NAME

J- Joyful and fun
O- Ornery (sometimes)
S- Silly and full of life
H- Helpful
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While we were expecting, we were tossing baby names back and forth, but nothing seemed to fit our soon-to-be-little-bundle-of-joy. Finally, one Easter night, as we were watching the 10 Commandments, we really loved Joshua's story and fell in love with the name... and 5 months later, our own little Joshua was born.

elevator

Our favorite part of the whole mall experience.

(a fight always breaks out in deciding who gets to push the button.)

trike

This trike never sees the pavement. It's whole life has been spend in the confines of the backyard. It is used mainly for rolling down the back hill (while screaming and tightly closing eyes.) I am a mother of boys, what can I say. Ignorance is bliss.

blackout shadow show

The whole time we were in AZ it was storming, but the worst of it was Tuesday night. The dark grey clouds brought in some pretty nasty lightening. Before we knew it, the power went out and we were sitting in a dark living room. At first we started out with ghost stories, and then moved onto chatting. Jeff pulled out his pocket flashlight to entertain the kids for a while, and a shadow play started. Josh held the light as Brian and Jeff amazed us with their hand puppet knowledge (is there a criteria that you must know at least 12 hand puppets to graduate at Riddle?). The kids gave it a try, and soon we were all laughing. I got out my camera and tried to capture the moment. Taking a picture with my flash on caught everyone in the middle of the perfect shadow performance.

Bravo! Encore, encore!!

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A true art form.
Simply brillant.

at Brian and Amanda's house

The boys got to meet their new cousin, Zip. Thanks Zip for sharing your toys!

Playful boys.

Brian showed us his new helicopter.
and gave the boys a try.

It was fun to get to see Amanda and Brian's home. We got to meet Zip for the first time and were amazed by what a great cat he is. He was so good with the kids. Brian impressed us with his helicopter hovering skills on his new model helicopter, and even let the boys have a go at it. (Supervised, of course.)

more home cookin' at Young's Farm

Little Joshie Deere, how does your crop grow?
Ben refused the seat. He preferred the wheels.
little lamby-kins.
Mom, can we take him home?
Shucking corn with Grandpa.
Awwww, shucks.
We will miss you Young's Farm.

home cookin'

After dinner chit-chat. (Jeff and Brian can talk airplanes for hours on end!)Games with the Big green ball! (A favorite!)

Josh and Ben love Grandpa's antique toy collection, especially the big orange truck.

A rest before dinner.
Nigh-night time on the air mattress. (It's more comfy than it looks!)

Our time in Arizona was fast, but fun! We had a good time visiting, chatting, and eating with each other. Alfonzo restaurant was spontaneous and exciting! The Horchata rice drinks were so yummy! The kids loved walking to the park, where Jeff and Brian tried to out-spin each other on the tire swing. Josh and Ben colored about 250 pictures (and the dining room table) for Grandma. The big green ball was also a favorite, with a rolling/bouncing game going on about every half hour. We got to meet the chipmunk family that is living in the wood pile, gather pine cones from the front yard, and enjoy a big Arizona storm and power outage! (more pictures of that later!) The trip to Young's farm was a hit, the baby sheep were so cute at the petting zoo. Getting to see Brian and Amanda's apartment was fun, and the kids loved meeting their new cousin, Zip. Thanks for letting us come and visit!

ARIZONA here I come, right back where I started from

I have always liked the drive from Phoenix to Prescott. Things were especially green because of the the monsoon season. The saguaro cactus' seemed to wave like old friends as we drove the curvy highway. As we rode we rehashed old memories "Remember when we went to pick up your engagement ring and you didn't realize we were driving to Phoenix until we got to New River?", "Remember 'Dead Man's Wash' and 'Bloody Basin'?", "I remember when they started building Anthem, look at it now!", "Remember when you could buy a decent house for under $300,000?!"

wish shoe were here!

I guess he reminded me. Jeff says he reminded me (and had a conversation about the matter at hand) the day before, but in the hustle, bustle of getting ready to leave in the wee hours of the morning, I totally spaced it. (How could I have forgotten!) As we slipped out into the cool (but still muggy) morning air, the kids and myself all threw on our flip flops. And as any good non-rev passenger knows Flip-flops+Non-Rev travel = No NO!

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It was brought to our attention as we were just about to board the first flight of the morning. They had squeezed just enough room for 2, and we were about to break up the group when the gate agent said "What! You all have flip flops on! Hey! They all have flip flops on!" and that is when I wanted to melt right into the rarely vacuumed, blue terminal carpeting.
What were we to do? Our bag was checked, the carseats were checked... all on their way to PHX. (without us) A very ticked husband left for Target at 7:37 am from Terminal A gate 21 to buy us all new shoes.

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And then I saw him, carrying that well known white target bag and a smirk. We gathered around as he pulled each pair from his bag. Josh, hiking boots without socks, a lovely combo. Ben, the same, just smaller, lovely. We quickly and frantically pulled the boots on and rolled their pants down to hide their ankles and their dignity. (poor souls, a classic fashion violation by my own flesh and blood) And then, the moment of truth came. Out of the bag came my little ditties. What horror in a shoe. They looked as if they were crafted for a ninety-year-old-woman.(Arch supports and all) Jeff laughed "Now maybe you will remember the dress code!" He had sought out the ugliest shoes he could find. It was a choice between the black braided faux leather, and the gold metallic slip-ons) And, I agreed to it, guilty as charged. As my punishment I donned the black old-lady clod hoppers. (But I changed as soon as I boarded our flight. I am sure the guy next to me thought I was nuts as I changed from my "boarding shoes" into my "flying shoes" and back into my "deboarding shoes" all in a 2 hour flight.)

fly the friendly skies

Hold your horses, we will be back soon!

faux hawk

Little boys hair is so straight forward and dull sometimes. My biggest thrill in the morning is deciding to part it on the right side or the left. It's so unfair that little girls get all the ribbons, bows, and baubles for their locks. Trying to spice things up a bit this morning (yet keep things on a manly note), I gave Ben a faux hawk (just on the top). In my opinion, it's pretty hip. He seemed to like it, and laughed all the way out to the car. The happiness a little gel brings. Bliss.

mornin' swim

Because after 10 am, the temps reach uncomfortably high levels, we took our dippity-do in the morning. It's so much better that way.

up, up, and away

While we were at a play date yesterday at a friends home, Ashley let the boys take one of the leftover birthday balloons home. (They were still afloat!) What a treat! Each balloon was toted all over town while I was running errands that day.

Josh asked me what would happen if he let the balloon go outside. I told him it would float up high into the clouds, but it would be gone forever. He decided he wanted to let it go, and talked a reluctant Ben into the same thing.
As the balloons floated up into the clouds, we each made a wish, and Ben made the creative observation, "It's dancing in the sky!"

Josh added, "My balloon is waiving bye-bye!"

I love the morning.

Inside

outside

and in our hearts.

modern marvel.

original artwork by Josh.

The new way of coloring. Josh loves to use the computer... I really encourage it so he can become more computer savvy. He is a master at paintbrush and loves to help me check my e-mail. What a techno-kid, he is totally 2006.

Way to go Josh! Do you think you could re-program my hard drive?

twenty-some years ago...

this is what I was doing.

Only 3 more days until our AZ trip!

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In lieu of our approaching trip to AZ, I have made a list of the top 10 things I miss about Prescott.

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10. Dry air. Things in AZ keep better. The sugar stays nice and clump free, the crackers stay crispy, you don't have to worry about mascara spots.

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9. The Dells. I miss driving through the Dells on our way out to Chino. Those swervy roads were are the best. (especially when it's snowing.)

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8. Now, don't laugh about this one. I really miss K-Mart. For the life of me, I can't find one in Texas! I use to love to browse around the isles and shop for blue light specials.

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7. Where everybody knows your name. It was a weird sensation to go to the store right after we moved, and not have one single person stop me to chat. Though my association base is slowly building, I don't run into as many people that know me (or someone related to me) as I use to.

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6. Downtown Prescott. How many times have I shopped at Bashford Courts as a teen? (Countless) 'The Raven' still sticks in my mind as a favorite premium paperie. Or the old courthouse. Working for the County Attorneys office meant many a trip across the street for paper filing. I loved the musty old smell, and how I knew the security guards at the front door on a first name basis. Or the Gurley Street Grill. (fettuccini alfredo, chicken caesar salad, and personal apple pies.)

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5. Embry Riddle. I can't forget to give a shout out for Jeff's old Alma Mater. When I found out we were expecting Josh, I told jeff right there in the employee parking lot at the Flight Line. I fondly remember hitching a ride in the back seat of a Cessna airplane on a couple trips to Vegas while Jeff was instructing a student. I would use the computers in the debriefing rooms daily. Free internet at it's best.

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4. Arizona sunsets. The pink and purple vibrancy in the sky. I took them for granted when I lived there, but now I realize they are a treasure indeed.

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3. Genovieses. A Valentines day Tradition. Every Valentines day we spent in Prescott (Except one, because of the snow.) we dined on lovely Italian food at this restaurant jewel.

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2. The library book sale. What a treasure! My used book collection would grow every week for only the cost of pennies. I have volumes and volumes of great antique books and found a hobby that Jeff and I both enjoy.

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1. My fam! Pull out the sofa sleeper and lock up your breakables. The family is coming to town.

See you in 3.

baby, it's hot outside!

To beat the heat, after playgroup today we took a stop at Sonic for a cool treat. (The temp has been in the 100's for the past week. Yesterday it was 107, and today is 105. What did people do before air conditioning and ice cream?)

Ben battling his humongus ice cream cone.

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(Seriously, look at how big that thing is!)

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Josh helps Rylei wipe her

messy ice cream face.

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Such a tender heart.