Amezcua Amor

Great photo, wrong time of year.

First of all let me just say that We Love Minnesota. We love the lakes, the skies, the recreation, the weather, the people, the parks, the open land. O'boy said that he loves Minnesota because of all the soda they have, "they have spwite, woot beer, and adult sodas (I think he is referring to Dr. Pepper). Ems loves the lakes. She wants to live there. When we tell her about all the snow she says, "No Problem, I'm a polar bear!" Recently, Lily mentioned that she thought that she would like to go on a mission when she gets older, and when she was asked where, she said, "Minnesota!" What? Now that attests to how much my family loves that state. But what would Minnesota be with out our dear friends, the Amezcuas? It would be a northern state with nice summer weather, frigid winters and lots of lakes. That's about it. All that Minnesota is in our little world is irrevocably dependent upon our dearest-friends-like-family, The Amezcuas. So this is a shout out to them. There is no guarantee that you can have a great time in MN unless you have the Amezcuas right there with you.

First of all there is this lady, the matriarch. She is one of the best women that I know. I have always said that when I grow up, I want to be like her. Here she is with two of her four children. She is the absolute best mother and the best friend I could ever have and I thank my Heavenly Father for her friendship every day and feel so blessed she came into my life. She is one that I can't leave behind. Usually if I am with this woman I end up looking like this, or acting like that. I am always smiling or laughing.
I don't care what her very talented brother Eric Artel, the comedian says, women ARE just as funny as men and my friend Alli is one of the funniest women I know.
She is a gamer and always up for a challenge whether it be a midnight swim in the lake or a tennis match where the loser has to call the winner "Your Majesty." She is inspiring, strong and devoted to the gospel and doing what her Father in Heaven asks of her. She is charitable and loving. She loves me and my kids like they were her own. She was there for me after each of my kids were born. She got Owen to take a pacifier! What more could a woman want in a friend.

Then there is this man, who is married to that woman. This man is so charitable and loving that he actually said that he loved having our brood over to his house for two weeks. "It was fun!" He said, those are his exact words! Bloggers Honor! What? Now that is charitable! Usually this guy can be seen doing this. He loves boating and spending time with his family. Rarely will you see him behind the boat. He is always driving. Thanks so much Heck. We love his personality. He can keep us rolling with his facial expressions and his quick wit. He is a great dad always there for his kids.

Now for the main event. The Chillin's

This little Cillin' went to market. . .
And he bought himself some protein powder so he could be HUGE! and he is. He is the first born, weighing in at 150 and made of steel, Jake the Snake is Mitchy the Kids best friend since they were 18 mos old. Jake is the brother Mitchell never had until he was 12.

The first words out of Mitchell's mouth when he woke up in the morning, when he was barely speaking were, "Where's Jacob?" They are perfect balances of personality and have always gotten along and never seemed to tire of one another.

Here they are sporting their 80's suits they bought at a thrift store for the Craguns trip. I have always been grateful for Mitchell's friends but Jacob takes the cake. Few are better young man then Jacob.

This little chillen' stayed home. . .
And he played and played and played his piano and I am sure passed his London music exams with honors.
This is the winning match box car when the boys played demolition derby.

This little woodland creature was born on the same day as my Mitchy the Kid and they have similar personalities. I will always have a soft spot for that boy. He excels at music and art and is an excellent student. One of our favorite activities is listening to this woodland boy play the piano.My kids love this woodland boy. Here he is playing with iWill.

But playing the piano is not all he can do, oh no, this boy can fly!

And this little chillin' has Roast Beef. . .
Not!
This little one doesn't eat meat(at least she eats very little) She is a healthy girl and sticks to vegetables and gum as her source of survival.

She is so funny she makes me laugh out loud and she is the best friend to my two daughers, loving them like they were her own sisters. She is a very talented actress who dances and sings. She keeps us laughing with funmy characters that she creates. She is a giver like her mama.

This little sis loves her momma and she is just like her. She will be a great mama herself one day!

And this little chillin' had none.
True that! Big boy Samiami loves ego waffles and. . . well that sums it up. He doesn't like to take the time to eat because he is so busy. He is a joyful and a real nature lover. He has always been a comfort and a joy to his mama. He is easy going and never complains. He has the best telephone manners and I always find joy when I get to chat with him on the phone. He prefers fishing and hiking to watersports, and he knows what he wants is not persuaded otherwise. He will grow up great and strong like his big brothers being obedient to his parents and doing what his Heavenly Father wants him to do.

When all is said and done. The patriarch and matriarch did a great job raising these amazing children. They are a gift to all who know them, especially us.

We love you all

i Will

I love all things apple/mac. I'm not talking apple dippers and mac and cheese, I'm talking the most innovative technological company out there.  That company has got vision, style, and great design sense: you got the i tunes, the i pod, i life, i photo, i movie, i phone,  all those great i thingys that make sitting at the computer so fun and easy.  You can't help but feel good sitting at an i mac because  you've got a great looking, highly stylized computer at your fingertips,  I don't know, it seems to inspire.  

