Category Archives: Family

Our crazy families

Our new adventure…

September 7, 2018 ML

So…for those of you who know us well, you know we NEVER do anything easy.

10 years ago we decided that tent camping was no longer going to work for us…especially with children. We decided to take the plunge and buy a pop up trailer that we have been hauling with us on all of our climbing trips and it has truly made for some wonderful experiences. However…in the last couple years, we’re becoming more and more aware that we just don’t FIT in it anymore. We made bunk beds that were awesome, but the boys are getting older and BIGGER and our space is starting to disappear.

A year or so ago, we got in touch with a good friend of ours who works at an RV shop and asked him to show us some upgrades. The trailers were beautiful – with price tags to match. The one I fell in love with was a hybrid. It was a hard shell trailer with beds that popped out of the sides. It had a TON of room and a really nice floor plan but was a bit on the heavier side so we were looking at possibly upgrading vehicles as well. After discovering that the price was $24,000, I knew this wasn’t an option and refusing to buy ANOTHER car, we abandoned the idea of getting a new trailer.

I kept searching on RV sites for something that would work but nothing came up. Until one day, I found what I had been looking for. =)

Among the posts for RV’s, fifth wheels, pop-ups and truck campers, I found… A converted SCHOOL BUS. Yes that’s right. A school bus. If you’re like most people, you’re thinking… HIPPIES. Make love, not war. The Partridge Family. Well, you’d be wrong. Believe it or not, the school bus is becoming more and more popular as a converted vehicle and even a tiny house because it’s WAY cheaper than buying a huge RV and you can design it however you want. The one I saw for sale was beautiful and I instantly fell in love. Now mind you, this was almost a year ago when I stumbled on this. I grabbed Tommy, showed him what I had found and he immediately shot me down. Hahaha! Not too surprising. Well, if you know me at all, you know that I don’t give up easily. So over the past year, I kept dropping little hints and suggestions on his head, trying to soften him up. He was pretty resistant until 3 months ago when I was searching for something on Craigslist and found a listing for a school bus. It must have been divine intervention because I was just sitting at my desk not saying a word when he walked in to see what I looking at. I started looking through the photos and something happened. Tommy said “Is that a cobra on the hood??” (It had a COBRA as a hood ornament which made me love it all the more! HAHAHA!) I said, “Here look at the pictures…” And as soon as he sat down, I knew he was ready.

We didn’t end up buying that bus, even though it was awesome and the cobra alone made it worth the money the guy wanted. After seeing that post though, Tommy got the bug and things started moving fast. He was like a bloodhound on the trail of busses and I was happy to hand the reigns over to him. He scoured tons of sites looking for one that would work. There’s a site called Public Surplus that lists busses for sale all over the country. It’s an auction site and the cool thing is that the bidding starts at like $500. We found one we liked but it was in bad shape and decided to pass. Then in June while he was up visiting his dad in MT, he found another one that we really wanted but we got outbid. Then one day I woke up and saw an email from him about a bus for sale on Craigslist up in Utah. I looked at the pictures and said “This is the one.” He ended up emailing and calling the guy and after some back and forth, he agreed to hold it for us until we got up there. We were thrilled. It was in excellent shape, had low miles and was the length we wanted. It had already been somewhat converted. The guy had ripped out all the seats and put in really nice custom made couches. He had also done some work on the transmission and ass end of it so that it would drive smoothly at high speeds. Because I was swamped at work and couldn’t get the time off, we had to wait FOREVER to drive up there and finally get it. So about a month later , at the end of July, we packed our bags and made the 11 hour drive to Utah to pick up our new bus.

So as you know, it’s HOT in the summer. And this bus didn’t have AC. We anticipated the pain and bought some water bottles with fans so Tommy and the kids could keep cool. I was the lucky one. I got to drive the car back and use my air conditioner. Hahaha. By the way, the boys didn’t know we were buying this. I think they had an idea because we had been mentioning it a lot, but we never told them definitively that we were buying a bus. So it was a lot of fun to surprise them.

