Now You Know

I hope you like news, 'cuz that's what you're going to read today! This summer brought many changes to our family. In our case, change is good. It is very, very good.

Family NEWS

The headline story is that our family is staying in Perrysburg permanently. We won't return to Arizona after Rick's graduation in 10 months. We've labored with this decision for quite awhile and it feels right. Perrysburg is home and our love for it has been well documented. We love our house, our ward, our schools, our town. If we could just get our parents and siblings to move to Ohio, it would be perfect.

Rick's NEWS

Rick received some great personal news in June. He's been made a chief resident this year, which means a lot of extra responsibility but more control over scheduling. He's also spent quite a bit of time working Life Flight and moonlighting in various outlying communities (cha ching).

On the 24th of August Rick celebrated his 37th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, the kids and I got him a kitten of his very own since we no longer have to worry about a big move. Ricky loves his darling kitty and calls her Chloe (with the dots over the "e"). Chloe Kitten is a fun addition to our family, though Shelby doesn't care a fig about her. Rick will post pictures of her soon. She's getting fat.

Birthday Dinner at Biagi's

Audrey's NEWS

I quit my job teaching aerobics classes at the YMCA and I've taken up running. I've also started volunteering at the Toledo Area Humane Society walking the shelter doggies. It's the perfect combination of my favorite things: fitness, animals, and the great outdoors.

I've got a list of projects I want to tackle around the house now that we're NOT moving. The storage room and garage got the Audrey treatment last week - I'm trying to make room for the Chevy Traverse we're purchasing through Costco (more on that later). Jake has moved into the guest room and Emma is moving into Jake's old room. I have much painting and redecorating ahead of me. I also want to get to work on a vegetable garden for next spring...heaven help my poor husband.

In addition to my church responsibilities as an organist and substitute seminary teacher, I got called to be the 1st counselor in the Young Women's Organization today. I am over the moon about this new calling and I can't wait to get busy! Emma will be joining us in just 4 months!

Emma's NEWS

Speaking of Emma, did you know she's now certified to babysit children? She recently took a course at St. Luke's hospital to start her on a career in childcare. I know she'll be a responsible and careful sitter. She's been practicing her baby blanket burrito techniques on the kitten. Chloe purrs every time.

Emma's Graduation Ceremony at St. Luke's

Emmy receiving her diploma

Emma started Junior High School on Wednesday, and she was happy about it! She got up early, made herself a sensible breakfast, and made her bed without being asked. My fears about having to drag her from the comfort of her blankies kicking and screaming were put to rest. We might be able to manage this schedule after all...

The kids' first day of school 2011

Emma continues on her treatment of steroids and methaltrexate (sp?) injections. She's doing well, though the skin on her hands are given her a bit of trouble. We're hoping the sores on her fingertips won't prevent her from playing cello and piano this year. She also joined the 6th grade choir, but her voice hasn't fully returned yet. Maybe she's going through a voice change like her brother?

Jake's NEWS

Jake is our renaissance man. He sings, he plays the piano, he mows grass, and he plays football. So far, he's avoided serious injury. We hope that he'll get to play his first game this year - ha! The training has been rigorous, but he's stuck with it. He's learning that it's okay to be part of a team even if you're not a superstar player.

Jake has big plans to earn his Eagle this year. At a recent Court of Honor he received several merit badges that he earned on his own this summer. He missed Scout Camp because of our trek west, but he made up for it. Next up: the personal fitness merit badge. Can you guess who the counselor is?

Jake and Brother Paxton (a.k.a. "Beast")

Atta boy!

There's more to tell, but I've reached my 1 am curfew. I'll have to post about our trip to Chicago another day. Let me know you're still reading and I might be motivated to share tales from Kalahari water park too. There's a story involving poo.

Toodles!

Our Trek West: The Final Leg

The final leg of our trek was spent with my parents in Peoria. We could not get over the changes to our old stomping grounds! It definitely got us thinking about moving back as we spent time with old friends like the Olivers and my old singin' buddies.

Alli, Whitny, Annie, and me at the Cheesecake Factory

 Another great night that I failed to photograph was a Colyar shin-dig with my Dad's side of the family. It was great to see everyone and catch up on the news. Some folks we hadn't seen since we moved! Plus, No Bake Cookies = Good times.

