Misc. January & February Pictures

Here are a few random pictures of other happenings in January and February.  I'm flying through, hoping to catch up on this blog . . . someday!  I'll only be three months behind now!

On January 18th, James and I took the girls to see Disney on Ice.  I got free tickets through Bargain Believer again.  They even got Mickey ears in the freebie bag I was given!

Cousins -- Leah, Emily, Joy & Savannah

At the end of January, Shawn & Luke enjoyed another Suns game.  The tickets were compliments of InfusionSoft, Shawn's company.  Luke goes down and shoots free throws after the game.  He didn't make it this time, but made the shot in May!  They give out McDonald's coupons for free food and that's all he got, even when he made it.  I thought they should at least give him two.  Not many kids make the shot!

Enjoying a Phoenix Suns basketball game.

 For Valentine's Day, I made heart French toast for breakfast.

French toast is a favorite breakfast, with plenty of powdered sugar on top!

Then, we had reservations at Chick-fil-A for table service on Valentine's Day.  We decided we like the boring old self serve option better since you don't have to wait.  The rose was nice, though.

Luke, Leah, Joy dressed in pinks and reds for Valentine's Day.

We wore our reds, too.

Shawn went to a fund raising breakfast at the Hilton in Mesa on February 25th.  He is a big Ron Paul supporter and really enjoyed himself.

Shawn & Ron Paul, presidential candidate.

We made a last minute decision to get rid of the palm tree in our front yard.  It was getting too tall for Shawn to trim.  We didn't want the added expense of maintaining it, when we didn't particularly like it.  Surprisingly, the kids were attached to it.  They were sad that they couldn't try to climb on it from the mailbox anymore and ??  I'm not really sure what they loved about it, but we even had a couple tears shed over the whole thing.  I told them to take a picture of it.  So, here it is, in our memory forever!

The beloved palm tree.

Finally . . . . 

Oreo & Snowflake continue to be loved and photographed often.

Visiting Grandpa & Grandpa Wally

The kids did a mini interview with Grandpa Wally, while were visited him at the beginning of February.  (We have been there many other times, but I just remembered to take pictures this time!)

It's always nice to see him and brighten his day, at his care center.

Grandpa Wally, Joy, & Leah doing their interview for Awana.

The kids pose with Grandpa.

Juli's turn to pose.

Then, we were off to Grandpa's (Larry's) for some shop fun.

Jo, his dog, just had surgery, so she had a cone

Playing with two energetic golden retrievers is always fun for the kids.

Grandpa helping Luke with the plastic sign he made on the pantograph.

The kids have had so much fun making things with Grandpa.  So far it's been plastic items like key chains and signs with their names or something else they etch into the project.  Luke chose to make a "Gamers Only," sign on his door.

Game Nights

Game nights have slowed down over recent months.  Maybe we'll be back to the fun sometime soon.  I remembered to snap pictures one night, at the end of January and want to include some great friends, so here it is, in pictures . . .

Mark, Ted, Shawn, Mike, Scott, & John.

Lydia, Lauren, Sierra, Kristelle, & Tamara playing Ticket to Ride.

Sara, Sarah, Juli, & Tammie

Leah, Evelyn, & Joy playing with rats instead of games.

Kyle, Jason, Jeremy, & Luke hanging out in Luke's room.

We used to do it every month . . . First Friday Fun!  We need to attempt to continue the fun.

Joy's Really 10 Now!

Since we celebrated a few days early, we spoiled Joy again on her real birthday.  The Gilberts were in town for a funeral, so they were there for this celebration.

I love this picture since it's what Joy is . . . a big little girl!  She loves fashion and knows what she likes and doesn't like to wear, but she also likes to dig in an play still.  She and Leah love playing with their Littlest Pet Shop figures.  They are very creative and come up with some good stories to act out.

Claire, Brianna, Joy, & Leah woke up to opening a gift from Mom & Dad.

Before the Gilberts had to leave, we went to a favorite restaurant, Culver's.

Joy, Brianna, Leah, & Claire sitting on the top of a corner booth.

Then, she picked Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  I think it was their rolls that drew her in.

Leah & Joy will their balloon art.

Joy, riding the birthday saddle.

Joy's 10th Birthday

Think way back to January 2012.  Pretend it's time to celebrate a loving gal's 10th birthday!

We had an exhausting party!

It started with pizza and all kinds of fun around the house.

Lauren, Katie, Rachel, Emily, Joy, Aunt Denise, Gracie

Evelyn, Lydia, Gracie, Luke, Leah, Cora, Kaitlyn, Mary, Savannah

Aunt Sue & Grandma

Gracie & Katie (neighbor) playing Twister while others look on and spin.

Volleyball with a beach ball, over the chairs.

