Girls just wanna have fun......

So we took a girls trip up to north Scottsdale. My sister kindly shares part of her vacation ,time share ,club with us so that we can take a mom and sisters trip every February. This is the third year that we have gone up to Scottsdale and who knows, we just might get adventurous one of these years and leave the state to relax. We'll see.... We played games non-stop....everything from nerts to settlers to lucky unders and I will proudly say that I won settlers along with many games of nerts. Sorry to rub it in girls but when Spence is'nt around to win, I better enjoy it while it last's!

It was my sister-in-law Jill's birthday while we were there. We tried to make it a special one with her breakfast request and game choice of the day. Her husband(my brother) along with my Dad and other brother James came up for the night to share a birthday dessert and some karaoke. Below is a picture of a jealous brother with his sista's. He wishes he could come on the trip every year but some how he is never invited. It's starting to sound like Dad might need to be planning a guys trip.

Although some of these pictures look like we didnt shower all weekend. We really did! This next photo is really a terrific one. It might be held against me for a very long time but I love ya Ann....here is what we all looked like until about 3 every day. Gotta love the game playin.

My lovely mother getting dinner ready and those of you who know us won't be too surprised to see that she is gettting the salad ready. Love ya mom!

I never knew that my parents were such good karaoke singers.....So cute!

We ended the trip by going to the temple together and then catching a bite to eat at tia rosas before my sister Ann's plane left.

Girls just wanna have fun....and that's just what we did...Great trip!!!

If we don't got it, we don't need it!

That was the theme that my brother in-law Hudd came up with for the girls birthday trip we took. My niece, Kennidy, turned 12 this month. For her party she wanted to go snowboarding. As a result of my amazing boarding skills I was invited to help with the teaching side of things. Ok i'm not that good but my family seems to think so. She invited 5 friends and she was loving every second of this all about Kennidy time!!!

The Gorgious Kennidy!!!

The girls swimming at the hotel.....

On the way back to the hotel room....they look cold!

All of us about to hit the slopes....

Check them out!

Thanks for a great trip Eileen and Hudd. I'm just glad that my niece still thinks i'm cool enough to have around at her birthday parties!

Thanks Kennidy.

One last birthday fact.....

My brother Gordon and I have been able to celebrate our birthday's together since I can remember. Since he is MUCH older, i'm sure he can remeber much farther back ;) His birthday is Jan. 11 and mine is Jan 12. Being that they are only one day apart it made more sense to celebrate with the family on the same night. You would think it would take away from the celebration but it has actually added to the birthday enjoyment over the years. I think we both have come to expect it not. We got together with the Dever family and had dinner at my parents and after went to see a movie. Spencer planned the dinner and for dessert made me an ice cream cake. I would love to say that I just let him pick out whatever dessert he wanted to put together, however, when it comes to ice cream and my birthday I just can't do that. From a request from his picky dessert wife...or should I say pretty much just loves ice cream wife, he made an ice cream cake with oreo's crushed up with caramel and some peanut butter. VERY TASTY! Great job Spence!

(Please note in picture above...My Dad's face in the back. I imagine he is thinking something like "Wow! I have spent all this time raising 8 kids and this is how these two end up." Yes...it's true we are quite pathetic but certainly loving life )

The cake!

Can't forget the hat! (Thanks Jill!!!)

Magical is.......

what I call spending your birthday with your husband. As Grover Washington says " just the two of us!" For Christmas Spencer gave me a trip to Disneyland for my birthday. So, was it a Christmas present or a birthday present?....That is was you call a split gift because we are on a budget... As I am sure you have all seen the commercial or heard but you get into Disneyland for free on your birthday. Absolutely! we took advantage of that. He had registered me and when you get your ticket they give you a pin with your name on it.

Did I mention that I have never been around so many others with the same birthday. Another thought that came to my mind is that I think I am gratful I am not a twin or multiple. I love the twins, etc. out there and I know that is selfish but I do enjoy having the day to myself. Upon entering the park we conviently ran into Mickey and could not pass up the photo op!!!!

Since I was not feeling well Spence and I decided to knock the coasters out first to make sure I rode them.

Matterhorn!

And the other stuff we filled the day with.......

The Prince and Princess! Jungle tours

If I have to tell you then you really need to start with your movie basics!

We love splash mountain. Favorite ride is a toss up between space mountain and splash mountain. The first time on Splash the ride closed while we were in the middle of the ride. They took us off and took us out the back way. Yes that is right, we had a back stage tour of splash mtn. We can answer all of your questions. They gave us a pass to come back and when we did it broke again. This time while we were in line. So we waited outside the door to ensure we rode that day. Not sure if Spence wanted to but it was my birthday so he really didnt have a say. We waited and sure enough we were the first log boat to ride that round and it was worth the wait!
Blue Bayou restaurant. YUM! Those who have eaten there know and those who have not need to!

The day was awesome and Spencer always does such a fantastic job at making our life together a zipidee doo dah one and I couldnt be happier. They say the happiest place on earth is at Disneyland but I am going to say it's right here in our marriage. I LOVE HIM!

Heywood.....u call the doctor?

Seriously!..... I have been sick since Friday. Don't you just love traveling with a turning stomache. I was determined to make the trip awesome no matter my circumstances!!!!

Quarterly Post

Ok, maybe it is'nt quarterly but it sure does feel like it. I love when we read other blog's.... they have a post at least once a week. Aparently we are not the coolest bloggers out there. Fortuneately we don't mind and would love to give the title to others. We don't have much but hope you enjoy what we do get around to posting.

We have two months to cover and as you all know it goes by in a wink of an eye. Thanksgiving came so fast and Christmas even faster. We spent Thanksgiving at the Dever's this year. Delicious as usual and without a doubt very tiring. No, not from the events, simply from eating too much.
December was filled with work party's, work dinner's and family get togethers. This year I did the 12 day's of Christmas for Spencer and it was so fun to see him look forward to another gift each day.



Christmas Eve we went to the Dever's againand Christmas Day with the Heywood's.
For New Year's we went to a cabin in Pinetop, AZ with the Heywood's and got to see and play in the snow. Well Spencer played in the snow while i stayed in by the fire and hung out in bed reading. I love the excuse to sit around and read. It certainly felt like a party that lasted for two weeks.
My sister Ann and her family came in town for Christmas and if we werent up playing games, eating, or playing the Wii we were getting the manditory sleep for the prevention of getting sick. We love when they come to visit!
This year has been awesome! We hope that everybody else can say the same and that 2009 finds you even better than 2008!

YES! those are green pajama pants. Gotta love the loungin!

Emily Play's Dress Up.....Kids' Not Amused!

It was so much fun to play dress up and take the pictures. You will notice that there is only one picture of the boys. That picture says everything about their opinion of the session. I'm so glad that the girls gave in to my silliness....they are MUCH harder to get ready!!!