Last day in Arizona

Yesterday we drove down to Amazing Jakes and played a few games, ate a little bit, and then drove back home. This place was really fun when we were here last time - about five years ago - but now it has a new nickname for us - "Not so Amazing Jakes"!! We realized it was geared really toward younger kids. Sad how our kids are growing up and out of certain things...

The highlight of the day was Tara coming and doing a family shoot of us in the desert. She is amazing! We hiked up a trail to get some amazing views and a desert atmosphere.

Ryan getting some shots of his own...

A "sneak peek" at the photo shoot... someday I will post the best shots of the day.

Our day in pictures

Left the house...

Went to lunch at a cool, Mexican restaurant...

Enjoyed some food...

Went to a few gift shops...

Danny and Jacob went to a shooting gallery and shot handguns...

Admired Jacob's amazing accuracy...

And then the Daukas's came over for a swim and smores, and we called it a day. Can't believe I am saying this, but I am LOVING this Arizona, dry heat.

Day Three

This evening we went out to dinner (just Danny and I) with our dear friends, Chris and Tara. Good food. Wonderful, refreshing fellowship. We really miss these two and their family...

Earlier in the day we went to the famous In-N-Out Burger! You can't visit AZ without going there at least once. After that we went and played a round of laser tag. Even me!

Ryan has been finding ways to occupy himself during the down times...

Day Two

We didn't do a whole lot today. Spent most of the day relaxing at the house, but we did slip out in the late afternoon for a movie and dinner. We went to a more "local" type of restaurant and felt like we had stepped into the West for sure!

This picture is the view that you see as you step out of the grocery store... all I could say was "wow". This ain't the view outside MY grocery store!!! haha

Awesome movie about "awesomeness"!!

Day One Trip Out West

We left for a three week trip out West, starting off in Arizona. We arrived Friday night, recovered on Saturday, and today we visited some dear friends - the Daukas family. Had the amazing privilege of hearing Chris preach! Great start to our trip!

The view from the back of our rental home... absolutely gorgeous.

Even though I don't enjoy cooking on vacation, I think I might enjoy it in this kitchen!

Jacob - Yet another A+

This was Jacob coming out of his last Biology class with Mrs. Ellis - he was very laid back about the whole thing, but MOM was freaking out! This was the day he took his final exam, and the last time I would pick him up at Mrs. Ellis' house! I know. I am overly sentimental. But it was a big moment for me, picking him up from his last class and watching him finish up his first year of high school...

Not to mention that he once again pulled off an A+ for the second year in a row in science!! Biology is no easy subject - but he aced it - all due to his incredible talent for memorizing and remembering facts! So proud of how HARD he worked during the year and for his amazing grades!!

Catching up

I thought I would just put everything I missed in one big post and just be caught up once and for all! And then promise myself I will never get this behind again! haha

These are shots of our maple syrup making process which was really fun this year. We stayed up for 24 hours straight when it came time to boil, only to fall asleep at the last hour and burn some of the precious stuff!

Yep, we really were still up at 4:29, everyone from Danny down to Ryan.

This is a shot of a bridge we crossed as we drove all the way to New Haven, CT and back (in one day mind you) to take Hannah to see her lyme specialist in CT. It was just Danny, Hannah and I, and we really did have fun! We played lots of 20 questions, and watched several awesome movies with Colin Firth in them, thus was the born the phrase that has been immortalized by my husband, we had a "Firth-a-thon"!!!!

Here are a couple shots of celebrating Ryan's 11th birthday at Dave and Busters.

Ryan picked his favorite dessert - honey-bun cake!

Hannah and I had a special three day weekend in Gettysburg this spring as well. I cannot begin to say what a sweet and precious time that was... we laughed, watched a lot of BBC movies, ate out, went to antique shops, and just totally enjoyed being together. Hannah is so funny - she makes EVERYTHING fun!!

The Dobbin House Restaurant where we had a special dinner...

This was Hannah's latest project in art - I think it is amazing.

Love the detail in the fur.

Ryan and Hannah participated in the History Fair this year with an amazing project about Walt Disney World!

Another cool tunnel picture taken by Hannah on our CT trip.

A cool shot of Jacob at Dave and Busters.

Thanks to the "secret photography" of Hannah Dustin.