What a trip!

Well, we're home! It was definately an interesting adventure. For John-Paul it was an amazing opportunity. He got to work and hang with some pretty impressive people. And hopefully he made a good impression and some new friends along the way. Jessica was a real trooper for most of the time. I have no doubt she would be a real asset for another project either with JP or on her own abilities. She has awesome qualities within her personality and physical being that could take her to the top of any charts. Her self drive and motivation I commend and am sometimes envious of. I personally have learned a LOT from this experience and from my children in so many ways! I hope and pray I can utilize these lessons to strengthen myself and daily life situations for the future. So, stay tuned!! This is only the beginning!

Days into Nights

We had Thursday off last week and decided to take Gramma to Black Bear Diner. I hope she liked it as much as we do. After that we went to Wild Things Inc. animal compound where Charlie and Amanda escorted us through a very interesting tour. Charlie loves animals and it shows! He rescues and trains all types of animals for the entertainment industry. If you ever see a picture of a tiger that has "stars" as eyebrows, you will know that he is a friend of Charlie's. After the main tour, we were able to meet the elephants on a personal level. We fed them carrots and ......pumpkins! It was really cool. Did you know an elephant can pick up things as small as a blade of grass with their trunks? It got colder and drizzly, but we had to take Jessica to see the Pacific Coast of Monterey. I'm sure it would've been nice on a semi-sunny day but it was too cold to even want to get out of the car. She really liked the sealions at Bird Rock. John-Paul worked on Friday, while Jessica and Gramma went to the Tech Mueseum. Jessica is my little scientist. She came home and started to make "stuff" out of the hotel room soaps and lotions!! "Look mom, it sticks":) On Saturday they didn't need JP for the motorcade scene so he got another day off. But I had to create a couple of hairstyles so they slept in and then we went to the Sky High Sports that afternoon. We played trampoline dodgeball !! It was kinda hard but Jessica hit all the big kids out before they even had a chance to get her first!! She was amazing in there. I think JP just liked to bounce becuase he would always dodge the balls or pick one up and just hand it to anyone else to throw! Today is Monday. We will be shooting a stunt type scene this afternoon so Jessica and I will be going to see Four Christmases before we head to the location. It is going to be a long night but it is also our last day of shooting. We pack up tomorrow and come HOME on Wednesday night.....hopefully! (Pray for no snow!)

The Black Bear Diner

OK ! If you are ever on the west coast, Nevada and Arizona you have got to go to a Black Bear Diner !! They have amazing food and the portions are worth every dime! We have benn filming there for 2 days now and, if I lost any weight before we left I gained it all back and then some. The cooks and crew were so helpful and generous with puting up with us that I was ready to bus tables and help them in any way I could. The pancakes were HUGE !! I only had 2 on my plate and couldn't finish one. Thank goodness we were shooting inside all day. It rained in the morning but it cleared up later in the day. Gramma Bonnie is coming tonight and the kids are ecstatic! We will have a day or 2 off this week also and the owner of the BLack Bear Diner has invited us to his brothers "animal compound" where he trains animals for films. How cool ! Now, I gotta tell ya bout a fabulous "Rock Star" named Paula Nelson ! She is so nice, easy going and great to work with. You might recognize the name.....yes her dad is Willie Nelson. I can't wait to work with her again....fun person.....especially with Ricky and Kerry!!

So many Days.....So little Time!

Well, another couple of days have passed and it all seems like a blurr. Everything kinda goes in reverse orders and it is hard to believe how it all gets transformed into a full length film. Today is Sunday and it was VERY cold and rainy here. We did some scenes with Sally the waitress today. Sally is played by our friend Linda who came some of you got to meet when she came to visit us in Huntsville. She's a fun person. We were shooting at this diner just south of our hotel by about fifteen minutes! It is a really cool place. It's called Black Bear Diner! Good food and Good people! Their pancakes are PERFECTLY delicious ! We'll be there again tomorrow so we'll have a stack for ya. See you then.....write us back if you like.... we're missing you guys!

Our Day in the Pasture with Big Mike

The day started out kinda chilli! We've been layering our clothes to try to keep warm but then the sun comes out and I can't remember where I put my jacket. Some days are running together as well. But this morning was kinda different for mommy........I got to shave Tiny's head. He tricked me. I thought he didn't have any hair! I was a little scared but he's a tough guy. (And very nice to work with as well) We got to do some action shots today involving the gun and some "man beating". The day was beautiful until the sun went behind a hill and then I froze again! We get to relax a little bit tomorrow morning.

Monday, Monday.....

Well, got into bed late last night and had to be on set by 730 am ! Whew....we love it! JP gets up and gets ready without too much trouble. Everyday is a new adventure. Today we got to play a little bit more with Ms. Paula and Mr. Tim. They are so much fun! We got to ride in the trailer to three separate locations. It was a bumpy ride but most everybody in the trailer survived.... even when it wasn't Ben driving. It is VERY cold here. JP and Mr. Tim were lucky that they had coats as their wardrobe, but Ms Paula didn't. Buurrr! We hope ya'll are getting your holiday parties and shopping done.

25+/- People Sharing one trailer on location- Yes! It works!

Hi there everybody! Wow, what a cold sunny day. The wind blew with a chill to it that went right to the bones. CeCe the nice lady that cooks the breakfasts for us here at the hotel invited us to come play at her friends "Ranch". They have GoKarts, all kinds of playground equipment, basketball hoops, football fields and rope swings. We don't have a rental car so we have to beg for rides or ask the hotel shuttle to take us places, so we didn't get there until very late in the afternoon. But we had a great time. They also had some golden retriever puppies......oh so cute!! Today is Saturday and we wrapped early so we're about to go bowling! He did his own stunts today! He got "hit" by a car. Our new friends, Paula and Tim are a lot of fun to work with. Hope you all have your Christmas trees up for Santa!