The things you missed.

So, I have taken a terribly long hiatus from blogging, followed by a brief moment where I promised I'd be back, followed by a terribly long hiatus where I wasn't really back after all.  Yes, well, you know.  This time, no promises.


It has been the better part of 2 years that I haven't blogged much.  It started with some nasty health issues, and it snowballed from there.  I'm not going to try and catch up on all of that.  I'll just have to have some "remember when" posts down the road.  However, I shall do my darnedest to at least make up for lost time since Shane left.


It would be positively evil of me to make one extremely long, hideously picture encrusted post to catch you up.  But I have just enough evil in me to do it.  You can't see me, but as I type this, I am wearing this face, minus the 112 o'clock shadow.

Here's some things we did in May:

We went to Freestone Park one day.

 We proudly wore homemade hair things,

But

 We waved at trains,

stale bread we brang.

Wanessa had a birthday

(and so did I).

We got more chicks (but they can't fly).

Hungry strays our pond devoured.

Cleaning made me feel empowered.

Of course, all this was for a reason:  

May is the start of our swim season.

We started getting eggs each day,

We took Sprite to the yard to play.

I got sick, the kids picked flowers,

and left them whilst I was under covers.

The grapes ripened upon the vine,

Ice cream for dinner, was just fine.

We got our first photos from Dad.

Things are different in Afghanistan.

Mosquitos slurped on Meeka's eye.

Mayzie learned to pop a fly.

That was fun, but pretty soon,

we found ourselves inside of June:

Last day of School, it's time for summer!

You can see, that Nev thinks it is a bummer.

We went to Goldfield mine to play.

It was too hot to stay all day.

But we managed to see some pretty snakes,

who ate mice-stuffed fish, in lieu of steaks.

June is when the cacti bloom,

and neon toes could light a room.

Meeka learned to roller skate.

I served Luciana a melting cake.

"THAT-A-WAY" if you need to pee.

I cleaned this ugly battery.

55 pounds of love for Dad;

we hoped Father's Day would not feel sad.

On the Sunday when the primary sang,

my heart broke.

And that doesn't rhyme because it didn't feel rhymey.

Soon enough, we found it was July, 

and I needed to get out so I would not cry.

We went to  Prescott, my home town.

We paddled Lynx Lake and did not drown.

We ran the boot race, then we did go

to the World's Oldest Rodeo.

I visited with the famous Nelson's,

while Nevan gorged on watermelons.

With 9 days until school would resume, 

I felt I must road trip and soon.

Without much plan, we left our place,

and 'round the Western States did race.

California had some giant trees.

From the top, no doubt, I'd have weak knees.

Big pine cones, and the Sentinel.

Next day we saw the Portland Temple.

For we desert rats, green is a dream.

It comes with bugs, though, it would seem.

We sure did like the colder clime

of Seattle in the summertime.

We played at the beach...

and nearly felly,

right onto this water jelly.

We'd never seen a polar bear,

 'till we went to the zoo up there.

 We gave up sleeping, we were northward bound,

to board a ferry on the sound.

Meeka tantrumming, tired, and cranky.

I was not much better, quite frankly.

An hour later, no time to spare,

it was already time to leave there.

On a boat, not much different than Gilligan's,

I pierced the glass

with my hooligans.

Eyes on the water,

because you never know,

 What you  might see at sea,

 you know.

It might just be your lucky day,

if the orca come up for air and play.

When the orca started down below,

back to shore, Captain turned to go.

Back on San Juan, we each penned a letter;

 This day just kept on getting better.

At the stroke of midnight, we were beneath the steeple,

 of Seattle's very own Space Needle.

We'd been up for 20 hours, but how

could we miss this view right now?

We slept 6 hours.  Back on the road again,

we stopped for burgers in Spokane. 

We planned to make Idaho Falls by dark,

but when we saw this old mission, we had to park.

 We explored and hiked as the sun got lower,

but it was good that we were moving slower,

for had we not made time to pick the cherries,

we would have missed our moose, just barely.

Idaho Falls would have to wait, alright,

as it was, it would be a very short night.

Early risen, for we had miles in bunches,

to travel to have with-friends lunches.

The timing was perfect to visit there,

as we chatted out back, Blue Angels were in the air.

I didn't want to leave their homey hospitality,

but we had only three days 'till school in our locality.

We stayed that night, just north of Salt Lake,

and I slept well for the first time during out vacay break.

Though we did take time to swim at Cowabunga Bay, 

we managed to still see Bryce Canyon that day.

It was lov-e-ly at sunset.

It's a stop, we'll ne'er regret.

One last shot of God's creation,

As we headed home from our vacation.

Next morn, it was in Page we woke.

 We'd been far, but the car never broke.

When it finally looked like Arizona,

 There was no doubt, we were heading home-uh.

While in Flagstaff, we got our haircuts;

first day of school, can't look like mutts.

 With our sharp hair,

 and clean underwear,

 the limit's the sky,

in Junior High!

At the end of July, we did discover,

that some of our "hens" would never be mothers.

We sought homes on craigslist for our roosters, 

who sang quite keenly, like Mr. Schuester.

In August, it was fun to hear

the sounds of trombone in my ear.

Too hot to swim in the day,

we had to wait 'til night to play.

On August 8, we packed a fine spread;

 and to the future site of the Temple did head.

The heat may make us humans swoon,

but it sure does make the pond plants bloom.

Monsoon storms broke the coop,

but the chickens didn't cease to poop.  :(

September flew by lickity-split

because Dad came home for a visit.

In October, running club began,

'round and 'round the block we ran.

Kids woke early to get in shape,

but in lieu of running, they snuck cupcakes.

Next came severe rain in the air

followed by mosquito warfare.

Grandma made a red riding cape.

For this donkey, Nev went ape.

In this corn maze, we trusted our shoes,

 to lead us to the vital clues.

I added 'mallow to my gut,

Made glow my favorite chicken's butt.

Fresh apples made for lots of canning,

 Zoo trips made us value fanning.

We enjoyed Beauty and the Beast.

Saw a rainbow o'er head to our east.

I made many cakes and then

the kids dressed up as army men.

November started at a run,

on the 1st, I bit right through my tongue.

Went to the Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking,

'twas great to witness history in the making!

My brother's family came from Georgia way

to eat some food on Thanksgiving Day,

but somehow the pictures from then,

have disappeared from my web album.  :(

Shane came home, and as I feared,

 he had gone and grown a beard!

I loved him; kissed him anyway.

No beard could ruin that great day.

His visit was a whirlwind.

We had Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas in three days time.  (And when life is that nuts, it doesn't have to rhyme.)

I was asked to be part of Love a Family,

 which left my living spaces walking-room-only.

And since that took most all my time, 

December seemed to fly right by!

Mayzie rode the Shamrock Polar Express,

 While Nevan served the dinner guests.

We made science project preparations,

 and hung stockings, lights, and decorations.

We stayed up half the night to watch the sky,

 and to the moon, we said, "Bye, bye."

Tix for Forgotten Carols, Mom's friend gave us

  at the mall, I sang the Hallelujah Chorus.

The Temple lights, as always, glowed.

The Duttons's gave a really great show.

We loved to feed Santa's reindeer,

And spend time with (what's left of) family here.

New Years Eve was fireworks zen!

And that's what I missed blogging in 2010!

Whew.