Summer of '11

Yes, I do realize it is November and I'm posting about summer. I thought once the kids got in school I would have just loads of time to do my blog & clean my house. Neither have gotten done. What's wrong with me? Don't answer that. Therefore, the next slew of posts will pertain to summer. We did have a good one. Lots of hot days & days at pa & Rhonda's pool, lots of park days and playing outside. These photos were taken one day while we loafed around outside.

I looked over and Miss Thang was working it in my shoes.

Not sure what was going on, but they both look a bit perturbed.

Tired?

School has been in session for a couple of months now. I'm pretty sure they are worn out...

Isabel at my mom's house (apparently she had a sucker before she fell asleep).

Jonah on the other end of the couch.
Jasper at home with his Jedi costume on.

The next day....at home with his Darth Vader costume (my kids have a crazy obsession with costumes).

Jonah almost asleep while giving himself a breathing treatment and Jasper who is asleep. I went in to the kitchen to get vitamins & came back out & Jasper was out!

Houses, tape and the dentist

Jonah has taken a liking to scotch tape. We've went through about 3 things of it over the past week or so. Anything and everything is being taped up....on our walls and on the back of the front door. It really is quite amusing to walk by & catch a glimpse of what he has posted. One of the papers is a recipe for Mexican flatas.

And there was a night when he drew house after house after house. We had 10 papers taped up of houses. I love that kid!

In other un-related news...I had the pleasure of taking Ashley (my sister) to the dentist this week. Lets face it, I don't think anyone likes the dentist. But Ash has some serious dentalphobia. She still goes but you definitely don't want to talk to her the night before because that is all you will talk about. Love you, sissy. So, she was getting an impression and some other things done for a crown she has to get. They told her to allot for 1 1/2 hours. I dropped her off and ran my errands. After about and hour and 40 minutes I decided to go ahead and go wait for her even though she hadn't called.

I went in & the ladies at the front desk said she still wasn't done. She came out after a few minutes for a break and this is what I saw... The left side of her face (as you are looking at it) is smiling. Don't mind the missing tooth. As I've stated in the past, we both have the same missing tooth only hers is on the opposite side. Do you see how big her right side is? She had 14 shots on the bottom row because she can't seem to get numb. So essentially her right side was almost paralyzed. It was hilarious! I mean, I was dying. Her eye wouldn't close. So there she was with one eye that was huge and not blinking, while the other eye was blinking like normal. It looked like she had a major tick and to be quite honest, it was a little creepy. The hygienist and I were cracking up. All in all, it took 3 HOURS for that work to be done. And, she doesn't even have the crown yet. Way to be a brave girl, Ash. Little sissy is proud of you. And thanks for letting me laugh at your expense.

My annual trip to Arizona

Back in July I made my 3rd annual trip to Arizona with my dad & step-mom. We stay with my favorite Aunt Candi and Uncle Gary. However, Uncle Gary has only been there 1 day out of the 15 I've stayed so far. He is always traveling for work. We miss him but we still have a great time. Each year I love Arizona more and more. I know why my family that lives there, stays there.

Let me tell you about the plane ride. For 3 months I've worried about this plane ride. I wasn't worried that the plane would be hijacked or that we would be in some horrific crash. No, my worry was that the seat belt wouldn't fit across my lap. Let me explain something to you. I worry...A LOT! Over the most ridiculous things. I drive myself crazy. It consumes me. So for 3 months I drove everyone crazy asking if they thought I'd fit in a seat belt. In my mind I'm the largest person on the aircraft. I tried to look up the lengths of the seat belts on the Internet. I am crazy, I know. In case you are wondering, I did fit. ;)

My view from the plane

We're getting closer!
The first evening we ate at Harold's in Cave Creek. I'm convinced there is no bad place to eat in Phoenix. As we were talking to the waitress, she said, "Oh, oh...the menu is on fire!" Had she not noticed, I'm convinced we would have had a full fledged fire going on.

For the record, it was step mommy, Rhonda, who caught it on fire.

They have an amazing outdoor shopping center just down the road from Candi. As I browsed through The Childrens

Place, Candi & Rhonda waited patiently in the dressing room. Pinnacle Peak Patio

One of the houses we purchased...I wish

I forget the name of this rock formation.

These were taken while in a moving vehicle. They didn't turn out too bad.

BLACK WIDOW! This was at aunt Candi's house! If I would have seen a tarantula I would have been out of there. Yes, I know black widow's are deadly but the thought of a huge hairy spider is too much.

Cousin Lainie's son, Kaden

Lainie's husband, Jess & their youngest, Blake

Cousin Amy's youngest son, Ben

Amy's oldest, Mason

These next few shots are of Amy & her husband's John, new house. It is absolutely awesome!

Amazing architecture

Their bathroom was bigger than our living room...

I'm pretty sure I could handle it

Their crazy huge master bedroom

The views from their backyard

Lainie and Jess's rockin' pool!

WARNING: THE IMAGE BELOW IS GRAPHIC! IF ANYTHING, I HOPE YOU LEARN A LESSON (But lets be honest, I'm sure it will happen to me again...it wasn't the first time)

I always leave 2 days earlier than Dad & Rhonda & fly back by myself. I get nervous that my kids need me (not that you aren't doing a great job, honey ;) and so I only stay 4 nights instead of 6. I think God is trying to tell me to stay those 6 nights because the last 2 years something has happened the day before I am supposed to leave. Last year I got crazy sick...throwing up & the poops and it lasted all day. This year, I woke up to find this....

Yep...that is me. I had a feeling my eyes would be swollen. This is caused from not wearing your sun glasses while in 115 degree desert heat. Go ahead and laugh, I did too. I woke up to look at the time and thought, "Well, crap!" When I walked out to the living room, dad was sitting on the couch drinking his coffee and he looked up like, "Oh my!" Luckily by the end of the night most of the swelling had gone down. My dad & I...we have this unhealthy infatuation with the sun. It's a sickness I tell you. All summer long we worry about how dark we are getting. I know..unhealthy. You can tell we are the tourist's because we are the darkest. I've seriously had someone say to me, "I didn't know your daddy was black". He's not.

Dad & I (for the record, it has been 2 months since I went & I'm now white as a ghost...I hate it)

Me, dad & Rhonda

Candi & dad (she likes the sun, too)

Aunt Candi & I

Dad & Rhonda Candi & Rhonda

Until next year...where maybe, just maybe, I will stay until & dad & Rhonda leave!