So Hence the title of this post: iWill.  I love this boy!  This kid has such style and presence for a little guy.  He brings such joy to my life and smiles to my face every day.  What about a boy who is such a little lover he even kisses his fist when he pounds me one! 

For those of you who don't know him, let me break it down for you.  First of all look at his name.  iWill.  That just about sums him up all the way.  Can you do it Will?  "I will,  I can, watch me!  He has great confidence and a good attitude.   Will is not intimidated nor discouraged easily.  He wants to do his best in all that he does.  He was struggling with his numbers this year and so we set a goal for him to learn and he got busy and started making a better effort and ended up mastering his numbers on his report card.   He tried to get up on skis just last week.  A  tough spill and a bunch of water up his nose cooled him off on the idea, but he gave it a good try and I was proud of him.  

iWill has great faith.  His prayers always humble me and make me pause.  Everytime he prays he thanks our Heavenly Father for Jesus and how Jesus saved us and how he helped our Nana and our Grand ma(my mom).  The moment my mom passed away,  I gathered my children around me and told them the news.  I said that we should have a prayer and guess what. . . iWill said, I want to give it.  In his sweet little voice and in his humble way he prayed for our family and thanked Jesus for  helping us and saving us.  He prayed for my mom with such immense faith and strength, we all thanked him in true appreciation for his heart felt prayer.  Just today, Grandpa(my dad) went in for some minor surgery.  iWill was concerned for him and expressed this to me.  I told him that when ever he feels those twinges of concern, he can pray to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Father will listen.  I reminded him that every prayer counts.  I asked him if he wanted to pray and he said yes.  He shared his sweet prayer thanking Heavenly Father for Jesus and asking him to help Grandpa today.  Sweet moment and a great example to me of his  great faith.

iWill is a great worker.  He is determined to do his best and enjoys contributing to the family chores.  iWill's chores are putting away the silverware and dusting the window sills.  He finds a lot of satisfaction in a job well done.  He is very neat in his school work and tries very hard.

iWill is discipline and determined.  He was praised by his teacher this year for withstanding some pressure from friends to breaks some class rule.  He made the right choice and she was very proud of him.  We are too.

iWill has the ability to work through emotional issues.  He will often say, I told my brain . . . and now I feel better.  He seems to understand the power of a positive attitude.  Wow!  I am still working on that one!

iWill has a gentle hand.  He is often being hit or kicked by his younger brother, rarely will he give in to the urge to retaliate.  This takes some major discipline.  He is very sweet to his young friends.  He adores little Jordyn, baby Presley and baby Isaac  little Cannon and Tessa.  

iWill loves to play.  Right now legos and play mobile are his favorite toys.  He is a great friend and has many.  Connor, Owen, Isabelle, Dylan, Manshar, Lukey and Glenn.  Sometimes when he is bored he gets into mischief, but it is so hard to get mad at him because he looks at you with his infectious grin.  Many times when he was younger, I had to turn my head when disciplining him because he had a playful grin thinking everything was soooo funny. 

My Sweet William.  I love you.  Thanks for your great happiness all your love and kisses and your amazing presence.  

An Icecream As Big As Your Head!

Minnesota is a land of 10,000 lakes! I think it is safe to say that it is the land of the biggest icecream too. Every time we go to MN, we have to go to Nelson's Icecream in Stillwater MN. Stillwater is a cute little town that they claim is the oldest town founded in the state. It sits on the St Croix River and is claim to great boutiques and old architecture and Nelson's Icecream where you can get a cone as BIG as you HEAD. I can hear you hemming and hahing thinking I am exaggerating. Lisa is thinking this is another Fish story (Owen did catch that fish BTW) Don't worry my friends Allison already talked to me about blogging with integrity. We were wishing that we had taken pictures of every person we had asked, "Are we going the right way?" in my surrey story. At the time, I suggested that we just take any picture of any people to fill in and she gave me a lecture about blogging integrity, blah, blah, blah. Okay, Alright already, I promised her I would report as it really happened, truthfully all the way. And so I have, BTW I am not one to exaggerate. . .who is known to do that hummmmmm? So this is no fish story. This is the truth.


First of all let me introduce you to the scoopers? (Their names have been changed to protect their innocence or the celebrity, depending upon how you interpret.)


First Sarah. She was nominated as the best scooper!! Next there was Wayne, he was nominated as most frugal (another way of saying shrimpy scoops) boobie prize! Next is. . . I don't know this guy. He just was a worker who wanted to be on my blog(five seconds of fame) These are they. . . The Scoopers. Now for their creations


Sarah looking stunned (Don't let her expression fool you, she is a professional) James is ecstatic about his SINGLE! (you don't want to see a double) He was one of three boys who were brave enough to eat one. Did they finish you ask?, Oh, you betcha!! Emma looking ever so sweet with her CHILDS SERVING!














Here are our gracious hosts who always show us the best places and the grandest experiences. Heck and Alli cat! Guess who scooped our scoops? You guessed it, Wayne the Way frugal guy. It didn't take the fun out of it though





















Jake is looking intoxicated on dairy products. He has all the symptoms: jolly demeanor, optimistic outlook, smears of vanilla on the sides of his mouth. He has it bad. You know he didn't drive on the way home.

