Words to Live By

For the last few years I have tried to pick a word to focus my new year on. I've chosen "JOY" and last year I chose a phrase: "Do It Anyway". This year has been rather hard. It's the last day of January and I still got nothing. I just haven't felt any sort of inspiration. I almost went with "Let It Be", cuz it keeps coming back to me that I'm not really the one in control right now. I've been so focused on the family, and everyone's changing needs, that nothing seemed to fit me specifically. Like maybe, could it be (gasp!), that this year isn't going to be all about me??? (I shudder at the thought. Ha!)

This last week while I was perusing (how's that for a college word?) crafty blogs, I came across one that was discussing this very topic. Instead of doing a personal word of inspiration this lady chose a family phrase. As soon as I read it I got goose bumps all over. It is the perfect sentiment for us right now. So, for 2011, our family phrase of the year will be:

From the Jaws of Death - Literally!

This little beauty was mouth delivered into our living room by one of our amazingly quick hunters. Milo, our kitty, walked in 'mrawing' (cuz that's how he sounds when he speaks with his mouth full). We knew he brought in something, but it was so bright green we weren't sure what it was. When this lizard started running across the room, we were all intrigued.

Brandon caught the little guy (name yet to be determined) and took him in the back yard. Milo was confused and rather irritated! When our dog, Chance, saw what it was he went to investigate. I think it was when the lizard clamped onto his nose - and wouldn't let go even with vigorous shaking - that I started rooting for the little guy's survival. What a feisty creature!

After some quick research on the internet and a visit to Petco, we now have a new pet. We aren't sure if he was injured by the cat hunt, and he may die tomorrow, but until then we are enjoying his funny antics. One thing we didn't know: Anoles (aka: the American chameleon) change colors when stressed. He is now in a big glass bowl awaiting his terrarium to be put together. He was a beautiful shade of green and then all of a sudden he was brown. We turned off the light next to the bowl and he instantly turned green again. So cool!

The Desire to Create

The following quote is one of my favorites of all time:

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before."
-Dieter Uchtdorf

My friend has it on her blog and every time I read it I get goose bumps and want to get back into being creative. I've been on hiatus for about 2 years and am so excited to have time to play with paper, paint, fabric, everything!!! :)

This is a new card swap group I've joined. There are only 3 of us so we decided to make 2 designs, and 6 of each one. BIG mistake. Way too much work. We won't be committing to that next month!!! Still, the results were so fun!

Here is a sample of the goods!

This is a gift card envelope. Look at the inside too. Very clever ... and super cute!

These are the 2 cards I finally put together!

It was tough to find 2 good designs in one month.

Just an inside fact. Hot air balloons are my 'good luck' charm. When I saw this stamp set, I had to buy it and was determined to make something work! I love this simple little card!

The card that didn't make the cut.

This is the first card I made. The thought of cutting out that many flowers in order to make 18 cards made me develop some facial ticks. So in the end, this one didn't make the swap cut.

Welcome to the Hive!

I've been working in the Young Women program at church for a few years now. I've been moved around with the different age levels, but find myself working with the Beehives now. That is the 12-13 year old girls. When the girls turn 12 they graduate from the Primary program and move up to Young Womens. It's kinda a big deal as they are ready to move on to more "mature" pastures. Sadly, when they get there they find they have me as their leader and all hopes of maturity flitter out the window. ha!

This year we will have 5 new girls join the group. We want their birthday to be special so we are making posters to hang on their doors for them to find on their Birthday! Here is what I came up with:
Love that Walmart sells poster board with a cute border already printed on! The empty green space will be left for the girls to sign a welcoming message. The picture doesn't show the cute little flight pattern on the hive that spells out the newest girl's name. So cute! I have 11 girls in my class now and they are so excited for the new girls to join us. Aubrey will be joining the Beehives this year, so there is a lot of anticipation in our home!

What's New???

Family Visits

My big brother, Danny, lives in Texas. Right now he is driving a big truck and hauling yachts all over the US. Because San Diego has such lovely ports, he has been sent here more often than ever. He doesn't always know when he's coming, nor how long he'll be staying. This year he ended up spending an entire week. We love having him here and hope our family doesn't drive him batty! We introduced him to Guitar Hero and he was hooked!

Danny & Brandon battle it out!

