Remembering Ron

5 years ago today Ron, Kenny's Dad, passed away. Today we want to remember him. Kenny and I looked at old pictures and reminisced him and about our trips back to Illinois. We sure miss him. Here are some pages from the old scrapbooks Kenny and I picked out to share.

These Pages are from our trip to IL in 2000 (my first trip back). Great Memories we have! I love the pictures from Ron & Susie's Dairy Queen.

Desert Dudes

Yesterday morning my Dad and Kenny decided to go out the desert on the ATVs while mom and I stayed home and slept in! They went on a nice long ride and made it back to the truck. They wanted to let the bikes cool a little so they decided to play catch and hit some balls to each other... (in the desert remember). Well Kenny hit a pop fly to dad and he backed up and up and up and caught it right before he fell into a cactus!! He was covered in thorns from the waist down! They spent a good half hour pulling out chunks of cactus and thorns. Some were so deep they would pull out the torn and blood would roll down his leg- poor dad! Now I was allowed to tell that story on the condition that I tell the next story...

While on the ride Kenny and dad spotted some horses (5 or 6) crossing their path. My dad wanted to stop and watch them. The horses were crossing the path, but started to get antsy and started making noises to the others... all of a sudden they started to run.... toward the guys! Kenny took off riding away from those horses as fast as he could! Dad said they weren't running in their direction and laughed so hard ... I think it was won of those had to be there stories, but we got a laugh when they guys told us.

Album Club

Here is another one # 8/50! This is our little God Son Zack at this past Christmas. This was a kit so there are no scraps to make cards or anything...

Album Club

This is number 7/50 for the year... I am really slacking but still on track to get all 50 completed. I just loved these summer papers I picked up recently at Scrapbooks Etc and they went so well with these boating pictures from Kenny's Childhood album.

I made about 8 cards with the scraps and will be posting pictures of them and listing them at my Etsy store later this week.

Going Green

This is a little embarrassing to share, but I will anyway. Every time we come home from the store we unpack our groceries (or whatever it is we bought) and shove the plastic bags on the side of the fridge.... well after about a year the entire side of the fridge was jam packed with plastic, paper and fabric bags! Here is a picture of the mess I pulled out today! SO here is my challenge to myself and all of you! Lets reduce and reuse!! I am putting fabric bags in my car so I can try to avoid getting anymore of these plastic bags and now I need to figure out what to do with all the ones I have... Any ideas??

No Manners

Tonight we had my parents over for dinner. After dinner we were clearing the table and chatting... well no one had was watching Toby and we turned around to find him ON the table with his head in the mashed potatoes! My camera was on the island so my mom grabbed it and snapped this picture of our naughty boy- It gave us all a good laugh!!

Yard Sale - Success!

Saturday morning my girlfriends and Kenny and I had a yardsale. We did well and everyone made a little money and got ride of some junk! Our neighbors had a sale the same day which helped too.

After the yardsale Donna, Blair and I went out to Arizona Mills and spent all our yardsale money! Took us 4 hours to make and 4 hours to spend!!

While we were gone Kenny went and played softball on his men's team and then headed out to Buckeye to visit with his mom and grandma. They had a nice dinner and watch the Suns game.

We both had a BUSY, fun Saturday.

Towing for Hire

Friday night Kenny and I went out for Mexican Food (a huge splurge for him since he is on his diet). While we were at dinner we got a call from Kenny's cousin. Andy was driving down the road and ran over an engine part (intake manifold??) lying in the street... it made a hole in the transmission pan!! The car wasn't drivable after that. Andy was wanting some advice about towing the vehicle in neutral. Kenny thought that might damage the vehicle further so he rented a car hauler trailer and towed him back to his house. Poor Andy's car... but at least no one was hurt!! Looks like they have a project on their hands to get the car running again. Good Luck boys!

Colorado Visitors

Last Sunday Ken and I went to a BBQ at his cousin Kim's house. Her kids were here from Colorado for Spring Break. Kenny's whole side of the family was there so it was really nice to see everyone (of course I forgot my camera). Brittany(10) and Christoper(9) are SO cute! Chris has such a corky personality and is a riot. Andy and the kids (and Kenny) played Rock Band which was pretty fun to watch. It was a great time.

First item for sale

I just posted my first item for sale in my new Etsy store! Very exciting!! It is this fun, girly thank you card! I added a link to the blog for the store- enjoy!

Pink

Saturday Kenny and I had lunch at my grandparents house for my birthday ( I know I am spoiled with all these parties). We had pizza and were chatting when Grandma showed us her new CD... PINK! She loves the song So What. My grandma and I really are two peas in a pod and like so many of the same things but it really just tickled me that she loved that song so much :)

I won I won!!

