Happy Birthday to me (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)

Ryan surprised me with tickets to U2 for my birthday!

We had a blast, and here's my professional opinion and critique.

We saw U2 in Utah a few years ago and loved every minute of it. It was so sweet of Ryan to try to recreate that experience!

We started off with some local Sushi at a quick place down the street and were out of there by 6:30. The concert was in Glendale (about 50 miles away.) We figured it wouldn't hurt to miss a few minutes of the Black Eyed Peas. We saw them open for No Doubt in Vegas YEARS ago when I was prego with Ainsley. They're not my fave.

So off we left. No joke, the traffic was HORRIBLE TERRIBLE AWFUL. Ryan was starting to stress our at about 9:00 when we were still on the road. And people were not taking to heart the U2 lyrics on Beautiful Day when he talks about the traffic is stuck and you're not moving anywhere. Because they were not treating it like a beautiful day.

We got close to the stadium (Yes, I said stadium) and there was a huge sign that said PARKING $20. Are you kidding me? Ryan looked at me and asked, "How much money do you have?" $10. We are screwed! There was no turning back, though. Seriously. You couldn't move anywhere. I was about to offer the attendant my earrings or camera when we heard the best news yet. The lot was FULL! So they let us park with the limos in the $50 lot for free!

We walked in and (of course) had to take a potty break. I was laughing at the passed out girls getting medical attention in the corridor to the bathroom. Whoa!

We finally made it to our seats (Awesome ones, too! Thanks babe!) RIGHT INT TIME for U2 to come out. We missed not a thing. it was 9:20 pm. Everyone around us was already TOTALLY drunk and my camera ran out of batteries or I would have video taped some awesome dancing for you. :)

There were at least 4 times the number of people here than at the Delta Center, and it was at a stadium, so the sound was awful. Half the time Bonno was on some random key, off from the band. But it was still AMAZING!!!! Totally different thatn the little cozy concert in Salt Lake. I was in AWE at the number of people there and sound and the effects.

I learned some awsome political lessons about Iran and Burma (You know Bonno!) and loved the whole experience. I even TRIED to stay awake on the way home.

Great concert, great company!

block party 2009

We had the best block party ever this last weekend. It was over 100 degrees out, so we rented a dunk tank.

Which was also used as a front yard swimming pool.
We had a bounce house and a pinata...

Even face and body painting. And let me tell you, this was no ordinary face painting. She was GOOD! Even all the teen agers got in line.

Lots of food. Lots!

A cupcake walk and a prize walk. Bobbing for apples. Cookie decorating.

Lots of babies.

And LOTS of FUN!

Thanks to everyone for helping out! We had a blast!

Columbus Day Hike

As we were all feeling a bit jealous of the colorful leaves the rest of the country is enjoying, we followed the advice of the newspaper and set off to find our own beautiful fall landscape here in AZ. The paper suggested Globe (the Pinal mountains.) Why not? It's only an hour away.

We were a bit disappointed. No color changes. ;(


The trails we followed (per the newspaper) were overgrown to say the least. We had to leave these trail markers everywhere to remember how to get back to the car. See that brush behind the kids? We inched through that. It's a trail. haha


Of course Alexa wanted to walk most of the way. Such a big girl.

Brandon was funny. He wouldn't touch the leaves or bushes and screamed like a girl everytime Ainsley teased him about seeing a bee or a snake. He constantly kept asking us what species of animals we were going to see.

Speaking of species, I was fascinated with the piles of scat we saw everywhere, wondering what wild animals were wandering around. I settled on Javelinas, but Brandon was sure they were mountain lions. So we disected the poop with a stick. No bones or fur, just berries. Am I gross or what? I have a video, but I will spare you.

We had fun together, but I wouldn't recommend Globe to ANYONE. Maybe next year we will try Payson or somewhere else. Anyone else doing anything fun for fall break?

Who needs a dog?

Yesterday I heard Brandon telling Alexa, "If you think you can, you can do ANYTHING! Just try." So I peeked around the corner to see this. And Brandon was then saying., "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." Can I tell you how little this doggy door is? It's about 6 inches by 12 inches. I think it looks way bigger in this picture than it really is. And in case you ar wondering, Alexa wouldn't even try. :)

Also, we saw Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs on Saturday. I posted this pic because I got yelled at for taking the picture during the previews. WHATEVER! Like anyone cares during the previews. Stupid teen workers. :) "Mam, there are no flash photography pictures allowed during our films." Have any of you gotten in trouble or yelled at in a public place? My kids thought it was funny!

My baby loves the word of God

Alexa has been carrying around the scriptures all morning. I spent over 20 minutes reading them to her, with her lstening INTENTLY. Then, when it was naptime, she wanted to sleep with them. ~So sweet~

She loves reading of ANY kind. (Who could she have inherited that from? haha) Ainsley is on the 4th Harry Potter and you can find her hiding in all corners of the house trying to read without Alexa finding her. But, alas, the baby wants to be with and like her big sissy.

Now, can we get BRANDON to enjoy reading?

Constitution Fair

Washington DC was brought to Gilbert this weekend for the biggest Constitution Fair in the US. In front of the White House
At the Washington Memorial

This fair happens every year, but this is the first time we have attended. There were MANY people walking around in costume. When the kids found certain ones, they got a "constitution card." They loved meeting George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many more. The cards were used as tickets for the games, etc.

To be honest, I thought the kids would be bored to death until the fireworks started. But I was WRONG! They loved the whole thing. So much, in fact, we hardly had any time for the games and bounce houses. It was well worth our $10 for the whole family (including G-ma, Megan and Jake.)

Diamondbacks

Most of you know Ryan got a new job. Right? One of his perks this week was to take a potential client to the D-Backs v Rockies game. It was so fun! We got premium parking in Robert Sarver's spot. (He is the owner of the Phoenix Suns and also the bank Ryan works for.) People ran when we gave them our passes. We had SWEET seats and catered food. Did I mention the seats were PADDED?

My close up of Young.

We even had private bathrooms right behind the dugout. Nice ones. That don't smell. With no lines.

Woohoo! Thanks honey!