My folks were great hosts and they gave very convincing arguments for moving to Peoria. Rick and I spent several hours driving around neighborhoods and looking at homes by the new temple and Thunderbird Mountain. There are some great deals to be had in the Valley right now for home buyers!

All in all, our trek west was a fantastic experience. Spending time with family was definitely the most rewarding part of the trip, but we enjoyed the change of scenery too. It was sooooooo good to be near the mountains again after all the flatness of Northwest Ohio.

Our travels home were completely uneventful. We were just plain tuckered from all the fun so we got a lot of snoozing done on the flight to Detroit.

Though we arrived after dinnertime, we couldn't wait to pick up our Shelby from the doggy sitter's house. Man! We sure missed our funny little mutt!

Vacations are the best, but being home feels good too!

Our Trek West: Prescott

The last week of our western trek was spent in toasty Arizona, but we eased back into the heat slowly. On our way home from Utah we stopped in Prescott to visit Rick's sisters and check out the town. From all reports, Prescott seemed like a good contender for our family post-residency.

Right away I was sucked in by the hills, mountains and high desert. The area is an outdoorsy girl's dream with it's many hiking trails, bike paths, and lakes. You better believe I spent some time exploring while I was there! The weather was pleasant as well. Even the hot days were significantly less miserable because of the lack of humidity.

Amy and Debra attend the same ward, so we enjoyed a special morning at church with many of our family members. Grandma and Grandpa drove up for the fun and to hear Debra and her kids sing in Sacrament Meeting. It was the sweetest version of "Jesus Once Was A Little Child" that I've ever heard. Seriously. There wasn't a dry eye in the whole congregation.

After church, we met up at a nearby park for a potluck picnic. Lucky for us, our visit coincided with a visit from our oldest niece Stacy. We were charmed by Stacy's boys, Brandon and Justin. Not only are they completely adorable, but they're full of personality and smarts. Keepers for sure.

Blaine and Justin

Stacy and her sweet boys

 One of my favorite parts of the afternoon was a summer storm. Is there any better smell than the desert after it has rained? My little niece and nephews weren't phased a bit by the downpour. They continued right on playing on the jungle gym.

Jared and Miss Taylor Jo

Poor Emmy got stranded at the bathroom when the rain really got going. Daddy had to "rescue" her from the shower. 

Rick with Emma under his shirt

The rest of us took shelter under the ramada. Our lunching and conversation didn't skip a beat.

My pretty Emmy

Taylor post shower

Taylor got a little chilly after awhile, so Uncle Rick wrapped her up in a sweatshirt/straightjacket.

All better!

Zachary

Jared

Beautiful Grandma Joann

Blaine and Amy

Debra

It was a great couple of days in Prescott. It was easy to see why Rick's sisters love it so much. Both families were great hosts to us, so much that we want to visit again soon!

Grandma and Grandpa Saunders with their 5 youngest grandkids

Our Trek West: The High Uintas

I love Utah in the summer! As a native Arizonan I enjoyed escaping the sweltering "Valley of the Sun" for the cool, green mountains in northern Utah. One sweet memory I have is of our picnic at Mirror Lake in the High Uintas. Emma was a little toddler and I had to carry her around in a backpack to keep her out of trouble while my cousins and I hiked around the water. Rick spent much of his time squatting beside the little run-off streams, catching fish with his bare hands.

Lala hoped to recreate this lovely excursion one afternoon before we all had to go our separate ways. We all caravaned up the mountains in our shorts and sandals, not realizing that summer hadn't arrived in that part of the state. We drove where the GPS told us, but we couldn't recognize our old spot because of all the SNOW. In fact, we drove past the real turn off because it was gated off and blocked by mounds of unplowed white stuff.

We drove up and down the road, trying to find a place to park and play. Every 10 minutes we would all pull over, laugh, and shake our heads. It was actually chilly outside! Luckily, some brought sweatshirts and blankets. By pooling our resources, the kids could munch on a meal of cookies and crackers too.

Ultimately, we found another small lake at a lower elevation (less snow, more mud). The kids needed to run after all the driving. Never mind that that clouds were threatening to rain and thunder clapped in the distance!

