Recent Pictures

The following are just some recent pictures of Jake. He is growing like a weed and seems to really enjoy his days at school. He is babbling more than ever and is learning new things everyday. Although we can't quite figure out what he is saying most of the time he is eager to show us exactly what he wants. We now need to be careful when the phone rings because Jake always thinks its for him. And, if we don't let him have the phone, we're in for a fight. The scooter he's riding was borrowed from a friend and Jake loved it. Seems you can't push him fast enough (I think we have a daredevil on our hands). He liked it so much that after his bath he didn't even bother to get dressed before hopping right back on.

1st Day of School

Monday was bittersweet for Johnna and I as Jake began his first day of daycare. Johnna dropped him off and was very worried that he would have a hard time when she left him. Suprisingly, he didn't even notice she had left. He did very well throughout the day and was sent home with a little progess note that told us what he did during the day. The highlights were "He was a great eater" and "He is a little young yet for arts and crafts. He seemes more interested in tasting the crayon than coloring with it." We can't wait to see what fun activities and crafts he'll bring home in the future.

Toast and Bananas to start the day.



Getting ready to leave.



Anxious to get in.


Signing in for the first time.


Jake running away as the other kids arrive.

Holy Flathead!!

A friend of mine is a Wildlife Manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department and he was recently performing electro-surveys along the Colorado River down here near Yuma when they "shocked up" this monster flathead. I was told that it weighed in at 89.4 pounds (once they got it on shore to weigh it). This is 15 pounds heavier than the current state record for a flathead caught on "hook and line."

"Where'd you say you let that thing go?"

We Miss You

Well its been one year since Pop passed away. Seems like only yesterday I got to see his wonderful smile, hear his joyful laugh, and share a seat in the golf cart. It seems that we run into people all the time that say they think about Pop on almost a daily basis. He had so many wonderful friends and enjoyed life like no one else. No matter how dark and dreary one day may seem the next always started with a smile for Pop. His laugther was contagious and his smile could brighten any room. Pop had a knack for recalling funny events and was able to tell stories better than anyone I know. He made friends everywhere he went and was always the first one to buy a round. This world sure lost someone special when Russell Byrd passed away and we are all happier people having known him.

love you Pop.

Crashed!!!

I opened the door to Jake's room one morning to get him up for the day and found him sleeping like this. Don't we all wish we could sleep this good.

Sunday Afternoons in the County

This past Sunday we went out to my parent's house. Jake loves to visit. Not only to see the greandparents but there are so many places to run, lots of wildlife to see (rabbits, horses, parrie dogs, stray cats and many different kinds of insects). This time however, Jake found the perfect mud puddle. It was picked out espically for him by grandpa and Jake loved it. He has always been a fan of water and when combined with the perfect sand hole you get the....the perfect mud puddle!!!

Surprise Party

On April 19, our family set up a surprise party for my Uncle Robert and Aunt Kathy's 50th B-day at my grandparent's house in Phoenix. My grandfather had tolds us about the party a couple weeks earlier and said "we're gonna have hamburgers and hotdogs and some of the family is coming town from Vegas and Utah." You can imagine our "surprise" when we showed up at the house and found racks of baby back ribs, scones, fruit salad, french fries, hamburgers, hotdogs, steamed veggies and a cake that looked like it came right out of "Ace of Cakes." Apparently the little family get together my grandfather had eluded to was actually a well thought out social get together of over 200 people. My Uncle Bruce had brought down a cook trailer from Las Vegas that was just awesome. It had a 6 foot grill on one side, two deep fat fryers and a 3 foot griddle across the back, another 4 foot griddle on the other side, and was finished off with a couple of stock pot burners. All of this was connected to about a 250 gallon propane tank that sat at the fron of the trailer. In true King Family fashion everyone took on one of the cooking responsibilities and dinner was a snap. Me and my cousin's husband Trent took on the fryers for french fries and scones. We had more food than we knew what do with and everyone went home stuffed.

Me and Trent (in a "Pleather" apron we found)

Supervising all the action

My Aunt Kristin and her family made the cakes (and when I say made, I mean made!) There wer more than four different cakes (lemon, strawberry, chocolate-peanut butter, and carrot that I remember) she made and decorated. Oh yeah, she told me that the fondit that she bought didn't work too well so she made her own!

Me, Aunt Terry (you look amazing) and mom

The Fam