Feb, Mar, and all the time in between that got away

Well hello, where to start. I really don't remember too much of what happened when, but I will try to remember the more important things in our eventful family life. First of all, a long overdue thanks to mom, dad, Julie, & Grandpa for coming and visiting with us. We had a wonderful time visiting and being with you all.

Julie missing her man in Gilbert, AZ and having soooo much fun!

I have also enjoyed many visits with Monica and her cute family over the last little while. We have enjoyed many lunches, parks, shopping as she has come to the valley frequently from Feb to Mar. It was great fun lets do it again soon.

Well I don't know if it's good news or somewhat depressing, but my baby is now officially signed up for kindergarten. Not just kindergarten, but ALL-DAY kindergarten. I think I will miss her more than she will miss me. She is so excited. We attended the kindergarten round-up and now everyday she asks "is today the day I get to go to kindergarten" I have since after answering umteen times let her know the big day is the day after Jessika's birthday.

Benjamin and Jessika enjoyed a field trip to the Higley Performing Arts Center where they listened to an orchestra perform 'Peter and the Wolf'. It was really neat and I was glad that I got to accompany as a chaperone for Benjamin's class. Anthony went on a field trip to the 'JA BIZTOWN'. This is a junior achievement buisiness town for 5th graders. They prepared in their classes for weeks before talking about cities and how they are run. They each interviewed for 'career' positions and were assigned a certain town job. This is a small town with a travel agency, insurance, news, supply house, mall, bank, television and radio station, etc... Anthony was chosen to be the news anchor for which he worked for Cox Communications for the day holding press conferences with the different business CEO's and hosting 'shout-outs, and moments of fame". He had a great time. They dress up like the actual career they were playing so ofcourse he was in his suit and tie. I attended helping as a chaperone and I was over the State Farm Ins. Each business had a CEO, CFO, and then some administration positions. The CEO's gave speeches at the morning town meeting, wrote payroll checks, paid bills, and solicited their business. They earned paychecks through the day and got to open a checking account, pay bills, and do some shopping in the mall. Some even got to rent cell phones for a short period of time. It was a really neat experience and Anthony really did a good job as the news anchor. As we all don't already know he doesn't mind being in the lime light!

Another field trip to the zoo for Jessika and her class. She enjoyed it lots, but was sad that mom wouldn't chaperone. Mom wasn't being mean, but Benjamin also had a field trip to AZ Science Center that same day. My justification was that we had just gone to the zoo together (see below) and I have not been to the science center since being a kid. I wanted to check it out with Ben and class so that hopefully I can take the kids during the summer or sometime soon. It was fun and we enjoyed the IMAX film about the titanic discovery. My only draw back for field trips is ofcourse, the long, hot, noisy noisy bus ride!

The end of February brought Scout Day Camp for Anthony and then the next weekend a Scout Camporee. He loves being 11 and in the bigger scouts. He had a blast and the camporee was on knots and lashings. So for 2 weeks before he always had a rope in hand tying a knot or trying to figure out a lashing. He was one out of 2 of all the scouts that could tie all the knots w/out help. Pretty impressive and we were told if it weren't for him they probably wouldn't have done so well on the lashing races.

We enjoyed some extra visitors through the month also. Rachel and Paul came through town and we had a bbq at the park with them, Wade & Ronnie, Mark, Monica & Adam and families. It was fun catching up with them and seeing their cute little girl. We also enjoyed a dinner and visit with two of Jeremy's cousins and his aunt and uncle. They came to the valley for some baseball tournaments. We went to a chinese buffet for all you can eat king crab legs, definetly not my idea, but we did enjoy. I was shocked to see my children all ask to crack, taste, and eat the crab legs. They all said they liked it, but maybe it was the cracking they liked. But they also ate more than just a taste so maybe they really liked it.

March brought in for us a family fieldtrip to the Phoenix Zoo. It was actually Chelsey's preschool fieldtrip, but due to the awesome pricing we received, I decided to take the whole gang. Not to mention I invited about 5 friends and their kids. Ronnie & kids came with us and Heather Williams (Hutching) & her kids. We had a great time. It was fun to have the cousins together and to get more acquainted with Heather and her little boys. We enjoyed riding the carosoul, riding the train, and feeding and petting the stingrays in the new stingray exhibit. We normally wouldn't do all the added events but with the low cost from the group we couldn't pass up the opportunity. We saw lots of animals and really just enjoyed the whole day.

Feeding the stingrays. We fed them raw fish (cut in half), and shrimp. You had to put your hand down underneath the stingray holding the food in the top of a fist. Their mouth is on the bottom and it was kinda freaky to feel their mouth come up over your hand and grab the food. They also splashed ton in the process so some of us were pretty wet when done. If you guessed Anthony - you're right!

Benjamin had his pinewood derby and made a great car. His car was "the one with the most scout spirit" (hence the blue and gold colors). He won lots of races, came in second on some, and third on one or two. We thought he did great. I think his overall placement was 8th in about 27 kids. Not too bad. We always enjoy our night at the track.

