Votaw Family

End Of Summer - Update

2011-08-03T13:54:00.006-07:00

This is the last of the summer picture that I have, Joel has more but he can post his on his blog. Sorry this is kind of backwards too....

The kids went back to school this last week and not a moment to soon for some, me! They enjoy their teachers and Jonas actually told me he wanted to get back to school 2 week before it started because he missed his school friends. Jonas is a 5th grader this year and Carson is a 2nd grader, both got awesome teachers too!

Jonas 5th Grade & Carson 2nd Grade 2011/2012

One of our last trips was to Catalina Island off of the CA coast. The kids had never been and it has been years since Joel or I had gone so we figured it would be fun. We did something i swore i would never do too, we flew and over water! EEEEEEEEEE. I think it is the thought that if you go down you are really going down and drowning alive to boot. Joel being the loving husband that he is thought it best to give us all a pep talk as we went over the water too. Lets see it went somethings like this, so when (not if) we hit the water brace yourself and try to hold on. If you are awake when we slam into the water then try to get out as quick as possible and I will try and get the kids out before the wreckage drops like a stone to the water grave better known as the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Just lovely! I felt so safe and not at all worried, did I happen to mention that there are also sharks near Catalina, big ones that eat people. Bonus!

We had a great time once we landed on the nice hard ground. It is a bit of a tourist trap over there, no cars are there and so you walk, bike or rent a golf cart for $40 per hours and limit 4 people per cart. So we walked....we got some ice cream, walked some more and then took a fun semi-submersible boat ride. The kids got a big kick out of it and so that was fun a bit expensive for lots of brown fish but fun none the less. Joel and I might go back by ourselves and stay at the Wrigley Mansion B&B there, it looks like a fun day or so trip.

Jonas and Carson as we wait for the boat ride

Marin totally excited to be about to see Nemo fishes

So another bonus this summer has been reconnecting with old friends. I got a chance to get in touch with one of my dearest high school friends, Missy. We use to be stuck together at the hip all though high school and then after during college too. I watched her first daughter be born and enjoyed all those experiences with them. In fact i was on the committee of 2 that helped name her daughter. She is a dear friend and I am so excited that our paths crossed again. She has 2 more kiddos and so we have spent lots of fun time with them on our trips to CA this summer. Joel has also gotten a chance to visit with some old high school friends too and catch up and he tells me he has really enjoyed that too. I am excited to get to play catch up with such great friends this summer and look forward to all our families getting to know each other again.

Marin and Caswell (Missy's son) at Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana

Marin and Olivia (Missy's daughter, so cute) at Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana

So this summer we got a chance to spend more time in CA since Joel has been working out there so much. With that comes time for me to spend with my sister and her daughter, Isla. We went to the beach one Saturday and it was so much fun. It was just Marin and I and then my sister and their family. The boys had a fencing class they did which I hope that Joel blogs about, cause those pictures are so much fun. So I have done my fill of beach life and sand in funny places really doesn't get me excited any more. I love the beach and it is fun but the sand is a HUGE turn off for me. Luckily enough all my boys have felt the same way and so we haven't spent much time at the beach. However Marin on the other hand LOVES the beach and all the sandy parts too. It was so cold this morning in the water but she was out in it 100%. I was amazed! Here are some fun pictures of her in the water and in the sand playing.

Marin making a sandcastle

Marin loving the wet sticky cold sand

It was overcast that morning but Marin's face was full of sunshine!

Katie my sister and her daughter Isla enjoying the beach with us

Our last trip to CA included the long awaited LA Galaxy Elite Player Soccer Camp. He was SOOO excited to have this experience. It was out in Carson, CA (near Long Beach) and it was held at the Home Depot Center. Jonas had a great time and he learned a ton and even got to meet a few Galaxy players and attend a game. It was a fun week for him and I got reacquainted with the lovely LA traffic that I grew up in too. Win - Win I suppose.

Jonas on day 2 of the soccer camp

Jonas with his Galaxy camp coach on the last day, sun burnt and exhausted!

We attended a Galaxy game as well and have a blast!

Early Summer Happenings - Update

2011-08-03T13:29:00.002-07:00

So here are a few things that happened at the end of the school year and also first few weeks of summer of 2011.

Jonas had his FINAL assignment due it was the culmination of months of research and reports. His assignment was the report and do a oral presentation of a famous Arizonan, he chose Kit Carson. He had to pretend to be Kit Carson and give a synopsis of the life of Kit Carson while dressed up in character. He did an awesome job and that was only possible with such a great teacher he had. We loved Mrs.Kunz!

Jonas as Kit Carson with Mrs. Kunz

We have made it an annual tradition to take a Staycation each year at the Arizona Grand here in town. They have a fun resort with big slides, wave pools and fruity drinks to sip on. We stay a night and play both days in the water just when it is getting hot. It never seems to work that the dads go with us so it is usually the DelFosse Kids and the Votaw Kids involved with mom's of course. We have a fun time and this year was no exception. So much so that I wasn't even to get the older kids to stand still long enough to take a picture. So all we have are the ones that are to slow to escape the picture taking. Although I must say they are a cute thing to take pictures of. Oh did I happen to mention that I did the BIG drop out slide and Alison TOTALLY wimped out! I was walking sideways the rest of the day but totally worth the 1 and only try.

Marin and Christian pool side, with Marin in her "kennie" so she calls her bikini.

Christian and Marin who are all bundled up because the 90 degree temps made them chilly

So Carson wanted to try out for Club Soccer this year. He loves baseball mind you but at this age it is SOOOO hard to enjoy them playing baseball as a parent. He was so excited to try out and he made a team. Carson is on the Arsenal 2004 Premier Boys team and so excited! He love to play goalie and he is great in the midfield as well. He has great ball control and is always in the right place to be an asset to the team. He will do great this Fall and I am so excited to watch him play.

Carson in his Arsenal gear!

The kids love to skate and play and so we have taken full advantage of the new indoor skate and jump place in Chandler. It is so much for and Marin loves to go jump too. Here is a cute picture of the boys at play.

Colter, Sawyer, Jonas and Carson

KC Day Trip - Update

2011-08-02T17:48:00.004-07:00

Ok so after the Bad Religion concert we had a little bit of time to do some sigh seeing before our plane left later that day. So we decided to take a small tour of Liberty and a few other church sites.

We left the hotel and headed out in search of yummy breakfast (best meal of the day). I love little hole in the wall super good food restaurants. I won't just try any place mind you I need reviews and lots of good ones. I fancy myself the type like Guy on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. So we found this little hole in the wall place that was well, in a very sketchy part of town. It was so stinking good. It is funny because I am not the hippy type of gal at all but it seems like most these places that I adore and love are just that, hippy divey places. Look at my organic pecan creme bruele french toast it was to die for! I ate every last bite and I even shared 1 bit with Joel.

MMMMMMMMMMM

Next we went off to see Liberty Jail and the FLDS (Fundamental LDS) temple and see Adamondaion (sp?). Any ways all our LDs friends will know what I am trying to spell. Anyways, it was very interesting for sure. Not much at FLDS site or Adamondaion really to speak about other than it was fun to pretend to be investigators for the sisters missionaries at the LDS visitors center there. The FLDS temple was well weird, my mother in law called it when she said it looked like the emerald city castle on Wizard of Oz.

Off to Liberty Jail, OK that was neat! I can go off on all the feelings I had while I was here and tell you how cramped the quarters looked and such but I won't. What I will say is that it is well worth a visit and that seeing it in person will strengthen your testimony of latter day prophets. We are blessed to have such men on this earth today that have fought so hard to bring about the restoration of the gospel. Amazing in every way!

Liberty Jail, recreated to exact standards using the old foundation and rocks and stone on the site. Below is the basement of the jail and top level was for the jailer.

This is a view of the basement and the men of God that are represented here my these mannequins that stayed in the Liberty Jail for so long.

Bad Religion Concert - Update

2011-08-02T16:00:00.005-07:00

Ok so I have been super bad about blogging the last few months but once school ends and summer ends my life goes into a tail spin so I will attempt to put up a ton of blog updates and I will title them all with an Update so you know it is an older post that I am newly posting.

So my favorite band is Bad Religion and I love their music. I think I like it because for the most part the music is clean and they actually sounds like they sound on their CD's in person. I HATE, absolutely HATE singers that sound TOTALLY different and horrid in a live setting. This is exactly what Gwen from No Doubt is like, hate it!

Anyway sorry about the detour, but for Mother's Day Joel planned me a trip to go so Bad Religion. He listened to me and booked us a concert that had set seats. We have braved shows in the past and I don't enjoy standing for hours on end watching a band play as I get my toes stepped on by those jumping up and down around me while they spill their beer on me. I have put my time in when I was younger and I just don't need to do that any more. I wanted to see Bad Religion but under my old person terms. I need a soft seat and I would like to be served a fruity drink or a coke.

So Joel booked 2 tickets for us to go to Kansas City, MO to see Bad Religion. (the only tour stop with assigned soft seats, no standing required). So off we went to Kansas City with first class tickets (used the miles Joel has) and we left the kids at home. (thanks to Joel's mom Karrie for watching the kiddos for the next 36 hours). We left from Phoenix and then headed to MO. We got in and got a car and then headed to the Marriott to drop off our things. We watched TV for a few minutes in the room and then headed to dinner. Yummy dinner and then off to the show.

The show was in what Joel liked to call an "old timey" theater, basically an old school balcony and velvet walls type of place, it was very old timey. The one bad thing about those place is that the acoustics are HORRIBLE! So mix in an old timey place with bad acoustics and bands that primarily yell A LOT it was well....a loud show!

The first band was SUPER bad and that isn't their band name either. I can do some yelling bands but there has to be a melody or something along the way, this band had nothing! So sad for them. Then came on Bad Religion, Ok I know I like this band but WOW they are so awesome and so much better live than most bands too. I am a snob when it comes to bands that play live shows. It has to be better live than their recorded album for me to like them and Bad Religion doesn't disappoint at all. I think I was singing along (although nobody could hear me) the entire time. Their new album is so great and they played tons of old stuff and new stuff and things all the way back to the 80-85 album and it was so much fun!

I think Joel had a great time as well. He always laments that he never got a chance in High School and such to go to lots of shows and such. And me I have been to more than I can count and it seemed like SOMA in San Diego was my home away from home growing up in high school. So I was worried he would not enjoy the show as much as I did. He had such a great time though! So much so I think I even caught him signing along too (he never does that, not even in the car to the radio). I know he was tapping his leg and bouncing around in his seat so I have to assume he had a good time. After the show he even said we have to do that more often and suggested that next time we should take the boys with us too. He wants to take the boys down to the mosh pit he said, I suggested that he needed to take Travis Scott (friends from church) with him if he does that so Travis can bounce anybody that starts to get to rough with the kids.

After Bad Religion played the headliner band played, Rise Against. They are a good band but again I need a small melody every once in a while to keep my interest. They had TOO much lights and smoke machines for me too. Call me old fashioned but I want to see and hear a good band not fire, smoke and flashy lights. They did OK but I think that Joel and I got more entertainment out of the skin head punk rocker that was sitting a row down from us and was standing, yes I said standing on the other side of the railing on the ledge of the balcony and waiving his arms about while singing. It had to have been a 60' drop to the seats below or shall I say mosh pit below. I was cringing every time he almost fell. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

It was a great show and next time I need to remember to bring the ear plugs so my ears don't ring all night. Such a great gift!!!! Love you Joel, thank you!

Bad Religon playing

Rise Against Playing

Mo-Day 2011

2011-05-09T13:38:00.004-07:00

Ok so Mother's Day 2011 is done and over. It was a super great Mo-Day for sure. Jonas made me breakfast (not in bed, we don't eat in bed) and above is the picture of the meal he made for me. Luckily enough he knew not to pour the milk on the cereal. It was yummy! Thank you Jonas!

Also the boys and Joel got me a little Nano iPod so i can do my run/walk routine and not hold onto my iTouch while I run/walk. The little thing is so stinking small that I worry that I lose it in my purse or car. Carson made me a little Drink coaster and Marin made me a little cup at school with her hand prints on it.

So Joel kept telling me that I had another gift but I had to look for it. I looked and looked and then gave up. Finally he told me what it was, a trip to go see Bad Religion one of my favorite bands back in Missouri. We leave this week for a quick 36 hours trip to Missouri. We will watch the show and then hopefully get in a few Church history sites and then head home. Joel was sneaking again and hid this from me like the NYC trip. Thanks to Joel's mom who is coming to watch the kids. He told me she had wanted to come visit the kids for the week and I thought how fun and I had started planning all the things to do this week for her with the kids. Alas she will have to do them by herself as we will be in Missouri. Super excited to have a quick get away and watch a great band!

We had the Jensen's over for dinner and Joel and Jared cooked BBQ with all the goodies and a yummy desert too! Everybody was hurting from eating to much of Joel's yummy BBQ. Thanks Jensen's for sharing your Mo-day with us.

It was a great Mo-Day and I am super lucky to have such an awesome husband and kids. Love you all!

DBacks Opening Game 2011

2011-04-08T20:35:00.002-07:00

Joel promised Carson to take him to the opening game for the DBacks this year and he could bring a friend and their dad with them too. Carson has been waiting ever so patiently for the day to come. We didn't even have the season ticket package yet and Carson was on pins and needles to go. Tonight was the night and many moons ago he decided that of course it would be Ryan and his dad Todd that went to the game with them. Carson and Ryan have been best friends since their first year of preschool almost 4 years ago. (wow I just suddenly felt old) Carson was waiting out in front of the house for Ryan and his dad to pick them up since 4:30pm today...the game started at 6:40pm. He wasn't to excited was he? They are at the game right now and I just texted Joel and asked for an update and a picture of the boys and this is what I got back. The boys sure do look like they are having a great time. I am sure glad that Carson has such a great buddy in Ryan we sure do love their family.

Carson 2011 Little League

2011-04-05T07:54:00.004-07:00

So just when I think we are almost have a break in our normal sports weekends we get roped into another year of little league baseball. I know that Carson loves it and he is so good at it that we just do it. So this year he is on a team called the Scrappers, it actually is a good uniform set. He has many of the same boys on his team this year and most importantly his very best friend Ryan is on his team and his dad is the coach this year too. Those 2 boys have been buddies since they had their first preschool class together almost 4 years ago now I think. They had their first game 2 weekends ago and they did awesome and this last weekend was the same, the won! They have at least 1-2 games a week and 2 practices a week so we are VERY busy with baseball right now. Carson plays all the way into May so if anybody wants to come out and visit us in AZ and watch a game let me know there are plenty of them to watch! Carson is having a great time playing and he is doing awesome at it. See if favorite position to play below...

Team Picture, Carson is bottom left and Ryan is BFF is middle row 3rd over from left.

Carson at warm ups

Carson's favorite postion to play

He can't get enough of the catcher position

Ok he does infield great too.

Him playing shortstop and throwing one to 1st base for an out.

Marin's Big Girl Bed

2011-03-23T22:13:00.002-07:00

For each of the kids 2 year old birthday's they got Big Boy Bed. I was super reluctant to get Marin a bed when she turned 2, why well she sleeps in her crib so well and she is still so small and fits so why spend the $. Unfortunately she has been leaning out of her crib when she wants out and it scares me. Yes I know I can get those tent thingies but I can't bare to put her in that. I think I would really piss her off by doing that anyways.

So this past month I have been looking for beds at all the furniture places in town and online. I have a huge beef to pick with furniture manufacturers. All the boys beds as TONS cheaper but have a bed that has a little dainty leg or comes in white or has a canopy and you have just entered the twilight zone for prices. It is insane! I just refused to pay that much but yet I needed a bed and I was not going to buy her a boy bed. Ahhhh the dilemma.

So I finally added up the furniture and the bedding costs and realized that the furniture at Pottery Barn was going to give me the best bang for my buck especially if I wanted a girl bed and sheets and such too. So it was ordered 2 weeks ago and ever sense I have been hyping up this "big girl bed" thing to Marin and telling how exciting it was and how big girls don't use diapers any more and how they use the potty and they especially don't ever use a pacifier (passey) anymore. I figured I could lump all those things in with this right, I was trying it at least worst that could happen is she just sleeps in her bed right.

