"Toot Walks"

She calls her shoes, walks. So she says "Mom, where me toot (cute) walks?"

Our Halloween Fun

We had a church party last night so we were able to give it a trial run for Friday night. Payce I guess will be the mystery costume because he couldn't actually do his costume last night because of football practice

A Girl Trip

The girls and I went up to Snowbowl with the Hansen's. Jeanne's sister, Stephanie, took a real camera to take some nice pictures of everyone. She is still arranging them and will get us a disc. As for now you get cell phone shots. Troy and Payce were deer hunting. We had a fun time. We had to bribe Kai with a dum dum sucker to even get her to look at the camera let alone smile.

Enrichment ideas

I am shouting out for ideas for enrichment night. It is focusing on financing, balancing your monthly budget, etc. Any of you have any great ideas you have heard, tried, or been taught? You can even include the ones you tried and failed at!! Traci I know you have something going on with your plastic bags labeled with money in them in your purse, a little insight please. I mean I get the idea but is there more info I can give others on that one? I also need some little activity to show the point, a hands on idea.

Where are our imaginations these days??

Okay what we've been waiting for. Troy saw the pictures his sister Trachel drug out and posted so he immediately went to his treasure box to find his to see if he could top her pictures she posted. I am thinking this is a Hobo and he had a napsack. Apparently in Animas New Mexico they didn't have a lot of costume shops and so proceeded to make their own up. I think they didn't get TV reception there and didn't know of the "modern" characters but maybe Holbrook didn't get the reception either because I have some interesting costumes myself. And apparently they dressed up often because one of the pictures was taken in May at a cub scout meeting. I love the pumpkin next to him with the potato ears and red fluffy nose. By the way it won the "Funniest Pumpkin" award.
And oh boy this is Troy being a skeleton. I am not sure if his cheeks were that way always or if the milk carton on his head was just way too tight? By the way there was no note on the back saying this pumpkin won a contest. And now for the drum roll please....... no it is not a masking tape contest..... he is an astronaut. The back of the picture says 5-31-84 (proof that they did this often), and Troy's space costume. And also might I add that it was "The Most Far Out Costume". Fun times and more to come just waiting for Marie to dig up some more years for us!!

No More Money

I have to share this experience with you all. It was just the icing on the cake! When I went to the doctor on Wednesday he told me I need to make sure and have my boss check the payroll and any other important things that I usually do because my mind won't be functioning right. So yada yada I go on and he says you should have Troy take your credit and debit cards away too, yada yada. So today Troy and I were going to run to the mall to get a TV wall mount, instead of putting the TV on a bucket for the winter because it is usually is in front of the fire place. We decide to go into Ruby Tuesdays to have their salad bar because it is sooo good. So we sit down and I look at the menu and see this WHOPPING deal of the day. It's an appetizer, all you can eat salad bar, and any two entrees off the specialty menu for a low price of $15.99. So it's a two for one special. So I kind of show Troy it and he says sounds good to me and we order. I order the shrimp and talapia and he orders some other talapia and we are eating away. We just went in for salad and possibly soup but this great deal we just couldn't pass up. We didn't even touch our entrees we were so full so we boxed them up and here comes the check. It was something like $40 and something cents. We freaked out and then I grab the menu and realize what the small gray print says, $15.99 per person. Needless to say I have now been banned from making decisions and all debit and credit cards taken away!! Whoops!

The Randall's on a mission in Nauvoo, IL

These two people are really good friends of ours. They are serving a mission in Nauvoo, IL right now and love it. We want to go out there to see them before they come home in a year. Garna is Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way and Burt has to be because he lives with her!! They are some of our best friends even though they are a "tad" bit older. They have a ranch in Ash Fork (you all know where that is), and a house in Mesa. Our kids love them and miss them but we are glad they are enjoying their mission.

