Wendy is 3!!!!

Wendy has been looking forward to her birthday for months now. Every time we asked her what she wanted she would say the same thing. A star cake and a triangle, square, diamond, and heart present. I looked and looked for a star cake pan and was so happy when I finally found one. I put LeeRoy in charge of the different shaped gifts. He was up pretty late last night wrapping and taping cardboard to all her toys but in the end they turned out and the look on her face when she saw them made all the hard work worth it.

We started out the morning by giving Wendy breakfast in bed with a candle. Later in the afternoon lots of family stopped by for a party. She got to open tons of presents and play with all of her new toys. Mickey Mouse even called her on the phone to wish her a happy birthday. We had a great time celebrating and we are so thankful to have such a wonderful little girl be part of our family.

A Childhood Dream

It's the last few weeks of Winter and we're all a little stir crazy with cabin fever. I've spent this time inside researching projects at home. After many hours searching for arcade part vendors, comparing prices on parts & pieces, and searching for the perfect display I made the decision to jump into action. My family has been kind enough to let me take over the living room, kitchen, and TV for days. After many orders to various online companies, the first boxes that came were the cabinet pieces. 6 Boxes weighing 30 to 60 LBS each!

The first day with no usable living room and wood parts everywhere! Packages start to stack up from X-arcade controls, Mame marquee artwork, Smart Power strip and TV Signal Converter from Amazon, Compact Inspiron Computer from Dell, Coin Door and monitor bezel from HAPP Controls, and Computer speakers from the local Fred Meyer...

The next few days with no usable living room... programing the computer and X-Arcade controls. This took a couple of days because I had to spend many hours downloading individual files from a number of Arcade Enthusiast forums and file repositories. There is quite a large number of hobbyists to get ideas from and problem solve with! You can tell that the tediousness is getting to me :)

After many days scavenging the local second-hand thrift stores and pawn shops I finally found an old 27" CRT TV on Craig's list for $30.00! I could almost hear the family mutter under their breath as I walked out with their old piece of junk, "sucker!" Their junk was definitely my treasure. Since the computer and controls were setup I needed to get the artwork on before fitting the TV as it would double the weight of the cabinet and moving it empty was hard enough. Lori nominated herself in charge of artwork and I think she chose a wonderful design! Her help in applying the adhesive artwork here was invaluable. Go team Cox!

Once the TV, Florescent light from Wal-Mart and the Powerstrip was installed I could wire the Coin door backlights with an old power supply we don't use anymore and install the Dell Computer.
Here I am soldering the last wires to the coin door bulbs.

Our work of art! I calculate it took 20 hours of research & ordering online plus 46 hours to build, program, and wire. Compared to the ready-built arcades I saw for sale on amazon with only 1 or 2 games installed this one is less than half that price and I can tailor the games list to add any game we want! Right now we are running many different platforms including Arcade, Atari, NES, Super NES, Sega, Sega Genesis, N64, and Daphne. I also have plans to install some Windows games in the future.

I am proud to preserve memories of my childhood and share them with my kids. Just now without all the begging for Quarters! I must thank my family for their patience and support for the last few weeks while I took over our home with parts, boxes, and wires.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Emily introduced herself as the Green Queen this morning. She looked so cute decked out for the holiday. She will definitely not be pinched! What a fun day. We had a green food theme and Wendy kept saying, "we are eating dad's favorite color".

Strong Bonds

This last weekend the National Guard hosted a Strong Bonds Event at the Teton Springs Luxury Hotel and Spa in Victor and thanks to my wonderful mom, offering to watch our kids, we were able to attend. The drive was beautiful. We arrived early Friday and stayed until Sunday. I was able to meet many of LeeRoy's coworkers, along with their wives in person. We were also able to attend seminars teaching ways to strengthen our marriage relationship as well as meet with a financial planner who was able to answer a lot of questions we had. It was a great opportunity that we are very thankful for. The hotel we stayed in was amazing and we had such a relaxing, wonderful time together.



We were able to go on a sleigh ride through a local elk ranch. It was so beautiful. One of the bulls even came up close to the sleigh and let me touch him. He got a little cozier with LeeRoy than with me thank goodness!


The last evening we were there the hotel closed off one of their buildings for just the National Guard and prepared us an amazing meal! All the tables were decorated so beautifully. They even hired someone to come sing and play the guitar for us while we ate; very romantic.



After dinner we drove over the mountain pass into Jackson Hole and caught a local hockey game. It was a first for both of us and we loved it!


When the game was over we drove around and did some window shopping and then stopped at the town square to see the antler arches. It was very beautiful!



We finished off our weekend with a peaceful ride home. We had a wonderful vacation spending time together, talking, laughing, and learning. It was perfect!

Valentines Day and Tricked

This morning the girls were so excited to see what they got for Valentines Day. I was pretty excited too! For the last couple of years LeeRoy has given me coupons and this year was no exception. They are my ultimate favorite gift in the world. I got coupons for cleaning, watching the kids, running to the store, and foot rubs. I can't wait to start using them!




Emily made us a card for Valentines Day too. It was very sweet ......... or so I thought............

This is the front:


Middle:


Here is the back:


Yep, that's right, she tricked us! For the life of me I cannot imagine who she gets that characteristic from! That's okay, I have already worked out a loophole to this signed document. She can choose to do what we ask of her or choose to be punished. It is always her choice.

Valentines day is always fun for cooking. This years theme was everything in the shape of a heart. For breakfast LeeRoy made pink heart shaped pancakes with mini chocolate chips. For lunch we had sandwiches in the shape of a heart. For dinner we had a heart pizza. Wendy is really into shapes so this made her extra excited. It has been a great day. Especially since it happens to be a super long weekend we get to spend together!

Princess Tea Party

Today I took Emily and her friend Braylee to a princess tea party they were holding at one of the local high schools. The girls had so much fun. They went in their princess dresses and as they entered they were announced as royal guests. While there they made and decorated their own tiaras, had their nails and makeup done, sang princess songs, and sat down for a royal tea party with lots of yummy things to eat. They had such a fun time and loved getting their picture taken with some of the many different characters.

Pastries with Parents

Emily's school had pastries with parents this morning and LeeRoy was so excited that he was able to go with her. They went to the gym and sat at decorated tables and had a wonderful breakfast together. Emily is lucky enough to have her grandma work at her school so she was also able to join them. After they ate they read some of the reading challenge books together and LeeRoy helped Emily take her Valentines to her class. It is so fun to be involved with our kids in their different school activities!