A SUNDAY RANGER RIDE . . .

Momma & Normy just bought themselves a Polaris RZR for Christmas and we have been way excited to go riding with them, so a couple of weekends ago when we had an open Sunday we decided to go for a little trail riding in the Tonto behind our houses!! So they rode over to our house and we all headed out from there on a trail that actually takes you from our house to their's backwoods thru the Tonto .. hahaaa!! We had such a good time and I am so glad they joined the utv crew!!

Me and My Momma, the bestest Momma in the whole wide world!!
We made a couple beer/shooting stops along the way!! Love the Tonto (although rocky), especially since its out our back door!!

THE SUITE LIFE, 2012 . . .

Well we scored again this year and the Ford's hooked up a suite for Supercross & Monster Trucks for the 3rd year running!! We always look forward to these events each year and I cant even begin to explain how nice it is having the suite where the kids are free to move around and are not restricted to one seat!! Another big ginormous thank you to Anthony & Kristie for always takin care of us, we love you guys!!

SUPERCROSS:

Supercross is definitely my favorite ... I love how it is constant action and most of all I love the smell ... hahaaaa (I'm such a sucker for fumes, especially if its racing fuel!!). The kids love the racing and love picking their favorite rider to follow and cheer for!! It was a little different this year because the Ford's actually weren't able to make it even though they hooked up all the tickets and it just wasn't the same without them there!! Not that we didn't still have a great time!!






MONSTER TRUCKS:

This one is a given that the kids were in heaven and loving every minute of this night ..... oh how they LOVE them some Monster Trucks!!!

Thank you again Ford Family!!!

NEW YEAR'S AT THE DUNES . . .

We rang in the New Year with a trip to Gordon's Well. We were dying to use our new toy ... this beast of a toy hauler that you see below ... and figured it would be a perfect time while the kids were out of school and Clay already had a day off work. We sure did love it ... nothing beats being able to shower and have a bathroom at the dunes!! We had a really fun trip and the kids were so stoked to be back at the dunes as it has been about 2 years since we had been, prior to this trip!! Poor Trey had surgery to remove the metal pin out of his arm the day before we left so he was "supposed" to be limited to what he could do while we were there, but it sure didn't stop him and after a whole entire day of him begging and pleading to be able to ride, we finally said go for it dude but whatever you do don't bale (and thank god he didn't)!! It still amazes me what a little bit of sand or should I say a whole bunch of sand(I mean it is the sand dunes we're talking about!!) can entertain the kids for hours on end!! They played and played and played in the sand the whole 4 days we were there!

Trey & Rilyn driving their new RC Trucks that they got from Santa!!

At Gordon's Well they have sand drags every evening where people race and everyone lines up to watch the races!!

Rilyn, tuff stuff with her new quad!!! Can you tell I LOVE this picture just a little bit!!

Ayden, Ri & Trey Mo rockin the Ranger!

Charlotte, Trey & Rhett kicked butt riding in the dunes, we were so proud of them. The last day before we loaded up to head home we took them out to an area where they could really get a feel for riding the dunes and they LOVED it ... hahaaa ... Charlotte did awesome, hauling some serious butty (bout gave me a heartattack)!!

Charlotte
Trey
Rhett
On one of our evening ride's, Ford found a jump he was hitting, crazy a$$ .. LOL ... and we were able to park the Ranger in the perfect spot where I could get some shots of his craziness!!
And what is New Years without some Fireworks!!!
We are looking forward to another year filled with LOVE, LAUGHTER & CRAZINESS!! Cant wait to see what 2012 brings!!

THE BAND CHARLY . . .

For Charlotte's 10th Birthday Party we had a rock star/karaoke style party!! With her bday being on December 27th (right in the middle of Christmas & New Years) it makes it hard to have a big party because everyone is already so busy with holiday plans so we just invited all of our family and it couldn't have turned out anymore perfect!! Aly & Cort came over early in the day and all the kids got busy preparing for the show later that night ... coming up with a band name, making band tshirts & posters and setting up the stage!! Then later that evening everyone came over and we had dinner followed by a live concert by "The Band Charly" (the kiddos came up with this band name all on their own, after one of our favorites "The Band Perry") and I thought it was super cute!! We made "Backstage/VIP Passess" and the girls passed them out to everyone as they arrived!

