This dog has stolen my heart!

I mean come on, how cute is he!  he turned 2 years on in February. and we had a little celebration for him.

Happy Holidays

The holidays have come and gone... here are a few pics from the great Christmas we had with all our family.  Nick was home from the Army and Connor stopped by for a visit and dinner before Christmas.  Tucker was here to celebrate his first Christmas with us!

And Tucker loved his first Christmas with us.  I had to put in the picture below with Tucker yawning.  He loves to yawn!

Christmas is not complete unless we visit my dad's grave and put his mini-tree and say a prayer.

This picture says it all.....

Merry Christmas!

So much to be Thankful for...Thanksgiving

Why I didnt take any pictures this Thanksgiving, I have no idea.  I cooked a beautiful dinner for Don, my boys, my mom and Terry.  It was a quiet and peaceful day, just enjoying each others company and all the good food my mom and I cooked! Especially the pumpkin cheesecake and a new recipe I tried for sweet potato casserole. 

So Much to Catch Up on....

I dropped the ball on my blogging this year...so let's see if I can catch up starting with the summer.  Justin went away to his first sleep away camp in July 2014, Camp Lurecrest for 7 days.  It was so amazing, he came back so inspired, he was a little homesick but seems like he had a great time. He went with Andrew, Michael and Jake.

We had our family vacation down at Holden Beach at our friends beach house with my mom and Terry. Couldn't ask for better weather, spent a long weekend and even managed to finish a 500 piece puzzle.

Nothing like apple picking, it had been many many years since we had been, so we drove 2 hours to  SkyTop orchards.  I have to say it was a great family day, even my teen said so, so it must be true!

Halloween is always fun in our neighborhood and both my boys still are into trick-or-treating.  Ryan was vigil-anti spiderman and Justin was Macho-Libre.

So proud of Ryan, he ran his 3rd 5K with Let Me Run, he had a great time and ran with his buddy James who got a stomach cramp at the end of the run.

SO much in between all I have written, my three guys keep my busy, life is definitely never boring and always FUN!

Ryan's 11 Years Old!

After 10 years old birthday parties get small in our house, so Ryan decided to invite just a few friends out to bowl and to the arcade. His birthday happened to fall on election day so he had no school, but if you asked him they had off from school BECAUSE it was his birthday! It started off in the usual birthday tradition of pancakes and presents.  He really wanted the 1962 comic where spider-man first appears but that was over $5000 so he settled for a reprint!

 Alex, Jake, Michael, Logan, James and Justin celebrating with no school.

 Afterward everyone went home we were off for some good mexican and of course a birthday song and fried ice cream for dessert.

Justin is now a teenager...13 years old

So we now have a teenager in the house....thirteen.  He is now just about the same height as me 5'9 and wears a size 11 mens shoe....holy cow!  We celebrated his 13th birthday with a pool party at our neighborhood pool...swimming, pizza, cake and teenage fun.

The day of his birthday we celebrated with an iphone and dinner out! He was very excited to finally get a phone, many of his friends have had phones for years...but waiting makes it so much more special!

I forgot to mention we got a DOG!

So yes we said we would never get a dog, I guess the moral of the story is NEVER say NEVER.  Don and I talked about it and decided to just go to the shelter and 'look', well the next day we were bring home a new member of our family.....TUCKER

Our Summer Trip 2014 - Part V

I loved our entire trip but the Grand Canyon and Sedona were magical! I have been to the Grand Canyon twice, once when I was a kid and the other shortly after graduating college, however I have only been to Sedona once and this trip was my second.  There is just something about this place that I LOVE!! The beauty, the people, the air, I love it!  So I couldn't wait to share this with Don, Justin and Ryan! I had planned a flight over the Grand Canyon for us, really the only way to get a vast view of the beauty.

SO of course it was the windiest day ever! I thought they would cancel the flight...NO WAY.  We were all nervous with the 45 mph gusts of wind and when we checked in they told us that the use of air sick bags had been heavy that day.  Didnt make me feel too great!

 

But the flight was amazing. We had a few drops in the plane, one so large I thought we were going into the canyon, we literally came out of our seats from the drop, thank goodness for seatbelts!  The man next to me got sick... :(  The boys loved it, Don not so much!

We took a hike with a park ranger and did some hiking on our own. They had refill stations for your water. It was cool drinking water from the Grand Canyon.

Onward to Sedona, AZ...another adventure awaits.  Eating of rattlesnake, bison burgers and cactus fries! All of these were a must.  The hotel we stayed in had the most incredible view. 

The town of Sedona was great to walk.  We decided to take a Jeep tour through through Sedona to get up close and personal and go off-roading.  Our guide was great and we had our own personal tour.

I have so many incredible memories and pictures from Sedona.  One day we went to a watering hole to swim.  Just the most incredible feeling listening to the sounds.

And of course you have to see a sunset in Sedona...it is a must!

 

Oh I forgot to mention on the way to the airport we stopped because I really wanted to climb a vortex and feel the energy!

I'll be back again some day Sedona!