Stone Crazy

This year LLoyd had quite the run on kidney stones. He had two very big ones that were in much of attention. one was 2 cm and the other was 1 1/2 cms. After having to go to the Emergency Room almost every other weekend for awhile, we were referred to a doctor in Flagstaff. As big as these stones were, there was a danger of them "clogging up the works" and causing tons of pain on the way. They were definitely moving and so it was all done as quickly as possible. The doctor was very young, but he did not waste much time to get us going with the surgeries. Only one stone at a time could be blasted so as not to do any damage to the kidneys. After about 4 trips to Flagstaff, and 3 surgeries, and lots of anxiety on Lloyds part, he is now stone free from these little buggers. Until the next stones are formed, we will enjoy life as normal.

Senior Prank

May 2010

Senior Prank 2010

Every year, at the close of school, the question all over the nation, in every High School, is what shall we do for our Senior Prank. And every parent hopes that their Senior will choose something fun, but that wont hurt anyone or anything so as to bring upon themselves the wrath of school and city authorities with thier threats of not being able to graduate. Such was the case with LLoyd and I with Jordyn and her Senior Class Prank. I was pleasantly surprised however, when I learned what they did, and how they did it. I thought they were quite clever, and quite organized as there was over 50 seniors who participated. This year, one of the Seniors talked a teacher, who shall not be named, into letting him hide in the school until the designated hour of midnight, when he would let the others in to perform thier prank. No breaking in, no foul! Several students over the course of a week, went around to every store in our area, and bought over 50,000 plastic cups of various colors, and pretty much wiped the town out of cups. With a few buckets of water and lots of team work, they were able to fill each cup of water, and stretegically place it on the floor of the mall area that is the entrance to our school. Every classroom door, office door and entrance door was blocked with these cups of water. In the middle of the floor, blue cups, turned upside down made the number "10" for 2010. In order to have done this, they would obviously have to start at one end, and work thier way to the one of the halls. Jordyn said that it was quite inspiring to see her Senior class work so well together, forming assembly lines to fill each cup and place them without knocking any of them over. It took less than an hour to do, and they had tons of fun. One of our police force and his companion actually caught them in the act, but when he saw what they were doing, told the seniors, "hurry, dont mess with anything, and you never saw me!" That, of course, made it even better...they almost had permission!

The next morning, when the staff arrived at the school, and could not enter without knocking over cups of water, or picking it all up before any of the students did, we had a few not happy employees, but all in all, we got a good chuckle from the school board and most of the staff. School was delayed about 30 minutes, which made the Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshman happy. The Seniors stayed in bed that morning because it was Senior ditch day.

Jordyn sent me a text when it was all over to show us what a masterpiece it was, and then told me she would be home soon. I love my fun-loving, but responsible Senior!

August 7th

Wet and Beautiful

What a wonderful summer we have had. We have had so much rain this season and the results are a beautiful valley. Everything is so green, and lovely. I havent had to water anything in almost a month. Of course that means that the yards are hard to keep up with, the weeds are way tall and the grass needs to be mowed twice a week at least, but the grass and weeds are so wet, that it gums up the mower. Oh well, I guess we will just enjoy the blessings we are recieving. Wild flowers everywhere and the lightning shows are amazing!

July 20, 2010


We had set up an appointment for Paige to get her baby teeth pulled while we were in the valley. Aunt Robin works for an orthodontist and she told us that the doc would probably give us a real good deal. We knew that financially we weren't quite ready to start payments on braces, but we wanted to talk with the doc to see what needed to be done.

Surprise, Surprise!

Dr. Couser made us a deal that we could not turn down! Not only did Paige get 7 baby teeth pulled that day, but she and Kylie both got thier braces, Jordyn is set up to get her braces on and Lloyd and I both got night guards made and whitening trays as well. We will be paying only $1800 for Paige, which is way under cost, and both Jordyn and Kylie's fees will be taken out of insurance money only. In other words, except for a discounted price for Paige that we wont even start paying on till January, everything is free to LLoyd and I. The pulled teeth, the consult, the whitening trays, the nightguards, two girls mouthful of braces and a brand new electric toothbrush for each girl. How do you beat that! I was just in awe as the doc was talking to us. I knew that we would be getting a discount because Robin works for him, but I would have never expected all that. It was a great day! The girls teeth really hurt right now, because they are starting to move, but I think they look adorable in their braces and I am so excited for the smiles they will have when it is all said and done. Great blessings!



On Thursday the 29th, Jordyn took the trek to Mesa and got her braces as well. Now all three girls have thier braces. Yea! beautiful smiles for the Wilkins daughters.....Boo! All girls have very painful mouths right now.

Isn't she smashing?

July 21, 2010

Princess Aurora needs a face lift!



