Twilight Camp 2009

June 2009

Cub Scout Camp (a.k.a. Twilight Camp) was a blast this year. I went everyday with the boys and got to watch as they had all the fun. It was Monday Through Friday from 4pm until 8pm. There is a lot of work that goes into planning this and I am very appreciative to all those who volunteer so that this can happen. I feel that Twilight Camp is the highlight of my boys cub scouting experience...they look forward to it all year long.

Lincoln 3rd Ward's Father and Son Campout 2009

The Strawberry Patch

I think we planted our strawberries in April and were hoping

to have a nice Summer Treat once in a while, but so far we've

only gotten a few baskets. I hope they come in with a vengeance

in the Spring, but I'm not holding my breath. Our problem

could be the wild turkeys that have been hanging around. They've

eaten all the grapes and berries almost before they were even big

enough to see. We haven't seen them in the strawberries, but

that doesn't mean they weren't there. It took a while to plant

all of these plants (over 900). My sister Kellie and the neighbors

(Matthew, Juliana, and Susan Anderson) came to help along with

Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan, Aaron, myself, and all the kids.

Needless to say, our backs and knees were sore for a few days.

Rockwell Lane Work Party

I put this page together a while back but never posted it.

We love where we live and are lucky to have such great

neighbors. It is now time to have another work party...

it's the price we pay for living in the country.

Super-Sprint Triathalon ~ August 2009

Okay, I'm getting a little faster at putting my pages together, but I still need help with my vision...ie...I should have known that these colors together would look like Christmas. If I were more of a perfectionist I'd probably spend the time to change it, but...I'm not : )...what you see is what you get!

Sleeping Kids

Swimmin' With The Fishes

New Pictures

I am not sure what I did to deserve such great kids, but I sure am glad they're mine. Aaron's sister Gwen took some pictures of us when she was in town. She does a great job and she's an expert at digi-scrapbooking, which I have been wanting to learn how to do for a while. She showed me a few things and I've been figuring things out slowly but surely. These are my first two pages. The first one took about 2 hours and the second took about half that. I think the next one will go even quicker. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I am not surprised at how long it took, because a regular scrapbook page would have taken me just as long. Thanks Gwen for all your help.

My New Favorite Song

Matt has been going to Choir Practice in our ward for a little over a month. He absolutely loves it. His first time singing was last Sunday and he was adorable. I had to scoot over in our pew to see him and make sure he could see me. He was beaming, and so excited to sing in front of everyone for the first time. I was looking at him and every time he saw me he got a big grin. I think everyone was watching him, he was so cute. When he came down off the stand and sat by me he had a huge smile. I told him he did great and he whispered, "I love singing in the choir." He always dresses nice and thanks to Grandpa Z he even ties his own tie. They sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic and I think it sounded great, but I was a little pre-occupied being a proud parent. The Choir Director is my visiting teacher and she said he is welcome to come if he will behave and listen (she said he always does). Great Job Matt!

MATT THE CHEF

Matt was definitely the master chef on this night. He was sporting the apron and was very excited for us to see what he had accomplished...Way to Go Matt!

FIXING BIKES...NEVER ENDING!!!

PINEWOOD DERBY 2009

EASTER IN LAS VEGAS 2009

Easter 2009

We went to Las Vegas to visit Grandma and Grandpa Canniff over Easter Break. It was my camera and I wanted some good pictures but, In most of the pictures we had either Matt or Aaron giving someone "bunny ears." Imagine my surprise When I got home and looked at the pictures and saw Grandma giving "bunny ears." I had to laugh...it was too funny.

Matt's First Chimney Sweep

Matt was so excited to help dad sweep our chimney. In this picture he started to run down our very slippery metal roof to get to the ladder...talk about nerve racking. Rooftops are dangerous enough, never mind the fact that we have a 10 year old boy who loves to climb as high as he can in a tree and thinks he is indestructible.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY

Sam was baptised on Saturday, March 14. He looked so good. Sam is pictured with Jim and then with Shannon. To the right is the whole family. They're great and I love them all so much. After the Baptism We all went out to eat at Chevy's (my favorite) for lunch and had a great time.

DRESS-UP TIME...AGAIN

Bernhard Living History Museum

I had to take a picture of the "Courting Candle" replica they had at the Museum. I had never heard of this before and thought it was interesting. The courting candle can hold a long or short candle and is turned up to make it taller or turned down to make it shorter. If the Father didn't approve of the fellow who was courting his daughter, he would make the candle shorter and when it was burned to the top of the candle holder, it was time for him to leave. On the other hand, if the father approved he would make the candle taller allowing the young man more time in his home. Interesting concept....Aaron would probably prefer the old cleaning his gun trick...our poor girls.