Joy, Lydia, Katie, Leah, Emily, & Lauren playing Apples to Apples

Then, there were presents, of course!

Joy received a lot of nice gifts!

Next, the slumber part of the party arrived.

They watched Toy Story 3.

Then, we woke up and hit BounceU for some inflatable, jumping fun.

Joy leads the pile up on the slide.

The end of the party.

I think all the kids had a fun evening, night, and morning!

Happy birthday, Joy!

Somehow, this missed making it here.  It's another guest post from the lovely, Leah Lonas.  Expect more guest writers soon.  :)

Smiling by the Christmas tree

On Christmas Day we were going to do a play.  We had the whole stage planned out and even set it up.  It turned out that we didn't get to the play because we were too busy having fun!

We had Grandma Wally, Grandpa Wally, Grandpa, the Poston family, and the Gilbert family.  (Denise was recovering from surgery in a rehab center.)  My mom made great soup while Carter chased us around everywhere.  He also shared his candy, yummy!

We gave Grandma Wally some flowers, but when we dropped her off, the nurse at her home said that there was poison in the flowers and was afraid she might eat them!!  We took them home with us.

We all had a great time playing and the parents had a great time talking.  We had very merry Christmas!  It was tons and tons of fun!

The adults minus Uncle James, Uncle Keith, and Dad.

Christmas Morning 2011

Before extended family came over to celebrate Christmas Day with us, we opened presents from each other.  The kids liked the Tervis Tumbler I got for Aunt Lisa and wanted one of their own, so I surprised them with one.

All personalized with thinks they like.

They each got a Kindle reader from us also.

Grandpa Lonas sent us money, so we picked out a gift from him for each of the kids.

Luke worked hard to master his Ripstik & still loves it.

The girls got a Squinkie set and some cash to pick out what they wanted.

Shawn wasn't left out.  He got smelly, disgusting pretzels that I rarely buy since we all have to suffer when he eats them.  :)

Leah with Daddy and his honey mustard & onion pretzels.

The kids played with their new toys briefly and a little more when everybody arrived.  There was plenty to keep them occupied.

Christmas Eve 2011

Thanks to Leah starting a blog, I'm going to steal her blog post about Christmas Eve & Christmas.  With her help, maybe I'll be caught up someday!  Her Christmas Eve post is below.

Send her an email if you want the link to her blog or for her to email you whenever she posts something new.  Her email is:  cat4leah@gmail.com

On Christmas Eve my grandma did a lovely Christmas party.  We helped her decorate the house before the party.  We opened wonderful presents, talked, and had a feast.  There was a whole lot of food!

The Gilberts came the night before.  We also had Aunt Lynn, Uncle James, and Savannah.  We had a special guest, Great Grandpa B.  (I think he should be called Totally Awesome GRANDpa!!!)

Carter got a card game called, "Sleeping Queens" so most of the kids played it.  Later, a surprise Santa came and delivered some other presents.  We were totally spoiled!  Aunt Sue's family came when Santa was there.  It was funny because they read Carter instead of Cruz on the tag.  When Carter opened it, there was Cruz's little baby clothes for Carter.

At the end we went to go look at Christmas lights with the Poston family and the Gilbert family. We had a great Christmas Eve!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

We did a few fun things to get ready for Christmas.  (I'm sure we did more, but if I didn't take a picture, I no longer remember!)

I guess this first picture isn't exactly getting ready for Christmas, but it involved lights that are only around during the Christmas season, so I'm letting it sneak in.  Aunt Sue gave us tickets to enjoy Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo.  We hadn't been to it for a couple years.  They sure do have a lot of lights -- very impressive!

Juli, Luke, Leah, & Joy trying to stay warm at Zoolights.

We took a break from our usual Wednesday science and history day with the Harris family and did some Christmas crafts.

Joy, Leah, & Lydia eating the mini gingerbread houses they made.

Jeremy, Luke, Leah, Lydia, & Joy showing off their wreaths.

Silly girls decorating themselves

We make cookies and other goodies to share with our neighbors each year.  This is the only batch I took pictures of.

Rolling and cutting out the cookies.

Luke, showing how it's done!

This picture was taken in honor of Uncle Keith who now works for Chick-fil-A in California, as the construction manager for the western division.

Luke, Joy, Leah posing with Christmas cows.

 As always, Christmas seemed to come before we were ready!

Rock Climbing Gym with Grandpa

Leah & Dad (Grandpa W.)

In December, we went to the Phoenix Rock Gym with Dad.  You need someone on the bottom for each kid and it can wear you out!  We were glad to have the extra help.

Juli & Joy, the monkey.

I don't have a picture of Luke.  I think he decided to stop (minor injury) before I whipped the camera out.