8 is Great!

Our grandson, Ryder, turned 8 in September. Emma turned 7 a few days later so Stephanie, Melanie and I surprised them with a quick trip to Sea World. The weather was great, the crowds were light and we had a wonderful time! We even got soaked on the shipwreck rapids ride. The kids had a blast and really enjoyed their birthday adventure.

Meeting Shamu

lots of flamingos

Then on November 20th came the big day for Ryder to get baptized. We were able to have it in Gilbert so all the family could be there. Gabe baptized him and papa Ron confirmed him. What a special day!

Gabe and Ryder

what a handsome boy!

Ryder with grandma and papa

We love this kid and are so proud of him!

What the heck were we thinking?

Meet Booger. He is the newest addition to our family. Dollar signs got in the way of good sense on this one. We bred Daisy with a neighbors dog some months ago and had such good luck selling all the puppies that Ron decided we needed our own male to breed her with. Thus the reason that we now have 4 dogs! (5 if you count Nat and Tommy's boxer that is living in our backyard for who knows how long :) Booger is a crazy puppy and at times a royal pain in the behind but he has wormed his way into our hearts and we all love him! What can I say - we are crazy!

How can you not love that sweet face? :)

4th of July Getaway

I love California. . . more specifically, I love the beach! During my growing up years, my family took a vacation to San Diego every summer and I loved it. After Ron and I got married and had our children I finally convinced him that we needed to go to California in the summer for vacation. So for the last 15 years or so we have headed to Oceanside and rented a condo for a week or two along with some of my siblings and aunts. It's been a blast! But with the growth of our family and the downturn in the economy, we have not been able to go lately. Last year I was able to get my beach fix with Debbie's family and this year Mel and Gabe invitied us to come over for the 4th of July weekend and stay with them. It was great! We made it to the beach twice and fit quite a few other activities in. Steph and Curt were over there too for the first couple of days so we hooked up and went to the beach and Seaport Village. Here's some fun pics:

Cousins on the beach

Gabe getting a workout

This is what Ron did most of the trip

(He's reading if you can't tell)

Aren't these some hot chicks!

Got sand?

We went to the beach on Coronado Island

This is the beautiful Hotel del Coronado


The Rojas kids sporting their 4th of July outfits

Papa lovin on Ruby

And it wouldn't be a trip to San Diego without Ghirardelli's!


We managed to fit in a couple of movies, shakes from Ruby's, delicious bbq from Phil's, and peach pie from Marie Calendars. We also saw a spectacular fireworks display from the comfort of the apartment backyard. All in all a great trip, wish we could have stayed longer!

Oh and did I mention the fabulous weather? Heavenly!

God Bless America . . .

Land that I love! I am so thankful to live in this great country and have all the freedoms that we enjoy and take for granted. I don't get too politically involved but in honor of the 4th of July we got out the paint and made some cute holiday decorations. Thanks again to Ron for being such a great wood cutter!

See I am patriotic! Now if someone would fix all the problems this country is having . . .

Dance Recital Take Two

Anaston has also been taking dance lessons and this time it was her turn for a recital. She was cute as can be in her costumes, dancing in two different dances. I love being Grandma and getting to enjoy my grandkids in things like this.

Annie with her doll from dance #2

Grandma and her darling dancer
It was held on my anniversary and I even ditched Ron for a couple hours to attend. What a devoted grandma! :)

The Twins Turn Thirty!

Brian and Stephanie turned 30 on June 2nd. Can you believe it? I now have more children in their 30's than in their 20's. Does that mean I am getting old? We celebrated with dinner and then cake and ice cream on Sunday. They are both great kids and we are proud of them!

Don't they look happy to be 30?!

Love you guys, glad you are part of our family!

Dance Recital

Kinsley has been taking dance lessons and had her big recital on Saturday at the Higley Performing Arts Center. Kimberly bought me a ticket so I could go watch. As the music started playing and the kids started dancing, I got teary-eyed (I seem do that alot lately!) thinking back to the days when my girls were small and dancing in recitals. Then I realized that I no longer had to pay for lessons, dance clothes, shoes, costumes, recital fees, photographs, etc. and I cheered up considerably! It was fun to watch and Kinsley was adorable as a lion dancing to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

Kinsley in her costume

The proud Grandma with her little lion

Thanks for the ticket Kim, it was fun!

Five little puppies and how they grew

The puppies are now 5 weeks old. They have gotten very mobile, very vocal, very playful and very cute! We are having so much fun with them, but they will need new homes in 2-3 weeks. We are going to list them on some pet websites and hope to sell them. If anyone is interested in an adorable puppy, let us know!

The fab five

Two are black and look like twins

3 are multi-colored
How could anyone resist something as cute as these!

May Day

Kamri is our May birthday girl and she turned 1 year old on the 15th. We went to the park to celebrate!

She looked like a little Angel

Lovin the swing

Diggin into the cute cake that Aunt Stephy made

We love you Kamri Leigh. Happy Birthday!

