The Family Net

7th Annual Pat's run - we did it!

2011-04-18T08:50:00.001-07:00

Woo Hoo! Congratulations to everyone for finishing Pat's run. We had a great time, it was a perfect day for the event. We had a couple friends join us this year and my mom too - way to go Grammy!

We got up extra early and picked up our friends and made our way down to the park-n-ride at 38th st & Washington to hop on the light rail. We saw lots of other racers there and made it down to ASU in plenty of time. My mom had gotten there even earlier and we were able to find her in a sea of people without any problems. Thank goodness for cell phones!

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Wow! - there were over 30,000 people there, even a few famous people here and there. Jesse McGuire played the National Anthem on his trumpet - he was really good. Jake Plummer was the official starter. The event was covered live by Channel 12, you can check out more here: AZ Central Pics and here: AZ Central Story Here are our official times - yay for our team 'the Crew'

'Tri' again!

2010-09-05T14:29:00.001-07:00

The Edwards family returned to Anthem to see if they could improve their time from last year's event. Dana ran 3.1 miles, Ryan Biked 12.4 miles and Sarah swam 400 meters in a reverse Triathlon format. We arrived early, but barely found a place to rack our bikes. Lots of competitors including many more youth this year. We remembered almost everything we needed except for an Allen wrench to fix Ryan's bottle holder. One of our competitors loaned us theirs - Triathletes are the best!

Poor Sarah was feeling under the weather with a nasty cold, but she was hanging in there. This year they had two starts, one for the men, then 15 minutes later the women and relay teams. I wonder if the change was so that the women wouldn't have to look at 'speedo guy' (A competitor from at last year's race) He was ...um...unusual, shall we say a bit too enthusiastic in his warm up stretching. Anyway, no sign of him this year.

The race started and it wasn't too bad, all down hill for the first mile or so, but the climb back was tough. It took me just over a minute longer than last year. I handed off the chip timer to Ryan and he was gone! This year I decided to do the whole thing so I changed shoes, put the helmet on and tried to catch up to Ryan - wow, he has gotten a lot faster, it took me almost 4 miles to catch him. Sarah caught a couple of pictures of us riding by. I finished the bike section and got ready for the pool. It felt nice to jump in, but after a couple of laps, I was getting really tired. Oh well, no stopping now. By the time I was out of the pool, Ryan had finished his bike ride and Sarah was closing in on me.

So how did our team (The Crew II) do? In spite of her cold and a crowded pool, Sarah bettered her time in the pool by 11 seconds. Ryan bettered his time on the bike by a whopping 4 min 50 seconds! Thanks to Ryan and Sarah we beat our old time by 3 min, 50 seconds - OH YEAH! (click for larger image) My individual finish time was 1:27:36. Enjoy the pics!

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Keeping Up With the Joneses

2010-04-16T17:51:00.001-07:00

Hello, all. We haven't been much for keeping up with the blog lately, so I hope you will excuse us and consider about what I have to say below. We found out two days ago that Dale has been R.I.F.-ed (Reduction in force - the same as being laid off) from his job. As all the Arizona contingent probably knows, there is a crucial tax vote coming up on May 18. We'll all remember to vote that day because it's Christin's birthday! Anyhoo - if the tax passes, Dale will most likely be able to keep his job. If it doesn't, he will be seeking employment elsewhere. There have been no definite answers in my district, but it's pretty safe to say that if the tax does not pass, I will likely also be RIF-ed. SO- I was wondering if everyone could keep us in their prayers in the coming weeks. We are considering some options for what to do if the tax does not pass, one of which is moving out of state. I am asking that you pray for us to have the spirit to be with us as we consider what to do, and that we will be blessed with a clear answer of how to proceed should the tax be voted down. And in the mean time... YES on Prop 100!

Snow Campout!

2010-01-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

Brrrrr! - Ryan had a great fun and cold campout with the Scouts this past weekend. We got there, started a fire, played in the snow ate some dinner, and pitched our tents. It was around 15 degrees F that night - cold enough to freeze the eggs and water.

The next morning we got up, made some breakfast, had some fun with our fake arm and played in the snow some more. The rest of the youth from our ward came up and we sledded, tubed, snow-mobiled and threw snowballs - it was really fun!

A Big THANK YOU!

