Then to Georgia

So on Monday after the funeral, literally, I hopped on a plane back to Arizona. I got home at around 10:30 that night and we were back at the airport the next morning at 4:30am. Off we went to Georgia to see Josh graduate from boot camp. We (Steve, me and the kids) flew to Atlanta then rented a car and drove 2 more hours to Ft Benning. We finally got there on Tuesday night at about 7:15. Then we spent the rest of the night lost looking for our cabin. When we finally found it and checked in it was about 10:00. We stayed in a beautiful log cabin on base right off of the chatahoochee river. But the base is so big it was about 15 minutes from anything else so they were really secluded. The next day, Wednesday, was my birthday and I couldn't have asked for a better gift than to see Josh. On Wednesday there was a small awards ceremony and Josh made soldier of the cycle for his platoon. Only 4 guys out of 223 got this and Josh was one of them. I was very proud of him. He was dressed in his dress uniform. That night, Steve's sister Wendy and her husband Jack and their kids got there and we had such a blast!! It was so good to see them. We hadn't seen any of them in over 4 years. Their oldest son Shane is also in the military and stationed there so we also saw him and his wife and their baby there. And to top it off, one of my ex sister in laws lives there with my nieces and so we were able to see them too. Josh's girlfriend's parents live there too. It was like a huge family reunion. I think Josh was happy to see everyone after not seeing any of us 10 weeks.The next day we saw his graduation and it was awesome. We had a wonderful time out there. The kids got to know their cousins again and Wendy and I got to visit. Steve and Jack got to play Wii. What more could a family ask for? Anyways, this was a great trip. Josh is now in North Carolina, Wendy's back in Tennessee, we're back here in the desert but it was fun while it lasted.

Grandma K

My grandma passed away on March 13, 2008. I was devastated when my parents called to tell me the news. We all knew this day was coming...she was 96 and had lived a full and wonderful life but when that news hit me, I was still very, very sad. I rushed home to San Antonio to help with whatever my mom needed help with. Her and my dad had already made all of the funeral arrangements, ordered all of the flowers, they had taken grandmas things that they wanted her dressed in, notified all of the family, etc...all they wanted me to do was work on a collage. Well, I love pictures and learning about peoples histories so this, to me, was a great task. I was up until 3:30 in the morning making this collage. I learned a lot while making it. I don't know if you can see it but when you zoom in on the picture of the collage you can see that in alot of the pics my grandma was downtown walking...in some she is walking with her kids, there are some with friends, some of her alone. Anyways, I learned that back in the twenties and thirties photographers would just sit down town and take pics of people walking in the streets and then give you the opportunity to buy those pics. My grandma was photographed often so she had a lot of them. The oldest picture I found was dated back to 1924. My grandma was 13 years old. this picture was paper thin. We should definitely not handle it too much as it is very flimsy. I also learned that although my whole life we had celebrated her birthday on September 16th her true birthday was September 15th. She was born so close to midnight that her parents chose the 16th to celebrate her birthday so she could celebrate on diez y ses de septiembre which is some sort of a mexican holiday. I found her true birthday on her green card where her birthday is listed as the 15th. It was all very interesting. I tried to get as many photos as I could of her funeral. I really like pictures of raw emotion. Not that I like to watch people cry but to see the hurt in their faces really shows the true love they felt for whoever it is they are mourning...in this case, my grandma. She was the greatest!! She honestly did not have a bitter bone in her body. she loved all of us for who we were. Whether we were college grads or high school dropouts. We were all special to her. She was the oldest of 8 children and she outlived all of them. So she truly was the matriarch of the family. All of her nieces and nephews and their children were there. She was one of the few who still handwrote letters to people and she was still sending those letters up to the day that she passed away. I spoke at her wake and somehow managed to make everyone cry. These were not my intentions. I only spoke truths about my grandma and my undying love for her. She will be greatly missed!! I will post my speech once I get it all typed. Here's a couple more pics of the funeral. I wish I would have taken one of everyone there...it was amazing!! We didn't even know some of them. You were great grandma!! We love you!!

