Trey's 'FAMILY" Birthday Celebration

Thursday, July 29, 2010

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY TREY! 2 years gone by how time has flown can't believe how Trey has grown! Such a joy & so much fun, cute as a bug & so precious to hug! No longer a baby as his character comes out, we know he's around as he screams & shouts. From the time you get up til you go nighty night, hope your day is a special delight.
The best gift for the younger generation is a good example from the older generation. Ps 71:18


Today we celebrated Trey turning TWO with both the Loomer & the Smith families and we had a blast, complete with a homemade meal of chicken enchiladas, refried beans, spanish rice, guacamole & 2 differnt homemade cakes - one being the birthday cake of course. There were so many great pictures from the evenings festivities I couldn't pass up using lots of them in this birthday post so I decided to break the evening up into sections so here we go... Please note that this is just my version of the evening, you have to take a minute and drop in on Shannon's blog to see her version as well, just click here.  Shayla was here for the entire evening but slipped out just before this group shot but we truly missed having Tana, Shane, Shaw and Arie with us tonight...

THE GATHERING



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BIRTHDAY CAKE
Shannon made the birthday cake and it was delicious, so much so that there was none left for leftovers... I sent her a message telling her that she was gonna have to make one for me to have all to myself. She laughed but I really was serious. You see the picture where Auntie Shamara is leaning over the table, well take a little closer look to see what she's really doing: she is encouraging/helping Trey to stick his fingers into the chocolate icing to get a taste. Shame on her! You can see the evidence left on his face on the following shots.
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FAMILY SHOTS
Here are a few family shots of our celebrity birthday boy taking time out from his party to allow us to get a few personalized shots with each guest or almost each guest. As you scroll thru these shots you'll come across one of Auntie Shamara trying to take Trey's new basketball from him, but he's not having none of it and Poppie in the background encouraging Shamara in her behavior by his laughter.
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OUR BIRTHDAY BOY
... and here is our birthday boy posing for a few shots all by himself.
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PRESENTS
This was by far the best part of the evening, watching Trey with the help of mom & dad opened all of his birthday gifts. I know that we all had way more fun than Trey did laughing at how every other present he opened was a pair of shoes and even funnier than that was his reaction every time a new pair was discovered. Earlier in the week Shannon discovered that Trey had outgrown all of his shoes, you can read about that here, and so word got out and we all went shoe shopping and he ended up with 12 new pairs of shoes in various styles, colors, sizes, etc. among his bevy of other gifts. Shannon lists the 12 different types of shoes as well as all his other gifts and who gave him what  in her birthday post which you can read about here.
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A NEW RIDE...
Nothing can top his BIG gift from mom & dad - a new Power Wheels Cadillac Escalade by Fisher Price. We all had a ball standing outside watching him drive it around, yeah that's right it took him less than 5 minutes to figure out how to push down on the petal with his foot and off he went... To see a video of him cruising the neighborhood click here for the rest of the story well the pictures will tell it all.
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MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF THE EVENING:


Trey you are blessed to share your special day with family and friends who are special to us: Great Uncle Norman Guillory from California; Elyse Lever, Erin Brown Randleman & Manuel Sabori (Mom - Stacey Schugg) all from Arizona.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY again Precious Boy!

Volleyball Camp for Bri

Volleyball camp for Sabriya this week, see the full story and pictures by clicking here.

Trey's "FRIEND" Birthday Party

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Today Shannon & Mark celebrated Trey turning TWO with lots of his little friends, theme-ing the party after his love for balls which will be depicted here in this video stream where there is not one picture of him without a ball in his hands. He even attempted and succeeded in crawling through the tunnel with a ball. For the complete view of the whole party click here and it will take you to Shannon's Blog.















You see this face "future class clown" like father like son - this is the face that Shannon and Mark are gonna get a lot of calls from his teachers on... He is such a silly boy!










It was really nice to have Santana in town to celebrated his birthday since she'll miss the family one on Thursday....

