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Originally uploaded by shandor66

Cousins

One reason you should never let your bird bath go dry!

New names for a bird bath:

Jumping off place
Food preparation table
Tactical command post
I tought I taw a putty cat
Hide & seek

You get the idea...see what good names you can come up with.

Grandpa & Grandma Mahaffey

Brandon Tongan?

President Bateman was being given emeritus status as a general authority and so Brandon's friends stake (the polynesian stake) asked Brandon to join them in one of their dances.

It was a really great experience for him and for all who were in attendance. There were 1,000 or more people there and each ward represented a different country. They all performed dances from the country they were assigned.

Day at Park City

So I can't figure out how to move these pictures so they are in kind of a funny order but this is our day out in Park City a couple of weeks ago. We sure had a lot of fun with the girls. By the end of the day we were all pretty pooped as you can see with Nicole sleeping in the car on the way home. Can you tell what is weird about the other picture of Nicole? Everyone who has seen it has had to look twice to figure it out. We went to the olympic park and watched the summer ski jump practicing. We went down the Alpine slide and jumped on the bungee (spelling) thingy and did a bunch of flips and turns. I tried to download a picture of Jess jumping but it didn't work for some reason. Anyway we sure had a blast. Wish you were all here!

Test

This is Grandpa Mahaffey. I think we have finally got it worked out (for my feeble brain) so I can get on this thing and make it work. This picture has absolutly NO meaning. It is just one of our photos that I use for a screen saver now and then.

Love to all

"Wildflower Bill"

did it work?

FW: did it work
Originally uploaded by shandor66

test test, my wife at family wedding.

Shawn

Cosette

Here's a picture I took today. It's of our cat Cosette. Many days when I get in the car she is sitting on the hood. Today I was actually driving away and she stayed there as calm as could be, occasionally glancing at me as if nothing in the world was going on around her. I got almost all of the way out of the driveway before she decided to casually hop of the car. I wondered if she was going into town with us while she felt the breeze going past her ears. Silly cat!!This post was done by taking a picture with my cell phone and sending it to the flickr email address (like a text or picture message to an email address). I did decide to get online when I was at home and add this text, but you can just add the text right in your cell phone like a text message.Try it out!!!! Send us a picture or text message of your family or furry creatures (NO, not the ones growing in your fridge!). The address you text to is:yes22mark2blog@photos.flickr.com

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Originally uploaded by shandor66

Taken from inside my car

Techno Challenged

Well, after months of this site (blog) being up, I finally figured out how to log on. As the old sayings goes, "Grandpa may be slow, but he is old."

Hope to add more often now that I have figured it out.
Love Grandpa "Wildflower Bill" Mahaffey

Hi

Shannon how do we post a comment on someone's blog? It has changed since the last time I posted. Am I missing something or do I have to post a new blog each time I want to comment? Anywho... it sounds like everyone is having a lot of fun. I think you can tell when a family is growing up by the vacations that people take. Our family is definately growing up. I am off to Dallas for a week. I really have never been out of the four corners except to California and Mexico so it should be really fun. I am however not looking forward to the weather. I have heard that it is terribly hot and humid. I struggle with our 104 degree weather here already! Everyone stay safe and have a great rest of the summer.

Old Age and Other Disasters

Just returned from a trip to Europe with Kristina and Audrey. Talk about a trip from .........! I think age is finally telling me I won't be doing this kind of trip again....I think I will stick to cruises and staying put in one place. Too much walking aggravated the old joints.....but it gave me an exciting experience. I went from the Louvre in Paris to an ER in an ambulance with 3 very good looking EMTs. tee hee

We all lost luggage at some point along the way, and we all had flights either cancelled, missed, delayed or in the case of the 2 young girls.....totally rerouted.

One of the highlights (other than delicious food) was a visit to Pompei, south of Rome, where we walked the ruins of the city destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius in the first century AD. It was amazing.

