March

Where has this month gone? Just an update on some of the things that have been going on in our lives:

Paige had her St. Patrick's Day Irish dance recital. She likes her class and her teacher Miss Kathie.

Braden had his final Pinewood Derby race for Scouts last week. It was the fastest and most organized pinewood derby I had ever been to. And no fights broke out so that's good.

Last weekend, we traveled down to Oro Valley (just north of Tucson) for the Arizona Distance Classic.

Aaron ran the half marathon and the kids participated in the fun run. We came here for an RV trip last year and really like this area. We came down on Saturday and took the kids to see "How to train your Dragon." It's an awesome movie!

our family on race day
Braden



I love this picture. The way he's staring down that kid...

He told us the day before the race. "I have a passion for running."

Here's Heston and Aaron. He was holding on tight to Aaron's hand and was booking it! We think he running fast because he thought all the kids were being chased by something. He just wants to be doing whatever B&P are doing.

Run Paige Run!




Aaron did awesome!! We can't wait to come back next year!

hanging with Papa

My Dad's friend needed a ride from Vernal to Kingman this week. He dropped his friend off and came to hang out with us for a couple of days. He has been spoiling the kids (isn't that what grandparents are for?) and I've enjoyed our daddy/daughter visits.

Heston is crazy about motorcycles. Dad took him to the Harley store in Mesa and he was in heaven! It was so cute.

(this picture is horrible quality. I took it with my phone, wish I had my camera with me)

Thanks Dad! We love you!

The Magic of the Family Meal

The Magic of the Family Meal

Spring break

Spring break is officially here! The weather has been perfect...we have to soak up all we can before it gets hot again. I brought my camera to the park yesterday and took these pictures. The one of the 3 of them holding hands is my fave.

G

just missing her today...love you Grandma!

Jojo Henry

Back in November, I mentioned that we took in a homeless cat that the kids named Jojo Henry. Jojo is doing great and we figured out that he is actually a she :) I'm taking her next week to get vaccines and spayed. She's such a sweet little cat and the kids love her. She lives outside and has a little bed under our patio.

She's been a great little pet for the kids

36:21

It's not that I've hated running, it's just not something that really interested me. One of my short term goals for this year was to run a 5k. Aaron, Braden, John (Aaron's brother) and I ran a 5k this Saturday in Chandler.

John did awesome and so did Braden! He took 3rd place in his age group (ages 10-14) with a 25:45. Aaron was such a great support to me, I couldn't have done it without him.

My goal was to run 12 minute miles and I ran 11:44/min miles. It's not earth-shattering time, I know that. But dang it, I earned every second of that 36:21 :)

little notes

Hallmark stores exist because of people like me. I'm a sucker for cute little quote books, funny cards and collectable ornaments. I think I mentioned in a post about working at the Hallmark store my aunt Dolly managed when I was younger. I helped wrap gifts, dust collectables, restock cards and of course, dress up as the Crayola Bunny at Easter because I'm the only one who would do it.

There's a Hallmark store on Baseline and Stapley that's one of my favorites. They have a contract US Post Office inside. (much more fun and colorful than your usual post office) The women that work there are great, they know me and Heston...I swear I usually go in to just mail packages. ;)

I went there today to "mail a package". and I came across these gems:

I occasionally put little notes inside the kids' lunches. Each time I've done it, my kids have loved it. Like most moms, some mornings are just crazy and I'm lucky to get a sandwich made. I'm reminded how fast my kids are growing up and I can never tell them that I love and appreciate them enough. Any little thing I can do to make their day a little better, I'll do it :)

So there you go...awesome finds at the Hallmark store. I'm excited to see what the kids say...

Photoshop templates

I cannot say this enough...I LOVE TEMPLATES! This is a free template from Ali Edwards that she posted on her blog. I made a couple of small changes here there...I like the simplicity of it.

Free Ali Edwards template
enjoy!

