Ramblings From The High Desert

2011-10-12T20:42:00.001-07:00

campout
KRiSSY 'S cell

tonight we had fun planking

2011-07-29T22:40:00.001-07:00

tonight we had fun planking with some of my friends from high school... we did some owling as well as flamino'ing
good times....

2011-07-29T22:05:00.001-07:00

debi
KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-29T22:04:00.001-07:00

silly aud
KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-29T22:03:00.001-07:00

san diego skyline fr skyfari, san diego zoo
KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-29T22:01:00.001-07:00

san diego zoo
KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-25T14:34:00.001-07:00

KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-25T14:33:00.001-07:00

KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-25T14:32:00.001-07:00

fremont street at night
KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

fremont street during the day
KRiSSY's cell

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2011-07-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

KRiSSY's cell

2011-07-25T14:26:00.001-07:00

LoLo
CB#: 928-925-8255

FWD:FWD:

2011-07-16T12:33:00.001-07:00

testing out the mobile upload :)
KRiSSY's cell

Yee haw it works. well, now maybe since they are making it sooooo much easier i will start using the blog again :)

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, here it comes....this is a pretty long post. A weeks worth of fun stuff that
we did on spring break. Lots of pictures and stories to go with the pictures.
AT the end there is a story that Sammie wrote for class when she returned to school.
Saturday and Monday:
We scraped the fence and prepped it for painting...yea! My favorite thing
in the whole wide world (do you feel the sarcasm???)
Monday we started the painting process. We finished the fence this day, had a picnic
on the front lawn. We did have a fun time.

The girls painted themselves more than the fence!

Monday night we met Ralph to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. I think the
girls had a good time. This is what happened:
Alice was falling down the hole. She kept hitting the sides all the way down. She finally hits
the bottom and there are a few moments of silence. This is when Audrey strikes:
She says for the entire place to hear, "OUCH! I bet that hurt" The entire theater breaks
out in laughter. She sure gets a kick out of making people laugh. She was
so proud of herself! _

Since we didn't have to get up in the mornings...the girls are always begging
to sleep in grandma and papa's motor-home (they store in our backyard) so.....
i think we slept out there almost every night. We decided since we were "camping" that
we had to do a meal in the dutch oven. So we tried lasagna. It turned out so very good....

Yum!

We went in to have lunch with Ralph and had to get
our favorite frozen yogurt since we
were in town.

The zoo...

The tiger eating a huge piece of meat.

They have these cool bikes you can rent and ride around the park.
This one in particular seats 4-6 on the black seats and 2 small children
can ride in the very front.

There is a lake and you can rent paddle boats.

There are tons of little trails off the main trail...
I think this is an awesome thing for the kids. When you go
to other parks, you always have to stay on the path.
The kids always want to explore and this allows them to do so.

We love fisher price little people at our house so I could
not resist the pic with the little people barn :)

At the petting zoo the kids have the opportunity to brush the animals.
Most of the animals absolutely LOVE it. And the girls had a blast doing it.

They had this interactive cow that was a lot of fun.

The end of our day...the parking lot was empty. Beautiful desert in
the background. The desert flowers were blooming.. Gorgeous day!

Auddie's school and the firetruck

2010-03-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

The local firemen came to Audrey's school this fall. Firemen Sean is rolling on the
floor trying to break the ice with all the 3 and 4 yr olds.
If you have never seen the firemen give a presentation to the kids,
let me tell you what they do....

First they try to get the kids interested and comfortable with the star firefighter and
make a huge deal about that firefighters name. They have the kids yelling out
his name as so forth.

Sean gets in his gear. After each piece of equipment the other firefighters call out to the kid...who's that? FIREMEN SEAN...

By the time he gets totally geared up, the kids are comfortable with Sean and
over their initial shyness and start crawling on the floor.
He has his respirator on and it sounds pretty creepy. But all the kids
are told NOT to be afraid of the firemen and to go with him if he is calling
out to them during a fire.

Auddie crawling through the firetruck

Audrey's class

Famous Daves Brisket competition 10/2009

2010-03-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

AZ Barbecue does an unofficial cook off once or twice a year.
Well....Ralph wanted to judge it, so I entered a brisket. This picture is of me after
being up all night :)

The girls with the Famous Dave pig

Ralph and the girls after judging...

And by the way, I got 6th place =)~

Random post

2010-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures...

Ralph and I with Thumb Butte in the background

Audrey with her best friend Audrey from school

Tall Auddie(with Elizabeth)

Ralph and Sammie riding the dinosaur

Halloween 2010(the year of the last minute costume!)

Sammie and Elizabeth insisted on eating outside this night.
They set everything up...this was in the fall before it started getting cold

Smoked trout. Ralph loves to share....

Anna licking her chops :)

Anna sits like this often. First cleans herself,
then takes herself a little nap.

Jason and Ralph racin'

It was really quiet one afternoon, except for the occasional
fit of laughter. I found the girls in the kitchen with the mops.
They were pouring buckets of water down and then cleaning
the water up. I don't think my floor has ever been cleaner.

random pic of me at work

this is my friend Tina, I haven't seen her in almost 20 years.
We found each other on facebook! When I found out she was flying to meet
her biological mother for the first time, by herself...and had a 2 hr layover in Phoenix
I drove down to spend her layover with her! I didn't even tell her I was coming.
I left her a message on her cell phone so when she landed in PHX she had a message waiting
that I was there waiting for her. It was lots of fun to surprise her!

Halloween :)

Our most recent snow. I just love how the trees look. Elizabeth took
this pic on her cell phone

BBQ in Havasu

2010-03-10T19:33:00.001-08:00

Havasu BBQ Comp

Our Hotel.

Crash working on his championship ribs.

Samantha enjoying some ribs.

Nancy and Rose.

Peoples Choice...@ the VRM pit location.

The VRM Girls win 3rd place RIBS!!!

Our Hotel (again)

The London Bridge!

PRESCOTT BBQ DAYS

2009-09-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we participated in the first annual Prescott BBQ days. The weather was great, the food was wonderful and the company was superb.

Turkey Legs are good!

Resting after walking around and eating lots of good BBQ.

Dad and I reppin AZBARBEQUE.

Both of us are KCBS CBJs so we put are "skills" to good use judging this contest.

Its kind of hard to see here but Krissy and Mom got in on the judging and judged the backyard Chili contest.

MDA TELETHON

2009-09-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

Krissy, I and Laura went to Phoenix this last weekend to volunteer answering phones at the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon. Mike (he runs the BBQ forum I frequent) has been doing this for the last 18 years or so with his family. The last few years he has set it up as a club activity and this was the first year was were able to participate. We had a great time. We will for sure be going again next year!!

