News from the Zookeeper

anyone have some time to spare?

2010-02-23T08:03:00.001-08:00

Wow. February is almost over. It just started. So many things going on this month. Out with the old and in with the new. I don't have time to list all the changes.... perhaps I'll come back later and share....

2010-02-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

Loving my Sundays lately...

2010-02-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

Things have gotten pretty busy for me these days. The kids are now home doing online education so I'm spendng more time planning adventures out of the house. I only work part time, but feel guilty with the kids being on their own for that short time. We all agree the schooling is the best fit for us, but it hasn't all "kicked in" so we are in limbo.... and limbo stinks.

Today we were heading to Discovery Park in Seattle, but got sidetracked. I found this book at the library that has some of Seattles quirky points of interest in it. We were reading through and stumbled onto the Fremont Troll . We sidetracked to find him and were thrilled.

After that, we found ourselves at the Ballard Locks. A few hours of goofing around and wandering and we were on our way. We headed out toward the ocean and ate some goooood fish and chips :)

Quote of the day

2009-07-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

"Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more."– Louis L'Amour

I get these in my email everyday. Some days they are good, some days they don't really do anything for me. I like this one. It is inspiring. I need inspiring! Well, here I am in the middle of the night again and wide awake. Its rather odd... I seem to have learned to survive on less sleep, although I'm not sure surviving is good...

We seem to have a warm front these days, everyone complaining about how hot it is. Which really stinks when you don't have air conditioning... like me : ( I really try not to complain because I was reminded yesterday about the snow, yes, I actually live somewhere that will have snow. And I'm in denial. I do not want to live somewhere that has snow. I want to visit that place, and then go home.

Darrinn will be home this weekend. The kids are really excited. I feel kinda bad for him cuz theres a pretty big "honey do" list waiting for him and I'm sure he wants to relax since he has literally worked every day since he left June 17th. Did I mention the freezer died. Yes, the freezer that was housing my KING CRAB. Ugh.

Long time no blog.

2009-07-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wow. I don't even remember the last post, but its pretty funny. I'm funny sometimes. Well, things have slowed down a bit since my last post. I'm only working one job full time instead of two. I do some fill in work for a friend with another woman, but other than that I'm down to under 40 hours a week instead of the 60 I was doing. Whew.

The summer appears to be almost over. I achieved a huge goal this summer... check off one of my items on my "bucket list" I am an official certified open water diver. Amazing. I got to go diving last weekend too. The fun part was that my instructor was someone I went to high school with. It made the learning fun, could have been the goofy young boys that I had to have in class too. Either way, it was amazing. I can't wait until the next dive.

I feel awfully scatterbrained with this post. No focus. Oh well. Gotta run.

Muah!

Monday....yuck...

2009-03-16T05:26:00.000-07:00

What is it about Mondays? I had to work yesterday, so all evening I kept thinking it was Monday. Not so lucky, I get to have Monday today. I don't feel like doing anything today, yet I have to get out the door to work in the next 5 minutes. Phooey.

I want a down day. I want a day that I don't have to do anything. A day of sitting, in my pajamas even! No responsibilitie, nothing! While I'm dreaming, I'd like a hot tub on the back deck so I can go do nothing out there too. And a personal chef.... to fetch me whatever I like while I'm perfecting my nothing...

While I'm dreaming, I'd like it to be about 80 degrees! Sunny, with a few clouds here and there and 80. uh huh.... what else? How bout a winning lottery ticket.... with no taxes on the HUGE amount of money I win.

Reality check.... it is payday today... but the word HUGE isn't going to be the word that I have regarding the check... guess I better stop daydreaming and go to work.

Have a good day ....

Granny's Memorial

2009-03-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

Granny, Andy, Ken, Keith, Matt, Kelle & Kevin

(yep, the only girl cousin for awhile)

Pictures Pictures Pictures. I was put in charge of the slide show to be on the tv in the background during the food after the memorial. I diligently scanned all the pictures and burned them to a dvd. Nothing fancy, because it never fails if you spend a large amount of time on something, there seems to be something that goes wrong. So, plain and simple slide show. Done.

