A Golden Year 11-11-1997

Yesterday 11-11 was Kendra's Golden Birthday! She was 11 years old on the 11th, she also just so happen to be born in the 11th month as well. We had a little party for her with the Vaclaw & Alhert families, which is always a fun time. She got all the presents she wanted, Nintendo DS (Blue)/ds games, new bed set (Blue), earrings and a blue Ribstik! Which between the DS & Stik I am not sure which one she screamed louder on. Very excited! I just hope she doesn't kill herself on the ribstik and so far the DS hasn't left her hands. This weekend she is having a slumber party!

Lily & Geeka's Speedy Recovery!

Lily's biopsy went well on Friday! She made a quick recovery and we should get some results in 7-10 days! "Dirty Geek"made the trip with her and even got undressed as well and she got a "Star" in a box. But the thing that was the most exciting for her was the OU Chocolate that came with her lunch, which she is showing in the last picture. She saved it and gave it to Kendra. I have been fortunate to have very health children. None of them have hardly ever been sick with even an ear infection. So all of this has really thrown me for a loop, especially since Lily is my "baby". I was totally humbled in the recovery room looking around at all of the other children that were crying and suffering and she woke up without any problem and in no pain and no complaints. You couldn't even tell that anything was wrong with her. I am truely thankful for the Priesthood blessings that she has received and all of the support and prayers that we get from friends and family. Those prayers are why she looks the way she does not 45 minutes after her biopsy and worried that she needed to go to IHOP because she missed breakfast. Thank you!

Tim's Elk Hunt

Tim spent the later part of October on a long awaited excursion in the Star Valley of Wyoming were he and some friends hunted for the all elusive Rocky Mountain Elk. While the hunting was hard and the party did not come home with a trophy, Tim reported a wonderful experience in the beautiful Grand Teton Mountains learning to hunt on horseback. More importantly, it appears that some new friends were made that Tim will cherish for a long time to come. The trip started by Tim driving to Lincoln, Nebraska to meet up with Tony Kuznik and Steve Wheeler of the Minneapolis area. From there the three hunters made another 13 hour trek behind the wheel to arrive at the home of Shawn & Stephanie Dunn of Bedford, Wyoming. The Dunn's are long-time friends of Steve from back in high school in Arizona. Interestingly, the Dunn's are LDS which Tim did not know prior to his arrival but could have expected given the population ratio of LDS in the Star Valley area. According to Tim, the Dunn's where the most gracious hosts that anyone could expect and in some ways sent the three hunters home in a state of spoil. While Shawn kept them on an aggressive and diverse hunting schedule, Stephanie kept them well feed with quality home cooked meals. Tim really raved about those meals and it appears that I have a few new recipe's to learn as well as a request from Tim to start making my own home-made butter. Thanks Stephanie, I am always up for a new cooking challenge!

McCain & Obama Should Try This!

I was driving to the bank the other morning and looked up and saw this! Now this is at the corner of a busy 4 lane intersection that runs right through our town. Could not have asked for better publicity. Not to mention he is in the parking lot of Sonic, which is a very popular place to eat! I was panicing because I desperately wanted to take his picture and didn't think that I had my camera and then realized that I did, so I turned around and pulled into Sonic and got the picture and resisted getting a large diet coke and a super sonic breakfast burrito! That is a good way to catch some attention and GET A VOTE! Seriously, I would like to encourage everyone to get out and vote tomorrow Tuesday, November 4th! We all know that it is an important election!

Happy Halloween

Well another Halloween has come and gone and I have survived! Mouse in a Trap, Speed Racer & Pink Fairy! Kendra's costume got rave reviews and all the hard work paid off. Lily loved being all in pink and she danced around all night, not to mention she loved wearing the make-up. As for Noah, he just loves everything Speed Racer! We had Trunk or Treat at the Church and then Friday night we had a Block Party in our neighborhood which was a lot of fun. The weather was about 65 degrees both nights and so we didn't have to wear coats or layer up like I use to when I was a kid! It was a perfect Halloween this year, just would have been a little better if Tim could have joined us~We miss him when he is gone~

Life with Noah!