So the furniture came today, the mattress had to get picked up today and I had to go get the pillow and mattress cover and such too. Today was Big Girl Bed day, the boys just loved it don't you know. Enjoy some of the events and pictures below.

My car with the mattress and box spring on them. Joel HATES it when people carry things on the tops of their cars. So sad he wasn't here to witness this beauty. I forgot to take a picture of it all strapped down just right so that is why it looks like it is about to fall off. I was mid way through take down when I realized I didn't have a picture for Joel. And HUGE kudos to our awesome neighbor Brad (and his brother from CO) who helped me wrangle this up the stairs to Marin's room.

This is Marin right after I put the last pillow on the bed. She had her "Marin" stool all set up and ready to climb up on her new bed. Yes her hair is a mess inthis picture but she was playing in all the bags and wrappings and such with Carson while I made the bed. Oh well.

This is her right before she went to bed. She was so excited! Not that I ever have to wrestle with her to go to bed but tonight she was READY to go as soon as she got all her noodles down in her belly.

OK I know these last 2 picture are so similar but she was just SOOOO stinking happy with her new bed and her new covers and such she was literally all smiles from ear to ear as I left the room.

So right as I was leaving and turning out the lights she was giggling still with excitement. No literally she was snickering with happiness. I had to get up in her face and tell her how excited I was for her and how proud I was for her being such a big girl. I asked her if she loved her new bed and it was a giant smile she said "uhh huhhh" and then I asked her another series of similar questions and each time it was with a giant smile and "uhh huhh" with a good head nod. I think her toes had smiles on them she was so happy head to toe, I was on the verge of tears seeing her so dang happy. I suppose it was time for the Big Girl Bed.

Night night Marin, sleep well big girl.

My Daughter I've Ruined Her

2011-03-22T07:15:00.006-07:00

So do you ever wonder what kind of influence you have on your kids when they are young and worry that you are messing them up with different mannerisms you have? Well a few weeks ago I was worried I was imposing a phobia on Marin and thought to myself oh my goodness I am ruining her.

You see I HATE having wet hair touch my back after I get out of the shower or bath or pool. (not that I get lots of baths mind you) It is line nails on the chalk board to me and I will grab a towel straight away and wrap my hair up. A few Christmas's ago my sister gave me a Turbie Twist and I love the stupid thing so much. It is small and wraps up my hair and it stays put. This Christmas I asked for a new one since my old was one looking pretty bad (I use it everyday). So at Christmas I got 2 new ones. Wonderful I thought right? Well nope Marin was super insistent that she needed a hat on too, she calls it my hat. I thought how cute that was and I had an extra one so why not. Well lets put it this way I finally realized the other day when her "hat" went missing that she HAD TO HAVE one too. I thought to myself oh my goodness I have imposed my phobia of wet hair on her and now she has to have a hat too. I was so upset about this and I have been trying to break her of her dependence on the Turbie Twist. Until.....

Yesterday I had a sitter stay with the kids so I could run to a lunch meeting and a site visit, it is Spring Break and unfortunately life still goes on and I have work stuff to do. When I came home I walked into the pantry to turn off the light and what did I see?

Marin had taken my little baking cups I use for candies and had portioned them off with little marshmallows in them. I thought ahhhh how sweet she was making treats and not only that she was embellishing them with the little baking cups. I thought to myself OK maybe it is OK to rub off on your kids I wasn't so worried about the Turbie Twist hat so much anymore. I suppose your kids are going to pick up some of your phobias along the way but then again some things that are good too.

I suppose I have not ruin her just quite yet.

The Man Bag

2011-02-14T19:49:00.001-07:00

So as you are all aware Joel broke his leg almost 2 weeks ago. So one of his challenges has been how to carry his stuff, by stuff I mean his planner and iPad (the one that injured him). I suggested that he get a "man bag", in complete jest of course. I say jest because we tease poor Micah Nicholiason (Bonilla's bro-inlaw) for his man bag he carries and I thought Joel surely would say no....nope he wanted one. However he had one stipulation he wanted a manly one not a metro one. So I went on the hunt for the perfect non-gay man manbag (the most impossible challenge ever).

I went to Target and then to Fossil. Finally I found one that fit the bill. He has been carrying it in what seems like protest just while he healed he said, until today. He said that the bag isn't so bad after all and he actually likes it because it is so handy. I had to tease him a little bit more and I asked him if he was honestly going to continue to carry it after the leg healed. I then asked him if he was going to go get a chap stick and packet of tissues for his man bag too. Of course I had no way of knowing the content of his man bag at that point. Of course that is until he started crying laughing...he said I surely must have just gone thru his bag. Nope I sure hadn't but sure enough he did have a new chap stick in there, no tissues but worse yet he had a stash of his frequent cards all rubber banded up just like I do in my girl purse.

Poor Joel, humor at his expense is funny sometime. Hehehe. Don't make fun of his manbag please, that is reserved for his wife only.

The bag....

Joel with his man bag at his side

The Daddy Hair Do

2011-02-14T18:39:00.001-07:00

So a cherish memory I have as a child was one when my dad would let us play with his hair. My that I mean us girls would break out the clippies, a brush and hair gel and do my dads hair. He would sit on floor on front of the lazy boy chair and us girls would "do" his hair.

So up until about a week ago I had totally forgotten about this memory. Sorry dad...but last week Marin was able to resurrect this childhood memory. Joel called me over to show me what Marin is doing, she was pretending to "do" his hair. She would put pretend hair goo in his hair and put pretend bows in his hair. Joel thought it was so cute and thought what a great imagination she must have.

For me all these memories of my dad with clippies in his spiked hair came flooding back. So of course the next night I had to indulge Marin and I set her up with real butterfly hair clips, headbands, a few brightly colored hair scrunchies, a brush and of course a squirt bottle of water. She was so excited to have all these new hair accessories to "do" dads hair with. And I think the look on Joel's face when he realized that all these butterfly clippies and hot pink scrunchies where for him was almost as great as priceless as Marin's excitement.

The little white things in Joel's hair are the butterfly clippies. The headband is about to go in.

Come What May...

2011-02-06T19:58:00.008-07:00

This is my new theme this year, Come What May. I think if I expected to much or thought that roses would start to bloom in our lives this year I might be sorely disappointed. That isn't to say that life stinks, it doesn't at all. However I am just having a different attitude with these wonderful things that keep happening to us. Such as this....

Joel has once again helped the family meet our annual medical deductible in short order. How you wonder, well on Saturday we all went to Jump Street ( http://www.gotjump.com/ ) which for those that don't live in AZ, it is a GIANT building that is wall to wall trampolines. I jumped with Marin in the 7 and under section and Joel and the boys and Ryan (Katie's husband/our Bro-InLaw) jumped in the main area and played dodge ball on the tramps. Well as Joel was showing off his trampoline prowess he was mid double flip when he saw out of the corner of his eye a kid darting across the length of the trampolines. And Joel being the self sacrificing type decided not to pummel the 8 year old little boy and under-rotated the flip to miss the little boy and came down on his ankle wrong. So much so that he broke the bottom part of his leg clean into 2 pieces.

I being the wife that has seen her 35 year old husband in heart failure thought surely he is over-reacting as he scooted off the trampolines. We procrastinated the ER visit till later that night, I thought there was NO way he had broken anything it was just a lil'ol trampoline. Nope sure enough it was broken clean thru.

So now Joel sits on the couch with his foot in a soft cast till the swelling goes down and the orthopedic doctor can be seen (Tuesday or Wednesday). At which time he will tell us if it will require surgery or not (85% chance he will need surgery, of course). So our deductible if there is surgery will be meet this year again and luckily enough this time only 1 month into the new year too. So you see why I say....Come What May. If nothing else the deductible is at least met and all the remaining ER visits will be FREEEEE!

Watch the kid in the red shirt dart across the trampolines. Oh and dismiss the jovial laughter on my part as I assume he twists his ankle. I have to laugh now a days at these things or else I will go nuts. I am a good wife I promise...

Marin in her 20's

2011-02-06T18:32:00.003-07:00

So we took some family photos when my family was in town this weekend and I went shopping for a new outfit for Marin and I. I found this little outfit for Marin that was to die for and I had to get it and it didn't' help that it was on sale too.

So I got her all dressed up in it and was set to go, Katie walks into her room and looks at her and goes "why do you have Marin dressed up like a 20 year old?". OK that was it I had to change her because yes she looked like a 20 year old. However so as to not let the outfit go to waste it was going to be a new church outfit. She got rave reviews from the ladies at church and so it is a keeper at least at church.

I still love the little outfit but yes she does look like she is 20 years old in it, to funny.

Snow is Phoenix?

2011-02-06T18:22:00.003-07:00

So it could have but no it didn't. For all those that don't live in Phoenix or Phoenix Metro Area you had no idea that last week was FREEEEEE----ZZZZZZ----IIINNNNGGG here. (that is my Burr voice coming thru)

If it would have rained it would have snowed in Phoenix and then that wonderful phrase that my dad use to use all the time when I was growing up would have come true and then I would have gotten that horse I so desperately wanted when I was 8 years old for our back yard (we lived in a tract home). Hell would have in all sense of the word, frozen over. No Phoenix isn't Hell but sometimes it feels like we share the same climate in the summer months.

I do love it here don't get me wrong but on days like last week I was begging for the 115 degree summer day to come a little bit sooner. It was COLD here!

This was the temperature reading in my car on Thursday morning at 9am.

This was Friday morning at 9am

Marin's 1st Hair Cut

2011-02-06T18:03:00.003-07:00

So the day finally came, Marin got her first hair cut (at age 2). No we didn't chop it all off, it just needed a trim is all. So we made an appointment at the beauty shop, so my grandma use to call it and off we went. Marin was so excited I think, all she kept telling everybody that she was getting " me hair cut" today. She got a booster seat, a cape and a little water spritzed in her hair and the trimming began.

Amanda (the hairdresser) kept asking her if she was ready or excited and she kept closing her eyes 1/2 way (something she does when she is acting coy). I think she was totally enjoying it however she wouldn't take her eyes of herself in the mirror while her hair was getting cut. After her hair was trimmed and dried and "goo" (Marin calls my hair gel goo) in it she was set to go and so excited. She told everybody all day about her hair cut. So pretty Marin...

Almost ready for the cut.

The cape is on now

As it was being dried

Ta Daaaa Marin's 1st Hair Cut Results

My Extreme Couponing

2011-02-01T18:41:00.002-07:00

OK I am hooked, I joined the ranks of the crazy coupon ladies. I got hooked onto the www.couponsense.com thing and get oodles of newspapers each Sunday for the coupons. After a month or so of collecting them and sorting them I have a stock pile of enough coupons to make this kind of receipt happen.

So the trick is you only use your coupons when something is on a great sale and then you pay next to nothing for the item. For instance if cereal is 10 for $10 you you use your $2.00 per box coupon and then the cereal is free. Or if it is a $0.50 coupon off one box then the cereal is only $0.50 per box when normally they are $4.00 per box normally. Now granted I have oodles of one thing at each trip. Last night it was frozen steam-pack veggies and canned tomatoes but those things store great in the freezer and on the shelf so what does it matter that I have 20 bags of veggies and 20 cans of tomatoes hanging around? I will use them all up and then buy them again when I am low on them or they are on sale again. I just have to say that I am hooked now!!!!!

Notice I paid $65.25 for 136 items and I saved $328.00 which was an 84% saving. I clipped $122.45 dollars worth of coupons and it was easy to do too.

The IPad Injury

2011-01-28T12:35:00.001-07:00

It has happened...we should actually sue Apple for it because I do not remember any typical Warning literature that came with the IPad. However because of this incident I would have to say that they might now need to from here on out at least ones sold to people with the last name of Votaw.

As Joel was sitting and reading his book on his IPad I hear this "Ahhh it hit me"....what hit him I wondered? I was sitting next to to him the entire time. I look over and sure enough his nose is gushing blood from the top, almost as if someone punched him.

After consoling him for like 10 seconds I asked him who hit him. The next response is why I had to post here. Joel said with complete contempt, "my IPad hit me!". He was totally disgruntled too as if the thing had a set of arms and just sucker punched him. It was at that point I lost all sympathy and broke out into full on teasing mode. Which of course required a picture to capture the IPad assault with, for future litigation purposes of course.

As for Joel's assertion that he beat me to the punch on his blog (www.votawfamily.com) I should tell you that I actually sent out several texts with the picture attached moments after the assault. Carol and Jared can back me up on this one.

So all of you that got new IPads for Christmas, beware...the device can mame and injury, yes even adults.

Marin Starts Pre-School

2011-01-21T12:44:00.001-07:00

Ok so I almost feel ashamed to say it but Marin started Pre-school this week. Yes she is just

2 years old but she is such a busy and outgoing and independent 2 year old that she was getting bored being with me all morning I think. So there is this great place just up the street from us that just opened and they have a ton of friends from church that teach there. All the ladies have their early childhood masters and the place is set up so cute. I know it is more of a social thing at this age but she is loving it.

So she goes 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours and she loves it. Day one she was ready to go and wanted her backpack on right away. So off we went to school and as soon as we walked into the classroom with her 2 teachers she was gone. She didn't look back and there was not a tear shed. I had to bug her to get a hug and kiss and a quick "Bye Mom". She was ready for this.

When I went to go pick her up she was sitting nice and quite on her little circle in the classroom and waited her turn to get up to go home. It was like this was second nature to her. What the stink is up with that? Carson was so antsy that he couldn't set still on those stupid circle mats to save his life, it was as if he had ants in his pants. Oh well she is doing awesome and had to tell dad all about the Play-Dough and paints and friends and baby dolls and oh so much more. It was so sweet to see her taking to this new adventure like a duck to water. Way to go Marin what a big girl you are.

She was ready to go! I couldn't' drive fast enough for her I think.

Marin with her backpack and in front of school, ready to go!

This was her playing on the Lego table while mom got the special card key to get in.

Just about to go into her classroom for the 1st time...she was anxious can you tell. This is my fav picture and tells you all about her excitement that morning.

Look at all those lil backpacks all lined up so neat and pretty, Marin's is the pink n brown polka dotted one

Marin at the end of the day getting her papers out of her cubbie

Ok mom here we go....all done.

This one is mine mom

Marin telling Joel all about her day, she was so excited to share.

Marin's 2nd Bday Party

2011-01-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

So Marin is officially 2 years old. She obviously doesn't remember her birthday from last year and so this year had to be a good one. Taking off of the Irvine Park love, the pony and her love for Toy Story and Jesse the cowgirl I thought how awesome that would be to have a petting zoo and a pony ride to boot at her birthday. I didn't tell her about it till I figured out the cost on it. I found a place called Carters Zoo in Queen Creek and they would do it all for just a little over $200. That was a steal in my mind since the boys birthday parties are easily that if you do Amazing Jake's or Laser Tag or things like that. So off we went planning. The Toy Story invitations went out to a few of her church friends and soccer friends and I got busy baking.

I found these awesome Jesse Hat sugar cookies on a web site and had to try them out, see below. They should have had a red gum drop on them but alas I forgot about that till the last minute and of course Target didn't have any. And then the alien cupcakes as well from Toy Story, those I found online too and had to do them, they turned out great too! The one thing I debated on was the cake, make it or buy it. So I ordered a Costco cake as a back up and we used it but I tried my hand at a fondant cake. I found this yummy white cake recipe and did a day or two ahead of time and it was divine! Then I made some fondant, this was fun! Joel's cousin Gigi did one for her little daughters bday this year and I should try it too. I didn't have but an hour to get the fondant done and cake decorated because of soccer but it turned out OK. I did the frosting in a can for the trim pieces and that stupid thing sucks. It squirted frosting everywhere, so the details kind of stink but wow the cake was yummy, fondant included. I think I will have to try my hand at that one again but not on a soccer weekend I think.

So Marin had such a great time, she rode a pony, held and petted tons of animals and had sweets out the waa-zoo, not to mention all the friends and gma Karrie and gpa Rick coming too. She had a great bday for sure. Thank you to all that came or that sent cards and gifts from CA and beyond. She had the best 2 year old birthday ever!

Jesse Hat Cookies

Fondant Jesse Cake

Alien Cupcakes

Petting Zoo, self contained and all, love it!

