Valley of Fire with Abby and Anthony

Abby and Anthony came down for the weekend and visited. It was so much fun! They had a good time sightseeing on the strip, eating local cuisine, and visiting Valley of Fire in the motor home. Unfortunately, I only got pictures of Valley of Fire but here are some good ones.


Us being silly.


Dad sure conquered that rock all right.


I love the orange flowers that bloom in the desert. If I only knew what they were called...


Maddie found a little cave...one of several.


Abby and Anthony striking a pose. Good thing I have such good models to work with:)


Some ancient hieroglyphs. Valley of Fire is full of them.


Maddie finding herself in another hole again.

Dying/Painting/Mod Podging Easter Eggs

Dying Easter eggs is a fun tradition in our family. This year we also painted, decoupaged and made little chicks/ducks out of egg cartons.


Sydney was very focused as she dyed her eggs.


Aubrey needed a bit more guidance but enjoyed painting her eggs.


Tyler painted and dyed. Here is a great shot of how pensive he is.


Sydney and I put the finishing touches on her blue feathered friend.


Poor Aubrey got a bit messy...but we're not surprised.

Easter Saturday bike ride

The Saturday before Easter we went for a bike ride after dying eggs. We rode up to the park and had a good time playing.


Sydney liked to hang on the "turter."


Maddie liked the turter too.


...and slide down the slide.


...and hang on the water fountain. Apparently she likes hangin' out.


We can see where Syd gets her energy. Allyson enjoyed going down the slide as well.


Little Ally likes the tire swing and the regular swings. She was going much higher than this but I didn't get any shots of it.


Mom and Allyson were a little tuckered out after the "long" bike ride.

Making Soap and Cards

I know I'm a little late (again), but here's some Stay-cation activities that we enjoyed during our Spring Break.


Card making, by Allyson. I was a little late for this because of work so I just made the kits for each card.


Soap making: fun but very precise process. I can't wait to use our soaps!


Ally looking so beautiful as she stirs the mixture.


The different scents of soap we made.

Picnic at the Duck Park

Saturday Ally, Sydney, Grandma D, Nathaniel, Susan, Tyler, Aubrey, and I decided to make good use of all the old bread I bring home from the bakery and go feed the ducks at the fishing ponds. Unfortunately, the ducks were not very hungry and we still have a ton of bread but we did have a fun picnic and a good time!


At the "Blue." The park has a blue shade cover and Syd wanted to go play there.


Tyler entertained himself by taking pictures with my camera. Not bad!


Apparently he needed to take a shot of Aubrey's cute hair too.


They did this on their own while we were walking to the park. We tried to get all four of them lined up but there was little cooperation.


Syd walked a little ways away from us and lay down in the grass. I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "Sleeping."


Aubrey wanted to sleep too but she just couldn't bring herself to put her head on the ground. She does look like a little model though!


Tyler enjoyed catching ladybugs and made me hold them for him while he played. *shudder*

Fun Friday

This last Friday we spent so much time trying to find something fun to do that we hardly realized we were already having fun.


Syd bundled up for the "cold" spring night.


Julie looking so beautiful and grown-up (or bored).


Maddie and Ally were playing with Ally's sarong and something went awry...


Playing with the sun and the sarong.


Earlier Sydney came running up to Maddie with this lovely shade of putrid yellow nail polish and said, "Maddie! Look! Maddie, look! Nayer polish!" (For those who don't know, Syd can't quite pronounce words that end in the L sound).

Here a video of Syd singing and playing the piano. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the words such as, "Nana...and Amy...and Mommy...and Daddy says....'Monsters Inc'....and I'm a princess..."

At the Park

Here are some more park pictures from a different day. We headed up to the rec center park for some family fun.


Aubrey hiding out on the slide steps.


Ally looking rather uncomfortable in the tire swing.


Even Dad and Brian got in on the fun.


This kid is such a ham.


Tyler riding the ancient turtle.

Family Night

A few weeks ago for Family Home Evening we had a picnic in the park with Brian, Susan and their kids. I'm finally getting around to putting some pictures up.


I tried to get everyone to look at the camera but they were too busy salivating over the brownie-cake.


We were talking and all of a sudden Tyler came riding up on his bike...


Closely followed by his cute little follower. It was pretty funny though when she turned the other way and tried to pedal towards the park.

Poll Results

Thanks for all those that voted in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie poll. The results were Curse of the Black Pearl with 87% of the votes. Thanks for your participation. (You done Capt. Jack proud!)

Pirates Poll

Maddie and I recently watched all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies in one week (we would have had a marathon, but let's be realistic here). I thought thought maybe if I watched all three in a row, I would appreciate the second and third ones a little more. It's not that I don't appreciate them for what they are. I like the story line (when it's coherent) and I still love the characters. Not to mention the INCREDIBLE soundtracks by Hans Zimmer. I just wish that the second and third movies had a little less of eye-popping special effects and recycled jokes and a little more magic and mystery like the first one. I wish that Capt. Jack Sparrow, instead of being a bumbling idiot and an accidental hero, could be more like the Jack Sparrow in the first movie. Even though he made each situation hilarious with his wit and general Jack-ness, he always had some sense of control whether it was another secret up his sleeve or another twist in his already complicated plot.

