took Clayton to the park and when it was time to leave he being a 4 year old, thought it woud funny to run away...so Stevan chased him and ran up a spiral staircase which was a little low and smacked his head into the crossbeam and did this!!!

Blood gushed everywhere, we ran to the car and had nothing to stop the bleeding except for my jacket and then I proceeded to SPEED home( with my flashers on incase the cops wanted to chase me too). So I was pretty insistant we go straight to the ER but Stevan being the level-headed one said he wanted to look at it first. With the amount of blood I figured his head was split from ear to ear, but it turned out not so much...He took painkillers and we rinsed his head, and we put icepacks on his head to numb it up a little, then I got the scissors and cut away hair for a better look - then he scrubbed it - yes scrubbed it, I was waiting for him to pass out from the pain, I shaved the area and used tweezers to make sure there was no hair in the cut, then I got glue to glue it shut. I was a little queezy...I thought I could take some nursing classes and I'm ok with other people, but was not too good when it was Stevan we were looking at. We'll see I guess.....but all is ok - he just had a bad headache for a while.... We are gonna have to shave his hair off to match the bald patch I cut :)

Catch-up

2010-01-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

So I know I've been real slack about updating the blog...I've been struggling lately with stuff and so I haven't felt like doing much....the Christmas season was great and I really enjoyed it...then things spiralled down from there. We had a wonderful Christmas and really enjoyed having family around. Stevan's grandparents were visitng from CA and we took a 4 generation photo of the boys. Not wanting to feel left out, the girls took a photo with Maw Maw...they turned out cute. We got the kids a fooseball table with table tennis, pool and air-hockey - they have really enjoyed it and so have our friends who've come to challenge us :)

We also had the arrival of Blake Robert Cavanaugh on Christmas Day...the kids were super excited cause he was 10 days late AND they have no excuse to forget his birthday!! I am really excited because I have a real BRC in the family now (inside joke)

We also went to CA for the weekend. Stevan had an ABR Conference there for the week and so we joined him for the end of the week. Clayton went early and played with his cousins and had a great time...so much so that he is still there...we miss him tons. We also got treated to some sweet rolls by Debby and got our hair done by Tristen...

the kids went on a train ride with Robbie...it was a great time. We are back..things are the same...we will do better...I have attached photos of stuff :)

ELF Party

2009-12-23T20:00:00.001-08:00

I swear my bestie Kiran is a sucker...In a good way though...she had this crazy idea to throw a "kids" Christmas party and had a ton of kids over last Friday night. The floor was covered in blankets and they ate tons of junk food and watched Elf and had a white elephant gift exchange.....My kids had a TON of fun and Stevan and I got away and did a little shopping :) thnx Kiran!!! Anyways...I "borrowed" some pics from Kirans blog...too cute. My kids are all over this party thing and apparently we are going to host one next year........we'll see!!!

Clayton, Reese and Chloie chillin on the sofa

T making herself at home on the blankets....who knows where Chase is????

Savanah, Lindsey, Ash and Kayla...something must be funny!!!

Ash and her "white Elephant" gift....she loved it!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T19:46:00.001-08:00

So we are slackers this year and JUST did our family pics.....so needless to say you aren't getting cards people....but we wish you a Merry Christmas and hope this season finds you and your families well. We are grateful for the MANY blessings we have and are grateful for each of you, our friends and family, who make our lives richer....We love you all and hope you like the photos....

Ashlen Jessica(9)
Tristen Lisette(6)

Clayton Bradley (4)
Mason Tanner (13)

A couple pics of Family

2009-12-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

So my sister in New Zealand just sent us this picture of her with the kids - Dakota, Dredin, Montana and Braxton - very cute...

and then I saw this pic of my nephew Zander (not sure on the spelling or if he is a he or not)

and then this super cute pic of my 3 little ones before Church.....

I will try get a pic of my other nephew chillin in New Zealand with my sister-in-law Rachael :)

Breasticles & Booblets - thanks Z!!

2009-12-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

So we are making dinner tonight and I am making sure that ALL the stringy stuff and fat is off the boneless, skinless chicken breats I am prepping for our yummy cassarole when Tristen pipes up and says....
T - "Mom - remember when we were with Zoey and she got us Pizza and we started talking about Breasticles?"
me - "Yes I do!!"
T - "that was so fun...She said that she had Breasticles and that Big T & Danica had booblets...and because we were little we had booblets too...and we said that Robbie had Breasticles too!!!"
me - "Yes - I remember....I thought Robbie had Chesticles though"
T - "Yea - We told Debbie and she said Robbie didn't have boobs - he just had a big chest - haha - so we named them chesticles!!"

Oh goody - the kids remember that conversation to this day...thanks a ton Z!!! Can't wait for the girls to have that conversation with Blake!!!! speaking of that little guy..where the heck is he?????

PAR TAY

2009-12-16T17:48:00.000-08:00

the Whittakers came over the other night and the kids had a great time with them. Kiran and Danny had Danny's company party - a PHX Suns game - so they dropped off the girls to play with my kids while they went :) Clayton and Reese had fun jumping on the trampoline and Chase and T were doing whatever...I heard owls screeching upstairs trying to sing High School Musical songs...so that was Ash and Savannah. They had fun and are looking forward to their KIDS ONLY Christmas Party this Friday at the Whittakers :) Kiran is a brave soul!!!!

