Class of 2020!

Porter graduated from Kindergarten last night. (He's the one under the stars.) The whole graduation lasted 30 minutes. It was a very nice program the school put together for sappy parents like me that still want to walk their kid up to the teacher and not leave until he's totally in the classroom. Then sneak inside to peek in the classroom window. I hope first grade has classroom windows. Porter and Mrs. Faulkner. The bestest bestest bestest teacher ever. Did I mention she was good?

Porter's Papa and Nana (my parents) and his best friend Auntie Aubrey (my baby sister) came to cheer him on.
Olen's parents were unable to make it; but we are thankful for them and the selfless service they give whenever they are needed.
Porter and the Baum twins. They spent a lot of time together this year in school. I had a picture of them on my last post at the campout and thought why not another...they're so cute!




Happy Birthday to London!
We had a little cake and candles after the graduation for the sake of having pictures with cake and candles. (Thanks, Aunt Arlissa, for the super cute birthday girl dress up items. They fit perfectly and she wouldn't take her earrings off the whole night.)

Papa teaches London how to ride her new 'Inchworm'. A complete success.

"A camping we MUST go"

So Monday, May 19th this was the temperature at 3:45 pm. I snapped this photo with my cell phone on the way home from picking Porter up from school. I believe it. It was wicked hot. And the trusty rear-view mirror never lies.

This photo was shot, also with the cell, on our way out of town to the annual Family Campout on Friday, May 23rd at 3:45 pm. Yeah, it says 31 degrees!

And check this out! It was snowing and raining like crazy the whole way out of town.

Ok, let me back up. So Olen's family (my hubby and his five brothers, one sister and mom and dad) have the tradition of going camping over Memorial weekend since his parents were married. No ifs, ands or buts. Or crazy freak snow storms.

So for all you true-believers scroll down (and down and down) to join me on a picture journey of the coldest Memorial Weekend Campout aka The Family Reunion we've ever had.

Friday, was London's 2nd Birthday. I'm sure this will be the only year she'll spend her birthday in the snow. In Arizona at least.

Uncles Haskel and Brawner rigged this cool swing for the kids to play on. Porter rocked it.

London rocked it in her own way. (She would get a running start and fly like Superman. It was awesome.) But, here, she's just chill'n with some watermelon.

Olen is showing Porter how to use the marshmallow blow-gun. I don't think there was enough blow-power. We'll have to work on the design for next year. Still fun.

The sun finally came out on Saturday afternoon and I slowly began venturing away from the warmth of the camp fire. I took Port and London out for a stroll on Wyatt's (nephew) bike and buggy. I'm going to blame my completely-out-of-breath look on the atmosphere. The air is really thin up there, ya know. Really.

London and cousins: Heather and Seneca. Their ride was long over, but they all just liked to hang out in the buggy. It was a girls only thing.

I'm sad that I didn't take more than this one picture of the camp trailer Olen rented for me this year. I fell in love with that trailer. It saved the day, well, weekend actually. And probably my marriage, too! Camping in a tent was just not an option this year. Or ever again. Not now that I've met the beautiful camper-trailer.

The campout is not complete without fishing.

The wind was blowing wild on the lake; but Porter and London love to be outside like their daddy and were nothing but smiles.

We caught only four fish - all by me! Ha! I know, right?!

London thinks fish are the coolest things ever.

We brought pinatas to celebrate London's birthday. The butterfly was meant for the little kids but it was a fighter and took the help of the bigger kids to bust.

Porter and I made this pinata for the big kids. Port gave it his best shot, but it also proved too tough to bust. After it was knocked off the rope the kids tore it apart on the ground. Carnal instinct, I guess.

We are always so glad when friends join the fun on the campout! This year our friends, Treg and DeAnne Baum and their girls came along. (Porter was glad, too.)

Porter and London share a quite moment by the camp fire. Are you wondering about the orange shirts yet? Every year (for the past five years) some one in the family organizes the family campout shirts and we wear them on Sunday. This year it was Haskel and Val. Thanks again guys!

On Sunday we take a drive. Sometimes we have a picnic or stop to play in the more grassy fields, or catch crawdads in a creek. This year Porter learned how to skip rocks.

Here's the whole gang and then some. It's a good time. Seriously, if you ever want some down-home fun just leave your Memorial weekend open and we'll give you a map of where to be.

