Gingerbread House

It has been quite some time since I have posted and I thought the Owsley annual gingerbread house contest was a great time to jump back in. Last night was lost of fun. This year we had all different types of houses both residential and commercial.

Pat and Kari's house was party in the front....
and a manger in the back.




Tia and Charolette's igloo
The football field
Paige and Sarah's classic house

Mimi's..not bad for someone in a walker...sorry momMaggie and Emily's Starbucks


The firehouse by the boys



In-n-out complete with palm trees and a crowded drive thru.

All of the finish products together.

Thanks everyone for a great time.

8th grade field trip

2 weeks ago I had the wonderful privilege of going on an 8th grade field trip with Emily to the Midway Aircraft Carrier. Big yellow school buses with no seat belts, teachers that threaten you with everything if you are not 100% perfect (I missed my calling) and lots of kids that have changed boy or girl friends by the time that the day is over. Boy I do not miss those days. I did have fun spending time with Emily and I was the coolest dad because I knew so much about the Midway, Emily told me that the boys in our group never listen to anyone and that they were hanging on every word that I said. It may have also been the fact that I let them touch every knob and button that we went past, about 12,981,936... I counted. Sorry not a lot of pictures battery died.

Guess Who?

I have one sister that I loved to play outside with.
I was born in1897.
I lived in Kansas.
On my first airplane ride we fly over the Santa Monica Pier.
I was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic ocean.










I am Amelia Earhart or at least Sarah dressed up as her. This was a great project that they did in her class. They had to research someone famous and then do an oral report.

Weekend with KC & Emily

A couple of weeks ago we went up to LA and spent the weekend with KC, Emily and the gang. We went to Hollywood and walked along Sunset blvd and saw the walk of fame. The kids got to put their hands in petri dishes, I mean hand prints in front of Chinese Theater.




We then went down to the Santa Monica Pier and had some fun.

General Conference

Saturday we had our annual general conference activity with the youth in the ward. Every year in April we all get together and watch conference together and eat a lot. It is a great time and I enjoy the opportunity to spend time with the kids.

A note on the pictures...remember don't judge, every listens in their own way.

Spring Break Part 2

Monday was our last full day in Tennessee and we all thought it would be a great idea to go to the Smokey Mountains and go on a hike. We were going to go on a fairly easy hike, only about 2.5 miles round trip, to visit a waterfall. When we got up in the morning and started to get ready to go it started to snow lightly, it was not even staying on the ground but to be safe we made sure that everyone had good hats, jackets and gloves. Matt was not able to go due to work so I drove one car and the Paige and Kari piloted the other one. It was about an hour drive to get to Galveston and right before we got they we had to go by Dollywood. This town must have about 25 miniature golf courses it was crazy. As we finally headed up the mountain it started to snow again and when we got to the national park the road turned into a one-way single lane road on a steep mountain side. At this point let me remind you that Kari and Paige are in the car behind me and both are afraid of heights. Kari was driving so close to the side of the side of the hill that she might have bumped it a few times. We finally arrived at the hiking trail everyone filed out of the car and started breathing again.

The walk to the falls was not too bad, we had to cross a couple of little steams and just as we start to get to the falls it started to snow again. The falls were great you could walk behind them and around to the other side it was worth the hike in. We took some pictures and had a great time. The unfortunate part is that by now many of kids have very wet shoes and it has started to snow pretty hard. We turn and start to head down the hill…that's right down hill in a snow storm with wet, cold and frozen shoes. Yes this was the perfect storm. It did not take too long for people to start slipping, sliding and falling on their behind. Kari was carrying Kate in a backpack and when she finally fell Kate had had enough and lost it. When we finally got to the bottom butts were sore, ankles twisted and many many cold and numb feet and fingers. At this point Paige and Kari were sure the kids were going to have frostbite and were definitely bad mothers. But soon we all defrosted in the warmth of the cars and there we no scary cliffs on the way down. It was however an amazing beautiful hike and drive in the snow of the Smokey Mountains an experience I hope the kids remember. Sometimes the craziest adventures turn out to be out greatest memories.

Spring Break 2008 part 1

Today marks the end to a very long 2 week spring break that began on Monday the 17th at 3:00am. The last 2 weeks has been so much fun and we have all got to see and visit so many places. I love to watch the kids explore and experience new things. Vacation started 2 weeks ago with a trip to Tennessee to visit Kari and her family. Here we are with all the luggage packed and ready to go.



This was Adam's first time on a plane and as with all things new and exciting he never stopped talking and asking questions. He was fascinated to sit by the window and watch as we went through the clouds. On the second leg of the trip he had a seat all to himself and spent the entire hour and a half talking to the person behind him, a flight attendant bumping a ride. When we finally got there her final words were " boy he sure asks a lot of questions".

Well we arrived a Kari's safe and sound and with all our luggage and we spent the first day hanging out and building forts in the backyard. Going to parks, fishing, hiking and a visit to our new house (Biltmore) were all on the agenda.

Everyone point to you room. Yes this is a very big house 175,000sqft to be exact. In the height the property covered 125,000 acres or 195 sq miles.

