The Games…and then The Games!

There are always games. There is baseball, basketball, volleyball, football, dirt bike racing, soccer and even water polo. We have some pretty active grandkids, so while home this spring Grumpy and I tried to attend as many games as we could. I even got to go to an electric strings concert for Taylor. The first his school has sponsored. He plays lead guitar in his school's electric band. There were several lead guitarists, bass guitarists and electric violins and violas. Wow. Drummers too. It was a pretty amazing concert. I only had my phone camera, so the pic isn't very good, but it will have to do.

Taylor did very well especially considering he hasn't been playing all that long. He is adding piano to his mad skills list, along with Rylee, Jordyn and Faith. Piano is a lifelong set of skills they will all enjoy. Rylee was in her school orchestra this year. Violin. She had a concert too this spring, but I wasn't able to go. I know she and Jordyn have done a little choir too. Jordyn surprised me by going out for her high school freshman softball team. I'm not surprised that she is a good player, just that she was interested in being on a team. Good for her. Fun to watch. I went to one of her games with Tawna, Faith and Chance.

She plays right field (above). Got some pics of her at bat and on first (below). Their team won by a lot that day. She did great.

Taya has since acquired a piano and her kids will be starting their lessons this fall. So excellent! Her Kaitlin is our water polo player. I don't have any pics of her games, but she loves it. Her list of sports are water polo and school volleyball. She tried track and basketball, but seems to gravitate to the water and the net. Daron loves basketball. It is his sport and passtime of choice. I don't have any pics of him playing either, but know he is good and gets better all the time. Maddie loves soccer and is really good at it. She has been playing for several years and she loves everything about it. Also, no pics. I need a camera in California. Taya has several on her blog though, so I go there to see their sports pics.

Faith played on a city volleyball team this year and had lots of fun with that. I got to one game while home, but Grumpy made two. She learned a lot this year and it was good to see her involved in a team sport.

She is getting lots of balls over the net on her serves. That is the hardest part, those pesky serves. She did great.

Chance is our resident dirt bike racer. He loves it and it is something he and his Dad go and do on weekends. I went to watch with Tawna one Saturday morning and he really gets into it. So cute. I hope he can use his skills to keep from getting hurt. (I am the resident worrier!)

Our Megan and Rylan love basketball. Megan went out for her school BB Team and made it. She didn't play first string, but she got to play a lot this year. Pretty good since it was her first year. She is a good player. Scrappy. She plays as a guard and does a good job.

Rylan is a BB lover too. We have been to a couple of his games and he really hustles up and down the court. Good shooter and keeps on his task well. I wish I had one tenth the energy it takes to run up and down the court for an hour. Crazy kids.

Then there are the football players. Two in one family. Jaxon and Ryker. They played on a city team this spring and had lots of fun. Jaxon played quarterback and Ryker hiked him the ball. Grumpy went to a couple of their games, but I sadly missed them. I did get to go to lunch with them afterward on Saturday though. So glad Grumpy got some good pics with his camera. I only got one at Freddy's after the game.

About to pass (above). After pass (below).

Ryker about to hike (above). Running (below)

We had a good time at Freddy's. It's one of Papa K's favorite places to go. Good hamburgers and hot dogs and really good ice cream. Shoe string fries too. Grumpy and I figured during our "spring break" at home there were at least 5 games a week to go to. We didn't make them all, but went to what we could. Fun to watch our grandkids play their various sports, (and concerts) this spring. I hope we can go to many more.

The Pioneer Dress

It all started with an offer to Megan that if she wanted a dress for the Pioneer Day Parade in Safford, I would make her one. After some thought, she did want one. I had also suggested that maybe the 8-10 year old girls would like to go back to As You Wish to paint something this summer. I had planned to take them two at a time and made a tentative plan for a Tuesday or Thursday one week for Megan and Rylee. Thursday was better, but alas something came up and we couldn't go. I had Rylee with me, so we went and picked up Megan anyway and went to lunch.



