tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19993701280922608052024-03-05T17:30:08.292-07:00Our Bolton BunchOur Forever FamilyLucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-61810628486553720812011-01-21T20:47:00.003-07:002011-01-21T21:40:14.997-07:00Mariah Celeste<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-nivABOhgRm6HPxXxcuvRpCA0Mvf-bqcz0KszmtQLINVn-eTdV48qFfkjH1ykq4eZvD_u7McBtjjifbDNg20Nq8VXvVri5e5WVZ0ZHVQB6-aZTgdO5aUtbko6Un1omKIwps7HJ4kdok/s1600/Jan+15+2011+062.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-nivABOhgRm6HPxXxcuvRpCA0Mvf-bqcz0KszmtQLINVn-eTdV48qFfkjH1ykq4eZvD_u7McBtjjifbDNg20Nq8VXvVri5e5WVZ0ZHVQB6-aZTgdO5aUtbko6Un1omKIwps7HJ4kdok/s400/Jan+15+2011+062.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564865335798085490" /></a><br />We are so happy to welcome our precious princess. She decided to make her debut in her own time...Looks like she will have a mind of her own, just like her brothers and sister. I am very happy she came 3 weeks before her due date, I was so miserably huge, as usual. The gestational diabetes did keep me on track with my weight gain which I am grateful for but it sure was hard to stay away from the carbs and sugars for 4 months.<br />So as for the details...My water broke at 6am on Thursday the 13th. Gary had been asking for weeks that I please not go into labor in the middle of the night again. I'd laugh and tell him I'd cross my legs until morning if I started. So, wish granted. I puttered around until 7 and then woke him at 7 so we could get the kids up and off to school. With all of my previous pregnancies my water would break and I wouldn't really have any labor pains for 3+ hours. So, this time I said I was going to take my time, shower, do my hair and makeup, shave my legs, get everything settled before I went to the hospital. So that's what I did...however, labor pains started within a half hour of my water breaking. I still didn't think a whole lot of it and just went on with the morning just pausing or sitting down with each contraction. I didn't really watch the clock either. So Gary got back from taking the kids to school about 8:30 and I told him we really needed to get to the hospital. I could hardly walk down the stairs. We got Andrew and Desi to the neighbors and got to the hospital just after 9. They got me into an out patient room. All of the 4 birthing rooms were full. The nurse got me hooked up to the monitors and checked me. I was already at a 9. WHAT!?!?!?!?! I've only been in labor 3 hours!!! I NEED AN EPIDURAL!!! Get that anaesthesiologist in here NOW!!! I did get the epidural. The anaesthesiologist said to me, "Let me know if you feel the urge to push." Yeah, right. Like I'd tell you to stop what you are doing so I can do this without the pain killer. It wasn't as effective due to the rush but it was better than the alternative. I pushed through 3 contractions and she was out. Start to finish just over 4 hours. Holy cow that was fast. She is beautiful and perfect. Healthy and strong.<br />My biggest fear was that with the diabetes she would be too big, with under developed lungs. Neither of which were the case. Yeah! She was 7 lb 11.5 oz 21 inches. She did have a little trouble getting her blood sugar up and keeping her self warm but that was regulated within the first day. She was on bili lights for a day for jaundice but I have had to do that with all of my winter babies. All is well, everyone is happy and healthy.<br /><br /><div><embed src="http://widget-d8.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385405490648&site=widget-d8.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"></embed><div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385405490648&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-d8.slide.com/p1/2594073385405490648/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385405490648&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-d8.slide.com/p2/2594073385405490648/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385405490648&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-d8.slide.com/p4/2594073385405490648/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-11847997370851139212009-09-28T21:00:00.012-06:002009-11-27T21:18:31.973-07:00Bonfire<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIjLKSYxdZxXvbtwCj3XQe0Vf3pbg1w0ZhcORLVzBeU3CIUC0uIkLU-AHAlL_0Ov3isR8Hg2Sx8uuSlc1ZY-2OEuIn31nZjTJc-OyROPFs8IGO-3QNWAGrPAYQD2i38fVqCS_k5zWUgQ/s1600-h/Apr+2+09+042.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386721155496517442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIjLKSYxdZxXvbtwCj3XQe0Vf3pbg1w0ZhcORLVzBeU3CIUC0uIkLU-AHAlL_0Ov3isR8Hg2Sx8uuSlc1ZY-2OEuIn31nZjTJc-OyROPFs8IGO-3QNWAGrPAYQD2i38fVqCS_k5zWUgQ/s400/Apr+2+09+042.JPG" border="0" /></a>While I was going through the pictures from the 7 months I took off from blogging I came across these and I just couldn't resist putting them in here. It was late March and we gathered up all the weeds that had accumulated in our yard over the winter and windy spring and put them all in a big pile just outside our property line in the field. The boys then decided it wasn't quite big enough so they gathered all the tumbleweeds from the neighbors yards too. They then ran around the neighborhood and gathered any of their friends that were home. Even a few adults came over to watch. It was a big pile and it went up in less than 2 minutes. It was so fast and super hot. I, being a bit of a pyro, would love to do this every weekend but I guess that's not very feasible. Anyway, it was pretty cool to watch and alot better than just leaving them in the field to blow into our yard again. (March 2009)<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFp3cAmPF2FzM_FRYs-sYfj3Lsa9FUN0iT5S6NfQJ4N9u1PrNlagRevMlFsKauNwnU5yQZw_HX8tPWWCdIi0ohU0ljChTmn5IoCDPMFR4est0MI6wgYVbvKNQSiYmCY0We7bpO-XQaUI/s1600/Apr+2+09+034.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408998550679655970" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFp3cAmPF2FzM_FRYs-sYfj3Lsa9FUN0iT5S6NfQJ4N9u1PrNlagRevMlFsKauNwnU5yQZw_HX8tPWWCdIi0ohU0ljChTmn5IoCDPMFR4est0MI6wgYVbvKNQSiYmCY0We7bpO-XQaUI/s400/Apr+2+09+034.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWU87mSplfPfpKXsL7VHr2v5qM6Yq7S8GIlUwOrCKHjq_5hgYv-PrAzHiFjC3zL6KRaPoIYRcCOdE-y8FdZtOO4nE1jLRPOopc5OaCHJyaiXhX5obGqDGyzteEmDeCgdlQrr6c1pPVyqk/s1600/Apr+2+09+038.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408998544515568770" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWU87mSplfPfpKXsL7VHr2v5qM6Yq7S8GIlUwOrCKHjq_5hgYv-PrAzHiFjC3zL6KRaPoIYRcCOdE-y8FdZtOO4nE1jLRPOopc5OaCHJyaiXhX5obGqDGyzteEmDeCgdlQrr6c1pPVyqk/s400/Apr+2+09+038.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeJQ7FTTj3v6GOMEh5ZPcl34r6EyV7_Ggq0rfGK1u7HBb-DpposoS2uefIJ-XBuC_aTnenEKPu2juZjVTiv1EpU9GP3EW9tMI9rsNiPA0hIN4uDA0aydvSxy0-cpF0vAjgx-tVzwq5EU/s1600/Apr+2+09+036.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408998533324146546" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeJQ7FTTj3v6GOMEh5ZPcl34r6EyV7_Ggq0rfGK1u7HBb-DpposoS2uefIJ-XBuC_aTnenEKPu2juZjVTiv1EpU9GP3EW9tMI9rsNiPA0hIN4uDA0aydvSxy0-cpF0vAjgx-tVzwq5EU/s400/Apr+2+09+036.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I6SL8tS1HbT4EEhTqw_3l8tZWxIEOsks16gilx7ylYjzYGXEhUhc1ZZ4gC1kE4kcyFpnGscZoNQamN9-PAh07708OR3506auwxOmhdSTVy9xCR7_ahXzRQ9PDFv-8IHqzduLpVBL_h8/s1600/Apr+2+09+043.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408998561916881538" style="WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I6SL8tS1HbT4EEhTqw_3l8tZWxIEOsks16gilx7ylYjzYGXEhUhc1ZZ4gC1kE4kcyFpnGscZoNQamN9-PAh07708OR3506auwxOmhdSTVy9xCR7_ahXzRQ9PDFv-8IHqzduLpVBL_h8/s400/Apr+2+09+043.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I6SL8tS1HbT4EEhTqw_3l8tZWxIEOsks16gilx7ylYjzYGXEhUhc1ZZ4gC1kE4kcyFpnGscZoNQamN9-PAh07708OR3506auwxOmhdSTVy9xCR7_ahXzRQ9PDFv-8IHqzduLpVBL_h8/s1600/Apr+2+09+043.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-61236483089081715372009-09-26T21:44:00.009-06:002009-09-27T22:14:10.080-06:00Big Boy Birthday'sWe planned it just right so we would be in Salt Lake for Gary's birthday. We went and played (Hollywood Connection) for the day but before we left he had gifts for Dad. Nothing we (I) buy could ever measure up to express our love for him. Gary is the most fantastic man. I don't know how I got so lucky as to find him and then actually trick him into loving me too. His greatest concerns are always how to better provide for our family. Whether it be monetarily, spiritually, physically, time wise or any other way. We love him so much. Thank you Gary for being the strength and back bone to our family.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385993420015659938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwoWhd_l-YVFfFZCxbZsfN3m8SLlrz-eMN-Bz6WZmOw8FcDtpFqakgJZRlZzCVj3z7fvYmk5c9MyllCaQpZLRPZ6EkNEcVGWzePMouK0Qaw-zGmwjJ4uObYvbd_1ax9cSveN76CN9Jd4/s320/kids.JPG" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386016344939923058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdsOwUMyGyauVgPUQlaA8P3l9PUJ9BmfVexHY8sgdLJ-xjUyCcKugUcmT6ymH-AH3iXCHY9mMXXeRnTjIxLBpeeYH015EwPs4dZzUHQqm4VrIAaOMs1ZqPgKJUlC-77Bl23FD2TawmKE/s200/cds.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386015824276804802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11OcMriBzlI3P9prre46tzXfqMPllycNDMYo5-9ywKHk4Wj4_UVhjIuysAtjBPMl8YDJ4By4EMh8a-amXsDs8uO7vjKAQVMyRnqCIJf20mevJZDbwk1UeGRUFGvFM2aC_u6XA6FHtexQ/s200/jazz.JPG" border="0" />When we got back we had some family come over for a little party for Spencer. He had been asking for a Nintendo <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DS</span> and in Gary's style he had convinced Spencer that we just didn't think he was old enough for such an expensive gift. I'm not sure if all of Gary's "I don't know about that..." is convincing to the kids or not but Spencer seemed sincerely surprised and genuinely delighted with his new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">DS</span>.<br /><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-81.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385392369025&site=widget-81.slide.com"></embed><br /><div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369025&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-81.slide.com/p1/2594073385392369025/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369025&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-81.slide.com/p2/2594073385392369025/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369025&map=F" target="_blank"></a></div><div><div><div></div><div>The next weekend (Friday the 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span>)we had a friend party. Spencer requested a sleep-over but me being the ogre I am made him settle for a late night party. They played games, decorated cupcakes, and watched "Space Chimps". They really had to work for the cakes considering an alien came and stole them. They succeeded in the end by following his trail of misleading notes and clues. They even completed their space training in the process. Great job boys. <div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-36.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385392369462&site=widget-36.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369462&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-36.slide.com/p1/2594073385392369462/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369462&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-36.slide.com/p2/2594073385392369462/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369462&map=F" target="_blank"></a></div></div><div>If you watch the entire slide show you'll notice the boys holding or bopping their gift to Spencer on his head. When I was growing up we always played this game at our birthdays. I had forgotten about it until this party. The rhyme goes, "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head. What do you wish this person with a "bump" on your head?" Then the giver bonks the gift on the birthday kids head and the birthday kid has to wish something to the gift giver. We got <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">alot</span> of "You'll be rich" or "You'll be a super-star ball player." As you can see from the pictures they all (even Spencer) got into it and had a great time. We ended up with 8 friends + 1 cousin and 2 little brothers. 12 little boys got a bit crazy but it was great fun none-the-less.</div></div><div></div><br /><div>Finally, on his actual birthday (Saturday 21st) We just had a little cake and ice cream. I was watching Nathan and Lindsay for the week while Kat and Tom took a much needed and well deserved trip. We loved having the extra company for the final hurrah to Spencer's 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">th</span> birthday.<br /><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-6d.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385392369517&site=widget-6d.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed><br /><div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369517&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-6d.slide.com/p1/2594073385392369517/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369517&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-6d.slide.com/p2/2594073385392369517/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385392369517&map=F" target="_blank"></a></div></div><div>Spencer is such a joy to our family. He is so much fun and such a big help to us all. We love you Spencer!!!</div></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-58393111344597125832009-09-09T10:44:00.004-06:002009-09-27T22:08:48.661-06:00Enough Already...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJctzOQcee59p1ns0adJfRTtcGrYqBV4Vn7yVCV-94Y9Jgf2SK2Nf2VBGsPmipLtiVhKpTGIxftvZK4JhKyHXdgmNI_0TF3Utl9GNHi8iUFjJ5t1rLq1zRfjUrjSyDePFuuyeBLpMW7k/s1600-h/Willow+Blessing+022.