Grandpa

Grandpa Astle passed away in his sleep the morning of August 26, 2007, just 4 days prior to his 85th birthday. The picture above was taken in July of 2006 just months before Grandma Astle passed on. I liked this picture best of the ones we took because I thought it was funny that Zach was trying to figure out who was holding him, Emilee was doing her own thing, Grandpa was checking out everyone else, and Grandma was the only one smiling for the camera.

I've noticed with my other cousins blogs that they are including things they remember about our Grandparents (by the way, Tamara I was caught by the "guitar" often). I didn't know if I would be able to do this because my hormones are all over the place right now. The things I remember that were not included in their sites are as follows:
* I remember going to church with Grandma & Grandpa the year before we moved to Utah and we always had grilled cheese sandwiches after church.
* I remember going to Grandma & Grandpa's on Sunday nights when we lived in California to sit around, chat, and eat a bowl of ice cream.
* I remember Grandma Astle bearing her testimony when we would go to church with her to make sure we knew what she believed.
* I remember watching 'Twas the Night Before Christmas in black in white on Christmas Eve on a film projector and then watching it backwards as Santa flew in reverse off the housetop.
* When we went to Bear Lake as a family some of the family had to go back to Salt Lake for different reasons one day. Jen had to go to school to take a test and asked me to drive with her so she would not have to make the drive alone. Janice and Grandpa took a separate car to take care of other business. Well Jen was zipping back up to Bear Lake (and Jen is not a slow driver) when all of a sudden this big ol' Cadillac flew by us like we were standing still. You guessed it...It was Grandpa.
* Playing mahjongg, heart, boggle, or any other board game we could find.

I'm still trying to decide if it's safe to travel since the baby will be here just 7 weeks after the funeral. Jen said they have good Doctors up in Utah. I told her I would be there for sure if she had to speak at the funeral and it sounds like that is what the family has decided. So it looks like we will need to make the trek from Phoenix up to Salt Lake. It will be good to see most of the family again, even though it is under these circumstances.

Life is crazy

Things have been hectic since Emilee started school. Between presidency meetings, enrichment activities, Emilee school and doctor appointments there's not much time to blog. Emilee wants us to take pictures of her daily in her new school clothes. See sample pictures below. There is a daily fashion show at the home prior to school. I think the reason is to make sure the skirts have enough "twirl" to them.



Poor Zach is feeling left out. The first day of school he cried the entire way home (the whole 5 miles) and kept crying out "Au-dal-la, Au-dal-la" which is Zach for Emilee. When we arrived home and I attempted to take him out of the car seat, he held onto the safety restraints and he was trying to latch it back up. Then when we went into the house he sat at the garage door and cried. Not a little whimper but a full blown cry fest. I finally decided to put him to bed since it was nap time and I was hosting the relief society presidency meeting any minute. He was still screaming when everyone got there so I pulled him out of bed and just held him. It took Zach another 20 minutes to calm down and he finally fell asleep. He was so excited to go pick Emilee up after school. Mind you, she is only in school 2 hours and 45 minutes. She is usually gone playing with her friends longer than that. That whole week he cried as we left the school, but only to the end of the street. Then when we got home he would climb behind the recliner in the den and hide out. This week has been much better, because I'm not driving carpool. He runs out to the car and says goodbye and runs back inside and everything is cool. The second picture of Zach shows him when he is pretending to sleep and fake snoring. I need to video him doing it sometime because it's quite funny. When we were at the doctors last week for his 2 year appointment the doctor asked how many words he can say. I didn't know at the time so I have started to put together a list. I am up to 86 words that we can understand. What a little smarty....and no I am not counting "Au-dal-la" which we know means Emilee, but is not a real word.

Em starts Pre-K

Emilee started Brinton Elementary School today in their pre-K program. In Arizona there are schools around the valley that allow children that will turn 5 between September 1 and December 31 to take these early learner classes and at the end of the year they determine whether the child will do better in kindergarten of first grade. Emilee was so excited to go to school. She even wanted to wear her backpack in the car on the way to school.


Emilee (middle) carpooled to school with her friends Rachael (left in the blue) and Laurynn (right in the peach).

When I picked the girls up after school I asked who wanted to go back tomorrow and they all answered "ME". It sounds like things went well today.

