Lion Fish

After Dusty got the fish tank under control he told me we could buy a REAL fish. Sunday afternoon we went up to Pets Inc. and got ourselves a very fancy Lion Fish. It is a volatile fish. It stings you like a wasp or bee might. He is very cool. We are waiting to see him eat one of the Damsels. Dusty said that he just sucks them right in. I saw him eat a frozen fish this afternoon. He just sucked it right in.

Thanksgiving Sand

We split from Turkey Dinner and trucked on down to Gordens Well. Adam joined us with his (and Pauls) Bombardier, Dusty took his Banshee and Manx and I ran the Kawasaki. The boys wrenched on their toy right up until it was time to load up, and spent some time wrenching in the sand.
The Manx got it's first run down the sand drags. Top speed down the strip was 62 mph. Dusty was taking it a bit easy for the first trip out.



That little car duned like a beauty. Adam had to make a few runs back to camp to get water when the radiator blew a few hoses. Nothing that can't be fixed. It's nice to have such mechanically inclined boys! The road out to the dunes was a bit rough over the whoops. Turns out the shocks were blown out.



A little sand, and a lot of fun, and we came on home to clean up and get ready for a brand new week of working and kids.

What once was Yellow....

Is now Hemi ORANGE!
After much sanding and fiber glass work, (Shawn Paulie, Adam and Dusty) Dusty set up a "paint booth" (tarp blocking the neighbors yard so no orange paint got on his car) we moved our cars to the street, and Dusty sprayed on the Hemi Orange.


Adam, taking the credit.

The Manx is now off to the cage fabricator to have a custom cage built. Just a few short weeks and it will be rolling!
The hard part is going to be finding the time to reupholster the seats....

Sand Drags

We are taking the toy hauler out to the sand drags this saturday (tomorrow). You are all invited to come. We are going to bbq and probably eat some brownies, and just kick it.

Hope to see you there!

Sunday Drive

Sunday morning we started out for a morning drive to get some brunch.
Turns out that we ended up going to Globe to the Roosevelt lake turn off. Took that to some Indian Ruins. Had to jog up to the ruins before they closed so that we could go inside. It was pretty cool. Crazy how someone can just build a house right into a mountain cave.
There was a very pretty view of the lake. Worth the run.
From Roosevelt lake you can take the paved road back up through Payson, or the 22 mile dirt road by Apache Lake that takes you out through Canyon Lake. I had never been that way, so we turned that little baby diesel into a baja bug!
Stopped and had lunch in Tortilla Flats. They had the most expensive wall paper that I have ever seen. Dollar bills, stapled to everything! Great Burgers, really good fudge. Came home and had a relaxing Sunday afternoon together!

Saturday after a long week of work, My mom and Grandma working long hours, making sure that I baby my silly shoulder injury, I petitioned Dusty to help me install the latest work of art. I gave putting the box up a good shot, but cant lift my arm above my shoulder, so had to call Oscar to make and emergency install.
Everything went up perfect. Something that big and involved is stressful. But. it turned out lovely.

New couch

Thursday Grandma and I went to pick up a new sofa for us. I traded out recovering an ottoman for a very large sofa that fits perfect in out living room.
We had to stop and pick up the trailer at Oscars. He didn't answer the door. He didn't answer the phone. I knew that he was in the back of the house so I figured that I would just jump over the fence and get his attention.
I started up, almost to the top, grabbed a hold of a piece of steel cemented into the wall, and it gave. I fell back, landing half on the trailer. Resulting in a very black and blue elbow, a fractured shoulder blade and a chip broke off.
It hurst.
Couch fits perfect. It was a bit slow with a 66 year old woman and a one armed girl moving it. But we got it loaded. Everyone can fit on the couch now. No one has to sit on the floor. I am very happy.

Gumbo

Dusty came home from work last week and said saw a picture in a magazine of some Gumbo.

So, we set out to make some. King Crab legs, sausage, chicken, scallops, clams, shrimp, and some corn on the cob. Called Katt and Andy up and they came over to help our food get eaten.

