Six Flags Over Texas

Hi again, it has been a long time, and I know it. I'm sorry... I have found other things to do when I am online and I have also been busy offline as well ;) I know I am way behind on everything, so I'm going to try to jot it all down. After returning from Colorado in July, we took a family trip down to Dallas, TX to take the kids to 6 Flags. We spent 2 FULL days down there, literally we were at 6 Flags from open to close. The kids had SO much fun. Ryan actually talked Blake into doing the Dive Bomber with him. Here is the video I took, please forgive me, I was sooo nervous taking it!

I did that with Ryan last year, so I knew how scary it was. But Blake did very well. And Taylor also did something very brave, she rode the Titan, which is a huge roller coaster! At closing time, the park did a glow in the dark parade. They turned out the lights of the park, and the parade was all glow in the dark. It was honestly the coolest parade I've ever been to! Then after those fun filled 2 days we came home and did normal things, like swim in our pool :) Then the kids started school on August 10th and life has slown down a little. But we are still busy here. I actually have to get 5 of my mom's rent houses rented, and then in October we are having a church camp here, and am really looking forward to it :) Other than that, not much has changed in our lives. We are really enjoying living in this area, and are probably going to be living here for a long, long time :) (That's good cause I don't want to move again! ;)

Frontier City family fun!

Well, here is the 3rd day of fun that I mentioned in my last post or two. I thoroughly enjoyed my family being out here. They have all returned home, and I'm trying to get life back to normal. On June 1st, Blake's 7th birthday, my whole family, plus a couple extra friends all went to Frontier City, in Oklahoma City. It was Blake and Taylor's first roller coaster experience, and they did remarkably well. I remember my first experience was when I was 11 and my Dad was trying to get me on a roller coaster for about 15 minutes, and I whined the whole time. Then when I was done with that first roller coaster, I've NEVER stopped wanting to ride them. But both of the kids were very brave, and had so much fun. The funnest part about it was being with a big group, and the fact that I haven't done something fun with my family like that for a long time. It was a day to remember!

The group (minus Sue, who was taking the picture)The group getting ready to get on our first ride of the dayBlake had a fun but very exhausting day!

Ryan's surprise 30th birthday party

I mentioned in my last post that we had a fun filled 3 days, the wedding being the first day. Well the next day after the wedding, I held a triple birthday party for Blake who turned 7; Ryan, who turned 30; and my sister Sue, who turned 42. The party was awesome! I mainly threw it for Ryan, because 30 was a big number, and he had NO idea I was doing that! It was incredibly hard to keep it from him. I did the party in a 60's and 70's theme, because those were the decades Sue and Ryan were born in. We all went to church, and after church, Ryan went up to his family's house for lunch while I "spent time alone with my sister", which I did, just getting ready for the party. Then Ryan decided to come home and go swimming in the pool. His family tried their hardest to keep him there, but he insisted on going home. I was working at the church to get this all together, I told him that me and Peggy were still spending time together, and he was starting to get mad at me for ignoring him all day, LOL. He was getting more and more angry with me, but I knew he would forgive me ;) We finally got everything ready right when it started, and I told Ryan that there was an ice cream get-together at the church at 6:30 (which there was) I wanted him to show up at 6:15 so we could all yell "SURPRISE!!" So we had a nice crowd, and sure enough, at 6:15, he walked in and we yelled. There was a smile from EAR TO EAR on his face. I honestly thought he would figure things out, but somehow I pulled it off!!! It was so fun seeing all my efforts worked! Then as soon as he walked in and we yelled at him, I made him put on this hilarious purple velvet outfit with zebra print trim and a HUGE zebra hat! It was totally 70's and looked so funny! He did put it on, but only for a few minutes to take some pictures, because it was so hot. Gabriel was very entertaining! Lee kept getting a drink of tea, and Gabriel kept trying to steal it from Lee by giving him a kiss, so I had to snap a picture of it! Gabriel is so cute!And here is little Madison, she is getting so big, and she is so sweet! My sister peggy fell in love with Madison and Gabriel!

