Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Jeff's eagle project

This is Jeff.

I am collecting items to put together Personal Care Kits for Phoenix Children’s Hospital for my Eagle Project. These kits are given to the parents when their children are unexpectedly checked into the hospital for an extended stay. I will be collecting items for the next three weeks if you would like to contribute any of the items below please contact me.


Items for Personal Care Kits

Toothbrush
Toothpaste (travel size)
Deodorant (large or travel size)
Shampoo (travel size – or hotel bottle)
Bar of soap
Comb or Brush
Disposable Razor
Lotion (travel size or hotel bottle)
Quart size zip-lock bags

Optional Items (all travel size)
Hair conditioner
Hair spray
Shaving cream

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Moab Trip!

Our big summer trip was heading up to Moab to visit my parents and to show my kids where I spent MANY summers growing up. You never know what the June weather will bring since it's a desert climate, but we lucked out and had the most PERFECT weather -- the hottest it got was mid 80's with lows in the 60's. Perfect for dragging all these kids on lots of hiking trails.

Our first hike was at Arches National Park. We decided to hike to Delicate Arch FIRST -- getting the hardest one over with. And actually, it's the most beautiful and famous one also -- the same arch seen on all the Utah license plates. It was 3 miles round trip -- but seemed MUCH LONGER, especially since we're taking along a 3 year old!


Joseph and Jeff starting up the trail.Taking a water break....we're almost there!
We made it!
As we rounded the corner...Starr was mumbling how it better be worth it! Then as soon as it came into view, she yells, "THAT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!"
Delicate Arch!

We were relieved our next arch was .2 miles round trip. Whew? That's a nothing'...we can manage that. It's called Skyline Arch.

The kids loved all the rocks to climb.




Balance Rock.
Our day trip ended at the Visitor Center. And boy, were we wiped out!




Every time we visit, my parents take us up on the MOUNTAIN close by. It's so gorgeous up there and NORMALLY a nice reprieve from the heat. This time it was soooo COLD. Maybe not cold...just a little COOL. But we always have a great time in the tall trees...the kids played hide and seek, and we enjoyed the nice cool fresh air. After our picnic, Steve took took the kids on the 2 mile hike down to the lake.

Grandpa and Jeff...
Starr's having fun!

The boys at the Lake.

The view by the lake was gorgeous!

Grandma enjoying eating watermelon with the kiddos.

They have great parks in Moab -- perfect for laying around on REAL GRASS and RELAXING!
I think all my kids learned how to play Frisbee....and got pretty good too!


The little boys enjoyed throwing rocks in this stream near the park.
My dad lives down the street from the movie theatre....so my family was excited to see UP was playing while we were visiting.

We had so much fun at Arches National Park, we did even more hiking a couple of days later....so here are some random hiking pictures.



Joshua insisted on taking this picture....

Yep, on my shoulders at Windows Arch......

This is Double Arch...where they filmed the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (We had to watch it at my dad's house after we hiked it.)
Sand Dune arch was sooo cool...and tucked away in these rocks. The sand was so fine and was everywhere. My little boys were wishing they had brought their buckets and shovels.
Posing under Sand Dune Arch.
MORE and MORE rocks to climb (oh ya, they were loving this)!
We had such a wonderful time. And amazingly didn't even see the whole park -- we have an entire section yet to explore in a couple of years (more advance hiking -- so it will be good when Josh is older). My dad took Jeff golfing one morning while we were there and now created a monster -- the golfing bug has bit him. Another big thanks to my dad and Ruth for hosting us and for those AWESOME dinners. Such great memories were made!

8 Things

See Shari....I can play along. You probably doubted me, didn't you? Besides, these are good things to know for a family journal.


8 favorite TV Shows
The Office
American Idol
Medium
Rachel Ray
Wipeout
Most anything on HGTV
Most anything on Food Network
Late Night with Conan (sometimes)

8 Things I Did Yesterday
Went to Sams Club
Purchased a twin bed
Moved Jeff into his own room
Organized Josh's and Joseph's room
Ate pizza with my family
Unpacked the last suitcase from our trip
Listened to 10 kids playing in the house
Worried over whether we'll make it to our Family Reunion next summer

8 Favorite Restaurants
Outback
Gecko Grill
Costa Vida
Olive Garden
Daves Farm Grill
Rubio's
In and Out Burger
DK's (in Ephrata)

8 Things I am Looking Forward To
A quiet day with my family (today)
School Starting
Seeing who my kids new teachers are
Jeff's Eagle Project ending
Going up to Prescott for July 4th!
Seeing my sister in San Deigo next month!
Josh finally getting potty trained
Some family visiting (anyone?)


8 Things on My Wish List
My closet organized
More time to get stuff done during the day
My baby to talk more
Garage cleaned and organized
New carpet
A new vehicle
My closet organized
Job security for my husband


Eight People I Tag
Terri
Kre
Chrisine
Barbara
Heather
Crystal
Callie
Julie

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Reappearance!

I'm back! I know...since school's been out, it's been crazy ... and family has been reminding me they need updates! So here it is. I even uploaded my camera card in hopes of discovering some interesting stuff. This is all I have folks .....

Well, there's the slip and slide we got out for Memorial Day weekend --- and in one short day totally killed the grass underneath it -- so we won't be doing that again anytime soon!

Josh's version of "sliding"...ha ha!





We finally have time to get out the Rock Band again --- and since this picture was taken, the boys ALL have buzz hair cuts.



Last but not least....Starr's dance recital was at the end of May. Her entire recital was based off of the movie Oliver Twist, so this was a song she performed for it...it was wonderful! (Starr is wearing a tan vest -- and is dancing with her BFF, Janae.)



My kids are so fun this summer -- I was telling a few people this week that I wish I could just freeze all of their ages. Finally, I don't feel like the entertainment committee constantly, we either have friends over or they are hanging out with friends. Even my 2 little boys seem entertained enough.

Watch for more updates soon as we have some good stuff coming up this summer....such as:

Jeff's Eagle Project (he'll be soliciting help as soon as he gets the rest of his approval signatures -- but at least write-up is done!)

A family trip to Moab, Utah -- I should be packing since we leave in the morning!

Some potty training -- Starr and her friends have been working on that with Josh for me.

San Diego --- my kids look forward to this trip the most (hummm...cousins and the beach...fun fun fun).

I haven't even started my count down to school starting --- that's good for me. You'll know when you see it that I've officially had it! Happy Summer Everyone!