More zoo pics

Marin Letting the Bunny out of the cage

More bunny pics

Marin isn't sure what this all about can you tell....

Overhead shot of zoo

What the heck do we do with all these animals?

Marin is confused by the goat

Dang she is a cutie, hope Jonas thinks so too. wink wink

First Pony Ride for Marin.

More Pony

Unsure about the pony ride

Carson, being Carson. Yes that is a chicken on his head, no it isn't sick that is the way they come I was told at least that breed

More chicken pics

Carson' s BFF with a chicken on his head too.

Ok Marin likes the goat now...

Nice goat...notice the Jesse shoes and hat. She wouldn't take them off

Gma Karrie and Gpa Rick brought a nice new shiny pink tricycle with them for Marin, she loves it!

Marin is ready to dig into the cake and treats. Happy Birthday baby girl.

Marin's 1st Pony Ride

2011-01-20T16:15:00.001-07:00

So while we we where in CA over the x-mas holiday there was a day (notice it was singular) without much rain. So we thought we had better get the kids out of the house and with the Dland passes blacked out and Knott's completely packed with all the other blacked out fellow Dland pass holders we chose to take the kids to Irvine Park for a train ride and Marin a pony ride. I know the boys are WAY to old for this stuff but I knew the boys would go along with it if they thought that Marin would like it. The boys are such great big brothers to her. So I clipped a few coupons online for the event and off we went.

My sister with Isla and my mom came along for the ride too. Marin was ecstatic while on the pony ride and Jonas had fun being the "adult" that got to lead the pony for her.

Hold on there pony....

Ok this isn't so bad now....

Ok I think I have the hang of this now guys....

Ok I am in heaven now!!!!!

Such great fun we all had at Irvine Park.

Jonas and Harley

2011-01-12T19:00:00.001-07:00

So Joel and Travis took the boys, Jonas and Harley to the Suns vs Heat game the other week. We had tickets and didn't find a home for them in time so they went. Jonas was so excited to see his favorite team, the Heat (yep not the Suns). The tickets are 6th row behind the hoop.

At one of the time out the boys got to go down on the court for an up close tv shot on the jumbo tv over the court too. They though that was pretty cool.

All the boys, dads included had a blast. Jonas has a new opinion of Lebron James though. All the players slapped the kids hands as they came out at half time but Lebron just walked by as if he was to good for that. What an idiot, does he not understand that these silly kids are the ones that buy all his crap? Oh well the boys had so much fun and Jonas really loves hanging out with Harley.

Carson Lost 1st tooth

2011-01-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

It finally happened! Carson lost a tooth. Carson has been dying to loose a tooth, all his friends and classmates have lost at least 1 or more teeth. Carson has even got as far so to suggest that he needs to go to the DDS to have a tooth pulled just like his brother. So funny! So finally one of his bottom middle teeth got loose and was ready to come out. He refused to pull it out though, it was dangling there. So with the advise of a dentist from our ward (thank you Dr Clark) we tied a string to a door handle and the other end to Carson's dangling tooth. After a few adjustment and re-ties to the slippery tooth it was out! So excited to finally have that thing out. The tooth fairy came and she got his first tooth and Carson's little 7 year old life was complete at that point.

Of course as is normal with Carson life is ever so much interesting. Less than 2 days later Carson and Jonas had an occasion to wrestle and be roughy and one elbow to the mouth later and Carson had another loose tooth. Not only was it loose it was hanging out in a pool of blood. So mom to the rescue I did what would normally totally gross me out and I took a hold of it and twisted it out and out it came. I was worried about there possibly being some tooth left over in the gums so of courses Dr. Clark to the rescue again, he came over to the house to check it out and all was good. What an awesome DDS!

So here we are 2 teeth down with a few extra bucks in Carson's pocket. Grandpa Mike also found a few $2 bills for Carson troubles too, which Carson was excited to get to supplement what I am being told is cheap tooth fairy money ($1 per tooth). Carson now has another loose tooth too and is excited for another shot at wiggling another tooth out.

Merry Christams 2010

2010-12-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send out a quick Merry Christmas to everybody via blog this year. Above is our Christmas picture and it was on all our cards this year as well. The kids have just grown so stinking much this year. Jonas to me seems more and more on the verge of Pre-teen and that well it scares the crap out of me. Carson is just trying his darnedest to keep up with and thankfully is still a little boy but he is so much mature than his friends that it is hard for him to not play and want to hang with his brother all the time. Marin well what can I say...she is full of as much spunk and determination as you can tell from the picture. She is such a joy in all our lives and she just always wants to be with "her boys" as she calls them. I could go on and on about all the fun stuff she does like singing twinkle twinkle little star and such but I won't or else this will start to look like my NYC blog post. It is fair to say that the boys and Marin are a great source of joy in our lives and something that we love dearly.

This year has well be an amazing thing to live thru, I won't go into the nittie gritty about all the honestly insane year we have had but lets just say it started out with our home being broke into, broken in the middle my Joel in heart failure and then it has ended thus far on a note that is so much more overwhelming that I think I would be OK with our home being broken into each week if this trial we are in the middle of was to pass. I always tell people to pray, pray for us to have the strength and stamina to survive this all. Also pray that common sense would prevail and that those involved in our saga would be able to be blessed and given a clear mind and heart. As one friend said to me the other day, you must have calluses on your knees by now from the year you have had. Let me tell you I do!!!!

I am hopefully that 2011 will be a good year and that justice and mercy will be the theme to our year to come. We want to wish all our friends and family an wonderful and very Merry Christmas as well as a prosperous and successful New Year.

NYC Trip 2010

2010-12-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

Yes I know it has been a super long time since I have posted anything, sorry. Most of you know all the drama we are in the middle of right now and so I hope you understand that all I do right now is work, worry and sleep and not so much of the later either. Prayers are greatly appreciated!

So on to the NYC blog post. So for my Bday Joel was so sweet and he arranged a special NYC trip with 2 of my best friends, Carol and Alison (in no particular order). We had a free companion ticket and we had some frequent points too so he did so awesome with doing it on the cheap if that is possible even going to NYC.

I suppose I was worried one to be so far way from Joel and the kids and totally sidetracked with all the legal battles ahead of us and so I did my very best to try and forget at least for 1 weekend in 2010.

Our trip started on the 10th of Dec, I picked up all the girls nice and early before the sun had a chance to rise and off we went to terminal #3 at Phx. That is a horrible terminal and parking structure I have to say first of all. Our plane left early at 8:35am and off the 3 of us went all with kids and husbands at home with lots of sugary cereal, treats and pizza bagels to tide them all over. In fact Joel and Franc had a weekend full of soccer, the San Tan Tourny for Jonas and Sawyer was that weekend and wouldn't you know it that both the 1st games on Saturday and Sunday started at 8am, of course they did huh. The boys all got to soccer and all the kids got bathed in some fashion I was assured too. Dandy!

So we arrived in JFK around 2pm and we got our first taxi into the city, the traffic does rival LA for sure although I tend to think that the LA's traffic is a bit more scenic than NYC is (if that is even possible). We arrived at our hotel which funny enough was what I would call Grand Central Station. It was in the middle of Time Square and even in the day time hours it was brighter than the noon day sun, amazing! We got squared away (ha ha funny pun) and got to our room, Joel had told me we had a room that was about big enough for 3 people to turn around in if we all held our breath. It was actually a lot bigger than than but nothing elaborate just a typical hotel room but the view was huge!!! For some reason all I could dream about was Ammarie Stoddameyer (sp?), humm I wonder why.

Poor Atlas I know how he feels right now...

Night one was planned, I had made a reservation at a place in Greenwich village called SALT. I don't want to say I am a foodie well because it seems like that is a phrase that is used way to much to describe snotty people who critique food when they have no business doing so but I do like a good restaurant and if you have ever dined with me you know I know what I like and what I don't like. Not to be snotty at all I am just so stinking random and picky with what I like and don't like. Poor Joel. So this place had amazing reviews and looked to have very complex menu items all which sounded yummy. So off we went to Salt in Greenwich Village, I liked to call it Green (like the color) Witch (like the costume you dress up as) why well because I was visiting and isn't it so much fun to say things wrong to people who know better. Like in LA people say Suppel-vada when it is Sep-pulvada or Ger-man in Chandler is not German like the country it sounds Ger-maine like the family who lives on Gilbert Rd who told me Marin was a girl. (thanks Cara).

Ok enough of that....so off we went to dinner at Salt. Alison was our official tour guide since she use to live in Manhattan when Franc was in law school. So she said the Subway was the ticket and off we went. Ok let me preface this with several items, no I am not snotty again and yes I value safety and cleanliness. I think if I ever lived in NYC I would have a large taxi bill...why, well I rode the subway that night and I think if I never do that again I would be ok with that. Lets just say it was crowded, dirty, stinky and confusing as one thing could possibly be. I even had my handy dandy ap to guide me thru the routes and we still all got lost.

We got off the Subway and walked and walked and walked and walked....this went on for about a half an hour when we finally had to call the restaurant to get directions we had been walking in circles forever and we where hungry! Ok can I say that posting a good address online is ever so important because they didn't have the right one online, lovely! We did end up at Salt and wow was it amazing. I wanted to try everything (that I liked) and I did! I think the menu scared Alison and Carol a bit they stuck with safe pasta but that was even amazing! The girls made fun of me all weekend long every time I ate because at Salt I was Mmmmmm'ing over my meal as I ate it. It was tasty!!!! They kept teasing me to ask if it was Mmmm'ing worthy food. We left Greenwich and headed back for the bright lights that was our home.

However a small detail I left out was that we did see a certain time square icon as we left the hotel. Yes it was on the "To Do" list in NYC but just out of humor to take a picture is all. You will see below.....all I have to say is that Carol ran up to it and then talked me into a picture with it, I totally chicken out at first but then did it. Peer pressure what can I say.

He has to be cold right.....

Not the sharpest tool in the shed huh, looks it too

Gotta get in your plug somewhere huh...

Looking back at our hotel...

Day 2 was jammed pack full of stuff so much I think I have forgotten some of it. We stopped at a fun little boutique fair where I got this nifty Alison' esque hat and scarf I felt so swanky with it. All us girls agreed that we wanted to do a carriage ride around Central Park well that was a bust considering the cost and the distance was so chinsy. So we took a Pedi-Cab ride, basically a guy on a bike with a trailer on it. Way better price and we got to go way further and see way more too. So off we went on this what was suppose to be casual sight seeing trip in a quite quaint morning in central park. Mind you the people offering these rides are not native Americans, I have no issue with that but things do run thru your head when you see these people and you think "Hummmmmm you aren't going to bomb anything are you?" (if Alison is reading this she is dying of shame for me right now)

So off we went, we had planned to take this ride to the sights in the park and then off to the Met to walk around the museum which is another whole story too! The first 5 minutes of the ride was peaceful and nice but then you hear a lot of sirens and such, which I have come to realize isn't anything exciting and is as common in some parts of the country as birds chirping and such. Wow lots of sirens all the time can I tell you that, a bit unnerving at first. So here we are 6 minutes into the ride and there seems to be a few Santa's walking around the park, Ok well it is December and well that is festive isn't it. Ok a few more show up....humm odd attire one would think. Nope here come a few HUNDRED MORE Santa's and all kinds of scantly clad Mrs. Clauses and lots of other random Christmas type costumes, trees, chimneys and teenage mutant turtles etc. This was becoming a little distracting on our park pedicab ride now and bothersome too. So Alison asked one of the Santas who seemed to have a different aroma than most people have at 10 am in the morning, so whats up with all the Santas in Central Park???? The answer of course was....It was a Santa Bar Crawl. Well for those unfamiliar with what a Bar Crawl is I kind of liken it to those Flash Mobs you hear so much about and see on Youtube. No, no there is no fun song or dance to watch or anything like that it is merely an organized group of people that either have from the night before started drinking in Santa attire or started drinking that morning (lovely) and all at the same time aroused out of a drunken stupor to gather at the Fountain in Central Park, our very destination for our quaint pedi-cab ride that morning.

You can see the one lone Santa in the background, early lil guy...

Odd.. humm so many Santas...oh well....

What the freak?

OMG (goodness)

Now as Carol and I watched on in amazement and awe Alison was living it up and dare I say it took a great amount of personal strength for her not to run out and frolic with the Santa crowds. Mind you Alison was not intoxicated like the Santas but rather intoxicated with the randomness and complete insanity that this exhibits as a TRUE NYC event, so she says. You can see our beautiful pictures of Central Park all decked out in it's drunken Santa Clause style. As we left the park we snapped a picture of our soon to be terrorist Pedi-Cab Driver as well as the mob that enveloped our poor little pedi-cab with dancing, loud boom boxes, flying water and erotic gestures. Oh yes it was all that and so much more. Pictures and video below.

http://www.vimeo.com/18076066 - Bar Crawl Video Link

Nice guy, but......well your mind does wonder right.

After we emerged from our adventurous Pedi-Can ride we headed over to the Met which I have learned is what one would call a conundrum of sorts for me. Why you ask....well there is clearly a sign that states it is $20 per person to enter. OK, $20 it is right...no no it isn't $20 per person to enter it is what ever you want to pay. The girls left me for the coat closet to check all our bags and bundelings and such. So here I was with no guidance in this, do I pay the $20 or cheap skate it and give them 3 bucks??? I was all a flutter with what to do and so I paid the $20 per person and called my self honest, I think the girl behind the ticket booth thought I was nuts. Later on Carol and Alison chastised me for the $20 per person payment I made. Good grief what's a girl to do? The museum was great, it was fun, it was interesting and it was HUGE. There was no way we could have even done that place in 1 day let alone 2 days. Worth a return trip but maybe not at $20 per person.

We left there and headed back to the hotel for a change and directions to our next food destination, Home Restaurant. Ok this was another restaurant in Greenwich Village and this time we skipped the subway (thank goodness) and got a taxi. Ok it was at this point I offered to pay for all the taxis if we could never ride the subway again. We got to the restaurant on time and it was off to dissect the menu again. I think I ordered the entire menu it was so tasty and then we all got desserts too. It was so good, the chicken at Salt was way better but this place was yummy all it's own way. We sat outside under heaters just talking the night way and giggling. It was a great night. Carol even said that the guy sitting next to us just watched us all night be goofy, we must have been such a sight to him. Carol and Alison played it safe again for dinner and got Mac n Cheese. I was able to talk Alison into getting a a little daring and she added some bacon to her Mac N Cheese.

So we headed back to Time square that night and we had to see some more sights of Manhattan. The night before we did a few but tonight was the night to pack them all in. You will see below all the fun places we saw. At about 11:30pm at night we thought hummm what can we do, bed, no way, Empire State Building, for sure! So off we went, who would think that that thing doesn't close till 1am, random huh. Well I am sure glad we did because the wrapping ropes and lines would have scared me off in the day time, at night it was almost deserted and it still took us almost 40 minutes to get to the top. It was sooooooooo windy and soooooo cold!!! Alison came out for a few minutes but then later retreated to the observation deck indoors while Carol and took picture of the view as well as pictures of each other as our hair flew up on end in this certain spot in the wind. We where all tired and punch drunk basically so this was hilarious along with the silly faces that Alison makes in the elevator as it goes up or down. I won't post that funny face picture here since I want to talk to Alison again but it is on my phone so just ask to see it and I might have to show you if you say please.

Where Liz Lemon goes to work....

The glowing orb on that building is the 2011 New Years Eve Ball I am told

We all crashed that night after along walk home in the rain with no taxi insight, geeshhh. We crashed after Carol and I watched TV for a half an hour first. The next day came and it was show time, no seriosuy we needed to get a show in! We had tried the day before to get tickets to Wicked in this lottery system thing they do. 20 or so tickets for the next show for $25 bucks 1st and 2nd rows....deal right and with all 3 of us trying too what could go wrong? Oh everything we never won and so much so that every person we be-freinded in the lottery line won. We sure are goodluck charms huh. So we gave up and tried to get some last minute tickets to another show that had promise (another pun) it was called Promises! Promises!. It starred Sean Hayes or better known as "Just Jack" from Will and Grace and Kristin Chennowith who I swear is Denise Ecolano's twin and Molly Shannon who obviosuly needs no explanation, she is a Super Star. We all figured if we can't see the big show like Wicked we might as well get to see some people we knew of and liked.

