2010 remembrances

Jan: Cody celebrated 13!!! I'm too young to be the mom of a teenager!!! We celebrate by letting him invite 2 friends (Andrew T, and ?) to a day at Mr. Biggs - a fun place with bowling, cars, mini golf, mech warriors, and laser tag, and arcades. They pretty much went back and forth between Mech Warriors and Laser Tag. Feb: celebrated 16 years of marriage to my sweetheart! Jay and I participated in a kid's play at "his" church called "Knight camp" He did great! I stumbled and fudged on my lines. March: Bill turned the big 4-0!! Jay and I participated in "The Light," an Easter program done at a neighborhood church were Jay participates in a children's choir. This year, they him to be a shepherd at the birth of Christ. He was SO thrilled because last year that part was played by a teenager! He's only 9!! They asked me to be stage manager - I was floored! It was a huge stretching time as I trusted God to teach me to speak with grace and kindness. April: Happy Easter! We were exhausted from "The Light," so we stayed home and slept in for Easter Sunday (hanging head in shame... but it's the honest truth!) Then we went to Mom's house for Easter dinner. May: Jay started TaeKwonDo at the Y! Happy birthday to me!! I turned 38. On my birthday, Jay had yet another children's choir program with a "stomp" theme, AND Mom G (Omi to my kids) left for a missions trip to Afghanistan.... I learned again to trust God with those I love most! She had an awesome experience - but that's her story to tell. June: The 1st weekend, I hike up Barr Trail to Barr Camp with a friend and her hubby. We spent the night and came back down the next day. My friend and I are "training" to hike all the way up Pike's Peak sometime during the summer. I spent a lot of time hunting down light weight, sugar free, corn free hydration drinks and food for the trip. corn makes me congested (not good when you're already short on oxygen!), and the sugar makes me sleepy and makes my joints ache! Barr Camp provide dinner and breakfast, but both contain corn, so... quinoa with fruit for breakfast and some very expensive dried meals for dinner! My car died... had to replace the engine! So much for trying to get out of debt! We'll keep working on it. We did a lot of walking this month! (no car for 3 weeks!) Well, it started off as biking, but one bike developed a flat, and another wore out the bearing casing, so .... we walked! Cody got a "job" at the library manning the computer to check kids into the summer reading program (that's a mile from home), and Jay had TKD about 1/2 mile from the Library (walked there), and then walked home after working out for an hour (another mile!). I discovered that it was nicer to walk in super hot weather, then to climb into a car that had been sitting out in the sun all day. To go just a mile wasn't far enough to cool the car off with A/C. Also was the beginning of the hottest summer we've had since moving to Colorado 11 yrs ago! Many days this month predicted to be 90 degrees.... fortunately, it didn't feel too hot. July: 90 degree days contiune! Only now they FEEL like 90's!! Still training for the Peak! the Y starts a "Lazyman Triathlon" where you complete the equivolent of a triathon in 6 weeks. I did it twice! spent many hours on the bike! yuck! I don't like exercise bikes!! Each Triathon has 115 miles on bike, 26 miles running, and 3 miles swimming (these numbers are rounded up) My friend and I hike the Peak at the end of the month!! We decided since we already hiked up to Barr Trail once, we'll take the cog railroad to a stopping off place 1.5 miles from the camp, hike there and spend the night. Then the next day do the top half of the mountain, and spend a second night at Barr Camp. The last day we'll hike down to the trailhead of Barr Trail in Manitou Springs. We Made it!!! Aug: School starts. This is Cody's last year in Jr. High!!! Gotta start thinking about what we'll do for High School! Sept: I think this was about the time Jay took his 1st belt test in TKD and earned a yellow belt. We decided to go ahead and pay to have him become a ATA member, so now he gets a magazine a few times a year, has a uniform, gets the belts and certificates as he tests, and can compete in competitions. I don't know when that will happen though! That scares me! Oct: Jay turns 10! We celebrated by letting him have his 1st sleep-over. he had 3 friends (Kaleb, Joshua, and Zeb) over night. He decided on a TaeKwonDo theme. I made the kids "bong-mong-ye" sticks (padded fighting sticks) out of dowels and pipe insalation. I duct taped the handles with black tape so they are all black and silver. They bobbed for ninja rubber duckies with ninja figurines taped to the bottoms, then made t-shirts that Jay designed that had 2 martial artist fighting with the words "TaeKwonDo for Jesus" and a verse reference to the verse about "fight the good fight" -I did the iron-on transfer before the party, and the signed each other's shirts during the party. Jay chose pizza for his meal and they watched the new "Karate Kid" movie. They went to bed at a reasonable hour of about 10:00. Nov: Thanksgiving at mom's house. Dec: Jay had a Christmas program with his children's choir. The theme was "Operation Christmas Child" - I got to interpret it for the deaf! Jay tested for his 2nd belt and graduated to an orange belt in TKD! We did Christmas eve services again (very nice - peaceful! a celebration!) followed by dinner at Texas T-Bone - always a nice experience. On the way home, we crossed paths with 3 deer walking down the street - I've NEVER seen deer in our neighborhood in the 11.5 yrs we've lived here!! We speculated on all the possibilities - the sleigh broke down and they were walking to the auto parts store, or they got tired of pulling the sleigh so they stopped off at 7-11 and were walking back, etc. Made for a fun ending to the evening! Christmas day we went to mom's house. A great and peaceful experience. Mom was upset about not being able to get presents this year, and gave out coupons. WE LOVE THEM! She was "inspired" in her choices of "gifts"!