The trip was LONG. It was all driving pretty much and it was stressful because there was a lot we had to do in a little amount of time. Tommy was a natural behind the wheel and had a blast driving it for the first time. Getting gas was a goat rodeo but we managed. The worst part was the heat. Driving back through Phoenix in the 108 degree weather was NOT fun and even though the boys had the option to ride with me, they chose the bus and nearly cooked to death. I remember driving behind them and seeing little heads and arms hanging off the couches with their water bottles spraying themselves. Pretty funny. After we made it back, it was a race to get it registered and insured because we only had a 4 day temporary tag. THAT was a complete cluster and I don’t have the time or space to tell you all the details. Needless to say, we got it done and now our bus is sitting happily in our side yard behind a NEW block wall waiting to be gutted and worked on. But that my friends, is another story. Stay tuned. =)

Our first leg of the trip up to St George

William asleep in the hotel pondering life in his dreams

Second day driving up to Lehi. Views from the car at 5:30 in the morning. We had to meet the guy early because he had to go to work.

Taking a break from the driving to get in some exercise. Still early as hell and the kids were already wound up.

And the back. It’s 36 ft in length so we’ve got a lot of space to work with

Chillin at the DMV trying to get our temporary tag

Pulling out of the gas station to make the drive back to St George

Second day driving back home. Beautiful scenery in UT

There is actually some awesome climbing in this canyon we’re passing through. Guess we have to come back! =)

Despite being COMPLETELY exhausted, we were able to celebrate Williams b-day the following day. Happy 7th Birthday stinker! You got a bus for a present! =)

Family, Misc

Hello Again

May 6, 2018 ML

Hey everyone. Once again I’m writing after a several month hiatus, BUT once again I really don’t have an excuse other than I’ve had no energy or desire to post anything. We are all doing well, but I think that 2018 is gearing up to be a crappy year.

Our beloved Grandpa passed away on February 1st from small cell lung cancer. Even now as I type this, it’s hard for me to believe that he’s gone forever. I can still see his smile and hear his laugh and it makes me sad to think about it. He was admitted to the hospital on Jan 2nd and never made it back home. It was a month of absolute hell trying to do whatever I could to find a solution but in the end, I realized that after he was diagnosed, he never had a chance. Looking back, I’m pretty sure he had the tumor while we were in Disneyworld but it wasn’t big enough to give him fits until it started blocking his airway. At this point, I’m still a little bitter about how it all went down but with time I know I’ll come to terms with it. In the meantime, I try to keep reminding myself that he’s back with the love of his life and free from any earthly cares. And honestly, with everything that’s going on in the world, that sounds pretty good.

We are all doing well…sort of? I am battling a back/neck/shoulder injury that I just can’t seem to overcome. In January my back and neck seized after spending a horrific day in the hospital watching Grandpa suffer at the hands of amateurs and assholes. I’ve been seeing massage therapist and going to chiropractor regularly but there hasn’t been much improvement. My next options are cupping or acupuncture. If those don’t work I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Tommy, never one to be outdone, is also suffering from back pain. He’s not sure why but he played golf for a week straight (after not playing for a year) while Dad was visiting recently, so I’m not surprised. Getting old is NOT fun. =(

On another note, we have both turned into workaholics. My contractual job with my boss, Mike, turned into an actual job in his shop and for those who don’t know, we make climbing harnesses for climbing gyms and obstacle courses. I’ve been working as a contractor for him since July of 2013 but started working as part of the crew in August and I really love it. Mike is a really cool guy and because he owns the business he’s able to let me work around the boys schedule which has been amazing. There are normally 3 people working there but the other guy (who was there when I started) quit in February and so we’ve been crazy busy with just the two of us. Starting this month, I basically have a full time and a part time job since I’ll be working in the shop during the weekdays and then sewing parts at night and on the weekend. That will only last for about 3 months though, so it’s not so bad. Hahaha!

Tommy is starting to move up the food chain…which of course means lots of meetings and longer hours sometimes. We are learning to adjust. The boys are great and growing like weeds. Henry turned 10 last Friday and is obsessed with volcanoes right now. The recent eruption down in Hawaii made him go into orbit. I would love to take him down there just to see his eyes pop out of his head. =) William is still his stinker self but is now all about the money. He is constantly asking how he can earn it and tries to swindle it out of everyone’s pocket. I reminded him that AZ allows kids to start working when they’re 14 so he only has to wait 7 more years until he can get a job. Believe it or not, at 6 years old he has an incredible work ethic and really impresses us. We’ll see how long that lasts. 😉

We have some big remodeling projects on the horizon! it’s nice having a good second income to blow on stuff like that. The first is our kitchen. Just yesterday I had a vision of how I wanted to change it, ran it by Tommy, and much to his chagrin he agreed it was a good plan. It’s going to be a big undertaking (kitchens always are) but it will be stunning in end. We will probably start the demolition in the next couple weeks. The other project is an adobe courtyard outside the front patio along with a 3 part adobe wall enclosing the front yard. We will also be changing the driveway and making it a half circle shape so we can just drive through and exit instead of having to back out. I’m sure it’s hard to envision with just this explanation, but trust me – It will look spectacular!