I am so excited! I won these 12 fat quarters in a giveaway on my friend's blog! Visit her at http://carolscraftblog.blogspot.com/ The line of fabric is by Moda and called Portugal... Now I just need to think up what to make. I am thinking something for Kenny's Nana since I made her a bag with similar fabrics for Christmas. Thanks Carol!!

That Thursday Thing...

Downtown Historic Glendale promotes a fun event on the 3rd Thursday of every month called "That Thursday Thing." This month's theme was cooking! We walked to each of the participating stores and got to try samples and got a new recipe for our book AND its all free! At the end of the night you end up with a completed book. Our buddy Marc from work met us up there and we enjoyed the wonderful weather, the ambiance and conversation. ALSO, I did my first Wine tasting! Marc is a wine buff so it was really fun to do with him. We tried 2 reds, 2 whites and a dessert wine. I of course loved the dessert wine and found out I don't like red wine. Kenny smelled them, but wasn't interesting in tasting. We had an excellent night!

Wor"ship" Wednesday

Tonight we joined our friend from work for a Wednesday night worship with his group called Alive at CCV (Christ's Church of the Valley). The cool thing was that he is actually in the band! He plays the guitar for the for them on Sundays for the 5th and 6th graders and the 3rd Wednesday for this group! The room we met in happened to be decorated like a giant pirate ship!

It was a nice service and I loved their rendition of Amazing Grace. Everyone in the group was very nice so we might end up going to a weekend service just to try it out (although we just love Radiant).

Afterwards we went to Starbucks for some yummy drinks.

Flowers!

Today Kenny surprised me and had flowers sent to the office for me! They are so beautiful and fragrant too!

When we were dating I would always tell Kenny don't send me flowers they are such a waste of money and they just die... somewhere along the way I changed my mind! I love them and while they are expensive and indulgent I really appreciate him thinking of me and surprising me like this.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well Happy St Patty's Day everyone! Did you have your corned beef, cabbage and green beer??!! We intended to, but it didn't end up happening... We went to the Irish Pub called Lis Doon Varna down the street from our office. Our friend Beverly and Lloyd came with us too. Well turns out they had a huge event going on (with a $5 cover) so we went and listen to live music while we waited.... and waited and waited for a table. After an hour and a half and a promise of at least another 30 mins we all decided to go walk over to another restaurant, Firebirds, across the street.

While we didn't end up getting our Irish Food we had an awesome meal and enjoyed the time with our friends.

Hope everyone had an awesome St. Patty's Day too!!

Old friends...

After work today we met up with Kenny's old friend Samantha and her husband Dan for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. She lives in Rangely , CO and is out visiting her family here. He had a nice meal and had a lot of fun chatting. They just moved into their new home on 5 acres! Sounds neat.

Kenny had a good time catching up and meeting Dan- who is a riot! He would defiantly be called a good ol boy : )

After dinner we went bowling and Kenny bowled a 218 followed by a 198! Must be that yummy stake from Texas Roadhouse.

What I like about Sunday...

What a great Sunday we had today! We got up early and went out to breakfast then headed to the 9 AM service at church. After Church Kenny went out to Buckeye to help out his mom and ended up having an awesome lunch of chicken n dumplings (not low carb, but he had to break the diet for his Nana's dumplings) and got to visit with his mom, Nana, Aunt, cousins and baby Zack-- lucky dog!! I stayed home and cleaned and just got stuff ready for the busy week ahead.

We played softball at 3PM... and lost, but we both had good hits and got on base. After softball we went to Walmart and Best Buy to look for a new radio... I got this awesome one that hangs on the wall so now I have a whole extra shelve on my book shelf to use (I am spring cleaning...it is a slow process). Kenny already hung it for me : )

Anyway, hope everyone had a great weekend too!!

Bingo!!

Last night we went to play Bingo with our friends Mike and Renee' and Renee won $200!! Awesome! So next time K and I need to win!! BTW I played 2 packets last night (which is essentially 12 cards) it was fun, but a little stressful!!

After Bingo we stopped at Safeway to get some meat for Kenny. He is doing the low carb thing and already lost 8 lbs! I am so jealous, but I love my bread, pasta, fruit etc too much.... Wish him luck everyone!!

Farmers Market

Today we piled in the car and headed to the Phoenix Public Market (http://www.foodconnect.org/phoenixmarket/ ) -- What a GREAT place! My buddy Marc volunteers up there and told us about it so we thought it might be fun to check out--even though it is about 45 mins away. My parents came with us and we passed the driving time with chatting (as always with my mom and I). The market has local vendors that sell everything from eggs and grain fed beef to crafts and pickles! We snagged some Grain Fed Sirloin Stakes and a Chuck roast (and so did my parents), cage free chicken eggs, our produce for the week and a jar of yummy sweet n soar pickles with jalapenos in them! You will never guess what Kenny bought... Eggplant Lasagna!! They had samples, he tried it and liked it! We met our friend Becky up there and had a lot of fun checking out all the "goods" together. It was a fun morning!!