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379512921462357250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJctzOQcee59p1ns0adJfRTtcGrYqBV4Vn7yVCV-94Y9Jgf2SK2Nf2VBGsPmipLtiVhKpTGIxftvZK4JhKyHXdgmNI_0TF3Utl9GNHi8iUFjJ5t1rLq1zRfjUrjSyDePFuuyeBLpMW7k/s400/Willow+Blessing+022.JPG" border="0" /></a>Okay, it's been 6+ months since I have posted. Life got crazy (still is) and I had to make a choice as to what to drop. Blogging was one of the things to go. Well, now with the kids back to school I'm hoping to get back to it. I love having this record of our families life. The kids love to look through it and it reminds Gary and I that we are doing okay with our kids and eventhough we don't do everything the kids want, we do alot and the time we spend is chuck full of quality. My idea for getting the last 6 months caught up was to start current and have a "Flash Back Friday" where I go back to an event I have missed. Gary didn't like the idea. He wants me to just start where I left off and bang it all out and get current in the next month. Maybe I'll do a mix of the two. Catch up on the big stuff and flash-back on the fluff. I guess you'll just have to tune in to see how it works out. I figure either way, If I give it an hour a day I'll get caught up soon enough. So wish me luck...Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-16121175209245948322009-04-04T23:02:00.006-06:002009-04-09T15:03:58.083-06:00Hollywood Connection<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZ9dcNxQmxkP98ptZbW25yRUDmDBls7VUexE373jp9Yu4PHQd2I2Fz5rlxJWZJlJYtTBiBlRWOL3MjlcVS3Dz-LgSNYTl9uQZyBHMrwiDSa3TRB6gdWSJC3h07X9_xTzAHpQjh2vZToA/s1600-h/powwow2+097.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321082902324252738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZ9dcNxQmxkP98ptZbW25yRUDmDBls7VUexE373jp9Yu4PHQd2I2Fz5rlxJWZJlJYtTBiBlRWOL3MjlcVS3Dz-LgSNYTl9uQZyBHMrwiDSa3TRB6gdWSJC3h07X9_xTzAHpQjh2vZToA/s400/powwow2+097.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />If you haven't been, you should go. It was such a blast. Monday are family days and you can get everything for pretty cheap. It was also President's Day so they opened earlier than usual. I think the biggest hit was the bumper cars. All three boys went over a dozen times each. The younger two really liked the crawly gym thing and the older two went on the dragon coaster a ton. We even tried our hand at rollerskating. That was a bit of a joke. Desirae wanted to stay on the carpet, Andrew cried the whole time and only went around 1/2 a time then took the skates off, Benji and Spencer did alright but they really didn't have fun. I'm pretty sure it took us longer to get all their skates on and back off than they actually used them. Maybe we'll just try the older two again next year. So after that Desi needed a nap so we went to Auntie Kate's house and laid her down while Kat gave me a massage. I love having a massage therapist for a sister ;} I love her regardless but is sure is a nice perk. While we were gone Gary took the three boys miniature golfing. I think they went through the course twice. When Desi and I got back Aunt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Tamie</span> had gotten there with her brood and everyone was having a great time. Upstairs they have an arcade so the kids played games, won tickets and redeemed them for useless junk that I threw away the next day but they loved it so that's all the matters, right? We even got free hot dogs with our all-day passes so we had lunch at the diner. fun, fun, fun...<br /><br /><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-c8.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385389985224&site=widget-c8.slide.com"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389985224&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-c8.slide.com/p1/2594073385389985224/bb_t011_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389985224&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-c8.slide.com/p2/2594073385389985224/bb_t011_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389985224&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-c8.slide.com/p4/2594073385389985224/bb_t011_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-58610440487319196162009-04-04T22:48:00.006-06:002009-04-04T23:02:13.702-06:00Valentine's Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_guQ8QIgw_y0395TIGzvE11gEusc61YH2K1ykDrY3hwg-dD5sx6mbORc63iWqF_hLExUnnxN_mDcG_GOHtD8M259UXYc1bBsb-8C3pvKm3SyLxD9rk-ZHl7xhD3DmHigcMMr5_txiBs/s1600-h/Willow+Blessing+001.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321067265902063570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_guQ8QIgw_y0395TIGzvE11gEusc61YH2K1ykDrY3hwg-dD5sx6mbORc63iWqF_hLExUnnxN_mDcG_GOHtD8M259UXYc1bBsb-8C3pvKm3SyLxD9rk-ZHl7xhD3DmHigcMMr5_txiBs/s400/Willow+Blessing+001.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>I'm glad Valentines was on a weekend this year. We got to go to Salt Lake and play for the weekend. Gary and I went out with My sisters Tamara & Kathryn and their husbands Shawn & Tom. It was really fun. First we headed to the Rodizio Grill for their awesome Brazilian buffet and then when we were all so stuffed we could hardly walk out we went to the Desert Star Playhouse and watched "Homeschool Musical". It was really funny and hit home a little more than it would have a few months ago. I hadn't been to a playhouse for years and I had forgotten how fun it really is. Gary even mentioned that we should look into getting season tickets for the whole family. They only have between 4 to 6 different shows a year so It isn't as bad as it sounds. After that Tamie & Shawn needed to get home and We went to look for a place to go dancing. That was a bust so we were home by midnight. It was great to visit with my sister's and their spouses. We never get together without the kids so we were actually able to talk. All-in-all a great night. Thanks guys for spending your evening with us!!!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321067846415050402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHR_lYI_PbA7LWbMbtpeOivm_EAQevNSTJtaxVM6nRu7S6gqakqdjoAGJkKmBSih5E8JrRV6Q2eoTuFo4_lps3vGvy8iHkKkpNyVUixdPPb0NM7t8zC3PJ36UOlrvZulCPSaGQZveN5UY/s200/Willow+Blessing+002.JPG" border="0" /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321067850804045426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lf3To3XZLQord-cDMSAm320bMnG_IOuCPOD675iu1OrTni7UvzUPdolFG8kx5e0LwHp32UcVGSwbeEHhswLQPk90DBiW3BHEa6mh0iAefZ78k7JJ2hmmwpUYH6zLi0W2XT0ITHCpsNs/s200/Willow+Blessing+003.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321067849424134562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMG1z1t4IgllJ8AgZpp7VXTCFx0BkMrZ5XmgiiKyfpgfDeXoAT-6Q0fJ-44xgoz62M-05jrAwLPSMtnBGcqtOS1zC_GkZBLKfVDYrB4NdSRa2_U_0dCgfLjt6c1i7PGaRfdfrn2wAcBA/s200/Willow+Blessing+004.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-56150436456522472982009-04-04T10:37:00.014-06:002009-05-27T08:41:08.646-06:00The End of Cancun<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgGFJlD6cf7IKFnMfYPZawV7eDcFeitqK44WR1sBYtMP-K_GgCSij2_zFcyELm5jr9msxJeoKY9pNIibKnbK3QgeRo3DqZse1s_BHkH9XTSJtFi0gnSe-Ky7hmZX32fzJSz0hp1IRKDc/s1600-h/My+purse.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320888024472716626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgGFJlD6cf7IKFnMfYPZawV7eDcFeitqK44WR1sBYtMP-K_GgCSij2_zFcyELm5jr9msxJeoKY9pNIibKnbK3QgeRo3DqZse1s_BHkH9XTSJtFi0gnSe-Ky7hmZX32fzJSz0hp1IRKDc/s400/My+purse.jpg" border="0" /></a>The final post for our Cancun trip. It has only taken me a month, sheeez. We did have a couple days where we didn't have anything imparticular to do. We spent these days laying around the pool, walking down the beach, shopping, we even got up extra early one morning to catch the sunrise. So here are the bits and pieces to try and tie up all our loose ends. <div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div></div><div>Sunrise on the beach was really beautiful. It was a little cool, windy and cloudy the day we got to go see it but it was still worth getting up early for.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878415417282946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsXx59RvpojscQ0DPeFempm-KYMz4ZT23_9rLl80TmR_YX56ly7nCC8dRpbVD2pCLY9QvEbqWD5CJuqWKRav9LRnEs1DDdw_VUhslBLTUxCRKyopSvNZZtevrx66hxsJue9nfcYSpbIc/s400/Sunrise.JPG" border="0" /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878425791449186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3MhtsUnV9ntN1GUOHlWDWZ4RqP3yZxKqT3O2lJLgKAZ-KFT-prNl_vtPGWtJpShyphenhyphenwPe8MZ1kML9Qpi44_WeTG79bFwpNhri-m_LR8MjmZ-6RUU4x7GtDoZNwrOD3xQiT4svK3alhveQ/s400/Sunrise+3.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>The resort we stayed at had some fantastic on-site restaraunts. And since it was all-inclusive we were able to eat at each of them. This pic is from the night we went to the Asian one. There were also an Italian, tex-mex, Caribbean, patio lounge, and a buffet. The food was divine. Each of the theme restaraunts were so elegant and the service was supurb. The food was excelent and the portions were perfect. Each plate was a work of art. Some I "almost" felt guilty eating.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877378571553282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6jDkJ2moguAJ5u3dRYnrTAbzehfioeI_qq7cU2DZzf-xznfrW5oA3HGRqnW4vr8JdkW8UjkKJaws_A_XG-0YJkBbpMFPA26mFf60SY2iHXbgarnZT2ZKLjibcR2-Desg6q40D1najOg/s400/Asian+Night+3.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><br /><br /><p>Here we are at "Pina Colada's" for lunch on our beach day. It is open toward the beach and offered great views while we ate.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878682339144498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywaztTIq1Aljjcm_AZPmwbsD7tJpKGoYiT31merwi7EPmYCq36LCaquAm5xqpTqhslDYcdCludRC3dYqjMqiuMwwGbL8Paf-DUCpR0luyZ8TzM00llWZbC7A4lfD4qvg8I-KfF56X6bc/s400/Pina+Colada+2.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>Hangin' out as the beach was great. The sun was out but it wasn't too hot. I can never sit still long enough to get much sun but it felt great just having the option.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878429338209202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-Vbr1z6Mt4J2l95BliGqmybXKnpBoUMKqJf_-5ZI5sAiQK1VXOxF54DGM9W_Pj9ATYa84qOfI0Cqy3-VBEMyf8Cg7sruXqlr1fuQl8efpwwyDdMHSdH_cBg-VHpZFVjJUZ8j_ZC02SU/s400/Omni+Beach+2.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>Everywhere you looked there were fabulous views of the ocean. These swings are the seats for the beachside bar. On the otherside of the bar is a hot tub with "swim-up service". Pretty sweet digs if you drink. We still enjoyed the bars, we both drank virgin pina coladas, daquiris, and soda till we couldn't drink any more.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877673016108786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTGSCjg44Ip84sPn7-GXvASv15oFzkRPK1mFhyphenhyphenU-WW7M-dJm9RPwfYJUPXcHQv0WPjNb_KbQoBocQd9YRc8DsZhxWKFdZek5FzS6WuGg0Kw56MnwDsOlbY7XDF6s3f8LBYWEAghyphenhyphen92_k/s400/Omni.JPG" border="0" />Here's the back side of the bar. The "hot tub" was not hot at all. Just luke warm. Someone told us that because of the warm weather they just don't have real hot tubs down here.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877676890780930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhyphenhyphen8aaNcQX_Hy8YfPAsotKNeFqt-5CoGXfVb4kF8_vm6rK68HVLDzvEZNkaOFa1pP1cJIC7x3ggqq3t6ous0lNCPiN8rjHFREbxYVK7CiAE5wlNQmBnf6cyPLD7wOhBvcqvtKRwWEdmI/s400/Omni+2.JPG" border="0" />As we took a walk down the beach we came apon these guys hanging around this dock...<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878054887622610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZ-eI_WY6ysZyOQzYnT70skH_YG4i8aVldT4BjzIYPB7qty8BH2N2IL1XKQD5PouKPkGRY-T6RrUOjp6dYuFo7rQNGexjYHgflYhKUsclS5DZqszFYiolTVVhwLkqub3pOZRBxhQJzms/s400/Pelicans+at+Dock.JPG" border="0" />As we got a little closer we realized why. The fishing boats bring their fish in and disassemble them right there. They were tossing the scraps to the pelicans.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877387451532034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGU6ZMOQVk5rX2bFQHO5BaQjZz062RoyrljAhBNyWDf5vbi0k0TNiWVMVlgnKri-RUoK2dbsqk6hHqzQf-u3YfLol3ZWcvVMKIQ3ioBfKEb52OGqyHdAuMRvAAXYhlTUQE2CaMhSa0eI/s400/Dead+Fish.JPG" border="0" />Further down the beach we came upon these dinner boats. You can go out for a dinner cruise on the ocean. These boats look really cool so we took pictures for the kids to see. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878065045776370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHGkFapzb5EQf1RThuo-SzyXILqOuw8W8yZSo51gepy1d86JH8-qsCBbWEB4kdFjxIoR706QbKxZD_N71j6FMKD_1fNn7dm2ylztQDEI2Bvqu7g4k0sgw6akBqAW-tNEJ31WfM0cfOMM/s400/Pirate+Ship.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878069197790242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnQl2ruTLM1GyCXrq-kpjyht4Ccp5sls9Uf-DYpXAzIN9DboiHZnBBuSIS7iSVIQbZ0ExgdVY2oh1I6_Xs3ZEi5HVtSqbZX3Pg1yWbbu4pTQpVUZbrXvqG8OOFMj2V6ulHI-5vIpuArk/s400/Pirate+Ship+6.JPG" border="0" /><br />The resort was beautiful. Our room was on the ground level so we had a walk-out patio that went out to the grass.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878051346975314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZqVq3A406yuRZ34g-JkYeWJOSXBCfkLObALYzIG3xHVsgJlXabI8YJjryrhPnFYnnvvNezjA-HhaUjtvCQZ5IaV4kddny5Y34Zw-7INdbjuZF3N1y7L1zIAg9MA598VFTPU1Dq9neXI/s400/Omni+4.JPG" border="0" />Here's the view from our patio. You can barely see the ocean in the background.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877682246395746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRK7kBLXhTZkgpQHwt6WnFNjPSiIGmOMm0nXB50LkZhDR5JJuoVHFvgcK3gnup29KJjHAdLJT2V2064Xg8faKUm6NDwNNLQdE0fOmMmtxB_x3pFHpkbKOEYZ434ZBiycKhNz8-l9FFa8c/s400/Omni+3.JPG" border="0" />Finally, we went shopping. One shopping center was on the bay. It was all outdoors and you wouldn't know you weren't in the US due to how modern it was.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320878075651307170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzOKrCyaFRg5UQ2_1Mb1-0VGYjA8tGjb-C5v3tTyvDHWR984Y5k1cLJX5Lebk9dG4HSF170xrILks9FAXMol2Vk2xExMt1cUtnAmNe-FbWNyWKc5v0SwbtPHxdpk5ZZLxGThLr0Rbz50/s400/shopping.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877379372562066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPjLkVe3HWIZNrL16jDkBbvC3wb-hqnRrXbAfcoapor0_ZfmwvDYfbJ4CYx-9hdEstebC_JOzzonHtKt2dQklIKoOmgW5ppohtR6e6f4mVpRkREp8EE6R_CzC-Yspi3iL6E43pUqd3iM/s400/bay.jpg" border="0" />The Hard Rock guitar.