The next week was our spring break. I decided to take the kids to Pinetop. We enjoyed visiting with Monica and her sweet family. Bless her heart as we left to head up to Pinetop, Jessika was throwing up. I probably should've stayed home, but was glad we went. Mon. morning we woke up and Jessika still wasn't feeling well, so Monica and Adam took the boys and went skiing. Monica and Adam went snowboarding with much protest from Monica. They had a good time, but the weather wasn't the funnest for skiing with the wind and snow blowing in cold conditions. They returned home early, but the boys still had fun. I stayed with the girls and we played all day. The next morning (about 3am) Benjamin woke me up to tell me he had just thrown up. Oh joy, now I wonder where, how do I begin cleaning it all up, and where is the cleaning stuff. It was a tough job, but I finally found what I needed and got it cleaned up and got him settled back in bed. (Thanks to Benjamin for baptizing the brand new mattress for the bunk beds). Now I wondered how I was ever going to get the girls on the slopes, but Monica kept Benjamin home and let him sleep on the couch for most of the day. I tredged up to Sunrise and rented the girls skis. I decided that I would not ski so I might have more stability for helping the girls. Anthony was with us and together we were able to teach and help the girls learn how to ski. Anthony enjoyed the day off and on by himself and helping me. He enjoyed even going to the top and going down a few runs by himself. (Not sure if mom really wanted him doing that). He was very proud & mom very shocked after he came down one time and informed me he just went down Lower Lupe (a black diamond)!

Anthony & Benjamin Skiing!

Jessika picked up on the skiing really well shortly after lunch and went up and down the bunny hill. Chelsey and I worked at it lots and she absolutely loved it. She never learned the wedge really, but she also kept telling me she loved to go fast. So maybe she just didn't want to wedge. She also decided that she ought to ride the bunny hill lift by herself as her sister was so anxious to get going and not wait for her. So I helped her to the lift and the workers were very helpful as she needed to be lifted upon the seat once the chair came around. They helped her everytime. She sat right up so big and rode that lift by herself. I wondered around 2ish if they might be getting worn out and asked if they wanted to keep going. They both wanted to go and for the next two hours all they could ask every time they got to the bottom is "Do I have time to go one more?" So needless to say they went up and down more times than I could count and both rode the lifts by their selves. It was quite fun. We were sorry Benjamin was not able to join us as the weather was perfect that day. That night I headed for home just hoping no one else was going to throw up.

Chelsey & Jessika Skiing!

We enjoyed the next couple days of break just doing little things. We went to the mall one day to see the Easter Bunny and then rode the new Double Decker Carsoel. The kids waited in line and then in line again so they could ride up top on the second level. It was cool, but you still get dizzy up or down. We went hiking on Friday to the hole in the rock by the zoo and enjoyed a picnic with Mark on his lunch. Sat was filled with Easter activities. We went to an easter egg hunt and then dyed our own eggs. That night the kids performed with their performance group at Rockin R Ranch. Performers get to enjoy dinner and a show for free. I was the teacher this time so I got in free also. Jeremy got a discounted rate so after the performance we stayed and enjoyed the fun dinner and dinner show. We really enjoyed it.

Jessika, Benjamin, Anthony, & Chelsey on the carosel

Benjamin, Jessika, Chelsey, & Anthony

Anthony, Chelsey (in front), Jessika, & Benjamin

Easter was good to everyone. The girls got new dresses and the boys new ties. They got some candy and some fun little spring toys-water balloons, bubbles, sidewalk chalk. We enjoyed a nice easter dinner with Monica and Adam and Mark during the afternoon. We made homemade ice cream, had an easter egg hunt, and watched "Enchanted". It was all very enjoyable.

Chelsey & Jessika Chelsey Anthony

Jessika & Jocelyn Benjamin Jessika again!

The next day, I was more than glad to have everyone back in the routine and in school. I love breaks, but I love schedules and routines even more. Now baseball has started up and the 29th of March was the BIG opening day. We enjoyed the opening ceremonies and Anthony's first game. The next Mon. was Benjamin's first game. They both did great. And since then we have games 3-4 times a week. Some start at 5:30 and some start at 7:45 pm, yes, on weeknights. BLAH! Usually one is on Saturdays. We will enjoy the ball season and then I know we will also be greatfull when it is over. I sure love to watch the boys play and cheer them on. They have had some great hits and plays. Benjamin tried his hand at pitching one inning, ofcourse he walked lots and was very relieved when it was over. He is satisfied to play pitcher once the pitching machine comes out in the third inning.

Jeremy enjoyed the last week of March in Las Vegas at the water quality show. He ran himself ragged and wore himself thin. He enjoyed a 5 course meal which started at 7 and didn't finish the last course until midnight. Of course when he returned home he was strucken with a very bad yucky illness and spent days recouperating. He lost his voice completely. Was that a bad thing? haha

My life is very busy as is most everyones. There are those few moments that it does slow down and I get to enjoy the breath that I breath and work on some long over due projects. I am slowly making a dent little by little in each one, maybe soon I will be able to actually finish one or two of them. I love my family and so thankful for the love and fun we all share. I hope you will enjoy reading about our adventures and just remember I am very long winded! Have a Great Month!

The Holt Family