Just a holiday update!

I can't believe it's only 5 days until Christmas! Things at work are slowing down and the office was pretty sparce today! The great thing about tomorrow is that it's Casual Friday!! WOOHOO It's time to give those business clothes a break and stroll into work in my leopard slippers - yes believe it or not we are allowed to wear slippers on Friday! It's pretty funny seeing some of my co-workers all dressed down like they are at home lounging or something! We are getting excited about Christmas Eve dinner - looks like we will be having Fondue -YUMI! Also Christmas day we will be making a honey baked ham - one of Zack's sisters recipies - sounds tasty! I am excited for Zack and Kyle to open there presents - I have to say I think I did a great job shopping this year (=. After Christmas we are headed to Kauai for a week with my family - it will be Kyle's first trip to the land of Tiki's! I am so excited to show him a place that I love very much - I know over the years he will grow to love it too. My dream is to eventually end up there - I'm hoping on Maui or Oahu! Gotta buckle down and keep on working hard and putting money away so I can retire in paradise!

Well that's it for now!

Here is Kyle's latest picture - his soccer picture!

KYLE & SANTA CHRISTMAS 2007 (4 years old)

Jingle bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock!

It's finally cold enough to wear a sweater in Arizona - ahh yes winter is upon us here in the land of the Cacti! We had a great Thanksgiving at our house - my parents and Jordan, Autumn, and baby Caleb came to join us. It was a fun weekend full or turkey leftovers, trip out to the movies, and train museum. Sweet gingerbread and mulled spice now fill the air as Santa Clause will soon be on his way!

We pulled out all the Christmas decorations last night and began to decorate - the house looks so pretty all dressed up for Christmas. I love pulling out the decorations from xmas past - they always seem to pull up old memories of Christmas.

Zack and I put up the lights up last weekend and seem to have our own little competition with our neighbors to see whom ends up having the most lights on their hose this year! We have our own winter wonderland right outside our fron door! So fun!

This weekend I am going to take Kyle to see Santa - he's very excited and has been asking a lot of questions about the bearded man in the red suite! In fact I was awaken at 3am the other night with questions!"What does Santa eat?" - cookies and candy of course "What does Santa drink?" - Wine or Baileys course - just kidding I said milk - "What happens when Santa comes down the chimney and there is a fire in there?" and the list goes on! It's very cute - however not so cute at 3am on a work night!

These next few weeks will be filled with shopping, baking, Christmas parties, Christmas bonuses (gotta love that), and of course reflecting on the past year and making those resolutions....

Exciting time of year (=

Rattlesnake & Fugu!

I can now check eating rattlesnake off my life long list of things to do! Zack, Kyle, and I headed out to Rustler's Rooste - a very Arizonaish cowboy steakhouse (http://www.rustlersrooste.com/)! It's a really fun restaurant with sawdust on the floor, a great country band, great view of the valley, a live longhorn that hangs out in the front of the restaurant. Anyhow - they serve RATTLESNAKE so we decided to check it out! No bad! Almost like chicken - but thats always what they say about frog leggs, snails, etc.


Next on our list is eating FUGU - a deadly Japanese blowfish! There are only a handful of fugu chefs in Japan that are licensed to serve Japanese Blowfish. It's a delicate affair - and it's really not that expensive - but there is something about eating a dish of raw blowfish that if not prepared properly will lead to a slow and agonising death!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did'nt do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain

Wine & Weddings - Love it!

What is better celebrating true love in wine country? Life does not get much sweeter than that! One of my best friends Emily got married to her sweetie Chad in Napa, CA recently (Sept) and Zack and I were honored to be there! It was seriously one of the most beatiful weddings I have ever been to - straight out of Martha Stewart.

And what get's even better is that I got to be in this amazing wedding!
We had so much fun - we stayed at an amazing resort that had a huge pool heated by a geyser (talk about relaxing)- got massages - ate amazing food - the ceremony was at a picture perfect church - Emily looked so beautiful - went to the reception at a winery - drank great wine with with great friends and danced the night away Life does not get much better than that! Is that a perfect weekend or what? Thank you so much Emily for letting us be a part of your amazing weekend! We love you very much!

