Happy Fathers Day!

Ellis Grandparents 70th Wedding Anniversary

Some fun pictures of all that were able to attend the 70th wedding anniversary of my grandparents.  Unfortunately grandpa ended up not feeling well and was unable to attend but grandma was treated like the royalty that she is.

Pig Chasen and Muttin Bustin

The kids had the opportunity to go to a rodeo out in Queen Creek a few weeks ago and Brinley did a little muttin bustin and Lincoln did some pig chasen. 

Lincoln signed up for the muttin bustin but the sheep were completely warn out just before his turn.  The video of Brinley is the 2nd sheep that she was on.  The first one just stood there when they opened the gate and wouldn't move.  They pushed and pinched and yelled and finally put her on another one.  I'm not sure if it's more entertaining for the parents to watch or the kids to ride and chase.  I think it's great!  Hopefully we will be able to find another rodeo before Lincoln gets to old for the muttin bustin.

San Diego - Spring break

The kids and I went to San Diego for Spring break.  We were a little cold but had a really fun time at Sea World and spending time at the hotel.  The kids were super excited to go on the airplane and even more excited about the heated pools.  This isn't normal in Arizona.  My favorite part obviously is the polar bears.  Brinley cried because Lincoln wouldn't go on the big roller coasters with her and Lincoln cried because he didn't want to go on the big roller coasters.  Other than that, (oh, and the super fast taxi driver) we had a great trip.

Two sisters one heart race

This was a very fun race that our family ran with Ambers family. We all did great and had a lot of fun afterwards eating pancakes, slushes and listening to the wild 80s music.

They created this race to help the family out with medical bills however, the sisters past away a few months before the race so it was done for the memory of the sisters. http://www.twosisters-oneheart.blogspot.com/

Next Race

Brinley and I ran another race today.  It was the Londons run at Schnepf farms.  We ran out on the dirt roads around the fields.  It was really fun and we will definitely keep it in mind to run again next year. 

Pinewood Derby

Lincoln had his first pinewood derby this year.  We are proud to say that he made his own car, design, paint, color choices and stickers.  He won between 3-5 races out of the 50++++ races.  Enough for everyone to be happy.  He received an award for the sportiest card.  Way to go Lincoln!

Merry Christmas

We had a really fun Christmas this year.  They were up at 5:00am and Doug told them that they had to go back to bed until there was daylight.  When I got up they were both asleep in the hallway but as soon as they heard me, they bolted down the stairs to take a peek.

I took lots of pictures with my new camera but most came out blurry. I really need to practice before big days like this.

 This was one of Lincolns favorite gifts.  He was so excited to get a robe just like the one on the Polar Express.  He enjoyed it more than the toys.  WOW!

This is the classic Christmas picture where the kid is having more fun with the box than the toy. 

This is Brinley before candy.  She is just a little, no, a lot hyper!

Baptism Day

Yay for Lincoln! He was baptized on December 18th 2002.  We are so proud of him.

His dad baptized and confirmed him.



Dad and Bryan days away from the bowl game. Go UTES!!!



We had lots of family travel to be there for his baptism and what a great experience it was.  Later we went out to eat and then we went to the Mesa Temple grounds to look at the lights.  It was a blast to have so lots of family here to spend time with.  Thanks to all of those for venturing out.  We love you.

These girls had to walk right by grandmas wheel chair at the temple grounds because they were so concerned for her, or so we thought.  We turned around at one point and they were both sitting on her lap getting a free ride.  Sneaky little girls.

 This is how we all felt when we got home.  Apparantly we know how to entertain really well.

Snow Day

Well the communitee had a snow day.  I'm not sure if they brought snow in or had a snow maker. But the kids went crazy with it.  It was about 70 degrees and they were sledding down a small hill and throwing snowballs in the other area.  Everyone was drenched but they didn't care.  They also served hot chocolate, snowcones and popcorn. 

How fun is that!

Brinleys Dance Recital

Brinley took at dance class through our community this year and learn a dance for the nutcracker.  It was very low key, no professional performances or pictures but they performed for the parents and did a great job.

This is mid December and they are walking out to the soccer field to perform.

There were about 8 little girls and they had more fun playing than learning the dance.  Needless to say, the dance lasted about 40 seconds.  JUST RIGHT!

Way to go Brinley.  She is now in Gymnastics where monkeys belong.

Lincolns 8th Birthday

Lincoln celebrated his 8th birthday in November and he was so excited!

This is his army cake that started out as a How to train a dragon cake and by midnight, I found it much easier to sneak up in his room, grab some army men, wash them and stick them on.  Perfect!  He loved the cake.

 Petie!  Grandma Jensen sent Lincoln the long awaited Panda Pillow Pet that Lincoln asked for in July.  He was so excited.....

That he gave poor little Mike to Brinley.  I told him that Mike is going to feel bad just like in Toy Story.  I'm not sure that it phased him at all.

Daunting Drumstick Dash 2010

***Scroll down to the bottom of the blog and turn off the music before playing this video clip.

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.  We will definitely work on better quality for next time.

What do you do on Veterans Day?

We aren't used to having Veterans Day off with school so we weren't quite sure of what to do.  I decided that we should go to the parade after our morning run.

 

 It was really fun.  We were able to see lots of bands, jeeps, scouts, soldiers, fancy vehicles and airplanes that flew by.  This picture below (blurry) that has a beauty queen in it caused a lot of ruckus.  The older men sitting by me whistled as loud and as much as they could at this lady more than they did with the veterans and the ladies sitting on the other side of me wanted to know why this queen was getting so much praise because she obviously didn't fight in a war.  It was pretty funny to be between the two groups and hear what they had to say.

Loud Sirens!

Below people are carrying flags that have the men and women who gave their lives for us this last year from AZ.  I couldn't believe how many of them there were.  This went clear down the street.  Everyone stood and clapped really loud.  Neat experience.

I had to get these guys because they looked like they were straight out of a commercial from the 60's with their big cheesy smiles waiving.  Very fun!

Afterwards we went over to Sweet cakes bakery for a cookie and headed home. Of course Lincoln said, we've wasted half the day now.  He would rather sit at home.  That is what we did for our first Veterans Day off. I hope that everyone took a few minutes to remember those who have served for our country.  We have 3 family members that served as well.  A BIG THANKS to grandpa Ellis, Travis and Brock.  Wooh-hoo!

Horseback riding

This is Lincoln so excited for the date that he and I went on.  We decided to go horseback riding.  Lincoln was so excited to be able to wear the helmet because it is just like the people that ride the horses on TV.  I brought his cowboy hat but the guy incouraged me to put the helmet on him.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Lincoln was in front of me and he was on a horse named buster.  I was on a horse named Bess.  Buster was pretty good at following the other horses but Bess was pretty interested in walking over tall bushes to rub her belly and walking into short trees to try to scratch her sides.  She also liked to stop and grab leaves off the trees to eat.

We went in a group of 11 people.  There was a family from Phoenix and a family from Gilbert and Lincoln was the youngest.  The trail was pretty fun. (minus the powerlines in full view)  They showed us different pits that people had dug to find gold, but they stopped after about 5 feet down if they didn't find anything and then just left the pits open.  This area probably wouldn't be the best place to play capture the flag with all the pits, cactus and snakes.  It was really fun and I definately plan on doing it again.  I might try another company a little further in the canyon so that we don't have to have every picture show power lines.  We ended our date with pancakes at Village Inn and then heading over to the Mesa-Gilbert Airport where we watched 4 marine jets gear up and take off.  I love having dates with my kids.