Seven years ago....how time flies!!

October 28 is a special day in the lives of two couples close to my heart.  Today, my blog is about our son, Michael, and his beautiful wife, Corissa, who are celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary!

They are such a great "team" when it comes to sharing household duties and taking care of their two beautiful children.  What patient and conscientious parents they are to Cailyn and Landon.
During their marriage, they have already experienced some major trials and tribulations, some that most people will not experience.  Hats off to you both for your courage and stamina when the "going gets tough", you kept going!! We are so thankful that they live near by and we can share in their lives...regular Sunday visits are a highlight of our week!

Happy Wedding Anniversary to Mike and Corissa!  May the next 7 years bring you even more love and happiness that you deserve!  Hope your Anniversary Day is as special as you are to us!!
We love you both!!

Downsizing to a new home

A lot has happened since my last post, but better take a few moments to write some notes, before I forget, before I go clean a closet, before I pack a box, before....

Vince and I have been thinking about and looking for a different house since last fall.  We ran into a major stumbling block last spring, but are on a roll again now.  We waited until some new housing developments opened in September, and now everything seems to be falling into place.

We found a floorplan we both like at Marbella Vineyards in Gilbert, about 7 miles south of where we live now.  It is a Shea Home, and when our realtor took us to see the models, we happened on to a spec home that we liked and the property has a nice backyard view.  Downside: we will be commuting farther to our work locations, and Vince has to condense his 3-car garage into a 2-car garage. ;-(  Upside:  ranchstyle, no stairs, new updated kitchen and flooring, less house to clean, and less yard to maintain.

We will be listing our current home where we've lived for 14 years in early November.  It's been a great house and a nice neighborhood, and we will miss all the great storage areas we have in our current home.  However, it is not only time to downsize our home, but it is time to sort and clean out all the stuff we have accumulated too! That's part of the "downsizing" process!

 Front of the new home under construction in Marbella Vineyards.

Back patio area of the new home.

Alissa was able to go to our Design Center appointment to help us choose carpet, tile flooring, countertops, bathroom tile, etc.  A few days later, Jennifer accompanied us to "approve" the granite for our kitchen at Arizona Tile Co. in Tempe.  That was quite an experience!

As progress is made, I will post a few more photos....hopefully I will be able to take a break from the packing and cleaning!

A special Visit to Preschool!

On September 5 I was able to leave work for a few hours to make a special visit to Cailyn's preschool.  She started at the end of July, two mornings per week, at Haley Elementary in Chandler.  The teachers had invited "grandparents" to visit for a part of their day in honor of Grandparents Day.  Cailyn was one lucky little girl to have 3 of her grandparents attend!

 When I arrived, Cailyn's teacher was reading a book to the class...there are two teachers for about 20 children in the class.

This "center" was a "stamping" activity; of course, once Cailyn was finished, she thought it would be fun to use her fingertips too for part of the design!

 The next center was painting a fish using paint and bubble wrap to create the fish scales on the paper plate.  Cailyn remembered to write her name on the back first.

 I made her "pose" in front of the "drying rack"!

 Next center was about "counting fish" on a laminated paper...trying NOT to eat the fish crackers which were after the counting activity were put back into the ziplock bag for taking home to eat later.  It was hard to wait! ;-)

 It just so happened that the class was learning about the letter "C" this week, so all the "C" things were on a board, including all the children who have names that start with the letter "C"....Cailyn looked so cute in her pretty dress and leggings!

 Here her Nana watches Cailyn "feeding" toy bones to a little dog!  Fine motor skills practiced!

 Then on to the listening station to follow along and listen to a book.

Here are the cubbies near the classroom door.  Cailyn's is on the top right.

 When Cailyn finished her "centers" I asked her about the props, puppets and stage, so she gave me a little demonstration.

 Teacher turned out the lights after about an hour of all these different activities, which signaled clean up time, and then time to sit on the rug for further instructions.

 When it was time for "recess", it happened to be Cailyn's week as "door holder" so she went to her post and waited for others to go ahead.

 And before I headed back to work, I went to their shaded playground to watch Cailyn play...she seems to enjoy sliding down the pole!  Fortunately, there's a playground aide at the ready for help!

 It was a very special morning....thanks for inviting me to visit, Cailyn!  You are a very special little girl!

Trip to Bass Pro

A couple of weekends ago, Vince and I had the chance to take Cailyn and Landon on a Saturday morning "outing" to Bass Pro and afterwards, we took them to their Great Grandma & Grandpa Janne's house for lunch.

They enjoyed looking at all the freshwater fish in the big tanks and in the "mock" stream.  Cailyn and Landon each got to touch the "stuffed bears" and look at all the other "stuffed" wild animals on display.  They wanted to try out the new tents in the camping gear area.

One of their favorites was climbing on to the ATV's on display...

Before we left, we had one more look at the big Catfish ....which Landon called "kitty fish" the next day! So Cute!!
(The catfish is NOT so cute!)

We had so much fun!!  Thanks for sharing your children with us, Mike and Corissa!!

Ready for a Rainy Day...

In the "valley of the sun" where we live in Arizona, rainy days are more unusual.  When it does rain, we enjoy the break from the 360 days of sunshine!! In July and August, we have the "monsoon" season, which means a larger "chance of rain" or sprinkles, following a big dust storm.  As a result, I usually have an umbrella handy in the car or in my canvas tote work bag.

This past week, I came home with a wet umbrella...but NOT from rain.  It was wet as a result of my water bottle opening up inside my workbag...and drenching everything inside, including the closed up umbrella! So, I opened  up the umbrella inside the house to let it dry overnight.

As many of you know, we have two OLD cats, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, better known as Tinker and Pete.
Most cats love to hide "under" things, so it was only natural that I found both of them fascinated with the umbrella.

Tinker was especially infatuated with being under it...Pete was happy to be "near by"....

Hot August Nights and Days!

Early in August, we celebrated my hubby's birthday, with dinner on the 4th at home,

AND at Joe's Real BBQ on the 5th!

  Landon and Cailyn were impressed with the big tractor in the middle of the restaurant!

 Our children were all in attendance,
plus our long-time dear friends, Mike and Doddy McFadden surprised Vince and helped us celebrate!

They even brought a special sign for the occasion....




"Happy Birthday" in Italian!

The following weekend, we were able to help Mike and Corissa with their children since Corissa was in the hospital after major surgery on her back.  We had a full day of FUN, starting out in the morning with playtime in the backyard sprinkler...

 followed by indoor FUN with toys and lunch, PLUS the "surprise" new sleeping bags we bought so that a "naptime" might be more of a possibility....It was a nice thought...Cailyn is old enough to understand "quiet time", but Landon, not so much! ;-) His little body never stopped wiggling...Mimi was even "pretending" to sleep between them on the floor, to no avail!

 We baked cookies before going out to play in the sprinklers...Grandpa had to finish the baking process when the children decided water play outdoors sounded more enticing than coloring pictures, playing with cars, while waiting for cookies to bake. Once the first cookie tasting was completed, then moving on to the sprinklers seemed like a great idea!  I don't blame them! ;-)

Landon playing a number game with Grandpa...after "nap time"!

Cailyn playing "Jenga" with Aunt Alissa! Uncle Alan and Aunt Alissa came late afternoon as "reinforcements"... 

to play with their niece and nephew while Mimi cooked dinner for everyone!

We are half way through August...the hot august days and nights continue....