Christopher Creek and a Dressed Up Flying Kite That Graduated

So we (our totally awesome family) went on a vacation to Christopher Creek instead of our previously planned vacation to Greer. Why did we change plans a day before we left? Crazy Wallow fire blazing with its infamous fury!

Despite the terrible tragedy and utter destruction of helpless trees, foliage, and cabins, we all enjoyed the peaceful serenity of God's beauty. We stayed in a 600 sq ft cabin that had 5 beds! Four of them were in the attic. The creek was literally 15ft from our back door!

This is the back door. The wooden fence to the right guards the creek.

It was a 2 night vacation that was maximized to the fullest! We saw a trout hatchery, went on many little hikes, and had many spills in the creek. I was able to catch two baby crawdads! I didn't see any full sized ones, probably because I didn't want to go deep enough. If for some reason I had an insatiable hunger for crayfish I probably would've rolled around in the creek like a pig in slop!

On the way to the playground in the CC loop area we'd run into the Mogillon Monster carved out of wood. 

Lacie's not in the pic with the monster because she was really afraid of it. The pic of her is a true Happ reaction to Sean going to touch it hahaha. I mean, we kept passing it and she just never got used to it. I love how the artist felt that the monster should have some abs :-) The kids called him grumpy old troll.

We are trying to plan another vacation for August to get out of the heat as soon as possible!

As I write this Sean is throwing the foam airplane at me trying to get my attention. What?! Me?? Neglect my children?! That's preposterous!

Sean wanted to start with some extra air

Should a women approaching 30 be standing on a picnic bench? You decide...

 Don't forget SMORES (Super Marshmallows On Ridiculously Exquisite Squares) for those of you who aren't familiar with the dessert...

Fire restrictions force SMORE action over a grill

Along with this vacation we all went to Sedona for Mother's day last month. We went hiking up the West Fork trail again. Sean's second time, the twins first. Sean's first time that he'll remember though. We stayed one night at a hotel in Cottonwood and flew a kite for the first time ever out in the parking lot! I can't find any pics from that vacation for some reason. I blame technology. I'm obviously leaving out a whole lot of details about this trip. This is due to my outrageously tired fingers!

Sean graduated (kind of) he'll still do another year of pre-school. He got the Mr. Personality award this year. That's because I taught him everything he knows! His teacher may just have a list and randomly give out awards, who knows...

Awesome Pose Buddy!

Mom and Dad visited. We all went to the children's museum.

Grandparents watched the kids so Rach and I could have a date night and get dressed up to see a play in old town Gilbert. The play was pretty good. I haven't gone to see an actual live performance like that in a very long time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Driving to Work is Hazardous to Your Health

Do only fat people watch The Biggest Loser? I guess that would be like saying only single people watch The Bachelor, or lost people watch Lost.

I drive into work every day wading myself through mundane traffic in its crappy stop and go motions wondering if there is a possibility that I could ever enjoy being in such nonsense! What would it take? I guess I could be chauffeured and the possibilities from that point are endless. But that's just unrealistic and won't bother entertaining such babble. What kind of job would it take to enjoy such a torturous part of my life? A video game or energy drink tester, or maybe an Olympic athlete? Or maybe I own my own extremely successful business and my drive consists of getting into a go-cart and zipping down the hall to my office! As Sean would say, "Just thinking..."

I started playing in my tennis league a little over 2 weeks ago. So far I'm in first place. I've played three opponents beating them all. My left shoulder is pretty beat up though. I'm beginning to think I have cancer in it or some bone calcification growing. I prefer the latter. The Australian Open is on right now. Federer and Nadal are through to the semis so it should be a good final!

Our renters are moving out the Feb 15th so we posted the house with some pics on Craigslist Monday. We received an awesome response within the first 3hrs of posting it! Who knew such a small house would be in such high demand!! We were able to get a couple with their two kids to sign a 2 yr lease yesterday! So it's a big load off our minds and real blessing!

Rach is talking with a long time friend today about a business opportunity with some wedding stuff. We don't know the specifics, but it's exciting that people want her for her talent.

Lacie and Oz are almost potty trained. They've pretty much been waking up dry. They still need to be reminded throughout the day and taken to the bathroom. Oz and Sean go down to bed really well. Lacie on the other hand has a very hard time. So we have been implementing some serious discipline the past couple nights.

