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.

one two switcharoo!

so much better. i finally found something to switch with the dresser in the salon. i was afraid the dresser would get ruined in the salon and knew it would be perfect in my room. so now in the salon sits this beautiful metal desk with a very nice veneer top (can't do too much damage to that). i questioned it at first, everything looks hideous sitting in a goodwill with other junk piled on top of it. it doesn't look as nice as the dresser did but, i think it is pretty cute. it fits my hair stuff nicely in it's drawers. and huge bonus i already liked the color and scratches that came with it.

afric (a fric)

what is afric? it apparently is a name. why would i know this? i was looking on babycenter for name ideas for middle names. why would i need a middle name or be stalking babycenter? because baby numero dos is on the way. i am 10 or 11 weeks, i have yet to go to the dr. i have been told by my friends since the day chad and i were engaged that our children would be red headed fricks. so if i do have a baby with crazy red hair i could name it afric. then it would really be a red headed fric. but i am almost positive that we have the good kind of red hair genes. i have a niece with flamming red hair and she is dang cute, and two of chad's sisters have red hair and they too are exceptionally attractive. so i think the curse my best friends gave me (how nice of them) will not be happening.
please note: those baby pictures are not of any of chad's sisters or my niece. and the boy is not chad in his youth.

best spot in the house

who knew when i bought this bench for the kitchen it would be loved so much? this is avery's favorite spot. we sit here to eat his breakfast, he plays with his toys on the bench, he can climb up and down, sit and dangle his little legs, or his favorite just standing there looking out the window. except one day he attempted eating a dead fly that was in the widow sill, luckily i got it out of his mouth. so gross! he has also taken a liking to rocks, dirt, and grass. oh and grandma shellee avery told me he misses you.