I decide about an hour before the memorial that I better make sure it works. I go to Fairview and pop it in the dvd player and sure enough... it says bad disk. Uh huh. Great! No time to panic, I start knocking on the residents doors asking to use their dvd players. (this is when its a good thing that the residents like you) Finally, three dvd players later, I find a dvd player that will play the disc. Whew...

Would you believe the disk I have is of Dylans birthday party last month? No, I'm not kidding! Yep. I grabbed the wrong disc. Really, is this really happening to me? My life saver runs back home and promptly returns with the correct disc. We pop the correct disc in and yes ma'am, it works. Well, kind of. It has a mind of its own and sometimes changes pictures and sometimes doesnt. And when it reaches the end, do you think it could be gracious and just loop through again? Oh no. It just stops.

Are you kidding me? Nope. I finally gave up and sometimes it worked, sometimes not so much.

The memorial was fabulous, especially considering it was created and planned the day before. Yes, 1 day preparation. It all came together really well and was over just as quickly as it started. Over 100 people were there. Granny was loved, despite her grumpiness! Fortunately, no one got greedy with her belongings that she left in this world. Things have been sorted and shared with everyone. Granny didn't leave much behind, just many many loved ones that are anticipating seeing her again one day!

Memorial

2009-03-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

me·mo·ri·al (mə-môr'ē-əl, -mōr'-) n.
Something, such as a monument or holiday, intended to celebrate or honor the memory of a person or an event.
A written statement of facts or a petition presented to a legislative body or an executive.

adj.
Serving as a remembrance of a person or an event; commemorative.
Of, relating to, or being in memory.

I've been to a couple Memorials in my lifetime. The last few days have been filled with planning and creating and scheduling for a short moment in time to remember Granny. My husband made a good point today; we went from a small intimate gathering to a big huge, 2 room, 100 people, food and coffee, slideshow and roses event. The funny part.... he said Granny would probably refuse to come...

So, shes sitting in Heaven right now thinking we're crazy... all this work for her... definately crazy.

Everyone has their own idea and their own way of honoring Granny, so the Memorial isn't really for Granny, its for each individual...

Until we meet again...

2009-03-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

Granny passed away today, very quietly in her sleep. She has always had to carry an umbrella with her as her skin was very sensitive to the sun. Skin cancer was an enemy of hers and she was not interested in another battle with him. This morning as the sun arose into a record low day of 6 degrees, it cast itself peacefully onto Granny's face without the fear of skin cancer.

Granny has gone to be with Jesus!

Grandpa's Little Helper

2009-02-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

Dylan loves to help Grandpa!

Tanner Bananer

2009-02-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you let Taylor and Robyn babysit...

Happy Birthday to Dyl!

2009-02-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of some presents being opened this morning. His big party is Saturday.

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Here we are... supposedly the "romantic" day of the year. Last year at this time I was sitting in the bar at "The Crab Pot" in Long Beach, California. Some dearly think of Disneyland... but when people talk about the "happiest place on earth" its definitely The Crab Pot for me.

I couldn't be luckier! When we lived in Seattle, there was one down on the waterfront downtown, which equated to about a 30 - 45 minute drive (depends on who's behind the wheel). When we moved to California, there was one on the waterfront in Long Beach, which equated to about a 10 - 20 minute drive (again... who's driving). Everyone knows what the answer is if you ask Kelle where she wants to go for dinner.

Back to the story... we were waiting for our table. After a 45 minute wait our table was ready!! We sat down, ordered and waited... for about 2 minutes when I received the call from Taylor that Meg had fainted. Fast forward to February 16 and I'm a grandma! So Valentines Day is no longer thought of as a day of romance, but the day my adventure towards finding out how I could possibly have more unconditional love in my life.

