Top 10 of our Trip- # 9

9. Extreme Flagstaff
Ziplines, rope crawls, and swinging from tree to tree is what this place was all about.  I sat this one out too, and the cousins had lots of fun cheering on their grandpa, uncles, and aunts!

Love this one of Aunt Becky!

Gabby watching Aunt Sarah

They hadn't seen each other in like, 15 minutes.  What a reunion.

Top 10 of our Trip- # 3

3. Hikes.
I am in LOVE with mountains.  They are so beautiful and so fun to climb.  We started the climb up Mount Humphries, which is the left most peak in the picture that shows Uncle Dave's view from his porch.  The peak is at 12,000 feet, and we made it to 10,000.  Chris got altitude sickness so we had to get down, pronto.  The hike up and down the mountain is 10 miles round trip and we did 6 miles round trip.  Not bad for us being out of shape!
Later in the week some of us girls went into Sedona and climbed Bell Rock.  It is basically a huge rock in the shape of a bell.

A before Picture

One of the many beautiful views

Taking a break.  Our pup was a champ going up and down that mountain.

Before Picture

Everywhere we looked there was a beautiful view!

Last pic we took before we went down.
We were getting nervous about that storm rolling in- you can see it in the top left corner.

April Fun

I'm so glad April is over.  It was the busiest month of my life!  I prepared my students to take the STAAR test and I accepted a new position at a private school.  More on that later though.  Sarah and I did the Color Run!  When I came home the girls could not get over how crazy I looked.


Squeaky Clean before



Colorful After



A rare night out sans kids- Edgefest!

My mom came to visit during STAAR week.

My tall girls helping dad update the playground.

Thanksgiving Break: Thanksgiving Photo Dump

The best appetizer ever- club crackers with parm cheese on top, wrapped in bacon.

My first pie.  Getting fancy with the top.

Elia and G helped make name cards.

The kid's table.  Thats Martinellis.

The table all decked out.

Nutella mousse.  Yum!

Sarah and I!

Weekend Shenanigans

Saturday started early with a garage sale at the McBrides.  She was wanting to have a sale and I had a lot of junk to get rid of so I brought all my stuff over.  I made cloud dough, a pinterest find, to help entertain children.  Chris had to work so there were only 3 adults to corral 5 kids.  The cloud dough was a hit but only lasted an hour before most of it got dumped in the grass.

We came home, rested, and then had a barbecue with the Carses, McBrides and Kiowskis.

For some reason a table full of children eating makes me so happy!

Then Sunday was as usual- cartoons, church, and lunch.  We took Daria to Lake Lewisville to meet Matt and Sarah's dog JuJu for some playtime at the lake.  Fun times!

Matt and Sarah's Wedding

Just Married!

Reception

Fun Weekend

Somehow weekends are even sweeter now that I'm back to work.  Its not that I didn't enjoy them before but we seem to squeeze in as much as possible these days.  Friday we went to Fuzzy's with my teacher friend Lindsey and her husband and baby (the one I subbed for last year, she is almost 1!).  Fuzzy's was having a one year celebration for being in business in Carrollton, and everythng was $1!  Everytime we drive by Fuzzy's the girls ask if we can go there so you can imagine their excitement over getting to go.

Saturday morning we went to our hiking park and ran errands.  Saturday night my cousin Meghan babysat the girls so Chris and I could go meet Sam and John to see a movie.  Girl with a Dragon Tattoo was sold out, so we went out to a bar instead.  Seriously fun!  Whenever we get together we always have our kids with us (which is fun!) but it was nice to get out and be adults together.

Then Sunday was the usual- cartoons, being lazy and then church.
 

 

Then Uncle Patrick, Matt and Sarah came over to watch the football game.  There was quite a lot of shouting and liveliness with the 49ers losing, and of course G and E thought it was a little scary but mostly hilarious.  We ended the weekend with some ice cream and whipped cream.  Yum!

Good Weekend

Saturday started out with a bang!  Sarah and I ran our first 5k together.  It was the Tour de Branch race that my church puts on every year.  I didn't place or anything, but I was pretty happy with my time, 31:54.  I did a few races in high school that were right around that time.  After the race, we kinda hung out around Farmers Branch until my church's festival started.
The girls had a great time on the rides, and we ate some good food until it was time to go home for naps.
Then Sunday morning we met up with my cousins Kevin and Amanda, who are moving to Dallas from Atlanta sometime this year.  The girls were actually pretty good at the Cheesecake Factory!  Food as always, was good.
Then it rained all day so my playgroup picnic was cancelled.  We had a picnic inside instead, and watched a family favorite, How to Train Your Dragon.  Great way to round out the weekend!