Good Times With The Kids

A few weeks ago we were at Matt's mom's house and Amy was getting mad at the kids for something. Matt thought that she was being too hard on them, but she said that she'd like to see him take care of all four kids for a few days and see how it was then. Of course Matt is never one to turn down a challenge, so we offered to watch the kids for Amy and Andy's anniversary. It was kind of funny because we just ended up switching houses. They stayed at our house, and we went to their house to watch the kids. We arrived at their house on Saturday morning around 10:30. We ate lunch at McDonald's (we had to play at the placeplace of course!), and then we went to play in the water at Tempe Beach Park. Hadley had a lot of fun going down the slide. Ashlyn was a little nervous because it went pretty fast, but Hadley was fearless. After an afternoon nap (unfortunately not an afternoon nap for me), we went to Peter Piper Pizza. The kids had lots of fun playing all of the games, and we left with a few prizes. Earlier in the day I had promised Austin that we could get ice cream, so we went to Coldstone Creamery (Peanut Butter Cup Perfection . . . yummy!!). We rented a couple of movies, and the kids wanted everyone to sleep on the floor in the family room. I think Hadley was the only smart one because when we got up in the morning we found that she had went to sleep in her bed sometime during the night. On Sunday, we just hung out at the house until Andy and Amy got home around 2pm. We had lots of fun, but I have to say that Amy was right that it can be challenging at times (and we were only there for 27 and 1/2 hours. Who was counting right?). Did I mention that I forgot to bring my camera? I was a little bit disappointed about that.

Twilight!

I just finished reading the complete Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Can I just say that these are the best books that I have ever read. I don't usually like to read books more then one time, but I've read them twice. (except the last one I've only read once because it just came out.) I even had to buy them. They are about a vampire named Edward that falls in love with a human named Bella. (I know vampires??) Seriously, you should read it if you haven't all ready. Once you start reading you won't be able to put them down! I read the whole series in five days.

Go D-Backs!

We went to the Diamondbacks game last night with Janeille, Matthias, Jeremiah, Andy, and Austin. We didn't all get to sit together, but Matt got the tickets for free from his work. Andy and Austin had great seats on the lower level right behind home plate. The rest of us can't really complain though because we got to sit in the club seats. Jeremiah practiced hitting the ball, with his bat, whenever anyone on the field was pitching. He was really excited when a ball actually came our way. In the picture he was crying because he wanted to go out and play on the field with the team. Maybe in a few years!! The Diamondbacks crushed the Pittsburgh Pirates 13 to 7.

Hangin' Out With Family

Matt, Me, and Hadley.

Matt's Dad and Kaylee with us.

Grandpa and Grandma Mendonca
Rick and us. (That's Carter in the background.)

Matt's Grandpa and Grandma Mendonca, his uncle Rick, and his cousin Julianne came to visit from California. Last night we went over to Amy's house to have dinner and hang out with them. Matt's mom made Thankgsgiving Dinner. Yummy! It was fun to be able to see them and hang out. We should all get together more often!

Tempe City League Champions!

Matt's been playing basketball in the Tempe City League with some guys from his work. They were undefeated this season, and they won the championship game. Matt made the most three pointers on his team! They are going to have to fight over the plaque to see who gets to display it on his desk! They are all planning on wearing their winning t- shirts to work today to show off.

Venice Beach

Yesterday we flew to Venice Beach California, for the day, with our friends Cassie and Brigham. The weather was a beautiful 78 degrees (a little overcast, but definitely better then 112 degrees at home!!). It was fun to see the performers on the beach, and Matt even got a little bit of a workout climbing a rope that was at the park on the beach. We didn't actually go in the water (I think I saw a sign that said the water temp was 68 degrees), but it was fun to lay in the sand and enjoy being at the beach.

Matt's Dad

We recently found out that Matt's dad has cancer for the second time. He is going through chemo and fighting really hard to get better. If you want to check out his blog it's http://www.ihatecancer-mike.blogspot.com. We are having a garage sale on August 2nd to try and raise money to help with medical expenses and other things since he hasn't been able to work since starting treatments. If you want to donate anything for the garage sale please let me know!

Hawaii

Matt and I just got back from Maui today! It was so much fun there. We got a great deal last minute on priceline.com, and we stayed at the Marriot in Wailea. We spent lots of time snorkeling, and we swam with the turtles. We saw the sunrise above the clouds on Mount Haleakala. We had to get up at 2 in the morning to drive there in time, and it was freezing cold! We also drove to Hana which is on the rain forest side of the island. It was very beautiful there with tons of waterfalls and a black sand beach. The drive there took 3 hours on a windy road that was only 55 miles long. There was traffic both directions, but in some parts the street went down to one lane so we had to wait and take turns. I think that it was the scariest drive of my life. You couldn't tell who was coming up around the corner most of the time. We were lucky to get a free upgrade to a convertible, so we got to "enjoy" the ride with the top down.

Rocky Point

For our anniversary in May we went to Rocky Point to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers play. They play there twice a year, and we like to go whenever we can. I've sort of been obsessed with Roger since I was like 15. Of course, he's not as good looking as Matt is though. While in Rocky Point we stayed at a condo in Bella Sirena. We had an awesome view of the beach. I love that place!

Kaylee

My niece Kaylee finally got to go home from the hospital. She was born with a diaphragmatic hernia which required surgery a few days after she was born. She was in the hospital for 7 weeks, but I was able to visit her almost everyday. I miss seeing her all of the time, but I'm so glad that she was able to go home. She's been home for almost 3 weeks now. She is so adorable!