CHRISTMAS 09

We have had another eventful year. It was another year filled with many trials and many triumphs, but God has continued to richly bless us.
We had great start to a year. Evan and I were both very busy at our jobs: Evan teaching band/general music and me at the Post Office. Evan spent his time as volunteer basketball coach and taking Band Students to Honor Bands and Concert Festivals. I was busy with work at the Kearny Post Office. I had the opportunity to be in charge of the Post Office for four weeks while my boss was on an assignment in a different office. It was a challenge but me and the Post Office were still standing at the end.
We had a rough start and end to March this year. At the beginning of March, we had to put my mom’s pug Spike, who had been living with us for eight months, to sleep. He had a freak accident and it was not repairable. We really miss him. After the heartache of putting down Spike, my parents had an opportunity to purchase a pug puppy. The man who owned the puppy had been given the pug as a gift for his birthday. He didn’t want a dog and he would sell it to them cheap. My parents and I purchased the puppy for Evan’s 29th birthday present. Evan was ecstatic. He named the new addition Winston Edward Thompson – Winston after Winston Churchill and Edward because we thought it sounded good. Winston has really livened up our lives. He is very loving.
Also in March we joined Kearny Southern Baptist Church. Evan filled in for the music minister in the summer and became the official music minister in September. It is a small but loving congregation. Our pastor and his wife are two dear, Godly people.
We ended March with a trip to the ER for Evan. In a freak accident Evan had been struck on the left side of the forehead by two composite wood posts. He seemed alright but a few days later he developed really serious concussion symptoms. He had his cat scanned (as my dad puts it) and x-rays to make sure there was no internal bleeding or fractures. Everything checked out fine. Evan still was not himself so we got a referral to see a neurologist. The neurologist said that Evan has Post Concussive Syndrome(PCS). The concussion has caused a problem with his short term memory. We are working on getting him better. It is a struggle but so far we are still getting through it.
We spent another great anniversary together to start off a busy summer. Evan had summer band and I had work, as usual, at the Post Office. Evan, his mom, and I went to New Mexico to visit and meet a sweet lady who was slipping away from this world. I was glad to have finally gotten to meet the woman I had heard so many good things about. I was excited to be able to visit the White Sands National Monument. Evan and my friend Deidre had talked about it several times and I had been wanting to go. I enjoyed the weekend and didn’t want to go back to work on Monday.
We were busy having fund-raisers to get money to send twelve 5th-8th graders to Four Seasons Music Camp. In the end we made enough money that all twelve students were able to go. We had a blast. It is always a long week for everyone but the end result is a concert on Saturday that leaves the audience in awe of what we did in a week.
All too soon school started and the cycle began again: Friday night football games, Saturday Marching Festivals, and Monday night Marching practice. It is the same routine all the way through the first week of November. It was a long Marching season this year, but it was a successful one. For the second year in a row, they earned an Excellent rating at the State Marching Festival. Evan did a great job getting through it with his PCS. I was unable to accompany them on most of the Saturday trips.
In early September, my boss got a promotion to the Oracle Post Office. It was a good move for her since she lived in Oracle. I had the opportunity to be Officer in Charge until they got another Postmaster into Kearny. I jumped at the chance. It has been a long, difficult three months. We are still short one person and our new Postmaster, who is a very sweet person, is not expected to come until after the first of the year. Needless to say this has been a rough Christmas holiday for my co-worker and me. We have been doing the job of three people while trying to not use overtime.
This year has gone by so fast and next year will begin with a blast. Evan and I are taking our first trip as a couple since our honeymoon. We are going to DISNEYLAND during the last week of the year. We will be there to ring in the New Year with Mickey and Minnie. We can’t wait! We love you all and hope you have a safe and happy holiday season.
May God bless you in the new year.

Christmas Letter Delayed

I have been working on our Christmas Letter the last few days. I have also been working about 10 hour days at work and am EXHAUSTED. I will have the letter up by the end of the weekend. Please check back in a few days. I am sorry for the delay. :)

Music Camp

Evan and I took 13 band students to camp for a week in July. I was so exhausted from the week that it took me a full two weeks to recover. We all enjoyed the camp a lot. The kids learn as much in camp as they would have learned in a semester at school. I even got to play my clarinet some. I don't play it that often so it was nice to be able to play it. Here are a few pictures from camp.