Slip-n-Slide

Saturday, July 24, 2010

This is a picture of Trey from a friends birthday party that he attended that I thought was a really cute shot of him going down the "dad" made slip-n-slide. Looks like a lot of fun! Shannon posted about it on her blog and there is even a video clip I believe which you can view by clicking here.

APS Tribute to Honey Bear's

Friday, July 23, 2010

Today, we celebrated with APS at a luncheon hosted at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, the accomplishments of eight businesses that represented the best diverse enterprises in the state of Arizona and have been key partners in APS's plans for the future. We (Honey Bear's) are so proud to have been nominated and selected as one of the eight businesses represented here today. Don Brandt, APS Chairman and CEO along with the APS management teams hosted today's event. Special thanks to Joe Waid, APS Director, Nuclear Training Administration for his nominating us and for all the APS teams who voted us in. We are truly honored!

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Shanel's 1st Car Accident

Shanel had her 1st car accident back on July 1st but I'm only now getting around to posting it to the blog - check out the pictures and her little story on what happened by clicking on her name above.

Boston's Dedication

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Today was Boston's Dedication - as Christian parents, Mark & Shannon made a commitment before God to submit him to God's will and to raise him according to God's Word and God's ways and not their own. Some of their responsibilities are to include teaching and training him God's Word, demonstrating an example of godliness, disciplining according to God's ways, and praying earnestly for him. Along with both familes (the Loomer's & the Smith's) we all made a promise to do everything within our power to help raise him in a godly way, prayerfully until he is able to make decisions on his own to follow God.




"And she (Hannah) made a vow, saying, "O LORD, Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." 1 Samuel 1:22

"...I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life will be given over to the LORD." 1 Samuel 1:26-28

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Anna's 46th Birthday

Yesterday was my 46th birthday, there is a fun story and lots of fabulous pictures on Mark & Anna's  page, just click on our names and share this special time with us...







My 46th Birthday!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

This is my birthday video of the kids singing Happy Birthday to me. The video is completely dark because it was taped at 3:30AM in the van on our way to Picacho Peak for my birthday hike.


Wow, this has been an absolutely amazing day so I guess the best place to start is at the beginning so here we go. The first event of the day was to hike Picacho Peak which is about 40 minutes South of Phoenix. The alarm was set for 2:00AM; our meeting time 3:00AM here at the house and ready to depart by 3:30AM. We rented a 15 passenger van yesterday so that we wouldn't have to drive several vehicles. So everyone was up and arrived on time - we filled the camelbaks with ice & water, sliced oranges, loaded the van and off we went. The above video is how our trip began and the fun continued non stop from there...

We arrived at the gates about 4:40AM and had to wait until the park opened at 5:00AM, but once the gates opened we quickly found the trailhead and starting unloading the van, putting on our water packs, tying up shoes, and by 5:30 sharp we were taking our first steps up the mountain, our goal: to reach the top of the peak and back down. The first picture below on the left shows our destination, 900 feet above where we are standing in the parking lot. From there the trail quickly begins a steep incline and then switchbacks behind the canyon where it then begins to descend steeply. There are steel cables here that we had to use to help us descend. After this descent the trail flattens out a bit before it begins another steep incline with more cables to aid us on our way. The views are spectaculor. An hour and a half later we arrive at the peak, hot and exhausted but safe and I'm not saying the word "safe" lightly here, this was a serious climb and in some parts very dangerous but well worth it. We rested for a short period, ate some oranges, drank a little water, and of course took a few pictures and it was time to head back down.

NOTE: On tab #1 picture #6 if you look closely there is a rattlesnake in the bushes. He was watching us watch him. Marcus had the pleasure of having the lead spot at this moment and walked upon this guy hanging out in the bushes right next to the trail we were on. Boy you should've heard him scream...

NOTE: On tab #4 picture #5 there is a picture of a really big lizard, but you have to look really hard because he's blending in with the rocks. Mesha was leading at the point we came upon him and was about to place her hand between those rocks at that spot to pull herself up and that's when she spotted him. I'll let your imagination fill in the rest of that story...

