Thanksgiving 2009

For Thanksgiving, we drove up to Miami to eat with my family. Everyone was there except for my brother Chris and his family, because he had to work.

On the way up, we stopped by the Queen Creek tunnel on Highway 60 and hiked down the old highway through the old tunnel, just because.

It was nice to see everyone, even if it was just for a couple of hours. We always meet at the church in Miami and eat there. Of course we ran across the street and put a bunch of pennies on the train tracks, so we could collect the smashed results after the train passed. The kids really got a kick out of that!

After Thanksgiving lunch, we drove back to Mesa to have Thanksgiving dinner with Rob's family. We ate at Brigette & Steven's new house, and they did everything! Crazy, if you ask me. But it was really nice. The kids had fun running around in the back yard.

Erin's loose tooth held up through all that eating, but not for too much longer. It finally came out a few days ago, and now she's up to a grand total of 3 teeth she's lost. She's frustrated because some kindergarteners have more permanent teeth than she does! But it's OK, they'll come out when they're supposed to, right?

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!

We had a busy day on Halloween. Rob had to umpire a few games in the morning, and I took the kids to the ASU homecoming parade & block party. I forgot how much STUFF they give away at that thing! We came home with lots of candy, of course, and tons of pencils & pens, two whole boxes of crayons, a frisbee, Sparky masks, coloring books, magazines, Sparky tattoos... I'm glad we brought a little backpack. Some of the stuff we did there:

Watched the parade

Sat on a police motorcycle & tried on the cop's helmet

I didn't get a good picture of Erin on it because the cop took a Polaroid. It wasn't until afterward that I saw it wasn't a great picture. (By the way, Erin had never seen a Polaroid before & she was pretty impressed with the "magic picture" as the cop called it)

Bounced & slid on a big ASU inflatable

Walked over the bridge that says ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

After that, we had lunch at Boston Market with my parents. They were doing $1 meals all week, and there's not one on our side of town, so we had to take advantage. Then we hung out at my parents' house for a little bit before coming home to get ready for Halloween.

Erin wanted to be a devil this year. I probably should've painted her face & hair red, but it was so nice to not have to wash any off that stuff off before bed!

I found some firefighter-printed pajamas in Robbie's size for $6 and got a firefighter hat at the dollar store. The best part is that when we got home last night, all I had to do was take his hat off, wash his face & hands, and he was ready for bed.

We went to the Trunk or Treat at the church & it was a lot of fun. The weather was AWESOME! And we got 50-cent corn dogs from Sonic on our way over. This obviously isn't a good picture, but I still sort of like it. Maybe it portrays the overall feeling of Halloween (ha ha)

And of course, what would Halloween be without candy sorting?

Happy Halloween!

Ten Years

Rob and I have been married TEN YEARS today!

We were married Friday, October 8, 1999 in the Mesa temple. Our reception was that evening, and then we flew to Cancun the next day for our honeymoon. Shall we take a trip down memory lane?

Engagement photos....

Now, having been to lots more weddings in the past ten years, there are probably some things I'd do differently if I were to plan a reception today, but it was nice. We had fun, and and our families and lots of friends helped us out in so many ways to make it a special day for us! It's kind of too bad receptions aren't longer so you can spend more time with all the people who help out or travel from out of town or go out of their way to be there for you. It's nice to read the guest list and think about all the people we love who came to be there with us.

A few interesting things from our wedding day...

Like the bride forgetting to bring her white shoes and only having BLACK ones to wear out of the temple...

And having a fountain punch bowl that LIGHTS UP RED when you plug it in!

And I had to include this picture because, well... look!

...cracks me up.

Rob sliced up his hand while cutting string off the car so we could get into it, and he did a good job not bleeding all over the white rented tux. "Are you okay? Don't bleed on the tux!"

We drove off into the night, happily ever after....

WAIT. Almost. We stopped by my parents' house on the way to our hotel so we could hang up my wedding dress and leave Rob's tux, and he discovered one of the car vandals' keys in his car! So he took off to bring the keys back to the reception while I changed clothes at my parents' house. He said he got some pretty confused looks when people looked into the "Just Married" car and just saw some poor guy driving along by himself.

Mind you, it really was a great day! But what would a stroll down memory lane be without some entertaining details? We can't forget that stuff.

We had a good time in Cancun & got to do a lot of interesting stuff, like swim with dolphins and ride wave runners without glasses or contacts (going without glasses or contacts is an adventure in itself for both of us!) and checking out the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza.

When we got home, both of our parents came over and we opened our wedding presents. Later, we had our first meal in our apartment: melted American cheese on hot dog buns. Then it was back to work and school!