Here is a couple Ray students learning how to play the hand chimes. It takes a lot of counting and concentration to play these instruments. This next picture shows the waterfall that was created by the down pour we had on Wednesday. The waterfall is coming down the stairs that lead up to the girls cabins. Needless to say we were stuck in the rec hall for a while. The camp crew that did the clean up of all the mud that was brought down the mountain, shoveled 30 wheelbarrows full of mud and dirt. The students were taught to swing dance on the next to last day. This is dance night. Junior counselors teach a dance and the students try it out then there is a dance. During rec time the students rotate between several activities. This year I was put in charge to watch the tether-ball area. The picture below is the entire camp. While we are waiting we have one person that takes pictures with our cameras. This year I think there was about 20 cameras. It felt like forever standing on those logs. We are in our concert dress of tie-dyed shirts. This is just snapshots of the week. I can't wait to attend next year.

Music Camp

I am in the process of packing for music camp. Evan and I are taking 14 5th - 8th grade band students to Four Seasons Music Camp in the mountains near Prescott, AZ. I am excited to be in the cooler weather for the week. I have most of my packing done. After I get done at work tomorrow, we have to take our four-legged children to visit their Grandma and Grandpa's house for the week. Then we have to come home and clean house. I want to return home after camp to a clean house and sleep.
I found out last year that you don't get that much sleep when you are sleeping in a cabin with six teenager girls. I slept the entire way home and a day after that. Well more packing. See you in a week.

New Mexico Trip

This weekend we went to New Mexico. Etna and Evan were going to see old friends and relatives and I was going to meet them. I had a great time and am really glad we were able to get there this summer. We are exhausted but we don't regret the weekend. Here are several pictures from the trip.

This is the beautiful house that we had the privilege of staying in. This is Evan's Uncle Jack's and Marie's house. It is a great house and the view is breathtaking. We had a great stay in a very comfortable and relaxing setting. This is one of the many picture I took of beautiful flowers this weekend. I loved being up in the cooler air. I could get used to it. Evan had to get a picture with this bear that was inside the Lodge at Cloudcroft. We had a great afternoon up in the mountains near Alamogordo, NM. We got to have cherry cider (which I am not a fan of, but at least I can say I tried it), looked in several really cool shops, and ate some fudge. The only thing I really wanted to do during the weekend was to visit Whitesands. It was beautiful. I love the fact that if you dig your feet in the sand you reach really cool dirt. It is several degrees cooler than the sand on the surface. I wish we could have stayed a little longer there but we had to get home. We still needed to pick up our dogs, who had been staying with my parents in Globe.I was able to get a picture of the breathtaking Organ Mountains before leaving Las Cruces. I wish we could have gone closer but this was just a quick trip. Next time we need to stay longer. I was also introduced to the burger joint called Blake's Lotaburger. It was delicious. Well next week we are off to Four Seasons Music Camp in Prescott. We are taking 14 kids this year. We are both excited about it and cant wait.

Pretty flowers...

I have encountered some really pretty flowers recently and I wanted to share.
Evan recently bought me two dozen roses. Only then did I realize that I did not even have a vase. I had to use my tea jug to hold them all and even then it was too small. I had to use a smaller vase that only held five of the roses. I love flowers.
I loved watching the roses bloom.
I found these sweet peas in my mom's front yard. Every year I know where to go to get the sweet scent of these amazing flowers. My mom never plants them but every year there they are and there are plenty of them.

My mom planted two small rose bushes. She was excited to have several buds growing on one of them. I was able to get a good picture of the just opening bud. Again, I love roses.
I had to add a picture of Winston. This picture is of him as he fell off the back of the couch and landed in several boxes that we are using to get rid of things. I jumped up to see if he was ok and this is what I saw. Him staring back at me and trying to get out of the boxes. I am glad I had my camera out. I had to help him get out. Isn't he cute.

Winston

Winston has made quick friends with Reagan. I caught them taking a nap together. They don't play together a lot because Reagan is 80 lbs. heavier than Winston. Reagan tends to crush Winston when he plays with him. Copper and Winston are constantly playing together. I haven't been able to get a picture of them playing because they are so fast. They run up and down the hall at Flash Gordon speed.
I caught Winston trying to feed himself. He has chewed holes in every bag of food we have bought for him. We will soon be getting a container that will hold Winston's puppy food. We don't want anymore food spilling onto the floor.
Evan is loving his birthday present. He and Winston love to hang out together. Winston showers Evan's chin with hundreds of kisses a day.
Evan and I didn't realize that puppies lose their teeth. We thought something was wrong when Winston started losing his front teeth. He only had gums in the front of his mouth for a few days. We took this picture to show his new adult teeth coming in.