This Valentines Day I find myself 283.25 (yes I mapquested it) miles away from The Crab Pot. No shot of hoppin in the car and running over there for dinner. I worked last night so took a little nap this afternoon and awoke to a different smell. My fabulous husband recreated the Crab Pot experience and made me my own Alaskan King Crab Feast.

Who says romance is dead?

Northern Lights Brewery

2009-02-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

Last night was girls night. I met Stacy and Kaylene and Monique at Northern Lights. Stacy and her husband own Northern Lights, so everyone kept asking why we would go there, why wouldn't we let Stacy go somewhere else....

Truth be told... I loooove their Blueberry Ale. Its just something I want if I actually get a night out. Not to mention, they have fabulous food... I'm not just saying that because my friend is the owner... they reallllly have good food.

We sat and talked for 5 hours. (well lots of laughing really) My friend from work was supposed to stop by but she couldn't make so we'll be expecting her next time!! And hopefully some more friends can join. (hint hint)

We had so much fun we've decided that we will plan on doing it once a month... we deserve it!

Tanner Bananer

2009-01-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

Victor, Leslie and Tanner Bananer came to visit last weekend. I can't vouch for Leslie, but I think she and I both were curious to see how these two little boys got along this time. Its been a few months since they were together and Dylan has since started walking and Tanner is definately running. Those two little boys got along really well. There were a few little toy taking episodes, but no drama at all. They pretty much coexisted and did their own thing most the time. Feeding times were a little hectic for Leslie because she ended up with two mouths as Dylan seems to be a bottomless pit.

I've posted this picture because whenever Leslie tries to take pictures of Tanner he runs or turns the other way. He was HAPPY to come running to me when I had my camera out and let me take his picture. I'll post a few more down below just so she can be even more frustrated! He's so cute though, dontcha think?!

Wow am I behind...

2009-01-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

Its been over 4 months since I last posted. Can you believe it? Life has sure changed in the last 6 months of my life. If someone had told me last January that I'd be where I am today I'd have laughed myself silly. No way. That being said, its been very nice spending time with friends and family.

Work work work

2008-09-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

I started a new job last week. My aunt says that I didn't find a job.... a job found me! I had been looking into becoming a NAC. (same as a CNA) Dorothy and I have been scouting out new assisted living places because Granny is getting a little worse and needs a little more attention. Well, we were visiting one and they basically offered me a job on the spot. A week later I am a full time employee. Woo hoo. So far I love it. I have a lot of training to get through, but am enjoying it so far.

Other than that, I feel the cold weather in a big way. I soooooo wish I was sitting on my balcony in Long Beach soaking in that beautiful sun. But, no such luck. Toughen up! Yikes.

We spent the weekend in Idaho with D's Mom last weekend and had some fun with her. She is looking better and better every time we see her. D's sister also lives on the 25 acre parcel, so we've been getting bonus time with her as well.

I hope all is well out there....

I seem to have misplaced something...

2008-09-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

TIME!!! 10 days have gone by since my last post. Wow! I don't even have Leslie's excuse that she had no wifi while in Arizona. School started and life sped up a bit. I crashed my car last week. Ugh. All is well and my car is already fixed, but nothing like a bump in the road to cause life to detour. Thank goodness for Darrinn or I'd still be in the ditch of life feeling sorry for myself.

LESLIE drove over and surprised me for my birthday. And my husband and kids were in on it. Ugh. I can't believe they pulled one over on me again. D and I had talked because the last two years I was whisked away to Catalina Island for my birthday as a surprise. I told him it was totally going to be a bummer that I didn't get the same fabulous adventure for my birthday this year. (Although its ok since I've already been there TWICE this year anyway!!!!!) I have to admit I was feeling a little bummed that nothing exciting would be going on for my birthday this year.

We were sitting out on the porch the evening before and Leslie pulled up in her brand new mini van. Yes, she's joined the mini van troops of America. You knew it would happen sooner or later! She and Tanner Bananer and Abby made the trek across the state to wish me a Happy Birthday. It was fabulous, absolutely fabulous! We didn't do much, just hung out and had friend time. We took our favorite boys to the park on my birthday. I'll get some pics up soon. (right!?)