2010-01-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Mom & Dad asked that I post this message:

Dear children, spouses, and grandchildren,
Your Mother/Grandma and I, Father/Grandpa have been so wonderfully blessed by all of you in making our 50th Wedding Anniversary such a transcendently beautiful and heavenly occasion. We know the great effort you all made to make the. We are aware of the sacrafices of time, expense, comfort, and also the risks taken to come here. We will treasure this event through the eternities.
As you may know, your mother's patriarchal blessing indicates that she (and by extension, I) would be blessed with wonderful children in our home. And it has been so. And also all of our children have through their righteous lives chosen wonderful spouses. all of you have brought wonderful children into your own homes. Our blessings continue as you all are teaching your children to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ by loving and serving Him.
I and your Mother are aware of the travel risks Susan/Billy and children, and Melinda/Jeff and children took traveling as you did far across the country through cold and icy road conditions. Not only that, but also the expenses you incurred in time away from business and travel expenses. We also know that you Arizona children have spent much time and expense in preparing this event:
Dana, Pam and kids for making so many long trips from Deer Valley to Mesa so many times and for hosting grandchildren and helping with the hikes and other activites way over there.
Scott and Amy for being so devoted and careful and planning and coordinating events and preparing the old slide fotos of our family events and history to be shown by projection. Just great and a lot of memories came back to Mom and I through these pictures.
Emily and Dale for helping Scott in the planning. And conducting the activities and the scavenger hunt with automobile tours of the town (how creative and fun was that!) and of hosting the games and dinner at the residential activity center in their area. We were impressed by the games planned and prepared for all the age groups from the tots to the adults. It was a great and fun night we will always cherish.
And finally, the sumptuous dinner at Ansio Landing near Falcon Field. Mom and I had never seen a menu like that one. It was so much fun sitting around the large table telling stories and swapping jokes. It was the nicest dinner party we have ever attended. A lot of $$$ were spent there. I was concerned about what the tab must have been. Without asking, we say to all of you THANK YOU! so much.
Mother and I have lived and continue to live a dream. We know many people who have wonderful families. We know of no others who have a greater more blessed posterity than ours. Keep making us look good.
Love, Mom and Dad/ Grammy and Grandpa

Choose the Right

2010-01-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

I just have one funny thing to share. We were having family night and talking to Melanie about a story she heard in Primary yesterday. In the story a boy was counseled to choose the right, yet when he came home from school, he ate the cookie that was for him, but also his brother's cookie. Dale: So was he choosing the right when he ate his brother's cookie? Melanie: No. He was choosing the left.

Families are forever!

2010-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say (this is Emily) that I was so thankful for the chance we had to be together last week. It was truly uplifting to spend time once again as brothers and sisters, cousins and grandkids, and all the rest. I am grateful for all of you. I have a testimony of eternal families. I know Scott really makes an effort with this blog and it's probably frustrating, but I'm grateful that he makes the effort and I'd like to challenge everyone to update more frequently. This includes the grandkids - if they are old enough to text and/or Facebook, they can do updates too! I for one always feel two steps behind and out of touch, so any and all updates are appreciated. I love you all and hope everyone is transitioning back into regular life with more grace than I have managed lately. Hugs to all. Love you all a whole bunch.

Scout Hike in Superstitions

2009-11-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Ryan and I went on a scout campout in the Superstition Mountains. We went a long way on a bumpy road past the cactus to the trailhead of Roger's Canyon. We got there about 8:00 PM so it was dark as we started out hiking down the trail. Ryan was prepared with his trusty head-lamp and fresh batteries. We hiked for a couple of hours and set up camp. The boys made some dinners, Ryan had Tunafish and bread. The bread was very popular, he traded a slice for some crackers. I cooked some barbeque chicken - mmm - tasty! Later we made some apple crisp - uhh, not so tasty!

The weather was perfect and we slept in until 7:00 the next morning. We got up and made some breakfast and headed farther down the trail to some very cool Indian Ruins. There were several rooms made with mud, rocks, wooden poles and grass. In some places you could see the prints where the Indians had patted down the mud. It was hard like cement. At the ruins we met some other Boyscout troops, one from Mesa and one from Queen Creek. We ate some lunch at the ruins and headed back up the trail to our campsite to pick up our packs and hiked the rest of the way out to the trail head. I was very proud of Ryan for hiking all the way without complaint and for encouraging the other boys on the way.

