Happy Holidays!

Alright, I have had quite a few people tell me to update our blog. So here you go- remember you asked for it! Are you ready? Are you sure?? OK- It's updated!

See you next year!


Just kidding!

We have had a busy few months, but I really don't recall any of much importance happening. Tyler and Anna were both student of the Month for their class.
I had a great weekend with my sisters here in AZ. We stayed at My sister Heather's house in Queen Creek and shopped and went through old pictures and had so much fun, did I mention the shopping? We went to dinner and lunch and had hot chocolate from Starbucks. And did I mention the shopping? OK, OK, you get the point. We shopped! I think we did more shopping in those 2 days than I do in a about six months!(including Christmas time!) But really, it was so much fun, and I miss them all so much, I can't wait until the next sister's reunion!

Chad is still plugging away at Countrywide Home Loans, Now Bank of America. Chad is training for a Race in February- I will just say that it is a team of 12 people(I think) who take turns running. for 24 hours and like 180 miles. Or something like that. I really don't know for sure, but he is doing it!

I am still doing daycare, but currently do not have any kids. Any one need a babysitter?! I have been working hard going to the gym to get in better shape and it is working, although not as quickly as I would like. It seems that for every time I go, I miss twice as many days because of other things coming up! So, it doesn't really look like I have made much progress, but my clothes are looser! That, or they have just stretched out! He, he, he!

Christmas is soon, and we will be busy. Chad's brother is coming with his family from Mass. for 3 weeks. And my parents will be in the area after Christmas for a few days, so we will be juggling time and squeezing in as much as we can!
We hope you all have a safe, happy holiday season!

California adventures!

We had a great family trip to San Diego this past week. Jody and the kids got to Escondido on Monday and right away went swimming with the cousins. They had pizza, Tyler's favorite meal, and then swam some more at Jody's sisters house. All I heard about was Tyler and Caleb doing cannonballs off of a 6 foot ledge into the deep end of the pool. I had to get that on video when I got there and we put it on the page to prove it. Tuesday was more of the same just swimming at Jody's parents and then dinner. I flew in on Tuesday night and we woke up Wednesday morning and headed to the beach in Oceanside. It was a blast swimming in the waves and building sand castles. I love the beach more than the rest of the family but all still had fun. We then headed to Sea World for an all day adventure with a group of about 30. We saw the Shamu show, the Dolphin show, the Sea Lions, well instead of listing all the shows I will just say we saw them all. I think the Shamu show was the big hit amongst the kids. We managed to stay out of the soak zone for all the shows so no one got wet. I highly recommend the frozen lemonade if you are ever there, it was good! We stayed that night and saw the Shamu Rocks show which was really cool and then they had a fireworks show at the end. Anna fell asleep on Grandpa and missed the whole show and Tyler and Caleb just held out long enough to see it. The next day we went back to Sea World and got to do the awesome roller coaster Journey to Atlantis. Tyler went with mom and they got soaked because the ride stopped right under a soaker and they had to sit there for a few minutes. Tyler was really brave to go on this ride. I went with Anna and we had such a good time, she was really brave as well. We did not get very wet but it was so much fun. We saw the Cirque de la mer show which was really funny and the kids liked the guys and girls flipping into the water. I can't forget the blast that they had in the Sesame Street Bay of Play. The got there swim suits on and played in the water, climbed the rope latter and went down slides. They rode the tea cups and some boat ride. Saturday we headed to Alpine to Jody's brothers house for a BBQ before heading back to AZ. We had a little trouble with our A/C in the car but got that fixed in town while we ate. All in all it was a great family trip and one for the memory books.

The Lake

Last Saturday everyone was bored so we all hopped in the van and went to the lake. It was a lot of fun, and the water was very cold until you adjusted! Check out the pic's and I am going to try to upload some video Chad took. It was taken with our camera, so there is no sound, and it is really, really short! Caleb and Anna were both shortless by the time we left and Tyler had a wet bum from falling on wet rocks. But we survived and had blast!

Tyler Student of the Month!

Well it has been a busy week for Tyler! Thursday night his school had an ice cream social and each grade performed songs that they had learned throughout the school year. Tyler was so cute up there singing the songs and doing the hand motions. Chad missed it because of work, but I did video some of it until the batteries died! We will try to figure out if you can post video on the blog soon.

For the month of May, Tyler was Student of the Month! On Friday morning they had a ceremony for all the kids at the school. Chad was able to go and watch Tyler get a certificate and a toggle from the school. We were able to take some pictures and video it as well. It was neat seeing Tyler behave at school. He actually sat still for about 10 minutes, which I hardly ever see at home!

Fathers and Sons Campout

I have once again learned that you are always better off following your instincts rather than thinking to much about a decision. I have two boys and I wanted to take both of them on the campout, but previous experiences with Caleb and camping have resulted in no sleep and a crying boy all night. I told Jody that I would not take him this year but for some reason I changed my mind the week of the campout and took him. We got to the campsite around 12:30 in the afternoon and we had a great day. Tyler and I rode on a 4 wheeler and dad stalled it trying to turn around and it took me a long time to figure out how the start it again. Tyler thought we would have to walk back to camp. Caleb rode on the off rode golf cart that another ward member had brought and had a blast. We had a good dinner and a great program that night around the campfire. But when it came to bed time the battle began. It was cold and I had Caleb in the sleeping back with me but he was just crying and would not sleep. I then went into the van with him but that made no difference. So after two hours of this I just decided it was not worth it anymore and I woke Tyler up and put them both in the van. I tore down the tent and we headed home at midnight. I think it is fair to say that camping with Caleb is going to have to wait a few more years.

Jody's Take

Alright. I'll admit that I was getting upset with Chad last night, but you have to realize that I was trying to sleep, with a headache non-the-less!
So we are going to try to figure this blogging stuff out, if you have any tips, please let us know!

Our first post:

JARED JOINED THE WORLD OF BLOGGING RECENTLY AND AFTER LOOKING AT HIS WEBSITE AND THEN VISITING OTHER FAMILIES BLOG I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A REALLY COOL TOOL TO KEEP UP WITH EVERYBODY. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO USE IT YET BUT WE WILL LEARN. IT IS LATE AND I AM KEEPING JODY UP SO LOOK FOR FUTURE POSTS.