07.15.2011: Family Weekend in Riverside

The family converged on Riverside for the weekend...sans Kenny :(  Booooo.  We were trying to escape the heat, visit with Gramma & Papa, and introduce Avery to some of the other family members.  Standard procedure...when we get in, the kids hit the pool!  It was still warm-ish out....so they took advantage after a 5 hour ride through the desert.  Yukon even got in on the action....reclaiming his youth!  Poor Yukon, could barely walk after that long ride, but did not miss an opportunity to get in that pool!  I think he liked the weightless feeling he got being in there :)  He even did his very non-doglike swimming underwater.  Amazes me everytime I see it.  So, the kids swam, we had some drinks and caught up on life.  Oh, then we had Albertos....the Friday night special! :)

Yes, Avery bathes in the sink...and loves it!  Spa de Avery :)  She is soooooo content & cozy in there....it is hilarious!  Wonder if she will still fit the next time she is there??!!  She liked checking herself out in the mirror too.

For Mom & Dad's anniversary, the big 35, they recieved a brand new 70" flat screen tv.  Brent took the opportunity to install it that evening.  It would have taken a normal person all day to do that, but took Brent probably less than an hour.  He is a pro after all....no, really, he is!  For whatever reason I failed to take a picture of the finished product.  Damn!  It looks AMAZING!!!!  It is gigantic!!!

07.09.2011: Dinner with the Hearns

Greg was in town from New York on vacation for a week staying with us.  Eric, Karissa & girls invited us over for dinner so they could visit with him for a while.  Jan & Glenn dropped in on their way to another party.  It was a fun fun night visiting with the family!

07.05.2011: The Haboob

Haboob:  a type of intense duststorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world.

Unless you have lived in the Middle East, you probably dont know what a Haboob is.  We sure didn't!  But that didn't stop us from encountering one.  This evening we (definitely I) experienced my first haboob....it was amazing!!  We saw a "breaking news" flash in the middle of the show we were watching announcing that a huge dust cloud was hitting the valley from the south.  It was about 6pm, and we ran outside to see if we could see any dust coming our way.  When we got out there, this is what we saw.  Now remember that normally this time of year at 6pm it is still 100% bright outside.  It was literally a wall of black coming at us.  So, of course, ran to get the camera....  It was moving fast, because within just a few seconds we were being hit with dust from everywhere...so we ran back inside.  We could hear & see the dust coming in through the edges of the doors.  It became completely black outside, and you could barely see a few feet in front of you.  It was crazy....and lasted for a quite a while because it never got light out again.  Turns out the haboob was 1 mile high & 60 miles wide.  AMAZING!  The next day when we woke up everything was covered in this super fine dust.  Everything was brown.  The air was terrible, the streets were all brown & you couldn't even see the lane lines on the streets or freeways.  All the plants were brown & covered in dust.  Doors, windows, outdoor furniture, etc.  Usually when we have dust storms, they are followed with rain which washes most of it away....not this time.  Lets just say the car wash business was booming the next day!

This last picture isn't mine, but gives you a good idea of the magnitude of this haboob that hit the valley.

07.03.2011: Birthday Dinner and Flaming Ice Cream

After all day swimming we went inside for relief from the sun, dinner and ice cream!  The kids got into their comfies right away, as that is the best part of coming inside!  We kept it simple with burgers & hot dogs....since it is 4th of July weekend and what is more all American than that!!??  For dessert, Alisa brought all the fixings for an "ice cream bar".  Waffles cones, ice cream, toppings, syrups, etc.  Kids loved making their own creations.  For Andrew we put some candles on his & sang Happy Birthday to him.  Alisa thought it was time for him to have "fun" candles...like the kind that don't blow out and flame up and sparkle.  Honestly after a few tries of unsuccessfully blowing them out, I thought the house was gonna catch on fire!!  We ended the day with a nice monsoon!  The skies quickly got dark and it started raining on us.  Of course right around the time everyone was going to pack it up and leave....it rains on them!  Oh well, just water and we all welcomed it lovingly!  Everyone had a good time, but the sun of the day was draining!!!  I know we all slept well that night!!

These guys (and girl) love this chair.  If Vince is in it, so are all the kids.  If he is not in it...they ususally are all anyways!  Soon, Avery will be up in this mix.  Time to get a bigger chair??  Naaaaa...they love being all cozy.

Wiped out!

Silly faces!

Loved the gift receipt!

Ice Cream Bar

Yes, those are flames !!!

Storm is a coming!!!

07.03.2011: Andrew's 7th Birthday Swim Party

Cannot believe that Andrew is 7!!!  I swear he was just born a few days ago and was first nicknamed "little piggy". Although he has grown up so much, he will always be Piggy to us!!  Kerry, Jason and the girls came to visit for the weekend....as well as Mom & Dad....and Kenny!  Brent and Alisa had a full house!!  Sat night we all went over to their house for some Ribs and Mac&Cheese.  Delish!!  On Sunday, we had Andrew's birthday party at our place and did an all day swim party at the pool.  We are lacking in shade, so brought out a pop-up and basically took over the entire pool with our group!  We had a BLAST!  A volleyball game was played, although it was more like a beanball game.  The babies all had a great time.  They girls in their floaties...of which Sophia LOVED and almost fell asleep in.  Gracie was happier being held!  Avery even got into the action and took a little dip in the pool.  Not bad for a 1 month old :)  Teach them young!  As you can see from all the pool pics...everyone enjoyed the water on this very very warm AZ day (ok, just a cool 108!!).  There were many drinks that were drunk, and many sunburns that were created!