Driving to Michigan was long but we got to see some beautiful scenery. We took a short cut that ended up being the long way through New Mexico but man, it was so pretty (top left). We were literally in the clouds and it was wet and nice and cool. We rolled down the windows and took in the fresh air.
While we were in Colorado we stopped at Focus on the Family which was really great and we saw these two young raccoons. They came out, walked around, and crossed the street, right in the middle of the day. We were so surprised!
The middle and bottom pictures are from Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. Mt. Rushmore is cool when you consider the time it was sculpted and all without 'modern' technology. Quite the feat. The Badlands were so awesome. The boys both liked it there a lot. The rock and the landscape looked like it was made of soft mud but it was solid. When you drive up you just see plains then as you get closer you see that there are these valleys and gorges cut into the ground. It was amazing.
Driving across South Dakota was so beautiful at 6 a.m. after a night of rain (top right). Des Moines, Iowa was tornado alley while we there... we drove right into it. Didn't see the actual tornado but got to experience all the other fun stuff, green sky, major rain, hail, wind... totally remembered why I'll be forever glad that I no longer live in the Mid-West. On the way there we put 2,651 miles on the car and got a flat tire right outside of Omaha. We stopped in Battle Creek, MI to eat at Don Pablo's which was as good as I remember- yum! We made it to Canton safely and spent the week getting ready for a yard sale and then packing like crazy. On the way back we spent the day and night with Jack and Pat again. They took us for a drive. We saw were they used to live, where Jack works, and a ton of elk. When we pulled away from their house Riley asked if we could come back next month! So, thanks Jack and Pat- we all really enjoyed our time there! The trip back was long and it was really good to be home. It was a fun time though and I have some great pictures to put in the scrapbooks.
Update for my sister and her Bert
You said you can't wait to see so...
you don't have to! Here is a look at how your wedding invitations are addressed. I hope these are o.k.
Oh, and your friends, Scott P. and Ashli W., well they don't get to come. Every time I write their envelope, I mess up. I finally put them to the side and at the end if there are extra envelopes and I manage to write the right information, well, then they can come, otherwise no. Now back to working on them. They'll be ready soon!
Back to Michigan
We left Sahuarita at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, July 16th. We had a cooler full of drinks and sandwich makings, books, gameboys, ipod completely charged, and a map. We were going great until we got to the AZ/NM border on I-10... not completely remembering how quickly the horse trailer sucks the gas tank dry, I ran out of gas 1 1/2 mile from the town that I was going to stop and get gas in. We started walking and then the Highway Patrol picked us up because Ruben called them. A nice young patrol man took us to get gas and then back to our car. Now, being from Nevada, I know that a full tank in the West is a must and swore right then that this would not happen again. It didn't... until the next day (see picture of nice man putting gas in my car). I was going to get gas, then I passed the exit and then the town I was going to stop at didn't have an open gas station. I thought that it would be better to stop a the rest stop and ask for a ride to the next town rather than go, run out and walk. So I stopped and a nice couple named Fred and Jean not only gave us a ride to the next town (13 miles), they brought us back to the rest stop too. Nice is a gross understatement. They said they have a daughter and they hope someone would help her if she ever needs it. I was so mad at myself after they left that I couldn't stop crying. What a big dummy to run out of gas!!
We stopped to eat a sandwich in the shade of the back of the horse trailer and we watched a little bit of the open pit copper mining action below us then got back on the road.
The most awesome part of the day was stopping in Santa Fe to spend the night with Jack and Pat. Jackie and Jacob were there for a little bit and Angel, Mysti and JJ spent the night. Pat cooked us dinner which was wonderful. The kids played on the trampoline, talked, played charades and had a good time together. We had a great visit... the coolest thing about family is that even though you don't see each other for a long time, it's like you just seen them yesterday. The next day we left early,
ran out of gasmet Fred and Jean, and drove through Colorado. More pictures and stories in the next post.
From this day forward...
My little brother has a wife.
