I HATE CACTUS - OUCH

This would be a ball of cactus. I don't know what kind it is or anything else. However, I do know how much it hurts when you are running by it and it's fallen off the tree, attaches to your shoe lace, and ......goes straight into your leg. Shelley and I were hiking/running trails tonight and we were going along when all I feel is quite a few prickles into my leg. I look down and BAM! This was attached to my inner calf. What you don't know is each cactus needle is like a real sewing needle. Sharp and hard. Shelley was behind me and I was like " Ouch ". She walks up and we didn't know what to do. So... since she is the best she takes off her socks so we have something to help us pull it out ( we didn't have much.... it was her shocks or our shirts ) . So i grabbed the sock as best I could which at this point is attached to the cactus and not coming off. I had to pull really hard. You have to pull in just the right direction they went in. One needle was pretty deep. We finally got them all out and so Shelley carried the cactus ball down on her socks the whole way so we could get a picture of it. Needless to say her socks stayed at South Mountain.


I was trying to point to where the cactus was stuck. This looks like I'm pointing to my knee. Where I am really pointing is all the way down my leg right above my sock. The whole ball was stuck on my leg there!

One of the many reasons I love Shelley. Gives up her socks and hikes all the way down without any while having blood blisters on her toes. Carries the cactus (just like she is in the picture) the whole 1 1/2 miles out just so we can get a picture of it!

The other highlight after the cactus incident was the huge snake I saw slither off right next to us. I didn't see it's head but saw it's tail end and it was huge. I decided to not tell Shelley b/c she would freak out. Not a good idea to be up really high off the main trail as the sun is going down and there are huge snakes, bugs, and coyotes out.

Good Times At South Mountain Tonight! I Truely Hate Cactus! End Of Story!

Crazy Busy Saturday

Friday night I babysat the kids so they could go out for my sisters bday. I spent the night so we could get up early (6:15) and go to her friends neighborhood where they were having a huge sale. Elle had her little table set up to sell muffins and water and made quite a bit of dough from it! So we spent the morning at her friend Emily's sale til around 10:30am.





Then it was off to High School Musical 3. You got it! My sister and I took my niece to see it and even though it was beyond cheesy... it was cute! She was so excited to go to it! After the movie we had a few errands to run to get the kids last minute Halloween props for their ward halloween party that night! . We were starving so we grabbed some delicious lunch at Costa Vida (like Cafe Rio). Then headed home. All we really wanted was a nap. However, my bro in law had to work that night so my sister and I got the kids ready in their costumes for the nights festivities. And..............................here they are ................................







The 3 cutest kids in their costumes you've ever seen! Elle was a cheerleader, Cooper was a football player, and Jack was Sparky the ASU mascot.




Their ward party was great fun! : ) Pretty much followed the kids around and carried Jack's Sparky pitchfork with his pumpkin on it all night! Ate tons of crap and met some new people!

My bro in law Kev had helped Cooper earlier in the day before we got home put padding under his football outfit. So when we took off his costume that night we saw all this duck tape and it was so tight! It was pretty funny! Poor Cooper! : ) Needless to say we were nonstop all day but it was fun spending the day with my sister and the kids as always!

The downside of the whole weekend was losing my 2nd hubcap on my car. Now I have 2 ghetto looking tires on the passenger side of my car. So trashy looking! This week is operation find new hub caps. : )

Happy 30th Birthday To My Sister Carly

Hope you had a great birthday! I love living so much closer to you and your family ! I love that you are such a great mom and wife! I love that you are so crazy about things! I love that you have the 3 cutest most adorable well behaved kids ever! I Love You! Happy Birthday

Weekend in California

So.... this past weekend I drove to Modesto, California with my good friend Shelley to pick up her new car. It had just been sent over from Sweden. Here she is finally with her new ride. I have to say I will miss " Grannie" her Toyota Camry she's been driving around in. : ) We left Friday after work around 6 pm and arrived in Modesto about 3:30am.

Saturday morning or should I say afternoon we got up and headed to San Francisco. It has been years since I have been there. So.. we thought it would be fun to go for the afternoon. It was pretty much freezing there. So our first stop was the golden gate bridge. Sorry for all the photos of just me but when there are only 2 of you.... it's pictures by yourself pretty much. : )

We liked the lady in the back ground. Pretty much sums up what everyone looked like at the Golden Gate Bridge... bundled up, drinking coffee/hot chocolate, and moving fast.

