Chuck Powell @ 98.7 The Peak

Yay! Chuck Powell has returned and is now on in the morning at 98.7 The Peak.
Thanks so much to those who left comments and let me know. Really appreciate it.

February 14th – Martinos

Opa and Jane were in town for Jake’s farewell and we took them to our ward valentine activity, which was a restaurant called, “Martino’s,” which was really the stake center made up to look like a real Venetian restaurant. It was awesome. They turned those rolling things you stack the chairs on into gondolas and had the youth all dressed as boatmen and servers and you got in the gondola and they rowed you across half the cultural hall to the restaurant, i.e., the other half of the cultural hall. They took the pictures before we got on the gondolas. Then they had singing and stuff. It was really cool and Opa and Jane loved it. We had a great time. The chef, Martino, was really our second counselor, Marty Kurtz, with an Italian accent. He was less chef than host, but the food was really good, too.

Updates for January 23rd to February 13th

Ok – I’m getting really bad at the blogging thing. I am also trying to take a picture a day for the year. I haven’t been very good at that lately. I think that maybe I’m spending too much time on Facebook. So here’s to getting caught up.

January 23rd – We had a storm and here’s a photo that I took. I think it turned out kind of cool.

January 27th – Ric and I went to the Temple.

January 31st – Marius’ baptism – We went over to the Frees for dinner after the baptism.
The girls payed with the wii.

Pretty much for the month of February someone was sick. There were so many notes coming home from school about this or that going around the classroom.

February 2nd – Took Aidrin to the Dr’s to be tested for strep. The test came back negative.

We played clue.

February 4th – Our wild bunny that lives in our back yard. Aidrin named him Peter.

It’s spring at our house

February 5th – Cool sunset

February 6th – We made lemonade!

February 7th – Camryn went to a birthday party. They went ice skating. It’s kind of funny, the girl that invited her to the party, lives about 4 houses down from ours. We only found out this information days before the party. I guess we need to get out more and meet our neighbors. They have lived there for about a year now. Camryn, Lauren, and Aidrin, went over to their cousins for a while after Camryn came home from the party. Terran didn’t want to go, so Ric and I took her to Wendy’s for dinner.

February 9th – Cool storm

February 12th – Camryn, Lauren, and Aidrin did their Valentines for their friends at school.

February 13th – Terran’s rose from a friend at school.

Go Cards!

The Cardinals are going to the Superbowl.
Lauren was very excited about the game. Her class had a party on Tuesday to celebrate the win. They had popcorn and wore red.

We moved to Arizona in the summer of 2004. Every year, since we’ve been here, I’ve heard how much the Arizona Cardinals suck.
I think that it was last September, I was taking the kids to school, and I see this window sticker on a truck that says, “Please Arizona Cardinals don’t suck too much this year.” or something like that. I don’t think that I have the wording exactly right, but it’s close.
I tell Ric about this sticker, and we have a discussion on how the Cards suck every year.
So, this football season, after every game, I would asked Ric who won. The Cardinals seemed to be winning most of their games. Every time the Cardinals won a game, I would bring up the truck that I saw.
Sunday, January 18th, we have 3:00 church, Ric set the game to record on the DVR, and told everyone and anyone that he did not want to know who won the game. Anyway long story short. The Cardinals beat the Eagles. It was funny, I was listening to the announcers and all of them picked the Eagles to win.
Everyone is so excited that the Arizona is going to the Superbowl.

January 19th – The kids were home from school all day. They really wanted to become members of Club Penguin again. The girls just started cleaning the house. They also gathered all their money together, so that they could pay for a membership. The cost $29.99. After the house was cleaned, they came and asked if they could become members. I gave in. I think it was because they cleaned the house. Without me asking them to clean. The girls were happy all day playing on the computers. They played together nicely. No fights.

Lauren gave us the lesson for Family Home Evening. For activity days, Lauren had been given some pictures, so that she could give a lesson on the first vision. She did a great job.

I’m amazed that Terran actually let me take her picture. Here are a couple of photos of Terran’s new hair cut, that she cut herself.

