Pancakes, palm trees, pine needles and pigs!

M2B=) days 153 - 161.  Wednesday, July 7th - Thursday July 15th.

Wednesday, July 7th happiness:  A few weeks ago, at the cabin I got to try Archer Farms Blueberry Pancake Mix.  It was so yummy good.  Today my mom called and asked if I wanted to go to Target pick up some different kinds to try.  We got the Apple Cinnamon and The Pumpkin.  Brian liked the Apple Cinnamon ones best, but I loved the Pumpkin.  It made me wish it was October.  Also, any time that I get to spend time with my mom one on one is a happy day!

Thursday, July 8th happiness:  I got to hang out with some of my very favorite people today.  We played Hi Ho Cherry-O.  From the looks of this photo, some of us did not have as much fun as the rest of us.  Actually, I don't know why she looks so sad.  We all had fun.  

Friday, July 9th:  Today I took Joe and the Gonzo boys to the pool.  We went to the West Chandler Aquatic Center on Kyrene.  Joe really wanted to go to a pool that had a high dive.  Also, since it was our first time trying out this pool, I didn't just drop the boys off.  I stayed.  I read my book while they swam.  I sat under this palm tree:
At around 6:30 I noticed that it started to get a little more crowded.  And, it was all dad's taking their kids to the pool after work.  I LOVED it.  Dad's who spend time with their kids, doing something that the kids want to do are awesome.  It made me happy to see.  I love good Dads.  Also, I noticed that when you start to say (or type) the word "dad" a lot.  It starts to sound like a really funny word.

Saturday, July 10th:  This afternoon we got to spend time at Teresa's house (which is gorgeous, by the way).  We got to see Teresa and Stuart and Jack and Kevin and Alena and Bremen.  I know that we all keep up with each other on blogs and facebook and such, but it was nice to actually be there in person and spend time with family.  We don't do that enough.  I also ate some of the best food ever today.  Those ribs were to die for.  I am still thinking about them.  Thanks to Teresa for having us over.  

Sunday, July 11th:  Was feeling really sick today.  I spent a lot of the day in bed.  Brian took over the "mom" stuff today and took care of everything.  It was really nice.

Monday, July 12th:  We went and saw Despicable Me.  I guess I wasn't expecting much out of this one.  It wasn't really on my list of movies to see.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I really liked it.

Tuesday, July 13th:  Today my mom introduced me to "Sweeties".  Thank you mom!  It is like the Costco of candy stores.  Aisles and aisles of every type of candy imaginable.  I couldn't help think of Michelle and her candy stash when I was in here.  I think she would love this place.  I can't believe I made it out of there with only spending 2 dollars.  I can't wait until December when we make our gingerbread houses.  I know where I'm going to buy my candy.
Also today, I got to go to lunch at Liberty Market with Amy!  Woo hoo.  It was so much fun.  I am glad that I got to see her while she was in town.  I am kicking myself for not taking a picture.  It may be a couple of years again before I see here again (I sure hope not!)

Wednesday, July 14th:  I spent the day preparing to leave town tomorrow:  shopping, packing, cleaning.  Then I get this bright idea that I should pick up the dead pine needles that have fallen off the tree.  Dry pine needles in July is a fire waiting to happen.  So I spend an hour and 2 garbage bags cleaning up.  Then I get the brilliant idea that Brian should go up on the roof and sweep all of the ones up there down onto the ground so that I can pick them up.  

Now, this is the 1st time in 13 years of living here that I have felt the need to do this.  I should have realized it was going to be bad:
There were SO MANY.  I am seriously surprised our roof hadn't caved in.  I was wading through needles waist deep.  It took me another couple of hours and 6 HUGE garbage bags to get rid of those.  What was I thinking?  On a happy note, there is satisfaction in a job well done.

Thursday, July 15th:  After yesterday, I was ready for a vacation.  We drove to San Diego today.  I love road trips.  

We saw trains:
dunes:
happy pigs:

And, finally, when we arrived, -  Diamondbacks practicing right outside our window:
We unpacked and then headed out to eat.  Joe is patiently waiting for a table:
More from San Diego later.

Happy Day!

Happiness in July - part 1

M2B =) days 147 - 152.  Thursday, July 1st - Tuesday July 6th.

Now that July is nearly over.......Oh well.

Thursday, July 1st happiness:  Today was all about the music therapy.  When I am having a bad day, nothing makes me feel better faster than good music.  Well, maybe chocolate, but I have had waaaaay too much chocolate therapy lately, so today it was music.  

My favorite part of today's music therapy was listening to Neds in the car.  Turning it up loud and singing at the top of my lungs.  Woo hoo.  It's a good thing I was alone.

