Speeding By

Did I say things were going to slow down in March? I'm beginning to sound like Dave - "Oh, next month...this summer...after this and that...things will be slower and I can take a break" - which never comes. I need to take back all the things I've said about him and his inability to slow down and say no to people.

I realy don't mean to sound like a whiner. Everything that we have been doing has been fun and we are so blessed. I just keep feeling older and older and like my wonderful life is flashing before my eyes!

At the beginning of the month we got to spend some time with more missed friends from Utah. The Moeller family was in town and we had two fun meals with them. Also, the Sawyers were able to stay with us for a couple of days and we had a terriffic time with them. Of course, it didn't seem like long enough, but it was so nice to pick up right where we had left off, just like there was no time away. We can't wait to see everyone again in June when we go to Utah to visit! Here is the Sawyer family in front of our house as they were leaving.

We have had a gorgeous spring! Yes, Arizona does have a spring season - although it is very short. The front of our house is covered in yellow blooms.

In the middle of the month, I got to go with my friend Josie, my mother and my grandmother for a weekend in Phoenix at a scrapbook convention. We took tons of classes and of course did tons of shopping for more scrapbook stuff that I won't have time to actually use - but someday... It was exhausting, but so fun! I'm always so impressed at how my 80+ year old grandmother can keep up with all of it and us. It definitley reminds me that I have no room to be tired and lazy - if she can do all these things than I surley should be able to.

For the latter part of the month, we have all (Grammy, Pop, Dave and I) been helping Noah get his invention project done for school. He came up with a traveling chalkboard/whiteboard/sketchpad/game board for his GEM class at school. He has been working very hard sawing, filing, painting, sanding, and typing. We've all been able to add our own little pieces of expertise to it (which I'm sure Noah wishes he could do without sometimes). He is finishing up the presentation panel for it and will be presenting it to his class this Friday.

Noah was finally accepted to a school in town called the Sonoran Science Academy - he will start in third grade. We had applied there when we first moved to Arizona and he has been on a waiting list until now. Now that his time at the local public school is coming to an end (May 22 - yahoo!) I have mixed feelings about moving to the academy. It will be good for Noah - they do alot of hands on math and science along with learning spanish and all the other regular subjects. They have a Lego club and a robotics club which Noah is so excited about. I am more sad for myself about the move. I have made all my friends helping out at school and have become very familiar with the people and workings there. I will also really miss walking to school everyday. I keep saying that I will stay in touch there, but we all know how that usually goes - we all get busy and leave behind past parts of our life. I'm sure both Noah and I will make new friends, but hopefully we can work extra hard at maintaining the great friendships we have already made.

Spring Busy

Our spring break was the week before Easter and it was anything but a break. Although, it was all wonderful!

The first few days we went to Phoenix and stayed with my parents. While there we went to a big Renaissance Festival held there every year. We ate, threw knives, road rides (all powered by hand), and saw some joisting.

On Monday we headed for Disneyland in California - about an 8 hour drive. We went with friends and had a great time. The weather was perfect. We spent one day at Knott's Berry Farm where they have many major roller coasters. And after each one, Noah would yell, "That... was ... awesome!" Dave and I just felt like we had been beat to a pulp, but we all enjoyed it. Noah was such a trooper at the Magic Kingdom because the family we went with has a tradition of getting pictures with as many characters as they can find - both of which Noah cannot stand (characters and pictures). He hung in there however. Here is is at a character dinner, where there are lots of characters in one place that come mess with you while you are eating.

We were back home for Good Friday services and Easter. Here is the only picture I took on Easter (and I call myself a scrapbooker!?) It was a quiet day - Dave's parents came over and you know the spread was good because I was cooking - hahaha! We had build-your-own-sandwiches and potato chips out on our back patio. We were all happy to be lounging outside. I was happy to not cook. Dave was happy we had his favorite food. Noah fell asleep at about 4pm - exhausted from the previous week - and we could not wake him. So Dave and I got to catch up on all the Young and Restless we had recorded while we were on vacation. All-in-all, it was a very good day.

Where did it go?

March came and went in the blink of an eye. Noah chose a mad science theme for his birthday this year and we had a wonderful time performing experiments, building jitterbugs and marshmallow towers, exploding soda, making ice cream and being crazy. Thanks goodness, once again, we had lots of people who really helped us pull it together - my mom, Dave's parents and some friends. Here we all are in our lab coats creating wonderful messes!

This is kind of a sad year for Monica. I think Noah has outgrown the over-the-top theme parties that we have been putting together. Because a few days before the party this year, he asked me, "Mom, will there be any time to just play?" To which I replied, "Of course not. We have 12 experiments to do and ice cream to make and badges and bags to decorate and games to play and..." I guess it's not all about me and what I want. Dave is very grateful that I have finally learned that lesson and he will no longer have to stay up at night cutting out green blobs or drawing heiroglyphics on rolls of paper or making paper mache dinosaur eggs. I will miss it very much, however.

