A little something I forgot to mention!...
For the 4th of July, we went down to Belen
to celebrate with the family.
My sisters cat had kittens....
....4 of them....and.....well....
....they needed homes....
Thomas fell in love
and we really wanted a kitty....
....but we were afraid one would be lonely,
so we got brothers .....

Meet Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda!

Grrr....

I am so slow at this! Life is wonderful and busy and I spend time reading all my niece's and my sister-in-law's blogs, but I just never get around to blogging myself!
We had a hairy month in June. With Anjuli's car crashed, mine decided we needed further humbling or something and the fuel pump gave up the ghost. Luckily, my ex is very willing to help with stuff like that and spent a week or so working on it until he got it figured out and fixed. It was fun figuring out how to get to school and work for 3 of us with no car. I got to know some of my classmates better! Dave got my car working just before he went to visit his mother in Fargo, North Dakota for 3 weeks and left us his car to use as well, so the last week of June and first 2 weeks of July we had 2 cars to use. It was wonderful.
We had a very quick family reunion trip to Utah in my mom and dad's van with them. We went to Heber Valley Camp and had a blast! I am so glad we got to go and see family we hadn't seen in so long. I was really sad that my brother's family all went to have their own mini reunion in Oklahoma the same time the big Haynie reunion was in Utah, so we didn't get to see any of his family while we were there. Luckily we got to see some of them last November here in New Mexico.
Anjuli is still without a car...In fact, she has decided to move within walking distance of the university for the school year. (-Her silent protest against gas prices....and insurance prices too....) She already used her car minimally before she crashed. She would drive it the 3.5 miles to the park and ride for UNM, then ride the city bus the 16 miles to UNM. She is wonderfully frugal. I am excited for her to have her first experience living away from home....and sad at the same time. I am used to a hug from her after a hard day. I miss her already.
Luke is still reluctant to get his learner's permit. He just has no desire to drive. He rides his bike most places and is happy to have me drive him to seminary in the morning during the school year, then walk from the church to the High School. He always has after school meetings or activities and either gets a ride home, walks, or calls on his dad or me to pick him up. It helps that we are only a mile and a half from the High School and a mile from our church.
Tom is still working at our local theater and going to movies almost daily. He is always trying to line up a full week of people to go to movies with on Sundays while he is at singles ward, and then talks family into filling in where other people can't go with him. We have seen almost every movie worth seeing and then some. Free tickets are the way to go!
I have another week of nurse's aide clinicals to do before I graduate from the CNA program (which is required to start the nursing clinicals). Hopefully I will take Pharmacology this Fall. It is normally scheduled for the first semester of Nursing clinicals, but so many people have a problem with it that they have started letting people take it the semester before they are scheduled to start if there is space available. They make you wait to add the class until the starting nursing students (Fall) all get a spot, then the people who failed it last semester get a spot, then the alternates for starting nursing students (Fall) get a spot........sooooo there might not be any spots left for Spring nursing starts like me to get in... I won't know until after August 6th what my fall term will look like.
I know the 3 weeks between Summer and Fall semesters will be full of helping Anjuli get moved, helping Luke get started with his Senior year, and going out to Mesa, AZ to help Brian and Valissa get their stuff moved into their first home and having their wedding. It is set for August 30th. I am so excited about it! (I just hope they don't want too many photos of the groom's mom.....that will make me grouchy!) Blech!!!
Anyway.....that is it for my recent news... Maybe I will get some pictures posted someday!

Just call Anjuli "Capt'n Crunch"!

My poor baby girl! Today at a little past 5PM, at one of the busiest intersections in town... Anjuli kind of got caught in the intersection when the light turned yellow and freaked out (we presume...she doesn't remember for sure)......and the above is what her car looks like now. She had just spent a couple of hundred dollars to fix the windshield too... Since she only has liability insurance, I guess she will be on foot for a bit...unless her daddy can get the radiator and fan out of the engine and make this drivable again. The worst thing is that her pride and her hand are bruised. The driver of the other car was fine (thank goodness!) and the other car didn't even looked scratched... It did look like their bumper might be dented, though. I couldn't tell for sure.
It was a nice Land Rover. Anyway, I am just so thankful that she, Tom, and the other driver weren't hurt .

Kinkaju fun....

Ok....I had used this photo the other day because I liked how it didn't show a whole bunch of me....just my eyes and hair, which I happen to kind of like about my looks.
Anyway, as is right with photo's, it got me reminiscing on our trip to Utah last summer when it was taken. I got to laughing because I remembered what happened right after this photo was snapped. See....the flash startled the kinkaju and she really had a full bladder. Suddenly my whole front side was very warm and very smelly.....and EWWW! We were just heading out to lunch with my nieces and new nephew-in-law and a bunch of their cousins they were babysitting, and we were MILES away from my suitcase and a fresh change of clothes. The day was saved, though! We had gone shopping at DI and I had picked up a shirt for Tom....and it just happened to fit me.
What would we do without the more humbling experiences in life?

Just getting going....

Well....here goes nothing. After years of feeling guilty about not writing in my journal enough, not writing individual journals for each of my children as they grew up, not scrap booking as my family grew up, not keeping in close enough contact with my brother's family to feel like my kids and their kids are as close as I was to my own cousins growing up, etc., etc...... I have fallen in love with reading my niece's and sister-in-law's blogs, as well as various friends' blogs and decided that it is either going to be a guilt reliever for me or one more item of guilt to add to my growing list. There is no choice where guilt is not involved in any way, shape or form. (Thanks Michelle, Alisha, Beth, Carly, Lacey, etc. for introducing me to what will either be a blessing or a curse in my life!)
Now that the ice is broken, I am not sure where to begin! I suppose I will just do random things....whatever is currently on my mind. (What a random thing this will turn out to be!) I suppose that on occasions when I am feeling nostalgic, history might get filled in a little, who knows? Here is a little bit about me and mine anyway...


Me:
I am a semi-single mom of 4 grown/nearly-grown kids. I am a nursing student with what seems like an eternity of school behind me and almost as much ahead of me. I am randomly artistic, creative, funny, boring, energetic, lethargic, cheerful, spent.... Random. I enjoy an eclectic mix of things. I like swimming, taking pictures, singing, camping, reading, sewing, cooking, painting, visiting zoos, dancing if no one is watching, going on road trips, learning, ice skating, playing World of Warcraft, eating out, baking, yoga, sleeping, etc. I have to be in the mood to do whatever I do, or I don't enjoy it. I love people vastly and trust too easily. When I am lied to I hurt deeply and struggle to forgive. I find great joy in seeing other people achieve their dreams and hope I help somehow without causing them to be hindered in their growth by doing too much or not enough. I struggle enough with my own progress to meddle too much in other people's lives. That is probably more information than anyone reading this wants to know, so I guess I will move on.



Brian:
Brian is 25 and my oldest son. He was born 3 weeks past his due date and seems to be on the same time schedule since then. He is very creative and is a talented musician. He developed a love of making movies as he was growing up, and now works restoring old home movies for people and putting them on DVD's. On May 25th, 2008, Brian asked his girlfriend, Valissa, to marry him. She said yes and they have set the date for August 30th. I am delighted to have Valissa join our family and hope she never regrets it.




Tom:
We sometimes refer to Tom as "the other Tom Hanks". Tom is 22 years old and works at our local movie theater. He loves going to movies and taking us to see them when they come out. He would like to be an actor, but isn't terribly interested in doing all the boring stuff to get to that designation. He had an accident a few years ago and has been working hard to get his health and life sorted out. One example is that he had to breathe through a tracheotomy for nearly 6 years, but spent most of the month of August 2007 in the hospital and had his airway reconstructed. He has weekly therapy to help him overcome some of the problems he has from traumatic brain injury. Everyday is an adventure with Tom around.



Anjuli:
Anjuli just completed her freshman year at the University of New Mexico, and did so with flying colors. She spent many hours in tutoring for Physics and was still worried she wouldn't be able to pass the final test. She did get the worst grade of all her grades this semester in her Physics class, but it was a B+. She had A's in everything else. Her major is languages with her main being French and her secondary being German. She has considered doing court reporting when she is done getting her bachelor's degree at UNM. She works part time for a place called "Super Suppers" where customers can come and fix about 12 family dinners to take home and freeze in about 2 hours. Two of her best friends went to BYU Idaho and BYU Provo. I was worried that Anjuli would have a terrible time adjusting to their absence, but has been too busy to mope. She is always on the go.




Luke:
Luke is 17 and will be a senior this year. He is a bundle of energy and talent and brains. He taught himself to juggle and founded a juggling club at his HS with another young man who also juggles. He is also the president of the science club and of the philosophical society for this coming school year. He tried out for the HS comedy troupe and was invited to participate in it. As busy as he is during the school year, I think this summer may be busier still. He is kicking it off by taking the ACT, then going out of town to Youth Harmony Barbershopping camp, then a family reunion in Utah, his Eagle project, his first job, getting his learner's permit and 100 hours of supervised driving time in, Valissa and Brian's wedding in Mesa, AZ, etc. I am not sure how I am ever going to keep up with him!

Our Pets:

Yes, they are family too! Our oldest pets are Frizzy and Miles at 10 years old each. Frizzy is Anjuli's kitty. She is opinionated and full of normal kitty attitude. She is adorable until Anjuli goes out for the evening...or even worse -out of town for a few days. Frizzy misses her girl and wants everyone to know it! The meowing never ends. Miles is a shepherd mix and quite the old coot. He snores as loud as anyone in the family and can melt the eyeballs right out of their sockets when he cuts loose.

Our youngest pet is Joujou la Fou. We thought she was a poodle when my sister gave her to us last Christmas, but we have been told that she looks more like a Bichon Frise. Our vet said she could be anything we want her to be, to which Tom replied, "Ok, then. She is a Great Dane". -So, she is a fluffy white 9 pound Great Dane of unknown age....

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That's all of us in a nut-shell!!!!