New Addition to our Family

We have added a new member to our family. He is a yellow Labrador puppy. Maverick was not at all sure of him at first meeting and I don't think the puppy was too sure of Maverick either. We did not have a name for him so Papa suggested that Connor and I go on the Internet and find male dog names. We did that and then wrote down all the names we liked. Connor then made a graph with all the names and places for each family member to pick yes, no, or maybe to each name. Once that was completed Connor informed us that the name that had the most yes votes was Trooper...so Trooper it is.

Once Maverick and Trooper stared, pawed, and sniffed each other they decided being brothers was going to be fun. Trooper does not know how much smaller he is than Maverick and holds his own pretty well. It will be fun to watch the dynamic between them as Trooper gets larger than Maverick.

Maverick is very happy to have a playmate and Trooper seems to enjoy it too.

Peas in a Pod

Connor and Cambell were over early this morning and had to give Maverick lots of hugs. Maverick loves it when the kids are here. After the first picture we had breakfast and headed to the pool...yes, 0830 and we are swimming. The pool felt great and we had a lot of fun. We came in around 1030 and the kids showered and I turned on SpongeBob for them to watch while I showered. When I came out of the shower this is what I saw on the bed...Connor, Cambell, and Maverick enjoying SpongeBob together. Maverick will do anything as long as he is with the kids. What a trio!!!

Mercury Game

Melanie is a big Phoenix Mercury Basketball fan and has season tickets to there games. She invited me to join her today and we had a great time. As you can see our seats were as good as you can get. I have never been so close at a basketball game...it was a lot of fun!

Melanie's favorite player is taking a free throw shot and does make the shot. I believe her name is Diana Tarasi. I am not sure of the spelling...sorry Mel. She also scored the most points in the game.This is the coach giving instruction to the players. I took the picture just because we were so close we could here what he was saying. The Mercury won the game by 19 points so everyone left happy.

We stopped in at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch so the crowd could leave before heading to our car. Thanks Mel for a wonderful time.

July 4th

We had a terrific 4th of July. Connor and Cambell are still in Iowa but the rest of us got together for some lunch, swimming, homemade ice cream, and Nascar racing. Maverick made himself comfortable also.

Jennifer made here famous made from scratch salsa and delicious cupcakes. They were very festive with the red, white, and blue color theme. As you can see Kare was very happy with the cupcakes.

Swimming and the spa made for a relaxing day and it sure helped us all beat the heat...the spa was not heated, just bubbly. I sure love our family times!!

Lunch Time

Candice and I did a little shopping this morning where I found a $79.00 purse on sale for $24.00. I had been looking for a light colored purse for summer for awhile but had kept looking because the prices were ridiculous. This one was perfect and a very good deal. After shopping we met Jennifer at Carlos O'Briens. It is close to Jenn's work so she was able to take a lengthy lunch and join us. Jenn refused to be in the picture, however she did volunteer to take the picture. We didn't have the kids today because they left this morning for Iowa with their Dad. They will be gone for a week. Candice got a call from them once they landed in Iowa so we know they are safe and sound. I am sure going to miss them but I am also sure they will have a great time with their other Grandma's and Grandpa's. I had a wonderful time with 2 of my girls today and always feel blessed to be able to spend time with them.

Charlotte's Web

Candice, Connor, Cambell, Kara and I went to the Arizona Broadway Theatre today and saw Charlotte's Web. It was a wonderful play and kept the kids interest by including a lot of audience participation. Wilbur the pig was running through the theater trying to hide from the farmer because Wilbur thought the farmer was going to kill him. The farmer was also running through the theater looking for Wilbur. There was a short break in the middle for standing up and stretching which everyone did in unison under the direction of the narrator of the play. I was impressed at how good the play was and how it kept the kids attention. After the play the cast was in the lobby for pictures and autographs. The kids had them sign their tickets and we took pictures of the kids with Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig. We had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing another play in July.

Cuties!!

Look at those cute faces!!! It is so much fun to watch the kids and Maverick play. We were playing hide and seek and Maverick would help Cambell find Connor and me. It was so cute. Maverick would sniff us out and then stand and look at us until Cambell would come by. Sometimes Cambell wouldn't notice us but Maverick did his best. These three have a ball together.

Father's Day Fun

Today we went to the Candice, Rob, and the kids house for a Father's Day quad ride. Of course we all didn't ride quads...Connor, Papa and Rob took the quads out and all of us girls enjoyed a nice morning relaxing in Candice and Rob's beautiful back yard. The boys had a great time and when they returned we ordered pizza and watched a little of the US Open. It was a very nice Father's Day celebration.

Good Buddies

Connor and Maverick are good buddies. Connor enjoys getting Maverick to do tricks. Maverick's tricks include sit, down, stay, roll over, give me a kiss, shake, and take a bow. We are always trying to think up new tricks to teach Maverick and have been working on trying to get him to open the cabinet by pulling on a rope tied to the cabinet handle. I am sure Connor will have Maverick doing it in no time.

Lego Exhibit

Connor and Cambell are staying with us this week while Candice and Rob are in Las Vegas celebrating their first anniversary. It's hard to believe it has already been a year. We are looking forward to a fun week with the kids. We took Connor and Cambell to a Lego exhibit today and it was a sight. I have never seen so many Lego's. The dragon in the picture is made of Lego's. That must have taken quite a while to put together.

Cambell enjoyed sliding down the slide that came out of a castle built with all sizes of Lego's. She went down that slide at least 100 times. We got there when it opened so it wasn't very busy at first. Lots of children were sliding by the time Cambell was tired.