January 20th – Was the 100th day that Aidrin has been in school. The kindergarten was celebrating the 100th day, so they had all the children bring in a bag of something that counted up to 100.
Aidrin brought in M&M’s. She said they had a big party. They shared all the treats that were brought in.

Speaking of Terran cutting her hair. Aidrin, I guess took note that, and found the scissors. Aidrin cut a big chunk of her hair off. When I informed Aidrin that I would have to cut her hair and even it out, she was in tears. But, it all worked out in the end. We cut off about 5 inches. It turned out really cute. I’ll have to take some pictures.

Camryn went over to Kaitlyn’s with Vanessa and they had band practice.

January 21st – Camryn had her band practice at our house today. Kaitlyn and Vanessa came over. Kaitlyn does not have drums yet, but did come up with a drum set. You’ll have to see the pictures. Camryn wrote the song they are practicing. It sounds pretty good. It is coming together. Camryn is pretty amazing. She is a very determined and hardworking girl.

The band:

ADSR4 – Challenge 6

This challenge was a little bit confusing, but I think that I did it right.

Inspiration Lane ROAD BLOCK:

Welcome to Inspiration Lane, the next stop on the Amazing DigiScrap Race. This leg of the race is a ROAD BLOCK which means only 1 person can particpate. You must choose a layout from your partners gallery and scraplift it using the following direction:

Take your chosen layout from your partners gallery and flip it either horizontally or vertically.
Now take the layout and rotate it 45 degrees.
You must use this “new” version as the sketch for your layout.
When creating your layout you must use the EXACT same number of items that your partner used in the original layout, no more, no less.

Here is my layout

Amazing Digiscrapping Race #4

So I joined the ADSR #4. I am teamed up with a partner. Her name is Kathi. She’s the best partner ever. Her layouts are fantastic and she’s very fast. Our team blog

Challenge# 1 – The moment everyone had been waiting for has been done. The first challenge of the Amazing Didi Scrap Race 4 has been posted.

1) Rip and tear a photo into three or more pieces! (that’s a photo, not papers!)
2) Use journaling on your layout (something I stress is SO important).

This is a challenge to be completed by both racers.

Here is my layout. It took me forever to tear the photo.

Challenge #2
ADSR – Stop#2 – Intersection!
Here was the challenge:

Cabin Fever
(interpret this as you will, but it must be evident that this is the thought/theme behind your page!)

Must include:
3 photos
4 papers only (no more or less)
8 different elements – at least 1 must be acrylic
2 different fonts
Must have a title, and journaling (which must be visible – if it is not readable, please include in your description)

Between us partners we came up with our interpretation of the theme. We decided to go with what could be a cure for cabin fever. I started us out with a fabulous template and provided the photos. I started the layout by placing the photos and papers. Kathi, my partner finished it off with the elements, journaling and title. I think that it turned out so cute.

Here is our layout:

Challenge #3
This is a regular stop, which means that both racers will need to do their own layout.

Your challenge is simple.

Find the first layout you created that is still uploaded to a gallery and scraplift it using techniques, trends and concepts that you have learned since you did that original layout.

You can…

* You can use a different kit, elements, papers, brushes, shapes, etc.
* You can add and remove elements, papers, etc.
* You can use a different sized canvas.
* You can move things around and change the overall sketch of the layout.
* You can use the first layout uploaded to any gallery. This does not necessarily mean that it’s the first layout you ever did.When you view your gallery, at whichever site it is at, it needs to be the first layout uploaded to that gallery.
You can not…

* You can not add additional photos to the layout.
* You can not remove any photos from the layout.
* You can not add additional text to the layout; journaling, alphas that spell out a word, word art, journaling. The only text that appears on the layout must be identical in verbiage to what it was originally. You can change the font, you can convert text into an alpha. If your layout previously used an alpha or wordart, you can convert that alpha/wordart to text or use a new alpha/wordart to spell the same thing. When you are done though, you must have the same words that were on the old layout, on the new layout.

Here is my layout:

Challenge #4
The Art and Soul Challenge!
You both must complete this challenge! However, this is a FAST FORWARD challenge which means that the first team done can SKIP the January 18th challenge if they wish!