I served some finger foods, cake and homemade ice cream. Then Ryan, Sue, and Blake opened cards and presents, and everyone eventually went home. It was so much fun! I couldn't have done it without everyone's help (being sneaky). THANK YOU EVERYONE (You know who you are ;) It was a big success, and yes Ryan DID forgive me for ignoring him!

Fun 3 weeks ahead!

Hello again! My move has slown down, but my life has definitely not... Before I get started, if anyone wants to mute my wedding music, just go to the slide show, and in the top left corner, there is a volume logo, and just click it, and it mutes.

Well, there are 2 more days of school for my children. And of course those 2 days are going to be nothing but fun. Last week, Taylor went to the Oklahoma Science Museum, and Ryan was able to go with her. They both had a nice time. Then Blake went (without a parent) to a place called "Jump-In", which is a place that has a lot of inflatable jumping equipment, and obstacle courses, etc... Then today, Taylor got to go on another field trip to a really fun place called Incredible Pizza. It is a pizza/pasta buffet with tons of things to do inside (like bumper cars, go carts, mini-golf, and lots of arcade games. So they have had a lot of fun in the last 2 weeks. Tomorrow they have a picnic at a local park, and then Thursday is it, the last day!!! AND... my sister, Sue, and her daughters are coming to visit on Thursday! They will be here all weekend, and then sometime in the next week, we are going to go to Arkansas to see some of my Dad's family. Then, on the 29th, we will be heading to the panhandle for my nephew's rehearsal dinner, then the following day is the big day for Shane and Courtney! I'm very excited. There is also a little sadness, that Steve didn't make it to see Shane get married. 3 DAYS before Steve passed away, he was fitted for his tuxedo for Shane's wedding. So that is going to be hard for everyone, just not having him to share the joy.

We will return home after the wedding, then the next day (31st) I have something very big planned, but I can't go into details, but I PROMISE that I will post about it shortly after ;) Then on June 1st, which is Blake's birthday, my whole family are all going to Frontier City, which is an amusement park in Oklahoma City. That is going to be a BLAST! Then, June 3rd is my sister Sue, and Ryan's birthday, then the 9th is mine. My sister, Peggy will be staying around for a week to two weeks after the wedding, and she will also be going to Arkansas, and I may go with her also, so I may be making 2 trips down to see my Dad's family. I know I'm rambling on and on, but now you see what the next 3 weeks are going to be for me, busy, but FUN!!!

Pics from Halloween

I know this is a little late for these, but better late than never :) Here is the whole group of children that went trick or treating (lots of Star Wars ;) There was Derrick - (SW) Clone Trooper, Jordan - (SW) Clone Trooper, September - Cleopatra, Bradley - Scary clown, Dylan - (SW) Storm Trooper, Autumn - Pink cat, Blake - (SW) Obi Wan Kenobi, Aiden - Batman, Wynter - Brown cat, Anakin - (SW) Darth Vader (BTW, Darth Vader's real name in the movie is Anakin Skywalker, so I thought it was cute that they made Anakin...Anakin), and Taylor - a zombie. The kids had a blast!

Ryan's pumpkin

Me and my WONDERFUL sister-in-law, and even more... FRIEND, Melissa

1 week in Colorado

I have been in Colorado for 1 week and already have SOOO much to write about. The only thing I can do is start with the day I arrived and go in order in what I have done since I've been here. I arrived Saturday, June 28th and that evening I went to my cousin, Arlene's wedding. It was very nice, and I LOVED seeing surprised faces ;) The next day, I went to church in Montrose and LOVED the new building. For the last 17 years, Montrose has held meetings in a TEENY TINY little building that just wasn't the ideal place for holding meetings. But they were blessed with a church just down the road from the old building. It was a church that had caught fire (while the people were in there) and so our church had a lot of work ahead of them. It took almost one year of cleaning and rebuilding, but they finally finished. It is SOOO nice. I will try to take some pictures sometime and post them. But it was amazing being able to sit in a nice building for church. After church, I went to a double anniversary party. This is pretty amazing, the girl that got married on Saturday, it was her parent's 25th anniversary, and her grandparent's 50th anniversary. So they all were married 25 years apart. I thought that was neat. It was my Aunt and Uncle that celebrated the 50th anniversary. It was a VERY nice turnout, I think there was around 250 people there. I enjoyed it :) Monday, I didn't do a lot, but did visit with my immediate family. Tuesday, I went to see my cousins, Jeanette and Amber, they are also out of towners ;) I had a nice time visiting with them. Wednesday, I didn't do much, I had severe allergies :P Thursday, I went to see my good friend, Beth. We always have good things to talk about, and I'm so happy to have a friend like her!!! Then I left from her house, to my sister's house in Ouray.

