Under the sea

Not really but a pool is close enough. This is # FIVE on the top ten list....They capture all the fun moments....
.... in and out of water.

South Padres 07

Our fam

Also refers to top ten list # 3....
More to come.

My favorite sound bite

When one commissioner proposed to disallow the burning of used oil in an asphalt plant the chairwoman responded:

"I'm no tree hugger, but burning used oil ...that's earth friendly!"

David & Goliath: What do they have incommon?

Company: HK Contractors (Net worth ...millions)
Purpose before zoning board: Allow them to set up a temporary (75 days) ashpalt plant in a state owned gravel pit in order repave 15 miles of US Highway 26.
Number of opponents: ~20
Numper of Proponents: 4 including the 4 HK employees
Duration of Tesimony For: 3 minutes
Duration of Testimony against: 15 minutes
Zoning Board Discussion Among Commissioners: 5 minutes
Total hearing time for matter: 25 Minutes
Decision: Approved
What HK didn't tell: By moving the batch plant 25 miles closer to the paving site they (HK) will save at least $250,000 in trucking fees .... their winning bid assumed that they would be hauling it from a further location.

Company: Willow Creek Nursery ( Jacob & Amy)
Purpose before zoning board: Construct a 16 acre wholesale nursery and remove topsoil
Number of opponents: ~2
Numper of Proponents: 2 other than me
Duration of Tesimony For: 5 minutes
Duration of Testimony Against: 5 minutes
Zoning Board Discussion Among Commissioners: 3 hours
Total hearing time for matter: 3 hours 15 Minutes
Decision: Approved
What everyone in the room was thinking: "We can tell you are going to approve it ...shutup and stop arguing over weather or not this similar to a previous proposal for a "Doggie Daycare" or if it has anything to do with "Widgets""!!!

Top ten!

Since I have yet to upload pictures and I am bored and going thru internet withdrawals, I decided to do a quick post.

TOP TEN THINGS I LEARNED THIS YEAR AT THE BEACH

10. How exactly sandcastles are made.
9. How much food 18 people will eat.
8. Not to be stubborn and just wear the sunscreen.
7. Not to tell a little kid to go pee in the ocean because they end up barely going in the water and pulling their pants down to show everyone.
6. Not to trust Jake when he says he is turning up the swimming pool (to be a hot tub)
5. How much I really want an underwater camera (but I would hardly use it)
4. Not to wear sunglasses out while boogie boarding. You think I would have learned this one by now.
3. How much fun it is being a blonde.
2. Not to play crazy uno at four in the morning...AND LOSE!
1. What exactly Jake will do in the ocean. ( To be continued....)

Soon-to-be one year mark

It was time for me to be the "meaner" parent and get her ears pierced.

Chicken Fight

Can you guess who won?

TRAGEDY!!!!

At 3:14 this morning Bernice, a young mother in the area, fell victim to a violent hit and run accident. Witnesses at the scene report that a large black SUV came out of the darkness and ran her down. After being hit and drug for nearly 1000 feet and then completely run over; the perpetrator fled the scene at a high rate of speed leaving her for dead.

Her friends who were with her reported that although they were not in a crosswalk they were using a route that Bernice had safely crossed hundreds of times before. One socialite claimed that Bernice froze as the SUV approached ....LIKE A DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS! She leaves behind many children, a herd of friends and lush green forage. She will be missed.

..........


This just in ..... Man reports that Ranchhand grillguard spared his SUV of any scratches or dents after hitting a deer at 70 mph with a fully loaded trailer in tow. UNBELIEVABLE!

Kitty play

Once again, Jake brought home kittens on Mother's Day. (for the kids) This has happened before.

McKay named her yellow boy kitten Phillipe, Kirsten name her girl cat Belle........and Cruz name his girl cat Jack. I find the black / brown on her face puzzling.

Possibly the "Jake" in her????

Studying hard

Doing his homework til he just can't stay awake anymore.

What day is it?

TWO WEEKS AGO IT LOOKED LIKE THIS (YES SNOW)....

TWO DAYS AGO WE WERE PLAYING IN THE SPRINKLERS....

TWO MINUTES AGO, IT'S 41 DEGREES AT NOON....

WHY????

I didn't believe it til I saw it.

They call her the Neighborhood deer.

There is no need to be afraid.

She has a baby that is also part of the pack.

All she wants is love and food.

She will even let you take a picture (with flash).

I still find it quite amazing. While in Utah this past week, we came across the neighborhood deer. Jake thought he was pretty cool when this deer came up to him in the front yard. His first thought was to tackle it. But this cute thing came up to him and wanted to be petted before he had time to act. I guess this deer and her baby wonders around this part of Eagle Mountain and just wants attention.
Katanya isn't quite so sure what to think. I love her eyes and expression. Cruz is okay as long as he doesn't get any closer.

This one time ... I saw ....

This one time I saw this excavator and you would never believe it. It stood on its front toes and stuck its bucket so deep into a mud bog that it almost was vertivcal. Just after snapping this pic with the last piece of unexposed film on the old 35 mm the machine broke free and did a backflip .... no kidding!