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877390766569666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOBNTvX2RO47nH8ZSg47Y4M-y8Rd1Xielb7dcpq9XRqhGnNd-4i2-MgjxVr3da2XpTx2Aapuq30EJ4XzweqLJ3pzC4KCl8DGPAP0mB67igHJO-dj4_pI-ZBGrlvGm5ZfgXy68F6rXztQ/s400/Hard+Rock.jpg" border="0" />My big splurge was this purse. You can see the kid in the background making them. It is made out of old chip bags and candy wrappers. Anything with the metallic wrappers. The guy said it takes him about 5 days to make one the size I bought. I remember making the chains out of gum wrappers but I don't know how they make a solid sheet. I love it. We also got a bracelet with Desirae's name woven into it. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320886346227327058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia46LtTEn1IkV9QeTzvlmMmpMKS5RDeG4R8ziDB21AqNbdFv1Y9EDmbGeRQ6Ida95t-peqdldx2woEjaqpQQXroSsNccf7MnG1nZvLBCjeeSI4FaRnHPbkWv-4vmkZyHAA-h68BdrhV14/s400/My+purse.jpg" border="0" /> </p></div>There is a world-famous dance/night club here. It has 2 dozen+ superstar impersonators. It was quite the show. We got to see everyone from Michael Jackson, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Elvis, you name it. It was so crowded and most everyone was drunk but it was great fun.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320877669324149890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVMsKnV9qryULdnlXZSx8AcFDseqJ0h4nZpPjx8WzONWFeFgMhZ7sIhHb0rQnWduTbiCtwa4Hvfw8A4xhJvsNCVTR3Jbv3k1nSBIPVtFex_MMXooBrWES7j_obfY-ReRtM7DzOD60Ho8/s400/mask.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p>So that does it for our trip. We had a great time. 9 days was a little long being away from the kids and I know Grandma & Papa were totally whiped after watching them. However, It was a once in a lifetime trip and after 9 or so years we really desered some time alone. It was great for us to get to be alone together and rebuild our relationship.If you ever gett he chance to go to Cancun, do it. It was well worth the time to plan it and money to go.</p>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-39738842053615492009-04-03T15:07:00.003-06:002009-04-03T23:53:36.315-06:00To Sleepover or Not to Sleepover...Just a random rambling about something I have been thinking about lately...Spencer has really been asking alot lately about participating in sleepovers. We haven't really had to deal with this until more recently. When we lived in Kanab there was a "late night" standard that most of our friends all agreed on. Our kids could get together and have a fun night but go home for bed. It worked great. However, as kids get older they think more and more that they need to have the same rules as "everyone" else. I found a great article from LDS Living that states just how we feel toward sleepovers. Just click on this post title if you'd like to read it. I would love any input y'all might have as to how you deal with this issue, no matter what side of the fence you are on. I don't want anyone to think that I don't trust them or their kids but I strongly feel like it is our responsibility to protect our kids and their innocence. It's just another one of those times when the few are making it harder for the many. I loved sleepovers. I grew up in a small town where sleepovers were the norm and we slept outside all summer long. We never had any issues. But the world is not the same place and I have heard so many horror stories. My inclination is to assume boys don't need as much "protection". But they do. I hate this side of parenting. The fear and apprehension. Feeling like I can't let my guard down for a second. I started having more specific stranger-danger conversations with Spencer two years ago and have reiterated them every six months or so since. Now it's coming up on Benji's turn. At least we have a couple more years before the big one...and that is all Gary's. Sorry I've been rambling and thanks for taking the time to try and decipher my blithering.Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-35450379137855929682009-03-30T20:57:00.039-06:002009-03-31T13:05:08.777-06:00<div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>HAPPY BIRTHDAY VALERIE!</strong> </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">****************</span></div><div align="center"><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-a0.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385389819808&site=widget-a0.slide.com"></embed></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">.</div><div align="center">Not very often will I create anything for our wonderful blog. Valerie does too good of a job herself. However, I cannot let her Birthday pass and not share just a few photos of her growing up.<br /><br /><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-30.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385389817392&site=widget-30.slide.com"></embed><br /><br />Valerie Jean Anderson was born Monday March 31st, 1975. She was born at 2:41 PM at the West Valley Utah Hospital. Of course she was a beautiful baby weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces and 21 inches long. She grew up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Grantsville</span>, Utah until she was 10 then her family moved to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Kearns</span>, Utah. After a short time in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kearns</span> she moved with her Mom to Murray for one year and later she lived in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Medford</span>, Oregon and went to North <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Medford</span> High. She moved back to Salt Lake City after graduation and that is when she and I met in 1993. If you don’t know how we met…check out our Anniversary blog coming up in June! </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">1993 </div><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319208702122161314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8Ty2iRwb1NnFHJrmG_j3WHWz7YDfPdx2CcOotAUCGXlZXb8yuL4WcTe_cTLvwCBt9CM4UjRi3cHUhyphenhyphenX7zt7f_ozaQ3h9yFfiwHvDdxgCGbG90eF_oXgFEFhJmpcr5_H9U3ooc5-JwIE/s400/1993+graduation.jpg" border="0" /> </p><div align="center"><br /></div><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319210102561443122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOtg4j3FZ0P8dpLKQlXB2LvUFrBKOmjk0ud8GL3W1M32ENWcUnYVjJNh4EVgdJCytckKb_KczaFj_yGPxjFkpXjv0-8Tq-oKZC6e8hoUdHndLuEy8GCVYDogP8mEoG_RRcAQ3qYyy5O8/s400/beauty.jpg" border="0" /> 1995<br /><br />Sadly as I tried to create this surprise blog for Valerie I was only able to find one picture of her before she was 5 years old. I will be getting some from her mom…so watch for updates! It was also hard to find pictures of Valerie by herself while we were dating and after we were married. (I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ve</span> got to save all of our couple and family photos for our Anniversary blog.) There are some cute AND fun photos of her too! As you can see some of the photos I scanned are not in the best shape but these are the only photos I could find of her. Valerie used all of her photos when she created a photo album for her Mom. </p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319243757985692994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 242px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6OiDq0Cydv3VHge-p8YOGJF_sLpUr2KFqPT_ja026Vmii0B8K6tgfVIAcEf1dxoDbUopI8K2GXskGoeJTdD6Nzq5nqz_ba7tnE3g4HhPOyDYmTFr6BTXXMSGLLO9HFzz0JIqw0eU9jI/s400/First+car+first+home+site.jpg" border="0" /> Valerie's first car and our first home lot in West Valley City, Utah. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319244652464333954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 395px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJmwYCeXVCGDN29Ipx1mEAQ6OJd3W86oBXRZkzWp02cKA9zlGlD0qrc-qusnNeq9jkMmLlFn6AjBWFfKBcHQGlltHOY_ZOhqipDDZLLymuKNaYTvgkgs8Q8VK9EpC0ehV41uW8HV9WG8/s400/1996.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center">1996</p><p align="center">Valerie is truly the love of my life. She does all she can to make our children and me happy. Valerie is independent and self-reliant. She can cook, dance and make, design or create anything! She is smart, loving, giving, honest and I could go on and on… I could type so much about Valerie’s accomplishments and things she is good at…. most who read this know of her many <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">talents</span> and more then likely she has shared them, taught and grown with you. However her one dream in life is to be a mom and homemaker... and she truly is the best! </p><p><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-f6.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385389820150&site=widget-f6.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;"></span></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">Happy Birthday </span></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">my beautiful wife!</span></strong> </p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>I LOVE YOU!</strong></span></p><p></p>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-23815126071202607542009-03-21T18:13:00.006-06:002009-03-22T15:34:58.898-06:00Chichen Itza<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaaR_0Ubv0odbteyMQjcxRwCmNM6-rgjgHsDaBLk2g6_ImCxKceHwW5OyI90HDvhw-ds61n7s4YqIOUvtwez4VrF8PkvtCJlpwjtwhtlKt0QJ7JkFGXITy4ue3MyzrvI7xK_sb7De-6Y/s1600-h/Chichen+29.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316121564080706306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaaR_0Ubv0odbteyMQjcxRwCmNM6-rgjgHsDaBLk2g6_ImCxKceHwW5OyI90HDvhw-ds61n7s4YqIOUvtwez4VrF8PkvtCJlpwjtwhtlKt0QJ7JkFGXITy4ue3MyzrvI7xK_sb7De-6Y/s400/Chichen+29.JPG" border="0" /></a>Our final outing was to Chichen Itza. This site was recently added to the "new 7 wonders of the world" It was so amazing. We began on a big tour bus. One of the guides talked the whole 2 hour drive. He gave us all sorts of information. We stopped on the way at a little shopping center. We got a few Mayan statues for the kids and Grandpa and I also got myself a necklace that says "MOM" in the Mayan alphabet. It is pretty neat. We finally got to the Chichen ruins. As we walked in there were over a hundred vendors there selling all sorts of souvenir stuff. They totally lined the paths. Our guide was awesome. He spoke 5 languages. He told us from the beginning that he was going to walk fast because there was so much to see and that he would just keep talking the whole time. He made the open offer to feel free to leave him whenever you wanted. So we chose to book through it with him. He had so much information to share. First he took us to to the older part of the city. There were some amazing buildings. Homes, an observatory, lots of churches. The Mayas had several gods, so they had building dedicated to each of them. Most of their buildings had intricate carvings and amazing astronomical correlations. If you want to know more I have linked one site to the title of this post. Another great informational site is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza</a> . Alright enough of the technical stuff. The buildings were amazing and the entire area was huge. We couldn't even go to some of it because it was closed due to being a current archaeological site. The main building or the castle was so incredible. It almost looked fake. It has 91 steps on each side and then one all the way around on the top to equal 365 total to equal the solar calendar. It also has 28 sections on each face to correlate with the lunar calendar. On each solstice, the sun hits it just right to make the snakes that run down each side of the building look like they are slithering. There are a couple cenotes and one of them was used for human sacrifice. They would generally shoot the person with an arrow and then throw them into the water. Pretty creepy. It was all so interesting and educational and really, really neat. I would love to learn more about the lives and culture of all of these ancient people but I guess that will have to wait.<br /><div><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-76.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385389535862&site=widget-76.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed><br /><div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389535862&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-76.slide.com/p1/2594073385389535862/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389535862&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-76.slide.com/p2/2594073385389535862/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389535862&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-76.slide.com/p4/2594073385389535862/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>After the tour we went back to the same little shopping center for lunch. It was really yummy and there was a mariachi band playing and dancers tapping around. When we got back to the hotel they were having some dancers perform on the patio. It was fun to see the different varieties of performers. They had a guy dressed up like he was old and doing a mute comedy act and even had a guy doing lasso tricks. We got a picture of the two of us dressed up like bambidos and sitting on a donkey but it is pretty bad so I'm not posting that one.<br /></div><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-fd.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385389536253&site=widget-fd.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389536253&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-fd.slide.com/p1/2594073385389536253/bb_t024_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389536253&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-fd.slide.com/p2/2594073385389536253/bb_t024_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385389536253&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-fd.slide.com/p4/2594073385389536253/bb_t024_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div><br />Even with the rain, this day was definitely the highlight of our trip.Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-37124437912173519292009-03-18T23:06:00.009-06:002009-03-21T00:04:36.585-06:00Joe's Jeep Tour<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZHjkM3cLJdkm6axOh8GTBWKK-RAnh4VF-F-ERiP1BGcHSr0Mb29E3-4baxoh3xp7O1MrPv6XyLts8YJ4a84qyU7qTQVm3uD03CUUxjQr7dtUu2XC5MW3b6KpqLuvQ2XpnZpjYu-8z7A/s1600-h/El+rey.