Happy Thanksgiving!

It's the Hap-Happiest Time of the year...Except when you are taking Christmas card pictures!

The sun is in my eyes!

How do I sit on this thing?

Whoa doggies!

I'm so tired of this!

Alas, a few good ones.

I attempted to take my own Christmas pictures this year. Let me say, 'Migraine"! I think I will stick with the pros next season.

Happy Halloween!

Shaylee the Pirate

Cap'n Shaylee on her Pirate Ship

Arrr Me Hardies!

Yep, it's really Shaylee under that patch!

Ladybug Annabelle

I can never get Annie to smile.

Cute as a bug

Today starts a big weekend of fun. First, Shaylee has her Halloween party in my A.M. kindergarten class. Then when the A.M. class is over, she goes next door to her P.M. class for another party. After lunch we get ready for the Halloween parade around the school playground. Then tonight we will carve our pumpkins and maybe get a pizza. Tomorrow we'll get up early for the Halloween Party at my mom's community. The kids will play games, trick-or-treat, and have lunch. Then it's back home to get ready for the Halloween Block Party pot-luck at 4:00. When it gets dark we'll head out to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. Then we'll go back to our house for a bon-fire and movie on the big screen in our garage for the kids. Is it healthy to pack that much fun into one weekend? Sheesh! Happy haunting!

Fall

It's looking like fall around here.

Fall Break '09

We couldn't go away this fall break because Bill had to be near the computer and phone for his continued and frustrating job search. But, we did try to do something fun each day. Here are the highlights:

Monday: My mom and I and Cyndee and Shaylee met Susan, Casey and Cheyenne and Julie, Katarina, Evelyn and Sophia at the Phoenix Zoo. We also ran into my friend Sarah and her kids Natalie and Joel while we were there. It was a fun day even with the large crowds. (It was Colombus Day and school was out for everyone!) Adam said the zoo was boring and chose to stay home with Bill, but was sorry when Bill put him to work cleaning. He was game for anything later in the week!

Where should we go first?

What kind of animal is that? Oh it's you Casey!


Feeding the giraffe.

Tuesday: Went to Mother Nature's Farm to pick pumpkins and go on a hayride. Fun, but short. We had hoped for Schnepf Farms, but they are only open on the weekends and the forecast said 102 degrees for Saturday. No thanks! We decided to make the most of the cooler weather at the beginning of the week and save Schnepf for next time. Even 88 degrees was warm for a picnic at the farm so we ended up at Peter Piper Pizza instead.




Wednesday: The kids and I walked around San Tan Mall, had lunch in the food court, and then saw the movie Fame. It was a bit slow and Shaylee almost fell asleep from bordom at one point, but the popcorn was good.

Thursday: We took advantage of the online deal at Amazing Jakes. $13 for the buffet, games, and three hours of unlimited rides/attractions. The kids had a blast playing games, laser tag, climbing wall, going on the Frog Hopper, Go-Karts, Bumper Cars, mini-golf, roller coaster, tea cups and eating their fill of pizza etc... My mom and I agreed that the food is passable at best though.

Hole in one!

Friday: We went on a scenic drive to Tortilla Flat, Canyon Lake, and Goldfield Ghost Town. It was fun to get a taste of the 'Old West' and to enjoy the beautiful Arizona desert.

Are we rich?

Football

Go Adam

Shaylee found out she could climb the fence!

Adam played flag football on his junior high team this fall and loved every minute of it. Bill and I enjoyed watching the games as well, especially as the weather cooled off.

Legally Blonde

Adam hard at work.

Cyndee and Lynn not happy about the delay.

The nail spike.

Adam in his glory.

Cyndee has been wanting to see the Broadway tour of Legally Blonde the musical for some time now. So it was a great surprise when my mom was given two free tickets to see the show at ASU Gammage. She gave them to me and Cyndee and we headed out last Sunday after church. We were so excited to see the show and spend the day together...that is until we heard a weird noise in the car. We pulled over and found my rear right tire completely flat. I must have run over a stake of some sort. Luckily we were still in the church parking lot and my mom hadn't left with Adam and Shaylee yet. We flagged her down and as we were discussing what to do, some parishoners stopped and offered to help. It just so happened he works with tires and had all of the equipment to change my tire. Adam was thrilled to assist. After a short delay we were on the road to Tempe. The show was amazing and we had a great day after all.