Elena's Birthday Party

Elena is so pumped to be double digits now.
We had a real fun party for her.
The kids were so funny. We played the big bad wolf
and I have never heard girls scream so loud and
run so fast. They just loved getting freaked out.
I'm finally getting the hang of throwing a great bash
after all these years. Just don't ask about Elena's 2 year birthday,
because I'm pretty sure thats the one I FORGOT! :) BAD



This is one of the dresses Elena got for her birthday.
The birmingham coat factory at mills mall had some steal
deals on cutesy fruffy dresses but I had to search for a
long time. THis one she's wearing was 8 dollars!
Crinolins and all!



Decorating cupcakes is messy business.
but fun



Elena loves reading Beverly Cleary books.
So we went to Bookmans and bought a whole load for real cheap.
I love that place! She was absolutely thrilled about it.
Happy 10 year birthday Elena,
what on earth would I do without her!

Back yard pool

We now have a swimming pool
in our back yard. So come on
over for a dip :}
Hopefully this rain stops
before my sister comes next
week!

Musical fun

This is a song we are learning to play in orchestra. When we finally get it right it will be a knock your socks off number. This recording was taken from the M and C soundtrack. And well you are looking at Russel Crowe :) consider that he learned to play violin for this movie and this song. He and the cellist play it together at the very end of the movie.
The whole score is actually ten minutes but this is just the fun part, we get to strum our violins like ukeleles.

When Pops comes to town!

Okay so I have been meaning to follow the advice on Addie's blog way back when about posting large pictures and it totally worked. But goodness me I didn't think it would be monster large. So anyway, I really really hate small pictures especially when they were taken with a crummy camera, such as mine. So I am going to start posting pics in monster size so you can actually see details and who is who. This is all just kind of a big experiment.

My dad came to visit for a week and we took him all over Arizona. He had such a nice break from shovelling and battling the snow.




This picture was taken at Canyon lake. It was an absolutely perfect day and I am so glad we got to do a little bit of hiking. We had a bbq with 1/4 pound black angus beef burgers. Pops totally approved.



Then we went to the ghost town in Apache Junction for ice cream. My dad was mostly interested in looking at all the old cars behind the buildings.




Then of course we took him to see the Mesa temple. We were once again fooled by the too good to be true oranges on the trees. They taste like lemons or worse. But we did find one tree that had sweet ones and picked it dry. (You are allowed, we asked.) My dad really wanted a taste of an orange right off the tree.

Probably the highlight of my dad's trip to Arizona was the Pima air and space museum. He and Dan took the whole day to tour and they absolutely loved it.



Well I sure loved having my dad here. He said him and Arlene are definetly going to retire here in AZ. I have got my high hopes way way up! Just hope he doesn't mistake the diaper cream for toothpaste next time!! ha ha ha

Its gonna take a few posts to get all the kinks worked out with this new bigger is better pictures business. If anyone has any advice for me, that would be great!!