I am officially a student again. I am in my 4th week of my first class in the Graduate program at Ottawa University. Each class is 8 weeks long, so I'm halfway there. It was a bit overwhelming at first but as I've gone on it is getting easier to manage. Writing papers and reading the assignments is a challenge, but has not been too bad so far. We'll see how the next term goes, I'll have 2 classes.
At the same time, I have been going through the hiring process with the City of Mesa Police 911 operator. So far I have made it through and am in the middle of the background checks. It's unbelievable how much background examination goes into this process. I had a polygraph test about a week ago, passed of course. It's been very eye opening. I am hoping something will come available this summer.
Busy, Busy.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Oceanography Pictures...Finally!
Here are some pictures from the Oceanography trip. I took about 300 of them, so you can see why I say these are some of them.
This is the first morning getting instructions before we went out on the boat. It was cold, but warmed up nicely.
Getting on the boat.
Heading out.
Jacob got called up to touch the sting ray.
The Whale!
Just thought this was kinda cool. Sea lions hanging out on a bouy.
SEA WORLD!
At the Dolphin show.
Day 2 at the Aquarium of the Pacific...the group shot. With Bubba Gump Shrimp in the background.
Touching sharks.
A friendly sea lion.
Feeding the Larakeets.
The boys in our group. They were pretending to drown and very upset that I didn't cut off their feet for the full effect.
Karaoke on the way home...Jacob's song...
Getting on the boat.
Heading out.
Jacob got called up to touch the sting ray.
The Whale!
Just thought this was kinda cool. Sea lions hanging out on a bouy.
SEA WORLD!
At the Dolphin show.
Day 2 at the Aquarium of the Pacific...the group shot. With Bubba Gump Shrimp in the background.
Touching sharks.
A friendly sea lion.
Feeding the Larakeets.
The boys in our group. They were pretending to drown and very upset that I didn't cut off their feet for the full effect.
Karaoke on the way home...Jacob's song...Sea world...fun! Sing it to the Red Robin song.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Oceanography Trip with Jacob
I've been trying to upload pictures from Jacob's Oceanography trip to San Diego the weekend of January 14th for the past week or so, and have had no luck. So for now I'll at least get a few memories down & add the pictures later.
Jacob and I went to the school at 4pm on Friday, Jan 14th and got on the chartered bus to California. I was really happy to go along as a chaperon. There were 3 boys in my group, including Jacob. We drove to San Diego, arriving around 10pm AZ time, 9pm California time. I roomed with another mom who also has 3rd grader and kindergartner, so we felt comfortable cause we see each other at lots of school things. Her name is Nicole. I had a lot of fun visiting with her each night.
The first motel we stayed in was gross. Just old and smelly, if you asked the kids. But for 1 night we were ok. The next morning we were up early and at breakfast by 7:30am. We then went to a pier for our boat excursion to see whales. Before heading out to the ocean they dragged a net in the bay and brought up lots of ocean dwelling fish, crab, sting ray etc. The kids were able to see and touch many of these animals. Then we went out the to ocean to look for dolphins and whales. It didn't take long. No dolphins, but there was a whale & I have a picture of it to prove it. We followed the whale for a little while then had to turn back to home. On the way back in they took us by the fishing bait docks where sea lions hang out hoping for a free meal, again I have pictures. Back on the bus and off to Sea World for the day. We spent about 5 hours at Sea World. I made sure we made it to every show. We saw them all, and we were tired from it. After Sea World, we got back on the bus and went to a pier for dinner. I don't know if it was really good or if we were just really hungry from the day, but it was great. After dinner we walked along the beach to a bon fire. There we had s'mores and campfire stories from the owner of the company sponsoring the trip. The tales all had "shark eating man" themes. Needles to say, it kept our attention.
The second hotel was in LA near Knottsberry Farm. It was much nicer and we were all so tired that it didn't take much to get us a great nights sleep. Sunday morning had us going to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was a really great aquarium, again lots of pictures....
Jacob spent the only $3 of his own for the entire trip at the aquarium. He bought nectar to feed the Larakeets, pictures? Of course!
At lunch time we exited the aquarium and had pizzas delivered to a the park area next to the aquarium. After lunch it was back on the bus and start the drive home. One stop for dinner in Blythe and we were home to the school by 9pm.
Talk about quick trip. But it was a totally blast. Kid Karaoke on the way home was too funny. Great laughs and good memories. Jacob has a blast and only had 1 day of high sugar while on the boat looking for the whale. Otherwise he was great.
Hopefully the website will cooperate better with me sometime this week and I'll get those pictures up.
Jacob and I went to the school at 4pm on Friday, Jan 14th and got on the chartered bus to California. I was really happy to go along as a chaperon. There were 3 boys in my group, including Jacob. We drove to San Diego, arriving around 10pm AZ time, 9pm California time. I roomed with another mom who also has 3rd grader and kindergartner, so we felt comfortable cause we see each other at lots of school things. Her name is Nicole. I had a lot of fun visiting with her each night.
