The 2010 year Newsletter

We've been desperate to get newer, up-to-date pictures on the wall.  So as I was uploading pictures I got to review 2010 in photographs, looking back on the year.

2010 was a time for change and lots of growth.  The year began for us in Lehi, Utah.  It was cold and white; just how winter should be (not without the white part).  We knew our time in Utah was coming to an end and we didn't even need to pray about where our lives should go next.  Instead, Lisl fought, argued and cried for 2 weeks, the end of January into February, about how she didn't want to move back to Thatcher, Arizona.  Half way through Feb. we made a visit to Arizona to find a place to live in Thatcher.  Our search was only 3 days but felt very long, tiring and we were afraid we'd end up in the wrong home.

On our last day of searching we gave one of the homes on our list a second glance.  With the promise of a few improvements before moving in, we signed a lease.  We hurried back to Utah with just a few days to pack up everything including the two kids and two cats and began our journey to our new home.  Just as March began we settled into a new home, a familiar ward (it was Stephen's home ward growing up and Lisl knew a few from college) and Stephen began a great new job.

April was full of family and friends, between Easter (including a horrific sunburn from being out in the hills and forgetting that Lisl actually burns in Arizona: she still has a tan line from that burn - at least we were concerned enough for Lisette since she inherited her mother's fair skin and kept her shaded) and the Gila Valley Temple Open House.  We also began to do a LOT of work around here. 

There was zero landscaping on our propery.  We had a few early rains to get an idea of what was in store for us for monsoon season with all the mud. 2 different gardens were planted; flowers and vegetables, rocks were laid for a place to park our vehicles and to walk to the door, and we tried our best to make a back lawn with lots of grass.  We then discovered the gopher problem as well.  (We know exactly what to do about all the many obstacles for this coming Spring, that's for sure)

The Open House ran on through half of May so we managed to visit twice.  All the landscaping and growing various things continued into May.  At the start of the month we celebrated Stephen's birthday and at the end of the month, our little girl turned 1! 

In June we celebrated our 6th anniversary and got in a short get away before the busy season with Stephen's job took over for the rest of the summer.  July was hectic and crazy with work for Stephen.  August became even more so, but we still managed to celebrate Franklin's 3rd birthday!  We began the potty training process with him 2 weeks before his birthday.  There were many awful accidents over the next few months and lots of back and forth with progress.

In September, Stephen's employer sent everyone on a weekend getaway to the Arizona Grand Resort and fun at the Oasis park.  It was lots of fun and very much needed since we hadn't been able to do much as a family for a few months.  Lisl had been called as the ward choir director over the summer but didn't begin practices till Sept.  At first it seemed too overwhelming and seemed as if she was in over her head, but the first performance in October went very well. 

October was still incredibly hot during the day, but the nights were just right.  We decorated our home for the season and Lisl began listening to Christmas music, for her calling (She discovered at that point that she was in charge of the entire program for the Sunday before Christmas).  Stephen was gone for half of the month, on and off.  He had testing, classes, all for work, then at the end of the month he went on a hunting trip with all of the men from the Quinn family; Stephens dad and all 4 of his brothers (first and maybe even the last time that will happen, so we are all so glad he got to go).  Halloween was a bit last minute for Lisl and the kids.  We were so happy that "Mom's mom" (that is what Franklin calls Grandma Reed) got to come and spend it with us.

November was surprisingly (and truth be told a bit disappointingly) hot.  Lisl had been asked to sing for the Jazz clinics performing for some of the World of Music classes at the college.  It was so much fun and it brought back lots of memories; almost as if we never left.  The next week was Lisl's birthday followed by Thanksgiving in Sierra Vista with Heidi Lewis (Lisl's sister) and her family.  We seriously enjoy doing things with family since that didn't happen much while we lived in Utah.

As December began the pressure was on for Lisl to complete the Christmas program.  We decorated our house and tried very hard to make it feel like Christmas since the weather was still too warm for us.  It was also during this time that Franklin seemed to fully and completely grasp the concept of, and the necessity of potty training.  We haven't rewarded him for going #1 in a while but we began giving fun size candy bars for #2.