The invitation turned out pretty cute too ... I made it to look like a concert ticket (still cant figure out why this pic loaded into blogger sideways because on my computer it's straight) complete with barcode and all!! I know its really hard to read so I will translate:

Come Celebrate Charlotte's 10th Birthday At The

"Rockin The House Tour"

Starring

Charlotte and her Band

Tues. 12/27/11 6:00pm

Section Row Seat

VIP 1 5

Making shirts and posters!!!
Trey, Rhett & Rilyn put on the opening act, performing two songs: "Guitars & Cadillac's" by Dwight Yoakam with Trey on vocals, Rhett on guitar & Rilyn rockin the drums and Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem" with Rhett on vocals, Trey on guitar and Rilyn still on drums!
Rilyn rocked the house drummin Dirt Road Anthem ... I'm thinkin we might just have a little drummer on our hands!!

Then it was time for the main act starring Cortney, Charlotte & Alyson (with a little help from Rilyn when she felt like it!!!) who performed: "Mean" and "Love Story" by Taylor Swift as well as "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry. They each took turns singing, playing guitar and drummin.
Once the main set of all the songs we planned on performing were completed the kids just had fun picking songs and taking turns with all the different instruments!!
Here's Rilyn singing a little Miranda Lambert "Only Prettier"!!!




After the concert it was time for cake and presents!! At parenting.com I found this cute little recipe idea for microphone cupcakes and figured what would be more perfect for a karaoke/rock star birthday party than microphone cupcakes!!!

This ended up being probably one of the most fun bday parties we have ever had (and believe me there have been lots & lots of them) although by the end of the night I was ready to dispose of that darn karaoke machine for good ... hahahaaaa!! The kids had so much fun and I dont think any of them wanted the night to end!!! Cant wait to see the video that Grammy took of all the live performances!!

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE RAE, WE LOVE YOU!!!

OUR CHRISTMAS . . .

Our Christmas holiday was busy busy as always with lots of traditions to keep and parties to attend!!!

BELFOR PARTY:

We started the festivities off with Clay's company party which was held at Skunk Creek and a really good time. The perfect place for the kids who had lots and lots of room to run around and play. There was live music, delicious food and Santa even stopped by for a visit!!

There was also a mechanical bull that the kids could ride and Rhett spent pretty much the entire party riding it!! He literally had blisters from trying to hold on!! Our little cowboy!!

Santa stopped by for a visit and gave all the kids stockings filled with goodies ... Rilyn refused to go anywhere near him but finally agreed to go sit by him as long as she was on Aunt Lorie's lap!!!

This was the very first year that Belfor did a Christmas party and we really enjoyed it ... it was nice getting to meet all the people Clay works with and their families!!!

RUBENSTEIN FAMILY VISIT:

Last year my cousin and her family came down to our house for a little Christmas visit and to do some baking and crafts with the kiddos, so this year we switched it up and went to their house in Vegas!! We baked and baked and baked ... literally for like 3 days straight hahaaa!!!

Normally we just exchange gifts with the kids, but this year me and my cousin started a new little tradition and exchanged a little something amongst each other which was fun. We got 2 of the exact same size jars and each filled our jar with little goodies for the other with the rule that you couldn't spend very much $$ and homemade stuff is better!! One morning while we were drinking our coffee we exchanged our jars and it was so much fun seeing all the fun creative stuff inside!! Mine included stuff like: a little homemade notepad to write my daily lunch notes on when I pack the boys lunch, cookie cutters, recipe's .... etc!!! In the end we decided that the jars were a little too small so we went to Michaels and got little treasure chest trunks for next year!!! We are looking forward to having a whole year to collect stuff for each other's trunks for next Christmas and cant wait to keep this little tradition going for years to come!!

The kids helped with some of the baking, thank goodness hahaaaa, and loved it!! Rilyn was just way too cute up on the stool doing everything exactly like we showed her, dipping pretzels in chocolate and putting sprinkles on them and rolling out the sugar cookie dough!! She is just too big for her little britches!!!