How long will it be before I look at pictures and say that without getting tears in my eyes? Not too long I hope... they are happy tears after all. Mrs. Kara Beehler is now my sister-in-law. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and the reception was fun and everything fell into place and was wonderful. They are in Puerto Rico and on the way there they were upgraded to first class on the plane. That doesn't surprise me at all because Jake is so charming and now he has his little beauty by his side that makes him/them that much more adorable. I think I have finally recovered from it all and the boys being sick through out and now we are back to a normal life. I can't wait to get the pictures back, by the way, my mom took this... excellent, easy to see where I get it, hehe. I did photo shop out some people and the big antler chandelier that was growing out of Jake's head, and added this cool light thingy, but the expression and the feeling can't be altered because they were just in their own little world- and all is well. Congratulations you two!
Christmas Presents
Mom and Wes got the boys kittens for Christmas so these are the newest members of our family. They are brothers and so hard to tell apart. They stick together and follow each other everywhere. Their names are Scout (Ryan's) & Leo (Riley's). They claimed the spot on the couch right away. We've had them for almost three weeks and they are growing and getting more and more feisty, just like little kittens should be. There were no kittens to be found anywhere during Christmas and these came in to the Humane Society and we got there just in time. Four of them were gone within a half hour. We got these two. They were a little bit of work at first but now they are used to us and they fit in great. They are cute as can be and usually sleep like this, next to or right on top of each other. I have taken a bunch of pictures so I'm sure they'll end up here again. Welcome Scout & Leo to the family.
53 years young
My mom turned 53 yesterday and we had a bonfire. lol This is what 53 lit candles looks like, just in case you were wondering! It radiates plenty of heat and lights up the whole room. You also have to get a towel to wave in front of the smoke alarm when it goes off because there is plenty of smoke. She laughed so hard. It was too funny. The cake tasted great once you got past the top layer of wax that had dripped off the candles! We had just eaten dinner at her favorite place~ Outback. I tolerate it, just for her because I love her. We had dinner with our friends the Johnstons. They are moving to Arizona so that was not my mom's best birthday present but we will see them soon. They will be missed but they are going to send lots of pictures and keep in touch~~aren't you Joni?? So, we got home late, exhausted but had a good dinner and desert. Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!!
Just add water...
Water, especially in the form of tiny droplets, can be the highlight of a Summer day, especially for two bored boys. Boy, it's a scorcher here and it has been for a while. The boys had to wear their sandals to run through the sprinkler because our grass was so dry and pokey (still getting used this whole home maintenance thing!) It was fun non-the-less, when you're a kid those things don't even cross your mind.
Remember when you had this much fun outside? They ran though and did every pose imaginable and because of the wonders of technology and the digital camera, they could immediately see the pose and decide if it was worthy of keeping, then do it again, and again, and again if they are not perfect. They had so much fun, even if they could only stand the heat for about 30 minutes! LOL They came in and had grapes. A perfect Summer afternoon!
My Baby Brother is 21
...and boy that makes me feel old. Yikes!
We had a party for him, a surprise party
at that! Kara invited so many of his friends- there were more than 20 of us all there and it was fun. Here's a picture, he's so darn cute. It was fun and now he is a full fledged adult- totally adult. Crazy. Time goes by way too fast.
He was really surprised which was cool because we thought that he knew everyone would be there but he really had no idea. This is a genuine happy smile. Life is good.
Over the Last Week
Where to start? The Infinity 8 show was good. 
Here are the boys really rocking out :) they had a fun time and I was right about the other bands... not bad, just not as good ;) 
I told J that he has to be sure to move his cymbal back about three inches next time so that I can get his face in the picture. He said no problem, I just hope he doesn't forget and miss it! Here is a link to their myspace... if you have your speakers turned up their new song will automatically play when it loads.
www.myspace.com/infinity8 It's definitely rock music so be forewarned. They crack me up though because all the other bands are all goth or heavy metal and these guys look about as normal as can be in their Adidas and Hollister Hoodies. When they play though all those other people really like them and always ask if there's a CD or website. It makes me laugh that they fit in with anybody.
