October in a nutshell!

October flew by! I can't believe that it is already gone!
Any mention of the month of October wouldn't be complete without the most important part - the first weekend in October is always General Conference for my church and we spend 8-10 hours listening to and/or watching Prophets and general authorities and leaders of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I loved, as always, this conference. I spent the first part in Mesa with Tim and Rosa, the second session in Queen Creek with Daniel and Amanda, then I rushed back to Tucson for a night hike with a group of Friends at Star Pass. I spent the night at Holly, Heidi, and Meta's house. Then Sunday morning we went to Killen, Dave and Jeff's house for a HUGE waffle breakfast and the first session. The boys went gourmet on us and made orange butter topping, fruit and cream topping, Banana's foster, and freshly whipped cream, along with Belgium waffles! It was DELICIOUS! For the finally session we went to the institute. It was a great weekend, spending time with family, friends and faith, getting a huge spiritually uplift for the whole month.
I had fall break for the week of October 12 - 16, and I got to spend it in California. I met Aunt Louise in Mesa after work on Friday the 9th (the last day of my long term substituting job in Kindergarten) and we drove over to Bakersfield. Dad couldn't come because he was so sick for so long, so he used the time off to stay in bed the whole time.
Rachel also drove down from Utah on Friday; Ben, Kori and kids came the next day. Sunday we had a surprise party for Chloe, who turned one a few weeks later. Ben sometimes tells his kids bedtime stories, Carson is a cowboy, Makenzie is mysterious and Chloe is a Caterpillar until she grows into something else. So we took that and ran with it. Sarah made the CUTEST Hungry Caterpillar cake complete with cookies of everything he ate in the book, she also gave them the book. Although Chloe didn't get to enjoy the yummy cake or cookies, everyone else did! Chloe did enjoy the fun, she smiled and laughed - what a sunny little personality she has!



Monday morning we woke up extra early and drove down to Disneyland! It was REALLY busy! so many people there! However, we still had a great time. We rode rides and ate and had a great time. It was all decorated for Halloween, even Space Mountain (which Rachel, Sarah and I waited to ride in the evening for 1 1/2 hours!) had a galactic ghost. While we were walking out they were doing a fun villains musical extravaganza with lots of fireworks! It was a really fun day, full of rides, sleeping babies, and lots of group decisions, which we as a family aren't super great at!

Rachel left the next day while Ben and Kori stayed for another day in the park with Kori's family. I was able to do a photo shoot of the Californians. Here are just a few of my favorite shots.

Once back in Tucson things didn't settle back down. I was busy as ever. I wasn't working as a long term sub anymore, but was still getting jobs, which tells you just how blessed I am because there isn't a shortage of substitute teachers. I also had all of my weekends full. Stephanie, Deanna and I crashed the U5 and U2 ward camp out (we are all in U1), but we really wanted to go camping and got invited by some of them. It was a very entertaining weekend, it included a singing, joke-telling poem-reciting cowboy, spiritual fireside, REALLY GOOD FOOD, Phase 10 feud (which was fuelled after Zac found out that he wasn't getting to know people from 2nd ward, but that we were in fact from 1st ward), a trip to Inspiration Point (which gives a great view of the stars and the city) and lots of fun times with friends.

One of the best parts of October was meeting Elizabeth. I was inspired by my sister-in-law, Rosa, and my friend, Heidi, to join Big Brother Big Sisters. I was matched with my new "Little Sister" Elizabeth. She is so much fun to hand out with. After our first meeting, we went out once, October 28th. We went bowling for one game and instead of doing a second game she opted to go to Reid Park, where despite the fact that it was surprisingly cold, we got ice cream and walked around the duck pond taking pictures. We also took pictures at the huge rose garden, which I didn't even know was there. We swung on the swings, did the monkey bars, and rolled down the hill getting prickles everywhere. It was a lot of fun! So far in November I have seen her twice, once for her birthday and once for a Bigs sponsored Fudruckers dinner (YUM!). I can't wait for our next meeting.

In general, October was just a fun time of hanging out with friends and enjoying the fun opportunities Tucson has to offer. We went to a few wedding receptions, had some game nights (a Sunday evening ritual), went to YSA (young single adult) activities, and of course and always we went out for ice cream! We also had some fun at Target, where Ryan works. They reopened a store on Oracle as a super center and we got to go to the Friends and Family night. We got a lot of free food and had fun trying on some goofy outfits!