5th grade field trip

I remember my 5th grade field trip like it was yesterday. When you grow up in a small town, you're very limited on museums. By the time you're 10, you've seen it all...twice. For our field trip, we hopped on our bikes and went on a 3 mile bike ride through Dry Fork Canyon to "Remember the Maine" park. (Of course everyone wanted a BMX bike, especially after the movie "Rad") Safety on field trips wasn't a word that really existed in 1985, especially in rural Utah. We had so much fun though :)

On Wednesday, I got to be a chaparone for Braden's 5th grade field trip. I forgot about the lack of leg room on a bus and how loud it can get. We went to the Halle Heart Center in Tempe and then to Kiwanis park for lunch. It was great and it was so much fun to watch B interact with his classmates.
This was our little group...they are all such good kids. This picture cracks me up! The way the girls are huddled up to one side...they don't want to get any boy cooties:)

And the sweet, polite little things called me Mrs. Hammond...I swear I will never get used to that.

I think this was their favorite part of the day...playing tag

RV adventures project

I've been wanting to create a scrapbook of all the RV trips we took last year. We had so much fun and I knew if I didn't document it soon, I would forget the places and the fun things we did. I loved each of those trips and I hope our kids remember them.

I made a 4x6 journaling card in Photoshop for each trip we took. I printed the cards and pictures out at Costco and put them into this photo album I found at Target.

Here's a list of the digital stuff I used for the journaling cards. Designer Digitals is having their quarterly sale right now, everything is 30% off:

Ali Edwards Travel Memory Title+Journal overlays

Ali Edwards Days and Months brushes

the numbers are from one of my fave fonts Jailbird Jenna

(the papers and year brush are from designers who are no longer around)

the Hammondcheese to my macaroni

Happy Valentine's Day!

this years Valentine's

I like Valentine's Day. I like any holiday where there is candy involved. (that's pretty much all of them)

I found these Valentine cards here.(Thanks for the link Karin) I just love them! I went into Photoshop and added their names, cut them out and rounded the edges with my Corner Chomper (thanks AJ, I love it!) The kids wanted to give out salt water taffy...cinnamon taffy is the best!

I'm so glad to have all the evil candy out of my house...it's for the best

I {heart} winter

Took this yesterday in our front yard...I can't even tell you how much I love AZ in February

Grandma

My dear sweet Grandma passed away early this morning, on her 83rd birthday. I’m sure she is having a birthday celebration on the other side like no other! She has been through a lot in the past couple of weeks…she was courageous and strong until the end.

As I’m trying to process her death, I can’t help but feel so much love and gratitude for the special relationship that her and I had. She is one of my closest friends and no matter what, she was always there for me when I needed her. I learned many life lessons from her great example. I’m going to miss her more than words can express...

Happy Birthday to one of the most beautiful and kind women I've ever known,

you will continue to inspire me...

I love you Grandma
your friend,

k

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday to the greatest Mom a girl could ever have!

Love you Mommasitaburrita!

new layouts

a couple of layouts I've been working on...

New Years in the land of ice and snow

The day after Christmas, we packed up the old van and drove to Vernal for a visit. We haven't been to Utah when there has been snow on the ground for 2 years. The temperature didn't get over 20 degrees the entire week we were there and at night it was below zero. Brrrrrr! My feet are cold just thinking about it! It was so fun spending time with my family! Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with us! :)

We took the kids to the golf course sledding. I don't remember taking them when we lived in Utah, Braden and Paige LOVED it.




watch out for that jump! Check out B's boot. He's wearing a pair of my Mom's old boots from 1988...they were ugly but they worked! :)

Paige giggled all the way down everytime...

I grew up in a house just down the street from this golf course...I have some great memories of sledding here
On New Years Day, the whole family joined us. This is H's first time sledding...he only went down twice, I think he just didn't know how to handle the cold.

I said to B, "Hey Grumpy!" This is what I got...
I was so happy to spend time with Grandma! The care center had a New Years party complete with food and a dance...at 3:00 in the afternoon :) The kids had fun pushing her around in her wheelchair, it was a fun party!


We rang in the New Year at Wes' house. For the kids, we did it on "New York" time so they would get to bed. They loved that grape juice!
the kids with Gaga and Papa and H picking his nose

Christmas Eve hike

A few pictures from A & B's Peralta Trail hike...