Ted & Patty

Marshall's 27

2010-05-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving at Cassady & Stephen's house. It's nice to be able to meet at their new little house that they have spent so much time fixing up. And it's nice cuz I didn't have to clean my house. Plus they are more central for all of us to meet. Marshall drove up from the Valley and picked up Stacy & Jade his way through PV. It sure was great to get together with our wonderful kids. And Cassady & Stephen were the perfect hosts. Hee Hee.
Since we didn't go down to the Valley to celebrate with Ted's and my family like we usually do, we decided to travel down the following Saturday. We got to spend the day visiting. We met up with Ted's family in the morning. We went to the Parents house and Tom & Heather were in town and Bob & Laura stopped by too. It was nice not to have to deal with all the celebration activities and just visit.
Then Ted & I headed over to Marshall & Kirk's house. Stacy drove down too. We had a bonfire and enjoyed a cooling rain as we spent the afternoon together just visiting. It was one of the best Thanksgivings ever! Thank you everybody!
Click on the PLAY button to see the slide show or click on it again and it will open up in my Picasa album so you can see them bigger. ♥

Halloween Cookies at Cassady's house

2009-11-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

Grand Canyon

2009-11-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

Marshall and Joy planned to hike the Grand Canyon on her birthday, October 30. So, Marshall decided to make the hike out to Bright Angel point this October 30 and Ted and I went along to see the sites and wait for him while he hiked. It was a beautiful day! Enjoy the show! Happy Birthday Joy!

Beaver trip

2009-10-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

This was our trip up to Beaver to help the folks pack up their stuff and head back down to Phoenix for the winter. We're lucky we have family not too far away that we can take a weekend trip in our trusty Jambo and hit the open road. Funny I didn't get any pix of them, must have been when my battery ran out. We had a lovely time visiting. We even got to see cousin Bruce and enjoy a Sunday dinner with his family. Such good people. They have adopted our sweet parents as their own and are there for them whenever they need anything or just to have someone to visit with. We are very grateful to them. We got everything locked down and buttoned up and headed out just in time. A winter storm hit just as we were leaving. Welcome back to Phoenix guys! Next time I'll take more pictures...

A Day at the Park

2009-10-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Stephen getting something ... garlicy.

Admiring a classic.

Enjoying kettle corn.

Us

2009-10-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hiking with Marshall

2009-08-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

Marshall asked if I wanted to hike Granite Mountain with him. It's a hike I have always wanted to do but I never felt ready. Marshall assured me I could do it... so we did.
It was the hardest hike I have ever done. It took us 4 hours to get to the top and 2 hours to get down. It was awesome! Thanks Marshall!!

Harry Potter

2009-07-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

This is Ted at the Harry Potter movie

Cassady, Stephen and Shane got to the theater at 8:00 and got our tickets. They had to stand out in the lobby with throngs of Harry Potter fans until they were let into the theater at 9:30. Ted and I got there at 10. Ted came prepared with a neck pillow and ear plugs so he could sleep until the showing at midnight.

Cassady came prepared with her PSP and played games. There was a trivia contest by a guy who looked like Snape. Cassady knew most of the answers and won a piece of candy. She would have got more but the guy had bad aim.

It was fun go see the first showing and hang out with the die-hard Potter fans.
The movie was pretty good. Now I have to go reread the book. I didn't want to read it before the movie because then I would have noticed how much stuff they left out. Now I can fill in all the blanks and have the visuals to back it up. Good times!

4th of July in Phoenix

2009-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

We stayed at Marshall & Kirk's house Friday night and did fun stuff with them Saturday morning. Marshall took Ted for a bike ride down the green belt. He took Cassady for a ride on the motorcycle then they went out to lunch. Kirk and I made the cole slaw for the party at Jill & Hal's house.

Family Reunion 09

2009-06-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

2009-06-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

Folk art fair

2009-06-17T11:16:00.003-07:00

Making a gingerbread house

2009-06-17T11:15:00.003-07:00

Dad

2009-06-17T11:06:00.001-07:00

Joy

2009-06-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Spring photo essay

2008-03-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

So, I'm taking a digital photography class at the local college and my assignment was to make a photo essay of spring, burn it to a disk and print a cover for the CD jacket.
I had a request from Lori to post it so here it is.
Everyone in class really liked it and the teacher said that I got some really nice photos. He said I should design seed packet covers. Hee hee! What do you think?
If you click on the "Iris with snowflakes" you can actually see snow flakes!

Welcome Elijah Phoenix!

2008-02-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

These are the pictures from the baby shower for
Aaryn and her new baby Elijah Phoenix.
It was at Jill's house.

This is me
getting to hold the newest member of our family,
Elijah Phoenix
and Allison.

This is my niece, Allison holding my great nephew, Elijah,
my sister, Lori and my sweet daughter, Cassady.

This is Tiana, Elijah's big sister and Emma, Elijah's auntie.

Elijah and his.... second cousin?? Allison

This is Elijah's Mommy, Aaryn!

Opening presents with the help of the kids.

Tammie and Lindsay
pretty cousins and Aunties.

This is Grandma Kim and granddaughter Haylie!

Nikki, Haylie, Cassady, Jenny, (Haylie's Mommy) and Allison

This is Granddaddy, Hal and his grandson, Elijah.

Aaryn, Jenny and cranky Haylie

Cassady & Michelle

Haylie, Jenny and Amy

The Kim's
The one on the left is my sister
and the one on the right is KimWold, a friend of Jill's and ours from way back.

