A Day of Thanks

We started out the Thanksgiving holiday by volunteering with our good friends at the Salvation Army. We made 400 turkey, ham, and cheese sandwiches and sack lunch packs. It took a couple of hours but what a good feeling at the end of our shift.

We were happy to meet our friends at the Peavine trail for a wonderful family bike ride.

Our bike ride was a blast! We rode to the "Treehouse Loop" trail and parked the bikes then hiked in about 1/2 mile to a old tree that someone put somewhat of a "treehouse" in it. It mostly consists of a wooden platform with a ladder and a fallen down tree leads the way to the ladder from some boulders.

The kids had a blast playing on it and I am just thankful that it didn't cave in and fall to the ground!

On the way back we stopped yet again and slid down a hillside of lava rock and walked thru this underground tunnel of some sort.

The girls thought that was so cool!

And of course Shae always finds a neat rock to bring home.

We did manage to capture this photo of us while hiking to the treehouse. The Dells are just beautiful in the background.

The Small One

The show is about to go in just 2 weeks! I can't believe how smooth this theatre experience has been! No stress, no chaos, no miscommunication, no surprises .... just awesome! Everything goes as planned and I love it! The director and her 4 other helpers have so much patience with these kids it is amazing.

The kids are great and they are working hard. The set is very simple and is still being painted by the PFAA volunteers. Prescott Fine Arts has been around for so long and have such a organized group of people that they have established volunteers to help with all sorts of things.

Public Show Dates are: Friday, December 18th at 7pm and Saturday, December 19th at 2pm & 7pm. Tickets are just $8.

Bring the family and come see a delightful holiday story about a special donkey and a musical journey around the world. Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter customs are presented in song, dance, and narrative.

Get tickets Now!

Go to Prescott Fine Arts off Marina st. or call PFAA to get tickets (928) 445-3286.

Office hours are Mon. - Sat. 10a-3p

Say a prayer!

This is David Law, a buddy of Tom's and he recently was in a terrible car accident and currently in a coma. Please say a prayer for him.

To read his story click here and then you can read all the daily updates under the "journal" section from his family.
Be strong David! We are hoping you get thru this.

Today is the day when Kayla was born

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLA!

Warning! Graphic Photos Ahead!

After 6 years of marriage Tom and I decided that we were ready for a baby.

We were so excited and so not ready for the pregnancy that came! Throughout all my complications, hospitalization and discomforts I had the best support system that anyone could ask for.

Yes, this may seem a bit of a blur to you. I did that on purpose! ha,ha,ha!

Kayla was about to be born!

Here she arrived to our world and took her first breathe of air.


Above at 3 days old and below at 1 years old.

Kayla has been a great daughter and a joy to raise. She is a eager learner and very outgoing. Her favorite thing to do is to sing, play music, dance and act. She has brought many years of happiness for our family and we know we will have many more to come. I am very happy that she is 9 years old but she already can't wait to be 10.

Just think ..... I am at a half way point with her and in about 9 years she could be leaving our nest. That seems so short in time and I am thankful for every moment that we have together. Happy Birthday Kayla!

Last Game

The Pink Ponies Rocked the house today! They played so hard and it was a tough game and was 0 - 0 thru the third quarter. In the end they lost 1-0. We had a great season and 2 wonderful coaches that really taught these girls some good soccer skill.

Enjoying Life!

This is for our "Rescue Min Pin Haven"

Above, Nala is pictured as a princess in her fancy bed enjoying the sunshine. Below Tuesday is looking out into the backyard and also enjoying the warmth from the sun.

School Visit

Kayla with the third graders at Sacred Heart School.

Kayla was honored to get a call from a local private school to come and be a guest. In the photo above, she is reading her book to the third grade class. The kids really enjoyed the story and afterwards had wonderful questions for Kayla. They asked her questions like, "How long did it take you to write your book?" ~ "Who is your favorite author?" and one boy had a comment and said, "Your story is wonderful and I really liked it and I especially liked your drawings." It was a pleasure visiting the school and the kids were very nice to Kayla.

Here is Kayla at the front of the room in the black vest jacket. She read her story to the first graders as well and also had lots of wonderful questions.
At the end of our visit to each class .... Kayla handed a picture card with her and the cover of her book on it and autographed each one for the kids.
The kids seemed really excited to have Kayla visit them.

On our way out I asked Kayla what she thought of the school and if the classrooms looked interesting or fun and she said that she wouldn't want to be there all day everyday. ha,ha,ha!

SURPRISE!!!

SURPRISE KAYLA!

Kayla decided that she didn't want a birthday party. But then a few days ago she comes to me and tells me that she would like a party after all. I told her too late! We can't plan a party in a few days. She was okay with it and moved on with her day. But what she didn't know was a surprise party was set in place.
Kayla was born on Thanksgiving Day so how cute to have these cookies. Her favorite candy is Reese's so we had to have that as well!

