Saints Unified Voices

Last night I went to a Gladys Knight concert. She directs an LDS choir called the Saints Unified Voices. The concert was free and since Johnny was not feeling well and just wanted to go to bed the kids went down early and I chanced driving in the rain to get in on stand by. Fortunately I was directed to the wrong line and someone there gave me one of their extra tickets. I got a great seat.

You have never heard Come, Come Ye Saints until you hear it sung by a 100 member choir accompanied with bongo drums, maracas and an electric keyboard. Gladys sung I am a Child of God and Because I have Been Given Much. Most of the other songs had a Baptist feel to them but they were absolutely wonderful. I have never wanted to jump out of my chair and yell "AMEN" so much in my life. Many people did do just that along with "Hallelujah" and "Sing it Gladys." At the end Gladys bore her testimony which was very moving. I highly recommend going to see them preform if they are ever in your area. Here is their site if you are interested http://www.suvchoir.org/index.html

Grand Canyon Railway, Williams AZ

From Bagdad we went to Williams AZ to ride the Grand Canyon Railway. Since we went in the off season we were able to get 50% off tickets for staying in the GCR RV Park. It was not cold during the day when the sun was out even though there was snow on the ground. At night it did get down to about 14 degrees. Freezing! When we first arrived Wesley started saying "snow, snow" and eating chunks of it with his bare hands. I am sure you can imagine it was not long before the excitement wore off and the frozen fingers set in. After we set-up we headed to the hotel to take advantage of the indoor heated pool & jacuzzi! It was so strange sitting in a steaming pool looking at snow out the window.

Before we got on the train we went to an Old West Gunfight show. It was fun but the boys enjoyed sitting on the horses more than watching the show.

Once we got on the train the boys were so excited they could hardly sit still. Of course this wore off soon and rapidly turned into "are we there yet." About 15 minutes after starting our 2 hour journey Daniel told me he didn't feel well. I asked if he was going to throw-up. He adamantly told me he was not. Of course then he hurled all over me! From my neck to my shoes! SICK! I had brought changes of clothes for the boys, but not for me. All I had was a sweater and jacket. Luckily we were at the back of the train. I stationed Daniel over a trash bucket and changed my shirt to just a sweater then attempted to sponge myself off with brown paper napkins. Other than that all I could do was let myself dry out. Poor Johnny is a good sport and took Daniel to the train bathroom to deal with the diarrhea that followed the vomiting. After a small war to get him in a pull-up everyone was seated again. Johnny kept making comments like "does Wesley stink to you?" or "He has to have a dirty diaper" until I finally said "I was just vomited on! I am the one that smells!" At first I was upset about it then I started laughing and realized it is going to be a great story to tell his future girlfriends.

Once we arrived we headed to the look out point for our family picnic. It was a little cold and windy but the Canyon of course is amazing.

I had been to the North rim before but never the South side. We spent our time going to all of the look out points before heading back to the train. I am really glad we took the time to go.

Wesley of course was in a few layers of clothes ending with Daniel's extra jacket. We called him E.T. all day and he got a lot of attention from other tourists.

I had been in Arizona for 10 years before making it to the Canyon. Talking to others it is amazing how many people live so close to one of the 7 wonders of the world and have never gone to see it in person.

Now back to reality. Boo.

Bagdad AZ

After spending lazy afternoons taking naps in the sun on Johnny's mom's trampoline and visiting family and friends we took off to visit Johnny's older brother in Bagdad, AZ. Bagdad is a little copper mining town. Most people there have off roading vehicles of some sort. I love Mike & Lydia's Ranger. Is fits 6 people and has 3 - 5 point harnesses in the back seat for the little ones. Wesley's car seat fit perfectly in the middle of the front seat. Daniel begged to go on Ranger rides every day nonstop! We even went at night after we first got there. I loved the way Wesley's fluffy hair stood straight up in the wind.

When we weren't riding in the Ranger we were playing Ticket to Ride and eating awesome sopapillas or homemade pizza. Why can't we live like this year round?

