Grizzly Basketball

For the past two years Harrison has had one goal: make the junior high basketball team.  Anyone who lives near us will tell you that he spends all day every day shooting baskets in the driveway.  Most of the kids around here have been playing with the same rec or club teams since they were very young.  That put him at a disadvantage for sure.  The first day of tryouts, most of the kids vomited from exhaustion.  Harrison prided himself on not vomiting at all.  Woohoo!  His hard work paid off and his dream came true!

The grizzlies had a rough season, but they learned a lot and had some great wins.

It's a funny time of life for these boys.  Being tall goes a long way in middle school basketball, but you could easily be one of the shorter kids the next year.  Ah, puberty!

It should be noted that Harrison absolutely hates these pictures of him.  

We're so proud of him for working so hard and reaching his goals.  

A Cold Day at the Arboretum

Jeff's parents are here visiting and we're having so much fun exploring Arizona and doing lots of stuff where you walk and learn.  Yesterday Jeff and I joined them at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It was super cold on the mountain that day.  (Like sleeting on our faces cold.)  That didn't stop us from taking a two hour tour with Clyde and some couple from Iowa.  I decided all my pictures looked best in black and white.

This is before it was sleeting and we were all cold.  Jeff and Pops were feeling pretty good about themselves.

Patti looking like a teenager.

Pops and I called dibs on the umbrellas.  No shame.

This is Jeff's "You can take a picture of me, but I'm not going to look happy" face.  Adorable.

This is his "Clyde just got super excited about a bird again" face.

There were some pretty spectacular views along the way.

I was so happy for Jeff to get to spend some one on one time with his parents.  Except I was there, too, so not exactly one on one.  Also, there are two of them, so . . . nevermind.

The arboretum was founded by Colonel William Boyce Thompson.  He built this house for his New York socialite wife, Gwendolyn.  She hated it and the desert.  The end.

I mean how cute are they?

Answer: so cute!

Maybe someday Jeff and I will be that cute.  #goals

Boney Bash 2015

A few days after Christmas, my sister, Allyn, and her family of nine drove all the way from Virginia to visit us.  They're so adventurous!

Our kids were so happy to have cousins to play with all the livelong day.

Denham totally knows his way around a kitchen.  Most impressive.

Adam got Settlers of Catan for Christmas, so the kids showed the Boneys how to play.  It looked painful.

We took them to the Superstition Mountain Museum for some historical funtimes.  Everyone spun a wheel to try and win a ride on this donkey.

Lilja was the big winner!

I think she's engaged to this old dude now.

They're going to live happily ever after.

This place had everything!

I spend most of my day alone, so being a part of this parade was a real treat.

Allyn and Aron are so game for anything.  It's truly inspiring.

Cutest crew on the mountain!

Lilja may hate me for this, but she obviously did this because she knew she was on camera so that's on her.

Harrison thought these two little boys were the coolest kids, ever.  

Just the girls!  (Because the boys ran ahead to try and win another burro ride.)

Aron and the girls.  Happy times at the ghost town.

Everyone was standing together so I asked if I could get a picture.  Then that old man got in the picture and it was perfect.  See that Elvis chapel in the background?  It's pretty creepy on the inside, but awfully adorable on the outside.

Later that afternoon we took everyone to Organ Stop Pizza.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it very much.  Here the organist is playing the song Harrison requested: The Indiana Jones Theme.  

After pizza we went to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights.  We only got separated three times.

These boys.  Can't you just see the mischief in their eyes?  

This is one of my favorite pictures, ever.  Don't know why.  I just love it.

And this is my new favorite picture of Allyn.  She looks like a sparkling diamond.

After Christmas lights we headed to Bahama Bucks for some shaved ice.  Aron filled up a punch card in one visit.  Nice.

That night the kids warmed up in the hot tub and then dared each other to jump in the pool.  There was a lot of happy screaming involved.  

The next day, the Boneys headed to downtown Phoenix to find the fun.  (Spoiler alert: there isn't any.)  The house seemed deathly quiet and my kids were so bored.  We were so happy when they came back and we could have a fun house again.

Thank you so much for driving all the way here and for making our holidays merry and bright!  And thanks for going halfsies on that 40lb bag of oranges.

Oh Christmastime, Oh Christmastime

We enjoyed another wonderful Christmas season in Arizona.  All the fun and none of the cold.  Yes, please!  The kids loved doing the countdown chain every day and we had plenty of activities to keep us in the Christmas spirit.

The kids had fun making and delivering treats to our new neighbors who all said, "Thanks!  Wait-who are you?"

The lights at the Mesa Temple are always a hit.  We didn't lose each other once!

Update: Jeff is still very handsome.

Update: Harrison still has one sweatshirt.

We all enjoyed Christmas morning in our Star Wars pajamas.  Santa brought Harrison "Star Wars Battlefront" for the Xbox and Jeff got all of the Star Wars movies, so that's what we did all week.

Santa brought Jeff a suit! Now he can drink Nespresso with George Clooney and Danny Devito.  But not really.  He's Mormon.

Santa brought Chloe this adorable Instax Mini 8 in raspberry.  The learning curve on this thing is steep and expensive, but I think we've figured it out.

Santa brought Miles a watch and a jacket that zips up over your face.  Now he can commit the perfect crime.

We had a little fun with the wrapping this year.

Harrison knows Miles so well.  This came with gloves, of course.  

Everyone knows Chloe well.  She's finished half of these already.

Jeff's parents gave us Rock Band and so far the tour is going well.  I think we play Milwaukee next.

Santa was kind enough to bring me a new camera and I'm so grateful.  It's already made a huge difference in my photos.  December was a busy month for my photography business, so that added a new dimension to the season.  It was so fun to get Christmas cards from some of my clients and see my work in print!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!