02.2008: 3 Weeks of Fun in Phoenix

Alisa and the kids ended up staying here in AZ for 3 weeks. It was an awesome visit and we actually did quite a bit of stuff! We spent a few days at the park, went to Chuck E Cheese, Peter Piper Pizza, swam in the pool, went to feed the ducks and fish, went to the train park, fought off a few colds & coughs...oh, and ate & ate and drank & drank!

Brent and Alisa got to go on a few dates while Vince and I babysat. Brent had to go out of town twice while they were here but we helped Alisa drink thru it. One night we went thru 4 bottles of wine, and ended up in the kitchen at 2am doing the running man and various other dance moves...I only got Vince on video, but Alisa was pretty good too!! She is better at escaping the camera...

The 2am Running Man......

Here are a few random pics from the last 3 weeks.....I posted about 200 of them on the Costco website. You have to log in to view them, but it is free and you can order prints right from there. There are TONS of the kids on there....my favorite photo subjects!!! See the links on the right ------>

02.23.2008: Snow Day!!!

Since Alisa and the kids decided to stay an extra week, we wanted to take advantage of a weekend by visiting Kenny up in Flagstaff and spending a day taking the kids sledding in the snow. We all loaded up us, the kids and Yukon in a rented SUV and headed for the hills.

Saturday was absolutely picture perfect!!!! We met up with Kenny at a sled/snow park and watched as the kids enjoyed their first true snow day. Drake and Andrew had a blast!! They loved the snow....sledding...snowballs...eating it...everything!! Brianna didn't like the cold so much so didn't enjoy her day as much.



Sat night we went to dinner at Vicki & Nicole's house. Kenny made us some very delicious ribs!! It was a fun evening spending time with all of them. We played $100,000 Pyramid - the DVD edition. It was "interesting"!!! Girls vs. guys....unfortunately, the guys won. We will give them that one....next time, we wont be so easy on them.

We stayed out at Fort Tuthill which is a military recreation base. Vince gets access since he is retired, and we got a great deal! When we woke up in the morning, it was snowing outside. Not a cloud in the sky on Sat, and a no kidding snow storm on Sunday! Vince, Drake and I ventured out and made a snowman....a cute little guy, if I don't say so myself!! We had breakfast, then headed back down the hill to warmer weather! The boys were not ready to leave, but it was a bit cold, and we didn't need anymore sickys!!! The kids had such a great time, we can't wait to do it again!!!!

02.16.2008: Brianna turns TWO!!

For Brianna's second birthday, Alisa and the kids came to AZ and we had a little party for her. Despite the cool weather, we had the party at a train park. It was pretty cold when we got there, but by the afternoon it warmed up nicely. The kids enjoyed playing with the toys and rockets that we had. The big kids REALLY enjoyed playing with the rockets! The little kids chased them around the park. My friend Hope was there as well and painted faces! She gave most of the girls flowers or hearts....gave the little boys a really cool cat face....and a Charger thunderbolt for Dad!! Our Uncle Ray & Aunt Lois from North Dakota were down in AZ for the month and joined us for the party too. It was really nice seeing them again! I think Nana had a really good birthday and loved the singing of the Happy Birthday part! For the next 3 weeks, we heard "Happy Birthday" to everyone! :)

2.16.2008: Wiiiiiiiiiiiii

After Brianna's Birthday at the park, we went to the Kennedy's house for dinner and a little video game fun! They have he Wiiiii and they have Rock Band!! Obviously everyone has heard of the Wiii, but most don't know about "Rock Band"!! Both were a blast....for me, I watched and took pics....but everyone else participated!

Wiiii Bowling:














Mom and Brent had a little one-on-one tennis match....I think that is what they were playing. If you can see this video, you might doubt they were both playing the same game. I have a few of these....all about the same! :) Maybe I need to give Mom a few tennis lessons someday! :)




Vince and Bill grilling.....well, Vince grilling and Bill drinking :)

Then, after dinner everyone moved on to Rock Band! Very cool little game! 3 people can play....a drummer, a guitarist, and a singer. There are pre-loaded songs to pick from....point is to try to get thru a song, hitting all the right notes. It is hilarious!!!! Again, very interesting to watch. Although I don't think anyone will be signing any record deals in the near future, it is a great game to play in the privacy of your living room!

02.03.2008: Superbowl Weekend in AZ

For Superbowl weekend, Mom & Dad and Brad & Lenor drove out to AZ...seeing as how the Superbowl was in Phoenix this year. We were glad to have them join us to celebrate! Friday night, Vince, Brent and I went to downtown Scottsdale to check out the festivities. ESPN was broadcasting live from there and we got to watch Keyshawn, Stuart and crew in action! It was actually really cool... Had a few drinks there waiting for the rest of the group to roll in to town. Around 11pm they showed up, and we pre-partied at my house getting primed up for some action at the famous 92nd Street Bar. We headed down there for some drinking, dancing, and singing. Brent was in rare form in all 3 categories. Vince coaxed Brad out to the dance floor while singing "Beat It". We all know Brad can't sit still during a little Michael Jackson!! As you can see from the pics, fun was had by all!!

After a morning of recovery, we took the folks to downtown Scottsdale to check out the ESPN booths, and buy some NFL merchadise. We met the Kennedys for lunch then took a well overdue and much needed afternoon nap. We headed to the FBR Birds Nest that night for some more partying. Metalhead was playing in concert....an 80's coverband that had us all singing along. While we weren't excited about the beer selections, we still had a great time.

Superbowl Sunday was spent mostly at home. Vince made his ribs and we ate, and ate, and ate! It was a really good game, but I was personally disappointed with the winner. We started and ended the day at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch hoping to spot some of the celebs that were all staying there. We don't think we saw any, but who knows!! We still had a great time walking around, drinking even more, and just chilling and chatting.

All in all, it was a great weekend and we were all partied out! It took most of us a week or so to recover, and someone was told by his doctor that he couldn't come out to play with us anymore :( That says a lot!!

More Superbowl Photos:
http://www.costcophotocenter.com/share/p=48091205118849579/l=18309988/g=27685054/cobrandOid=1008/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB