Sale Pending!!

We have had our house in Phoenix on the market since February. We have dropped the price considerably and were in the process of getting renters in the house for the winter. The market has been slow. Then we received an offer this past week. Praise God!! We have signed papers for the sale and are praying all the paperwork, inspections, etc all go through and we can move forward. Thanks for all your prayers!

Our Friday Night "Date"

Friday night after John got home from work, we were looking for something to do. The hospital has this huge building project that I have posted pictures of before. Well now they are doing finish work inside and are suppose to be about 2 months out from finish...so he decided that we should go over and shut off all the lights that were left on by construction guys. John doesn't only turn off lights at home he turns them off at work. He sees the electric bill and can't handle it...guess he did it at the Rogue Valley Medical Center also. So we went into mechanical rooms and all the other spaces....he was "showing" me the project. There are alot of floors and and light switches!John in mechanical rooms


John turning off lights

Neola on the roof of the hospital. The Colorado Monument in the background. It has taken him 7 months to get me up there. Since it was getting dark the flash picked up the reflection on the vest...that is why I don't have it on.

When John was turning out the surgery lights...he turned on the green surgery lights. Guess it helps make the blood show up better.

After all the light turning out we got to go out for a late dinner. Another exciting Friday night!

Friends and flowers

Another family moved in down the street. He works for the hospital also and they are renting while looking for a house also. The wife, Sandy and I have started doing things together. We have gone for coffee (pictured below), shopping for clothes, walking around our block and even worked out for a couple of days. It is fun to have a friend to do something with :)) We went for coffee yesterday and hung out talking for a couple of hours.

Jay is taking an ag class independent study. He is working in the green house. He wants to propagate plants and sell them. We were at a local nursery and purchased the coleus plant. He since has cut and planted many with hopes to grow and sell.
I got to sit in the back and "protect" it from Jay's driving:)

Huge huh?

We got a good deal on it. Isn't it a cool plant!

Neola

On the way home from Idaho it was just John and I. We are driving through Southern Idaho and he asks if we want to go home through Neola, Utah. Yes, There is a small town in N. E. Utah that is Neola. So we stop at the Utah visitor center on I15 and get info for the best way to get there. It is always interesting exploring new territory. We have talked about going to Neola, Utah since we found it on the map. Yes, I know I have the same clothes on that I had on at Disneyland. I was dressing for comfort and had no idea I would be in so many pictures.

Is this sign too cool or what? It is all that iron stuff. We had traveled through alot of other little towns that had no signs and then we get to Neola and there are a bunch. John was so excited that he made sure we got pictures of them all. We did forget to look for a post office...that later we found out that there was one.... next time. Have to take my kids back there. It also isn't far from the Dinosaur National Park.

This was fun and worth the extra couple of hours that it took to get home. After all the years of having a "different" name and having to spell it .... this was really cool!

August Idaho Trip

John and I got to Idaho for Jerel and Chenowa's wedding. Luke and Mark were coming down from Moscow for it. Jay had to stay home because school had just started and John and I were taking a couple extra days to visit and hunt.Becky, Stephanie and Neola. Stephanie did our hair. We were her last before taking time of to have the baby. Don't we all look great!
It going to be tough for me because now I have to find someone at home to do my hair. I have been spoiled going up to Idaho and having Stephanie do my hair.

Steve, Luke, John and Mark in a variety of clothing. They golfed early on Saturday before the wedding.

Then we went to the wedding. I'm sad that I didn't take better pictures. Also I didn't get a picture of the 4 of us all dressed up or even together!! To quote the kids "epic failure!"

Between the wedding and reception, because we were on a time frame we ran out to the farm to buy some meat for the boys and to see Jamie and boys. John, Marie,Jeff,Neola (in Mark's shoes because of the dust)Jamie,Jerrad and Mark.
Luke, Jeral and Chenowa

Natalie, Neola and Mary.