Well, that’s a quick sum up of life right now. I’m not going to promise I’ll get better at posting because at this point, who are we kidding? I hope everyone is doing well and that your year is going good. Happy 100 degree Summer!

High school picture – Such a handsome man!

He and his 2 girls, Patricia and Karen. Look at those glasses!

A young Grandpa and his beloved, Anne. He could be a Kurt Russell impersonator!

One of my favorite pictures. Grandpa and his eldest daughter Karen on her wedding day.

His antics knew no bounds. This was for Halloween one year.

A visit from our favorite Peggy Ann, Grandpa’s niece

She is the knitting master and was trying to teach the boys how to make pom-poms.

We had breakfast in her hotel room and hung out all morning. It was wonderful.

Celebrating his 10th birthday eating delicious sushi! (He picked the restaurant, I swear!)

Got his first pair of glasses. SO darn cute!

Family

Our Christmas present to Grandpa…a tick off his bucket list in a hot air balloon!!

December 20, 2017 ML

I was SO thrilled that we could do something for Grandpa that he was never able to do before. While we were down in Florida at Disneyworld, he mentioned that he had never been able to tick a hot air balloon ride off his bucket list and at that moment I knew I had to find a way to get him in one. I booked our ride for December 16th a month in advance and made Grandpa save the date without telling him what we were doing. Well, because it was a surprise and I wanted it to be perfect, the Universe just HAD to conspire against me! Hahaha! About 2 weeks before the ride, Grandpa called us up and said he needed to see us. I could tell right away it wasn’t good news and knew it had to do with his health so we raced down to see what was going on. He proceeded to tell us that he had been in the ER for about 16 hours with chest pains, shortness of breath, a sky rocketing pulse and numbness in his chin. Needless to say, I didn’t handle this news very well since he was telling us AFTER THE FACT and didn’t call when he was actually in the ER. I was able to control myself enough to not shoot out of my chair and attack him but I completely lost my mind and cried my eyes out for a good 20 minutes. After pulling it together and making a pact for any future similar events, he told us that they had sent him home because they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh ok. They did an MRI, a chest X ray and ran other tests and said his results came back perfect on all of them. We honestly had no idea what the heck was going on. So this all happened on a Sunday and that coming Friday he was supposed to fly up to Boston to hang out with his family but wasn’t sure he could go because of this turn of events. I kept in touch with him throughout the week and on Thursday he said he felt well enough to travel. I asked him to text me when he arrived and when he returned and he did both and both times said he was doing good. So I of course thought he was fine. WEEELLLLLLL….I got a phone call from him on the Monday afternoon after he returned (5 days before our balloon ride) and he said “I have good and bad news. I went to Urgent Care today and was diagnosed with Pneumonia.” I almost laid an egg because I’m thinking how is this good news!!!??? But he said he was so happy to KNOW what was going on because he almost didn’t make it out alive from Boston. The doctor told him that he basically had only one working lung because the other one was so filled with fluid. Completely shocked that they didn’t admit him to the hospital, I wondered if he would be able to make the balloon ride that Saturday. I talked to Tommy and he said we could wait until that Thursday to see how he was healing and either reschedule or press on. I called him almost everyday checking up on him and he said he was slowly getting better. On Thursday I called him and he said he was doing good and excited for our Saturday surprise. I was still skeptical but crossed my fingers and told him we were a GO. On Saturday morning, we picked him up at 5:30am and drove him 45 minutes across town to meet the balloon crew at a McDonalds restaurant. Grandpa had NO idea what was going on and I made them all SWEAR not to say a thing until they absolutely had to. We all piled into the pilot’s truck and drove out to the launch site. When we got there, I finally had to spill the beans because we couldn’t avoid it any longer. I told him we had booked him a balloon ride and he looked at me like I was insane! Hahahaha! Unfortunately, it was too windy at the first launch site so we had to pack back in the truck and drive to a second one that was a decent drive away. En route, keeping to the theme of near death experiences, we almost got in a car accident when some lady, no doubt tired from an early morning commute, merged into our lane and nearly side swiped us. God was absolutely determined to make me earn this one!! When we arrived at the second launch site, the wind was calm but it was 34 degrees and I was absolutely freezing. The crew asked us if we wanted to go ahead or reschedule simply because this route wasn’t as spectacular and was shorter in length than the original ride. I asked Grandpa and he said “Let’s do it!” So we proceeded to unpack the balloon, air it up, pile in and take a ride! It was pretty awesome and even though we were all cold, everyone enjoyed it. After about 30 minutes, we found a big field and nearly crash landed. The wind had picked up and 2 of the crew members had to basically wrestle the basket to a stop. It was pretty funny. After manhandling the balloon back into it’s bag and piling back in the truck, we went and had champagne and brunch at a local park and celebrated our successful ride. We were all exhausted driving home, but I was thrilled it all came together despite every obstacle on the planet being thrown at us. Hahaha!!