The drive down.

Jazz Hands!!!

Oddies new shoes....

2009-09-05T01:55:00.000-07:00

Audrey started a new preschool the other day and needed new shoes. Here she is all ready to go with her new backpack and new shoes. She is really enjoying her new school, it is much more a "school" and much less a "daycare" than her last place!

4th of July!

2009-07-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

The girls wanted to decorate for the 4th!

Sidewalk painting is always FUN FUN FUN!!
We do not have sidewalks around here so the porch will have to do!

Do you know what kind of animal Salmon is?

2009-05-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Alright, the story goes like this. Audrey of course is the last
one at the dinner table every night. Last week was no exception.
Everyone had left the room and I was cleaning up. Ralph had grilled
Salmon on the BBQ. The conversation went as follows...

Krissy: Don't you just love Salmon, Audrey? It is my favorite fish.
Audrey: (Says nothing...just gives me a look like "you are crazy mom!")
Krissy: What? You know Salmon is fish right?
Audrey: NO!
Krissy: What did you think we were eating then?
Audrey: (really quiet and embarrassed) ?dog?
Krissy: What???
What else can you do... but laugh. She is my funny girl.

Toothless Wonder

2009-05-20T18:21:00.001-07:00

Finally "the other" tooth came out with Grandma "Ding's" help.
Sammie had been babying the hanging tooth for 2 weeks.
Not exactly sure how she manage to NOT swallow it,
but now she is beautifully toothless.
I love pictures of them when the front teeth are missing.
We went to Walmart this weekend for " real " pictures.

Sprinklers

2009-05-09T15:07:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago the girls were hot.( It was only 70!)
But Ralph had the sprinklers going...so they convinced me
to let them run in the front yard. Once they got wet, they realized
wasn't as hot as they thought! Especially with all the wind we have had.

Samantha getting really wet

Audrey realized how cool it was and was hiding from the wind.

Easter 2009

2009-05-09T14:55:00.001-07:00

The egg dyeing crew

Ham glazed and ready to go on the smoker-
to cook while we were at church

All the Easter eggs found and accounted for

Sammie bit into her hollow Easter bunny, careful to avoid the
loose, hanging, right, front tooth. AND ended up popping out the
left front tooth. She looked like a hill billy with the one tooth hanging
there. She would not let anyone touch it.

April 13, 2009 BBQ Competition

2009-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ralph belongs to a BBQ website. Through this website he
has learned much and met many fellow BBQ'uers. This past
April they decided to do an informal competition. Ralph
had to enter. This was to be a brisket competition,
we have only cooked one of these before, while camping
in a very windy desert (not ideal conditions.)
So Ralph had very low expectations...

Here is the meat prepped and ready to go.

Ralph prepping his arsenal of thermometers,
I think we should buy stock in a thermometer company!

Here I am prepping the containers to look pretty for the judges

Cutting the meat

The judges...

And the winner according to Audrey is....Daddy,
unfortunately the judges did not agree :(
BUT of the 25 or so people who entered, our 2 briskets came in
4th and 8th
Not bad for our first competition. Not to mention
some of the competition that got 2nd and 3rd places...they are professional caterers!

The girls with the Famous' Dave's Pig. This is where the
competition was at.

The aftermath...
Ralph stays up ALL night the night before something has to be "done"
cooking. As we were heading home he got the migraine to
beat all migraines. Poor baby!

Audrey's Birthday April 2009

2009-05-05T18:47:00.001-07:00

Audrey turned 4 this year. And she got a special surprise thanks to
Disneyland's free admission on your birthday (and the fact that we
had 1 day left on the pass Ralph used when we went in March :)
lucky Audrey!!) She had NO clue we were going to Disneyland
that morning. We drove up and I kept telling her it was something
real special. That we were going to the happiest place on earth.
She of course didn't get it. We were walking in through the outer
gates when she stopped and yelled, "are we going to Disneyland?"
We only stayed a few hours because we had to drive home (8hour
drive) So we got there at 9 am and left at 4 pm. It was perfect. Even
though most of California was on spring break we got to do all the
things she wanted, with minimal waits.

They give you a name tag with Happy Birthday on it. She made it
through half the day with it until she was absolutely tired of everyone
making a spectacle of her! She wanted to crawl under my legs everytime
a cast member said anything to her.

"Come on mom, you can do it" says Audrey
Boy do I hate wiggly up high things!
"Don't shake it Auddie" say Krissy

One of her favorite rides, Thunder Mountain.
Notice, the birthday badge is gone.

Her all time favorite roller coaster, in the dark, Space Mountain

Boy I will tell you, when the parade for all the people with birthdays came along...she
wanted that badge back because, "they need to know it is my birthday" :)
She is waving to Winnie the Pooh here.

Sammie's 50's day

2009-05-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Sammie had a 50's and 60's dress up day at school. She loves doing all
these fun days and thanks
to Ralph she can. He get the girls ready by himself every
morning and then he does extra things like dress up day!
(Thanks honey!) He did a great job and sure does a MEAN pony tail!

Audrey the Ice Cream Maker

2009-05-05T18:29:00.001-07:00

Audrey was home alone with us...the other girls running around
San Diego for a week... we decided to pull out the ice cream maker
and let her make herself some good ole fashion ice cream. (Doesn't
it always taste better when you work for it?) She enjoyed cranking
it for about 10 minutes and then we plugged it in to let it finish up.

Yummy!

SAMMA'S DISNEYLAND TRIP

2009-05-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

March 2009

This is Sammie's trip to Disneyland. She asked everyone
for money or gift cards for Disney for Christmas. We had to
wait to go because... she has perfect attendance at school.

We waited until spring break to go. Luckily our
spring break was about 3 weeks earlier than most people

and it was not very crowded at the park for our trip.
SO, the plan was Sam and I were to go on Tuesday
to the park by ourselves. Wednesday Ralph, Elizabeth, Audrey,
Ralph's mom, Cindy, and his sister Ilene were to join us
for a day. Then Sam and I were staying for one more
day by ourselves. Well the plans changed and Audrey
and Aunt Ilene stayed with us. We had a lot of fun.
It was better for Sammie, because there are some
rides that I just can't do. So Ilene was there to do
all the yucky rides!! Enjoy our pics.

Here she is with her stash of snacks for the trip.

With Sammie it is all about the FOOD. :)
We tried a mediterranean restaurant. She like the
hummus, but some of their stuff wasn't the best...
so we will try again at a restaurant we know is good.
I love that she is willing to
try new stuff!!

In the morning before everyone joined us, Sam was snapping
pictures of us getting ready.

Here is Sam standing between the two parks. This was right
as the park was opening. So you can see there
were very few people.