You know it"s love when you share a crab leg!

I am not a seafood loving person, but this was GOOD!

Shawn is 11!!

Eleven and in Heaven. Shawn is a great little man. He is very athletic. Enjoys jumping on the trampoline, pestering the girls, riding his bicycle and motorcycle, and skate boarding. I love having him for my son.



Well, Shawn's birthday came and went. The boy was very pleased with his party turn out. We grilled burgers, which I didn't make enough of! I heard that my stuffed burgers were great, but neither Dusty or I got one! Next time I plan more food!
Swimming, and the kids jumped on the trampoline
His cake was a variation on the Dessert Pizza. Yellow cake layered with marshmallow cream, cream cheese, strawberries and kiwis.
Thank you all for coming!

Shawns Birthday

Shawns 11th birthday party is going to be at our house, Saturday the 28th at 4:30. There will be swimming and hamburgers and hot dogs. Also, cake and ice cream!

Let me know that you can make it, or just show up!

Manx

Dusty FINELY got his computer for the manx back from the programmers.
Saturday morning he installed the computer. Radiator is working great. Runs nice and cool. Tranny has a few bumps, but, it sounds good, and it's much faster then the RZR already.
Couple more hours and we will be off and running around the desert again!

Yes, that's Coco in the front seat. She jumped right in. After the first throttle push she had second thoughts.

Superior

Sunday morning we went for a hike. Just outside of Superior there is a little water fall with a pool at the thop that you can rock climb up to. Here's a little taste of the terrain...

There were hand hold in some places cemented into the rocks, and ropes to hold onto while you pull your self up and strategically place your feet.

Once you make it to the top there is a waterfall.

Shawn and Summer swam out to it, for a buck... They were a little leery about swimming in a pool that wasn't cemented in.
At one point Summer put her feet down and exclaimed, "There is sand on the bottom!" She was expecting slimy rocks.

The climb down was a little trickier then the climb up, but we made it.

We took the wash back to the car. Summer and Shawn used the cable that was running down the wash for acrobats... tight rope walking and swinging back flips!

Remodel update

Some of you have asked for a finished product blogger update. I don't have one yet. The remodel got put on hold so that I could do some work, and so that Shawn could sleep in his room. So here is the half finished product for your viewing pleasure.

The remodel

You may know that Shawns room consisted of not much... a bunk bed that could only be placed on one wall because of a diagonal closet. My desk. That could only be placed under the bunk bed. And, a dresser. Anything that Shawn owned he had to keep on top of his bed or the dogs would eat it. It wasn't a great little boys room. The carpet was nasty from having so many puppies. It was already half torn up. So, finelly, I got a little crazy and decided to start the demo.
Took out the bunk bed, gave it to Katt. Ripped out the closet. Tore up the carpet. Bought a new bed. It was a water bed, the guy said it was a twin, when I got it together, it wasn't. Don't have a water bed mattress, had to retro fit the bed. A jig saw and some screws later, and there you have it. All the while with my wonderful confident mother standing by helping me.
Now comes the dry wall mud. The sanding of the walls to make the texture match, and hopefully some paint.

That's me, taking out the closet.

Katt staying off the carpet.

Rhodes

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to Rhodes Jr. High pool. Dusty and Shawn rode the wave rider machine there. They did really great for their first time. They had two sides and they would knee board on one side, and surf on the other. Shawn was just getting good at standing up when they shut it down. Dusty of course did awesome.
Summer was off at a baby shower for her Aunt Jennifer, so she missed out on the fun.
Gracie braved the high dive. She walked half way out and then decided that it was to high and went back to go down the ladder. The life guard yelled that she had to wait for her to come over and go down the ladder with her. Gracie couldn't hear what she said, so Dusty just yelled up that the life guard told her that she wasn't aloud to go down, that she HAD to jump. So off she went. We got it on video just so that we could show Summer.
Shawn so spent about an hour jumping off the diving boards doing spins and flips.
It seems like when I was a kid the public pools were so much more crowded. Lots more kids. There wasn't to many people there. Seemed like mostly teen age boys.
I had some pictures but ever since my phone got dropped in the pool its hasn't saved any of my photos.
It was cheaper then the water parks, and the kids had just as much fun.