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315507519750470418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZHjkM3cLJdkm6axOh8GTBWKK-RAnh4VF-F-ERiP1BGcHSr0Mb29E3-4baxoh3xp7O1MrPv6XyLts8YJ4a84qyU7qTQVm3uD03CUUxjQr7dtUu2XC5MW3b6KpqLuvQ2XpnZpjYu-8z7A/s400/El+rey.jpg" border="0" /></a>The next tour we took was "Joe's Jeep Tour" This tour consisted of exploring some ruins, driving through the jungle, zip lineing through the jungle tree tops, swimming in an underground cave, lunch in a Mexican village overlooking the coast and a walk through a petting zoo.<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div align="center">First stop, El Rey...These ruins are just on the edge of the city, We had driven past them a couple times and not even noticed. This particular village was placed directly in the center of the peninsula between the ocean and the bay. It was also placed where it is surrounded by mangroves. It is well hidden from the surrounding areas and well protected from and tropical storms that threaten. It was neat because there was no one there and we could climb and touch and explore. </div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315507520924841410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUKAgKcOJ8ZDzMdYkb3xPvArEeBLU0tDZLemvrxWHN8Qsy21hKFb5kNQOy_QLZnjlo4TT0yKlkqfdPKsvmsuK7tAQ9_IzDwcwLh0OyKP7t00i9S0p6u6gWLWbuKzOwth81qiJQ68ie-M/s400/el+rey+2.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="center">This is a view from the palace overlooking the market or trade center. <div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315507514446036946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAzTUfj6N1bdqcAgysI-S7gb8HxCHC7FqOMdK5kOzXpvnYbX0HoISphurZ1WTqMOyIPcP5d8Ra1tyYy0HIZrOyHneP0S8oZ5ByRszISpijxoy8jIa6NZbW_IRQ_hbO1kERneKoV2NSo14/s400/El+Rey+3.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="center">This building is where the traders would have to go and pay to be allowed to sell or trade their goods here.</div></div><div align="center">Our guide, Pepe, was great. He even brought a package of tortillas so we could feed the iguanas that were everywhere.<br />This is a gum tree. The Mayas would use it's sap to make chewing gum to clean their teeth.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315507533861166082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiToi1sX7sNdYYv1RIp35UdTR6glDrPOQFvS3fubZd8t4l45bRq-nqTarKMS_6LrDb-FuVVeyOoDZ2pRGRvSg6npvvl_Yo7WEECUwcg8GWzHdj0OiOI8AL5DotJ9o-1e5XgIQ-x4nhNt28/s400/gum+tree.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315507534747086578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzNWTyijQOf8EGLP3Zs7yZBNXqXfxqIdd38FF638wJmooRSmmFxR5rM43Y1RmvtzpKUecaIdsCLtf4AcX91fM5M7TRSEG-qbxEugE_rxkQCpmUbjf3d5Q4wZClDzEdzc_rrIntUkba9c/s400/joes+jeep.jpg" border="0" />Next we drove to the jungle where we were rigged up with straps and clips and a super high-tech piece of wood with a hole cut into that they called a "break". We climbed the steepest ricketiest (is that a word?) tower ever. It was 75 feet tall, straight up. </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315509430166128978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AgVoOE1UTV_XupCtNR_ZGWzIfWRH9JNAIYw0qIvotIjES2kCK7qhPe6Cuq6d_o_JtpCTVuQsAHtu2iExNV7IByXusVWDWTPmx1WRMIY05l_GxBs345USkRCNb3uBoI8H1_VjRTFbcRw/s400/Gary's+finger.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>This is our "oops we forgot to take a picture, run and do it quick" attemp at getting a picture of the tower. That darn thumb...but you get the idea.</div><div>Everybody was saying how scared they were so I volunteered to go first. It was so awesome. The worst part was stepping over the edge of the tower. There were two zip lines so after taking off from the first one you would hit a platform, unhook your rig, climb around to the other side of the tree, hook your rig back up to the line and go again. When my kids wanted more of a description of what a zip line is all I could think of was when "Go, Diego, Go" zip lines out of the tree house. It's was just like that. Zooming through the trees and hoping the "Mexican brake" worked. It was awesome, we're both so glad we did it. </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315508216081546194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaB1amRcsyzGq9D08TPYxVbW43ATV89XEBJdUbK4jbstyg63EZy_X-D-w07gW7c8Jqs1KWpOAWYcQIu_fu9bK1MQzDtykeRHYMv8jEjHRrEJ29ZoRKZJjQBWiT296REhg2J7J9dBRHZE/s400/zip+line+4.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>All rigged up, ready to go...<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315508220191847970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfw9ssaSxOGTnQstDfCZQ4mRddgXKpfVrwXi7KJGKUDzYpriCnJZXi9OQtuXCCHDisbfOduQSHYNRPalHOik6g41hTAQWDsdCUSFf3pU8tXhoEhwP0CwUGMo8ZQEBmar3sKTxLOQSnbg/s400/zip+line+3.jpg" border="0" />Notice the high-tech wood break;}<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315508217668120338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbhKOMKF3jfjPGLfAxDqBQP6vBZ6_bXIml0WCuQpfTRXMHPZk6Imyjx93QLW6ZuCNx93FXsUBjMzNO6w7obs6HPFwICmo10uVu60woC2j7fs2XA-uGN_7LAovvwoepxPprjVH9vNCeGg/s400/zip+line+2.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315508211025432114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhZIfJ-n9vjftwU5oghkMyfSSo_R_1KmAVhk0n7CIDmwqGLmODXfqX6JeKoFFzAiAWX8N2CiNtL6n15sqWcxwZeVw-j8z0K3bm6IFlkCIQ41eOI7DSrsXwen3-KGgcgY6E_kyaKrgkm8/s400/zip+line.jpg" border="0" /> After the zip line we went swimming in a cenote. A little geography/geology lesson...Cancun is on the Yucatan Peninsula. This particular peninsula was once under the ocean. After earthquakes and plate tectonics mumbojumbo, it ended up above the ocean. So it is made up of limestone and covered with coral. Not very conducive to agriculture because there are no rivers. The ground is just rock, with very little dirt. So the Yucatan has the largest under water river system. All of these rivers connect one way or another and they come to the surface in thousands of cenotes. They can be like springs, wells, caves, ponds, and the like. So we suited up and dove in. So we climbed down into the mouth of this cave and at the bottom was one of these cenotes. The water was cold but not "take your breath away" cold. Pepe caught a little turtle that was swimming around in there. It was awesome, there were stalactites all over the ceilings and walls. There was ancient coral and fossils all over the ground. We went down one tunnel where it was so shallow you had to crawl with your hands and let your legs drag behind and it opened up to the surface again like a well. Then down the opposite end to where it was so deep it creeped me out. It was a really neat experience.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315509425663953426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKL4bp91TyBCZjYWm2sqfAvOPRTZjBibsTXqTzsA9S9J2pFX1RVE5cWQovwp_-xRGNCxedgm-xFgy0SenSs9cuvLTjUMKEGuVMH1f8HN_ZboN9auZOjtER1d_l-v-yltlOBpIE-5yH4EU/s400/cenote+5.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315509415168074930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEHgjPnk42qXe2peaUiKa6S7LutKRALB_yKWXLjD-chtdwS6Ec-r5upSbMsrcvtq_ultrska0tp-dVflRGX2AJZ4z8yFePRlZ6LW6S55B-wtahFNo5A9NoipTemx6uyxIpF_pWUHx4JA/s400/cenote+4.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315508223892873250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOITHGbFxqa5wBgfWMpnj7ozvROX-UWKfZsq-z40711RuX8vnirNCzcSVch58K-baJnNlKEqy5s6WM5wVZXl_RExrYCkfxlLMoqpRT8HPhEBCAUMA6DZM0HRZAQOGPWGHfHZ3qoFVjwa0/s400/cenote.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315509413910148578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3s3eNrnDbF67O4GGVk4pLhtvI34Nvel7STmlwQw0Q7WWKC1OEWvHWt8GJRM2TqTWev1zpuVVbdaceIhrTCl43bTXv9MjCskQmZY2jROQJ-L03NAbPGCJDo2n6IT2G9F66loOsBB96wao/s400/cenote+2.jpg" border="0" />From there we dried off a bit and went to lunch. Another crazy bumpy jeep ride out of the jungle and into a small Mexican village. We ate at a small restaurant right on the beach. It was beautiful. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510604124869778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcwoVoN1gvTc07AtdPZpUfJF-zRcPxltHAHKSIX_SFWMCuK5iN0Z1RNSPf7bkDIp-g-QJq3qWLJ3h5bZXa5zQXiaYnnh5DvfoscePTcHYIqBJ82qYYo1OA1J7qrNaic6H7SAjI-7wPtg/s400/lunch+time.jpg" border="0" />I took these next two pictures to remind me of how much we have. The first is of the playground. Old rusted metal and all concrete and brick. It doesn't look like much fun to me.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510429208308562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuG-ZwDFobIT0WvK5pFvf5c-yLnbCjpr9-HarsreIJmCp09_96XsZ_BlPU7sRp9xGvnam8s_XskXchfiPtrRbEEIgNH7oAqJB8WH5WwBYDMLAGgdS6c_Hz7Xv32QSbsPIHb1VDyS6xpI/s400/playground.JPG" border="0" />This is the typical house. Just a cinderblock, flat roof with a hut attached.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510418688482402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEl9AgyPcCYHCrq9cQrFnqsWM45_MMsO4lVX0u8x54VtPWUhN5swV91f6561M6bFCwDzqHyFPjQhHnYyoYihtz1zneBzVOM8vgBLg39KO5muBiXFZm8dmasX0XwN7ijsO4RBpIRwNGj0/s400/hut+2.JPG" border="0" />Next stop was a petting zoo. I use that term a little loosely due to the fact that it was not what we American's think of as a petting zoo. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510434493114114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSQdliWtxni7OOxPQ5sYSQoZkY83iHjl9rCdw173ajb5Vn8zpMouYuH4x-FHLQWuqZ7LHqzjWQ3QqwwXV28LRD41HvV1ZPDlEKQw8XcN1J3NS2PHCk_1Q-DQqB-gaO1EQX3WoVN0_1eY/s400/crocodile+2.jpg" border="0" />We held crocodiles, snakes, monkeys, hairless dogs, deer, macaws, I think that's it. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510415188673314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVblF_8DyX-Kl6tk9EguJm_uzTaAtdVDOIVw648eILv2fM9HNhYNXSJvtobODPzpSygrk_oerAwr5Ju6m_HEb0dr1vgJxRav1TN5EWs1ZEV1jswnYPTdjmD0Po1g6XWQVMGrTWls0nj1M/s400/crocodiles.jpg" border="0" />It was a bit disconcerting to walk through one section where there were 30+ adult crocodiles just sitting there next to the path as you walked past. They were all really docile but it still made me a bit uneasy. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510610627779474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkVDRBuD8G07d30SKBZv5x_bN0eurbM0kkR4RnzHbUAI4pI6Xrm9GznruRak-xskIT1-EvvP7iQZxKbLvoYuONz6jd5-_RAay99c6HjXGfc8oZhfnjtpdbFHcsVAPeSp8XBw1rvX6OLE/s400/snake.jpg" border="0" />Feeding the monkeys was fun. They would pry your hand open to get to the grapes. The hairless dogs were gross, really gross. The guide said they were indigenous to the area and are now nearing endangerment because they are so expensive. WHAT??!!?!?!?!!? I can't imagine having to look at that thing every day. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315510422838828178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec_O5kAKcXYYmL5e21OAdG6x5JQxMaQRRDHu-2dVCUdzmACUOZV-NLGkZO1Bjy0RxFjMFNWEp6lcV436dsUN4r96vulWBOk7GX1kQDuiAf2YSxXFqRgMZDzLHlWE3btwFVZ6BLiWAplo/s400/parrot.jpg" border="0" />That was our last stop of the trip. I slept the 45 minutes back to the hotel. It was a great day and lots of fun and unique experiences. Now for the next day...</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-28988228047688293622009-02-23T18:06:00.003-07:002009-02-23T18:37:32.730-07:00Just For Fun!!!Okay, I know I did one of these last week but no one responded so I'm trying it again. Comon' guys, don't let me down...<br /><br />The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:<br /><br />1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!<br /><br />2. What I create will be just for you.<br /><br />3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)<br /><br />4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.<br /><br />5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. :)<br /><br />The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-2387924484017469682009-02-22T19:58:00.010-07:002009-02-22T22:07:01.349-07:00Xel-Ha & Tulum<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWCJLQ1zA3fYX54Ziilgi3tIJZiMR8cE8x0gZASefkP5fFMZIGXKlxyBknxZmcCGDtNE3guoFRQeRxyOR1xXUmHSYX-5SceoWmJX-xhOxY706z6BkyfsPtZw79xhEpmhy2fupX_9PwME/s1600-h/Tulum+6.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305842761704466898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWCJLQ1zA3fYX54Ziilgi3tIJZiMR8cE8x0gZASefkP5fFMZIGXKlxyBknxZmcCGDtNE3guoFRQeRxyOR1xXUmHSYX-5SceoWmJX-xhOxY706z6BkyfsPtZw79xhEpmhy2fupX_9PwME/s400/Tulum+6.JPG" border="0" /></a>I am so torn as to how I should approach posting this trip. We have so many pictures so I am tempted to do a few slide shows. However, I feel like so many of the photos need more than a one-liner explanation. So here is what I've decided. I'm going to break the trip into days or events. That way it won't be so long when I post the pictures individually. I hope that if you take the time to read these posts you won't be all bored like watching one of those old-time slide shows. I remember my Dad doing those alot...At least I was in them every now and then. That made it a little more interesting, but all too often I didn't know the people in them. Boring...Anyway, here we go...<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Our first tour was a trip to Xel-Ha and Tulum. You've seen and maybe been in those big tour buses. They are pretty nice with reclining seats, air conditioning, even a bathroom if your desperate. We were picked up right at our hotel and drove for about 2 hours. Xel-Ha was great. It is mostly a natural water park. It surrounds a bay right next to the Caribbean Sea. First we went snorkeling in the bay. I'm not much of a fresh water fan. I have a hard time getting more than my feet in it. Just the thought of all the animal waste grosses me out. I know it's lame but I really get kind of creeped out. That being said, I was a little more than hesitant. But, I did it. It was so cool. We got in first thing so the water hadn't been mucked up by people kicking up dirt and sand from the bottom. It was so clear and beautiful. The bay had lots of shallow rocks and small islands. The fish were just swimming around like you weren't even there. They were so bright and colorful. There were schools swimming around and one big blue guy holed up in a cave that was pretty intimidating. We did that for about and hour. It was so cool, I'm so glad we did it. </div><div>Next we went and got something to eat. The park had 5 restaurants. The ticket price included all-you-can-eat. We filled up at the Mexican spot and then headed to the beach. The beach was covered with rocks, not sand, and big chunks of coral. There were tons of tide pools. They were really neat to explore. There was a ton to do like swimming with he dolphins, scuba diving, bike riding, cave swimming, rope swings into the water, but we were a bit short on time considering we were also going to some ruins. After combing the beach we headed back to the main area and got some ice cream and drinks to cool off with. <div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-6f.