The girls are big fans of Panda Express. After lunch we dropped Rylee off at her dance class and Megan and I were off to JoAnn's Fabric's to pick out fabric for her pioneer day dress. I learned a lot about her likes and not-so-much likes that day. My efforts to explain the kinds of fabrics that would be more authentic were met with a sort of “Oh, Okay.” Pretty lackluster. I finally decided if the pioneers were here with all these choices they would probably pick different fabrics too, so we compromised on a turquoise ensemble. Not exactly the vintage pieces that would be appropriate, but the choices brought a smile to her face, so that's what we did.



I of course procrastinated to the very last minute, but she did have her dress in time to go to Safford with her family to celebrate Pioneer Day. I hope they all have a good time.





Of course the wagon in this picture is not a real pioneer wagon. It looks like the “sheep camp” that my brother Kevin has for his hunting trips. I'm sure from reading that most of the wagons were a bit larger, and I know there were many handcarts used too. I am really grateful for the towns that still recognize and celebrate our founding fathers. Those forebears went through so much not only to realize their dream of a place of peace for themselves but they colonized the west for America. So many of the towns and cities here in Arizona began with a wagon train of determined people to make something for themselves. Hat's off to those cities and towns who have not forgotten and are not “too big” to celebrate our beginnings. I am reminded of an ancestor's comment upon coming into the Gila Valley long ago and far away…“We have been sent to Hell.” You have to remember it was the summertime, and it is hotter than hell here in the summertime. They perserveered (?) and I know I am amazed by their spirit and tenacity. And they had to wear all those clothes! We are indeed fortunate to be unencumbered by petticoats, bloomers, long dresses, boots, and such. Whew!

Blessed, Honored, Pioneer.

Adventures in Babysitting

I spent the weekend taking care of Miss Lauren and Miss Emersyn. Oh my. I'm just glad we all survived each other. Such sweet kids and not really hard to care for at all, but…(there's always a big but!), I am not young anymore. And there were stairs. So my already overweight body had to pack yet another 25 lbs. or so up and down stairs several times a day. I remember stairs in a couple of our houses, and I felt very differently about them then, than I do now. Of course I was much thinner and youthful. Poor Lauren had to play by herself in the toy room upstairs because Granny wouldn't go up and down them even more. She did great though. Even picked up and put away all her dress-ups that she got out. We had a few chair and bowl gymnastics in the kitchen, but no one is permanently damaged. Emersyn just played and crawled or slept, right on schedule. Her only real protests were diaper changes. She hates her diaper changed. I wish I had taken my camera with me, but like the dork I am, I forgot it. She would crawl away from the toys, come back around the couch and just peek around the corner. She would look at me until I looked over, and then she would pull her head back. Pretty soon here her little face would be peeking around again. I think she was deciding if I was paying any attention to her. So cute. I decided to make some bread my first day there to see if I could work out a recipe for Taya. During my mixing time I looked over and Emersyn was sitting on the floor just staring at the cabinets. I couldn't see what had her rapt attention. About then she did the whole eyes closed and unfocused to trying to keep them open thing and I realized she needed her nap. She never once cried about going to bed. A girl after my own heart - she loves her bed. Lauren protested some about sleep time, but once in bed was fine.

I don't have the mother's ears I used to, so I don't sleep well when in charge of small people. I'm afraid I won't hear them if they wake up, so I just don't sleep very deep. All in all though, it was an adventure. I now know all about Barbie Rapunzel, Barbie Swan Lake, Barbie Nutcracker, various baby einstein scenarios, Tinkerbell, Enchanted, Toy Story, Chicken Little (the sky is falling you know), just to mention a few of the visual aids.

I know my kids will all roll their eyes when I say…“I know why we have our children while we are young.” I so admire our mothers for all the work, both physical and emotional that go into their families every day. I know I did it at your ages, and am glad. There's nothing like caring for a family that makes you grow and mature. There's nothing like looking at the mother's you all have become and seeing that all the parenting was so worth it.

I hope Taya and Kevin know that I do feel the pain of watching Gramma Pearl during this hard time. You are all in my prayers all the time. With all the trauma and even the drama, we just need to be still and know God is a loving parent and all will be well. I know his will, will be done and we need to accept and realize it's all good. To have faith and to trust is difficult, but once we accept he does what is best for us all, there is comfort. I know all will be well. Glad you were able to go. I love you.

Movie Day/Birthday Day

The second in our Summer Movie Series was “Nim's Island”. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the story. Jody Foster is a good actress and I haven't seen anything Gerard Butler has been in that I didn't like. He was excellent in “Phantom of the Opera” and is basically just good to look at. Once again the 14 kids we had with us were happy to be there, happy to eat popcorn and various kinds of sugar, and happy for the sodas. The 6 adults along for crowd control had a really good time and I am now looking forward to next week's “Horton Hears A Who”. I generally love Dr. Suess, so I hope it does him justice. I have since gone online to see the trailer for “New Moon” coming up in November - it looks like it will be really good. Can't wait for that.

I think the kids went to “free lunch” at one of the local elementary schools and somehow fit swim lessons in somewhere. Then they all went to open swimming at the pool and splashed around until around 4:00. Then home for some quiet time. The boys went to do boy things with Grumpy, R.B., Jeff and Robert and the girls went to Megan's Birthday Girls Night.





She chose T.G.I.Fridays for the restaurant and so off we went for a fun dinner out with the girls. Then on to yet another movie - “Up”. Not quite what I was expecting, but enjoyed it. The storyline, and general subject matter was a little more adult in context than I thought it would be. The girls liked it, but there were some tears.




By the end of the movie everyone was tired, Faith was coming down with a cold and didn't feel good and Rylee came home with me to wait for Jamie to come pick her up to take her home. I stayed up and read for awhile and finally made it to bed about 12:30 am. A pretty good day all things considered. I hope Megan's birthday was as fun for her as it was for the rest of us. Happy Birthday Megan and thanks for choosing a girls night. It was the best.

Singin' in the Truck

As I was out driving the other day, doing errands I happened to have Jaxon in the truck with me. There was a fair amount of driving as the errands were a little strung out. We talked for awhile and after we had exhausted our conversation topics I turned on my Twilight CD. Jade, Jaxon, Ryker and Aden and I have all been coming home from their school before and sung many a song from that CD together. Today though it was just us two. He knows the words to most of the songs, but our favorite one to sing is “Leave Out All The Rest” by Linkin Park. I thought I would try and sing the harmony part to see if it was confusing to him. He didn't miss a note. We blasted down the road singing at the top of our lungs and I knew it would be one of those isolated events I would always remember. I'm posting about it just in case I my mind goes to pot. I loved it and it was fun to be sharing that experience with Jaxon. Such a little thing, but so very poignant to me.

That same errand run included stopping at Smart and Final for a 4 gallon tub of vanilla ice cream (and a few other non-essential items) so we could make chocolate shakes. Three little boys will often come looking for Grumpy to get out the milkshake machine and whip them up a shake. Another one of those things carried on from Nan and Pop to us. RB and Stacie's family have a shake machine too. I love those funny little traditions that go through the years.



Waiting for shakes.

Luke AFB Thunderbird Airshow

In March, on the odd numbered years the USAF Thunderbirds come to Luke AFB and perform. We look forward to it, and several family members got to go this year. We have some pics to share and hope the kids will remember this fun airshow.




Nicely re-done P51's. Looking very good. Papa owned two of these at one point. I wish he still had them. The kids are pretty good lookin' too. Faith, Megan, Jaxon and Ryker are the kids that went with Grumpy this year.



An F16 in desert camo.



A German Tornado aircraft.



Air Force F15.



AWAC or Airborne Warning And Control Plane. It sees targets way far away and can radio back pertinent info.



Megan and Faith getting ready to ride one of the attractions.



The kids (Megan, Faith, Jaxon and Ryker looking in to the T33 that was on display.



Ryker and Jaxon checking out one the rides.






Megan riding this fun looking gizmo.



Faith joining her cousins on this giant strawberry ride. The kids all had a great time. Grumpy just has to be around aircraft to have a great time. So it was fun to go and see all the stuff. Papa got really sunburned and spent the next week nursing peeling and scabbed skin on his face. He loves the airshows too, so it was all worth it, but next time we'll take some sun block.