So if in MN you have to check out Nelsons where you. . . that's right, get an icecream as big as you head?

A Ride On A Surrey With The Fringe On Top

So Allison says, "Let's go to Minnehaha Falls."


"Okay" I say. I love the name Minnehaha. I want to go just because of that name. It sounds so happy, kind of giggley. I love all the Indian names that have settled this state. You know like, Minnetonka, and Shakapee and Ogibwe and of course Minnesota (the land of many waters) I know that because Mitchell did his state report in the fifth grade on Minnesota in honor of his friend Jacob.

"So, where are these falls" I ask.

"Right in downtown Minneapolis," she says.

"What?" I say,

"Yeah," she says.

"Okay then!"

So we drive the 28 and a half minutes to Minnehaha falls as Allison's Tom Tom voice Karen, guides us through take this exit in 1/4 mile and turn right in 500 yds through the city of Minneapolis and finally arrive at a park. It looks to be an ordinary park but in the distance we hear the rushing of water. On the way to find the falls we pass this little shed and about 5o bikes, regular 10 speeds, those lay back bikes and then the bike of all bikes, "The Surrey" a little carriage on bicycle tires. That little surrey with the fringe on top sat gleaming in the sun just waiting for someone to come and take it for a ride.

"So how many does it fit?"

"Eight? Great? Let's do it" So I fill out the paper work that states they aren't responsible for our lives and Allison and I split the $26 dollars it costs to take it for a spin for one hour, we fit the kids with helmets and Ta daaaaaa, we are riding our very own Surrey.

"Oh yeah, here is map to follow, it will take you around the park," says the Surrey bike vendor. He hands us a map that looks like he drew it on a napkin on the way to work today. I mean hand drawn and NOT to scale.

"Okay, we say as we head off peddling" We are fine, who needs a map anyway! We are adults, we can handle this. Off we go up hill. Allison and I at the front and the kiddies at the back. There are four sets of pedals, but only Allison and I can really reach them so we are doing all the work.

Here we are, all comfy cozy just as we take off. Everyone looks pretty excited for the adventure.
We are having a great time and traverse the park, up some hills, down some hills. I keep looking at Allison wondering if she or anyone else is attempting to pedal to move this beast. It seems they are but I am not convinced.

We are doing just fine for the first 1/4 mile until we meet a fork in the road. After some consulting we see that we need to cross abridge in the park and so we vere to the right. It doesn't seem to be following the park map but seems to be the best route. Sam starts to show some concern as we are approaching the bridge that CROSSES THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER!

Of course this is the route, there were no other bridges. But Sam says, this is a major highway. Allison and I are a little confused and weren't sure if we had just heard a horn honk from one of those rapidly moving vehicles just to the left of us. Sam is down right scared now and Allison and I are hoping that the drivers of those rapidly moving cars aren't calling Minnehaha bike vendors and reporting stolen Surreys!

Here we are on the bridge and yes, that is the Mississippi in the back ground. Still confused and consulting the map we see from way across the bridge, what? Another Surrey, What a relief. We must be going the right way, so we continue with trepidation because we are fearing that both Surreys won't fit on the narrow bike trail the city has provided. Upon meeting fellow surrey renters, we ask "Are we going the right way?" To which they reply, "We don't know, we turned around and came back, good luck!"

"Yeah, you too! "

So off we went to try to find the bike trail. To every passer by we asked, "Are we going the right way?" and so more fun began. Some of the responses were blank stares, other people giggled. Some acted like they knew where we were going and said, yep! One old guy said, "Well, that depends upon where you are going" Another guy just ignored us, so we made double sure we caught up with him going the opposite way and asked him again. He ignored us some more.


Finally, after making a little rest stop, we arrived to our destination, turned in our bicycle helmets and our surrey with the fringe on top, told the bike guy he needed to draw up a new map, and warned some unsuspecting bike renters that the map was NOT to scale and watch out for the Mississippi. Of course, We finally saw Minnehaha Falls, right in in the heart of Minneapolis, MN. Another great adventure MN.

Little O Boy and His Sponge Bob Pole: A Fish Story

Once upon a time there was a little O Boy! He was a happy boy who thought he was big. He wanted to do everything the big boys wanted to do, and he did. One day little O Boy went to the dock with his trusty Sponge Bob Pole. There were lots of people there and they were catching some fish! Little O Boy wanted to catch one too. He was patient and had faith in his Sponge Bob Pole, although the other kids thought it was just for babies. Lots of fish were caught that day!

Big Bro Willow caught one. Big Boy Sam I Am caught a Big one. Even Big Sis Ems caught one!

Finally, Little Boy O caught a fish. Everyone was very happy for him and thought he caught a big fish for such a little boy!
But Little O Boy felt he could do better because he is pretty AWESOME! so he put his pole in one more time. He had faith in his little Sponge Bob Pole! He put in his line one more time and this is what happened:

Little O Boy caught the biggest fish of the day, a large mouth bass, with his trusty Sponge Bob Pole. Oh the faith of Little O Boy and his Sponge Bob pole.