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve day:

Met Kim "Sarge" O from Socks for Soldiers (SFS) at her son's house here in town. Kim H and Janet L, were also able to meet. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and learning while we knitted. The atmosphere was amazing!

Christmas Eve afternoon:

Went to church for Christmas services. A TON of music this year! It was awesome!! The message was sweet - about the reason Jesus came, and the candle-liting was pretty. I had to snicker when Cody pulled about 1/2 dozen battery operated tea light candles out of his pocket instead of using the real lighted candles! He's gotten hot wax on his hands several years on a row now, so this was his solution! We were able to sit with our friends the Kurtz's (they have a son between our boys), behind Cody's best friend's family, and in front of a friend (who is a girl) from youth group.

Starting a tradition of taking the family photo at church after the Christmas Eve service. These are the top picks!

Christmas Eve evening:

After church we went to our favorite restaurant, Texas T-bone. The place was not crowded, the menu great! (build your own evenything! salad, burger, wrap, etc) The boys decided on the adult menu and had enough food for 3 meals!! My build-your-own-salad was served in a bowl big enough to feed the whole family - as a meal!! Not a side!! We rolled ourselves out of there and came home. A very nice treat!

Christmas day:

We stayed home and invited Mom over. Jay asked to read something to the family before we opened presents. He had taken his new Bible and hunted down Luke 1 and read it aloud. It sounded a lot like Linus from the Charlie Brown Christmas movie - too cute! very sweet, inocent and pure! Bill followed him up with, "That was Jesus birth from man's point of view, let's look at it from God's point of view," and read John 1. We prayed and opened our stockings. We didn't open everything at once - instead I sit the timer for 30 mins and then we'd open something else - or we'd just wait until the fun with one toy wound down, or the building of the new lego was done and played with for a few minutes. It was very relaxed and peaceful!! Even the making of the meal was stress free! Thank you Lord for that gift!

Here's a few pictures of my boyz and some of their presents:

(this is Bill by the way - Amanda sent him a G.I.Joe party pack!)