After all of the wonderful things that Grandpa has done for us, (too many to count) I am grateful we were able to give him a little something in return that he wasn’t expecting. Grandpa…there aren’t words to express our gratitude for everything you’ve done for us. But you should know that the greatest gift you’ve given us is YOU. We ADORE you and love you more than we can express. We are so lucky you are part of our lives! So…with that said, if you don’t call me the next time you are admitted to the hospital, you will be staying longer than you expected. Fair warning. >=)

Unpacking the truck. It’s hard to believe that a gigantic balloon could fit back there…

Becky putting all the nuts and bolts on the basket

They boys were laughing hysterically over rabbits darting everywhere

After we got Grandpa and the boys out, Mike and I were left scraping across the field…

They wanted to make him a part of the crew…

Celebrating our successful ride with champagne in the park! Mike, the pilot, took the picture with us. Super nice people!

Family

Thanksgiving in Montana

December 20, 2017 ML

Hey everyone! Happy belated Thanksgiving! Hope you all ate a ton of turkey and pumpkin pie and got to spend some quality time with loved ones. We changed it up a bit this year and took a break from our usual climbing trip out to Bishop and headed up to MT to see Dad, Tess and Aunt Nancy instead. I’m so glad we did because it was wonderful to see them and also spend a holiday with them. We spent about a week up there and did some really fun stuff. Dad took me into work with him and I got to hang out with his clients which was a very memorable experience in more ways than one! Such amazing people. We also drove out into the forest and cut down a Christmas tree which was a hoot. The weather was cold, foggy and wet and it actually felt like winter up there. When we came back to AZ, it was 86 degrees and sunny which gave us a bit of a shock but we weren’t at all surprised. Believe it or not, this past week the weather FINALLY started getting cold here. And by cold I mean a high of 65. Bahahaha! Sad.

Anyway, here are some pics from our trip. Enjoy!

First thing we did was head to dad’s work to get our fun on. The boys love drawing and painting and we also got to work on the potters wheel!

My turn! Dad has the patience of a Saint. =)

Wrestling with the clay – obviously he’s doing all the work! ha

Trying to make something that resembles a bowl?

This is Dustin and he is one of Dad’s clients. He is such an amazing person and I LOVED talking to him and watching Dad work with him. Dad does three handed pottery with his clients as well as digital art and painting and it was such a treat to see the special relationship he has with all of them. They are all disabled in some way and he helps them make art and pottery and puts it up for sale to help them earn money. They absolutely ADORE him and he has really found his calling doing this job. It was so humbling to share a day with all of them, get to know them and see what Dad does on a daily basis. He is truly an angel in disguise. =)

Out in the wild searching for a tree…I hadn’t done this since I was a kid! Pretty cool

Here’s a little video of the mayhem:

Dad and I were there giving moral support and taking selfies…

Tripping over a deer carcass on the way back…don’t see that everyday down in Tucson…

Time to decorate with help from Aunt Nancy!

Getting spoiled with Legos from Grandpa!

Chillaxin and watching the Vikings game. (They won! Miracle)

Climbing, Family

CrimpDaddy Competition and Halloween 2017

November 1, 2017 ML

Hey everyone! We hope you all had fun either handing out candy or going trick or treating. We did our usual thing – headed out to our friends house for a potluck and then let the boys troll for candy around his neighborhood. Henry got so much that his pail handle broke and it exploded all over the road. Awesome. This was also our 3rd year hosting the Crimps and Costumes competition at our climbing Cathedral and was BY FAR the best one for costumes! We were absolutely blown away by some of them! We had a good turn out and everyone had a great time. It’s hard to believe that it’s already November and we only have 2 more months until Christmas. The weather here has finally changed and the cooler temps are rolling in. I’m excited about getting back on our woody! Hope all is well with everyone. Happy Halloween!