Yah for Justice

We are very proud that Justice made the Student of the Month in his class. We attended a ceremony on Friday where they gave him his ceremony. We arrived to see Justice and a couple of other kids setting up the PA system. The principal explained that the usual person wasn't there and that she saw Justice and knew he could get the job done. One of the many great traits about Justice. He has a big heart and is always willing to help. He is just getting so big and growing up so fast. He is doing great in school still and is a great kiddo.

He still struggles with a his sentence structure and handwriting but he is improving. He is improving tremendously with his shooting at the Cowboy Fast Draw. This last Saturday he was matched up with his dad in the first round and took him down. He has also learned to keep score and work the microphone at the shoots as well.

We are very proud of him for this great award and wanted to share our pride with the rest of you all. These pictures were nicely done by Danielle for me.

Good job Justice, keep up the great work kiddo!

Danielle and David's Visit

It has been a great couple of days visiting with Danielle and David, my niece and her husband from Georgia. I just wish they never had to leave, but this morning I dropped them off at the airport.

They came in on Thursday and we were just too excited!! I felt bad that they both ended up sick the whole time they were here with a cold. It didn't stop them though from exploring Phoenix. Friday we took them to Uncle Charlie's house to let David and Bill practice shooting for the Cowboy Fast Draw shoot on Saturday. Saturday we took off to the shoot early and boy was it hot! We hit record highs almost everyday they were here. Bill took 20th place, David took 13th and Justice took 16th I think. They all did really good and I got some really good pictures of Danielle. I am not used to having someone around that can get into taking pictures of me and the boys so I took advantage of Danielle's great eye for picture taking. They all came out really nice.

Sunday we all just took it easy and hung out around the house and got some chores done. Grandpa Dave and Terry came over and got to visit as well. Monday the boys and I took them to the Phoenix Zoo. Again, it was hotter than ever out and they were such great sports and walked the entire thing with us. Danielle got some great shots of the animals and other things around the area.

Their time here went by way too fast and I am so sad to see them go. I treasure every minute I get to spend with them. I wish somehow we could live closer and be able to visit more often. That is okay though, hopefully one day we will be able to move closer to each other. I want to thank you guys for coming out and visiting. Benjamin already keeps asking where you are Danielle. I also appreciate all the help you gave us with the housework and watching the kiddos. Thanks for also being good sports with the Korean restaurant, green chili burritos and I want a rematch at Scrabble David. Love you both so very much and can't wait until we can visit again.

Happy Birthday Benjamin

Today is actually Ben's birthday, so this morning I once again told him Happy Birthday. He wanted to know where his birthday cake was? I told him he already one and that is it...he wants another one. He is just too funny!

Benjamin being my first child, I was so anxious to see what he looked like after carrying him for nine months. Child birth went well and he was a healthy 7lb 10oz, 21" boy who was just adorable with a little hematoma. Some things you might not know about Ben is that he had that hematoma when he was born because of the suction cup they placed on his head...didn't hurt him at all and it went away after a few weeks. He also soon found out that he was lactose intolerant, he has grown out of that as well and loves his milk. He also started walking at the early age of 9 months old. He still has his beautiful and bright blue eyes that he was born with. His middle name is William, a name passed down from his dad and papa Bill. Benjamin was chosen by me because I loved it. Come to find out that my great-uncle's name is Bennie. That is what his papa Dave calls him.

Well I dressed him up in one of his new outfits that he got for his birthday and took some pics of him. Matthew loves to say cheese for me so he is in some of the pictures. I hope you all enjoy them though.

This headlock is Ben's idea of a hug!

Well at least Matthew is happy to be taking pictures.

Happy 3rd Birthday Benjamin!!

Well Ben's 3rd birthday party was a success...he had so much fun and he was so pleased to have his family around. It was so cute. When it came to the presents, I told him that they were all for him to open, just for you I told him. He looked at me and got a huge smile, just for me Mommy? It was so cute to see his reaction to it. The cake looked ok but Ben loved it and that is what matters. Plus they both tasted great, strawberry cake was a success. He got a lot of nice stuff and we appreciated everyone that showed...we only had just grandparents and close family and Ben's best friend Julia there so it wasn't as hectic.
Okay let me explain all the pretty girlies here. While shopping the clearance area at Fry's I found this beautiful little girls boa for only $2...I couldn't believe it and snatched it before anyone else did. Bill looked at me strange and asked what was up with it since all we have is boys...well I have a bunch of adorable nieces and friends with cute kiddos. So I had to use it to show that I didn't buy it for nothing. They all loved it and just looked so cute!

Adorable Anna

Amazingly Beautiful AlyssaGorgeous Julia with Curls

Matthew's First Hair Cut!!

Well Matthew is now bald...well not really but almost. He got his haircut today and he just doesn't look like Matthew anymore. He did really good though for the whole haircut. The only problem we had was he wouldn't keep his tongue in his mouth. As you can see in the picture above, he really liked the haircut, just kind of sat back and let Daddy cut his hair. Since his hair is so short and blonde, he almost looks bald. He is good though and I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Sorry to Heather and Valerie who I asked to watch on the webcam, I just couldn't get it to work for some reason. Thanks for being there though and waiting patiently. Love you all.

Our trip to Tuscon for the shoot

When I started this blog I was having issues with my internet and putting pictures on here...so I gave up and ended up forgetting all about it. Here is an outdated blog...but not too old. This last Saturday Bill Papa Bill and Justice had a Cowboy Fast Draw Shoot in Tuscon so the boys and I decided that we were going to check out Tuscon too. I have never been there but I was a little nervous taking the two and a half hour trip with the boys by myself. They did pretty good though, better than I expected.

We first stopped in at the Reid Park Zoo. I didn't find out until we got back that I checked out the wrong place. Bill said there was a Desert place to check out and that morning when I was looking for the address, the only one I found was the zoo so I thought it was it. The zoo was free since we are members of the Phoenix Zoo, that was a bonus. The zoo was not that big but big enough for us to walk through and enjoy ourselves without getting overheated. It is still really hot down there as well. The zoo had polar bears, lamas, some type of pigs, albino peacocks and some other things that Ben and Matthew has never seen so it was neat. We had lunch there where they got these really cute bear head lunch pails. We then headed down to see Bill, Justice, Papa Bill and Uncle Charlie shoot. I really enjoyed driving through Tuscon, it actually is a little bit smaller than Phoenix but nicer some how. We finally found the range and Benjamin just loved watching them shoot and be apart of the boys group.

After we left there we drove to the San Xavier Mission in Nogales. I don't know what it is about old, sacred and religous buildings but they are just so peaceful to me. I really enjoyed the pictures I got to take and just feeling the peace being there. We then drove further south to a restaurant with a bulls skull. It is pretty neat looking, none of us were hungry though so we drove past University of Arizona (I think) and had dinner at Chuy's back in Tuscon. We have never been there, just wanted to check out a new restaurant. It was okay, they gave us a stuffed kitten or pig or something to hold onto for our number(to get our food). That is not a wise idea, we had to hide it so Benjamin didn't try to leave with it...he wouldn't even eat unless it was right by him.

All in all it was a really nice trip and always fun to check out new places to visit. I will definitely be back to find the right zoo and go back to the one since it was such a nice place to go.