Trapeze

People ask me all the time how and/or why I do all these crazy things.... I really don't know. They always seem like great fun when I plan them and then it comes down to it and and I think, "What have I got myself into!?" I still get nervous about things, I just do it anyway. Once you get past the 'scared' feelings, trying new things is just amazing! I absolutely know things could do wrong, but it just isn't a big enough factor for me NOT to try something new. Realistically some of these things are just as safe or safer than driving your car! 

Luckily, our friends Jereme and Melodi had already taken Trapeze 101 before us so we knew just what to expect... Still as you climb the 12 inch ladder 25 feet into the air your nerves can get the better of you. Once you reach the small platform they harness you in (relief), but the next step is giving a little 'hop' when instructed and jump off the platform. You swing by your arms and are instructed when to flip your legs onto the bar and when to let go with your hands... Trust be it is A LOT easier than it sounds. I feel like I did the best the first time through because I was 100% dependent on their instructions to get me through. The next turn I tried to do what I though I should do before listening to their calls. Timing is SO important in Trapeze and if you don't listen carefully you can work very hard to do a very easy maneuver. If you do just as they say the momentum helps you in the maneuver - its really a strange experience. We had gone to the park just before our class and I tried to get my legs up and under the bar... lets just say it wasn't a successful experiment, but I was able to do it 2 stories high on a moving trapeze swing! Next you are supposed to do a back flip and land on the net (very fun- similar to landing on a trampoline just not as soft). You crawl over to the edge of the next and do a front flip off the next onto the ground. I haven't flipped that much in probably 10 years! Made me feel young and limber- ha ha

The set up

Climbing up! 

Getting ready to make the 'hop' off 

Kenny was very nervous about going, but was very brave and ended up doing fabulous! I was so proud of him!

Kenny Getting ready to go 

Since this was Kenny and my first lesson we did not progress onto the 'catching' like Jereme and Melodi, but we were fine with that. It was physically exhausting to take the 6 or so turns we did take! Plus the ladder really hurt your bare feet and our hands were super sour (no blisters like Jereme though).

It was SO neat to watch as they tried to leave the swing and get 'caught' by the catcher! Two girls made their catches, but no one made it back to the swing.

It was a super cool experience - unlike any other! Our abs hurt for a few days after! I was surprised to discover those muscles were still there for me! lol

Who: Me, Kenny, Jereme and Melodi
What: 2 hour Trapeze 101 class (purchased on Groupon for $32 each)
Where: Trapeze U - Gilbert , AZ
When: Saturday, April 30,2011
Why: To scratch something off my bucket list and have fun!

Its a first : (

My dad is in the hospital. The man hardly EVER goes to the doctor let alone let them admit him to the hospital, so you know it is bad when he is laid up in a hospital bed. (He actually asked me to take the picture because he agreed no one would believe he was in the hospital) 

  He has been pretty sick for a while, but refused to go to the doctor... ever! This morning he woke up and felt so bad he couldnt go to work. His stomach hurt a lot and he had a very high fever. Bill, the neighbor noticed that my dad didn't leave for work and called my mom (since she has been staying at my grandma's house) and told her. My mom went to the house to investigate. He was in bad shape and my mom was finally able convinced him to go to the ER. They admitted him and he is on morphine and an antibiotic because he has pneumonia in both lungs. He has spots on his lung that they want to check for.. you guessed it cancer. 


While we were visiting this evening the nurse came in to give him a shot in his belly, but had a little trouble since he has NO fat on him! He chuckled a little when she she commented on his lack of body fat. He is pretty good spirits considering he hates shots, IVs, being sick, asking for things, etc etc etc. 


It still to early to tell what will happen right now, and still shocking that this is happening just 20 days after my grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer. 

EMC Open House

To celebrate our companies 100th anniversary we had an open house and invited all our agents. 

Me and Kenny 

Jereme and Kenny 

I really don't like events of this nature that I have to socialize with people I don't know, but luckily Kenny ran into one of our vendors that does our premium audits and personal lines home inspections and we talked with them most of the night. 

