All is "well"

The salmonella contamination didn't affect our water supply but we were victim to our own private water crisis. We actually discovered the problem when a friend from Alamosa came out to take a shower during the water restrictions and we had no water pressure in the guest bathroom.








We did notice a stream of water out by the well but thought that it was from the snow melt. The snow is now gone and we still had running water. So, a call to the plumber informed us that the problem was much deeper.









The well service people came out with a backhoe and dug to the root of the problem, repaired it and, all is "well".


Turns out that the deep freeze we had last winter (the one that caused the hot tub to freeze and drain out) took its toll on the water pipe that goes from the well to the house. We HOPE that this is the end of the deep freeze casualties.

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Jamie invited eight friends to his birthday party. He chose the motorcycle cake but the theme of the party was sports.





Back row: Matthew, Jamie, Zachary, Justin, Parker Front row: Emily, Taylor, Ashley, Ryan

Soccer - Week Two

Another week of soccer and, still, amazing to see how much Jamie has progressed in just one year! We had several people comment on Jamie's skills today...we're SO proud! He scored three goals in todays game.

He dribbles...

He shoots...

He scores!!!

Surfing at High Speed...finally!

I recently learned about a high speed internet option that is available to those of us who are isolated from DSL and cable...Canopy Wireless through Blanca Telephone Company. My friend was searching for alternate internet providers (she lives 5 miles EAST of Alamosa) and actually had the satellite installer at her house to install Wild Blue. It was the satellite installer who told her about Canopy. She knew that I've been desperately seeking an alternative to dial-up so she asked about service in my area. She told me about this on Wednesday, I called on Thursday, and it was installed this morning (Friday). It does cost more than my dial-up service but I can now cancel the additional phone line I used for internet, making it more comparable and affordable. I am so excited to finally be able to view photos & videos that friends send me. Woo hoo!!

SIX YEARS OLD!!!

Jamie turned six years old today...wow, it's amazing how fast the years speed by.










Grandma came to visit for a couple of days and we took cupcakes and juice to share the big day with his kindergarten classmates. He will have a small birthday party on Saturday, so the celebration goes on...

Soccer

GOAL!!!!

This is Jamie's 4th soccer season and it is fun to watch him become more aggressive and more confident in his skills. The transformation from last year to this year is amazing!!! Instead of following the pack, he is right there in the middle of the action, taking the ball away from opponents and scoring goals. He scored three goals in todays game!

Bonus Spring Break

The salmonella outbreak brought an unexpected surprise...another week off from school! We're still not sure of the reasoning behind this, other than the inconvenience of not being able to use city water while at school, but it was nice to have Bill & Jamie home for another week. (The chlorination flushing started on Tuesday and the effects could linger for up to three weeks.)










Tuesday was Parker's usual day to come over and since I knew that Tiffany was in a pinch trying to find childcare, we invited Ashley over also. Ashley was a little put out that we didn't have any "girl" toys, but they had fun playing croquet and swinging on the playset.

























On Friday, playgroup decided to meet at the Hooper Pool. We invited Ashley & Jessica to join us for a fun day of swimming.

We enjoyed our Spring Break in Arizona but it sure was nice to get this bonus week to enjoy time together at home with friends.

Sam N' Ella

We arrived home from Arizona to find that Alamosa was in the throes of a salmonella outbreak. Jamie brought a note home from school that emphasized proper hand-washing. We soon learned that several of our playgroup friends had been diagnosed with salmonella. Last week it was determined that the source of the salmonella was the city water supply and Alamosa has been on water restrictions since Wednesday.

This is one of the many "mountains" of water you can now find in almost every Alamosa store. Currently, city water can be boiled to kill the salmonella but next week the city will begin the chlorination flushing process. The chlorination concentration in the water during this process will be so high that people are being instructed to use bottled or bulk water for bathing, dishwashing, teeth brushing, laundry, hand washing, cooking...basically everything except flushing toilets. The stores stocked up on bottled water and the National Guard has been called in to distribute water to city residents, so water will be available. I dare you, however, to find a bottle of Germ-X at any store in Alamosa!