Our Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful Christmas Party our Ward had. Instead of the traditional inside / Santa visits party we had our Ward christmas Party outside at the Stake Center by the softball field. We had soups assigned out (I actually made Chilli) and cornbread and rolls :) We had firepits set up and when we got there the kids made snowmen and played kickball. We got to eat and there was TONS of food :) The cornbread was amazing!! as were the rolls...I had my fair share. There was also hot chocolate with a huge tin of marshmellows that I KNOW the kids loved..and the candycane sticks :) We had to have a Fire Marshall at each firepit...someone who would be responsible and make sure that the kids didn't get burned and just make sure everything went ok - so we nominated Devin :) Being that Devin is an "eagle" he had a little trouble getting the fire started...and then he and Jason managed to catch the grass on fire below the firepit :) Jason and Char had some domestics which was fun for all of us...j/k Char!!! and then we had Megan snapping away blinging us with her camera flash...luv you Megan...I think we managed to have the North end Pasture Canyon crew all around our firepit :) We then gathered around firepits and listened to a Christmas story, then we ended the night singing carols altogether. The night was great - the kids had fun - and we enjoyed spending time around the fire chatting with friends. Our Activities Committee did an amazing job and we loved it!!!!

Fire Marshall Merrill

Devin & Lisette

the SNOWMEN

T & Lily

Clayton making his way over the fence to join the big kids

Jason Clawson :)

the Hunsakers cheating...we had a nice fire but it wasn't good enough for Jerad!!!

Michelle & Jada

Clayton and his 5th cup of Hot Chocolate

the gingerbread house that T built

2009-12-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

Tristen and I got to go see the play "Junie B Jones Jingle Bells Batman smells PS so does May" It was super fun and super cute - I enjoyed everything but the ride to Tempe Arts Center on the school bus....how do they ride on these things all the time?? (well actually my kids don't) but you know what I mean...and she got to make a gingerbread house on the last day of school too...here is the masterpiece!

the tree is up

2009-12-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

So we finally got our tree :) We met Stevan at Home Depot and picked out this lovely tree. Stevan is a tree snob...he is very particular about what kind of tree we get..so I have no clue what type of tree...you'd think I'd know by now what kind we get..but it was the first one we looked at and we loved it...we got stockings and brought it home :) Decorated it and hung ornaments...we are ready inside....waiting on Stevan for outside but its not looking good...The Hunsakers have their Chistmas lights up so they are representing for both of us...I had Halloween decorations so I was representing for the both of us in October...Gotta love our neighbors :)

Mason checking things out

Stevan checking things out

Ash holding the ornament MawMaw made for her

Little T with her ornaments

Clayton with his ornaments

Ash looking over the Loft

Putting everything on

In all it's glory :)

Big plans... not a lot of action :(

2009-12-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

So I had BIG plans for this past weekend...big plans I say...we had Ashlen's recital and then on Saturday we were going to get up early and go to the temple with the Whittakers and then after coming home, going to take photos for Christmas cards (which by the way we are not going to end up doing now cause its too late) and then on to Home Depot to get our tree and then get out the outside decorations and put them up with the inside decorations, and then go to the Stake Live Nativity Saturday night and then on Sunday after church eat soup and fresh bread and then go see the Temple lights with the Whittakers. whew - my hands are tired just typing about it!!! So.....Stevan comes home Thursday night as sick as a dog again...high fever, dilerious I am sure, and he hops into bed. So Friday he is still sick...I see my plans being thrown to the wayside. I go with Ash to the recital, he stays home sick with the kids. I get up Saturday morning and still go to the temple without Stevan with the Whittakers and Michelle, then get home to find that Stevan had an emergency call and had to leave :( So by the time he gets home he is done again...he wants to stay down so he can make it to Church the next day cause Mason just got called as Deacons quorum president and he wants to be there when they set him apart....so the whole get a tree thing is out.....I go grocery shopping and then come home, watch a little football and then bundle up the little 2 kiddos and go to the nativity - which was awesome - and then home. So Sunday comes...we are all good to go...we get hung up after church and miss choir practice cause Mason has 5 Fast Offering routes, Stevan is a little skeptical cause its been raining and then Danny has homework..so Kiran comes over with the girls and we all eat soup and let the kids play and we watch the Cards beat my beloved Brett instead of going to see the Temple Lights......So the moral of this story I guess is overshoot and you might get to squeeze some of the things in you want!!! I had a great time and got to the temple...that's what should count right?!? I'll try plan this weekend better!!

Lets Dance

2009-12-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Ashlen is taking a dance competition class and they had a performance at the Johnson Ranch Annual Holiday Party Friday night. She was super excited and the cold weather did not deter her or the other girls in her group. They did a pom number and a hip hop number and they did awesome. I was bundled up from head to toe - freezing my butt off to support our little star. She was a little upset as she fell at the end of the pom routine - but overall I think she did well :) I tried to upload the videos but I suck and can't figure it out.....trust me - it looked great!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

We had a great Turkey Day this year. Stevan's grandparents came to visit, which is always a treat. My kids love their visits...they enjoy the time they get to spend with their great-grandparents...Mason loves to go on bike rides with PaPa, Clayton enjoys going to the park with Maw Maw, Tristen likes to make crapple with Maw Maw (cranberries and apples) and Ashlen enjoys getting hugs in and helping where she can. We also had Stevans sister visit so the kids got to spend time with cousins they do get to see very often. We had our friend Jade and her kids with us also which was a great time. The boys got up early and played football with the guys in the ward..then went dirtbike riding. The girls made crapple, Ashlen and Maw Maw peeled about a million apples together for the apple pies while sitting outside enjoying the sun, and then we baked pies and bread rolls and went to Mom & Dad's for the big dinner. We are so thankful for all the blessings we have - for our health, our family, the gospel and the jobs we have...We hope you all had a great thanksgiving too.

