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.

On March 12, 2011 we went to the Ostrich Festival. They had gone when I was still in MA. For those who remember my bracelet Ken had made for me with the boys names on it, he got it at the Ostrich Festival. So every year Ken wanted to go and for some reason we never went. So this year I said we are going and we did.
When we first got in side the boy saw these balls you got inside and walked on water, well they tried it and just loved it. Then we walked around to the venders where we were unable to find the man who made the bracelets. The next thing the boys did was ride a mechanical bull, they enjoyed it. We then enjoyed an Ostrich burger, it was a little dry but I did enjoy it.
The boys are tall enough so they were able to go on most of the rides, they got the wrist band but one section they had watered and it was all mud, so they couldn’t get to the rides.
Next we went to see the Ostrich race. They rode in Chariots and on their backs. They had camel races, and some of the children went in and tried to catch a emu. Last they had a cowboy and cow girl do riding, shooting & lasso tricks. If you happen to watch Americas got talent they were on and made it to Las Vagas. It is cool to have seen them in person, in fact Zane and Logan both bought Lassos from him.
Thanks for waiting for my post and hope you in joy.

Logan turned 6 on April 14th. Now that he is in Kindergarten he had his first friends birthday party. He wanted Curious George. They had a hard time finding decorations, so Dani bought coloring books and they all colored pictures cut them out put them on construction paper and hung them. The boys did such a good job. Dani again made the cake she felt it need to have banana flavor, again she doctored it was great. They got a bouncy house that was a monkey. We all worried because as you know Arizona gets very little rain but they were predicting heavy rain. Well they set up the bouncy house and hoped. The rain did hold off until almost all was done outside. It did sprinkle while they did the pinata but the kids did not care. Dani made a pin the banana on the monkey game. She put paper on the wall for the kids to draw or write something for Logan. Logan’s favorite food is Macaroni and cheese & hot dogs so that is what they had. Zane & his friend Chance were her helpers. They loved it as they are both big brothers.Zane also helped as he read all the birthday cards for Logan. After everyone left their friends Chane & trace spent the night Zane gave them all shirts he made putting Lego pictures on them as they are a club.
We went to Chucke Cheese on his actual birthday. We all had so much fun as it was very quiet so the adults played games also. Then we went back to his house for gifts, his favorite one was his microscope, shows how grown up he is getting. He is so organized putting it back in the case.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and Videos.

We went to see the boys Christmas morning. They had their stockings which they got all sorts of fun things in including new comic books. Then they got a crisscross race track it was fun to watch. They also got rock em sock em robots that never gets old. They also got more Legos, even a game you make from legos.They picked out gifts at the school fair for each other & their parents, they were as excited about giving out the gifts as receiving their gifts. They got razor scooters. They gave Papa new stickers for his car & I got beautiful roses. We left them to play went home got food going.
They came to our house to open our gifts to them. Ken found a fun gift for Dani as she misplaces her keys he found a key chain that you whistle and it beeps so you can find it. We got the boys more legos, Pheneus & Ferb stuff & as the both like to draw we got them kits with marker crayons glue colored pencils paper scissors they seemed to enjoy it all.
As always it is just fun to be together. The only thing missing is our family in MA. Sure wish we had them here.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

We went to see the Christmas lights on Christmas Eve last year so the boys wanted to do it again this year.
Dani usually gives the boys new pajamas on Christmas Eve for Christmas morning. This year she could not find PJ’s that she liked So she got bathrobes for them and they just loved them. She also got them Santa hats that they wore to school. They just looked great.
So off we went. They like it when we start thru they can get out of their seats to look.We all enjoyed the lights.
Then we went back to the Carbonneaus where they got to have fun in the snow thanks to their Aunt Jill. On Christmas Eve we give them one gift. This year it was a lego car I am so amazed at how fast they can but them together all by themselves.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.