criss cross applesauce!

(my pictures stink because they were taken on my phone)
this is how avery and i spent a good 5.5 hours last sat. we made and canned our own applesauce, amazing right! it is quite the process. first you pick one tree of apples (i missed that part). next you cut them and boil them. then you grind them right up. then flavor, pour into jars, and steam cook the jars shut. that is how my 5.5 hours went. avery's 5.5 was spent wandering the enormous back yard we were in, following the big kids, petting a cat, jumping/falling off the trampoline (no injuries just tears because he wanted back on), playing in the sand, and wandering around some more pulling a little wagon. he had no nap and played until he almost couldn't stand anymore. he was passed out in 0.2 seconds within leaving. it was a good day!

30 years old

chad had a birthday shout hooray! 06-11 he turned 30! he says he is now 1/3 dead. he may kill me for posting this picture but thats what he gets for posing like that! we had a little pre-birthday dinner for him (he bought 6 2ltrs of mtn dew for the occasion, which was all for himself). followed up dinner watching some baseball. then on his actual birthday we went to oreganos and did a little birthday shopping for him. and then some more post-birthday shopping. we are in the process of sprucing up his wardrobe with classy clothes for his new position at work. i don't think he minds.
ps i am sparing you the 30 things i love about chad, and myself, i don't know if i can come up with that many.

of course

so chad is currently on his way home from here. where he flew to pick up and drive home our new car (found on craigs list) to replace the one just like it that he sold to make some denaro. i am hoping to be able to keep this one for a little while but if you know chad, then you know as well as i do, that might not happen. and if you know me, then you know what i picked to do to help pass the time.

first stop goodwill. picked up a few things for me, a new ride for avery, and i even thought of chad (got him a tie he may or may not like). avery was TICKED, we are talking broken heart cry, when i took his car out of the cart for it to be rung up, and then again when it had to sit beside him and he had to be buckled in his seat, and then again when i insisted on cleaning it before he rode it at home. life is ruff for this little guy.

and to tie up the rest of the night, blockbuster. one for avery, and one for me (okay, so i wanted to see them both). i liked he's just not that into you and the mouse one was eh.
ps. yes i know i just blogged about complete nonsense.

show low trip

for memorial day weekend we headed to show low for an awesome softball tournament. sweet! i am usually against this trip because i don't enjoy watching softball. one game every once in a while to be supportive and all that, whatever. but game after game in a tournament i will be honest, i was somewhat dreading it. this year chad took off an extra day before and after the tournament so we didn't have to fight traffic. it turned out to be a really fun trip. we stayed with devin and kristin at their house. it made it nice so i didn't have to go to every game. we had fun just hanging out with devin and kristin and enjoying the weather. (we sat on their patio a lot and made fun of golfers). avery was in heaven with their dogs toby, lilly, heisman, and winston. 3 are fairly large english bull dogs so you would think he would be a little intimidated. he enjoyed touching their teeth, trying to get them to kiss him, and chasing them with his bat or spatula. i was more nervous for their dogs then for them getting too aggressive with avery. avery was a great trial run for the dogs and devin and kristin. he broke in the dogs and the nursery for when their baby preston arrives in july.

Chad's 1st and last post

I am very excited about this, so I asked Corri if I could post this on her blog, for all the blogstalker moms out there. Not really, it's for the family who haven't seen it. Any of you who know me, know I like a nice, old VW. On many occasions, I have gone "treasure hunting" with my brother or my friend, looking for the old forgotten VW sitting in someone's backyard or garage. It is such an obsession, that I have been known to get on Google earth and try to find one in someone's backyard. Creepy, I know, but I have always wanted to find a good one. Well, I have found one, and hope it isn't the last. I wanted to share my story.

Driving back to work, from lunch one day, I saw 2 guys walking down the sidewalk, and one of them pointed at something. I turned to look, and I almost broke my neck! I did an illegal lane change and flipped a U-turn. My time had come!! Back in the brush and trees, behind an old farm house, barely visible from the street, was an old rotting VW bus. My heart started beating fast and I wanted to investigate. I checked it out later that day with a friend and started looking for the owner. I wanted to see if he would sell it. For 3 or 4 days I tried to find someone. It was always on my mind, and I couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't function normal. I had to find the owner. It was located at a farm, and there was a sign with a phone number, so I called and left a message. As I was driving away, I saw a man walking around, so I went over to talk to him. I tried to have a conversation with him, but all I really was able to get out of it was that he was not interested in selling it. It looked like it had been sitting for years. Trees had grown around it and it was not going anywhere. I drove away sad, and felt like I failed in my mission.

To make a long story short, I got a call from this man about 3 weeks later. He said he was willing to let it go if I made him a good offer. This went on for another month or so. The bus had to be freed from the trees and debris, he had to locate the title, and he had to convince himself that he was really going to sell it. I understand how he felt. It is not easy to let a VW go. They are very sentimental. So I finally made a deal with him, and towed it home. You might not think it is much, but it is a treasure to me. I am going to bring this bus back to life. I spent almost 3 hours that night cleaning out the bus from 20+ years of leaves, trash, and spiders. Then again on Saturday, another couple hours just cleaning and dreaming of what I can do with this. It is a 1959 Volkswagen Double Door Panel Van. For those of you who don't know, the doors on both sides is not too common, so it makes it a little bit cooler to me. Just ask Corri, I tell her all about these things and she listens, even though she probably doesn't care too much. I would like to thank Corri for supporting me in this endeavor. She told me I should buy it. She probably knew that I would have many sleepless nights if I didn't. Enjoy the pics. -chad

look who decided to walk

avery had taken his first steps a while ago and we thought oh he will be walking any day. nope, he didn't want to. then lately he has liked to hold our finger and take laps walking around the house. he would get mad if you let go, refused to do it on his own. a couple of weeks ago grandma shellee called me on my way to pick him up and said they had to stop him from walking because they didn't want me to miss it. and still weeks went by and avery could still care less to walk. then last sunday he decided he would give it a try on his own. he enjoyed it. and hasn't really walked much since. he was walking a little this morning though and even picking up his ball to throw. i think we need to get him a helmet for at our house, i am nervous for him and his not so sturdy/confident walking and our little steps. wish him luck.

easter is coming

go to the easter pageant in mesa. i have gone almost every year since forever and it is amazing. it is a big awesome production they spend a couple of months just constructing the stage. we will be going this week with the youth from church. (avoid a wednesday that is when most youth groups go and will probably be insanely busy). but still worth it. you can sit on the lawn towards the back you can bring food or snacks and there are also chairs set up. if you are not familiar with the easter pageant there is some good information here. so go and have fun.