It's great to have friends!

We were so excited to have old friends stop by and visit us last month. Morgan, Kim and Michael moved from Victorville to Utah a few years ago. It was a sad day when they left us but for good reasons!! Kelsey and Morgan enjoyed hanging out with eachother and talking about boys! They have been friends since they were about 3 years old. They have grown up so quickly but they sure are beautiful. Kim, you know we're going to have our hands full when they start dating! Look how cute they were on the first day of Kindergarten back in 2000! Time sure does fly!

I enjoyed visiting with Kim and reliving good times! I sure do miss you Kim!!!

Mormon Prom

My calling in church is the 2nd counselor in the Stake Young Women's Presidency. For those of you who do not know what that means, we work with the youth of our church, ages 12-18. One of our assignments was Mormon Prom. This is an opportunity for our youth to have a dance in a safe environment. Actually, we combined the youth of 3 stakes: Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley. Our responsibility was to decorate the Apple Valley Stake Center. Our theme this year was: Enchanted Realm. So we needed to come up with Renaissance decor. Many months of stress on my part, turned into one beautiful evening! We used Rock Wall paper to cover the stage as well as side walls to make the feel of a castle. My brillant husband came up with the idea for the basketball hoops. It was Wednesday night, three days before the prom, we were standing in our church building still trying to figure out how to cover the hoops. Chris, in his infinite wisdom said, "Why don't you make a torch?" Brillant...Brillant...Brillant!!!

We measured the hoop and I started sewing. This was the outcome! We took the same rock wall paper, covered the back of the hoop, placed the torch over the hoop and turned the tea light votives on. We used tissue paper to give the flame look! It was a hit!

This was the picture backdrop. Another stake was in charge of providing the photographer. They did a great job on picture taking!

Not one of the prettier centerpieces, but it worked. At least you have an idea. My family and I went into the desert and cut down dead trees to line the walls with and to use in the vases as centerpieces. We hung votives with tealight battery operated candles and jewels from the branches! Thanks Kristi for this idea. She used these decorations at her daughters wedding reception!

We took the same trees, larger form of course and lines the walls. We used white christmas lights and wrapped each tree and even draped lights across the ceiling for a dropped celing effect. I sewed 12 tapestries as well as buckets covers for our trees. Not bad, for just learning how to sew. I must say, creating your own pattern is much easier than reading one!

We had a great turn out! About 130 kids attended! They all had a blast!Task complete! I look forward to next year! I think we are in charge of desserts!!!!

Easter Fun - part 2!

We always try to take as many family pictures as possible whenever we are together. This is a picture of Kelsey, Ethan and Riley with their Great-Grandma Denkers. Here are most of the Denkers great-grandchildren with their Great-Grandma and Grandpa Futrell.

And my most favorite picture of the night goes to Kelsey and her Grandpa Denkers.

Their is a story behind this picture! Caden is not fond of taking pictures but he thinks his Uncle Chris is the best! Actually he believes his Uncle is a Jedi Master! A few months back, Caden stayed with us while Jeff and Denise where in Hawaii.

Chris bought one of those "snuggie" blankets that you see on T.V. You know, the one that has sleeves and looks like a choir robe. He knows I am constantly cold! Of course, when we opened it up and tried it out for the first time, it had so much static electricity it in, I could hardly stand to touch it! This is where the Jedi Master comes into play.

Uncle Chris and Caden played swords all day long and would use the force on eachother. Chris had the brillant idea to use my snuggie to his advantage. Chris wrapped it around his arms, rubbed it back and forth
and created even more static. He called Caden into the room and started playing again. He told Caden that he could "shock him" with his force. Of course, Caden didn't believe him. So Uncle Chris went right up to him and touched him. I didn't know Caden could jump that far! He was amazed. Uncle Chris was able to shock him a few more times before Caden finally realized that Uncle Chris really was a Jedi Master.

Now, whenever we see him, Chris always asks Caden if he would like to feel the force again. He always denys. He is so convinced that Chris has this power, not even his dad Jeff can change his mind!

Easter Fun! - part one

After church, we headed down to Rancho Cucamonga to celebrate Easter with Chris' family. Look at those cute cousins! From left to right: Emree, Kennedy, Kelsey, Riley, Braxton, Ethan, Gavin and Caden. They are all soooo anxious to open their Easter goodies! Kelser Bear with her basket.

Smiley Riley (his nickname since birth!)

Good ol' Eats Dog as his dad calls him!

Part two under construction! Check back soon!

The night before Easter...

A yearly tradition, the coloring of Easter eggs the night before. You would think with the kids getting older, they wouldn't be interested anymore. They all tried to "one up" the other with their coloring expertise!

The final results. Not too shabby in my book! What good looking kids we have!

Still catching up...Deep Sea Fishing

What an exciting day for Ethan! For years, he's listened to his dad talk about deep sea fishing and the types of fish they "usually" catch. Back on March 27, Ethan finally had the opportunity to experience the thrill of ocean fishing! Well, it was an experience! The day started rather early for Ethan. He's not use to fisherman's hours! They left our house around 4am (if I remember correctly), met up with Chris' brother Scott and his son Austin, picked up Grandpa Denkers (Chris' dad) and Uncle Jeff and headed down to Davey's Locker out of Newport Beach. They boarded the boat and headed out to sea. Mom was very nervous about Ethan going because he usually has a problem with motion, but thanks to Bonine, he did great!

He had a fun day soaking up the rays but no fish catching! Ethan had a blast and hopes that next time he goes, he might be able to catch SOMETHING! All he came home with was exhaustion!! I guess the lack of catching fish is a tough job!

RVing in Julian, CA

This is our idea of camping...RVing at a 5 star resort. This is KQ Ranch in Julian, CA. Actually, this was our first time staying here. That's our trailer at the main gate! I love the outdoors as long as it provides a bed, shower, microwave, etc. That's actually Chris' idea of camping! When we pulled up to the gate, Chris needed me to do this and that but instead I jumped out of the car when I saw several wild turkeys walk by!

After settling in, we headed down into town to check things out. We ran into this pizza joint that serves their pizza right out of a wood fire stove. So we decided to stop for a bite! Just waitin' for our food!

If you're ever in Julian, you must stop and eat at Wynola's Pizza Express. It was a little pricey for pizza, but worth every penny!!!! They also had the best cream soda. Chris is still trying to figure out how to get his hands on some!

After bellies were full, we decided to head back to camp and check out the resort. We stumbled upon an olympic size pool that was covered and ready for use! It was only 60 degrees outside, but inside the temp was 84 degrees with a perfect pool temp of 78. Chris and the kids couldn't pass it up! I stayed out to take pictures, of course!!! Not quite ready for swimsuit season!!

I just love this picture of Chris and Riley!

The next morning, we woke and decided we would explore some more. Everytime I turned around, Riley was begging for me to take his picture. I sure think he looks cute in this one!

We decided to end the day fishing at KQ's pond. Chris had to show Riley the ropes but according to Kelsey and Ethan, they are experts and didn't need any help!

What a great picture of Ethan! Not sure what he's thinking, but looks like he's deep in thought!

Kelsey had to show up her brothers by being the only one to catch a fish. Not sure if you can see it. It's that little thing to the left. She didn't care how big it was, she just wanted to be the first one to catch something. Ethan did catch a few things, oh wait a minute, those were tree branches! Better luck next time boys!

My baby boy!

Of all the pictures I took over the three days we were in Julian, this by far is my favorite. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something in those beautiful big blue eyes that melt mom's heart!

Best buds!

We had a great time camping and look forward to the next time!