We always go past all the rides and start at the middle or back of the
park and work our way forward. And it paid off. This is Sam on Pirates
of the Caribbean and we are the only ones on our boat.

Castle picture

We got a little wet on the rapids ride.

Here is Sammie laughing at me because we are up
really high and I DON"T LIKE IT!!!

THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR ENTIRE TRIP....
CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN' !

She was not tall enough a few years ago when we went.
But she was thrilled to go on this time!

The massive corn dog...loved it so much we had
it again the last day!

Tarzan's treehouse

Space Mountain

Another ride I did not enjoy... I thought we were gonna fly out!

Surprisingly my type of ride. I think, aside from the last hill
there is not much height to the ride.

Grandma bought everyone treats

Ralph on Buzz lightyear or another similar...lot of fun, shootem up ride

Our auntie stayed with us...so we made her pose with this sign.

Auntie bought the girls the cute minnie mouse ears!

One of the most amazing fireworks displays we had ever seen.
A real live Tinkerbell flies out of the Matterhorn mountain
across the park! The fireworks are set to all different
themes...Pirates, Space Mountain, Small world...etc.
VERY cool!

HAPPY EASTER

2009-04-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Hope you are having a very happy Easter!
Sorry...no pics with this post. Just wanted to wish everyone a happy day.

We have been busy. We have TONS of pictures to upload.
So maybe this afternoon after our day calms down we will post some up.
We have had lots of stuff going on,
with lots of pictures to accompany these goings on. :)

Disneyland - Sammie's Christmas present

Disneyland AGAIN(for mommy and Audrey) for Audrey's bday
(thanks to Disney for the free ticket-and one left over ticket from
our Sammie Christmas trip:) cost us gas from San Diego
and $12 for parking and $1000 for food, okay that is a little
bit of a stretch, but not too far off. :)

We had a BBQ competition that Ralph entered yesterday in Phoenix.
Fun pics from that.And lots more fun stuff.

HAPPY EASTER!!

Ilene and Ray's Wedding

2009-02-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Ilene(Ralph's littlest sister) wanted to Ralph to perform her wedding for her.

So she looked into things and this is what she found...
Deputy for a day

Aunt Roxanne and Cindy (Ralph's mom)

The most wonderful wedding cake...yummy!

Brennen and Aunt Krissy

What are those masked men doing?

Trying against all odds to decorate a car in the pouring down rain.

P.S. The rain won!

Maid of honor: Aunt Shannen, Flower Girl: Brennen

I love Ilene's expression.

Aunt Ilene and Auddie dancing the night away!

The VERY popular nacho and chocolate fountain table...
Loved by children and adults alike.

Bridesmaid: Aunt Mikki, Flower girl: Lourdes

Aunt Shannen with the cutest little bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider (adorable!)

Making it official..
Deputy Commissioner, Ralph C. Wilcken

Witness #1 Shannen L. McKinney

Witness #2 Brett A. McKinney

And they're off...

Posted by Krissy 2/11/2009

Thank you everyone!

2009-01-31T08:04:00.001-08:00

Bryan had many visitors...pictured here and many that are not pictured...
thank you all for coming and hanging out with us to
keep our minds off the what was going on behind closed doors
(the waiting sometimes was unbearable, but you all made it better!)
thanks for supporting us, bringing us food and love,
thanks for all the offers of beds and houses.
Thank you to Mom and Dad Wilcken for the use of the Santa Fe while
while the Galaxee Quest was out of commission.
Thank you Ilene for the late night talks and the use of your bed.
For those of you there in mind only...
Thank you for your prayers, we are eternally grateful for those,
they worked because Bryan is still here with us...
Thank you also to the families in AZ who helped out with
the Wilcken and Stank-bott kids
so that Krissy, Jason and Laura could stay in San Diego as long as they did!
Thank you to Ralph, Molly, Lenny,
Janice and Rick for working overtime as parents
to all the kids, we know it wasn't easy!
We love you and appreciate you all!

Jason and Laura (krissy behind the camera)

Sue, Kathy(mom), Linda, Al (dad)

Kathy, Mary (our adopted aunt from when we were kids, Bryan (post surgery)

Bryan and Brianna (Debi's daughter,), Debi-behind the camera

Bad ole Al(dad) making Bryan laugh after surgery

Sleeping off the many drugs they give you after they rip your chest wide open! :)

Getting prepped for surgery,
they shaved him top to bottom (yes bottom as in booty areas)
even his legs in case they needed a vessel from them!

Posing before surgery!

Out of the hospital!!

2009-01-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

This picture is from Jason and Laura's wedding, Bryan was strangling me!!

WHOOO HOOOO!!!Uncle Bryan is out of the hospital. He has a follow up appt in San Diego
on Monday and then he is on his way home to AZ. We can't wait to see you Bryan!!

Last night before leaving the hospital they made sure he could do a flight of stairs, walk a set amount of steps...etc so that he can take care of himself relatively well. He is on anti-inflammatory meds only now and that controls his pain. That is really good, no narcotics. He has a few weeks of rest and recovery and will be on his way...

Uncle Bryan...

2009-01-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

For those that do not know Krissy's brother Bryan is recovering from heart by pass surgery and could use all the blessing, thoughts and prayers we can send. Please keep him in your thoughts for us. He seems to be doing well but it was scary for awhile.

Cookies and candy!!

2009-01-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

Toll house chocolate chip cookies are our favorites, except for Sammie (we take out a batch to bake BEFORE the chocolate chips , I don't think she is my child by the way!) One variation to this batch was: Smart Balance butter stick (says you can bake with it.... WRONG!!) the cookies were good, but about a min before the timer went off, they went flat!

Grandma and the girls made chocolates out of the chocolate molds...very fun and super cute!

New Years

2009-01-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

WELCOME 2009!!

Ralph and Kathleen

Auddie

Happy New Year!!

CHRISTMAS

2009-01-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Santa came to our house disguised as a cat!!

And brought us everything we wanted...

Elizabeth got an American Girl doll and the fixin's

Auddie got a Jack in The Box

Sammie's going to Disneyland!!

When we went to San Diego to celebrate Christmas...It was a Rock Band marathon...

We played for hours and hours

and hours...

COLD SMOKE!!!

2009-01-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

We, as most of you reading this know, live in the northern part of Arizona just about a mile up so it goes without saying that it gets cold in the winter. As a matter of fact our low the last few days has been between 20-25 degrees in the morning, warming up to around 50 during the day.
I will not let this deter me from cooing up some pulled pork!

Ilene, Ray and Lisa were in town vising so we decided the pulled pork would be good!
Luckily it was not "that" cold the morning I decided to cook.