My next trip will be to take it easy in a resort in Colorado, visiting with Spence's brother and cousin. I think that will be just the ticket.

LaMar and Lisa and gang just spent their annual week at the beach with a few days afterwards at our house. They just got home last night. It is always fun to see the cool grandkids...

Evan and Liz and their kids are doing well, and I am told that Luke is getting roly poly. He looks just like Evan did as a baby of the same age...see the pictures above. The black and white one is Evan, and the colored one is Luke.

Aunt Linda

Hey Hey Hey!!!

Hey everybody! I can't wait to go to Arizona tomorrow! It's gonna be so much fun! But I still have to pack a few things and get some new books from the library.

I can't go on vacation without some good books! I can just picture it now; I'm sitting in a lawn chair by our cabin when a huge bear comes and attacks me! I easily swat him away with one of my powerful novels and he runs away with his little stubby tail between his legs! Ok...that was really weird.

So you guys, I can't beleive how cute baby Luke is! I love babies! They're so cute and adorable! And if Jackson is reading this, CONGRATULATIONS DUDE!!!!!!!! I remember when I got baptized I was so flippin scared! My dad baptized me. And if I remember right, grandma & grandpa were the ones who filled up the font with all the water. I like to do baptisms for the dead too. Anyways, I better go and get my chores done or else I might get in trouble.

luv ya!
sarah

Summer at the William's house

Thanks for posting April. We'd love to hear from all of our cousin's and what they are doing!

Things are going well here too. Christina is working full time at the hospital as a CNA (certified nurses assistant) and is saving for a car. She is going to wait to head off to college for a year to earn some money.

Brandon is working at a landscaping business and is busy training for football and basketball each morning at the high school. He is doing his eagle project this week by coordinating a blood drive for the local hospital.

Sarah is busy trying to read every book in the city library and is now volunteering to read to preschoolers each week. She babysits a lot and loves to work on family history (some weeks she has indexed 1000 names).

Natalie is at the gym each day working at her gymnastics and is loving it. We were hoping that she would have a meet in AZ, but the coach just cancelled it. Darn!!

Doran is busy at work and I am still working on unpacking, being a taxi driver, and busy with Young Women. We just finished with camp and have youth conference this week. It's a lot of fun. We are getting ready to go to Greer AZ for our vacation. We are looking forward to lazy fishing days, looking at old family homesteads in Eagar, Holbrook, and Woodruff, and have a date to do family names in the Snowflake temple. We can hardly wait!!

So it seems like everyone is having a great summer. Babies, fishing, climbing, hiking, vacationing! I just thought I would drop a note to say hello.

Everyone is doing great here at the Miller home. Jess and Nicole are both getting ready to go off to girl's camp this week. This is Nicole's first year. She sure is growing up. You should see her in a pair of high heels, the girl has legs that go on forever! She can thank her dad for that since we all know that Mahaffey's are not known for their long legs.

Jess is working hard babysitting about 15 hours a week right now for a lady that is going to school. Greg is working his you know what off. He gets about 60 hours a week right now. We are really trying to get out of debt so that we have a little more security. I am enjoying my summer with the girls and still working with dad and doing Mary Kay. So all in all everything is great. Crystal your fishing pictures are AWESOME! I love the fish guts!

(addition by Shannon) Link to their rock climbing trip http://www.mahaffeyshandor.com/images/photos/billsfamily/April/memorial2007/MemorialDaytrip2007/index.html

Good News And More Good News!!!

yesterday i found out that i made it into Utah Valley Chidren's Concert Choir !!!!! it is going to be loads of fun and loads of hard work but i think im up for a Challenge

the other good news is i got a summer job. ill be babysitting for 15 hours a week monday, Wednesday, and friday. form 9 to 2 that means i have to get up early:(

but it will be worth the money.

luv, Jessica

New website

So Shannon and I were on the phone for quite a while last night and she showed me how to create my own really basic site for pictures and stuff. So the site is april.mahaffeyshandor.com. I only put four pictures on it, so it isn't much to look at but I thought that I might put it up for those of you who would like to see them. I will try to add more periodically. I don't know if Shannon knew if she could do this or not, but we briefly talked about putting a link on the cousins corners (I think) to this site. It is pretty fun to do once you get the hang of it. Like I said though, it is really really basic. Let me know what you think.

Ok heres the good and bad news!

k my nieghbor just died she fell and broke a couple of ribs. her son is a teacher in our school and i see him and he is really depressed. i feel so BAD. but on the bright side this wensday im going to lagoon!!!!!!!! (a amusment park) it is going to be so fun but the best part is i get to go with all friends. i am trying to go on the 50 or higher foot ride. its called the rocket i know i will be able to but if my friends chicken out i may not. yesturday night i went and saw spidy 3 it id sooooooo good you guys need to watch it. i went with our cousin breea and my friend taylor. i was sitting next to the 2 most blonde people i know. shawn and select is over right now playing settlers. one of the most scariest thoughts to me is tommorow will be the last day i see my mom in 6 weeks. not looking forward to that. i gave my mom pretty pink flowers for mothers day. i hope she likes them. well thats all for know if your on talk to me!!!

$$$NICKY$$$

Family dinner on Mother's day

Just a reminder about our monthly family dinner next Sunday (2nd Sunday of the month now). Meet at my house sometime between 4:30-5:00. It's potluck. See ya there!

Growing up is really really scary!

You know how when you always think "I can't wait to grow up!" well pace yourself, it comes at you quickly! I have been getting all my graduation announcements together and thinking "Oh my goodness, I am moving out soon.." I am excited but extremely scared..I have to take care of myself now, no more mommy and daddy. I have to pay for everything, gas, food, clothes, makeup, doctors appointments, and soon even my medicine! So before you guys snap at your parents and say "That's not fair!", or "Why can't I have that?!" be greatful that they are taking care of you and buying you things you need to live or just for plain fun. Trust me you will see all that they have done for you and realize how lucky you were to have such amazing parents! So use your time with your guardians wisely, make the most of it! Also make more time for your siblings, I know I know, they are complete monsters, but seriously you will miss them when you go off to college or move out! So become friends with them, I'm not saying get along with them 24/7 cause I know thats impossible but try to get along as much as you posssibly can. Enjoy being a kid, life will come at you fast!

*~*~*~*~*~*Christina*~*~*~*~*~*

Hi

So I think I have started to figure this web site out. Everything is goin great in our little corner of the world. Greg was called last week to Elders Quorum president. He is now in meetings all day on Sunday. For those of you whom this applies to, Ed Clayson is now Greg's responsibility! I am just working with dad during the day and still doing great with my Mary Kay business. I now have a pretty good sized team and am shooting for earning my first car in 3 months. Jess and nicole will both be going into Junior High next year. They are merging the middle school and putting one grade back into Elementary and the other into Junior High and getting rid of Middle Shcool all together. This is the reason why they are both going in the same year. It is kind of unique when you think about it. Greg is also still waiting to get on with the Salt Lake City fire department. He is hoping that it will happen some time late this summer or early fall. He is currently doing all of his back ground checks and lie detector test for Utah County Dipatch. He should be starting that job here in the next couple of weeks. He is a busy busy man right now. Well that's all for now.

just saying HI!!

ok im not really exicted to go to the orthodonist. they have to check my teeth unfortuantelly i have to many teeth for my mouth so who knows what they will do. i just had a band concert and it was really fun. i love babysitting my neighbors their names are nakoda, alexis, and breanna.their really fun. if anybody is out there talk to me!!!!!!!!!!!! thats all.

Teddy

Hey all,
I'm just trying to learn how to do this thing so I can teach Riley.
You may have seen his user name. It's Teddy. For those who don' know teddy was our little dog who recently got hit by a car and died. It was really traumatic for the family. Anyway we have several hillarious pictures of him this one being the best. Yes, it is real. Not a great quality pic because it was taken from an older cell phone but you get the idea. Teddy will be greatly missed!

Neopets?

Hello once again! K this is going to sound extremely childish but if any of you are on Neopets I'm spongebobgirlypants9. If you don't know what Neopets is, go to the site! It's actually reallly fun. Of course I'm a complete nerd but I think it's fun!
www.neopets.com

Testing 123

Hello hello hello. Just checking to see if this actually worked, and guess what, It did!! Ahem...sorry just wicked bored.. so if anone is out there..TALK TO ME!!

Calling all smart computer kids!!!!

Okay, I did something once and can't seem to figure out how to do it again. There is something called a mobile blog. I figured out how to allow Christina's phone to post comments and pictures through text messaging. I can't seem to figure out how to do it with other phones. HELP!!!!!!!! Would one of you kids try to figure it out for me and tell me what I need to do. I should have given you all administrative priviledges, so you can nose around the settings tab and other places. PLEASE figure it out for me. I would rather you didn't change the template though. I just got it looking better.

Thanks!!!!

Hey all you California, NY, and AZ cousins-we want your pictures!

If you notice, when you click new post, on the tool bar there is a little picture icon. Click on that to share your photos. We would love to see your kids!

Thanks Jess

Thanks for your help. That was really easy. As for Sarah, she has the flu and is sleeping. I'll tell her tomorrow when she feels better. Is it a different blog? I'm still working on a web based and mobile blog. You can text or picture message the blog and see people's blogs from your phone if you choose. They are really cool!

My ACT Scores

So I pretty much was scared to death on getting a really really bad score beacuse I had just worked a twelve hour shift for two days straight, but it turns out I didn't do so bad.
Reading score:22
English: 20
I'm not going to comment on my science or math scores... but they are higher than 10 so oh well..

Website update

I know the site isn't functioning quite right right now. I have great dreams of having videos uploaded so that grandparents, cousins, etc. can watch special events when circumstances don't allow for them to attend. I hope to have slideshows for all to view of similar events. I want to have all of our genealogy, histories, pictures, uploaded to share with all. I also want to see our blog be a place where you can share with cousins from all over the US. I have looked into a new blog that allows you to post from your cell phone (sending picture and text messages to the blog from whereever you are at), so that may be changing over time.

I have most recently started building a site on a commercial host so that we can have virtually unlimited space to upload all of these things (the future site will be hosted at two separate address mahaffeyshandor.com and mahaffeygen.com) I intend on keeping our family site separate from our genealogy site. I have purchased new software for our genealogy that helps create wonderful sites.

The vision is HUGE, and because I am learning, takes a long time. I appreciate your patience as I learn and sometime what I've done is a bit confusing. Young Women's is pretty busy this next week, but I hope to have a lot more time real soon to work more on this. It is very fun and exciting, but takes a long time since I'm new at it all.

I lay awake at night envisioning new things to do. It is so EXCITING! Thanks for all of you who have tried things out, given me feedback, or taught me how to fix things. You are GREAT!

Love you all!

Smith/Parry news

Hi to the Utah cousins. I am going to give a brief update on Aunt Linda's side of the family. Spence and Linda are alive and well and going like crazy. Uncle Spence still does Handyman work for all the ladies in town..tee hee. Linda just got a commercial agent and will start going out on auditions for TV commercials soon.

Evan and Liz moved from NYC to a new (1928 or so) house in New Rochelle the end of 2005. They are just finishing a kitchen remodel, and it is going to be gorgeous. Sophia is 5 1/2 and in kindergarten and Wesley is almost 3 and sings like an angel and knows all his planets and colors and numbers. They are expecting #3 towards the end of May.

Audrey and Steve have been busy with their kids. Steve has become quite the pilot, and flies whenever he gets a chance. Audrey is a supermom....I say no more. J.J. (Josh) is a sophmore at Moorpark College and works part time as a care giver in a home for physically disabled kids. Kristina graduates in June and has been running on the cross country and track team. Matthew is a freshman this year, and really likes high school (said Jr. Hi was awful.) Brandon is in his first year of Jr. Hi and is playing the trombone.

LaMar and Lisa are living in Highland now (for 2 years) and this year LaMar was transferred to Lehi Jr. Hi where he is the track coach. Lisa has still been working in the NICU at Utah Valley where she is a charge nurse, but she may be taking a small leave of absence soon.....to play mom. Kylie is in Jr. Hi and just won her first ribbon shotputting (her Dad taught her how.) Laker is a great athlete and just started baseball. His Dad will be helping coach. Jaxon is also going to play baseball this year...with his cousin Max. Stone will be starting kindergarten in August.

Courtney spent the winter season scuba diving and bring me fresh live lobsters. Yum Yum. He loves to dirt bike, and goes with friends whenever possible. I hear him playing his guitar from time to time, also.

Hello hello hello!!!~

So I finally got this stupid thing working, THANKS NIKKI!! Anyways not much going on lately except school and work. Work has been pretty tough only beacuse I'm trying to get used to twelve hour shifts. But other than that I really enjoy being on my feet instead of my butt all day. School is pretty easy just beacuse I only have to go to school on B days (we now have A and B days, it's really gay!). And on B days I only go first and second period, so it's pretty cool. I'm excited to graduate, but really scared at the same time. I'm really sick of high school drama and all that, but I don't want to grow up! It scares me too death!
Anyways on a happier note, have you guys seen that Charlie the Unicorn thing? It's so so so funny, I watched it with my friend at like 2:30am so it may have been funnier then. So totally check it out!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus
~*~*~*~*~Christina~*~*~*~*~

family update

Since Wensday we have been having our spring break. My cousin Michaela Wade is over having a sleepover but spring break is going to end soon (sob sob). But school is kinda fun since my friends and cousin goes there to.

Jess: is involved with utah children's choir or something to deal with singing. She really enjoys it and sings all the time.

Nicole: I'm involed with volleyball right now and love it. Me and Sarah just finished the play Alladian jr. it was really fun.

Natasha: Is not in any sports right now but she loves to hangout with family and friends.

Lynnae and Alora: love playing with the nieghbors they never can just stay home. Alora is know 3 ans Lynnae is almost 7 in june.

Ben and Rachelle: Ben loves to read he never stops he'll get in his pajamas and read for hours. Rachelle does everything a mom does. stuff to show that she loves us.

There's the Family Update.

Kids ball games

Tell Riley congratulations! How fun. I was just tellling Doran last night how much we missed all the softball games that we used to go to in AZ.

Brandon is playing soccer, which is a lot of fun too, but we miss the AZ weather. Most games are in the 40's, windy, and lately rainy. We figured out how to stay warm now. We bring a lawn chair, wrap ourselves in a sleeping bag, wear a hoodie, and bring an umbrella. We look funny, but we have a great time!

William's family news

I'm toying with the idea of putting the family news on the blog instead of on the website to keep it more confidential. Let me know what you think.

Here it goes:

Christina will be graduating this year. She got her Certified Nurses Assistant certificate and now works at the hospital. She only takes one class at the high school and a seminary class. She has visited Snow college and has chosen to go there in the fall. She is really excited. She can't decided between nursing and special ed.

Brandon is busy with school, church, and sports. Right now he is playing on the school soccer team as their goalie. He seems to love the pressure of it all. I know I couldn't do it!

Sarah just finished up the play Aladdin. She did a great job and LOVES the theater. She also spends a lot of time babysitting. Whenever we walk into church all the little ones call out her name. It's really cute.

Natalie loves school, music, and sports. She just finished her gymnastics season and is doing really well with that. She loves track too and is excited for the season in a couple of weeks.

Doran and I are keeping busy with work and church. He is still working at Wasatch Mental Health and in the high council, and I'm still working at the high school and in the young women organization.

Life is good!

Just trying to get this set up

Testing