Dallon's School Puppet Show

I really love it when we get "Dallon's homework" and it is: The student's will be assigned an animal to make for their puppet show." This is not Dallon's homework... this has now become a PARENT PROJECT!

Anyhow... we were assigned the deer. We made it as simple as we could - Dallon's patience level and focusing on a task is not that high. I figured if we could whip this out in about 20 minutes he would be able to handle it! So we did it, and yes I made him help. I couldn't believe how much work some of the "students" had put into their puppets. (Not that I had wished we had... our deer looked and worked just fine!) I thought I would post some of the pictures I took...


Dallon had a slight problem... the stand was a little to big for him and therefore, he couldn't kneel and reach the top, so he had to squat down - but when his knees/feet got tired, he just stood up. So you can see his deer, the top of his head and his eyes! It was kind of funny! What cutie!


Dallon's line was: "That hare makes me mad, I'm as handome as he is!" Way to go Dallon! Great job!

Saturday @ Grandma Joan's

Don't you love how it is just "Grandma's House"!... Sometimes I wonder if the kids even know that Grandpa lives there! (Not really!) A couple of Saturdays ago my Mom watched Dallon and of course had the little girls and it was such a nice day the kids were riding bikes and scooters and trikes - basically hauling it ALL out of the garage! (Sorry Grandma & Grandpa!) They had the best time, Grandma & Grandpa have the best house for riding bikes! So here are a few pictures of the kids.

Dallon riding his bike - Maybe this year he will agree to take the training wheels off!!!

Dallon & Erin riding down the drive way at Grandma & Grandpa's!

Erin riding her bike.

Can't forget Phoenix! (Even though she doesn't cooperate when it comes to taking her picture!)

2009 Brain Cancer Walk - WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Dear fellow bloggers, we need your help! As you probably all know my sister, Jenny, passed away just over a year ago from brain cancer, leaving behind two darling little girls. Now imagine if you were given a diagnosis of terminal cancer... now imagine it's brain cancer, like my sisters, and you are told that towards the end of your life, you will not be you - as everyone knows you - as the cancer takes over your brain. So the last few months of your life aren't spent holding your children, kissing and hugging them before you pass on. You spend it starring off, unable to speak - even though you want to - you just can't make the words come out (your brain won't let you). You can't feed yourself, or walk, or do any daily functions you should be able to do for yourself, however, you sit and watch your 18 month old do them, all by herself. It's a horrific death, as all cancer is. None of us would want this for themselves or for any of their loved ones and would do anything to make sure it never happens.

Well my sister, Heather, and her friend, Amy, are participating in the Brain Cancer Walk in Seattle, Washington where they live. They have set a high goal for themselves, $5,000 in pledges! They would appreciate your help in helping them reach their goal. 100% of all pledges (and even registration fees) goes to support the Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment (CABTT) at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute. When Jenny was going through her treatment it would have been so nice to have had a Neuroscience Institute full of the newest treatments and technology. The Huntsman Cancer Institute was great, much better than what most people have access to, however, it wasn't a neuroscience institute. How great it would have been to have had access to something like that. But the research and the new treatments that they are working on will help all brain cancer patients throughout the world. I understand times are tough and money is short for most of us, but a donation of $5 or $10 (the amount spent for lunch at Wendys or McDonalds) does help and adds up quickly. You can get a pledge form by emailing my sister at heathermariec@comcast.net or email myself at mindymiller@earthlink.net.


Below is Heather's pledge letter:

Dear Friends,

It’s time for the 2nd Annual Seattle Brain Cancer Walk! We hope you’ll join me on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at the Mercer Island High School Track to support the Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment (CABTT) at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute. We are organizing a team, Brain Stormtroopers, for this year’s event. Our team will participate in honor of Jenny Lynch (my sister) and Ken Harris (Amy's dad), and we would love to have you join us to help raise funds for brain cancer research and patient care!

It is very easy to join team Brain Stormtroopers. You can register online at www.braincancerwalk.org. Join our team by selecting Brain Stormtroopers on the sign-up page or you can also register by completing a registration form (let me know if you need one). Please return your paper registration to us by May 15th so I can submit it in time to make the registration deadline. The $25 registration fee includes a great T-shirt as well as food and festivities following the race.

This year, Brain Stormtroopers has set a fundraising goal of $5,000. If you are not able to participate in this year’s race, please consider making a pledge to help support our team with a pledge form. As team captains, we will be responsible for collecting all completed entry forms, fees and pledges (please contact me if you would like a pledge form). Because of generous sponsorship from Swedish Medical Center, 100% of funds raised, including the registration fee and all donations, benefit CABTT. Through groundbreaking research, personalized treatment plans and patient-centered care, CABTT is improving outcomes for patients and working toward an eventual cure for brain cancer.

We hope we can count on your support for the 2009 Seattle Brain Cancer Walk! Together, we can give hope to brain cancer patients and their families. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. I can't wait to see you at this year’s event!

Sincerely,
Heather Chamberlain and Amy Hansen
Team Captains

If you are able to help support and pledge my family and every brain cancer patient thanks you!

