Bon Voyage!!!

Boyd and I are leaving today for Miami where we will spend the night and then tomorrow board the Carnival Triumph for an adventure-filled week in the Western Carribbean. We are going to go to 3 ports: Cozumel, Mexico, The Cayman Islands and Jamaica. We hope to come back relaxed and with a few fun photos that I can post for you all to see.
We are sending Alyssa and Court to Arizona to visit with Kalie and Kevin for the week.
This is just the beginning of an amazing summer which you will hear more about in the future.
Ciao!!!

50 Mile Bike Ride

Boyd is the merit badge counselor for the cycling merit badge in our ward. Every year he does this merit badge with a new group of scouts. This is the latest group that just completed this time consuming requirement. Boyd just loves helping the boys earn this merit badge and watching their endurance grow and strengthen as they do four 25 mile rides and one 50 mile ride. All the moms of the boys prepare a lunch for them that they eat halfway through the ride. They also have a support vehicle going out to Antelope Island and another support vehicle coming back to help carry extra needed items or if there is an emergency. This ride began at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning and ended at 1:30 in the afternoon. They made great time!!!

The pictures show them getting ready to leave, leaving and then coming back and riding through a sign for the finish line, and then posing at the end.

The Birthday Girl!

Today was Alyssa's birthday. Along with some really cool presents such as clothes and perfume from Hollister, she had a special visitor. This is a picture of her with her birthday guest, Legolas. He will reside permanently with her up in her bedroom to protect her from harm.

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

Boyd got 4 free tickets to Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. We went on Thursday afternoon to the 4:00 showing at the Gateway. Can I just tell you that Harrison Ford still has IT!!! He is completely awesome in this movie.

Hear the band!

Court just had his last band concert last night. As we were listening to the last piece that was played all we saw was one clarinetist playing and it was Court!! He had a small solo last night. He did a wonderful job. Unfortunately he is not going to be in band anymore so this really was his LAST band concert.

I think that I have never heard a sound so lovely as a bird.

Here are some really nice pictures of some goldfinches that Boyd took yesterday. He was able to get really close to the birds without them flying away.

Tweet, Tweet

Boyd loves watching birds. We got 2 bird feeders and hung them by our kitchen window so that we have an upclose and personal view. We have seen mostly different types of finches: goldfinches and house finches. They are very small birds and are so fun to watch fly to our bird feeders.


You will have to look closely to see the birds but they are there!

Bye, Bye Apple Tree!

We had an apple tree in our backyard that has been quite difficult to prune and take care of. We really didn't get very many apples off of it and have found the whole experience less than desirable. To make matters worse, large branches started dying off one at a time. Boyd called my brother, Jon, and asked him if he could bring his chain saw and help us cut down the tree. He came on Friday morning and in the matter of 1/2 hour he had the tree cut down, leaving a stump for us to dig out. Boyd and I dug around the stump, cutting the roots and watching out for the phone line. We finally were able to loosen the stump enough to pull it out of the hole.
Here is a picture of Boyd with the stump that we rolled out to the front curb.

More Favorites!!!!

The best granola bars ever: Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Nut, Peanut flavor.

Down-filled pillows and 100 % cotton sheets.

Digital cameras and computer downloading.

Bath and Body Works Gentle Foaming Hand Soap, Coconut Scented.

Speedy Gonzales!!

Alyssa is a member of Fairfield Jr. High's Track Team. She has been running the 4 x 1 relay, which is composed of a team of 4 girls, each running 100 yards and passing a baton, and the 400 M and 800 M race.

Alyssa is preparing for the 2nd leg of the 4 x 1 race.

Just receiving the baton.

Starting the 400 Meter race, which is an all out sprint around the track one time. KILLER!!!