RS Birthday Party

Our ward got a new a RS Committee leader - Kathleen Thomas.  We worked together to plan a RS birthday party.  I planned the food, announcements, and activity while Kathleen planned the decor.  The decor was amazing and I loved getting texts from Kathleen as we planned.  I planned to write cards to sisters in the ward to cheer them up.  We also made thank you treats for members of the Bishopric, missionaries, and YW, RS, and Primary President.  

Table Decor

More decor

Kathleen and I

Goodbye T-Bone

We heard about Ben's passing on our trip to Showow.  We were heartbroken because we remembered and loved T-Bone.  I remember when we took Johnny and T-Bone to a D-Backs game.  I remember that T-Bone loved his dog Dusty or Pepper.  I never remembered the dog's name.  I remember when Johnny and T-Bone were sealed to the Paces in the Mesa Tempe  I remember when he gave me a ton of pizza boxes for 5th Grade Science Camp.  That was the last time that I saw T-Bone.  

T-Bone's funreral was beautiful with Kathryn giving a memorial of T-Bone.  Jon and Riley sang a beautiful number.  It was a love song from T-Bone to Kelli, his 7 year girlfriend.  It was great to see a good turn out and hear some great stories of T-Bone.  

T-Bone's Urn

Table display of T-Bone's life

My memories of the day

We will miss you T-Bone!!!

Spring Break 2018

I had an awesome Spring Break.  I spent one week with Josh and one week with the girls.  Josh's Spring Break is a week before the girls, which I hate but I will make it work with 2 weeks of Spring Break.

ASU's Spring Break

Day 1 - We went to lunch at Firehouse Subs.  It was great to have lunch with my son and talk about important things as well as unimportant things.  That night we had dinner with the Paces at our favorite park.  They remodeled the park and we are NOT the biggest fans of the change.  The playground equipment is for younger kids and nothing could ever top the tire swing.  We love spending time with the Pace family.

Josh and I

Firehouse and FHE

Day 2 - Josh and I went on an adventure.  We found the original Sodalicious and a crazy-looking tree.  We ended the evening with a trip to Fizz with the family.  Both drink establishments are a favorite with our family, but Fiiz is the best to hang out at.  Emily is such a character as seen in the family photo shoot.

Fiiz vs Sodalicious

Day 3  - This was a day of service.  Jim and Josh took out our old water heater and replaced it with a new one.  They worked together well and we had hot water by evening.  Thanks, guys!!!!

My hard workers

Day 4  - Josh and I went to lunch at Backyard Taco and walked around the Riparian Preserve.  We had a nice talk and had some close encounters with some ducks. The ducks were not afraid of people and would let us walk up to them to take pictures.  Some of the ducks went to Josh looking for food. Unfortunately, Josh didn't have any on him

Day 5 & 6- We went on a road trip.  We traveled up to Showlow to see Brigham and Danni.  They just rented an apartment and we wanted to see their new digs as well as celebrate Danni's birthday. We waited until everyone came home from school.  Angela didn't want to miss any school or we would have left earlier.  We made it in time for a yummy dinner made by my Danni.  We spent the next 2days in Showlow and took in some of the sights.  We went on a hike to see the Mogollon Rim to take some Senior Pics of Angela.  We didn't realize that the rim went that far west.  It was an easy beautiful hike and  I would really like to go again.  We also went to a lake for more pics.  We took the girls to this lake years ago when Josh had his chess tournament.  We had a great time hanging out with each other.  It was nice to spend the day with Danni, especially since it was her birthday.  Towards the end of the day, it started to mist.  The mist didn't bother us too much, except for Angela.  She was still getting her senior pictures done and was shivering in most of them.

Road Trip Up

Danni and Angela - I loved watching the two interact

My Favorite Photographer

Emmy - she was our scout.  She found the best places to take pics

Family Selfie

Another Family Selfie

Jim and Josh - just near the rim

Jim and I

These two found time to hang out during pics

Together again

I love these kids of mine!!

Girl's Spring Break

Day 1 -  Lunch, shopping, and family night at Fiiz.  My girls LOVE Panda, so that was something that we needed to do during Spring Break.  So I made sure it was the first thing that we did.  We had a great time looking for St. Patrick's day stuff too.  Angela is a perfect model.  Ending our day at Fiiz with Jim and Josh was the icing on the cake.  We always have to play a hand of Uno while we are there.

