Christmas Pics

Josh and Mindy

Brett and Katie

Pam and Jeff

Tyler and Katie

Aaron and Lynette

Brett, Mark, Jake, Gabe (behind), Amber, Nick and Levi

Aaron, Lynette, Heather, Haley, Josh and Mindy

Tyler, Katie, Naishi, Luke, Matt and Lindsey

Mimi being Santa

Mom and Dad

WE HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!

Mindy's Graduation

Tonight was Mindy's graduation from ASU getting her Master's Degree.
We are proud of you Melinda Sue!

A Moment In Time

This photo is from 1997 and shows all the kids in their Wham jersey's. It was kind of bittersweet to see the other day when I was browsing through the photos we had scanned. The reason is because just a week ago we took this hoop down. :( It never got used and had just become a place where the birds hung out and pooped on Jeff's car and he was getting really annoyed with that! So... there is a time for everything and I had to realize that the time for this had passed. But the cool part is that we still have the concrete base with the kids handprints to mark the time period.

The Fab Four

One of the things we wanted to do for Christmas for the kids and my parents was to go to an event together. We decided to go see the Fab Four at Celebrity Theater. They are a Beatles group that we saw almost 9 years ago at Disneyland. Jeff has never forgotten how realistic they were to the real Beatles and since he has always been a huge fan (of the Beatles) and influenced the kids that way growing up, they were all for it. Everyone had a GREAT time, even the significant others who weren't huge fans to begin with. The group changes outfits three times to depict the different era's and plays songs accordingly. Always the rebel, I was using the video on my camera, but was told I wasn't allowed to do that so I had to stop. You can check out part of one song. :) Anyway, we had lots of fun. Doing fun things and creating family memories is THE BEST!

Half Full

Well, my Dad is in the hospital for a few days. He has to be monitored while they figure out the dosage of a particular med to keep his heart in a proper rhythm. I spent some time there today and he is definitely a guy with a "glass half full" attitude. He was a happy camper with his ukulele and his computer with WIFI. He was even having fun checking out the menu until he learned he was on a low carb restricted diet. Not to worry. The food that came looked pretty good! Here he is singing in the hospital with mom humming right along! I love my Daddy and Mommy!

Doggie Pics!

I gave the dogs baths today because... well, let's just say Lizzie is getting very old (15) and doesn't "hold it" as long as she used to. So we came home today to a little mess and once I got her bathed I figured the other two could use a bath too. They all looked so clean and fresh I thought I should try to get some pictures. I LOVE this one of mother and son. Looks like Kayoobi got a scolding from his mama Lady. Too cute. And then the old gal Lizzie... Jeff says she looks like a little mouse. After their ordeal they were all treated to some string cheese. A favorite of our poochies!

My Night in the ER

Well, I had an interesting night last night. I went to Urgent Care because I had been having pain in my leg for a few days and when I got home from work I layed down on the couch and could feel my heart racing. Soon, I was having a little pressure in my chest. I had googled leg pain the night before and was a little freaked out when it talked about blood clots but I dismissed this... until the chest pain. I decided I would go to Urgent Care and for a $20 copay I would be on my way with peace of mind. Not so... They did an EKG with showed slight issues. With the leg pain and the seriousness of blood clots I soon found myself being sent to the ER where they had me do a crazy amount of testing. I had another EKG, blood taken, a CT scan of the heart, a CT scan of the lung, a chest xray and an ultrasound of the leg. Whew. I was hooked up to a heart monitor and had an IV for the one test where I had to have dye injected. The doctor remarked that one of the tests done was to check for the condition that John Ritter died from. What a sad loss of life that was. And preventable if he had received care in time. :( Thank GOD all the testing came out normal and I was sent on my way getting home at 4 AM. Needless to say I slept a lot of today while my poor hubby went off to work with 3 hours of sleep. The cause of the leg pain was discovered to be something called a Baker's Cyst which is not a big deal but can emulate the symptoms of a blood clot and thus the need for all the serious testing. Without getting too political in this forum, I wonder if I would have gotten such thorough care with government run health care?? Probably not. :( Scary!