We got 4th row center seats, it was amazing!!!!!! Carol and I both agreed it was as if they all where singing or performing just for us. I felt like we had to clap so they knew personally how much we approved of their performance. It was obviously clap worthy as well though too! It was a good play much like Mad Men the show I am told but I have to say that Molly Shannon stole the show. She just gets my tickel bone everytime, I would see anything she was in and love it I am sure. I am not a fan of over acting but she does it differently for me and I just love it. Good choice on the show for sure! Alison even snapped a shot from our seats as they took their bows, NO PICTURES are allowed so it is a treasure that we have this one.

That night I gave in and we ate at somewhere that wasn't thouroughly reviewed and hand picked apart by me. I think Alison was pleased to have a typical menu for 1 night. It wasn't bad it just wasn't Salt or Home Resturant is all. Good enough though still. We met up with a friend of Alison's close to Washington Square in uptown. We stopped by the Manhatten Temple and snapped a few pics and then Carol and I ran off to go grab a dessert while Alison visited. It was a nice relaxing evening for sure. We got a few more places in that night for pictures and then we headed home for the night, it was a long day already.

The next morning we had to pack up and head out, it was our last day in NYC. We all headed down to the Today Show to see if we could get in TV and meet Carol's peep's. We got on air and even got to meet that black guy who always stands in front and points at you on air. Carol took a picture and he then gave us his spot. Alison was waiting for us in the nice warm cafe across the street. Then next Carol and I headed for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and Alison headed uptown to visit her old stomping grounds and grab some Columbia gear for the fam. She said she wanted some boots too so off to SoHo for her.

See us in the far left hand side behind Ann?

Carol and braved the Subway again on our own mind you too. We got off and literally RAN and RAN to the ferry to make it. We finally got on the boat all sweaty and bundled up in winter garb but we made it. Carol now knows not to ask me to be a partner in any foot race, we would loose. We skipped Lady Liberty as well becuase we didn't have time and well we didn't feel the need to get all up in her business as Carol put it so we rode by and waved and took a few pictures. She is actually not as large in life as they make her our to be, she is large mind you for a statue but I was picturing her to be like the Empire State building is all. Ellis Island was neat and fun I took some pictures below for you to check out.

After that we walked up thru the financial district and got a picture with the bronzed bull and then headed to the Chruch that was in National Treasure for the boys to see that we visited there. Then off to Ground Zero, ok that isn't easy to find. I am sure if you are from there you know where it is but a sign or two would be helpful people! We found it none the less after many akward stops with complete strangers. We took our pictures had a moment and then off to the subway for the ride home. We got to the hotel grabbed Alison and our bags and got in the taxi for a ride back to JFK. I would have to say that taxi ride back was one of the longest rides EVER, the man had at least 50 green smelly trees hainging from his rear view mirror all of which it seemed like he had opened up just moments before we got it the taxi. Oh my goodness we all had headaches from that over whelming scent for an hour plus car ride.

We got on the plane, ate our goodies we had packed and we all tried to sleep a bit. We arrived into PHX at midnight and after getting our bags, getting the car, driving home, dropping everybody off and finally taking off my shoes bed side I crashed around 2am. Wow that was a weekend!!! Lots of good times and memeories had and so much fun. Thank you girls for spending your birthday's with me in NYC for my Bday trip of 2010. Love you both and thank you Joel for the escape, love you bunches too!!

5 Things I have learned while in NYC:

1. Take a Taxi and skip the Subway, better yet get a private driver
2. Never seperate a scary African American woman from her children, ask Alison what happens
3. Never breath in the foggy stuff from the man hole covers, unless you want to thrown up
4. Research all your restaurants before you leave home or the the hotel, your cell dies quickly
5. To many smelly trees in one car is BAD!!!

Did I happen to mention that the Trash Can Revolution has shipped NYC, there are bags of trash everywhere..

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T17:09:00.001-07:00

So this year Halloween seemed short for some in our family and then seemed a day to long for others (Joel), he was a good sport about it thought so I am not complaining. It also helps that my bday is right around Halloween and so I consider it a small (notice the word small) gift that he tolerates the excessive Halloween decor I put up. Anyways it was a great season this year with lots of fun had by all. We started early this last week with all our preparations because well this weekend was going to be busy!!!!! Below is a quick snap shot of how the Votaw Halloween of 2010 went down.

Friday Night - Votaw Halloween Party about 150 people came. I made 2 large pots of chili all day and we had hot dogs for the kids, fruit and chips for nachos and lots of pop, water and juice pouches. Everybody that came brought "ohhh so yummy" deserts to share. The kids watched a movie on the inflatable screen and then Joel read them all a scary story book. Fun was had by all. The party ended right at 9pm and clean up ended around 11pm, I saw my pillow around midnight.

Backyard before everybody got here

Another shot before the crowds arrived

More Pre-party shots

Saturday Night - Church trunk or treat. This is where you dress up your car or trunk in Halloween decorations and pass out candy to the kids. We had a great time with this one too. Of course we had to dress up differently than the night before. We chose a scary costume this night well because it is good to be scary on Halloween and so we did, wink wink :) . We dressed up as Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that celebrates your dead ancestors (see church appropriate). The kids had a blast with the face paint. Joel and the boys both squirmed and complained thru the application process but Marin was loving every minute of it! What a girl.....Oh we won the best costume at church too and a $10 gift card for Thrifty ice cream. Bingo! Oh did i happen to mention that we had 2 soccer games this day one that started at 8am in Scottsdale with warm ups at 7:15am so that meant I was on the road by 6:40am, yep and wouldn't you know it that my alarm didn't go off either that morning. Lovely! Oh yes and I sewed the ponchos that afternoon too after my poncho hunt resulted in nada, don't be to impressed cause it was 3 stitches total and some scissor work.

Marin and Dad in Day of the Dead Attire

OOOO Scary Boys! They almost look like twins huh?

Marin was not being so scary but loved the makeup

A little dark I know sorry....

Sunday night - We had church and soccer games all day and so once that was all over a nap was much needed. As the kids and Joel all napped i craved pumpkins like mad. This year I didn't do lots of pumpkins because I was sooooo exhausted from the weekend but some got done. The Buzz Lightyear one is not as great looking as it should have been but I was rushing to get a last minute one in!!!!! Oh well next year should be more calm with Halloween on a Monday.

Ya I know my head is turned but all the front shots of me I looked hideous in so a side shot is way better trust me. I think the wig was the problem, I will ditch it next time.

Our dead pumpkin

Marin's Pirate Girl Pumpkin

Ouchie Pumpkin

The failed attempt at the Buzz Lightyear pumpkin, I will do it better next year.

Marin Loves Buzz so I had to do this one for her.

Monday morning - All Halloween decorations are down by 10am and are all now packed away in their boxes waiting to get dusted of for next year.

Happy Halloween!

Marin Models Again

2010-10-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ok so Marin had another modeling adventure, she loved it again. We had a great time with all those cute clothes. Dang she might have to start doing this full time so we can buy some of these outfits.

Kids at Dland at break

2010-10-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Ok I don't have lots of picture since one it was raining a lot and two Jonas had my camera in DC for the first trip to dland on break. But here are a few pic I did snap. Marin is really loving the Dland trips a lot more and Carson is now fearless and holds his hands up high in the air on all the fast rides. Jonas however is super bummed because they took out his new favorite and what was the ride with the tallest height limit, the Mali-boomers or better known to our family as the Shoot'em up ride. Ya wanna know what they are replacing it with...hold your excitement, a park. Dland is going green the sign says. Ahhhh give me a break will you already this is nuts, how has the Green agenda now corrupted Dland. ok sorry off my soap box!

Halloween Pic 2010

Marin on the underwater carousel all by herself! Big girl!

Again not sure mom why this is picture worthy but here I smile again....

Marin loved and was amazed by the toy Story ride in Dland Ca Adv. She loves Toy Story!

Kids and their new Cousin, Isla

2010-10-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ok had to share these oh so cute picture of the kids with their new couin Isla. Marin just thinks that she is her very own little baby, she kep t"Ziiipppp"'ing up baby Isla's jacket and saying "ziiipppp" and then this it was down again and and then up again. We had to have a small talk about what is soft and what is a a hit too, Marin hasn't gottne down the concept to be soft yet. The boys are still amazed at how small she is, as if Marin was never that tiny. Oh how we all forget....

Oldest and youngest Meltebeke grandkids

Jonas' Trip to DC

2010-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

For Jonas' 10th birthday he got a great gift, a trip to DC from his grandma and grandpa Votaw. They are starting a new tradition with the grandkids for this to be a 10yr old bday gift for each grandchild. Since it was was Fall break in AZ Jonas took his trip to DC then. Jonas gone for 8 days and loved every day of it. He got to visit every museum and monument possible in the DC area. Jonas also got to visit with his Aunt Kelly and cousin Audrey too, bonus! Jonas took LOTS of picture of the neat things he saw but here are just a few of them.

Jonas a WWII monument under the AZ wreath

Jonas tell us they really did make a $1,000 bill just never circulated it

And there is a $5,000 bill too again never circulated

And of course the mysterious $100,000 bill too but again none that have seen the light of day

Jonas looking out at the top of the Washington Monument

What he saw out of that little window up on the monument

Ok so when they where in DC they watched them filming Transformers 3 too, I am told this semi is a character.

Here is what I am told is the Bumble Bee car, but it had an accident for real on set.

Again another Transformers car I am told

Jonas and his new BFF, he looks a bit stiff to me

Jonas also got to visit the DC temple on Sunday when he was there too

Jonas next to what they called "necessities" back then (Trivia: Can you guess what they are?)

It Does Rain in AZ

2010-10-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of days have been incredible for rain in AZ. I know it rains normally during the monsoon but we haven't had an rain for our last 2 years of monsoon seasons. So Yesterday and today have been wonderful, I don't even mind the soggy converse shoes either. Loving a change in weather and some gray skies and glad it isn't snow. Gotta love AZ!

Baby and Mom Doing Great

2010-10-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

It has been quite the eventful day and mom and baby are doing great! Isla is nursing like a champ (when she's awake) and mom is letting her cry and isn't freaking out about it. Dad is also doing great and has even changed the dreaded new baby poop diaper. He did awesome with his diaper changing gloves and 6 wipes ready to go to town cleaning up Isla's bum.

Katie is looking forward to a shower tomorrow and I think she is looking forward to whatever sleep she can get in between feedings too. She hasn't slept much the past few weeks. She will be off her liquids diet tomorrow too. Ryan will probably stay the night tonight at the hospital to help Katie since she is bed ridden with these silly pressure cuffs on her legs.

Ryan is doing great too he said he doesn't even feel OLD yet either. (He thought that he would suddenly feel like an old man at Isla's birth) He is doing great and is being a great dad and husband for Isla and Katie.

If you are thinking of visiting Katie at the hospital she should be there till Sunday afternoon'ish" and the hospital has some odd hours, no visits before 8am and none after 8pm. As well no visits from 2-4pm ever day either. So choose your visit times accordingly. She is in room 160.

All are doing great in the new Warrick family.

Happy Birthday Isla

2010-10-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

Baby Isla is here!!! 8lbs 14 oz and mom and baby are doing great.

Baby Isla's 1st Bath:

So I am in CA today waiting for my newest niece to arrive. Katie is heading in for her C-section this morning and my mom and I are patiently waiting in the lobby at Orange Coast Memorial Hospital in Fountain Valley. I will post pictures here all day of the baby and of the new mom and dad. Ryan says he doesn't want to have a blog or else I would have set one up for them, so I will blog for them here.

Here is a picture of Katie about 10 minutes before they wheeled her in to the OR to try and regain her bikini figure back, oh and for Isla to be born too. (minor details) @ 7:50am

Water Park Trip

2010-10-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

So 2 weeks ago we went to the Wet and Wild water park in North Phoenix. Normally we wouldn't ever go to a water park one just because it is so stinking far away, 45 minute drive and two well is like $40 per person to get in. However we got FREEEEE tickets to go (thank you AYSA and soccer month) and our soccer game that morning was literally 10 minutes away so how could we pass it up? I brought cameras and video cameras and I had the best of intentions to take tons of pictures of the kids. Well you see there is this pesky thing called water that doesn't play well with all those electronic toys. So smart me got no water pictures.

I got one last shot at the end of the day when Marin was already changed and Joel was burnt out of long lines and chasing kids around. Sorry I will get a waterproof camera next time, if Joel ever wants to go again. Marin did have a good time though she went on this little baby water slide with Joel and as they went down she said "Weeeeeee" it was awesome! And of course the boys loved it and wanted to go every day. Tip for all water park trips, buy the waterproof camera case or waterproof camera.

Soccer Trip to CA

2010-09-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

So we have been in CA over the Labor Day weekend for a soccer tournament for Jonas. We got to spend some time with family while we were down here. I will post some more pictures of the soccer game later.

Here are a few from when we went to Disneyland.

Marin who was a bit scared after the first drop out on Pirates.

Marin loves Tiger better known by Marin as Tig-Tig and Pooh Bear so of course we had to go visit them both. Marin just ran up to them and hugged them after which she promptly gave them both a giant kiss on their noses. Here are some pictures of the episode.

Today we went to the park with a bag of duck food, or chicken scratch. Marin had a blast. It proved to be even a better trip to the park than normal since the ice cream truck came to visit too. Marin and Jonas got some favorite ice cream treats.

One of my favorite smiles that Marin has.

Hugging or Strangling, you tell me.

Marin has her favorite seat on the front porch and she calls it her seat, seeeet she says. Gotta love her smiles.

You Saw It Coming...

2010-08-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

So I had to wait at least a week from our visit to the candy store and the associated blog post before I put this one out there. So literally the next morning after our trip to Sweeties Jonas came down for breakfast and said he had a sharp tooth. I checked it out and sure enough he had a filling that had fallen out and a sharp spot. We went off to the DDS that morning (not the normal UT peds DDS) and he said that Jonas needed a crown as well as 4 more fillings!!! Ahhhh!!!!

No it wasn't because he had candy it was because he has horrible enamel on his teeth and that was from a horrible fever had had when he was super young. His adult teeth are great (so far) and so here we are with a SILVER tooth! You can see it in the picture above in the far back of his mouth. He now brushes like mad as well as rinses with floride like mad too.

When you see him next time please don't point it out. Also thanks to Joel Clark for seeing Jonas so quickly and getting his mouth back up to par.

Kid(s) in a Candy Store

2010-08-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

So I was reading the San Tan News this week and ran across an article about this new Candy Store that opened in Chandler. It looked pretty dang cool and I thought well if I ever drive by it I would stop and check it out. Well today I was running errands with the kids and low and behold I drove right by it, NW corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights. So I did say I was going to stop but do I really do it with 3 kids in tow and one who desperately needed nap? Well my sweet tooth got the better of me and boy am I glad it did. This is by far my new favorite find of a store in Chandler. So dang cool! They have everything you could think of candy wise, every size, every quantity, every random candy you could ever think of. I would definitely take a visit to your local Chandler Candy shop soon maybe on a Monday Family night for a dessert.

http://www.sweetiescandy.com/sweeties-arizona.html

So many isle of candy you won't be able to take it all in.

Carson is still in amazement and Jonas is hoping we actually leave with the bag of candies we just bought. Marin is behind the camera trying to break free of the stroller straps.

Gay Marriage in CA - Prop 8

2010-08-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

So I don't usually use this blog to for political rantings although I do have set feelings for sure. Next Weds the 18th of Aug will be a sad day to be in CA. Sad because the will of the people will be overturned by an activist judge and also because CA will be more aligned with Sodom and Gomorrah than ever before. I grew up in CA and still do love it there, although I don't think I would want my kids to grow up there in these times now.

So we read our Scriptures as a family every morning (we try anyways) and so this morning we read a chapter that seems so appropriate for this very topic. For those that are not LDS this scripture is from the BofM but it so applies to this situation in CA I hope that you will indulge me with this post.

So in Alma 60 there is a leader of a army that is battling another faction of people that are not super great guys. This leader is super upset at his government or rulers for not doing more to support liberty and the army's endeavors to fight for freedom (food and supply wise). He is writing a letter to the rulers of the government as it where and he is super upset about their inaction basically and calls them out on it. This is what it says and tell me how you don't think the same way about our current predicament in CA and around our nation right now today.

