The first GINORMOUS post

Okay, so I'm going to start off this blog with a bang! For those of course, that may need a little catching up on the events and pictures that I haven't been good about sending to anyone. Sorry about that! This can be my repentance, it's certainly a pain in the rear, but I think it will be totally worth it! I'm excited to be able to include everyone back home and elsewhere in my daily life again. Thank you Rochelle for hooking me up with this!

Anyway, over the summer we went to SeaWorld a couple of times and spent some time with Auntie Lois, Uncle, Rodney, and Cousin Amanda while we were there. They were kind enough to let us invade their quiet, previously clean, home while we played. Uncle Shawn, Aunt Abby, Chase and Cole now live in Carlesbad which is just north of San Diego on the coast. We always have a great time with them!


The first day of school was quite an event. They were registered for a new charter school that was being built. Unfortunately they figured out that the building was not going to be done, so they ordered some new portables to make a temporary site. This would not have been a big deal if it had gone smoothly. Naturally it didn't and they ended up starting three weeks late! It made it crazy because then I had to find places for them to go while I went to school. It was totally worth it though because it is a great school and the kids are really happy.

My dad came to town for about four days a couple of weeks ago for my birthday. It was awesome that he came! We didn't do anything terribly exciting. We just hung out and showed him all that was best in Arizona at this time of year like eating on the patio at restaurants without a jacket while still maintaining a comfortable body temperature, golfing, In-N-Out Burgers, and we went to the Rainforest cafe for my birthday. Also it was fun to have at least one of my movie buddies here for awhile.

Elaine came into town the Friday before Dad left and we all met at Z Tejas for some libations and I thought that would be the only chance I'd get to see her since she had plans for shopping, spa, and clubbing with her sister, the friend that came with them, and the friend from here. Not what happened. She called me on Saturday night miserable because her friend from here was a moron and they didn't end up doing much. So my friend Marli and I went and picked her up that night. Sunday morning we did hair, went to AJ's and had breakfast on the patio and to the Phoenix zoo. While her companions were still seeking some fun while trudging through Scottsdale, Elaine was on a camel with the girls!

It was unexpected, but totally awesome that we got to spend extra time with her!

So Halloween went off pretty good! Melanie was Ariel, Sydney was Snow White, and Punkin was a Cheetah. (cute, but fast and vicious) The worst part of the whole thing was that I bought like ten pounds of candy to hand out not realizing that we would be trick or treating for so long, and then because we were trick or treating for so long, we brought back at least ten more pounds of candy. I can feel my ass growing as I type.

By the end of the night Sydney was crying and begging to go home, swearing that she never wanted to trick or treat again! Of course, this was when Alicia was just getting started! She was really shy and hanging on to Marli and would freak out about all the scary costumes when we could actually get her to go to the door. But by the end, she was running from place to place once she realized that the scary people would give her candy! Maybe not the greatest message that I would have liked her to take from the experience, but it saved all our backs from having to carry her! I have to include a picture of her and Marli just for future blackmail purposes because she happened to be looking for a whole different kind of treat! All in all, we had a great time!