Happy 60th Anniversary to the most amazing people I'll ever know.

Ok, I cannot get this picture to upload properly but Happy 60th Anniversary to my Grandparents yesterday. 60 years is amazing! They are the most wonderful people I will ever know - and they are a true inspiration to all of us. We wish them many many more happy years together.

My little sister Jenna and her husband Dan also share the same anniversary as my grandparents - 3 years I believe so Happy Anniversary to them and many many more happy years are ahead for them as well! We love you all!

One last night of fun before life gets chaotic!

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun!
The Three Amigas

For my Mother - she purchased my outfit from head to toe for the big night out. Thanks!

So my girlfriends took me to the Westin Kierland up in Scottsdale for a fun girl's weekend and early birthday celebration. We headed up early Saturday to sit poolside, catch some rays, and have a few drinks. We hit up the "adult" pool that was a little too quiet for us so after a drink or two, we brought the place to life. We met some pretty cool people, some pretty "strange" people (to include a couple who were there having an affair, admittedly) and some rather rude people! Nonetheless, we were well entertained and 6 hours in the 105 degree heat with drinks in hand put us in a pretty good spot to have fun :) We headed back to the room, devoured some homemade salad and pizza Jenna brought along and somehow managed to all bathe ourselves and put ourselves together in a halfway decent manner!! I myself wasn't quite sure I'd even make it out - we didn't know what we were going to do and quite frankly, we didn't care. We decided on heading to RA b/c we could walk there, just have a little bite to eat, and probably crash. BOY did the night not go as planned! We walked out the front door, were greeted by a few men in front of a large black VIP bus who roped us into a "night that will go down in the history books!" They were a group of bachelor party men - just traveling around Scottsdale in style. We enjoyed free drinks, no cover/no lines into clubs/bars, much entertainment, and a free and safe ride home :)

It was a great night. It's nice to see we still have some life in us - each of us have 3 kids and don't get out much more then a drink here and there at the local joints. It was fun to be out with my girls with not a care in the world for the time being other then taking care of ourselves!

Now it's back to life as a Mom, working full-time student, full-marathon training crazy person. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Goodbye, Grandma! We miss you!

We love and miss you soooo much! Can't wait to see you again soon!!

Well, Grandma had to head back to Iowa today. Seems like we just picked her up at the airport - but at least we know we had fun b/c time sure flew by! We had lots of fun swimming, reading books, cooking, eating, playing and shopping with her. I am so fortunate to have such young, healthy, active parents who are so incredibly involved in their grandchildren's lives. There's never a moment that I want to kick them out ; ) There might be several moments that they want to run away from our house but again, we are lucky they don't. One other thing I truly admire about my parents is that they've always allowed me (and my sister) to be the parent, they've never stepped in or even attempted. They've never tried to tell us to do things differently with our kids or mocked our ways. They've always, and I stress always, let us live and learn on our own. Even growing up - we were given advice, but never told to do things differently. I'm sure I get upset with my kids when they think I'm crazy, or am too hard on them at moments, but it's always silence from them. I truly adore this about them and I always will. We've all heard of those people who have the "parents and in-laws" who can't stay out of their lives. That is certainly not the case with us and I consider us to be pretty darn blessed.

Anyway, so I (if you can't tell) think I have the best parents ever - and that my children have the best grandparents!!! We love them dearly.

So, life will soon be back to normal...whatever that is. All our visitors are gone, no more planned vacations (although I'm sure one will pop up soon enough), Aunt Stephanie has temporarily moved in (however, she travels so much we never see her, but love her company when she is here), and suddenly bedtime has gone back to 8pm and rise and shine is about to be 6:15am again. Bummer. Where does summer go?

We got to meet Konnor's new 1st grade teacher tonight. He was a little nervous and hesitant to go, especially after having the security of Grandma living with us for awhile, and was worried he wouldn't know anyone, but many thanks to his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Strauss, he has a wonderful teacher and 4 of his friends in his classroom. 2 boys who were his favorite pals last year and 2 girls, who Mommy must admit were the cutest in the class : ) Both blue-eyed blondes of course!

Needless to say, he is now ecstatic to head to 1st grade and my prayers were answered that he would again be comfortable with his new surroundings this year. We look forward to a fun year with Mrs.Cederdahl and class!

Hunter gets to meet his teachers in the morning and is of course excited. He's moved up to the 4 year olds class and will go 3 days instead of 2. If you ask him, he's in "4th grade" and has "so many friends." He's the least of my worries - the kid gets along with everyone and even enjoys time to himself. We look forward to meeting Ms.Amanda and Ms.Patty tomorrow! (I may have only gotten one of those two teacher's right....I can't even remember who he has).

Quinn gets to spend even more 1 on 1 time with Mom and Dad this year. Lucky boy.

Once again, we love and miss you Grandma! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!! We can't wait to see pictures of your new house tomorrow (or soon anyway)!!!

It's the simple things that make life grand!

Hula Hooping at the City Park!
About to enter the "Gold King Mine" at our own risk :)

We only live once!

View from Main Street

Oh the simple things....

We had the BEST lunch at "The Haunted Hamburger"

Sunbathing at "The View"

The "Konnor" hotel!

The Infamous Jerome Van

Mom, Steph and I had a chance to embark on a 2 day quick road trip. While my preference is always to head towards the beach, these two had something else in mind...."let's hit up Northern Arizona." Well...we had been nearly everywhere but Jerome so we packed our bags and headed North. After a long winding sickening adventure through the mountains, we finally hit Jerome. And boy what a hit it was. It was love at first sight :)

In all honesty, we had a wonderful time. They had some super cute shops with great clothing and jewelry, some interesting people to people watch, and some great food at the local joints. We stayed in Cottonwood at "The View" hotel with a fabulous view.

We enjoyed walking around and meeting the locals! Would highly recommend this trip to anyone looking to get away. We will definitely be heading back for some shopping and further adventures!

Happy 6th Birthday Konnor!

So I'm a little behind, what can I say? We've had a super busy summer but it's been a blast! We celebrated Konnor's birthday at the Arizona Grand Resort courtesy of Grandma. We all had a great time snacking on junk food, catching rays, floating in the lazy river, and riding the waves in the wave pool.

I can't believe he's 6 already! About to enter 1st grade. Amazing how fast time flies. July 28, 2003 forever changed my life - the last 6 years have been the best 6 years so far! It's been such a joy to watch Konnor grow into a little man. Even more of a joy to call him my son.

I couldn't be more proud of you, Konnor! You truly are the best little boy EVER! I can't wait to watch you learn and grow in years to come. Mommy loves you soooooooooo much : ) Happy 6 years - and many many more happy years are to come!