High School Musical On Tour

Thursday night, we had a fun mother-daughter night with some of our friends. Sonya and her daughters, Kynlee and Alli, and Claire, and her daughter Mia, and Sierra and I went out for some girl time. We went out to dinner at Charleston's first. It was yummy....I had my fav...Walt's Champange Salad and Sierra ordered chicken strips but switched meals with Kynlee and ate a steak instead (Sierra must be her daddy's girl). We ran into my parents and Sean and Mary there. What a fun coincidence. After dinner, we went to see High School Musical on Tour at Grady Gammage at ASU. It was a lot of fun. It's great to have such good friends. And, it's even better to have such a beautiful daughter. We had a wonderful time!
Kynlee is one of Sierra's best friends. They have known each other since they were born...because Sonya and I have been best friends since we met a month after getting married...16 years (we both moved into the same apartments as newleyweds). Yea, Sonya has put up with me for a very long time. And, Claire has to -- for almost as long....eleven years. Both Sierra and I are blessed with great friends.

Sierra and Zane in California

Sierra and Zane came home last Thursday from a fun-filled trip to California. Above, Zane is checking out the view from Grandpa and Grandma's balcony. The kids had a great time. They went to Legoland one day with Grandma Cake. There were lots of fun rides and amazing things made out of legos. The next day, they spent some time at the beach. Grandma even took them to see the movie Kung Fu Panda.

One of their favorite memories was (of course?) finding snails in the yard. The kids were upset to find out that Grandpa kills the snails, so they saved the snails by putting them in the neighbor's yard. OOPS.

Here they are, riding the boogey boards in the ocean. What fun! Thanks to Grandma Cake and Papa for spoiling them rotten. Papa and Grandma are always great about spending quality time with the kids. Our kids adore them.

We're glad to have Sierra and Zane home now. It was wierd to have half of our kids gone at once!...but strangely peaceful:). Maybe I shouldn't admit that?! Hopefully, there wasn't too much arguing over in California.

Gotta Love Irrigation

The kids LOVE irrigation. Lance and his friend, Brock, had some fun today skimboarding in our irrigation. No normal kid can resist the temptation of playing in stagnant, dirty water right?!

Well, I have to admit, it looked like fun.

Of course, there is a downside to irrigation. Wes can sneak outside and get into it before I even notice he's gone. Yea, somedays he can do it multiple times. Today, I got him all washed up after he played with the big boys and brought him inside to play his computer. I started watching TV and then realized he was gone. Whew...only playing catch with Cash in the backyard. So, I bring him in again and go back to my TV show (I know...what a good mom I am). Next thing I know, he's out in the back lot running around, giggling, chasing Cash in the irrigation. They were having a blast. It was cute. They were filthy. Time for baths AGAIN! (sorry, didn't get a pic of that one....just imagine....filthy boy....filthy dog)

I'm sure there will be a next time. I'll get a picture then.

While they were gone....

Those of us left home, went swimming. First, Lance found a baby red racer in our pool. What excitement! I think that was the first one this year. We love our snakes (at least the non-biting ones)!

And then, I was right. Yes, we have to make a point of it:). Wes has been horrible about swimming this year. "I can't swim" he would whine. He endured swim lessons for two weeks. He did improve some....went from all out crying to his whimpering whine by the end of two weeks. Well, as we were swimming yesterday, I decided to review our skills. Boy, was Wes upset. And, to top it all off, Lance and Todd were siding with him. So, I let him rest....which means he went and sat in the waterfall and played in his "baby pool" up at the top... all the while giving me this poor picked on kid look. After a few minutes, I went and grabbed him again. Todd and Lance couldn't believe how mean I was. Then, all of a sudden, it clicked. And Wes was off and swimming and loving it. SMILING and SWIMMING....and JUMPING off the diving board! Yea, I was right. Moms are always right:) It's not like I have taught three other kids to swim or anything!

Sierra and Zane are off...

....off to California to visit Grandma Cake and Papa (Kay and Bob), that is. They were so excited to go. Here they are ready to board their plane! I'm actually a couple days late blogging. They will be home tomorrow and we'll be sure to write all about their adventure in San Clemente, CA!

Happy 16th Anniversary!

Friday was our 16th anniversary! Since we were out as a family with our friends that night, we celebrated Saturday night instead. We went out to McGrath's Fish House and had king crab legs! Yum.

Here are 16 reasons why I love Todd (one for each of the 16 years).

16. The silliest/worldliest reason- he bought me my horse:) (I guess I should say the diamond, but that's just not me....although, don't get me wrong. I love my ring for what it stands for...he's mine and I'm his!)

15. Makes the best biscuits n gravy almost every Sunday morning for our family

14. He lets me beat him at games....sometimes...well, most of the time at "sets" :) but that's the only game I have a higher chance at winning.

13. He so fun to hang out with....just good company....always ready to go out and play.

12. He's a hard worker - does a great job supporting our family

11. He calls me from work to share good/bad news - makes me think he cares about my opinion

10. He still likes to hold my hands after 16 years of marriage and even more of dating.

9. He takes me out for date nights and trips together....just he and I

8. He looks HOT in a suit

7. He looks even HOTTER in his cycle riding gear

6. Which leads me to....I love him for his shoulders and arms....that I love to be wrapped up in

5. And, his eyes that tell me how much they love me when he looks at me

4. If I have a "honey-do" list, it's done that week. (thanks, Todd)

3. He's a good man with a good heart

2. He gave me four children that I love so dearly and that he fathers so well.

1. He still makes my hear flutter....just like he did for the first time when I saw him in the old church parking lot....wearing that yellow polo and plaid shorts with all the guys playing around with the go-cart...yea, he was cute! Hard to believe that was about 24 years ago!

I look forward to many more years with my man! I love you Todd!

Hilton Squaw Peak

We had a mini-vacation this weekend. Our friends invited us to join them for a night at a local hotel for some fun at the water park. We lazed around in the Lazy River, after first jogging through it for our daily workout? (thanks, Kelly)....well, truth be told, we were trying to get some tubes. The kids went down the slide, played in the waterfall and did a lot of swimming. Lance even played some volleyball in the pool. We ate in the restaurant. They put us in a room called the "Corral"....I think trying to corral in the 15 kids that were with us:). The best part - the virgin strawberry daquiris at the poolside. Yummy!

If you're wondering about Sierra's lip, think Chihuahua. She was standing up and said hi to the dog. He jumped up and bit her! Poor girl. Bad dog! We'll have to tell them about labs:) Best family dog out there....not that we're biased or anything.