The Bear went Over the Mountain

This past week has been busy and exciting. Well, for us it has been. Exciting for us usually means that someone found three cheerios stuck together or unlocked a new vehicle on Mariokart Wii. But this week has been even more interesting than that.
First, we had the birthdays. Every June we all get worked up because of Father's Day but we also look forward to Uncle Darrin and Grandpa Fry's birthdays (they are two days apart). This year we gathered at the Fry's home on a Sunday night for the annual festivities. As you can see, Grandpa was thrilled by the gifts he received from his children. We all got together and gave him a scroll saw and an airbrush. We don't know what he is going to do with them, but we think it may involve some sort of carnival attraction.

Next, Darrin and Grandpa commenced with their annual staring contest. It ended when Darrin realized Grandpa had fallen asleep with his eyes open again.

The kids were excited for cake and ice cream, and everyone loved grandma's yummy baking. No one even knew she had dropped her dentures in the batter until the last piece of cake had been cut.

As you can see, Grandpa continues to work on his awesome train room. The kids enjoy it almost as much as he does.(Below: Nathan hides a piece of cake while Amy looks on. Also, Miranda plays patty-cake with Dudley.)

We love to play games and a birthday celebration wouldn't be complete without breaking out a deck of cards. Great-Grandma cleaned almost every one out. Who knew she was an old pro at Texas Hold-em.

Below: Darrin and Aliese get snugly and cheesy. Also Grandma smiles for the camera showing off her new doo.

The other thing that happened was our big trip to Mammoth Creek. It was actually kind of a working vacation, as Nathan had to work on a big cabin insulation job. It was going to take several days so with the kids out of school we decided to all go along and have some fun. It worked out really well because there was a cabin just down the road that belongs to a friend of the boss that we stayed in.

We did a little hiking and fishing, both at Panguitch Lake and Duck Creek. Sometimes when you go fishing, you come home smelling a little funny. Well, luckily we didn't catch anything so we were OK smell-wise. I guess we did have our normal amount of smell. It was really fun. Amy was able to bait a hook with a night crawler and made several keen observations: "EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW, sick. I can't believe I just did that!" We brought walkie talkies and Landon and Miranda acted out one of their favorite sponge bob episodes (pictured above).
If you see this guy coming at you, run!

Byron demonstrates how he was about to cut his finger.

Preston had the most fun of all.

Kung Fu Warbys

Saturday afternoon the Nathan Warby family left the friendly confines of their domicile to view the motion picture called "Kung Fu Panda". As with any familial foray these days, it was quite an adventure.
First, we decided to go to the movies (Pine View Stadium 10) at about 2:00 PM. The movie was scheduled to start at 4:50 PM, so of course, we purchased our tickets online and made hasty preparations to arrive at the theater in a timely and organized manner. For us that meant running out the door at 4:45 with half as many pairs of shoes as children and nearly taking out a few mail boxes on the way out of the neighborhood. Needless to say, nerves were a bit frayed.
Arriving at the theater we found, as if in an answer to prayer, that they had not yet even started letting people into the theater yet so we weren't too late. Unfortunately, we were at the end of a very long line. We immediately devised an initial plan of action. Nathan would stand in line for goodies and Amy would wait in line for the theater and take the kids in to find seats. The line emptied into the theater and Nathan (who was now joined by Byron) got to the concession stand and realized that getting 4 kids combos and 1 XL combo into a crowded theater would take a couple of trips. He decided to leave a nice trail of popcorn into the theater in case he got lost and needed to find his way out. Well, he didn't have much of a choice as the overfilled and under balanced containers would not allow for convenient, mess free transport. We finally joined up in the second row (only seats left) to gaze nearly vertically upon the end of the movie previews. The treats were distributed, miraculously, with no spillage.
Now the movie. We don't want to ruin the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it so we will briefly touch on a few of the highlights. It opens with an awesome(:-)) dream sequence that was one of Nathan's favorite scenes. Landon's favorite part was when Po (the panda) fell down the stairs. You have to see the stairs to appreciate the comedy value. Amy's favorite part was when the Kung Fu master finally decides to train Po and the best way to go about it. You'll know what we mean when you see it. It's the part on the top of the mountain. Miranda's favorite part was when Po flew. A panda flying? How is that possible? Watch the movie. Byron's favorite part was the fight over the last dumpling. That part reminded Dad of the dinner table at his house growing up. Preston's favorite part was the kissing. Just kidding. There was no kissing. But Preston wishes there was. Not really. His favorite part was the final fight. We don't want to give anything away, but it did involve the panda.
All around we would have to give this movie a big thumbs up. Or 6 thumbs up. Whatever. It's probably the best animated movie to come out since Shrek. The first one. It was that good. We loved it. The comedy was good, it had an excellent moral, and the animation was amazing. Some of the best fight scenes ever, and no blood!
After the movie was over, we slowly made our way through the 7:00 movie crowd into the parking lot where the early summer St. George heat blasted us back to reality. That was three days ago and there have been surprisingly few Kung Fu related injuries (all instigated by Nathan) since then.
For further Warby Family movie, TV, or theatrical reviews, please view this blog on a semi regular basis. There is no charge for awesomeness.

OK... I give in.

I guess it's not too hard to make a blog. Thanks to Aliese, who took the time to come over and show me all the cool things I could do. If it weren't for her this would have taken me days to figure out. Instead it only took me hours. Ha, ha. Hopefully it gets faster with a little practice. If it doesn't... you may only see one post a year.



This summer is wonderful!! I think this is the only time I wished for summer break to come. I was so tired of driving Byron all the way out and back from Lava Ridge everyday. (For those of you who may not know, we decided to stay in our house and not move out to Ivins for the time being). Next year he is taking the bus to Fossil Ridge. Yay!!!! Anyway, Landon and Miranda enjoyed two weeks of swim lessons. They are two cute little fishes.

Byron just got home today from a 4 day scout camp. Thankfully he didn't freeze or get blown away by a tornado, or get eaten by a bear. He had a great time and we are glad he is home safe. As a mother, it is no fun to hear about boys dying at scout camp the same days that your own son is gone.

Preston turned 10 years old last Sunday. Since it is no fun to celebrate a birthday on Sunday, we had his party on Saturday. We took him and his friends to Laser Mania. We played laser tag, miniature golf and arcade games. Have you ever had the cupcakes from Costco? They are HUGE!! Nate got the best score for golf, and I won laser tag. Better luck next time kids.

On Sunday we had a Warby/Dotson family reunion at the Dotsons. It was so much fun reuniting with old friends. John's daughter Avery became fast friends with Miranda. It's another generation of Warby's and Dotson's playing together. Unfortunately Jeff and Holly could not be there. However, they are coming in August so we hope to see them then.

Miranda and Avery
We were able to submit our application for the state license on Monday. And we have our inspection with them on Tuesday. After months of planing and many inspections, we can finally see the end of the road. Last week we had some neighbor kids over to take pictures for the website that Ian is putting together for the daycare. Kelli and Mom came to help take pictures, funny, funny Mother forgot her camera, but I think Kelli and I were able to get some good ones.
I think we are ready to do some good advertising and start up in August.

Today we went to Kung Fu Panda. It was hilarious! Definitely one I would recommend. I sat next to Landon who laughed through the whole thing. I love the sound of children's laughter.

Thank you for letting me share.