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Going back down wasn't any faster than coming up since we were doing just the opposite of what we had to do to get to the top. There were deep declines and steep inclines and it was just as dangerous and required the same amount of attention at all points on what you were doing and where your steps were taking you. There were some points that was so steep you had to stop and take a deep breath and really talk yourself into making the next move. Then there were also those points where you started descending and you couldn't quite figure out where to place your foot or hands to safely continue moving forward... but another hour and a half and we had all safely made it back to the van, a little more tired and some shaky legs, definitely dirty but all safe. Thank you God!

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RATING: This hike was rated online as medium difficulty, my comparsion since I don't have any thing else to compare it to, I will do it this way. In the past I have done Squaw Peak and then drove over to Camelback and hiked it in the same day and recently I have been running/walking South Mountain about 3 times a week for 2 hours at a time. I would say that in one day I could go hike Squaw Peak, then Camelback and then come back to South Mountain and do my 2 hour run/walk and it still wouldn't be as difficult as Picacho Peak was to me. Would I EVER do it again - SURE! but I wouldn't have said that anytime during the 3 hours it took us to go up and back down or the first few hours after we were done.

Now on to more fun birthday stuff... We arrived home, unloaded, showered and then I took a 2 hour birthday nap which definitely could have been for the rest of the day but there were still too many fun things left to do. So after my nap I went for my massage and I didn't even have to drive myself, Mark took me there and picked me up, now that was a present all in itself. The massage after that hike was a very good decision it really help all my sore muscles, can you say REFRESHED because that's how I was feeling...

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Now it was time to go home to get all the kiddo's (my favorite part) and off to our 4 o'clock dinner at Los Sombreros in Scottsdale, cutest little Mexican restaurant, I love the ambiance of the place, so much character. So all the pictures here will show what a fun time we had at dinner, the birthday presents and the cake (YUM).

So now I have to tell you a little bit about how much Mark and my kids have so totally spoiled me rotten but first I must say that nothing can replace the gift of them going with me on this crazy hike this morning (family time the thing that pulls my heart strings).  Mark 2, Shannon and my babies had a necklace specially made for me with 3 charms: the big charm says MiMi and the 2 smaller ones are Trey & Boston with lots of room for all the other grandbabies that God will bless us with in the future. I will treasure it always and can't wait to sport it. From my 5 beautiful daughters in cohoots with Marcus, Reggie & Ken they bought me a Louis Vuitton monogramed canvas travel bag. I'm so glad no one was video taping because you would've heard me squeal. How do you say "love it" and "thank you" enough for something like that. I was told later that they really wanted to make my birthday special because every year I always go out of my way to make each of theirs so. If this was paper I was writing on, you would see tear stains... Now Mark, he just blew me out of the water presenting me with the Louis Vutton Epi Vernis Alma MM Electric Noir Bag (Don't even know what all that means, just know that I loved the look of that bag.)  that I have been wanting for months. It's one of the things on my "Not Gonna Happen Right Now Wish List" - wow! Wow! WOW! love it! Love It! LOVE IT! I mean him (smile).

I know this is a very longggg birthday post but it's really hard to sum up such a FABULOUS day. Thanks again to my family and friends who just loved and spoiled me from the beginning to the end of this my 46th birthday. The day ended quietly with Tana, Bri, Mark & I watching a movie until we were all started to doze...

Putting aside all the days activities and the wonderful presents there are 2 things that I feel will forever stand out in my memory of this day: 1) Our family time together and 2) the Proverbs 31 woman because that is how this family of mines made me feel.

SOMETIMES

THIS IS IN HONOR OF MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND & CHILDREN - "SOMETIMES"

Sometimes I think I miss sleeping late

then I realize I'd rather be up at the crack of dawn, spending some quite time with my Father and soaking in the "ME" time...

Sometimes I think I miss being a size zero

then I realized that having my babies changed my body and that I will never look like that again. And I'm fine with that; I take care of myself, make healthy choices, and don't compare myself any more.

