Having fun in the sun

My sister, Kiki, and her kids (Kate, Enoch & Eli) are in town this week for a visit. We've been having fun playing outside and of course eating. Sunday night we had a small celebration for Audrey and Eli's birthdays as they both turned 3 this month. The kids always have so much (LOUD) fun when they get together. And we've had a very unusual spell of cool weather and so Sunday night we spent most of the evening out in chairs on the lawn, while the kids played all of the swing set. We ended the evening with a bit of a ukulele jam. My brothers worried the neighbors would call the police on us for "disturbing the peace".

My brother Reed and his wife Jamie.My nephews Ethan (Reed and Jamie's oldest) and Enoch (Kiki and Jared's son).


Monday was Memorial Day (Happy belated Memorial Day!) and so we had all the cousins over for some swimming (the water was so cold we have shivering blue-lipped children, but none of them wanted to get out) and barbeque.

My dad and brother Justin watching the burgers. You wouldn't believe how much meat my family can consume.

The weather was absolutely perfect for eating out on the back patio.
Kiki's kids LOVED swimming. Enoch has repeatedly said "It's so hot here." We remind him that pretty much anywhere is warmer than Rexburg, ID.

On Tuesday we took the ATV's out for a few hours. We headed out to Dad's favorite spot in Queen Vally, by the Superstition Mtns east of Mesa/Gilbert/Phoenix. It was actually pretty warm, but there was a nice breeze. We also had to battle a few gnats. Nevertheless, we perservered and got some great rides in. Enoch and Grandpa Schaub even ran into a snake (without a rattle) that was almost 5 feet long.


Here are Eli and Grandpa. Grandpa calls Eli his "bobble head" rider. It was all Eli could do just to keep his head up with the big helmet on. But it sure didn't stop him from enjoying the ride.
Kiki is loading up the blue bike on to the trailer as we prepare to head out.

He's Back....Yahoo!!!!!!

I am so excited! He's back. If you haven't heard, Indiana Jones is back! He'll be coming to a theater near you on May 22nd with "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". I was thrilled when I heard the title of the new movie. For all of my archaeology friends, I'm sure you were just as thrilled as I was. Just as an FYI for everyone else, there is a running joke, when were out on digs, that we are going to find the elusive crystal skull. The crystal skull that was brought to the planet by the aliens. The skull is usually just waiting for us in the next pit, the next bucket, or the next layer, etc., etc., etc. In writing it down it just not as humorous as it is when you're digging and screening dirt in 100+ degree temperature.

So anywho, now we get to see a "real" archaeologist chase after the crystal skull. For those of you who are under the delusion that Indiana Jones is an authentic archaeologist, I hate to burst your bubble. As the harsh voice of reality, I'm here to tell you that archaeologists: 1) Don't break into sacred temples and steal artifacts because they "belong in a museum", 2) Do spend more time in the lab and doing paperwork than actual digging, 3) Don't look like Harrison Ford (then or now). However I will admit, I Love Indiana Jones movies. They are a ton of fun to watch, disregarding all the cultural, historical, and archaeological fallacies.

I'm planning on being at the theater on opening day, and I'll probably be dragging my brothers Jeff and Ryan with me. I'm so excited! As soon as I see it, I'll be sure to post my opinion - because my opinion means oh so much! :)

Till then, just remember "'X' never, ever marks the spot!"

Happy Mother's Day (belated)

It has been a while since I've posted. This past week I've been working for First Solar, but yesterday was my last day. They essential completed the project that they need my assistance with. It was a very interesting learning experience for me, but I realized that perhaps I'm not as interested in being a part of "Corporate America" as I thought. Everyday spent in a cubicle, living and dying by what your Outlook tells you and spending many, many, many hours with your fellow employees and very few with your family. Most of the people there thought nothing of 10-12 hour work days, everyday. In fact it was the norm. Definitely not for me.