**We have our own well so, thankfully, we are not affected by this water situation.

Cabinets

When we were in Albuquerque after Spring Break, we stopped at Lowe's and picked up the bottom cabinets for my scrapbooking/stamping room. Now I am looking for a countertop (need 12 foot-will probably have to use two 6 foot) to go on top of the cabinets and this phase of the room transformation will be complete. It may be a year or so before I can afford to purchase the wall cabinets but I'm excited to have this much finished.

Easter Eggs-citement

Easter (March 23) kind of snuck up on us this year, earlier than it's ever been before.

Here are the Easter facts:
Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox (which, this year, is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on the Roman calendar. Based on this, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) than it will be this year, but that is rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will see for the rest of our lives. And only the most elderly (95 years and above) have ever seen it this early. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913. The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.



Our playgroup had an Easter Egg Hunt on Friday and since there was no school, Jamie & the older kids also were able to participate. The weather was cooperative and the kids had a great time.








































Later that afternoon, we colored eggs at home. Jamie loves coloring eggs...too bad he will not eat the boiled eggs.






























Bill played his guitar at the Sunrise Service but Jamie & I slept in and met him later for our regular church service. The O'Dowds hid eggs for the kids (all 4 of them) throughout the Fellowship Hall. Jamie found at least 25 eggs!















After church, we finally got to see what the Easter Bunny had done at home. Jamie found an Easter basket filled with goodies and eggs hidden in the yard filled with candy and coins.

Rub A Dub Dub, Two Boys In The Tub

Bill helped Jamie build a sailboat last night. Today, Jamie was curious to know if the water at the park (Rio Grande River!) was still frozen. I, somehow, convinced him that it might be a better idea to sail his boat in the bathtub. He & Parker could not wait to set sail and, before I knew it, they were stripped down and ready to get in the tub with the boat. The boat was fun for a little while but eventually bubbles were added and that brought on a whole different type of fun.

Fun In The Sun

The remainder of our Spring Break was spent enjoying the warm temperatures and the sun. We met our friends, Chris & Linda, at Scottsdale Stadium to watch the Padres vs. Giants game. The Padres won 11-5 and we had a great visit with our friends.

We spent one afternoon at Golfland, where we played mini golf, laser tag and Jamie played a few video games.

We also met up with another friend, Darrin, for the Rockies vs. Mariners game in Peoria. The Rockies lost 4-9 but we enjoyed being outside in the sun and visiting with Darrin. We also ate at Organ Stop Pizza one evening and did the Garage Sale thing on Friday & Saturday.

We flew back to Albuquerque Saturday night and did some shopping on Sunday before heading back to Alamosa. Our week of being warm and enjoying the sun is over. The snow at home has finally melted and the wind is blowing...it must be spring.

Spring Break continues...

Bill flew into Phoenix on Monday (it was snowing in Alamosa when he left) and we just went back to the casa and relaxed. Jamie was so excited to finally have his daddy to play with. Julie & her mom did some shopping in the afternoon but, it was pretty much a day to just enjoy being on vacation.

Tuesday, we met Julie's uncle Cliff & aunt Velma and they took us to lunch at Joe's BBQ in Glendale. The food was so yummy! This is, officially, our new favorite place to eat while in Arizona!!

We had a nice visit with Cliff & Velma...uncle Cliff is looking (and acting) so old, it was sad.
Tuesday afternoon we went to see the movie "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything". Jamie loves the Veggie Tales and we, somehow, missed this when it was in Alamosa. It was a cute movie, definitely worth the price of admission ($1.50 at SuperSaver Cinema).

After the movie, Jamie went back to the casa with Grandma and we drove to south Tempe to the IKEA store. I've heard lots of people rave about the awesomeness of IKEA and I just had to experience it for myself. I never imagined that Bill would want to go, but he did, and we had SO much fun! We spent over three hours in the store, taking it all in. Yep, twenty two years of marriage and a hot night out consists of a trip to IKEA.