The other day Sean was at school and was really excited to be outside with "his girls" and accidently hit a swing set pole smack dab on his forehead! It left a pretty good sized knot, I could feel his pain. The teacher also said that he said he was going to marry Abigale! I thought that was the funniest thing. I'm not for sure on this, but I think it's crazy that Lacie and Oz are going to start pre-school in 7 months!

9 Year Anniversary

Rach and I went on a much needed "staycation" last weekend for our 9 year anniversary. It was tons of fun! We left the kids at home with Ellisa and trusted she wouldn't let anything happen to them. Boy were we wrong! Just Kidding! She took care of everything while we were gone. We really are lucky to have someone like her in our lives who is willing to take care of the kids for two days. The trip was all day Saturday and Sunday. I won't go into too much detail, but we most certainly did some crazy things. Okay, I'll go into some detail.

We hiked Camelback mountain. It was harder than I thought it would be, but nothing Rach and I couldn't handle. We made it to the top and by the time we made it to the bottom we both felt our joints telling us it was time to stop. I hate getting older! Holy Crap! I'm going to be 30 in two months! Anyway, Rach has many more pics regarding our trip on Facebook, but here's one we got about a quarter of the way up.

After the hike we were starving so we headed to Fashion Square mall in Scottsdale and ate at Z'Tajas and had a little of this and that...

Afterwards we did some shopping, then went to the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak to check in (same hotel as our first night up 9 years ago!). The hotel provided a "Manicure and Margaritas" service. It would be my first manicure experience so I thought I'd amuse the idea, the margarita helped my decision of course. Afterwards Rach said the manicure was done very poorly and that we'll have to try it again at a real salon. We'll see about that... my nails haven't felt the same since. I think my typing is being affectedddesestedsdfe, so I can't be held responsible what's typed from here on out...

Later Sat night we went on to see True Grit (John Wayne remake). Really good movie. I recommend it. For those of you who have seen the flick and found it as hard as I did to understand the Marshall, then you should find this quick video amusing.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1945368

We wanted to make sure we got to bed early for the early morning hot air balloon ride Sunday morning, but I really wanted to enjoy the hotels hot tub. The hotel was awesome because they brought us some chocolate covered strawberries while we were in the hot tub! We also met a really nice couple that drove from AL for the college championship game.

We finally got to bed around 11:30 and knew it was going to be hard to wake up at 5:30.

We met the hot air balloon group at Deer Valley airport and from there took a van north on I17 a few miles and got off somewhere between Happy Valley Rd and Pinnacle Peak. When we arrived they were working on the balloons.

Getting in the balloon basket and feeling the ground move under our feet before we took off really got my adrenaline going. Seeing up into the balloon and seeing all the ropes made me really wonder how old the ropes were. In any case, I'm still here to tell the story so that's good.

We made it up around 5000' high. It was a great experience that I think everyone should add to their bucket list. It was much more calm than I expected. A perfect day with 9 mile an hour winds. We were up in the air about 90 minutes or so. It was cool to see the pilot steer the balloon with specific ropes in front of him. Great to see low tech used in such a high tech era. He did however have all these high tech instruments in front of him.

It was a really smooth landing, smooth enough that I took a video of it on my camera. After the landing they setup some tables and put together a really nice breakfast with some champagne. The pilot told a story about how the early French aerostats landed in a field and went up in flames. The peasants wanted to kill them because they thought they were demons. The French were saved because the champagne they offered as a gift had the king's seal on it. After that the king decreed that every flight should have champagne.

We went to Anthem and picked up some clothes for us and toys for the kids. We bought them the robotic claws (minus the tree)...

and quickly found out that when they get a hold of your wrist it's really annoying and painful to get it off. After Anthem we saw the movie, Social Network. Another good one that I'd recommend. We got home around 6:30 Sunday evening.

We started potty training the twins as of Monday of last week. So almost two weeks. Lacie gets excited when she goes and so she stops going and minutes later when we think she's done she has an accident. Austin doesn't have any problem with number 1, but has mastered pushing out one poop pebble at a time to get a treat for each one. Masters of manipulation at the age of 2.

Rach has her cousin and second cousin from the east coast flying in this Friday to run the PF Chang's half marathon on Sunday. They'll be staying with us so it's our duty to introduce them to real Mexican food. I hope they get adequate sleep and the kids don't wake them up. It'll be Sean's first bunk experience with Austin.

