Tortoise Farm

Jeff's uncle's best friend Brad (did you get that!) has a tortoise farm where he raises about 75 rare, exotic tortoises here in Edmond. I arranged for our MOMS Club to go see them and we had a great turnout despite it being rainy and muddy. The kids and moms were really amazed by the amount of tortoises and the size of "San Diego" their huge Galapogos tortoise from the San Diego Zoo. We own a Redfoot tortoise and even though we have one as a pet Jensen was not interested in them at all and wouldn't touch them. You'd think of all the kids he would be the most comfortable around them. Here are some pics

This was as close as Jensen got to pettying one

San Diego is 41 yrs old and has just now reached breeding age! They are hoping he and XXL will have baby Galapos soon

Newest Computer Geek

I knew it would happen eventually but I had no idea so early. Jensen is a computer geek. It's in his genes since Jeff is a geek, I mean guru too. A few weeks ago, after very little instruction my 2.8yr old learned how to use a mouse to click on objects on a Bert and Ernie computer game. I can only imagine what will be next! On another note, we are making progress on the home front. We tore out the old tile in the front hallway and WILL tile the master shower for sure this weekend. I think 3yrs without a shower is long enough don't ya think? I keep telling Jensen there will be a shower in there soon and he just looks at me funny because he's never seen it HA!

"I'll be shopping for Hot Wheels on ebay before you know it Mommy!"

Our idea of multitasking is giving Jensen and the car a bath at the same time!

Eating some Braum's ice cream on a VERY hot 106 degree evening

Spray ground fun

PA visit

I flew out to PA last Sat for my Papaw's funeral. I left Jensen and Jeff here and went with my sister Carrie since it was expensive and Jensen probably wouldn't do well at a funeral. Jeff took off work Mon and Tues to stay with him so they had some good bonding time. I bawled like a baby at the airport leaving my little monster! Despite the sad occasion, it was relaxing to have my dad and his wife Sharon take care of me (and sister Carrie) for 4 whole days . The weather was beautiful, in the low 80's (instead of 105 here) and I really got a chance to catch up with my extended family that I only get to see every 2yrs. It was great speding so much time with my dad and Sharon too. The funeral was sad of course but a lot of the time we were lauging and remembering good times with Papaw.

Here are some pictures from my trip Me with my Grandma

Some of the great-grand kids

My dad and Sharon are going to medical assisting school so they practiced taking our blood pressure

Sharon practicing on Carrie

Every year in Waynesburg PA on July 29th, they celebrate "Rain Day" because 109 out of 132 years since 1874 it has rained on that day. They have a festival type thing downtown and since our flight wasn't until later, we got to check it out. They had craft and food booths along the main street and entertainment. It was sunny and hot though and not a bit of rain that day!

Here's a link if you are interested in reading about it

http://www.co.greene.pa.us/secured/gc/history/RainDay-history.htm

Uncle Don, Me, Sharon, Carrie, Daddy, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Richard

Daddy and Sharon

Carrie and I flew back late Tues.night and as usual I was very airsick and I guess my prescription patch didn't really work yuck, I hate throwing up! When I got home though Jeff had the house spotless and he had done all the laundry AND put it away. That was really amazing and I really appreciated it. He and Jensen did all kinds of fun stuff while I gone too.

We'll miss you Papaw!

I found out today that my Papaw, (my Dad's dad) passed away. My mom's dad passed away when she was 7 so I never knew him. He just turned 85 years old and was a real character. We lived far away from he and Grandma Mayhle when I was growing up so I only got to see them about once a year. He lived a long life though, a lot longer than he should have! He survived fighting in WWII as a paratrooper and received a purple heart (I recently found out it was from eating poisonous berries and suffering stomach problems,ha!) He was a coal miner in Pennsylvannia and while many of his peers suffered an early death from "black lung" he never had a trace of it. Also, in 2003, we were told he only had about 6 months to live so he sure proved them wrong! He was a fiesty devil and wasn't afraid to tell you what he thought. Some of my favorite memories of Papaw are of having a blast at my grandparents' house in the Pennsylvannia mountains. He always tried to bite my ears off and I liked peeling skin off his sunburned bald head (gross I know!). My last conversation with him was a few weeks ago when I saw a documentary on coal mining and called him to ask some questions. He and my Grandma have been married 61 years, have 6 children, 17 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore but its hard to believe he's really gone. I wish Jensen could have know him better.

Here are some picture we took last summer at our family reunion

Ira Finley Mayhle

My dad, his wife Sharon, my sister Carrie and us

Great Grandpa with Jensen

Me and Papaw hamin it up

Jensen's pics with the girls

Kristi, Jamie and the kids


Jensen Drew
Jillian Nicole
Jenna Marie

Jensen had professional portaits taken since he's 2 1/2 and we thought it would be fun to get some shots of him with his cousins Jenna and Jillian who are 3 1/2. They turned out pretty cute but it was a bit like herding cats trying to get all of them smiling and looking at the camera at once! We didn't get as many shots of Jensen by himself either because while we were outside he was wandering off to explore. Its so fun seeing them grow up together and they have lots of fun playing.

Happy Birthday America!!

We were excited to enjoy Independence Day this year with our little guy Jensen since he is older now and can enjoy it. We went to a parade at 9am and managed to find, I believe, the last little spot in the shade. Jensen really liked it but we started baking toward the end and headed home. Later, we went to dinner then back to the house to do some little firecrackers of our own (ssshh don't tell the police!). They were too loud for Jensen though and we had to stop, poor guy. After it started getting dark, we went to UCO to watch the fireworks show there. We parked Jeff's truck and made a cozy little spot in the bed with pillows, blankets and snacks. Jensen started talking to a lady next to us and told her "daddy has worms!" We were dying laughing and were barely able to tell her that we had been eating Gummy Worms. I'm still cracking up! Once the show started it was really loud and even though he had headphones on, Jensen didn't care for it. He warmed up some after a while but wasn't too impressed. Oh well, maybe next year. Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday!

Home Improvement Hell

As I have mentioned to everyone, we are in home improvement hell right now trying to get our house on the market. The goal is to update it enough to get more money out of it to put down on our next house. We'd like to move closer to our parents who live 30mins. away because driving back and forth has been a pain. I have mixed feeling though about moving south because I love our community and the friends I've made here. The process of updating the house is VERY slow because we are doing it all ourselves and daily life (and a curious 2yr old) get in the way. So if you ask me if the house is on the market or how its going and I snarl at you, I promise I'm mad at the situation not you. I keep telling Jeff the same thing...."I'm mad at the house honey, not you" (sometimes I am really mad at him though, hehe). We have learned an important lesson and that is that we are NOT home improvement people and do not enjoy having a fixer upper. We are making SLOW progress though so maybe by 2020 we will be done.