A night with a friend

I recently had a night out with my good friend Kristy. We were heading to see a Jack Johnson concert in Phoenix. 

Of course we made a day of it and went shopping before hand. 

We also went here...

And had the Orange Chicken...my favorite!

And we had this...

Look at Kristy with her spoon ready to dig in!! Can't blame her, it was sooo good!

After shopping and dinner we headed to our concert! We had grass seats but I brought a couple of thick blankets, so we layered them on the ground and it was actually pretty comfortable! 

I actually prefer the grass seats, you can stretch your legs and even lay down if you want!

Here is our view from our spot on the grass!

 It was a late but fun night! Jack is a great entertainer! I think one of the things I liked about him most was that you could tell he is a family man and loves his wife! 

All in all a great day! Plus I didn't have to drive!! Thanks Kristy for doing that, sorry I fell asleep on the way home! :-)

A 3D Movie Experience

We recently took the kids to see the 3D Movie Legends of the Guardians!

Derek thought it was pretty cool to get special glasses to wear at the theatre. Although less than halfway through the movie he got tired of wearing them and left them off!

The movie was good and the 3D effects pretty cool.

It was a fun time to spend together as a family. We had yummy snacks to eat and a fun movie to watch!

It's been a long time since I've gone to a 3D Movie, the glasses got a little annoying for me to wear too but not wearing them was even worse as the movie was all blurry, I don't know how Derek watched it without his glasses!

Champions!

Caleb's 5th and 6th grade Cross Country team took 1st place at the Championship Meet this week!! They did an awesome job this year and worked so hard.  Good job guys!!

Family Time

In our family we feel it is important to spend time together as a family. We like to find things to do together that we will all enjoy. With the way the economy is right now and being on a budget we are always looking for cheap fun things to do together!

That is why home depot is such a great place to go!

Every 1st Saturday of the month they have a special project that kids can come and do. Usually it involves building something using tools, nails, paint etc...

This month was extra special because they had the fire department there doing demonstrations, giving out junior fire hats and some of the kids were even allowed to help put out some fires!

After the fire fun we headed inside and got our projects. And of course it was something fire related. We got to build fireboats!!

The boys were excited because they were allowed to use hammers!

Derek of course needed a little help from Mom!

Tons of kids show up to the home depot on these Saturday mornings and the best part is it is all free!! They provide everything you need!

They even give the kids little "home depot" orange aprons to wear just like the employees wear!

Once they finish a project they get a pin for that project that goes on their apron!

What a fun way to spend a Saturday morning!

They were even giving out free little bags of popcorn made from one of those old fashioned popcorn makers!!

Thanks Home Depot for providing us with some free family fun time!!

Guitar Boy

Caleb recently starting learning how to play the guitar. A guy from our church is giving lessons, so Caleb and his dad both signed up and went together. They both came home with sore fingertips but also excitement over learning a new instrument. It's fun to sit and watch them practice the chords they have learned and to see how much they are enjoying it!

Happy Anniversary!!

Here is my husband and I when we were first dating many years ago.

And one of us on our wedding day!

Here is us just a few weeks ago!

Today we celebrate our 5th Anniversary together. It is amazing to see all the awesome things God has done in our lives these last five years. I am so blessed!

 Thanks Nate for being the best husband and father and for putting up with me and all my ways these last 5 years! I love waking up to you each morning and am excited to see what God does in our lives in the next 5 years and all the years to come after that!

Holy Snakes!

Earlier this week I was minding my own business heading home from Soccer Practice with my boys when we came across this little guy on our porch walkway.

After pulling in to the driveway my son Caleb headed off to the side of the house and as he was starting on the walkway to the side gate I heard him yell and jump back a good five feet! I had no clue what was in the front of the house that would scare my son so bad.

I walked to the front of the house and saw this thing curled up right in the middle of our walkway. My sons all rushed over and my oldest got over his initial shock and fear of finding a snake in our front yard and started getting excited. I used my quick thinking and pulled my camera out of my purse that was still on my shoulder and began shooting pics of the little guy. It was getting dark so I couldn't get great shots of him.

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave him in the front of our house and plus the boys needed to get the trashcans to the road so they could be picked up in the morning. Luckily I think we started annoying the little guy because he started slithering down our front yard and eventually crossed the street and headed off in to the brush and bushes across the street from us. Needless to say I stayed outside with a flashlight trained on the little guy while my sons brought the trashcans to the road.

What an exciting end to our evening. Caleb was so excited to have seen a snake in our front yard. He was sure it was a rattlesnake. I really couldn't tell, it looks like there could be a rattle at the very end but I never actually heard it rattle and it was getting to dark to really get a good look at it. I think I really don't want to know because that just makes it much more scary!! Do you think it's a rattler??