(These are taken from my sister's deck)

Ouray is seriously the most beautiful place I've ever been to!!! My sister has lived there for around 13 years, and I don't think she will ever leave Ouray. It is a tourist town. Ouray has a big July 4th festival, and I had never been to the day festivals. I had been to the firework show once, and it was amazing. Every time a firework boomed, it echoed because Ouray is a valley town surrounded by gorgeous mountains! SO it sounded like thunder all around. My sister, Peggy took me up into the mountains a little ways. There is this one cliff that is SCARY. It doesn't go straight down, it goes in a little bit. I love looking down from that cliff, but it always scares me!!! So Thursday was basically a sightseeing day. Then Friday was the best day ever. There was a July 4th parade. It was a very fun parade. Lots of water was flung to and from the floats. They really get into water fights there ;) Then, to our surprise, 2 (1940's) fighter planes flew over us, and I was able to get a great picture of one of them. It made the whole town cheer, and it was a very exciting moment. Those planes were very brave to fly in between mountains like they did. It was awesome. The parade ended and we immediately went to the park for the childrens races. They had a lot of different races for different ages of children. Taylor won the sprinting race, and the gunny sack race. She got $2.00 for winning. She is my little athlete. Then after that, we (me, my niece, Kayla, and the kids) went back to my sister's house and ate lunch and rested for a while. Then we went back to Main Street for the water fights. When you think of water fights, you think everyone had a water gun and was shooting everyone with it. NOPE that's not what this water fight was... This one is where the firefighters hook up two hoses and they have groups of 2 people spraying each other with those POWERFUL hoses. They spray each other until the other team either falls down, or loses control of the hoses. It was very intense. They also sprayed upwards and drenched everyone in the audience many times. After that, we went back to my sisters house and rested again. Then I took my kids to a place called Box Canyon. It is a MAJOR tourist attraction, you walk right up to a VERY powerful waterfall that has carved a small canyon. It is one of my favorite places to go. After that we went back to my sister's house and watched the fireworks from her roof. They were so amazing, I LOVED hearing the rumble all around me!!!

The next morning, I woke up and my niece and I took the kids and went to Grand Junction for another wedding, Nicole and Jered. It was a short and sweet wedding. Then we came back to Olathe (where I'm from). Then Sunday I went to church in Montrose again. It is Monday again, and I'm ready to slow this week down a little. The last week was so busy for me, I was running so much last week that I'm just not wanting to do anything this week, except spend time with my immediate family.
Whew... Sorry for the long story of my first week here. I hope I didn't bore anyone with it ;) I hope everyone else had a great July 4th!!!

Summer fun!

Last year we bought a swimming pool and used it all summer long. We all had such a blast in it. However, our ground was not level, so we didn't get to fill it to the maximum filling potential. This year, we put it back up because we were in a hurry to use it. Well, the ground was even worse than last year (level wise). It kept getting worse and worse. The water is supposed to come up to my chest. The last time I got in it, the water was just barely above my knees. So Ryan and I decided to drain it and attempt to get it level. We bought 1000 pounds of sand and hauled it back to the pool area. Then Ryan got out his level and floated the whole area. This process took several days, of VERY hard work! And not to mention, HOT, humid weather to do it in, so needless to say, it was a hard project! But... after Ryan leveled it out, I filled it back up and it is better than it ever was. It is so much deeper than it ever has been. The kids are back in it today. They have really missed it since we started the project. I'm SO glad we did it There's nothing like watching and listening to your children having so much fun!

