Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A visitor from back home...

As I was driving today I passed by pond a down the road from my house and this is what I saw...

Canadian Geese!



I am in need of a little Colorado! 
A dear friend of mine from back home emailed me a picture of her trees changing colors, and now this!  
At least if I can't go to visit, a little can come to me.
It made me smile!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Lake Pleasant


We are a very lucky bunch when we can get family time now that Kevin is back in school.  It is hard to take off even for an afternoon when there is always something to be studied.  This second year of dental school is a little less stressful for Kevin and that means not as much stress for me as well.

A few days ago we decided to take our chance while we had some time and go to a lake that is nearby,  Lake Pleasant.  It wasn't as hot as it has normally been, it was only in the high 90's that day, so it was a good time to go try this lake out.  I must say I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to lakes.  I practically grew up on Lake Powell and all the other lakes in southern Utah.  This one can't compare to those, but as for a good time to get wet and play in some mud, it did the trick!  We all had a lot of fun swimming and climbing around the rocks and there were a ton of rocks.



"Best friends" - their words! 
I love how close these two have gotten after our move to Arizona.

Mud pies anyone? 


We couldn't believe how much trash was left all around!  Izzy loved picking up the trash, we wanted to try and leave it a little better than we found it and she was all about that.  We had to tell her a few times to take a break and go play.  She was rewarded when she found this dime.




As we were leaving we saw these wild desert burros!  
It was so cool! 
I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Montezuma Castle National Monument


On the way back from our camping trip we stopped at the Montezuma Castle N.M.  Another Indian ruin and it was amazingly still intact.  The kids loved to run around on the trails and climb the huge Arizona Sycamore trees.







Saturday, September 17, 2011

Ethan is 7!


My Ethan! 
 He is such a great kid and we just love him tons! 
This year Ethan really wanted to have a Lego party.  It was the best theme...so easy.


One of the presents we got him was the ice dragon from the Ninjago series.  He and Cole are totally into Ninjago (that is putting it lightly). They want to have everything in the set.

Lego brick cakes 



The best party activity...Free Lego build. It entertained the kids forever. They dug through all our tons of Lego pieces and built their own Lego cars to race. I loved their creativity!


I called mine "The Shark-in-ater"


 Cole, Ethan, and the Ice Dragon


Pin the dot on the Lego Brick.



 Falling balloons catch:
It was so funny,  we dropped balloons over our loft and the kids had to try and pick up as many balloons as the they could in 30 seconds.  The trick is every time they would pick one up, they'd lose one or two.  So fun and easy! 



Party favors 


Pizza chef

Salute to the lieutenant!

Lieutenant Kevin James Bodily

Kevin was awarded an Air Force scholarship to help us with the dental school debt.  It is a highly competitive award and out of all the branches of the Armed Forces, it is most difficult to get one from the Air Force.  We are very lucky! 
Way to go Kev!
 It is exciting to think of all the adventures that await us.
We were very lucky to have a very dear friend of ours come and commission him. 
It was fun to see these two get all excited to go into the Air Force together. 




I can't wait to turn his suit into a uniform;) 
-Remember "Officer and a Gentleman"?
Oh Boy!

First Day of School!


The boys started a another new school this year. 
We decided to have them attend a charter school.  Don't they look so cute in their new uniforms!
Cole starting 4th Grade
Ethan Starting 1st Grade

 Isabel starting Preschool

Phoenix Zoo in August

Before school started I took the kids to the zoo as much as possible.  At least once a week because once school starts it is hard to go.  The zoo has all these great things for the kids.  This splash pad is where we spend most our time.  It is a cave where the kids can explore and find hidden cave creatures and get wet.  Once we all get sufficiently wet, we then go see the animals.  This trip Kevin came with us and we went and to feed the sting rays.  This was so cool and we all love touching the rays and giving them fish and shrimp.





Camping at Lake Mormon

The last weekend in July, just before Cole and Ethan were about to start school.  We went on a family camping trip.  We were so excited, I had been on line looking at all the cool places there are around here to go camping.  I found the perfect place.  Sedona Arizona  has this beautiful canyon called, Oak Creek Canyon.  It has a natural rock slide and pools along the creek.  On line warned how busy it is and to come early to get a camp site (the camp sites were first come first serve).  We headed out and the excitement was more than we could stand.  We drove up to Sedona and the landscape was amazing.  When we got to Oak Creek Canyon we started to get worried about getting a camp site as we past camp ground after camp ground with signs saying they were full!  Needless to say, we didn't end up camping there.  We just kept driving and Flagstaff was only a few more miles away.  We headed up to Lake Mormon and pitched our tents.  I had packed for warmer weather and no chance of rain.  Now we were more up in the mountains and rain was in the forecast.  We all had our swim suits and no jackets.  Not being a real camper, I thought we should just turn around and go home.  I'm glad we didn't!  I was so much fun.  Yes, it did rain a little, but we had some of the best moments in the tent making up stories, making shadow puppets, and playing Uno.  It reminded me of when I was a kid and we would get stuck on Lake Powell in a rain storm.
The times it didn't rain we roasted marshmallows, went on a hike, and just hung out together.

Good times!