She had to leave the evening of my birthday, as she was leaving a couple days later for her trip to Arizona. I don't think I can tell you how much her little visit meant to me! : )

Little Dylan

2008-09-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Taylor took this picture of Dylan on the way home from Grandma Manuel's house.

Am I really THAT old?

2008-09-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, my birthday came and went. Ms. Leslie, Bananer and Abby came to visit me. They drove all the way from Sumner Tuesday night to surprise me. And I was totally surprised. I don't like surprises, but this one was quite nice. She got a new mini van and had to put some miles on it. She is leaving for Arizona for a week on Saturday, so it was totally a trip she shouldn't have taken, but I'm glad she did. It meant the world to me.

It was a pretty relaxing day, get the kids to school, hang out, pick up the kids and then we had a dinner last night with Mom, Meg, Dylan, Megan (Jim's wife) James, Ryan, Dordo and my kids and D. It was nice. Leslie and Tanner left at 6, so they didn't participate, but it was awesome to have the time that I did get with them.

We took Dyl and Bananer to the park in the wagon. Fun Fun.

Labor Day Festivities

2008-09-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

We went to Idaho today to D's Mom's house for the day. She made me a fabulous spread; steak, baked potatoes, prawns, bacon wrapped scallops, corn, and a nice vegetable tray with baby corns! Taylor ate all but one of the baby corns tho....brat...

We were supposed to go out on the boat, but it was a bit chilly. 62 degrees to be exact. Oh, did i forget to mention sporadic raining? Oh, and maybe the hail? Yeah, we opted to skip the boat adventure, the water needs to stay under the boat, not in it. And I'm not sure sporadic is the right word because I think it rained more than not now that I think of it. : )

We did have just as much fun sitting in the nice warm house with our loved ones, talking and eating good food. Here's some pics to share.

I tried really hard to get a GOOD picture of Taylor and Dana because they still look so much alike. Taylor and Dana's baby pictures look like the same baby... I literally took 15 pictures of these two and by the time I got them to settle down and stop goofin...in pops captain fantastic!

Leslie made me do it...

2008-09-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

You Can Only Type One Word, Not as easy as you might think. Copy or forward, change the answers to suit you, and pass it on (don't forget me). It's hard to only use one-word answers. Maybe try to use the first word that pops into your head.

1. Where is your cell phone?close
2. Your significant other? D
3. Your hair? short
4. Your Skin? dry
5. Your mother? worried
6. Your favorite thing? Dylan
7. Your dream last night? real
8. Your favorite drink? soychai (oops, i made it one word!)
9. Your dream/goal? skinny
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your ex? fool
12. Your fear? wheelchair
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
14. Where were you last night? cleaning
15. What you're not? skinny
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? debtfree
18. Where you grew up? Seattle
19. The last thing you did? iron
20. What are you wearing? boxers
21. Your TV? annoying
22.Your Pets? tortoise
23. Your computer? old
24. Your life? interesting
25. Your mood? sad
26. Missing someone? Leslie
27. Your car? expensive
28. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite Store? dollar
30. Your summer? short
31. Your favorite color? purple
32. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
33. Last time you cried? yesterday
34. Who will/would re-post this? Tay?
35. Whose answers are you anxious to see? Tay

Sunset to Sunrise...pics from the road...

2008-08-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I found the camera cord..woooo hooo. This picture is the sunset Saturday night, the 16th... still in California... sorry about the powerlines, but this was taken as we were driving down I-5. (did I actually say down? I meant up! We were driving UP I-5)

Here is the sunrise the next morning...Aug 17th... from our hotel window.

The evening of the 17th was the harvest moon and it was absolutely amazing, but neither of us could get the camera to take a picture correctly. It was amazing, but will have to remain in our memories.

It's Raining!

