A Day At The Train Park

Since most of us were recovering from the Friday event, we weren't up to doing too much on Saturday. SOME OF US took the kids to McCormick Ranch Railroad Park during the day to ride the train, play on the jungle gyms, and just run around in the grass. Others chose to relax, recover, shop, etc....














Unfortuantely it was kinda humid out and we even got a little rain in the afternoon. Kids seemed to enjoy it all though. Just a few pics from the day....



















That night we went to dinner at Pinnacle Peak Patio & Steakhouse. Kids liked the western theme, the rattlesnakes in the cage, the wierd balloon guy, the all-around wierd atmosphere, etc. Mom liked her well done "boot" and we kids liked our home brewed "root" beer (still recovering from the night before). Then we headed over to the Kennedy's house to watch the Liddell UFC fight.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend!!!!

We had a TON of fun and are extremely proud of little brother Kenny for becoming a police officer!! Keep us safe, while staying safe yourself. WE LOVE YOU KEN!

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to come out, Mom and Dad for helping organize (and pay for) it all, Vince for being my assistant (heehee), and most importantly, to everyone for providing constant entertainment and wonderful things for me to take pictures of!!!! THANKS!!!
Enjoy the blogs and all the pics (links on the right). Hope you all had as much fun as I did!

SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SOON!!!!

After Party Karaoke

For those that were still standing at the end of the day (the group had dwindled by then!), we went down the street to 92nd Street Bar & Grill for more beverages as well as a little karaoke for those that love to sing!

All it took was a little alcohol and we had many more peeps who "loved" to sing than we did when we first got there...ie, Jason, Scott, Brad, Alisa, Brent, Eric, Stephanie, and ME. I think Vince was the only "singer" in the group when we actually got there! (Maybe the only real singer when we left too, but you would have never know it for those few hours!!)

Once the party got started, everyone threw their inhibitions out the door, and joined in.

The group songs: Pour Some Sugar On Me, Shot Through The Heart, Sweet Home Alabama (or California or Arizona!), I Will Survive...the list goes on!

Brent soloed with Whiskey Girl, Scott soloed with Rock Your Body, Vince had many solos (since he had done this a few times before!), and Jason had a few duets with the boys! Kenny & Nicole seemed to disappear as soon as Kenny's name got put on the list! Hmmmm....next time!

Brad, in classic form once again as soon as they started playing some Michael Jackson. Those Sparks know their Michael moves!!!!!! All the boys joined in on it!

As you can see from the pictures, we were a little outta control, and closed the place down. We probably would have stayed until sun-up if allowed. Another great evening!!!!!! That will be another talked about for a long time!

Graduation Ceremony Reception

After a day of ceremonies, we needed to celebrate!!!!














We had a reception/party for Kenny at the clubhouse to my condo complex. We had spent the day decorating with posters, Police Caution Tape, toys, action figures, etc.














After a round of pictures, we ate dinner and had a few beverages. Vince and I presented Kenny with a few mementos that he can remember the academy by as well as his time here in Phx. Also, a few things he might need in the first few weeks of being an officer:














* 50 Pens - since he doesn't have to worry about losing his one and only assigned to him at the academy anymore!
* Coffee and Donuts - Hmmm...I think we all know why!
* Dental Floss - his nickname was "Smiles"
* Shoe Polish - he had a little problem keeping his boots extra shiny!
* Sketch Pad and Erasable Crayons - to practice drawing crime scenes
* Mini Boxing Gloves & a New Boxing Partner(Andrew) - although he didn't get to keep him!




















Kenny also got to practice drawing a chalk body. Scottie "volunteered" to be the dead body, and I think Kenny drew a pretty accurate picture of him!!! Then Andrew wanted Kenny to "do me" him too! Very cute!














It was a great evening, and I know Kenny is glad to be done and also very thankful to those that were able to make it out for the event!!

WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU KENNY!!!!

Friday Sept 21st - Police Academy Graduation

Friday, September 21, 2007 at 5pm, Kenneth Robert Durbin received his official badge (Officer #72), and was pinned by his Dad, Ralph.

