Summer Break

I can not believe the girls start school in two days! We had a great summer. Most summers we have spent right here in AZ, with small 3-4 day mini vacations to southern CA. This year, we took a real family vacation, the first EVER! I got a passport book of national parks (which appealed to my inner nerd), and we were on our way.

First stop, the Grand Canyon. The kids and I have been in the past, but it was a first for Tony, and his niece Lizzy, who joined us:

Our next stop was supposed to be four corners, but it was closed and under construction. What the heck is that about? So we moved on to Mesa Verde, CO. I had never heard of it, but it was AMAZING! There were really neat ruins we hiked down to:

Then it was up through Utah, and Arches National park:

We made a pit stop in Denver, to see Tony's sister, Tammi (Lizzy's mom):

I love this picture of Michael, with Tammi, and Olivia, who is exactly one month younger than Michael. They were babies together, and now my "baby" towers over his aunt and cousin!

Our next stop was Wyoming, with 4 days to spend in Jackson, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone:

Grand Teton

The girls with a huge elk behind them.

One of the many buffalo we saw, this one was walking right by our car!

And the highlight of Sophie's trip, a beautiful horseback ride in the mountains of Wyoming. Sophie is in love with horses, and I was so glad she was able to do this!

After leaving Wyoming, we were not done yet! We traveled down through Utah, staying at Utah Lake, then Bryce Canyon National park.

We totalled 6 National Parks stamped in our passport book, in just over 2 weeks! We had so much fun driving around, camping in the RV, relaxing and being together.

She's Baaaack!

So, Alexa is back and she had an AMAZING time.

I got my wish, she took lots of pictures (over 1300). I still have to really look at them, sort and edit them. That will be a big job!

In the mean time, here are a few (unedited) from each country.

First stop, England:

The London eye, which they did not get to go on due to a mechanical issue, bummer!

On to France:

At the Louvre, Eiffel tower and

at the top of the Eiffel tower.

Next stop Belgium:

Alexa at the Belgium chocolatier.

And then, the Netherlands:

Shoe and cheese factory.

Then Germany, where she had her home stay:

This is their backyard. She attended a day of high school with her home stay sister, Sarah. Her home stay was one of her favorite parts of her trip.

And last was the country she liked the most, Switzerland:

This was pre-white water rafting, which she said was a blast.

And they saw SNOW!!!! So fun for a group from AZ:

Alexa enjoyed every minute of her trip, saw so much, and made some really good friends. It truly was the trip of a lifetime!

Summer Projects

The girls and I have been trying to keep ourselves busy with fun projects this summer. We love the kid's scrapbooking classes at my work http://scrapbooks-etc.com/2009/ and the girls wanted some cute/crafty aprons to wear to class, so:

We came up with these. I love how they turned out. The patterns are from the book "retro aprons for kids", and the girls chose all their own fabrics and trims (all from Scrapbooks, Etc of coarse!). They really reflect their tastes and personalities.

Then it was on to more projects. Not only do we have amazing quilting fabrics, but we also have cotton flannels that I have been craving! I finally got some and made little "cuddle" quilts for the girls (inspired by the talented Heidi Lynn http://blog.totallyheidilynn.com/2010/06/05/tpc-june/). I die cut all the pieces with our quilter's dies, and they went together so fast. Celeste did a lot of the sewing on hers.

Celeste chose her own fabrics (above) from Riley Blake, Amy Butler, Michael Miller, Moda...

And I chose Sophie's fabric from Amy Butler with the beautiful Michael Miller floral on the back

And....

She really loves it!

FINALLY!

After 8 months of fundraising/preparation and a 22 hour delayed flight Alexa is FINALLY off to Europe!

With passport ready

And all checked in

we met up with friends (Payton Swaim)

and said our goodbyes

Then, Alexa headed upstairs to pass through security and onto a plane to take her on the trip of a lifetime. FINALLY!

18 Years

18 years ago, today, Tony and I married in the Silver Bells wedding chapel in Reno, NV. Kind of cheesy, I know. But, already having a child (Michael was 11 months old) made the whole "large wedding, white dress," thing seem unnecessary. But why Reno? Why Silver Bells? In 1970 while in college, my parents eloped to Reno and married in the Silver Bells wedding chapel. They married there, because my mom's brother eloped and married there. And a few years later, my mother's younger brother married in Reno as well. It was kind of a family tradition, I guess we are not all the big wedding type!

I got 2 anniversary celebrations this year. Saturday night Tony and I went to dinner and a movie:

Then Sunday night we went to the Brazilian BBQ with Michael and Mercy, and then Michael treated us all to a movie (what a guy!).

So, happy anniversary to my husband, my friend, and father of my beautiful children. You always make me smile, we laugh everyday day, and I can not imagine a life without you. Here's to the next 18 years!

The Worst

Alexa Was supposed to leave for Europe last night on her much anticipated trip but, thanks to British Airways and a mechanical issue with the plane (yikes!), her flight has been delayed for nearly 24 hours. Seriously bad luck for all these kids, and we hope to see her off later today. I hope to post some good Bon Voyage photos tonight.....

Memorial Weekend

We spent Memorial weekend at "the cinders" by sunset crater, near Flagstaff. We camped and went riding, and I have no pictures of the camp, nor riding. Oh well! Here's what I do have:

The kids, plus Michael's girlfriend Mercy, and our friend's son. You can kind of tell how pretty it was there.

Michael and Mercy

OK, one riding picture of Tony.

On our way home we stopped by these ruins. It was really cool!

And Mercy took this picture of the 6 of us together:

Not looking our best after 3 days of camping, but it'll do! Then reality hit as we drove down from the cool weather to arrive in the valley and a reading of 107 degrees!