Sunday evening...I went with John hunting. We didn't see any elk but did see some deer. John was able to explore the country so he had a good idea where he was headed the next day. I even did better than normal on the mountain road with some drop off. John went back the on Monday but didn't get anything...

JoNell, Neola and Kathy

While John was hunting I took care of some errands and then visited the school where I use to teach. I got to visit with friends during their lunch.

We went by and visited with Kerry and Doug and the kids were home from school so we got to see them for awhile.John and Doug

Kerry, Chase, Carson, and Connor

Thank you Becky and Steve we enjoyed our vist!

Summer over and time for school

Summer 2009 went very quickly with lots of trips out of town. Unfortunately Luke never made it "home" to Colorado. After Disneyland, Mark started the process of getting ready to head back to college. Sorting, packing, etc. We were making decisions because Luke and Mark were sharing an apartment. We had stuff stored in Idaho and in Colorado to furnish the apartment and it was going to be up to Mark to transport it to Moscow. He took his job very seriously and worked very hard and made a trip from Colorado to S. Idaho to N. Idaho with a load. Then made a day return trip to New Plymouth to get a huge load of stuff that Cathy and Wally had stored for us. Jamie and Jerrad helped make it all fit in his pickup truck.

John and Mark tying things down.

John and Mark
Mark and Jay. No picture of me... I was crying and looked bad.

Mark saying good-bye to Chubby.
Mark loaded..to the gills inside...wanting to keep as much dry as possible. A big smile on his face...he loves college and is excited to be going back. Moscow is a great place to go to school, it is a special place. Yea! John and I are Vandals.....but the kids made their own choice to go there. I D A H O!! Idaho!Idaho! Go Go Go

Times have changed!

We had a great family vacation to California. We got to see new places and visit places we had been to before. I think about the two times before when we have taken the kids to Disneyland. The first time was when John had another conference down there and the kids were 1, 3 and 5 years old. We took our dear friend and babysitter Sara with us because with John in meetings and me with 3 little ones was going to be tough. Sara was a great help and we visited the park without John and had a great time. (Not that Jay remembers it) The next time we went they were 7, 9 and 11 years old. So much easier and we were able to all the rides together and made new memories. Now 10 years later they are 17, 19 and 21. It was a totally different experience with all but one an adult. We split up whenever we wanted, the kids stayed at the park longer. They rode the Screaming CA without me. You didn't have to carry anyone, etc.... Each time the park has changed and offered different attractions, but what still remains the same it is a great place to go for vacation no matter how old you are!

On the first couple of trips John drove most of the way from Idaho with me helping him when he would let me drive or he was falling asleep. This time we drove from Colorado through Las Vegas to S. CA and we had 4 drivers.

How is that for weird, Jay driving with me in the front.
Mark and John watching a movie and I think John fell asleep!

Making Memories is Fun!

Disneyland trip

John had a conference in Anaheim, CA in August. Well this makes for big plans for a family vacation. The plans started early in the year with all the kids on board to make it work. Mark asked for the week off on his first week of training for his summer job. Luke got a flight and made plans with his internship in N Idaho for him to be able to come. Jessica started making plans and working her schedule around that time so we could all be together. We were hoping to get to meet some of Jessica's family also.

Now John was in charge on this trip so.... we got packed the night before...car loaded etc. We got up at 3am and left before 4am. The boys Mark and Jay went promptly back to sleep. Well , I tried and John drove. We made it into Anaheim to check into our hotel by....... Luke had flown in by 10am that morning and Jessica had picked him up at LAX. They got to Disneyland ahead of us. We stayed at the Marriott, where the conference was but.....a long walk to the Park.

Jay, Neola and Mark, taken right inside the park when we first got there.

John, Neola in front. Mark and Jay behind. Think Jess or Luke took the picture. Runaway train ride. One of my favorites.

When we first met up with Luke and Jessica we took this picture.. wish I had had someone near by take the picture.... never did get a complete picture of us all in Disneyland.