Anyways...on to much more enjoyable topics, namely MOTHER'S DAY! A big beautiful belated HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY goes out to all the amazing women I know. There are few things on this earth as amazing as mothers, and right now I'm hard pressed to name any of them.
I was blessed with a mother who I think is the World's Greatest Mother!!! I could be here all day telling you why I think she's the bestest, but instead I'll just list a few reasons,

Why My Mom Is The Best

1. Her first priority is, has always been, and will always be her family. Their physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional well being. There is nothing more important to my mother than her family.
2. My mother supports me personally in so many ways, as I know she does each one of my brothers and sister (all six of us). She has always attend every single one of my performances, throughout my very involved life. She's read my thesis (and who can say they willing suffered through 150 pages of dry academic literature). And today she even comes to my scrapbook crops (even if she just brings school papers to grade.) My mother has physically supported me in more ways than I can count.
3. My mother encourages me to be the best person I can be. Throughout my life my mother has encouraged me to try new things, do my very best, and excel at whatever I pursue. Whether it was playing the viola, being a RS president, getting an education, or even scrapbooking, my mother has shown me by example that I should always put forth my very best effort in everything I do. My success in life has come, in part, because of the encouragement and example of my mother.

Well I think that is enough to show you just a little of why my mother is so AMAZING! And it is always hard to find an appropriate mother's day present for her. So I've now just resorted to making her things. This year I made her a little playing card box filled with the faces of those she loves. I've included pictures of it.

I went to work today.

I'm doing a really quick post, because I'm really tired and I need to go to bed. I just had to share that I went to work today. I've been hired, on a temporary basis, to work for First Solar -- a really big international company that produces solar panels. I'm assigned to work with a project manager as an admin assistant. Essentially it's my job to keep track of meeting notes and action items and see that they are disseminated to the right people. Oh my gosh, my brain hurts. I was in meetings from 8:30am to 5:00pm solid! And I was transcribing a foreign language the ENTIRE time. I was put into a room with a whole bunch of engineers -- project engineers and software engineers -- and was told to take notes on everything they said. I have NO idea what I was writing down. It could have been in Chinese for all the sense it made to me. Agghh!!! By the end of the day I was so tired and I don't even know if what I recorded will make sense to anyone. Oh well, I get to do it again tomorrow. (One nice perk of the job -- there were a bunch of good looking engineers scattered throughout the building, hmmm!!)

I'm really, really hoping this 9-1-1 operator job I'm applying for comes through. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

So I bet you didn't know that yesterday, May 3rd, was National Scrapbook Day! So Happy (belated) National Scrapbook Day. In celebration of this auspicious day I organized a scrapbooking crop through my East Valley Scrapbook Guild. I've spent the last month organizing this thing -- setting up the online ticket ordering system, booking the room, coordinating the caterer, purchasing the prizes for the drawing, making signs, etc. And it turned out to be well worth it.

We had about 17 ladies come to the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center, yesterday from 11:00am - 6:00pm. I only knew about 6 of the ladies personally, the rest were "friend-of-a-friend", etc. Within the scrapbooking community it really seems to be a case of everyone being "friends you just haven't met yet". The women were wonderful and come from all types of backgrounds and stages in life. The youngest there was probably in her early 20's and Thema Hall was in her 80's.

Of course the ladies did as much visiting as they did croppin', but hey, that's the point. However, almost all of them said they completed many more pages and projects yesterday than they were expecting to.

One of the highlights of the day had to have been lunch. I asked my Aunt Kelly to cater the lunch, as she has a small catering business. Oh my goodness, Kelly's pasta salad was a HIT! Along with the pasta salad Kelly served wonderful triple decker finger sandwiches, watermelon, delicious homemade brownies and lemon bars. It was all spectacular. If you're interested in Kelly's amazing Fruity Chicken Pasta Salad you'll need to head on over to my East Valley Scrapbook Guild blog to get the recipe, as all the ladies asked that I get the recipe from Kelly and then pass it on. Fortunately, there was more than enough food to keep everyone going.

As all good things, the day came to an end. It is really amazing how time flies when you're having fun. I'm already looking forward to my next crop.