We carved pumpkins for FHE (family home evening) and a group of us made cookies, took shaving cream and TP and left some tricks and treats on a few doorsteps (and cars).

To end off this totally fun month we had a Halloween dance on the 30th. Deanna and I did our costumes together. She was Rainbow Brite and I was Strawberry shortcake. It was a lot of fun, though we both felt stupid in our outfits. A bunch of us girls posed for some pictures of our creations at the dance. Holly, Heidi, Meta and Vicki were Fanta girls, Nikki was a biker chic, and one of my favorites was Danielle was in a group that did the characters of clue - she was Mrs. White, complete with a rope necklace. It was so great! One of my other favorites was a couple (blond girl and Asian boy) got baby backpacks and front packs and stuffed 8 dolls in them and were John and Kate plus 8 (season one) it was so funny!

White Mountain Weekend

For a long time Deanna, Nikki and I have been planning a trip up to the White Mountains. We had to push it back a few times and when we finally decided to do it September 11-13 a lot of our friends couldn't go because school was back in session and they were busy... but we went anyway! Friday evening Deanna, Nikki, Daniel, David and I all got in Daniel's parents' minivan and started up the mountain. We got there and made ourselves at home with a warm welcome from Dad and Aunt Louise.

That evening Sara H. came over with her brother Joseph and we played games, talked and some even got in the spa. Finally after a few hours of hanging out we all found a bed and went to sleep. Daniel and David went to the cabin, the girls had rooms and Sara and I pulled out the couch and talked into the night (just like old sleepovers!). I went to bed around 1:30 and woke up around 3:30 when I heard my brother, Dan, and his friend Ty - leaving for an elk hunt. I talked to them a bit because Danielle, Holly and Meta were almost up from Tucson (they went to the institute dance first then drove up). Dan and Ty left, and the girls drove up. I got back to sleep around 4 but was only able to sleep in until 7, when I heard my dad coughing and sneezing, so I got up to talk to him. He left for a Radio thing... and everyone else slowly appeared from bedrooms. We cooked up some waffles, bacon and eggs and hurried through the showers. Sara had to go home (Joseph came back to pick her up) and the rest up us piled in the van for a quick trip to the temple. It was fun for everyone to go to a different temple (we usually go to Mesa, this time we went to Snowflake). It was a beautiful day to go to the temple! We met Aunt Louise there (she works there on Saturday mornings), she had names for me to do. One that I remember was Verlinda Cox, I don't know why but now I want to look her up because her name just stuck out to me. After the the baptisms we walked around outside and took a lot of pictures! Then we got some sandwiches at Araby's and ice cream at Bashas and went to Jon's house.


At the ranch we ate ice cream, rode Besty, got dizzy on the tire swing and took PICTURES!

In the evening we all went back to Dad's where we explored the cabin, and cooked up a BBQ to beat all BBQs. It was so good! And there was so much food: pasta salad, tomato salad, cowboy beans, corn-on-the-cob, hamburgers and gigantic marshmallows for s'mores!

Meta, Holly, Deanna and Danielle all left after dinner. So did the hunters, sadly empty handed. The four of us left went for a drive in Dad's truck to star gaze and spot light. David and Nikki got creative in taking pictures - I didn't even bring my camera!

These are some cool ones David did with long shutter speeds.

After looking at the stars when resumed our hunt for animals only to be pulled over by Fish and Game who had to search our truck for weapons (it isn't legal to spotlight and have a firearm in the car). So we got to talking to the game warden when he cleared us. He gave us a few good places to try for elk. We started that way and found two deer. Once on road 132 (like he told us) we found a small heard of elk as well. I'm glad we saw some animals.

Sunday morning we went to Pinedale ward then headed back to Tucson (not before eating yesterday's left overs and stopping for pictures with the sunflowers in the front field).

We also stopped in the Salt River Canyon for a stretch and some pictures - we thought the car was leaking (it was I guess) but when we stopped in Globe to check again it seemed fine and made it all the way back to Tucson.

It was a lot of fun and we are all planning on another trip again soon - at least one when it snows!

Holiday Weekend!

So this weekend, being a Holiday weekend, couldn't be shown up by an ordinary old weekend like last weekend - so we had to plan it. I went to a birthday party on Friday night but didn't stay super late because on Saturday I got up extra early (well for a Saturday) met up with Nathan, Justin, and Ali we hit the road (and Walmart for snacks), we met David, Jeff and Emily at Catalina State Park and we all went for a hike. We hiked up to Romero Pools in the unexpectedly cloudy weather. The humidity wasn't great (it was terrible!), but the sun wasn't killing us so I can't complain. When we got to the pools we sat down for a rest and lots of food, the weather cooled down perfectly, we were able to explore the area and David and I took the opportunity to take a bunch of pictures - it was fun to have someone to go camera crazy with.


We had a lot of fun, Nathan, Justin and Ali built a little dam at the top of the waterfall and then we all watched as they pushed the rocks off and splashed! Simple pleasures! It was great fun!

After we hiked back out, Jeff, Nathan, David and Emily left to get other things done. Justin, Ali and I however met back up after cleaning up to waste our day together - I love free-bee Saturday (when you know you have a holiday Monday coming up). Our friend Mike joined us and we ordered a pizza and checked out a movie, but the boys wouldn't let us watch the movie (12 Rounds) because they had already rented it and neither could finish it. So we ate pizza and bread sticks while watching a movie they already had (the Rundown with the Rock - which was actually quite fun). Ali had to leave for a date, Mike left to go to the opening UofA football game, but Deanna and Danielle came on their way to a football party and never left! So Deanna, Danielle, Justin and I after hanging out on the couch for awhile and almost falling asleep - went to the mall where we looked at shoes and got smoothies. By the time we were finished it was dinner time and we were hungry. We decided to go to IHOP for dinner but it was too far away that in the end we went to Walmart (for the third time that day) and got pancake mix, eggs and fruit. We went in search of a movie (Fighting) that we hadn't been able to find earlier. We headed back to Justin's and mixed up our breakfast dinner and watched the movie. We also decided at this time that we wanted to do a breakfast or a BBQ for Labor day.

Sunday was great, even though I had to wake up early for church. I was pulled out of Relief Society and finally got a calling for this ward: RS instructor. Later in the evening I went with Deanna to a game night at Bradey's house. It was fun because everyone was in a different ward and we don't usually hang out with them, so we taught them a pick-up line game and had a lot of fun. I was also invited on another hike for Monday - and thought a lot about going, I even woke up at 6 on Monday, but I was drained so I went back to sleep for a few more hours instead.

For lunch I met up with Deanna, Danielle, Melissa G. and her two roommates: Jessica Z. and Joy at the Tucson Mall food court. We ate and then window shopped for a while. After which we got ice cream! Melissa and her roommates left and the rest of us went to Sam's Club to do some shopping for our Breakfast BBQ. After which we went to Justin's and Shaun's and watched Kung Fu Panda until it was time to start our AMAZING waffle dinner (my favorite)! We had the waffles and the meat and everyone that came brought a fruit or topping - there were quite a few people there and we went through Kung Fu Panda twice!

A Great Weekend!

So the weekend of Aug. 28-30 I enjoyed life as much as possible! First on Friday a bunch of friends and I had a girls' night in. We made homemade pizza and watched 17 Again... It was Great!

Then when everyone was going home a few of us weren't ready to stop the fun so we decided to go on a hike, we hiked up to the observatory on Tumamoc Hill. I was surprised when I google earthed it that it was only 3 miles round trip - it felt like more but Holly and I were both only in flip flops and it does go up at a pretty steady pace. But I must say that night hikes by moon light are some of my favorites! We heard animals in the bushes but decided that each one was just a cute little bunny! Till Nikki could actually see one - it was too big to be a bunny! It was a deer and there were several of them - but can I tell you I've never been creeped out by a deer until that night, in the moonlight when I was stared down by a deer who wasn't running away - guess he missed the memo that that is what deer are supposed to do! We also got a great view of a what we can only assume was a drug bust on Tucson's south side from the top. It was really funny until the police helicopter started coming closer and closer with his search light! Too close for comfort, reminds me of the good old days when I lived in the Drachman apartments with Rachel.

Here are a few pictures from the internet of Tumamoc.

Saturday wasn't a let down after a great Friday - the party just continued! There was an all day YSA activity at Reid Park. We had lunch, then participated in a bunch of different sports and activities. I went to the driving range and worked on my nonexistent golf swing. I also threw the frisbee around and took pictures at the waterfall and duck pond.