Maw Maw making sure Tristen is doing it right

The "crapple girls"

Its not done right if your hands aren't stained red !!!!

Clayton helped Ashlen make Fudge...she's busy taking the photos :)

This was supposed to be chocolate marshmellow swirl..too much swirling went on and we lost it!! Note the chubby hand to the left...clayton :P

Mason is patiently waiting for PaPa...just keeping the seat warm until he is ready to go.

Mason testing PaPa's bike - he took too long!!!!

Happy 13th B-Day Mason

2009-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

With sooo much going on I haven't posted in a while...but we had Mason's first Walker Butte Football game, and then his Birthday and then Thanksgiving in the same week. Mason turned the big 13 on the 24th. We had dinner for hm Sunday night - Pot Roast and then cheesecake and icecream on his birthday night. He had friends join us and really enjoyed all his gifts..he made out with cash and is planning on buying some dirtbike gear. He got an awesome candygram from his friend Leah though which he thought was pretty great. Thanks for everyone making his day special - he's a "real teenager" now!!!!

Stevan can fly

2009-11-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

We went riding this weekend with the Farrers and Stevan decided to do some jumping....he was doing awesome but tried flying towards the end of the riding session...I don't know if he was tired or what..but this is what happened...Debby screamed..I was busy taking photos..and so was Big T...I saw the landing....thank goodness for safety equipment - he had his chest protector and padded pants on :)

Here he is clearing the jump!!! Don't think he just crashes...he is actually very good :)

Future Hairstylist...

2009-11-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Little T was in heaven this weekend...Big T, Debby and Robbie surprised the kids and they were soooooo surprised. When the Farrers pulled up in the driveway they sat and waved..it hadn't really sunk in...then the girls came bolting through the door screaming and yelling that Robbie & Debby and Big T were here....It was great :) So Little T LOVES Big T like nothing else...and when Big T announced she was going to beauty school forever ago little T announced that she would be doing the same thing when she grew up....well look what happened this weekend after Big T left town....

he was trying to get away.....

Mason sat and complied

what a great big brother!!

he is finally sitting enjoying the experience.....

Dad even got conned into sitting in the chair...he did request she move it so he could watch footbal though :)

Haircut!!

2009-11-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

Mason loves his long hair - I love his long hair - but.....Stevan thinks it needs to be short because he is an Aaronic Priesthood holder and he should look neat and tidy when passing the sacrament...I do agree, but tend to let it slide as long as I can....well Big T was in town this weekend and she brought her tools...both boys had their hair cut and poor T got plenty of grief from BOTH of them...but they look handsome :) Thanks Big T - you are the ONLY one who they allow to cut their hair...you better not move away from us :(

it's going

going....

this is SOME of what fell on the floor!!!!

can you see the tears?

He was so mad at Tristen...he wouldn't talk to her after his haircut...but that didn't last too long :)

A riding we will go...............

2009-11-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

We went out riding again - the weather has been perfect and we figured what better way to spend a nice Saturday before trick or treating...We took the bikes and went out. Ashlen finally gathered up the courage to learn to ride a bigger bike - she can ride the 50's no problem, but this time we moved her to the big bike with gears!! Stevan was very proud of her and she did awesome!! A couple wheelies until she learned to ease out the clutch while giving the bike some gas and she was off! Next time we will focus on Tristen on the 50 and getting her going...soon we will ALL be able to go out together, each on our own bike with only Clayton getting a lift :)

Our camp

Stevan, Mason and Austin talking about jumping

Mason jumping

Tristen and Clayton having fun

Tristen and Stevan getting their helmets on

Stevan and Tristen leaving for a ride

Ashlen taking a breather

Me and Clayton getting ready to leave for a ride

Clayton

Clayton can't wait to get out there on his own!!! Gotta get those training wheels off his bike first :(

Tristen and Clayton

Mason heading out again

Stevan helping Ash get on the bike

Stevan giving Ashlen some tips and pointers

Ash and Stevan working on shifting

Ashlen doing her thing :)

Ash coming round the corner...you can see our houses behind her...

My sweetheart coming off a jump - how can you NOT love doing this people!!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

I really screwed up - I didn't get pics of the kids Friday night before trunk or treating and tried in a hurry to get things done last night and then didn't check my pics before letting the kids go...so the pics are bad...but you get the idea...Mason was a basketball player - gotta love the hair and shorts!! He sacrificed and endured tot he end with the hair style - my shoulder fell asleep working on this hairdo!! Clayton was Batman, Ash was a vampire and T was a witch. They had a lot of fun and their friends Jada and Ryker and Lily and DJ went trick or treating with them :)

Ash

Lily, Tristen and DJ

Batman aka Clayton Bradley

He shoots and scores!!!