The harvest moon is shining!

I love Fall - even if it's still 93 degrees here in Phoenix! I love the anticipation of the holidays and my busy schedule! The lazy days of summer are gone and I love it!

Kyle is now in preschool and doing very well. His day's are filled with school lessons, swimming lessons, and soccer. Yes - that's right I am now an official SOCCER MOM! He's a superstar at pracitce and I'm one proud mama! Kyle's soccer team the Green Dragons is composed of 3-4 year old boys and girls and they are so cute to watch. The games are the best - lot's of grass picking, airplane watching, etc. Kyle even managed to pull the front side of his shirt completely over his head during the game in order to look what he thought looked like a "monster". The games are halarious and always make me laugh - and Kyle sure does look handsome in his uniform!

Halloween was great! Kyle picked out a pirate costume this year and was even wearing it weeks before Halloween! At least we are getting the $30 worth out of it right? We joined our neighbors Timmy and Sammy and headed to the development of houses across the street. They get really into Halloween here in Ahwatukee- people were having chilie cookoffs in their driveway, some had created haunted houses in their house/garages, etc - it was a blast!

Kyle got a ton of candy - which Zack and I are also enjoying of course (=! Kyle was also saying the most funny things(I really need to write these things down). Every time a little girl would walk by Kyle would take off his pirate hat and say "Hello little lady!" - not sure where he got that - but it was so funny/cute. I also loved the way Kyle kept on saying to his friends "Guy's this is SO COOL!". He really lives for the moment - and really makes me and everyone around him appreciate those little things in life. He is such a blessing - I am so thankful for him in my life

Theres no place like home...

As some of you know in February 2006 I became an official home owner! It's still so exciting to me and I still can't believe that I'm an actual homeowner! There are still times when I'm leaving for work or coming home when I take a second look at my house as I'm pulling out of the driveway and think to myself "wow, I'm so lucky to have this beautiful home". I'm so thankful that Kyle has a nice and safe place to grow up and play.

Zack and I (mostly Zack (=)have been working on the house alot lately. We have been painting the walls - the two colors we chose were a latte color and a really pretty red! The colors worked out great together! Zack along with the help of his little brother Jordan redid the fireplace in stone - it looks really good and adds so much to the family room!




The next project is redoing the backyard! It's a small space that we want to turn into a tropical paradise - with banana trees, birds of paradise, hibiscous flowers, etc. Zack is currently building a koi pound with a fountain. I'm excited to see the backyard when it is complete - it will be a great little get away

Where has 2007 gone?

This year had sped by so quickly I don't even know where to start! All I know is that I should have started this blog a long time ago -but better late than never. There are quite a few 2007 events that stand out in my mind:

Kyle turning 4 on April 11th! Where has my baby gone? Every day he looks a little bit more like a kid than a baby - even though he still is my little man (=. Although I was not a big fan of Kyle keeping me up all night when he was a baby I still keep many of those baby memories close to my heart. Some of the most memorable moments are the most simple ones - rocking him to sleep, kissing those drooly cheeks multiple times a day, and his baby laugh - so cute! Although I miss those moments I'm happy to see what happy moments the future holds. I think one of lifes greatest gifts is being able to watch your children grow!

Another highlight was a trip that Zack and I took to the Florida Keys with Kelie, Bemo, and Greg! We had a blast and I can't remember the last last time I laughed so much on a trip! We got to stay at Greg's moms house in Islamarada - so beautiful and right on the water. Later in the week we headed to Key West (the Southern most tip of the US)! We also caught all kinds of fish - snapper, grouper, shark, etc. I caught my biggest fish ever - A 32 pound grouper!
We saw all kinds of beautiful ocean life including dolphins and manatees. The fishing was great, the food was great, the people were great - all in all one of the best trips I have ever been on!






Summer was filled with swim lessons (Kyle can swim freestyle now which is awesome), camping trips, BBQ's, and lot's of time by the pool. The summer ended with a bang when Baby Caleb (Jordan and Auty's son) was born in August! He is as cute as a button and they are very good parents! We are proud of them and look forward to seeing all of Caleb's special moments!