20Have ye forgotten the commandments of the Lord your God? Yea, have ye forgotten the captivity of our fathers? Have ye forgotten the many times we have been delivered out of the hands of our enemies?

21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord ^awill still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?

22 Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding? (nobody is doing anything to help, they are all just watching it happen)

23 Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the ^ainward vessel shall be ^bcleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also. (God will not excuse those that sit by and do nothing!)

28 Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my ^aGod whom I fear; and it is according to his commandments that I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss. (we need to all rise up and protect our liberties and our country from Prop 8 and the effects of it)

29 Behold it is time, yea, the time is now at hand, that except ye do bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little ones, the ^asword of justice doth hang over you; yea, and it shall fall upon you and visit you even to your utter destruction.

31 For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people

33 Ye know that ye do transgress the laws of God, and ye do know that ye do trample them under your feet. Behold, the Lord saith unto me: If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and ^ainiquities, ye shall ^bgo up to battle against them.

We need to as Righteous God Fearing Americans stand up to assaults on the family and the assaults on our liberty and the politicians and judges that allow this to happen to our country. If we stand idly by then we are no better than those that allow it to happen. It might be uncomfortable to fight for what it is right but it is required of us to do so! Christ taught us to love the sinner and hate the sin, I think we need to remember this in our fight!

What's next....Dare I ask?

2010-07-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well if any of you are close enough to be within an few hundred miles of us you know that our lives have been well....overwhelming to say the least the past 6 months or so.

If you look at out blog you can see that Joel has had some health issues, his heart stopped working and now Joel at 35 years old has a pacemaker. So if that doesn't seem like enough that one family can endure I assure you that this is just one of the MANY items that we have been dealing with.

So a few months ago we had an employee allegedly charged with several things while working on a military base (all of which we have determined thus far to be untrue and charges had been dismissed now so we have been told) however it spawned on a avalanche of issues like with government agencies. Most of our staff that we have are Hispanic, however EVERYBODY goes thru all the Everify stuff and has to pass or if it was before Everify we did all the I9 stuff as required then too.

So today at 5:30am we where awakened to a phone call from our manager that the MCSO (Sheriff) was at the office to "Raid" it, whatever that means. And then at 6am after Joel had raced to the office to deal with this there was a knock at the door here at home and it was MCSO at our home now too. All in search of documents that we had already handed over to them and ICE months prior. So this in essence was a media stunt.

I gave them everything that I had here at the home, which wasn't anything at all and offered them breakfast too. I didn't even know what to do. While I was here at home Joel was at the office trying to deal with all the media and Sheriff Joe that was now at our office addressing the media.

I won't go into my personal opinions or concerns here with anything with the immigration debate or my personal concerns with the way our local governments handle these things. However it will suffice to say that I respect the laws of our land but also know that God intended this country to be a choice land and I would hope that at some point we all remember that and act appropriately.

I do want to again thank you everybody for their concern and calls and support. I know that there is a purpose for all things in our lives and I don't know quite why we are going thru all of these, really I don't see how there is a purpose but that is not for me to understand though. I feel so blessed right now to know that we have such awesome people around us supporting us, it actually brings me to tears. I know that Heavenly Father watches over all of us and he does answer prayers. Trust me I pray a lot these days and feel very close to our Heavenly Father at this point in my life, more than I ever have before.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and know we love you all so very much.

http://vvbs.net/2010/07/offices-raided-by-local-sherriffs-office/ - Here is a link to our companies statement on the issue.

Marin is Modeling...well sort of

2010-07-26T17:30:00.001-07:00

OK so a friend from the ward is a a photographer and a pretty darn good one actually. She does a lot of photo sessions for Etsy products and she asked if Marin could model a dress for a client she represents. Oh course I said, Marin is a camera hog...so off we went on Saturday to model this dress. It was super windy and I thought for sure they wouldn't turn out and Marin was walking all over the place too oh and the horses she was super intrigued by those tall leggy thing. Some how Jessica got these awesome pictures out of the session, amazing really!

If anybody is in need of a photographer in AZ, she's your gal!

Check out the blog with Marin's pics on it and then Etsy link to the dress too.

http://sierrastudiosphotography.blogspot.com/ - Blog Post

http://www.etsy.com/shop/steelebjm - Dress Web Page

1st Day of School - 2010

2010-07-26T09:17:00.001-07:00

Here it is the gratuitous 1st day of school picture of the boys. Notice Carson is in protest to the tucked in shirt policy already, way to start off the school year huh.

So as I was getting out with camera in hand Carson asks me "mom do you have to take a picture" to which I say "umm yes I do". He then asked me when I was going to stop taking 1st day of school pictures, I stopped and thought, mmmm jr. high...no those are priceless awkward pictures....high school maybe....no those are too good too...hummm college? Heck no, those ones are the crowning pictures to the years of school you have been in. So I had to answer Carson and tell him "sorry, never". Sorry buddy, love you to much to stop now.

Joel Update - 07/13

2010-07-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

Ok we go home today, this morning hopefully. All is well and Joel is protesting taking another shower here at the hospital and until he is discharged. Heaven help us that the discharge happens soon. :) Here is a picture of the incision spot from the pacemaker implantation.

Sorry for the boob shot...this is now a PG-13 blog post

The other day I thought I had better try and write down some of my insights into this experience and so with a tad bit of humor here they are:

Things I have learned from this experience:
· Deodorant maxes out at 24hrs
· A simple hair do that require no products is a good thing
· A 72 hr kit comes in handy at a hospital too
· A hospital room couch and chairs are not for sleeping in no matter what they tell you
· Hospital rooms are not cleaner than you own home
· Hospital cafeteria food is not your friend
· Hospital toilets have extra accessories you don’t have at home
· There are no toiletries that come with a hospital room like at a hotel, no soap!
· If you think you wait too long in at a dr’s apt in their office just wait till you’re stuck in a hospital. That wait will be nothing compared to one in a hospital
· Men don’t know what the loss of personal privacy is when in a hospital and are sorely shocked they have to bear all. Welcome to the experiences of child birth!
· Having PJ’s bedside is a good idea for any middle of the night use
· Clean under wear on at all times is always important; you never know when you will need to wear it longer than normal.
· A full fire truck of firemen and a few from an ambulance maxes out my bathroom for occupancy
· Doctors now a day’s don’t all look older than me, so sad…..
· Having a full tank of gas or at least a ½ a tank is a good thing. Dad was right, that hurt to say.
· Making friends with the nurses with the code to the snack and drink room is a good thing
· Night nurses are what you expect, not nice! Sleep good so you can avoid them.
· There is nothing on day time TV that is worth watching
· Flowers are appropriate for men gifts in the hospital; they make the women that visit happy.
· Nurses get REALLY mad when you touch or try to turn off a beeping machine. (night nurse issue)
· A shower can improve your outlook on the day.
· The saying that life is too short is true, live it up!

Joel Update - 07/12

2010-07-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Ok we are all out of everything, Joel is resting and Ok and Carson's appointment went well too. Joel had color back in his face again which is a welcome change from the dusky color he had before. He will be here till tomorrow mid-day at which point we will take him home and he will rest for a week or more. He is limited on household chores so I will be taking applications for laundry hauler and also for general laborer. Just kidding! They set Joel's resting heart rate at 70 and his high is at 150bpm. So he will back and up and running in no time.

Carson's results are awesome as well and all is good with him. His resting heart rate is 92bpm and so he is a normal healthy 6 year old boy. He even got to watch Disney Cars DVD while they did his tests. I have a great Peds Cardio electrical Doc if you ever need him, he has seen Marin and Carson both now.

Carson getting his Echocardiogram

Carson getting his EKG

Joel moments after surgery before he fell asleep.

Personal Message From Joel

2010-07-11T10:51:00.001-07:00

Joel recorded a personal message this morning to everybody. It is pretty low in the volume department so plug in a set of headphones to hear it great.

http://www.vimeo.com/13247922

Joel Update - 07/10 p.m.

2010-07-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ok so it is the p.m. now and things have calmed down here a bit and so I thought I would post.

We waited ALL day for the special electrical heart Dr. to come in and he showed up around 3ish. He was a good doctor, younger about 36 and full of energy, he is from the Bay Area and so he looks a little out of place in Chandler I would say but super nice. It was good we got him because he was super low key and down to earth. His first comment was to compliment Joel on his choice of laptops (Apple) which then led him to talk about the new Iphone he has on order. Joel immediately perked up and got all excited and somehow the conversation turned on me and how I won't let Joel get a new IPhone. So he won Joel over I think with their new shared want for a new Iphone.

He went on the tell Joel that this was it, the Pacemaker was the only option. He talked about how it wouldn't be a big deal and Joel can swim, dive, ski, sky dive and do cartwheels if he wanted with it once it was in. The only thing he limited Joel with doing is hugging the microwave, ahhh dang it that was his fav thing to do too. Oh well some things will have to be sacrificed.

So that is it, a pacemaker will be installed this Monday at 10am at Mercy Gilbert Hospital. He will be checking out on Tuesday and home resting for the week. He will have to take it easy for a week or two with lifting heavy things, so I need a new laundry carrying person please. :) The electrical wires have to get some scar tissue on them and get set and the 2 week period will allow for that. He will see 2 cardiologists regularly for a month or so and then it will move to every 3 months. At some point if his heart seems to recover then they can just turn off the pacemaker but it will always stay in. The pacemaker will always stay in just in case they would have to turn it on again. It is super small about a 1/2 dollar size and about a 1/4 inch thick. It will be set at a resting heart rate of 60 and a max of 150bpm. It adjusts automatically to his movement as he is mobile and it will react accordingly to his lungs too.

The electrical Dr was a good salesman lets say. So Monday it is....they don't work for non-emergency implants on Sunday and so it will be Monday at 10am and that is the soonest that he can get it. It will work perfectly because Carson's appointment will be at 9:45 in an adjacent building at the hospital. So Joel will take off around 9:30am and we will leave and be back an hour or less and Joel will be back from the Cath lab then. The procedure should only take 30-50 minutes to implant.

Please send all your prayers our way still as we are not out of the woods quite yet but we are starting to see the end of the forest, at least with this issue. Thank you to all the friends and family that have visited, it has been a regular party here today and the food that has been brought in is awesome too. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!! We love you all!

Joel Update - 07/10 a.m.

2010-07-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so I went home lastnight thinking all would be Ok, at least for the night. I normally turn my phone on silent so I don't wake up with every email that pops up but I have left it on so I can hear if the hospital calls in the middle of the night. So it rang early this morning, it was Joel. He didn't do well lastnight at all he said.

So there is this stupid new machine they brought in after his heart cath yesterday it is a more robust monitoring thingy they said. I realized I had seen this machine before when they brought it in. It was there when my grandmother passed away, it is that one that you see in the hospital drama shows with all the bells and alarms and lines that are all squiggle. And the one they zoom in on when the person dies and then line stops being squiggle and is straight with that annoying loud beeeeeeeeeeep sound. I hate that machine! When I saw it get brought in I just about lost it, it was the ones thing that I remember watching incessantly when my grandma passed. I wanted it out of his room! I don't want to see any lines of any kind squiggle or otherwise.

I left about 10:30ish last night and had hoped for a good night sleep. I say hoped....Joel told the kids yesterday about the real issue and then he went on to tell Carson that he had to go into a heart Dr too and have a test run to make sure his heart was OK. (Carson had the same virus as Joel a few months ago so he will get an echocardiograma on Monday) So when I got home I sat down to read some emails and Carson was there waiting for me. He was scared about the test and was a crying mess. So we went on to YouTube and watched a echocardiogram being given. There are somethings like this that YouTube is great at and boy was it helpful. Carson's fears got resolved and off to bed he went....at least for a while.

About a 1/2 hour goes by and there is Carson again...he said that he cannot make his mind stop thinking about dad and his heart and he cannot sleep while his mind keeps thinking. Of course the mom in me and the tired one at that thinks he needs a sleeping pill. But last time I checked they dont' make sleeping pills for 6 year olds. I thought maybe I could use something else and hope for the placebo result. So an antacid was called in to help fill that need and off Carson was to bed again. I told him it was a super strong medicine and that he would have to run to bed quickly or else he would fall asleep in the hall floor. wink wink

Well that worked for about 10 minutes and then Carson was back upset that he couldn't keep his mind from thinking again. I told him to think about playing with Ryan his BFF or playing with Ethan his other neighborhood friend. Ya that didn't work, back in my room again. So into our bed Carson came. Carson was asleep in about 10 seconds flat as his head hit Joel's pillow. It was about 1:30am.

Joel's call came in early this morning, and he was upset and asked how soon I could get there. I was up and showered in about 15-20 minutes and on the road. He was pretty upset from last night. He had a long night of buzzers and beepers and PVC's and low rate. He was down to 34 lastnight and had about 67 PVC's (extra heart beats) in a very short period of time. The thing that stinks is that the night nurse he has had is not our fav. She is short and rude and well bothered to be here is seems like. Great! So all of those things happening along with the sheer depression that inevitable sets in with things like this and long hospital stays was just to much for Joel this morning.

He is just done! He wants out and to go home now.

Today we are waiting on a heart electrician Dr. He is busy this morning we just found out, OK.....so we will see him when he gets here sometime this afternoon. That is why this blog post is 07/10/10 a.m., there will be a p.m. post to come.

Thank you all again for all your thoughts and prayers and text's and calls and help with the kids and about everything else! The boys are having a blast with all the attention and play dates. And Marin is doing good too. Visits are super welcome but have to be short as Joel gets tired quickly and then weak and that is when his heart rate dips low and the PVC's follow right behind that usually.

Tomorrow, Sunday our ward (church) is doing a fast on Joel's behalf and I would invite all of you members and non-members alike are welcome to participate. For those that aren't familiar with a fast it is where you don't eat 2 meals and you pray for something special that you are asking for from the Lord. The missing of 2 meals shows your sacrifice of something that you want normally (food) and ask for an answer from God in return. If that is something that you can do i ask that you please help and fast on Joel's behalf.

Again thank you so much for all your help and support. Post to come later tonight too.

Joel Update - 07/09

2010-07-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

Ok so here it is, it was the virus. Dang it Chili Cheese fries are not the culprit however there is some minor blockage but nothing that is causing this issue basically. So what now? Well the Cardiologist is prescribing some special medicine right now and he will start that today to make the heart work harder at pumping. Then tomorrow there is another heart Dr. coming in that deals with the electrical component of the heart. It is this Dr that will untimely have the say so over what happens next.

This is the Dr that will address the low heart rate from an electrical level and how to make it work either with meds or with equipment. We will know more tomorrow with this one. However I do have to say I am pretty certain that we will seek after a 2nd opinion if the pace maker is the recommended route from the electrical doctor.

Joel is pretty bummed out right now about all of this and is upset as can be expected that this is going to shorten his life and will take him away from all of us. As well the idea that he wouldn't be able to fly as a pilot anymore is upsetting too. I am sure you can imagine why he is upset so if and when you visit please remember to find the bright side of life and help Joel see it too. I think a positive attitude goes a long way in a recovery.

More updates to come.....

Joel Update - 07/08/10

2010-07-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

So lastnight was very eventful to say the least....Joel had an episode last week but we didn't think to much about it till lastnight. He went to the bathroom around 3am and then all the sudden he called out my name and then thud! I ran into the bathroom to find him passed out and not responsive to ANYTHING! So I grabbed the phone and called 911, his chest wasn't going up and down at ALL and so the 911 person told me to listen for breathing closely and yep there it was SUPER shallow and so much so I don't think he took more than 2-3 breaths in 5 minutes. The fire trucks came racing down the street and the paramedics came too. They ran upstairs and got to working on Joel. He was unresponsive the whole time and then as he awoke. His speech was super slurred (lack of O2)....Off to the hospital we went. I beat the ambulance to the hospital by the way too. (they took Lindsey and I took Val Vista, amateur mistake)

So the Dr's started in on him and I was a crying mess to say the least. The problem, low heart rate or Beats Per Minute (BPM). A normal person of Joel's age and heigth would have a resting rate I am told of 80 or so. 60 would be super low but not freak out time and 120 would be wow you are excited but not running. Dead is 0. Joel was at 36 and that was after he was awake and being responsive too once the ambulance got there.