Having fun in AZ

Yesterday we went to the Arizona Science Center with the boys. It was so much fun! They LOVED the flatchulating stomach slide. I could not stop laughing whenever one of them went into the tunnel. Hilarious.

Wesley was obsessed with the snot rocket machine. You push a button, throw all the balls into the nostril, then it rockets them out at you with a big cold puff of air.

I think it kind of traumatized him. He chanted "nose, nose" as he walked over to it. When it would shoot the balls out he would scream and run away crying "nose, nose" but in a sad voice. He chanted "nose, nose" until he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

They also enjoyed the heart full of red and blue balls (blood).

We also had a wheel chair race and enjoyed all the other exhibits including the fire ball demonstrations. Visiting friends and family is always a blast. Next we are off to Bagdad AZ and the Grand Canyon.

Cracker anyone?

Snow

What do you do when your husband suddenly has a lot of free time? Go to the snow! Idyllwild is only a little ways from Hemet and Daniel has been begging to go to the snow since last summer. Of course it took us hours to get all of us ready and find a place to sled, but it was worth the work. We ended up in Humber Park where we went hiking this past spring. I was surprised how many families were there on a Thursday morning.

Daniel and Jaxon did better than expected climbing in the snow and sledding. Poor Wesley could not even move his arms but he was so darn cute in all his layers.

Jaxon spent a while trying to make a snowman. It was so cute to see him working away stacking the snow.

Daniel's feet finally got too cold because the boys only had on thick socks and rain boots. We went up for one last sled down the hill. I ended up riding with Daniel down a side we had not been on before. I didn't realize there was a huge rock covered with snow at the bottom. It was so fun flying on the sled over the edge. We were both laughing. But, the look on Johnny's face was not happy. Apparently it was bigger than I realized. Being 16 weeks prego it was probably not the best choice for me and I was sore the next day...but it was still exciting in the moment.

I brought a thermos with hot chocolate for when we were done. Then we ate at a cute little Mexican restaruant in town. So fun! I hope my boys remember these snow days like I remember the days my parents took my sisters and me when we were young.

On the move again...just in a different sort of way.

Johnny got his lay-off slip this morning. Not totally unexpected but it is always a little disconcerting when it comes. A whole group of people were laid off this morning. Now we get to wait for him to be reassigned to a new job site...hopefully not anywhere near snow! Luckily we had not found any place to move to out by Pasadena yet so we are still in Ontario. We are much better prepared for a little time with no income this time around and I look forward to a few weeks of Johnny's precious time. It is strange for him to go from working 92 1/2 hours one week to none the next, but everything slows down the start of the year and will pick up by the start of March.

Now we are off to visit family and friends in Arizona and other states and hopefully clean out the trailer. Is it too early for a good spring cleaning? Never!

Happy New Year 2011!

For New Years weekend we made a very quick trip to Arizona to check on our house and welcome our new renters. Since Johnny and I are pretty boring on our own we visited with Johnny's sister then went back to put the boys to bed and sat on the couch watching a movie until midnight. At one point I remember Johnny saying Happy New Year to me, but then we went to bed. Boring! I know.

But, to redeem ourselves New Years day we went out to the desert with a bunch of our friends and had a nice Christmas tree bonfire and grilled hot dogs.

I bet the flames were getting to 25-30 feet some of the time. It was a little scary to see how fast the flames torched the trees. We only put them on one at a time and within seconds they were totally engulfed. The kids thought it was great fun.

It was so cute how they all wanted to sit in a line to watch. The kids would even sit next to the same person every time we moved them and they all listened pretty well up until the end when they were tired and cold. They enjoyed the sparklers and small fireworks too.

Poor Wesley looked like the little brother on A Christmas Story with his arms sticking out. The smallest winter jacket I have is a 3T so that is what he got. He couldn't even feed himself or get up off the ground on his own. He didn't like being held all the time, but that is basically what ended up happening.

Happy New Year!