Devon and Heather started up the mountain today for Alice's wedding this weekend. Devon was off work for the rest of the week, so he was going to bring the corolla..Princess Aurora, up for an oil change. Usually Jordyn drives this car, but she wont be able to come up till Friday. Heather has another wedding to go to tomorrow so she came up with Devon. We have had lots of rain these past few days, and today we had pretty much non-stop rain. All was well and I am sure it was a pleasant drive, however, just before the kids got to Luna, they were coming around the curves and hit a mudslide..it spun the car and they ran into the guardrail. No one was hurt, thank goodness, but Rory is going to need a little attention. Both Heather and Devon said that they weren't afraid, which tells me that the Holy Ghost was there comforting...I love that! Other than having to wait what must have seemed like a lifetime for Lloyd and I to come to tow the car into Luna, no one is any worse for the wear. This could have been quite a devastating day, but we see the Lords hand, and we feel His love. Rory, will just have to go through surgery, and then she will be as good as new too.

***Aug 2

Thank goodness for insurance companies. We weren't sure how the kids would get along down in Safford without one vehicle. Jordyn is still working in Wilcox right now, which is approximately one hour away, and her hours are usually night shifts which end at midnight. A rental car is just what we needed while Rory is getting fixed. The problem? The insurance company will only let Devon use the rental car. What? I know! Jordyn is not to happy with that either. So for the meantime, Jordyn drives Davy, and Devon gets the rental. Its a hyundai sonata, and Devon is happy with it.

August 18th

She is home! And looking like a brand new car. Devon will be sad to give up his rental because now he goes back to Safford and resumes Davy. No more air conditioning, no more sirrus radio! Poor Devon, happy day for Jordyn!

Whats all the buzz!

June 24th 2010

Jordyn and Dad were working in the front yard today, when a cloud of bees come flying above. Don't ask why, but for some reason they decided to land in our tree. They coated a branch, obviously protecting their queen. They were all just clustered on top of each other in the shape of a hive. As cool as that is, we couldn't very well leave them there, what if they attacked someone, or what if some kid passing through our yard bothered them. It is a little uncomfortable seeing that many bees all so close to the house. LLoyd didn't want to kill them, he just wanted to have them moved. He talked with people that work with the fire department and how they destroy them, but this person suggested that we find a bee keeper in the area that would raise them. It took lots of asking around but we were able to find someone who actually just lost his own bees. The mans name was Brewer, and when we called, he came over immediately. We were surprised to see that he did not wear a suit, or any kind of protection from being stung. He simply cut the branch on which they were hanging on and gently laid them in a box. There were several bees that did not make it in the box, and they did come out of the wood work once the "hive" was in the box. He held them in his hand and told us a little bit about bees. He said that because of the lack of water, these bees were probably looking for a more suitable location to have their hive. It is quite interesting why bees do what they do. We were quite impressed with his knowledge, his lack of fear and his "love" for bees. We think we made the right choice in calling him and now we are bee free!

Where the Heck is Bullfrog!

Brett moved away from us this year, something that he has always wanted to do; get out of Round Valley. I just cant believe where he ended up! Brett's friend, Mitch, told him about the Utah side of Lake Powell, called Bullfrog, and he helped him to get on there. Now he is living in a dorm, cleaning and maintaining rooms at the Defiance Lodge in Bullfrog Ut. Good luck finding that on the map, its there, but you have to really hunt for it. Its just a small little place with lots of water and beautiful desert landscaping, and one expensive convenient-like store. Brett would really love to get on at the Marina, and has been promised a job there as soon as one opens up for him, in the meantime, he is learning to be a maid! Now that cracks me up! Even better, his boss wanted to make him head of housekeeping because he was a hard worker and dependable, but Brett turned that down so that he could make the switch to the marina when it is time. My son, cleaning rooms, well what do you know! Brett left the middle of March and will be there till the end of September when the season ends. After that, he can come home, or put in for a transfer to some other location where there is seasonal recreation. He would like to go to Hawaii.
For Brett's birthday, Lloyd and I, and Paige and Devon drove out to visit Brett. We were allowed to stay in the VIP trailer for the couple of days we were there. It had 3 rooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen and family room which were all quite comfortable. We enjoyed it. We brought Brett a fishing pole for his birthday and we enjoyed a day of fishing and relaxing as well as checking out the docks and the houseboats one day. Wow, they were nice. Paige and Brett and Dad caught some fish, a few catfish and a couple bass. Devon and I were onlookers and mostly soaked up the sunshine. We all got a little sunburned while we were there. Brett lives in the dorms, not far from the marina and just down the hill from the Lodge. There are lots of dorms there, cuz there are lots of people running the place. Quite impressive. Brett has a chance to see what more of the world looks like and he has the chance to be his own person, good for him! We will have to see in September what else comes his way.