(after the hike back to the trucks)

Jones

2009-10-03T21:04:00.001-07:00

It seems that September completely flew by! Melanie had her 5th birthday. It was especially exciting for her because she was Star of the Week at school that whole week, and that Friday night we had her birthday party. She invited her cousin-friends, a few friends in the ward, as well as a couple of her old friends from pre-school who she hadn't seen since May. It was a dress-up party, with all of the girls bringing their favorite flair to wear and share. Our friends across the street really made the party a hit with their set up of a hair, makeup, and nail salon. The girls had a great time. The next day we took her to a real hair salon where she put her hair into a ponytail to get it cut and donate it to Locks of Love. She was getting pretty sick of her long hair and how it always took so long to comb and how easily it got tangled, but Emily wanted her to keep it long until she had her Kindergarten school pictures taken. Melanie thinks her new style is great. Want to hear the Bee's favorite joke? "Knock, knock." (Who's there?) "Apple... *mumble mum mum mumble.* Ha ha ha ha!" This girl loves her Mimi (blanket). She drags it everywhere and when she's feeling tired or sad, she holds it and finds a tassle to caress and more often than not, sticks the tassle in her nose. She loves going to Nursery, and aside from the first week or two, has never cried when going in. Actually, she usually can't wait to go and runs into the room so she can start playing. She thinks jumping is a fantastic passtime. We have a mini-trampoline that provides all kinds of fun, but she also loves jumping on the bed, the couch, the neighbor's big trampoline, or even just the floor. A new interest of late is puzzles. When she finishes one she throws her hands into the air and declares, "I did it! I work!" Emily has a theory about our house. She thinks there is a black hole somewhere inside. The latest item to get sucked into it was a Dixie cup full of soda can pull tabs. The other theory is that perhaps there has been a breakthrough in quantum physics and these things are simply traveling to other locations. So, if you happen to find this or other sundry items that have inexplicably vanished from our house (please call or write for a complete listing), let us know. I have presented and lived through my first junior high choir concert. It was well-attended and experts in the field of choral music have assured me that it was top-notch. I have even lived through my first directorial controversy! A parent came thundering down to the school the day after the concert, demanding to know why her tax dollars should support religious music. (She was offended at the inclusion of the song "Witness," which is a spiritual and mentions such apparently inflammatory material as "Lord," and "the Bible.") My principal handled it like a pro, for which I am grateful. We have our Fall Break coming up, with an adventure to SoCal. Happy Fall!

The Sisters Who Shall Not Be Named

2009-09-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been going through my old junk, throwing out lots of stuff in the process. There was one thing that, for whatever reason, was saved and before I toss it, I had to share. Since we just got a scanner, I can do that! So here it is, a picture I drew, maybe in first or second grade. Here is the first page:

OK, sweet enough, I suppose. Should be enough room on the other side to complete the family, right? Here's what I drew on that side:

Susan and Melinda, let me just apologize for my omission! I can't quite figure out why I would have done that. I don't think I was that forgetful. Perhaps you had teased me a tad too much on that day! :-)

Temple Time

2009-09-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

The North Phoenix Edwards Family was able to visit the temple this past Friday. Our ward youth had a temple excursion to do baptisms. I was able to proxy baptize Sarah and Ryan - how great is that!? Pam was able to attend a session where Robert (One of Alex's friends) was going through to receive his endowments in preparation for his mission. We enjoyed the happy time there.

We have been thinking a lot about temples lately and are very excited to have a new temple built so close to our house. It is in the permitting process with the city, and if all goes as we hope, the temple will be built at 51st Avenue and Pinnacle Peak.

We are thankful for temples and hope you all have a chance to visit one near you!

Keeping Up With the Joneses

2009-09-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite awhile since we sent in an update, so the first news is that our address has changed, yet again. We have not moved; we just happen to live in an area that can’t seem to make up its mind. Our street address is the same, but our town name and zip code are now: San Tan Valley, 85140.

The first day of school this year was the earliest ever: August 3rd. We are pleased that Melanie was able to start Kindergarten at the school where Emily teaches. Her class, unfortunately, does not get music, but they do get P.E., library, and Orchard (computers), which she loves. She has had so much fun making new friends and learning. She learned how to tie her shoes by the end of the first week of school. In case you were wondering from the pictures, yes, she is missing her front teeth. She knocked out one the day before Easter, and the dentist had to pull the other one a few weeks later. Her 5th birthday is this week, and she also gets to be the star student and teacher's special helper, so things are pretty great.

The Bee is growing so fast. She always has something to say, but there is a lot we’re still working on translating. Here are some ones we know: Sass-sass (princess), poo-pock (juice box), Beechess (Beatrice), fip-fop (flip-flops), muttan (muffin), Goopy (Goofy), Mimi (her blanket’s name), Gackon and Nomnick (her friends, Jackson and Dominic), and Menny (Melanie). She loves to jump on the trampoline and of course, she loves getting into whatever Melanie is doing. She turned two at the end of June and we had a fun party at Red Robin with Scott's family.

