Congrats Sam! Class of 2009

Last Thursday Samuel graduated from Ironwood High School! We are so proud of him. It was a rainy day but thank goodness we were inside the University of Phoenix Stadium! The whole family was there. Sam seemed pretty happy- check out his ear-to-ear smiles! He leaves for Kauai next week! We teamed up with Granaran to get him an airline ticket to visit the Akins! Nice graduation present huh? He will be there for 2 weeks. We are soooo jealous. Above he is pictured with his recruiting officer as he is going to boot camp in September!

New Stuff

James and I re-did the office. We removed the nasty wallpaper that I have hated since we moved in along with a ridiculous window covering that matched the wallpaper. We re-textured the walls and painted. We painted the doors too. We put the day bed upstairs in the boys room, got a desk from the ASU Surplus store and have slowly been putting everything back together. Here's some pictures- I wish I had before pics but we were so excited to demo the old wallpaper that we weren't thinking straight! I am going to make a curtain panel to go under the shade with the fabric below and I also included a pic from on of our tomato plants. We have some good growth with our herbs and veggies right now.

Lazy Summer Days

We are enjoying the really nice weather we are having here on Kauai. Lazy summer days at the beach. Some friends have an awesome kite and it can actually get you skating across the water. Of course, the kayak and fishing are always great.

Sam, we can't wait for you to get here!!

Adventures in Baby Sitting

James and I baby sat last Saturday so Michelle and Chris could go have some fun. The babies are so cute and uncle Jimmy loves to play! Eva didn't want to take the bottle but considering that she was really good. Callin loves Uncle Jimmy and cuddled with him while watching TV. We love baby sitting these little munchkins. We hope to do it again soon.

Click play on the video to see Jimmy rocking Ava to sleep in the rockin chair.

Mother's Day

Our day started a lot like last year's Mother's Day. We got up early and made the trek out to Tempe Town Lake. This year it was just Jimmy, myself, Arrana and Corky. We got there in plenty of time to park (this time in the US Airways garage) and collect freebies from the sponsors. Here are some pics. We did 5K in less than an hour and hurried home to get brunch going. April and Richard came over then Michelle, Chris and babies. It was a nice, simple brunch with fruit, croissants, yogurt and granola, juice, etc. Don't forget to click play on the video at the very bottom of this post. It's of Ava, Aranna and Uncle Jimmy. Ava is such a sweet baby!

What's goin on???

Mike (Uncle Corky's son) is visiting from Montreal. We all met at Aranna's for dinner Wednesday night. Mike is doing well.









We got a beautiful new Rose tree- it's on the back patio. They are red and white, crimson flame roses. I love them!














Phoenix and Rosie are doing well, terrorizing the family as usual.















Sam got a hair cut and shaved (for his job at Johnny Rockets) but wouldn't let me take a picture of him so this is all I got.

Mel tried to win the Salsa contest at work but was dethrowned. She is hoping to get the Salsa Queen title next year. James liked the Salsa- that's all that matters!

Network of Strength's Walk to Empower

Greetings.........

This is the 2nd Annual Mother's Day walk on Sunday that we are doing as a family. If you would like to see my Fundraising site click here Please join my team or donate to the cause.

Your support is greatly appreciated. I have a personal goal of $200 raised for the cause that I haven't met. Mother's Day has taken on new meaning since the loss of my mom 5 years ago. It's very exhilerating to be out in the fresh air, walk 5K and know that I am helping to make a difference. After the walk we are having brunch at home with Aranna, Corky and the rest of the family. I am also looking forward to the next few days on vacation. Lots of projects to do at home.