This is me and my sisters!
Kelli, Jill, Amy, Kim, Me, Michelle & Lori

This is Jill and Hal, Parents to Aaryn,
holding their first Grandson, Elijah!

Me, Elijah's Mommy, Aaryn and Cassady.

Mother and Daughter,
aka, Grandmother and Mommy

Cousins!
Tammy, Aaryn, Nikki, Jenny and Cassady in the back.

I just realized that I didn't get any photos of Aaryn and Elijah together ...
Or Elijah and his sister Tiana together...
Where was my head?
Maybe next time.

Oh, wait...
there is Elijah with Aaryn opening presents...
and Tiana's in there too.
Does that count?

Thanks for the lovely party!

Congratulations Aaryn & Mike!

Cassady's 19

2008-02-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

Blowin out the candles

Cassady & Stephen

Eatin cake!
It looks like they are eating it with their ears??

This is a little gross, but hey, that's our girl!
Cassady's favorite cake is made of ice-cream.
Love potion # 31 is the flavor,
vanilla with swirls of raspberry and fudge and raspberry filled chocolate hearts.
Yummy!
They, Baskin Robins, only make if for her birthday,
well, maybe it's for Valentines day, but we think it's just for her.
She loved the red roses!

He likes ice-cream too.

This is Joy and Marshall.
They liked the ice-cream cake too!

Happy Birthday Cassady!

Ted's birthday was on February 4th.
We had cake cake.
We didn't take pictures, but love him just the same!

Happy Birthday Teddy!

Christmas 2007

2008-01-07T12:41:00.001-08:00

Christmas photos coming at ya!
Are you ready? Here we go!

Fun with the camera

Fuzzy tree

Yay! Presents!

Me and Cassady
playing with our new camera tripods.

Marshall got Guitar Hero,
a video game,
hence the Nintendo zombie stare faces.

Stephen got a titanium SPORK!
Score!

Ted's mega cool shirt from Laura & Bob all the way from Yellowstone!
Thanks for the presents you guys!
Ted loves his new sweatshirt, I may let him wear it if he promises not to get it dirty.
My new sweater fits perfect and is my favorite color, Marshall's new shirt is groovy to the max and Cassady's earrings are stunning!
You guys ROCK!

Opening presents!

Stephen in his new night cap ( a family tradition) and Cassady
trying to figure out the new IPOD he got for her.

That was Christmas at our house!

So, on the Saturday before Christmas
we went down to the big city to spend the holiday with family.
First we met up with Ted's family.
Grandma & Grandpa, Laura & Bob, Ted, Marshall, Cassady, Stephen and I all went out to lunch at Olive Garden, our favorite restaurant. It was wonderful to see them and we had a great time visiting together and sharing the Christmas cheer.
Sorry I didn't get any photos of you guys, but we love you just the same and enjoyed spending family time with you!

Then we went to Kim's house and met up with my family.
Don't you just love family parties?!
Here's some pictures of my awesome family and the fun time we had.

Joe & Lori

Our beautiful daughter, Cassady!

Aaryn took this photo, among others.
She sent me some of her photos and I'm posting a few of them here.
Thanks Aaryn!

Gwenie, Kori, Tammie & Travis
Sisters with their babies.

Cousins!
Kenzie, Emma, Emily, Ethan, Allison & Tiana
(is that how you spell her name?)

Kori & Aaryn
beautiful cousins!

Amy & Hanny
with Hanny's Christmas dolly.

Kyle with his dragon kite.

Papa & Aaryn

Dane, Amy & Hannah
they're a smiley family!

Cait & Papa

Me & Kim

Marshall got to be the elf who passed out the presents.
The hat made all the difference!

Ben with his present. Stand back!

Mally and her present.

Aaryn and Allison
playing with the cool doll house book Allison got.

Visiting with the cousins.
That's Lindsay, Stephen, Buck (smiling in the back there) & Cassady.

My Sweety!

More cousins!
Ethan, Lucas, Allison, Kyle, Cassady & Stephen

Michelle & Kelli

This is my Norman Rockwell photo of the family loading up their plates.
I love the look on Amy's face on the right!
You crack me up, Amy!

Dad, Karen and Kim
enjoying Christmas sweets.

Ted, Marshall & Hal

Lindsay, Yancy, Kori & Gwenie

Mike & Aaryn

Cousins Cait & Buck

Stephen & Cassady

Mally & Audra
the next generation of cousins.

Hanny

Papa and his great granddaughter, Gwendolyn.

Stephen & Ted

Beautiful son, Marshall!

Wade & Marsha

Me and Garrett

Ted & Dane
cracking up!

Pretty pregnant Aaryn!

Aaryn and her sweety, Mike!

Travis and his Daddy, Neil.

Cutest smiles!
I just want to squeeze his widdle face!
Travis is pretty cute too.
Hee hee.

Kelli and her Daddy.

Cait, Cassady, Stephen & Marshall
catching up on cousin talk.

Kim & Vic
doing what hosts do,
grinning and make the punch.

Thanks for another great family party you guys!

If you have made it this far through the photos
then you may as well go to my Photobucket and check out ALL the photos.
Most of them are here, but of course there are more.
Cut and past this address.

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y132/piddypat/Christmas%2007/?start=all

Happy New Year everybody!

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-26T15:13:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving at Lara & Bob's house!