Eat Halloween Candy - Get Fat - Go on Biggest Loser

You know how you usually walk away from watching a tv show thinking that was good I'm glad I wasted an hour or two of my precious life watching that! Well, Rach and I experienced such thoughts last night after watching the Biggest Loser. What a time suck! You'd think we'd totally be into it now that it's almost the end of the season... Instead we are less into it and are thinking about stopping. I guess it could be on account that it's the same 'ol stuff that we've seen with past seasons - fat people get skinny, but most likely it's due to pointless anticipation buildup the show puts on waiting for someones wait to post on the board! And somehow through the seasons the contestants feel they have the right to give a speech. What's that about?! I don't care if you are proud or not...

We watched House too. Unlike previous episodes where predictability is inevitable, it brought a new interesting element that made it interesting again. So I could walk away from last nights tv experience a little bit more like I didn't waste my time. We are trying to keep up with the latest season of House by recording it on our DVR, but somehow we missed a week because our cable box has been acting stupid. Waiting for the DVD's will always be my preferred method of watching the dramas.

The kids are getting more and more independent. Always asking to do things themselves. I do it, I do it - all day long! Oz is getting really consistent now about letting us know when he needs to use the potty. We just bought a seat for Lacie so the toilet has a more enjoyable, retro fit inspiration. She's still trying to get used to it. Sean is still playing with his B-day toys. We bought him a toy train track. He's been wanting me to help him build a new track everyday it seems. He also loves his dart gun which is really hard to not get him to shoot people. Reminds me of me at that age. Sean came back from school one day with a craft and at the bottom it said, "Sean is scared of ET". We are guessing they asked him what he was scared of. I guess maybe it was a bad call on my part to show him that movie so early. Oh well. Hopefully it'll make him stronger. Lacie has learned for the past month now how to use the pedals on the trike which is too cute now to see her riding around everywhere.

Rach left for women's retreat last weekend and left me with the kids for 64 hours, 35minutes, and 16 seconds. Sounds like she had a lot of fun with all the awesome activities she planned for it such as: funny faces, ugly dress competition, and other stuff I can't remember. The kids lived off of Mac&Cheese, sandwiches, hotdogs/pizza, and cereal. I really think they were in heaven about that :-) Our Bible study group just started reading Love & Logic so we don't screw up our babies lives like our parents screwed us up... Anyway, reading the first chapter and putting it into practice really helped me with the kids all weekend. I felt more in control and the kids seemed happier. I can't wait to see what the rest of the book has in store for us.

Braceface Update :-{#}
Rach is off getting her braces tightened right now. Enjoying the pain that comes with beauty. I gather she's used to it though, being a girl and all who wears crappy shoes through the mall in the name of style.

Going back almost two weeks, Halloween was fun! Besides the fact that I lost our garage door opener while trick-or-treating, it was still fun. On Friday we had a costume competition at work where I got to see some really crazy costumes. Then Saturday night we went to a Halloween carnival/B-day party at Freestone. Finally, Sunday evening we watched the kids go door-to-door getting their candy that they inevitably would never get their hands on again. So I dressed up in my costume 3 times. That's record! Rach and the kids obviously did a Doctor Seuss theme while I was Wolverine.

Going door to door

Stuffing faces once we got home





Jan Brewer Supports the Term "Braceface"

What the!? This is wild! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkKWApOAG2g&feature=related
Think of all the benefits of getting things done twice as fast. I don't think I'd give them a license though. That's just two dangerous... or too dangerous, and they'd need two airbags. So many questions and things unanswered with something so rare! Like, I wonder what would happen if one had something happen to her head and died? Would half the body just go limp? If the stomach throws up, who gets to enjoy that? Who wipes? If I were a reporter these are the questions I'd be asking...

What is this about other foreign countries getting in on what laws are passed around here?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43199.html
I think they need to mind their own business! Why does Obama want to make U.S. law subordinate to international law? Seems ridiculous to me.