Look at those legs!!!

two of my beehives - kassie and kenna

Clawson and Devin ...Fred and Barney

Brian, Hoof and Mason

the pain of it - he wore it to school like this :)

Its out - finally

All picked out :)

the HEADBAND

2009-10-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Clayton's primary teacher..Sister Holien..he loves being in class, remembers things from the lessons, she brings treats, she is awesome...so we loved the headband Clayton wore home on Sunday - it is red with "I can tell the truth" written across it, but he won't take it off!!!! He wore it the rest of Sunday - understandable - he woke up and wore it Monday when we went to Mesa with Lisette to breakfast, we got him to take it off to go inside the restaurant but it was back on when we got out...he wore it the WHOLE day and then he came downstairs with it on when he got in his PJ's...he wore it Tuesday and I hid it last night so he can't wear it again...is that mean??!!! So as a side note - I think this is funny but Stevan not so much...Clayton and I watch Glee together - he loves the episode where Kurt is wearing a headband and leotard singing Beyonce's "all the single ladies" Well last night he came down wth his PJ shirt tucked into his pj bottoms - funny in its own right...with the headband on, singing "all the single ladies"!!! Ha Ha - one of the reasons I hid the headband..a little to close for me :) Still - a good laugh!!

Undefeated Tigers

2009-10-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

back row - Lauren, Chowder, Tristen COACH Stevan
front row - Ethan, Oliviya, Gavin

Our STAR Tristen

Here are the pictures from Tristen & Stevans team...We should have had a picture of just Tristen and Stevan but I didn't think of it at the time :( The Tigers are undefeated so far this season - they have about 4 more games and are looking like they will remain champions...I am pretty sure their team was undefeated last year too!!! Tristen is making $$$ - we pay her $1.00 per goal and she is making out just fine.... Let's Go Tigers!!!! (or Bruins if you are talking to Stevan!!!)

Student of the Week

2009-10-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

Can you say Cheese!?!

Vice Principal Nelson giving Tristen her award :)

Tristen and the other award winners

Little T was Student of the week!!! We got the letter yesterday and showed up at her assembly this morning...she was soooo suprised to see us there :) We are soo proud of her!!! When she got home she found the note her teacher gave her to give to us..she read it and said to me "So that's why I was the only one who got a letter!!"

Yay Tristen :)

Pony Tail Madness

2009-10-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

So you all know how important ponytail holders are in a little girls life..these things are like gold..so its a funny thing that my girls are forever leaving ponytail holders wherever..they NEVER take them back to the bathroom and put them in the "hairbox" which has ribbons and other goodies to help make their hair look beautiful. I normally buy a pack a month to keep them in the style they've been accustomed to but decided last month I was over it - I was tired of constantly picking them up and finding them all over the house....well they got down to locating only a handful and have been pretty stingy - fighting over them and having crying fits because Ashlen stole the one Tristen wore and so forth. So Ashlen decided to buy some with her own $$$ and wore all 15 around her wrist because she was afraid that Tristen would go into her room and steal them. They were both told that if they were on the floor or left out in plain sight they were up for grabs...so Tristen has been paitiently waiting for Ashlen to slip up and has been finding them on the floor (thats what she says) and hiding them for her own use....well Ashlens stash is shrinking and this morning there was a huge fight..apparently Tristen found one in the Loft and was pretty vocal about her new found ponytail..Ashlen got mad and accused her of stealing it from her room - we heard the commotion and called them in - Ashlen only had 7 or 8 ponytails on her wrist..Tristen had a huge smile on her face - Stevan took the ponytail in question and we ended it. So imagine this morning please - 2 girls hysterical over stinkin ponytail holders!!!!!! Really?!? I am going to go buy more ponytails and we are going to ration them........we'll keep you posted on the situation..we may lose an eye over this next time - we gotta be on our toes!!!!! Can't wait for make-up and clothes to be an issue :)

We have a thief amoung us :(

2009-10-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I needed to go help Stevan out at a job and so we left Clayton in the capable care of my mother at Lisette and Devin's house...Well Wednesday was crazy - Clayton was feeling a little ignored I think - we were running from job to practice and so when Stevan caught up with Clayton that evening he was a little surprised to see Clayton pull a watch from his pocket and put it on his wrist. Stevan asked Clayton where he got is and he replied that he got it at Uncle's house. So then Stevan asked if Uncle gave it to him and he said no...did grandma give it to you? no - well then who gave it to you?? He back peddled at this point a little and said that yes, Devin had given it to him. So Stevan pushed a little more and kept asking him questions....then gave him until the count of 3 to tell the truth..Well Clayton ran up the stairs to his room when Stevan got to 2 and he was found with his head buried in the pillow and his hands covering his butt. Stevan went up there and spoke with him about lying and stealing and then proceeded to spank him...I guess he put up a fight...when I got home from taking to practice Stevan filled me in and gave me the watch...he had been talking with Clayton about the need to return the watch and tell Devin he was sorry..to which Clayton wasn't happy about. I took the watch and grabbed Clayton and walked him over to the Merrills house so he could tell Devin how sorry he was. Knowing Devin..I walked into the house noting before anything could be said that he needed to NOT make it easy on Clayton and let Clayton say what he needed to say before saying it was OK...So Clayton walked up to him, handed over the watch and said sorry for stealing...AAARRRGGG....sodo you think that will happen again?!?

Mason's flying pics

2009-10-16T18:01:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Brother Wood..He took Mason and Robbie and Damien on a little trip while we girls were at Zoey's baby shower - what a treat - Mason was a little aprehensive but was sure glad he went :)

Captain Wood and Co-Captain Farrer

view from above :)

Brother Wood making sure the parachutes are ready...just in case.....j/k

Mason and Damien - I hear that Damien was getting a little fresh with Mason in this pic........

