Givenchy anyone?

Ah, the simple life. 
Living in Japan.

Traveling all over on the shinkansen (bullet train) with Emily Zoe.

Worrying about the Japanese culture and how we were percieved.

So much fun to have a blond child in a brunette country.

My how time flys!

The Eagle has landed. Next, it needs to soar!

So the Eagle Project begins. . . . . Cole had several boys from his Scout Troop come over Saturday morning to help pass out 450 flyers to some of the homes in our neighborhood.  These flyers were asking for donations for the 120 Christmas stockings he's filling for a boys treatment center.  Without Cole's Eagle project, these boys will not have a Christmas stocking.

I made some chocholate chip zuchinni muffins and whole wheat muffins for fuel.

And then the boys walked and walked.  Thanks to all who helped!

It's going to be a long flight!

For the love of Legos.

Nothing is better than a Sunday afternoon on the floor with a pile of Legos!



Especially when Mom is looking endlessly for that minute missing piece for you.

Ahh, for the love of Legos.

Monkey Boy

My blog has gone alien on me and I can't see my pictures whilst I write. Oh well. This is Truman showing off his skills as a tree climber at the campout last weekend. He certainly has some upper body strength.

Cereal Killer!

Our family is a cereal eating family. Cereal is our main breakfast except for birthdays and holidays. So I can see how multiple boxes of the same exact cereal get opened, I think. However, it does make me want to become a cereal killer at times. Once or twice a month I preform the task of "cereal consolidation."

I take this seriously.

How else will my cupboards be organized and I have enough room for the new cereal?

I've given up on trying to explain to the household inhabitants on the virtues of finishing the opened boxes before getting a new one. That kind of lecture falls on deaf ears, I'm afraid.

I've relented.

It's a lost cause.

I'll just be a cereal killer instead.

This isn't Mesa! Run Forest Lakes!

Guess who had breakfast duty on the camp out? Me. First on the grill was bacon, a lot of it. There was so much grease that we nearly had our eyebrows seared off from the flames lapping our faces! No joke.

I wasn't deterred from the flames, a bacon lover is faithful 100%.

Yep, we three slept here; Rick, Quinn & me. Truman slept in another tent with a friend, thankfully.

Ever heard of quadruple s'mores? Truman made one - makes one wonder. . .

Do I seem a little less stressed than the picture of Rick and me at Newport Beach? I feel secure and confident that my head space is not being invaded. Thanks, Rick!

Lunch, anyone?!

Gecko Grill is a lovely Mexican food restaurant made even lovelier by some great friends! Here we're celebrating my belated birthday. Getting together four different schedules of four very busily dynamic gals takes a little bit of fancy footwork. Thanks to all my special peeps, Leann, Stephanie & Tori, who won't let me miss a birthday.

"Thanks, I had a lot of fun!"

"No one is infringing on my head room space. Thanks!"

I love you all!

Flag football anyone?

It's flag football season at Desert Ridge Jr. High and this year Truman is playing starting receiver. Considering how we "forced" Truman to play last year and how he quit half way through the season, he's having a much better experience this year thanks to his coach and his improved attitude (and probably some of those muscles he's recently acquired).

You're just going to have to trust me that Truman is on the field somewhere in this picture.

Again, trust is the main theme here. This kid closest to the camera is John Doe, as far as I'm concerned. Truman is somewhere. Really.

Wall Street Financial Collapse~rememberance

One year ago this week Rick and I were in NYC for a long anticipated trip to the City. We didn't know when we booked trip that it would coincide with the collapse of Lehman Brothers & Merrill Lynch. Timing is everything, I suppose. There were all kinds of world wide media and protesters in front of Wall Street when we arrived. Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt and Merrill Lynch agrees to sell itself to Bank of America.

Flower Power

Kristine and I met for dinner at Carraba's tonight for my belated birthday dinner. We dined on warm bread with herbs and olive oil, delightful house salad with creamy dressing and Chicken Bryan. For dessert, Kristine had creme brulee. The waiter noticed the gifted flowers and card from Kristine at our table and surmised it was my birthday so he brought me a bowl of ice cream in caramel sauce covered with candied pecans. So naughty!

It's always good to get together with a life long best friend and catch up.

Today was a rainy day, at least it was in the morning.

This made for outdoor trampoline jumping fun for Truman.
He got his swim suit on and started to do back flips.

Nothing says, "good storm," like jumping and flipping does.

Good times!