2008-08-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

I know it's crazy, but it didn't rain much in California. If you move away from the rain you forget how good it smells when it's about to rain, and the feeling of it in the air. There's just something about it. We lived in the Seattle area before California, so we went from extreme amounts of precipitation to literally none.

Patrick is registered for 5th grade! Woo hoo! Taylor's registration appointment is Friday. She is so excited we can hardly stand to be around her. Who knew putting her back in public school would be such a treat for her. Especially when part of the reason we stayed in California these last few months is because she was still begging to continue her acting adventure.

We've settled in at Dordo's house! She has graciously provided us with more than enough space to make our own little home away from home. I've been called a gypsy in the past and today I feel that title.

I know this wasn't an exciting post, but I wanted to check in and let you all know that I'm still kicking!

Why did you move?

2008-08-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

We sold our furniture and packed up everything else we own in plastic tubs. Darrinn loaded them all onto a trailer that he spent 4 days looking for and away we went. It wasn't quite that simple as we still have alot of stuff, but that's the short version.

If you've been to visit us, you know that California is a mixture of things... Its a fast lane, full of rude people and dirty places. But the other side of the reality is that there is so much stuff to do and if you can see past the insane rush everyone is in and the dirty places, you will likely wish to stay.

So many beaches...parks...theme parks...We were there 16 months and only saw maybe 1/100th of the sites.

Everyone keeps asking me "Why did you move?" And some people have asked more than once...as if they don't believe the answer. Well, we left the Spokane / Coeur d' Alene area about 5 1/2 years ago. Darrinn took a job in Auburn, Washington ( Seattle Area ) and he was gone for 18 months before the kids and I followed.

We settled into the area and loved it for about 4 years. Then the company he worked for transferred him to California. He was there 4 months before we headed down to join him. The transition was easier in California than it was in Seattle. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that we moved into my dream house a block from the ocean. Our stay there was short lived as the dream was for sale and sold while we were living it. : )

Our next move took us to the middle of the desert as he was out working at a different store and the commute was killing him. After being there for 6 months we moved yet again. Yes, we had been in California for 8 months and were now planning our 3rd move. He had been moved back to the original store and again he commute issue. Commutes here are different than anywhere I've ever been. Here, you can be 12 miles away from something and it can literally take 3 hours. Not pretty.

I just looked at my title and man am I sidetracked... We chose Long Beach for the next destination. People who've been to Long Beach go "Oh...Long Beach." Long Beach has been revamped in the last 10 years. The entire downtown waterfront area has been redone and surrounding areas cleaned and made safer... so we didn't live in the hood people. We lived about 3 blocks from the water. LOVE THE WATER...

Darrinn took up sailing and as a family unit we've determined that we love sailing. Lots of little shops, restaurants and such within walking distance. We lived in an amazing complex with two pools, a gym and a theatre room. Fun Fun.

The car business isn't going too well at the moment...kind of like the rest of the world...mortgage...real estate...appraisers... the car guys are suffering too. The gas prices are killing us. Darrinn is always weighing his options with his job and started looking for ways to get out of the car business. We were on the verge of a career change it would seem.

I have 3 grandparents that are aging and a mother in law that we miss dearly. Not to mention a new grandson that I am missing his every new moment. It really all just happened. The kids and I took a last minute 3 week vacation to Washington. We spent 2 weeks in Spokane / Coeur d' Alene and 1 week in the Seattle area. We were so blessed with all of the friends and family time that we had over those 3 weeks.

There are so many good things about home and equally as many good things about California.

When we returned home, Darrinn was open to returning permanently. We've talked about it a million times since we moved... it really wasn't as last minute as it appeared to the rest of the world. It was a long time coming and finally time to just do it kind of thing. So, it was that simple. We sold our furniture, packed our stuff into plastic tubs and headed North.

Delirium sets in.

2008-08-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

I want to start off by saying that when the kids and I went to Spokane last month, I drove straight through 20 hours. We stopped for gas, food and bathrooms and thats it. I did have a moment of feelin tired, but then I realized I only had 6 more hours to go and that all went away. 6 hours from holdin little Dylan!

