Pine Wood Derby 2011

     David's first Pinewood derby. Here are all the cars the boy's worked so hard to build.

David Jr and his "Punisher" Pinewood Derby Car.

David Sr., David Jr. and Uncle Allen worked on building this car. David Sr cut it out and left the rest for Toad. He got to sand it and even drill the holes for the wheels. He later painted it and uncle Allen and David Sr. put the stickers on along with the weights. Uncle Allen put the tail lights on and the side mirrors to give it some character.  The night of the Pinewood Derby Uncle Allen and Aunt Sarah came to watch Toads car race. It was a great night and everyone had a blast. A big Thanks to David Sr. and Uncle Allen on helping David Jr achieve his Pinewood Derby Patch. 

David Sr. Toad & Allen

Two new nieces in six days

It's been an exciting past week. Two wonderful little bundles of joy came into our lives. 

Adaylse June Alvarez

7lbs 9 oz

20 inches 

January 26th 2011

Adaylse is the first niece on the Alvarez side. It's nice to finally have that side of the family grow. Congrats Jose and Kristi. You two did an awesome job!! Good luck and on being first time parents. It's an amazing experience and a lot of hard work, but so worth it!

Shaustia Lovinya Walker

6lbs 2oz

19 inches

January 31st 2011

Congratulations Tyson and Sabrina. Your little girl is adorable. Little "Shasta" is simply perfect. This is number six for my sister and I think she's totally amazing. Your awesome girl!!!! Having four children myself I don't know how you do it. Good luck and enjoy that little angel.

Onxy, our miniature Freight Train.

Oh goodness gracious, it's been so very long since I last posted here. Things have been busy and I failed to keep up on this like I had planned. I can't believe it is already February 2011, last year just soared by. 


Our newest Canine companion is a real treat to have around. Getting a puppy for Christmas isn't really an unheard of tradition and this last year David got a beautiful Mastador. She's the mixture of a Labrador and an English Mastiff. 

Since Onxy has joined our household she has wormed her way into the hearts of each of us. Her puppy stage is exhausting though, she loves to run and ponce through the house leaving behind her mayhem and destruction. Especially if the children are playing quietly in their rooms. She searches them each out to give kisses while destroying whatever game they were playing. They laugh and chase her down, because she can't seem to stay in one place long enough. The house is most peaceful when she sleeps though and I especially love those moments.
I forget how much joy a puppy brings into a home. It's easy to get caught up in the business aspect of raising a family. I didn't realize anything was missing until she walked, our pounced, through our front door. It's been a year now since our faithful and dearest companion Jewel passed and I think the children were ready for that part of their hearts to be filled with a new puppy. 

It's hard to believe we've only had her 6 short weeks. She already fits in so well. It's hard to imagine my daily routine without her. As you can see in these photo's she thinks she's a person and that her place to sleep is on the couch. She does have a doggie bed and uses it, unless I allow her to sleep on the foot of the bed. However, she is getting so large that she takes up too much room and it gets to hot for her. She is starting to prefer the laundry room where her dog bed is. It stays cooler  there at night then the rest of the house. 

Our dear girl is now 18 wks old and a whopping 50lbs. She's a true angel and a joy to have. Shiera especially loves her and tries to hold her, even though Onxy out weighs her in every aspect. There's our little Shi Shi as happy as can be with her puppy. 

Summer....why must you leave us???

Summer....oh how I wish you would last longer. I am not looking forward to the cold. It would seem we'll have an earlier winter then last year. It's been cold already. It feels as if Fall is right on it's way. I am not at all excited about this. Nothing we can do though, but endure. 
       We spend Labor Day up at my parents Cabin in Gilmore. We haven't been there for three years and it was nice to see what had changed and what had stayed the same. Gilmore is an old mining town. There is a beautiful lake up on the mountain that provides a nice fishing hole. Little David was able to fish for the first time. His Uncle Allen taught him. David was having a blast! Even though the fish were biting he wasn't able to catch anything. We did however have a fun time watching a little chipmunk play in the tree next to us. The kids sat and watched the little guy come out and eat the food they put down for him. 
       I'm not a big camper, but this trip seemed to be a very relaxing one. The children were able to play with their cousins and us adults were able to sit and visit. It's nice having the children grow up and see that they're capable of playing with out constant supervision. 
It was a great weekend, however the mountain's were a bit cold. The nights were freezing and the constant cool wind wasn't the funnest. But still, it was a nice get away. The last day we were there we took all the kids on a walk through the old mining town. They got to look at all the old buildings and hear the fun little stories. We did have to be a little careful though. The had been some bear sighting's a few weeks earlier, with a bear tearing into cooler's full of food and such. So we didn't venture to far into the wooded area's. We hadn't thought to bring a gun with us for the walk, so we just stayed on the safer trails. Which worked best for the children. 

Cabin where a dead man was found. 