Matt and Ammon's class got to go to the Bernhard History Museum in Auburn, Ca. Everyone is suposed to dress in late 1800's clothing. The Kids got to tour the Museum and then participate in five or six stations that teach about life in the late 1800's. The stations I remember are Laundry, Cooking, Arts and Crafts, Leather Care, Marbles, and Woodworking. Everyone was suposed to bring a lunch Pail or Basket with an authentic style lunch (no plastic bags or soda cans). I was over marbles where we made a pouch to hold them in and then played a game. Ammon was sick this day so he didn't get to come.

ABB WORKOUT

Matthew Aaron Zambrana turns 10!!!

Okay, I can't believe Matt is 10 already. He is such a wonderful big brother. He is very helpful around the house and loves to surprise me by doing things in secret (like cleaning his room or picking flowers for me). The other day we went to the library and it was only a day or so after a storm so everything was wet. He climbed down into a ditch and I started to get upset because I told him not to get wet or muddy. Well, as I'm about to scold him, he comes up with a hand full of wild flowers and hands them to me...how couold I possibly be mad at that.?

My friend Dawn made a lovely cake. I kind of bought it...at the Relief Society Birthday dinner... our ward holds an auction where the sisters donate things and then we bid on them using funny money. The amount of money you have depends on the questionnaire you've filled out, ie. if you read your scriptures today you get $5, etc...Anyway, Matt was way excited to have such a great cake. The only present he got from us was an IPOD. It was used from Craigs List, but new to him. He was way excited about it. We went out to MiMi's Cafe with Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan for the occasion. After Dinner the Anderson Family and Matt's friend Grant from down the street came over for Cake and Ice Cream. Grant brought Matt a really nice card which told Matt what a great friend he is...it was really sweet. The Andersons gave Matt a new Wallet to keep his Birthday Money in.

The Broken Window

Christyal Moved out of the area about a year ago. She comes and visits about once a month. She is a great friend and when we go out of town she often comes to help with the kids. About two weeks ago she came for a visit and the boys did this to her car window...We have a wire that goes from the telephone pole to our house (right over the driveway). Here's the scenerio: Ammon says, "Matt, do you think I can throw this rock over the wire?" Matt says, "Yeah." Ammon then throws the rock without thinking about where it will land... I was in the kitchen cleaning up and the boys came in and asked me if they could talk to me outside. They were obviously shaken and proceeded to tell me they didn't mean to do it. I told them that they would have to pay for the window and they needed to write a letter telling Sister Nauman they were sorry. They went to their room and I showed the window to Christyal. I must say that though I was upset about having to spend $300 to repair the window, I am very proud of them for telling the truth.

Here's the letter Matt Wrote to Christyal. Matt's birthday was coming a few days after this happened and we had to laugh about his note...after he wrote "I will give you", he had written "my birthday money" but decided to erase that part.

Here's the Letter Ammon Wrote. I think he really thought about what to say before writing it.

Grandpa Z, Uncle Tony, and Uncle Garth come to visit

Indy snuggles up to Uncle Tony....Our dog will do anything for attention. As they went to sleep I could hear Grandpa Z, Tony, Aaron, and Indy snoreing. The Kids just love when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit. Amalie and Zoie pose with Grandpa Z.

Tennessee Trip

In February Aaron and I went to Tennessee for a Chimney Sweep Mix Group that Aaron is in. They travel far and wide twice a year to evaluate one another's businesses. This is the first trip I've gone on with him and it was really fun. The Members of the group are Business Associates but they are also great friends. Here we are standing on the grounds of the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. It was beautiful and if I ever happen to make it to Tennessee again, I would definitely visit it.

Many of us got into town early, so we did a little sight seeing together. We are standing in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It was interesting but I wasn't interested enough to stay until it closed (but I had to...Aaron loved it).

When Aaron and I got into town we were really hungry and we stopped to ask someone where we should eat. They recommended this little hole in the wall called "Jack's Place". Their specialty was BBQ. It was the best BBQ ever. We liked it so much we took the rest of our group for lunch the next day.

This is STUDIO B!!! If you don't know what that is, then maybe you don't know music...I didn't know what it was, but Aaron sure did. He was really excited to get to go here. Just in case you have no clue what STUDIO B is (like me before the tour), it is where many famous singers recorded their music.

Toilet Talk

Our Little Helper

Matt's Mohawk!!!

Amalie's Birthday Party