Also on today's music therapy list:  The Killers - the beginning base in "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" gets me every time.  I love it soooo much.  Also:  Vampire Weekend, Cage the Elephant, Good Charlotte, and Franz Ferdinand made it into the therapy rotation today.  It was a bad day.  I needed A LOT of music therapy.

Tonight I got to talk with Joe on the phone (in case you forgot, he was still at camp).  He made a new friend, and sounded really happy.  Much happier than yesterday.  He was telling me about the stars and how there were so many and how cool it looked.  I love that he mentioned that.

Friday, July 2nd:

I don't know if this made me happy, but it sure did make me smile.  I saw this bumper sticker today:
Also, as our last night before Joe came home, Brian and I went out to dinner and then grabbed some cold stone on the way home.  Then we watched Friday Night Lights.  Cold stone and Tim Riggins - that will put a smile on your face!

Saturday, July 3rd:  Joe came home today!  Woo hoo!  I missed him so much.  He was tired and covered in dirt, but he was home.  He got injured at camp and is showing me his wounded hand:
Sunday, July 4th:  It was just Joe, Brian and I for the 4th this year.  It was kind of nice just spending it the three of us together.  Although, after reading Sheri's blog and how fun it was at the cabin, we may have to try that next year.
Monday, July 5th:  Brian and I took Joe and Dallin to see The Last Airbender in 3D.  I really enjoyed it.  It was visually stunning and I really liked the story.  It's not as funny as the cartoon (which, if you get a chance to see, is pretty dang good) but I still liked it.  It's so nice to have Joe home.

Saw another one today.  It made me LOL.
Tuesday, July 6th - Joe and I spent a lot of time cleaning and de-cluttering his room.  It looks so nice, at least for now.
Also, Joe decided to get his hair cut tonight.  It is soooo short.  I love it.  I did take a photo of the finished cut, but it is on my camera still, so you will just have to wait.
and that is it for now.

Happy Day!

Finishing June

M2B =) days 141-146.  Friday, June 26th - Wednesday June 30th.

Friday, June 25th happiness:  Today was our last day at the cabin. (But that is sad, so we will not focus on that.)  I had to take the boys for one LONG, last ranger ride.  

Don't ask me how I took this photo.  I am a safe driver.  I thought Joe was pretending to be Superman, but he insisted that he wanted to be the first one to touch the air.  
Ro is the BEST at playing hide and go seek.

We said goodbye to the Lambson Lodge.  Instead of focusing on how sad that is, I will focus on how lucky we are that we have somewhere to go to get out of the heat and enjoy nature a little bit.
Joe and I had fun on the way home.  He is good company, and he grows a mean carrot mustache.
Saturday, June 26th:  Brian and I went to a movie this afternoon.  I know it seems like we have seen a lot of movies lately, but that is because we live in an oven and it is too hot to do anything out of doors.  I liked this movie, it was pretty entertaining.  It was no Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but it was still fun.  And Cameron Diaz didn't annoy me as much as she usually does.
Sunday, June 27th:  For the most part we had a lazy Sunday.  My favorite kind.  We put off packing for Joe's scout camp as long as possible, as I did not like to think about him being gone for a week.
Monday, June 28th:  Joe left this morning for scout camp =(   But, since I am trying to focus on the happy stuff, we will not mention this again, or about how much I miss him when he is gone.  I am focusing on how much fun he is having. 

 I got to hang out with Brian tonight.  I made him go to the theater and buy my Eclipse ticket for me.  I was hoping he would go to the window, but he got it here instead, so he wouldn't be embarrassed to be a man buying a ticket to a very girly movie.  
Tuesday, June 29th:  To avoid missing Joe too much, I kept myself very busy today.  And, I got to hang with Karen nearly all day.  We went to the gym for a long time, where she laughed at me because I couldn't do squats without loosing my balance.  Then we went and helped some people from our ward with packing and cleaning their house before they move.  Finally tonight we went to Oregano's for dinner with our guys.  Today was a good day.

Wednesday, June 30th:  Tonight was girls night out.  We went to see Eclipse, of course.  While I love the books, but am not too crazy about the movies, I have to say that this one was the best of the series (of movies) so far.  

Afterwards we went to Chili's for dessert, where I tried this:
Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie.  It has walnuts and coconut and hot fudge and caramel and all things good.  I wish it was pecans instead of walnuts, but I won't complain.  It was yummy.

Why do so many of my happiness posts revolve around food?

That's it for now.  Happy Day!

More M2B=)

M2B=) days 136 - 140.  Sunday, June 20th - Thursday, June 24th.

Sunday, June 20th:  Joe has been into Werewolves lately.  He's even perfected the werewolf run.  Love it!

Monday, June 21st:  Joe had his physical for scout camp today.  He was happy that he didn't have to turn his head and cough. =)  Not really my happiness, but I thought I'd include HIS happiness today.  

