Our California Trip

Last week we went to California for Mickey's niece's Quinceanera (15th birthday party), always a big event. We had big plans for what to do to pass the 5 days we were there, but between kids, naps, eating, and planning the party most of it changed. You know how it is. :) Still, we had a lot of fun and it was great to meet his family again. The kids were shy at first, but Mickey's sisters have a no-nonsense attitude about that and snagged them from us right away, so they warmed up quickly. :) Pretty soon they were both following Tia Eli and Tia Karen everywhere, and poor Tio Ariel couldn't get them off of him. That's what they get for being nice, right? LOL

Kayin and Kareli both climbed their first tree while we were at a cute little duck pond, much to Kayin's delight. He's been asking to climb a tree for ages, and this one was perfect for them both.

We went to a Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus, which Kareli went nuts for. She sat on our laps and refused to let us sit back; she had to have her hands on the rail the whole time so she could see everything and spent the whole time clapping and stomping and yelling. Kayin, on the other hand, made it about halfway through and started asking "Are we done yet? Can we go play?" Crazy boy. :)

We also went to Medieval Times, which was AWESOME! Wenches (yeah, I know you love that, Troy) and Serfs served us food on pewter dishes that we ate with our hands while we we watched a 2 1/2 hour play. There was jousting, sword fighting, and skill displays, and they had horses doing tricks during the breaks. Everything was amazing. They only down side of the whole evening was that the knight our section was paired with was a little girly-boy, constantly flippin his waist-length hair and blowing kisses. He lost every event and was the first to die. :-( I got over it by cheering for the red knight who was really cool. :)

This was the announcer for the whole evening and had parts in the play; he was really funny and got everyone super excited.

Kareli's favorite part was the food (naturally; she never stops eating *smiling*) and the horses. Kayin went nuts for the fighting - he was on the edge of his seat the whole time. He liked it much better than the circus and says it was his favorite thing of the whole trip. :)

That's the green knight; he double crossed everyone but luckily got killed in the end. :) Oh, and they have a different story every night, so you never know what will happen.

Here's our fancy kids, all dressed up for the party. Kayin was so proud of his "fancy clothes" and showed them off for everyone. Tia Eli bought us all new clothes for the event.

Here's Oscar Jr, (a nephew, and Alma's Escort), Alma (the birthday girl), and Crystal (another niece, and Kayin's "bestest friend ever! I love her!")

Tragedy in the house...

It's heartbreaking, but these two poor children were drinking alcohol and got in a car crash (according to reliable sources.... them). Both ended up with serious boo-boos that required a full day of doctoring. Luckily Dad has a medical degree (or at least the supplies to do something; just as good, right?) and was able to fix them. Oh, the poor babies!

Updates on my life!

Hey everyone, it's time for my bi-annual update. :) Or at least it seems that's about how much I get on here. We've been keeping busy with life, the universe and everything, and having lots of fun. Dad was up all of June and I made him work his fingers to the bone for his room and food. We gardened, mowed, weeded, castrated pigs (I opted out of having him butcher chickens, lucky him), raked and shoveled sand, dealt with flooding, and a lot more. Oh, and he had to keep my house clean and the kids entertained on top of that. :) Boy was my life great! Poor dad. We went to a Milton-Freewater church reunion (I know, who's ever heard of that?) which was a lot of fun, and one of the ladies had this picture posted. How cool do we look?

We stayed in Tri-Cities for 4 days last week so Mickey could get his eyes fixed (Yay, no glasses in Iraq! Lucky dog, I'm so jealous!) While we were there we finally got up the courage to get Kareli's hair cut into bangs. Now we love it! We took her to a place called Monkey Dooz, where they can sit in cars and watch a cartoon while they get their hair cut. Kareli (and Kayin) really enjoyed it.

How cute is that?? She loves not having her hair in her face all the time.