"Enjoy The Journey"

Well we are certainly enjoying the journey. I am now free and clear from thyroid cancer as well as a thyroid! It was a long hard summer with hard decisions to make but I am very satisfied with the results and am glad to get back to living. It all started out with this weight loss program I started in June. I was working out a lot and one day had a small TIA (transient ischemic attack or symptoms of a stroke) or a migraine still no one knows. So this led me from the ER room to a cardiologist who noticed my thyroid was large as I was leaving his office, to the urgent care and then through enough x-rays and scans to cause more cancer and blood work until my arm fell off but it all came down to papillary thyroid cancer. So of course you may think you know what it would like to be told you have cancer but until you do, you don't! I am so thankful it was this and not somewhere else because it is 99 to 100 percent cureable. I thought I would try some natural remedies. I still believe they would have worked but I wasn't patient enough with them and I am glad it's just over and done and I don't always have to wonder my whole life. I got really sick from the natural herbs I was trying and was introduced to the "organic coffee enema" to make me get better. Anyways long story but on Thursday I had the surgery and there was no doubt I was taking it out. A decision I struggled with for a month with a lot of fasting and prayer and I didn't mind the weight loss that came with the stress. The surgery went perfect and quick. The incision is just pieced back together not stitched or glued because the doctor says it's the best way for less scarring. The tape stays on for over a week and I can't move my head around too much. I got to come home a day early from the hospital, something the doctor says he has never done before but it all went so good. He is a very good doctor and a really nice person. So now the journey includes me sitting around for three or four weeks with no thyroid supplement until I go back to the hospital for two or three days to take a radioactive iodine pill that will kill off any thyroid cells left behind. Doctor swears it's safe but I am quarantined there, sounds strange to me!! Then I will finally get the thyroid pill and be on the road to finding the right dosage of thyroid supplement. THANKS to everyone for your prayers and thoughts for our behalf, they were truly appreciated and needed. Thank you. And in case I run into any of you in the next few weeks and I say something out of line it is because the doctor says I wil have major mood swings, weight gain, and may not even want to get out of bed. I don't mean anything I say!!!

Okay here are some flashbacks of last years Halloween. Payce likes to dress up and has the funniest ideas. This year he demands that we can't cut his hair until Halloween because he is going to cut it like a "grandpa" so for now we get the long shaggy look. I have a few other pictures of him looking good in his "stretchy pants."

Peenk Owies

Syd decided one day she would finally pierce her ears. She had been wearing these fake clip-ons for a few days and crying every time she lost one. A girl in her class that wears boots, and that's important, has hers pierced so she thinks she could do it. So I took her and she did the piercing and was fine. No tears or anything and she is so happy about them. Well when she jumps out of the chair Kai crawls right up and says "Me, Peenk". So that means she wants pink ones. So I am thinking no way because I like them to appreciate them so they can take care of them so I don't have to, selfish. So I am thinking well if I do it now I won't have to come back someday and I might as well. Besides Sydnee raises her anyways so she will take care of them. So she gets all ready. Picks out some Peenk ones and on her way. The first gun goes off and she immediately is crying. So I am thinking oh well she will be walking around with one earring because no way will she go through with the next one. But she sat there for the second and cried all over again with the second. When you ask her if she got Peenk earrings she says no Peenk Owies!!

Diagnosed my sickness

It was a very long weekend around here and a busy one. On Friday I had set up some sessions for everyone to try out with a "footzoner". It turned out really good and I hope it was helpful. It is my new career, soon to be anyways. Anyways I stayed up really late and got up early Saturday morning and came home and drove straight to Prescott for Payce's football game and then came home that afternoon. I was on the phone with a friend from high school and she asked why I wasn't going horse riding with the rest of the family. Dumb question but since I am more willing to do those "real fun" things with the family I thought well I might as well go. So Troy saddles me a horse and we took off in the mountains. Sydnee was steering Payce and just to let you know you have to drag Payce to go also but he went. So she kept running him into tree branches and close encounters with trees and she would laugh so hard. I kept telling her to stop but you know how that goes!! As we were going up a steeper hill she ran him and herself right under a Juniper tree that couldn't have been a foot and a half taller than the pony. I saw it all happening. I can't believe they didn't fall off and get really hurt but they both were screaming crying and I would post the cuts on their backs but I would probably be getting a call from CPS if I did. Payce then bailed off and rode with Troy and Kai. Sydnee is a little dare devil. But anyways, I believe I was worn out from the weekend but when I flash back to what I really put myself through, the horse ride, I think that is why I am down sick now with the flu and cold stuff. It may be awhile before Payce and I go for a ride again. The others go every now and then and I love it because the house is quiet and Payce plays Legos. They saw and heard elk bugling. It was kind of eary because it was so close but they were excited.