{Pictures from the 2008 Brain Cancer Walk.}

Easter

Easter festivities started for us on Saturday afternoon. We made the drive down to Spanish Fork for the King Easter Party. This year it was at Ryan's Aunt Marla's ( & Uncle Lance's) house. It's always fun to go down to the Robinson's - they actually live on a horse ranch where they breed horses for the Kentucky Derby - so this time of year there are lots AND LOTS of baby horses! (and they are so cute!) But we also get to go riding there and my little family (me especially) loves to ride horses.




[Grandpa King & Aunt Marla]

After riding and before the rain started, we had our Easter egg hunt. The kids made a haul, just the beginning of all the candy Dallon would be getting in the next 36 hours. Just what Dallon needs... SUGAR!


[Waiting for their ride on the ranger to go back down to the house]

Just before leaving, we had all the great-grandkids sit on the stairs and have their picture taken with their Great-Grandpa King. There is officially 17 (I think) great-grandkids! Grandpa King is looking and doing great!


On Easter morning Dallon went and found the Easter baskets and was totally excited that the Easter Bunny gave him a dollar bill (he is really into money right now). Oakley got two Cadbury Cream Eggs and a kite and Dallon got some candy, a kite and his dollar. The Easter Bunny knew they had already, and would be getting more, candy and therefore, didn't need much! They were still excited about it!


After church we went to my sister Lesa's house and had Easter dinner and ANOTHER Easter egg hunt. Dallon made an even BIGGER haul at this one... just more candy! :)



It was such a nice day! The kids played outside, while the adults stayed inside and played GUITAR HERO! I'm a pretty good drummer - but I suck at the guitar. Oh, and Ryan, Dale & Jeff worked on Lesa & Jeff's fireplace and got that working just in time for summer! Good job boys! :)


[Some of the Higley Grandkids]

Easter was great. I know its not all about Easter Bunnies and Easter Egg Hunts, however, the family time and togetherness is priceless and I am very grateful for Easter and all that it stands for.

Tee Ball & Thee Duck

The end of May tee ball starts for Dallon and my life at the city park begins. Ryan is coaching Dallon's team this year, so we will be there for all the practices and all the games. (Did I hear myself cheering? No, didn't think so.) I don't play sports, so marrying Ryan has opened my eyes to the "sports world"... I can't say that I missed much. Sorry, just still not quite into sports yet. But it will be fun holding a 6 month old baby and trying to keep her occupied and happy while sitting in the heat, sweating to death, watching them play tee ball, right?!

Actually Dallon is SO EXCITED he can hardly stand it! Ryan went and bought him a tee to start practicing on and they have been out there working on the right swing... blah, blah, blah... whatever, just hit the ball and be done with it! :)


So one Sunday morning Ryan and Dallon went outside and started practicing... Yes Dallon is in his Pajamas and yes those are cowboy boots Ryan is wearing with shorts. I think Ryan would call that an "inbred look". (And Spencer, don't ask us where our grass is...) But I thought these were pretty funny pictures, so I am posting them so everyone can see them! I'm sure that Ryan and Dallon will love me for it! We will post, a lot I'm sure, about the tee ball and how it's going, so stay tuned!


And for those of you who don't really care much for sports - tee ball - whatever, here are some pictures of Oakley and her duck.


She loves this duck... well she either loves the duck or she is trying to kill it by biting his beak off. But we think she loves him. She talks to him and then bites his nose and eventually falls asleep all cuddled up with thee duck. Isn't she cute.

Happily Ever After in Cedar City

Spencer is married! Yea!!! We can't even believe it, Shelley didn't make a break for the door or even hesitate walking down the aisle - I guess she must really love him! (JUST KIDDING!)


Spencer is a very good friend of our family. He used to own the ever so popular Wild Flour Bakery, which was my "I need something for dinner" stop - it was only about 2 minutes away from our house. But then he had to move back down to Cedar City and now I've had to cook dinner every night for the last couple of years... (a little bitter?.. maybe) So why Cedar City? His family is from Milford, which for those of you who don't know where that is - it's kind of down by Cedar City, or at least in that general area.


So we have been wondering what he has been doing in Cedar for the last little while... But now we know, he has been brain-washing Shelley and convinced her to marry him! Poor girl! No, they make a cute couple! The wedding was on Friday, April 3rd - it was fun to meet all of the family. My camera's batteries were getting low, so most of my pictures were blurry - just my luck! But some of them turned out ok. Ryan was Spencer's best man, so I was trying to wrangle the 2 kids and take pictures, another reason why they probably didn't turn out so well!


So CONGRATULATIONS Spencer and Shelley! I hope you have a wonderful marriage and live happily every after!

Since we were going to Cedar City, we killed two birds with one stone, my brother and his family live down there and so we got to spend some time with them. (We actually got to bypass the whole hotel thing and just stay with them! So nice!) I found 4 more babysitters, if they just lived a little closer! Brent introduced Dallon to Guitar Hero - which I didn't get pictures of because my camera was dead and we hadn't bought batteries yet - but Dallon thought he was awesome! It was a lot of fun.


And so the Higley family doesn't disown me - this picture was taken on Sunday morning just after the first session of General Conference - that's why everyone is still in their pj's! I didn't tell them I wanted a picture of everyone! What troopers! :)

So thanks to the Higley family for letting us intrude for the weekend - it made it a much more "budget friendly" vacation!