The weekend before Christmas was very busy and went very fast.  That Saturday Lisl sang with a Jazz Combo at her cousins wedding reception.  That was definitely a treat for all and an amazing opportunity for Lisl.  The very next day was Lisl's Christmas program which went very well.  She had already began ideas for next years program.

Christmas was exciting.  The Fellers (Lisl's sister Inga and her family) came over from San Diego and Stephen got a last-second day off for Christmas Eve.  We headed to Sierra Vista a day earlier than planned and really enjoyed all that time with family, especially for all the little cousins.  On Christmas day we traveled back to Thatcher to spend the afternoon with everyone on the Quinn side.  It was so much fun to spend the holiday with so much family!  That was what made it a wonderful Christmas for us.

Happy New Year everyone!  We know that this year will be even more exciting and hopefully we will see more family, more often.

What we've been up to

I realized that the post I started was all about my shop, and its corresponding blog. I figured it'd be better to leave that as its own post since it was pretty lengthy already, and write a separate one about us.

Franklin is sweet and polite. People keep getting surprised when they'd hear him say thank you for any little thing, and of course they'd say how wonderful it is that he says it on his own. Yep, we didn't teach him to say thank you as often as he does. We're still working on communicating better. We're sick and tired of "Uh, uh" and the pointing. We try to get him to repeat what we say, and his only response is "Yeah!" Yep, we're frustrated.

He likes to help me make cookies, so I tell him the name of each ingredient we put in. My favorite is flour. You have to hear him say it, its so adorable! That and butter. Sugar I'm not sure if he's saying his own version or actually trying to say it. He loves his books, and very proudly announces the names to things he knows in english. Most of the other words he'll still tell me his name for it. I'm still not good with Franklinese.

Lisette is getting better about letting others hold her. She still prefers if there are other children around; Franklin and Chloe are her favorites. I've been called to be the Relief Society pianist (I'm glad to be playing again, but I've been years out of practice) and someone else has to hold her while I play. This past Sunday the chorister held her, even while she directed, and Lisette didn't fuss much after the first few minutes. I didn't have to hold her at all during Relief Society. She claws at my face so much, mostly to get my glasses. She can draw blood on me, and many times a week.

She's eager to move, though she isn't crawling yet. She's pretty smug on herself that she can sit up all on her own. Our neighbors across the way have 2 children; a little girl who is 2 months older than Franklin, and a little boy who is 2 days younger than Lisette. We invited them over Sunday night for some conversation and cookies. Franklin and Serenity played (mostly throw) and Lisette and Trayson oogled each other and even got grips on each other when they were close enough. It was funny, cute, and we all had some fun. Its great to be getting to know more people. Stephen and I are eager for friends, and even more eager for Franklin to have friends.

Stephen's work has been at an all new slow. Its record breaking, and we hate it. The weather has been way too warm up here, and that is rotten for business. He took a few vacation days last week, and we did some family activities. Franklin has LOVED having Daddy around so much. Lisette is also getting spoiled. Its also the reason we've been able to get some much done, and started with our business, because he has been home.

We've had some sickness in our home, but happy to report that for the most part everyone is getting healthy again. I've had an infection for a while and am finally getting rid of it. It came in handy to have Stephen home when the infection got to its worst. I'm almost all better, though I already feel better. So that's us in a short novel. I promise I'll be better about updating once a week since I'll have to update my other blog 4 times a week.

p.s. If you read my other blog, and have something you'd like to see posted you can always write me. Use q-luv-it@hotmail.com for posts to my PaciFashions blog.

Picture Post

Don't forget to check at the bottom of the blog for 2 new videos. The Description of them is just to the side.

We went to cold stone, and yes it was cold outside too. Franklin wanted to eat it at his own pace, and not ours.


We set up his crib with a bed rail so that it was more like a toddler bed. My back can't handle picking him up and over, so I needed to make the switch. He LOVES it, his bed is his new favorite place in the house. Rizzo likes it too!


