Desert Hiking

We have a tradition of going on a hike the day after Thanksgiving. It is a great way to not go shopping and get out into nature to appreciate the good things in life. This year Grandad chose a good challenge for us, near mile marker 31 down by the Salt River (past Bulldog and just before you get to Saguaro Lake). Loyd and his boys came and were up to the challenge as well. This was quite a steep climb with falling rocks and cactus around every turn.

After eating our snacks on the top of the mountain, we chose the easy way down,.....sliding.

Oh, I forgot, the first part of the hike was walking across the Salt River. Some of us brought our water shoes so the rest of the hike wouldn't be soggy. I thought this was so cute of David helping Amy across the river.

Usually the Salt River is much higher than this. I have tubbed down this river several times as a kid with all the drunkards. It was quite an education.

Cody didn't want to get his shoes wet, so Grandad carried him. Thankgoodness for Grandad, or Indiana Jones. (Dont' you think he looks like Indiana?)

All in all, it was a great hike and we can't wait till the Christmas hike.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day started out bright and early with the Mi Amigo's Turkey Trot. It was just 2 miles. My friend, Angela, ran with me and David joined the challenge. This was the last leg of the race and I threw my head back to do the "Chariot's of Fire" run to the finish.

After the race, we had our big Thanksgiving dinner at noon at our house and 35 of David's Aunts, Uncles, and cousins joined us. Sadly, I'm still looking for photos of the event. We had tons of food, games, prizes and lots of visiting. No movies this time.

We Love Our Veterans

We wanted to honor our Veterans on this Veteran's Day so we went to the Mesa Veteran's Day Parade on 11/11/08 that started at 11:11am. We waved, clapped and hooorahed all those who have served our great country that live in the Valley. It's a good feeling to say "Thank You" to our Veteran's while they wave and say "You're Welcome!"

While the kids mostly complained, but later admitted to having a good time, I got a little teary eyed when I noticed where we chose to sit down to watch the parade. If you look at the red balloon, you will see the steeple to the "Ice Cream Church" that was the ward building of the old 5th ward where my family attended when I was little.The picture below is taken to the right of us. It is the Heritage Academy School that was an old church built by David's Grandpa Potts. As you can see, we sat in a very special place in good old Mesa and we had a good time. Next we went to Subway for lunch, Cody went to a friend's house, and the girls and I shopped. We got some good deals too.

Trick Or Treat

These are my crazy kids that are growing up way too fast. They had a lot of fun dressing up for Halloween and collecting tons of candy. So much sugar was consumed that Code Man was sick today and stayed home from school. Pathetic.

Trick or Treat Bags

Trick or treat bags are so fun to make. We should really decorate these more. They were $4.50 on sale at the store and they are FREE at my house!

I'm Melting!

Shellbell and I made this witch costume today. She didn't want to model it on herself just yet. The striped stockings are my favorite part because it is a short dress and so the stockings cover up just the right amount of leg. (Amy told me to write that.) The total price of the outfit was around $20, the most expensive costume I've made in a long time. The hat and stockings were %60 off at JoAnn Fabrics. They had some good stuff this week.

Poodle Skirt

This is Mini Zo's Halloween costome this year. It is the easiest 30 minute costume. We even used the glue gun. The black neck scarf was $2 on clearance at Target. Total cost $13. The poodle was the big cost of $5.
This pattern is a hand me down from Nonna. The date on it is 1986. You gotta love that.