The coolest part of the day was the evening, we got to go into the zoo after hours, we were the only ones there! We got to walk around, have animal encounters, and most importantly - feed the giraffes! Which was a lot of fun (way more than I thought it would be - even though he slobbered all over my hand - it was a blast). Then we ate dinner - in the zoo - and had a dance - in the zoo! So much FUN! though I did feel sorry for the animals!

Sunday was also another great day - Church was great! And we went to Deanna's house for game night. Wow - what a lot of stuff!

Impromptu Reunion!

So Rachel came to Arizona and Beth decided to come. Ben thought it would be a good time for him between classes and trips, Daniel and Tim both thought that since the others would be here, they could make it. Then even David decided to make the drive from Colorado! It was a last minute family reunion!

We started arriving on Thursday, Beth's birthday, and the party started from there.

Picnic cake was her choice, we used to always have it for her birthday when we celebrated it at the Buffalo Crossing campground. It brought back a lot of memories and it tasted really good- even better than I remembered.

We can't all get together without having one ridiculous project, this one: get a ridiculously large tool chest off the Dodge truck and into the garage. Bless the boys for always doing these crazy tasks! This one had a few cars, lots of ropes and I'm sure a pulley or two involved. I'm sorry to say that I missed it all because I was out for a run, but heard about the true test of gravity when I returned. David and Tim then worked hours getting it all put together! Like I said: bless them!

We had a lot of hang out time, we played games, ate and even found time to sleep. Rachel and a few of her brothers made it to GI Joe the movie - making her happy she had someone to see that kind of movie with. The girls were going to go to a "girl" movie but it just never worked into our schedule.

We also spent a lot of time outside, the weather was so beautiful! We played on the swing set, jumped on the trampoline, got rides from grandpa. We even caught a horny toad! After Makenzie was the only one brave enough to hold it and we watched it run home, she wanted to see what else we could catch!

Grandpa even got the spa up and going, we had a lot of little Santas when the bubbles were turned on.

Rachel and I took over the lawn mower for a bit and cut a diamond in the field by the pond. Jaden and Sam were ever so helpful!

When we were finished we got a huge baseball game going. Rachel played spectator (though she did bat once), other than her Ben and I were the only people over 4 feet (not true - I'm sure Elise, Ian and William are all taller - when do they get so big?). It was a fun game and Ben did a great job letting everyone have a turn and making sure they got a good hit in. Sam, however, really didn't understand the taking turn processes and screamed that he was never playing baseball again and stormed off only to return (because we hadn't gone after him) to tell us again how unfair we were. Both Ben and I found him later and talked to him about how you play baseball. Other than that we all had a great time!

In the newly cut area we also took advantage of the wind and flew a few kites we found in the garage. We really didn't have enough wind and the kites had all seen better days, but we had a good time!

We (I should say 'I' though I wasn't the only one) took a lot of pictures! We got some good smiles and happy moments!

Kai helped me take these pictures of his brother - I really like them!

These happy faces say it all! I couldn't think of words to post on the pictures to say how special and sweet each of these kids are - I love them all so much!

What else can you really say?

Saturday August 8th, we went to the Shumway Solomon Ranch where Jon and Kristi live. It proved to be the best place for a picnic and we all enjoyed it so much! Jon had to drive to Texas and back in less than three days to be here for this and he pulled in just an hour before we all arrived. We sat in the shade and talked, we walked to the creek to through stones and fish, we ate and we just relaxed and enjoyed!

We even rode Besty, Bert's horse. She wasn't up for much but it was fun for everyone - it has been so long since I have been on a horse - I loved it!

As promised Grandpa (dad) took all the kids fishing, it seems to be the favorite family sport right now - highly promoted I must add. Jaden and Sam even caught one!

Dad's one birthday wish was to have a picture taken of everyone (amazingly we were all able to come but Sarah) it was quick and not the best lighting, but when working with our family, especially when so many tired children are involved (and men) you just take what you get and in the end it is a great picture no matter what because we are in it!

More Visitors!

After Elise went home Rachel came for a week long class as an intro for her library science masters program and while she was here Beth and her boys came to visit!

The boys got to do all the fun things you can only find at great-grandma and grandpa's house; walker jungle gym, rocket rides in grandpa's mechanical chair, hugs and kisses from grandma and playing with the jeep. Sam and Grandpa, we find, have the same problem when smiling for pictures. I always wondered where Sam got it from, now I know. We also got to go swimming in the evening with the gigantic whale. Thomas jumped in to his heart's content and we even had a game of water Frisbee.