New Puppy, part of a fence up, and Our Garden

Well we have a new puppy. My parents and I bought Evan a new pug puppy for his birthday. He is the cutest thing. He has a chocolate face and green eyes. Evan named him Winston Edward Thompson. Winston after Winston Churchill. We are trying to house train him and it seems like we make progress one day and he forgets it the next. I had forgotten how much energy puppies have.
We have been working on getting our composite wood fence for about a year and a half. We have finally gotten up three panels and are ready to put up one more panel and two fence posts. We were moving pretty quickly and getting alot of progress done on the fence until Evan got a concussion. On Friday, March 20th, Evan was hit on the head by two of the fence posts. My parents came down for two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, and brought the rototiller. Evan had to go to the doctor on Tuesday for his concussion after he started having bad headaches and violent vomiting and dry heaving episodes. The doctor told him to go to the ER and get a CT scan. Everything was OK with the scan but because Evan is still getting pretty bad headaches, he has an appointment with a neurologist at the end of the month. My parents and I and at sometimes Evan, worked on the fence on Wednesday. My mom and I also worked on getting the garden tilled. We would not be where we are right now with the fence without my parents coming down to help. We have not gotten much done lately with the fence because Evan, with the advice of many people, won't touch the fence unless he has a hard hat. So our next thing to buy is a hard hat. I really want to get the fence done.
Evan and I are also going to a Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor on Friday. We both had CT scans done so the doctor can see what is going on with our sinuses. Hopefully the doctor can figure out why I keep getting so many sinus infections.
We finally got our garden started again. While my parents were here we tilled the garden soil. Evan and I decided to expand the garden. We almost doubled it in size. We wanted to be able to plant more than we did last year. We now need to get the fence completed around the entire garden. We have it partially fenced with last years fence but since we doubled it in size we didn't have enough to complete the fence the rest of the way. We bought the compost on Saturday and I worked on getting it spread around the garden while Evan rested, he had another headache. We tilled the garden one more time to get the compost mixed with the soil. I then worked on getting the rows and walk ways mapped out. I stopped just short of exhaustion. I slept really good Saturday night but was almost to sore to get out of bed on Sunday. Winston had his first Vet appointment on Sunday. He got shots and a check up. He is a healthy puppy.
I worked a little more on the garden rows on Sunday but only finished one more. After work on Monday, I finished all the rows and then rested until Evan got home. When Evan got home we made the mounds for the zucchini, cucumbers, watermelon, and two types of yellow squash. We have nine mounds for zucchini, three mounds for crookneck squash, three mounds for straight neck squash, two mounds for cucumbers, and two mounds for watermelons. We were able to get all of the seeds planted Monday evening.
After work on Tuesday, I worked on getting the rest of the seeds planted. We have two rows of okra, half a row of snow peas, half a row of mustard greens, and half a row of leek. I also put in a few spinach seeds. I am so excited about having the garden finished and can't wait until we can get vegetables from it. I will have pictures to show as soon as we have something growing.

Dexter Spike Davis January 2001-March 7, 2009

Today we had a family member pass away. Spike the pug, who had been living with us for the last six months, had an accident that cause one of his eyes to be ripped out of its socket. We rushed him to the vet in Gold Canyon. There was extensive damage done to the eye and surgery would be needed with an over night stay. The estimated bill was possibly $2000. After much discussion with my mom, who is the owner of Spike, we had to make the desicion to put Spike to sleep.
Spike was eight years old and had bad arthritis. He was also blind in the eye he lost and partly blind in the other one. He was the sweetest dog and gave the best kisses on the nose. He was always the first dog to hear us come home and bark his greeting. He snorted when he became overexcited or overheated. He was best friends with Reagan and got along with Copper most of the time. He had the able to shake, crawl, and high five. He was the cutest dog when you were getting his food ready. He would hop for joy and follow you around until you put his food down. Spike was a GREAT DOG and will be missed by all who knew him. We returned home to two heartbroken dogs. Each spent a time searching the house and the backyard for Spike. We miss you, Spike.

I finally baked something!