Mason and Damien

Mason ready to go :)

CA trip

2009-10-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

We had a quick trip to CA this past weekend. It was Zoeys babyshower and Paul's mission farewell. We were able to do a lot of visiting and we went to In-n-Out with Danica and Tris and Debby...we had fun at the shower and enjoyed looking at Robbies hunting pics...we have plenty of Elk meat (thanks Robbie)..we saw Aunt Jaci and had a blast just hanging out. Mason had some fun - he got to go flying in Brother Wood's 4 seater plane. He, Robbie and Damien took a break and went for lunch in Chino Hills while we were doing the baby shower thing...I will post pics later. We were treated to Stromboli ...Zoey is an excellent cook..and we just had a blast :) We were sad to go....but we'll see them again soon :)

Clayton is 4!!

2009-10-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Clayton told us early this year he wanted a party with his friends...I was hoping he wouldn't remember but he did...so we invited some friends and went to the park at Anthem and had Happy Meals with Jada, Kinlynn, Reese, Brayden, Caleb, DJ & Ryker. I think the kids had a great time - I know Clayton did. Our little boy is 4!!!!!

Lets go TIGERS

2009-09-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

Ethan, Lauren, Oliviya, Gavin, Tristen & Chowder

Tristen running the ball down

Tristen, Chowder and Lauren

Coach Steve

Soccer season has started and Stevan is SOOOO Happy...His team colors are Blue and Gold..Do you get where I'm going here? He CAN wear his Bruins shirt and is asking me to intervene and ask the big cheese if we can have our name changed to the Bruins....whatever!! Oh - and by the way...I got the job of team mom again....sucks.....I'm coaches wife, isn't that enough???? So we had our first game and the team did awesome! We had 5 goals and according to Tristen..they so won - the other team only had 1 goal...she is keeping score!! She scored 2 of the goals :) Stevan has 3 players from last year and so I think he is having an easier time cause everyone knows his style. We are so excited for this season and Tristen is ready to get it done!!!!

Moving to San Fransisco???

2009-09-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Austin wears skinny jeans....we are not sure why...cause it looks lame... and we always ask him why cause it doesn't look comfortable but we have still to get a straight answer...he looks feminine and we tease him a lot, as does Mason and Jose...so imagine our surprise when Mason, Jose and Austin show up Thursday night at our house ALL wearing skinny jeans!! They thought it would be funny and it was...but then they wanted to wear them to the football game later that night...well its not MY reputation on the line - I could care less...we'll just keep making fun of them!! So after coming over and then posing for pics..the girls put on their CD's and we watched the boys dance to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" - if any of you have seen my facebook posting of some guys doing a lip sync..you would have been rolling on the floor laughing...they also rocked out to Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me". Good times people...should've been here. So the skinny jeans have not made an appearance since that night...could the phase be over already?? We sure hope so.

Broncos baby

2009-09-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

We've been supporting the Poston Butte Broncos and attending the local football games...after all we hope Mason is playing next year. We were just at the Forthcoming this past Thursday night with our friends the Whittakers and snapped a couple pics of the kids showing their Bronco Spirit. Grandma Debby is loving this..seiing her kids in Bronco blue & orange!!!

Ash, T and Clayton in front of the Walker Butte float that was in the parade earlier in the day.

Tristen with her Bronco shirt(grandma Debby gave her) beads and balloon

Chase showing her blue & orange spirit

Clayton & Reese showing what color airheads they were enjoying

Ash, Savanna & Clayton waiting for the game to begin

little T has FINALLY lost a tooth

2009-09-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Tristen has been very self concious of her teeth..if you look you will notice that they aren't very big..she is upset that Clayton has bigger teeth and the kids will point it out when they want to irritate her. Anyways....so on our way to the river last month she announced that her tooth was loose....we were super excited..I was beginning to think she was doomed and they would never come out. She showed everyone and we all tried to talk her into letting us pull it out but she wouldn't have it. We tried having her eat apples and other foods which might help it come out but nothing. So we are at the Poston Butte Forthcoming game Thursday night and she walks up with the tooth in hand and a little blood..it came out!!! YAY - she was super excited and I held the tooth to make sure she wouldn't lose it..She wanted to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. Being the number 1 mom that I am..totally forgot and she was disappointed to find her tooth the next morning under her pillow instead of $$$. I gotta remember to do better. So - 1 tooth down..many more to go.

Scorpion sighting

2009-09-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

So Mason was in front of the house last weekend and was clearing out the car at night when we heard a scream....or gasp..and he saw this scorpion right under my car!!!We always run around here without our shoes on...what now?..we are gonna have to wear shoes I guess...so Stevan went out and chopped off his stinger and the boys played with it a while...then decided they were done and chopped off his head and put him on an ant hill at the bottom of our driveway. I checked in the morning and the skeleton was picked clean! So I guess we need to be more careful..I had a false sense of security thinking we didn't have a problem here.

Our Soccer Studs

2009-09-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Soccer season has finally arrived. If you ask Tristen it should never have been gone. I actually took her to Ashlen's dance class to see if she would rather sign up for dance, but no, our little T is all about Soccer!! Well we had sign-ups this week and today we had a soccer clinic at the park. We told Clayton he could play and he was super excited...he was trying on Tristen's cleats Friday and running around pretty proud of himself. Unfortunately the cleats still fit Tristen..we were going to get bigger cleats for her and let him wear her "old" ones, but we didn't find any last night on our trip to town. So....there was a sleepover last night at my house..Tristen and her friend Chase stayed up until after 10:30p.m. (thats when I went to bed) after watching Mama Mia and eating candy and junk food. They were up at the crack of dawn pounding on my door to find out where the soccer gear was..then Clayton came knocking down my door wanting to know if we could tie his shoes...We got balls pumped up and ended up at the field in time - whew..that 6am wake up for the 8am clinic was the trick!!! I guess we'll have to make sure we get a whole 2 hours to get ready next week...NOT. So here are the pics...they had fun and will be at another clinic next Saturday before the season starts in a couple weeks. Stevan is coaching again and we expect a big team..there are tons of parents requesting him as a coach :)