30 outside...63 in the kitchen.

I went out side and saw this...

I started the fire and went back in the house to get the meat out of the fridge.
One was a regular rub and one was DDogs apple rub.
"DDOG RUBS"is a local (Phoenix) guy who makes and sells many different meat/bbq rubs. He also frequents and supports the AZBARBEQUE board.

All done and ready to eat.
My rub...

DDogs Apple...

It was all delicious.

A couple of days later we made Carnitas Tacos by frying up some of the pulled pork until it becomes crispy.

The girls love it.
Eli was at her grandparents so she is not in this picture.

??HAM?? IN THE DESERT?

2008-12-22T15:24:00.001-08:00

I admit it...my girls are hams! Nothing at all to say about this post except that. Enjoy the pics. They make US laugh, hope they do the same for you! :)))))

Elizabeth goes to COURT!

2008-12-22T14:34:00.000-08:00

The COURTHOUSE THAT IS!

Every year the city of Prescott puts on a Christmas and Lighting
program at the courthouse. Someone reads the
"traditional Christmas story" of Jesus's birth.
This year Elizabeth, along with her class, sang at the lighting...

Here are the girls getting ready to head on down the hill to the courthouse.

You can see it in the background.

Papa Al(Krissy's dad from Paulden) and Uncle Bryan
(bryan and debbie were vistiting from San Diego)
waiting for the program to get started.

The girls with Aunt Debbie, all bundled up...even though
it was pretty warm that night. We overdressed, better safe than sorry :)

Auddie with her daddy.

As the lights came on...

GINGERBREAD VILLAGE

2008-12-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

Every year the Prescott Resort here in Prescott, AZ does a gingerbread village.
Money raised goes to Boys and Girls Club. So it is a good cause...and we (from
the xray department at the hospital) join in the competition.
It is a ton of fun & lots of work.
Click here

This is just a few of us who worked on the project!
back:Carla, Amanda, Nicole, Krissy
front: Christy, Kathi

"Santa Sleigh parking only"

Santa in the Cat-scan is my favorite. You will notice that
he dropped his bag of toys next to the table.

Here is the Heli-pad for the helicopter and our "North Pole". Our hospital
has an East and West campus, but now we have added the North Campus. :)

Thanksgiving 08

2008-12-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

Quick and dirty run down on Thanksgiving, well I should say the day after thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day we had dinner with Krissys side of the family out in Dewey, I know I took some pics so as soon as I find them I will add them but after dinner that night we headed to San Diego for the rest of the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family and Brian, Krissy little Bro.

This year was a year of firsts. Smoked ham on the WSM, Smoked turkey on the brand new ProQ!

We have never smoked a ham or a turkey so we decided to do both this year...no practice, no try outs...just jump right in, let it all hang out. Get the family together and try something new!

The ham we did was a precooked ham we simply heated up in the WSM. We placed it in a pan to keep the glaze from running off into the water pan and smoked over Kingsford hickory charcoal. After the ham reached about 140 internal I started opening the WSM and re-glazing the ham every 20-30 minutes. The glaze was something my mom put together so I am not sure what was in it but it was very good. The ham turned out AWESOME!! I have now used the hickory charcoal twice and can say I do like it...it has surprised me both times just how much good smoke flavor it imparts.

Now to the really important stuff...Turkey on the new Excel 20. At the Pulte event my dad picked up a ProQ Excel 20 for a very good price. He wanted something bigger than the WSM to cook the turkey on, the Excel 20 fits the bill and for the price, who can ask for anything more. We have cooked on the WSM enough times to know what to expect from this style of smoker but as with anything new you just can never really know for sure how well things are going to work....

Well as you can see here it works very well!

Smoked Ham, Smoked turkey, BIGEASY turkey

Love those fall colors!

VETERANS DAY!

2008-11-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick THANK YOU to all of those who serve, have served or have fallen preserving our freedom!

Thank you!

Lynx Lake:Prescott, AZ Oct 9th-Oct 14th

2008-11-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

The girls had two weeks off of school this past October. The first week Samantha and Elizabeth spent with Grandma and Grandpa Staehnke in Superstition Mountain OHV. (after Ralph and I left-they stayed another 4 days or so-see previous post) I took a week off to take them camping for the rest of their time off. But we need to stay close by...Ralph had to go to work. We had fun. During the days the weather was great, T-shirt weather. The first 2 nights were great as well, you could run around in a sweatshirt. The next night, WOW. 18 degrees. We ended up going into town to buy a propane heater, which will be nice to have around in case of an emergency.

Here we are playing Yatzee and Audrey
trying to mess with the camera on the tri-pod. :)

Here is Audrey and the trail marker for the trail we hiked. One day we went up the trail and down the another day. We also took this trail down to a side road that took us up into the lake recreation area. We saw wildlife on our hikes...a tarantula one day, three deer came running between us and a fellow camper (so fast that we were all breathless-they were beautiful!!)

sorry, didn't catch the deer!

This was a fellow camper the girls befriended, named Carl and his dog Misty. The girls of course fell in love with Misty. He also had a cat named Dude, he is in the bushes behind Carl. Carl is a veteran that lives in his motorhome and travels between Tucson and Utah, camping anywhere in between.

Samantha worked hard during our days there and is now on the road to riding her bike without training wheels!!

Superstition Mountain OHV Area

2008-11-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

Here are Debbie and Auddie playing DS during the SANDSTORM...

The SANDSTORM that proceeded to knock down our tent.

Auddie and Ralph riding on our last day in the desert.

Grandma and Grandpa agreed to watch everyone's kids while we (krissy&ralph, Jason&Laura, Bryan&Debbie) went on a ride.
It took us 1 1/2 to get to the top of the mountain (thanks bryan!!)
and only 1/2 hour to get back(thanks jason!!).
We could see the Salton Sea. It was gorgeous.

True Holy Smoke!!

2008-10-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

I think this is one of things I like most about most good BBQ joints...just down to earth good people! Anyone up for a trip to texas??

Dutch oven camping.

2008-10-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

The girls were on vacation for the last few weeks so Krissy decided to do some camping. They camped Thurs-Tues with the night time temps dropping into the low 20s! I camped with them from Fri-Sun and then I went home because I had to work on Monday, but I will let Krissy tell you how/what they did. All I know is that when I was driving away Sunday night at 9pm the temp gauge in the van read 22 degrees. :(

Let me get back on track... I will let Krissy post later on the camping trip this post will be about the food we cooked in the dutch ovens. Along with BBQ I really enjoy dutch oven cooking. I guess if I had been born a few hundred years ago I might have turned out to be a "cooky" on the cattle drives running the chuck wagon. Who knows? :)

Mountain Man breakfast!