Cambell also enjoyed building with the giant Lego's. She wanted to build a tower that was her size so she did. Good job Cambell!

Connor and Papa worked on building a castle. It took a long time but they enjoyed hunting for just the right piece and then deciding on where it should go in order to get the castle they were thinking about.

Connor and Papa are very proud of there castle. They worked hard on it and enjoyed working on it together. Great Job Connor and Papa!!

Summer Fun

Connor woke up early this morning and we went outside to enjoy some cool weather. The cool doesn't last long though and it certainly is not so cool that we needed to think about staying dry. Squirt bottles were a big hit with both the kids...thank you Papa for getting them.

Papa and the kids were wore out after an afternoon of swimming. Connor loves for Papa to throw him high in the air and then land in the pool. Cambell enjoys it too but as she is flying through the air her face shows a little fear...however she comes up and wants to do it again so I guess she is not that afraid.

Summer Swimming

Candice brought the kids over today and we all spent the afternoon in the pool. All the kids are like fish. Kara has been swimming well for quite a while. Connor learned to swim last summer and has not forgotten anything...he has actually gotten better. Cambell is still using her floaties but she has no fear and splashes around all over the pool. We took Cambell's floaties off to let her try and swim. She did great swimming back and forth between Candice and I but she would never come up for air. We would tell her to get her head up and take a breath but she would say "I can't get my head up". We will keep practicing with her and I bet she is swimming by the end of the summer. We finished off our swim with popsicles which has become a tradition.

First Day of Summer Break

Today was the first day that I have had Connor and Cambell for a full day since Summer break began for Connor. We had fun playing games, dancing with the music blaring while playing pool...Connor is getting better at pool, and we also made sock puppets. Summer is going to be fun.

Desert Botanical Garden

We enjoyed a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden this evening. Not only was the garden beautiful but we were fortunate enough to be able to see an exhibit being shown there called "Chihuly: The Nature of Glass". As you can see from the pictures it was absolutely beautiful. It was hard to decide what pictures to use here because they were all so magnificent. The artist that made these sculptures is Dale Chihuly. He has his works in more than 200 museums around the world. This exhibit outside in a desert garden is a first for him. We could not figure out how in the world these sculptures could be moved without any breakage.
Even without the exhibit the Garden is wonderful. The smells from the wild flowers and the herbs that are all around were sweet and sensational. It started sprinkling rain while we were there and the temperature was in the lower 80's so it was a perfect Arizona evening to spend outdoors. We had a terrific time.

End of School Year Party

We surprised the kids with an end of school year party. Candice thought of the idea and we implemented it without the kids finding out. Good job us!!! When the kids got to the car after Connor's crossover we took them to pick up pizza and told them of the party. Papa and Auntie Jenn got off work early to be at the party and Uncle Heath came over during his lunch hour to join in the festivities. Auntie Mel could not make it because she is in Portland on work related business. We missed her. After pizza we went swimming. I should say the kids went swimming. We all tried the pool but it was still to cold for us adults but the kids thought it was perfect and had a wonderful time. After swimming it was pinata time and the pinata was very stubborn. It took quite a few whacks by all the kids to get that candy to fall out. Once it hit the ground it was collected and put into bags to be taken with them when they go on their camping trip to Lake Powell this weekend...of course several pieces were eaten right away. We then went inside and had brownies and homemade vanilla ice cream. The day was fantastic and we are looking forward to a lot more swimming and ice cream over the summer. Maverick had to skip the brownies and ice cream but he enjoyed his Milk Bone all the same.

Kindergarten Crossover

Connor had his Kindergarten Crossover today. This was a ceremony that signified the Kindergarten student becoming a first grader. It was very cute. Connor's class lined up and their teacher called them up to the "bridge" aka picnic table and they received their diploma as they walked across the bridge. Mrs. Benneian, Connor's teacher, sprinkled confetti on their heads as they went over the top of the bridge. It was a fun time for all the kids to play together, give hugs, and exchange phone numbers so they can get together over the summer.
Connor is now officially a first grader!!

Last Volunteer Day

I have enjoyed volunteering in Connor's class all year. It was so much fun getting to watch the progress of the students from Day 1 of Kindergarten until the end of the year. They have learned so much. Raising a hand to be able to speak was a whole new concept much less reading a book and learning addition. Connor tackled all the assignments with gusto and has certainly gained a lot of knowledge.

Today was my last day to volunteer in Connor's Kindergarten class. I captured this last with a picture of Connor before we left for school. I will miss Connor in Kindergarten, but I look forward to first grade volunteering and Cambell will be starting preschool in the fall so I am very excited about that opportunity also. I am so blessed to have my grandchildren so close and be able to enjoy there childhood.

Kindergarten Prom

Today was Connor's Kindergarten Prom. He was ready to go dancing with the girls. He looks so handsome.

Connor did not waste any time in asking girls to dance. As you can see, in Kindergarten, it is permissible and even encouraged to dance with more than one girl at a time. Connor takes full advantage. I thought he might be shy about dancing but he proved me wrong.

Everyone danced and had a great time. The Kindergarten class had sixth grade buddies throughout the year that would come to there room and help them with projects. These sixth grade buddies joined the Kindergarten class at the prom and encouraged a lot more dancing. As you can see Connor is having a blast.

These two girls were Connor's best buds all school year. Emma on the left and Ashlynn on the right were always sitting with him at lunch, school plays, assemblies, and were also joining him in activities on the playground.

Of course, Prom would not be complete without a dance with your sister. Cambell was so happy to be dancing with her big brother. Connor and Cambell...what a pair!!! We had a wonderful time at the Kindergarten Prom.