Zach's Birthday part 2

Here are a couple follow up pictures from Zach's birthday with him sitting with his gifts. The second picture has him climbing on his trike, even though it is on the couch.

This last picture is the drawings Emilee insisted be displayed by the Happy Birthday sign. She felt the wall needed more color for such an important occasion.

Since I can't get the video thing to work still, here's a link to Zach and Emilee playing with the streamers that Robert placed on Zach's door frame.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5780452347076272245&pr=goog-sl

Zachary turns 2

Well it's birthday time around our home. Zach just turned the big two. He had a great day. His Dad hung up streamers on his bedroom door, or as Emilee would call them "screamers". Zach and Emilee had great fun running through the streamers. I made a sandcastle cake. The directions said to use brown sugar on the outside of the cake, but that didn't sound good to eat. Instead I used graham cracker crumbs. It probably doesn't look as pretty as the brown sugar would have looked, but it was pretty tasty. We had to convince Zach not to take a big bite with the shovel. He eventually resorted to using his hands to eat his cake and quite enjoyed it that way. Zach received a lot of nice presents from family. Zach wants to thank everyone for his great gifts, but right now thank you comes out hmmm hmmmm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!!!!

Driving in Phoenix

Ok, I'm going to pull a Melissa and copy over an e-mail I got from my cousin. Many of you won't get it because you are not from Arizona, but those of you that live in Phoenix or have ever visited will appreciate the humor. The sad but funny thing is that it's all true.... #7 gets me all the time.

HOW TO DRIVE IN PHOENIX:

1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name. It is: "FEE-nicks". There are other names to learn such as Ahwatukee (Ah-wah-TOO-kee) but those will be included in the advanced course.
2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.
3. The minimum acceptable speed on most freeways is 85 mph. On Loop 101, your speed is expected to at least match the highway number. Anything less is considered "Wussy".
4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Phoenix has its own version of traffic rules. For example, cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go first at a four-way stop; the trucks with the biggest tires go second. However, East Valley, SUV-driving, cell phone-talking moms ALWAYS have the right of way.
5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.
6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It's another offense that can get you shot.
7. Road construction is permanent and continuous in Phoenix. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment pleasure during the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting.
8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, cows, horses, cats, mattresses, shredded tires, squirrels, rabbits, crows, vultures, javelinas, roadrunners, rattlesnakes, and the coyotes feeding on any of these items.
9. The Maricopa Freeway, The Papago Freeway and the "I-10" are the same road. SR202 is the same road as Loop 202 and The Red Mountain Freeway. SR51 is also known as Piestewa Parkway, but no one can pronounce Piestewa so it is still called by its politically incorrect former name, the Squaw Peak Parkway. Dunlap and Olive are the same street. Jefferson becomes Washington, but they are not the same street. Loop 101 is also known as the Pima Freeway except when it is west of I-17. I-17 is also The Black Canyon Freeway and The Veterans Memorial Highway. The Loop 303 does not loop anywhere. Lastly, Thunderbird Rd. becomes Cactus Rd., but Cactus Rd. does not become Thunderbird Rd. because it deadends at a mountain.
10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been "accidentally activated."
11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 70 in a 55-65 mph zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be "flipped off" accordingly. If you return the flip, you could be shot.
12. For summer driving, it is advisable to wear potholders on your hands.
13. True Phoenicians ALWAYS seek to park in a shady spot, even before the sun has risen, and no matter how far the parking space is from the office/store/restaurant. This is why you will see cars widely scattered around a parking lot instead of clustered in one place; these people arrived early to park in covered spaces or under trees.
14. If the driver stopped in front of you at a red light suddenly opens his passenger door, it is advisable to quickly avert your eyes before he spits out his chewing tobacco

Zach swim lesson #2

Zach hates doing back floats. Usually his legs are straight up in the air. He is starting to put his feet closer to the water when he is on his back.


The class is doing monkey walks around the perimeter of the pool. Zach is really good at getting around the wall. We just have to be careful because he will pull himself out of the water and jump back in whether someone is there to catch him or not.


Here's the class picking rings to dive for them on the step. Zach always seems to pick the blue one.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7674614633756157055

If you copy this link there is a video of Zach retrieving a ring during swim lessons. He has no fear of the water, which scare's me. I am trying to figure out how you get the videos to pop up on the actual blog, but it is just not working for me. If anyone has any ideas how to make it work....please help me.