November 15, 2009 Jacob's baptism

Jay (aged 9) was baptized this day. This was his decision and he was impatient that he had to wait over a month before he could do it. (Isn't that awesome!)
The was snowy and we thought they might cancel church, but they didn't! Yeah! We arrived extra early because we didn't know how bad the roads would be or how long it would take us to get there. We ducked into the Jr. High room where they were working on a pancake bar for the kids, and offered it to both boys. They each had pancaked loaded with butter, syrup, candy, whipped cream - the works!! Then Jay and Bill met with the pastor to go over what to do, when, etc. and the pastor suggested they walk around a bit and get a donut to calm the nerves - Jay picked a filled donut! By the time I caught up with them behind the stage, Jay was jumping up and down (litterally) with all the sugar coursing through him system!
The actual act of baptising him went off with out a hitch! (I have pictures, but don't know where they are - I might have used mom's camera)
We had planned a big get together with friends and family. The speculative total was just over 20 people in our little house, but that number quickly dwindled as one family, then another became sick, then the weather turned bad. BUT Aunt Marty and Uncle Pete drove allll the way from Buena Vista, CO just to be here for it!! They even stayed for the whole church service. Omi and her best friend Maryanne also came to the service and stayed!! They all made it over for the get together at home. I served Taco Soup (which was burnt in my haste to re-heat it quickly - pooh!) and all the fixings. Jay specifically asked for a cake decorated with a river and a dove (for when Jesus was baptized!! Isn't that soooo cool!). We have him a Bible with a blue leather cover and a sword on it. It has the armor of God in pictures throughout it.Bill was even able to get it engraved.
We are so proud of Jay's choice and the choices he's made since then!

Labor Day fun!

Every year over the Labor Day weekend, there's a Hot Air Balloon festival in a city park about 2 miles from our house. EVERY year we forget about it - unless they fly over our house.

This year, I was awakened (again) by the sound of the fire of the balloons. I look out my bedroom window first, then wake the boys up and we all run outside (in our jammies) to watch them go over.
(one landed at the next intersection down from our street!)

This year, they were all really low, so we could yell back and forth at the balloon riders!

From our front step we can see our local school. One of the balloons landed in the parking lot!!!

We ran inside and threw on some clothes and walked around to check it out, and found that we knew one of the crew members. They were VERY friendly and appreciated any help we would give in helping them take down the balloon and getting it packed up. YEAH!! How cool is that!!

(helping to pack up the balloon!)

We started back towards home and noticed there was another balloon in the park on the other side of the school. The guy had landed, thrown out a tether line to his crew, and then started giving neighborhood kids rides!! FREE!! (only about 75-100 feet in the air, but Hey! it's off the ground in a hot air balloon!!) Again, the crew was SOO nice and appreciative of any and all help!! Both boys got to ride and we stuck around to help them pack up. AWESOME!!
Balloon in the park! See the whitw tether off to the left.

Jay's ride!

Cody's ride - he IS smiling behind his hand. Check out the Balloon owner! He's having a blast!! He kept giving rides until he ran out of gas!

August Visit to IN

2nd week of Aug. we drove back to IN to visit Nana and Papa. It was a good visit. We checked out a 3 story antique mall, and WAY cool glass factory, and of course, the Indianapolis Children's Museum. The ICM had King Tut stuff on display - really awesome to see actual ancient items and not replicas! We also had a small family get together with both sides of the family represented. (Way to go Mom A on that one!)




Here's a few pictures from the trip.

Jay and Matthew dressed up as Jedi at the museum

The boyz with their gifts from Aunt Manda and the gift shop

Matthew (6) and Noah (2.5) under a dinosaur - brothers!

Dogs want to go HOME! Leaving KOA in KA

The Boy's Christmas Thank You

Amazing! Cody was complaining of wearing a shirt almost exactly like one he received today - only the new one is "awesome!" and he might even wear it tomorrow!! Go figure!

Jay just loves everything! You did GREAT Amanda!

Mom, the science rock kit is AWESOME!! We'll be starting rocks the first day after break! Jay begged to get started on it today! (His teacher was her usual mean self and said, "no.")

Thanks a ton for all the goodies!! We are enjoying them all!! I look forward to enjoying the books, mom! Bill is looking forward to listening to Abbot and Costello!

Merry Christmas!!

Arbuckle Summer Vacation - 8/24-28/08

Just wanted to share a some of the ton of pictures of our family vacation to Gunnison Colorado. We stayed in a KOA Kabin for most of a week. We visited the Blue Mesa, the Alpine Tunnel, Pitkin (supposed ghost town), Crested Butte, and a really cool little cemetery on Monarch Pass. OH! and we did a few Geocaches along the way!