I'm back...w/ colorful eggs!!

I have been so busy the past 2 weeks I dont even know where to begin. I will update you over the next few days along with pics from my adventures (if thats what you want to call them). I am glad to be back home and in my wonderful world of blog!! Meanwhile, we colored eggs tonight...everyone had a blast!! Justin tried and tried to get a dark blue egg but it never happened. Steph got the perfect shade of teal she was looking for.But Steve couldn't figure out why his egg was still white...This is the first year Jarom actually got enjoyment out of it. I love to watch all of them get excitement out of a little egg.THESE ARE THE TIMES I LIVE FOR!! WHAT A LIFE!!

Girls Are Evil

For years now I have told my boys to stay far, far away from girls as they are evil and were put on this planet to tempt and in many cases further destroy the willpower of a boy. Yes, I do have a girl (the only one on this earth that is not evil) and she will hear the same things about boys when her time comes. But for now, we will say that it is the girls that are evil. Well, this was proven, today, to my daughter as well. She has this little circle of friends that she loves to hang with. Yes, the same girls in the pics from her birthday. But this little circle of friends has a lot more freedom than my daughter has now or will ever have. For the most part, these girls are 10 and 11. So today my daughter came home and eagerly did her homework, asked what her chores were for the day and did those, then she called "the girls" and they all agreed to meet at the park (the only place she is allowed to go). So she walked to the park. By the time she got there they had hooked up with a couple of other girls (who she is fighting with right now) and they had all decided to walk to Water and Ice(knowing Steph can't go). Now Water and Ice is on the corner of 2 major roads and it is traffic hour...NEVER!! They all know she is not able to go as she has never been able to go. So she walked to the park only to be told that they were all ditching her. She was devastated!! Why did they even ask me to go to the park!?!, she cried. I have never been so sad as I was for her today...she came home balling. So I had to reiterate to her as I have numerous times to my boys that girls are evil!! My mind is set...no ifs, ands, or buts about it...they are evil!!

Not a loser after all

I am not one to contain my excitement about anything. If I am really excited about something I can't help but tell the world what is exciting me at that time. Well, for the past 2 weeks I have been really excited about something and it took all I had not to post it on my blog. My friend Vicky called me a few weeks ago and told me that they would be holding The Biggest Loser tryouts at Superstition Springs Mall today. Now, she only called me because I have mentioned, several times, my desire to compete on that show. I think I am pretty outgoing, I'm not afraid of the pain the workouts would bring me...in fact, I love feeling of sore legs and abs it makes me feel like I have actually made a dent, I am pretty competitive and dont like losing, I was once very active and athletic and feel I could be that way again. I feel like I would do really good. I was so excited about this for the past few weeks. So this morning I go onto the internet and read that they were in fact having this casting call today but only for teams of two!! I was so bummed..I have waited this long and now I can't do it because I don't have a partner. So I went on with my day..baseball, softball, kids, cleaning, laundry, you know the drill. Anyways, at 4 o'clock Vicky called me from Superstition Springs and was watching all of the wannabe Losers stand in line...she told me that there were lots of people there auditioning without a partner. So I went!! I stood in line, filled out my app, went in and spoke to them, etc. When they were done explaining the process, they advised us that if we are in fact chosen to do a 2nd interview we would get a call by 10:00 tonight. I didn't get my call!! I am so sad...guess I'm not loser material after all.

Camera shy

Spring is upon us

Jarom woke up on Friday, showered, and immediately wanted to go outside to play. It was like he knew it was the perfect day out there. He looked so cute after his shower I thought I would snap a shot while his face was still clean. Isn't he beautiful? I LOVE HIM!!! Once we got outside I decided to take another one just to have proof that he was once a blonde...Once we cut it I know it will come in a little darker. Plus, he was deep in thought trying to figure out how he could get away from me next. I chased him all over. We had fun!! I love Spring...it is my favorite season-fresh flowers, green grass, singing birds and happy kids. And it is slowly approaching us. What more could a girl ask for?