White Out

Friday night, Chad, Kyan, and I headed to Jobbing.com Arena for a little hockey playoff action! The three of us had dinner at Johnny Rockets and then headed to the game! It was action packed, and although our Coyotes lost 6-4, the game was awesome!
Kyan was done-zo by the middle of the third period (is that what they are called in hockey?) and was ready to go home! When the Red Wings scored their 6th goal with just under two minutes left to play, we headed out! While walking past Margaritaville, Amar'e Stoudemire was standing outside the patio area with one of his friends! He happens to be Kyan's favorite player from the Suns (it has everything to do with the number he wears) so it was really cool that Kyan got to see him like 2 feet away, granted he was half asleep, but still, he recognized him and peeked his lil head up! I didn't take my camera to the game and I couldn't get my phone out of my purse fast enough (without looking like a stalker) so you will just have to take my word!

We had a great night!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Moffitt for watching Lola! She had a blast!

This Is Why!

When my brother and I were little my mom would have us play "doctor" on her legs. Little did we know that it felt so good to her - we just thought we got to bust out all of the kitchen utensils and lotion and make a big mess! We used to doctor her up for an hour at a time, I now know why she let us do this for such extended amounts of time...

...I had my kids play "doctor" on my legs the other night and it was like heaven! I didn't realize that lotion was all over the couch cushions until I saw the pictures and then turned around. When I did see the mess, I simply did not care - IT FELT TOO GOOD! They doctored me up for about 45 minutes and I think that we equally loved every minute of it!

So mama, I understand why you allowed us to make a mess and why you didn't care either! I also know why you jumped at the chance for us to play doctor on your legs whenever we asked! I love you! Something so little, but I never forgot.

Whata Weekend & a Winner!

We had a wonderful weekend.

Friday night we met up with the Garretts for some yummy pizza at Park West and even yummier ice cream afterwards! The kids ran around outside in the grass area/fountains while we visited under the big ramada! It was such a nice evening, beautiful weather and special friends!

Saturday was spent at gymnastics in the morning with Lola, as usual, but it was bring a friend week, so Jayla joined us! Then we were off to Xavier's game in the late morning. He played in north Phoenix, so we decided to go visit Brion's grave since we were so close. We haven't been there in a long time, it was nice to go see him as a family and talk about our favorite times with him. Candis and Michael live very close to the cemetery, so we headed to their place next to say hello and to drop off Michael's sunglasses! I swear anytime he is over at our house he leaves them here! Oh well, gives us a good excuse to meet up, even if it is just for a little while! After that, I met up with Chad's mama to go see a movie, The Last Song. It was just like I thought it would be, although different from the book, I did like it a lot. Without giving it away, just wanna say that it hits close to home, very close, and tears were shed. Then it was off to snuggle my kiddos at home for the rest of the night!

Sunday it was Kyan and Chad's turn to see a movie and they headed off early to watch How to Train Your Dragon on the IMAX in 3D! So cool! Chad said that Kyan kept trying to grab things it felt so real! Lola and I met up with them at West Gate after! The kids ran around in the fountains, we ate lunch, and window shopped! The kiddos went home with daddy and I headed to the grocery store! We spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and cleaning the kids closets (Amy and Evy we have another box coming your way!!!). I could only handle doing theirs, however, mine NEEDS a good cleaning too! Maybe next week!

And now the winner of the MAC makeup - Mande at HarrisonLane blog! Congratulations!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend! I am counting down the days until summer vacation!

I Will Remember You

I think about Brion EVERYDAY.
Today especially.
April 8, 2009 is a day that I will never, ever forget.
A memory that will stick close to my heart forever and ever.
A place that I am not ready to fully share, but someday will be able to.

Cancer is one of the the ugliest diseases that I have ever had to watch someone I love so much suffer through, and Brion suffered.
In his suffering I saw his incredible strength and will to live.
He was a fighter and fought his cancer until the very end.

Brion is forever in my heart
and the hearts of my children
and my husband, his son.
I feel like I see him and feel him everywhere.
From our family vacation to San Diego,
walking past the room he stayed in at the Beach Haven Inn and reminiscing about California times .
To watching him perform at the halftime show at this year's Superbowl,
I swear that as soon as I saw Pete Townsend I felt like I was watching Brion rock out on the guitar. I wasn't sure I was seeing straight, however, it seemed fitting, as the Superbowl was his thing, if you knew Brion, you were there.
Bottom line, Brion will not ever be forgotten.
Not today, on the one year anniversary of his death.
Not tomorrow.
Not ever.
We love you Brion.

Every time we hear Lincoln Park we turn the the volume up as loud as we can and sing at the top of our lungs, as Kyan had declared it Grandpa B's song!


We have so many wonderful memories with Brion.
If you have a favorite memory of him, please share.

Our Easter Weekend!

This weekend we met up with Chad's extended family for a hopeful new tradition - Easter Saturday at Grandma and Grandpa Shipe's place! There was food, fun, and family! Couldn't have made for a better afternoon! Ok, that is a lie, I should have brought sun screen for Chad and I, we borrowed for the kids but failed to put anything on ourselves and we are suffering the consequences! But in all seriousness, we had a blast! Thank you grandma and grandpa for hosting such a great get together!



Poor Lauren - she somehow got the job of making sure that Lola didn't snatch up all of the Easter Eggs (thanks Jess and Aunt Tammy for stuffing over 200 on the way out from Cali) before "the Hunt" even started! It was hilarious! Lola would grab an egg or three and Lauren would wait for her to search for more so that she could sneak them out of cousin Drew's cart and put them back! Thank you Lauren for keeping her busy!!! She loved playing with you!


And at the end of the day when all is said and done, both of my kids crashed out on the couch watching cartoons! They were pooped! What a great Saturday...

...that led to a great Sunday as a family together! When the kids woke up, it took them awhile, but they finally noticed their Easter baskets that the bunny left for them!
We spent some time with our house guests: Chad's cousin Josh and his girlfriend Vanessa and Josh's son, Andrew! We were so happy that they decided to stay with us and had a fun evening with them and were sad to see them go! Come back soon! Chad's parents stopped by for a visit too!

Then it was off to our favorite place in the neighborhood to hunt for Easter eggs ~ The PARK! Jayla, Susie, and Jearel came by and played with us too!



Hope that everyone had just as good of an Easter as we did and that you were able to spend it with those you love most!

It's Moments Like This...

...that define me as a mother.
And Kyan as a BIG brother.

Last night when I went upstairs to get Kyan and Lola ready for bed, I caught Kyan in a big brother moment. While his TV was on with his own movie, he was in his sister's room not really watching Gabba, but they were both sitting on her bed, reading books. She was getting books out of his room to have him read them to her. They could have cared less about Gabba at that particular moment. When I told them they could read one more and then they had to brush their teeth, I walked away, not really thinking that a five year old was going to listen. Next thing I knew when I walked into their bathroom, both of them brushing their teeth! Kyan got Lola's toothbrush all ready for her! When it came time for bed, how could I not let them snuggle?

I needed to remind them a few times to zip it, as did Kyan, for Lola could have kept him up the whole night just talking...at one point I was listening to what he was telling her - something about how their bodies needed to sleep because they need energy the next day, it was so sweet how he was trying to explain life to her! I just wanted to sit outside the door and listen forever.

I hope that they always get along as good as they do now and that Kyan continues to be the best big brother in the entire planet. I felt so good going to sleep last night and just thought to myself
How lucky are we!

Did You Feel It?

We did!

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake in Baja California, Mexico felt in Arizona!!!

Chad and I were watching The Blind Side and were pretty close to the end when we felt it. At first I thought Chad was messing with the couch and somehow moving it, after it was over he thought I was doing it somehow! I was mulit-tasking and typing away at my career ladder for school, so I thought that maybe I was just going a little crazy from staring at the screen to long and looked up and it was like we were swaying. It was the weirdest feeling - like we were on a boat rocking or something and I almost felt nauseous. Finally that is when I asked Chad if he was moving the couch...

We guessed that we had just felt an earthquake and the movie was just getting over, so I told Chad to turn on the news to see if they were saying anything about it. He said that it was too soon, CNN was covering a different story, so I went to the internet and typed it in and sure enough we saw where it was and the magnitude of it! Confirmed that we weren't crazy! Checked back in with CNN and now it is all over the news! Pretty crazy!

Anyone else feel it?