Farewell to Chevy

It wouldn't be life at our house without dogs and tears and here we go again. We lost another member of our canine family. :( Melanie's chihuahua Chevy was put to sleep last Saturday morning. She had lived a long 14 years and her body was giving out. The vet agreed that it was her time to go and so the deed was done. She was a big part of our family and we have many memories with her and will miss her dearly. She was technically my first grandchild! Melanie used her own money and purchased Chevy from a pet shop even before her and Gabe were married. The first memory I have of Chevy is when I was working at See's Candies and they brought her in to meet me hiding her inside Melanie's sweatshirt. She was very tiny to begin with but over the years (with a little help from grandma) she grew and grew and at the end she weighed 17 lbs. which is pretty big for a chihuahua. She sure loved to eat and I could never resist giving in when she came begging. Her barking and shedding were sometimes annoying but she was a very loving, loyal friend and lots of fun. She stayed with us many times over the years and always loved laying in the sun outside or sitting by the fireplace inside. All of Melanie's kids loved snuggling and sleeping with her and she was always good with them. Melanie liked smelling Chevy's feet which is a little weird, I know. There was a funny story with her mating with our dog Rudy but then it wasn't so funny when the puppies had to be aborted because they were too big for her to carry. It gives us comfort to know that she is now reunited with her best friend Chip and hopefully they are having a great time together in dog heaven. Unfortunately we have quite the dog graveyard at our house and she is now buried by Stitch. Gabe dug the grave, Redden said a prayer and afterwards Ryder and Emma decorated it. They did an awesome job!




Rest in Peace Chevy. We love you and miss you!

The Female Foursome

While everyone was here for Mother's Day I managed to get a picture of the four newest members of our family. All four girls were born in 2009 and are getting so big and cute!

Here's Samantha, Reese, Kamri and Ruby

These girls are gonna have so much fun together when they get older!

Yuma or bust!

Well the Rojas family has officially moved to Yuma. Ron and I made a quick trip down last weekend to deliver the trailer full of their stuff and check out their new digs. We are so excited to have them only 3 hours away instead of 11 or 12! We packed in some fun even though our visit was short. The rental house is fairly new and in a nice subdivision. Their backyard and patio area is great with a bbq, pool, spa and fire pit. They have also put a ping pong table on the back porch where I'm sure many competitive moments will take place! Here's a few pics:

Posing in front of the house (it was a little sunny!)

Ranger and Ryder enjoying the spa (the pool will come in handy this summer when it's 110!)

Gabe getting ready to get beat by Papa!

And of course the main reason they are there is the project Gabe is working on in nearby Wellton, just off the I-8.

(It doesn't look like much yet but eventually it will be a new border patrol station)

We are so happy to have all our children back in AZ!

We have puppies!

On Wednesday evening our shih tzu Daisy delivered her first litter of 5 puppies! Everything went well and she is being such a good mama. It's amazing how instinct takes over and they know exactly what to do. The puppies are all doing well and they are mostly dark like Daisy. I will post more pictures as they grow and get cuter. You know you want one!

Good job Daisy!

Emma the Artist

Every year Gilbert Public Schools has an elementary art show at Norwood Furniture. This year Emma was one of the few picked from her school to have their art on display. She is only in 1st grade and we are so proud of her!

We just might have a budding artist in our family. Way to go Emma!

Samantha turns 1!

On Saturday, April 3rd, our granddaughter Samantha had her first birthday! We were in Utah so we partied when we got home. Can't believe how fast this past year has flown by. Seems like yesterday that she was born. She sure is a cutie!



We love you Sammy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

General Conference

The highlight of our Utah trip (besides seeing the grandkids!) was getting to go to General Conference. Our good friends Sterling and Sheleen Leavitt and Hoke and Diane Holyoak came also and Sterling was able to get us some great tickets. We were able to attend both morning sessions and the men also went to the Priesthood session. All the sessions were very good but my favorite was being there on Easter Sunday, listening to the beautiful music of the Spoken Word, and hearing our prophet and leaders testify of Christ's atonement and resurrection. It was so uplifting and I loved the experience even if we did have to get up early and trudge through the snow and cold to get there! There is nothing quite like being in the presence of the prophet and hearing all the inspiring messages that give us hope and motivation to do better. :)

Most of the snow had melted by the time we got out and we were able to snap a few pictures.



A trip with these guys wouldn't be complete without some good eating! We managed to hit a few choice spots like:

And our favorite was:

Melanie and Gabe had taken us there before and we knew that it would be right up Sterling and Hoke's alley. And it was!

Ruby and Sheleen enjoying dessert!

And here's the fatty patty's admiring their handiwork in the window outside the restaurant!

We also managed to fit in some shopping at the Wood Connection, Tai Pan and Rodworks. We had a great trip and it was sad to leave knowing that my regular trips to Utah are over. :( But it will be so great to have the Rojas family closer. Woo Hoo!