The Historical Society has been working very hard at preserving the old buildings. They've braced them up and reframed some that were falling down. They even went as far as fencing some of the more dangerous buildings off so no one could enter. At lot had changed in just three years. I forgot my camera, so these photo's are from 2007. Most of the buildings look the same, while some are worse off. The winter snow has done it's damage on the weaker buildings. It's sad to see them falling apart, but I suppose that is how things are. 

The inside of the cabin from above. 

This photo to the right is an old cabin that they fixed. The put the wall back up and reframed the inside of it. This building has a sad story to it. Two boy's from Idaho Falls, killed their father and brought him up to Gilmore and buried him inside this cabin. They didn't bury him that deep and a bear smelled his body. The Bear came down and found the dead man and dragged him out of the cabin. The police found the remains and the boy's I believe are now in jail. The picture of the hole inside the cabin is where the boy's buried their father.

A few other photo's of the Town of Gilmore.












This building is laying flat now, just a pile of wood!

Bobcat down....Wolf to go.

Last night was David jr.'s first offical Pack Meeting. He has loved being in scouts and has been working his little heart out to get things passed off. He was able to get his Bobcat patch last night and is so very excited about it. When we got home he's like,  "Okay Mom, how many more things do I need to do to get my Wolf patch." His goal is to get it by the next pack meeting. I told him he doesn't have to accomplish everything so quickly, but he's determined. He is close to receiving his gold arrowhead patch though. Just two more to sign off and he's passed his first ten. I can tell we're going to be very busy with this whole "scouting" thing all summer! :)

King and Queen of the "dirt pile".

Since having the top soil brought in, our kids have found it to be the best part of the yard.  Joshie and Khandi Kane have been spend the day out there. Rain or shine they're determined to play in the dirt!!!

I remember being a little girl and loving to play in the dirt piles that my dad had made. The adventures that awaited us...tunnels and dirt houses for various toys.  The kids have enjoyed pulling each other up and down the hill with the wagon. Sadly the wagon being old finally broke and no more of that game. LOL...oh well at least it was fun while it lasted.


Joshua showing off his big muscles. What a fun group of kids.

The Age of Accountability....

On May 1, 2010 David jr. chose to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. David is the oldest child in the family and his decision made us so very proud. Here he is with his father on that special day. I must say, those two boys look darn good all dressed in white.

A funny little story at the beginning of this event was when David jr. saw his Dad all in white he remarked, "Dad, that's about as white as you'll ever get." We all laughed, that toad man can be so funny at times. 

David Jr was so nervous and excited all at once. We helped take the nerves away by making him stand and smile for a million photo's, he was a good sport through it all. 

One of the better pictures of our Family before
 we had to go and sit down for the service to begin.
From left to right : Shiera, Shaleen, Joshua, David Jr, Khandi and David Sr.

Granny and Papa with the Toad Man! This is their second grandson to be baptized.                                                                    

Grandpa Alvarez, Toad Man, and Aunt Mariela. Grandma Alvarez wasn't able to make it because she had to work. So we took lots of pictures so she would be able to look and see what happened on his special day.

Uncle Tyson, Aunt Sabrina, Syrena, T'leese, Tyson jr., Shirlynn and T'Kierra with David Jr. We're so glad they made it to celebrate his special day with him.
They're all so cute and dear to our hearts!!! Thanks Walker Family, we love you!!!!!












This is Uncle Josh Johnson with David Jr. Josh and David Sr. have been friends forever!!!! We've dubbed him "uncle Josh" and the kids just love him and he's always there to support the important stuff.

Oh and this is David with his"Mommy"...or is he getting to old for that??? Mommy doesn't think so. He will always be her little boy, no matter how old he gets.

After David was baptized we had Uncle Tyson go and get a picture of him all wet!!! The man of the hour folks, "David Alvarez Jr."

He was freezing and totally ready to get back into his dry church clothes. But even though he's all soaking wet, I'd have to say he's still so darn cute!!!










David was baptized and confirmed by his father. These are the worthy Priesthood holders that were able to attend and stand in the circle.

Bishop Hall, David Sr, David Jr, Papa, Uncle Tyson and Uncle Josh

Surprise, Surprise!

Got a phone call at 6:30 am from Jefferson School district stating that school had been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions. So I got off the phone and turned on the news...4 inches of snow in most places plus a wind of 30 miles an hour. School are closing all over the place. So I thought I'd check on the animals. Every pet accounted for and doing well.

I opened the front door to find snow every where...the kids are loving and are begging to go play outside. Maybe later this afternoon when the winds die down. As for right now, it's a indoor kinda day. Not planning on running all my errands like I had wanted too. Not worth it to drive with crummy road conditions. David Sr.  is suppose to be heading home today, I hope he is careful in his travels. Well Gizzy Mo is throwing a fit and wants back inside....so until next time. Everyone stay warm and enjoy this lovely Tuesday.