The General Lee saga continues

The Charger is all primed and ready to be painted.

In the process of painting.

Our friend, Carla, and the shiny new orange Charger. The last steps to becoming "The General" are the decals and interior. But will it be completed in time to join the others at the Dukesfest, just a month away?! Stay tuned to find out.

My Hyper-Hypo

This is Katie. She's my sister. She's one of my very best friends. She's moving away this weekend to La Verkin, UT (just outside St. George, UT). If you know some one in St. George (or just outside in La Verkin) would you tell them that the coolest girl just moved in to town and that she is going to need a friend? Thanks.

Today we kidnapped Katie for a sister lunch at Pete's. Here are my sisters. From the left: Katie (awesomest sister-in-law), Bethany, Katie Mae, Molly and Darcy.

But that's not all... We missed you, Chelsea! Sorry you had to work. Busy day at the dentist office.

And numbers 11 and 12: Olivia and Aubrey

While I'm making introductions; here are my brothers! From the left: Christopher, Andrew, Spencer and Matthew.

{Jenn, this is my parent's new (85-year old) house in Mesa.}

Happy Trails, Katie and Jacob!

Just the Good Ol' Boys

I remember it all started with this lunchbox. I came across it in a box I was unpacking a month after we were married.

So do you have a second? I'm about to tell you the story of how I was adopted into the Duke Family. Yup. The Dukes of Hazzard County, Georgia.

Olen told me that he got this treasured lunchbox (not as a collector's item, but for use) because the Dukes of Hazzard was his favorite TV show growing up. As a young adult he had the opportunity to purchase two Dodge Chargers from the year the TV show was in production. He told me of these cars and how they were being watched over by a buddy down in St. David. I thought "Um...that's cool. Moving on.".

Well, then Warner Bros. began releasing the original TV series season by season onto DVD. We started accumulating the whole 7-season set one by one. It became a nightly ritual for Olen and Porter to watch an episode of "The Duke Boys" before bed every night. Porter learned the theme song by heart by season two and perfected his "YEEE-HAAA!" by the end of the first episode. He was three and a half.

Porter paired all of us up with characters in the show.

He is Bo Duke.

Olen is Luke Duke.

He makes me be Daisy.

But I want to be Cooter. He's the one with the best ideas that always save the day. Plus he's the only one who ever gets out of Hazzard County. (And in real life Ben Jones, the actor, had a successful political career.)

London didn't join our family until the third or fourth season, so she gets to be either Uncle Jessie or Boss Hogg. It really depends on the episode.

Now fast-forward to present day. Olen and his good buddy (Jeff, down St. David way who has been so graciously watching over Olen's Chargers all these years) decided to begin working on restoring one car for the upcoming 2008 Dukesfest next month.

You heard me right my friends. And this year is the 30th Anniversary of the Dukes of Hazzard so it's going to be a doosie of a fest if there ever was one. All living cast members come and everyone wears bright orange and says "Yee-Haw" and calls each other "Cousin" for a whole weekend. It's a Hazzard-style hoe-down. Another tradition is driving your tricked-out General Lee to the show and either showing it off just for fun, or for sale. Thus brings me to the point of this tale down memory lane. They hope to sale.

Here's what they're working with.

These are actually pictures we took a couple months ago when we went down to the shop in Tucson where the Charger is undergoing General Lee transformation. The body has been reshaped and sanded down and Olen's buddy, Jeff, has done amazing things to the engine. Olen is going down this week to pick up the seats for refinishing.

But it still has a way to go until it looks like these:

I will begin a documentation of the transformation; because I'm sure I have you all on the edge of your seats with anticipation.


It will be Jeff that drives the car to Atlanta, Georgia for the Dukesfest parade of General Lees because it falls on the same weekend in June that Seven Brides for Seven Brothers preforms (I'm Martha's mother!) and Olen is staying behind to see the show.Yes, friends, he is that wonderful.

I was telling Olen how much fun it would be to bring the car up before the Fest and drive it down Mill Ave. or at least to church. He said that would be fun! And even funner if we were to dress up as the cast! I said fine. But I'm Cooter.

One more hole in the head

Port lost his third tooth today. He said he deserves something big from the tooth fairy this time. He's a little bummed out because he can't do his high whistle with the gap in his front teeth anymore. Oddly, I am not sad at all.