This is Brother, Ted; Dad, Clint; Sister, Laura; and Mama, Lynette!

Here's Lee and Grandpa in the kitchen.

This is Laura and two of her three sons, Lee and Rex,
and three of her grandkids, Rex's kids;
which from here on out will only be known by their first initials.
That's sister K, brother N, and one of the twins, C.
Her other son, Jake lives in Texas with his wife, Andrea and their three children.
We missed you guys!

This is Cousin Rex with his boy, C;
cousin Marshall and cousin Lee.
The BIG cousins.

This is silly Lee and his pretty wifey Audra!

Here's Rex, Lee and Unca Ted!

This is Lee giving his boy, B his fourth
"just one more" spoonful of whipped cream!

This is B enjoying his whipped cream!

Here's Brother Ted and Sister Laura.

Here's Unca Marshall playing ball in the back yard with Rex and Austin's son, N.

Here's Marshall and Auntie Laura.

This is Grandpa Bob with Rex and Austin's daughter, K.

Four generations!
Grandma Lynette, her daughter, Laura;
Laura's son, Rex; and two of Rex's four kids, K and N.

Pretty wifeys!
Austin and Audra.

Marshall, Stephen and Cassady
listen while Ted entertains with his amazing musical skills!

Laura singing along with Ted.

Grandpa singing the low notes!

Stephen pickin' out a tune.

Grandma loves the great grandkids!

Rex, Laura, Stephen (in the back), and Cassady.

Lee has awesome skills on the trombone!
He played Christmas carols!,
while Audra played twister with the kids!

Mom & Dad,
aka. Grandma & Grandpa!

This is Peggy the tortoise.
She lives at Laura and Bob's house with her many little baby tort-tie.

This is Rex's wifey, Austin and the other twin, S.
I think they are thinking about what they want for Christmas.

Ahh... This is Ted.

This is Marshall
with his plate loaded with the bounteous Thanksgiving feast!
Thanks to Laura and Bob for a wonderful dinner!

Me and Ted!

These kids belong to me and Ted!

Laura is the best Grandma ever!

This is Lee with his little girl, A
and her Angelina Jolie lips.

Grandpa!
in his Yellowstone tourist shirt
that Bob & Laura brought him back from ... Yellowstone.

This is Bob!

Here's Rex and C!

What a nice bunch of people!
Thanks for sharing the holiday with us!

James Taylor!

2007-11-19T15:03:00.001-08:00

We got to go to the James Taylor concert!
Right here in our little town!
They built an activity center big enough to attract big name acts!
I'm so happy!

The concert was awesome!!
I can't believe how great he sounded.
The seats were better this time and they had big TV screens that showed him up closer.
We did remember to bring the binoculars this time.
They worked great!
But I didn't bring my camera because I got in trouble last time.
I was going to buy a disposable one there but there weren't any for sale, bummer!

This is a poster and our tickets.
So, it turns out you could bring cameras to this show.
I was a bit miffed.
The lady we sat next to had hers and she said she would send me copies.
I gave her my email address, but I haven't heard from her yet.
So,...I got these off the internet.
I don't know if they are from our concert,
but they are from the same tour and he looked just like he does in these pictures.

It was an incredible show!

I heard later that Jill & Hal came up to see him, too.
The same show!
Where were you guys?
It would have been great to see you there!

He sang all my favorite songs,
well not all of them, but all the songs he sang are my favorites.

He looks pretty good for an old guy, but so did everyone in the audience.
We were all looking good for our age.

Rock on James!

B day Party

2007-11-19T14:17:00.001-08:00

So, it was Stephen's mom 50th birthday and her kids threw her a big party.
We were invited!
It was in a cute little house down town.
They picked all the guests up in Limos!

This is Marshall and Cassady
in the limo!

This is me and Ted
in the limo.

This is Stephen's Mom and Cassady.

That's Stephen
running the music.
He has the ultimate set of speakers!
Boom, Boom!

This is me and Ted

Marshall & Cassady!
Pretty kids, huh!

This is Cassady and Nicolette,
Stephen's sister.
She organized the party, she's sweet.

Having a good time!
Now that the party's started they can relax.
Everything went off without a hitch.

Nicolette teasing Stephen with cake.

Cassady & Stephen's Dad

Cassady & Stephen

Stephen's Mom & Dad.
Don't ask about the tie.
There's a story behind it, but I don't know what it is.

Friend, Nate
enjoying himself.

I do know the story about the dress.
Stephen's Mom is a Liberian at one of the local schools.
She is friends with all the teachers.
The first grade teacher wears this fancy pink princess dress
to class when one of her students has a birthday.
That way the kids feel special and everyone knows to wish them Happy Birthday.
Great idea, don't you think!?
So... of course she had to wear it to the birthday party.
The birthday girl got to dance in it.

It was a very pretty dress!
That's Stephen's Dad.

This is Stephen's Mom and Sister dancing.
They are a very cute family!

These are the boys
talking about cars and boy stuff
out on the back porch.

Just a happy family!
She was tired from dancing!

This is the front of the house
with folks visiting on the porch.
There was music and dancing, and laughing and eating in the house
so it was nice to cool off outside.

This is Marshall & Cassady
cooling off on the front porch.

What a great night we all had!
These people know how to have fun!
I'm glad we got to share it with them.
Thanks you guys!

Pumpkin Fun

2007-11-19T12:55:00.001-08:00

This is what happens in the Fall at our house.

The leaves on the Virgina Creeper turn bright red and orange.
Amazing colors!