NOAH, NOAH, NOAH! These are some pictures that Noah took when he got my camera. He does this on a regular basis and I have others of them in the fridge, body parts and toys. The biggest story of the week is the Dish Network Remote in the Toliet! The story goes like this...... Noah paused his TV show so he could go to the bathroom, he didn't want Kendra to un-pause it. So he took it to the bathroom with him. Now I can imagine that the remote did not even touch the counter in the bathroom and he is trying to GO POTTY and hold a remote at the same time. HA HA HA! Next thing I know Kendra is yelling that Noah dropped the remote in the toliet and it is not working. Noah, still upstairs, is yelling that it was an accident! Noah was sent to his room for the rest of the night crying that it was an accident and me telling him it was because he took it with him to prevent Kendra from changing the channel. The next day I had to order a new remote and the sales lady applogized for the remote in the toliet which I found funny. We just got the new remote on Saturday and the kids are thrilled because the buttons are NEW & SHINEY! Last night at dinner he wanted more juice and I was encouraging him to drink water instead and explaining to him how I went for 3 weeks with just drinking water and no soda or juice. His reply was "Well that doesn't sound very good." Kendra, Tim & I just started laughing because he continually makes comments like that and he says it totally seriously and matter-of-fact.

Pickin Pumpkins

Noah & Lily both got to go to the Pumpkin Patch for a Field Trip this year. It is always a fun event! They got to ride on a tractor to the pumpkin patch and then pick out their own pumpkin from the huge field. This was my 3rd year going and I have to say that every year I am amazed at the massive field of ORANGE that I see. Pumpkins everywhere! It is a blast!

1st Art Show

Kendra had her first art show at a famous gallery. The Price Tower was built by Frank Lloyd Wright and is in our little downtown. She was excited that her Chinese Monkey picture was chosen by her Art Teacher to be in the Family Art Festival. Kendra is all about art and drama and aspires to be an actress one day or on a Big Stage. To us she is just our DRAMA QUEEN!

Tim in Scotland

Every trip that Tim goes on he brings home a magnet for our fridge! It is exciting to see what magnet he picks up and from Scotland he brought home one of Nessie! It is really cute and the kids like it. Our fridge is getting full and it has become a fun tradition! Scotland wasn't the most exciting trip. Mostly meetings during the day and then answering tons of emails at night in the hotel. Tim says that the TV there is really boring, the news isn't even interesting and the food isn't anything exciting. So the one book that Tim took with him he read it within the first 2 days. The one picture of Tim, is of him on a golf course, which he manage to get in a round! The rest of the pictures were taken while driving but he took a few. He got home on Friday night and then on Saturday aclamated himself by laying in bed and channel surfed. His next trip is to Australia & Singapore, can't wait for those pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Wishing Christina a.k.a TUDA a Happy 34th Birthday! While reading this blog you should go to my Favorite music and listen to Stayin Alive by The BeeGees! Everytime I hear that song I think of Tuda because she love The Bee Gees. The only other song would be Back-N-Black by AC/DC, there is a story behind that but to long to blog! Tuda makes me laugh all the time and she is such a funny person. When I need a good laugh or I am down I just need to pick up the phone and by the end of the conversation I usually am in tears and my stomach hurts! We always have a good time when we are together and there is never a dull moment. Over the years she has given me the best sisterly advice! One of the top 10, Wax my Eyebrows! She is the one that always remembers the birthdays and holidays and sends the little presents to the kids. I have 5 sisters and it is fabulous! We haven't all been together at one time because that would be craziness but we all have our private moments together and those are UNFORGETTABLE! Thanks for the LAUGHS, TUDA!

LILY & GEEKA - BFF

Lily got a "New Geeka" from her teacher Ms. Becky on wednesday for her trip to OK City. She was really excited and so we needed to take a picture of the 3 of them together. Her and Geeka are BFFs and they go everywhere together! Lily & I are going to OK City to have an Angiogram done on her kidney to see why she has blood in her urine and there is no infection. This has been going on since May and we hope to get to the bottom of it with this test. Keep her in your prayers. Thanks!

Did The Tooth Fairy Come?

Noah lost his 2nd tooth a week ago. Exciting times. He put his tooth in his little tooth pillow and waited for the Tooth Fairy. Next morning, NO MONEY! I told him she probably got really busy. Next morning, NO MONEY! She is still really busy! Next morning, NO MONEY! After his panick and Lily's I told him to leave a note: Dear Tooth Fairy, please take my tooth, Noah. Green house 4:30 am, TF wakes up, puts on her glasses, finds a dollar, takes the tooth, signs the note and goes back to bed. Noah & Lily so excited to see the DOLLAR! 4 times a charm with OKIE Tooth Fairy, HA, HA!

Sleepless Nights

OK, so if you haven't read the Twilight series sorry for my banter but I have lost my mind and it is all Amanda's fault, she gave me the books to read. She was probably relieved when I was finished reading them because I wasn't calling her on the phone or showing up at her door to discuss what I had just read. I read the Twilight Series in about 2 weeks. I spent a lot of nights staying up til all hours of the night. Kind of reminded me of Angeline and her crazy nights. HA, HA. Last night I was up until 2:00am reading Midnight Sun, which is Edwards book. It is only on-line, I had to read it on my laptop and it was about 268 pages. It was well worth the lack of sleep. It was a totally new perspective that I never thought about. The Twilight movie is coming out November 21st and a bunch of us are going to go see it. Actually, it is all of Amanda's family, which is big and I am tagging along. Fun Times.

First Day of School

Well, since the kids have offically been in school for almost a month here are their 1st day of school pictures. Kendra & Noah are both riding the bus, which stops in front of our house, and they go to Ranch Heights. Lily goes full day on Monday and half-day on Wed/Fri, which she loves. Can you see the excitement on her face! Noah likes school but really has a hard time getting out of bed, he is often still in bed at 8:15, the bus comes at 8:40. This morning he was still in the shower at 8:30. Now, let me just say this is not from his Mother doing something else and forgetting that he is still sleeping. I start at 7:30 trying to wake him up. He just won't get out of bed, eat fast enough or just it's motivated in the morning. I can't wait to see what he will be like when he is a teenager. Lily on the other hand wakes up and instantly wants breakfast and then wants to get dressed, hair fixed and out the door. Kendra is trying to master her routine in the morning but often times gets side tracked which means that if she doesn't wake up at least by 7:15 she doesn't think she has enough time to do anything. Kendra is so smart but can have BLONDE moments as I like to put them. The tween years are going to be fun with her. LIFE IN THE GREEN WORLD!

COW THIEVES & OUTLAWS

Tyler & Amanda
Look, No Kids!

Saturday evening we went to the Frank Phillips Woolaroc Museum for a fundraiser. I have been to Woolaroc a few times and it is amazing every time that I am there. It is the personal collection of Frank Phillips and holds many Indian artifacts as well wildlife, guns and the history of Phillips 66 Oil. We went with Tyler, Amanda and our neighbors Greg & Jackie. Tyler & Amanda have lived in Bartlesville most of their lives and so they know a lot of people but I was surprised that Tim and I knew a few people as well. There was a band and a neighbor told Tim he should dance and I laughed because Tim nor I know how to 2-step and that was all anyone was doing, seeings the band was playing only country music. One of the best times was watching people dance and getting the low-down of "who's who" in Bartlesville from Tyler. He really knows everyone and everyone knows him. The best time was getting to dance with Tim for one slow dance that didn't require us to move around in a circle or move our feet very far. It was nice to get out of the house and socialize with adults for the evening.