Stephen got off work early one day, and decided he needed to clean out and organize his truck. His regular vehicle was having problems, so they made him switch and had to move his stuff in a hurry. Franklin was more than happy to help, there is a tool in his hand, and wouldn't let go of it at all. It was total dispare when we took it from him.


He was on edge for the next little bit, so I gave in, and let him have a cupcake. He didn't waste time shoving it in his mouth, frosting first.


Stephen was installing a whole-house humidifier (Life Saver, I have to say, Franklin and I have both been sleeping so much better since it was put in). Rizzo was having fun in the box, he always does, but this box happened to be big enough for Franklin to enjoy too. One of the videos below is of this box adventure. He had so much fun!!

Playground not always safe

With all the cold, and new fallen snow the only playground that Franklin can play at is at the University Mall playtree. There's a huge tree that has a deck and one slide. Off to the side are foam dinosaur bones children can climb all over, and run through. Franklin particularly likes the T-Rex head.


Last week I was able to take him there, not many kids on a weekday before 5. Most of the snow had melted so I thought soon he'd be able to play in the neighborhood playground again. Nope, we got lots of snow Sunday night, first snow fall since January 5th. So Stephen and I thought we could meet up at the mall after his last appointment and Franklin could play. Immediately when we got there he went for the T-Rex.

Unfortunately there was a 3 year old who thought he ruled that part of the playground, and as he was trying to block Franklin from getting in he was climbing on top of it, and pushed Franklin down with his feet. He kicked Franklin making him fall right onto the teeth. I told the boy its not nice to push, or kick, and he told me he didn't. There weren't very many parents around, but there were none near him so I didn't know who his parents were. So the rest of the time I had to do everything I could to convince Franklin not to play there. He did get interested in this huge stone that's made into a globe, and rotates in water. More like he was interested in the water, and wanted to drink it. Naturally I had to take him away, which he was upset over.

Our things were next to the T-Rex head, and as I'm cleaning his hands, and getting him some of his juice to drink that same little boy is seriously pushing over other kids. I stepped in when he completely knocked over a boy smaller than Franklin. Right then that smaller boys mother came over because other kids went to tell her. She thought the bully was mine, but after asking the boy where his mother was I went over to her to let her know what her child was doing. She seemed mad that I was bugging her. She told me she was watching him; which wasn't true because she either had a stroller blocking her view, or her mother who was holding a new born (I know this because I was sitting right next to this head, and I couldn't even see there was a woman sitting on the other side of that stroller).

She didn't call her boy over, didn't talk to him, nothing. The other mom came to me and said that she should have gone with me to talk about this boy being a bully, but I told her that it wouldn't have made a difference if she had, so don't worry. She then took her kids out of the playground. Sad that we couldn't just let our kids play. The mom of the bully finally acknowledged her son when he got mad at an older girl who was climbing on top of the head and he completely pushed her feet out from under her. Good thing she was bigger, and had a good grip or it could have been a disaster. He sat on the bench next to his mom the rest of the time.

These pictures are of the snow fall we had on Monday. Franklin finally got to play out in the snow. We'll take him sledding this weekend.

There are some new videos, so check them out below.

Hooray 2009

We had a fun New Year. The night before Franklin didn't allow me to get much sleep so by the time I went to SLC airport to pick up Janiel, I had to have Stephen talk to me on the phone so I wouldn't get too sleepy. It was so exciting to see Janiel again, and have her stay with us for a few days!!

Franklin was obviously cranky that day since he also didn't get a whole lot of sleep, and Janiel had been up most of the night herself; staying overnight at the Tucson airport, so she could check in at 4:30 a.m. (Thanks for the sacrifice, because I was sure glad to have you come visit!) After we got to our place we talked for a little bit, and Janiel wore out Rizzo. Rizzo played fetch with Janiel for a very long time, but after Franklin went down for his nap, we decided we all should get some sleep. Janiel got to lay down, and was later joined by Osgood (practically smothering her) and Franklin had other plans for me. I got some cleaning done, and got Franklin a meal. After Janiel was up we talked some more, and waiting till Stephen got off of work. Unfortunately he was on-call. He got home a little late, but picked up the pizza on his way home. After we ate, we headed over to Spanish Fork (5 minutes away) to their city Festival of Lights. It was actually really cool!!

