A Trip to Arizona

In March Logan and I took a trip out to Arizona to visit Kevin, Sandy, Emily, Zachary, and Nathanael. We got to see my mom and dad who spent a couple of months out there this year. We had a wonderful time and took tons of pictures, of course.

Mom and Dad on a hike we took up the hill on the church property.

Nathanael and I out climbing on the hill.

Looking out from a stoping point on the mountain.

One day we went to the park and a lady gave us some bird seed. Logan wanted to feed the birds, but he would chase the birds and try to throw the seed right at their head. He didn't understad why they would run and not accept his generous gift.

Sandy and Kevin have an orange tree and a grapefruit tree in their backyard. It was so awesome picking fresh fruit and eating fresh off the tree.

We went to McDonalds on St. Patrick's Day to get Shamrock shakes, but they were all out. Everyone was very sad.

Even though they didn't have mint shakes they were selling their regular flavors so in the end everything worked out okay.

Emily made my dad's favorite pie -- Lemon Meringue.

Dad was very happy about the pie.

Emily and I climbed Camelback Mountain. It was quite a hike (we thought). It was rather discouraging to see some people running past us or relatively old people moving faster than us. Oh well, maybe we will be faster next time.

Camelback Mountain -- It is very tall for a non-climber.

Zachary caught a gecko. It was really cool. He is good at catching stuff like that. He has a bearded dragon in his room.

We went to the train park where Logan had a wonderful time. Check out Logan's blog to see more train park pictures. This is the group that rode the train. (Dad is taking the pictures and Zach is in the background.) Logan, me, Sandy, Nathanael, Emily, and Mom.

I had a blast watching the kids jumping on the trampline. These are some really cool pictures that I took with my dad's camera.

Emily
Zachary
Nathanael

Logan and Emily

Logan and Zachary

Logan and Nathanael

Before getting on the plane we had some hot dogs which Logan loved. The whole experience was very wonderful. I hope we get to do it again.

More Work on the House

This past weekend Jason's parents were here visiting. Jason and his dad did some work on the basement stairs and they look great. There is still a little more to do, but it looks much better. They also put up a great coat rack so we can hang lots of stuff on the basement stairs.

Jason and his dad painting.

If only we knew where Logan gets his crazy sense of humor from.

Otis made it in for this visit. Here is redneck dog sitting with his hat on.

Logan loves baking cookies with Bobbie. It is one of their favorite activities. He always tells me what a good cook he is.

Auto Show 2009

Last night we went to the Chicago Auto Show. We had a great time and saw some nice cars. The Chicago Auto show is very different from the Detroit show, but was still worth going.

Logan liked seeing all the cars and running around, but he really didn't like getting in the cars. He would freak out and cry if we put him in one. Here is Logan and Jason in one of the Cadillacs.

Logan and Edy in front of the Converj, the car that Jason's dad worked on at GM.

This is probably my favorite car at the show, well maybe it tied with the Camero. That was pretty awesome too.

Jason's dad worked on the interior. Logan liked the idea that Papa "built" this car.

Logan really liked this little car. He wanted to climb the little fence and go behind the wall.

Bumblebee from the Transformers movie - untransformed.

Bumblebee transformed. This is probably my favorite car from the show. It is awesome!

This is the Corvette Stingray concept. It is also in the new Transformers movie.

One of Jason's very cool car photos - notice the Stingray detail.

Jason in his dream car - the Chevy Camero.

The Jeep exhibit had a trial drive for small kids. Logan loved it!
The helmet was a little tight. Shocking!

This is one of Logan's poses. He was so excited to be driving in the car. He thought he was such a big boy.
Jason had to supervise Logan and help him steer.

According to Jason, Logan is a terrible driver. He mostly enjoyed crashing.

We enjoyed sticking Jill in vehicles that she would never drive including a mini-van, a pick up truck, and a Sprinter.

We loved the Mini-Cooper convertible.

This Ferrari is gorgeous!

Even though we weren't there for the charity preview we still saw some celebrities including the transformers and the little bug. Das Auto.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's weekend was really fun for us. You can check out Logan's blog to see what he did, but we had a good time as well. Hannah spent the weekend with us so Jason and I took advantage of her excellent babysitting skills and went out for dinner on Friday night with just the two of us. (Eating slowly without someone pulling on me is a treat in itself!) Valentines morning we had a pink breakfast with blood orange juice, strawberry waffles, and strawberries.

Later that evening Jill Lagger had a dinner party for a few couples. It was Jill and Steve, Matt and Jill Scalzetti, and Jason and I. She made steak, potatoes, and green beans. I brought desert. Once again it was great sharing adult conversation without being interrupted.

The table looked very professional and beautiful.

I brought the cake. It is a variation on Baked Alaska and it is Jason's favorite.

I am surrounded by Jill! Seriously this is Jill, Edy, and Jill. They were roommates at Bob Jones.

Steve and Jill

Matt and Jill

Jason and Edy

Teaching at 4H

Last week I had the exciting opportunity to visit the 4H group that my sister and nieces participate in. This year they have been studying China. They have done projects, learned phrases, and tried the food. Below you can see them all in their costumes.
Hannah is on the far left with the fan and Sarah is on the right in the back with the umbrella.

I brought a lot of my stuff from China and passed it around. I really enjoyed teaching again. It is definitely something I will always have a passion for. The kids seemed to enjoyed it and I tried hard to keep it interesting and relevant to them.

I was so glad that Gwendolyn had asked me to do this. I love being close to her and seeing her often.
While I was talking Logan occupied "Aunt Gen" with running up and down the halls of the church where the group meets. After it was over, Logan found the "Lucky Duck" game that the girls had made.