On Saturday night our friends the Joys came over for dinner. We hadn't seen them in a while and it was so nice to get together. It was quick though so I am looking forward to seeing them again soon, maybe Riley's birthday. I think I've only seen Jayden 5 times total since he's been born and they live in the same town. Sad I know. Summers are usually better since there's more daylight and Susan is warmer in the summer, like me! Josh shot up, we were all laughing that he's 10 until August and Riley will be 10 in two weeks and there is quite the size difference! Ken was teasing them that since they were all together, that meant that they all had to get a haircut. Oh, you should have heard the protests to that! We all had a nice visit. I love seeing them.
We had a quiet Easter. I woke up with a very bad headache, the norm for a day off. I tried all morning to get rid of it to no avail. My mom and Wes fixed ham and all the good stuff so we went over there to eat. The boys had some goodies there(Riley got the little etch-a-sketch that kept him busy for a long time) and they had an Easter egg, well no, a plastic jellybean scavenger hunt. They liked it a lot. Better than a regular egg hunt they said. I have some pictures that I will be developing tomorrow and plan on doing a scrapbook page so I'll post it here when I am finished. We came home and relaxed and that was the extent of the day. I wish I would have felt better. Of course Monday when I woke up the headache was gone. I did get a few things done around the house which is good. Worked on the ER website and went to Applebee's with mom and Wes to show it to them, business dinner of course! So now I am ready to hit the sack and get ready for a marathon week, lots going on at the store and the boys need to get their pinewood derby cars completed this week too. As always it's a tight squeeze!
The Cool Stuff
We knew it was just a matter of time... that's how it is with Riley- all on his time schedule. He finally decided that this would be the year that he would ride his bike. We are really glad since he will be 10 in a few weeks but hey, better late than never, right? He is having a blast. He says the best part is to feel the wind on his face and it's cool because it's faster than he can run. Then the double bonus is that his shoes kept falling off. I'll explain... we have tried to teach him to tie forever and he never wanted to learn. He quietly refused. So he got velcro and zip shoes and they keep falling off. When he learned to ride his bike they were falling off all the time so I went and got some of Ryan's old but brand new tie shoes and told Riley that if he wore those it would be easier to pedal. He put them on, proceeded to try to tie them and asked me if he was doing it right. He was on the right track and with a few minor adjustments he is now an expert shoe tier! He finally wanted to, therefore he did, all in his time. Never a dull moment with Riley. Of course with bikes come the tumbles. He has one good scrape on his chest but he insists it does NOT hurt. They want to ride bikes all the time now and for the last few days the weather has cooperated. Now me and Ruben need bikes so we can all go on bike rides. Just a block away from us is a beautiful park/rec area called Hines Park that has wonderful bike trails.
Tonight I am going to a club to watch Jake's band. Michelle is going with to keep me company and I won't look so out of place by myself. This show at the Bullfrog is sponsored by a local radio station 89X and they are headlining it. They play close to midnight so we'll be a little tired tomorrow! I wouldn't miss it though. I love that he loves to drum...It makes him happy. And he rocks. And I can actually stand to listen to the music. Bonus! I usually don't care for the other bands that play with them. Maybe it's because I know the words to their songs or I can appreciate it because I hear them practice continually, but it's probably just because they are better :) I know that was said just like a truly bias sister that loves her brother so much and is so proud of him and his friends, who happen to be pretty darn cool young men who do a great job of being 21ish and fun. It should be a good show. They are playing all new songs which I heard for the first time last night while they practiced at my mom's. The songs are a new style from the old so I'm not sure about them yet. I need to hear them recorded because it is so different live and like last night, standing in front of the amp. Goodness, it was so loud. I keep telling them that I am old and they laugh and say that I'm not but then Jake gave me headphones so that I would stay downstairs and listen. They are too funny. We'll see how long this old lady can hang tonight!