Sometimes I miss going out for the night at ten p.m.

then I realize I'd much rather be in bed with a good book or my ipad. I always was a homebody at heart.

Sometimes I miss dropping everything at a second's notice and heading off.

then I realize that driving my youngest around is about the extent of it these days, and I'm fine with that. Sometimes that seems like adventure enough for me. :)

Sometimes I miss having a social life.

then I think about my social life: balancing my time as a wife, mother, grandmother; having raised my six children to be kind, good people; now enjoying the wonders of grandparenthood. And I'll take that over cocktails and chit chat any day of the week.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm forty six (today), because I still feel twenty six in my heart.

then I realize that I'm content. Happy with who I am now, not trying on who I want to be like a new outfit... Not worrying about what the future will hold, not wondering what I want to do. I'm at home in my body with the life God has given me.

Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror with the family noise in the background, I'm counting to five and wondering if I'm any good at this wife/mommy thing.

then I realize that this is where I'm meant to be. This is where I've been heading my entire life. This is my calling.

And that, blows the old times out of the water.

Removal of the Bee Hive

Thursday, July 15, 2010



The bee hive has been removed... and it was a BIG one. Remember William from Fogging of the Bees, well he did the honors today of cutting through the ceiling to expose the hive and wow he could not have found a more perfect spot to cut. When he removed the piece of the ceiling, there sat the hive right smack in the middle of the spot he cut and perfectly preserved (the hive that is).

Here is William holding the piece of the ceiling with all the dead bees on it, they were starting to smell...YUCK!

So here it is the BIG picture, William said that this size hive could house 50-60 thousand bees and that if we didn't remove it they would definitely try to move in again. So out it goes! He couldn't remove the whole thing at once because he said that it was very brittle and sticky too. He took a big chuck off and put it in a plastic baggie for Mark to keep as a souvenir (WHY?).  I did touch/feel a piece of it, it feels just like a luffa (loofah) sponge and it really was sticky from all the honey the bees made. Someone in my family (but I won't name any names) wanted to have some of the honey for eatable reasons. William squashed that idea by reminding them that the hive was sprayed with poison when he fogged it.  He also told us that we needed to wash our hands really well because of all the poison.
So William and Chris (gonna take care of repairing the ceiling) worked together to get this thing out and now they are putting my room back together. And so I just have to give them a shout out one more time for doing such an awesome job the first time around.... So if you ever have a bee problem and you are in need of a bee guy don't forget to call Bee Be Gone, I think you will be very happy with their service.

Going, Going, Gone - SOLD

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

My car is gone, sold today to the highest bidder at Metro Auto Auction and I didn't even get to have a proper good-bye. Although I knew this was going to happen, I didn't know just how quickly. Mark took my car yesterday to get it detailed in preparation to sell her. He never said that he wasn't bringing her back home, instead she went from the detailer straight to the auction house last night to be displayed with their high class vehicles on the show room floor for todays auction. They had better not put her anywhere else, she's always been a very high class girl! So much elegance and style, we fit perfectly together.

Well she definitely didn't last long, I got a text (A text!) telling me that she had sold for $$$. I LOVE that car and I am going to miss her a bunch, she's been good to me and she was FAST! I hope whoever the new owners are, that they will appreciate her as much as I did...  It's going to be kinda hard to get use to another car since this one has set the bar so high, and I would have gladly traded her in for a newer model which they tell me is even faster but Land Rover Scottsdale closed their dealership in South Scottsdale about a year ago and so whenever I had to take her in for service, I had go to Land Rover North Scottsdale a 45 minutes to an hour long drive up to 101 and Scottsdale Road.  Well anyways, she's gone now and and it makes me feel kinda sad and I guest I'll be feeling that way until I get that high from the smell of a "new car."

