Castles & Coasters

Dereck,Tanner,Christian,Todd,Me
Lauren,Joshua,Hannah
This was at the end of the night & our last log ride which is why some clothes look wet (because they are).

We went to Castles & Coasters on Friday night. Dereck,Lauren,& his 2 nephews met us up there. Ruth went shopping instead. We got there a little before them & had a rocky start with Joshua. He didn't want to go on the go-karts. Then he didn't want to do the viking ship. Then he refused to go on the little roller coaster which he had talked about going on earlier. This coming from a kid who loves Space Mountain. Ugg. Finally he tried stuff. His first ride on the log ride he was scared which also does not make sense because the drop on Splash Mountain is way bigger. After several more turns he enjoyed it. He really liked the bumper boats,bumper cars, & go-karts. Hannah liked almost everything. We had fun and left when they closed at 11pm. Dereck had to go back to Hawaii yesterday but Ruth & Lauren are staying another week. We really want to visit them next. We never got a chance to golf though. Maybe we can do that when Grandma & Grandpa visit in November.

Hannah & Lauren on the log ride. I have no idea how many times we all went on this ride all together.

Todd & Joshua and Lauren on the bumper boats.
Below is the Free Fall ride. Left to right is:
Lauren,Dereck,Christian,Hannah,Todd,& a stranger.

Castles & Coasters Continued

Todd & Hannah on the Sky Diver. It's the opposite of Maliboomer. This one takes you up s-l-o-w-l-y & drops you down.

Look how good I am at bumping Dereck & taking a picture at the same time!

Below is Todd & Hannah on the left,Lauren on the right,& Dereck behind Lauren.

Nothing Exciting

I don't have any terribly exciting things going on this week but just wanted to add one picture of the kids with the sunflowers before they died-the sunflowers of course. The corn died again but now I know that Todd needs to talk to Brooke for tips. We have 3 watermelon growing but they are small.

My mom visits Wednesday to Thursday. Joshua asked me this morning if he could answer the door when she gets here. Today is Monday & he's planning for her visit on Wednesday. Hannah will probably ask that morning & be mad her brother got a 3 day jump on her. Yes, my kids "fight" over letting Grandma in the door. Sigh. They have their last soccer game that day so Grandma gets to see that. Then we'll do our regular movie on Thursday with her. We meet Dereck & Ruth again on Friday at Castles & Coasters. Now, C&C is not my favorite place to be in mid-July but these friends are worth it! After my work schedule last week I am so glad to only be working 2 days this week. Yeah!

It's been too long....

The Jimenez & Smith Families

Pod Racing

Dads against daughters.....

Lauren & Hannah



Yesterday we got to see our friends from Hawaii again. The sad part is we met them here in AZ-not HI. Anyway, we have not seen Dereck & Ruth since I was barely pregnant with Hannah & we were in HI. Ruth had just had Lauren. If you are doing the math that's about 10 years. Yikes-time flies I guess. Dereck was a groomsman at our wedding too.
They are off to CA now but we plan on seeing them later this month at Castles & Coasters when they get back. I really wanted to tag along with them because Lauren is performing Hula dancing at Disneyland this week. So we met them at Arizona Mills Mall & played at Gameworks for awhile. Thanks Dereck! 10 years is too long to not see you guys! By the way, this air hockey game rocks. 4 people can play & sometimes there were as many as 3-4 pucks in play at one time. Why hasn't anyone told me about this before?

4th of July

Not sure what the above looks are for. Extra attitude?

Joshua gets funky-I have more pictures to prove it!

They both enjoyed the DJ. I enjoyed taking pictures of them.

So cute!

I had to get their picture with Snoopy since they were both wearing Snoopy 4th of July shirts. This is outside the BX.


For our anniversary we planned on going to Alta Villa for lunch but they were closed for the 4th. That's the bummer about little family owned pizza places. They are closed on Sundays & we've been disappointed when someone was sick so they closed down. Their pizza is so good that their business does not suffer when they close. Joshua loved the alternate plan of Peter Piper which was sort of a let down after expecting awesome pizza but oh well.
The kids & I went swimming for a little bit since Todd's not allowed to yet. Later we went to the Base store because they were having a great clearance sale. Hannah got some cute tops & stuff for under $3 each-one was $1.62. Then we went to Luke's 4th celebration & fireworks.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday America! God has blessed our country & we are thankful for what our Founding Fathers did to make this a Godly country(back then anyway). Imagine how strong we could be today if people had not turned away from God. It does make me sad that the principles our Nation was founded upon are being trampled on but since I have read the end of the "story" I know it has to go this way. I also know how it ends & I'm glad I'm on the winning team. Thanks to all those who have served or are serving our country. Your dedication to protect me & my family is appreciated. This just seemed like a good day to say that.