This is how the enchanted arbor looks.

This is the worm I found eating the Virgina Creeper.

Okay, that's the last worm I'm going to post this year, really.

CARVING PUMPKINS!

This is Cassady & Stephen carving pumpkins.

This is Stephen carving his pumpkin.

Stephen enjoys adding toothpicks to his creations (and then setting them on fire).
Cassady just likes playing with knives and making scary faces!
That's her in the background.

See what I mean!
This is her "scarecrow in a field" carving.
It kind of looks like the one she did last year of Jack Skellington,
but it's not.
See the scarecrow?

We carve all sides of our pumpkins.
This is the other side of hers. It's Oogy Boogy.
It looks just like him, really!
She has a thing for "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

This is me and my little boy
carving pumpkins.
Well, he was carving.
I just watch nowa days... and clean up after them.

This is Marshall's scary face.

This Ted...
getting more knives.

Cassady brought a spooky cat balloon home from work
and Stephen cleverly added it to his Jack-O-Lantern.
He's a cleaver boy!
He's very proud,
we all are, really.

This is Marshall's "Big D" pumpkin.
Get it?... He works for "Big D".
See, the eyes are big D's.
All the boys are cleaver!
We are a proud family.

Cool shot of Ooogy Boogy!

See, now you can see the scarecrow...
that's Marshall's peaking out from the back.

Not sure what he's doing here...
Probably something cleaver...

This is the other side of Marshall's Jack-O-lantern.
Scary! Oooo!

PUMPKIN FESTIVAL

The two local farms where the pumpkin festivals are usually held in our area,
were sold this year.
No more Pumpkin Festivals!?
But wait,
a new place is trying to keep the tradition going.
It's nice because it is just down the street.
It was really cold when we went, and not many people were there.
Not much going on. They are still getting the hang of the Pumpkin Festival business.
We're hoping they can make it work.
It's a real pretty place.

This is Ted
at the pumpkin festival.

This is me,
with the sun on the top of my head,
at the pumpkin festival.
Or, is it my third eye shining? Ooo!
It's okay if you think I'm a dork,
I don't mind.

This is Cassady & Stephen
squinting in the light.
I think they were just trying to stay warm...

Mr. Heatmiser, waiting for his food.

This is Ted and our dogs
at the Pumpkin Festival, they enjoyed the walk too.

Apple Tree Worm

2007-10-12T11:14:00.001-07:00

Here you go, Austin.
I hope the kids like this one.
This is a big fat worm we found in our apple tree.
Aren't they just the most incredible creatures?

He looks so plump and squishy!
I touched him. I know it's gross, but I just had to see what he felt like.
He is squishy and fuzzy too. Eww!
I like his little feet.

This is his face... if you can call it a face...does he have a face?
Where are his eyes? Weird!
He's kinda cute...
in a wormy, plump, squishy, fuzzy, faceless, eyeless, little feet... sort of way.
Cassady took these lovely photos.

Baseball! ... well, softball...

2007-10-12T11:03:00.001-07:00

So, Marshall had his first game a couple of weeks ago and Cassady took pictures.
This is Marshall swinging.

He made it to 1st base!

This is Marshall playing first base.

This is Marshall!

I love this shot, Cassady!

This is Cassady and Stephen watching from the bleachers.

This is Ted and the dogs, Quincy & Jazzy watching the game.
Well, at least Ted is watching the game.

Jazz watching the game.

Melissa and I watching the game.

Stephen taking Quincy for a run.
Caught in mid air!
It's like they are flying!
Cool!

Happy Quincy!
He loves Stephen.
Isn't that the sweetest look on his face?

It's fun for us to watch Marshall play sports.
They won their first game!
He also plays basket ball with this same group.
Thanks to Cassady's work for sponsoring them again!
He as been part of a sports league in this town since he was a little boy playing T-ball.
He's pretty well known and is a favorite of many of the officials that run the games.
I'm happy that our kids have had a chance to grow up in this small town.
It's a good life!

Kodak moments

2007-10-12T10:56:00.001-07:00

Ted's Mom and Dad
aka. Grandma & Grandpa,
stopped by on their way back from their winter home in Utah
to their summer home in Phoenix.
They spent the night then
we all went out to breakfast the next morning before they hit the road.
It was great to see them!
They are some of my most favorite people!

Look, I actually got in the picture!
Thanks Marshall!

This is Ted and Marshall playing catch.
Marshall just joined one of the towns teams so he needed to work on his skills.

It was a father son moment so I had to get a picture.
I love these guys!

Fun at the Fair!

2007-10-04T14:13:00.001-07:00

We had guests at our county fair this year!
Some of my sisters and their husbands and kids joined me, Cassady and Ted.
It was so much fun to have them come and spend the day!
It was a beautiful day!

Ethan, Cassady, Lucas, Kyle and Emma (the cousins)
had fun wandering around in their little group.
We're pretty sure that was Elvis following behind them.
Elvis, the younger years, or is it the older years?

Kelli got to wear her cowboy hat! She fit right in! Crazy girl!

This is Ted and Cassady taking in all the color and excitement.
I think Cassady was taking a break from the spinning.

Ted got to hold Cassady's winnings,
or is it Kyle's?

The gang!
Lindsay, Emma, Lucas, Kyle, Ethan and Cassady
That's Ted in the back, picking his nose.