Love this photo . Great job Shelley

Loved how the bridge is blurry in the background

Alcatraz

We walked half way up the bridge and these guys were all crammed into this little vehicle. It was pretty funny.

These 2 pics above show just how annoying it is to have long hair while it's extremely windy and you want a picture!

San Francisco



Shelley and I weren't too fond of any of the pics of the 2 of us together. However, I wanted to have at least one on here. : )

Crazy streets of San Francisco

The 2 pics above are very funny. Probably only to Shelley and I b/c you had to be there. Shelley's new car is an automatic. We were driving up this gigantic hill and i noticed she kept stalling on moving up the hill. There was bumper to bumper traffic so as we moved up the hill it got steeper and steeper. Everytime she would move she would just slam her foot on the gas and we would lurch forward. I laughed everytime telling her to just ease off the brake and push in the gas and it would be smoother. Anyways, as we got higher and steeper up she wasn't doing anything . I could tell she was nervous. So I started laughing and kind of making fun of her. I realized she was petrified of rolling backwards. At one point she almost let me drive but was too scared to put it in park b/c it might roll. So the pic right above is at the top of the hill. We were sitting in that spot for a few minutes even after that car had moved. I told Shelley she had to go at some point that day. So after getting the courage she slammed on the gas lurching us forward. The pic on top is of her concentrating trying to get the courage to hit the gas. : ) Guess you had to be there




There is nothing like a quick stop at Ghirardelli Square for some hot chocolate and a photo op after freezing our butts off on the bridge. After this we headed down to all the shopping to find H&M. Oh how I miss having access to this great store whenever I want. We spent a good hour or so there. Walked around and headed back to Shelley's parents house for the night.

I Think I'm In Love

Shelley and I got up around 9 am Sunday morning and packed up to head back to Arizona. It was a beautiful day. These people were at some random ghetto gas station. Had to take a picture with them. Hit In N Out for lunch ( 3 days of it is healthy right? ) We stopped right outside Palm Springs at the most amazing outlets ever. Unfortunately I walked away with nothing which is always great for the bank account! We made a quick stop in Palm Springs at a Dairy Queen ( calories don't count when you are on vacation) after calling my sister to get help finding one. Then back on the road. It was such a quick weekend but so much fun!

Show Low , Arizona - Pine Top - Fun Fall Weekend

This past weekend my sister and her family invited Shelley and I to join them up North in Show Low, Arizona. They rented a cabin in Pine Top for the weekend. We got up really early Saturday morning and made the 3 hour drive. We got into town and met up with the family and headed to Snowflake to go to the "Fall Festival". The kids got some pumpkins and then we headed to the Snowflake temple since Shels and I had never been up there. We got out of the car and it was so windy you couldn't even walk straight. It almost blew Jack away. Then we headed to the cabin where we had a great weekend riding 4-wheelers, watching movies, playing scrabble, taking nature walks, little run in there, eating pumpkin bars, gaining 10 pounds, oh and freezing our butts off. Thanks Car and Kev for inviting us. It was so much fun. SHels and I both had to work Monday morning so Sunday evening we packed up and headed home.




On the hayride to the pumpkin patch

This picture cracks me up... thanks car

Kevin, Cooper, and Jack

Shels and I... not sure about my smile here


Look closely at Shelley's bangs

Jack, Elle, and I


Jack in his wagon

We thought it would be funny to take
a family pic b/c the wind was so crazy.
(click on the pic to see how Jack really )
felt about the wind

Who can resist a great jumping pic

Shells and I taking the kids out.
They referred to her as grandma on the 4 wheelers

Elle, Jack , and I ..... love his faces
Jack and I
Shelley and I made Pumpkin Bars
with Cream Cheese Frosting
and boy were they delicious for a late night snack
and for every meal the next day.
Movie Night: Halloween movie of choice: Hocus Pocus

Jack found these gloves and goggles in a drawer.
They became his 4 wheeling gear.
In his defense it was cold. I believe after this pic
they took the kids on a ride and called me to
have hot chocolate ready when they got back.
I checked the weather and it was 35 degrees out.
(check out his face... click pic to enlarge)

First my camera sucks... but this is of the boys and I

Nothing like a game of Jenga

Jumping pic...on our nature walk
She plays a mean game of scrabble

Shels and Cooper..... scrabble partners

Elle and I kicking butt at scrabble