We have just returned from a truly fantastic weekend in the Pacific Northwest. Dale bought tickets to see Keane as a birthday gift to Emily, and the show was in Seattle on September 10th. For anyone not familiar with Keane, their music is mellow yet intense, spiritual yet edgy, emotional without being emo, and pretty much awesome in every way. We were accompanied to the concert by Dale's brother Darin and sister-in-law Charla and had a most excellent time. The next day we four headed down to Vancouver and Portland to enjoy the company of Dale's sister, Jessica and her family, as well as an evening of Comedy Sportz (family-friendly improv comedy franchise. Emily was chosen from the audience to participate in a skit and is still glowing from her moment of fame.

"The Crew" Finishes Strong

2009-09-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

The Edwards family team "The Crew" finished a sprint triathlon at Anthem yesterday. We did it as a relay - Dana did the 3.1 mile run, Ryan did the 12.4 mile bike ride and Sarah did the 400 meter swim. Pam was our official photographer and cheered us all on. Here are a couple videos and pictures of the action. You can see more pictures at Dana's Bike Blog.

From anthem triathlon 09

The Buzzy Crawl

2009-07-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Look at what I can do! Jonathan figures out how to get what he wants. Shiny, metallic, crunchy things are his favorite toys.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

2009-06-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week Mom & Dad treated the Arizona contingent to a D-Backs baseball game at Chase Field against the Texas Rangers. Mom, Dad, Dale & Melanie rode the new Metro light rail right into down town while the other families did the old fashioned drive and park. The weather cooled off just a bit so they opened up the roof. It was a nice night to take in a game, at least in the AZ summer. Megan & Melanie also got to be on the big screen while singing the traditional "Take me out the ball game" song during the 7th inning stretch. It was a great time! Thanks Mom & Dad for a great summer treat! Click on photos to enlarge.

Summer Potpourri

2009-06-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, Amy had a couple of good posts about our trip with Emily & Dale & their girls to San Diego last month. We had a great time. Pictures and updates are here, here, here and here.

I know Sarah has been busy too. Here are some recent badges of honor from a recent game (I swiped the pics from Pam's facebook page. Thanks Pam!)

And last week, we added to our family. We got a cute little pug mix puppy and she is keeping everyone busy. We named her Brownie and she is a real sweetie.

So how about you? What are you update these days?

Best Friends Forever

2009-05-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have Melinda and Savannah in town this week so Mom/Grammy volunteered to have the little girl cousins over for a sleep over. Melanie and Megan joined Savannah and became fast best friends forever! Mom said they had a great time. She said Megan & Savannah feel asleep holding hands together. How cute is that? Madison was invited but decided she was a bit too old for the crowd. Savannah later commented that she sure missed out! In the morning, Grammy treated the kids to rides on the carousel at the mall. It was a hit and everyone had a great time. Thanks mom for such a great time!!

On an unrelated note, here are some pictures of the cousins from this past Easter.

Updates from the Creek

2009-03-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hi, all. I tried to post this yesterday, but it wouldn't publish for some reason! Hopefully it will go through today. I just wanted to let everyone know what we've been up to the last couple of months. In January, we took advantage of MLK Day to take a hike at Usery Pass. In retrospect, we probably should have chosen a more kid-friendly trail. Although there were plenty of kids Melanie's age and younger, Beatrice was definitely the smallest person on the trail that day, and she of course had to be carried much of the way. On the way back down, Melanie slipped and cut a gash in her lip. Fortunately, discomfort and swelling were the worst of it, and stitches were not required. February seems a bit of a blur. When I was little, I used to think how funny it was that people made such a big deal about February being a short month. It's only 2-3 days shorter than all the other months, after all. As I get older, I do see how those 2-3 days make a big difference! March has come and almost gone, as well. We hosted a mini-family reunion for Dale's family over Spring Break. One day we all went bowling and then to Organ Stop Pizza for dinner. The next day we went hiking and to the newly re-opened Dollar Movies at the Superstition Springs mall. Of course, one of the most enjoyable things about any family gathering is having time to talk and play games, so that was my favorite part. Dale has enjoyed another year of coaching sports at school. First it was volleyball in the fall, then cross-country in the winter, and now track. His boys' team has been doing great, winning three of four track meets so far. Melanie is bright and sassy as ever. She's improving all the time with her reading skills and is starting to recognize a handful of words at sight. We are hopeful that she will start kindergarten next year, but since she has a September birthday, we will not know for sure until this summer. We would appreciate thoughts and prayers on that subject. She has long hair that sometimes bothers her, and she doesn't particularly like taking the time to have it combed. This morning she brought me a ponytail holder and said, "I don't need you to comb my hair, but it's getting in my face and it's not listening when I tell it to stop, so can you put it in a ponytail?" Melanie also loves to sing and is usually able to sing along after hearing a song a few times. The words aren't always right, but that just makes it more fun to hear. Beatrice is our little precious. She's quite the busy Bee and adept at what we call "menacing," i.e. getting into anything and everything. She's so cute it's hard to complain, though. She's talking all the time and using more and more words, and putting sentences together as well. "I want cheese," (I'm hungry) "I want juice" (I'm thirsty), "I did it," "Look at me," and "That's funny," are some of the more commonly used phrases. She loves to watch Melanie and copy just about everything she does. She also likes to sing, "E-I-E-I-O," being her favorite.

