GRANDMA'S 90TH BIRTHDAY!

Two weekends ago we celebrated Grandma Joyce's 90th Birthday! It was a formal event, per Grandma's style/request. It was like a miniature family reunion, we got to see so many relatives that I haven't seen in a long time. There was a nice program where each of her kids and a couple of her brothers talked about some memories from their childhood or things she taught them. It was fun to hear some new stories about Grandma and learn more about Grandpa Rodgers, aka "Tuffy" - I always knew he was a marine - but didn't know he was a real American cowboy too! Then of course there was lots of great food to enjoy!

Grandma listening to stories about herself
  


My family (minus Eli and Jared who may have been at the last Heat game for the season)

Great Aunt Katherine, Great Aunt Anne, Grandma, Great Aunt Renae

Great Uncle Jimmy (the man who sealed me and Jared), my great aunts and Great Uncle Sanford

 Jimmy, Katherine, Anne, Grandma, Renae, Mary Jane (Janey), Reed, Kay, Sanford, Doug

 The cousins my age: Jonathon, Kristen, Paul, Randi, Ryan, Neal, Stephanie, Me (we were sadly missing Anthony and Jennifer)

The girls - we decided to be nice and let the in-laws in on our picture...Michelle, Suzie, Stephanie, Sondra, Emily, Randi, Kristen, me

 Mom and Dad and some of the grandkids

Following the formal party, there was an after party at grandma's house for all the relatives, complete with Grandpa Fred's enchiladas and a money dive!
 
 
 
 Mom looking cute - Andrew either posing GQ or bored out of his mind...

 Emily and Emma - 2nd cousins - they are 4 months apart and whenever they get a chance to play - they have the best time together!

 

The party continued on throughout the weekend and ended late Monday night when everyone headed home and Emma finally had to come home because she still had 2 days left of school! I am so glad that Aunt Mary Ellen decided to throw this party so we could all get together - it was such a great time to see everyone! I love my big family - grandma had 8 children, 43 grandchildren, 87 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild on the way!

ALL-STAR BASEBALL WEEKEND!

I do not like losing so this weekend left a bitter taste in my mouth - we lost all 3 games - booooo! It's sad - these boys can hit, field, etc, but they were just plain old out sized and out aged. At this age it's hard to go up against 8 yr olds turning 9 when the team is made up of 6 & 7 year olds. When our boys only come up to their shoulders - they are just going to be stronger and faster. They won. We lost. Next year - we should be the top dogs and hopefully they will make it to the All-Stars and win.

 

Friday was the first game against Old Scottsdale - we lost bad - and I felt bad for poor Eli especially after he had to spend 5 hours at the dance recital dress rehearsal so as soon as the game was over I drove him over to Cub Scout Day Camp and dropped him off to play with his friends and get to shoot the BB guns - poor boy needed to end the day on a good note. He finally got home and ate dinner at 11:30pm - the 3 of us just hung out, watched some tv, he ate dinner and we took goofy selfies.

The next morning he had a game at 11am against Queen Creek - lost again - but this time it was more frustrating because of the dumb tournament rules - we were well on our way to our come-back and they wouldn't let us score anymore because we reached our run rule - game over - lame!!

His last game was later that night at 7pm against Casa Grande - sadly, Jared and I couldn't go. Emma had her dance recital and she was in 12 dances so I had to help her do all the quick changes and Jared needed to see 4 of her dances he had never seen before - especially since he missed the 11am and 3pm recital. Eli went with Caleb Ely to his game and I felt so bad not being able to be there to support him so I used Stacia's great advice and sent him with a love note on his hand so he knew I loved him.

 Eli is starting to decide his favorite sport is baseball - we have been waiting for this kiddo to make a decision - he has grown so much and we are so proud of him. We love listening to him call out the plays to his team, reminding them how many outs there are, etc. We love you Eli!

KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM!

The twins had their kindergarten program. Tyler was shy of course - every once in a while he looked like he was enjoying himself a though! Tyson was a total cheeseball and ham up there! Makes me sad this is my last one to go to :(

MR AWESOME SAUCE

This kiddo is freaking amaze-balls! Saturday morning he had the last of his 3 day soccer tryout, then he had TWO baseball games and then that night he had All-Star tryouts for baseball - I dont know how he did it all, but he did. Did I mention he made the U8 RED team for soccer (best team) and that he made the All-Star team! Love him!

LULU LEMON YOGA!

Lulu was having yoga for kids so I took the kids - they actually participated AND liked it!!

THE PUKES!

The Pukes of 2014! They only lasted a day and they were some tough kiddos, but it still sucked. These boys all played sports in the morning and then that afternoon got the flu....well we had to call Coach Carson and tell him that Eli wouldn't be able to play in the baseball game that afternoon but Coach really wanted him - we told him he had the flu and he didn't care - Eli didn't care either - he wanted to go - he was fine - he was all better. After feeling the pressure from coach and Eli, Jared and I caved and called coach to tell him we were coming - before we made it out the door - puke fest again! Eli never made it - but points for trying buddy!

SUPER TOOTH REMOVAL

Super Tooth served it's purpose and fulfilled his time on earth magnificently! He faithfully served Tyson for 2 years. He was successful in helping him eat and just looking good. It was time to release him and send him home. Farewell our good friend! Thanks Dr Parry for taking such good care of Tyson and the many times you had to fix Super Tooth!