Now, here we are almost 36 hours later and I'm exhausted. Our original plan was to go all the way up I-5 to Seattle and then head over to Spokane. More gas stations, more food, more rest stops, more familiar in case of a trailer malfunction etc. It took so long to get the trailer thing handled that we decided to go out across Oregon the way I had gone before. I warned Darrinn that it is a long, uneventful, winding, drivin through lots of small towns so you gotta slow down, not enough passing lanes so you get stuck behind semis, few rest stops, few restaurants, seemingly endless drive. He was up for the challenge.

We arrived in Biggs Junction around 930 Sunday night. Darrinn was the first to admit that was an awful route to take, I was absolutely right. We got out and ate at the restaurant. (yuck) We discussed continueing on through the night. I opted for the hotel next door. They had one more room available. Done!

It was a harvest moon and it was absolutely amazing, but we could not get the camera to take a good picture of it. Perhaps it was the 60 mile an hour winds blowing us. Oh and maybe all the sand blowing in the 60 mile an hour winds. I don't know...

I was asleep before anyone. Watch tv, I don't care. Darrinn slept in the truck that night. We couldn't park close to the room and he was worried about all the stuff in the room and it bein a truck stop and all. Who knows what goes on when no one is looking. I am on to him though... in the truck he has peace and quiet, no snoring, teethgrinding, coughing, tooting kids. : ) (I forgot giggling after the tooting)

We awoke early and were back on the road after the usual gas, fast food breakfast and coffeeee.

We arrived in Spokane around 11am I think. Dylan was on the porch waiting. He is such an angel. I thank God everyday for him. And Megan and Taylor and Patrick. And Dru. He was a trooper through the 1100 mile journey, both 1100 journeys for that matter. Those kids never once threw a tantrum about being in the car. They slept, played, ate and just had fun the entire trip.

The wheels on the car go round and round...

2008-08-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

We had a "boys in one car, girls in the other" deal and it was fine with everyone involved. We had the backseat of the Malibu completely loaded with some room for Shelby's (Taylor's Russian Tortoise) traveling box. That tortoise walked in that box during all of the light hours and walked even faster when we had the music on.

We only made it to Sacramento. The trailer was a used trailer and apparently we had a little heavier load than we should. We were told the tires were overinflated as well, which also contributed to the excessive wearing on the inside of the tires. Darrinn was worried that we would have a blowout if we went much farther. As you can imagine, all the tire stores are closed at 8pm on a Saturday...and most of them closed on Sundays.... what to do?!

We used the navigation to search for Super Walmarts (because they all have tire centers, did you know all Walmarts don't have tires???) The tire centers closed at 8 but did open the next morning at 7am. Woo hoo. So, we set the navigation to the closest Super Walmart... in Dixon California, exactly 18 miles west of Sacramento. I was totally bummed to be honest with you, I had a few more hours of driving in me and was hoping to put more miles behind us. The kids were happy to get out of the car though.

We found a hotel a couple miles from Super Walmart and crashed. 2 Queen size beds and a rollaway bed! Manuel Boys on one bed, Manuel girls on the other and Drudles got the rollaway. He felt like he was the king of the room with his own bed in the middle of the room. We awoke to an amazing sunrise the next morning. I'll post the pictures once I find the cord to download my pictures.

Welllll...Darrinn ran to Walmart at 7am only to return by 8am. It would seem that Walmart does sell tires, but not the size tires that go on a trailer. Another problem, the man at Walmart said that we would have to unload the trailer before they could jack it up and put the new tires on anyway. I was worried about that... Darrinn said the guy was really non friendly about the whole thing. Oh goody!

Would you believe there was a tractor supply store across the street from Walmart? It didn't open until 9am. We packed up all our stuff and got ready. I wanted to go get the cars gassed up and breakfast in our tummies by 9am so we could do whatever we had to do and get back on the road.