We stayed in the ER till about noonish and then they admitted us upstairs. (Room 205 Mercy Gilbert Hospital) We have been there since noon now and waited on the Dr. We have Mike Tomlinson to thank for the heads up on a steller Cardio Dr (Dr Dib) and so we waited till about 9:30pm to see him. Meanwhile Joel was poked and prodded and pinched and well disrobed and all the other fun stuff they make you do at the hospital. Mind you the entire time Joel's BPM has never gotten above the range of 36-41. I saw a 50 once and a few 45's but it always falls back to 40ish or lower.

So meanwhile he perks up for a 1/2 hour or so and then passes out again and sleeps for several hours at a time and wakes up startled not knowing what time it is. Mind you the whole time the alarms in the room are going off like mad because well his BPM are closer to 0 than to 80. They finally turned the alarms off in the room and so I relaxed for a bit till I realized it was still at 40ish and I just couldn't hear the alarms anymore. Dang nurses....

So this is where we stand right now as of 11pm on the 8th of July. Dr Dibs came in and said his Echocardiogram is not pretty, the top half of his heart is not working. Why? Well several options either he shouldn't have eaten that Chili Cheese fry at Tommy's in Vegas a few months ago (see http://votawfamily.com/2009/08/vegas/ for post) and they need to go find the block and remove it from his heart or it is permanently damaged from a virus that has attacked his heart muscle. Ok lets hope that there I have a beef to pick with Tommy's and Joel cause the virus issue is not pretty.

They will go into the cath lab tomorrow around 3:30pm (next post will reflect outcome of this procedure) and so after that we will know more. If it is a block (pray for) then they can fix it right there and Joel will never be allowed to eat at Tommy's Burgers again. (sorry Joel) But if it is a virus then he goes on lots of meds right away and for a long time till his heart recovers. But .... (I hate that word BUT).....sometimes the meds don't work and if that is the case then either he wont' get better or he will get worse quickly. The last resort is not something I even want to think about, he will have to get a pacemaker. Yes a 35 year old with a pacemaker, I have never heard of such a silly thing before in my life. At which point Joel says he has to hang up his flying wings and watch planes from the ground only. He thinks the FFA isn't keen on those types of things in private pilots.

Joel is pretty upset about all of this as can be expected, he is keeping a strong upper lip and being very jovial with visitors but the only thing he can think of is the pacemaker not the chili cheese fries. Please keep us all in your prayers and thoughts, we all need the support and added strength right now. It seems like the last 6 months has been a test of our sheer will to survive and strive. Lot of insane stuff here (wont bore you all with the details) and I don't know quite why it all happens to some of us but I have to believe it will make us all stronger and is for our benefit, not quite there yet to understand it all but at least we are willing to try and cope with what comes our way.

Thank you to all our DEAR DEAR friends from the Cooper 2nd Ward Chandler Stake and Grove/Riggs/everyother name 2nd ward in the Chandler East Stake. We have had 2 bishopric's here with blessings for Joel, goodie bags galore, calls and texts that stressed all cell phone systems capacity today and visitors all day that it looked like a major party in the room at times. Joel's mom is here with us helping with the kids and we are set for now. Might try and set up some play dates to keep the kids busy but I will call. We are sooooooo very blessed to have SOOOO many wonderful and choice people in our lives right now that I know there is a purpose in all of this. Thank you all so VERY much!

Updates tomorrow after 4:30pm. By the way kids don't know it is a heart issue please don't say anything yet till we know all there is to know. Jonas thinks he is in the hospital from a plate of bad nachos at the Dbacks game. :) Good explanation so we are running with that right now.

Huggs and Kisses to all!

Jonas made this card for Joel today.

Joel when he is up and responsive

Carol backed up some bags so we could work a bit and clean up too. Whoever said deodorant is 24hour lasting is WRONG!

Treats from Johnson Clan, new fav treats by the way!

Joel's new magazines to keep him busy from Barclay Clan

GIANT goodie bag of food and fun from Johnson Clan too!

We Love Carson.....

2010-06-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was an especially long day for many reasons, 2 events defined yesterday and this is one of them. If Carson ever reads this I hope he knows we love him and at times have to find joy in these types of days some how, so this video came to be.

Joel swears that his (Carson's) suborn streak isn't from his side of the family but rather a contribution from my side of the gene pool. I sure hope that it comes in handy for him some day in a positive way because it seems to be trying my patience (what little I have) when he is little right now. We love you Carson and we always will, never go far please.

http://www.vimeo.com/12868714

Marin Loves Rainbow Sherbert

2010-06-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

So after dinner I thought, humm I have $6 in gift cards left for Baskin Robbins (thank you Osterkamp Fam) maybe I will be a good mom (maw-nee to Marin) and get the kids a scoop of ice cream. Now mind you Marin has had ice cream before but never sherbert and never her own cup to herself. So today was the first day she got her very own scoop of rainbow sherbert ice cream. Wow and did she ever go to town. She loved that sherbert so much she didn't and couldn't even stop one moment to say "cheeeese" to the camera (which she does actaully do). Her face was permenetly stained with reaspberry and orange sherbert and her dress was polka dotted with sherbert drips that some how escaped her mouth. She ate the whole scoop all to herself. Enjoy baby girl!

(the forehead bruises for the record are from her running into the end table and the other one is from her falling off the bed at the AZ Grand stay from Thursday)

So Long....

2010-06-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yes I know....it has been a long time since I have updated this blog. Ok so we have been a bit busy with so many things work, kids and so on that it was a lot to remember to take the silly pictures and video let alone post it. Sooo here we go, a post that will hopefully get you all caught up to date. I promise I will try and keep it more updated.

This past Thursday I went with the kids and the DelFosse's (mom n kids) to the AZ Grand Hotel which as well has the Oasis water park. We got a screaming deal on a 1 night stay and 2 day water park entrance and so we booked it a month or so ago, it was our little "Staycation". The boys all had a blast running around going down all the slides and lazy river too. The little ones stayed near the kiddie pool and the shore of the wave pool. Here a few pics of the kids.

Marin and Christian

Marin and Ella

Carson won a pretty high honor at school this year. He won the All Around Character Award. Yes ha ha, anyone who know Carson knows he is a character for sure but this award is different than what you are thinking. At their school they win awards for the kid that displays best the certain pillar of character that month, ie. honesty, trustworthiness, etc. So Carson won all of the character awards in each area all year long. And so he won the All Around Character Award and the pics below are of all the kids in kindergarten that one them, not to many. He also got a chance to go out with the principal and skip school for the day and go bowling and eat pizza with her. Way to go Carson!

Carson next to get his Award

So Carson played in the CNLL this year again. He seems to enjoy baseball and can hit and catch well too so we keep running with it will either of those 2 things isn't the case anymore. Here are some fun pics of Carson in a game this year. The last picture if of Carson's life long best friend, Ryan.

Carson and Ryan - BFF

Easter 2010 was a super quite one! Nobody over and we didn't go anywhere either. Sometimes those holidays are nice to have every once in a while. We did have an earthquake right before dinner was served so that was exciting. This was the 1st year that Marin was able to partake in her Easter basket treats and so she went right after the pink Peeps. A girl after my own heart.

Carson is finally a 1st grader now. He graduated from Kindergarten this year. Yes he did kinder last year but for him it was is Pre-K year. He started CTA this year (which is a year ahead academically) and Carson did great! See the video of his graduation below.

http://www.vimeo.com/12379819 - Carson Graduation

Jonas played in a few fun tournaments these past few months too. Here is a link to one of the games at the Del Sol Tournament. About 3/4 way thru there is a corner kick that Jonas took and he curved it in for a goal. Wowwie Jonas!

http://www.vimeo.com/12329275 - Del Sol Tourny

Also Jonas got asked to play with the '99 Boys Sereno team as a loaner player. This is where he met his new coach for ths upcoming year too. Super great coach we cannot wait for this year of soccer to come. The video below is of the shoot out to determine who will make the play offs. Jonas is the one with the yellow cleats. His shot almost didn't go in, it was an intense shot out for sure!

http://www.vimeo.com/12329011 - Sereno Shoot Out

Carson also played soccer with the GSC Academy this past winter season (Jan - Apr) and he had a great time. They played all their games at this awesome indoor facility called Barney Family Sports Complex. Here is a video of a few of his games. A bit long of a video but he was so excited to have his own compilation video so it is what it is, long or short. Carson was a great goalie this season!

http://www.vimeo.com/12327291 - Carson Indoor Soccer 2010

Nothing But Noodles

2010-03-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

Marin is what you call a Noodle Girl. She loves noodles of any kind and she eats them no matter what is on them. I have made spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, chicken and noodles and many other noodle dishes (yes I like carbs too). So no matter the size or shape of the noodle she eats it and she even has on many an occasion even worn noodles (see below).

Tonight was an especially good noodle night, she took fist fulls of noodles and crammed them into her mouth as if she had not been fed in weeks. Needless to say I from experience knew how much she loves noodle and thus the reason she is only in a diaper. She was promptly hosed down in the sink after her noodle dinner. I had to share some fun pictures of our Noodle Girl from tonight, ahh so funny and oh so messy!

Metro Boys

2010-02-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

So you might be wondering why there is a random bottle of cologne pictured here. Well you see I bought some new cologne for Joel for Valentine's day, his was running low, appropriate gift for the holiday I figured. I think I bought his previous one like 2 years ago for him so don't think he is a cologne freak, he uses it very sparingly.

Carson loves to get a squirt here and there from Joel of his good smelly stuff, the cologne. I almost think that all of Carson's sprays are what actually lead to the demise of the old bottle of cologne. So when the girl at the counter at Nordstorms asked me if I would like some samples I jumped on it thinking that of course and I will give some to the boys, namely Carson. So Joel got his bottle and the boys got their samples all should be happy in my life correct?

Oh so not! You see Carson and Jonas now that they have the option to spray at will more or less, they do! And do they ever use it! When they wake up they spray some on, before school they spray some on, then when they get back from school, and we cannot forget before practices and heaven forbid we go to bed with out a squirt or two.

What is even worse is you know that they don't give you all the best smelling ones in the sample bottles either. So what we have is a 6 year old and a 9 year old that smell well......very metrosexual. They obviously have no idea about any of that, however till the many sample tubes run out our boys will smell like those guys you walk by in the mall and think did they use the whole dang bottle? So when you get a nice fruity metro wiff of my boys at practice, at church or even before bed time please don't tell them they smell great, I don't think I can take living in a house that smells like metroville much longer.

Presidents Day Weekend

2010-02-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well who's to say you cannot pack a lot into a 3 day weekend. I think our family pushed the limits this weekend.

Friday - Joel DJ'ed the ward Valentines Party (5-9pm), Valentines Day Shopping with kids
Saturday - Carson's 1st indoor soccer game 10am, Costco, Home Depot, Cooking Store, Dinner out with Jensen's 5-11pm
Sunday - 7am Fly to Show Low (Del Fosse Cabin), Boys Skied at Sunrise Ski Resort till 5pm, dinner and bed
Monday - Sledding all morning, toured Show Low (not to much to see actually), flew home at noon, boys came home and played in the pool (yes it was cold) and then sat in spa and did it all over again from 1pm - 4pm, played backyard soccer and front yard base ball till 6pm, mom re stained backyard play structure and changed many light bulbs, dinner at 7pm, bed at 8pm.
Tuesday - 6:30am up for school!

I think we did too much this weekend, I know that because I was looking forward to the work week starting. We all had tons of fun, see the video below.

Finally and it Works

2010-02-08T06:56:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the weekend I got to my new cook book! I want to know how to make all those fancy yummy breads. I love rosemary bread and it know it isn't as easy as throwing rosemary into my whole wheat bread I know how to make. So I searched and I searched for the best looking cook book. I found it, I love cook books with pictures and not all of them have pictures.

This one called for an ingredient that I didn't have in my pantry, Malt Syrup. Ya I know what in the world is that, basically it is a sugar of sorts and has a complex flavor. We spent several hours on the hunt for this ingredient 2 weeks ago. I found it and until yesterday I didn't have enough time to make any of them. We got home from church and the kids ran off to go play and watch the super bowl and Joel promptly fell asleep on the couch. (we had a soccer tournament this weekend and we had to be in Deer Valley by 8am which meant a 6:30am wake up)

So I started in on the fancy bread making endeavor. The book tells you to start out with an easy bread so I chose to make a round oatmeal loaf. I started about 3pm and the bread came out of the oven at 8:15pm. In my mind I was thinking there was NO WAY that an 8 1/2 hour bread would be worth the time I had into it. I was WRONG!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!! I don't mean to toot my own horn but it was delicious!!! I had to bring some to Joel and he was loving it too. I know what you are thinking he has to tell me it is great, ya no he tells me things taste bad all the time so it was genuine. I would definitely take another 8 1/2 hours to do that again!

The book I have been dying to try a recipe out of.

The Oh So Yummy Oatmeal Bread!

I Had a Bad Day...

2010-01-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

So today wasn't a bad day until I came home around 3:30 and moments after Carson ran into the house I noticed the side door in the garage was busted open and their was a baseball bat next to the house entrance. OMG Carson was in the house and from what I could tell our house was being or had been broken into. I ran into the house and grabbed him and then grabbed Marin out of the car and then called 911 from the front curb. I had no idea what was going on other than the house was a mess and the it seemed to be broken into.

With in a few (what felt like forever) minutes 3 officers came driving up to the house. They cleared the house and there was nobody in the home. But did confirm that yes we had been robbed. They had almost succeeded when they got spooked by 3 guys that worked for Shea Homes (out home builder). There is a great story there so you will all have to ask me what happened. Long and short they only got away with Jonas' Ipod and Carson's DS. They had all the electronics from the house piled up on the side of the house ready to go. They got interrupted and they took off moments before the police showed up. We have a plate# and it tracks to the reservation south of us but nothing more than that now. More to come hopefully. Below are some pictures of the afternoon and the house after it was broken into.

We honestly feel blessed nobody was hurt it was just a matter of a few minutes and we could have been at home when it all happened. Things are things, they make our lives comfortable and fun but our family makes us complete.

With the crime scene van and line of cop cars out front, what the neighbors must think.

More Cop Cars....

They couldn't get the back door to break open with the baseball bat and so they took to the garage doors.

This was the last place they ended, the TV was almost out (super heavy) and all the gaming consoles are gone with all the stereo stuff and video game controllers too.

This is the kids desk area and their Mac is gone and all the drawers gone thru. They emptied all of Jonas' soccer bag to put all the video games and such in.

Here is the garage door propped open and some video controllers they left as they ran out.

This is my desk completely cleared off and my drawers gone thru too. My desk normally isn't this messy I promise.

More empty office desk tops....

Serves you right...

2010-01-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well Jonas is at that age where he is getting A LOT of big kid homework. He has a Bio report due this week and every quarter he has a huge thing to memorize and recite perfectly in front of his whole class! In years past we have always helped him when he forgets a page of homework or something like that right. However this year it has become so much that he honestly needs to either sink or swim with all this homework. Sounds cruel I know right. But honestly with Carson and all his homework and all the kids activities after school and with all the fun stuff I do not to mention Marin there is just very little time to check and recheck with Jonas on his homework every day. However he is old enough now to do that for himself too os so we thought.

Last week was the test of this however. He came to us the night before one of his poems that he has to recite is due and tells us "oops I forgot". Mind you 2 weeks prior I saw a notice in his class newsletter telling us parents to be on the look out for it and I asked him then about it and he said didn't have it yet. To which I told him, make sure you tell me when you get it so we can practice it. (see I am not a horrible parent)

So there we are at 6pm and literally 3 paragraphs to memorize in less than a few hours. There is NO WAY I personally could have done this so in my mind I knew he was destined for failure. I was almost glad to see that there was a teaching moment to be had when he stood in front of all his class and didn't know that poem. I was going to be sad for him for sure and his grades would suffer from it (not to bad however he has very high grades). So he practiced maybe 3-4 times that night and the next morning he ran thru it and had it down it seemed like but I knew he wouldn't remember it when he got up, good grief he only had looked at the stupid thing less than a dozen times. He left for school and I gave him a kiss and said "good luck" although in my mind I was saying "serves you right" you are going to bomb today. I know that from this experience today he will learn not to procrastinate and to do his homework on time because it will come back to bite him in the butt.

