Scottsdale Weekend

Jason has been a member of the Hilton

Honours program for years. Due to his

plethora of hotel stays, he has earned a

ton of points towards free rooms. We

decided to take advantage. #1 decision:

Jason and I are going to Italy & France

this summer. #2 decision: let's enjoy

the 4 day weekend our kids just had!

We headed to Scottsdale (1 1/2 hrs. away) &

started it off eating at Islands. Why not

pretend we are in Hawaii again! :0)

We had a great 2 room suite where

Ty insisted on performing his Superman

tricks (a must any time we are at a hotel).

The girls had fun using the gym equipment

to burn off the chocolate shakes they enjoyed

at Islands. The hotel had an evening reception

with goodies to eat and free Shirley Temples...

not to mention the delicious cook-to-

order breakfast! Yum!!!

The main reason we came was to enjoy the

nice weather (which wasn't so nice) and

the pool. Ty was a little fish the whole

time while Jason and I enjoyed the hot tub!

It made for a great little getaway!

Basketball, anyone?

Ty asked for a basketball hoop for his birthday.

While my parents were here, we bought him one.

My mom and I played with the kids for

2 hrs. the first day. Jason and my dad

played for all of 15 minutes the next day and...

Jason managed to break his foot! This picture

was taken the day it happened (Easter Sunday).

Bad timing...then again, when isn't a broken

foot bad timing? I'll have to get some pictures

of him on his crutches (which he is ready to chuck

out the window). Only 4 1/2 more weeks on those

bad boys! Fun, fun, fun! I think he'll sit out

the next game or two. Poor Jason! :0(

Katniss lives here!

Many of you may have guessed from my
daughters birthday wish list that we have
come to love, adore, and daydream about
the book Hunger Games! My parents,
my siblings, my husband, my nephews, &
my children are all enthralled with this series!

I promise not to give anything away in this post!
My #1 rule for reading this book:
Do not read the synopsis! The less
you know about the book before you start
reading, the better! I went in open minded
and I was swept away and IN LOVE!!!
I will tell you that the main character is
named Katniss and she is awesome! Summer
has know devoted many hours to creating
survival games to play with her cousins this
summer at Grammy and Pops Camp (my
parents take all the grandkids for a week during
the summer and spoil them rotten).
Her planning has led to fires being
built in our front yard to archery
lessons for Family Home Evening!

My kids are actually getting along....

and it's all thanks to Katniss (I mean Summer).
Go get the book and dive in....
then read Catching Fire (book 2)!
You won't be disappointed!!!

One more night!

For those of you who know me, you
know that my birthday doesn't just
encompass one day, but the entire month
of September. One day is too fast! :0)
Well, we extended Summer's birthday today!

We went to an adorable 50's diner!
We have driven past, but have never stopped
before. I'm so glad we did!!! Cute decor,
yummy burgers, and even better REAL shakes!

We always love it when Savanah joins us. She
is such a sweet girl and she teaches me a thing
or two about being polite (she's a Texan)! :0)

Our favorite part of eating there was that you
get to mark off your order on your own notepad.
The kids thought that was the coolest thing ever!
When in our neck of the woods, eat at Bings!!!
and KFC, of course :0)

the 'teen' years

After an entire day away from her family
(school and track until 6pm), we were able to
enjoy some time with our teenager! Syd and
Ty decorated a cake for her and Summer
had requested tacos for her birthday dinner.

We should have never taught Ty the face-in-the-
cake trick. He thinks he is sooo cleaver. Don't
tell him that Summer was playing along. ;0)

Then he insisted that Summer do it
to him....big surprise there!

Another huge surprise....Sydney followed
their lead and became the messiest by far!

Summer's 2 birthday requests
1. A bow and arrow set
2. A unicycle

As you can see, she got her unicycle.
Truth is, she bought it for herself with the $100
her grandparents gave her....
I'll post about that later.

As for her #1 request, will she get the
bow and arrow? Who knows since the present from
her parents hasn't arrived in the mail yet!
Arrgghhh! Sometimes online shopping stinks!!!

Happy Birthday, Summer!!!

Easter EGG Hunt

The Easter Bunny knows his stuff!
He hides hard boiled eggs throughout the
family room and the kids have fun searching
for the hidden eggs. Fun, right!?!

Then you invite my mom to the party.
She hides better than the bunny,

and the loot is a lot better than
hard boiled eggs! MUCH BETTER!

Her grandkids are spoiled rotten!
Who else hides $10 bills in eggs?
Just my crazy, adorable mother! :0)

Thanks Grammy and Pops!!!!

Easter...Sedona Style!

Happy Easter from the Stewarts and the Fosters!
My parents have been good sports while here.
Yesterday we went to Sedona's Easter Egg Hunt.
I LOVE this picture of my dad and Jason giving
Ty a pep talk and back rub before the hunt started.
Ty was definitely well prepped! :0)

He loved the bouncy houses,....

the hay ride,....

and spending time with his goofy sisters!

Sedona Firefighters are always available
to entertain and educate my kids.
We sure do love our firefighters!!!

Nothing beats the views in our town!
We had a great day!!!

Golf, anyone?

It's Easter weekend and my parents have come
to visit. As always, Jason insists my dad goes golfing.

My mom and I took the kids on a walk/hike
down our street and ended up on the golf
course to watch the men on their last 2 holes.

My dad ended up winning....but the kids didn't care
about who was winning or losing. The excitement
lies somewhere else. Let's just say 'Zoom'! :0)

Summer and Sydney had fun fighting over the
golf cart. I must say I was much more impressed
with Summer behind the wheel of one of these little
beauties. To make a long story short, when we
rented the Jeep last year, we allowed her to drive....
or try to drive. Luckily we were in neutral because
she slammed on the gas thinking it was the break.
BLOND DRIVER!
As I said, she made up for it today....even though her
left foot was resting on the break the whole time.

Scary that her driving days are exactly
3 years and 6 days away! Help me!!!!

I am so glad that my adorable parents
are here to play with me! Yay!!!