They had the tires we needed! Darrinn bought them and we headed back to Walmart, cuz the tractor store doesnt have the stuff to do anything with them. But the important thing was that we had them. The same friendly guy came out with that "oh geez, he's back" look on his face. Darrinn actually had to go inside and BUY a lug wrench. The Walmart man allowed him to use the floor jack and the jack stands.

Yes, Darrinn jacked up the trailer all by himself. Yes, with all of the stuff loaded on it. He pulled the tires off and the Walmart man took them in so he could take off the old tires and mount the new tires. It took them at least an hour. They came back in to tell Darrinn they couldn't seat the tires. I don't know what that means, but something about not getting them to seal on the rims. Darrinn actually had to tell them how to do it. And then Darrinn actually had to get one of HIS ratchet straps to let them use so they could do it. I know what you're thinking... are you serious? Oh it gets better. As Darrinn was going to get the ratchet strap the guy started telling Darrinn how he was just telling the other guys how to use the ratchet strap to fix it. HE WAS ACTUALLY NOW TRYING TO CLAIM IT WAS HIS IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Anyway, the guys were done, Darrinn put the new tires back on away we went. Finally. It was like almost noon if I remember correctly. We drove and drove and drove. Quite uneventful day as far as I can remember. The sunset was equally as amazing as the sunrise that day. Again.. as soon as I find the camera cord.

Preparing for the trek...

2008-08-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

My aunt says I should write a book...shes not the first person to tell me that...what should I think of that? Well, it would seem that anytime I plan something it just doesn't go as planned, there are always 15 different little things that happen along the way, generally comical in retrospect, that causes our adventures to go array.

Our drive was delayed..Darrinn wanted to leave early early on Saturday. We weren't completely loaded by late Friday and the whole plan to leave early Saturday just didn't jive. We weren't loaded because of Craigslist. Yes, I'm blaming Craig. Craigslist buyers are a pain in the (beeeeep). If you've ever worked with Craigslist people you'd know what I'm talking about. They either don't show up on time, or don't show up at all. We had several people interested in our fabulous king size bed and Darrinn is big on the "first guy with the cash wins" method. This guy was on his way with the cash so Darrinn put off the others... he arrived, measured the bed and determined it was too big. Too big? Measured? Its not like king size beds come in several different sizes... helloooo! So, by the time the fool finally arrives and then determines he doesn't want it its after 9pm. The downside...now we have to call the others that we told no and tell them it is available...which makes people leery as to why this other guy didn't want it. The only good part to the whole late night last minute cancellation is that I didn't have to sleep on the blow up mattress after all!!!! As you can imagine...no one wanted the bed now. Ugh. Hence...its Craigs fault. That is why our trailer was not loaded on time and we were unable to leave early Saturday. But, hey... we weren't on a deadline and didn't need to rush anyway. We got a good nights sleep and planned to finish loading in the morning.

Taylor and I awoke before the boys. Oh, did I forget to mention we had an extra boy with us? Yes, we had MJ's son Dru with us. He made the trek to California with us for a little 2 week vacation turned into a 2 week adventure to three different states. Fun vacation, huh!? Taylor and I headed to Walmart to purchase some more plastic tubs and some breakfast items. Yes, I said more tubs. It was determined that tubs stack better on the trailer so off we went to get more. Yes...run as fast as you can and invest in the plastic tub stock. Upon arriving home the boys had arisen and the loading had commenced. Let the driving begin.

Old Pictures

2008-07-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

I have pictures on my laptop from January 2006 through today. I've recently had two mishaps with my computer, causing panic attacks because I have never backed up all my photos.

As I go through pictures I'm finding fun ones that I had forgotten. I thought I would share...

These were taken after the kids had some audition in LA. We didn't want to get on the freeway with all the traffic so we headed to the ocean. The beauty of it is that these were taken in October, when I know all of my friends and family up in Washington and Idaho were freezing! :)

Welcome!

2008-07-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

I have started a new blog. I like too many options that other people have on their blogs, so it was bound to happen eventually. I will try to be a better blogger, but no guarantees. : )