Marcy is 40 years younger than Arizona!

November has been a busy month, full of birthday celebrations, family times and, of course, Thanksgiving last week.  We celebrated Alan and Mike's birthdays early in November

                                               And since I had a "BIG" birthday this year,

it seems like I've been celebrating all month long.  My friends took me out for a special breakfast and movie early in November.  My sister, her husband and my parents treated me to dinner at Charlestons on Veteran's Day. Friends treated me to lunch at work on the 13th. So by the time November 16th arrived, Vince and I had decided to take the day off from work, and leave town for the weekend! I really wanted to enjoy some Fall Leaves and cool mountain air, so Prescott was our first destination.We found the cool mountain air, but in and around Prescott, the fall leaves were already gone. We did enjoy some four-wheeling in our new truck on the back roads surrounding Prescott...we saw some snow and ice in the shade of the hills and happened to see a family of deer crossing the road in front of us.

It's hard to see, but the one deer is looking right at our truck in the middle of that cluster of leaves.
We enjoyed pizza and beer for dinner at a small restaurant across from the courthouse in downtown Prescott, and then I enjoyed shopping in a few stores within walking distance from the restaurant.  On Saturday morning, we left the Hampton Inn and enjoyed a leisurely drive to Clarkdale.  Had lunch at the Red Rooster Cafe

               

and then checked in at the Depot for the Verde Canyon Railroad where we had reservations for the 1:00 train ride--the birthday celebration continued!

It was a very relaxing and enjoyable train ride from Clarkdale to Perkinsville. There is a small stop in Perkinsville (pop. 11) while the train engine is then moved to the rear of the train near the caboose. Passengers then reverse our seats inside the coach, and travel back to Clarkdale on the same track. We were able to move about the train, and enjoyed the "open car" views as well.  We did enjoy seeing the fall leaves on the trees which line the Verde River inside the canyon walls but didn't see much wildlife on our excursion that day.

On Sunday, November 18, we attended mass in Cottonwood at this beautiful church,

and then drove to Sedona.  We enjoyed seeing the majestic red rocks once again, and stopped for a bagel and coffee at a small deli.  

We took a drive through Oak Creek Canyon which brought back memories for both of us. We did some window shopping in Sedona, and Vince was such a "good sport" to do this for me!  The weather was beautiful and I found HUGE maple leaves at our stop in Oak Creek...and those maple leaves came home and helped to decorate our Thanksgiving table.

When we left Sedona, and headed back to the Valley,  we still had one more stop...
So, the story goes that Vince had "won a gift certificate" at work to a restaurant in north Scottsdale, so the plan was that we would eat dinner Sunday afternoon on our trip back into the valley and take advantage of this "gift card" from Boeing!  Well, we did eat dinner, but not alone...We walked into Maggiano's and found all our smiling children and grandchildren seated at a table, waiting for us! WHAT A SURPRISE!!

The food was delicious...appetizers, salad, bread, wine, pasta, family-style main entrees, and then two different desserts!!  I enjoyed every morsel, but EVEN MORE I cherished the fact that our children had made such a special plan for my birthday...I enjoyed every minute with them! What a memorable evening!

 I was SO SURPRISED, and of course NOW I understand why Vince was so "willing" to shop on Sunday!  It was such a beautiful ending to my birthday celebration weekend! Thank you to ALL MY CHILDREN for such a special birthday dinner, and THANK YOU to my husband for spending the weekend doing things that I enjoy doing!  I will always remember my 60th birthday!!

Weekend at Mimi's and Grandpa's House

The last weekend of October proved to be a special weekend in many ways.  My parents celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary, and Mike and Corissa celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary.  Mike and Corissa escaped to the mountains for a "retreat" at Mom and Dad's Strawberry home, and we were able to keep Cailyn and Landon for the weekend! Wow!  (We also kept their car and carseats!)

Needless to say, it was a busy weekend from morning until night...the children arrived on Friday evening for dinner...Grandpa made Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast on Saturday.  We walked to the new playground near our home...

After lunch and naps, we dressed the children up for a Halloween Party at their great Aunt Terry and Uncle Ken's house at 5:00...

It was a great chance to see their 2nd cousins all dressed up for the festive party!

Aiden led the way, followed by

 Garret, Ethan and Bode (who wasn't keen on dressing up this year!) And last, but not least...

the cutest little "crab" at the party, Brock in his Mama's arms!
Aunt Alissa and Aunt Jen also came to the party, and Great Grandpa and Grandma Janne were in attendance as well.

Jen helped out with "entertaining the troops" as she was off work that weekend.  It was great having an extra pair of hands...Mimi surprised the children with a couple of new toys to play with at our house

And later on Sunday morning we took the children to the Pumpkin Patch to pick a pumpkin for Mimi's house

and then on to McDonald's for a lunch-out treat for everyone! ;-)

Of course, there was more "playing" than eating going on...Cailyn was so cute helping her little brother in the toddler play area!  After naptime, we played in the backyard...the children really enjoyed rides in the "new" refurbished little red wagon...the one their daddy used to ride in too!

Landon really liked pulling the wagon and swinging...Cailyn loved helping Grandpa feed the fish in the pond!

Grandpa caught some Mosquito fish and put them in the bucket so Cailyn could see them more easily...

It was a very special weekend, and we feel blessed to have had the opportunity to enjoy the extra time with Cailyn and Landon!  And their mommy and daddy enjoyed a well-deserved weekend alone!

FAMILY WEEKEND in Strawberry, Arizona

Before the end of October, I'm determined to blog about our great family weekend in the mountains!  It took some planning, but most of our family were able to gather together with my folks at their cabin in Strawberry, AZ on October 6-7.  Unfortunately, Alissa and Alan had planned to join in on the fun, but their kitty Sancho had emergency surgery on October 5, which naturally cancelled out any travel plans they may have had.

We met at IHOP early on Saturday morning....

And after a short 90-minute drive north, we arrived to a warm welcome from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Janne.  They have worked hard over the years to make their second home in the mountains a very welcoming and comfortable place.

 One of the first things Cailyn wanted to do was "dig in the dirt"!  Why not?

And Landon wanted to "explore" the grounds with Grandpa!

We enjoyed most of our meals on their beautiful deck...

and on our first lunch together outdoors we had a surprise visit from two young deer that wandered up to their chain link fence...it was AMAZING to see them so close!  I think they were as fascinated in looking at us, as we were in looking at them!

We went for a walk in their neighborhood,

 and drove into Pine, AZ (3 miles away) for the Apple Festival.  We took time to play on the playground and Cailyn made a bar of soap in the kids' crafts area.  Vince ran into an old customer from the camera store days too.  Small world sometimes!  Then we took the "scenic drive" around the area when Landon fell asleep, as the extra time in the car sleeping helped him get through the day!

Jen helped Grandpa work on a puzzle for a short while, and we ordered in pizza for dinner from "Mama Joe's"...delicious, by the way!

 On Sunday morning, Cailyn and Great Grandma played on the deck....Cailyn and Landon really liked the building blocks and plastic animals.  But most of all, they enjoyed wandering around their yard...and Landon liked to run "up and down" the hills!

  We took a ride over to the Fossil Creek Goat Farm on Sunday so the children could see the goats.

 It was a beautiful weather weekend...and we made some special memories together!

We hope next time that Alissa and Alan will be able to join in on the fun too!  Thanks for your hospitality Mom and Dad, aka Grandma & Grandpa Janne!!  We love you!!!