Having Fun in the Sun
According to Steven, there are only 10 Mondays left until school starts again. Leave it to my child to figure that one out. 
Happy Birthday Laura
An interesting evening to say the least.
So this evening Nick decided to take me out for my birthday dinner. I decided that I wanted liver and onions, my favorite....so we went to the little mesa cafe. We started out with our salads and then we moved on to our main course. Just as I was about to finaly get my wish of wonderful liver and onions a huge explosion and glass starts flying everywhere. It took a moment to maybe wonder if this was an odd daydream or if this was really happening. A mini-van come flying into the resturant into the middle very close to where we were sitting in fact. Nick screamed for some guy to move out of his booth before he got crushed by this crazy van. Smoke fills the whole resturant but the tires are still squealing because the guy still has his foot on the gas. Nick yells for him to stop and put it in park. Then Nick and I went around to the van moving things out of the way and Nick prying open the doors to get these people out before some fire and safely without getting cut by the glass. We got all four people out all unharmed thankfully and left grateful to have such good guardian angels on our side. I do have to wonder since this occerance is not uncommon, when is it time to call it quits on driving in the elderly age and shouldn't there be a law about yearly driving tests at the DMV past a certain age?
Well, we went to JB's and I did get my liver and onions and went home happy alive and with my own real-life hero.
Life is good...I truly can say that I am enjoying the best years of my life thanks to my adult children/grandchildren/my awesome husband and my good health!! God is good. Prayerfully, I will be able to share at least 30 more years enjoying life with you all??!! Thank you, Doug and Heather, for allowing us to celebrate all the many birthdays in your backyard:)
This weekend was the 30 something annual Richardson Family Reunion. Being the good sport Doug is he agreed to go even if it was SNOWING on the Rim! Our road trip to my grandparents property was interesting to say the least. These are photos of the snow storm we came through. My brother who was about 1/2 an hour behind us had to pull off to the side of the road and wait out the storm.
Finally we reached the road to my grandparents property and other than the fact that it was COLD it was nice, no snow or rain. We even encountered three elk along the way.
The reunion always offers lots of entertainment. Kennedy loved the train ride around the property and Doug enjoyed paintball and making LARGE fires. He drank too much Monster Energy Drink and we couldn't stop laughing at his super human skills. For the record Doug and Monster Energy Drinks don't mix!
Doug and my brother in law Jared found an awesome dirt track on the property where they could jump their quads and be well, dangerous!
Doug decided on the way home he wanted to do some more jumping but this time using our camper!
Okay, he didn't jump the camper but it sure looks like it. We were heading home and about five miles out of the property when Doug's face went into a state of disbelief. From the rear view mirror he could see the back of our camper in the air. Luckily he was able to maintain control and stop but the damage was done. Thank heaven it didn't hurt the truck at all, not even a scratch. But, when we got out to look over the camper that was a different story.
The springs on the axle broke off as we were driving (not fast I can attest to that) and sent it airborne. Upon landing it broke the door, cabinet on the inside, top cover, the tongue was bent, it punched a hole in the floor of the camper and who knows what else that we couldn't see.
But, where better to break down that close to camp and all my uncles and dad were on hand and ready to help. It was quite the project! It took them three hours to get that thing on a trailer and tow it back to the property. Oh, and one grandpa, four uncles, a brother in law, three cousins and a tractor to get it done. You might be thinking why three hours but you really had to be there.
Needless to say we had to leave the trailer on my grandparents property. Tuesday we will contact our insurance company to see how they want to handle this or even if they want to. Going to get the trailer would be quite the project for insurance and they would have to be accompanied to the property since it is gated and private property.
I just thank heaven this didn't happen as we were coming down the Rim. We were truly blessed to say the least. Guess we will be looking into a new camper.
This is a special birthday wish
Well, the original plan for the Memorial Day weekend was camping with Dad and Kelly. As it would happen, the weather decided to FREAK out on us and here in the Valley of the SUN - we had NONE! In fact, where we were planning on camping it was SNOWING! Needless to say, we nixed the camping and decided on something a little warmer. However, not wanting to waste our weekend in front of the TV we decided to take a road trip. We decided that we wanted to take Katelyn to see the Karchner Caverns in southern AZ. It is an amazing "living" cave.
We had a great time and enjoyed spending a day with Dad and Kelly. Thanks everyone. If you want to see more about our trip go check our our family website at http://www.easysite.com/JCKBEvansFamily
(sorry, I didn't want to redo the post all over again!)
Happy Birthday to a wonderful sister.
If you look up the meaning of Katherine the Greek translation means pure. What a perfect fit for Katie.
These are just some of the reasons that we all love Katie so much.
Katie is kind and willing to be a friend to anyone. She has a great sense of humor and most important she can laugh at herself.
She is a Creative Memories guru and queen of the scrapbooking. Even if Doug and Jason give her a hard time about it when she isn't around.
She has a knack for business and a level head for negotiation.
She is determined to set goals and accomplish them regardless of what may stand in her way.
She stands for what is right when its right. You never have to question Katie's standards.
Happy Birthday Katie!!
Okay, I am spending way to much time in the hospitals!!! Our own "Menace" today was playing on the computer when the chair slipped out from under him and he hit the desk-OUCH!! Three stitches later we are all doing well(for now).
Steven is being promoted to 2nd grade!!
Proud Parents!!!
We are so proud of Steven!! If I can be a bragging mom for a minute. Steven tested into school early for his age and has excelled in everything. He is currently reading at a third grade level, is winning math competitions, aces all his spelling tests and is top of his class. He had an end of year performance last night where Grammy/Poppy and Grandma/Grandpa joined us-of course I cried. And am crying now. Thank you for sharing in our joy and happiness Grandparents.
Bryce had his baby!!
Today's parenting tip - Even if you think you can cut your child's hair yourself, don't do it!
Now, when I think of Kennedy getting a haircut, all I think is - scissors...near the face...not a good idea.
Friday, Kennedy was in need of some serious bang trimming. Figuring I most always do it I thought what could it hurt to do it myself?
Well, I will tell you. I got her all positioned, combed the bangs, gripped the scissors and went for the cut. Then Kennedy decided she wanted to look the other way and...glop a big chunk of hair was gone!
I felt so bad for her and she looked so silly. I did my best to fix it but it needs some serious time to grow. For now she is sporting a sweet look. Doug said she looks okay, I miss her little bangs.
So, next time your husband or wife decides to give your child a hair cut remember this and make the drive to Grammy's for a professional cut, it's worth it.
I love that this blog has been created...what a great idea!!
Last night Doug made us an awesome shrimp fettuccine dinner and Heather showed me how to add to the Evans blog. It was a wonderful evening (with Kennedy being most entertaining, as usual). How blessed we feel to have all our children/grandchildren living in such close proximity.
We look forward to being with all of you at our 7th annual family campout June 27th. Yahoo!!
At the suggestion of Rachel (our family planner) the Evans/Shepard blog is up and running. This is a great way for our family who lives out of state to check in on our happenings and well, let's admit it our silliness.
This also gives us kids a fun way to share with each other the fun things that happen in our little families.
Enjoy, and lets see some postings.
Thanks to Kobie (my sister) for her help in designing the page with such cute graphics.
