February Happenings

February has been quite a busy month.  Actually, I feel like every month is busy. 

During the first week, I gave both a bridal shower and a baby shower.  The bridal shower was for a gal that recently moved here and got married over christmas break.  A group of us hosted the shower so the work was a bit more evenly distributed.  The baby shower was for two friends.  One had her third child and the other had her fourth child.  Instead of doing a traditional baby shower, because they have all the necessary baby stuff, we had a girls' night out at a local restaurant.  Twelve of us got together and had a fun dinner.  I think they appreciated getting out of the house--child free. 

Matthew is playing basketball with the YMCA league.  His team consist of 8 boys, all from his school.  He has practice twice a week and a game every Saturday.  He really likes it.  It's fun to watch him enjoying himself so much. 

Adam and Matt had their Blue & Gold Scout Banquet.  Adam is working towards his webelos badge and Matt towards his wolf badge.  Robert is the cubmaster so he helped with the evening, too.

We've traveled a bit this month.  I went to Colorado for a girls' trip, and Robert took Adam and Matt to Oklahoma City to watch a Miami Heat vs. OKC Thunder b-ball game.  Matt loves LeBron James and has been dying to attend a Heat game.  They really had a lot of fun. 

And don't forget Valentine's Day. 

 

 

Here's a few photos from Matt's latest basketball game and Valentine's Day.

 

 

 

Spelling Bee

Adam and Matthew both participated in their school spelling bees in January.  I was able to go to Matt's.  He did really well.  He placed 3rd and was invited to participate in the county spelling bee. 

 

Adam also did well.  He got 1st place in his school's spelling bee and was also invited to compete in the county spelling bee.  Neither of them wanted to do the county spelling bee so we didn't make them.  We're proud of our good spellers.



Gavin & His Bear-Bear

There are two things Gavin really loves--

his Bear-Bear
and having his picture taken.

Technically Speaking...

I think Gavin has had too much exposure to technology lately. . . meaning too many video games. 
This morning he told he had had earned enough coins (points)
to change Matt into a girl.
And wasn't it great,
because now our family has two girls--me and Matt.

Christmas Vacation

 

 

ARIZONA...

this is where we spent our christmas break.

Doesn't that photo just exude Arizona?



We left for Arizona on Friday, Dec. 27th (my birthday).  We did the drive in one day--14 hours, 960 miles.  We spent Friday-Monday with Robert's brother, Mike and his family.  Robert's parents were also visiting from Kansas so it was fun to all be together. 
Monday afternoon we drove up to Flagstaff to be with my side of the family.  We were there until Thursday morning and then drove back to Phoenix for another day. 
This was the boys' first trip to Arizona.  They loved the weather!!  They were happy to wear shorts.



Mesa, Arizona

We spent three days in Mesa with Robert's brother, Mike and his family--wife Jamie and daughters Kieralyn, Hadley and Ryah.  It was really nice to spend time with them.  Robert's folks were also there so we had a good time all together.  We have three boys and they have three girls, with only Hadley and Gavin being the same age.  We wondered how and if they would play together.  But, they got along great and had fun playing.  One evening all the kids, minus baby Ryah, were jumping on and sliding down the air mattresses.  We brought our rowdiness with us but the girls seemed to like it. 

While in Mesa, we played at the park, visited an orange orchard (the citrus is in season--we brought oranges and grapefruits home), saw the Mesa Temple christmas lights, and had a birthday celebration for me. 

 Five of the cousins together--Matthew, Gavin, Hadley, Kieralyn and Adam.  Ryah was already in bed.

 

 Celebrating my 40th birthday. 

We went out to dinner with Robert's folks, Mike & Jamie, my folks and my best college roommate, Angela Lunt.  We ate yummy mexican food at Matta's.  It was fun that we were all in Phoenix at the same time.  I always make it a point to see Angela when I'm in Phoenix.  We've been friends for over 20 years.  I just wish I would have taken some pictures at our dinner.

 We also went to Papago Park in Tempe.  I used to ride my bike up here at least once a week when I was at ASU.  It is a natural park with giant rocks to climb up on.  I knew the boys would like this.  We climbed up to the 'Hole-in-the-Rock'.  From the lookout there is a nice view of downtown Phoenix. 

 Adam, Gavin and Matt hiking up the trail.

 

 Exploring the rocks--Robert, Gavin and Adam

 

 We made it to the top.  There is a bit of a cave so the boys climbed up into it.

 

Here's the view from the top.  In the distance you can see the buildings of downtown. 



Flagstaff, Arizona

After spending time in Mesa, we headed up to northern Arizona--Flagstaff.  We met Oma and Opa Leonard there as well as our Sorenson cousins.  The photo above is of the San Francisco Mountains, surrounding Flagstaff.  We spent 3days/3nights there.  We had 4 hotel rooms for 16 people.  We ate meals and played games in the hotel lobby, explored a volcano crater, visited the Grand Canyon, celebrated New Year's Eve at Black Barts, swam, and shopped a bit.