Shameless Plug...

We have developed a ritual of going for Smoothies a couple of times a month. We have a smoothie place nearby that we just LOVE! They are in the same strip mall as two other lesser known food franchises that haven't been able to survive and have closed up shop. One was Garlic Jim's Pizza - they have some of the best pizza I've ever tasted! But alas, they are gone and we are sad. Inta Juice (in my humble opinion) has a much better menu than it's nationally known smoothie competitor. So, my local friends, click here to find their address and help me help them stay in business! I cannot do this alone! And if you aren't nearby, find a location near you and check it out - I promise you won't be disappointed!

In Honor of Dublin,

...California and Dublin, Ireland. I have never been to Ireland, but I lived in Dublin, CA for seven years. Seven really great years. We have very fond memories of our time in Dublin. Our many adventures fixing up our old, yet expensive, home. Our many friends who came and went over the years... some of whom we've reconnected with here in AZ. Being an hour away from parents and lots of cousins. The green hills of the Bay Area in March... ahhh... I really miss that... and my crown molding... not to common in AZ... This was my house in Dublin... so little and old, but we loved it !

Three years ago this week, we moved away from Dublin and came to the desert. What a interesting three years it has been! After three years here, I can say we have put down some roots. If we never move again, I will be okay with that. I don't see us moving again anytime soon, but I never thought we'd leave Dublin, either. It was home. I still have a bad habit of calling it "home" when I'm talking referring to it.... Now we have a new "home".... but my experience in Dublin has taught me that you never know when plans will change and life will bring on a new adventure!

When Taylor was in 4th grade, we went on lots of field trips to learn about local history and we visited the Historic Dublin Museum, housed in a very old church and school house. It was a fun place to visit and we learned about Dublin's History:

Dublin has a rich history dating back to 1772 when Pedro Fages led an expedition of 16 mounted men on a journey in search of a land route to Drake's Bay which at that time was called San Francisco Bay. Their return journey brought them through the Amador Valley.
It wasn't until approximately 1822 when building began in the area. Jose Maria Amador had been paid in land for his years of service as a Mexican soldier and as administrator of Mission San Jose. He received a land grant of 16,517 acres in the Amador- Livermore Valley. He built several adobe homes and many small buildings that were used as shops where his Indian workers made soap, blankets, shoes, farm tools, etc., for use on his rancho.
In 1852 Michael Murray and Jeremiah Fallon came to this area from Ireland. They purchased 1,000 acres of land from Jose Amador and built homes for their families. The area began to grow as many settled in the area.
In 1853 Alameda County was created from parts of Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties. Both Murray and Fallon served on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Townships were established the next year and Murray's name was chosen for this area.
By 1877 the first schoolhouse in the Amador-Livermore Valley, along with a church, two hotels, Green's Store, a wagon and blacksmith shop, and a shoemaker's shop were constructed in Dublin. The Murray Schoolhouse, Green's Store, St. Raymond's Church and the old cemetery (where members of the Donner Party Expedition are buried) have been preserved and are now located on Donlan Way. Mail was delivered to the Dougherty Station Hotel. Thus the area became known as Dougherty's Station. Subsequently, the area became known as Dublin and in 1982 the City incorporated.

Can You Believe This is Less Than 2 Hours from Phoenix???

We survived 5th grade camp. I'm really glad I got to go! It's a fun way for me to spend quality time with my kids since I'm not allowed on scout camps! We had BEAUTIFUL scenery, FUN activities, and FABULOUS food! Plus, no cooking or dishes for me and all the hot chocolate I could drink! (Which I did.... it was so darn cold, it's the only way I could keep my body warm.....)

On day one, we moved into our cabins, ate our sack lunches and hit the rock wall and went hiking. Megan did awesome on the rock wall... she made it about 20 feet up before quitting. That's probably 10+ feet more than I made it 2 years ago. I still remember how much my legs shaked on this wall and was in no hurry to repeat the experience this year. That night we had a good ol' fashioned campfire with songs and skits galore. None of them were familiar to me... so now I know even more than I did before!

