Easter Eggs

I am clearly no Martha Stewart, but it didn't stop me from attempting this craft project this weekend. In addition to digital scrapbooking, I spent HOURS (seriously - 4 1/2 hours) blowing, coloring and decorating the following eggs for Easter. All that time resulted in only 5 completed eggs, but I did like the results and plan on making more with my BFF this coming weekend!

Going Digital

I have finally taken the leap to digital scrapbooking and I am LOVING it! I didn't quite understand how it worked or what I needed as far as programming goes, but with the help of my mom and some research, I figured it out. Both programs I was looking at had free trial periods so I downloaded both to see if one, I even liked digital scrapbooking and two, to see what program I liked best. I tried ACDSee first, and played with it for about 6 hours Friday late into the night. Saturday, I downloaded Photoshop Elements 7, and spent all day and night experimenting and creating. I definitely have my favorite and here is a sample of my first four digital scrapbook pages ever!

Friday Pick-up

So we get the kids every other weekend and Blake usually has to meet their mom at Cougar Mountain Lodge in Smith's Ferry to pick them up on Friday and then again on Sunday afternoon to drop them off. I know it could be worse, but round trip the drive is three hours - so six hours out of the weekend really puts a dent in our visitation, not to mention the drive up the canyon is so dangerous, especially in the winter. I hate that stretch of road, so many accidents and deaths over the years.

Well, Blake just received his instrument rating earlier this month and now needs to fly, fly and fly some more to get enough hours to get his commercial rating. So, he and his friend Josh, took the DA-40 to go pick up the kids yesterday afternoon in McCall. The entire trip all the way to McCall took only 40 minutes AND he got some hours in.

Blake and the kids in McCall before take-off back to Boise

Flying over Cougar Mountain Lodge in Smith's Ferry - took just 30 minutes from Boise and about 15 minutes flying back. When Blake told them they were flying over, they couldn't believe they were already there.

Pretty skies

On final approach to Boise, flying over Orchard and I-84

Landing in Boise

Runway 1-0 Left

Live Every Moment

In creating this blog, it reminded me of an old REO Speedwagon song, "Live Every Moment" which says - "Live every moment, love every day, 'cause before you know it your precious time slips away."

We (I) often get caught up in things that don't really matter and in looking back, realize there are way more important things in life. Life is way too short, which I try to always keep in perspective, especially after losing my dad at such a young age. Little Sarah is now the age that I was when I found out my dad was sick. Crazy to think about. What is even more crazy is how quickly the kids are growing up. I know it is cliche to say that time flies, but it really does. It constantly reminds me to really enjoy every moment and not to sweat the small stuff, which honestly, I have a hard time doing. I am definitely a work in progress.

I have been doing some online scrapbooking the past couple weeks and finished one album that collectively captures the past 5 Christmas's, from 2004 to 2008. I was shocked to see the difference in the kids from year to year, but especially from 2004 to a couple months ago. Here are some comparative side-by-side shots.








Little Sarah, age 8 to 13






Still a sweet smile my Sarah Belle, you are not so "little" anymore, you are almost as tall as me! Tastes obviously change too, Barbie to I Tunes.







Brandon, age 5 to 10



Make sure you keep eating those "Smarties"!

From Bobby Jack to A&F and Aeropostale, you really have a great sense of style and I LOVE going shopping with you!


From Power Rangers to Star Wars

We are truly blessed with wonderful kids. They are always grateful and pretty easy going. We are very proud of you two! And we really rock it as a family!

Here's to our band, the Vultair Clan!

Lead Singer - Lola Grace

Bass - Stark O'Nite

Guitar - Vultair

Drums - Rachel Soul

New Trick - Old Dog

And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks! Here is Maddie's latest feat!

Valentine's Day

I know today is St. Patrick's Day, but I have some catching up to do, so today's post is about the previous holiday. But Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! And a very special shout out to you Kel!
We not only got the kids on Halloween this year, we had them on Valentine's Day too! We had a great family day together. Things were low key, but the time we spent as a family was worth a million dollars. Blake and I made a nice dinner for the 4 of us and earlier in the day, Little Sarah and I made red velvet cupcakes and decorated them for dessert. I even bought some sparkling cider and we ate by candlelight. It was pretty special.

Little Sarah and her daddy

Brandon and dad

Even my Maddie girl gets some love

The funniest part of the day was watching Brandon read his Valentine card I specially picked out for him. It said something like, "You know son, when you were just a baby, I remember burping you..." then on the inside it said something like "Now that is one of the many things you can do yourself". Now for whatever reason, it completely cracked the kid up - see below...

He was laughing so hard he was crying!! He then had us all laughing! I finally got him composed enough for the last picture...

Sweet kids - Happy Valentine's Day - I love you!

Above the Clouds

January 30th - one of Blake's flights during the many days we were under an inversion. It was a beautiful day above the clouds
Blake's flight instructor - Jake

The inside of the DA-40 - it almost looks like a video game - so different from the older Cessna's that I used to fly

Blake landing on runway 1-0 Left

The beautiful DA-40 - both Blake and Brandon like this plane the best

Brandon getting to go flying again with his Dad on January 20th

He loves when Blake has flights scheduled on the weekends he is with us - he loves to go flying with his dad

4-0-6 Foxtrot Papa - the design of the DA-40 is amazing too - the visibility is really good as you can see from the open canopies, especially in the front