We went home, and Stephen left for Salt Lake; called off to work. Franklin went to bed shortly before Stephen got back, which was between 9:30 and 10. We lit som fireworks on our street, which was covered in ice and snow. Janiel was running and sliding all over the place, occassionally Stephen joined in. We went inside, and I honestly don't remember what we watched while we waited to turn on "the count down". It was interesting that Time Square didn't really do much this year, they really cut down on their budget, so all the fun stuff was aired from Vegas. We counted down last year, and then 20 minutes later went to bed.

We were fortunate to have Stephen with us for the entire day! He didn't get New Year's off last year. On Saturday we went to Gardener Village, and even though it was cold, it at least wasn't windy. Franklin wasn't always willing to leave a shop when we were done, nor was he always allowed to walk around. He is cute, and well behaved, but just like all children, he had grabby little hands, and isn't gentle with everything. I won't give you a travel log at this point. However I was thrilled to have Janiel with us, it was so fun to have her here!! Franklin just ADORED Janiel. We called him her boyfriend the whole time. Janiel allowed us to go on a date Friday night, and called up just to say that he was cuddling with her, and just chilling out. They were still cuddling when we got back. It was so sweet!

Franklin wanted everything that Janiel had, he wanted to be where she was, and do what she was doing. Sometimes if he wouldn't eat what I was giving him I'd just give it to Janiel, and then he'd want it. He really doted on her, and it was very cute. On Sunday we all were feeling a little sick, Stephen had to go to Salt Lake again, and the rest of us ended up taking naps all day. I was glad that I wasn't really sick, just needed more sleep, and it sure helped the next day to have had some catch-up sleep. Monday when she had to go to the airport, it started snowing. Her flight was delays about 30 minutes, but it was enough to make her miss her connecting flight to Tucson. It could have been worse, because from the time she left, until Wednesday morning, it snowed, and Springville's report was we got 8 inches of snow. It was beautiful, but also dangerous. At least she made it home that night.

Janiel, thanks so much for coming to visit, I had so much fun!

I will post pictures, but my computer isn't cooperating.

Quinn Winter Wonderland

About a year ago I posted a picture of these two, and Rizzo was greatly dwarfed by Osgood. Now its not so. Rizzo and Osgood are the best of pals, and Rizzo and Franklin are really great pals too. Lucky for us that Osgood tolerates Franklin for the most part.

I started having more allergy problems with our cats so we finally gave them baths. Rizzo was extremely upset, and didn't cooperate very well. He sure looks cool when he's wet though because you can see that his fur is actually white underneath. We've realized that if we ever shaved Rizzo he really would be an all white cat when it grew back. Some fur fell off his toes when he was declawed and it grew back completely white. Weird, huh?!












Osgood is a good sport when it comes to baths. Early on he's learned that if he just lets us wash him, its over with sooner. Because they are officially indoor cats they don't get baths very often. I'm just glad he's remembered to cooperate.


I have been so bad at getting pictures lately. It didn't help that I lost the charger for the camera, and its not powered by regular batteries. Thanks to Franklin it ended up behind the couch, and I just had this feeling to look there. We went out on Sunday to get some pictures. If you go back to older posts you'll see some pictures taken from this same area; I think its from May, and June.



I've also realized that I'm usually the one holding the camera so it was nice to have a turn on the others side of the shot.

Franklin is awed by the snow. He has picked it up, and we've been prepared for him to get upset by the cold, but he has yet to cry, or get mad.

Even as I write this we are getting a fresh blanket of snow. I know most of you who read this are used to the desert, and may even love the desert. I just have to say there is something so beautiful, peaceful, and pure about snow. It really makes it feel even more like Christmas to us. We truly love it here, and having the snow really seals the deal. We would love to have any/all of you come to visit us, and get to be a part of what we live in everyday.