STEW!

Me wondering why I did not get a final photo of the stew...

Pineapple upside down cake.

Cobbler...I use foil because I have seen the pie filling eat the seasoning off the pan or at least weaken it.

Making???...

Biscuits.

and gravy...

PIZZA in the Dutch Oven is awesome...almost like wood fired!!

We also heated up some Italian sandwiches but no pics...imagine hoggie roll sandwiches in the bottom of the DU!

OK OK Here are a few phots of the girls!

Desert Q.

2008-10-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Woke up to this desert sunrise...

Getting ready...

If you look you can see me holding up the chimney starter, man was it windy.

Dorks are us!

If you're peeking it ain't cooking.

Some of the kids got in a few holes of golf before we ate!

Brisket

Pork

It was a windy, windy day. I had MUCHO trouble keeping the temps where I wanted them. The wind was blowing so hard it was pushing the smoke down and out the intakes, not to mention the tents down!! I was duct taping holes, stacking wood for a wind break but it was all to no avail :( The brisket cooked very quickly but amazingly was pretty darn good, probably due to the Texas crutch (foil). The pork cooked faster than I would have liked and did not want to pull very well but it was still pretty good.

All in all not too bad for trying to cook out in the desert and dealing with more wind then I ever have before. It was a great learning experience. The pork shoulders we got were bone in and I think I like them better that way.

Audrey the Poser..just having fun today!

2008-09-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sit 'N' Spin

2008-09-29T18:58:00.001-07:00

Just having some fun on the Sit 'N' Spin...faster...faster...faster!!

Run Sammie...Run!

Auddie having fun all by herself!

A blast from the past...

2008-09-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

MORE FROM OUR TRIP TO SAN DIEGO (JULY 2008)

During our trip to San Diego in July, we spent a few days in Santee at Ralph's parents house. Ralph got to play the car game on the really cool TV!

Here are the girls swimming with Aunt Shannen and "baby Brennen" (yeah..she really does exist you all...I just had to go to San Diego to take a picture of her myself- just playing Shannen!)

Ralph's parents were cleaning out the garage while we were there..so out came Great Grandpa Ralph's old Oldsmobile 442, of course Ralph and Sammie had to move it out of the way!

We had lunch with Mikki, Frank and Lourdes Rose. The girls had a blast with Lourdes and Aunt Mikki too!

THE GRANYON CANYON

2008-09-29T17:14:00.001-07:00

We are so lucky to live near THE big hole in the ground. As Audrey called it all day...The Granyon Canyon. The last time Ralph and I went to the Canyon I was pregos with Audrey. The last time the girls went to the Canyon they flew over it in a HELICOPTER with Grandpa and Grandma Ding! So this time was a little less exciting...but here are some pics to show our day.

We arrived first thing in the morning. Here are the girls posing for their first of many pictures. (they never got tired of posing either...go figure) We parked the van and rode the bus around the park for the day. A bus comes around to every stop about every 15 mins, it was great for getting around. We didn't have to fighting for parking and we didn't get lost.

Here is a great picture I took.

Here is an awesome picture that Ralph took of the birds.

Here we are at the "Rand Canyon"

The girls crashed on the ride home!

MORE!!

2008-09-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Don't worry I still have more back posting to do, I just thought I'd throw up some new stuff in between to keep things rolling!

YRMC Picnic...

2008-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Each year YRMC has a company picnic. They always have music, games, food and fun. The girls really look forward to going and spending the day at the park.

They fly the helicopter in and the girls just love to crawl around inside of it.

Well all except Audrey who for some reason looks very grumpy in this picture. LOL

The park is a great place to just chill in the shade and enjoy the breeze.

The lake is always great for snapping a few photos of the girls and Kathleen.

Sammies Birthday!

2008-09-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Sammies 6th birthday. Her desire this year was to go to the pool, so that is exactly what we did. About 2 years ago, Chino Valley opened a wonderful community pool that just happens to be right down the street from our house. So off we went...

Then it was back to the house for hot dogs, shrimp...

and ice cream PIE!!!

Then Eli took everyone for a few laps around the yard. That noise you hear are the CICADAS singing their song.

Then back inside for PRESENTS.

By this time everyone was tired and ready for bed.

The next day it was more birthday celebration at the park.

Some home made carrot cake...

and more presents.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...they sure grow up fast!

Logan Elementary End of Year...Beach Clean-up

2008-08-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

For the past few years the third graders of Logan Elementary have participated in a beach clean-up and social activity. They clean up a stretch of beach, after which they play in the water and eat lots of good food that "Mr. and Mrs. Wilcken" bring them. This was the last day of school for them. It just happened to fall during our vacation in San Diego so we got to participate too!

Sammie even helped.

The kids had a blast swimming.

Aunt Ilene, Elizabeth and Audrey were wore out after the cleaning and swimming.

Ralphie lovin' on his mommy!

Posted by Krissy

The end of July...

2008-08-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

These next few posts are going to be back posts...Like I said before i have a lot of posting to do and so I am going to spread it out over the next few weeks to try and get some what caught up. Oh and yes there will be BBQ related posting and my first ever cook on a WSM !

At the end of July, as we often do, we headed to San Diego. Eli had been in San Diego for the last few weeks so it was time to pick her up and drop Sam off for her week of Grandma and Grandpa bonding time. Since we live so far away the girls really treasure the summers and the weeks they get to spend with their Grandparents.

Some may believe it takes a village to raise a child, well I've never really needed a village my family has always been there for us.

Anyway on to the pics!

This is how you travel, and yes even with the DVD, Nintendo and tons of books they still find time to get on each others nerves. :)

One of the things we like to do when we visit San Diego is to visit Grandmas classroom. The girls love to meet her students and get in on some reading time.

As a reward for the students in her class that have 100% homework for the entire year, Mom takes them up to Oakzanita for the day. The have breakfast in the lodge, participate in any activities the camp has planned for the day and SWIM!!

The girls all enjoyed the pool as well...

Everyone had lots and lots of fun!!

More to come...

OOPS!!

2008-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well hello all!

I've got a lot of catch up posting to do with a ton pics and family adventures to post including recent trips to Cali, end of school, funny things the girls have done you know all that family stuff.

I know I've been slacking but time just seems to get away from me. My dad always said the older you get the faster time flys and that might as well be gospel because that is exactly what happens. A month goes by and I look back and I have not blogged anything...I'll try to do better. No promises but I'll promise to try.

In my defense I may just actually be loosing my mind!!! Keep reading you will see why!

