1.26.2009: American Idol Auditions...Kinda

SO, I went over to Brent and Alisa's one afternoon to babysit the kiddos for a few hours while Alisa ran some errands. We played quite a few games, but then the kids wanted to sing. So, we had American Idol auditions. Yes, the screwdriver is the microphone....it was all I could find close-by. Andrew started by singing Over the Rainbow, which I didn't catch on tape, which is probably a good thing. Then they both gave their version of Twinkle-Twinkle. Then Andrew made up some of his own songs after that....which I chose not to post to spare him from any potential future blackmail opportunities by someone else! Haha!!

1.25.2009: Afternoon Drive

We were feeling a little cooped up this afternoon and wanted to go for a little drive, so headed up the street to Fountain Hills...only 15 mins away! There is a little look-out point about halfway there so we pulled off to watch a hawk that was circling above us. The views were perfect and the weather was amazing! We stayed there for a while watching the hawk, and just enjoying the moment. Perfect end to a gorgeous AZ day in January!!

1.19.2009: The Good Bottle

So, Vince and I have been saving a bottle of 2003 Montes Folly for a special occasion. Well, we checked to see when it was drinking well, and found out it was NOW....so we stopped waiting for our special occasion and just picked a very random night in the middle of the week and popped that puppy open! WOW....was it worth it! The special occasion became the wine itself....and boy it was special!!! :) So, of course, as usual, we take pictures of everything!!! Had to share our non-special, special moment!

1.17.2009: Alisa's Birthday - The Videos

So, for those of you that were not at Alisa's birthday (or those of you that don't remember much of the night), I took some video of the karaoke.

No karaoke evening is complete without a little "I WILL SURVIVE". Definitely a classic girl song that MUST be sung...no, not just sung, but actually "performed" by deee-runk girls!!! You have to watch it a few times to catch each of their "performances" ;) Kenny and Scottie chime in there at the end too. So fun!!!! I am still laughing!!

Jason and Scottie doing a little Right Said Fred...."I'm Too Sexy"
Need I say more.....

I will add more in the next day or so......stay tuned!!!

1.17.2009: Alisa's 30th Birthday Party

On Sat evening, after our day in the snow, we headed to Kenny's house for a little party for Alisa to celebrate her 30th birthday!!! Yes, for those of you that didn't get the memo....Alisa is officially old....or at least as old as most of the rest of us...or at least a little closer. Finally no longer in that 20-something crowd! We 30-plus-ers accept her with open arms, and lots of alcohol to ease the pain of leaving her 20's.

Back to the party.....first off, let me say that the day was a DISASTER for the Sparks. About half way to Flagstaff, they had some car issues which put them about 5 hours behind schedule....maybe more. So, they didn't show up at Kenny's until 8pm-ish...and had a lot of catching up to do!!! (Which they all did VERY well, by the way!) The rest of us just took our time and eased into the night...paced ourselves, you might say....or not. Doesn't really matter after a while!!

The party was a TON of fun....a little recap:
- Alisa got deeee-runk!!! (As did most of the rest of us!)
- Vince taught Andrew how to do the Robot
- Drake and Andrew taught Riley how to breakdance
- Kent and Tammy came up from Phoenix for a few hours...wish they could have stayed longer!
- Everyone sang....as usual!!!
- Spark boys did their best Michael Jackson impressions
- Scottie and Jason sang a duet...."I'm Too Sexy"....yes, you can all imagine!
- Brad sang & danced at the same time, to MJ of course :)
- We made some obligatory midnight phone calls to those who didn't make it...waking them up with some wonderful singing...and now will probably never take our calls again
- Alisa sang....a lot...not bad...just a lot! Heehee! ;) --- Videos in the next post!
- There were toasts, and toasts, and just more reasons to drink in general
- It was Martini night....best ever Cosmos, best ever Orange-tinis, a few other experimental drinks that I probably wont make again
- Dad sang a lot....had to hide the Mic from him after a while!
- Kids crashed late, and slept while we partied into the weeee hours of the am
- Amanda and Leonor were double-fisting their drinks most of the night to catch up!
- Basically....we danced, we sang, we drank......as we always do at these little get togethers! ;)
- I took pics and video of it all....for posterity, or blackmail, or something in between

Enjoy the pics....they tell most of the story of the night....the ones not fit for the blog are on the Kodak link: Alisa's Birthday Weekend in Flagstaff Pics

1.17.2009: Snow Day in Flagstaff

On Sat, we all drove up to Flagstaff for a short weekend of snow & party. This was Alisa's birthday weekend (the big 30!!!!) so we hit the road and visited Uncle Ken for something a little different. Mom, Dad, Brad, Lenor, Scottie, Amanda, Riley, Jason, Kerry, Kent and Tammy all decided to meet us up there for a little snow-fun!! Vince got us rooms at Fort Tuthill, and while we waited for the whole group to show, we took the kids out to the play area for some snow. Unfortunately, there wasn't really enough for a full snow/sled day....but I think we all got our fill of the snow and cold in the time we were there. It was a blast....just enough to wear us out and get us in the mood for a tasty cocktail that evening!!!!

Some pics from our day in the snow.......

01.11.2009: The Puppies