He came home that night and didn't have his paper grade from his teacher on the poem yet but said he did a good job. Ahhhhhh huhhhh right you did. So the next day came and the grade was given out, see below.

What the stinking heck? How did he get a 100% with only 6-7 times practice in less than 24 hours? I suppose it serves us (Joel and I) right for underestimating him. Good job Jonas!

Sneaky Marin

2010-01-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

So Marin is a climber and she LOVES to climb stairs. We have gates obviously but low and behold they are no match for Marin. As I come around the corner to see what she is up to because she is TOO quite (never a good sign) this is what I see.

Not an innocent smile.....

She knows she is in trouble now.

Ummmmmmm what just happened here?

Marin the escape artist!

Marin is 1

2010-01-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Friday was Marin's 1st birthday! She has grown up soooo much! It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital the other day. She is now 1 year old and she still has all that hair and the personality to match too.

Happy 1st birthday baby girl.

Marin 1 day old, 01/08/09.

So I tried taking some fun pictures of her in her (wear it once) Birthday Girl shirt, she was having nothing to do with it. She is quite active and full of herself now a days.

The one still shot I got of her and you can tell she isn't pleased
to be sitting there doing NOTHING.

She is on the GO! Always on those stairs and that is her fav word too "Go".

Off she goes.....

She thinks she can get away....

This is her attitude coming out, she is telling me to "Go" now..... love you baby girl.

Thanksgiving 2009

2010-01-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

This past holiday season has been well overwhelming to say the least and with a new church calling (RS Presidency), Soccer Stuff, Room Mom stuff and all the normal day to day mom stuff I have failed to post as much as I would like. I have made a promise to myself that I going to be better in 2010.

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving 2009. We went to CA and spent lots of time with both sides of the families and it was a very nice time! We spent some time with the new twin 2nd cousins and Marin was so upset that I was holding other babies, it was killing her. So much fun!We also spent the day at Balboa with Joel's parents and the boys thought the pier and the auto ferry was the best too. Glad we brought out jackets it was sure chilly on the pier at Ruby's for lunch! Jonas who is not our official photographer and he took some pictures for all to enjoy.

For some trivia go check out Joel's blog post about this trip, I think I might have given the answer away though.

http://votawfamily.com/2009/12/dont-ask/

Jonas took some awesome boat pics, this one is the best one. Great lighting and all too!

What are they looking at????

Ahhh they had such a great time on the pier!

The Suns Game

2010-01-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

So one of the kids treats for Xmas was a trip to the Suns vs Lakers game with the Morse boys when they came into town. We arranged for the boys and dads to get a personal tour of the arena pregame as well an opportunity to sit on the warm up benches while the Lakers and the Suns warmed up. I am not sure who was more excited the boys or the dads. Dave commented that the players are a lot taller in person than he had expected. I think all the boys had a fun time, dads included.

Jonas was smart enough and brought his camera so here are a few of his shots from the game.

Joel and Boys at Suns Game

Morse Boys at Lakers Game.

(Dave couldn't bring himself to show the reverse side of these signs, see above)

Holiday Baking Complete

2009-12-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

It is DONE! I thought it wouldn't happen this year. I am done doing all my neighbor and friend holiday gift baking. I really do enjoy doing holiday baking and it really gets me in the holiday spirit too. However this year there just never seemed to be enough time to get it done and once I start I need to finish or else the whole kitchen is a mess till I am done. I usually do a few cookies and a few candies and then of course the pretzel sticks. This year was even more difficult since no grocery or Target stores in our area sold the Pretzel Rods that I needed to make the caramel and chocolate pretzel sticks. I was 4 stores into the hunt when I finally found them. So as of 11:30pm last night the baking was done. They got wrapped up tonight and they will be off tomorrow sometime. I am finally done and not a moment to soon either huh. Merry Christmas to all!

All the treats spread out (minus the fudges in the fridge)

Coconut Macroons, Shortbread cookies, snowball cookies and mint chocolate cookies (L-R)

Pretzel Sticks and Gingerbread Cookies (L-R)

All the plates wrapped up and ready to go out.

An individual plate of treats

Carson Daddy Donut Day

2009-11-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.vimeo.com/7731269 - Full Screen Version of Video

So Carson had Daddy Donut day this week. Carson was so excited for weeks prior to Daddy Donut Day too. He told me the morning of the Daddy Donut day that they had songs they are planning on singing for all the dads. So of course the video camera had to go along with Joel. All way to cute however there is one song that will crack you up. The song is the one with all the subtitles in it. Carson is blushing the whole song long too if you notice and the hand motions did seem to happen for Carson either! Enjoy!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

Ok so my FAV holiday is over and it was a quick holiday for me this year. We spent most of the early part of October out of town (see Fall Break post below) so the holiday was a bit delayed. As soon as we got back in town we went to town decorating.

We had a great holiday for sure. Jonas and Carson dressed as Luke Skywalkers. Carson was Jedi Luke and Jonas was Starfighter Luke. And of course Marin was Luke's sister, Princess Leia. (see why we had 2 Lukes now). I was a baker, not chef (notice the different hat). I eventually got tired of correcting people on the difference so I just nodded and said "yep a chef". Joel wanted an abstract type of costume this year, not one you can buy he said. Of course! So Joel was the Balloon Boy from Colorado that was all over the TV a few weeks ago. He had a box that surrounded him and he had a giant Mylar helium balloon that was all tied together that floated above him. He wore it to the Ward (church) Halloween Party but only 2 guys got it so I think he was reluctant to actually wear it on Halloween. He chose to hand out candy while I took the kids out. We tagged along with all the other hoards of neighborhood kids.

Here are some pictures and a video of the house.

Us all dressed up

Marin in Costume, she hated that hat with the side buns.

You know it was a great night when the bags are full. (left to right - Jonas, Carson and Marin)

This is a video of the outside of the house decorated, what we gave out for treats and then the boys mid-trick or treating. Oh the joy!

Shaggy Marin

2009-11-01T21:38:00.001-07:00

Well poor Marin's hair is getting so long. I am at the point where I am tempted to give her some bangs. But this is always the dilemma us girls face, to cut bangs or not to cut bangs. If you cut bangs you are stuck, always trimming and such. But if we can both get thru the shaggy eye point she will be able to pull them back, tuck them behind ears and use fun clips and such. But however until the hair grows long enough we are relegated to funny hair-do's like this one. Sorry Marin but you are a cutie and I had to share our dilemma and your do's with all. To cute!

I Sew (well kind of)

2009-11-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ok so I feel like my domestic talents have not been fully realized since I am missing a very "Suzie Homemaker" skill. Sewing! It has been a skill that I have yet to master or even attempt. Well Kelly H. started me when I sewed my first anything, the apron. You might all remember that from last year around this time of year. I got a super fancy sewing machine for x-mas last year and well I have attempted a few things. I tried a quit and well...it didn't look so hot but I tried it and I made it. Poor Suz is the recipient of the first efforts of the fancy machine I don't know how to use yet. I thought maybe my first sewing effort was less than stellar because I needed a pattern and less liberties in my sewing. So I got a pattern and some Halloween fabric and started out on the mission to create PJ pants for the boys. I opened the little envelope and I saw all this brown tissue paper. What the stink is all this stuff? There are symbols and arrows and dotted lines all over the place. What in the heck did I get myself into. Luckily enough my mom helped me decipher the coded pattern and cut out and pin all the pieces in place.

Well last weekend I finally sewed them all together. I made the boys PJ pants. I am so proud of myself! I made the boys promise to wear them every night until Halloween and then I would wash them. No that isn't gross, I was scare they would come all unraveled in the wash. I have no confidence in my sewing yet. I think the boys enjoyed them too, at least I am thinking that till they say otherwise. We might be sewing all sorts of holiday PJ pants for the boys. Poor kids.

Fall Break 2009

2009-10-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well people keep asking if we had a good break and what we did. Well it was good and bad I suppose. Joel's grandfather was diagnosed about 4 weeks or so before break with terminal cancer. It was a huge blow for Joel and all of us really. We all love grandpa Votaw so much and the boys just adore him. Joel took him to his Dr.'s appointment when they gave him the diagnosis that it was terminal. Joel's grandma was in OK at her baby sisters funeral. It was a bad week to say the least.

So the week that break started Grandpa Votaw passed away. Joel was at his bed side with him the days leading up to his death as well on the afternoon he passed. So the following weeks consisted of funeral plans, a very well done funeral video (Joel of course) and all the family functions such as the viewing, wake, funeral, graveside service and reception. Everything with the funeral and the related activities where just wonderful and honestly couldn't have been any better but it was emotionally draining. Everybody wanted it to be perfect for Grandpa Votaw and it was.

However while in CA the boys had to visit Dland, of course! The boys honestly did really wonderful at all the required family events so they definitely deserved a visit. What is super is that Jonas has grown and of course so has Carson. So they both can ride new rides. For Jonas he can finally ride the last heigth restricted ride, The Mali-boomer at CA Adventures. If you are not familiar it is the one that shoots you up SUPER high. Jonas had a blast. Carson on the other had was tall enough for the Scream'in Over Ca ride. This one is the big roller coaster in CA Adventures too. Carson was excited up to the point when he actually had to get in line to ride. Carson is crazy enough our cautious one, you wouldn't guess that would you. However once he tries something and likes it he is fearless. So after about 45 minutes of trying to talk him into the ride Joel just grabbed his hand and briskly walked him on to the ride. We had a stroller pass and so it was straight on the ride for them.

Carson well.....LOVED IT! That is all we rode the rest of the visit with Carson and Jonas was on Mali-Boomer every other ride. Below are a few pictures of the visit.

Joel and Jonas set to go....

Up, Up and Away!

Yes I am too cheap to buy that photo, Carson is in what looks like in the empty seat next to Joel. See the little tuft of hair. It is Carson!

So week 2 was a scheduled trip to UT to visit Joel's family. As well Joel had been saving a set of MLS Real Soccer tickets for the trip too. So the highlight was the Soccer game as far as the boys thought. Jonas just as well had a lesson at school on Fall and then colored leaves. So Jonas was all over the Fall colored leaves. He had to collect some to take back home because well we don't have those in Chandler. It is fine we can visit them, the snow that usually follows the pretty colors is not fun. We had a great time seeing family, watching soccer, taking in the Fall colors and doing a little work too.

Carson Can Tie His Shoes

2009-10-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well a few weeks ago we had to go get the boys some new church socks. So of course we headed down to the local Nordstroms, yes I know that other places sell black church socks. I like the ones there ok. Anyways back to topic....as I was checking out I noticed a little sign at the cash registers that said "Shoe Tying Class". Carson has had a hard time getting the show tying thing down. It seems he looses track of what lace gets pulled thru the little hole and then the whole thing comes apart. Carson is well....not the most patient boy and he gets frustrated easily and stops trying all together sometimes. I also think that if it comes from mom or dad there is no way it could be right and if it comes from Jonas there is a 50/50 shot he could take it as gospel knowledge or it could be just a lie.

So of course I had to sign him up and let someone else give it a try. So today was the day and the class started at 9am. Carson the week before kept saying the class was for babies and didn't want to go. We had to go get Joel a new suit at of course Nordstroms and when we did I went and checked the age range that would be in attendance at the class. The sales person told me 5-8 years old is the normal range. Perfect! Carson is 6 and this would be wonderful news for him. So he reluctantly went this morning. I think inside he was a little excited. They used a lace that had yellow on one side and then green on the other side so you can see which one to pull thru that little hole after the loop. Duh what a great idea!

You can see the results of the class below.

Ahhhh So Cute

2009-09-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself she was just so stinking cute today I had to take her picture over and over and over again. Love you Marin.

Soccer starts again

2009-09-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

As if it ever ended really, at least for Jonas. Jonas is on the GSC Arsenal 2000 Classic boys team and he has a wonderful group of boys. They play as if they have known each other for years and it shows in how they play so well together. You can check out the web page for the team with the link above to see more pictures there. Jonas is growing so much as a player. He is trying to "bend it like Beckham" and curve his left foot shot for corner kicks. He is an amazing player, I hope he always love playing soccer he is so great at it. Jonas plays forward and is always scoring 1-2 goals a game and assisting in almost every other play. Great job Jonas!

Carson is playing on a GSC Academy team again. He should have been on a U7 team however he got placed on a U6 team. No biggie really he makes that team cut off wise by a week so he is basically the BIG kid on the team. Carson has blossomed so much this year in soccer. So much more control of himself and the ball it is amazing the confidence he has on the field. Carson scored 2 goals his first game this year and then today he got another 4 in and had 2 more close calls, the goal post got in the way. Dang! Carson and JP (another boy on the team) are the 2 powerhouses on that team and score all the goals. The coach pulls Carson often so as to not kill the other team all in the 1st quarter.

Carson is by far the biggest kid on his team

Carson always takes charge with the ball on the field, go Carson!

You know when Carson is really into something, that tongue always comes out.

Jonas always has 3-4 guys "protecting" him, such nice boys!

Lake Pictures

2009-09-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, if you read this blog often you will notice no pictures of me, I hate putting up pictures of myself at any point but in a swim suit or in the water. Ahhh horrible! However we had such a great time at the lake I had to and Marin got in the water for the first time and she was loving it! So I had to post some pictures.

Carson's 6th Birthday

2009-09-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

I know I am skipping Jonas' birthday post. All the pictures are on Joel's camera which happens to be in the shop till next week. I will post then I promise.

So Carson and Jonas had identical birthday party plans this year, actually they have been the same for several years now. Thank you boys, it makes it easier on mom that way. :)

There was pizza and soda pop, lots of swimming, then cake and ice cream, to top it off they all watched a movie (of Carson's choice) outside on the blow up screen and ate tons of popcorn. Aunt Katie and uncle Ryan came out this weekend too and helped out a ton. We spent all Saturday on the lake tubing with the kids, Ryan and T. Not sure if Ryan or Carson had more fun that weekend, either way it was a very fun filled weekend. Thanks for the help guys and happy 6th Birthday Carson, love you!

Kids eating yummy pizza

Swim, swim, swim and more swim

wow 6 candles that will be a lot harder to blow out Carson

I love Carson's smile!

Carson and his BFF Ryan

Uncle Ryan and Carson tubing

Jonas and Carson's 1st Day of School

2009-09-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

So yes I know it has been over a month since my last post. Sorry. Here we go....

Here is a picture of the kids at their 1st day of school this year. Jonas is in the 3rd grade and Carson is starting kindergarten at CTA. I think that Carson is pretty excited about going to CTA with all the big kids. Carson has a great teacher and is picking up all his phonograhms perfectly. Jonas is doing awesome too, reading like a mad man and loving his new teacher too.

In Memory

2009-08-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

William Meltebeke (Grandpa) passed away today in his sleep.

I have alrady spoken about my grandpa in an earlier post so I don't feel the need to go on further. However today is the day, Aug 7th 2009 that my grandpa Meltebeke and grandma Meltebeke have meet once again. It has been 13 years and 1 month since they have seen each other and today my grandpa is happy once again. Your tired body is fianlly at rest and your spirit is at peace with grandma. We will miss you grandpa, see you soon enough.

Grandpa Meltebke and me on an Easter Egg Hunt.

Grandpa and me atop the Banning Pass Tram

Grandpa and his first greatgrandson Jonas. He was pretty excitted.

Grandpa and Joel doing what they loved to do in Grey Eagle (Tahoe), (besides golfing) Sleep!

Love you Grandpa!
All my love, Your grandaughter Jaime.

Political Rantings - Healthcare

2009-08-06T23:12:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the week of political rantings! I just cannot believe what is happening to our country and so I feel like I have to speak up. Here we go....