1. The Art of it: Your LO must have artistic flair! Literally! Your LO must have at least 3 things “artsy” and/or “altered” on it–(such as but not limited to: paint splatters, a paintbrush, paint spills, crayon doodles, goopy glitter, watercolors, canvas AND/OR altered art items such as wings on photos, art dolls, vintage doodads, ephemera, etc). Really stretch yourself and try something “artsy” that you haven’t tried before!

2. The Soul of it: You must journal something from your Soul. Something positive, heartfelt and meaningful to you in your life! Something you’ve learned, something you’ve gleaned from your life experience. Perhaps something you would want to pass on to the next generation! (It can even be your favorite quote and why it touches/inspires you) Uplift us, make us smile–inspire us! You must share your journaling with us-if it’s hard to read or blended into the background-part of the challenge is to share your journaling in your description.

This was a really hard challenge, but I think that my layout turned out ok.

Challenge #5:
Your challenge for this stop is to create a layout that has no photos on it, but includes at least 3 different and separate photo frames.
Sometimes we have special thoughts, feelings and/or memories about a person or place or event or pet or whatever, but no photos. OR, we could be missing someone who has passed on or something that is no longer in our lives and would dearly love to be able to express that on a page.

Because scrapbooking is all about recording our life journey and that of our family we can still create a page to record and preserve those special thoughts, feelings and/or memories with a little thought and planning and with the creative use of photo frames and journaling (although journaling is not required for this challenge).

Here is my layout for #5:

January Updates:

Not a lot going on in January so far. The kids went back to school on January 5th. I think they had enough vacation, and were eager to see all their friends.

January 5th – Ric surprised me and brought home cake and ice cream for my birthday.

We also went to the library.

January 9th – We went to Red Robin for my birthday. Aidrin was so happy that they sang a birthday song to her mom. She’s all about the party.

January 12th – Ric took Camryn, Lauren, and Aidrin to Skateland for family home eveing. I had a really bad headache, and Terran didn’t want to go. So I guess it was partial family home evening. Anyway, they had a great time. Aidrin came home with some bruises. Ric forgot how to skate, and could barely help Aidrin. Lauren and Camryn just had a great time. They brought their own skates. Ric entered Aidrin in a drawing and she won a $100 gift certificate towards a birthdy party at skateland. She came home and told me that we are rich.

January 16th – We have a rabbit in our backyard. We’re not sure how it got there. We live in a neighborhood, so how does a wild jack rabbit find its way into our backyard.
The picture is hard to see the bunny. It blends in with the rocks, but it’s next to the tree, if you look closely, you can see it.

January 17th – We worked on the Mancave.

Here is a photo of my short hair:

December Updates

I’ve been really bad at the blogging thing lately. It seems like I’ve had so much to do, but yet not being able to see any accomplishments.

So here is my attempt to update since I’ve last wrote.

Our house is decorated for Christmas.

Thanksgiving: My mom and dad came and made our family dinner. Thanks Mom! It was great. We love having them come and visit. We miss them when they’re not here. Aidrin especially misses her grandparents. She would love it, if we could all just live in one place together. She did make her grandpa a little mad though. She grew. He doesn’t like that.

December:

Dec 2nd – Terran was suppose to have her dentist appointment, but that morning had a fever and had to stay home from school. Lauren was suppose to go the next day, so I took her instead.

Dec 3rd – Camryn and Aidrin went to the dentist.

Dec 4th – I took a really cool photo.

Dec 6th – Aidrin learned to ride a bike without training wheels.

Dec 10th – I went to a cookie exchange that the relief society was having – and ended up with too many cookies.

Dec 11th – I got my hair cut. Really really short. I tried to keep it long, but it wouldn’t work. I’ll post photos later.

Dec 12th – We had our ward party and Ric sang 3 songs in the program. It was fun!

Dec 15th – We had family night. We invited Andrew and Kaitlin to go to see the Temple lights. After the lights we stopped off at the Frees, and then headed to the QT for some hot chocolate. (It was a really rainy and cold night. Not hardly anyone looking at lights.)

This is what your photos look like, when you accidently put on the fireworks setting:

The girls taking photos with cell phones. Everyone has a phone, except for Aidrin.

Mesa Temple (I’m still not very good at the night photos.)

