A Day at the Zoo

Jim was fortunate to have both Monday AND Tuesday off this week. And Monday was such a gorgeous day...so we decided to head out to the zoo with the kids. It was so nice to be outside enjoying the cooler temperatures!

The kids had a blast! They got to pet some animals at the petting zoo (although Mason wasn't too thrilled when a giant turkey nipped his finger and drew blood!)...we rode the train and enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch of KFC! :)

I also posted some pictures of the animals that day that I took with my awesome new camera lens that Jim got me for our anniversary. I'm like a kid in a candy store with my new toy to play with! LOL

Rocky Point Bike Rally

We just returned from a very relaxing and fun trip to Mexico this weekend! There was a HUGE bike rally taking place there...so we joined some of our friends and rode the Harley. My mom and Reggie agreed to come with us, so they drove the kids down in the truck. The weather was beautiful and I saw more motorcycles at the bike rally than I've ever seen in my life! The event was all fun and games until we witnessed a woman getting ran over by a sand rail. That sorta put an end to the festivities that day. I sure hope she's okay...it looked awful.

On a lighter note, we spent a couple afternoons at the beach with my mom, Reggie and the kids. Hannah and Mason had so much fun that it was difficult to get them to leave! The weather was so perfect and the water wasn't even really that cold! Ahhhhh, I love living in this part of the country during the winter!

ps...sorry for so many pictures...I took so many that it was hard to choose!

Creepy Crawlies

There's a lot of wonderful things about living in the desert...warm sunny winters, beautiful wildlife, and pretty scenery are just a few. One AWFUL thing about living in the desert was found on the carpet in our pool table room last Thursday. EEEEK! This is the biggest scorpion I have ever seen (besides at the Phoenix Zoo!). Thank God both the kids were sleeping when I happened upon this nasty creature. And to think that I thought it was a cricket at first and almost kicked it out the door with my bare foot! YIKES!

I saved it in a glass to show Jim when he got home from work. He was freaked out too...so we all took pleasure in saying ADIOS to our home intruder (followed up quickly with a "we don't ever touch bugs" lecture to the kids). Good riddance Scorpion!

Happy 4th Anniversary to us!

I can't believe it's been 4 perfectly blissful years of marriage already for me and Jim! (anyone else who's married is probably laughing right now). But seriously, it's been a busy 4 years with two beautiful kiddos to show for it...and I would have none of this in my life if it weren't for my best friend, my husband.

Love you, Babe! Happy Anniversary!

Papa's Visit

One of the nights that my dad was in town this past weekend, we all went out to a place called San Tan Flats. It's a really neat outdoor restaurant/bar that has tons of fire pits where you can roast marshmallows while listening to a live band play country music. The kids had a blast dancing while we kicked back and had some burgers and beers!

Hannah and Mason are already missing their Papa since he left yesterday. Mason keeps walking around the house saying, "Papa? Papa?" But in less than two months, my dad will be back for another visit at Christmas...and this time he gets to stay for 9 days! We're excited already!

Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year! The kids really got into the whole trick-or-treating thing...and it was even more special since my dad was here with us from IL!

After all the kids' festivities were over, Jim and I got dressed up in costume as well and headed out for our own Halloween celebration. Our friends Randy & Rachelle had an awesome party at their house and we saw LOTS of great costumes! As you will see in one of the pictures, we had a super hero theme going on that night!

Pay it forward

I cannot believe what a stressful and LUCKY day I had yesterday!

I stopped by the grocery store in the afternoon. I didn't even have much stuff in the cart...two bags and two gallons of milk. But I somehow managed to leave my purse in the shopping cart! I was frantically searching for it all over the house when I got home. Then I panicked thinking that I MUST have left it at the store...and surely it would be gone! So I raced back up to the store on the corner (where they happen to know me by name). I almost wanted to kiss the manager when I asked him if anybody turned in a purse and he proceded to pull it out of the safe! Some really nice and honest customer had found it in the cart outside and turned it in!!! I couldn't believe my luck....given that my phone, Ipod, and all my credit cards and ID and some cash were in the purse!

Later that same night, I took the kids to McDonald's so they could burn off some energy in the playland. I was being very chatty with another mom who's son was playing with Hannah and Mason. When it was time to go, I packed up and loaded the kids in the car. I went to grab my phone out of my purse to see what time Jim had called me. It was NOWHERE to be found! Not in my purse, not in my diaper bag, not in the truck. I seriously wanted to cry!!! I had JUST had my phone at the table in McDonald's...now how could it have diappeared??? I turned the car around and ran back into the restaurant and asked the cleaning lady if she had found a cell phone when she was cleaning. She said no. I almost gave up and went home when I suddenly remembered that Mason has been OBSESSED with throwing trash in the trash can at the playland lately! I thought it was worth a try...so I grabbed the trash can and started rummaging! Can you BELIEVE I actually found my phone in there??? That little turkey Mason threw my phone in the trash when I wasn't looking!!!

I can't believe the guardian angels looking over me yesterday! I really need to do some good deeds this week to repay my good fortune!