So I think capitalism will correct any deficiencies in the medical industry (and in any industry really). There are problems with health care for sure but they will work themselves out if we let it alone. Should there be a fail safe for the catastrophic things, yes! This is where the government belongs and that is the only place they belong in health care, Emergency situations. The Obama Health care is outrageous to me! What is even worse is the Czar over this new proposed plan is Ezekiel Emmanuel MD who is the brother of Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama's right hand man. Find this disturbing yet? Well it gets better below. This is an excerpt from Dr. Emmanuel commentary on how health care should be rationed. Are you kidding me. Look at the graph that goes along with this comment. So if you are less than 5 years old and over 60 we should kick you to the curb basically. Are they going to legalize murder at some point because this is what it is turning into. We have moved from unborn babies murder thru abortion to be ok, to now living walking children and adults being murdered thru lack of government rationed health care! Amazing!

Because none of the currently used systems satisfy all ethical requirements for just allocation, we propose an alternative: the complete lives system. This system incorporates five principles: youngest-first, prognosis, save the most lives, lottery, and instrumental value. … When implemented, the complete lives system produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most substantial chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated … the complete lives system is least vulnerable to corruption. Age can be established quickly and accurately from identity documents. Prognosis allocation encourages physicians to improve patients’ health, unlike the perverse incentives to sicken patients or misrepresent health that the sickest-first allocation creates.

Under this system, patients would receive scarce care according to the graph shown below.

If you don't believe me check it out for yourself. Oh and this comment was made in January of this year too!
http://community.comcast.net/comcastportal/board/message?board.id=news&message.id=934066

Protest with your Congressman

2009-08-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

So Joel was playing this video in YouTube in the background this morning and it caught me ear. It is exactly what we need to be doing with our congressmen in our own districts. If we have any hope of getting our country back on track and pointed in the right direction we need to do this in each of our own districts. We need to let these congressmen and women know how we feel or else they will think we agree with them. We cannot sit by and be silent. Way to go to New York citizens!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOLs7Cybnqw - Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOdlZgMHKcQ - Part Two

Call your Congressmen, email them, write them. Do whatever it takes (not distructive) to get your point across!

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Congress Link

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Senate Link

Summer Soccer in AZ

2009-07-16T17:56:00.001-07:00

So you are confused I know. Who plays soccer in 115 degree weather outside. Well we have indoor soccer fields here in AZ, they are like hockey fields but with fake grass. It is actually pretty fun. Jonas has been playing with his Club team all summer. They played for most the summer and competed against kids their age and a year old. They finished in 3rd place behind the Premier Team from our same club and a 99 team (year older) from our same club. They did awesome! In fact the last game was against the Premier team and they beat them 2-1 and Jonas had an awesome goal that put them ahead. We are done now but I know that Jonas had a blast!

Say What?

2009-07-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

So yesterday the boys had a neighbor friend over (Max), he is Jonas' age (8). The boys where playing video games and doing normal boy stuff and talking about normal little boy stuff. I was in the office doing some work and I have a pretty good ear shot of the conversations that are had in that game room. So some how (not sure how) the conversation got on to kissing girls. Max volunteered the information that he HAD kissed a girl before (on the lips). Jonas and Carson seemed amazed and of course had many questions to ask Max the new expert on kissing.

It was at this point when Jonas asked something along the lines of, does she go to school here or if he sees her often. Max replied that she was in CO where he used to live and he hasn't seen her since he left CO. Jonas' next question was cute and what I expect from Jonas. He asked "Do you miss her?" Ahhh sweet. Of course Max's reply was "No" with the normal little boy attitude of "duh stupid question".

It was at this point that Carson had his opportunity to ask the question that he was dying to know the answer to. What could it be you wonder, mind you Carson is 5 years old. Possible questions could be, Was it grose? Was it yuckie? Did you tell your mom? Did anybody see you? There are soooo many questions that would be totally normal for a 5 year old to ask right. Well Carson's question still makes me giggle and have great fear actaully. Carson question for Max the Resident Expert Kisser was......scroll down.....

Was She HOT?

What the freak? Is this child mine? Is he really 5 years old not 16? Oh boy are we in some serious trouble with this one or what? Come on Carson, honestly where did that one come from?

Of course Max looked at him much as anybody would, totaly puzzeled and said "Uhh I don't know". Ok that is an 8 year old response, not "Is she hot?" Where does this come from honestly. I am truely concerend about what Carson will be like when he is 16 if this is what we have at 5 years of age. Start saying those prayers for us now!

Is she hot, oh brother! That is our Carson! Love you Carson!

My Last Grandpa

2009-07-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

So this week or two is getting really close to being my last living grandpas last days on this earth. I have been having a hard time with it. Joel keeps asking me why I so upset? He will obviously be in a better place soon not to mention with my grandma who passed 13 years ago. I am selfish I suppose. Yes I want him to be out of pain and not so sad but something inside me is super upset to loose him. What is wrong with me, I know the plan of salvation and I know we will all be together as a family one day again. So why am I sad?

I still don't know...I have lots of great memories although I know that my parents have other memories from those days that differ a bit from mine. It doesn't matter to me, I didn't know any any of that and I have the wonderful memories so it just doesn't matter at this point. I remember going to Palm Springs when I was little to visit. My grandma smoked like a chimney and so after about an hour or so you stopped being able to smell or taste much till you left to go home. We use to camp out on the front davenport (couch) or in the office, it was fun I thought then. We use to play the antique slot machine till our dimes my grandma got at the grocery store for us where gone, I never got a jackpot (Cheap). My grandpa use to take turns letting us drive the golf cart all around the country club gated community they lived in. He use to push the special overdrive button to let us go FAST!

We use to go up to the Tahoe mountains in the summer to visit them. We would always have yummy dinner's out each night and every night we would come home and watch grandpa feed the chipmunks and the bluebirds peanuts out of his hands. I remember one summer he had a chipmunk named Sam he would always feed. Hummingbirds....my grandpa always loved hummingbirds. He always fed them and loved watching them. In my grandparents last home he knew them all by sight and named them, King was his favorite.

Grapefruit was always a breakfast favorite with him. Grandpa has diabetes and so he always had a little package of crackers in his front shirt pocket. Oh yes don't get me started on the pocket. Grandpa's shirts all had front pockets, period. He didn't wear them unless they had them, why you wonder. Well where else was he suppose to put his dang crackers? Come on you had to see that one coming right.

My grandma passed in 1996 and it was super hard for my grandpa, Squidge (grandma) was his life. That was my grandma's nickname Squidge. After she passed, Joel and I would visit him a ton in Palm Springs and then in Tahoe too. One summer I think we spent a month out there, it seemed like 2 months though. At some point there is nothing left to do in the middle of the woods in a cabin in Tahoe (seriously nothing left). One morning (6am) we woke up to the blast of a shot gun. Grandpa was outside our open bedroom window with a shotgun pointed down a gopher hole. BOOM! BOOM! we asked what (He**) he was doing and his answer was trying to kill those stupid gophers, of course! Why not use a shot gun at 6am to do that, nothing wrong with that. Duh!

Then there was the summer we went out and grandpa made Joel spend $100 bill in the airport casino on a slot machine. I thought Joel was going to die! We where so poor and that would have gone to good use for rent, alas grandpa insisted he spend it right then and there, it took 3 minutes to loose it all. Awesome! That was also the trip that Joel and I thought we would die at the hands of my grandfather's driving. Each summer trip was a death wish can you tell. Imagine a highly intoxicated 70 year old man in a huge Cadillac with super good bouncy shocks driving on a moon lit curvy narrow mountain road. Frightening huh! It was a minor miracle we all survived that trip to Tahoe.

This doesn't even being to go into all the fun with Joel and I fishing with my grandpa and all the fun Joel and grandpa would have golfing. Grandpa was always amazed my how far and long Joel could hit a golf ball. I can still hear him in his amazed voice tell Joel "that was an amazing shot". You always knew grandpa was happy or thought you made a funny, he would squeeze your hand and give you a wink and say something back to you silly or lean over and give you a peck on the cheek.

I will miss you grandpa! I have tons of AWESOME memories, thank you! Give grandma a "Squidge for me"

My Grandpa Meltebeke and Grandma Meltebeke early on

Both of them still running around together at a much older age.

Marin and I with her Great Grandpa Meltebeke, her 1st visit

The kids and me with Great Grandpa Meltebeke

The boys and Great Grandpa

Baby Carson with Great Grandpa

Wow Tickets

2009-07-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so we have DBack season tickets and for the most part we give them out to customers but we get to go when we cannot find a home for them. We think they are pretty good tickets, they are on the special Club Level and are on the 2nd row and on the 1st base run. We love going to the DBack games but since I grew up watching the Anaheim (not LA) Angels play that is where my heart lies with team affiliations. That being said we gave all our tickets out this year for the Angels game, I was pretty bummed. We had one set of tickets set aside and we had planned on going but a customer called and begged if I could get him tickets for the game. Oh course we gave them up. Drat! The DBacks only play the Angels every other year and only one time too, so this was a special game.

So our season ticket gal, Mandi Howard called me up and asked if I was excited to see my Angels play this one weekend. I told her the story and then she told me that she had a deal for me. She had some super duper special tickets for us if we wanted them. The only trick was I couldn't wear any Angels stuff because we would be on TV all night, what? Deal I said. So here we are pictures from our super special night at the DBack and Angels game. Oh by the way the Angels schooled the DBacks, Nice!

We told the boys to remember these tickets since they would never see tickets this expensive again. Not that their bottoms would be in anyway. $400 per seat!

Jonas on the phone with Grandma asking if she could see him on TV.

Carson being silly as usual, no matter the fact he was on TV

Marin didn't enjoy the spotlight to much and wanted to be walked all night, so much for mom watching the game from those seats.

The view from the seats.

Seriously close huh!

The Managers meet at home plate to play nice before the game.

The nice rear-end shots we got all night.

Marin's New Hat

2009-07-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

At Lake Powell I showed Joel's mom a knit hat that I bought on etsy.com. I think it gave her an idea and low and behold today Marin got a package. Look below, LOVE IT! Thank you Grandma Karrie for the awesome hat! I think we might need a few more to match some more outfits.

The Love Affair Begins

2009-06-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

So I was at Target the other day and I noticed an "Elmo goes to Grouchland" DVD for $5. We have personally gone thru 3 copies of this DVD, Jonas loved it soooo much. The thought occurred to me, I wonder if I should get it just in case Marin likes Elmo too. Na....she is way to young to like cartoons. Well last week I noticed her preoccupied with the cartoons the boys where watching. I thought I would try out an Elmo video online and see if she liked it. Wow amazing is all I have to say. Mind you she is only 4 months old here.

Suz this one is for you, messy home.

2009-06-01T23:19:00.000-07:00

Ok Suz you asked and here you go. I am chronicling the mess that my house will be in a few short days. It isn't that I don't pick up every stinking day it is that the boys can make messes faster than I can pick it up. Suz asked me to journal the mess that is made. I will update this post as the week goes on with pictures and comments.

Day 1 - The cleaning ladies came today. The beds are made, floors vacuumed, clothes put away, toothpaste cleaned off of the counter tops and sinks, no pee on the toilet rims, dirty clothes in the hamper. It is all perfect. Oh can't you wait to see what a few short days will hold. I will update often this week, check back. Suz and any other friends feel free to do your own blog post this week the same way. Carol I know you cleaned today too and so you can participate in this one too.

Day 1

Day 1

Day 1

Saturday was longgggggg

2009-06-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

So Saturday was a long day. Jonas had soccer practice at 8am - 9am and then in between I had to grab 2 birthday gifts at Target and run the bagel shop to get 2 dozen bagels for Carson's Baseball End of Season Party which started at 9:30am. Then at 10am Jonas had a swim birthday party, after we dropped him off at that we finished with Carson's Baseball party where he got his new trophy (so excited). Only to run to Carson's friends B-day party in Mesa at Jeppers at 11am (so dirty there, ick!). Joel and I grabbed lunch and then back to make the rounds picking up kids at parties.

The kids both promptly crashed in the car and went home to take a nap. Then an hour later we loaded up the coolers and the car and Jonas got changed into his soccer gear. He had a 3v3 tournament up at these BEE-utiful fields in North Phoenix (Reach 11). We got there at 3:15. Jonas had 4 games he played that night, we stayed till 8pm and headed home. Jonas caught a ride with a friend and he was home at midnight.

Wow what a weekend, it was a LONGGGGGGGGG Saturday. Lets hope we don't see one of those for a while I am still pooped out. FYI Jonas took a 6 hour nap on Sunday after church. Joel actually woke him up from the 6 hour nap. Who knows how long he would have gone on his own.

Carson Loves his New Baseball Trophy

Love it when they look like they like each other, even if it is while they are sleeping.

Spa Party Anybody

2009-06-01T16:13:00.001-07:00

So after a year of looking at our pad where the spa should go we got it. We had all these great intentions of getting it for the winter this last year but being pregnant i wouldn't be able to use it so I didn't really push for it. They had a Sale and of course you have to buy things when they are on sale, so we did. (Thanks Carol for the heads up on the sale?

We shortly realized the error in our ways however soon after installing the skate ramp. The spa would now costs a few hundred $'s more than expected. Why well no way to get the spa in. Below you can see how we got the spa in. It was an interesting day to say the least. I was first nervous about the drive way cracking but that fear soon gave way to the idea of a spa in the upstairs hall then shortly in the kitchen.

It is in now and all warmed up. Come on over anytime and lets go Spa'ing.

Wow big crane.

This is when I expected to hear the concrete cracking

Getting ready.....

Oh boy here we go.....up and over.

Oh mercy! upstairs hall here we come.

Alas it made it to the backyard....whew...

My boys are trying to kill me

2009-05-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am sure my kids are trying to kill me. Why you ask... well check out this picture.

So this is a picture of our back stairs literally 12 hours after the cleaning ladies came. The stairs is littered with towels, slippery covered piano books, legos cars and shoes. I think if I was to navigate this set of stairs in the dark I would surely be bent in two and dead at the bottom of the stairs. Are my kids trying to kill me is the question?

Joel's Blog - Must Visit

2009-05-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Ok so I not going to steal Joel's thunder because he did such a great job on his blog. Please go visit it, the only thing I will say is "Oh my" and here is a sneak peak! The video is the best too, listen to the music! Good post Joel.

Go to.... www.votawfamily.com

A straight man...? Supposedly yes.

Marin's First Food

2009-05-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

So last Friday was the day! Marin ate her first solid food. She had oatmeal cereal that was banana flavored. I learned with the boys that my kids don't like rice cereal and want it flavored. (seriously who would like that stuff) So I spared myself the box of rice cereal I knew she wouldn't eat and went straight to the good stuff. I don't think she had any clue what I was trying to coax her to eat. Although a week later now, she is crazy about it. Joel can attest that she looks like this little baby bird now when I feed her and she is all excited to eat her cereal. Yipe finally a child that eats baby cereal well. She is eating it once a day and loving it too! Almost all of it makes it in her mouth as well too, bonus!

Video of Marin Eating

How does your garden grow?

2009-05-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well let me show you....ok yes I am bragging but honestly this is the best garden I have ever had. I wont' brag next year I promise!

Yummy Tomatoes......

Box of Tomatoes and 4 different Peppers

Watermelon, Yellow Squash, Zuchinni, and Pumpkins (for Carson)

;
Box of Red Onions, Greenw beans (crasy ones) and Carrots

Yummy Yellow Squash

Look at that Tomatoe, I have my salt shaker already for this ones when he turns Red.

Ok we ate these Sunday and can I tell you, Delish! BBQ'ed em. Yum.

I have 2 Grape vines and they are doing Grape, I mean Great! Sorry for the funny.

Ok I have a peach tree and it is doing great. So are the Apricot and Citrus trees too.

Ok this is how my garden grows, i swear anybody can do it! And this has been a blast this year to do with the kids. I think Carson might even try a vegetable this year! High hopes I know.

Crazy Hair Marin

2009-05-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

So after drying Marin's hair after her bath she looked a bit funny, Wha-La Crazy Hair! Had to share. Dare I say I see a curl or two in there. Hair with body is this really my child?

Carson is full of Smiles

2009-05-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well if you know Carson you know he has his moments to say the least. We love Carson and know that some day that stubborn and defiant streak will be to his benefit. Maybe he will be a litigation attorney or something else career wise that needs a stubborn person who always wins an argument. Carson is a wonderful little boy and we love him to pieces so when he has his moments and then he takes these kind of pictures my heart just melts. He has the best smile around!

Biggest smile in the whole class!

He is so excitted to play baseball can you tell?