Lindsay, Jill, Hal and Lori watching the kids spin.
This is what most grown ups do at the fair.
But not Ruben, he went on all of the rides!

Cassady and Emma.
It's nice to have cousins.
There's Kyle and Jill behind them.

Ruben was the MAN and went on all the rides with the younger kids, too.
That's him, Allison and Ben on the bumper cars.

Allison grinning with Ben in the back bumping into someone.
Comin' at cha!

Ben, Ruben and Allison in a tangle.

Allison under the rainbow!

Lori got to wear her hat too.
She's the only one that didn't get sunburnt!
Smart girl!

Of course you have to get fair food!
Ted and Cassady have to have their ice cream!
That's me in the reflection in Ted's glasses.
That's as close as I got to a picture of me. Michelle was there also, but I some how missed getting a photo of her too.
If anyone who was there got a photo of either of us send it to me, will ya?

There's Kyle, Lucas and Ethan in the back row and Allison and Ben in the front
of the rocking... rocking... rocking... Pirate Ship!

This is the part I like about the fair. So much to look at! Colors everywhere!

Here's Ethan and Allison on the Fanny Flyer!
Allison's ahead!

Ethan could barely fit on his rug. But he flew none the less.

All the way to the bottom.

That's Allison grinning!

That's Ethan in his cool sun glasses.
Wait, there's Michelle over there on the right.

More pretty colors for me. Ooo!

This is Emma spinning!
Cassady got the action shots cuz she was in the action!

This is laughin' Lucas!

This is Kyle, Cassady, Emma, Lucas and Ethan
in front of the maze of mirrors and glass walls.
You should have seen Ben go through this one.
He banged into every wall there was.
He was rubbing his nose by the time he came out.
Silly boy!

This Ben with his prize.
The lady at the entrance gave him a hand stamp on both hands and both cheeks.
I think she liked him.

Oooh, pretty!

Ethan and Lucas on the Tilt O' Whirl

Kyle and Emma on the Tilt O' Whirl

This is Cassady on the Tilt O' Whirl
(self portrait)

There's Ben, Allison, Ethan, Kyle and Lucas on the Tilt O' Whirl.

This is what you look like after too many rides on the Tilt O' Whirl.
Poor Luke and Kyle!

More rides.
Lucas and Kyle spinning.

Cassady!
There's Kyle in the back, spinning!

Ethan, spinning!

Cassady and her Daddy!

Cassady's cool artsy photo!
Very cool, don't you think?

Cassady and Emma, spinning!
Or trying to keep from spinning, she informs me.

Allison picking out a prize at the Duck Pond!

More Spinning!
Ahh, to be young and not get nauseas or faint from all the SPINNING!

It was an awesome day at the fair!
We also got to see animals and tractors (the tractors were Hal's fav')
We saw flowers, vegetables, photographs, crafts, quilts, collections
and many more blue ribbon displays.
We watched the Demolition Derby trucks get bogged down in the mud.
Allison and I got our picture taken with Smoky the Bear!
We ate cotton candy, corn dogs, chicken on a stick, fry bread, burritos, pizza, etc...etc.
Classic fair fun!

Thanks for coming all the way up here, guys!
Sorry the trip home was so... not fun,... again.

Just remember the happy memories that we made today
and all the
FUN AT THE FAIR!

Family & Frogs

2007-09-18T09:54:00.001-07:00

Kim and Dad
reminisce while Smoki sleeps.

Jill, Kim, Dad, Lori & Patty

Cassady was at work one day during the monsoons when she looked outside and saw a puddle bubbling a splashing for no reason. She went out to check it out and found it loaded with tadpoles. Well, she couldn't just leave them there so she filled a water bottle or two with the little baby tadpoles and brought them home to raise them into frogs. So... here they are all huddled in a pile of little frogs. Can you find them all? They look like the dirt and rocks they are sitting on.

They were so cute and tiny!
Here they are sitting in her hand before they hopped away.

Here's one that still has a tail.

We had fun watching them grow little leg buds as their tail slowly shrunk down to nothing. Then they started hopping around on their little island in the big blue bucket.
She released them in our flower beds around the yard. We see them every once in a while, but mostly they stay hidden.

MUDDBONE

2007-08-23T11:55:00.001-07:00

This is Ted setting up for a gig
at the local bar & grill just down the street from our house.
It's an early gig and close to home so I like to go too.
It's so nice and cool out there on the patio.
Nice view, don't you think?
I mean the green fields, blue sky and mountains. Sheesh!

This is Ted getting psyched up to play.

This is Ted psyching up the crowd.
"Are you ready to Rock!"

Muddbone plays!

Ted's a rock star!

The Band
Scott, the drummer
Brock, lead guitar and vocals
Ted, bass and vocals

Rocking into the night.

Kids enjoy the show too,
since it's an outdoor show, everyone's welcome.
Ted likes to dance too.

Melissa & sunburnt Marshall
came to watch Daddy-o rock the block!
It's a family fun time!

Stephen & Cassady
enjoy the show and the tasty food they have at the Grill.
Good times all around!

The Joys of Gardening

2007-08-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

The happy Zucchini plants

This is a pretty yellow squash blossom

These are the annoying Squash bugs that inhabit our squash plants.

This is what they look like
and how big they grow when they have
happy organic pesticide free plants to feast on.

In spite of the squash bugs the little zucchini flourish.

This is just one of the 12 big juicy green worms that I found.
They like to hide in our garden
and feast on the succulent green tomatoes and tender green leaves.