Easter Weekend -

Kenny and I picked up the boys Saturday around noon. Our first stop on our big Easter adventure weekend was lunch. We picked Chick-fil-a because it was near the theater, but gave ourselves waaaay too much time. Luckily they had an indoor play land and the boys loved all the extra play time!                                                                                                        The boys were off playing and Kenny got US ice cream... we had intentions of sharing, but they always just let it melt all over and don't eat very much so we didn't order them their own. Anyway, Jacob caught us and you should have seen the stare down we got when he saw the ice cream... he said, "Whatcha got?" I replied, "Ice cream, want some?" He just kept staring and then ran back into the play land. It was pretty comical. 

Jacob and Little Brian 

On our way out the door Little Brian said, "Today is so much fun, lunch, playing and now the moodies!" He wanted to know where the DVD player was... we said no this is a theater with a really big TV and he said, "You have a big TV" I laughed and said this one is huge and as big as the wall! We have taken them to the movie before, but I guess he forgot. I have been wanting to take them to see HOP and when I won some AMC passes at work that sealed the deal! The movie was cute, but the boys lost interest a little in the middle and yawned loudly ( I thought it was funny). 

Jacob, Little Brian and Me 

After the movie we stopped by my grandma's to visit with her and had hoped to see Uncle Rick, Aunt Mei-lan, Jason and Hana, but they were out when we came by. When we tell the boys the next stop on the agenda is grandma's house Little Brian asks, "My grandma or my dad's grandma?" I don't think he grasps the great-grandma part yet. We made our visit short so maybe grandma could get a nap in before everyone got back to the house. 

We picked up a Pizza and headed home for the night. The boys played a few hours of wii (goodness they love that game!) and we had popcorn and watch Tangled. 

Jacob

Sunday morning the boys woke up at 6:30 AM! They were pretty excited to see if the Easter Bunny had left them a basket... The Easter bunny has always HIDE the baskets at my house, but that was not the case at Kenny's house... any who... He hides it at our house so the boys looked and looked until Jacob finally spotted them and his eyes lit up! 

Jacob and Little Brian 

Kenny and I also got a basket from the Easter bunny! (AKA The Kennels) 

They played with their toys and we colored eggs. Jacob was the only one that could figure out how to get the glitter on the eggs. He did great -

Jacob

Kenny got up around 8, but wasn't feeling very good. He had a bad reaction to the antibiotic he had taken for his earache. He didn't seem to worried, but I asked him to go to Urgent Care just in case (heck its the same copay as a doctor so better safe than sorry). They gave him 3 more prescriptions and said he should be feeling better by mid week. Poor guy. 

We went to the FREE carnival at Radiant for a couple hours and the boys were pretty well behaved, except when Little Brian told me to buy him a snow cone... I told him, no. He asked why and I told him you don't tell people to buy you things that is rude. He sincerely apologized, but I still didn't buy him one. Other than that, they had a great time playing in the inflatable jumping things, trying out the different carnival games and a few rides. 

Little Brian 

Little Brian 

Jacob

Little Brian 

me and the scared boys on the Ferris wheel 

As the morning went on the lines got longer and longer, so we waited in quiet a line for the Farris wheel. Jacob was pretty nervous about going, but was brave and went up anyway. He was pretty scared when we got up high, but I put my arm around his waist and he was fine (quiet but fine). Little Brian loved it! 

After the carnival we drove out to Buckeye for an Easter Lunch and egg hunt at Barb's house. We had some giant eggs that I wanted to try out... pretty much none of the kids, except Zack, were impressed by them but the adults liked em! 

Zack

Emma 

I feel bad about the egg hunt, because Little Brian and Jacob were crazy good at running around finding all the eggs it didn't leave much for Zack, Emma and Matt (although we did make all the big eggs off limits for them). 

Jacob

Emma 

Little Brian 

Matt

When Zack opened one of the big eggs and found a big truck Little Brian remarked, "You got to be kidding me, all I got was jelly beans in my eggs!" I was ticked and reminded him all that the Easter Bunny brought him... he said, "Oh yeah" He is such a sweet kid I guess I am just surprised when he says stuff like that... 

Emma 

Kenny even got a basket from the Easter Bunny.. this is the same one he has had ALL 30 of his years!!

Playing :

Zack, Little Brian and Jacob being pulled by Kenny 

Barb made a delicious ham dinner with cheese potatoes, green beans (made by Sarah), deviled eggs and rolls! Yummo! We were running short on time because we had to get the boys home and missed the cake, but I bet it was great too. Both boys questioned where we were off to next and didn't like my answer that it was time to go home. Jacob got a big ol' quivering lip and said, "Why?" and looked like he might cry. It was SO sweet and cute. I said don't you miss, your mom, dad, Billy etc? And he said, "No." They both fell asleep on the way home. 