Krissy recently noted that I blog a lot about BBQ, and I am sure that is true. Its just something I enjoy doing at this time in my life. I enjoy BBQ and I need to practice so I can produce the best BBQ I can. Besides she never complains when its time to eat it. :)

So with that in mind I was recently asked If I would be willing to cook some pork for a mens activity at church. Well most people have never tasted what I consider to be "true" BBQ so I figured I'd cook a few pork butts (shoulders) and give them a taste to make sure it is what they are looking for. Besides we need to replenish our supply of frozen pork in the freezer.

Well the story is as follows...

Early morning, 3am, pork butt smoke on the UDS!!

This was to be my first attempt at using lump in my UDS. I was hoping for somewhat higher temps and a clean less ash cook. I had some new Kroger Lump that I had picked up at Frys for $4.99 a bag. I was excited to begin this next chapter in my quest for BBQ perfection.

As I got the lump going right away it started smelling really bad, it was poring out a black nasty looking smoke. After the smoke calmed down a bit the flames started shooting out and I noticed right away that were all kinds of weird colors...as I am siting there watching it I decided to take a pic because I was planning on doing a review of the Kroger Brand of lump. As I grab the camera the "lump" (or at least I thought it was the lump) exploded. It was so loud it woke Krissy up! I was like, I am going to die...death by lump!!!

At this point I'm telling my self no way am I using this JUNK in my UDS, its exploding the flames look like I'm burning copper and magnesium in some sort of metallurgical experiment, and the smell!!! The smell would knock over a full grown Yak! I'm thinking to my self I've found the WMDs!!! There are in the bags marked Kroger Lump!! By now I'm getting pretty pissed and mumbling some not nice things about Kroger and their "lump"!!

I decided to dump the starter into a kettle because there is no way I am going to cook anything I'm going to feed my family with this stuff. As I dump out the starter I see a flaming mass of something...what the heck is that?

As the flames died down I began to recognize the oh so familiar shape of...

Yep my razor phone!! How it ended up in the bottom of my charcoal starter at 3AM I still can not figure out!! Talk about feeling stupid, not only burning up my phone but also having no idea how it came to happen. Man I loved that phone!

After all the excitement died down and the cremated phone had been given a proper burial, I got back to the task at hand which was my first cook using lump on the UDS! The Kroger lump turned out to be great and my first lump experience, minus the phone incident turned out very well! I gave the sample to Rick and we will see if it is what he is looking for, if so I will be doing more butts in the near future...lets just hope my next phone can survive the cook.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

BBQ Song!

2008-08-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

I am sure this will not be up forever but I think its great! It combines my love of BBQ with my closet love for blue grass! :) Enjoy and you might just learn something.

Monsoon MUD!!!

2008-07-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

When the Monsoons come to Arizona, at least our part of Arizona, you just can not get away from the MUD!!!

Sorry about the noise...some of us were working! :)~

RIDE!!

2008-07-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

The trail...

The View...

The crew...

The Result...

July 4th BBQ!!!

2008-07-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

Up Early to get the food going...one brisket, 2 pork butts and 4 racks of beef ribs all need to be cooked. Thats A.M.!

Fired up the UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker)...I think its more of a cooker than a smoker but if you were to search UDC on the web you would not find much. Search for UDS and the world is yours. LOL

Here it is cooking away later that morning...about 6 or 7 am if i remember correctly. Running at 240-250 degrees for a nice low and slow cook.

We also fired about the off set Hondo about 10 am to do the beef ribs. They take much less time than the brisket and butts. 5-6 hours as compared to 12-16.

When all was said and done we had some very good food!

Hog Apple Beans that were a MAJOR hit!!

The pulled pork.

Our first brisket. We did the entire packer. Here is the flat ready to go. Looks like someone can't wait.

The point made into burnt ends.

The beef ribs turned out very good! Al thought they were great and since he bought them thats all that matters! :)

After we ate we sat around and played games until the fireworks started...no pics of the fire works, by that time I was way tired and forgot. :(

It was a good 4th with food, family and friends.

A beautiful day at Watson.

2008-06-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

The Prescott area offers so many wonderful places to see and things to do. Watson lake is located in Prescott and only about 15 minutes from our home. The lake and rock formations are absolutely gorgeous. Toss in some perfect weather, the family and a small red canoe and you have one AWESOME day.

Graduation and a Birthday....

2008-06-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

Samantha moves on to the first grade. She is very excited and can not wait to get back to school.

Samantha and her kindergarten teacher.

Also Eli turns 11! She had a slumber party with a few of her friends from school.

We had some ice cream cupcakes that were just delicious!

The girls got all made up, danced, sang, talked and played Dance, Dance revolutions all night long...(No photos I was asleep.)

Everyone had a great time, even if they didn't get much sleep!

Awards Ceremony

2008-06-01T14:45:00.001-07:00

TRAIL 396

2008-05-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

Just some photos from lasts night 8 mile ride on trail 396.

This trail was a lot of fun. Wonderful single track and great views. It is awesome to live where all of this is available!

Home BBQing.

2008-05-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

I love to BBQ! Here are some of the spoils of all that work that goes into making real BBQ cooked "Slow and Low". What is slow and low? Well the short answer is, food cooked over indirect heat (usually wood or charcoal) at between 220 and 250 degrees until its internal temp reaches a certain point, then wrapped in foil and allowed to rest for a few more hours. 12-24 hours total cooking time at low temps are not unheard of. The food below was cooked for about 11 hours and allowed to rest for 3 more hours.

A Fatty! Jimmy Dean sausage rolled up with sharp cheddar in the middle and slow cooked over hickory! Delicious, great on a breakfast sandwich. This only took a few hours on the smoker as it is tons smaller then a 9lb butt.

Pork butt after 11 hours on the smoker (200 internal) and 3 hours of rest.

Pulled and ready to be eaten. Its OK that it looks pink. That is the magical "Smoke Ring"! You know "One Ring To Rule Them All, One Ring To Find Them, One Ring To Bring Them All And In The Darkness Bind Them!" Bet you did not know that Tolkien was a fan of BBQ. The original story is actually about pulled pork not some stupid golden ring. His editor made him change it. :)

Pastrami! Basically its corned beef that is soaked in water for a few hours to remove some of the brine, rubbed with cracked pepper, ground coriander and some powdered garlic. It is then cooked until the internal temps reach 180-190. I pulled these off at 183 and let them rest for a few hours before being sliced.

All chopped and ready for a home made RUBEN!!!

The cooker.

True BBQ cooking temperature.

The modification I have made to this cooker made the entire 11 hour process much easier than before. You just cannot rush real BBQ. As a matter of fact I probably should have cooked the corned beef to a bit higher internal temp say 190-195 and next time I will.
The mods were taken from the smoke ring website...HERE offset smoker mods and from reading on the Barbecue Brethren website.