The Sword and the Stone. Luke, Jay and Mark.

Jay, Luke, Jessica, Val and Matt standing in one of the many lines for rides. Jessica's sister and her boyfriend joined us for a day and a half. It was fun to get to meet them.
Luke and Jessica in front. Jay and Mark in the back. Toontown. We have picture of boys with it when they were little. Jess loves Toontown.
Jessica and Luke. They got sick and only got to do Disneyland on Sunday and Monday. That was sad as we had planned on 5 days. Jessica ended up in ER and with Swine Flu.
Jessica, Jay, Luke and Mark. Who needs to buy hats when you just try them all on and take pictures.

Luke and Jessica were sick and unable to go to the park, John was at conference. Jay, Mark and I headed out for a morning of Disneyland. It was much more low key than the two days before when we were rushing from one ride to the next and getting fast passes etc..

Neola and Mark on Main Street U.S.A. It is nice in the morning when not as many people are around. We rode the rides down main street and got pics with the characters. Also got in several rides before it got too busy.

The driver took a picture of us in this vehicle.

Jay, Donald and Mark.

Jay and Mark at the N of California, To the entrance of California Adventure.

We then spent some time in California Adventure. Here is Jay and Mark with Goofy.

The boys and I took a break and ate lunch with John at the Cheesecake Factory near the hotel. Then rested for alittle while before John got out of the conference. Then headed to the park again.

John and Mark in front. Jay behind John. California Screaming. We got to the park and went straight to the ride because there was a parade going on and the line was really short. They got right on. John had no idea what he was getting into!
Meanwhile I'm taking pictures and getting a phone call from Luke. They are at the ER and want John and I to come and help take care of them. We leave Mark and Jay at Disneyland and head to the hospital were Luke and Jessica are waiting. (In hind site Jess and I both wish we had a picture of them in the ER, but had I taken one Luke would of killed me) Jess was wearing a mask and leaning on Luke who was covered in a blanket. There must have been 30 people in the ER. Jess got an IV and meds for Swine Flu and we took them back to her aunts.

Mark and Jay on a ride at California Adventure. While we went to rescue Jess and Luke they closed down the park.

The next day John's conference only went to noon. So we took a day off from Disneyland and went to the beach. Luke and Jess were staying with Jess's Aunt Audrey and we went to the beach near her house and got to spend alittle more time with the kids. They were heading to Moscow the next day. Jess couldn't be around her mom going through chemo so it was best that they go, besides Luke needed to be back at work on Sat and they were driving .

Mark and Jay on sunny S. CA beach.

Aunt Audrey took this picture of us all in her house the day we went to the beach.
No one else got sick. Thank you Aunt Audrey for opening your home up to us. We enjoyed meeting you.

My birthday at Disneyland!! How exciting is that! It doesn't matter that it was my 51st it is still and exciting place to go. I got a pin to wear that had my name on it and Happy Birthday. Everywhere you go you see people with the same birthday and lots of people say "Happy Birthday" Since we had already purchased a pass for the day I was given a $75 gift card to be spent in the park. Cool huh?

No I didn't buy it just had my picture taken with it:)

Mark, Neola, Mickey, Jay and John

Neola and Mickey after a play.

Mark and the CA sun.

John's birthday present to me was to get this drawing done of me!

We took a drawing class, learned how to draw Daisy Duck. It was nice to sit down.

Jay, Neola, John and Mark at Grizzly Mt. They have photographers all over the park. You get a card and they take the picture and scan it onto your card. When you get home you can download and buy pictures. They also use your camera and take the same picture for you on your camera. Nice service. We did end up buying several pictures.

And what is Disneyland with out watching the Electric Light Parade. Cool picture.

The vacation was over and it was time to go back home. We left early morning and drove home all in one day. The trip to California was fun. It was great to go on a family vacation. We took a bunch of pictures and have special memories to treasure.