The evening ceremony took place in downtown Phoenix at the Phoenix Preparatory Academy Auditorium. Kenny's Sargent gave a speech, and Kenny received his official badge from a lieutenant from the Flagstaff PD. Dad went up to pin it on him, and I got to go up to take the pics! :)

It was a nice and quick ceremony!! :)

Kenny is officially done with the academy and is now a police officer for Flagstaff PD!!!

Friday Sept 21st - Police Academy Graduation

Friday, September 21, 2007 at 8am, Kenneth Robert Durbin was sworn in as a Police Officer of the City of Flagstaff, AZ.

The swearing in ceremony took place at the Phoenix Police Academy aka Arizona Law Enforcement Academy (ALEA). Kenny was a flag carrier & holder, which opened the ceremony. He looked so grown up and serious! :)

It was a nice ceremony. A judge came out at swore in all the officers. There were about 46 in Kenny's class. The ceremony lasted about 30 mins, then we got to take a tour of the academy, and then hear his sargent & training officers speak. It was neat to see and hear.

We have been hearing all kinds of stories for the past 4 months about this place!!

RIVERSIDE WEEKEND VISIT

On Sat, we woke up and drove with Alisa and the kids to Riverside. They were angels the whole way there. Only had to stop twice to relieve Andrew's baby bladder....which wasn't bad because we all needed to as well! It was a nice drive, and went by pretty fast!

When we got there, Dad was working on getting his new kegorator working. All put together, and no beer coming out. It probably had something to do with all the extra leftover parts sitting on the table :) So, after Vince and I took it apart and reassembled, the beer flowed nice and smooth!!! And believe me, we were all ready for it!!! :) It was not a simple task to put that thing together! That first beer was a good one!

Sunday, some of the family came over and we got to visit with them....as well as watch the Chargers lose their Sun night game. Ahhhh, gonna be a long season.

We drove down to the beach one day, but spent most of the time and Mom and Dad's house because it was so nice and relaxing. Vince and I stayed until Weds morning, when we drove back to AZ to get ready for the party weekend. It was a great time in Riverside and the cool weather was really, really nice!!!

Friday - A TOUR OF THE DESERT

Friday we decided we were going to all go look at different areas & potential houses for Brent and Alisa....for when they move here! :)

So we got our daily morning Starbucks, and headed out to the South East side of town. We mainly looked out in Queen Creek area, but now have decided that might be too far out. We found some really nice basement houses (ie, houses with basements..haha!) Those were amazing!!!! Makes me want to move there too! Then we looked at just regular houses, and those weren't nearly as exciting but I guess more practical (who really needs 7 bedrooms, a theater room, bonus/party room, and 6,600 sq ft....right?) Hmmmm....

Anyways, that was most of our day, since we decided to take the very, very, very long way home.

We played in the pool that afternoon, and ate Chinese takeout for dinner. Tried to get the kids to bed early since we drove to Cali the next day. We wanted them in good moods for that 4 1/2 hour drive!!

Another pretty good day! Athough, any day with the family in town is a good day! :)

Thursday - ALL ABOUT THE KIDS

Alisa and the kids came into town Weds morning and the fun began quickly!! Well, we gave them a few hours to recoup from the long 2 hour flight :) We just hung around the house on Weds, and Kenny came over for dinner. Vince BBQ'd and we just relaxed and caught up with each other.

Thursday morning we got our daily dose of Starbucks and went for a drive. We ended up at Grayhawk Golf Club where the kids were able to feed the fish and ducks in the little lake they have. These are the most aggressive fish I have EVER seen!!! Unfortunately, for one of the first times in history, I actually DIDN'T have my camera with me!! The fish came out of the water, flopping on the shore, to reach the food. Thank goodness the kids didn't fall in....they couldn't been fish food that day! The kids couldn't get enough of it all! We had a yummy lunch there and then went home for some naps.

That afternoon, we picked up Drake, Vince's son, and drove out to the "westside". We started at Luke Air Force Base and watched the jets take off, do flips in the air and land. Andrew seemed to really like that...more planes than he could handle!

Then we headed over to Cabela's to go on the fish and stuffed animal tour! Lots of catfish! All the kids loved spending time there, and it was an easy (and cheap) form of entertainment!!

After dinner at Yard House at the new Westgate outdoor mall (right by the new Cardinal Stadium) we let the kids run around in the water feature thing they have. They LOVE those things!!!

We had a great, and very long day!!!