Camelback AGAIN!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

We hiked Camelback again this morning at 4:30AM, and not at my suggestion this time just so you'll know. The kids actually called me last night and invited me to go along with them, how could I ever turned that down??? So off we went, minus Mark 2 and Reggie but plus Trent (Marcus' lil brother). I only made them suffer thru one group picture this time, well actually two but they're the same. LOL!

Fogging of the Bees

Remember back on Father's Day when we returned home from our Iowa trip, there was a swarm of bees trying to build a nest in our front courtyard... See the post here: The Bee's Nest!


Well although Mark sprayed them that day and most of them died, they never completely went away. There have been some hovering around out there in that same spot and they keep getting into the house. Although I've been telling Mark that we need to call in the professionals he just kept insisting that he would go out and spray again. Well yesterday "enough was enough"  Lisa (our hair braider) was over and was working on Sabriya's braids and at some point they come running out of the teen room yelling and I meet them half way from my office not knowing what was happening until they started to explain that ALOT of bees had gotten into the house. So I go into the teen room to see what was going on and sure enough there were about 30+ bees swarming around the glass door and in the window seals, so I started killing them with a flip flop but it seemed that for every one bee I killed 3 more would appear.

This entire time (since Father's Day) we have not been able to figure out how they were getting into the house but the kids could hear them above the teen room when they are hanging out in there so we kind of knew that they were possibly in the attic and coming thru the vents into the house from there. So since my effort in killing them only seemed to make them multiple, I called Mark to update him on the lastest Bee report and of course he says, I'll be right there, I'm going to go up into the attic and spray. Oh NO! it was time for mama to take over this job and get it taken care of for good.

So I called our regular pest control company whose been taking care of our homes and businesses for quite some time now Stormin' Norman and they referred me to Bee Be Gone whom I called immediately.  Chandler was my guy on the phone to whom I explained my situation and without any hestitation he told me two things that he would have someone out within the hour and not to allow Mark to go into the attic. Now does that sound like a very serious situation or what? Well it was... the bee guy William arrives and scopes out the place and within minutes he tells us that he's going to get suited up.
Once properly prepared to deal with the bees and having scolded Mark on never attempting to EVER do this himself, he climbs into the attic and lowers the door, his goal is to find the hive which he strongly feels will be somewhere in the attic and................. IT IS!  Notice I said "it is" because it's still there. I believe he did something called "fogging" to kill the bees and it worked, killing he estimated 40,000+ bees within minutes of doing the procedure. Now why did I say "it is" because he has to come back on Monday or Tuesday to remove the hive by cutting into the ceiling of the teen room in order to get it out. Can you say more $$$$$? And do you think that maybe, just maybe had we called in the professionals say like 4 weeks ago that possibly the hive wouldn't have grown to the size that now requires part of our ceiling to be cut out???  I'M JUST SAYIN'

Stay tuned for the next edition of "The Bee's Nest" - The Removal of the Hive!

Annual Mammogram

Friday, July 9, 2010

Today was my appointment for my annual mammogram (Am I telling my age?) which I have been very faithful in having done each year since I turned 40. I'm sure you all know what a mammogram is but just in case it's an x-ray of the breast used to check for breast cancer in women.

So now for the personal experience of taking this exam. If I had to use one word to describe this experience, I would say, "UNCOMFORTABLE!" Although the technician trys her best to make the experience as painfree and comfortable as possible, it's just not possible! They push, and pull, and squeeze, and after all that, the machine squashes your boob between two plates.  And here's how I would describe the actual procedure: Open the refrigerator, stand straight, stick in your breast, close the refrigerator. Do this on both sides and there you have it!
Now on to the SERIOUS side, DID YOU KNOW that the following factors increase a woman's chance of developing breast cancer:
  • Women who began having menstrual periods before age 12.
  • Women who went through menopause after age 55.
  • Women who have their first child after age 30 or who never have a child.
  • After menopause for women who are overweight or obese.
  • Women who are physically inactive throughout life. (Being active may help reduce risk by preventing weight gain and obesity.)
  • The more alcohol a woman drinks, the greater her risk.
There are many more factors but these just sort of jumped out at me as some of the ones that we might not think about as much. Just google the word "mammogram" and there will be an endless supply of info.