My first baseball game

Last night my family, along with a few church friends (probably about 15-20 altogether) went to a Tulsa Drillers game. I had not ever been to a game in a stadium. All I've ever been to was High School games and Ryan's softball & Taylor's T-Ball games. Oh, and my brother-in-law, Steve's softball games also. But anyway, it was a lot of fun. Taylor and Blake had a very good time. Honestly, we all had a blast! The best part about it was it was FREE. QT (a convenience store) had free tickets sitting on the counters. They played music here and there, and some of it they LOVED was: "We will Rock you", the "Cha Cha Slide", "If you're happy and you know it", and of course, the baseball theme "Take me out to the ballgame". They really got into it. Blake met Katura the other day and has quite a little crush on her. Well she was there and he kept looking at her and when she would look at him and smile, he would cover his eyes, he's so bashful! It was funny to watch him. I really hope that I can go to another one again. I think what made it so fun was being with everyone that was there. The Tulsa Drillers ended up winning, so that made it even better, it was such a great evening! I had a blast!

Last day of school

Today is the last day of school for my kids (except Taylor is going to take summer school in June). But they have a very fun day going on down at the school. I was a volunteer and helped make snow cones. I came home for lunch and will be heading back. But of course, I took a few pictures of my kids in action. They are having such a great time!!!

Blake going down the Slip N' Slide

Taylor on the obstacle course

Blake going down the giant slide

Blake's Zoo Field Trip

There is not much to write about, we went on a field trip with Blake's Kindergarten class to the Tulsa Zoo yesterday. It was a WONDERFUL day, it wasn't too hot, we had a cloud cover, and the temperature was about 70, so it made it an ideal day to go to the Zoo. Plus it wasn't very crowded, that was GREAT! Here are a few pics that I took:
Spiderman!





This was our little group that stayed together.

We picked a GREAT place to live!!!

We picked a great place to move! Our house is 2 blocks from a REALLY nice park. This park already has 3 different playgrounds, a lot of miscellaneous playground equipment, and a splash park, which is a BLAST to play in on a hot summer day! It is the ONLY splash park in town. Even adults LOVE it, at least I do ;) Well about a month ago, I found out that there are plans to put a public swimming pool in this park! I was very excited, but wasn't sure if it was just a rumor. Then I have since then heard that they are trying to raise money to build it. I was very excited. First of all, there are no public pools here in this town, only the Salvation Army has a pool, and you have to be a member to use it. So needless to say, we needed a public swimming pool. Then to find out that it is planned on being in a park just 2 blocks from my house, how awesome! However, it is not going to open for 2 more years. But still... I'm pretty excited about it! Here is a computer drawing of what it is supposed to look like:

One of the 3 playgrounds

Taylor getting SPLASHED from the water in the bucket. By the way, that house DIRECTLY behind Taylor used to be Lee and Cherrie's house.

Me and my neice, Kayla also getting spashed from the bucket, it is FUN!

And Blake about to play in the splash park.

E I E I Oops

Last night we went to Blake's program. It was the cutest thing ever. They had a farm scene. They had different groups: Horses, pigs, cows, sheep, chickens. Blake was a sheep. They basically just sang some farm songs, yes including Old McDonald ;) Then afterward they had a slide show of all the Kindergartners. I can't believe that he is almost done with Kindergarten. He's going to be a 1st grader, that is hard to believe. They're growing up too fast :( But anyway, back to the program, They also did these cute little dances, which included tilting their heads side to side, it was adorable! I really enjoyed it!!! Then afterwards, my good friend Velvadene came over to see me and we went to see Sis. Deanie. PLEASE remember her! She needs it so badly. They wouldn't even let us in her room, because she is so bad. It breaks my heart to see someone I love having to go through this. She has been so sweet through this trial. She always greeted everyone with a smile. Just remember her, pretty please...

Here are pics from Blake's program: