This is the last piece of Art Creation we made in AEmovel for now.
The customer is a guy from Germany and he love
the hard wood furniture, he love unique design, the wood is called Tzalam
and is from Brazil is a really pretty wood and now he is really happy
and he expend hours seeing and watching he's furniture's

HI everyone

I found the follow photos on my camara and I want to share


The Handsome Boy

The delgadillos In Monterrey

The Croshaw In Monterrey

My Honey after we got my green card in Ciudad Juarez

My beautyfull wife Waiting for me after church

Suegra And Abby

Suegro and Les

Twilight Cheeseburger

I know everyone knows and loves the original Twilight, but I think I would love this one even more...

Uh, awkward?

You think you have had some bad family portraits? Check out these doozies.

Lake Powell or Bust !

OK sports fans, the voting is complete.















And, the winner is... Summer, 2011.















Let the Preparations Begin.

Look Who's Getting Married!

You all thought this was going to be about Abby, didn't you? Maybe later, but this one is about little Stacey Christensen. Read about it here. She's as cute as ever, and he's a great guy. They were at the Christensen reunion yesterday and we went to the temple with them for her Endowment last night. I think the wedding is next Thursday. Mom will represent all of us there.

New Tenants at 299 S. 20th

Just want everyone to know that the sister missionaries will be moving in next week. We are very excited. They are coming over tomorrow to help me paint the room. We will be moving the crib upstairs. Dad will fix the light fixture and repair the chest of drawers drawer and then when it is painted they can start moving in. I am guessing the Senior Missionaries will bring the beds and desk over for them as well. I am going to have to get rid of the computer desk you left, Dana. Maybe someone in our student ward would like it. I dont' know if they have to leave while you guys are home, but we will see. I am excited for all of you to meet them. Abby flies home on Friday!!! Looking forward to her last post, and seeing her photos.

I HAVE A GIRL GOING TO GIRLS CAMP!~ HELP~

Valerie leaves for girls' camp Monday. I am so excited for her (and a BASKET CASE for myself). Please tell me what to pack for her. We don't even have a "list" and the Young Women's president is in Hawaii. We dont know where the camp is, if there will be showers, if there is a pool... or lake... or creek... Where we are supposed to meet Monday... I have been promised a packet of info on Sunday, but I like to be well-informed sooooo I am kinda on basket case overload here. Help me! Help me!

I looked up lds girls camp list on google and was finding random things like "dont forget your iPod!" and they were specifically asked not to bring those...

Also, secret pal gifts!? What shoudl we find for those?

Thanks...

We're in the money.

Today Mia wanted to do a Kool-Aid stand. I was hesistant and didn't really want to put the time in but Colin did most of the work. I helped with the poster. We just got the table, kool-aid and cups out and she already had 2 customers. We only charged 10 cents but one guy paid her 25 cents and the other lady gave her a dollar! She was very excited and the people kept coming. She wanted her friend to come over so I went and picked her up. I was glad I didn't have to sit there. Colin even got the deck umbrella out for them. They still got a bit of sunburn. They stayed out for a few hours. One customer came and got just two cups of kool-aid and gave the girls $5 and wouldn't take any change. It was crazy. All together they made $21. I did take $5 to go get more cups and ice. They want to buy games for their Leapsters. (If you are interested I found them at Target just last week for $35 for the original Leapster. It was $15 offon clearance. Hurry if you want one. I got them for our upcoming travel. Spoiled kids, I know.) We will be having another kool-aid stand on Thursday. I wonder if it will be as successful.

The Swimmer and the Screamer

About the poll- I really do not care. Valerie voted for next year because 2 years is just too long to wait (don't we all know that feeling, girls?! I speak in missionary terms, of course...)

Tomorrow is Valerie's last swim meet-- after tomorrow, it is preparation for Championships. Tuesdays are long enough- get off work at about 1, take Valerie to where ever by 5, then out till 10... she swims the 50 freestyle, 50 breaststroke, 50 backstroke and the 200m relay just about every meet. It is a long night, but not as long as championships.

Champs take all day. They are July 25.

Anyway, the kids get to go off the diving boards on Mondays. They call it "Manic Monday" and it is a super-special treat. This is Valerie diving at sunset.



Asher is a SCREAMER. He would not stop screaming all during sacrament... or gospel doctrine... or priesthood, apparently yesterday. He just sits there, tilts back his head and SCREAMS as loud as possible. I have been trying to ignore it at home, but there is no ignoring it at church. He made up the bulk of the foyer quorum yesterday.

I took the mid shift. He was crawling all over the place- tried to pull himself up using a baby who was walking by (also part of the foyer quorum) and she weighs less than 20 pounds, so I picked up his hands and ungrasped her dress from his hands. He did not mind, but I scared her so she cried. Then Asher crawled to her mom and was getting ready to pull himself up on HER skirt as she was consoling her baby, I could just see the consequences of that... so I moved him over to the omni-present floral sofas. He pulled up on those, then over to the table, where he pulled the tablecloth down... with the flowers, bulletins, and announcements... it was a fun hour, that is for sure. Anyway, in foyer quorum, he did NOT scream.

Anyway, tonight, I was taking pictures of the kids diving and that made me the cool mom. I am generally the cool mom, but tonight, I was extra cool. I am not, however as cool as my friend Kari who goes diving with the kiddos. I do not currently own a bathing suit, nor do I plan to.

Note** I am pretty sure that the lifeguard is not checking out the cool mom. I wonder if he knows they are TWELVE, hello?~**

PS- all of you have daughters, the fun is yet to come, dads. I say start practicing now for what is yet to come.




Valerie flipping off the diving board. This is a huge move forward, she used to do it all the time, then was "scared." I think she tried it tonight for the photo op. Works for me.

Matt continues to work at Ariake USA, I am now working in a lab at JMU. It is great, but very different (lonely!) from working at UVa. I start teaching again at the end of August. I will be teaching 6 classes (a first-ever feat for JMU to have) and Valerie will be starting 7th grade. Asher will be going to a baby sitter 5 days a week and that is KILLING me, but honestly, we have no choice. Maybe one day, but not today...

I am still the Laurels' advisor and Matt is a ward missionary at church. I was supposed to start up an LDSSA at Mary Baldwin, but since I officially quit there 2 weeks ago, that will not be happening now (I don't think).

That is what is up with us. How about an update from everyone else.

Superheros

I found these sweet "Bot-man" (that's how Eva says it) jammies on clearance at Target, Colby is always putting on Eva's cape from her dress up clothes and pretending like Superman or Batman, so I had to get them.Did you guys have favorite pajamas when you were kids? I think mine were the Jasmine-type ones, remember Abby? I have a vague memory of singing songs when we went to bed wearing those pajamas, but I can't really remember much else.

That is where Politically Correct will get cha

I was thinking of political correctness and then this headline popped up on my computer at work today...

A gay couple say they were detained by security guards on a plaza owned by the Mormon church in Salt Lake City and later cited by police, claiming it stemmed from a kiss on the cheek.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that the men became argumentative and refused to leave after being asked to stop their "inappropriate behavior." The men say they were targeted because they are gay.

Matt Aune said he and his partner, Derek Jones, were walking home from a concert nearby on Thursday night, cutting through the plaza near the Salt Lake City Mormon temple.

Aune, 28, said he gave Jones, 25, a hug and kiss and that the two were then approached by a security guard, who asked them to leave, telling them they were being inappropriate and that public displays of affection aren't allowed on the property. He said other guards arrived and the men were handcuffed.

"We asked what we were doing wrong," Aune told The Associated Press.

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said in a statement Friday that the men were "politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior — just as any other couple would have been."

Wow, public displays of affection not allowed is going a little far (all those wedding pictures would say otherwise)... but um. Political correctness will help to escalate this sort of thing into outrage.

Waddaya think?!

Night Out at the Movies

Out at the trampoline, that is. Tonight my projector and Valerie's laptop came in very, very handy.

First. Home-movies of Valerie and Kayla from the past...

And then our Feature Presentation: Taken. Teaches boy-crazy young girls some very, VERY good lessons.

Number fascination

did anyone notice that yesterday was 07-08-09?

mom

p.s. i thought it was time for a new post.

on being ripped off

i've gotten a little jaded with being treated like a wealthy, money-dropping tourist everywhere i go here and getting cheated out of my money - most of all with the caretaker of my flat. i'm all about helping people out when i can, tipping people a little extra here and there, because hey - they probably need it more than i do. but it's got to be of my own volition. don't nickel-and-dime me, and definitely don't lie to me. once i'm onto you, all bets are off, and all tips are out the window.

things have escalated with my caretaker lately, so this was on my mind today while i was running some reports on the super-slow yehu system. while i waited for different reports to compile, i made up this little ditty.

nyali has a caretaker
alfred is his name.
and in an ideal world he would
treat everyone the same.

mzungus are his favorite breed
(he thinks they have the cash).
if problems come (and come they will)
he gets a bonus stash.

"your water hasn't run for days?
i'll bring a plumber by.
he sure won't fix your water, but
he'll surely bleed you dry."

naive and unsuspecting us -
we paid requested fees
for all things broken that weren't fixed...
then we began to see.

those fees were covered by our rent!
we never had to pay.
so we began to turn him down.
he still harasses. every. day.

his english skills will disappear
just when it suits him best.
his memory's selective too.
when it's put to the test.

i do not mind not blending in
or alfred's nasty scowl.
i do mind each time i'm ripped off.
my sense of justice cries out foul!

and so it goes throughout this land.
by food, or clothes, or souvenier,
or tuk-tuk ride, or services.
tafadali! i live here!!!