One evening we made a trip to Bass Pro Shops to check out all the cool animals and the aquarium and then grabbed some Margaritas and Dinner out!!

All the kids waiting very patiently to open their presents!!! I have this same exact picture last year in front of our tree and it is pretty amazing to see how much they all have grown in a year!!!

We made ornaments this year. So each kiddo got a clear ornament to stuff with goodies like: ribbon, sequens, glitter, jingle bells and a special little note that read "Dear Santa, This year for Christmas I especially want _______!! Love, _____"!! They all had to fill in the blanks on their note and then put it inside their ornament. Charlotte's wrote a Nintendo DS, Trey an Ipad2, Rhett a pit bike & Rilyn a Blue RC Car (haaa)!!! Then they each painted their name and the year on the outside and decorated them with some stickers!! These turned out really pretty and will be fun to look back on!!

We left Vegas early Sunday morning so that we could make it back to Phoenix in time for the Christmas festivities at my Dad & Jackie's!! We had an awesome dinner, watched the Cardinals barely pull off a win over San Francisco and then it was present time!!!

SANTA'S LAP:

Although I tried like heck to convince myself to skip the visit to see Santa this year (between the long lines and the patience of 2, 5 & 6 year olds) I just couldn't bring myself to do it and there we were at Paradise Valley mall in line waiting to sit on Santa's lap!! Rilyn once again screamed the entire time and did the scramble trying to get out of there but we did manage to get a picture even though her face is bright red and she is screaming!!! The boys of course sat on Santa's lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas, Trey a Teatherball Pole and Rhett a pit bike!!

The hightlight of our visit to see Santa was the stretch mirror they had set up in line .... haahaaaa .... I don't know who was more entertained the kids or me, but it was pretty funny stuff especially Rilyn since she is so short, the mirror stretched her head instead of her body!!!

CHRISTMAS EVE:

We spent Christmas Eve at my momma's house and although we missed Grandpa Normy who was still in Alaska working we had a great time!! This year all the adults drew each other's names and all the kiddos drew each others names, which turned out really nice and everyone got hooked up with a present they really liked!! Then the adults also did a white elephant, the old fashioned way where you actually have to bring something from your house wrapped for the exchange!! This brought lots of laughs and Clay ended up with a black and pink lace bra!!!!

All the boy's got hooked up with Cardinals jersey's and beanies ... woot woot!!!!

Grandma & Grandpa Normy hooked the kiddos up this year with some new toys for Grandma & Grandpa's house which included a Wii and lots of other stuff!!! They were all super stoked!!

Aunt Lacey & Cody made each and every one of the kids their very own super big, soft & warm blankets!! We love them and they have already gotten a ton of use!!

We ended the night at Grandma's house with Cortney, Ashlynn & Aly reading "The Night Before Christmas" and all of us singing every Christmas song that we could remember the words too!!! Then we headed home to sprinkle our Magic Reindeer Food in the runway and make Santa's plate of goodies!!

CHRISTMAS MORNING:

This year once again we were awakened bright and early (pretty sure the days of us waking them up are over) by the kids saying "Santa Came Santa Came Santa Came" and they were right!!!

Rilyn got a new gas quad from Daddy & Me!!! Clay tore apart the boys little red 50 that they have outgrown and we painted it pink & grey and Clay rebuilt the engine for her ... she was super excited and kept saying "I wanna ride my new quad in the dunes"!!!

The boys got RC Monster Trucks, Grave Digger & Captains Curse, and these things are baaaaadddddddddddd!!!

I didn't do the greatest job of taking pictures on Christmas morning as these are really the only shots I got but Santa definitely hooked it up!! All the kids got Tablets and Charlotte Rae got a Karaoke machine!!! It was a nice morning at home opening and opening presents. Then we all got ready and headed down to Grammy's house for her amazing breakfast and the last of our Christmas festivities!!!

Rhett and Rilyn playing on their tablets!!!

Uncle Darin got the boys these nerf guns that they absolutely love and all the boy's headed out front for a little gun war!!! It didn't take long for Clay & Darin to take over the guns and it was pretty entertaining watching them running around and hiding trying to shoot each other!!