Back home.

Twinkle: Thanks everybody for the great time we had! Oh, and thank goodness there is (are: edit by the Dad) a few more days of Christmas break...(*yawns*)

Chip: Glad to be home. Exhausted and ready for bed. (*turns on heel and collapses on couch*)

Minnie: I don't know. (*rolls head around, tiredly*) We had a great trip. It was lots of fun.

Mickey: I say nothing. (*promptly falls asleep on chair*)

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From all the people from phoenamenaldays (plus Maw-maw, Pappy, Uncle Scott, and Bailey. Oh, One Cent, Bailey says hi and "when are you gonna come visit me?")

Maryland is for crabs.. Florida is for...

Walking.

Chip and Minnie's creation

Maw-maw and Twinkle

The kids with Maw-maw

looking out to sea...

We found LOTS of shells

Digging.

pictures from florida

here are some pictures from our visit to our friends in florida

Arrived

On Friday, we (except One Cent) arrived in Florida. The first day, we had dinner, watched football and Jurassic Park, unpacked, hung out with Maw-maw and Pappy, and had a great time! On Saturday, we took a quick hike up to West Orlando and saw a bunch of friends there. We had such a fun time with ya'll and we miss you already! Sunday was church and the Annie Moses Band concert. They were excellent!! Today is shopping. Yay!

Pictures coming.. ummm .. posted..

Twinkle

Stay with the Mac's

For the week of Thanksgiving, the Jansens (Nora's family) all stayed at our house. So, we bunked up with the Mackays! We shopped, ate great food, browsed people's flickrs, did makeup and hair (well, the girls did), played Foosball, read exciting (and boring) books, did pilates, talked waaaaay into the night, and basically hung out all day! It was so fun! Thanks so much, Mac's for having us! Glad to have your beds back, Kiley and Brynn? :)

Hanging up the clock!

One night, we raided Barnes and Noble. Here are our spoils!

Lovely, lovely. :)

Kiley with her tea and book.

The Professor.

The G2 Christmas Banquet

Last Saturday was the G2 Christmas Banquet. It was a great event! The weather was perfect--crisp and chilly. Mr. Payne gave a very encouraging, very insightful exhortation. The food was delicious. I, Twinkle, got to go on stage for a game (and lost, sadly). The decorations were beautiful and elegant. And, the best part of all, I got Chip to go too! He even dressed up.

Ah, sweet victory!

Oh, and sorry for the scarcity of pictures!

(Notice how tall Chip is getting!!!)

Right before we left.

Playing the game.

Me & Erin. Lov ya, girl!

Freezing....

It was so cold in the last weeks that Emily and Twinkle and Minnie have decided to buy a hat. Not just any hat.

This hat.

March Madness - December version

Chip and his team playing in a Christmas tournament (1st of several this month)... although his team is comprised of 7th graders, the tournament was for 8th and 9th graders (most in traveling club teams). I won't bore you with the scores, but you can probably guess the scoring trends!

The JAMKay 5K

On Thanksgiving Day, the Jansens, Travis and Nora Shank, Drew Mac, and all the people here at phoenamenaldays (yes, even the Dad and One Cent) ran a 5K: the JAMKay 5K to be exact. It was a great day to run, cool and overcast.

All finished wonderfully. Oh, and Brett and Chip were supposed to record everyone's time, but, unfortunately, Brett hit the clear button on his watch. So the only time he got was his own. I can safely say, however, that everyone except the Dad and One Cent finished under 30 minutes.

Results in order from first to last:

Brett Jansen
Emily Jansen
Chip
Nora Shank
Dennis Jansen
Twinkle
Mickey
The Mom
Minnie
Travis Shank
Drew Mac
One Cent
The Dad

Honorable Mention: Brian Mac and Susan Jansen.

Photography Credit: Brynn and Laura Mac.

Twinkle and Drew

The "before race" picture.

Ready...get set...

GO!!!!!

Silly Maddy!

This part was hard.

Ha, ha. Classic.

Can you see One Cent??? :)

Go Drew and the Mom!

Dash!

Brett and Nora

Travis and Chip and Emily.

Hi Mr. Jansen!

Elk Trapping

Hi, Twinkle here. And, yes, you read that title right. Elk trapping.

Yesiree, folks, the people here at phoenamenaldays went elk trapping. On Wednesday last week, our story begins...

It was the dead of night (no, for real, it was). At almost half-past 2am, the Mom woke up Twinkle, Chip, Minnie, and Mickey for an adventure like no other. They packed their ski jackets, their hats, their gloves, their scarfs...almost everything except their long-underwear and snow-pants. It was going to be cold up where these brave souls ventured. (Nearly 15 degrees. Who would've guessed???)

Back to the story. The Mom drove up all the winding (well, okay, highway isn't really winding) roads for many hours. Finally, the troupe arrived at their destination. About a half-hour later, they and a few other families were watching a truly amazing spectacle. Elk trapping.

The first elk was feisty and was ramming itself against the rope that kept it from escaping. Finally, the biologists strapped the rambunctious beast to the ground and kept it there while some other biologists put a radio collar over the animal's monstrous head. The biologists also stuck an ear-tag onto the dinner-plate of the elk's ear. Then, Twinkle, Chip, Minnie, Mickey, and the Mom got to pet it. (I know, awesome, right?!?!)

The second elk was a different story. This one was mad and, fellers, I mean ready-to-eat-a-few-nine-year-old-boys mad. (No, the elk didn't eat Mickey.) After it was collared and tagged, the she-elk just sat there, looking at the humans with fire in her eyes. (Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly fire, but it was something like a...er...smoking candle).

Twinkle and Mickey were interviewed by the news channel in Flagstaff (I was thrilled!). Everyone went home. The kids finished their school, the Mom took a nap, and all was well.

The End.

Twinkle

(See the pictures below!!)

Collaring and tagging the elk.

"I can't see! Help! Oh dear, how tiresome humans are!"

This one was throwing herself against the rope. Violent.

All of us.

With the official seal and truck of the Arizona Game and Fish.

This was the silent-but-deadly elk.

Watching...

Look how close we were!

Mickey's hand against the elk's...er...hoof, I guess.

Mickey's head inside the collar.

Oh, and we took a side-trip to Montezuma's Castle. Pretty amazing.