The first motel we stayed in was gross. Just old and smelly, if you asked the kids. But for 1 night we were ok. The next morning we were up early and at breakfast by 7:30am. We then went to a pier for our boat excursion to see whales. Before heading out to the ocean they dragged a net in the bay and brought up lots of ocean dwelling fish, crab, sting ray etc. The kids were able to see and touch many of these animals. Then we went out the to ocean to look for dolphins and whales. It didn't take long. No dolphins, but there was a whale & I have a picture of it to prove it. We followed the whale for a little while then had to turn back to home. On the way back in they took us by the fishing bait docks where sea lions hang out hoping for a free meal, again I have pictures. Back on the bus and off to Sea World for the day. We spent about 5 hours at Sea World. I made sure we made it to every show. We saw them all, and we were tired from it. After Sea World, we got back on the bus and went to a pier for dinner. I don't know if it was really good or if we were just really hungry from the day, but it was great. After dinner we walked along the beach to a bon fire. There we had s'mores and campfire stories from the owner of the company sponsoring the trip. The tales all had "shark eating man" themes. Needles to say, it kept our attention.
The second hotel was in LA near Knottsberry Farm. It was much nicer and we were all so tired that it didn't take much to get us a great nights sleep. Sunday morning had us going to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was a really great aquarium, again lots of pictures....
Jacob spent the only $3 of his own for the entire trip at the aquarium. He bought nectar to feed the Larakeets, pictures? Of course!
At lunch time we exited the aquarium and had pizzas delivered to a the park area next to the aquarium. After lunch it was back on the bus and start the drive home. One stop for dinner in Blythe and we were home to the school by 9pm.
Talk about quick trip. But it was a totally blast. Kid Karaoke on the way home was too funny. Great laughs and good memories. Jacob has a blast and only had 1 day of high sugar while on the boat looking for the whale. Otherwise he was great.
Hopefully the website will cooperate better with me sometime this week and I'll get those pictures up.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Happy 9th Birthday, Tyler!
My "troll" baby turns 9 today. Where did the time go? Happy Birthday, Tyler! His hair stood up like this from birth until about 4 mos. I tried everything to get it to lie down. I was known at church as the mom with the troll baby. But he sure was cute!
This is my favorite picture of Tyler as a baby. He was a happy, content baby. Always smiling and cooing. He's about 6 mos here. Had his first haircut already and finally the hair has started to lie down.
This is from cub scout day camp Oct 2010. Tyler loves cub scouts.
3rd Grade picture.
Sadly, Tyler is getting a big jipped for his birthday this year. I start school tonight & Joe has night conferences. So we set up for his party on Saturday, which is great except that Jacob and I will be in California on the Oceanography field trip. Tyler will just have to party hard with Dad & little brothers. And we've decided the party has to go on for the entire weekend.
This is my favorite picture of Tyler as a baby. He was a happy, content baby. Always smiling and cooing. He's about 6 mos here. Had his first haircut already and finally the hair has started to lie down.
This is from cub scout day camp Oct 2010. Tyler loves cub scouts.
3rd Grade picture.
Sadly, Tyler is getting a big jipped for his birthday this year. I start school tonight & Joe has night conferences. So we set up for his party on Saturday, which is great except that Jacob and I will be in California on the Oceanography field trip. Tyler will just have to party hard with Dad & little brothers. And we've decided the party has to go on for the entire weekend.Saturday, January 1, 2011
Looking Back...& Looking Forward
Wow, I really seemed to have dropped the ball with my blog. December is a very busy month and I really wanted to document all the fun & exciting activities that we have done with our family to end 2010. However, I seemed to have forgotten that we own a camera and did not document one said activity. Therefore, this will be a catch up and move on post for the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011.
My 38th birthday was on December 20th. Not one I was looking forward to. 38 is just that, 38. Nothing exciting or noteworthy. But I do have to say it was celebrated to death. I started my celebrations on Saturday, Dec. 18th with 3 of my best friends...Nancy Gonzales, Rhonda Trone and Nancie Lindblom. We had breakfast at Crackers. After we stuffed ourselves, Nancy and I went back to her house and I went "shopping" in her closet. Nancy has great clothes and although we have different body types, we wear the same size. She was cleaning out her closet and had a wonderful assortment of clothing for me to chose from. I brought home the cutest skirts and tops, plus many "in style" jeans that made me look way skinny....a total plus!
On Sunday I got to have the Primary sing to me and had many well wishers in the halls.