It has been a while since I, personally, baked something. At Christmas Evan and I made cookies for our siblings but I only made the No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. Evan made all the cookies that had to be baked. An older gentleman loves to bring lemons to the Post Office to share with all of us clerks. I have been letting the last couple dozen rot before I finally threw them away. I could never find a use for them. I love lemon in my tea but I haven't been making any tea lately.
Just the other day a co worker suggested I put the lemons to use and make a Lemon Meringue Pie. So I thought how hard could it be. I got out my 1953 replica of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book and looked for the recipe. This cook book was a wedding present from a good friend at our old Church. There is a note inside that reads as follows:

A Note to Today's Readers:
We get more requests for the 1953 edition of our "Red Plaid Cook Book" than any others. To remain true to this cherished work, we've reprinted it word for word; the text appears just as your grandmother or mother may have read it. Keep in mind, however, that some ingredients have changed since we first published this cook book. For example, canned food sizes are different than in days gone by; you may need to adjust ingredient amounts accordingly. Food safety guidelines have changed too, so be sure to adhere to current food safety procedures when preparing these recipes. For instance, you should cook eggs fully and cook meats to safe internal temperatures before servings.

My mom was born in 1953 and I love the fact that these recipes were around when my mom was born. Well here is the pictures of my time spent in front of the stove















I only made two pies but I wanted to get a close up of one of them. After we had dinner and the pies had cooled, we dug in. Wow! They were delicious. I took the second pie to work with me and the girls ate half of the pie for breakfast. I think they liked it.

New Freezer, Butterfly dishes, and paint on the walls

Evan and I finally broke down and bought a chest freezer. We have been struggling for a year and a half to fit all we could in our little freezer over the fridge but it just was not cutting it anymore. We always hated to see meats or frozen foods on sale because we knew we could never buy more than a couple things. I was also frustrated because I could never freeze leftovers. Food that could have been frozen and eaten at a later date hate be thrown away. I was so excited. Evan keeps making fun of me because I keep saying "Hey, I can freeze this". I love having choices when deciding what to cook.
























These are my new Butterfly dishes! I was so excited when I found them at Target. I didn't want to overdue it so I limited myself to one mug and two bowls. The insides are an aqua blue. They are so colorful and bright. I have not been able to get myself to use them and dirty them up.























This is the new color in our guest bedroom. I didn't think it would be this bright but I just love it. Evan and I both agreed on yellow and picked out this color (Firefly) together. We had taken everything out of the room in order to paint and seal the concrete floor. About three months ago, we ripped out the carpet because it was damaged. We are going to replace the carpet with wood laminate or bamboo flooring but right now its not possible. So in order to make sure the concrete didn't get damaged we sealed it with a tinted paint. The floor is now a chestnut brown. I am so excited I finally got to paint one room in my house. While we were waiting for the paint to be mixed we picked out the paint colors for our bedroom and the exterior of the house. But painting either of those will have to wait a while. Well now I must get dinner started. Evan will be done with Basketball practice soon and I haven't even started.

GO CARDINALS!!!

To our ARIZONA CARDINALS.
We know you can do it.
In two weeks we will see you guys in the SUPER BOWL!!!

Life Experiences!

Saw this on someone's blog and decided to post it. So everything I have done is in purple.

Do it and post it on your blog. See how much you have done.



1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a Meteor Shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a Mountain
9. Held a praying Mantis

10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (sort of)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a Lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (sort of)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee


I am so thankful for the many experiences in my life!

Scrabble Tile necklaces and Pictures of Cloe

I have not been able to text about my recent purchase because they were Christmas presents. While reading Evan's Aunt Linda's blog I discovered a great present idea. A couple makes necklace pendants out of Scrabble tiles. They have all different kinds. Here are the ones I bought:
I also purchased two more. One was a black butterfly and the other had Let Earth Receive Her King with a red background. I have purchased several more but those will be for a later blog.

For the last hour I have been taking pictures off my camera and getting them ordered on snapfish.com. I have some of the cutest pictures of my niece Cloe. Here are a few:
This is Cloe's smile. Is she not the cutest thing you ever saw? Of course I am her aunt so I would say that, but she is the cutest thing! It took me about ten pictures in a row to get the perfect shot of her smile. I should mention that the lovely lady holding her is her mother, my sister, Ginger.
Ginger and I wanted a picture of Cloe in front of the tree but we couldn't get her to stand. I spent about five minutes taking pictures of her and I think this was the best. I got several others that come in at a close second but this was a great shot.
As Cloe was unwrapping a gift she made some great faces. I caught a few. This is her classic look. She loves to stick out her tongue, as did her mother when she was a baby.
This has to be the CUTEST picture I took that day. I placed Cloe on Evan's lap and she was having a great time playing with this plastic apple ornament. I went to take a picture and they both looked at each other. I could not have had better timing. Well more pictures later.