I can't let this day pass without saying Happy Anniversary to my Hubby. I'm glad to have been your Wifey for the last 12 years. Thanks for being my better half!

Hannah's haircut

Hannah has been wanting to cut her hair short for a few months. Today was the day. She seems to like it so far. Hopefully I can re-create what the stylist did with her bangs as she wants to grow them out. Her hair was almost to the middle of her back but since she always wore it up it was hard to tell. Joshua told her he didn't want her to get it cut. When asked "why" he said "because it already looks good". How sweet. We went to Target afterward so she could buy the Jonas Brothers DVD.

Soccer was canceled today due to the coaches being sick. Everyone I know seems to be getting it. Yuck. I thought I was doing better over the weekend but I'm not feeling so great today. Todd's knee doesn't look as swollen today.

July Birthdays

Happy Birthday to our 2 July B-days
Todd's Dad-we love you!
Terri-my cousin shares her b-day with our anniversary & America's Independence
Happy Birthday!

Todd's knee is very swollen. He has a picture on Facebook if you are his "friend" you can see it. It's not cute enough for me to post it here:)He has driven to work yesterday & today. I assume he'll be at work Wed. & Thurs. as well. I think he's off the 3rd though.

Thanks to Todd's Mom for the Penguins Championship T-shirt. We got it yesterday. Thanks to Todd's Aunt & Uncle from PA who saved newspapers from the win for Todd. Some may get framed in the office.

Surgery update

Todd's knee surgery went fine yesterday. I'm thankful to Belinda for watching the kids because the waiting was much longer than expected. Add some mis-communication from the doctor & hospital staff & it was very nice the kids didn't have to experience any of it. Todd walked a little without the crutches yesterday but has used them more today. He has used the stairs. There's more pain today but he was bored by noon though & was ready to get out of the house. We are thankful for those that prayed for him.
I'm feeling better than I have since Tuesday & the kids are better too. They missed soccer on Wednesday but were dying to get out by Thursday so I did get them to our movie day but went home after instead of playing with friends because I wasn't better yet. All in all it was a pretty boring week.

Belated Father's Day Wishes

I had every intention of posting on Father's Day & I feel really bad for forgetting. I don't think our Dads visit very often but we still want to let them know we love them. I'm thankful for the Daddy that Todd is to our kids too. We spent Father's Day going to church (our Heavenly Father's House),went out for pizza,swimming at a friend's house,& watching a movie later. It was a busy day.
It was actually a very busy weekend. The kids went to a swim b-day party on Friday & I had to work that night. I had to work 12-9 on Saturday (yuck!) & Todd took the kids to the pool at the Base. Plus all the swimming & stuff on Sunday. We were all pretty tired by yesterday. Joshua has the sniffles & I woke up sick this morning. Luckily I am off the rest of the week. I'm off Friday for Todd's knee surgery.

This & That

Me & my girl

This was NOT posed. Joshua really does love his sister even when he's not being made to! Plus, I love that she lets her little brother do this. I find it adorable that two siblings get along these days-for the most part anyway. This was while watching their cousin open her birthday gifts.

At Ashleigh's 7th birthday party on Saturday at Makutu's Island in Chandler. Fun place.

Joshua & girls

Hannah with Scarlett & Desiree

Here's a few random pictures from Thursday & Saturday. Thursday is our movie day at Harkins with friends. We packed a lunch & went to the water play area at Westgate afterwards. If you remember from a very early post on my blog that is where the Cardinals arena is and the hockey arena.
Saturday we went to my niece's birthday party at Makutu's Island. We had never been there before & the kids had fun in the maze of tunnels,slides,climbing stuff,etc.
We have this coming week off from school but the kids are going to Vacation Bible School at their old preschool with their friends. Hannah always has a blast. It's her 5th year. It's Joshua's 2nd year. That church is so familiar to them. I hate the drive but it's such a tradition I'll have to cut the budget somewhere else.

Penguins WIN!!!!!!!!!

Boy, is my hubby happy! I was not sure his team could pull off game 7 in Detroit but I kept it to myself. I am so glad I got my shift covered & was able to watch it. I should make cookies for the wonderful co-worker who switched shifts with me. It doesn't really look good when I bring a batch of cookies to a gym but oh well! We got to share the night with our Pastor & his family. We hope they had fun because we did. Two championships for Todd's teams this year. Wow. Now, if Jesus decided to come back this weekend that would totally rock! Don't laugh-it could happen. Be ready:)

Together Pictures

Here's the two of them together. I think I like the top & bottom ones best.

Hannah's Pictures

Even though it was Joshua's photo shoot I got many more pictures of Hannah. Pick a favorite as I'm having a hard time. It's not even time to update her wall picture yet.