My Joy is My Family

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Arizona Road Trip

The view from the lookout.

We were actually above the storm here. We were in a constant storm from the time we left our garage until we hit the border of Phoenix. We had two nice days on Saturday and Sunday. We loved the sun for the time we had it! This is a colder wetter winter for everyone.

You can see how low the clouds were. They were moving through so fast. We came around a bend as we were leaving Paige and ran into this.

Chad looking angelic standing in the clouds.

Here comes the SUN

Very cool LARGE cactus. Kalli and Uncle Rick are look'n short.

The view from the end of Rick's street.

Cokie the dalmation (girl) and Joey the Yorkie (boy) are best buds. Their relationship status on Facebook would be listed as " It's Complicated". Ha ha

It didn't take long for Joey to nap on Mike's lap.

Joey loves the Arizona sun.

Sit'n in the morning sun is the best feeling.

My brother at work in his office at home.

The Towne house in Veil, Az.

The main reason for our trip was to take Chad to a Pro Kicker Camp in Tempe Az. The High School it was at was amazing. Braedon Loveless and his family also went. We dropped Chad off at their Condo on Friday night. We went on another two hours to Tucson, to visit my brother Rick. On Sunday we all met up at the school and hung out a few hours and watched the boys until it was over around 3:00pm. From there we headed to Las Vegas to stay the night with Karla & Matt. We headed home Monday morning .

Chad at camp

The weather started to cloud up again at the base of the Arizona Strip. It snowed on us most of the way home Monday.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Cool Thing I Did Last Tuesday

Well, I finally got up the nerve to send 10 of my poems in to have them copyrighted. That's right I am now officially published. Woohoo! I wanted to wait until I had 10 poems completed so I could send them to the Library of Congress in Washington DC. They issue the Copyright certification and keep a copy on file of all my work. Anyway, what all of this means is I can actually sell my work or distribute it and no one can copy it. They have to contact me by e-mail to use it in any public forum. I can now send some of my work to church magazines or enter contests. I still have a lot of work to do as I have been asked several times to compile a book of inspirational & fun poetry. This year I really need to focus on writing about 20 more and take some more cool photographs.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Random Oldies For Your Viewing Pleasure

At the Heber Valley Railroad with Grammie

Chad's hair was like baby chicken fuzz

Groomsmen, flower girl and handsome little ring barer.

You guessed it..Disneyland

Chad and Grandpa Bruce

Dressing up for the school parade

Christmas picture time!

This was on the 4th of July believe it or not. We were at Great Basin National Park in Nev.

No room at the Inn- Ward Christmas Party

Kevin broke his arm at Ken & LeAnn's house playing chicken on the swing set with Adam or Matt. I can't remember now : )Lake Almanor, Calif

So cute !

UTAH IS # 1 THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT !

Senior Salute Time

So it is time to write another senior salute for the yearbook. This is the picture that Chad chose to submit. Little did we know that he would actually end up playing when he grew up!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Happy New Year

Well actually I haven't taken any pictures lately, so I have nothing new to share. We did have a fun night on New Years Eve with the Walker Family. It started with just Cynthia, Chris, Mike and I playing card games at their house. It ended up with Kevin coming over and Kalli dropping in with her friend Tiffany. Trent joined in and when Karen got home we really started having a blast. We played pictionary, boys against the girls, for a couple hours. We seriously laughed so hard we cried ! It was a really fun way to start off a much needed new year.
In 2008 we had many trials and blessings. A friend told me something that I have thought a lot about this week. She said her Mom told her once that as a parent you are never more happy than your saddest child. My kids have gone through many things this year. Somethings harder than others. I am proud of the fine Men and Women they have become. I know through adversity we all become stronger. For the most part we (Mike & I) have been healthy and happy this year. We are grateful for the peaceful moments we sometime have together.
My goal this next year is to say Yes more and give more service to other with a smile.
Wish me luck!