1st stop: the incredibly peaceful meadow and ancient cemetery on Monarch Pass.

A quiet resting place

The only readable marker it says:
Our little Ella, Died Aug 12, 1881, aged 1 y's, 3 m's, 4 d's

The whole cemetery was fenced and locked, so this is the best we could get.

The meadow The boys on a bridge on the water. C(11) J(7)

Next stop: The summit of Monarch Pass.

Summit!

To the west of this sign, the water runs into the Pacific.
To the east of the sign, the water runs towards the Atlantic.


Destination: Gunnison KOA! It did not have what we usually expect from a KOA - ie: a swimming pool and mini golf, but it DID have Fishing from a stocked pond, paddle boats an another pond, a dog run (great for our TWO dogs) and fun 3 wheel rental bikes.

C chilling out on his bunk - watching a movie. We layed around a lot this week - I read, Bill slept, the boys watched movies and rode their bikes a lot. Was SO nice to just relax!

The great fishermen! We ended up with 5 fish!! No license needed - just pay per pound! I think our mountain trout dinner cost up about $30! But we ate it and enjoyed it because "the boyz" caught it!!

We did all of the other activities that I listed above as well. I just didn't get any pictures of them. The paddle boats were especially fun because the guy that rented them to us told the boys that it wasn't a real paddle boat experience until they went under the water of the fountain in the middle of that pond - the boys took is seriously and took Bill there and locked their knees so he couldn't move!! He got soaked!!!!! The rental bikes were fun too - a great workout!!


First outing: Blue Mesa!!
I feel like I had to drag them out to the Blue Mesa. I just didn't want to drive all that way and NOT see it again. I kept saying, "Just want to show it to you - just for a few minutes."

I forgot the power of water, sand, and rocks can have on boys! Neither boy remembered visiting the beaches in MI and VA, so this was a totally new experience for them! I had to inform them that it was OK to take off their shoes and wade... naturally J fell in to his waist!

Throwing rocks into the water - still have the shoes on! They come off soon!
There they are!

On the way back to the Kabin, we stopped at a pull-off on the side of the highway, so Bill could take more pictures of the water. The boys and I took the time to look for "images" in the rocks - this is one that J found and called it his shield with a cross in it -- like a knight!


On other days we went to Crested Butte, and we bummed around Gunnison. After packing up the little car (Kia Sportage), the itty bitty trailer (about 4ft X 3ft - big enough to fit a car top carrier on), the 2 kids and 2 dogs, we decided to take a side trip to the "Alpine Tunnel" - an ancient railroad tunnel built in the 1880's. There was a warning about taking trailers up, but did I listen? NO! I left the trailer hitched - it's so small anyway!LOL! At one point I did pull over and tried to take it off, but it wouldn't budge! The last 10 miles were the worse road I have ever been on - our car IS 4x4, but it's too light to be very useful. Those last 10 miles especially were horrific, but there was no where to turn around except at the end! There was a serious concern for the axle of the trailer and the weather - we were on the east side of the mountain and there were clouds coming in, so... we didn't stick around the top for very long!


Here's a picture of a piece of the road!

Note: NO guard rails, sheer drop off on one side and steep rock field on the other - the scenery was beautiful! I didn't see a bit of it!!! (I was driving)

The tunnel itself was kinda' a bust as it's been colapsed for safety reasons, but the railroad remains were interesting.

Switch track - one way goes through, the other goes to the engine house.The remains of the engine house - it's really a lot larger than this pic shows.

On the way back down, we stopped at this water tank for a snack. The road here is MUCH smoother than that last 10 miles - no boulders in the middle of the road, but large rocks! LOL.

We did eventually make it home, but not before getting pulled over for not having any tail lights - the trailer wires were partially severed and caused the fuse to blow, and blow, and blow, and blow until we figured out what was causing the problem and spliced the wires back together! Aside from the several harrowing hours on the tunnel road, it was a very nice trip overall!

Just the break we all needed!