We had a good start, and ten years & two kids later, things are still going pretty well, entertaining details and all!

Happy 10th Anniversary, Rob! I love you!

Fall!

It's fall!! Either that or we're having a cold spell. The high was only 90 today!

Rob didn't have to umpire today, so he actually got to play softball. We went to a couple of his games. The kids loved riding their scooters at the park.

Then we hiked up Monument Hill. It's the point where the surveys for the whole valley started back in the 1860's. The whole city was mapped out from this point, and they have a little plaque and concrete compass rose right on top of the mountain. Erin is getting kind of interested in maps, so she got a kick out of that. We could see just about everything from up there. Downtown is just above Robbie's head, and Camelback Mountain is to the right of that.

Don't worry - they're not that sunburned. They just get pink in the heat like their mom.

Monument Hill also butts up against Phoenix International Raceway, so we got a good view of that. On Saturdays, they open up the racetrack & let people pay to drive their own cars in there. Kind of interesting to watch. Robbie really liked that, since it was so similar to the Cars movie. (Robbie really hated this cactus. I told him to be careful & not to touch it because it's pokey, and then he didn't want to go anywhere near it!)

The Base & Meridian wildlife area is right at the bottom of the hill, so we went down there for a little bit. We threw a lot of rocks in the water, and the kids put their toes in for a little bit. It's a well-used area, I'll say, because there were plenty of beer cans & grocery bags lying around. It bothers me to see so much crap around, but it's still a fun place to go.

Then Rob had a break between games, so we met him at Hungry Howie's for pizza. Pretty good pizza - same $5 carryout deal as Little Caesar's, but not quite as... well... Little Caesar's. You know.

We went home, had baths and cooled down for a bit, and then we went back to Avondale for Rob's last game. His team was undefeated & won the tournament, so that was pretty fun for him. Right now, he's proudly wearing the t-shirt he won (ha ha). Here are the kids watching him bat. (Not sure what's going on with the umpire & the catcher, though)

We're tired! But it was a good day, and I'm so happy the bearable weather is here!

Baseball

Last night, I took the kids to the Diamondbacks/Brewers game. The kids had their free tickets from the summer reading program at the library, and I spent a whole $6 on my ticket. Rob didn't get to go because he umpired from 9am - 8pm yesterday! It was HOT outside, I felt sorry for him.

When I told Robbie that we were playing the Brewers, he got all excited & started chanting "Walkie Brewers!" I reminded him that we wanted the Diamondbacks to win, but he had his own idea. (Remember, he likes the Brewers since we popped in on spring training that time and the guy gave him a couple of baseballs)

Well, Robbie got his way, because it was a shameful 9-2 loss for the Diamondbacks! We left during the 7th inning stretch. We stayed long enough to hear a couple thousand people sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" though... that's one of the boy's favorites.

It was Hispanic Heritage night at the ballpark, so the team's jerseys said "Los D'Backs" and they played a lot of Satana & stuff on the sound system. They had a few mariachi bands & dancers out in the concourse, and it was pretty cool.

Here come the pictures...

Diamondbacks tattoos:

The gun show - BANG!

BANG!

We had a good time.

So my blogging has suffered lately because I went back to work full-time. I am working at Express Scripts in Tempe, and it's been pretty good so far. Although I'm still in training. My friend Mary works there, and she told me about the job. I totally owe her lunch.

I was nervous/sad about having to leave Robbie during the day, but my friend Alayna is watching him & he loves it! Her son started kindergarten this year, and her oldest daughter is the same age as Robbie, so they keep each other busy. Alayna is great & multi-talented. For those of you who don't know her, go to her website & check out the coolest baby toys ever: Zadyball.com

For the time being, I'm still staying on at Kohl's, but only for Friday nights. Rob thinks I should quit, and I will when I'm completely tired of it, but for now it's nice to still get the employee discount and to get my window shopping done while I work. Not to mention getting a few extra dollars every week.

Erin is tearing it up in second grade. She loves it! Her teacher is really good & Erin is excited about school every day. She got her first progress report the other day, and she has all A's and one B. The B is 96%, and four of her A's are 100% so that's pretty cool! We're proud of her.

So that's what we've been up to.

Second Grade!

Somewhere in the middle of all the chaos of the last two weeks, Erin started second grade. Tuesday was the first day of school, and she's pretty happy to be in second grade.

Here she is before school, and with the backpack Mom customized for her:

Her teacher, Mrs. Petersen is very nice. We went to "Meet the Teacher Day" the Friday before school started, and after we left the classroom, I asked Erin what she thought of her new teacher...

"She seems nice! She seems like she's not one of those teachers who gets all up in your face."