Anybody have a birthday coming up?

Noah has really gotten interested in basketball lately, so we got him a basketball hoop so he can play at home.

We also went to dinner with Grammy and Pop at Flemings (per Noah's request). Flemings is a fancy steak and seafood restaurant where Noah loves their crab legs - he can taste the difference between Flemings and Red Lobster. He's a kid after Pop's heart - he has extravagent tastes!

She makes us laugh

I had to share these funny pictures of Diamond. She loves to watch tv with us. She does stuff every day to make us laugh (and make us crazy).

I miss the derby!

So We recently took Noah and his friend Jesus to the Monster Truck Jam at the Tucson Convention Center. They both thought it was awesome, but I really miss the demolition derby/truck shows in Logan. They are so much more exciting. Ten minutes (much less two hours!) of trucks with giant wheels squashing other trucks and cars goes a long way! And the noise and exhaust!! I never appreciated the open air setting of the Logan shows like I should have. I sure hope that our visit there this summer coincides with a demo derby - I think I'll be checking the dates now and plan our trip around it.

I also had the pleasure of taking two handsome dates to the Mother/son dance at school. Here are Noah and Jesus dressed in their finest.

Holidays, Birthdays and Anniversaries...Oh My!

I will be so glad when February and March are over, even though I am really enjoying myself. There is just too much celebrating going on...



First, on February 6th, Dave turned another year older. We didn't do much that day, but took a short trip on his behalf February 21-24. Belive it or not, the school kids get 2 days off for the rodeo in Tucson. So we took that opportunity to get out of dodge. My parents have this book called Weird Arizona that talks about sites that have strange or interesting things in this state and Dave's goal is to go to all the places in that book. We started at the Dreamy Draw Dam, which is touted in the book as being a "fake" dam built on top of a crashed UFO to cover it up. You cannot get close to it because of all the No Trespassing signs and there is no water behind it (but there is not really any water anywhere in south Arizona - even the rivers). Who knows - Dave and his conspiracy theories thought it was very cool.



Valentine's day was in the middle of all this somewhere - which I almost forgot. Dave, Noah and I had a very romantic spaghetti-from-a-jar dinner at our card table dining set.



Next came Charles and Barbara's anniversary - see earlier post.



Then Diamond's birthday. She turned one year old on February 17th. Her favorite things are eating, licking people's nostrils (especially Dave's), sucking on the inside crease of my elbow, biting at my toes when I'm walking around without shoes, playing with her cousin Beagle, and barking ferociously at any other animal (on tv, outside, in pictures, her own refection, etc.) She makes us laugh everyday - even when we are angry with her.



On February 23rd, my parents celbrated their wedding anniversary - 41 years. Dave and I took them to a place of their choosing in Phoenix, where we dined on steak and rattlesnake (does not taste like chicken). We went with my sister-in-law and her two girls (my brother was at a seminar in Vegas). It was a good evening.



A wonderful surprise occured last Sunday. There was one whole row at church filled with Loganites from Utah! We were able to get them all to come over for a meal and had a great time catching up. It is always so comforting to see dear friends from our old home. Here we are in the top picture - notice the weather and attire. Left to right - Front: John and Jean Stewart; Back: Mary and Norb Debyle, Ray and Betsy Franchina, Dave, Barbara Hedgepeth; Very Back: Charles Hedgepeth



So I am now gearing up for next month. March 1 and 2 are Tate and Heidi's birthdays, March 13 is Noah's birthday, then spring break and Easter. And lets' not forget about St. Patrick's day!


Happy holidays, birthday and anniversary to all!

50 years!

Happy 50th anniversary to Barbara and Charles Hedgepeth! Dave's parents have been married for 50 years today - what an amazing accomplishment. I found out that only 5% of married couples make it to their 50th anniversary. It's a long time to be together - especially for those two. They will be the first to admit that they are total opposites and it hasn't been all fun and roses. But we sure are overjoyed that they are together and thankful that we can benfit from their example.

We went out to dinner with some friends of theirs and had a very nice night. Noah was very excited to get all dressed up (he can't be my son) and he behaved like a perfect gentleman for the 2 1/2 hour meal where he had crab, lobster and steak. He said that all he was missing was the "little rose in his pocket." His is definitely Pop's little capitalist prodigy.

Noah has started taking archery lessons and really likes it. I think it would be so fun to learn myself. He has also begun a chess class with Dave along with the bowling he does with his dad. We are raising quite the little geek. Is it any surprise - look at his parents! It's a good thing he is progressing in his karate lessons.