Then Monday, the official day.... I slept in till 8:30! I know that doesn't sound late, but in our house that is late. Once I was up, I was brought a Krispy Kreme donut with a candle in it and got the best "Happy Birthday, Cha, Cha, Cha" ever sung by my 5 boys. I did a little light cleaning during the day, while Joe took our bedroom apart and cleaned every bit of dust and yuck all away. Later Joe got our favorite babysitter, Jessica and we went out to dinner at one of my favorite special occasion restaurants, Brio, at the San Tan Mall. It was soooo delicious! Afterwards we went next door to the Barnes & Noble, where Joe had a gift card, and he let me pick out 2 books. A great way to celebrate my birthday with my best friend.
The following Wednesday, Dec. 22 I got to restart my Birthday celebrations. My good friend Heidi took me out to lunch at Chile's. And then that night I went out with another group of friends to The Cheesecake Factory. We did a little shopping at the mall afterward, well some of the ladies did shopping, I just walked around and enjoyed being out with great women. When I got home Joe asked if I was finally done celebrating my birthday. I told him yes, we can now focus on Christmas.
Thank you to everyone that helped make my uneventful 38th Birthday very eventful and fun!
Christmas! Did I take any pictures? NO. What? Not 1 picture of the great decorations in the house? Not 1. Not 1 picture of the kids with all the fun stuff Santa brought? Not a 1. Then I'll just have to paint a picture of words...HEHEHEHE. Yeah, right!
We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with my family. Dinner of Tamales, rice, beans, enchiladas and all the makings. My brother Galen came from Snowflake with his wife Julia and her son Sheldon. Galen's kids were with their mom this year. Doyle, Jody and their kids were there. Christine, Sean and their 3. Denise, Cole and their 3 and the Macdonald 6 along with Grandma & Papa. It was quite a group all squished into Grandma & Papa's house. Loud the say the least. After dinner we opened gifts from each other. As siblings we rotate families, while Grandma & Papa get something for everyone. It was a nice way to celebrate Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day was all about our family this year. No where to go. The weather was a beautiful 72 degrees. Our boys woke us sometime around 7am. A lego set for Jacob, Bike for Tyler. Aaron got a Leapster 2 with games, Jared a Toy Story race car set that shakes and go's. Many presents including a Laptop for my schooling. We spent a relaxing day playing with new toys.
The day after Christmas, after church we loaded up the truck and headed up to the cabin in Heber. We spent a relaxing 2 1/2 days at the cabin. Fires at night to keep the cold away. I read books and we all played lots of board games. The boys enjoyed football and Frisbee outside with Joe. We took a trip Monday into Show Low and had lunch and went bowling. I had my camera in the car....but didn't take any pictures. Jared in those silly bowling shoes, hopping down the lane to Dad so he could take his turn. A memory burned into my brain. The cutest EVER!
Weather reports on Tuesday night had us worried. A cold front heading into AZ, bringing snow to the high country. We decided we would leave around 10 the next morning hoping to beat the storm. Tyler woke us at 7:30 and when I checked the weather outside it was already snowing. Shift into overdrive! We started getting packed up as fast as we could. No snow tires or 4 wheel drive on the truck could mean we would get stuck or slide off the roads. By 8:30 we were on the way home. Steady snow was falling and by the time we got to Forest Lakes it was already pretty bad. Not much snow but lots of ice. We slipped and slid through Forest Lakes, a near death experience as Joe tells it, and made it down the rim without an accident. It snowed until just past Christopher Creek and then turned to rain. We were happy to get safely home and celebrated with lunch at Fuddruckers.
Last night was New Year's Eve. We range in the New Year with our good friends, the Asay's. Take out from PF Chang's for the adults, with pizza for the kids. A rousing round of Sequence for the adults while the kids destroyed the Asay house. Then we all went outside into the freezing night to set off fireworks. Sparklers, snap caps and small level fireworks while we froze. Jared didn't make it with the sounds. Joe took him inside to be safe. Eventually I couldn't handle the cold and joined them inside along with Aimee and baby Tallin. Once the fireworks were all gone, everyone came in to warm up and enjoy brownies and ice cream. Then a game of Wii Smarty Pants for the adults, with the kids helping here and there. We went home just before 11. Jacob stayed up till Midnight along with me and Joe. We could hear all the neighbors setting off fireworks. It was a great way to celebrate the New Year.
So there you have it, a look back. Now on to looking forward. May this new year bring challenges that strengthen us, and experiences that bring us together. Happy 2011!
My 38th birthday was on December 20th. Not one I was looking forward to. 38 is just that, 38. Nothing exciting or noteworthy. But I do have to say it was celebrated to death. I started my celebrations on Saturday, Dec. 18th with 3 of my best friends...Nancy Gonzales, Rhonda Trone and Nancie Lindblom. We had breakfast at Crackers. After we stuffed ourselves, Nancy and I went back to her house and I went "shopping" in her closet. Nancy has great clothes and although we have different body types, we wear the same size. She was cleaning out her closet and had a wonderful assortment of clothing for me to chose from. I brought home the cutest skirts and tops, plus many "in style" jeans that made me look way skinny....a total plus!
