BLAKE'S LATEST AND GREATEST!

Blake seems to be a chip off the ol' block. As soon as there was an opportunity to work and make money , he dropped out of football. Some things are just more productive and long lasting . He decided to pack up his bucket of supplies and canvas the neighborhood to stain people's RV gates. He practically wouldn't take no for an answer and worked hard every day to stain gates and earn enough money to buy his prize: motorcycle. He wouldn't let up and worked long hot hours to earn the money. Dale made sure to check his work so that he had satisfied customers. When he had enough money, he found a motorcycle on Craig's list and BAM! Now, he has a new found sense of freedom and cruises all over the place. I even sent him to Basha's to pick up a missing ingredient for dinner. Hmmm.... I'm reaping the benefits of an early driver. Mark my words, I'm sure that I will regret it, but it seems to be ok with Dad, so there ya go!

Saguaro Lake Trip (One of many hopefully)

We went to Saguaro Lake and had a blast with friends! The three older kids did great on the wakeboard. The sunset up there was amazing!

GIRLS WEEKEND

Wednesday morning, I packed my suitcase and headed to the airport to go up to Utah. The first day I went to visit my friend Robin Bloomfield at her home in Alpine. I sure do miss her. It was fun to just visit and hang out all day and meet her cute grandkids. Then next day I headed over to my sister Trisha's house in West Jordan to help her decorate and organize her home. Friday came and I hooked up with all my girlfriends from High school. Monica Ringger Bambrough, Heather Hawkins Groom, Monica Wright Wisco, and Telacia Ripley Carlston. We had a great time staying up to all hours of the night chatting and sleeping in until the late morning. We honestly didn't get much accomplished and didn't even make it to Women's Conference. Oh well. We got a little wild and crazy as the nights grew later and later and we ate a bunch of sugar.... lots of fun.

I CAN make Bread!

This has been a long journey in the pursuit of making delicious bread. I first became interested in making my own bread two years ago when I started taking "free" cooking classes at Shar's Bosch Center in Gilbert. I got all amped up about it and my "free" class cost Dale about $400 to buy my own wheat grinder and the glorious Bosch mixer. I was all set and ready to roll. I started early one morning and busted out all of the ingredients and started working away at it. My first batch came out flat and heavy just like bricks. I was disgusted with myself and proceeded to start over and try again. Enter OCD personality. The second time yielded the same results as did the third, fourth , fifth and finally six times. All heavy flat bricks. The shame. I then called my back door neighber Cheri and begged her to help stop the madness and figure out what was wrong with me. Come to find out, my wheat was from my food storage and was too old to really be activated by the yeast to rise. Aha! The seventh time was the charm and I was able to make big beautiful bread. Finally. Then I went to bed. Now, two years later, I don't even need to look at the recipe and I can whip it out start to finish in two hours flat. Here is the latest batch that I did!

CAMELBACK HIKE APRIL 2009

Well, after only three hours of sleep because of sick kids, I remained true to my commitment and picked up Cheryl Faas and Carlie Greding to head out to Camelback for a early morning hike. We got a close up parking spot and headed up the trail. the temperatures were perfect and the sun was just peeking over the mountains. To my surprise we encountered hikers already making their way down from the trail. I thought we may be some of the first, but apparently there are even more die hards out there than I anticipated. Maybe they busted out the flashlights to be right at the top for the sunrise. Anyways, the crowd was minimal and we blazed our way to the top. We posed for pics and headed back down to encounter the same first hikers going back up a second time. Now, I was really feeling like a wimp. Should I be scampering up and down this thing multiple times to prove my abilities. UMMMMM....not today. I was barely hanging on with the amount of sleep I had had. I am a firm believer in 8 hours! We had a great time. Love being outside! Arizona is amazing. Can't wait to be at the lake right at sunrise with glass like water and cool morning temps!

