The Last Six Months.

It's been a while, so I thought I'd update you on everthing that has happened in the last 6 months. In February we celebrated Coy's 6th birthday. We went to Tucson to see Jon's sister Kari and her husband Mike. We went to the desert wildlife museum.

In March, we fostered a 10 day old puppy for 2 months. His name is Wyatt and is a lab mix. He was so cute and we even fot to bottle feed him. We kept him until he was ready to be put up for adoption. Also in March, we switched Coy to a new school. We kept having nothing but problems with his first school, so we sent him to a private Christiam School. He finished out kindergarten there and is much happier.

In April we celebrated Easter, by going to the Baptist church for a service and Easter egg hunt. The boys looked so handsome in their outfits.

In May, we celebrated another year of being a family. We went to Peter Piper Pizza, for food and games. Can't believe it's been four years now.

In June, we went on vacation to Lake Chelan in Washington. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect. We went on a boat ride, went to a water park, a botanical garden, and went swimming everday for a week. It was hard to come home to the heat.

In July, my sister Bethany got sick, so we headed to Safford for a visit with her and the rest of the family in town. We spent the 4th of July weekend there and had a great time. Went swimming and saw the fireworks. Wish we could see them more often; it's hard somethimes to live so far away.

My boys at the Museum.

Coy's 6th birthday.

Coy and Wyatt.

Easter

Botanical Garden.

Miniture golf at the lake.

Waterfall near Lake Chelan.

January 2010

January was a good month. We celebrated Austin’s 5th birthday on the 8th. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, so we went to Old Tucson. We stayed the weekend with Jon’s sister Kari and her husband, Mike. We had a fun time at Old Tucson. There were rides for the kids and lots to see. There was a ride into a hunted mine, and that scared both boys. It made me a little motion sickness too. We then went back to Kari’s for cake, ice cream and presents. The next day we went bowling. The boys love bowling and are getting better every time we go. We had a great weekend and as always it was hard to leave.

We also went sledding this month. Flagstaff has had a lot of snow this winter and we didn’t want to miss out on it. Coy loved sledding; he couldn’t wait to get back up the hill, so he could go down again. Austin did better this year, but only went down the hill a couple of times. I even went down once. We are hoping to go again before it all melts.

Because of all the snow Jon had to work extra hours to help. I’m always worried when he has to work in the snow. There are so many accidents and police officers are always getting hurt. Jon asked me to go on a ride along with him, so I could see that he was safe. I can’t say I had a good time. I was scared as the car slipped all over the road. We helped a few cars that had slid off the road. And in the end we made it home safe. Not sure if I’ll do that again. But Jon seemed to enjoy himself. I’m glad he likes his job.

In jail at Old Tucson.

Kari, Coy, Austin and Mike at Old Tucson.

Austin bowling.

Sledding

At work with Jon.

December 2009

December was a busy month for us. We had so many things to do to get ready for Christmas. As the boys get older they enjoy the holidays more, and are so excited. Austin was the cow in his Christmas program. He sang the songs and waved at us while on the stage. Coy also had a program and was a reindeer. He too sang every song and waved.

Christmas day was a little different for us. Jon has worked almost every Christmas, but this year he had it off and I had to work. This is the first Christmas I’ve worked since I was 17. I only had to be at work for 4 hours and got home as fast as I could. Jon and the boys waited for me and we started our day as soon as I got home. The boys got a video game system and a few games, GI Joe, movies and more. Jon got ski stuff; he is decked out from head to toe with everything from the beanie to the skis. He is so excited to get on the slopes. As for me, I got a new car. I will be saying goodbye to my mustang and hello to my new GTO.

My Mom got us tickets to the polar express. It’s a train ride in Williams that takes you to the North Pole. The boys loved the cookies and hot coco they got. They were pumped when Santa walk through the train. They each got a bell from Santa. As soon as we got home they hung the bells on our Christmas tree. We had a great time, just wish we could have stayed the night with the rest of my family in Flagstaff. But I had to work the next morning.

Jon’s birthday was the 31; he had to work that evening, so we celebrated before he left for work. Once Jon was gone, the boys and I started celebrating the New Year. I asked them what they wanted to do and they wanted to bowl on the wii. I told them, they could stay up late, but by 9:30, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. So we counted down the New Year at 9:30 and I sent them to bed. It’s a good thing that neither of them can tell time.

Austin as the cow.

Checking out the tree.