On Sunday I got to have the Primary sing to me and had many well wishers in the halls.
Then Monday, the official day.... I slept in till 8:30! I know that doesn't sound late, but in our house that is late. Once I was up, I was brought a Krispy Kreme donut with a candle in it and got the best "Happy Birthday, Cha, Cha, Cha" ever sung by my 5 boys. I did a little light cleaning during the day, while Joe took our bedroom apart and cleaned every bit of dust and yuck all away. Later Joe got our favorite babysitter, Jessica and we went out to dinner at one of my favorite special occasion restaurants, Brio, at the San Tan Mall. It was soooo delicious! Afterwards we went next door to the Barnes & Noble, where Joe had a gift card, and he let me pick out 2 books. A great way to celebrate my birthday with my best friend.
The following Wednesday, Dec. 22 I got to restart my Birthday celebrations. My good friend Heidi took me out to lunch at Chile's. And then that night I went out with another group of friends to The Cheesecake Factory. We did a little shopping at the mall afterward, well some of the ladies did shopping, I just walked around and enjoyed being out with great women. When I got home Joe asked if I was finally done celebrating my birthday. I told him yes, we can now focus on Christmas.
Thank you to everyone that helped make my uneventful 38th Birthday very eventful and fun!
Christmas! Did I take any pictures? NO. What? Not 1 picture of the great decorations in the house? Not 1. Not 1 picture of the kids with all the fun stuff Santa brought? Not a 1. Then I'll just have to paint a picture of words...HEHEHEHE. Yeah, right!
We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with my family. Dinner of Tamales, rice, beans, enchiladas and all the makings. My brother Galen came from Snowflake with his wife Julia and her son Sheldon. Galen's kids were with their mom this year. Doyle, Jody and their kids were there. Christine, Sean and their 3. Denise, Cole and their 3 and the Macdonald 6 along with Grandma & Papa. It was quite a group all squished into Grandma & Papa's house. Loud the say the least. After dinner we opened gifts from each other. As siblings we rotate families, while Grandma & Papa get something for everyone. It was a nice way to celebrate Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day was all about our family this year. No where to go. The weather was a beautiful 72 degrees. Our boys woke us sometime around 7am. A lego set for Jacob, Bike for Tyler. Aaron got a Leapster 2 with games, Jared a Toy Story race car set that shakes and go's. Many presents including a Laptop for my schooling. We spent a relaxing day playing with new toys.
The day after Christmas, after church we loaded up the truck and headed up to the cabin in Heber. We spent a relaxing 2 1/2 days at the cabin. Fires at night to keep the cold away. I read books and we all played lots of board games. The boys enjoyed football and Frisbee outside with Joe. We took a trip Monday into Show Low and had lunch and went bowling. I had my camera in the car....but didn't take any pictures. Jared in those silly bowling shoes, hopping down the lane to Dad so he could take his turn. A memory burned into my brain. The cutest EVER!
Weather reports on Tuesday night had us worried. A cold front heading into AZ, bringing snow to the high country. We decided we would leave around 10 the next morning hoping to beat the storm. Tyler woke us at 7:30 and when I checked the weather outside it was already snowing. Shift into overdrive! We started getting packed up as fast as we could. No snow tires or 4 wheel drive on the truck could mean we would get stuck or slide off the roads. By 8:30 we were on the way home. Steady snow was falling and by the time we got to Forest Lakes it was already pretty bad. Not much snow but lots of ice. We slipped and slid through Forest Lakes, a near death experience as Joe tells it, and made it down the rim without an accident. It snowed until just past Christopher Creek and then turned to rain. We were happy to get safely home and celebrated with lunch at Fuddruckers.
Last night was New Year's Eve. We range in the New Year with our good friends, the Asay's. Take out from PF Chang's for the adults, with pizza for the kids. A rousing round of Sequence for the adults while the kids destroyed the Asay house. Then we all went outside into the freezing night to set off fireworks. Sparklers, snap caps and small level fireworks while we froze. Jared didn't make it with the sounds. Joe took him inside to be safe. Eventually I couldn't handle the cold and joined them inside along with Aimee and baby Tallin. Once the fireworks were all gone, everyone came in to warm up and enjoy brownies and ice cream. Then a game of Wii Smarty Pants for the adults, with the kids helping here and there. We went home just before 11. Jacob stayed up till Midnight along with me and Joe. We could hear all the neighbors setting off fireworks. It was a great way to celebrate the New Year.
So there you have it, a look back. Now on to looking forward. May this new year bring challenges that strengthen us, and experiences that bring us together. Happy 2011!
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