Habitat!

2008-05-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

The school that Sam and Eli attend has been doing a lot of beautification projects over the last year or two and the kids have been involved in some of them. Its a great way to learn about plants, water conservation environmental responsibility and about the earth in general.

EAT AT JOE'S...BBQ THAT IS!!!

2008-04-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get the urge to do something, well out of the ordinary. There are lot of things I do that many people would find, well strange. Krissy hates it when I take the long convoluted way home. The girls think I'm crazy when I want to get up a 3 a.m. to head to San Diego. Everyone wonders what is up with me and my made up songs...anyway this post is about a quick trip to get some real smoked BBQ here in Arizona.

A short little ride through the desert that was beautiful and in full bloom.

As you can see the girls are all very excited!

Getting closer!!!Where the heck is Wikieup?

What the heck is that behind us???

We have arrived at Eat at Joe's BBQ!!!

We ordered our food, Krissy and I shared the Brethren Plate as did Mom, Eli and Sam. Aud got a brisket sandwich, Dad did also. He might have been better off with the pork sandwich as it tasted less smokie and he is not the biggest fan of smoky. He does get the "gamer" award for eating all of it, here he is adding a little sauce to his sandwich.

Our food.

It was very good, yes it was a 2 1/2 hour trip to get there, but isn't that what life is all about? Living the adventure, trying new things and having fun!!!

Eat At Joe's BBQ is on the 93 between Phoenix and Vegas. Stop in and say hi to Joe and Rose and sample some authentic "Q" in an very unusual place.
Eat At Joe's BBQ

Spring!

2008-04-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Spring means flowers birds and around here bugs, but lets dwell on the good things...FLOWERS! Nothing like a few flowers to brighten up your patio. Krissy and the girls spent Monday evening planting some flowers and having some mommy/daughter time.

Digg! Digg! Plant! Plant! Oh how pretty.

Gettin' dirty but still havin' fun!

Very pretty!

Click the image for a larger view of this flower.

Happy Birthday!

2008-04-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Audrey turned 3 on April 5th. We had a little Hawaiian themed get together complete with Kalua pork, macaroni salad and hula girls in skirts...

Mommy baked and decorated a cake at Odds request, no store bought cakes for this hawaiian princess.

We did some sitting around...

...ate some cake...

...played some redneck party games...

...open some presents...

...then Grandma Kathy got her 60s grove thing on with Debbi and Vicky-T.
Oddie had a great time and we reflected on how fast 3 years goes by.
Happy Birthday Oddie.

Back in the saddle!

2008-03-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Over easter Brett and I headed out to Granite Basin to do a little mountain biking. I had not been out much this winter and I was really itching to get some riding in. Brett had not been on a bike in awhile either so we decided to head out and tackle one of my favorite short little loops from the cattle guard down to the lake and back.

Brett's got his game face on.

Taken at the lake. The lake is so full from all the rain and snow this winter that it was running over the dam.

Heading back the way we came.

The smile on his face says it all. No we did not clean every techy part of it nor did we do it in record time but we sure had fun and to me that's mountain biking at its purist.

Easter Visit...

2008-03-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Easter came early this year, but that really didn't matter. There were still eggs to color, pretty dresses to wear and bunnies to wait for. My folks and Brett and Shannan came up for the weekend to hang out and spend some time together. This was Brennans first trip to Arizona but I'm sure it wont be her last.

Coloring eggs is fun, but can be a little messy!

I found a new favorite ice cream...its called Take The Cake, man is it good.

Us guys had to get all manly and split a little wood. This pile took us about and hour to split. OK we used a hydraulic wood splitter but it was still manly work.

BBQ!!

2008-03-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know, I love BBQ. I like grilling and cooking over an open flame. I really like cooking in a dutch oven...but I love a good BBQ. There is nothing like a truly slow cooked piece of meat (pork or beef) covered in BBQ sauce to get the old juices flowing. So on our latest trip out to San Diego my folks took us to a new BBQ place they had discovered.

KB's BBQ is in Santee California and offers some of the best BBQ I've had in awhile. Memphis style Q that is not too smokie and fall off the bone tender. The pulled pork appears to be made without a dry rub but their BBQ sauce is very good. The BBQ feast that they say will feed 2 hungry people will feed at least 4 very hungry people so keep that in mind. If you've got a hankerin for some really good "Q" stop by and see Etta and Calvin at KB's BBQ in the Santee Library Shopping Center. ( 9335 Carlton Hills Blvd) You will not be disappointed.

Quartzsite Camping.

2008-02-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Camping is always fun and living in Arizona there is plenty of area to explore. This last weekend we headed out to QUARTZSITE to do some camping, exporing and motofun with Krissys side of the family, some old friends from Cali and some new friends from Prescott!

I have always loved the desert, some people think of it as ugly but I feel that some of the most beautiful places on earth are located in the worlds deserts.

She was so sad when it was time to go home, she just loves camping. Audrey is still a little small to ride alone but...

Here she is running the throttle and "some" of the steering with her uncle Jason.

Samantha was a speed demon, I guess its in her blood.

Here she is having her uncle Brian turn the throttle control up for more speed.

Here is Elizabeth taking a turn...she spent more time on the Honda 90 because she looks a wee bit too big for the one she is on here.

Samantha, Krissy, Kathleen and Victoria.

Our camp, lots of room for the kids to ride with realy nothing to get in the way.

Plenty of sand to play in.

The old mine was fun for exploring. There was an old shaft that looked to be very deep. No one had the guts to climb down as the ladder looked way too sketchy.

Audrey with a cactus outside of the building at the old mine.

Everyone had a great time...

Even my parents showed up, but they seemed a little out of focus the entire time. :) Actually between the setting sun, the camera flash and my inability to take a decent picture, this is all I got. Mom, Dad and Audrey fresh from a trip exploring the mine and gathering quartz. I swear it is them, really, I'm not kidding.

A group heading to the mine...I think its Chris (friend from Prescott) Victoria, Elijah, Laura, Samantha and I.

Look a JACKALOPE !!!

I am going to upload the rest of the photos and give a link here...so look back later!

SLEDDING

2008-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Well first off let me say, I hate when I forget my camera!!! I should have had TONS of photos of this but we forgot our camera. Luckly Eli had hers but the batteries only lasted a for a few pictures. Well I guess something is better than nothing. We drove up to Flagstaff to find some good snow and do alittle sledding.

Krissy and Audrey coming down.

Brian and Eli (Jason and Laura's Eli)

Elizabeth on the last run of the day coming off the "jump".