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385388034415&site=widget-6f.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385388034415&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-6f.slide.com/p4/2594073385388034415/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div>Next we headed to Tulum. Tulum is the only Mayan ruin located right on the coast. It is so amazing. It sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean and is surrounded by a huge wall on all the other 3 sides. The original way in is very narrow and tapered at the top so only one person could go through the wall at a time. Here is Gary going through the entrance.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305842782825755730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIN2Bn4m7Oyeb0fkmey7hxIpJ95w4dVeWvRUIwQnVu6bN8XriowgZ4psw9GtU2rrpSxsHWOxfza_tNpzosdQ9jV_EqKqVSQWWlfcPKUshameLbXHHh8DC1QvgB82rgPp_Kyullj2mTQ94/s400/Tulum+18.JPG" border="0" />As we entered the courtyard it was almost surreal. As you enter you see the courtyard in front of you with the buildings in the distance. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305838527929909954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bWOrRBSXoLcQmb4rmBaP4bcMW2R7l9uDQR0unXy4yew0crj7RtYWIIYbLgyQSOBOtUoWV65qI_YDO2LwVhGf5IJsGUNO1R27GSmTO4J33OeY2QgNvwlBUd2j5p2nm9Hub_TFuVnZ220/s400/Tulum+2.JPG" border="0" />Our tour guide was great. He grew up just five miles away and had a real love and excitement for the area. He gave us a 30 minute history lesson, pointed out the most interesting points and then turned us loose to explore the area. It was incredible. I wanted to touch the buildings to make sure they weren't Styrofoam. They weren't. This is a wide view of the main building. The temple is the one with the 3 doors on top. They believe that there was never any human sacrifice at this location. It was mainly used as a calendar. They think that only a few families (maybe 10 or so, about 100 people) lived within the walls. Just the government leaders, priests, and their families. But over 5000 people that belonged to the same "tribe" lived in the surrounding area. They also think that very few people were allowed inside the walls. Not like a village square or something. People did their selling and trading outside of the wall.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305843756245822722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwqW6obR3knoM0WpZVw_XKIiKoMzCk3X6_fGPLTozOEUaaUWH1klIM3C59e2sv3f3xJOkfJ_WJKTxlbH7DTJG-5RkRBM0J1dr_Tpb9zSSv2lPy1T4D8iVgcnWvfXMXPhNrX_3LNzRODk/s400/Tulum+23.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305839948558726226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggoM9SM3eqrRp67o_a1DwfXWebi-XsZ2isJm8gYHdzsaJqyyeIUe570ip-gE_8dudvI7o9FIdll3LmOy2VkIB-ODmz0p1TGHs92Q3wBq48MvrfIYjDcsdoT8c8jRPR3zHr2i95I81DxeQ/s400/Tulum+8.JPG" border="0" /></div><div>The building just to the left of the temple is the solstice building. It is where they watched the stars and kept track of the seasons. There's more description of that building following.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305838532531805954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32LEuKnc-5VLg7do3g6SJXoqwugq0iCBWy4ycnla1eeqhr29bjs5dniEQ0WFg0tPvWBjDw4WCPPysXaLuG1TbfUnxO0Q_51L6IgBZCmF9sESoKs4RAXfPfN7iguS7UYkCBs8bC0BAn3c/s400/Tulum+3+-+Copy.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305841100735401442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyov1y5j1l_n7ML3gx-kaixsK3xcSR9uHu5PEYDjEPZcaO4FK3HDh-ZZ2q-y5X7QXwElSW3TPgxLAi0Xw9d0On2J_59uj8VWbuSEtS9MnvIxfey1qNybjY4CyoNgx7FiP7nle-qQ9amo/s400/Tulum+15.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305841096659350178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0eCB_L5rcPBvzYwVhIp7rvnfrnQuaTZVeDWIk-9iSMnZ_f3rzzZa4BalyuzVUn-kHMw4eJKknh3riTHuhVgaPNwnEC0KR4cVVsIOvKf0qHuyiE72Q-sWpf-cRmszzsSI6FK487IRc3g/s400/Tulum+14.JPG" border="0" /></div><div>Do you see the little tiny hole inside the building at the top of the door? It is on the back wall. This building faces exactly east and every 4 years (leap year) the moon would shine through this hole on the summer and winter solstice. The next picture is a back view of the building.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305838545889834482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKe_YX8rxdb1utUHYoG0Zume9anRXwiqJFQlvDIymfgpjd3NdO_YLrLyk4rxxRb1TML1JvYSB08a3uywxRFnI64dZT4RX_ltQrZnZEJg65pWLmcp-97smB1TGVozq83zWmfZ4_NQlM88/s400/Tulum+5.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305839969049514050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7j5aVRqeirxzL0I7Z9HaORLFYhU9fTYTdNnhHrnUDyJ3zy1PZYsFqGoECucjRV0Fz7EWuMnroJ1fUmdTu9-khD1W7_cyqKPJsdclGjbYbVFTlXAA-uy4MIIWRg2FwuOV16_ceQxuTUHo/s400/Tulum+11.JPG" border="0" /></div><div>The beautiful overlook just behind the temple. Facing South.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305839951575384370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih8PIpvEaufKRLkjfvDifj0CwzuyRwInF79It2DMBkRiq1rHSlG13PpccNgfKxQlKRPi-_WdRKSSzyVkHa0GWqJX8aRhs4D0ovhcAL6R01oHUJMijQ-9P89dvoLQ4vZkMyvtFsy15l6A/s400/Tulum+9.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />Walking back down from the temple toward the courtyard.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305842776448996354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3XTFTaUp49M03BeS8qHXPKM3S-eog983V3GkBla7CBDgwb0yD8f3DMmxsUaD6eVnrKTT2xC_yrGDZ9LOVSo1qzZsuVOOL0ntCiSKipnaMSy8HQY9BO245Q6I_g9ES0r9Dka4MOHPg5E/s400/Tulum+17.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305841092551404706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5DUK5SmYe3mPmIcgGwpIQj4LQiL-w8mEy3NcYJZWqgs5W01n5sNVxdlbbRlK1MFZMIk2NH3gzgspNICszQ2Xw_sEDpfOs_JJQSc_HWvSafxtH5CmVuxDLZvp0Qlukg6xYKuuHNNc_v8/s400/Tulum+13.JPG" border="0" /><br />This is a view of the beach from the other side of the temple. Facing North. The building in the distance is a watch tower.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305841088042154674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUw7k4V5jVEAUC4KmGp1AJ5CflwUyYWVgSYO4fvxZEAWn-7i0JsOS9fDLaDpRYg3pTRITp2LxDT3KrFKH1a4lOJ9EBOyS-ISjgMDhwc4vsHOVQ92D67pYafJi1hIbTIZgEbwI1y9p21s/s400/Tulum+12.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305841103144559890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuUWQT62f118azStnQpIJpsQBteyB_19_Tcon1wjvMGoT4i6mWcHLLcbvjwVZed5vLkZw2ak-6IM9XXmeyRtmC6eRwgF3bH3o9eJSXKiMFAb91JDE7Mj2d4L0EInDF0726O1ACmOTOJI/s400/Tulum+16.JPG" border="0" /> These guys were all over the place. This one was posing for her photo shoot.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305843748897967954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsM8VBmJenh03sw6qx9-8gJ5Tj8HQptdn4dyonRMsmvN37WpxfqPy_n4F7xcA7j8AROLwhOA6Jf6lIxjOUr3GGQBXV10gKIo8c9MbjU83DmeKc70BcmsIyrVYNa1OtiNUCKmPWGWTLlBY/s400/Tulum+21.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305843740848652850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNz06zuD8gKNG7RhVBM7eigwsR4aQjqQYyyF9tFWoWdXwqKYCcCHtLlF3xxC8-VudsXjUBoHDSgF4i9vs2GPYiyb3f9DIE1zbp2LTxuL3F-V7richptanep1o04VBjk9bdBEHMHp69jmc/s400/Tulum+19.JPG" border="0" />This tour was so amazing. I can't wait until I get some time to research it and find out what BOM scholars and archaeologists believe this location was. It was really neat to just imagine the lives and people that lived here. We could almost visualize the people walking around. As we sat and listened to the guide describe the things this place was used for and what was studied here I couldn't help but get emotional thinking about the history that played out here.Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-24316764662883545372009-02-21T23:04:00.005-07:002009-02-21T23:47:44.807-07:00On Our Way to Cancun<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVlM6Kc46r6c9qv-Go55tDitaMDRVEP7ZVePkH9chkkaA_ejTngEWoeAvUEe5_5kVf-C9DQiU9JKWyPuVF9Mb1o30q24hUJQk1sd1ZRB5aAOjm5UerVLQR9tLZhj-OFFEITbLBEQKpyk/s1600-h/airplane.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305499084982724946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVlM6Kc46r6c9qv-Go55tDitaMDRVEP7ZVePkH9chkkaA_ejTngEWoeAvUEe5_5kVf-C9DQiU9JKWyPuVF9Mb1o30q24hUJQk1sd1ZRB5aAOjm5UerVLQR9tLZhj-OFFEITbLBEQKpyk/s400/airplane.JPG" border="0" /></a> We are on our way. A bit of guilt requires me to give some background...Gary and I have been married over 13 years. The first 5 were childless. We were able to do a little traveling but just as far as we could drive. (California, Arizona, etc.) Since being pregnant with Spencer we haven't gone anywhere for more than one night (maybe two once). So we felt justified in taking a trip, just the two of us. That being said, we started planning about 6 months ago. We discussed different locations and began researching the cost of each one. We eventually narrowed it down to Cancun Mexico. I have never been out of the country so I was super excited. And going somewhere tropical in the middle of winter was a must. Gary spent umpteen hours planning, researching, scheduling, and booking everything. It was time well spent. The entire trip went so smooth. I really can't think of anything I would change.<br /><br />Gary's parents came to watch the kids. We are so blessed to have them. They love our kids so much and we all absolutely LOVE having Papa and Mangya come visit. We left home Sunday, January 25th. The original plan was that we would leave after church, however, the weather didn't want to cooperate. There was a storm rolling in so we left about 10:00 a.m. We got to Lehi unscathed and got to bed early. We were up and going by 3:30 in the morning. The plane flew out of Salt Lake at 6:00. We had a layover in Minneapolis and left behind the -8 degree temps to arrive in sunny Cancun at about 80 degrees. It is no fun to spend an entire day traveling but it was so worth it! By the time we got settled into the hotel it was time for dinner. If you ever go to a resort with an "All-inclusive" option, do it. The food and drinks were endless, 24 hours a day. We filled our tummies with yummy stuff and headed back to our room to get some rest for the fun week ahead.<br /><br />Our first real day here we didn't have anything specific planned to we decided to get our shopping out of the way. We went to Market 28 which is a huge flea market. It was fun and frustrating. It is not a flea market like in the US where people are selling their old stuff or hand crafts. There was a variety of stuff but everyone pretty much had all the same stuff. Jewelry, chatchkies, shirts, wood carvings, etc. You can barter over the prices but we were a little timid so we didn't get as good of prices as we could have. We did get two dresses and bracelets for Desirae, I got a necklace and some "real" vanilla, Gary got a Brasil soccer jersey, Each of the boys got a shirt and a carving. We even went to Walmart. It wasn't much different from the ones here. We rode the bus everywhere. It was really easy and only cost 7 pesos. The exchange rate was almost 14 pesos to a dollar so that was about 40 cents per ride. We had fun but I was really ready to be done by the time we were finished. On to day three...Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-9494103085561166712009-02-21T21:52:00.001-07:002009-02-21T21:54:12.586-07:00New TunesWe changed the music on our blog. Gary made the request and did all the choosing himself. Both of us love the 80's music. We hope you enjoy the change.Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-32261938046579805782009-02-19T19:09:00.006-07:002009-02-19T19:36:04.205-07:00Benjamin's First Lost Tooth<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhoMMGKO5YhX_pLN6hztoql_RS6dnaoyssrfqPsssu0Q0idPi6TKzuPsL384flI_EFBFEIDaZ_87Ov5PsO8eG5hYocGxiKPfCRl7vA5-QVrKtezqtS8sBcX-g99td1IokDNQLi3UvEkO0/s1600-h/Benji's+tooth.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304698050101552866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhoMMGKO5YhX_pLN6hztoql_RS6dnaoyssrfqPsssu0Q0idPi6TKzuPsL384flI_EFBFEIDaZ_87Ov5PsO8eG5hYocGxiKPfCRl7vA5-QVrKtezqtS8sBcX-g99td1IokDNQLi3UvEkO0/s400/Benji's+tooth.JPG" border="0" /></a>A couple days before we left for our trip Benjamin had a very loose tooth. He wanted me to try pulling it out, to no avail. I couldn't get a good enough grip on the tiny, little, slippery thing. I ended up just making his mouth hurt and bleed. He went to bed sucking on ice. He didn't ask me to try again. He just complained about his tonge hurting because he couldn't keep himself from playing with it. Two days after we left it finally came out. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy doesn't need Mom and Dad home to know when a tooth falls out. Benji was very pleased with his gold dollar. Thanks Tooth Fairy for taking care of our Benjiboo while we were gone!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304697871806690082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 287px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjS7sq5QfJrS_eP9mPeZxJoYQ4lGgxuev8ZNBcUCjoH_HgYGuEmXLZ9WSqVgake01i2BHfc3_8SVEBhPq-K0DzUSeJ6RiUFHRiSFLhxrh9gU0fkW1LZBaGHUzb1PqbCQ4TxUg_Qj4HaQ/s400/benjis+tooth+4.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibXhcBUezVbDeeZu0jYwDmY6s198maLVdbN3n-oskSap72qzsxblynFx97uYahVsUAVM4fDQySIRU5qbOi1NtBwGexoDOQtdnDEnTZS_fq9MnIqa3BqxMqjDp96UBFpf5Ap7AGqNPAcy4/s1600-h/benjis+tooth+4.JPG"></a>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-86604769928487765132009-02-09T08:43:00.007-07:002009-02-09T19:17:12.646-07:00Cute StuffFinally, this is my last post so that I can be caught up and get to our Cancun trip. I know you were all so curious as to why the sudden rush to get it done and why the lapse in the first place. That is it. I was so busy getting ready to go and now I am so excited to blog it. But, back to business. Here are just some cute and fun tidbits that happened throughout January.