In January I went back to Ma with Dani , Zane & Logan to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. The boys were excited to see Greatgram they said in 10 years she will be 100. They were also hoping for snow while we were there. Dani used one suitcase to pack all the snow gear. We got on the plane the boys in there flip flops. Zane was definitely the big brother as he let Logan have the window seat as he was young the last time he flew.  He got so excited. Zane relaxed read his book, he did check out the window some. They were definitely so much easier to fly with as they could carry all there own stuff.

When we landed Uncle Kenny picked us up at the airport he told the boys they were going to get their wish as snow was predicted for tonight. We went to my Mom’s house to visit and we were borrowing Stan’s car. By the time we were ready to leave the snow had started Kenny cleaned the car Dani tried to get the boys to put on their snow gear but out they went in flip flops, they found out soon how cold it was.

I was so glad Dani was driving when we headed to Huntington on the curvy roads with the snow. When we got there the boys wanted to stay out and play, Dani got them to put on their snow gear and they stayed out until 11 but remember we were still on AZ time.

Gary had lent us sleds so she had a trunk full, she said she had forgotten all the work of winter gear. What a great Mom she was to her boys.She was up early to give  them a lot of time to play. Our first day there she took me to my Mom’s to make fruit cake, it is something I always did at Christmas with Mom one of the things I miss but am glad I can still do it when I visit.  We got there early ad took the boys over to the voke school so Mom could watch them slide. Uncle Stan even took a turn down the hill. Then Dani took off to see J’s side of the family. She had so many people to see I think she never stopped the whole time she was there I am not sure how she got everything done along with all the outside time.

It was nice staying with Dot as we got to do a lot of visiting done, I always mean  to call but I am not very good at it.

We took a trip to Magic Wings & Yankee Candle with Kenny & Ashley. It was a nice trip the butterflys are really cool we could not get them to land on us this time. Yankee Candle is always fun to walk thru. Both the boys dunked candles. Then Zane made one for uncle Kenny I had never seen it done they put a wick in a jar the you add wax in layers and you can design it like you do for sand art then they put it on something that warms it to melt the wax and cool it, definitely cool. We then went back to Moms for supper then from there over to Kenny and Ashleys to see their zoo.

We had Mom’s party at Dots it was nice. I have a hard time thinking she is 90 as she does so much. Dot and her family gave Mom 90 scratch tickets. Ken made her a wind chime Stan and her had a walk in tub put into her house, Dani and the boys made her a stepping stone  which they made at her house the next day. The boys wanted to go sledding again so we went out in Dots yard and slid on the driveway.  We made a block at the bottom so they would not go out in the road. It looked like so much fun Dani, Kenny, Ashley and Stan Jr all went sliding but I would not block them they needed to stop them self.

While the stone was drying we took a ride to see a friend which we could not see so Zane said lets go to Stanley Park a place he has good memories about so we went but have no picture but great memories. Poor Logan who when we were in the car couldn’t understand why his fingers were tingling Dani & I laughed but Zane got mad at us and explained it was because his fingers were warming up and it would feel better but would hurt more first. A couple of other times when they got cold they said they wanted to go home. When we got back to Mom’s it had been a wet snow so the boys were able to make a snowman. It was a perfect trip home. We all got to spend some great time with Mom, & the weather was perfect for us as the boys had there fun in the  snow.

Well it was time to go home when we got in the airport they still had on their snow boots and out came the flip flops they are definitely AZ boys.

Oh on Easter Zane talked to my Mom she must have asked him about coming to MA as I heard him say if there was a portal so he could come thru to go sliding then come thru and be back in AZ

Well this has been one of my longest post but we did so much in 5 days. There are also a lot of pictures hope you enjoy.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful Mom who is still so healthy.

This year Dani was on call for Christmas  & I worked Christmas Eve. We still got to go to the lights which as usual we all enjoyed I got to involved so did not get the pictures I usually so. After we got back to the Carbonneaus we gave the boys one gift which was legos they do love them.

