Swingsets, Hugs and Caterpillars

Just found this "draft" that I never finished.  Everyone is so young! I am not sure what all is going on, but I think the hugging was where I made Kody & Lolo hug til they weren't mad at each other any more, quite possibly stemming from the incident in the first pic.... 

Sammy was so interested in the caterpillars that were infesting the tree in our back yard! Oh well, I love all these pics, enjoy a little blast from the past, we'll just call this Flashback Friday!

Thanksgiving Oquist Style

 We headed up North to Chino Valley to spend Thanksgiving with Dan's family.  We had a blast as we always do when we are all together.  We drove up Wednesday night, when we got to Janeen's house, dinner was ready & Joe & Liz were there.  We gave them al ittle taste of our normal Sunday dinners, including Sammy's "These Nutz" jokes, no dinner at our house is complete until Sammy til that happens.  It works like this, you ask Sammy a question, like "Please pass the salt" or "What did you learn at school today?" and he responds with "Why don't you pass these nutz?!" or Why don't you learn about these Nutz?" After Uncle Joe heard this it was over, he grasped right on the theory & it went downhill from here, until Janeen started making the same face I do at any family dinner.  Of course this continued into actual Thanksgiving, only a little quieter since Janeen has a scarier "knock it off" look than I do.  We had a great time playing games & Stuffing our faces...which we did, oh boy did we stuff!  I haven't eaten so much since probably last Thanksgiving, I do not miss that over full feeling.

Sammy insisted we play football, as no Thanksgiving day is complete without a little Turkey Bowl! Danielle & Brandon brought the Aguilars with them, which have now been a party of our holidays for a full year.   Danielle shows off her game face...trust me you should be scared!

Mike built a ladder golf set which ended up being the most fun ever! Those of us not playing too much football enjoyed this game alot, however the real drama started once the big boys & Kody took over.  Danny, Joe, Mike & Kody were naturals, where the rest of us just tossed & hoped it landed on the ladder, these guys were right on the mark.  I think they played about 10 games trying to beat each other.  It was Kody & Mike against Joe & Danny.  Danny had some great moves to show off, which then Kody came up with his own.  Around 5:30 we headed over to Jimbo's house to see him & then we headed back down the hill to the warmth.  The food was great, the family was great & I am grateful we were all together for it.  Last year a few went up North & a few stayed here, it was wonderful to have my whole little family in one place & enjoying each other.  Hopefully this leads into a great holiday season.  Can't wait for the Ginger's House Decorating Party we are having in 2 weeks for more family & friend fun...Why don't you decorate these NUTZ?! (Sorry couldn't resist)

Take a Deep Breathe and GO!

How do you start a new post after almost 5 years of inactivity? Do you do the whole, where have I been? I need to do better? Life is crazy? blah blah blah other excuses start? I don't really want to do that, because really what excuses are there to take 5 years off? None.  So here are a few highlights to start catching everyone up, then from here on out maybe I can do a better than job than waiting years! lol  Alright, here goes, deep breathe I am going to blow through this as quick as possible...In 2010, I lost a ton of weight & in 2012 I discovered I LOVE CrossFit & Olympic lifting.  Also in 2012 we packed it up & came back down the hill to Laveen...AGAIN :/  The boys & I were not thrilled, & made life pretty hard for everyone for quite a while, but I have picked myself up & dusted off the poor poor me, life sucks attitude & am now making friends, finding my niche here & enjoying life.  I have become a L1 CrossFit trainer & work at CF Box, with the hopes of opening our own Box in the next year.  Danny was working to take over mom's irrigation business, but that didn't work out.  While he was trying to make that work he discovered his own niche making fitness equipment, thanks to my addiction to CrossFit, and paired with my brother, Jason, started a fabrication business, 15/23 Fabrications, and is making a name for himself in the Valley.  Meanwhile he has also jumped back into the construction world to make some money while we get the fab business up & running.  Kody is still on the fence, but has been tolerating Laveen life.  Sammy still claims to miss all of his friends, but is really thriving in his schooling and activities.  Danielle is attending ASU & Lolo is in High School now too.

Danielle got married in 2013, then her & Brandon went through the new Gilbert, AZ Temple this year on their anniversary.  We were a little unsure about all this, & threatened her about not giving up her full ride to ASU, by getting married & she promised not to.  Brandon has actually been a great addition to the family, although don't tell him I admitted that I want him to still think he needs to prove he can handle all of us for a little while longer. He even jumped in & took Sammy to one of his football games this year when every other member of the family was tied up.  

Some of the highlights for the other kiddos, Sammy played his 2nd year of football this year & has decided he LOVES it! He is unstoppable on the field we even dubbed him the Gingerwall, & created him his own #, #Gingerwall. I had a good friend even make me a shirt with his number, 15 of course, & #Gingerwall across the shoulders. At risk of making some bad jokes, this season he got to play both ways hardly coming off the field.  We have enjoyed being the obnoxious football family & fans, screaming on the sidelines & doing all the cheers with the little cheerleaders.  I know it's hard to believe that we would be obnoxious or even embarassing, but it does occasionally happen.  He also Wrestles in the off season to stay in shape & work on his grappling/tackling skills.

Kody & Lolo got to participate in the Cultural Celebration for the new Phoenix Temple, they had a blast & since the Temple district includes the Prescott area, Kody got to spend two Saturdays in a row hanging with his besties from P Town.  It was a great event, I watched both kids grow so much.  Kody is a Senior this year, he attends Betty H Fairfax HS in Laveen, Lolo is a freshman & we just moved her to Heritage Academy, a brand new charter HS in the Laveen area.  She has really struggled with school since the move, not really sure where she fits in & is not applying herself academically.  We are hoping she will enjoy being with some of her friends at this new school & their no nonsense way of handling things will help her get her grades back up & figure out where she belongs.

BOOM, almost 5 years in the Tribe of 5Teen done!  You can breathe now.  There may or may not be a few things in there I missed, but the mysteries will be filled in eventually I am sure as I post regularly & make comments about past events. ;)