Dancing the night away...

So tonight we slipped on our boots and went out dancing! I know right!? The two shyest people ever-- out dancing?? My friend from work asked us on a double date to this place called Buffalo Chips Saloon. They do free dancing lessons on Thursday nights and tonight was the Arizona two step- so fun! I have never really been that great of a dancer... and man did that shine through tonight although I did well at the spinning!! Poor Kenny I must have stepped more on his feet than the dance floor! He on the other hand, was SO good!!! A hidden talent! We have been together for almost 10 years and I am still learning new things about him everyday. We had so much fun tonight and are looking forward to going out dancing again soon!!

Kid's Say the darndest things...

So Sunday night my parents had Kenny and I, along with my bro and his family over for dinner for my B-day. After dinner we were all having ice cream and cake. The cake was a gift from my co-worker shaped like a little puppy. Well we asked little Brian if he wanted some cake he said "Yeah", but then when we tried to give him a piece he said "no tanks, no tanks" and waived it away. We said "I thought you wanted Cake" and he says "I not eat dog, no tanks."

A Blessing

Sunday morning my mom and I went to our old LDS Church... it had been almost 8 years for me and about 3 for my mom. We were welcomed by all our old friends. I was surprised how many people went out of there way to say hi to us... there was actually a line of people to talk to us. We were there for my girlfriend Catherine. Her little baby girl, Marlee Kate Hall, was being blessed and she invited us to come. I am thankful she shared her day with us- it was awesome.

Catherine is currently living in Utah and the last time we talked she told me she was a little concerned about bringing home her little baby in the snow... it inspired me to make her a super warm quilt!! I didn't finish it before the baby was born, but I got to give it to her in person rather than mailing it which was really nice. I made it with 100% cotton (quilt store quality) fabrics, warm and natural batting and minke for the backing--- it is WARM. When I was doing the hand sewing for the binding I had to take a break I got so hot. The quilting was done by a long arm quilter Sharon (very hard to see in the picture, but it is a bunch of swirly hearts)

I hope Catherine doesn't mind, but I am going to share her words... I think the greatest appreciation for me is knowing the person really liked what I made for them...

"The quilt you made is amazing. I love it so much. When we had lunch at my moms house she was wrapped in it for her whole nap. I love the fabric & the quilted hearts are so cool. Thanks sooooo much. I am glad you were able to make it & see Marlee. Thanks again"

Adventures of K & A

We had a super busy Saturday (03/07/09) which started with some yard sale shopping with my mom. We got some good deals and just had fun spending time together. Kenny and my mom really get a long well and are always laughing and making us laugh too.

We headed out to Buckeye for lunch at Kenny's Nana's house. She made us homemade chicken n dumplings- from scratch!! It was delicious. Kenny did his honey do lists for his mom and Nana while Sarah and I headed out to the Goodyear Market. We came across a game (LRC) she had been looking for and got a artificial plant for your new house. It was a pretty great afternoon.

Next we headed to church and enjoyed a guest Pastor Mark Batterson. He is a Pastor from Washington DC and holds his weekly services in the Subway stations! He ministers to the 20 somethings that are currently writing the laws for our nation-- awesome guy!! I bought his book- In a pit with a Lion which actually talks about our church, Radiant and the amazing growth and what God is doing right here in Surprise, AZ. Neat-o

After church Kenny had a softball game. It was an 8PM game and chilly!! The team didn't really play well, but were missing a number of their regular players so I am sure next week will be better.

Anyway, that was our busy and fun Saturday!!

Spoiled Rotten!

So I got absolutely spoiled rotten rotten rotten for my 26th b-day! I guess I'm kind of a big deal ...or at least people made me feel that way! My mom called me first thing in the morning to get my day started and I got calls, cards, e-mails, text etc all day! I was really surprised of all the people who thought of me : ) My girlfriends at work spoiled me with gifts, treats AND took me to lunch at this new restaurant down the street from our office. My buddy Carol made me the cutest apron ever! It is made out of I LOVE LUCY fabric and just super cute-- the picture just doesn't do it justice .She also made me this adorable mini quilt with my name on it! For dinner we went to Olive Garden and my parents joined us! That really is a big deal because they both work long hours and commute to Tempe so they are usually pretty tired, but they still came anyway. We had so much fun!