I planned her party with our homeschool craft and art class that I teach. Of course these are big time buddies as well so it worked out perfect! Tom took her to lunch like he frequently does and we decorated in a flash and yelled "Surprise" when she came it. Boy was she SURPRISED!

Also, if you know Kayla, she doesn't love cake too much but she loves cinnamon rolls. So, my good friend came equipped with 2 platters full of cinnamon rolls. YUMMY!

On top of her big party day ..... this am Kayla had a book reading of her book at our local library and a autograph session which was cute. The paper showed up and took photos of her and she was interviewed for a story which will be out tomorrow. I will post a link to that for sure.

Kayla handles all this publicity so well and seems to like it. Tomorrow we head to a private school as they called and requested Kayla to come visit their 1st and 3rd grade classes as a special guest. Our lives will surely slow down come December 15th! Yahoo!

TV apperance for Kayla

This morning Kayla arrived at the studios of AM AZ TV 7 and what a neat experience we had. It was live T.V. at 10am and Kayla did great!

This sign was in the lobby and I thought it was kind of neat that she was "really" on the agenda.

Here is a sneak peak from where I was sitting. Kayla was getting her mic adjusted.

She was so cute and very brave.

The Scene is Nice!

Tom and I took the girls on a 5 mile bike ride today. It was a long ride and just beautiful! The scenery was so amazing. Pictured above was our view of Watson Lake with the Dells in the back ground.

In the distance in the water was this beautiful Crane. It is days like this that we just love where we live. We are just 10 minutes from this trail and lake. Next, we want to get a couple of canoes and with the girls paddle the lake.

Kayla has been in rehearsals for 2 weeks now and is just loving it. The atmosphere is very organized and positive. Everyone is treated the same with no favorites. Pictured above is some of the cast of "The Small One." This is a very different type of show than Kayla has done in the past but more her speed. She was so excited to get a small speaking line in the show along with the many songs she gets to sing with the cast.

Shae has had a tough soccer season this year. She is used to winning lots of games, getting several goals herself, and on a smaller field yet this brings on a nice challenge for her. She is one of the smaller players on the team but has a ton of determination. Gee, I wonder where she gets that from? Two games left to go and then winter sets in.

She almost got her first goal of the season.

Some people wonder .....

Some people wonder what their child will be when they grow up. Some people wonder about everyone in the world. As I go on this homeschooling journey I notice once in a while that some people worry about everyone else and what they are doing and wonder why. This strikes me in a strange way but what can one do about it but wonder why?

I often wonder what Kayla and Shae will be when they grow up and I wonder if college will be fine for them and I wonder (not really) if Kayla will always be an outgoing social butterfly and Shae not as much.

But then I think.... and know that they will both be just fine! No matter what they choose to do and be ... I know they will be great! I am not so worried about them being SUPER ready for everything in life (which I am sure they will be close).

I don't worry because I myself went to public school my entire life and graduated and went to a near by local community college and took the entrance exam and about flunked it. I was placed in the lowest of low classes to make up for all that I didn't learn in my many schooling years. I finally made my way thru and went on to ASU and graduated with top honors and was a Harry Truman Scholarship candidate. So really, my high school education and diploma didn't matter ..... did it. And still to this day no one has ever asked to see it.

On the other hand, Tom (my hubby) went to private school most of his life. Then went on to at the time the east valley's largest public high school and largest graduating class to date. He is probably one of the most unsocial and quietest persons I know and although he never went on to college ... he is very successful at what he does and supports our family well.

So, why some people just "wonder" .... there really is no need to. Everything in the end will turn out just fine. Trust me!

More Exciting News for Kayla!

We got a wonderful call today and AZ TV 7 wants to have Kayla on their TV show next Thursday, November 12th at 10am. They want to talk to her about her book and our local librarian will be there as well talking about their kids events.

It ought to be fun and yet SCARY!

Kayla should do fine since she did have the one TV appearance over a year ago from her first book on 3 TV and did great with that. Wish us luck and try to watch if ya can.

AM AZ - AZ TV 7 Cable 13

Welcome to Halloween Town!

Trick Or Treating in our town has changed the holiday for us! We truly have the "Halloween Town." All the kids in town come to Mt. Vernon to Trick Or Treat and they start at 4:30 and it doesn't stop for many hours.

At our first stop down this amazing street of historical homes the girls were greeted by the "Tooth Fairy."

This house was spooky and set with everyone in costumes from the 50's complete with a dance floor and music for dancing.
What amazing homes we have down this street and the people who own them go all out to decorate them.

A Birds eye view while waiting in line.

And of course we ran into to many friends including Shae's soccer coach pictured above.

Wish you were here with us!! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!