Tristen, Chase & Zachary

Clayton doing his thing

Tristen and Clayton working on a drill

Tristen and Chase were on the same team for a scrimmage

More ball handling skills

Happy 9th Birthday Ashlen

2009-09-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Our sweet challenging Ashlen is 9 years old!!! Man how time flies....she came down the stairs the other day in a waaaay tooo short skirt with a tank top. She thought it looked cute...it did, but not for her!!! So she went back upstairs and came down in another skirt which is normally to just below her knees, but it looked a little higher. She laughed as she came down exclaiming that she only needs to roll the waisteband a little and the skirt looks a lot better on her this way!! We are so not ready for this...I told her to fix it before I threw that skirt out too.

SoCal Visitors

2009-09-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

So I totally forgot to mention that we had special visitors a couple weekends ago...how could I..Actually I wouldn't have forgotten if someone had emailed me all those photos he took!!! Robbie and Debby came up for a business trip and stopped off on their way home to help us celerate Ashlen's 9th birthday. What a treat it was for her - she was soooo excited and even more so when Robbie and Debby took us to Birthday breakfast since our tradition of spending birthday dinners with them dies when we moved out here. We went to Recipies in Queen Creek and the food was great. We showed them the kids schools and where we like to ride then we sat and chatted until they had to get home. Apparently Bishop Farrer had to speak the next day....whatever. Well Mason is busy trying to schedule his hunter safety class before Robbie leavees for Elk Hunting in Utah...he really wants to go with Rob!!! So after they left we rested for a bit and waited for Stevan to get home..then we got ready to drive to Grand Canyon University to meet Big T and Scottie and his family. Scottie plays soccer for CSUDH and they were here for a game. We lost and we were sad but we were excited to see big T and watch a great game.

Labor Day Fun

2009-09-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

Being that this was the first day in like a month that Stevan has had completely "OFF" we decided to start out our Labor Day with a swim....it was a little chilly, but the kids were able to show Stevan their new skills..Clayton now swims underwater and likes to float on his back, Ashlen and Tristen have been working on their diving and Tristen has been working on swimming under through peoples legs. Mason and Stevan just tossed the football back and forth while I relaxed :) Then we came home and worked on the bikes for a bit to make sure they were ready and we took them out for a ride:) The weather actually wasn't too hot...we took the canapy and I followed the boys back to our spot in the Expedition where we set up camp. We all got to ride and we had a great time. We came home hot and exhausted so we ran over to the pool again so we could cool off before we ate hamburgers and watched football and jumped on the trampoline. We had a great day together and I know Stevan really enjoyed being at home with us.....finally.....

Stevan taking the bike from Mason...Mason didn't want to get on his own bike!!!!

Mason again..

Me, Ash & clayton

Stevan & Clayton

I can't get my foot on the pegs with Clayton's leg there...I had to keep telling him to keep his feet up so I could shift :)

Tristen went with Stevan

I think Ash was being photographer - a blurry Mason

Tris and Clayton

the girls :)

Let it RAIN!!

2009-09-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

So Monsoon season is fun - but this year has been disappointing...not a lot of rain. We have had our share of great thunderstorms and lightning shows, but it isn't the same without the rain. We woke up Saturday morning and the skies were black..we got a TON of rain and the kids all went out to enjoy and try find frogs.

Bulldogs

2009-09-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Mason is on a Jnr High team this year with the STFYL and he is a BULLDOG. He has been very dedicated...he missed our annual week long river trip to stay through Hell Week!! He is enjoying himself, but would enjoy it way more if he got more playtime....I guess he shouldn't have mentioned to the defensive coordinator who wanted the high school defensive coordinator to see his moves that he wasn't going to THEIR high school...Sorry Queen Creek High - he is a Poston Butte BRONCO...oh well...can't win them all...the Jnr High team is a feeder team and they teach the kids the High School plays they will need as a freshman the following moves...Hey - we'll know our opponents moves...I guess we can look at it that way.......

My Fav River Pics

2009-09-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

Well - because we always take a ba gillian pics at the river - I decided to just put a couple of my favorite ones on here...the rest are on facebook if you want to see all 200 of them :) We LOVE the river and we LOVE going there with the Farrers :)

Catch up

2009-08-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Lately life has been going on and I am simply hanging on for dear life. It is a good thing that I had a week to relax at the river cause since I've been home we've been on the go. Stevan has a painting job in Tucson right now and the painting crew he had hired to complete the job were apparently a bunch of slow-poke idiots. The job should have been completed over 3 weeks ago. Stevan was actually planning on leaving our vacation to finalize things for a day when the job was done..but alas it didn't get done. Yay for us he stayed the whole time but boooooo the job wasn't completed. So last week he spent the entire week in Tucson with one of his guys so they could try complete the job....due to the fact that the slow pokes did not complete what they said they completed he found a ton of work still to be done....so he returned home Saturday due to rain...and he has been there all this week too :( Meanwhile I have been driving to practices every other night and then homework, 2 reports were completed and I have been working my little job in the mornings..... whew!!!! I know I am complaining but I am mindful of the fact that at least we have jobs to complain about....and I think I have been more appreciative of Stevan since he has been MIA and I have been left to carry the load on my own. I will be posting river pics and then will be posting about our upcoming sports...football, cheer and soccer :) It is only gonna get better from here!!!!