They are hard to find... look close...think camouflage!

This is how you know you have tomato worms on your tomato plants.

The monster!

Some of the tomatoes were lucky enough to survive.
Aren't they pretty!

A bucket of worms
still attached to the branches they were munching on.
I ain't touching them, Gross!
We used to feed them to the chickens, they loved them!
But since they are gone we leave them out for the crows and roadrunner.
Yummy!

Summer

2007-08-14T13:40:00.001-07:00

This is some, just some, of our summer zucchini.
Sorry it's blurry. I just can't seem to focus on them any more.

The Pickled beets of summer,
yummy!
Thanks to Mama Langston for her fabulous recipe!

The one salmon colored summer rose
from our one salmon colored rose bush.

The amazing huge summer dragonfly
that sat so perfectly still posing on our summer Butterfly Bush.
Click on him to see him close up
He is really amazing!

Stevie Nicks concert

2007-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is Ted & I at the concert.
It's not the greatest picture, but it will have to do.
We did have fun!

Stevie Nicks!
It was so cool!
She sounds just like she does on the radio.

Us again,
in blue light.

That's really her!
It's hard to tell but it is.

We were back a little ways.
But we made our way to the front by the end.
Thanks to Wendy, Ted's boss, who got us the tickets!

Harry Potter Time!

2007-07-29T13:28:00.001-07:00

Cassady, Melissa and I went to the midnight showing of the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
We got there around 8:30 in order to get good seats and to save some seats for the rest of the die hard fans in our group. Well, the rest of them weren't really "die-hard" fans, but they are dedicated movie goers.

This is us waiting.
It was a long wait but it was fun.
Someone in the theater brought a laptop and was watching the last Harry Potter movie. We could kind of see it from where we were sitting, but we couldn't hear it. We knew the dialog anyway so it didn't really matter. That helped to pass the time a little.
And we got to listen to the teeny boppers behind us tell stories in their eloquent manner. It was quite entertaining.
The rest of the guys showed up around 10:30.

This is the rest of the guys.
That's Logan, Shane, Melissa, Cassady & Stephen.

Then last week we went to the midnight release of the latest and final book.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows!

Melissa went in earlier in the day and got the bracelets that told you which group you were in and where your place was in line. They were in group B. One of the first groups. It was a big group and the place was really crowded.
Thanks to Melissa they didn't have to wait around too long after midnight to get their books.
Thanks Melissa!

Waiting for midnight,
shopping for Harry Potter stuff,
in our glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter glasses.

Stephen & Cassady
in their glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter glasses.

Melissa & Marshall
in Their glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter glasses.

Cassady, Me & Melissa
waiting for them to call up the groups
(in our glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter glasses)

Cassady got it! It's in the bag!

Melissa got hers!
Just look at the grins on their faces!

Happy Girls!
Can't wait to get reading!
Cassady had hers read by Sunday and then gave it to me, and Melissa had hers read by Monday. She had to work, so she had to wait.
It was difficult for me to wait while I watched the expressions on Cassady face,
but she wouldn't tell me what was happening. I didn't want her to.
I had it read by Monday.
It was worth the wait!
Now Ted's reading it.

THE FEVER IN BEAVER

2007-07-16T14:18:00.001-07:00

This is the official logo
that Abe and Tom had put on shirts for all of us.
Thanks for doing that guys.

These are the two people who started this whole family.
This is Clint and Lynette,
aka. Grandma and Grandpa
(with Bessie in the background)

These are Clint and Lynette
(and Dolly) and their 6 kids.
From the top:
Tom #4, Laura #3, Andy #1, Pat #2
Dad and Dolly and Mom
Doug #6 and Ted #5

This is one with the spouses

This is Ted

This is Abram
Tom and Heather's son
with his Gaston Face.
Mild mannered teen ager when he's not being
Captain Beaver!

Melissa, Cassady and Stephen
Cassady is Ted and Patty's daughter
Melissa and Stephen are the new additions to Ted and Patty's family

This is Dolly
Isn't she pretty!
She's Clint and Lynette's baby now.

Laura getting the party started!

This is Candice and her daughter Emily
Making crafts
(Andy and Connie's daughter and granddaughter)

Cassady and Melissa
making crafts

Zach, Taylor and Uncle Pat
making crafts at the craft table.
(Zach and Taylor are two of Doug and Ginger's kids)

This is Laura's Bob

Patty and Ted

Ted, Laura and Pat

The craft table

Ted and Pat

Camille, Adalyn, Zach and Taylor
(Camille and Adalyn
are Andy and Connie's daughter and granddaughter)

Kid time at the park
Dave with all the balls in the air.
There's Camille, Andy and Connie and the grandkids of Andy and Connie.

Stephen, Marshall and Uncle Pat

Corban and David
Son and grandson of Andy and Connie.

Pat, Tom, Dad and Ted

Jordan, Jacob and Jeanette
grinning
(some more of Andy and Connie's kids)

Ted and Mom

Cassady and Melissa
on Old Yeller

Ted, Dolly, Emily, Mike and Taylor
walking through the pretty RV park

Stephen and Marshall
just after and ATV ride.

Captain Beaver
He sings too!
You should see the video!

Doug and Ginger

Melissa and Marshall

Grandpa and Dolly

Dad, Andy, Pat and Ted

Dolly and Mavie

Marshall and Melissa

Cassady and Dolly

Captain Beaver saves the fort

Andy's family
Most of them

Still in love after all these years!