Woods Canyon Lake

For 4th of July we took a bit of vacation and headed up to Woods Canyon Lake.
Dusty the kids and I left Wednesday night in time to get there at 1:00 am. Traffic was great. No one on the road. Visual for the camp site could have been better, but we got pretty close to prime camping realestate. Shawn, Gracie and Summer got the opportunity to ride everything without haveing to share to much for the first day. Lucky little kids.
Cristal was next to arrive, bright eyed and bushy tailed... okay, maybe just bushy trailed...She took a quick mini nap and was up and about to enjoy the time in the forest.
Grandma Millward was next. Trucking along with Otis.
Then the rest of the crew arrived late afternoon. Grandma Gillespie, and her clan of Julie, Elexa, Kylie and Deven. Dawn and Andrew and their kiddos.
The days were filled with motorcycle riding, (Dusty's day was filled with motorcycle fixing) hiking to the "pond" to catch snakes and lizards, maybe even a sock or two, tree riding, (this is where you find a pine tree and shimmy up till it bends over, then take turns holding down the tip while someone climbs on and then you let go and they bounce up and down)fishing, napping, and eating some good food.
Mom and Cristal ran up to Strawberry to kidnap Julia and Emilee so that they could join in the fun.
Grandpa Gillespie, Andy, Adam and Paul made it up just in time to do some fishing and Grandpa hooked us all up with some delicious cobbler.
I don't think that I have ever had a more fun camping trip. Everything was great. The kids were all good, not to much fighting, everyone seemed pretty happy.
Can't wait to do it all again! Labor day anyone?

Girls will be girls

Here is what we have been working on in the workroom. Turns out you can make a whole ensemble in about 3 days and one night. including looking for fabric, designing, sewing and installation. Bedding, drapes and cornices courtesy of Pillow Talk Design.

Special thanks to Ginger Gillespie, Barbara Millward, Emillee Gillespie, Katherine Gillespie, and Dusty Papes.

P.S. If I left someone out, I'm sleepy!!!

Six Flags

Memorial Day weekend we took Gracie to Cali to go to Six-flags and spend some time with Dusty's Sister, Angie and her family. We got to the hotel and split to Santa Monica Beach to eat on he pier and see the ferries wheel. Gracie got to mess around with her cousins for a little bit. They had a good time at dinner laughing and talking together.
Sunday Morning we were off to Six Flags to ride the roller coasters and be together. The coasters of course, never disappoint. It got a bit warm but we were fortunate enough to get SOAKED on the log ride.
Unfortunately Dusty lost his cell phone on one of the coaster. It just wiggled right outta his pocket.
I will try to post the video that Dusty took of Gracie on Goliath. He did an excellent job videoing considering he was getting tossed and turned all around as well!
Monday morning we were off and running again back to Mesa. Made it on half a tank of gas.

Boynton Canyon

Saturday we took the kids hiking in Sedona. It was very beautiful out. The wind was blowing and the weather was perfect.
The hike was about 2.5 miles. Not to strenuous. At times it was a bit rocky and steep but not for very long. Unfortunately the destination was nothing really but a view. No water or old cabin. The view was lovely, don't get me wrong, but it's nice to hike up to something. At the 2.5 miles, we turned around and went back the way we came.

Mothers Day

We took the kids to Sycamore Creek to ride and play in the water. Dusty and Shawn threw the football around for a bit, while Gracie and Summer made a tadpole habitat. The kids got to do some riding in the sand and some splashing in the RZR. We had a little picnic and tried to help some poor schmuck get his jeep outta the sand. Unfortunately I forgot the camera and only got pics with my phone, so no action shots.
After wards the kids made me some cards and we watched a movie and drank root beer floats.