Thursday - DISNEYLAND!

On Thursday we got up and went to Disneyland wih the cousins, Caleb, Noah, Aunt Kristine, Uncle Stew, Kirra, Malia, Julia, and Liam.  Kristine is a professional when it comes to Disneyland.  I think she might have her own parking space there, she frequents the happiest place on earth so much.  She made the trip so easy since she knows all the ins and outs of the place.  It was a perfect day.  The weather was perfect and the lines weren't long at all. 

 Here's McKenna driving.  Autopia is one of our favorites.

 And it's not a trip to Disneyland if you don't go on It's a Small World. 

 Contrary to McKenna's face, she loved this ride and sang It's a Small World the whole way through.

 Caleb and Olivia on Dumbo.  I love that these kids hadn't seen each other in a long time but yet got along so great.

 Maya (in the back) and Kristine and Julia

 Malia and Maya

 When McKenna saw Jesse, she had to get a picture.  Toy Story is her favorite.  She was Jesse for Halloween and so Jesse has a special place in McKenna's heart.  Here are all the cute cousins.  I am sure Caleb and Noah were THRILLED to take this picture.

 Tea cups!

Turned out to be such a perfect day.  The kids were great and had such a good time together.  No melt downs and no one pouting about what ride they wanted to go on.  They all got along so well.  Couldn't have asked for a better day at Disneyland.

On our way. . .

Since we had to catch a flight Monday morning in Raleigh to fly to Phoenix we left Sunday evening and stayed in a hotel.  It was an old Marriott but kind of fun.  McKenna got to sleep in a chair with an ottoman.  She was so excited.  The other girls got to sleep in a murphy bed.  They thought that was awesome.

Here's our room.  The kitchenette was to the right, up the stairs was our room and a bathroom (it was just a loft) and then the murphy bed that Maya is in and a bathroom around the coerner from there.  They also looked like apartments from the outside. 

 We decided to take a little longer flight just to be able to fly jetBlue.  And I might say it was quite worth it.  The girls did great.  We brought games to play and since jetblue has DirectTV that helped pass the time as well.  Alexa found the show "All in the Family" and thought it was so funny.

 It was a LOOOOONG day.  We got in about 10:30 at night which to us was 1:30am.  Here they are the next morning.  Tuesday morning we met my parents for breakfast and as you can see from the picture some of us were still a little tired. 

 Tim made all of our arrangements for this trip and he did a great job.  It helped keep our mind off of leaving loved ones behind. On Tuesday after breakfast with my parents we came back and I had to take a nap.  (I was exhausted.  I think after 3 months of being a single mom, trying to sell our house, packing up, painting, and cleaning my body was done.)  Tim worked out to stay at his parents time share in Palm Dessert, CA.  It was only a few hours from Phoenix.  It was such a nice resort.  The girls and I went swimming while Tim went grocery shopping and cooked us this fabulous meal - bbq'd ribs, grilled bread and pineapple and salad.  It was hot but becuase it was so dry we totally enjoyed sitting outside.  It felt so good without humidity. 

Wednesday we got back in the car and traveled another couple of hours and headed to Abuela and Grump's (g'ma and g'pa Van Buskirk's) house.  We hung out and lucky for us the girls cousin's, Noah and Caleb were staying their for a few days also.  They had a great time.  More to come. . . 

Saying Good Bye

On Sunday, June 26th we said good bye to our friends and home.  We went to church and of course I forgot to take the camera to take pictures of everyone.  I did however remember to bring it to the house.

Here they are one last time.

We had to stop at the Grandinetti's to say good bye.  Here the kids are playing in Ty's playhouse. 

Heidi, Abby and Ty.  We sure miss them and I especially miss that deck.  Many a great conversation was had on that deck.  We solved the problems of the world there.

One last picture.  It was so hard to say good bye.  We stopped at a few more houses but by then I was so emotional I forgot the camera again.

Our good friends the Jenkin's let us stay in their basement after our furniture was gone so we went back to there house to eat a yummy dinner and pack up.  They have always been so kind to us and have loved our girls like their own.  The girls love being spoiled by them.  We are just hoping that they will come to Tucson sometime soon. 

When we said good bye it felt like it was just a "see ya later".  I think we'll see them again. (I hope!)

Piano Recital

The beginning of June the girls had there piano recital.  Tim had left to go back to AZ the day before (Sunday).  I woke up Monday morning sick as can be.  I hadn't been that sick in a long time.  I think I had food poisoning or something.  All I know is that I was miserable and didn't know how I was going to sit through the recital.  Luckily the girls performed the first half of the recital so we were able to leave early.