Christmas day we took our gifts over to the Carbonneaus, as Dani needed to rest in-case she got called in.   We all got our gifts Ken made Dani a win chime Zane made her a recipe book  , I got a book Zane  made for me & Logan gave me a coupon to go to the movies from Dani and J i got my annual calendar which all who get one know how important they are my Mom says she wants nothing except her calender  & clothes , Ken got a key chain from Zane and Logan gave him a hammer with screw drivers and knives in it, Dani and J gave him Legos, J got his usual V8 juice slim jims & gift cards, The boys got alot of cool stuff they got angry bird hats and skylanders from Santa. A lot of little yhings Zane got a popcorn popper that actually pops like the movie theater he loves his popcorn. Logan got a claw machine as he just loves them when we go to the stores. They were happy and thought all was done when Dani said I think there are two more in the back well sure enough and they were shocked when they opened lap tops. They are learning so much on them already the other day Zane was playing Sims on it reminded me of my kids when they were younger. As usual it was a great time.

They did come over in the evening and I made steak as we didn’t want anything big in-case Dani got called in. Well she didn’t and we got to play cards and have a great time. Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday

As usual the Surprise party is the same weekend as we celebrate J’s birthday. That is because they do it the first weekend in December and J’s birthday is Dex 5th.
The boys have had there fill of seeing the lights lit and the hot air balloons so we did not go down on Friday. We went on Saturday the boys made their hats again we walked around got to see the clowns. We walked thru the arts and crafts where the boys got ornaments for their tree and Ken and I had a painting made.
Then we went back to the Carbonneaus for J’s birthday. The boys got him Mario Jenga which they all played. We had a good time.

The Carbonneau  family made place mats, as papa & Mama were not there Zane made ones for us. Zane & Dani also wrote what they were thankful for. They both  were  thankful for family & friends the one Zane put that I liked was he was thankful for his brain.

We had a fun day. After diner we went out to play on the trampoline Dani brought out stuffed animals we tossed them at each other  then the boys bounced them. You will notice there are not many pictures of Logan as he is at the age where he does not want it taken.

J was busy on craigs list looking for a different set of drums for our Rock band. So we played later and Zane sang it was a great day

I  received flowers on my birthday from the boys it was very nice.

J’s Mom came out to visit so we decided to celebrate all of our birthdays together. Unfortunately she was only here for the weekend so  we were not able to include her in everything. We went to Logan’s for supper on Friday then back to Dani & J’s to play games. On Saturday I made stuffed shells for supper and Dani made a strawberry cake for us.  Then we opened our gifts my favorite was my new bag from the boys with there picture on it. Zane wrote a story for his Nana Ruth and Dani got a Keurig. It was a fun night.

Zane had wanted to go miniature golfing so we did that the next week J did not come as he was packing to go back east for his sisters wedding.

Here are some pictures hope you enjoy.

Well I am trying to catch up.

On Sept 4th we celebrated Ken’s Birthday. When the boys came over Zane helped to decorate the cake, he put an alien on it. We had just bought an I pad so the boys payed with it and Ken got his best gift time to ruff house with the boys. For his gift we gave him money to buy a lego as he is always watching the boys build and remembers Ken build but he has never done one with directions.  He bought a train which was 1234 pieces. On September 14th he started his project , unfortunately he started with the engine which is the hardest part. He started on September 14th he had a hard time as when he picked it up it would come apart also found he had missed some pieces so he took it apart and redid it. He finally finished the engine on October 1st, he then started the rest of it which went much faster and the whole thing was done by  October 9th. Now we have given the boys construction paper to make a back ground scenery for it. I will add those pictures when they are done.

Well on September 6th we were getting tired of the 110 plus heat so we decided to ride north. We had heard of Jerome but never been there. Well it was worth the trip.

As we drove up RT 17 we talked about all our trips up and down  it. We exit at Cottonwood which is here we stayed the first time we came out and fell in love with AZ.

Jerome is such a cool town it use to be a copper mining town.In 1882 they set up a tent camp and by 1920 the town grew to15,000 In 1950 the mine shut down and the population dropped to 100  and was considered a ghost town. It now has a population of 500 and is very busy with tourist . Which we understood from our trip there.