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2007-12-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Having 3 girls and 0 boys there tends to be alot of pinks, greens, and purples around our house, as can be seen here in the girls christmas haul. Santa did pretty well this year but one year I wish he would bring a GI Joe or something...:)

DO YOU BELIEVE?

2007-12-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Polar Express train ride in Williams Arizona.

The girls playing in the snow waiting for the train.

While traveling to the North Pole you hear the story of the Polar Express...

...drink hot chocolate...

...eat cookies...

...and wait for Santa to see if you can hear the bells!

WEDDING FUN

2007-12-19T09:10:00.001-08:00

On the 15th my brother-in-law Jason got married to Laura. They had a wonderful wedding and a fun reception. The whole family spent the two months prior to the wedding preparing for the big day and everything went very well.

Playing around at the reception. :)

They spent their honeymoon night at the Hotel Saint Michaels on Whiskey Row in Prescott. Here they are standing out front, Jason is about to carry her inside.

SNOW

2007-12-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

We have been having some good wet weather in these parts, and like most of the south west united states we can sure use it. Arizona snow! Ain't it pretty?

It won't last very long, but it sure is nice while its here.

DEC 7th 1941

2007-12-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

Lets not forget what, why and who we are as a nation!

TURKEY

2007-11-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

Deep fried turkey...Aint nothing better!

Now this is what you call a spread! We had one fried and one oven cooked turkey. Mashed potatoes, stuffing and all the fixings. The fried turkey was Cajun flavored. It was a big hit. The family got together at my folks house for Thanksgiving and we enjoyed each others company along with the food.

MORE IMAGES

ARIZONA ACDA

2007-11-18T07:23:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth recently had the opportunity to sing in the the Third Annual Cantaremos Honor Choirs on November 17, 2007 at Gilbert High School in Gilbert AZ. She sent in a tape to try out and was accepted. She did great and had a good time. She spent the last few months leading up to the concert rehearsing with her choir teacher at school. Then on the 17th we drove down to Gilbert where she spent all that day rehearsing with the conductor and the other kids from around AZ. Were are very proud of Elizabeth and her hard work to be part of this choir.

HEAR ELIZABETH SING!!!

After the concert we decided to spend the night in Gilbert. We ended up having lunch the next day at the Rain Forest Cafe. The girls thought it was great. The food was not very good IMHO but I guess that's OK. It's not famous for it food. Where else can you eat with a hugh Gorilla looking over your shoulder?

It was a great weekend and Elizabeth gained some great experiences!

Trains ROCK.

2007-11-15T10:20:00.001-08:00

Always have liked trains...must have gotten that from my dad. Here's one we saw just outside of Gila Bend AZ on our way home from a recent trip to San Diego.

Here is the reason behind the trip to San Diego. To see my sisters new baby.

Babies just look so cute in black and white.

DISNEYLAND!!!

2007-10-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

In October we spent a few days at Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim California (DUH). It was great fun.

The girls rode almost everything in both parks. Samantha was a little miffed because she could not ride the bigger, faster rides, she was not quite tall enough. She loved Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. So it looks like we will be going back when she grows abit, but that's OK because we all had a wonderful time.

Grandpa and Grandma came up to share in the fun...

The little girls dresses like princesses...Like little girls should!!!

Eli hung out with a handsome Prince...

Shannen and Brett surprised us by driving up after work just to go on a few choice rides. Namely Pirates and the Haunted House (done up for "The Nightmare Before Christmas"). Yep there is no telling what a pregnant woman will do.

MORE DISNEY IMAGES

PUMPKINS

2007-10-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

October is the time for PUMPKINS!!!

Each year since moving to the high desert we have made the trip out to Youngs Farm for the annual PUMPKIN patch. Most of my family has made the trip from California to participate in the festivities with us. But as you may know Youngs Farm is no more so we had to change plans. Bates Nut Farm is a small farm in Vally Center CA. Growing up it was the PUMPKIN patch we went to each year. So with Youngs gone, we made the pilgrimage to Valley Center.

Audrey picking her pumpkin. My dad always had a rule..."You've got to carry your own PUMPKIN." He would buy us any PUMPKIN we wanted as long as we could haul it out. As we got older we got some pretty large pumpkins but we always carried them out. :)

Now that the Grand kids are around my dad bought this AWESOME wagon to haul everything. It usually only comes out for the annual family trip to the pumpkin patch. So it stays in really great shape. If the kids can at least lift the pumpkin into the cart they can have it. I guess the folks are getting soft. :)

Elizabeth, Audrey and Lourdes.

Pick the real belly! Lets hope it's not moms!

Healthy??

2007-09-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well awhile back I decided I need to get some exercise and thought Mountain Biking would be fun and low impact. Well the first time I impacted the ground it didn't fell very "low impact" but still very fun.

Caring a bit over 200lbs I needed something that would hold up to all I could toss at it. I looked at some full squish bikes and for the strength I wanted the price was just way too high. I started looking at hard tail, so called AM (All Mountain) bikes, like the Spec. P2 All Mountain, the Gary Fisher Mullet, Kona Hoss and the Haro Escape etc. etc. Even a few bike from internet vendors like IBEX and Iron Horse, but decided I wanted the support of a local bike store for my first "real" mountain bike.

I ended up getting the Haro Escape Comp because it seemed to have the best components for the price. Plus it was plenty beefy and I've always been a HARO fan.

I have been very happy with this bike. Ive owned it for just over 5 months and it has taken all I have thrown at it. The only thing that has broken was the u-turn adjustment knob on the Tora fork.

Here she is the day I got her after my first ride. The refelctors had not even snapped off yet!

Avid Juicy 3s with 185mm rotors provide the stopping power and have been great. The RockShox TORA front fork has been great and seems to be very strong. I upgraded to the xtra firm spring for >180lbs people.

The Deore XT rear der. is wonderfull.

It sure is fun and I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.

CAMPING!!

2007-05-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

We decided that a camping trip to Granite Basin sounded like a good idea. It was lots of fun. On Saturday we took a trip down to the Hasyampa to do some off roading and let the girls play in the water.

Breakfast always tastes better while camping and with as many people as we had with us we made a TON of food. It safe to say there was not much left over.

There aint nothin like hanging out with family and friends, by the warm glow of a fire!.

Life is to short to not enjoy it. There just is not enough time to waste it watching t.v!

SEDONA!!

2007-04-08T03:10:00.000-07:00

Gas for the trip to Sedona: $40

Rent for two jeeps: A bunch of money

Food for the day: $100

Spending a wonderful day outside with the faimly: Priceless!!!

Farabees Jeep Renals was awsome and had maps and such to help make this a wonderful day. I had been 4x4ing in Sedona before, but it was nice to not worry about messing something up on your personal vehicle. :)

MORE IMAGES FROM SEDONA