To Prescott, Paradise and back again

On Tuesday we made a little day trip up to Prescott and had a blast. It's actually FALL up there!! I didn't realize quite how much I missed the fall season until we were up there playing in the leaves. The air was cool and the sky and trees were gorgeous. They girls really had a blast. Whenever there was a gust of wind tons of leaves would fall off the trees and the girls started bouncing around and saying "catch them, catch them!!" For any of you who havn't seen Dora, that's the phrase she uses when she catches the stars. :)
The trip was short-lived but worth the drive up there.






The day after we got back Shawn and I spent the afternoon at my Grandparents new place.
I LOVE their new house. For dinner they took us to Paradise!! LOL Well, not quite, but it was great. We drove over to Westgate here in Phoenix and we went to Margaritaville. We got a plate of nachos that were unbelieveable!! They were huge - called the lava nachos - and they have a bigger plate called the volcano nachos! If you ever have a chance to eat there, do. Great food, great margaritas and great atmosphere.

October

So Monday we took the girls to a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and petting zoo. They had a blast! Abby led the way through quite a bit of the corn maze and did really well. We walked around to the different animals and Christina was so excited to touch the animals and trying to say each name. Then we picked out the biggest pumpkin I've ever had. They had a lot of fun trying to pick it up. LOL Here are a few pictures from the day! :)

RIP John Walker

Wow, it has been far too long since I've been on here! I haven't been on since the passing of my grandfather and father-in-law. I realized that there was so much going on during the passing of my father-in-law that I never got on here talk about him like I did my grandpa. So....
John really was larger than life. Even Shawn said (when he was around 5) that John was 100 feet tall!! To give you a really good picture of John watch the movie Harry and the Hendersons. Whoever made Harry must have known John. Other than the obvious differences (Harry is Bigfoot) they look alike and even have the same laugh. We watch the movie just to hear John's laugh. :) John LOVED his family. Although God was his first love, his family was the most important thing in his life. John, we miss you and love you may you rest in peace till we meet again.

In Loving Memory of Thomas Hayek

Last Saturday (4/4), my grandpa Hayek passed away of a heart attack. I was fortunate enough (thank you John and Sally!!!) to fly up there Tuesday night to be there for the funeral and it was spectacular (well, if a funeral can be good). Here is an excerpt from the nice page the funeral home printed for us:
Thomas J. "Tom" Hayek was born on February 21, 1936 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tom spent his school years in St. Paul and at the age of 17 joined the Marine Corp. While they were both stationed in San Diego, CA he met and married Peggy Darlene Dodd. Peggy and Tom had four children. In the early years of thier marriage, Tom served two tours in Vietnam, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant. He retired from the Marines after 20 years of service.
Tom and his family moved to Somers in 1973, and have lived here since. Tom enjoyed camping and fishing. He spent many hours woodworking and playing with his grandchildren. His family was the most imoportant aspect of his life. His wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were what he lived for. Anyone who knew Tom had a brighter day after spending time with him. His sense of humor was infectious.
Here are a couple of pictures of him...and a couple from the funeral...

Cakes

So, my sister is in culinary school learning to be a pastry chef. She's mostly been doing cakes and here a a couple that she has done...
This one is from the tv show 'Dora the Explorer' it's Abby's favorite so she made this one as a practice cake. Pretty cute











This one is her first wedding cake and I think it's absolutely beautiful! She's really doing well, I'm very proud of her.

Growing Up!

Christina is really moving fast...Shawn has even taken to calling her 'Turbo'. She crawls everywhere and over the last 2-3 days she's been STANDING!!! With help from the furniture of course but it's so amazing. She's only 8 months old...I think she really wants to be like her big sister. Whenever Abby is playing with something even remotely interesting Christina is on her way to play with her. They are cute and Abby is a good big sister.
Here's a pick of Cissy standing...



















We have started to potty train Abby today. She isn't very keen on it but she loves wearing her "underpants" as she calls them. She has peed on the floor once, in front of the toilet once, and pooped while I was running her to the bathroom. :( But, she's a trooper and is at least trying her best. She'll get there :)

Way to Cute Not to Share

Wow, it's been a while since I've put up a post, but I think the wait was worth it for this one...
Abby came out of her room looking like this this afternoon. (If you can't tell, she's VERY white)












So I began to walk to her room to see what was going on....
The trail of evidence....








This is what I stumbled upon....!!!!!
Baby powder....EVERYWHERE!!!




















And what was it that she was doing anyway....? Why changing her babies diaper of course!!















And here is where she "hid the evidence"...


In the wipie container. LOL!!!!