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BM_25ZybwXVJuKqWvgo68p4w6O4V4Aggstr6FusCyaDzhp7TgTu9GdYtjI8ofk7kvi8ycNVEqvJRbHD4mK54I9t0jPEtvNRRc9hNIUluCnYVvSL4WUTnrIYfXvYb11vfSM86vmiUN58/s1600-h/lego+fun.JPG"> </a><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300824989064297490" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BM_25ZybwXVJuKqWvgo68p4w6O4V4Aggstr6FusCyaDzhp7TgTu9GdYtjI8ofk7kvi8ycNVEqvJRbHD4mK54I9t0jPEtvNRRc9hNIUluCnYVvSL4WUTnrIYfXvYb11vfSM86vmiUN58/s320/lego+fun.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Benjamin got this fun Mosaic Lego set for Christmas. It is just the right ability level for him and he loves making the 3-D pictures. And he can do it all by himself, which I love.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAbTtqf1ytWCIkAz-QkqyBfDkpeLu2lkD5Sbkd_GO_uI3ILMPkypj_ZAFkIWTme1kt78LPLEKBP0KxBuXNjhyWZ07tbdxYzC1s1Ck-fUEkiDrAjovVBy-wTn86RFML8OyaNOZ6uzA4Ow/s1600-h/tinkerbell+seat.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300824998285468306" style="WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAbTtqf1ytWCIkAz-QkqyBfDkpeLu2lkD5Sbkd_GO_uI3ILMPkypj_ZAFkIWTme1kt78LPLEKBP0KxBuXNjhyWZ07tbdxYzC1s1Ck-fUEkiDrAjovVBy-wTn86RFML8OyaNOZ6uzA4Ow/s320/tinkerbell+seat.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdfOBg-EnAdhtXl2mQcFi9DKNZTLilA0esWUYzcfFiwwehYiwWmq-8mTcOKWQ7qmdLnJ9YoshwI6ZNSrY3FI4v_n1vPaw8vuRvLEk0Dl-p8W-i_lH2DYoI9nJt6h6zbYMF5ETBg2xpE8/s1600-h/tinkerbell+bed.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300824994236791074" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdfOBg-EnAdhtXl2mQcFi9DKNZTLilA0esWUYzcfFiwwehYiwWmq-8mTcOKWQ7qmdLnJ9YoshwI6ZNSrY3FI4v_n1vPaw8vuRvLEk0Dl-p8W-i_lH2DYoI9nJt6h6zbYMF5ETBg2xpE8/s320/tinkerbell+bed.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>Since we are on the subject of Benjamin, I'll brag on him a little more. He is such a good big brother. Desirae got this couch/bed for Christmas. She loves it. She wants to go to bed in it every nap and every night. It has made putting her down so easy. No more rocking and endless singing (not that it was a bad thing, sometimes I still force her to let me rock her) But now all I do is put her in her Tinkerbell bed and ask, "What happens if yo get out of your Tinkerbell bed?" She says, "Get in my crib." It's that easy. Kisses and light out and it's done. On the occasion that she does get up she doesn't cry about having to get in her crib. One morning she brought the thing down stairs. She and Benji and Andrew played with it all morning. It has a detachable sleeping bag which makes it even more fun. I even made a pillow to fit just right. We love this thing!!!</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4T0TKiuHLFhNOSDGrZubZQ-sDOZ-3LswX8J6lIC_L0hnTOFugzvHN3K1VIoyCQ0deDhq8eIFcnDlo2OvOg70K2Vw2qWPDfRtNo26-3dWU4OnPBMJLXDZMz4jrsuQavbZSO9Xh5gSfaXo/s1600-h/yucky+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300825021634101714" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4T0TKiuHLFhNOSDGrZubZQ-sDOZ-3LswX8J6lIC_L0hnTOFugzvHN3K1VIoyCQ0deDhq8eIFcnDlo2OvOg70K2Vw2qWPDfRtNo26-3dWU4OnPBMJLXDZMz4jrsuQavbZSO9Xh5gSfaXo/s320/yucky+2.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFc1g-GN-hvwos8-VFwXMU7ZDqSQKDgijl-sX_fm_CJlVxwrmlftIJGRwbaHc6reWbM-e-UbX5mK53DHh0VPH7ch-pZzkf1iU7Z1Wjkzp-1gVXmbE8JHtZDwxZvpP-0ygx0M4MUK8X8n0/s1600-h/yucky.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300825010313202178" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFc1g-GN-hvwos8-VFwXMU7ZDqSQKDgijl-sX_fm_CJlVxwrmlftIJGRwbaHc6reWbM-e-UbX5mK53DHh0VPH7ch-pZzkf1iU7Z1Wjkzp-1gVXmbE8JHtZDwxZvpP-0ygx0M4MUK8X8n0/s320/yucky.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>Moving right along...A typical day with Desirae. I know it is partly my fault. I have a Shelf with baskets in the great room. five of the baskets have books in them but one I have for diapers and wipes. I usually keep a tube of diaper rash creme in there too. It hasn't been much of a problem until lately. I guess she wanted to shave???</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhW8QwPsLbn47Xnm_q863eqxGgYZsUyDmH8fpJUGWk7bVhcsgx6wob0JUpPh9-4u_SP3jpKx3_dQP_nF50h7KOc0UQcUsAVR5qqn5kDdDUmwFhD_apOlPx_Cm8ftrMfQ72jmm325AFRc/s1600-h/cutie+pie.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300828702511407906" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhW8QwPsLbn47Xnm_q863eqxGgYZsUyDmH8fpJUGWk7bVhcsgx6wob0JUpPh9-4u_SP3jpKx3_dQP_nF50h7KOc0UQcUsAVR5qqn5kDdDUmwFhD_apOlPx_Cm8ftrMfQ72jmm325AFRc/s320/cutie+pie.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>Andrew is such a Cutie Pie. Filthy shirt and all. The shirt is also typical Andrew. I don't know how he does it but he cannot keep a clean shirt. He is such a good sport. He is constantly being told "NO!" by the older boys and being picked on by Desi. However, he stays happy. He surely has his share of whining and crying but he just shakes it off and pops right back up. He really keeps me happy.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-bssSLOkRVkkOo9QzJGqp_RR34mcgFVHelPFn08f7dHZqj8qdNZrU80Sw_baPoHQDCYZu_pv4sXY5tsf0uSRHkizRa_Guv07GIKMJLFrWBbhW2ZjZN7GPEjKLgy-0wnck5uLlkkmFn0/s1600-h/being+sneaky.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300828697440736130" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-bssSLOkRVkkOo9QzJGqp_RR34mcgFVHelPFn08f7dHZqj8qdNZrU80Sw_baPoHQDCYZu_pv4sXY5tsf0uSRHkizRa_Guv07GIKMJLFrWBbhW2ZjZN7GPEjKLgy-0wnck5uLlkkmFn0/s320/being+sneaky.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-eUvPOFedGIEXGJI03v9oj-xwDvGpVIWw_MpVjBGBPsKTUihh0VLSBiujFGqKZhC7krD2OsNekJhk4eW-w3L27uprHD2Psw6PsAp_DXtxyS1YeyePiONuDbN1w2hKkvNyCCioIzrwkI/s1600-h/busted.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300828698239387922" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 302px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-eUvPOFedGIEXGJI03v9oj-xwDvGpVIWw_MpVjBGBPsKTUihh0VLSBiujFGqKZhC7krD2OsNekJhk4eW-w3L27uprHD2Psw6PsAp_DXtxyS1YeyePiONuDbN1w2hKkvNyCCioIzrwkI/s320/busted.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIb_MvINWxInInJVhOebfojZjB-7AlmdmVr6W7C750H1ZpGSryxCJs18sSmjr1TF8U36F1XRp54xq0Ez1jW7DIqIpqFs3dQRPOD-UV7RosMEpOpyjJprn-bnNho96E7bS6_G41uGMk8g/s1600-h/caught.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300828701272457266" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 222px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIb_MvINWxInInJVhOebfojZjB-7AlmdmVr6W7C750H1ZpGSryxCJs18sSmjr1TF8U36F1XRp54xq0Ez1jW7DIqIpqFs3dQRPOD-UV7RosMEpOpyjJprn-bnNho96E7bS6_G41uGMk8g/s320/caught.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>They thought they were being so sneaky. Desi and Andrew have the idea that if they are under the table I can't see them. I'm sure it's because I pretend not to. If I let them know I see them I have the motherly obligation to stop or reprimand the behavior or deed they are trying to hide. Sometimes it is just easier not to. Well today they had already dumped an entire box of Cocoa Puffs out and stomped all over them so this time I had to stop whatever they were up to. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkLOnfsC-1fdRJWjF57BApSNssBvz3f1OCcgORSj10PM9gfaFHgoV24jp8qsTgtIlds7HIWoWpYFubKvWF6GPLyrpFPcuZgTHaNdt0Ad-At5VTj9a3_957wrXXrPwcfAhTiLdbfqdCf8/s1600-h/big+helpers.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300828704061732658" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkLOnfsC-1fdRJWjF57BApSNssBvz3f1OCcgORSj10PM9gfaFHgoV24jp8qsTgtIlds7HIWoWpYFubKvWF6GPLyrpFPcuZgTHaNdt0Ad-At5VTj9a3_957wrXXrPwcfAhTiLdbfqdCf8/s320/big+helpers.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>Mommy's little helpers. I am all for having my kids help in the kitchen but is so much easier when they don't. The kids love it though and I feel so guilty ever telling them to go away. I know the day will come too soon that they won't want to be near me so I really try to keep my wanting to be alone thoughts to myself. As you can see I have quite the variety and mess going on. I spent a couple days preparing all of the meals for the week of our trip. I didn't want Gary's Mom to have to worry about preparing anything.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5kH4FvUoe0PvQ37LXVitH4QMzLOX7hhGMkFV6HL8YiFIv0dtDJd_-lJoooHzpTVPjfhaXi1QXBSm7SMmlY3Go8Uyaax1-sFMbaXnmPZyBrGZzPvKg0-KuYPGaRYVreU60k6iZH_MLY4/s1600-h/benji+stairs.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834330878376770" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5kH4FvUoe0PvQ37LXVitH4QMzLOX7hhGMkFV6HL8YiFIv0dtDJd_-lJoooHzpTVPjfhaXi1QXBSm7SMmlY3Go8Uyaax1-sFMbaXnmPZyBrGZzPvKg0-KuYPGaRYVreU60k6iZH_MLY4/s320/benji+stairs.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7REjKDUGNdlbgatSX38FdAmfGBWZK4ZIaumr56KaWvNZ9Adt2dSL0M1IbYI_By-hQjhi6B5EeOvqNMWWBzNm4Tx55NGceAe0pS5J0_OEd_gZe0Ev4EZe_blCJdE74NkS-DO9gSpffW0/s1600-h/benji+staris+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834334825212594" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7REjKDUGNdlbgatSX38FdAmfGBWZK4ZIaumr56KaWvNZ9Adt2dSL0M1IbYI_By-hQjhi6B5EeOvqNMWWBzNm4Tx55NGceAe0pS5J0_OEd_gZe0Ev4EZe_blCJdE74NkS-DO9gSpffW0/s320/benji+staris+2.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>A night or two before we left Benji was having a hard time staying in his bed. We made the usual threats and he finally stayed down stairs, or so we thought. After we were done doing whatever it was I went down to check on them and tuck them in. Luckily I turned on the light before I headed down. I guess he just couldn't bear not knowing what we were doing. I never knew folding laundry and washing dishes was so intriguing.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nISo_KY9zCObVarxI9uxzE-1sasHowOKZUr6MmeZPJFxWGgLxKfWJ6D5mdKZ7hbyoKacjn0ldpy3pJ53fk61hhufwrhKRJ-xQ2qalCWFlNRsPuYk__aOAALRrCfxTHVo4RTtd1S5yj4/s1600-h/static+4.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834572193092322" style="WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nISo_KY9zCObVarxI9uxzE-1sasHowOKZUr6MmeZPJFxWGgLxKfWJ6D5mdKZ7hbyoKacjn0ldpy3pJ53fk61hhufwrhKRJ-xQ2qalCWFlNRsPuYk__aOAALRrCfxTHVo4RTtd1S5yj4/s320/static+4.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQyFg0dWtLAphZasRsqqheyTP3sIb9e_6brb-xwovtQz9r6VC0oy2ciV2mxt4Pj9-zlGhdlNFiqDWUiv8M0a__IRWwT8QndawT02tIhvNoR3fdoZQsIrMvnIS0Nvp0oMgp5cbV24imtE/s1600-h/static+5.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834576775204562" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQyFg0dWtLAphZasRsqqheyTP3sIb9e_6brb-xwovtQz9r6VC0oy2ciV2mxt4Pj9-zlGhdlNFiqDWUiv8M0a__IRWwT8QndawT02tIhvNoR3fdoZQsIrMvnIS0Nvp0oMgp5cbV24imtE/s320/static+5.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7s_Carp6gDw1bJxb90vV8yWnQbjuFawXUGFoVRLBerhk3xigUrh9b2gnAincB2oxqlqJ4NkiUvHxKl0t1-bOh4RvGkHug88ETmDT7G8QbjdHm4ypYYIqGOTRmJER3gamri28z2wZPtdg/s1600-h/static+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834338861516706" style="WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7s_Carp6gDw1bJxb90vV8yWnQbjuFawXUGFoVRLBerhk3xigUrh9b2gnAincB2oxqlqJ4NkiUvHxKl0t1-bOh4RvGkHug88ETmDT7G8QbjdHm4ypYYIqGOTRmJER3gamri28z2wZPtdg/s320/static+2.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1xWx1SureQ3yP5jWaoiFJUyeKKKb37F08FHSNubjpq21RxffXQddWTuz1pipuqc1jvqSWrwwB9KOptHzYuBamYcjWBfnLwn59aqKemT0JWFV4ihuagg8YnwsiRTwLRXPPHFvT6jj-MY/s1600-h/static.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834354343724818" style="WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1xWx1SureQ3yP5jWaoiFJUyeKKKb37F08FHSNubjpq21RxffXQddWTuz1pipuqc1jvqSWrwwB9KOptHzYuBamYcjWBfnLwn59aqKemT0JWFV4ihuagg8YnwsiRTwLRXPPHFvT6jj-MY/s320/static.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzn_p-KVZ0AZl5M0CLpDzd0iXTFe_FdgDesFiHVryTyKxoxEoI5srTvtCVn5G4lBy3LxckhhVFF08g_-NBn5fw9-HvZbsJKwclYUHIQdLsLwHUSVZReNnQMMdiLGgJjjs7p_E6HJc7hE/s1600-h/static+3.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300834366559130562" style="WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzn_p-KVZ0AZl5M0CLpDzd0iXTFe_FdgDesFiHVryTyKxoxEoI5srTvtCVn5G4lBy3LxckhhVFF08g_-NBn5fw9-HvZbsJKwclYUHIQdLsLwHUSVZReNnQMMdiLGgJjjs7p_E6HJc7hE/s320/static+3.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>I saw Leah's post on static <a href="http://allthingsjensen.blogspot.com/2009/01/static-cling.html">http://allthingsjensen.blogspot.com/2009/01/static-cling.html</a> and thought it was so funny. It is so terribly dry here and two of my kids have been cursed with my super fine fly-away hair. Static is a daily battle. The pics of Andrew don't do it justice but his hair is so crazy. We had the hardest time figuring out what to do with it and have finally decided it is better longer. Even better for the static episodes ;P</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-21290227600630832022009-02-06T21:51:00.005-07:002009-02-06T22:54:04.740-07:00Happy Birthday Andrew!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib94ORhyphenhyphenkLxSuumnflcQIJHzf5P1jlJYB6gOY7d-c-Fb3CsmGfS-Hsp8rAkruE9W_aSnwsGf3Cr4QNzQWtBwNffGjOC1HPRPtTlVnjE30EOI5YwYZk0IeAoemht-qmxFAkNJYZi-a2Dm8/s1600-h/Andrew.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299922931179384482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib94ORhyphenhyphenkLxSuumnflcQIJHzf5P1jlJYB6gOY7d-c-Fb3CsmGfS-Hsp8rAkruE9W_aSnwsGf3Cr4QNzQWtBwNffGjOC1HPRPtTlVnjE30EOI5YwYZk0IeAoemht-qmxFAkNJYZi-a2Dm8/s400/Andrew.JPG" border="0" /></a>Andrew turned 4 on the 9th of January. We asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. So away we went to Salt Lake for the weekend. luckily we have a great place to stay. Gary's parents are always so gracious and make us all feel so welcome. The kids just love them and I really think they enjoy our visits. We try not to dump the kids on them much but even when we do they always do it with a smile. We hadn't seen them since the family Christmas party at the first of December so they had Christmas presents for the kids. Desirae was thrilled with her jewelry box that has a dancing girl and all the jewelry and hair clips to go with it. Andrew and Benjamin both got some awesome night vision goggles and spy gear. It kept them busy for quite a while. Spencer got Star Wars Lego's, which he absolutely loves. And Gary and I got the new Gordon B. Hinkley movie and gift certificate to Deseret Book. The movie was so good. I love this prophet and I really enjoyed getting a little insight into his life. We got to Chuck-E-Cheese as soon as they opened on Friday. The kids love being first because all of the machines have a few tickets hanging out of them from when they were turned on and tested for the day. It was fun as usual. We then took the kids back and I got to go out with my Mom. It was quite a treat. My sister Tamara had a baby at the end of December so my Mom was out to visit her. I went and kidnapped her for the day. We went to lunch and went shopping then we went back to Gene and Maxine's house to have Andrew's birthday party. He opened gifts and we all ate cake and ice cream. What a great day. I think Gary even took the kids swimming while I was out. On Saturday we let the kids climb on the HUGE snow banks. They were as tall as the houses. They all had a blast. Spencer and Benjamin were very daring and even made a slide down the back of one of them. Andrew tried to climb but his little legs just wouldn't let him get too high. And Desirae was tickled to just sink in knee deep. When we got home we gave Andrew a "Big Wheel". Gary was more excited than Andrew. It is just the same as the one he had when he was little. Andrew is not terribly coordinated so I think it will take him a few more tries to get the hang of it but I'm sure he will be loving it this summer. So watch where you're driving, it is so low I think I'll get a flag for it. All-in-all a great weekend. <div><embed src="http://widget-0a.