Band Performance

Brandon and Aubrey both performed in the holiday concert at the middle school. Aubrey's class went first and made for easier pictures. Usually we sit right in front of the band and get some shots, but this year there were soooo many more people there. We sat at the back of the gym and only got a shot of Aubrey. They both did great and they both love to play in the band. Aubrey with flute and Brandon with bari-sax.

We love that this picture included the typical middle school gym, a shot of her best friend, and the family in back. On the side you can also see her principal and band teacher.

A Beautiful Night's Sleep!

We've been married for over 15 years. And we have never agreed on a bedroom set we both liked. We've gone shopping over the years, almost came to a decision, and then (typically) I would chicken out saying we didn't need to spend the money. This year we decided we would go for it and this became our Christmas present to each other. As you can see, the room still needs help. Like a couple of pictures on the very bland walls would help. Oh well. All in time.

Merry Christmas to us!

Rock Hounds

Brandon is in the middle school Science Olympiad this year. One of his events is "Fossils". He is enjoying the whole experience but wanted to get some real experience, not just rely on book learning. He did some research and found out there is an area just a few hours away known for fossil finds.

The plan was to wake up at 4:30 am and drive the 4 hours to Amboy, California (about 15 minutes past "middle of nowhere") to take advantage of the most daylight hours we could. That was the plan. The reality is that I had a bad sleep night and only got 2.5 hours of rest. Waking up at 4:30 am was NOT a happy thought. We got out of the house a little late, but Brian got us there. That was the next painful reality.

View from our first hunting spot. It was so clear we could see to Yucca.

Can you see the long black line in the distance? That's where the paved road is. Really, that's it. Brian had to kinda make his own path across the desert to the hiking trail ... in my minivan. There are so few plants and the dirt path was so packed that we could barely see the tracks from previous travelers. THEN ... yeah, it keeps going ... we had to pretty much abandon our van behind the hill there where the little arrow is pointing. We started walking what seemed to be an easy enough trail. Then it got steep.

Brian at the top of the mountain

See how steep it gets?! And how much rock has already been hunted through and broken up. It was so slippery up there. I started getting worried about a kid falling down.

Jon gets down and dirty looking for fossils

Sadly, nothing was found in this area. By luck there were a four other guys out there fossil hunting (and they were the only other humans we saw all day). They had been there before and after not finding anything by us, they went to another area they remembered as being a good spot. As they were leaving they directed us to that part of the mountain and the kids all found a few treasures. The fossils they found are called trilobites, believed to be in existence around 550 million years ago. They didn't find any complete fossils, but lots of partials.

By that time I was so exhausted I was back at the bottom of the mountain and about falling asleep in the van. Since it was getting later, and colder, everyone came down the mountain. We had one other stop before heading back home.Amboy Crater

Just down the road was a turn off to Amboy Crater. It was already getting dark, so we couldn't hike very far out, but it was a neat place to explore. We were all giddy and silly, which is probably why we thought it was so much fun. The kids want to go back and check it all out again. I'm not sure if that might be a perfect "daddy day trip". :)

Holiday Tradition

Ok, I know I'm way behind. I'm still going to post some of the things I've missed sharing with family and friends for the last ... 8 months! AUGH! Feel free to check out the stuff, or just ignore until I get caught up and can start working on 2011 events. Hopefully, I will get it done in the next month since nothing exciting is coming up until February! Ha!

For the last many years we have spent Christmas Eve going on a long hike. It helps tire out the kids and it gives us a time to all hang out together without any of the trappings of the holiday glitz. It's just us out there (where ever we choose to go) with time to talk and explore. This year with all the rain, we were afraid the trails might be closed or muddy so we opted for a bike ride. We went to Coronado and enjoyed a beautiful, clear sunny day.

Aubrey and I taking a break at the beginning of the trek. She ran into a big pole and hurt her mouth. But she was a stud and didn't let it stop her from continuing. She finally had to tell me to stop pointing out fun things to look at since she wanted to keep her eyes on the road so she wouldn't get hurt again!

We got the bike path all to ourselves!

Once we got to the beach we had to get a picture. Can you believe it's Christmas Eve?



The family Christmas tree.

Ok, this isn't our tree. While in Coronado we went into the famous Hotel Del Coronado. The kids have never been inside, and I've never seen it decked out for the holidays. GORGEOUS! We looked so grubby compared to the fancy visitors, but that didn't stop us from doing a little window shopping. One store I must remember for next year is: Spreckels Sweets & Treats. Cutest candies and holiday gift ideas. So old fashioned and modern ... all in the same store.