Arizona

As soon as school was over for the boys, we hopped on a train and went to Arizona to see my mom and brother!!! We decided to take AmTrak this year, because it was cheaper than airline tickets and it was easier than driving!!!
However, there are no "frills" on the train. We loaded right there at the cross stop!! And it was about 100 degrees outside!! Needless to say, it was kind of hectic loading!! Especially not knowing what to expect! We also met a true "hobo" while waiting in the train station! My stomach did a somersault when I realized he was homeless!! Riding the train was an ADVENTURE!!!

Once we got on the train, the adventure didn't stop. They didn't have seats for us right away....

so we went and sat in the viewing car.....which really was a blessing in disguise, because the boys loved it in there! And you can see why!

We got comfortable here for a while, had a snack and enjoyed the ride!!!

Eventually, we got our seats, but they were all separated, so I sat in my seat and the boys sat up in the viewing car. Then we went to dinner on the dining car! It was sooooo nice and the food was yummy!!
We were soooooo glad to finally get to Arizona (12 hours later!) and be with Grammy and Uncle Mike! We made a trip to Williams AZ for another train ride and a trip to the Grand Canyon!! Here we all are on the train riding to the canyon!
This trip wasn't quite as long as our first train ride!

It was exciting to see the views of the canyon!!!

Thank you soooo much Grammy for taking us on this special trip!! We love you! ♥

I had fun with my boys, but we sure missed having Dan with us this trip!!! He was back home working.

We stayed at a really nice place in Williams AZ. Williams, AZ is a quaint little town in the mountains. The temps were actually cool there! Drew rode on this carriage one night through town! It was so fun learning some history of the town! Poor Zach was sick much of this trip! He was having 102.9 fevers daily and nightly! So he didn't feel good enough to really enjoy anything. Bless his heart, he was a trooper though and kept up with us!!!

After a week of being in AZ shopping, watching movies, eating, talking, shopping, resting....it was time to come home. We loaded the train at 11pm and rode all night! The adventure didn't end either! We loaded the train with a drunk guy and about 5 miles down the tracks, they stopped and kicked him off. We watched him walk to a police car and get in. From what we saw of him, he was trouble, and we were thankful to God he was off the train and we were safe....
We settled in our seats (this time we had them together!!) and slept the ride away!!

We arrived alittle earlier than scheduled, so Dan wasn't there yet, so we had to wait at the train station again! Joy! ha ha!! At least our "hobo" friend wasn't there!
The whole trip was sooooo fun and we are so glad we were able to get away and visit our family!♥

Memorial Weekend

The weekend had to begin with a clean pool...
Then it was off to the Drive - In!!! Zach and Charles were getting comfy... We saw Kung Fu Panda II and Thor. Both were really good!!

Drew and Zack enjoyed the shows!

The next morning it was time to swim!!

And a "friendly" game of Airsoft Wars!!

Dan and I went to Drew's "Young Author Day" book signing. He wrote about the Civil War. Dan and I really enjoyed seeing his book.

After a great weekend and last few days at school, we are officially ready for SUMMER!!

FuN TiMeS!!!

The fun started with Zach's last choir concert of the year. It was a "Pop Show"; meaning the songs were familiar songs from the radio. It was a two hour concert, but it was really, really good. Zach's choir, the boys choir, sang "Sweet Caroline" "Hey There Delilah, 1,2,3,4" and "Walk the Line" There were several solos and even dance moves! It was great! We are so happy Zach is in the school choir!
Drew's fun was our elementary schools annual track and field day! Drew participated in the discus throw, the 100 Meter dash and the 400x2 relay race.

Here is Drew preparing to throw the discus...

Drew got 3rd place in the 100 yard dash and 1st place in the 400x2 Relay!! YES!!!

Zach missed the morning at Jr. High to come support his brother at Track and Field. And he helped me navigate through the people to find Drew at his events!

Way to Go my Rankin boys!! I love you! ♥

17th with the family

We celebrated our 17th anniversary low~key this year. We just had a family day. It was fun celebrating with the boys. They thought it was neat that we have been married 17 years...

We went to lunch at one of our favorites...and it did not disappoint! We even had enough leftover to eat for dinner! (Thankgoodness, because eating here has gotten extremely expensive!!!)

After lunch we walked over to Barnes and Noble and

to shop! (my new favorite store!)
Then we went to see the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie in 3-D.

We spent time talking about the blessings God has given us these past 17 years (mainly Zach and Drew), laughed about good times and probably spent the same amount of money had we gone to a spa for the day! Ha! A great day celebrating life and love!! ♥

17 Years ♥

May 21, 1994 ♥

Girls Night Out

Tonight was our Sunday School fellowship. The girls got together to get Pedi's and the boys met to play pool and hang out at someones house with a big game room.

It was lots of fun with lots of yummy food and sweet fellowship...not to mention cute toes!

Getting Ready for Summer!!!

We have been busyyyyyy around here, getting ready for summer! Our pool needed some TLC!!
We wanted, wait, NEEDED to repaint and decided to put a new border of tile along the top too. Our old tile was sooooooo dated!! And of course, we were going to do all the work ourselves. (too keep costs down...)

So Dan got busy!! I was soooooo impressed when he drained the pool!!! I told Dan how awesome he was and his response was "It is easy to tear something down, the hard part is building it back up". I thought those were VERY wise words!!

At first we thought we would just drain the pool, rinse it with acid and repaint...but then Dan started getting all this advice about how he needed to SAND the pool first to remove the old paint. BUMMER! He got a few quotes on "sandblasting and refinishing the pool" and needless to say, Dan rented the sandblaster and did it HIMSELF!! I never in a million years thought I would have my husband in the backyard SANDBLASTING! It was quite the sight!!! Many times I thought we were "in over our heads" with this project....but with A LOT of hard work from Dan, the project is finished and we are enjoying the benefits~ THANK YOU hunny! ♥♥♥

We've also been working on the yard. THAT is still a work in progress!! (but nothing a little water won't help!!) ☺

Dan's sister cleaned out a storage area and let us have some wicker furniture she had stored. It needed some paint and new cushions and I was up for the task!! After countless spray paint bottles, we have some "almost" new furniture to sit on and enjoy the pool. THANK YOU TIA and EDDY!!!!!
We are officially READY FOR SUMMER!!!

This is BEFORE. See the old tile?