Please pray...

While looking at blogs of people I don't know, I came across a blog for a little baby boy named Ethan who has leukemia. He was born in Dec. '06 and was diagnosed in Feb. '07, as a two month old. His dad has started a blog to inform and update people about his son's condition. I went to it and couldn't help but be touched by it. ethanpowell.com I know that God has power that we can't understand, and I believe that He can heal this little boy. If you don't go to the site, at least say a prayer for Ethan and his family. There's no such thing as too many prayers. I just had to share this with you all. I don't know this family at all, but neither did the person whose blog I found it on.

Vacation Pictures

This is pretty much all you see in Phoenix. The mountains are really pretty, but I could do without everything else. We definitely saw a lot of cactus(or cacti, whichever you prefer.)


We had a great vacation in Arizona. It was unbelievably hot (I think it got up to 115 degrees), but all we did outside in Phoenix was go to the pool, so it wasn't too bad. Our flight there was not much fun. We landed at the hottest part of the day, so we had quite a bit of turbulence. We were bumping along and all of a sudden, the plane just dropped. It was like we were falling out of the sky, and everyone screamed. That shows me that it wasn't just me that was freaked out! Anyway, it lasted only a second or two, but it felt like much longer. ( I was dreading getting back on the plane to come home, but it wasn't as bad.) Anyway, the heat was really crazy. It is a dry heat, so we didn't sweat like you do in the humidity, but it was like being in an oven. It felt thick, if that makes any sense. A breeze would come along and we would think that would help, but that just felt like a hair dryer! I definitely couldn't last long there.

Here are some random pictures of our vacation. The kids loved the pools (there were four, but we only made it to three). We spent as much time as possible in the pool for a couple of reasons. One is because it was too hot to do anything else, but the other was to wear the kids out so they would sleep good!!



It doesn't look like Avery has strep!

Keith's graduation

So, Keith has officially graduated. Actually, he's had his diploma for over a month, but the ceremony was just last week. As you can see, his parents were able to join us in Phoenix. They surprised Keith at the airport. The ceremony only lasted about two hours, which isn't bad considering there were about 1200 graduates. We were there over fours hours total, which was a little long for the kids, but they did great. I'm not sure how I would have done it by myself, so I'm thankful that Granny and Pops were there to help!!

I love being reminded that we live in a small world. As we were leaving the stadium, I ran into a girl I knew from high school!! She had received her masters also and was there with her husband. They live in Texas now, so it's not even someone I would run into at home. I haven't seen her since high school, so it was really crazy that we saw each other in Arizona!

Part of the fun of graduation for the boys(all three) was getting to see the University of Phoenix stadium. I wish we could save our seats for the super bowl next year!! This was the first class to graduate there, which was neat to be a part of that. You could text a message saying congratulations or whatever you wanted and they put it up on the big screens. Keith's mom sent a couple and we were able to get pictures of them. Keith's name has been on the big screen, so I think that makes him famous!! I'm really proud of him and all that he has accomplished. I know it's been much harder for him because he's had a family to support while going to school. I think the best advice Keith and I have to offer anyone coming out of high school is to finish college before you get married and have a family. I don't have any regrets about the way we've done things, and I wouldn't go back and change anything, but it does add extra challenges.

Keith, I just have to say, Way to go baby! I'm so glad that you were able to take part in the ceremony this time. You're the best!!

Here in Arizona

So, I have pictures to post and things to share with everyone, but I just haven't made time to do that yet. Keith's laptop hasn't worked since we got here, so that hasn't made things easy. (Thankfully Pops has shared his computer, but they leave tomorrow, so I'll be out of luck.) Anyway, the one thing I want to share right now is that Avery has strep throat. It doesn't even surprise me anymore, but it's still frustrating. I'm thankful for good insurance and walk-in clinics.

20,000 reasons why I don't like fireworks

Alright, I don't actually have 20.000 reasons, but I have one good one. My two year old daughter is still awake because all the idiots around here shooting fireworks. Yes, as you can tell I feel very strongly about it. I really don't mind fireworks, in their proper place, but that place is not in a neighborhood at ten o'clock. It's not like everyone has their own 20 acres and it doesn't affect other people. Seriously, as we speak it sounds like a war in my (borrowed) backyard. Honestly, if I thought it was just a couple of days during the year, then it wouldn't be too bad, but we have to put up with it for two weeks before and two weeks after the holiday. Here's another thing that gets me. People around here don't buy just any fireworks. They buy the really big ones that cost a small fortune and are quite loud. When I was a kid, I never knew anyone who spent that much money on fireworks. I guess that's what I get for living in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, (but only for a little bit longer!!) I know hate is a strong word, but the past four years of putting up with this have really made me hate fireworks. Okay, I'm done, for now. I'll try not to rant and rave anymore. Occasionally, I just need to get it out, and blogging about it is much better than going outside and yelling at people!! (especially since I don't really live here!)

Saturday

We went to a family get together at my cousin's house on Saturday. It was really fun to see everyone. The kids had a blast on the giant slip'n slide, water balloons and go kart. On the way home from that, we drove by the house so the boys could see it. They enjoyed seeing everything, but they really liked playing on the big piles of dirt. I know they are going to be sad when the piles are gone.

Almost done...

It's hard to believe that the house is almost done. I'm thankful that we have a bunch of stuff going on this month to help get my mind off of the house. I think it's going to be harder for Keith because he won't be able to see it every other day! So, I guess there won't be too many more posts about the house. I can't wait to post about moving in!!