Pen Wars

In the mythical realm of Naun their were mighty contentions among the Gods.  To settle their differences they sent each of their finest warriors to battle for peace.

Eli the Enigmatical was sent by Bast the Cat Goddess.  Eli became her finest warrior when fighting off a sphinx that was terrorizing the local villages.

Kyren the Courageous was sent by Vila the Wind Goddess.  Kyren was always her finest warrior since birth, blowing down anyone in her path.

Jacob the Just was sent by Ares the God of War.  While he is the finest warrior and swiftest in his judgements, Jacob is also the most fair.

Brooke the Brave was sent by Isis the Rainbow Goddess.  Brooke is the newest and youngest of the warriors but has a colorful personality that no one can equal.

Battle ensued for many days.  These warriors fought valiantly and with strength beyond that of a mere mortal.

When all was said and done these warriors were too good and no one could rise above the rest and so a truce was called.

And the land of Naun is peaceful once again.

(The weapons showed in the individual pictures were not the weapons used in the actual war.  These were for artistic purposes only.  The actual war consisted of 1 marker for each person.)

Pioneer Day

Here in Mesa they don't really celebrate Pioneer day.  So I have taken it upon myself to do something every year for my kids.  We were supposed to get together with some other friends and do food, crafts, and games,  I was in charge of the food part.  My friend unfortunately had to back out at the last minute so we only ended up doing the food part.

First I had everyone shake some cream to make our butter.

While they did that I made wheat biscuits, beef jerky and corn on the cob.

While the kids ate I told them about the pioneers, who they were, why they moved, and why we celebrate them.  While it was done on a lot smaller scale this year we still took some time out of the day to remember them.

Brooke's Party

Kyren wanted to plan Brooke's party and it was less work for me so why not.  She planned a "Princess Party."  All of the guests showed up dressed as princesses.

Then they had to get ready for the ball so they had their nails and make-up done.  During this time our "servants" served popcorn and drinks while being pampered.  Those waiting for their turn watched Princess and the Frog.

Our "servants" served popcorn and drinks while being pampered.

After they were all ready for the ball they walked down the red carpet as each princess was announced and cheered upon arrival.

A good game a Freeze dance was played at the ball.  They were a little shy to get into the dancing so i had to dance along.  Why is it that I was so out of breath and they weren't even panting?

After freeze dance we learned that Cinderella lost her slipper and we had to go on a scavenger hunt around the house trying to find it.

Cake and Ice cream followed and we didn't have any time left over, a perfect party in my opinion.

Love this Picture!

Sam, Melinda and Family

While I have already posted a lot including this family I just want to say what a fun time I had with them visiting.  Not including the reunion, Brooke's birthday, the Fourth of July, DI and Charming Charlie; we also went to Sedona for a day,

Enjoyed each other's company, lots of shopping for the mom's while the cousins played,

And I always enjoy when Sam visits because he cooks!

Love you guys!

Brooke's Birthday

Before the reunion but while we still had guests, we were able to celebrate Brooke's birthday.  We went to go to the science center with Sam's family.  Luckily if you have over 15 people you can get a group discount and it is half the price so it was well worth it and I think we all had fun.  And once again we had Melinda with us so we could have some pictures.

The older kids were especially excited that they could go off on their own.

And might I say Sam kicked my butt in this race.

We also enjoyed cupcakes and lunch in their lunch room.

Farley Family Reunion 2012

Every 3 years we have a reunion for our immediate Farley family.  We take turns and this year was Nicki's turn.  Since Nicki and I have traveled back to California for the last 14 years whenever there was a family event she decided that everyone could come to us this time.  I couldn't agree more.

Originally we were supposed to go camping, but 1 week before it was supposed to start we learned of recent bear attacks within 20 miles of our campsite.  Totally unprovoked aggressive bear attacks.  So it was decided to nix the camping and she came up with a quick back-up plan, my house.

Nicki did a great job planning a fun and eventful reunion that we all could enjoy.

Thursday we started officially at dinner time with spoon tacos.  This was followed by a trip to the drive-in to watch Brave and the avengers.  They turned the back of Chad's truck into a small pool for the kids to sit in during the movie.  There was also popcorn and watermelon to snack on.  I think my favorite part was actually watching for McKay's name in the credit's and having his whole family there to cheer their hearts out when it came up, (needless to say I'm proud of my brother).

Friday morning we started early with breakfast and then headed over to the church building for the mini-olympics and skits.  We were pre-selected into teams and had a blast as we raced with eggs, 3-legs, books on our heads, discus, shot put, and much more.  The skits were fun and humorous.  This was probably my favorite time since we spent it all together.

To fill in a bit of time the ladies got their toes done by a neighbor of mine.  Their called glitter toes and the polish/glitter stays on for weeks afterward.  Perfect touch for the city pool that we hit afterwards.

We then had our adult dinner while the kids enjoyed some pizza and cousin time.  Afterwards when we got back Nate and Laura made dessert for everyone.  Back in October Nate had come in last for a family challenge and as punishment had to serve a dessert at the reunion.  It was picked for camping and luckily we have a fire pit on our side yard so they were still able to stick to their original plan and made fireside eclairs.  Very tasty.

And of course what is a reunion without a little scum.

We finished off with sourdough pancakes Saturday morning, glitter tattoos from grandma, and lots of hugs to last us until next time.

I would say it was a success of a reunion and you couldn't even tell it came together at the last second.

 Good job Nicki!

Fourth of July

We were lucky to have family here this year for the Fourth of July.  Our Farley Family reunion started on July 5th and it was in AZ so Sam, Melinda, and family came to spend a few days at our house before the reunion.

We had BBQ and then went to our church building to watch the firework show of a local church.  We brought sparklers for the kids.  Lucky for us there were others nearby who had bought the street side fireworks and we were able to sit and enjoy all they had purchased while we waited for the bigger show to start.  These kind have only recently been allowed so it was fun for my kids to see.  They also had a few "un-allowed" fireworks as well, like roman candles.  It was a lot of fun and I hope to see them in the same spot next year.  Funny thing is, is that it was the family of our cousin's wife.

Once again credit for the pictures go to Melinda.

     

Charming Charlie

After Deianeira introduced me to this store I started introducing others.  If you ever need an accessory this is your store.  The not only do they carry every kind of accessory: purse, shoes, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc., they also color code it all and have great pricing.  In a 2 week time I went to this store 3 times.  One time was with Melinda

We looked a bunch, since the store is big, and didn't really find anything to get until we reached the clearance section and we were stuck.  We were able to find earring and necklace sets for only $6, and much much more.

I had a real hard time deciding on anything since I am not good at imagining what I have and what will look good.  At one point Melinda said she would not let me leave until I bought something.  In the end I spent more then she did.  But I love what I got and had so much fun with just the 2 of us.