Good people

So today I decided to make a quick run over to the ranch market.  I know you are all saying what were you thinking on a saturday.  I thought oh it is early enough it won't be busy.  Boy was I wrong.  It was jammed packed.  It took me a long time to park but I was determined to pick up a few things for my new healthy eating.  So I finally parked and had a thought thank goodness I didn't bring the kids this would be a real nightmare.  I walk in to the store and you can hardly move around.  So I strategically start to the far right of the store and maneuver my way around.  Seriously it was so crowded I could hardly stand it.  I finally get almost everything I want and decide to get in the line to check out which by the way was wrapped around all the produce.

So I am standing in line thinking when I get up to the bananas I will get a few and then the red bell peppers so I don't have to get out of line etc. when I look up and see a shemale.  I was shocked.  Ok I am not really one to judge but seriously I was like what the crap.  This man couldnt even come close to pulling off being a woman.  I feel bad for people who have this loss or sense of who they are, but come on.  The man was balding but had longer hair so it was sort of a mullet with lots of bald patches on top.  He has earrings in which were ok.  He was wearing bright pink lipstick with bright pink pants and a nice little sweater that was a lighter pink.  I just chuckled to myself and thought I am SO glad that kade isnt here he would definately have something to say about him.  So I just kept chuckling to myself as I waited in line.  I quite entertained myself with all my thoughts. I also had fun watching everyone else and their expressions!

So I finally pay and my basket it so full.  You know they have those tiny little shopping carts there.  They should be used to play house or something they are never big enough.  So I start on my way out and one of the bags starts to slip so I try to grab it and the bag rips and there goes  my big flat of strawberries all over the ground.  I kid you not like 4 people ran over to my aide and started helping me pick up my strawberries.  I of course thanked everyone but was just tickled to have so many people help.  I thought wow there are still good people in this world!  People are good!  People are helpful in time of need!  People are great!

So I trek over to my suburban and start unloading my groceries and look over and see one of the men that helped me.  I smiled and thought he is a great guy and I appreciate him.  I get all loaded and look over one last time to admire the most helpful guy and low and behold who is he with????

You guessed it the guy who so desperately wants to be a woman.  I thought OMG no way.  I was in shock that he the most helpful guy in the world was there with shemale.  I guess it takes all kinds right.  I just was thinking what in the world.  I had to laugh again at the site of the shemale, only this time i laughed out loud.  I thought Why?  Why?  Why in the world are people so messed up that they have to look so hilariously bad.   Why would you attempt to be another sex if there was no way at ALL that you could pull it off.  Oh well....at least he was with the most helpful man in the world right!  I just backed out and chuckled as I thought I have a great post today.  I so wanted to take a picture but thougt it would be too rude.  So you will just have to imagine!

St. Johns Arizona

I just arrived home from St. Johns.  I went for a quick trip this weekend and wish that it were for better circumstances that I went.  But I got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen for awhile.  I got to go visit with my grandma Nielsen which was long over due.

You know St. Johns has been in the news media around the country lately for something that everyone would like to forget.   In my opinion it NEVER did a good job of portraying the great little town that I grew up in.  So with that being said I wanted to do a post on the St. Johns that I know and love.

As you know from my earlier post that my sister in law Julie's mother passed away.  I went over to see Julie on Friday night.  They were at the viewing but we stayed at her house and kept Kaitlyn while they were gone.  Can I just tell you how amazed I was.  In my sister in laws kitchen was flowers...food...cards.  I sat in aw at what I saw and thought now this is the small town that I love and miss so dearly.  She had so many people come and want to help her during her time of need.  She had so much food from cinnamon rolls, soup,  pasta salad, enchilada, Pasole and so much more.  We were reminiscing and a knock at the door comes.  My sister Kirstin answered it and another family came to pay their condolences to Julie and Butch, more  hot soup and rolls.  

At the funeral there were so many people there from every faith to support the family.  I smiled as I saw many teachers and leaders that I had growing up and how influential they were to me.  I sat and reflected how much I miss being in a small town.  Everyone really is family there.  I have yet to see this happen in the city.  I really realized how sad I am that I don't live in the slow pace and take time to help others.  That when people are being kind and caring they really do care.  I was proud to be from St. Johns.  It is a great community.  While there are those that can't find the appreciation in it that I do, they still cannont deny the way the town pulls together in times of crisis.  So take it from me Rachel Foxcroft....what you heard from the news was not the St. Johns that I know and love.  I have witnessed a very different town.  A town that I am very thankful for and grateful that I was brought up in such a great place and hope that I can pass down the tradition to my own children!

I love you julie.....

My heart is so full today. I have been thinking about my wonderful sister in law Julie. I got news last night when I got home from work that her mother had passed away suddenly. I was in shock...her dad had been sick but not her mom. It has made me reflect a lot on my own life. How many things we let go unsaid. Do we take for granted our family and the short time that we have with them. My heart goes out to Julie. She is such an amazing woman. I attribute all of her wonderful qualities to her parents. I feel sad about the whole situation. I cant imagine what she must be going through right now. But I want to let her know I love her. I hope that julie you can find peace in knowing....Your mom passed laying next to the man she loved and has taken care of for these past few months. What a nice way to go...peaceful and next to the one you love the most. I am sorry for your loss and would gladly take the pain you must be feeling right now. I took a picture from your blog I hope you don't mind. I wanted to post a picture of your mom....What a great picture hanging out with her grandkids that she loved so much! While I didn't know your mom all that well....I do know that she must have been an amazing person. I know this because of who you are! You continually amaze me at what a great mother, friend and sister in law you are! I love you and hope you can find peace during this trying time! I love you julie!