Here is Livie playing her piece:

The girls got to play a duet.  After a "few" struggles during practices they finally got it together and did a GREAT job. 

I don't have a recording of Alexa playing her song becuase my battery died on my camera.  I feel terrible about that but at least we got the duet.

I'm so glad they had such a good teacher in NC.  We loved Lisa and miss her dearly.  Now to find a new teacher.

More BFF's

I am sure people get tired of me talking about our fabulous NC neighbors.  But if you knew them all you would understand.  Here is our dear sweet Ty.  He is like a brother in our house and came and went as if he lived there.  Having a boy around really livened up the house and we really enjoyed it.  One day the kids wanted me to take a picture of their awesome blocks they put together.  Are they cute or what?

 So probably posting about NC after we just recently moved isn't such a good idea.  It sure makes me homesick.  Our little woods in the back was the perfect place for kids to play.  Oh, how we ALL miss them.  Anytime someone would come over, those woods would suck them right in.  One night the G's put their tent up and the girls, Ty and Abby (Ty's older sister) all slept out there.  Then for the next week after their camp out the kids decided to build one of their many forts.  And of course they wanted me to document it. 

I know, I know, Your'e thinkin' hill billie all the way with that trycicle upside down and all those cardboard boxes.

 McKenna in the jail that also served as Ty's room when no one was occupying it.

Note:  My children are filthy because I have learned to relax a little more livin' in the south.



BFF's!

You know when you instantly connect with someone and life is just easy and good?  The Black's moved into our ward in NC and it was just like that.  We only got to enjoy them for a year but I think we will be lifelong friends.  They ended up moving to Chicago just a few weeks before we moved to Tucson.  Jenny and I supported one another while our husbands were off at there new jobs and we were left behind to take care of kids finishing school and getting the move together.  One day we got to have their cute daughter, Tabatha over to play.  McKeann adores "Tabs" as she likes to call her.  They are were the best of friends.  They would get together and wouldn't need or ask for anything for hours because they were too busy playing and chatting and chatting some more.  They had the cutest conversations all the time.  And I think in all the times they played together they had one disagreement that ended as quickly as it started.  Here they are taking care of their babies. 

Aren't they darling?

 My heart aches that we pulled these two apart.  McKenna still talks about Tabs and how she lives in Chicago.  Who knows, maybe we'll come across one another again someday.

Brithday Party, Memorial Day, and Good Bye's!

I forgot to mention in  the last post that McKenna's birthday happened to be on Memorial Day this year.  Tim was traveling back and forth to Tucson (he go to come home about once a month.)   It worked out that he was able to be home on Memorial day.  Our dear friends, The Grandinetti's wanted to throw us a little going away party.  We'd been talking about it for a while.  Chef G. works out of town and is only in town for a few days every couple of weeks.  SOOO to try and get the two Tim's schedules to coordinate, took a little work.  So it turned out to be Memorial Day.  After doughnuts and presents we headed over to the pool for a few hours.  It was so nice and relaxing for me - being able to get away from the stress of keeping the house clean, being a single mom and serving in Relief Society at church.  After the pool we headed across the yard to the G's.  We had such a good time.  Such a good time that I forgot to make sure and take pics of the adults.  I just got pics of the kids.

Here is Livie, Maya, Ty, Luke, Jude, Jack, and Alex.  The pool wasn't enough so they had to spend the afternoon slip 'n' slidin'.

 You don't go to dinner at the G's without eating some absolutely amazing food.  Oh, how I miss those meals.

Check out those Sanoran hot dogs.  And of course, I might get in trouble if I don't make mention of Tim's Settler's beans.

 Alexa, Chef, and Abby enjoying dinner.

 Maya being Maya

 Gracey the best neighbor dog ever.

 Getting ready to build the fire for s'mores.

 The birthday girl and me.

 Heidi got this DARLING cake for McKenna.  She was thrilled that her butterfly bathing suit matched her cake.

 Blowing out the candles.

 The birthday girl ZONKED out!  The perfect end to a great day.

Mac Lou's 4th Birthday!

Wow, I'm really behind.

Can you believe this cutey patooty is 4 now?  Where does the time go.

McKenna wanted doughnuts for her birthday breakfast (and since she's the youngest, she get's what she wants, right?)

Opening presents!

Mommy and Daddy got her this fancy dancy new bike.

Here's some priceless footage of her first ride.

She finally started getting the hang of it.  I really should take some footage of her now - she rides to the park with her sisters and everything.

Happy Birthday, Big girl!  It has been the greatest 4 years having you in our family.