Ponies

Just scrolling thru my pictures and decided to post a few of these because they are cute. I have been reading everyone's blogs and getting ideas and trying to not feel sick to my stomach so I thought what better to pass the time by with another blog! This is Sydnee and Shea at Traci's house in Aztec, NM. Sorry Traci I couldn't crop the suburban out. The other picture is of the baby miniature pony that our little one had. It was born on July 26th in the morning. You can see how small it is compared to two year old Kai. Our friends down the road are going to buy it for A LOT of money and so they have named it Flap Jack (don't know the story behind that....I put A LOT just to see if they pick up on it while stocking my blog). The kids have fun with it though. The barbie jeep picture is just the girls out on a Sunday evening stroll. This Barbie Jeep has entertained them a lot. Only cost $25 at a yard sale, it's one good babysitter. Kai knows that Syd is the driver and just sits on the passenger side ready to go all the time. If Payce decides to go with them her seat then becomes the hood. Payce had a football game this weekend. They ended up losing 12-0 but it was a tough team. I will get some good pictures sometime and post them. Well at least I can say I "journaled" for an hour on Sunday after posting this, let's keep it holy now!!

The Latest Blogger

So now that I sit here and try to figure out how to "blog" my little friend Kai has to do the same. She is real impatient with her computer but it is coming right along. If only the computer would answer her more often so she wouldn't interrupt my http:// trail train of thought!! Notice the chair she has to sit in. It is a small metal decorative chair. You can see just how small it is because I put the peach in for comparison. If you need another visual look at me fitting into the childrens disneyland ride in Traci's disneyland blog (not so slim)!! Anyways, I will get Kai busy on her next blog. And yes by the way the both of us usually look like that with the hair style and pajamas until I finally get off the computer.

Picture Day

Just a fun picture at Sears. I am slowly learning this blogging. Kai is not at all into blogging as I would like her to be. I feed her M&M's everytime she comes around to disrupt me but they don't hold her off long enough. I wish there was an herb out there I could feed her that made her like to like movies or something! I mean if it keeps on taking me three hours to figure out how to post something she is going to turn into an M&M. Anyways I think this blogging has just set us financially backwards. It was necessary to get Verizon higher speed, not high speed, internet, take family photos at Sears, and now I can't even get house work done so a maid might be next on the agenda. So here are some of our pictures from Sears. The most of them we got developed in Sepia but these are the originals.

Dahlia Flower

Thank goodness Trachel has the same flower or we would have never known the name of the natural wonder we actually have. This is the first one to bloom and it is on its way out but we have six more starting to bloom. I bought these bulbs on clearance at Wal-Mart for $.03. What a bargain..... watch out for falling prices!

COUNTY FAIR

This was our first year at the Coconino County Fair. The most memorable weekend for us in a long time. Taya's steer weighing in at 1365 pounds was named "Oro" he was to win the "Gold" in Spanish!! Her pig named "Lollipop" weighed in at 241 pounds. She impressed a lot of people with her bravery and courage to show this monster. He was so good to her though. She placed third in her weight class and would have won the showmanship had her steer not mounted the steer in front of her several times. The judge even said over the microphone that the other kids better look out for this girl in a year or two because she can show an animal. The crowd went wild and we got the chills. It was the loudest cheer all weekend from the audience.
A little different story with the pig who decided to have an allergic reaction to the fair. I guess we are glad his name wasn't Wilbur. He was allergic to the saw dust and had to be quarantined. Oh in case you are wondering the reaction was a million huge pimples all over her body that ... well let's just leave it at that. She still got to show her and got 11th place out of 11 Durocs. But she still managed to get Reserve Champion in Showmanship and had the pig whisperer told her she needed to switch hands with the show stick she would have won Grand!! She was the last to sale in the whole auction.
This was a tough day. The day Oro had to leave us and journey on to his next mission in life. Taya had a hard time letting go but she has recovered and ready for next year.
Sydnee is Taya's moral support and best bud!!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON