Girls Day Out

Alaina-Amanda-Kari-Shari

Last Weekend Kari came home to go to a friend's missionary farewell. Kirt had gone to the valley to do a job at Kim & Randy's new home so we had a random girl's weekend.

We started the morning by me going into the office for a few hours, followed by a haircut for Kari, thrift store shopping for Halloween Costumes and a belt for Kari, we ate lunch at Licano's, then we bagged the needles that had piled up on the lawn...(just in time for the snow). Then we drove to Snowflake and went to the Corn Maze at Willis Farms. At night they do a haunted maze but I had no desire to pay $8.00 to wet myself! We had a great time searching for all the hole punches with different shapes hidden throughout the maze...this was more my style than bloody body parts and hissing dragons. I think we had more fun taking pictures on the side of the barn though. We went to Sonic for slushes afterwards...What a great day!

Wish you were here!

Our Last Wee Haw!

We had such a wonderful time with friends over Labor Day Weekend. We took the boat out to Roosevelt Lake and camped on the beach. The weather was great...Friday Night we camped next to my boss Lance and his family. They had to leave on Saturday but the girls had a great time playing on his jet ski's. Amanda even drove solo for about an hour and didn't drown! On Sunday our "brother" Rico and his son Jordan came and stayed with us. We had a great time showing them how to have some "Arizona Fun". I think we took them a little too fast on the red tube...even though they said they had fun neither one was up for another try! (Still glad you came Rico!)
Kirt even taught Jordan how to drive the boat which cause quite a stir with Amanda. So eventually he caved and took her out on her own to teach her how to drive the boat....while the rest of us stayed safely on the shore. On Monday Natalie's family came with their boat to play. Kari practiced her wake jumping skills and Amanda even actually got up on her knees on the kneeboard. I had fun the whole weekend taking as many pictures as possible Amanda busted a few moves on the boat and the kids really enjoyed the water trampoline. Kirt fished as much as possible - but still no proof exists of his actually catching anything. We still all had a great time and felt very relaxed on our last Wee Haw! I'm going to miss this summer, the lakes, and all the fun we had together.
We made some Awesome Memories!

Its a Cheer Thing

Amanda made the Cheer Squad this year at the Junior High.

She has always wanted to be a cheerleader. She looks so cute in her little uniform too! A couple weeks ago I took off work early so I could watch her at the pep assembly. Here are a few pics!


Ofcourse then there was the fun of sitting through football
games just to watch the cheerleaders!

But the fun was short-lived. Amanda quit cheer last week...I don't know whether to be upset or to breathe a big sigh of relief! She says that the fact she made it at all was an absolute "miracle" but she had reached her limits emotionally. Amanda had a hard time with the coach putting her down and then the girls would follow suit. Atleast the girl knows her limitations...and we had fun while it lasted! Next up is Volleyball - GO COUGARS!

Summer at the Lakes

So we've been to the Lake a few times this summer...LOL!

This month we went to Saguaro Lake Aug. 8th (last post), then Canyon Lake on the 15th, and back to Saguaro Lake on the 22nd. (Do you see a trend here?) It was hard to stay home this weekend - so we didn't. Saturday Night we took the camp trailer up to Hawley Lake and camped for the night. LOL - This weekend we are going camping somewhere for Labor Day Weekend. I bet you anything we end up at Roosevelt Lake...I wouldn't be surprized.

Not sure how much fun we can pack into one summer before the bishop starts paying us a visit!

Don't get me wrong - we've been to church with Mom and Dad....just not at our ward for quite sometime. The ward members are starting to treat us like long lost friends. Here's a few of my favorite pics from the last few weeks.

Canyon Lake - August 15, 2009

Dad & Kirt went fishing in the morning then we met them at the beach for lunch. We took Tyler with us and our friend Shana Stailey.

Tyler and Shana learned how to use the kneeboard. We saw a ram on the side of the cliffs. It was a great day but Canyon Lake is just too crowded.

Saguaro Lake - August 22, 2009

This time we took Tyler and our friend Sierra West and the Bottomleys for the day. It poured on us in the afternoon - we were soaked to the bone but had a great time. After the rain there was a beautiful double rainbow across the Lake and a random waterfall coming off the side of the mountain. The kids had fun playing on the water trampoline and Kari worked on jumping the wakes on her wakeboard.

Hawley Lake - August 29, 2009

Saturday both Kirt & I had to work. Kari was home so we decided to take the camp trailer out for some time in the mountains. We fished in the morning and only caught one crawdad! However, Amanda did catch her first stick...LOL!

Next time we are bringing Kirt a lounge chair! I forgot my camera so I had to rely on my cell phone for pictures. It was so beautiful - we almost hit a bull and a cow on the way up the mountain then saw wild horses along the roadside. The elk were bugle-ing all night and then the coyotes started howling.

It was great!

We are so blessed to be able to play this summer in between all the long work hours. It has been a long time coming. We hope next time you'll come with us!

Saguaro Lake - August 2009

Okay.... so we've spent alot of time at the Lakes this summer.

Can you blame us????

This time we decided to go to Saguaro Lake.

I had forgotten how big it really was.

We took Alaina and Sierra with us and had such a great time.

The water was fantastic!

The girls were daredevils too. It was hard to snap the picture fast enough. Kari kept standing up on the tube! Crazy Lake Girls!

I don't think Alaina expected it to be so much fun!

Kari practiced doing some jumps on the wakeboard too. She's going to be a pro by the time Jake gets back! (not sure why I don't have a picture here of that....hmmm...next time I guess)

We topped the day off with a trip to the movies!

We had so much fun that we decided to go again this weekend! See you there!

And then there were two.....

They're gone!

Yay! Girls Camp - Finally!

These two nuts were so ready for camp. Amanda had her suitcases packed by the door for two days. Last night when I came home Amanda was indexing all the items in her suitcases so she would know where to find them. Alaina had the car packed by 7:00pm last night, the dishes done, & the trash was out. We spent about $80 on snacks for the week & who knows how much on travel size necessities and extra hair items for makeovers.

And its all worth it.

They're gonna have a great time!

(Hee Hee)

And so will Kirt and I!

We're gonna have take out every night, watch movies,

run around in our underwear if we want to.

HA!

We're gonna miss those girls! (wink wink)

Our Vacation 2009

We had the best time on our vacation this year. Alaina decided to stay home but we took Kari's friend Natalie with us & had alot of fun.

We loaded up and headed out on the 4th of July right after the parade. Well, about 5 hours after the parade..LOL. Two cars, a camp trailer, a boat, a dozen beach towels, and two walkie-talkies later we found ourselves at Lake Powell.

We had a great time tubing, wake-boarding, and knee-boarding!
One day we had to get rescued by a boat full of like 14 guys - Natalie said they looked "Fine" but Kari was staying true to Jake & didn't act interested. It made for a fun time though!


One day we drove the boat 93 miles up to Hall's Crossing for Ice Cream. We gassed up & drove the 93 miles back. LOL We are nuts! Another day we drove 50 miles up to Rainbow Bridge. We took some great pictures and was so glad to see it was still there. We saw a dinosaur footprint too.

On our way back we stopped at Dangling Rope Marina for Ice Cream & Fuel and ran into our Home Teachers the Sherwoods. They were happy to be able to get their home teaching done while on vacation but we forgot to have closing prayer so we searched Canyon Creek until we found them jumping off some rocks. We had a blast hanging out with them for the afternoon. The kids got to play on the jet skis and jump off the rocks. The water was nice and Judy taught Amanda how to drive. We never did say that closing prayer...LOL!

Another of our favorite things was finding Horseshoe Bend. It is just a couple miles from Page and about a half mile hike - but WOW it was breathtaking. I think we found our Christmas Card Picture!

After spending 6 days on the Lake & nearly dying 3 times (a story for another day) we headed back to Flagstaff & then to the Grand Canyon.

Natalie had never been to the Grand Canyon before - so it was fun to show her how amazing it was. We took our usual family group shots too!

It was all fun until the girls started fighting on the edge & Kirt fell!

JUST KIDDING!

We decided to have a little fun with the camera so don't panic - these pictures are posed! LOL

We spent our last night at the Lowell Observatory looking at the stars. We saw Saturn & some double stars. We even had dinner at the Galaxy Diner. It was great & we made alot of good memories together. We also took over a 1000+ pictures between us and I even got to do a little shopping in Flagstaff before we came home.

I wish vacations could always be as awesome as this one was!

On a side note - Jake was transferred to Yellowstone this week and was made a District Leader. His district covers parts of Idaho, Wyoming, & Montana. He even gets to fish a little. We are so proud of his missionary efforts & excited to someday have him a part of family. We will have to take this trip again because he would love it!

Father's Day 2009

So I decided I'd better do a little catching up since our vacation.

This year on Father's Day we met my Mom & Dad at the Park in Payson. Kari's work schedule didn't allow her to come to Show Low so we decided to meet her half way. We are two saps when it comes to being with our kids. Mom & Kelsey were coming up for Volleyball Camp so it was convenient for everyone.

We had a nice picnic lunch and Dad & Kirt opened some gifts we had brought. It was nice also to have Aunt Judy & Uncle Audrey come by the park.

(Me & My Dad - Max)

(Kari, Kirt, & Amanda)

I have always been my dad's favorite - I am sure my siblings think they are too. LOL

Its all good - it just means he's an awesome father.

Whether he likes it or not.

Kirt is an awesome dad too - he is really busy during the summer months but always seems to find the time to have those good one-on-one talks with the girls.
Our visit seemed all too short and then Dad & Kari headed back to Mesa.

It was fun to Have Mom, Kelsey, AND Elijah here for a few days too. I really needed my mom after the stressful week before. I had so much to do - We moved our office to a less expensive, larger, & quieter place. We are loving it now
& greatful to have a vacation to look forward to.

I Should Be On Medication!

This is why you should never let a teenager drive your car!

I let Alaina take the suburban during our Ward Campout so she could get some practice in it. She wasn't gone 5 minutes and managed to

make friends with a few trees.

It was a really hard hit and the girls were lucky to walk away.

My heart has been racing & my stomach turning ever since but we are

counting our losses and being greatful for the miracles of that day.

So now with our meager insurance settlement.

we are on the hunt for a new truck that can haul the camp trailer

before our big trip to Lake Powell on the 4th!

Say Goodbye Randy & Kim - It was a great car!

Amanda's Got Talent!

We had a little fun with the camera during "Swing Therapy"

YAY! Nice trick Amanda! I made her do this flip atleast a dozen times until I got one at each stage...LOL she is a good sport!