Austin excited to open presents.

Polar Express.

My new ride.

November 2009

November came and went so fast. We said goodbye to another season of soccer. Coy and Austin enjoyed it and we're sad to see it end; although it is nice to have our Saturday’s back.

We also went camping one last time before winter. We met Jon’s parents in Benson for Kartchner Caverns 10 year anniversary. It was fun to take a tour of the cave with the boys. I was nervous that they would touch things, but they both did well and didn’t get bored.

For Thanksgiving, my Dad, Sister Bethany and her family came to visit. It was fun to be together for the holiday. We ate lots of food and went shopping for black Friday. We went to Prescott to shop, so we had to be up by 3:00am. Glad it’s only once a year, because that was way too early for me.

Austin in Benson.

Camping in Benson.

Coy's last game.

Austin with one of our baby bunnies.

October 2009

October was a good month for an anniversary, wedding, and a new birth. Not too much happened at the beginning of the month. On the 20, Jon and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. We were going to go out of town without the kids, but we couldn’t get away. So instead we went to dinner and a movie.

On the 23, my youngest sister, Valayne got married. I wasn’t able to go to the wedding, but did make it to the reception. It was fun to see most of my family there and just hang for the night.

On the 25, our boy rabbit, Goose had 5 babies. I was sleeping when Austin woke me up. “Mom, there is a mouse in our bunnies pen. Come see, come see.” I wasn’t very happy to be woken up for something that wasn’t possible. When I got to the pen, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were six babies, daddy sleeping and mom cleaning up. (Just like a man to be sleeping during all this.) We lost one baby. We will have them until Christmas, when they are done nursing; they will go to new homes.

On the 31, we celebrated Halloween. Austin was a Dragon and Coy was Frankenstein. We went to my friend Rick’s house and trick or treated in his neighborhood. The older the boys get, the better Halloween is. They had so much fun this year.

At Valayne's Wedding

Riley, Coy, Darin, Austin at the wedding.

Halloween

All of us on halloween.

Jon & Austin with 2 of our babies.

September 2009

In September, the boys both started soccer. Austin only has three kids on his team and Coy has 6. Coy played last year and he couldn’t wait to get playing again.

Jon had another month with weekends off, so we camped and visited friends all month. This will be the last month of weekends off this year.

I got a promotion at work. I’m now the vet tech assistant. Once a week a vet comes to the shelter to spay and neuter the animals. It’s my job to help him. Its great experience and I love it. I just wish it was more than once a week.

We added two new pets to our home, this month. The boys have wanted a cat ever since our rabbit died. But one of our dogs would hurt; possibly kill a cat, so we got two boy rabbits. Austin named his Maverick and Coy named his Goose. If you’ve seen Top Gun, you may remember those names. I didn’t get any pictures yet. I’ll explain in October’s post.

Austin at his first game.

Coy with his friend Hailey, in Snowflake.

Austin playing with our friends cat.

Austin tring not to wake the cat, while he napped.

August 2009

Our August was full of firsts, good times and sad. Coy started kindergarten on the 5th. Hooray! Coy has been looking forward to this for two years. He now rides the bus and gets to eat in the cafeteria. He loves it and can’t wait to tell me all about his day.

I had an exciting first at work. I got to assist in a spay and neuter, with the vet that comes in to the shelter. I was really nervous because the thought of blood makes me faint. I prayed a few times before I got started, but to my surprise I not only did well, I loved it. I didn’t get to do too much but it was fun. I don’t get to help on a regular basis yet, but hopefully in the future I will be.

Jon has had weekends off this month, so we have gone camping and gone out of town to see friends, we haven’t seen in a long time. I love when Jon is home on the same days as me. We never just sit around the house. We always have something planned.

Now for the sad part, our rabbit Toby died this month. I thought we’d have him for 15 years but he only made it 5. He got a cold and I thought he’d get better, but instead he died 3 days after getting sick. We had a big talk about death and had a little funeral for him. The boys took it pretty well.

On the 28th, my Granny past away. It wasn’t too much of a shock, because she had not been doing well for about a month. She was a wonderful Granny and always had a way of making me feel special. We got very close while she lived near me for 6 years, right after I married Jon. I saw her often and built a great relationship with her. She moved back to Phoenix a few years ago, so I didn’t get to see her as often. I feel fortunate that I had those six years with her. But I feel sad that the boys will never know her, the way I do.

Coy on his first day of school.

Camping.