Then & Now

Then:

circa 1997?
Family outing to the river via 4-wheeler (or should I say 4tracker?)

Now:

Carrying on the tradition of dragging my children into remote desert areas, much to their... delight! And mine too!

Thankfully Jara thinks its funny when Jack practices his fencing moves.

And yes, this is what we ALL roll. Maybe its time to upgrade? Or would it be downgrading? hmm

There was a...

Toxic Chemical spill in my air vents this morning.

When I woke up I could detect an acidic burning in the air. The smell became stronger as I went into the children's rooms. It was a smell I am, unfortunately, very familiar with. I felt the floor for its distinguishing elements and could not find any evidence of 3-year-old pee, that could break down a car battery, but I could smell it. Every time I walked by the floor vent the smell became stronger and more prominent. Strange? So I asked my daughter the obvious question, thinking maybe she'd genetically inherited my husbands toddler habit of peeing in corners (thats what you get for laughing Jed.) She proudly showed me where she had taken off her panties and properly spilled forth a full nights worth of urine into my air ducts.

My arm can only bend so many degrees therefore, the labryinth of my ventilation system is now contaminated.

Someone call hazmat.

the culprit

Adventures

This is where we were at. If you have no idea where that would be, that makes two of us. Although that faint glimmer of water in the background is the east side of Lake Mead.

Happy Jack and Jara. Notice I did not post the picture of angry Jack and Jara-that made their parents bust into a mean, although slightly off-key, Grant M. Bowler school song, to restore the peace. Don't ask, just know that it works.

Our new home. Isn't it lovely? It even has an outhouse and hauntavirus.


Jara playing in the spring, the water was body temperature, thus making it ideal for splashing.

Jack preferred the horse trough for his splashing.

This is to redeem myself from the headband picture. It's my ranchwear modeling pose. hehehe

The boys

"Snow" What Fun

My kind of snowboarding:
-bunny hills (that means no lift)
-65 *
-snow bunnies (jack and jara)

3 on a board, Jara kept covering Jed's eyes, a little extra challenge

Bless you my children, because of you I have an excuse to ride a snowboard the only way I am capable of without damaging myself

Future X-games 2026 champ

Snow Angel

the bonuses of desert "snow"

*it does not leave one wet

*it is not too cold

*it can be rolled in with no serious consequences

*it does not require extra/special clothing

*it is soft

Does anyone remember the fateful prom snowboarding trip of 2000? If you have pictures let me know.

2-for-1

This Christmas Jara & Jack got a swing set
I got a workout home gym, complete with drill sergeant/ personal trainer aka jara "FASTER, HIGHER, MORE" are just some of her favorite words.

Here we are blowing kisses to our paparazzi. Don't I look lovely? You know you want a headband like that too.



She gets a 10! Excellent landing

Ahh the joy

Jack knows what his sister is capable of and therefore does not enjoy the teeter-totter, even with parental supervision.


What happens when your trainee gets sick of 20 lunge/squats in a row

Jack prefers rocks.

It was REALLY cold (40 is cold in NV) hence the awesome head gear! Only Jed was immune.


PS-I did not purchase the swing set, grandma did and that is why I will soon have pics of her on the teeter-totter! In my mom's defense she did ask me if a teeter-totter was okay and in my own mind I pictured one of those swing kind and said GREAT IDEA! research more research

She's Now...

My Little Sunbeam!

2010

A decade ago...


New Year's 2000

May the next 10 years be as fun as the last!



*those are Martinelli bottles, in case you were wondering.