Happy Birthday, Rebekah!

Rebekah decided to have a party at the house this year, and the main event was the "Bigger or Better" scavenger hunt. If you've never played it, it goes a little something like this. There are two teams, both of which start the hunt with a paper clip. Then the teams go around the neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking people for something bigger or better than the paper clip. If the neighbor has something, then the team trades the paper clip for the item. And the process continues like that, trading for bigger or better until the time is up. Here is what the teams came home with:

The birthday girl's team brought home a working bike (which you can't see because Joanna is riding it and the whole team is surrounding it).

The other team came home with a grill and a training toilet. Apparently the people at the door right after the training toilet didn't want to trade....they just wanted to give the bigger or better item. I can't say that I blame them.

Now this might sound like a really fun game, right? Yeah, it was. A smarter person than me might've thought it all the way through to the point at the end of the hunt when there are these huge items on the front porch that she didn't know what to do with. But not me. And then there was the part about how do you decide what's bigger or better between a grill/training toilet or a bike....which team wins? Luckily some quick thinking solved both dilemmas. The answer was, the first team to get rid of the stuff wins. Hehe.

In any case, the party was fun, and I think Rebekah had a great time. I'm so proud of her and the young woman that she is. She is so smart and capable of doing anything that she sets her mind to. She is very determined and eager to do the right thing. She is loyal to her family and friends, and I'm so happy to be a part of her family!

The next day...

After the Polar Express we all stayed at the hotel in Williams before heading home the next morning. Some of the family was able to get together for a impromptu birthday breakfast for Rebekah. Of course then we had to have a snowball fight with the snow in the Denny's parking lot. What else could we do?

And then on the way home we stopped to let the kids play in the snow one more time. Nathan and Joanna decided to build some snowmen.

The Polar Express

The big Christmas gift this year was from Grandad and Gramzer, and it was tickets to ride the Polar Express. It is a train that starts in Williams, AZ, and it goes (via magic tunnel) to the North Pole. It was so much fun. They served hot chocolate and cookies on the way, and read the story of the Polar Express. Then when we got to the North Pole, Santa got on the train! He passed out silver bells to all the kids (and do the grown-ups that asked for one). The train by itself was great, but it was even better that we were able to do it with all of the Runyans. We took up most of the car that we were in, but it was such a blast. We were quite a sight in our PJ's! I highly recommend this for families of any age. Make reservations early though, cause they sell-out quickly! All of these pictures were taken on the platform, waiting for the train to arrive.

Nathan with Gramzer.

Da boyz

Da Girlz

Me and my dad. :)

Grand Canyon

We had the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon just after the New Year with the entire Runyan family. All 33 of us! I'll have a pic of the whole family to add sometime, but for now these shots will have to do. We had a blast!


We rode into the park together, and apparently Nathan was just a little bit excited. He's sitting in the back of Grandma's car with Joanna and 2 cousins.

6 peeps at the Grand Canyon.

Archie and Jo

So, we're at the Grand Canyon....one of the 7 wonders of the world, and here are Archie and one of my sisters on their cell phones....doing what? Surfing the internet? Texting? Who knows?

What a view, huh?


Have you ever played the "animal game"? It's a family favorite of the Runyans. We played it when everyone was in Yuma for New Year's Eve this year, but the fish kind of evolved, and I'm not sure it was an improvement.... you decide. This clip is only a few seconds long. That's Nathan on the left, and next to him is T. Believe it or not, she was the origination of the changes.... just thought I'd give credit where credit is due. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

We had a really nice Christmas this year. We were sad that Nathan was in Colorado with his dad, but glad that we were able to take the girls to Yuma to spend Christmas with Granddad and Gramzer. On Christmas Eve we had a little program where we sang some songs, the girls played some Christmas songs on the piano, and we read Luke 2. Then, we opened the much anticipated Christmas Eve gifts....which are the ones from Great Granddad and Great Grandma.Checking out the gifts from Great Grandma and Great Granddad.

More books from Great Grandma and Great Grandad.

Ready for bed!

We are so glad that we were able to do stockings before Dad left for work....but we missed him the whole day!

Archie was very pleased with the "dolmas" that he got in his stocking. (Armenian food)

I love this picture of Miriam. I think the look on her face is so cute!! I'm not even sure what she's opening...but I love that excited, anticipating, happy face!


After we did stockings and presents we mostly just hung around together, playing games and figuring out the new toys. Man, I wish I had taken some pictures of that, but alas, I didn't. Then Todd, Blanca and their family came over in the afternoon to hang around with us. Tons of fun!

Becky is holding Sammy, and Joanna has Lexie.

Lexie and Joanna.

This is how Rebekah spent most of her day. Isn't she cute? Isn't Grig cute?

This was at the end of the day....we look tired!!

All ready for Christmas dinner. What a great day!

Aviation Unit

In the 5th grade in Mesa Public Schools they do an aviation unit. The kids learn all kinds of things, among which is the basics of how to fly a plane. They spend months on this unit, and it culminates with a field trip to the flight center (and they all have to get 80% or better on the final exam, or they are not able to go on the field trip). I was lucky enough to be able to go on the field trip with Nathan and Joanna's class. Here are a couple photos. The kids had a blast!

They start out in the "sleds" on the ground, and the instructors walk around and make sure that the kids appear to know the basics.

And then they get to play on the toys. Joanna was first in the airplane simulator (above). It is a really cool little plane with lots of instruments and gadgets, and it actually turns and banks and moves around when they push on the stick or the pedals. They loved it. Nathan had a turn after Joanna (below)/.

Two people get in the helicopter simulator at a time. This little guy doesn't move around when they move the controls, but it's still fun. :)

Holiday cheer....better late than never!

Here's a little Holiday cheer for you, elementary school band style. The first one is just over a minute long, and the second is about a minute and a half. Nathan is playing in the trumpet in both of these. The first clip is the 5th grade or beginning band he's on the right, closest to the camera. In the 6th grade or advanced band he's 3rd from the end. Enjoy!