While the rest of the country is freezing.......

While the rest of the country is under major snow storms and cold weather, here in arizona there is nothing but clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. You can't ask for anything better. The weather has been so beautiful!


My garden is still growing strong. I am so glad. I was worried for awhile that things would freeze. I still don't know if my brussel sprouts will make it or not, but I hope so. My tomatoes are finally starting to turn red. Woo Hoo! I love gardening and love to see the fruits of my labor! This winter season we are growing tomatoes 4 different kinds, broccoli, brussel sprouts, jalepenos, green chile, bell peppers! I hope they all make it!

Kyle had a visitor this morning!

Kyle opened the door this morning to find......
None other than the King from Burger King at our door. He came delivering breakfast for Kyle. Kyle was shocked! It was really funny. I loved the costume! Are teenagers not the most creative and funny people ever? So completely random! So the King came to bring breakfast and then decided to head out on his way. Who was the King you ask? I don't know...but I do know that kyle has cool friends....ANDREW DAX! We all had a good laugh!

Fun day with the family

Rob and I thought it would be fun to take the kids and ride the new light rail downtown. So saturday we headed off and caught the light rail at the beginning in mesa on dobson. It was fun when we first got there. Noone was on it since we were the first stop. Well I shouldn't say noone, but not a lot of people. But at each stop we starting getting more and more crowded. But we had our seats so it was no big deal.
We walked around downtown Phoenix with the kids. We were hoping to eat at Pizza Bianco but it didn't open until 5 so we ended up over at the phoenix center for lunch. We had a good time, but I don't think the kids enjoyed it as much as had hoped. Rob and I will definately do this for a date night again without the kids. Kyle wasn't able to go with us since he had to work and was supposed to be madly working on finishing his eagle scout paperwork so he can get it before he turns 18 which is soon.
The ride back was not as enjoyable. It was so crowded. I think the whole city had the same idea that we had and the dang cars were packed. I was so annoyed because people were physically pushing and pushing and I had little kids to look out for. I was like there is no more room to push get off the freakin car! So Kade ended up being face to face with 2 men that looked a little hard. But they were cool introducing themselves to him and shaking his hand. It turned out to be lucky because they got off after the first few stops and we were able to take their seats. Overall it was a fun day. The light rail is pretty cool....it goes pretty fast, just wish they didn't have to stop so much. I guess on the weekends they run the cars every 15-20 minutes intstead of the 10 or so during the week. I think they should have had them all running because it was so crowded. Everyone is trying out the new fun for the city. I will definately take the light rail again if I am going somewhere downtown. It is cheap, clean for now and fun to people watch!














To end the fun day with the family we were lucky and had Al and Josie come over to hang out with us. Patty was away for the weekend and so they came over to watch the game. Can I just tell you how much I love this little girl. It had been awhile since I had seen her so she was a little shy at first. I was really hurt when she would go to rob and not me. But of course she realized who loves her the most and finally came and let me love on her. She is so cute. She is a tiny thing but runs around like crazy. My kids loved to play with her and would end up arguing over her. I was happy to put my kids to bed and just be able to play with josie. She let me rock her and sing to her and kiss her. She is very ticklish and laughs and laughs...it is so cute. I wish I would have taken a picture of her mimicking Jesus. It is the cutest thing ever. So glad they came and made a perfect ending to our fun day!

An evening at urgent care...

The culprit---Makenna


The Weapon: some knife in Rob's tool chest


The end result....a few stitches to her thumb!


So the story is makenna came running in to the house yelling for me. When I went in to the bathroom I see that her thumb is bleeding really bad. So I hold pressure for a while. I send kyle out to the garage to try to find the knife she was talking about and in he walks with the above pictured knife. What the heck....anyways...she was lucky she didnt cut off her thumb! So I hold pressure to the point that her thumb looks blue and 20 minutes had past. I take off the gauze and it immediately starts bleeding again....ALOT. So I say makenna i have to look and see how bad this cut really is or if it is deep. So i look and she has this big flap all the way up to her nail that is really deep. So I decided that I am not going to be able to glue it back and off to urgent care we went. The good news is we got right in since she was bleeding. A few stitches later we were all done. She was a trooper considering the shots. I am just glad it didnt hit the bone. We are hoping the nail wont be affected since she did cut threw that a little. Fun times!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we were able to spend time with my Aunt Corrine and her family. Corrine is my moms oldest sister. We have spent Christmas eve with them many years ago before Kade and Makenna were even born. We had the best time! The food was great and we had a blast playing games and just visiting with them! I love their families traditions! One of them is a mean game of muscial chairs. Uncle Frank plays the piano and you walk around until he stops. I kept hearing everyone say watch out for Liz....she gets really physical. From what I saw she got knocked around a bit herself and was out quite quickly! The pictures can never do the justice of how much fun this was to watch and participate in! We also played a game called "Curse" I think. I am still laughing to myself when I think about jaymi having to say "attention class" and clapping along with it every time before she spoke. Listening to liz speaking with her accent was great! My curse was to talk like Scooby Doo. I couldn't do it! It was a lot of fun!
I feel very blessed to have been brought up in a huge family! I miss seeing my cousins and spending time with them. It is nice to be able to do this once in awhile and expose my kids to what a big family is like! So thank you Liz and Jaymi for inviting my family! We had a blast! We love your families and they are a blast to be around! It helped my Christmas be so much brighter. I always feel a bit sad because we arent usually around our families and so I was very thankful to be able to spend it with you guys!