My Day at the Herberger Theater

Okay, I am SO dating myself, but this is a funny story. My mom and I went to a play at the Arizona Theater Company today. The play starred Marlo Thomas who is best known as an actress for her role in the TV show THAT GIRL. She is currently the spokesperson for St. Jude's Children's Hospital so some of you may have heard of her that way. She is also married to Phil Donahue who (if you don't know) was the talk show person who basically started that format waaaay before Oprah. Anyway after the show the actors come on stage in a Q and A session about the play. So we really enjoyed that. Another actor in the play was Don Murray who was in my favorite show in the 80's, Knots Landing. He starred with Marilyn Monroe in the movie Bus Stop years ago. It was cool to see them. During the Q and A someone spoke to Marlo asking if she was really crying at the end. She answered in a way where you could tell she was taken aback and she said yes and that she was saddened that she hadn't been able to portray that. I think she misunderstood what he was saying and I felt bad that she took it that way. I think the guy was asking if she (as the character) was really crying or pretending to in front of the other characters. So it ended soon after and I went over to the stage manager and expressed this and asked her to share my interpretation with Marlo. She understood what I was saying and said that was probably the case and she would let her know. So I left hoping that she would tell her. I REALLY just felt so bad for Marlo as a person. It was weird to see that she really seemed sad about that comment. So we walk outside and as I look to my right, there stands Phil Donahue. I nudge mom and as we walk right by him he looks up and I smiled and waved (He waved back) but kept walking. Then I surprised myself with what I did next. I thought...the stage manager MIGHT remember to tell Marlo but I KNEW Phil would for sure. So I turned around with mom on my heels and headed back to him. I said, "Pardon me but could I just comment on something?" He must have said or nodded yes because I went on to ask if he had been in to hear the after talk. He said no he hadn't been able to and so I went on to explain the whole thing. He listened VERY intently (the seasoned talk show host he is) and he said that someone had mentioned something about that to him. He asked us if Marlo seemed upset and we said yes and went on to explain. I had been talking just fine when I realized that he was listening to me so carefully and all of the sudden my mouth got so dry and I got this huge lump in my throat, I thought I would choke. I then told him that I was nervous to talk to him but I kept right on going. Mom added a few things and we said we just hoped he would tell his wife that she was wonderful in the part and we had such a great time at the play. He said he would tell her. And that was that! He was soooo nice. We finally walked away and I kept saying, "I can't believe I did that!" We got in the stairwell for the parking garage and mom and I were just cracking up and I could hardly catch my breath! Mom commented, "He looked really handsome!" LOL! I think we were both caught up in the moment! What a fun memory to have with my mom!

Phil and Marlo (Internet Photo)

Don Murray seems like a sweet man.

Fun Day!

Today was such a fun day with Jeff. We first went to church which is a big part of our Sunday. Then we went to the Phoenix Symphony to hear Simply Sinatra. This performer sounded EXACTLY like Sinatra and put on a great show. We went to eat at Majerle's which we have walked by many times when we have been downtown but have never eaten at. Next was the Suns game. Thank you Tim and Tammy for the great lower level seats. Whenever we go we are always in the nose bleed section so this was a BIG treat! I loved spending the day with my dear husband. He's my very bestest friend! :)

My Julie

My dear friend Julie who lives in Idaho is in AZ for her reunion and we had lunch today. Macayo's of course! We couldn't remember for sure when we saw each other last but it didn't matter because it felt like it was only a few months ago anyway. I've known Julie for 40 years and grew up with just one house in between. How many people can you say you remember the exact moment you met? Our other friend Linda and I saw her for the first time sitting on the edge of the uhaul as they moved into their new house on Oak Street. We were so excited to see another girl around our age. We three had such great times, memories I treasure of my childhood. I am so grateful for both of their friendships into adulthood! Love you both!