Connie and Andy

Tom's family
most of them.

Bob and Laura
A big thanks to Laura
for setting up this whole reunion
and for making it such a fun time for all of us!

Mavie, Pat and Lauri

Pat and Lauri

The lodge that Grandpa built at their summer home

The campground

Doug's family

Ted's family

That's me lounging in my new chair

Clint and Lynette

Lynette and Patty
catching up on family info

Ted and Pat
visiting

The back view of the summer house
Grandpa visiting with Ginger, Mike, Doug and Connie

Adalyn and Emily
Cute cousins by the campfire
Adalyn belongs to Camille
and Emily belongs to Candice,
who all belong to Andy and Connie.

Ted, Pat and Lauri

Andy, Corban, Dave, Jordan and Isabelle
gathering for the campfire

Tom and Heather and family ready for the campfire

Stephen and Cassady

Andy B., Candice, Jeanette and Jacob
around the campfire

Doug
umm........?

Heather, Tom and Grandma

Taylor, Ginger and Zach

Bob and Grandma
hanging out at the campground

Cyrus and Emily
singing
Brother and sister moments.
Candice's kids.

Erica and Rachel
leading campfire sing-a-long
(Erica is Tom and Heather's daughter
and Rachel is their new addition marrying Enoch)

Melissa and Marshall
(Marshall is Ted and Patty's son)

Tom and Laura

Abram and Grandpa
singing

Ted singing

That's our family!
Well, just some of them.
We really really missed those of you who couldn't make it.
We all had a very fun time!
I have more photos. So many to choose from. If you want to see them, leave me a comment and I'll send you a link to the whole shebang!

Then came the Rain

2007-07-12T08:40:00.001-07:00

I know it's kind of strange to make a big deal out of rain, but for my fellow Arizonans you know how precious it is. The world changes when it rains.
So I was sitting here at my computer, writing to Lori. The clouds had been building and the heat was not so hot. It even smelled like rain.
Was that thunder?
No, it couldn't have been.
I am skeptical and don't want to get my hopes up. The weather here teases us and make us think that it's going to rain but then it doesn't. I just gets hotter and muggier.
But this time... maybe...
Are those rain drops on the dry ground?
And I see little wet circles on the flagstones out side my window.
Proof of rain drops.
RAIN!
I say good bye to Lori and go out to dance in the rain!

This is the view out the window from my computer chair.
That's water streaming off the roof.

This is the rain cloud that gave us first rain of the monsoon season.

This is the gazebo in the rain.
I guess we won't need to water the grass today.

See the raindrops making rings in the water in the birdbath?
Can you smell the rain?
Isn't it pretty!

I walk out to the garden.
I can hear the rain on the tin roof of the wood shed.
I have to stand under there when the rain really starts to come down.
It's loud.
I love it!

This is the ground before it got soaked with the rain.
Just a bunch of little polka dot dimples in the dirt.

Everything looks so much greener when it rains.
This is a tomato blossom in the rain.
"Bursting into life"

This is what's left of the beets after Ted pulled up the big ones for canning.
We pickled 7 quarts. They are soo good!

The little pea plants.
Soon we can munch on little green peas.

The little tomatoes in the rain.

A zucchini.
They have arrived. Lock you car doors!

Independence Day

2007-07-05T13:00:00.001-07:00

This 4th of July, like every 4th of July, we spent in Phoenix at my sister, Jill's house.
The weather was a balmy 114 degrees according to the Shamrock sign on our way in from the cool north.
It's always so fun to see everybody. The cousins get to swim and play and just enjoy each others company. It's fun to watch them grow and change from the goofy little kids they used to be, to the goofy adults and parents they are becoming. Its strange that us grownups never get any older but how the youngins keep changing so fast. It's great to see and meet all the new babies, friends and additions, and to get to know the new boyfriends and girlfriends that are thinking about joining our happy family. It's nice to catch up on all the things that everybody is doing.
It feels so good just to hang out at the old place where we grew up and soak up all the family vibes.
There were so many of us who weren't here this time and we missed all of you! We had to talk about you behind your backs cuz we couldn't talk about you to your faces. Next time I hope to see and talk to your smiling faces. Of course we only said nice things...
Because we have the Very Best Family EVER!
I love all you guys!
Enjoy these pictures in no particular order.

Kelli
Enjoying the music of the basement.
#8th child of 9

Kim & Vic
Kim is #1 of 9

Yancy & Gwendolyn
Kori's husband and daughter

Allison & Joe
Lori's husband and daughter

Hanging out in the yard throwing the axe.

Cait & her ring
She's engaged to Matt.
Cait is Jill's daughter

Kyle, Emily & Lucas
Cousins.
Kyle and Lucas are Michelle's sons
and Emily is Kim's daughter

Mallory
Tammie's daughter
Tammie is Kim's daughter

Pool time
The only way to spend the 4th of July in Phoenix.

Aaryn & Mike
enjoying homemade ice cream.
Aaryn is Jill's daughter

Audra
in her 4th of July swimming suit. So cute!
Audra is Kori's daughter and Kori is Kim's daughter

Neil & Travis
I love the look on Travis' face, that lip! He make me giggle! Neil's kinda cute too.
Neil and Travis belong to Tammie

Lindsay & Nikki
....and they weren't even trying to look gorgeous. They just can't help it, they are gorgeous!
They are Jill's daughters

Jill, Wade & Michelle
... so happy. Two of my sisters and one of my brothers.
#'s 3, 2 & 4 of 9

Tammie & Kori and their babies Travis & Gwendolyn
More gorgeous nieces
All we needed was Jenny and Haylie to complete the sister/baby trio. We missed you guys!
Kim's daughters

Ruben, Hal, Ted, Joe & Dane
taking charge of the barbecuing. Well done boys.
Dane's #7 of 9 in the line up of brothers & sisters.