Also today, a bunch of us went and saw Toy Story 3.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  I may have to see it again.  All of the usual toys were in it......

...along with a few, new, creepy characters.
I can't even explain this part.  You'll just have to see it for yourself.

Tuesday, June 22nd Joe and I headed back up to the cabin.  It is SO nice to have somewhere to go to get out of the heat.  This time we were joined by Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, Max, Darrel, Addy, Ro and Ruby.  It was a fun bunch.  We watched Open Season.  I really love that movie.

Wednesday, June 23rd:  Grandma bought a dart board for the kids to use.  They loved it and it kept them busy for a lot of the day.  

Ben's bullseye:  
Joe got one too:
Max hit the triple 20.  
MY favorite part of Wednesday was the ranger ride I went on with Rowan.  We saw the wolf pack.  Ok, so it might just be a pack of wild dogs that really look like wolves.  It is really hard to tell the difference, but we saw them, and it was cool.  We also saw an elk in the middle of the day.  It was awesome.
Thursday, June 24th:  We enjoyed the great outdoors.
Early afternoon, the clouds came rolling in.
Then, the rain started.  We thought we'd get a quick thunderstorm, but it rained for hours.  We all headed out to the porch to enjoy it for a while.  And, NO, Max is not having a smoke.  It's a lollipop.
When everyone got too cold to sit outside, we headed in for something warm.  Yum!
Who's s'mores face do you like best?

Max....
Joe....

Or Ben?
Also today, I got to try this: 

It was seriously like Christmas in my mouth.  So, so good.

That's enough photo's for now.  More soon.  I am determined to catch up!

Happy Day!

Happy cabin days

M2B =) days 127 - 135  Friday, June 11th - Saturday, June 19th.

Friday, June 11th happiness:  We headed back up to the cabin.  This time Joe and I decided to bring Brian with us.  It was his birthday this weekend and he wanted to spend it at the cabin.  I took this photo on the way into Vernon.  I really liked that spotted horse.  Also, there is an antelope in the background.  I love it up here.

Saturday, June 12th:  Today was COLD and I loved every second of it.  To be cold in June in Arizona is amazing.  Brian made a fire.
What do you do when it is super cold?  Eat ice cream, of course.  We drove to Greer, because Joe says they have the best ice cream on earth.  We saw tons of antelope and ate ice cream in the freezing cold.

Then, at dusk, when it was super cold, Joe and I decided to go on a ranger ride and look for wildlife.  Joe brought along grandpa's elk call.

We saw 5 elk.....
and an antelope.....
Joe got to be photographer because I was driving.  It was so dark, I'm amazed the photos turned out at all.

Saturday, June 13th:  Today was a gorgeous day.  
Joe and I went on a super long ranger ride and enjoyed the trees and the cool weather and just being outside.  Loving it!
Saturday night Brian made us steak for dinner.  I don't know if it was because I was sooo hungry, or because we are at the cabin, or what - but it was almost the best steak ever.  (I would have said the best, but nothing will top the steak I had at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  Sorry Brian.)  

Monday, June 14th:  Happy Birthday to Brian.  We were supposed to go home today, but we couldn't bring ourselves to leave.  We decided to stay one more day.  I made Brian a lemon cake for his birthday.  He wasn't very cooperative at letting me take his picture though.
Monday night, grandma and grandpa showed up with Alex.  Grandpa and Alex were going on a fishing trip and invited Joe to stay at the cabin with them this week.

Tuesday, June 15th:  Brian and I headed home from the cabin today.  Joe decided to stay.  After we got home and unpacked, we went to Red Robin.  Brian had a birthday coupon for a free burger.  They even gave him a free ice cream sundae and a balloon.    After Red Robin we went and saw the A-Team.  I loved it.  A lot.  
Wednesday, June 16th:  Tonight after Brian got home from work we went and saw Killers.  I definitely wished we hadn't of paid full price for this one.  Katherine Heigl super BUGS me anyway, but the commercials looked all right.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't worth full price either.  Oh well.  At least I got a night out.  And I love going to the movies.
Thursday June 17th:  Was a really low key day.  Just hung out at home and relaxed.  That is always nice.

Friday, June 18th:  Joe came home today.  Woo hoo.  I missed his cute fact.  What is the first thing he did when he got home?  He headed straight for the computer, of course.
Saturday, June 19th:  Today was a busy day.  Errands during the day, then a friends baby shower, followed by Ruby's birthday party.  I took a ton of photos, but a lot were similar to the ones Sheri posted.  So, instead I picked a few that I really liked that were a little different from hers:




Good times.  After the party.  Brian and I took Joe to see the A-Team.  It was really just an excuse for me to see it again.  

Happy Day!