cleaning up....

Anyone who has ever been to our house has seen our ever evolving yard. After we first moved in, it was dirt & weeds - which is why Jamey decided to build a skateboard ramp. Anyone who knows Jamey (and his building disorder) knows that he can not just build a simple skateboard ramp. The small spine ramp morphed (before my very eyes) into a huge yard covering, wood, above ground pool. We did away with the weeds at least!! The boys enjoyed it for several years but unfortunately the home owners insurance was not very happy about this new addition to our backyard - so we had to tear it down...

So there we were again with dirt & weeds - along with left over wood from the skateboard ramp. Before long the backyard became a burial ground from all kinds of junk (our broken trampoline for example). Anyway, I am happy to say that our yard is evolving again (yea). I had to share our accomplishments.... Attached is a picture of what our backyard looked like two weeks ago & I will add more pictures as soon as we are finished with our upgrade. I'm sure my family will be shocked to see there is dirt but no weeds, no left over wood, not even the broken trampoline.

I won't tell you yet what we are doing just yet, but I promise to post new pictures soon!

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day. I hope everyone takes a moment to say a prayer for all our military members as well as their families.
And remember all those who gave their lives so that we may enjoy the freedoms we have.

We live in the best country in the world. Don't ever take our freedom for granted.
Have a safe & happy day!
Kim

Time warp

Kim and Crew,
This is a great idea, thanks for putting it together...
So how is everyone doing?
Looking at the pictures from Mother's Day it is evident that we need to get together, maybe a family reunion. I hardly recognize the cousins....
more later,

Ryan

Tornado!!!!!!!

TORNADO!!!!! Can you believe a tornado in southern California? Brandon & I were on our way home from work when all of a sudden we saw a tornado. Not a funnel cloud, but an actual tornado. I have never been so scared in all my life!!!!

The tornado crossed the 215 freeway at March Air Base in Moreno Valley. It blew over a big rig truck & knocked over a bunch of train box cars. They had north bound 215 closed & traffic going southbound was at a crawl (this is what we were stuck in). Luckily we were north of the tornado .

The first two photos we didn't take, got them off the web from local news stations. But the rest of the photos Brandon & I took with our cell phone cameras.


I almost always have my regular digital camera in my purse, but of course today it was left at home. Also Brandon always has a police scanner with him, but his batteries died today. Of all days for this to happen, it would be today. I couldn't figure out how to take photos with my cell phone, so by the time I did, the tornado was dissipating.

If the tornado wasn't enough, it started hailing & there was about a 6 inches of hail on the freeway. Looked like snow. It was real scary.

It took us forever to get home. But we finally did. Now we hear there is another tornado spotted in Lake Elsinore which is just west of us.

Right now it looks like the weather has calmed a bit. It's currently not raining, but radar shows thunderstorms just north of us, so I'm sure we are not out of trouble yet. I'll keep you posted if anything more happens.

Anyone else thinking "end of times". I know I am.

Crazy Southern California weather

What a difference a few days make. On Sunday it was hot (105 degrees) & sunny. Today it is cold (60 degrees) & we have wind, rain & hail. Right now we are under a severe thunderstorm warning. Which is pretty exciting for California. It's not like Utah, we don't get thunderstorms here that often.

Jesse called me from school earlier today where he said it hailed so much that it looked like snow on the ground. Brandon & I work about 20 miles to the north in Moreno Valley (just outside of Riverside) & it only rained here. But looks like it might do more shortly as the wind is really picking up & the sky is black.

Brandon is getting very excited. He loves when we have wild weather as we don't get it very often. But he is worried about his electronics at home. We have a 30' high antenna on top of our house...hopefully it won't become a lightning rod before he gets home to unplug it.

Brandon said they are closing down the 60 freeway just to the east of us because of mudslides. Looks like the storm is just east of our work & is moving south towards our house. Looks like the worst of the storm will be between Eric's & my house. Hopefully we will get home from work before the worst hits.

Kim

Happy belated birthday to Jase!!!

Just wanted to wish Jase a belated Happy 20th birthday!

Jase's birthday was on Mon 5/19/08. Eric's family was at my house on Sunday for dinner & I forgot to give Jase his birthday card. Then I forgot to call him on Monday. So Jase, I apologize that I forgot.

I hope this little mention in the family blog will make up for my forgetfulness.


I hope that your birthday was a good one. If not, there is always next year. Just wanted you to know that you are loved and an important member of our family.

I am honored to be your Aunt. Take care & I love you.

Aunt Kim

Mother's Day photos

We had a great time at Mom & Dad's house on Mother's Day. We also celebrated Mom's birthday. All of us were there except for Todd's family. Jodi BBQ'd chicken. We had chicken sandwhiches, chips, jello salad & baked beans. I brought a strawberry lemon cake that was so yummy. The kids prepared plates & served their moms & Grandma. The men & boys did the clean up. Jamey left early so he wasn't in the final family pictures. It was a relaxing & fun filled day.

Happy B-day to Dorothy Jean Manning Langston

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear "MOM", Happy birthday to you!!!!

Just wanted to wish a Happy Birthday to my Mom. I hope it is a good one.


