Tour of the White Mountains

Last year I rode a mountain bike race with a buddy of mine that I worked with in Phoenix, Terry. Despite getting lost and 40 mph wind last year, we tried it again this year. Um, not too much better this time. The courses were marked better this year, but I still missed a turn and ended up riding an extra 3 miles and pretty much taking myself out of contention for any placing. I had 5 or 6 riders in front of me at the point I missed the turn and looking at their finishing times I would have finished about 6th. Not too bad for a guy who doesn't ride too much. My buddy ended up getting sick just 9 miles into his race, but he got about 27 miles into it before he had to stop. Then it rained. Super. Nothing as fantastic as getting rained on when you are camping. We were going to stay and camp that night but just drove home in the rain, at least our bikes got clean! So, we are basically 0-2 doing the TOWM and probably won't do it again, but where else could you get me to don my lycra riding pants and get to see my curves?

Our Baby Boy is 2!

That's right....Graham David turned two on Thursday. We can't believe he's so big! To celebrate....we went to the zoo this past weekend with both of our families and then celebrated at our house afterwards.

Here is our baby boy the day he was born.

October 23, 2006

Here is Graham now with his Papa at the zoo.


Hanging out on the "elfents" with Nana, Uncle Jo Jo, Aunt Vanessa, and Uncle "Maffew"

Checking out the wallabies.

Graham kept saying, "Wallbees, where are you?"

Hanging out with Grandpa watching the "elfents"

Back at the house, Graham sneaks a bite of the candies on the

cake before blowing out the candle.

"Mmmmmm, tasty" as Graham would say.


Digging into presents. He would take a present out and then

throw it across the room.
I think this day was a little too much attention for him from everyone.



Riding his tricycle from Aunt Olivia and Uncle Adam.

What a fun day! Graham, we love you so much. You bring such JOY to our lives!

Where is that music coming from?

Yesterday after work I was laying on the floor in the living room playing with Graham when he went over to the "entertainment center" (a coffee table with the tv on it with the dvd and stereo below) and grabbed a book of CDs out. I put in a little bluegrass album and played it. Graham had an awed look on his face as the banjo started picking. He looked at the speakers, got up and walked over to them. He stood on tippy toes and looked over the top of the speaker. He leaned to the right and looked behind the speaker. He leaned to the left and looked behind the speaker. Then he looked at me with a "where is that music coming from?" smile on his face. I guess we should play more CDs.

My Dear Friend

Two weekends ago (yes, I'm a little delayed in blogging about this) my dearest friend, Angel, surprised me on Sunday afternoon by showing up on my doorstep (She lives in NJ)!! Apparently Eric knew about it for a few days, but no hints at all until Sunday afternoon when someone called him and he quickly ran upstairs. He came down later and I asked him who it was; he replied, "no one." Two minutes later there was a knock at the door and it was "no one". Angel was standing at my front door in person!! We enjoyed dinner together and talking into the evening. Of course, it was such a short amount of time, but we got all "caught up" reguardless. Angel....I love you so much. Thanks for thinking of me and coming to see us! I won't ever forget it.

Here we are sitting on the hood of the car she rented.....

if you know Angel, then you understand why it's yellow. :)

Terrible 2's?

This is how my day went yesterday....

"Graham, No you can't eat the Desitin."
"No, you can't slam every door you see."
"No, you can't climb up onto the table."
"No, you can't get the vacuum out."
"No, you can't bang your head against the wall, just so you can hear the picture frames rattle."
"No, you can't take out all the baby wipes; no you can't take out all the tissues."
"No, you can't stick your finger in my chapstick."

Sitting down for dinner later on...
Graham is poking at the sour cream with his finger, looking confused.

"Yes, Graham, you can eat the sour cream, even though it looks like Desitin."

Boys will be boys

In life, sometimes you just have to believe what God says and take it on faith. Sometimes He gives you a glimpse of some truth to help you believe and have that faith. Sometimes we just aren't supposed to understand at all, and maybe we never will.


"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." (Deut. 29:29)


With all that taken into account, I've never really been sure about the nature vs. nurture argument, or if boys and girls are inherently different when born. I have seen the light now. So, for anyone who believes that girls and boys are the same and society is to blame for boys wanting to play with trucks and girls wanting to play with Barbies, I will listen patiently to your claims, complaints and coaching.

Then I will show you this video.





On further note, we were watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics the other night and the drummers were drumming, and Graham started drumming with his hands on the floor, raising his arms high above his head and throwing them down to the floor like the guys on tv. What a boy.

That's not to say that we will raise Graham with just"boy toys". If he wants to play with a doll, learn to sew (I kind of did), or any other "girl" things- then he can. I've just learned that a boy is a boy deep inside, because we never had to teach him to do what he does. It's just who he is. God made him that way and we love it.

Reminds me of Home....

I know that my home is here in Gilbert with my husband and spunky little son, Graham. But there are things that remind me of home when I was with my parents. Eric and I really like to cook, but only because we really like to eat. I make a lot of the same dishes that my mom used to make for us. Here are some of my favorites from "home":

Meatballs and Brown Rice
Tuna Casserole
Chicken Curry Casserole (Mama....I need to get the recipe for this again)
Beef Stroganoff
Chicken Enchiladas
Mama's Pork Chops
Taco Salad

I'm sure I could think of more, but these are the ones that came to mind. Last night we had Taco Salad. It's a great, easy summer salad that makes a fabulous dinner! Here's the recipe:

Taco Salad:

1 lb. ground beef browned with can of kidney beans (drained) added at the end to heat through(salt/pepper beef/beans to taste)
Head of lettuce, chopped
tomatoes, chopped
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped red or green onion
broken tortilla chips
thousand island dressing - Wish Bone (I don't usually like this dressing, but it's great in this!)

Mix all together and enjoy!!

Mama and Papa....I thought of you when we were eating this last night. Miss you. :)