And the fun keeps comin'!

GiRLs DaY!

My sisters, mom, and I will usually go to lunch when I'm in town, but this time my mom suggested doing something a bit more exciting. We decided a day in Scottsdale was needed! Oo la la! I was so excited about it, that Jefferson had to tease me for looking out the window mulitple times while waiting for Shelley to pull up!

Wonder of wonders, as we were walking into the restaurant, we noticed little puffs of snow falling out of the sky. We couldn't believe it was snow, so we had to stop and examine it. Yup, snow in Scottsdale. I just can't get away from it!

We {dined} at the Grand Lux, thoroughly enjoying our fare, prefaced with a plate of french fries dipped in their yummy ranch. We kept asking for refills on our ranch which our waiter was intrigued by. We topped it off with a molten chocolate cake and I decided right then and there I could die a happy girl. Shelley and I were most pleased by the waiter's surprise that we were married with kids! He told us we looked so young and told us to tell our husbands they were lucky men. Haha... perhaps a padded tip was being sought. :)

Then we went shopping at Scottsdale Mall.... not a place we usually go to since the average store is Barneys, Jimmy Choo, and Gucci. We drooled at the overpriced merchandise in Anthropology, then did more serious looking in H&M and Forever 21. We also decided to be our mom's fashion advisors as we picked out outfits for her to try on in Ann Taylor. She lost 30 lbs this year and is one hot mama! :) I found the cutest, pink coat at Nordstrom and I think we all walked away pleased with our purchases. Spanks DaD! :)

Well you can't leave Scottdale without a trip to SpRiNkLeS! $36 for a dozen cupcakes is reasonable, right? They were divine.... especially the naughty mocha ones :)

This day topped the {favorite} charts. It was soooo fun to be out with the girls. I love my mom and sisters!

AMaZiNg JaKeS

Two years ago, we got a gift card to Amazing Jakes (think Chuckie Cheese on steroids) from Trav's parents and this year we actually got to use it!

They have a pretty decent buffet that we filled up on, then it was off to the games and rides. Well, Collin saw this miniature basketball hoop and was hooked. Too bad it only cost $0.25 a game and we had over $10 on our game card!

Just look at that follow through... :)

We coerced him into riding the Carousel, which he LOVED, until the second he got off..... then it was, "Balls, balls, balls, balls".

Same story with the train ride....

It's fun now that he's old enough to enjoy places like this. Wish they had one in the Buff!

JuSt DaNcE!

My parents bought a Wii for Christmas, so we spent some quality time Just Dancing! So fun. I think everyone gave it a try (Casey too! Even if it was only his arm moving :) Trav and David were tearin' it up, but I think my Dad should keep his day job.... oh wait. :) There was some jumping and booty shakin' in one dance I was doing and I think everyone was ready for a baby to pop out. Not bad exercise.... we were sweatin' up a storm. 

SuShi NiGhT!

Sometimes I really just crave a California Roll. And it's good times making your own. It was a hands-on night for making dinner. Don't forget lots of Wasabi! :)

Collin preferred the homemade Panda Express orange chicken.

We are grateful for fun cousins to play with! My twin sister has two boys and Collin is right between them in age. Collin would follow Lane to the ends of the earth.... and nearly did on New Year's Eve when he followed him out into the street! Shelley had to pluck him out of the road as a car approached.

The pecking order is in full swing with those three also. One night I watched as Lane took the toy that Collin was playing with. Collin got a look of consternation on his face as he realized he wouldn't be able to get it back, so he looked to his left and sees innocent Rusty standing there, and pushed him over, with a shove of misplaced revenge. It will be interesting to see what trouble those 3 Amigos stir up as they get older.

With late nights happening more frequently, Lane and Collin had fun taking baths together at Grandma's house.

Rusty joined in a couple times too, but the bather we weren't expecting was David! On their last night, David got that well known, mischievious look on his face and off he raced down the hall toward the bathroom. We sure are grateful the shorts stayed on, and that the intrusion only lasted 30 seconds... long enough for a picture. I should have posted the pic where Rusty has a sheer look of terror on his face though. Not kosher David, not kosher.

While playing outside one day, my dad suggested starting up Craig's motorcycle and taking Collin for a spin. Oh boy, he wasn't having ANY of that! I don't know how, but after some time, he finally gave it a whirl and Trav said he didn't stop making a "vrrroom, vrroom" sound the entire time. Please no.... I don't know if I can handle sons that are as addicted to dirt bikes as my brothers!

How about that fall weather, huh?! :)

My parent's are still loving being nursery leaders in their ward so it was a treat for Collin to go to nursery with Grandma and Grandpa! Here he is with my cousin's little girl, Macy.

Here we are headed into Costa Vida on our last night in town. Sniff sniff. I believe we got to all our favorite places... Gecko Grill, Cafe Rio, Costa Vida, Neds, Panda Express, Pei Wei and In'n'Out Burger, although sadly, Sonic was missed.

I was so mad I forgot my camera on the morning we went to the Phoenix Childrens Museum! My mom was helping out with the Cub Scouts on their day trip there and invited us to come along. It was perfect! I wish they had one close to our house. Collin had a ball and didn't mind the chocolate milk and Doritos he got afterward when he was hungry and pitching a fit. We are such good parents.

My mom was so nice and kept shooing us off to be on our own so she could watch Collin. Thanks to her, we were able to spend one morning in the temple, then go out to lunch and another morning finally seeing Harry Potter #7 and then yes... going out to lunch. We also went to see Tangled with the family one night for FHE and finally saw Inception, but just at home. I'm sure I'm forgetting other fun adventures, but I guess that's to be expected when every day brought something fun! I'm not sure how I forced my legs to board the plane {home}, because it couldn't have been a better vacation. I think the only thing I wasn't sad to leave behind was the Earth First toilet paper my mom buys now :) Thank you again Mom and Dad.... it was perfect!