THE BIG ONE!!!

Happy Birthday Drew-Drew!!!

CONGRATS TO SHANE!!!

Shane was recognized by his teachers this month for being a "Kid of Character" and showing extra special "Fairness" towards his classmates. He received an award from the principal at an assembly in front of all the second graders...and it totally was not my imagination that Shane received the loudest little cheers from SEVERAL little female voices when his name was announced.

HERE COMES TROUBLE!

Check out this video to see what Drew learned this weekend!

JUST HANGING OUT!

I know some of you have already seen this photo, but I just really like it A LOT and wanted to share it with everyone else!

JUST ME AND MY DAD!

It's always nice to give the boys a little one-on-one time so since they were off of school this past Friday, it was Shane's turn to spend the day just hanging out with Rory. They decided to go hike Goldmine Mountain which is about a 15 minute drive from our house. It sounds like they had a blast even though they went off the path onto a "dangerous and illegal path". I guess they didn't see the sign telling them these important details until the end of their hike. But Shane was a trooper and made it the entire 2.5 miles all the way to the top even through some really steep areas....very impressive for a peanut sized 7 year old who even was carrying a whole load of rocks he collected to bring home to show Casey and Kyle. Of course, he slept the whole 15 minute ride back home!!! This photo is from the beginning of the hike so you can see how far you have to walk just to get to the mountain itself. What a great way for just the two of them to spend the day!

RYAN AND THE BEANSTALKS!

Ryan was playing in our backyard the other day by these small palm trees and I had asked him if he was in his fort....he first said "No, I'm in the forest".....and then after thinking about it a little while he changed his mind and said "No, mommy, these are my beanstalks!"

"DOUBLE TROUBLE"

Call us crazy, but we have two new Shih Tzu's....

Cooper and Cody!!

INVESTIGATE YOUR STOMACH....

The following was an assignment Shane did in class today. Please read carefully....it's hilarious!

Break up a cracker and put it in a Ziploc bag. Add a small amount of water and squeeze the mixture. This is similar to what happens in your mouth. Now add some vinegar (pretend digestive juice). Seal bag tightly then mash it with your hands.

Question #1 - Describe what happened.

SHANE'S ANSWER: The cracker turned into liquid.

Question #2 - What does the cracker mixture look like now?

SHANE'S ANSWER: It looks like barf!

PRESCHOOL HAS BEGUN....

Well, he finally did it!!! His first day of preschool and believe it or not....he loved it!!! Who would of thought? (Not me!!!) No complaining, no tears, no being afraid....he just walked right in the room and made himself comfortable at the Art and Craft area and never looked back. He is going for an hour and a half twice a week....which is not only great for him, but now I get to workout at the health club right in the building where his preschool is. HUGE PLUS!!! Ryan loves going to school so much that on the second day when I went to pick him up, he didn't want to leave. Plus now he thinks he is soooo cool that he gets to talk about what happened at his school during dinnertime and not just have to sit and listen to the older boys. Good job Ryry....you're a big boy now!

"YEAH WE HAD VISITORS!!!"

Diane, Ashley and Kelly came to visit us for four days this past week! We were soooo happy to see them (especially Ashley who recently got back safely from Iraq). We're glad they got to see a little of our new home state and we really hope they come visit again soon. Maybe next time they'll get to experience some normal Arizona weather instead of the unusual gloomy days we had while they were here. Of course, it's back to beautiful since they left! UGH! Anyways, I personally want to thank them all for a great weekend for myself....some girl time was just what I needed. I don't get much of that in our house being outnumbered 6:1. I had a blast shopping, eating, shopping, hiking, shopping, laughing and just hanging out. I really enjoyed winning in bowling too....thank you very much! Also, thanks for getting us all addicted to the Deal or No Deal competition! Please come again soon!!!

"ZOOLIGHTS"

Friday night we went to the Phoenix Zoo to see "Zoolights". It was really cool to see the whole zoo all decorated in lights for the holiday season. Especially on a 65 degree evening in January! The boys got to ride a camel....which I'm still shocked Ryan actually did it. Plus they saw a talking giraffe that somehow knew their names and said "Hello". It was really a great night....and I'll never forget the drive home and the wonderful things Aunt Di-Di taught Ryan....all I can say is it involved his nose and Kelly. ICK!!! Thanks Di!

FIRST ONE TO THE TOP WINS!!!

Saturday we went hiking at the Superstition Mountains....which is only about a 30 minute drive from our home. We hiked 2.4 miles....which took about 2 hours....but that also included a zillion stops to take pictures. And let me tell you, Casey and Kyle enjoyed each and every one of those pictures....JUST KIDDING!!! It was such a great experience and an awesome workout! I can't say the experience of our drive home was any fun though. We decided to drive through some mountains on this VERY narrow REALLY winding road. My hands were soooo sweaty from holding the steering wheel soooo tight (in the 10/2 position of course) and a few times I couldn't tell if my foot was on the brake or the gas. I'm sure everyone felt soooo safe knowing that! It definitely was a great day and I'm soooo glad Diane, Ashley and Kelly were there to experience it with us!

WHO ARE THESE KIDS???

IN MEMORY....

Wrigley was taken from us unexpectedly this past week. He was only with us for a short time, but we will NEVER EVER forget him. He brought soooo much joy and happiness to our lives. The sounds of laughter that he filled our house with will ALWAYS be remembered. And that cute little half black/half white face that gave us all tons of kisses....we will miss him soooo much. We can't even describe the emptiness we feel without you. We love you Wrigley and you'll always be in our thoughts!!!

Just another beautiful day outside....

....with Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale behind us!

Someone seriously needed a nap....

....and it totally didn't matter that he decided to take it in Wrigley's dog bed! This is Ryan's nap time in the middle of the day and of course he is in his usual daily attire.... his jammas.

Our Scary Little Monster!

It took me just about forever to get this photo....it's really funny if you look closely to see Drew's teeth....two bottom middle and two fangs. And from all the drool on his shirt I can only guess that there are more on the way!