It was good seeing you on Mother's Day. But wanted you to know that I was thinking about you today as well.

Love your favorite daughter who lives in Sun City, Kim

Mother's Day

"A Mother carries the child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life".

These few words sum up the meaning and significance of the word Mother. Mother is undoubtedly the most beautiful and lovable word in any language. This goes to show the importance of mother in our lives.

Mother stands for millions of things she gives to her children; it also stands for sacrifices, pain, grief and sorrows which she has to undergo to keep her children happy and secure. No joy can match the joy of a mother looking at her child, those craving eyes-deeper than a whole ocean.

The most important woman in an individuals life is her/his mother. Her presence affects us our entire life and she can't be replaced by anyone.

Celebrated every year, Mother's Day is an occasion when individuals express their love and respect that they have for their mother. It's time to pamper her for all she has done for us over the years. On Mother's Day you can tell your Mom that she will always be important to you all and that you will continue to love her forever.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

Just wanted to wish Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all the rest of you moms. I love my mom more than anything & I am lucky to have her as my mom. I'm sure the rest of you feel that way about your mom too.

And I feel so blessed that I am also a mom. There is nothing better in the world than to be a mom (being a dad probably is close, but I wouldn't know).

Trivia about Mothers...

There are 84 million mom's in the U.S.

The youngest mother on record was Lina Medina, who delivered a 6½-pound boy by cesarean section in Lima, Peru in 1939, at the age of 5 years and 7 months.

The odds of a woman delivering twins is 1-in-33. Her odds of having triplets is approximately 1-in-539.

August is the most popular month in which to have a baby.

Kentucky has the highest percentage of women who are mothers at 67%. The national average is 57%.

About 4 million women will have babies this year.

The median age of a woman giving birth for the first time in the U.S. is 24.8.

Daughters keep in closer contact with their mothers than do sons. (Pew Research)

There are more phone calls made on Mother's Day than on any other day of the year. (Pew Research)

The number of people calling their moms on Mother's Day has declined in recent years due to e-mail and other electronic means of communication.

While nearly 80 percent of Americans will buy a card for mom this year, 83 percent of the cards will be purchased by daughters. (American Greetings)

Mother's Day is the third-largest card-sending holiday.

Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants.

I hope that all of you have a great Mother's Day!!

Love,
Kim

March Air Fest 2008

Mike, Jesse, Brandon & I went to the air show at March Air Reserve Base last Saturday 5/3/08. The base is only about 15 minutes north of our house, but it took about 2 hours to get into the show as there was a ton a traffic. We had to park about 1/2 mile from tarmac and walk in carrying all our stuff. Coolers were not allowed as everyone & thing had to be searched prior to entering.

When we finally got inside, we put up our chairs and umbrella and got comfortable. The photos are of our favorite things. Wall of fire, Cal Fire DC10 water drop demo, F-22 Raptor, Golden Knights, C-17 (this is the big military cargo transport plane that flies out of March ARB & over our house every day.), US Air Force Thunderbirds.

Everyone got a little sunburnt, but had a great time overall. After the show, we went to "Mr You" our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Lost Boy!

For the last several months Noah has been practicing to be in his school play "Peter Pan". The kids all had to try out & the director picked who got what part. Noah wanted to have a lead part until he realized how many lines some of them had. He ended up being one of the lead "Lost Boys". He was excited in the beginning to be a part of the play but as the time wore on & his lunches & after school time was absorbed by the practicing he wasn't so excited about it all.... until this week. Monday they had dress rehersal after school until 6PM - then on Tuesday the kids (all 150 of them) were bused over to the local middle school in the morning & performed for a crowd of school kids & parents. Jamey was able to attend that performance & Noah was in heaven. He loved being on stage - he found his destiny! The next day they performed again during the day & then again last night. Jamey & I both went last night & Noah really did a great job... in fact all of the kids did. Can you believe they had 150 kids from Kindergarten to 5th grade in this play? The lady directing it (did it out of the kindness of her heart) - she deserves a medal! The other boys wanted to go but they went to the temple instead - they don't get too many opportunities to go there.

Here are some pictures of the exciting night at the play...

May Day

First day of May. The tradition of the ancient Roman and Druid holiday of May Day has endured for centuries. It has been a celebration of spring turning into the pleasures of summer. Traditionally, a "Maypole" was the focus of the festivals. Even today the Maypole is used in the replications of old-time festivals. The Maypole is a tall pole in which ribbons are woven around by groups of dancers to make unique designs and patterns.

Gathering flowers and branches became a tradition and "bringing in the May" became a popular activity on May 1. The giving of baskets became part of the festivities later in the evolution of May Day.

Today baskets are often made by little children, filled with candy or flowers and then placed on people's doorsteps or tied to the door handle, as they ring the doorbell and dash away before they are caught. You can participate in this activity yourself by making a special May Day basket or using any small basket to fill with flowers to give to a friend.

Fill a small basket or cone with freshly gathered Spring blossoms. Tuck a small vase or something that will hold water into the bottom of the basket and fill the basket with a selection of flowers. Tie a bow or ribbon streamers onto the handle and fasten it to the door handle of a friend.

I hope that each of you will have a happy MAY DAY today.

Kim