Sorry NO PICTURES!

Today was my appointment for my annual mammogram (Am I telling my age?) which I have been very faithful in having done each year since I turned 40. I'm sure you all know what a mammogram is but just in case, it's an x-ray of the breast used to check for breast cancer in women.

So now for the personal experience of taking this exam. Sorry no pictures! If I had to use one word to describe this experience, I would say, "UNCOMFORTABLE!" Although the technician trys her best to make the experience as painfree and comfortable as possible, it's just not possible! They push, and pull, and squeeze, and after all that, the machine squashes your boob between two plates.  And here's how I would describe the actual procedure: Open the refrigerator, stand straight, stick in your breast, close the refrigerator. Do this on both sides and there you have it!

Now on to the SERIOUS side, DID YOU KNOW that the following factors increase a woman's chance of developing breast cancer:
  • Women who began having menstrual periods before age 12.
  • Women who went through menopause after age 55.
  • Women who have their first child after age 30 or who never have a child.
  • After menopause for women who are overweight or obese.
  • Women who are physically inactive throughout life. (Being active may help reduce risk by preventing weight gain and obesity.)
  • The more alcohol a woman drinks, the greater her risk.
There are many more factors but these just sort of jumped out at me as some of the ones that we might not think about as much. Just google the word "mammogram" and there will be an endless supply of info.

Meningococcal Vaccine

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sabriya had to get the meningococcal vaccine today, please click on her name and visit her page to see the rest of the photos from her visit; what she weighing in at these days and to find out more about this vaccine...

Breaking & Entering/Found & Returned

Sunday, July 4, 2010

3:00AM wake up call and they all made it; arrived at the house for 4:00AM departure and at the base of the mountain by 4:30AM - or make that at the CLOSED, LOCKED GATE at the entrance to the trail at 4:30AM... What's the saying, "good plan gone bad" well that's pretty much the feeling we had when driving up to the gate of Camelback Mountain and the sign says closed for the holiday. HOW DO YOU CLOSE A PARK FOR THE HOLDIAY? Well not to be deterred - because you have got to understand how hard it is to gather so many of us together at one time and to be on time too! Well anyways, we were able to grab one available parking spot along the street but having two vehicles with us someone was going to have to wait for a second spot to open and of course our gracious Big Mark did the honors and stayed behind while I forge on ahead with the kids breaking into the closed park by walking around the locked gate and up a side hill to gain access. All the while these security guards from the neighborhood next to the park is looking at us and finally says, "You know the park is closed today, right?" Never the less, he wasn't trying to stop us and I must say anybody else either so we continue on for our little early morning adventure. Our goal: for everyone of us (Mark 2 aka Lil' Mark) to make it to the top of Camelback Mountain...


So off we go our mission clear, but everyone a little sadden because dad (aka Big Mark) is not able to start up with us. I kept pushing them along telling them that he would be up asap and if nothing else we would wait for him at the top...

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It was rough going in a few places, especially having a few first timers to help along the way, but full of jokes and laughs. Marcus, Reggie, Shanel and at some point Shamesha all went ahead of us breaking up the group while Ken and I stayed behind with Sabriya, Shamara and Mark 2 (our 1st timers). We kept telling M2 we're almost there; look up do you see that top point that's it; or Ken who kept saying come right up here Mark, I wanna show you something. Unbeknowest (Is that a word?) to Shamara I guess, at some point when Ken had said to Mark once again, "come up here I wanna show you something" Shamara asks Ken what do you want to show him? I had to take a moment to explain to her that Ken had been telling him that the whole time just to get him to the next level so stay out it. The lights went on for Shamara after I explained it, you gotta love her!
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We all made it to the top, no injuries, and still ready to crack the jokes and have some fun. So we are just hanging out at the top of the mountain waiting to hear from dad. These kids literally had lots of the other fellow hikers laughing at them and their conversations with one another. Wherever we go, they are graranteed to bring a smile to people around them. This is the stuff that makes my heart sing!