Just driving up the mountain was beautiful . But then as we walked the streets it was nice. It was hard on Kens legs as it is all hills. The houses are built on the sides of the mountain. Some have little bridges to get from the road to there house. Some have the upstairs on one road and the downstairs on another road. When you were in the stores there was always a great view. We do want to go back as there is more to see.

It is a small town where people know each other. While we were there the school bus came everyone was visiting. One child was walking a different people said Hi made me think of the town I grew up in where you new each other. It also is just unique, we saw an old VW bus , they don’t have much for yards if any someone had put some flamingos  on the rail in front of there house

The pictures will  show you what I mean hope you all enjoy.

We were going to Chuck-E-Cheese for  Zane’s Birthday and the boys wanted to go in the Ticket Blaster, so Dani called the only way you could do it was to have a party so that is what she did. Well his party was Zane, Logan,Mom,Dad,Papa & Nana. We had so much fun. Chuck-E came out and they sang Happy Birthday to Zane.   Then he got his crown and they got to go into the ticket blaster. Not to often do you see a difference in the boys but Zane just stayed kind of still let them come to him and grabbed them when he got out he even had some stuck in his fip flops.  Next Logan went in he was reaching for them, trying to grab them when they were floating well when he stepped out some floated out with him they both did good. Mostly they both had a good time and cheered each other on.

After they finished that we played games they collected there loot and we went back to there house to do gifts & desert. As always it was a great night.

That weekend he had his kids party unfortunately as he is a summer birthday he only had 2 kids his best friend was camping so  Zane was sad but Dani always makes it fun. He had a lego them party so she had contest to find the most heads in a box of lego pieces then she timed them and they had to build lego people. She also had a pinata. Then they just played. Zane had a great time.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

We went with the Carbonneaus to Coasters & Castles . It is a fun mini golf and video games a amusement park. There are four different golf courses, and lots of games inside on the first floor they are newer ones so the range from 25 cents to $1. upstairs are the older ones so they are under 25 cents. There is also an amusement park we have not gone to that yet. When we went it was in the 100′s during the day so you go later as you can tell it was light when we started but dark by the time we got to the end. The boys are getting very good at it we use to just let them  go ahead as they goofed off but now we like to watch them. They both got more than one hole in one.

As you look at the pictures think about the fact that we are right next to RT 17 a major highway but the have it designed so well you would never guess.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

On May 6th Ken & I took off for our first road trip since we moved to AZ. As we had done this road before and the weather was good I settled in to read, we were driving thru Albuquerque at 5pm, all of a sudden Ken hit the brakes I looked up and a tractor trailer was pulling in front of us with just inches from our bumper.
On our way to Ma we saw about 12 armadillo as road kill in Missouri.There had been a lot of rain and luckily we did not have problems from the flooding , it had made every thing very green that was so nice to see.
We were going to be in MA for 4 days, boy did we get a lot done. When we got off the pike in Westfield. We stopped at Friendly’s for breakfast then off to Huntington to see Joe as we were driving thru Westfield we had to deal with the potholes, then we stopped to talk with a friend in Huntington and the bugs drove me crazy, we definitely do not miss this part of MA. We had a wonderful time visiting with all of our family and friends.They were all so good to us with Got to meet some new members, and say good bye to a very special person. Ken’s brother-in-law Pete passed away in February they had his memorial service while we were home. It was wonderful to be there to say good bye.
The weather was hard to take as we had left triple digits in AZ and it was cold & damp. Then we headed back home. When we hit Blandford the fog was very thick. Then the rain started and most of the way home we had rain.We saw 11 dead dear on the side of the road. When we stopped in Oklahoma City it was very windy. We also stayed in Joplin Missouri. So when the tornadoes hit we were very glad that we went the first two weeks of May and not the last two.
The Ford Focus was a good investment as it was comfortable ,we drove 5,618.7 miles & only spent $612.75 for gas that we paid as much as $4.19 a gallon.
Lastly I want to say I am so grateful all of our family & friends were safe when the tornado hit MA.
Hope you enjoy our pictures.