The most unusual thing we saw in Rocky Point...

So, I was swimming out in the ocean with John and Adam when my leg bumped into something hard, kind of like a child's plastic beach toy.  I turned around and saw something bright blue below the surface of the water.  It was clearly a child's toy, but, oddly, seemed to be shaped like a jellyfish.  Erring on the side of caution, we got some goggles to verify that it was jellyfish-shaped, without touching it.  Then, shaking our heads at the stupidity of making a beach toy that resembled a jellyfish, we nevertheless had Wes bring over a pail to scoop it up with.

Once we got it to shore and got a better look at it, we noticed that, although the bottom (the "legs" or tentacles that you would expect to sting you) felt like hard plastic, the top of it was slimy and squishy.  And then the kids noticed that it smelled like dead fish.  And then some tourists walked by, curious about what we were gathered around, and confirmed that it was, indeed, a jellyfish.  A Mexican boat guide had picked one out of the ocean to show them earlier, demonstrating that they don't sting.

As you can see, it was a beautiful blue color with darker speckles around the rim.

After getting home, I did a little research and found that, as far as I can determine, this was a "cannonball jellyfish."  According to the Mexican "Center for Biological Research" (http://www3.cibnor.mx/iplant1.php?pagID=investigacion/pep/proy/le1_pr147c0),

"In México cannonball jellyfish is only harvested for food. The product has a crunchy texture, which is considered a delicacy in many Asian cities. It is valued for its medicinal properties which are traditionally used for diseases such as arthritis and hypertension."

If we had only known, we could have brought it home with us and maybe made a little money!  But we buried it on the beach instead.

Before and After

With the installation of sod, we are calling our yard good for the summer. Instead of spending every weekend working on our yard, we hope to spend some time enjoying it. So I thought this would be a good time to post some before and after photos of our yard. 

 
(Thanks to Alisa for formatting the photos for me.) 

This is why we had so many boys

We've lived here for over a year now, and we're finally ready to attack the back yard landscaping. First we got rid of the large, sharp-edged gravel that covered the entire yard. Then we got some steps and a ramp installed. And next we want to put nice round gravel in the playground area, create a pathway, and put in some lawn. All of this requires a lot of rock raking, weed whacking, great groundbreaking, and sharp shoveling.

The boys were out of school Thursday and Friday for Rodeo Days, so we decided to surprise Dad by starting on this work without him. I wanted to make it fun and motivate them to work hard, so I took advantage of the fact that our boys' screen time is usually very limited and offered them a deal: for each 15 minutes of hard work, they could play whatever they wanted for 15 minutes. It worked great! These boys put in several hours of hard labor, and ended up enjoying it so much that they did the same thing Friday and Saturday.

As it turns out, Adam and Ian probably didn't even need the incentive. They both really enjoyed the physical work of raking, shoveling, and especially swinging a pick. Both have requested this job every week, instead of their usual jobs (cleaning bedrooms and bathrooms).

Here are some photos of our hard-working boys:







































Dad was very happily surprised and joined us in the work Friday, digging out this huge mesquite stump, among other things:


















And by Saturday we even planted several plants (you can also see part of our new steps and ramp):













We hope to have more photos of the progress on the yard posted soon. I'm so excited!

Happy Birthday, Arizona!

From our four seventh-generation Arizonans!

It was exciting to be part of the celebration of Arizona's Centennial (100 years since statehood, for out-of-staters). John and Michelle went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert in Phoenix last Friday night, which was fantastic. Then we took the family to downtown Tucson for a fun celebration on Saturday. And after our snowy Valentine's Day/Statehood Day today, we'll finish the festivities with Vail Pride Day this Saturday.

Fall 2011 Piano Recital

It took me a while to convert the video, but since this was a historic piano recital, I thought that at least the grandparents might like to see it.

First, Heath, in his FIRST PIANO RECITAL EVER, plays "In a Submarine."



Next, Ian plays "Fur Elise."



And Adam, in his LAST RECITAL EVER, plays "Solfeggietto."



Yes, after 7 years of pure torture (also known as piano lessons), we have finally let Adam quit. However, he tells us that although he hates practicing, he still enjoys playing, so perhaps he'll decide to start lessons again in the future. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Halloween 2011

Luigi and Mario
















Businessman

















Draco Malfoy

















And this year, due to being invited to an 80's-themed party, Michelle and John even got in on the action:


(You probably thought this was actually a photo taken of us in high school, didn't you? Oh, yeah, except for the beard...)

Rocky Point

It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Hansen come down to Rocky Point with us last week. Here are a few photos: