Carl Haws Family Reunion 2009

We had the opportunity to attend a Haws family reunion this last weekend. It was really allot fun to see Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins again. We met to camp by Luna, New Mexico. It is such beautiful country up there and our family especially enjoy breaks from the city. Uncle Ted met us Friday morning with yummy pancakes that he skillfully flipped with a knife and fork (forgotten spatula), and scrambled eggs. There was fun activities planned for the two days such as......


riding quads (not my favorite thing for kids after last summer)





Playing Games


Eating


Fishing without much success....as illustrated by the next photo



and just catchin up.



Saturday was fun, as we planned to hike the Catwalk about 45 minutes from camp by Glenwood New Mexico. http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Catron/TheCatwalk.html


It's pretty cool to walk along the gigantic boulders over the river......


check out the caves.....




brave the icy water....


and not so fun, endure a touch of altitude sickness that caused Mom to fall on her butt down the concrete stairs and off the trail.(The green is not just a reflection from the shirt....nice color for me. NOT!)


Those of us left, just hung around the campfire.....


watching Acacia become a lumberjack......


efforts to enhance the campfire with natural gas (important survival skills learned in Boy Scouts).......


scale large ponderosa pines in a single bound (future Caretaker employee)....


(or in Dallin's case, trying not to get stuck :)


learning to love nature, and most importantly.....


"THE PEACH", (I can provide no explanation, ya just had to be there). Thanks Aunt Pat.

Danielle is Sweet 16!

Danielle is now officially 16. She is not my sweet little baby that I held and played with anymore. Her birthday started out with a surprise breakfast out with the her Laurel class from church. (Thank you Michelle and Mattie) Then she spent the evening with us. We took her to "Twilight" then to dinner at Manuels, (she insisted on Mexican food).

Danielle has been such a blessing in our family and we are so lucky to have her. She has always been sensitive to others and their feelings. I have always appreciated her sense of what is right and her influence on others to make good choices. Now she is a beautiful young woman and I couldn't more proud of her.

Busy Week.

It has been a busy week here. It started with my graduation from the Master Garden Course with the Maricopa County Extension Office on Tuesday. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to take this course. It was 17 weeks long, and was every Tuesday. I enjoyed it very much and it was a chance to learn more about what I love. I was also able to meet some talented and extraordinary people through this program that I’m sure will be lifelong friends.


Chandler turned 11 on Wednesday, and was able to pick what he wanted for dinner and cake. He picked shrimp alfredo, and a chocolate chip mint/cookie dough ice cream cake for his birthday. He was also to finally get a very expensive battery he’s been wanting for his remote control car.

On Thursday, Chandler earned his arrow of light award for Cub Scouts and graduated into the Boy Scout program. We are really proud of him and the work he did to earn all of his awards.



Finally, Friday was Halloween. We made and decorated some cookies to take to the neighbors, then dressed up to head to the trunk or treat at the church. Danielle has a simulated baby assignment for her child development class and has to have it with her at all times. She decided to use it as a prop and wanted to be a “career” woman????? Originally she wanted to be a pregnant mom, but it freaked me and Jeff out too much because we just couldn’t see that as being funny (especially these days) so we asked her to change. She is so great and did it without giving us too much of a hard time. Keldon was the joker, (no not a joker, the joker) and did a pretty good job of imitating the last batman movie villan. Chandler was originally going to be a ninja, but the costume was too small so decided to be a football player. Last but not least, Cheyanna was Mr. McMonkey McBean from Dr. Seuss’s “Sneeches” book. She looked pretty good.

Trip to Eagar

We just got back from an unexpected trip to Eagar. It was a sad time because our good friend Jim Crosby was killed in a plane crash last Saturday. He has 5 children he is leaving behind and a heartbroken family. He was a nice guy and he will be missed allot.





We decided to make the best of it and enjoyed the time we were able to spend up there. It seems to get harder and harder to find time to get there with all of the activities we are involved in. We enjoyed being with family and playing on the mountain. It was my sister Amber's birthday and we had a cookout at Ginger's house. It was great hanging out with them as well as my parents and Grandma Childers.

First School Choir Concert

Danielle participated in a choir concert last Wednesday. They did a great job, and was actually entertaining. They had two choirs; a freshman and more advanced choir. They had creative choreography and I was impressed that they did so well after only a couple of months of school.

On the Way to Boy Scouts!

Chandler has earned his Webelo patch and will be presented with his Arrow of Light later this month. He is showing off all his belt loops he earned. He wanted to look cool for his picture, but I think he looks bored. He is actually very excited about being a Boy Scout.

Jessica Simpson & D-Backs, Like Beets &Pancakes

Last weekend Jeff and Keldon went to Eagar with the Lakeshore Bishopric and Young Men for a wood-hauling service project. We had season tickets for the game Friday night, and I thought it would be fun to bring Danielle, Chandler, and Cheyanna to the game. Chandler and Cheyanna participated in the Tempe Library Program this summer and each earned a ticket to a D-Backs game. It was a perfect opportunity to have some fun. We were especially excited to get the Dan Herring bobble heads they were giving away, and to see the free concert afterwards. The game was a nail biter and the D-Backs should have won, but lost in overtime by 2. That was disappointing, but we were still excited to see Jessica Simpson in the live concert.

The game was sold out and had over 45,000 in attendance. There were more people that stayed for her concert than usual and they had to move her to the middle of the field. From we were sitting we couldn’t see her at all, even from the front row. She started her concert kinda blah and blabbed about her problems and woes in life. Yah,terrible life. She is supposed to be a “country singer” now, but being a lifelong country fan I feel authoritative enough to say that she isn’t a Reba by any stretch. I do have to have to say though we could barely hear her, because she was drowned out by the band. She is beautiful and seems sweet, but I don’t think she will make it as a country singer even if she is from Texas and dating Tony Romo quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. She even made a comment about the Cowboys going all the way. Helloo? You are in Arizona??? Ever heard of the Arizona Cardinals? Anyway we left after 3 songs, but it was fun to go to the ballgame and spend time with the kids.