This Table is magic

2009-07-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today we went swimming with Reese and Kiran and then grabbed Lunch and came home to eat. I know we've been running on empty this week....with Mutual, Mason's football and us not getting home until late each night - we are definitely needing sleep. But our table seems to have an effect on Clayton...he fell asleep AGAIN...notice the chicken nugget still in his hand :)

Clayton & Reese

2009-07-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Clayton has a new friend. She moved into the ward a while ago but they hit it off during Book of Mormon camp and now he is always wanting to check and see what Reese is up to...or can she play. It helps that her older sister is friends with Tristen..they get on great and play real well together...he calls her Baybay...thanks Big T!! She is a cutie and we love having Reese around. She went swimming with Clayton and I yesterday.

School has started

2009-07-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school..Oh Happy Day!!!! The kids were all up before me...I figured I'd have to wake them, but I guess they were secretly excited. They leave at 7am and I wake them normally at 6am..I got up at 5:45 and they were already dressed and downstairs eating breakfast. We had time to make sure legs were lotioned and hair was pretty and we snapped pics before they left. Tristen started 1st Grade and had a great day..although Sami didn't talk to her cause mean Brother Robinson told her they couldn't talk to each other in class - ha ha. Ashlen had a great day and was excited to get an organizer/notebook which keeps track of homework etc...I don't know why - she is now accountable for way more stuff and if she gets 2 "no stamps" gets detention!! ha ha (Is that mean of me??) And Mason said school sucked...are we surprised? Apparently he has no friends in his classes...sorry Wyatt - you aren't a friend..I said "Doesn't Wyatt have PE with you?"...oh yeah - that's right. I said "no Friends" is a good thing...maybe you'll concentrate and do good things this year!!!!!! I LOVE the 1st day of school :)

Mason with the usual facial expression

Tristens HUGE backpack

Little T with her HUGE water jug

Ash ready to go

the 3 goobers :) I saw that with love!!!!

Clayton was pooped

2009-07-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

Clayton had a big day at Church yesterday...He spoke during Primary about strengthening his family and did a superb job, he spoke loud into the microphone and was very clear...(last time Tristen had to fill in at the last minute cause he got stage fright) but I guess the bribe of mentos paid off........anyways..when we get home from church the kids normally grab a bite to eat and then either nap or read...guess what Clayton decided to do?!!

We caught them

2009-07-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ok - so it was a little too late..but we had a couple spies who were not happy with going to bed early in preparation for school starting. The can sit upstairs and look over at the TV from this angle without us knowing!!! Ashlen let this trick out of the bag a while ago but I guess I wasn't really paying attention..and they were super quiet so Stevan and I only saw them as we were going to bed...not that we stay up late anyways..I think we hit the sack by 9 or 10 each night.

Salt River Canyon

2009-07-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to Salt River Canyon with some friends. The day started out crappy...I should have known things would be bad..but I guess I need that hit across the head in order to listen sometimes. We woke up with not only Clayton having a fever, but Tristen too..they didn't feel well and said their throats hurt, so I figured we'd load them up on fever reducer and let them rest by the water. So we met the Winsors, Robinsons, Hills and Hunsakers at Circle K, gassed up and got our sodas and started out..we hadn't been on the road for 15 minutes when I heard a weird noise..sounded like something hit the side of my car..then it started pulling to the side and sure enough something crazy had torn up the tire. Luckily we are your typical mormons, traveling in a caravan, lots of big vehicles, so I was able to pull over to the side of Hwy 79, stuff kids in each persons car and jump in Nettie's car with Tristen and Clayton. Nettie's boys were awesome and volunteered to jump in the back of her truck to make room for us. So after that 20 minute unplanned stop we got back on the road. It took a while to get there...we stopped for potty breaks, pick up some dramamine, Tristen was carsick and had thrown up in a bag, we grabbed some pizza, had a little traffic stop due to road works..but made it and it was worth it. The place was beautiful - see from the pictures!?! Actually when I pulled out my camera the batteries were dead!!! So Michelle took some pics...I'll post them when I get them...but we set up the awning, our chairs and snacks, the kids took off and we saw them periodically when grabbing a slice of pizza or drink. The water was perfect, nice and refreshing...picture a larger slide rock with way warmer water, some smaller pools to sit in and larger pools at the end of each slide section. There was also a larger pool area with a place for the big kids to jump - Mason wore out his shorts - there are holes in the seat of them!!!. We stayed for a few hours and packed up just as huge drops started plopping down..we got caught in a downpour but it felt nice. We started home where the poor missionaries were waiting for us to teach a discussion. Stevan was supposed to try get the tire fixed but got stuck at work so my mom went to get my car towed back to our house..but couldn't find it..I told her the wrong name of the road..so she panicked and called the sherrif's dept. to see if it got towed. I had no service in Globe where we were so when I got in touch with her she got the right place and was waiting for a tow truck which was going to take almost 2 hours!! They were going to dispatch one from Tucson!! So we stopped on our way home, Nettie volunteered to stay and wait for the tow truck so I could get home with Tristen and Clayton who were feeling crappy... bless her heart...She and the kids watched movies and waited. I got home to find the missionaries next door waiting for me....the boys pulled up with Kelly after a few minutes then hung out with the missionaries trying to get a location for their discussions as I didn't have a priesthood holder over 18 at my house...and Kelly sat with me so they could hang! Poor Nettie finally got to my house with the tow truck driver at 8pm....I have the BEST FRIENDS EVER!!!! I have a hard time accepting service - but was glad they were there offering. I am also glad the day was pull of fun and we are planning another trip soon where we get up earlier and spend way more time there, without car troubles and with a working camera. The day could have been a real disaster ( especially since I am a pessimist ), but with good friends it wasn't and I had a great time despite the problems of the day.

