Ellie's First Hike

It has been beautiful lately so we decided to go on a hike. Actually Hayden and I wanted to go, and Savannah and Ellie were to stay home. Savannah has always said that she hates hiking and does not have any interest in going. Yet the beauty of the day was too tough to pass up so with a bit of pushing and prodding, she begrudgingly agreed to do it, along with Ellie who was excited.

We went to Pinnacle Peak in north Scottsdale. There were a lot of people there even though we got there fairly early. We sunscreened the girls and headed up. Ellie walked about 43 feet. Then she wanted up so Savannah carried her. And carried her. And carried her.

Up a mountain.

It was super impressive. The girls loved it and we stopped every so often to take in the gorgeous views of the area. There are also a ton of boulders on Pinnacle Peak which made for some interesting spots on the trail.

Then Ellie decided she wanted to walk again, and she made it 53 feet this time before falling and skinning her knee. Poor little tyke. So we headed down.

All in all it was a fun day and a great way to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Click to See Slideshow

Aunt B, Zoe, and Zachy Visit!

We were so excited to have Aunt B, Zoe, and Zachy come down from Utah to visit us for the second year in a row. Zoe flew down by herself on Monday (her first plane ride by herself, what a big girl). Then Bethie and Zachy joined her on Thursday and they stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for the night.

On Friday, we went to El Encanto Mexican Restaurant in Cave Creek, per Bethie's request. Last year we went there and she had the pollo fundido which is legendary. She only ate half of it and got a to-go box to take it home. But, unfortunately she left it by the duck pond when we left. She was so sad and had been thinking about that pollo fundido for a year (see, told you it was legendary).

Fast forward to this year and we all went to El Encanto again. We had the same Mariachi sing us the same song (for the third year in a row! He sang the same one to us when we went there with the Lecce Clan in 2011). It was great and the kids (and I) loved it.

Bethie got her pollo fundido, loved it again, and only ate half of it again. And guess what? SHE FORGOT IT ON THE TABLE AGAIN!!! But luckily she has an amazing sister who grabbed it and Savannah saved the day. Bethie was grateful and said she would eat it that night or tomorrow.

The next day we went to the Rockies opening Spring Training game. It was an awesome day and it was the Roberts' first time at the new Rockies amazing facility, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Grandpa and I were playing golf so we showed up a couple innings late but we had a really fun time. Plus the kiddos got to run the bases which they love.

Then we were all going to go out to eat but we decided to stay in and pick up Pork on a Fork BBQ which is near our house and super yummy. It worked out well as we all pigged out (haha get it?) and the kids got to let off some steam and not embarrass us since we weren't around others.

The next day we met Grandma and Grandpa at Daily Dose for breakfast. It is a good spot with non-standard fare but the kids still loved it.

After that, Bethie and the kids had to go to the airport and the trip was over. All in all, it was a great time and we will miss them until next time.

And guess what? SHE FORGOT TO EAT HER POLLO FUNDIDO AGAIN!!! Hahaha. It was hilarious. I equated it to Final Destination where the pollo fundido's final destination is the garbage, not her stomach, no matter what she tries to do about it. 

Or maybe it isn't the garbage...

Mmmmmwaaahahahahaha!!!!

Here are some more, mostly less evil, photos from the weekend:

Click to See Slideshow

Hayden's First Boyfriend

Hayden announced to us that she has a boyfriend: Alex Michael Defritas. She said they like to hang out after school together (in the school's after-school program). When I asked her how much she likes him she said:

"A lot. We almost want to kiss."

And she gave a very cute blushy smile while saying it. Priceless!

Unfortunately there is not a fairly tale ending as the next week she told us he was not her boyfriend anymore. We asked why and she said one of the teachers told her that she has to wait until she is 16 to have a boyfriend. What a great school!

Hayden's First Hike

Hayden loves being active and loves being outside so I decided to take her on a hike. She was so excited on the way as she kept pointing to and asking which mountain she would be going up. It turned out that we went up Piestewa (Squaw) Peak. I previously went online to pick out the best trail as there are dozens with all varieties of skill level. We found a solid "Easy/Moderate" trail that was 1.5 miles long and was a loop.








I was indeed quite surprised when we got going that the trail was much more 'Moderate' than it was 'Easy' as there were lots of boulders and rocks and steep inclines and declines. I was at first apprehensive as I wasn't sure if she could handle it. But did Hayden care? No, she loved it. She scampered up the trail and over the rocks and jumped down the drops. I should have been more worried about me (and yes, I made it just fine thank you very much).

I was blown away by how much she attacked the mountain. A couple times other people passed us running. Hayden asked if she could run. I told her no, saying she needed to be older before trying that. Then at the end of the loop she wanted to go up and down again. I love her energy, but of course we were done for the day as I knew she would crash later that evening. Spoiler Alert: she did.