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386790410&site=widget-0a.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"></embed><div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386790410&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-0a.slide.com/p1/2594073385386790410/bb_t014_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386790410&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-0a.slide.com/p2/2594073385386790410/bb_t014_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386790410&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-0a.slide.com/p4/2594073385386790410/bb_t014_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></div></div>I know it is so clichet but man, they grow so fast. Andrew was my smallest baby. He had jaundice so bad for almost 2 months and he has always been so skinny. When he was just a year old we went on a trip to Bear Lake with Gary's family. He was then dubbed "Jack-Jack" by Uncle Jim. The Incredibles had recently come out and he really did look like him. The blond hair and the big eyes, so funny. I look at him and can hardly believe he was that same baby. He is so tall, and gangly and I guess that's where the clumsy come in. Gary describes him as a wet noodle trying to stand up. He is so fun and animated. He always has some toy in his hand. Usually a Star Wars guy or army man. He is always ready with hugs and kisses and wanting to be held. But at the same time, he plays so well by himself or with his brothers and sister. He truly brings so much joy and life to our family. We are so blessed to have his little life touch ours so deeply. We love you Andrew. I know this is going to be your best year yet. You are my favorite 4-year-old in the world.Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-2421673408819603092009-02-06T14:56:00.004-07:002009-02-06T15:21:18.330-07:00Happy New Year!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVD1LNmIneZz4yKDBlfGRCorrAmSaUYHQPbOwturDfwuKA7cBkuH30ElK_VrQdPbupkCKLC3o5spawkzQJt01XCWG6t5JgT5Rqrs9yB30Opeq-DSl-A1_SMa2658HhbFC66tbHFnoRk0c/s1600-h/legos.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299811907811093714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVD1LNmIneZz4yKDBlfGRCorrAmSaUYHQPbOwturDfwuKA7cBkuH30ElK_VrQdPbupkCKLC3o5spawkzQJt01XCWG6t5JgT5Rqrs9yB30Opeq-DSl-A1_SMa2658HhbFC66tbHFnoRk0c/s400/legos.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>So this crazy year has finally come to an end. I can't say I'm too sad to see it go. Don't get me wrong, It has been a great year. We have all grown and learned so much. I am just looking forward to all we have waiting for us. I have a hard time living in the "now". I really have to force myself to enjoy the moment. I have a tendency to be consumed by what I need to do or get done and I like checking things off my list, even if it is just a mental list most of the time. I get a little (okay, maybe alot) impatient when I have to just sit and not "accomplish" something. I don't really like watching movies for that reason. I feel like I'm wasting time. I don't feel so anxious if I'm not home. Like going to a movie in a theater or taking the kids to the park. But playing in the backyard, I feel like the laundry or dishes are calling me. So anyway, enough babbling. I have high hopes for this year. New years is a time for making resolutions and setting goals and I am no different. I know I'll only get out what I put in. I really want to put in alot of effort and get what I feel like is my life spinning out of control back on track. I have some organization goals and I am pretty disappointed I missed enrichment. I need to pick Kandice's brain for her tips. As always, there's weight loss/general health. It all just takes time, something I am terribly short of now-a-days. I know it's all about priorities and right now my priorities are on schooling. I'm just going to have to learn to live on less sleep. Alright enough of this...to the fun stuff. New Years Eve was fun. Originally we were going to go to Dana's but Logan got sick so that was out. We did have a great time at home. We got Desi and Andrew to be around 9:00 and then broke out the snacks and junk food. We played Legos, a carnival game, Skipbo, and put a puzzle together. Then we watched the ball drop. It was fun. I really love spending down time with Gary and our kids. They are all so fun and happy. I know it will be a great new year.</div><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-4e.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386772302&site=widget-4e.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386772302&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-4e.slide.com/p1/2594073385386772302/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386772302&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-4e.slide.com/p2/2594073385386772302/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386772302&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-4e.slide.com/p4/2594073385386772302/bb_t015_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-59283160609978195042009-02-06T12:58:00.005-07:002009-02-06T14:42:46.205-07:00Holiday FunWe had quite a bit of time to kill between the holidays so here are a few of the things we did. Luckily, for all of us, Gary had the week after Christmas off. We went sledding one day, It was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">alot</span> of fun. We even ran into a number of families from our neighborhood, the Tuckers and the Durhams. This was Andrew and Desirae's first official sledding experience and they loved it.<br /><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-f6.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386766838&site=widget-f6.slide.com"></embed><br /><div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386766838&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-f6.slide.com/p1/2594073385386766838/bb_t059_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386766838&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-f6.slide.com/p2/2594073385386766838/bb_t059_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386766838&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-f6.slide.com/p4/2594073385386766838/bb_t059_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>We also went bowling. Everybody had a better idea of what to do this time. It was early afternoon so the place was mostly empty. It was nice to let the kids roam a bit.<br /><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-38.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386768440&site=widget-38.slide.com"></embed><br /><div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386768440&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-38.slide.com/p1/2594073385386768440/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386768440&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-38.slide.com/p2/2594073385386768440/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386768440&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-38.slide.com/p4/2594073385386768440/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzJ4LKr1ki6w_7YwUkevs_f7pzAKyMGqlxyMGpmETssiZxFYZvwGQp3ok_ZM21e4mfCcnA5Z7Z1h_JqFn8LOQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>We also went ice skating. The Dana family invited us. I'm really glad they did or else we never would have gone. Poor Andrew, one step onto the ice and "BOOM" he fell back and banged his head. That was it for him. He spent the night sitting on the bleachers sucking down hot cocoa. I went around a couple times holding Desi's hands then she was done too. Spencer and Benjamin did great. They each went around once or twice holding onto the wall then they got brave and let go. Benjamin caught on really quick and he was a bit more daring. We all really enjoyed it. <div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-65.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386769765&site=widget-65.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386769765&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-65.slide.com/p1/2594073385386769765/bb_t043_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386769765&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-65.slide.com/p2/2594073385386769765/bb_t043_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386769765&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-65.slide.com/p4/2594073385386769765/bb_t043_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>Finally, we spent <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">alot</span> of time just playing together and having fun. Benjamin loves to dance and he has got some great rhythm and moves. Gary took these pictures one afternoon while I was gone. <div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-b5.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386770357&site=widget-b5.slide.com" wmode="transparent" salign="l" scale="noscale" quality="high"></embed> <div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386770357&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-b5.slide.com/p1/2594073385386770357/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386770357&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-b5.slide.com/p2/2594073385386770357/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386770357&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-b5.slide.com/p4/2594073385386770357/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>It was a great week gearing up to the new year finale.Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-53758339394918506042009-02-06T12:29:00.003-07:002009-02-06T12:57:27.108-07:00Christmas Day<div><div align="center">SO MUCH FUN!!! I love Christmas day, now even more than I did when I was little. I love the excitement and the pure joy when one of our kids gets the perfect gift. Spencer and Benjamin have figured out that they can get just about anything they ask for. They just have to ask the right people. Santa will give you one big ticket item, as will Mom and Dad. After those two requests are made the rest is up to chance and luck. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299772572294386658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOpSwUoN-rFVBoNOLbOQ2A9-r5tdsT23_mMwdJXysnQmmvfCVderTgu01sb7oKy1lgjFrMYJdnzMO9aGKS60jmN4pI1KNB31OuAMXIMXiOCawU5ikeL0Yy1SssJUmPTWIzaYrioEQiMc/s400/Spencer.JPG" border="0" />Spencer asked for an MP3 player from Santa and a Turtle from Mom & Dad. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299772551056760578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOaqLSQwbJOeJROt5Zks8gyKm6V4Tk_diNL1f9Z85A_I0S1vogt-f7RsQJs_-pdbkoY1B-6U9tqF3Cea_105Cihw6VbH1cW7Vz1aCxn8_HIRjClaGTJQNX3AdCcDOcBa3Sbf6IoA4HosA/s400/Benjamin.JPG" border="0" />Benjamin's only request was a double-bladed light saber so the rest was up to us. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299772552413153202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEALJUOu6Zn1mVyJ-oVvnkLyIqShG_Z_J4L1UsI0DzjSOt9jWwZZvl1Q4HeOPcwfjUpAG0LB0xS7dr0UxDNSfI0twkxAvmg9PeFHjOoGtIvqVlq8i5_eOjkmRKhjiKRZKC0YNJnczLbxY/s400/Andrew.JPG" border="0" />Andrew really didn't know what to ask for until the day before we made our trip to see Santa. He was coveting the neighbors Indiana Jones Whip so that sealed it for him. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299772565997288434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 231px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-vugVxzkScJssJglosKm7EPp0lg8vvxuLGww9b3vJLUMtDCwDbaYbPFX7u1JGhEb-OMQWWhZTzxI99BrG-Ry11LpyPwVdHJraWuJ_4fyOoUrdHc1mGYZSNSz_aytUc8NZaB8Ln6S5NU/s400/Desirae.JPG" border="0" />Desirae is still too young, of course. However with some strong suggestions from Benjamin she finally asked for a "Big Hoppy Bunny". Why? I don't know. We eventually got her to drop the bunny thing and get excited about a doll house. The day was great. We spent a good 3 or so hours opening and playing. Then we had brunch and played some more. Gary likes to hold off on a few gifts until later in the day and this year was no exception. He held on to the marble run, a couple family games and some treats. It's always fun to open more presents when you start to get a little bored with all the new stuff. It was a nice long day and we all just lazed around. We even had a few of the kids friends stop over to play for a bit. All in all a fantastic time to spend together doing a whole lot of nothing. Perfect.</div></div><div><embed src="http://widget-36.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386765366&site=widget-36.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"></embed><div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386765366&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-36.slide.com/p1/2594073385386765366/bb_t043_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386765366&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-36.slide.com/p2/2594073385386765366/bb_t043_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386765366&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-36.slide.com/p4/2594073385386765366/bb_t043_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-1607210959555839282009-02-05T20:48:00.004-07:002009-02-05T22:24:07.994-07:00Christmas Eve<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7jk1-srTaVh0jaK9_EkCiq11WskTNyL1MNBF1UA__f76lzBlL0BOgizryGeycJn06wZUtleYqHRGCPZdEPoVdXktkaRhcCK1DZAeUdtA2-fooIKbQRRwpxOK3x7Rf2qvj8xjP91p3rg/s1600-h/ready+for+bed.