Halloween 2020

Halloween is so fun and this year was no different, even if there were restrictions.  CDC canceled Halloween, but we still did it anyway. 

Danni works at a place where she dressed up every day for work.  It was fun to see her dress up as Mrs. McGonagall  from Harry Potter, a lifeguard, and Cruella de Vil.  

Emmy had a Halloween party with the youth.  Even CDC didn't cancel the party.  She dressed up as a struggling depressed artist.  She even painted her shirt.  She wore the same costume on Halloween night too.  She did a great job.

Emily's Costume

KBP YW

  Danni and I went to Party City and looked for some costumes for Angela.  She doesn't like to go out much with COVID around.  She chose the 50's girl costume. She looked really cute in it.  

Jim, Josh, Danni, and I wore excavator shirts to go with Manny's Blippi costume.  Manny is the cutest Blippi ever.  Manny loves the Blippi show so it was the perfect costume for him to wear on Halloween.  

If you look back at when  Danni had her 3rd Halloween, you can see some similarities between Danni and Manny.  They look like each other plus have a lot of similar traits.  It's so cool to watch and see in real time and in pictures.  Danni was Pocahontas that year.  

Danni took Manny trick or treating and had a great time.  Manny thought his bucket was so heavy that he ended up dragging his pumpkin filled with candy.  How cute is that??  

For dinner, we went to the Black Cafe.  You ordered what was on the menu, but that was just a code word for something else.  It was fun to switch up how we did dinner and it was fun to surprise Jim and the kids with the menu.         

Verticcio Farms

We went to Verticcio Farms just a few days before Halloween.  We went as a family and had a great time.  Manny loved the giant jump pad and the rest of us enjoyed watching Manny just jump.  We could have called it a successful night right there, but there was still so much more to see.  We went to see some animals as we headed to the barrel train ride.  Danni, Manny, Emily, and Angela went on the train ride.  It was fun to watch the ride and see the enjoyment on Manny's face.  We went to the corn maze.  It was fun at first, but I didn't realize that the exit was the same as the entrance.  I got a little lost and there were some boys throwing corn at us.  Not cool!!  It was a very successful trip and we plan to come again.

Watching Manny jump

Checking out the animals

Manny loved playing with the tires

Train ride

Corn Maze

Found a scarecrow out

Memorable Monday -Halloween 2005

Looking back to Halloween 2005 - Josh was a Bionicle, Danni was a Diva, Angela was Raggedy Ann, and Emily was a Bumble Bee.  Lisa had an idea to make Angela and Joey, - Raggedy Ann and Andy.  She made the costumes and they turned out super cute.  We to the kids ready and my parent came over for pictures.  Here are the pics we got before heading out.

Joey and Angea

Mom and Dad with Angela and Emily

Angela as Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann

Kenz and Emily

Josh as Bionicle

Emily as a Bumble Bee

Danni as a Diva

Danni and Emily

Another Photo Shoot

Danni had a photo shoot , this time with Joc.  I love that she does photo shoots, so I can have more pictures with her.   Danni is going through a hard time right now so getting all pretty is helping her fee better about herself..  Danni is a natural beauty inside and out.  She is a kind caring girl that comes through in her photos.  Danni is an amazing girl and I love her. 

Danni's Photo Shoot

Britt took some great pictures of Danni.  She looks so stunning!!

Memorable MondayBack to School

March 16th - Everything changed after spring break of 2020.  Governor Ducy closed schools for the the month of March which turned into the rest of the school year.  Everything school related was cancelled.  Field trips, concerts, and even graduation was cancelled.  We were able to collect Emily's yearbook. but that was the only thing we did on the Mesa High campus.  Classes tried to continue via zoom, but if classwork didn't get done, it didn't reflect their grade.  It's as if summer was extended another couple of months. 

Aug. 3rd - Summer came and we thought that everything would be back to normal by the time school started, but it wasn't.  Governor Ducey announced that school would be delayed a couple of weeks passed the original start date. So, remote learning was back in, but this time grades mattered.  Remote learning has been a failure in my eyes and the students have been expected to keep up the curriculum without much help from teachers.  Parents have been kept in the dark and it was a frustrating time.

Sept. 11th / 12th - The District felt that it was safe to have the kids attend school twice a week.  If your last name started with A-J, then you attended school on Monday and Thursday.  If your last name started with a M-Z, then you attended school on Tuesday and Friday. This was better than remote because you saw your teacher twice a week, but the rest of the time you were watching school through the computer.  This method was so confusing and Emmy only saw half her classmates.

Oct. 11th - Emily attended school full time and we couldn't be happier.  It's been 7 months since the students had to stay home to fight this pandemic.  It's been 7 months since Emily attended school 5 days a week.  I can't believe that it's been that long.  Things are not totally back to normal.  Still not field trips, concerts, and any large gathering, but the kids are learning from their teachers and getting an education.

Memorable MondayPumpkin Patch 2001

There was a pumpkin patch on the corner of Lindsay and Baseline that we would usually go to.  It was fun to see the pumpkins and pick one out.  They had photo opportunities, so I took a few pics.  Here are pics of our 2001 visit.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Manny to the Pumpkin Patch and had a great time.  I loved taking pics and maybe took too many,  We found and bought some really nice pumpkins.  Manny brought home a little tiny one for himself.  Manny loved the pumpkin, the farm animals, and the tractor.  As we left the patch, Danni took a cute photo of Manny on the tractor.  He was singing Blippi's tractor song as we left the pumpkin patch.  It was so cute to hear him sing.

Manny on the tractor

These were the pumpkins that made it on my porch. 
2/3 of them came from the pumpkin patch.