Audra jumping to Yancy
The simple joys of a father and daughter.

Jill & Hal
Thanks for the party you guys.
Awesome as usual, and the place looks great!
Jill's # 3 of 9

Aaryn & Mike
More of the pretty people

Michelle & Dane
...not blinking. Crazy eyes!
One of my sisters & brothers. You guys make me laugh!
#'s 4 & 7 of 9

Caitlin & her fiancee Matt
(and Aaryn) watching fireworks.

Kim & Lori
Two more of my sisters.
#'s 1 & 5 of 9

Ted & Me
Hot!
(no, the weather)
I'm #6 of 9

Michelle & Ruben
LOL
Michelle's #4 of 9

Marshall & Melissa
My son and his fiancee.

Lori & Joe
Lori's #5 of 9

Cassady & Stephen
My daughter and her beau.

Marshall & Melissa, Cassady & Stephen
My happy little family.

Alimon
my club penguin pal.

Garrett & Ben
Is Ben his uncle? Is that right? Whoa
Somebody clear me up on that will ya?
Okay, Tammie says they would be second cousins.
Garrett is Tammie's son and Ben is Michelle's son

Tammie and her cute little family.

Hal, Wade & Ted
Jammin in the basement.
The Glazed Rollers must reunite!
Wade's #2 of 9

Cousins in the yard
discussing the annual game of Capture the Flag

Audra
in action

Emma, Cassady, Stephen, Ethan & Emily
Happy cousins!
Emma is Jill's daughter,
Ethan is Lori's son
and Emily is Kim's daughter

Lori, Wade & Jill
#'s 5, 2 & 3 (you guessed it) of 9

The yard

2007-06-15T18:35:00.002-07:00

This is the Virgina Creeper that lives on the enty to our play yard. It seems very happy here and makes the enterance quite enchanting with the Hollyhock and Larkspur blooming, I think.

This is the gazeebo in the Enchanting Play Yard in the morning sun, but it just happens to be in the shade of the large droopy Elm. It's a nice place to come the first thing in the morning to have breakfast.

This is the new garden area. The chickens used to live here. The plants are enjoying the fact that the chickens lived here. It's not as big as our past gardens put that is just fine with us.

This is another view of the garden with the greenhouse in the corner. We are growing tomatoes( which I still have bottles of from the last time), zuccine (that we can't wait for!), beets (that I have the best pickling reciepe for), bell pepper (that are just flowering), celantro (yummy!), basal, peas (that are just begining to sprout) and one big sunflower plant. I'll take more pictures the more stuff grows.

This is the new wood shed that we built in front of the driveway. Now we just have to fill it up with wood! That's the garden just beyond.
The place is shaping up slowly, little by little. Changes come and go. It keeps us busy. It's a nice place to live!

Cassady Graduated

2007-06-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Cassady's turn to take the stage.Grinning with the goofy grinner

Cassady & Lori's Family
Thanks for letting us stay at your house!
You guys are awesome!

Cassady & Michelle's Family, minus Ben

Cassady & Uncle Bob.
Laura was around there somewhere, so were Jill & Hal

Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory

More of Cassady's Graduation

2007-06-07T08:46:00.001-07:00

The Amazing GraduateBrother
Melissa, Cassady & Marshall

Mom & Dad
Me, Cassady & Ted

Cassady & her Boys
Shane, Stephen (the boyfriend), Cassady & Nate

Walking the walk

Thanks to everybody who came! It made a special night even more special to be able to share it with family and friends! Love you all!

Cousins

2007-05-28T14:12:00.001-07:00

Kyle, Cassady & Lucas

Art Show on the Square

2007-05-28T13:14:00.001-07:00

Me & Ted

Marshall & Melissa

Lori, Allison & Ethan

Sittin on a bench in the shade.

Kelli, Ted,
Karen, Papa, Patty,
Allison, Smoki & Ethan

Karen & Papa

At Papa's house

2007-05-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Me, Dad & Lori

Allison & Smoki

Me & Allison grinnin'!

Mother's Day

2007-05-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Beautiful daughter on Mother's Day when she and I went to the Fair on the Square by cutting throught the back ally of the St Micheal's Hotel. We went out to lunch at Quiznos and had our favorite Turkey Bacon Guacamole sandwhich, yumm!
Then Marshall & Melissa came over and gave me a pretty rose and a photo album that they all worked on. It was the best Mother's day ever! We have awesome kids!

Our Family on game night. We have a great family!

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

2007-03-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Cassady and I went into town for a dentist appointment, met up with Stephen where we all ate lunch on the square then went to the newly remodeled library so Stephen could give us our algebra lesson. We did so well in our math class that we treated ourselves to ice cream at Kendall's! Yum Yum!

Cassady & Stephen

2007-03-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

How cute are they!

Marshall & his Motorcycle

2007-03-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Marshall and his motorcycle!
Getting ready for a road trip!

Our Little Family

2007-03-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

This is us now, well last year. I'm working on finding a better one or haveing a better one taken.