My Grandkitties!

Here they are... Mindy and Josh got kittens yesterday. The one on the left is Khelana (a girl) and the one on the right is Ruki (a boy). They are siblings. Jeff and I went over to see them yesterday. Josh has an awesome camera so they got great pictures of their eyes. They were both looking at my bracelet I was dangling in front of them. See... I already have the magic touch. :)

Brad Paisley

Brett and I were able to go to the Brad Paisley concert. Opening for him were Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne. This was Brett's first concert at Cricket Pavilion. Sitting (I mean standing) in the lawn area with all the twenty somethings, I was never so aware of how old I am. But it also made me feel youthful to be there. The show was AMAZING! Brett is a huge fan and he had the time of his life. It was wonderful to share that memory with him. Brad Paisley was a great performer as were the other two. I took lots of pics and video so I am sharing some.





One happy guy!

Jeff's Trip Slideshow

Finally got the pics going. It is good to have our guy home!!! We really missed him!

Lunch Date

I had lunch with my dear friend Linda. It had been WAY too long, but we had the BEST time catching up on each others lives and discovering that we are still the same people we were 35 years ago! (Even though our bodies try to tell us differently!) After more than 3 hours we realized we still had a lot more to cover, so we set another lunch date for Round 2!

Singapore

Jeff is in Singapore for business and he has a view of this ferris wheel from his hotel room on the 32nd floor. He left Saturday morning and I am missing him! He will be home Thursday night. It is so weird that he is 15 hours ahead of us. It is almost 10:00 PM here and I'm ready for bed. It is 1:00 PM on Wednesday where he is and he has probably just finished lunch. He took a camera and I will post some pictures when he gets back.

God Bless America

Yesterday in my preschool class we made patriotic windsocks just as we have done every year since 9/11. My current group of students were 4-5 years away from being born on that date in history. As they walked out the door waving their "flags" I found a sense of peace and hope for the future. I never want to forget the feeling of patriotism and unity we all felt right after 9/11. Currently the dad of the little boy holding the windsock in the photo is stationed in Afghanistan. I am humbled by the men and women serving our country. May God watch over them.
P.S.- This little guy's mom gave me permission to post his photo on my blog. :)

Give Blood!

I am so excited. I was actually able to donate blood today. The last few times I went to donate I was turned away because my iron was too low. It got frustrating and I just stopped answering the phone when I saw UBS come up on the caller ID. Anyway, they must have called from another number (very sneaky) and I picked up and scheduled to come in. I heard that nuts were good for the iron and they said to eat a good breakfast. Well. the time before I ate eggs and bacon, etc. That didn't work so here is my recipe of food that worked this time!
1 BANANA
2 HANDFULS CRAISINS
40 PISTACIOS
I seriously was so excited. The whole process was fast and at the end I got a Capri Sun (haven't had one of those in years) and freshly popped popcorn and a little bag of Famous Amos cookies. Gotta love it. And they told me to relax and take it easy today! That sounds like a plan!
P.S.- They really are low on blood donations so if you can help them out, google United Blood Services and find a place close to you!

ASU Game

ASU won 50-3 against Idaho State. It was a fun night and fairly comfortable weather wise which was great!

Go Devils!

Let The Games Begin!

How cute is this!

Circus Bears Decorated by my Bright Butterflies

Circus Pennants Crafted by my Cute Caterpillars

My classroom... before the 9:00 chaos hits

Congratulations C.J. and Christyne

Our nephew C.J. got married in Boston and we were lucky enough to join in the wonderful celebration. It was a beautiful wedding and fun reception. Aaron was the best man and it was great to spend time with him and Lynette. Kathy and Jim couldn't be happier and it looks like C.J. has a very special lady in Christyne. We wish them all the best as they begin their life as a married couple. God's Blessings!