The Last Cool Weekend

Mark, being convinced that it would be the last cool weekend in the Phoenix valley before summer, insisted that we go on a hike to take advantage of it. We made our way to Camelback mountain and got lost in the Arizona landscape for 2 1/2 hours. In the picture above we had made our way through the easy part and were preparing ourselves to start the rock climbing to the top. Wheh! It was a doosey!

We even saw some wildlife.

A view on our way up.

We Made it! I had to rest a 1/2 hr before my shaky legs could carry me back down but still, I made it!

Heading down the mountain.

Tulip Festival & Waterfalls...Can't Be In Arizona!

My mom, sister and I went to Oregon to spend a couple days with my grandparents. My grandpa is 92 1/2 years old now and his health is great but they are downsizing and my mother inherited some family items so we went to pick them up and visit. It was a long drive up and back but there was some gorgeous scenery.

We headed over to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn, Oregon (about 45 mins south of Portland). It was a rare opportunity to get a picture among hundreds of thousands of beautiful tulips. Wow, it was so amazing.

Acres and acres of tulips. They were everywhere!

The next day we took a drive to the Silver Falls. One of my favorite spots in Oregon.

Another Successful Trip to Tucson

My mom and I made another trip to my sister's house to help her fix it up last weekend. It was three full days of hard work, and so much fun! The picture above was the start of it all...mudding.

This is what her laundry room looked like when we started. No paint, old fixtures and a concrete floor.

Look what I'm doing, texturing the hallway! Do I know what I'm doing? Not really, but willing to learn!

Laying tile in the laundry room.
We had a bit of a painting party.

This darn laundry room took so much time, more tile work!

The kitchen. Decided to change the red and spruce up the white.

Moved around some ceiling fans.

Installed a dog door in the laundry room.Installed 2 new light fixtures in the laundry room.

Tadda! The laundry room is almost finished!

The living room with a fresh coat of paint and de-cluttered. Not finished quite yet.

The kitchen with a face-lift.Getting there, a weekend at a time! Who wants to buy a house 5 minutes from U of A?

Easter 2010

We had a wonderful Easter dinner with Mark's family. Eating the good food is almost as great as the time we got to spend with the kids. Below Mark is holding his nephew, Noah. After eating the nieces and nephews went looking for eggs (hidden about the yard-I got to help hide them this year). They were so cute and so excited! It is always so much fun to watch them.

Thank You John!

Had a special delivery this morning (courtesy of my adopted grandpa). They are beautiful!

Nephew #10!

Tuesday morning our nephew Ethan was born. I love these pictures!

Mid February we spent the afternoon with my aunt Joyce for her birthday. Diagnosed with cancer in early January, this was the last time we were able to have a normal conversation with her. Weeks later, we made another visit but her situation was quickly deteriorating. Joyce passes away Thursday, March 25th.

The funeral was this Tuesday, the 30th. It was beautiful and I am so thankful for my testimony in The Plan of Salvation.

My beautiful family!

South Mountain Hike

Mark was off a bit early from work on day so we took the dogs on a little hike up South Mountain. We hardly ever do outdoorsy things in town so it was nice.

Weekend Adventure

On Friday, nephew #9 was born. He swallowed some fluid so we had to visit him in the nursery at first. It was nice when we could hold Noah Sunday night. To help out a bit we had his two sisters stay with us Saturday night and it was a little bit of an adventure for us. We did have fun with it while it lasted...back to a big empty home.

First thing was first...take the girls to McDonalds!

Uncle Mark reading bedtime stories.

Aunt Mary made pink star and heart pancakes for breakfast.

Just getting back from a walk with the dogs and saying goodbye.

Right of Passage

Mark invited a friend who also passed the CPA exam in the last 6 months over and together they burned some of their study materials. It was a sweet moment for them.

It's Hot!

Well, anyone who watched the Olympics knows that the HOT ITEM these games were the mittens. Mark couldn't resist and bought them right away. We got them more than a week ago and he swears he got them for me however anyone who knows me also knows that I don't like the "in" thing and I don't like red. Besides they only had childrens or mens large so they are too big. Ha, funny thing though, Mark never wears gloves so they will probably sit on a shelf.