Kayin graduated Preschool! He wasn't happy that I made him stand up front for a picture:

... but he was thrilled when he got to sit on Mrs. Brooks' lap and get his certificate. :) She's such a wonderful teacher; he adores her.

We had a ton of rain the whole time Dad was here and the whole back lot completely flooded. There were waterfalls and rivers everywhere, and it went up to our knees on level ground when we waded across. The pond above us flooded into ours, and ours flooded into the neighbor's below us. It was a nice cascading effect. :) Good thing they built the stuggas up so high.

This used to be the road, and all the water on the right is where the beach used to be. And the Strommers had just put down $100 worth of sand to get ready for a wedding reception. It took nearly $400 more to get it back into shape when the water went down. All the sand got washed away. Luckily it was perfect just in time for the wedding.

We made the most of the high water and went out boating nearly every day, once we weren't at risk of being washed into the neighbor's yard.

Troy surprised me with the announcement that I was now the lucky owner of two little pigs, as long as I went to get them and took care of them. :) Onery booger! But they are very cute, and the Strommer's call them Crispy and Crunchy. Dad castrated them while I held them, which was traumatic for everyone (Poor Kareli cried and cried every time the pigs squealed, even while we were just chasing them). They recovered quickly though and are growing fast. And it's much easier taking care of them when we don't have to walk five miles to do it! Yay for big backyards!

The kids throughly enjoyed dressing Dad up. He looks so beautiful in makeup!

Kayin was very proud of teaching himself a new trick. Freaked me out the first time he flipped over, I thought he'd crack his head for sure!

He's also very good at delegating responsibility. I thought this was a pretty smart arrangement for him! Notice Jarek is tied up and pulling him, while he sits at a desk they somehow wedged into the sled. :) We had to laugh at that.

Kareli is my little dirt eater. She loves that stuff! Kayin likes to help out by dumping it on her head, which is how I found her in this picture. That was some nasty bathwater!

Kareli's Walking!

Daddy has big boots to fill!

First picnic of the year!

Kayin gave Kareli a big pile of flour to play with while I was cooking and not paying close enough attention. She enjoyed it a little too much...

My artsy little kids...

Kayin happily shaving his legs, with Kareli's help

Some videos about what we're up to lately. Kareli's walking like a pro now, when she wants to. Kayin loves coloring and drawing. This was the best person I've seen him do yet! And of course, they both love making messes any time they can!

Elk Watching

We love the snow! Kayin got his first sled this year and loves to go out on it. We're still working on staying upright, but it's fun anyway. :) We have a perfect little hill behind the house that's just steep enough to keep him sliding down past the cars, without being too fast.

We put a little chair in behind him to help keep him from tipping over backward, but it doesn't help with the sideways tumbles. :0)

Every time we shovel the porch we toss it in a big pile next to the porch, so that eventually we can just throw them (umm, set them carefully....) over the porch and watch them slide down. It's just about high enough; It's already taller than Kayin. He loves sliding down it.

He loves helping test the depth of the snow. :0)

On saturday we went out on a horse-drawn sleigh to go to an elk feeding station and got within just a few feet of a large herd; it was really neat. :) The weather and the scenery was beautiful and with how bundled up we were we all stayed nice and warm. Kayin and Kareli's favorite part were the huge black Percheron horses that were pulling the sleigh. Kayin even got to hold the reins and say Giddyup! and after the ride we got to pet them. It was so neat. :) And on the way home we saw three bald eagles sitting in a tree next to the road, two adults and a young one. It was a great day. :-)

Christmas Ornaments

Hey everybody, these all ended up with me and I was wondering if any had special memories for anyone. If there's something that is yours or that you want, let me know and I can send them over. Otherwise most of them will probably go to DI. I'm assuming Travis and Christy will want the ones with their pictures on them? Anything that doesn't get claimed is officially MINE!! Bwaa ha ha ha ha!!! ;-) Love you all!!!

The bell says Noel, 1986