Ben's Baptism

2009-03-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a special day for our family. Ben was baptized and confirmed a member of the church. He was excited all week for the event. The night before he couldn't go to sleep and ended up staying up late. In the morning he was up as early as anyone ready to get going.

The baptism went well and he did great. The Spirit was strong during the confirmation with lots of friends and family in attendance. There was another boy in the ward who was baptized too so the room was quite full. Afterward, we took pictures and enjoyed being together. We were privileged to have family and friends over at our house afterward for pizza and cake. (Today, as you may know, is Mom's birthday as well as Amy's sister Tiffany's birthday so we sang for the. Happy Birthday Mom!) We were also happy to have Aunt Dawn from Florida with us for the gathering. She is in town visiting Mom & Dad and came along for the baptism.

It was a great day and Ben was happy to be the center of attention. We are very proud of his decision and glad to have him in our family. Thanks to everyone who came out to be with us today and support Ben. It was great to see everyone!

Edwards on the Interwebs

2009-03-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed, the "links" list on the right side of this blog is growing. Several in the family have blogs of their own that I'm sure you'll enjoy following. From Alex's mission to Dana's bike adventures, be sure to check in on the fun. There are also a few of us on Facebook. Come join the fun! If you have a blog or other website you'd like to include in the links here for all to enjoy, just let me know. I'll add you. See you on the interwebs!

Video: Jake's Talent Show Video

2009-03-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks Jeff for sending this in! I hope you don't mind me posting it. I thought it was fabuluous! Way to go Jake!!!

Solon Ward Talent Show Entry from Del Tanner on Vimeo.

Elder Edwards Arrives in Georgia!

2009-03-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Elder Edwards arrived this past Tuesday in Georgia. He has a new companion from Calgary Canada and will be opening up a new area in Dallas, Georgia.

Pam and I are keeping a blog for him, please check it out, we welcome your comments. http://elderalexedwards.blogspot.com/

Video: Madison's Piano Recital

2009-03-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Alex's Farewell

2009-02-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

Well, that's not what they call it anymore but you know what I mean. Today Alex was the main event in his ward's Sacrament meeting. He spoke about the principles and ordinances of the Gospel and their importance. He spoke for a good 20 minutes by my count and did great! He is very well prepared and will do a great work in the Atlanta, GA area. After church, we headed to their Stake Center where he was officially set apart as a missionary. It was a very nice and spirit filled blessing. After that, we had a great lunch at Pam & Dana's house. It was great to visit with everyone and spend time together. Pam, Dana & Ryan leave Monday morning to take Alex to the MTC. He reports on Wednesday, Feb. 18th and I'm sure there will be forthcoming information on how to write to him while at the MTC. We are very proud of Alex and his decision and dedication to serve the Lord through this mission call. He and his family are in our hearts and prayers!

A is for Amy

2009-02-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Amy finished up her nursing classes today by passing a tough final with flying colors. She earned an A for her final class and I'm very proud of her. I don't know how she does it. From caring for the kids, to keeping our house in order and stocked with what we need, to hours of tireless study, she is amazing beyond words! All you mothers out there in our family are an inspiration. I also have to thank from the bottom of my heart all the help we have received from Mom & Dad without complaint over the past couple of years. Mom has helped with the kids many times including most of this week. This was Amy's last week and my business trip to Costa Rica couldn't have come at a worse time. So thank you so much Mom (and Dad for letting us borrow her). We love and appreciate you all you do!