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299550836798499746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7jk1-srTaVh0jaK9_EkCiq11WskTNyL1MNBF1UA__f76lzBlL0BOgizryGeycJn06wZUtleYqHRGCPZdEPoVdXktkaRhcCK1DZAeUdtA2-fooIKbQRRwpxOK3x7Rf2qvj8xjP91p3rg/s400/ready+for+bed.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>We had a truly great time this year. The Dana family invited us over for dinner and a nativity put on by the kids. It was so fun and we all really enjoyed it. We are so blessed to have this fantastic family to hang out with. Spencer and Jarron met at school last year. They were both new to the school and town and they were lucky enough to meet on the first day of school. Michelle made homemade egg rolls, stir-fry veggies, wassail, hot chocolate and lots of yummy desserts. I brought sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and egg drop soup. It was fun to break away form the traditional Christmas dinner. We visited and the kids played then we dressed up and put on the nativity. Logan was Joseph and Desi is the only girl between both families so she was Mary. Jarron, Hayden, and Andrew were shepherds. Christian, Spencer, and Benjamin were wise men. After the nativity we visited and played a bit more then tore ourselves away from the peace of having the kids totally entertained by others and came home to finish out our own family traditions.<br /><br /><div><embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-81.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385386734721&site=widget-81.slide.com"></embed><br /><div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386734721&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-81.slide.com/p1/2594073385386734721/bb_t042_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386734721&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-81.slide.com/p2/2594073385386734721/bb_t042_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385386734721&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-81.slide.com/p4/2594073385386734721/bb_t042_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>Every year the kids get to open a new pair of jammies and choose one gift from one of their siblings to open. I think it really does help ease a bit of the excited tension for the kids to get to go to bed with a new toy in hand. After we got everyone to bed we finally finished cleaning up and getting ready for the big day. I'm still always so excited on Christmas Eve. I was exhausted but still had a hard time falling asleep in anticipation for tomorrow's fun. </div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-37238909932872455422008-12-30T11:14:00.008-07:002009-01-02T09:29:09.372-07:00The Reasoning of a Child...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3GkOpqqcpql2ZxOoAwdh1hYGVUZILXVwohrw6ZqnQgiuiFA75KUjIccfLkEIE7KRjQP3ziMWKqRYxugXyqN8sAn6XNGXCct86hOLpIu1ZtSJ9jXOeqgsULGq7DN6wJmVrA2Mj-pt2kg/s1600-h/08+10+05_1798.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285756857050158450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3GkOpqqcpql2ZxOoAwdh1hYGVUZILXVwohrw6ZqnQgiuiFA75KUjIccfLkEIE7KRjQP3ziMWKqRYxugXyqN8sAn6XNGXCct86hOLpIu1ZtSJ9jXOeqgsULGq7DN6wJmVrA2Mj-pt2kg/s400/08+10+05_1798.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglVHOVuLuRcBnctd_f34rPfXzq9Ng-0-d3nPcFx2qQvAhC7bh9ssUZ-QJJuQ8eqdXh6B0zitVMdt7XEAMV-05M2zrDFbANr59hqkfBiBGO4BWmJBQDIIWkD_mC43P4szeoLQxqVW7DHz8/s1600-h/Andrew.JPG"></a>I'm sorry, I hope <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">no one</span> is offended, but I just couldn't resist. If you have a son you will understand. Little boys (many big boys too) have a bit on an obsession with their wienies. Okay, a little background...Andrew is potty trained but he still wears a diaper to bed. When he gets up in the morning I remind him to go take his diaper off and get his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">unders</span> on. He usually takes the easy way out and just takes the diaper off and skips the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">unders</span> part. Today was no different. Well, after my umpteenth request for him to do it himself I finally took him upstairs to get him dressed. I took his pants off and this is how the conversation went...Andrew, "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ahhh</span> my wienie! Why do I have a wienie?" "That's how Heavenly Father made you." "Why don't girls have wienies?" "Because that's how Heavenly Father made them." "Heavenly Father ran out?" "What?" "It's okay girls don't have wienies 'cuz Heavenly Father ran out."<br /><br />I did my best not to laugh out loud. I love the simple reasoning of children. I love how their little minds work and how you can almost see the wheels turning. I love Andrew and the fun and laughter he brings to our home.</div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-28800626381921368642008-12-26T23:25:00.013-07:002008-12-27T09:31:49.837-07:00Ward Christmas Party<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBUVUepN7sNsdMnFFoFwk_8MD5vctaRarFnStXT-jHf5fTYiztR46kmLFy764rYucuqdD8RnuHeAHpYEruTDMcw9v8ZPhyphenhyphenJYJxrtKcmwvuu2mI-bwR-MSDFUz98ukN_X-rZ_QLKx-oRM/s1600-h/nativity.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284358395017086466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBUVUepN7sNsdMnFFoFwk_8MD5vctaRarFnStXT-jHf5fTYiztR46kmLFy764rYucuqdD8RnuHeAHpYEruTDMcw9v8ZPhyphenhyphenJYJxrtKcmwvuu2mI-bwR-MSDFUz98ukN_X-rZ_QLKx-oRM/s400/nativity.JPG" border="0" /></a>This year for our ward party they wanted to get back to basics. I think it was just right. They planned a visit from Santa, ham and potatoes dinner, music by the high school choral group, and the nativity. The kids started by sitting on the stage and singing "Here Comes Santa Clause" and "You Better Watch Out". Santa came and everyone got a chance to sit on his lap, make their request and get a goodie bag. Then dinner was served. The gym was cram-packed. There were as many tables as possible lined wall-to-wall. I wish I could say the food was great but I had a migraine so I spent the dinner time in the mothers lounge trying to get some Tylenol to kick in. Luckily it started to wain by the time dinner was over. Lucky for that because I was in charge of the nativity the there was only about 15 minutes to get all the kids dressed and pulled together. The Nativity was great. It lasted about 15 minutes total. The young women sang the songs like a "Choir of Angels" throughout the program. We had a couple narrators and the kids that participated were so reverent. It began with Samuel (Gary) and his prophesy of Christ's birth. Gary was such a good sport. I had arranged for another man to portray Samuel but he called and cancelled the night before. Gary was reluctantly willing to fill-in. He did a great job and really set the tone and spirit for the entire thing. Next came Mary (Hallie S.) and Joseph (Spencer). Spencer did not want her to hold onto his arm as they entered but he eventually conformed and even offered her to sit before him. The angels were some of the 8-9 year old girls in their pretty white baptism dresses. (Rylie W., McKayla W., Chelsea D., Mariah F., Madison D.) Then came the shepherds, Benjamin, Trevor S., and Gavin S. Finally the angel (Alison W.) leading the wise men (Peter S., Joel H., and Ryan B.) concluded the production.I had the narrators contrast what was going on in both hemispheres and then talk a little about how it effects us now. The night concluded with some words for Bishop Bently and the entire room singing "Silent Night". It was perfect. I have really started feeling a part of our ward. I enjoy the opportunities I get to serve and just socialize with the other members. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284358889619421586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFTvM9WLRt73ZGMA8qf7upGp2v3hwu9I_8kbtebRCinhew2I0NaoanRn5bxlULb5DOOvhF4PG3jjZR-9_Ox36PAd0mA13MrlDMpC3HgJQBDGDFaYmGXB-Bnw7XQfoXnKW9wvvO-XmX-Y/s200/peeking.JPG" border="0" />Benjamin waiting for Santa<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7YSkQilkB4MlQMLD0kNzzHNDrK5DNzlhjfjdxytffLbYXa-1AblGIY-cHQ84ZHGVKPo13hJfosb9GltLLbpgGJnlvyHODdLPT2JpmFp4UOt12iqjzsQWYSFYBHGK8NM2S9ZDremDnao/s1600-h/mary+and+joseph.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284358648168119922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 141px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7YSkQilkB4MlQMLD0kNzzHNDrK5DNzlhjfjdxytffLbYXa-1AblGIY-cHQ84ZHGVKPo13hJfosb9GltLLbpgGJnlvyHODdLPT2JpmFp4UOt12iqjzsQWYSFYBHGK8NM2S9ZDremDnao/s200/mary+and+joseph.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4fwc-eNjYHTUm8U02HFvSb45WCK2QS6GjIVzhsESi3Aw-dtV6KycvVh8p7yql25xv0iD3cZ9ZitHjRT6kTEipQPtjSPX3qSZdvbxoE4vZ64ZeB_bOd7pd9OQ1mswWLkDJ-pNRe6vA2iE/s1600-h/angels.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284358783544414562" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4fwc-eNjYHTUm8U02HFvSb45WCK2QS6GjIVzhsESi3Aw-dtV6KycvVh8p7yql25xv0iD3cZ9ZitHjRT6kTEipQPtjSPX3qSZdvbxoE4vZ64ZeB_bOd7pd9OQ1mswWLkDJ-pNRe6vA2iE/s200/angels.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXnXGvwTF1LUi-qRA41OWREUEKfYx4eqMm00wlZpbOgFV11CQ8CiV4eBnBkkOaO8bPMOOUQAHCO62vDavwF59ZSoEuElds6CbyIlJebXcdqnEleX4epMQVIro7A2e8GbgZGLJ2_YRi4c/s1600-h/Handsome+boys.JPG"></a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwO25-wFEoBVt4_4K6pLuq0yQXK7fDB8cPVBv3GYlyj9_t1NhLraeDpsENmLG2-lSTLCklLFCNj6t33o73wrlOzJwNPxcqY9KT3PaxV2wxxGyDvN30ZK-co6v5Q7N2shU5zoYpBgjcrQ/s1600-h/Handsome+boys.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284359565690395554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwO25-wFEoBVt4_4K6pLuq0yQXK7fDB8cPVBv3GYlyj9_t1NhLraeDpsENmLG2-lSTLCklLFCNj6t33o73wrlOzJwNPxcqY9KT3PaxV2wxxGyDvN30ZK-co6v5Q7N2shU5zoYpBgjcrQ/s200/Handsome+boys.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROIhlkZ1KDIPS8-_RaTrOxdxfPvwbMknOtqoKIHvCOZN8R8fG-hlA7zQK0VyNvcerNP5LiRN1lAwComzNf1PRg4m5FX3h-IGRiOPOmRC1ttXgljYns4lsrm73BqqMrx0jH7r1YI7tsqE/s1600-h/Samuel.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284358789104349282" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 137px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROIhlkZ1KDIPS8-_RaTrOxdxfPvwbMknOtqoKIHvCOZN8R8fG-hlA7zQK0VyNvcerNP5LiRN1lAwComzNf1PRg4m5FX3h-IGRiOPOmRC1ttXgljYns4lsrm73BqqMrx0jH7r1YI7tsqE/s200/Samuel.JPG" border="0" /></a></p></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999370128092260805.post-57363236337501582612008-12-25T14:24:00.008-07:002008-12-25T15:20:55.459-07:00Gingerbread Houses<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmoE_GWX0Q4qirFUvDc4cqmWvlg8mNxc07yoJuaKyPr1d3WvMW6S1Scpf9FUxUX2XEENZf-I7qLElVHUAfaljDrSZc_C1zzRbjg_E5KkxbpeWEYS8DequpFaWhhwihru4Ja5qMMcYUpx4/s1600-h/dec+13+08+015.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283850103027196674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 167px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmoE_GWX0Q4qirFUvDc4cqmWvlg8mNxc07yoJuaKyPr1d3WvMW6S1Scpf9FUxUX2XEENZf-I7qLElVHUAfaljDrSZc_C1zzRbjg_E5KkxbpeWEYS8DequpFaWhhwihru4Ja5qMMcYUpx4/s200/dec+13+08+015.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHMUT_2zp0h652TdWrCVLHA2PIRdQnSOC85t_7bStGcsqaCntqfwhBMVzNnR1EsRDhlImgBqisQXvTWTSgkphSkFtcNgYG1-9nd7jr_2484TDFtixzVP37gDGIclZmLrCf59AZj9-gzB8/s1600-h/dec+13+08+013.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283849948386976690" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHMUT_2zp0h652TdWrCVLHA2PIRdQnSOC85t_7bStGcsqaCntqfwhBMVzNnR1EsRDhlImgBqisQXvTWTSgkphSkFtcNgYG1-9nd7jr_2484TDFtixzVP37gDGIclZmLrCf59AZj9-gzB8/s200/dec+13+08+013.JPG" border="0" /></a>On the 9th we had a Christmas party with our homeschool group. It was titled "Winterland of Gingerbread." Each of the families brought a house or houses to make a little village. I figued each of the kids would want their own so I made a double batch of gingerbread but it only made enough for 1 house. I didn't want Desirae and Andrew to feel left out either so off to the store I went. For only $7.00, candy and frosting included, why not save the fight. Benjamin chose the homemade elf house, Spencer chose a pre-made one and the younger two kids shared one. Desi and Andrew were just interested in eating so it worked out just fine. We all had a great time making them. Benjamin and Spencer did most of the work themselves. I just manned the frosting bag. They told me where to put it and I just followed their requests. Gary has a great job with a very flixible schedule (it helps to be the boss) and he was able to come home for a long lunch to watch Desi and Andrew while I took Spencer and Benjamin to the party. They were so excited to go. They played bingo, made cards for soldiers, made up skits to Christmas songs, read a couple gingerbread stories and each of the kids got to tell about their house and what they liked best about making it. We had a great time and it was nice to get out with just the two older kids and let them do something that focused on them. It also forced me to make gingerbread houses. I'm not sure I would have gotten around to it otherwise. All in all a great success.</div><div><embed src="http://widget-be.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=2594073385385294526&site=widget-be.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"></embed><div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385385294526&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-be.slide.com/p1/2594073385385294526/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385385294526&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-be.slide.com/p2/2594073385385294526/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&at=un&id=2594073385385294526&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-be.slide.com/p4/2594073385385294526/bb_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></div></div>Lucky Mehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13351605889050124302noreply@blogger.com1