We watched the storm hit us pretty hard yesterday. I was listening to the news and they said power lines went down and there were a lot of broken windows everywhere. Today the storm is slamming the northern part of the state and there's even a tornado warning. Pshhhh tornado... in AZ? Crazy? Must be global warming! I asked my co-worker yesterday why he drove his bike to work because he's going to get all wet on his way home. He laughed at me and and wanted to bet me that by the time he left for work the rain would be done. :-) Let's just say I would've won that bet. He had to call a friend to pick him up haha. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2010/10/06/sot.az.hail.reporter.cnn?hpt=C2

I totally forgot to include in my previous posts that Rach is getting braces! She has the spacers in right now making way for the metal that'll be invading her mouth soon. After having the spacers for a week and half she is still having trouble eating everything. Braceface for at least two years! Crazy to picture! I better get my kisses in now before she doesn't want anything to do with that because of the pain.

:-{#}

Park Fun

We had a huge mega storm today at work it was crazy! The power was flickering in and out and I thought I was going to get to go home early... Oh well, maybe next time!

Some pictures that Rach sent me today from when they went to the park...

Mommy pushes me because I love to swing!



Yummy lunch! Everybody loves mom's pasta salad!



Another picture mom?



Rach and I are going to go play some racquetball today when I get home from work. I'm going to make her a pro for sure! Racquetball is always fun no matter who you play with. The kids have been very good lately being dropped off to play in the gym's play area. We are very happy about this! We often wonder what would happen if we dropped them off at the gym and went to see a movie. We would never, it's tempting though because it's free babysitting.

Julie should be moving into her new house soon. I forgot which Sat. exactly so she better call me so I don't make other plans...

I think I'll stop here because my IE is bugging the crap out of me! I can't concentrate the way it's treating me today. 

Ouch! He stung me!

Hopefully we get some good storms here in sunny AZ! I thought the storms Sat evening was going to bring some cooler air in, but I guess not! It's been way too hot here for way too long!

Billy and Teanne had their son, Jaren Andrew Fenter last Thursday. Rach and I brought some dinner for them and visited. He reminded me of Austin when he was a new born with so much black hair. He was 6.5lbs and 21" long. Healthy baby. They have their hands full now with 4 kids!

One night I finished putting the kids down for bed by myself because Rach was out and Lacie kept yelling something over and over. I couldn't make out what it was. Lacie did it again the next night. I told Rach that she's been doing that now and not to worry, she'll stop. Rach listened, and laughed. She told me it was her singing the latest song she learned, "I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee...". The last part of the song is, "Ouch! He stung me!" So she was yelling out really loud, "Ouch! He stung me!" over and over and over... It really is pretty comical to listen to.



That's a lot of babies!



Rachael and I found 5 scorpions around our house last night! They are surrounding us! She spotted one in our garage after getting out of the van. I don't know how she spotted it because it blended in so well. I kept losing it standing 4 ft from it. It was a baby, so I'm glad we killed it. We found 3 more in their favorite corner. Their nest! I knew I wouldn't be able to kill more than one before the others got away so Rach and decided to spray them with Raid. They scurried off into their nest before I could see if they died or not. Maybe the others will get infected too. Maybe it'll be like bringing back a nasty plague killing off the entire deal! We found the last one under our citrus tree outside Oz's window. It was an adult for sure! Very big! Unfortunately, I missed it with my knife and it ran away! I'm beating myself up over that one because it's those big ones that make the babies.

So to continue about the disgusting story that I left so cleverly hanging from my previous post...

I have what you might call a bit of a toe picking problem. I sit watching tv as I pick at my toe nails. I never think ahead as I do this otherwise I'd put the trash by me, so I end up mostly making little piles of them on the floor or coffee table. Sometimes I get in a jam with mostly my second toe nail from the littlest and it starts going into the quick, or it's too deep into the cuticles that my fingers can't grip it anymore. I'm too lazy to get clippers (obviously! Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten into the predicament in the first place) so I go in after it with my teeth. I know, I know! You're thinking how gross! It doesn't happen often, geesh! This however is not the grossest part. One sunny afternoon in AZ (I'm guessing it was sunny because it's always freakin' hot and sunny here) I had picked and picked and accumulated a nice pile on our side table. I forgot all about it and had my back turned from it while I was talking to Rach. I can't remember the conversation, but I'm sure it was a good one to distract me from my nail stash. Anyway, we heard this choking and gaging behind me! I turned around to see Sean trying to eat my toe nails!!! LOL! I couldn't believe it! The poor kid. I think it was a good lesson. I haven't seen him eating any toe nails since...

My buddy at work just got finished telling me about his experience playing some co-ed kickball. It sounds like so much fun! I totally want to do that! I'd kick the rubber right off that ball! Wait...