Couples Retreat to Rosarito, Mexico

Well, it couldn't have come at a better time for me. It has been a physical and emotional roller coaster over the last month with the miscarriage. We got a babysitter and headed off across the border, again, with some other couples:Tyson & Jaime Breinholt, Darrin & Julie Hatch, Damon & Natalee Breinholt. We stayed for three days. We slept late, lounged around the pool, and soaked up the sun of the beautiful Baja area. Unlike all of the news hype, we encountered no problems. Of course, we weren't hanging out in clubs late at night and doing drugs in the alleways either. Be at the right place , at the right time. We went out to eat at El Nido. We played games late into the evening and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was hard to come back home and face the blast of heat 100 degree temps bring. The cool ocean breezes were left behind, but we hope to take the kids down over Memorial weekend.

Dale.....a man of many talents!

Who knew that Dale could ride a unicycle, let alone a six ft. tall one? One of many talents that caught my eye so long ago.

Not Meant To Be!

Well, we were so excited to announce our big news. Unfortunately, two days later I started to miscarry. Go figure the timing. The children have been pretty sad about it. It has been a good experience to talk to our kids about Heavenly Father sending spirits to the earth and sometimes things are not meant to be. Thanks for all the well wishes and support!

Big News!

The kids went on an egg hunt and some of the eggs had papers with words on them: Our family will receive a special gift in November. I thought it might take them some time to figure it out, but Blake came through. Yes, we are expecting number six in November. Crazy huh? I have known for a few weeks and have been getting used to the idea, but have now gotten more enthusiasm with my kids' reaction to the news. Wow, Chad will be four and I was just starting to enjoy the good life of no babies, diapers, whining ( I guess I still hear some of that). Life is giving me the curve ball and I am swinging hard for the homerun! Hopefully it will be a girl to even things out!

Easter 2009 Special news!

Spring Break in Rosarito, Mexico 2009

We hung around all week of spring break anxious to get on the road Wednesday to head down to Rosarito, Mexico. It is 20 minutes south of San Diego across the Mexican border. All of our friends and family and even strangers warned us about going there because of the recent violent activities down there. We were not swayed. We packed up the suburban and five kids and headed down with my brother Vance and his three kids. The beach was the highlight of course! We saw dozens of dolphins. The kids found about five starfish along the beach. They even went boogie boarding out in the cold Pacific. Good times! We loved setting off fireworks and hanging around the bonfire at night too. We had no problems the whole time and even went into to town and went to our favorite restaurant, El Nido. The best fresh tortillas ever! We love going there!

The Garden is Thriving!

Well, it has been fun to watch over the past month. We are growing squash, lettuce, peppers, swiss chard, and peas. I hope to expand my repretoire in the future. Here are some pics. The kids have enjoyed seeing the progress everyday.

SATURDAY IS A SPECIAL DAY!

Saturday! I love Saturdays, when we aren't out of town. There is so much to be accomplished that has built up from the busy week and there are plenty of hours to do it. I started out this morning at 6 a.m. on a hike. Jodi and Cheryl and I headed out East to where Meridian Road dead ends. There is a beautiful hike that is the perfect amount of time. We got home at 8:30 just in time to get kids working and get the household in order. I cut up a huge bowl of strawberries for breakfast and couldn't believe how large some of them were. Do these grow this large naturally, I'm not sure. Oh well, because they are delicious. I am loving Spring time.

My kind of F.H.E.

Well, it was turning into one of those hum drum Monday nights until Jodi Lewis called. She told me to grab the kiddies and let's go to our favorite restaurant, Oreganoe's for Pizookies! At first , the practical side of me said, oh no, we can't, it's a school night, I've eaten good today, don't wanna ruin it etc. etc. blah blah blah excuses. Then the wild side of me threw caution to the wind and said " Oh yeah, let's do it!" The Arizona weather was perfect and the Lewis family owns a "couple" VWs. Jodi picked me up in the convertible bug and Dean took the rest of the family in the orange bus with a ragtop! Sweet! We had a fun drive to downtown Gilbert and indulged ourselves in the yummy pizookies! Good times. Thanks Lewis Family!