Day 2 - Hung out at the park near the Gilbert Temple and went shopping.  The Gilbert Temple is always closed during Spring Break, so this was the closest that we were going to get to the temple.  The park had some really cool places to photos, but we were dealing with a crisis at ASU, so our park visit was short.  We checked out what Walmart had to offer in St. Patrick's Day attire. Emmy was my cute model today.

Day 3 - Spring Break Day 3 - We watched Wonder and celebrated Pi day. Some days you just got to stay in.  Wonder was such a good movie and told from so many different perspectives.  I recommend this move highly.  Being a math major, Pi Day is an important day to celebrate.  You can't go wrong with a chocolate pudding pie.

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Day 4 - We went on an adventure today not far from our house.  We found this preserve near the freeway.  There were paths for horses and hikers.  We were lucky to find a burrowing owl there.  Unfortunately, I scared him away as I was trying to take a close-up pic.  I love that in AZ, they have preserved for wildlife in the city.  I would love to go again and catch more pics of the owls.

Day 5  - I had lunch with the kids.  They had never tried Canes, so we headed there for lunch.  It was nice to sit and relax.  Josh didn't have school and was able to join us for lunch.  I'm going to miss Spring Break!!!!!

Family at Cane's

Day 6 - We love St. Patrick's Day and luckily it fell during Spring Break.  Actually, it always falls during spring break  We bought cute St. Patrick's Day socks and pins and found some green shirts to wear.  We headed off to one of our favorite drink places to celebrate.  It was also the very last day of our Spring Break.  Angela, Jim, and Josh tried some of the special St. Patrick's Day drinks at Fiiz, while Em and I had more traditional drinks.

Angela Senior Pics

Danni took Angela's Senior Pics.  Danni did Angela's hair and help arrange the outfits that we brought with some of her own.  She did such a great job of making Angela look super cute and helping make her look special.  We went on a trail near the Rim for some of the pictures.  We had a great time walking around and talking.  Emmy was like our scout.  She would find the perfect spots.  Our next spot was near a lake.  It started to sprinkle or mist.  Angela was cold and was still cooperating to get the pics we needed.  Angela looks great and happy in her senior pics.  

Danni's Birthday

Danni turned 20 today and is no longer a teenager.  Where did the time go?  We were in Showlow with her on her birthday and spent the day with her.  We went to dinner with the family including Loren, Brittany, and baby Jay.  There were a lot of people celebrating the day with her.  We love you Danni!!!!

Angela's 18th Birthday

Angela turned 18 this year.  I can't believe she is an adult now.  Angela is the sweetest and happiest person that I know.  We love her happy disposition.  She enjoys life and rarely lets things bring her down.  Choir and Art are her favorite classes, and her art work is found throughout the house.  She loves My Little Pony and Animal Jam.  She has a lot of people that love and support her, including friends.  I can't leave Mesa High without hearing people call out her name. She is loved by many. 

On Feb. 28th, I took Angela to Panda Express during school lunch.  Panda is Angela's favorite restaurant, so it seemed fitting to have lunch there.  She loved getting off campus too.  She didn't want to miss school because in seminary and choir because they sing Happy Birthday to her.  

For her birthday dinner, we went to Applebees.  She sat next to a senior sign that was so fitting for her, especially since she wore her choir shirt.  After dinner, the staff came and sang to her.  She really loved the attention they gave her.  She enjoyed the evening and wrote us a note.  We missed Danni and Brigham, but they had dinner in honor of Angela in Show Low. 

We sang Happy Birthday to Angela at my mom's house after dinner.  Her grandma got her a very special doll for her birthday.  She loved it!!!  Angela loves birthdays and understands that her birthday only comes once every 4 years. 

Josh loves to bring home special pizzas, pasta, or dessert for family members.  Angela got a cookie from her brother.  She was kind enough to share her cookie with us.

Angela is officially an adult.  She mentioned that now she is an adult, she can choose her own bedtime and that is going to be 8:00.  I love you Angela!!!!