It was about 4PM when we got home on Sunday and we were hanging around watching TV and fell asleep for a 3 hour nap! I guess we were both wore out from the busy weekend! 

Family Night

Sarah had been craving steaks, but not just any steak, specifically the last steak Kenny had grilled for her! So tonight she brought over some delicious New York Strips for Kenny to grill up for her, Barb, Kenny and me. He did a great job as always and we all enjoyed the meal. I love that Kenny always tries to cook the steaks to your particular liking not necessarily how he think you should eat it! Its not always possible, but he does his best to get the medium wells to the people who wanted that and leave it on a little longer for those who like it well done etc. 

We played a game of Phase 10 Masters and... I WON! Usually Kenny wins, but tonight I did : ) We talked a lot and had a lot of laughs (my favorite kind of evening), but one story in stuck out to me that I wanted to share: 

One day in particular Quint was going on and on about his beautiful bride, Sarah, and saying things to his buddy like "Would you just look at her, isn't she beautiful?" etc as he gazed at her from across the room.  Well that buddy's wife thought it would funny to switch seats with Sarah... she wasn't quite as good looking I guess. Well Quint turned around to dote on Sarah and said, "Oh look at her isn't she... well what happened?" 

Those two were just so cute. Their stories just aren't about when they were young and in love, but 60 years of "in love" stories... they really had it figured out. 

The Best!

Scrapbooks Etc (in Mesa) hosted their first ever swap party, actually Swap Soiree this week... of course I had to participate! I did the secret sister swap and the birthday card swap. You never can tell what you will get with a swap... but I was SO pleased with my goodies!

Card swap returns 

My Secret Sister Swap 

I didn't do the pin cushion swap, but this is what one lady came up with! So stinkin cute!

Each participant also got a goody bag, a pack of pattern paper and a huge pack of bazzil card stock! Leave it to SE to be the best at everything!

I am not usually one for sitting around chatting with people I don't know, but I am SO glad I stayed! There were some fabulous women there and we chatted about everything from adoption (one lady is going through the process right now and just got picked) to different card making techniques. It was inspiring, uplifting and just a wonderful night. For next time I already signed up for the cigar box exchange (you decorate a cigar box and fill it with goodies), the flower accessory and thank you cards! Can't wait to get started!

Closet

Tonight Grandma and I tackled a project that has been on her "to do" list for months. We cleaned out her and grandpa's closet. I just couldn't understand why she was so concerned with going through all her things, but I can understand now. She really is doing a service to her kids so they don't have to do it later while they are grieving. We touched every article of clothing in that closet and she decided if she should keep it our donate it. It was actually pretty fun, but it is so different going through a persons things with them and doing it after they pass... She told me what events she wore each outfit to (graduation, wedding, funeral etc) or who purchased it for her. She has always dressed very stylish and receives lots of compliments on the way she looks. Up until recently she ironed all of her clothes and always looks sharp. She said when she was working she bought all her clothes at K-mart, but people always told her how wonderful she looked all the time (I wish I had some fashion sense!).  When we finished with her things it was time to take grandpa's clothes off the hangers and bag them up. It was harder than I expected and it has been over a year... I am saving the clothes to make a quilt (someday).

I am kind of a nut when it comes to closets and like to use all the same hangers and color coordinate the clothes... grandma just loved it. There is just something about a cleaned fresh closet that makes you feel great!

Here is the end result-

Just sitting and talking with me while I cleaned and organized took every ounce of energy she had (my mom told me later her ankles really swelled up from sitting there for those couple hours). I could see her getting tired and told her to go relax that I could handle it, but she said, "No I am not going to leave you to do all my work and not even keep you company" I just love her and all the lessons she continues to teach me. I know being in this situation (not being able to do for herself and asking for help) is very hard for her. She has always been an independent, strong women without an ounce of laziness in her entire body.

My job is boring (yes it is true) and one day in this past year I was telling her how I have plenty of work to do, but it is just boring and not very challenging anymore. She told me that when she worked and had that problem she would make games for herself, like how much she could get done in an hour etc. She kinda does that with all 'chores'. Like tonight, like I said, it was fun. She turned a chore of cleaning out a closet into a stroll down memory lane and quality time.

