FUN WITH THE HORSES

Nicholas came over yesterday and brought some friends with their three children to ride the horses. It was a very nice day and I believe everyone had a good time. Brooklyn liked petting the horses and even wanted to kiss them but when Grandpa set her up on them she wasn't quite sure about that.

LORELAI MADISON HOUSE

My grandmother Letitia Ione Dunn Ashbaker Jensen Smith had this interesting thing she would do with her legs all the time. She would sit in a chair with her legs up. Now you might ask why is that interesting, everyone sits with their legs up. Well she did it without anything underneath them. She had to have had the strongest abdominal muscles in town. Anyway apparently she has passed this trait down to her great, great granddaughter. Emily says Lorelai sits like this all the time.

Love the flip-flops

Mom doesn't want me sucking my thumb so I'll suck my toe instead.

NUMBER 5 IS ON THE WAY

April started off with great news. Brooklyn is expecting a brother or sister. Jackie is due on November 12th. We are so excited and so blessed to see our family expanding. Congratulations Nicholas and Jackie!!!!!!!!!

Notice the shirt.

KAY GRADUATES WITH HIS MASTERS!!!

We are finally done with school. I am so proud of Kay and what he has accomplished. Last night was his graduation. Now what to do?

Brooklyn is very proud of her grandpa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY AND ASHLEY. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

HAPPY EASTER AND NICHOLAS BIRTHDAY

We celebrated Nicholas birthday on Easter Sunday. Here are some of the highlights.

Grandpa is placing a flower in Brooklyn's hair from the garden.

Pretty sad that Nicholas has to light his own candles.

Ready, Set, Blow

Now that's a lot of smoke. Nicholas you are getting old.

Pretty Cute!!!

Booklyn was helping herself to the food when dinner was over. There was a perfectly good cheesecake right next to her but she chose the ranch dressing. I wonder where she got that from.

PACIFIC BEACH

The second day of our mini-vacation we went to Pacific Beach and spent a few hours. Tyler was brave and went boogy boarding. Kay and I were content to walk on the beach and look for sand dollars. I love sand dollars and it is a real challenge to find them unbroken. Here is a short clip of Tyler in the ocean. The funny thing about the day was Kay got the most excited about a Taco bell that had a balcony that over looked the ocean.

Tyler boogy boarding. The ocean is about 59 degees.

SEA WORLD

Last Sunday Tyler and I picked up Kay at the airport (he was in Utah for a seminar for work) and we headed to San Diego. I decided that it has been too long since we had a vacation and while this was only going to be a mini-vacation it would still be a chance to get away. I got a screaming deal on a hotel from Priceline.com so off we went. We had a nice drive there. Tyler has his permit so of course he drove most of the way. I drove once we got just outside San Diego. I decided he wasn't quite ready for California Freeways. We went to dinner once we got there and then went down to see the beach at night. It was beautiful.

First thing Monday morning we headed for Sea World. Now I know most people like Disneyland but my favorite place is Sea World. It was a beautiful day. We couldn't have ordered anythng better. Of course the first place that Tyler and Kay wanted to go was to see the Clydesdale horses that pull the Anheiser-Busch wagon and as you can see below we also were priviledged to see the donkey. I was very disappointed though because the horses would not be parading that day. It was grooming day. They did let us get a picture next to one of them though. How does anyone get on to ride?

Tyler and the Donkey

Next we went to see the penquins. One of my favorites. Kay and Tyer were good sports in trying to keep happy.

Here is a video of the penquin habitat. I loved watching the little ones play and at the end of the video it is obvious who is the boss.










Now for the Beluga whales. They are very cool.





This video is especially for Cambri and all those who love Nemo and Dory. I got to see them in person.



Here is a pretty cool video of a walrus.

Next was Shamu. Here are some of the highlights.




Just for those who love the beauty of nature I added the flamingos. There were some really tall ones.




Now we are at the dolphin show. This one was a little disappointed. It was mostly the trainers dancing.



After we saw the show we went to a place where we could be up close and personal with the dolphins. We had to pay to feed them but that's okay. I tried to get a picture of Tyler petting the dolphins but he wasn't that thrilled with the idea.

Flipper says hi!

We did a really cool thing for dinner. We dined with Shamu. They have a special place that they have a great buffet and they train the whales while you are eating. The pool is right there four feet away. Here are some still pictures and a video. This was Tylers favorite part of the day.









After dinner they had two night time shows. The first one was with the seals and walrus's and they did a spoof on the other shows. It was pretty funny. They really made fun of the trainers of the dolphins. Here are some highlights.



The last of the day was a night time show with Shamu. The music was the best part.


The final event of the night was a fireworks show over Shamu's theater. It was short but good. We had a wonderful day. A much needed break. I hope all of you have been able to enjoy our trip also.

GIRLS DAY

Emily is in town so we decided to have a girls day. The only thing missing that day was Ashley and Cambri. We missed them a lot. Anyway first on the menu was to go get pedicures. When we got there they only had three technicians so the three girls got the pedicures and I got the granddaughters. I think that's a pretty good deal.

Kris, Lorelai, and Brooklyn

Here's the girls being pampered.

Okay Tara is done now Brooklyn thinks it's her turn.

Still waiting.

After the pedicures we went to Tia Rosa's for lunch. We had a great time. Jackie and Brooklyn had to leave us after lunch but the rest of us girls headed to Tempe for some facials. I have had some coupons and a gift certificated for several years that I finally decided to use. It was very nice. My technician also gave me a hand and arm massage. Tara and Emily didn't get that. I guess that was to make up for me not getting a pedicure. We went shopping after the facials. It was a great day for me as a mom and grandma.

FOOD STORAGE

So I have three goals that I set for myself this year. None of them are easy but I am determined. The first one is to reach my ideal weight by the time I am fifty. The second is to have my food storage done by 12/31/2008 and last but by no means least, to be out of debt except for my house also by 12/31/2008. I WILL SUCCEED. Yesterday I decided in order to have all my food storage I needed to know what I now have. We have a cellar that is about 8x18 in the back yard. This is where I keep all my storage. It is an unruly mess. So yesterday I got up, pulled my hair up into a ponytail and headed down there. What a job. By the time I was finished all my cans were separated in groups, lots of garbage thrown away and a full accounting was done. Well not a complete accounting. I have several buckets of stuff that is very hard to get to, so that will just be surplus. Anyway if anyone wants oatmeal please feel free to drop by, I have plenty. But now I know what to order and what not and it isn't a frightening experience going down to the cellar. It is very exciting because I realized with all I have now that my goal is very realistic and should be easily obtained if I buy things every month.