Anyway, I always have more to say but I think it is often wise to let it go unsaid. Enjoy the poll on the sidebar there.

Storytime!

The girls and I were bored one evening so we decided to make a video. First we were going to make a music video then it was going to be a stop motion video. Finally, we got really ambitious and decided that we would just make a silent movie...with pictures. Truth be told, we were so sick of the planning and preparations that we didn't want to film anymore. So, here are a few shots from The Case of the Million Dollar Hedgehog:


Julie played the rich old woman that loved her million dollar hedgehog more than anything.


Maddie was the demure and oh-so-mysterious Miss Cecily, granddaughter of the rich old woman and jealous of her grandmother's affections toward the hedgehog.


And last but not least, Detective Luna Howl was played by Ally. Luna used her detective sleuthing skills to solve this complicated case. An unsuspecting hedgehog missing, a poor old woman grieving for what she has lost, and a jealous but beautiful granddaughter looking for revenge. See it all in The Case of the Million Dollar Hedgehog!

Pay it Forward

My sister Allyson had this on her blog so I thought I would give it a try since I don't have a lot to do these days:)

The Rules

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments!

If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along.Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! SO, REMEMBER...Pay it forward!

A Very Moo-ey Roadtrip

We took a trip to Utah this weekend for cousin Abby's wedding. She looked so beautiful in her dress, the food at the luncheon was quite delectable (especially those death-by-chocolate chocolate covered brownies!), and the reception was absolutely gorgeous. Of course I got a little (okay, a lot) choked up when Anthony and Abby were leaving, but we won't dwell on that.

Unfortunately, I'm such an idiot that I didn't take any pictures until the trip home. So, someone else will have to cover those on their blog. However, I did manage to get some funny videos of Sydney in the car. There were no cows around and all of a sudden she started doing this:



(For those of you that may not know, at the end she says "cheese monkeys" - the phrase we tell her to say when we take pictures)

Then we got her to sing some adorable princess songs - Ariel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I must apologize for the shaky video. It's hard to keep it steady in the car.

Presidents' Day Adventure

For Presidents Day Mom, Dad, Maddie and I decided to have a little adventure on our bikes. We went down to the railroad tunnel trail down by the lake. It was a beautiful overcast day, although it did sprinkle rain on us for a bit. We discovered that the trail now goes all the way down to the Hoover Dam parking lot. However, us wimpy girls were very tired and sore on the way back up the canyon. Luckily we had Dad there to cheer us on and perform wheelies and honk his chucker call at us (may you never have to hear one!). We had a good time and the scenery was spectacular as usual. However, I decided that I desperately need some photography lessons because I only got one or two good shots out of the 50 or so that I took. It was a great opportunity for photos but I blew it with my ignorance. Oh well-next time I s'pose.



Dad getting ready for some serious mountain biking!













Mom and Dad enjoy a little break from our very strenuous outing.





The bikes that Dad got Maddie and me for Christmas.





I had some really cute ones of Madison but alas, they did not turn out well. Sorry Maddie!

Books

Okay, Ally, here's my post. Thanks for keeping me on track!

Well, I haven't taken any pictures lately, although I'm anxiously awaiting Allyson's post on our playground adventures the other day :) So, I decided that I could post a little about the books that I have been reading lately.

Conquistador is a non-fiction account of the Spanish conquest over the Aztec empire. I know that non-fiction historical accounts can be a little dry but I would recommend this one to anyone interested in Mexican history or Mesoamerican cultures/civilizations (chances are, there aren't too many of you out there but we all have to have hobbies, right?) This is a very exciting retelling of history and very insightful into the handful of men that were responsible for the fall of one of the largest civilizations on earth.

Maddie has been trying to get me to read Middleworld for ages now and I just finished it. It is a fictional story that revolves around Maya culture and folklore, both ancient and modern. Young teenager Max Murphy is the son of two renown archaelogists. But when his parents go missing while on a dig in the jungles of San Xavier, it is up to Max to battle it out with the ancient Lords of Xibalba to get them back. Mom was making fun of me for reading a children's book but I quite enjoyed this one. The couple that wrote the book come from a line of archaeologists and the husband grew up in Central America. The story is peppered with facts about rainforest plants and animals, Maya folklore, Maya glyphs and calendars, and modern life in the rainforests. (Plus, the book is printed on 100% recycled paper to save the rainforests - I know, I know, not very typical of me to make a big deal of this but when you read this book you appreciate the effort of this very down-to-earth couple).

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a book that cousin Manda recommended to me. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the Maya, the Aztec, or the Americas in any way (and that's probably a good thing since I've started to have strange dreams about corn spilling out of rocks and Maya warriors with crocodile heads). This book is a children's book that is about 600 pages long. Before you freak out let me explain that it is mostly illustrations. It is made so that you feel like you are watching a silent movie so there will be several pages of illustrations and then a few pages of text. The plot contains a mystery about the French movie-maker Georges Melies. I have seen his movie A Trip to the Moon and I was highly disturbed...but only because of that freaky picture of the rocket ship that crashes into the eye of the man in the moon. However, the story is fascinating and the design of the book is captivating.

The are several other books that I am reading (I currently have 7 or 8 items checked out from the library) but this post is already too long and boring. Until next time...