Fourth of July Weekend 2016

The 4th of July was on a Monday this year, so we played the whole weekend.  Saturday we spent the day at Canyon lake with our friends the Stecks.  Awesome Day!  That night we sat outside in the street and lit off fireworks and had a blast.  Good times!

Christmas Eve Hike

Christmas eve morning, Jeff and I got up before the kiddos and took our new pup to hike Peralta trailhead in the Superstition mountains.  It was a beautiful day!  Maverick did awesome and was the happiest doggy ever!  I love Arizona.

Spontaneous Disneyland Trip

This past weekend was a fun one.  I got to sneak away with my daughter Sammi and two good friends, Kim and Kaye.  We drove to California Sunday, hit Disneyland all day Monday and drove home Tuesday.

 It was fun to leave our cares and worries at home and just play for a day.  These guys were so sweet to put up with me as I love the Tower of Terror and I made them ride it first thing.   Seriously, that is my favorite ride.  I can't stop giggling the whole time.

But the coolest thing of all was that I got to spend time with Sammi.  I love having an adult child.  She is so funny and clever.  I love to adventure with her.  She is an amazing person and friend.  It's fun to learn from each others life experiences.  I will miss her so much when she leaves to go back to school in August.   I'm glad we had a little vacation together this summer.

Talent in the mountains!

Family camp talent show. My favorite night. Still laughing!!

 

Arizona in the Summer

Yes I tend to get a little salty and bitter when the Arizona summer temperatures creep up to the + 110's.

But when those beautiful, loud monsoon storms hit in August, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the US.

My son was actually inside playing on the computer, and I demanded that he put on his suit and get outside and enjoy the storm.

He gave me the " Ahh Mom" bit, but I would have none of it.

He was going to play in the rain and that was that.  I am such a mean mom!

It's these sweet moments that make the summer's bearable.  It's these sweet moments that make motherhood so fun!

Happy Memories

Jeff get's tired of Disneyland after a while.  Not me!  I love it!

It's probably because he has a weak stomach when it comes to roller coasters.
 I could ride on them all day and never get sick.

California Screamin is my favorite!  I love the anticipation when the rides is about to blast you off!  Good times!

Zoot and Junie

Grandpa Carl and Grandma Junie turned 90 this year!

Shari threw a fabulous party in their honor.

Of course I couldn't wait to do the cake!

Shari decorated in checks and I made the cake to match.

My "not so little anymore" athlete.

This past December Allison and Jeff competed in a triathlon.    I sat this one out this time, but honestly I had just as much fun watching Allison compete.  She is ultra competitive (don't know where that comes from).

 Here she is hanging by the pool with the boys (which she beat by the way).

 She is all fired up coming out of the pool.

 She transitioned well and took off on my bike.  It's a little big for her, but she did pretty good on it.

 Here she comes into the final transition.

She place 3rd overall and 1st in the girls division.  She is still so mad those 2 boys beat her!

I am one proud mama!

Date Night with the "Beloved"

Nathan, (also known as the beloved by his 2 older sisters) got to spend a night out with mom and dad this weekend.  On the agenda - Suns game!!!

He was pretty excited to get to go out with us all by himself.  

We had some pretty sweet seats.  One of the suns cheerleaders stood right in front of us periodically and shook her stuff not wearing much stuff.  Lovely.  When she wasn't disrupting my view and distracting my dates I realized that Steve Nash really isn't that short - the other guys are just freakishly tall.

We had a great time munching on junk food and cheering with the crowd.  I sure love these two guys!

Oh Santa!

Nathan thinks he is to big to sit on Santa's lap.  So some of his friends decided that he indeed needed to sit on his lap, and forced him there.  Look at the grip Santa has on his wrist just to keep him still for the picture.  

 Allison and and her friend Cameron had no trouble at all posing with the big guy!  

Oh how I miss the good ole days when my kids were little and slightly scared of the man in red.

A Cold Thanksgiving

So we made it to Utah for the holiday, just in time for the cold temperatures to set in.  As we sat around Thanksgiving morning, we decided to give the Y mountain a try. After all, it's ONLY 16 degrees outside - how bad can it be?

 Actually, it really wasn't that bad.  Once you got movin that is.

 Yes, that's me in my ASU sweatshirt.  Go Devils!

 Allison and Randi were so hot from the hike, the steam was coming off their backs.

 On Friday we checked out the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake.  Pretty cool.  Did I mention it was cold outside?

 We headed indoors for a bit to warm up - loaded the kids with hot chocolate - then made our way outdoors again to see the Christmas lights on temple square.  Very pretty.

After that, we took them all to a hot dinner at the Blue Iguana in Salt Lake.  (It's official!  I can never move to Utah!  I would die without good mexican food.)