Dusty was smart enough to bring her camera. She snapped some cute pictures as we explored the lake and threw rocks in the water. Rick, my ever resourceful husband, scoured the shores for fishing remnants. He found some line here, a hook there, and made himself a janky fishing pole. Within minutes he caught a fish!

An idea began to surface in Rick's mind. Jake was already halfway through the requirements for his fishing merit badge, why not complete the work right now? Rick pulled Jake aside and taught him to swing the fishing line in circles around his head and then cast it into the water. He never did catch a second fish.

Fortunately for Jake, Rick had packed his first catch in the snow. He wrapped it up in a grocery sack so that Jake could gut, clean, cook, and eat the fish at the condo. At least Jacob could take care of those requirements. The actual catching of the fish would have to happen another time.

Miraculously, none of our Colyar babies fell in the water that day. We managed to have a lovely time at the lake, for about 40 minutes. Then we got too cold.

Folks started talking about pizza and headed back for their warm cars.

Rick, Jake, and I lagged behind the group because we were still hoping to wrangle a fish. The rest got a head start with the plans to meet up at Provo Falls before heading into town.

When we finally got on our way, we noticed that we didn't get cell phone reception. We weren't worried of course, since the family was waiting 10 minutes down the road at the falls. Unbeknownst to us, they had all missed the turn off and decided to carry on down the mountain.

We stopped at the swollen falls, but didn't see a soul. The rain started up, so we thought it best to keep on down the road. Jakey took a quick picture of us though. Check out that water!

The heavens opened up and POURED. The rain was so heavy, we could barely see as we made our way through the dark forest. Suddenly, we came upon a felled tree laying across the road. It blocked both lanes and cars backed up in no time. Rick and some of the other drivers braved the weather and worked to remove the tree.

Someone had a small hatchet so they were able to chop at the tree and move it out of the way. By the time Rick got back in the car, he was completely soaked through his clothes. But, we were on our way! Short story long, we were able to meet up with the fam at a pizza joint and retell our crazy adventure. And, I thanked the heavens once more that I married my amazing husband!

Our Trek West: Park City

Ahem. As I was saying (two weeks ago)...

We had this big ol' reunion with all the extended Earl relatives over the 4th of July holiday. We had so much fun that we had to have our own mini Colyar reunion in Park City. We stayed at the Marriot Mountainside Resort from Monday night to Saturday morning. This was one of the high points of our excursion west (haha - get it? It was a "high point" because we were in the mountains)! It was so beautiful!

Anywho - We had soooooo much to keep ourselves busy there. We shopped at the outlet mall, ate at yummy restaurants, watched movies, swam in the pool(s), rode the rides at the resort, and hiked the ski runs.

Our little Saunders family had our own little daytrip to Snowbird Ski Resort too. We rode up the tram to catch a view from the tippy top of one of the mountains.

 Can you believe all the SNOW still on the mountains in July? In a normal season, we would have been able to hike down the mountain, but the trails were closed to us. (frowny face)

 The Alpine Slide was fun, but not as long as the one in Park City. We also got to try this bungee trampoline thingie, a zip line, and a mechanical bull. Emma even put aside her fear of heights to try the rope course.

Jake was a champ at walking the ropes too. He had no fear about letting go of the ropes.

 At the end of the day we got up close and personal with a baby moose. He was hanging out by the parking lot! I guess it's a good thing MAMA wasn't close by.

 Whew! It's a lot of work playing this hard!

Our Trek West: Fireworks!

Monday NIGHT 7/4

After an afternoon of napping and shopping, the Earls reconvened for one last BBQ at Aunt Evie's

All day the weather threatened to turn ugly, but we only got a bit of spitting rain and cloud cover. It made for a pleasant 4th of July.

The cousins sure had a great time!

Jake is shown here sporting his haircut by Uncle Tim.

He's taller than Lala now! At Jake's recent sports physical the doctor pointed out that he has grown 5 inches since last fall.

He's such a patriot!

Dance Party!!!

Evie's basement doubles as a dance club.

How many people does it take to get Joel to do his baby dancin'?

We danced until the sun went down, then it was time for the neighborhood fireworks display!

 We gathered on Heidi's lawn and watched the uncles out themselves in harm's way all in the name of freedom.

God bless America and God bless families!