December 16th – Chorus Concert. Camryn and Lauren joined the Chorus at school. You have to be in grades 3rd to 6th to be in it. Since I didn’t want to have to drop Aidrin off again at school, I just sent her with the girls 2 times a week at 7:30 am. I told her to be good and just watch the girls. Apparently, she learned all the songs, so they let her perform with the group. Here is a video of one of the songs. Aidrin is in the front row with the Santa hat on.The one that is dancing and doing hand signs. I don’t know if you knows that there is a whole group performing with her. She was the show. She was really into it.

You can check out more videos at:taxwielder

Christmas: We had a great Christmas. It was very quiet and peaceful. Opa and Grandma Jane came and stayed with us. Christmas Eve we went to the Free’s for dinner and the nativity play that we usually do every year. It was so fun! We love having family come and visit.

December 30th – Well, let’s see. Our 15 year old, decided to stay out later than she was suppose to. She had asked to go with friends. I said ok, can you be home at 9:30 pm. She said sure. So when 9:35 came and went, I called over to her friend’s house. The mom had stated that they had just left to another friends house. I tried to call her on her cell phone. She didn’t answer. She did text me that she was fine about 10 minutes later. Well, I then continued to call all night constantly. She wouldn’t answer. I text. She ignored everything. Finally about 11:30, I called the police and inquired if there had been any accidents? I was relieved to find out that there had not been any. I then text the words I’ve called the police. She then called me back saying are you crazy. She finally came home at about 12:15am. She was in big trouble.

The update:

Since it has been so long that I have written anything, I decided that I need to do a major update in one post. So this will be long. So here goes me trying to remember the last two months of my life.
August:
First day of school layouts

September:
Missy lost her first tooth

September 11th:

September 18th:
Camryn’s field trip to Chase Field

Ric was one of the chaperons for the field trip.
Ric and Camryn received free tickets for the game on September 18th. We were able to get Lauren and Aidrin tickets too. So Ric loaded up the girls in the commuter van and they went and watched the Diamondbacks. Aidrin and Lauren are really cute when they talk about the Dbacks.
The Dbacks played the Giants and won the game 3 to 2. Half the school went to the game. So the girls had a ton of friends at the game with them.The girls had a great time.

October 11th:
Camryn and Lauren organized their first ever garage sale. They made about $60.00 and used the money to buy an electric guitar and amp for their band.

October 31st – Halloween:
We had trunk or treat at the church. Camryn invited Kaitlyn to come with and they met Vanessa and Abby there. The 4 of them then took off and went trick or treating around the neighborhood. I didn’t get any pictures of Lauren for Halloween this year. She went with the Heaton’s after school and went to their house trick or treating with Abby. I picked her up at 10 pm. Wow what a late night. Terran went to the church and then me up with her band members. Did I mention that Terran was in a band?
After Aidrin went around and around the church parking lot and collected buckets of candy, Ric and I then took her trick or treating by the school and the church. She saw a ton of her friends. She had a great time. Halloween is just not Halloween unless you get to ring some doorbells. Here are a few photos of the night:

Aidrin in her beautiful curlers

What a beautiful princess!

Camryn & Kaitlyn

Terran (90’s raver) & Michelle

Back to Terran and the Band. Terran is now in a band (Screemo) called Acydia, with 5 boys, ages 17 and older. Yikes! They have played 2 shows. November 1st at Chyro Arts and November 17th at the Sets. Here is a video that was uploaded on youtube. I am still editing the last show and have not yet put any videos up from that show. I think the sound was better at the November 17th show. The Chyro Art show was kind of distorted.

Anyway if you dare (remember screemo) here is a video:

November 20th:
The girls had a dance at the school.
They kind of forgot about their dad and ran off with their friends.

Aidrin all ready to go

Aidrin after the dance – face painted like a tiger

For all of September, October, and November we have had soccer. Camryn had practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Aidrin had her practice on Wednesday. Games all day Saturday. Here are a few pictures:

The Hedgehogs:
The Hedgehogs won the banner contest.

The Gators:

Lauren & Aidrin sharing some tunes

We’ve been trying to have a family night once a week and have seen a few movies lately. Here are some of them: