Robles Annual Campout 2011

The Annual Robles Family Campout was held on the Mogollon Rim by Canyon Creek. We camped at the Airplane Flat campground. The crazy part about this location was that you could see where the Rodeo-Chediski fire had burned 8 years earlier. We witnessed the regrowth of the forest in that area. Our campground and the nearby Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery was saved from the devastating fire. Right next to the campground was a rigged up rope swing. Grant was able to get nice and dizzy during his turn on the swing.

A quarter of a mile from our campsite was Canyon Creek. The water was very cold and refreshing. Cayden & Colby caught a couple of fish on the first night at camp, gut them by themselves, cooked and seasoned them, and ate them up! Very impressive! In this picture Mitchell is sporting Jacob's bike. Everyone loved to ride his bike down to the creek.

Mom and I strolled to the creek with Max. Max waded into the creek and loved sniffing everything that was near the creek. He was in dog heaven!

Max also loves being snuggled by his best friend, Grant.

Mitchell was always surrounded by one of his younger cousins. They were so glad that he came on the campout. We are so happy Mitchell was able to come on the campout too. We don't get to spend enough time with him.

The hammock was a popular spot in the evening. Grant, Cayden & Colby took turns wallowing in it.

On the first night in camp, we had a skunk join us. This little skunk enjoyed eating Max's food and tried to climb up a tree to get to the garbage. Brave Brent tried to scare the skunk off several times. Eventually, he went away.

The next day Grant & I rode Jacob & Natalie's bikes up to the fish hatchery. In this picture you can see the burnt tree trunks surrounding the peak of the mountain and the saved trees closer to the hatchery.

Grant had a great time breaking the rules of the hatchery and tried several times to catch a fish with his hands. He had more fun trying to feed them. The fish would take the food right from his fingers.

Grant did manage to catch a fish. It jumped right back into the pool.

I took a turn at feeding the hungry fish.

But the fish jumped up and bit my finger and drew blood! It hurt. I was really surprised!

On our way back down the mountain we stopped by the creek to see what Mitchell, Cayden & Colby were up to. They had been fishing there for some time. While we were hanging out with them, Mitchell ran into his own fishing pole and was hooked.One prong was easy to get out. The other one was stuck in there pretty good. This is the second time in Mitchell's live that he has been hooked by his own fish hook. The evening in camp was spent building a fort. With the Robles family, you are either digging holes or building a fort. Sometimes you dig the hole and it becomes the fort. On this trip, they were just building a fort.Mitchell showed off his muscular arms as he carried large logs to the fort location.Here are all of the workers next to their incredible creation. Before we left camp on Saturday morning, many of the guys threw the football around. Here Brent intercepted a pass and Joshua is trying really hard to steal it back from him.

Cayden & Brent are trying to spin the log to knock the other person off of the log. Brent has pretty good balance and was able to outlast Cayden on the log.

It was a great family campout. The weather cooperated, the scenery was great, the family time was fun...we are looking forward to another campout with everyone next year!

Redecorating

This last weekend I worked on updating the look in my kitchen. I started with re-upholstering my dining chairs. Before

After



I then made valences for my windows. Before.

After.

2nd window: Before

After.

Brent isn't thrilled with having valences but I like the extra color in my kitchen.

The Black River Man Trip

It's that time of year again where the Robles men take off for their yearly man trip to Black River. Three days of sleeping in the wild, no cell phone service, time to fish all day, and no wives. Michael, Joe, Daniel, Jacob, David and Brent were the lucky men to make it on this year's trip. They went from June 2nd through June 4th. Once the men made it as far as the truck would take them, Daniel started to lead the group in calisthenics so they would be warmed up for the long hike down to the river.

Michael joined in on the warm-up routine.

Everyone else stood around and laughed at them :)

It was a treacherous hike down the canyon. Taking a break in the shade was a must.

No, Joe is not going the bathroom by this tree, it is just the only spot he could find to rest his weary legs.

When they made it to their camping location, a cow was nearby keeping an eye on them.

Finally at the campsite. Brent was happy with his catch. It's a pretty good size fish. This would make a yummy lunch, dinner and breakfast.

After thinking about how much work it would be to clean this big fish, Brent released it back into the river. Brent says it was a great trip and fun to get away for a while. On the hike out, they ran into a rattle snake. Other than that, there wasn't much danger where they were at.

Mitchell's Graduation

Tonight, Thursday, May 26th, 2011, was the most important night of Mitchell's life. Tonight he graduated from Corona del Sol High School! Mitchell has his high school diploma! I am so proud of Mitchell for being determined and committed to graduating high school.

The GRADUATE!

Mitchell is leaving high school and Grant will be entering high school in August.

Grandma & Gramps didn't want to miss their 1st grandchild's graduation. This was a historic evening in the Robles family.

Ahhh...don't you just love my shirt! I love Mitchell and am so proud of him.

All of the graduates lined up before the ceremony started. Mitchell is the 10th person from the left in the row closest to the camera. He is in orange. Be careful as you count the graduates because some of them are standing really close together. Amy said this picture looks like candy corn. She is very observant.

Here is where Mitchell's name is called and he walks across the stage. Sitting in the stand cheering for him are Grandma, Gramps, Julie, Jordan, Amy, Madi, Sarah, Stephen, Andrew, Barrett, Presley, Grant, Brent & myself.

As soon as the ceremony is over, Mitchell is on his phone. Talk, talk, talk!

A big kiss from Grandma. Mitchell is swarmed with excited kids wanting all of his attention.

The proud mama and her boy!

Julie and Mitchell. Later in the evening they reminisce about the times they lived in Kingman together.

Aunt Brenda was the first one to make it onto the football field to congratulate Mitchell. It took us much longer to wade through the crowds to make it to him.

The graduation after party was at our house. Mitchell's good friend Taylor joined us for all of the fun.

We had cake, brownies, chips, salsa, pizza, veggies & dip, plus, fresh lemonade.

Mitchell opened lots of gifts and read lots of cards. Sarah's present came first. She had several commands, or things he had to do before he could get his present. We recorded it but it is like 15 minutes long. When you come over next time, I will show it to you. It is hilarious!!! Here Mitchell is sporting the necklace the McKinley's sent him.

Mitchell received a card from Nana & Popo.

All of Mitchell's cousins wanted to help him not only open gifts but clean up all of the garbage!
It was a super fun party. There were lots and lots of laughs. Dad was laughing so hard he was crying. Congratulations Mitchell! Happy Graduation!

8th Grade Promotion

This evening Grant had his 8th grade promotion ceremony at Pueblo Middle School. Grant is 14 years old and is ready to be out of middle school; although he's not so sure he is ready for high school.
When the ceremony started, Grant was busy talking to his friends. This is normal behavior for Grant. He is usually talking all of the time!

The video clip is of Grant's name being called as a promoted 8th grader.

Grant & Lindsay: buddies for the last three years. (Lindsay lives across the street from us.)
Our two "graduates."
Grant is such a sweet kid. Tonight he presented me with a special letter telling me how much he loves me and how much he enjoys our nightly chats. I'm a lucky lady to have Grant has my son!

EVIT - Completion Ceremony

Mitchell has attended the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) for this last year participating in their Precision Manufacturing program. Mitchell has thoroughly enjoyed the hands on program and would like to pursue a career in that field. Tonight was the Completion Ceremony for all seniors that completed their EVIT program. The special event was held at the Mesa Center for the Arts. Each student involved in the ceremony wore the cap and gown of their home school. Mitchell looks very handsome in his orange cap and gown. He is VERY excited to have done so well in his program.

This is Mitchell with his teacher Mr. Eugene Ward. These two got a long pretty well in the precision manufacturing course.

Mitchell & I. I am very proud of Mitchell's successes this year. He is a fine young man with many talents and ambitions. Congratulations Mitchell!

This is a video clip of Mitchell going across stage as they read his name. AZ State Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, was the keynote speaker for the evening.