This is the farm that is on the estate the kids got to learn all about the farm and how it ran in the old days. They also got to hold a chicken, not just any chicken but a blind chicken, yes that is right this chicken is blind and as a result it does not know that it is a chicken. The chicken spends most of the time hanging out with the goats, about 6 months ago one of the goats stepped on the chickens leg and broke it. Now my first thought when that happened would have been to grab a can of soda and some paprika and fire up the BBQ. I guess they have a little more heart than me because they took it ot the vet and paid $600 to have a cast put on. Yes $600 to cast a CHICKEN LEG.



Easter Sunday was great and as always everyone looked wonderful.

The girls striking their pose.

Paige with her new easter basket.

Easter Sunday and Matt, Kari and Hannah all had to speak in church. You all did a great job and I am impressed that you were able to write your talks even with a house full of guests. I guess that when you stay up until 3:00am you get some free time. Kari and Matt thanks for a great time.

Cake

I just checked Emily's blog and she did not mention this so I thought that I would brag about her. A little over 8 weeks ago Emily started a cake decorating class at Michael's. She just finished her 2nd round of classes and this was her final cake. We did not take a good picture of the flowers but they were awesome. If anyone needs a cake for a party or if you just like cake let her know she does a great job.

Box

Not to say that it takes me a while to finish projects sometimes but I started this tool box for my brother Adam 4 years ago. It was one of those projects that I started and then put in the back of the garage and forgot about. I am proud to say that I am trying to do better and this is the second project on my long term "to do" list that I have completed, the other was our laundry room, not great for pictures, who wants to see dirty laundry.

Goal for 2008...make sure that everything I start is completed 100% before moving onto the next project.

Beach Night

Friday night we all decided that we wanted to go to the beach, have dinner and walk on the beach. We got in the car at about 6:00 and were quick to realize that we would not make it to the beach in time to get dinner and see the sunset. Plan B. We put the beach on hold until Saturday and went to the bird (Red Robin) for dinner. The girls were thrilled all 3 because they wanted to to some shopping also. Adam and I had dinner and then looked at tools in Sears, games at the game store and played on the McDonald's playland. Saturday came the we spent most of the day cleaning the house, assignments were given the night before and I must say that everyone did a great job. Everyone does much better when we plan out the chores ahead of. time.
Well the time came to go to the beach at we left around 4:30. As we drove through Solana Beach I thought that we were going to lose the girls again to all the shopping. We stopped by Roberto's and headed to the beach. I love living in SD 300 days of sunshine a year, able to hangout at the beach in the middle of winter and everyone that lives here is good looking (just look at these pictures).

This is the kids take on Charles Angles.


The sunset was wonderful and the waves were pretty good also.


Paige did not like any of the pictures that we took together so this was the one that I was allowed to post. I loved sitting at the beach beside her and watching the sunset together and I would love nothing more than to do that for the rest of my life.

Uncle Again

Well I am an uncle again. On February 29th Josh and Mara welcomed in a new baby.

STATS:
Name: Nolan Patrick Owsley.
Sex: Male
Hieght: 21 inches
Weight: 8 lbs
Birth day: 2/29/08 next birthday 2/29/12

What a great looking kid. Way to go Josh and Mara you did good.

Good Help

Well it is starting to get warmer outside and I have successfully neglected my yard for the last 4 months. Friday night I told the kids that I needed them for 2 hours on Saturday to help do the yard. KC is out of town (spring training in Florida with the Dodgers) so Emily, and the kids were down for the weekend and her kids wanted to help also. We got started at about 9:30 saturday morning and by 11:00 Emily all her kids, Shannon , my dad and Sharon were all helping in the yard. It is so great to have a family that is willing to help out even you do not have to ask. I am thankful to have such a great family, glad for their help and for just being able to hang out and spend time together. THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP.

Toilet Paper

The other day we were have some plumbing problems, again, due to excess paper. I believe that my kids thought that they needed to completely wrap their hand and arm prior to wiping. When I was told that there was a problem again I was a little frustrated. I called all of them together and in not so calm a manner told them that they needed to save the paper, the plumbing and my sanity. I took a lesson from my sister Shannon and told them that all they needed was 4 squares. I was feeling confident that my message would be ignored but I was hoping for at least a little awareness.

Well it was just a couple of hours later when Adam comes out of the bathroom looks right in my eyes and was so proud to announce "Dad, I listened to you and I only used 1 sheet" Paige and I looked at each other and started laughing. We asked him if he also washed his hands. He was so proud that he listened to me and was trying to do better. You never know what you kids are going to listen to.

The Mother of Invention

On our walk in the Smokey Mountains we came upon the cabin of Elyah Oliver. The best part was behind the cabin about 200 feet , right in the valley where a small creek came through. I am not sure what it would be called but it was built to gather and store water from the creek.


There are pipes made out of wood that carry the water to and from the building. You can get an idea of how old they are by the amount of moss growing on them.

Even the trough was hand carve from a large piece of wood.

The creek was nothing more that a little bit of wet mud. By putting these wood pipes up the hill right where the water had to flow over some rock there were able to gather and store water. The building is set up to keep animals from it and also to provide some protection.