m-u-l-e

The Goodyear Blacks headed to Tucson for a fun weekend. We spent most of our time playing Rockband. As soon as the drums were set up, Ryan grabbed the sticks, sat down and held up the sticks and said, 'Let's do this!' Alex was very good at the drums and singing. Although, I don't know about him singing 'I'm a creep.' Ryan picked up the mic when no one was around and started singing 'I had a bad day.' My two musicians! Dan was very good at the guitar, and actually I'm sure I never heard him sing... He did earn a band-aid for his great guitar skills.

The main reason for our get away was to watch Emily's senior recital (piano) at the UofA. She did awesome! I don't know why I didn't take any pictures, but she was beautiful as always and we were all so very proud of her. On the way home Alex pipped up from the backseat. 'Hey, I know how to spell Emily, m-u-l-e.' Which is super funny if you know about Dan's interest in the annual Mule Jumping contest held in Pea Ridge, Arkansas every year. And, if you sound it out, mule could be pronounced 'emily'. So there you go!

We left Ryan with June for some alone time fun, but his stay was cut short with a little stomach bug. We'll have to reschedule for another time. He says he misses his grandma and his friends (his aunts and their sweethearts).

Oh, and I think we should all pray for our new national leaders today. They are going to need it!

First School Award

The second quarter brought Alex an award. He earned the 'Responsibility Trait Award.' In addition to perfect attendance and most improved the school gives out 6 Trait Awards per class. Good job, Alex! We are proud of you.

Happy 3rd Ryan!

Ryan's bday is on Dec 27th. We keep it simple and then in the summer have a half birthday to get new toys and have fun with friends. Here he is opening his bed gift. This was an Iron Man day, so he got a book to start off with.

Then we sang 'Happy Birthday' and had candles on donuts. Grandma's immunity is very low because of the Chemo so we had a small celebration in the morning and then had the party at Chucky Cheese later with my brother's family. Can you believe there is a Chucky Cheese in Rogers, Arkansas?! I was shocked to find that out. But so glad because Ryan loves 'Pizza Planet' and it was a very cold and wet day all day and we didn't have a lot of other choices in the county.

Ryan got an Iron Man car for his party. This was the first cake I have ever bought for a party. I won't do it again unless we are having a huge crowd or we are on vacation. We only ate half of it and chucked the rest a week later. When asked how old he was, Ryan would say '40'. Oh, man when Ryan really is 40 I'll be 66. I'll probably be playing the latest Wii in black socks!

Christmas Dinner

We had two Christmas dinners. The first on Cmas Eve with Grandma and crew. The second on Cmas with my Mom and family. I was proud that Dan was asked to give the prayer for both important meals. He is loved by everyone. I think it is because even though my family knows he is religious, he doesn't put on airs or act superior (we are the only Mormons in the bunch). He is a good disciple of Christ!

Dan is always quick to play with the boys, and any other kids that are in the fray. Here my nephew, Little Charles, is part of the wrestling.

Here is my brother Charles, Mom, and me. My mom is 4'-11" and my Dad is 6'-4", so we averaged out very well.

Santa came

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve/Day. On the Eve my Aunt, uncle and two cousins came and stayed the night with us at Grandma's. We read 'The Night before Christmas' and let the boys open one little gift. Alex slept with Grandma and Ryan slept on a pallet in our room. At 7:20 I woke up to a quiet house. Surely with 2 teenagers and 2 little boys someone is up eager for presents! Grandma said she and Alex woke up at 6 and just layed there and talked. Alex said he thought Santa had come but didn't suggest to go look. I got up and made a little noise which made Alex come out of his room. And then the chaos began!

Ryan had to have a skakeboard. Why? I have no idea. But it was a sincere pain in the rump trying to find one his size. Santa went to many stores on Christmas Eve to find it! Alex wanted this Lightsaber because I refued to buy or let him spend his allowance on it. I guess Santa can bring whatever so now we have 3 in the house. This particular one is a dangerous weapon because when you push the button it shoots out. Yes, Ryan did hit Alex in the eye with it within 5 minutes of it being out of the box.

Well, if you know Ryan than the cover of this book is all that needs to be said. If you don't these are his 3 joke words: undperants, pineapple, and eyeball.

I'm glad Grandma doesn't have the internet otherwise I would be disinherited for showing this picture. Here she is in all her glory with her 'nursing home' socks bowling on the Wii. Grandma and I are great buddies and something I have learned from her is that you never get used to looking old. When she first saw this picture she gasped, 'Ugh, what am I doing wearing black socks!' She is young at heart and although she loves a good round of Pac Man, she is not interested in Boom Blox!
My grandma has CMML leukemia. She was very weak when we got there. My aunt and uncle have been taking care of her since October on a nearly everyday basis. Because we were there, they got to go on a week break. But we had a great time with them before they left. I'm thankful they spent so much time with us. The boys loved Megan and Laura!

As for Grandma, she had a blood transfusion while we were there. We spent 8 hours at the hospital just the two of us, which doesn't sound fun, but it was. She was pointing out the patterns in the tile (she quilts) and I was telling her about Ryan's crazy ways. She is special to me and I'm glad she let us crash on her for 2 weeks. Her energy was a lot higher when we left than when we came, so maybe she needs us to give her a boost from time to time.

Winter Weather

We drove through Flagstaff and got out and looked at the snow. I can't say they played. Alex slipped onto his bum and dad kicked a pile of snow/ice. But they were excited anyway.
The weather in Arkansas changes every 5 minutes so here is a summation of the weather. We had various temperatures ranging from 6 deg one morning (when I had to do the grocery shopping!) and 67 deg another afternoon. We enjoyed sunny, cloudy, and thundering skies. One down pour sent the squirrels into hiding on Grandma's back porch. The boys wore their winter gear only a couple of the days we were there. But they sure looked cute in it! Grandma had hoped for a little snow so she could watch the boys watching the flakes fall. No such luck for us this year.

'I wanna go home now'

These are not the words you want to hear your 3 year old say when you 2.5 miles into a 1300 mile drive. No lie, we were at Sarival/Van Buren when Ryan pulls this one on us. We weren't even to the interstate yet! However, he and Alex went above and beyond all my expectations. There were probably 10 minutes max the whole trip when Ryan was crying. That is amazing when you consider we were in the car 4 whole days. Our secrets: 1) they earned 'money' for goodies from mom's 'box' 2) Spongebob Squarepants. Ryan has been saying 'stupid' more than I like, but for 4 days of quiet, that is a fair trade off.