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He finally calls to say he parked in a no parking zone because after watching several other vehicles do so, he thought. "Oh Well!" After a little time had passed the kids starting getting concerned about dad climbing up all by himself and without any water. We had grab all the water packs/bottles when we got out the vehicles, including his.  We didn't want to start heading back down because we wanted dad to get to the top so we'd at least have the trip back down all together. So to lessen their worries about dad, I volunteered to start back down to whatever point I'd meet up with him to get some water to him and then climb back to the top with him... So off I went making them all promise me that they would be careful, watch out for one another, and no horse playing, yeah right!

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Well I meet up with him a little more than a 1/4 of the way back down, handed off some water and I started back up with Mark right behind me, our welcoming crew awaiting our arrival back at the top - LISTEN TO THEM CHEER:



COMING DOWN the mountain, they complained more than they did going up. I think everybody was feeling hot, dirty and hungry at this point and just wanted to be DONE! But we had a little ways to go yet and on the way down I found a mans gold wedding band with six diamonds and so we started asking every man we saw if he had lost something. And I also asked all the other fellow hikers who were heading up the trail to ask any man heading down and if someone said yes to let them know that something was found. I didn't tell anyone what I had found because I wanted to get it back to the right person so I thought that whoever had lost it would be able to tell me it was a ring and describe it. GENIUS HUH?
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WE MADE IT, all the way back to the beginning of the trail head but I had yet to find the owner of the ring. So Mark and Shamesha walked back out to the truck to find paper, pens and tape so we could make signs about the little treasure I had found. Someone along the trail had suggested that I just leave it atop a water box or something but I didn't think that was a very smart idea so instead we made several signs on 3x5 index cards that read: "If you lost something on the trail today 7-4-10, please call xxxxx and describe it." We posted these on the benches, signs, porta potties (UGH! These things should have been outlawed a LOOONG time ago.), and saved a few to post along the road as we walked back to the vehicles. Did I mentioned that we didn't have tape so we made good use of some bandaids, PRICELES!
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Just as we were rounding the corner about to be out of site of the trail head someone yells out, "Did you find a piece of jewelry?" and he proceeded to describe it. YEAH! it was him, the owner of the gold wedding band with six diamonds. We turned around and gladly gave it to him. He was so happy and offered to give us a reward but I refused against the nudging of Shamara & Shamesha. Just kidding, although they already had made some serious plans for those diamonds just in case we never found the owner. Haha! And although he kept insisting that we take something I told him that instead I would appreciate it if he ever had the opportunity to stop by and patronize one of the Honey Bear's restaurants... Ahhhh! enough said, I think we not only have a customer for life but also someone who will refer Honey Bear's whenever he can...


A well deserved stop at Einstein Bagels on the way home... I love you guys, thanks so much for loving me back and for being such great sports and trying some of these crazy early morning family outings. You are the best and I love you more and more everyday.  FAMILY MEMORIES = PRICELESS!

Latest Animal Invasion

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The latest "Animal Invasion" in Lyfe as a Smith... Shanel was heading home last night just a little after midnight when she sees something approaching her from the opposite way. It's dark out so at first she can't make out what it is but she could tell that it was really BIG!  She said her first thought was, "Why is this big black man walking in the middle of the street and not moving aside for my car to pass." But as she continued to stare and slowly drive forward and the questionable thing continues its approach...OH MY it's a BULL, yes you heard it right a Bull strolling down the middle of the neighborhood street at midnight, like its the most normal thing in the world, nothing unusal at all... Yeah right! She said that she actually turned around several times to make sure what she was seeing was real because she thought, "No one is going to believe me." Finally she calls 911 and the operator just laughs and asks her, "Are you really serious?" and he keeps laughing until he realized she was really serious, then they were laughing together....

And just in case you think this is a joke, check out this article from the (click here) Phoenix Police, apparently this animal has been spotted running loose for several days and there was even an attempt at catching it.

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