She's... amazing??

Sometimes when it rains it pours around here! Last week Kenny discovered the dogs had severed the connections that lead from the AC unit to the house ! Believe it or not this actually happened at our first house... We did actually learn our lesson the first time and built a fence around the unit (also where the garden is/was), but the electric fence was no longer working and the dogs decided to just break a few fence planks and have a hay day. GRRR. Sunday night was pretty hot in the house, but we managed and Monday morning Joe from Wise Mechanical came out to fix us up. He was really impressed by the dogs work (I bet he was thanking them for it too!) and after several hours of work and $480 later we now have cold AC again.


This picture is the part Joe was so amazed that she could destroy. It is a pretty heavy grade copper pipe that is supposed to be straight and hollow not bent and flat. He couldn't believe her teeth/jaws were strong enough to do that damage.

Aren't we lucky to have such an amazing pup?

Double booked

I always go to my grandma's house on Monday nights and bring her dinner. We sit and chat and I do small chores for her (seriously small, but she thinks I am wonderful for it). For some reason it escaped me that we eat together and I made dinner plans for Kenny and I with another couple! Oops! Ridiculous I know. Grandma wanted some mushroom chicken so I picked up Panda express for my grandma, mom and I and we ate it together... We talked and ended up playing with grandma's new ipad listening to George Jones. It was a good visit. I had to leave to meet Kenny, Jereme and Melodi at dance class at Fred Estare, which went okay, but Kenny and I both decided we prefer country style dancing... After wards we headed to TGI Fridays for dinner number two. Sometimes people tease me for never saying no or for doing too much, but this is one instance that the time spent with the people was totally worth eating two dinners in one night (to be fair I only had dessert at TGI Fridays!) and being double booked. We had lots of laughs and great conversation with Jereme and Melodi which totally made Monday a better day! I wouldn't trade either dinner!

Quick Trip

Kenny loves to camp and our goal is to take more time for camping this summer. We made plans to camp, just us and our pups, this weekend in Flagstaff, however with the recent cold front there was still snow up north and the road we wanted to camp off of was closed. We talked about other places to go and decided to try Roosevelt! I was really excited to go, because I have not been there for 17 years since we spread my Grandma Taylor's ashes. Roosevelt was her and my Grandpa Taylor's favorite place to go camp. 

We pulled out Friday afternoon after a crazy busy work week and were anxious to get to the camp ground. We didn't arrive until after sunset and went searching for the perfect spot. Unfortunately, the water was is so high right now the only place to camp is in the designated camp grounds. We are not really fans of the designated camp grounds because you are SO close to your neighbors and it is hard to relax and have fun with 3 dogs chained (usually tangled up). We like them to be able to run free. 


We lucked out and found a great spot with no adjacent neighbors and set up camp. It was such a beautiful night we just sat and talked under the stars. 



Here are some random pictures of our pups throughout the trip- 

Hope 

Toby

Shelby and Hope in the backseat 

Shelby

In the morning we discovered this was our view! 

Our View 

Our Spot 

We headed out to check out the cliff dwelling after breakfast. I don't know how, but we lucked out an today was a FREE day at the park! Saved $6, woot woot! The hike to the dwelling is just over 1/2 mile, but it was pretty steep... and I haven't been exercising...  It was so worth it though! Very cool place to visit

We also did a little exploring by the bridge and dam area -

Kenny had been fighting a head cold and the difference in elevation caused his ear to really hurt so we decided to head home early. It was our quickest camping trip ever, but still very fun! 

The rest of the weekend- 
After we got home from our camping trip we headed to the Urgent Care. The office staff at the first urgent care appeared to be completely incompetent so after waiting for an hour we went to another Urgent Care office. They were amazing and got Kenny right in and out. We filled his prescriptions and then tackled our water heater project (see separate post). 

Sunday we got some R&R, but still had to clean out the trailer and get it ready to store at Barb's house for a few more weeks. Barb had us and Sarah over for dinner that night and it was SO dang good. Eating out gets old sometimes so we appreciated the home cooked meal ( I LOVE her mashed potatoes!) After spending some time with her I am always newly inspired to start cooking at home more, because she makes it look so easy... but have a really hard time with the follow through.