Okay then! That's the type of teacher I like, too.

Kindergarteners and first graders share a playground, and when you go to 2nd Grade, you get to play on the "bigger" playground. Erin is pretty pleased that she gets to play on that one now, and she's excited about the idea of getting to read to the kindergarteners now that she's in 2nd grade.

Mrs. Petersen said she has good leadership skills, and that she scored the highest in the class on their spelling pre-test. I guess she only missed four, and there are 7th grade words on there! That made Mom proud.

Rob's dad, Bob, his wife Sandy, and Rob's half-sister Annalice flew down for Molly's funeral, and they stayed with us for a couple of days. It was nice to visit with them, because we haven't really seen them since we visited them when Erin was a year old. Of course, the visit wasn't under the best of circumstances, but we enjoyed having them, and we're glad they stayed with us.

Visiting...

Steven (Brigette's fiance), Rob, Brigette, Bob, Robbie (crazy), Sandy

Robbie, Briana (in pink), Annalice (on stomach), Erin, Ayla (rockin' out)

I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out, but catching up is tricky! I start a new job tomorrow, and I'll blog about that when I have something to write! I'll leave you with a couple random pictures I took of the kids recently.

Molly

This is my niece Molly.

She would've been 3 in October. She is Rob's sister Brigette's youngest.

Molly went on vacation with her mom, her brother, and her sisters a few weeks ago. They drove to northern Illinois to visit Brigette & Rob's dad and his family. Molly got sick and had to go to the ER while she was there. After some blood tests revealed she probably had leukemia, she was admitted to the children's hospital in Milwaukee. She was diagnosed with leukemia and began treatment. She stayed there for a week while she was stabilized and began chemo.

She was finally able to fly home! This was about two weeks ago. She flew home on a Tuesday, had a great time with her family, and then died on Wednesday morning. We were all shocked! She was supposed to be getting better, but just like that, she was gone.

Needless to say, it has been a rough couple of weeks. This past Wednesday was her funeral. It was a very nice service, and neat to see so many people honor a little two-year-old. I gave the most difficult opening prayer of my life, and Rob dedicated the grave. He had never done that before, and he did a very good job.

Molly is a sweetie, and we will miss her a lot. Brigette and the kids are doing okay, and life has to go on.

I still say caskets should not have to come in certain sizes. It's very sad, but at the same time, we are thankful that she doesn't have to be sick anymore, and we know that she is with Heavenly Father and that we will get to see her again one day.

We love you, Molly!

The Science Center

Rob was off yesterday, so our whole family went to the Arizona Science Center courtesy of the culture pass. Of course there is a lot to do there:

Watch a lady dissect a cow's eye, and then touch it afterward...
(with gloves on)

Throw balls into the nose until it sneezed again...

(Not as terrifying to Robbie as it was last time)

Toyed with peoples' emotions...

Looked at stuff made of Legos...

Rolled balls through PVC pipes stuck to a wall with magnets...

It was a little busy there; I'm glad we didn't try to go on a Saturday, like we were originally planning.

Afterward, we went to the Krispy Kreme downtown so Erin could get the free donuts for the A's on her report card! Then we just went home to cool down, because it was H-O-T out.

Only a couple more weeks til school starts! Summer has gone fast.

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Yesterday was Erin's 7th birthday. She is growing up!

We celebrated her birthday at Rob's parents' house in Mesa on Sunday. Erin was born on Rob's sister Brigette's birthday, so they share a birthday. And her cousin Briana (Brigette's daughter) was celebrating too, because her birthday is tomorrow! July is a busy month.

We had pizza, watched the girls open presents, and had a huge cake with lots of candles!

Yesterday, my parents came over to celebrate. Erin opened her presents, and then we had dinner at Red Robin. (Mmmmm, Jamaican Jerk Chicken Burger!) We finished eating just in time to walk through a dust storm on the way to the car. Then we came back home to have cake. Although we were all stuffed!

Erin is a smart girl, and she's a very good kid. She's always been pretty well-behaved, so I am pretty impatient with her when she does act up or does something wrong. Rob and I both need to work on that & cut her some slack.

She has always been a talker, and it's pretty fun to have a conversation with her. She's down-to-earth and logical, and she's always been easy to reason with. She just gets it. She has kind of a sarcastic sense of humor (wonder where she gets that?) and she's so observant; she always has something interesting to point out.

She's a really good big sister to Robbie, and she looks out for him. She shares with him, and she is always willing to help him out or show him how something works. He really looks up to her.

In less than a month, she'll start second grade! I can't believe how fast the last seven years have gone by.

We love you, Erin!