They say the funniest things.....

2009-07-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

So I know everyone's kids say the funniest things...but mine come up with strange things all the time..normally when chatting with Stevan, so I wanted to share these two stories.

Tristen and Stevan were watching "the most venomous creatures" on discovery channel together the other night when Tristen asked Stevan if the water snails could eat humans. Stevan told her they could not - they were too small. She then announced that she did not want Stevan to scuba dive with Robbie..there were sharks in the water and she would worry about him if he were to go. So Stevan asked "what about Robbie, aren't you worried about him?" to which she replied "I worry about him too but he already does it and I don't think I can get him to stop!!"

So tonight Stevan and Clayton are sitting watching baseball when I walk by and Stevan says "look at your Mom - isn't she so pretty" Clayton says "Yes she is and Big T and Heather". So Stevan says "oh yeah - are they hot" then Clayton says "No - they are just pretty....pause.....and HOT" It is safe to say Clayton loves his Big T and Heather...and he thinks they are hot!!! I am just glad he thinks I am pretty like them :)

I don't know where they come up with these things!!!

Book of Mormon Camp

2009-07-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, I am in the Primary Presidency, and as our quarterly activity we decided to do a "Book of Mormon" camp for our kids. We planned to have this over three days and just had the activity last week - which was a HUGE success. The idea was for our kids to come and focus on one of the stories for 3 days. We split up our kids into jnr & snr and had about 7-8 kids in each group. We did the story of Nephi, Abinidi, Ammon, 2000 Stripling Warriors, Alma the Younger and the Brother of Jared. The older kids went to workshops the first day to immerse themselves in the story (we had great teachers) and then on the second day they put together a skit to present to the parents on Thursday night. On the third day they worked on their skits and put together their costumes - they were also able to make a journal and write in it their feelings about what they were learning. The younger kids got to watch the animated story depending on their group and also learned a song which went with their story that they performed on their parents on Thursday night (we were their teachers). The younger kids got to make folders with pictures of their stories and other Book of Mormon heros. We had a camp atmosphere and gathered at the start of each day to sing our theme song "Scripture Power" and then disperse to their classes. We ended each day with "game time" and a treat and then sang Book of Mormon stories. The presentation Thursday night went great, we had tremendous parent support and the kids all did an amazing job. We actually had a little over 100 kids for this activity - which is great when you consider this is Summer. My kids still to this day play the CD over and over with the songs they learned. Clayton walks around singing the song he learned "Faith" which goes with the Brother of Jared skit Ashlen performed in. They all grab their scriptures and hoist them in the air when we sing Scripture Power, which is what they did for their parents. These kids were sponges and the experience we had to participate in this amazing "camp" was awesome. I think that they truly felt the spirit as did we as a presidency while we were planning the activity. We wanted to be sure the children understood how important the scriptures are and what wonderful stories and lessons we can learn when we take the time to read them. We also wanted them to realize that they have power when they read, that knowing these things will bring them closer to their Heavenly Father and I believe that they took that away from camp. We are sooo looking forward to next year and the feedback we are hearing from the parents is positive too...we have kids walking around Queen Creek singing loudly and proudly. Clayton reminds me that he went to Book of Mormon camp everytime he hears the words "Book of Mormon".

Clayton & Tristen with Sister Cartright and Sister Sanchez..they learned about the Brother of Jared

Me in the Cultural Hall with the jnr kids playing games..thankfully the snr kids were in the other cultural hall

Brother Borba teaching Ashlen's class on the Brother of Jared

Ashlen, Sarah & Anna in their costumes for their skit.

Beach Bunnies

2009-06-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

The girls are in sunny california with grandma debby and robbie. They are living the life being beach bunnies and loved hanging at the beach with big T and Scotty...these girls have the life...

How do you spell relax?? RIVER

2009-06-30T21:10:00.001-07:00

we were at it again...more fun at the Colorado river..We LOVE being there and LOVE having fun with the FARRERS :)

Doesn't this pose sum it all up?!

me & Lisette tubing

Still tubing

see......I can actually do things other than just tan and read a book...my kids were shocked at my skills.

Stevan can wae surf too...we oldies still have it in us to shock and awe!

Clayton relaxing

Princess Ash...wearing those shades like she's a celeb!

hanging with T in the no wake zone...this is where she gets her u-boarding practice

Camp Geronimo

2009-06-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Mason just returned from Scout Camp - he spent a whole week away from his brother and sisters and loved every minute of it. They had tons of fun swimming and canoeing and watching their leaders make big waves, drinking slushies and soda, playing pranks on each other, getting into freezing cold water...just being boys without parents telling them what to do. He made a leather and bead bracelet for me and a leather money clip for Stevan. He worked on his swimming, canoeing, forestry and Fish & Wildlife management badges. We are so glad they enjoyed their time. Upon returning Mason found out we were gone at the river again...but he perked up when he found that he had been called as 2nd counselor in the Deacons quorum and has been elected to the Order of the Arrow for scouting. woo hoo.