On day two, we got up and took hot showers, ate breakfast, then had Team Challenge and made Catapults. Then after lunch we dissected owl pellets (the adults just watched and tried not to be grossed out....), played a fun game called "The Beast", and did some archery. Then after dinner (and a few more cups of Hot Choc) we went on a night Hike. This was cool, because no flashlights are allowed and they teach you things about night vision and how animals vision is different from humans. We played fun games and even made sparks fly with lifesavers. VERY cool! Megan's favorite part was the Native American story about how the sky was created. It was a neat story. The stars were so beautiful up there in the mountains with no "city" lights as a distraction. I couldn't stop staring at them!

Day three, was a quiet day... we ate breakfast, took showers and then packed up. We cleaned up our cabin and had free time to roam around, play ping pong, basketball or volleyball. The adults spent most of their time looking for warm places to sit and soak up as much sun (and warmth) as possible. At one point, I looked at a thermometer on a wall of a building and in the shade it was 36 degrees. This was about lunchtime!!! The bus ride home was long, but I can't tell you how much I enjoyed having a warm house, hot shower and my own bed again!

Blogging Withdrawal....

Got back yesterday from camp with Megan. I'll blog about it soon, but I want to have pictures to post and I don't have any digital. I knew Megan would want to take her own pics up there with friends, so I reverted to the dark ages and bought her a disposable to take. I didn't take my digital because I didn't want to worry about Mega losing it. Turns out it was a valid concern.... more on that later.... I'm hoping to develop film tomorrow and then I'll have to scan and post.... man, talk about dark ages!

It was good to come home and see all my boys after 3 days of nothing but girls!!! Brayden has changed a lot in the last month, but it really hit me when I came home and when I said no to something he wanted, he clearly replied, "it's not fair!" I couldn't believe my ears! He's been saying phrases like that for a while, I just wasn't really paying much attention, I guess!

My in laws are still here, so blogging time will be limited... I just spent the last hour catching up on friends and family blogs... I was starting to feel "out of the loop"... I really love reading about everything you are all doing!

And by the way, Brayden has been wearing that blue"rambo" ribbon since Monday... he won't take it off for anything but a bath and then it has to go right back on his head. I'm going to try to "lose" it before church, but if you see him at church with a blue ribbon on his head, please don't judge me! I'm not sure if we'll win the battle and if we lose Eric will be so embarrassed to take him out in public! It's so funny though, he calls himself a "ninja turtle" and he points to the one with the blue mask (Leonardo) on the video game we have. It's hilarious!

YMCA

Tomorrow morning, Megan and I are headed off to science camp with the rest of her 5th grade class. We are going to a camp in the mountains near Prescott. I've actually been there before, when Taylor went 2 years ago, I got to chaperone then, too. It's a beautiful place and I can't wait to see it again!

Last time it was bitter COLD, so I know this year to come very prepared for cold weather. This picture is of me and one of the girls in my cabin on the last day, and yes, those white spots in the photo are real snowflakes! It snowed the last day, which was of course, totally awesome! I'm hoping for snow this year, but I doubt we'll get any!

What's the Deal?

Since school started in January, we have been getting our kids up every morning at 6:45 to read scriptures together as a family before Eric goes to work and they have to get ready for school. This is the first time EVER we have ever attempted this, but after 2 months, I feel safe in saying that it's become a habit. For the first time in our family's life, we've consistently read the scriptures 5-6 days a week. The reason we've never attempted this before is because so many of us are NOT morning people. Megan and Taylor are now pretty good at getting up and coming to our room in the morning when their alarm goes off, but Ian has to be carried to our room every morning. He HATES reading scriptures in the morning and spends most mornings pretending to be asleep on our bed the whole time. This has been the daily drill for two months now. Then, last night, I told Eric that I wanted to sleep in (preferably until noon) because I was just so darn sleep deprived. I knew even getting to 7:30 a.m. would be sleeping in for me. Such is my life now.... but anyway, this morning I woke to Ian asking me if him and Brayden could go downstairs and play on the xbox 360. I say (groggily) "uh huh...." then I roll over to see the alarm clock - 6:40 a.m.!!!! That little bugger! I'm NEVER going to let him play "possum" again during scriptures in the morning!

Rambo

For several days last week, Brayden insisted on wearing this blue ribbon around his head. The kids called him a ninja, but all I could think was, "Who needs to go see Sylvester Stallone, when we have the cutest Rambo right here?"