LIKE BROTHER ...... LIKE BROTHER!

Today as I was going through some pics to find one for Kirsten's primary talk I found this cherry. On more than one occasion Karl has rebuked me for the time Peter and I hung him upside down over a railing 3 stories up. According to Karl the traumatic experience has left long lasting emotional scars. Karl all I can say is that the proof is in the picture that you dished out just as much as you ever received. Axel ...talk with Karl .... you are going to have some real issues in the future. Oh those were the good ole days!

As I side note I should mention that the last time I tried something like this on Axel I just about ended up with a ball point pen buried in my thigh ... luckily for me AMy was there to protect me.

Happy Mom's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms! We love and miss you! These two are extra special to us.

McKay's special day

McKay chose to be baptized this past Saturday. We are really proud of her for her decision. She is a sweetheart and we know she is loved.


There was a lot of supporters there in person and spirit. We know she has a special spirit and a lot of friends.







McKay chose to have her dad, Michael, baptize her and her other dad, Jacob to confirm her.

I still have a hard time believing she is already eight.

Both of her dads with McKay in white.

Jake and I had quite the week and it wasn't until after that I realized that it could of been our trial so that it wouldn't be a special day for McKay. I know that somebody was working hard so we wouldn't feel the spirit on Saturday. Starting on Monday and all thru the week, we had machinery break down every single day and the final time that the Bobcat broke, it is quite the fix. It was testing on Jacob and I (as finances always are on a relationship) and on top of it he had been extremely busy so that my yard didn't look like I wanted it too. He wasn't finding a reliable driver to hire and I could only do so much with a baby that is glued to my hip. My dad had came up for the week and on Friday I had a chance to mow the yard and trim all the weeds. My dad weeded the flower beds and my yard was nice. The rest of my Friday was crazy as I was taking in the machine to be fixed to getting the food for Saturday. I ended up finally making it to WalMart at 11 p.m. Only to get pulled over on my way home because (are you ready?) I was going to slow and hugging the white line. The highway is 65mph and I was doing 58. I have awful night perception and I always hug the white line. Luckily the officer let me go, only to pass me on the double yellow infront of my road right infront of my turn. I always check behind me now as a precaution. After going to bed at 3am I woke up on Saturday at 6 only to find SNOW!!!! It had been snowing and had covered the ground. It was a "white" day for McKay. So we made plans for the lunch afterwards to be inside. McKay had chosen her favorite....rice....so I made hawaiian haystacks and thai curry to go with it. We had over forty people there from 3 different sides of the family and I made food for at least 80! Ooops, I always do that. I have plenty of leftovers in the freezer.

After talking to a friend after her baptism I had been telling her about our trials and she looked at me and said "Amy! Do you not realize that this is a blessing also. You weren't in the situation to have your equipment break two months ago so it waited until you could." How the Lord works in mysterious ways. I am grateful for all my blessings both good and bad.

It's that time again......

McKay turned eight and her birthday is a reminder that it is time for yearly pictures. She wanted them in her baptism dress this year. She picked it out all by herself and was a present from her grandma and grandpa. Although we always disagree on the pictures we like. My favorite was the first.

Her favorite was the one below.

And this was a close follow up.

Do you trust your stylist?

Many times I have heard funny comments because my hair stylist lives in Utah and I live in Idaho. I haven't found anyone I like, or trust up here. Hence I was desperate for a hair cut and some kind of change that I planned a trip to Utah. I showed her the haircut (4 inches came off) and then told her that I wanted some sort of change and for it to be different. Something I haven't done. Although I did say I didn't want scary different, but cute different. I don't know why but my hair is one thing that I can handle change on with no problem.

So it is now it has a lot of blonde highlights with many of them being platinum. A few golden, a few a lighter shade of red and my natural brown underneath. It sounds scary but it's cute. The picture doesn't do it justice.

I LOVE IT!!!!

And for once Jake does too! Evcn the cut. That's the miracle.

How many balloons til you become weightless?

This was McKay's first science fair. She wanted to see how many balloons it would take to lift her (53 pounds). So last Sunday we put together the experiment and found out that 25 balloons lifted exactly 5.0 ounces. On Tuesday while putting together the display we also bought some balloons to deminstrate it to the students. The only down part was when we were completely done and we had bought another 30 balloons only to remember (at midnight the night before) that latex balloons wasn't allowed in the school due to allergies. Therefore the balloons stayed home. McKay won second place.

(To figure how many balloons you would times your weight by 80.)

A good tan

A nice FARMER'S tan that is. We have been planting and planting and planting many of trees. The last few days we have actually had the sun out. I'm not complaining but now I have one of those tans that I used to make fun of Jake with.
This picture from several years ago was my favorite. Hannah was scrolling thru them and she turned to Jake and asked, "Why did you wear a shirt in the pool?"

Sadly I have the neckline and the glove line. I am going to have to fix it before too long.