My grandparents are going to take Kenny and I out eat at Carlos O Brian's (one of our favorites!) too!!

I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!! Thanks everyone you really made me feel special and loved!!

RAK (Random Act of Kindness)

Something unexpected, excepting nothing in return, a good deed... all can be considered a random act of kindness... Today when I got to work I found this awesome shamrock table runner waiting for me. My girlfriend at work just whipped it up for me last night! So funny because I made a comment on her blog.... http://carolscraftblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/shamrock-table-topper.html and so she just made me one! Now I need to think about what boarders to add... and who can I pass on a RAK to....

Will Work for Pizza

I am so blessed to have such a handy hubby! He helps all our friends and family with their household projects or their cars... whatever he can really. Tonight he helped our buddy Blair out by installing her garage door opener in her new home. She bought some pizza for all of us and we watched American idol. It was a fun night!

Oh yeah- on our way our to her house we got stopped by a train and as we were sitting there for about 15 minutes I snapped this picture of the pretty sunset.

Album Club

Just wanted to share some new scrapbook pages I just completed for the 2009 Album Club. This is our 4th of July Camping Trip Last Year.

Hand Me Downs, Yardsales and thrift store treasures! (Plus our weekend adventures)

Its Spring Cleaning time... okay well here in Phoenix it is practically summer already with record heat in the 90s, but we will call it Spring time anyway. My mom cleaned out her craft room last week and gave me a few boxes of paper, stickers, bags etc etc- I love it. If that weren't awesome enough my friend Carol from work gave me a bunch of stuff from cleaning out her craft room this week too!! She gave me a bunch of books, thread, tons of fun ribbon and more! I am SO spoiled. I have always loved hand me downs. When my bro and I were little I would always want his old toys, books and stuff when he cleaned out his room. One mans junk is another mans treasure!!

This Saturday Kenny and I kinda went our own ways- he went out to Buckeye to work on his Nana's truck and do some things at his moms house and I went to the Scrapbooking Yardsale at the Scrapbook Barn with my mom. We got a bunch of goodies... from Magazines to embellishments for next to nothing (because I need more stuff...).

Then we went to Scrapbooks etc and I got this new punch for my birthday (Kenny asked me what I wanted for my b-day and I said this awesome punch. SO... I just picked it up while we were out there).

I dropped my mom off and picked up my friend Blair and we went to the baby shower. It was really fun, we played games and ate delicious food (her dad is a chef at the Biltmore Resort). After the shower we decided to stop at Goodwill since it was 1/2 off day. I picked up these treasures.... The rug was brand new and I only paid $3- awesome. Plus I a Sponge Bob bucket (was for Halloween, but I thought it would make a great easter basket for one of my nephews), a toy for the dogs, a bunch of cards, this kit to make ornaments (was $27.99 at Michaels) and 4 shirts for under $20!!

Meanwhile Kenny had lunch with his mom, got some stuff done at her house and headed home for his softball game. He played really well that afternoon and got a triple and caught a pop up! Yippee Kenny! Lee, the coach of co-ed team, was jealous and told Kenny he need to hit a triple for the Radiant Royals!

After his game we went to Church- which was amazing BTW and then went to dinner at Mike's Greek and Italian Restaurant.

Sunday, was a slower paced day- which is what we are striving for these days. We played our softball game at 1. It was actually really hot out! Kenny gave Lee his wish and hit a triple AND caught another pop up along with making several other outs in the game!! We didn't win, but we had some fun. Michelle and Nanette came by for a quick visit and brought little Zack. He is just too cute I had to take some pictures of him.

So Michelle stepped out side to smoke and while she was gone I was watching Zack. He was sitting right by me on the couch and I reached for my camera on the coffee table and when I looked back he had rolled right off the couch!! I felt absolutely awful!! Michelle and Nanette were very nice about it, but I still cannot believe that happened!! Kenny tells me not to worry about it that is happens some times... I said yea to me! (see my post a few weeks back about Jake and the swing....) Anyway, when Zack fell he must have hit is gum just right and his second tooth popped out! So I am not sure how often we will be babysitting our little God Son here in the future, but Nanette says we may be referred to as his "Oh my God parents now".

Sarah and Barb came over for dinner (Coke Roast- see below recipe) and just sat around and talked and listened to music. BTW Sarah says there is a superstition that if a baby doesn't fall off a couch by the time they are 1 they will go crazy- so your Welcome Michelle and Trevor.

Oh and here is the recipe--

Coke Roast-

3 lb beef roast (you can do smaller I usually do)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 packet of dry onion soup

1 can of coke (DO NOT Sub in diet coke)

I use a ceramic pot and cook with the lid on for 3-3 1/2 hours-- yum