She has been asking about going up again so it looks like we will be going hiking more often. We are fortunate to have so many different mountains with numerous trails here in Phoenix. It looks like we have an outdoorsy girl!

Hayden and I at the summit of our trail. The city of Phoenix is in the background.

At the end of the hike she was excited about her accomplishment.
We went up and around that mountain behind her.

December Pictures

We had a very busy and very fun December. Here are just a few of our favorite pictures from the month.

We took the girls to see Santa and ran into our great friends - the Morris Family!
From left - Anabelle, Taylor, Hayden and Colton

It had promise to be a cute picture in front of the tree...and then Hayden stuck her lip out in protest.

Our annual pizza night followed by lights at Grayhawk, hosted by the Coy Family.

Most of the kiddos before we headed out to see the lights.

After seeing the lights at Grayhawk we wanted a quick family picture. Yup, this looks about right.

Hayden enjoyed the photobooth props too!

Savannah wrapped presents, drank hot chocolate, and watched Elf. Matt slept on the couch.

Our new holiday garland for the buffet.

Telling secrets in front of the Christmas tree.

After a wonderful Italian dinner and smores over the fire, Anabelle and Anthony get ready to see Christmas lights.

Out looking at Christmas lights with our friends the Karas'.

Ready for holiday party at school. She was SO excited to finally get to wear this dress.

After a failed attempt to go to the Railroad Park we went to the Sugar Bowl with Aunt Afton and Uncle Ash.

Company Holiday Parties

Our annual company holiday parties fell on the same night but we managed to get to both to celebrate. WebPT had their holiday party at the Zoo and there were close to 200 people in attendance. It was quite the departure from their first holiday party where six of us ate out at Monti's in Tempe. We were able to hang out with our friends at the party and had some really great food. Matt

I took off a little early and headed to the Arizona Country Club for the WealthPoint holiday party. I made it just in time for dinner followed by the gift exchange. We also set up a little photo booth for everyone to enjoy and Matt made it just in time to get a picture and have a drink with the group.

Santa's Lap

Who doesn't love Santa?! Oh, that's right, it's Ellie.

Hayden has only once sat on Santa's lap and she was only 7 months old and not afraid of him yet. This year she told us that she wanted to sit on his lap so we drove to Kierland so she could finally do it. Anabelle normally has to do exactly what her big sister Hayden is doing but not this time. She was super pissed that we put her on Santa's lap. And do we laugh every time we look at this picture? Yes. Yes we do. Sorry Anabelle. Some day you'll do this to your children too.

Last Soccer Game

Hayden had her last soccer game mid-December and It. Was. Awesome.  She scored TWO GOALS!! She has come a long way since her first practice in October and was finally more excited to be in the game than on the sidelines eating breakfast bars.  A soccer star is born!! Well, until next season when we have to start all over again.

We were very lucky that three of her girlfriends were on her team. She loved seeing them every week and we enjoyed hanging out with their parents twice a week too. Having so many friends on the team may have lead to more giggling, falling down, holding hands, playing in the net, and water breaks but we figure there's time for Hayden to take sports seriously - and this isn't quite the time.  :)

With friends London and Taylor. 

Christmas in New York (City This Time)

We had a fantastic time on our trip to New York City. I had a work meeting on Tuesday, so we decided that Savannah should join me for the prior weekend and make a fun trip out of it. Our friends Jake (who works with me and had to be on the work trip too) and Laura joined us. Scooter and Tracy were nice enough to host us and take us around their little cow town.

Our carriage ride through Central Park.

We had some busy days. On Saturday we went to the World Trade Center site (though we couldn't get in as it was packed), we walked around in Soho, we went to see the Christmas stuff including the giant tree at Rockefeller Center, and we went on a carriage ride in Central Park on a beautiful night. On Sunday we went ice skating in Central Park, then we walked through the park, after that we went to a musical on Broadway called 'Once' which was fantastic, and we hung out at the Marriott Marquis overlooking Times Square.

Notice that I didn't mention food or drink once in the above paragraph? But oh was it mixed in a-plenty.

My goal for the trip was to take pictures of all the food I ate. Done. It was an awesome experience to go on a culinary tour of the city. Here are the highlights:

Huevos Rancheros at Cookshop in Chelsea.

Pizza at Rubirosa in Soho.

Spaghetti and Meatballs at Crispo in the West Village.

Black Truffle Mushrooom Ravioli at Crispo.

Vanilla Cake.

An Egg Bagel from a corner deli.

Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwiches from Ben's NY Deli.

Chuletas de Puerco from Guantanamera in Midtown.

Cuban Sandwich at Guantanamera.

Dessert at Guantanamera.

Chicken Parm at Giovanna's in Little Italy.

So you can see we had quite a good time. Yes, food is how I define trips. Deal with it. I'm hungry again just looking at these.

Here is a video of Savannah skating in Central Park (quite well I might add):



And some pictures of our totally awesome trip to the Big Apple:

Click to See Slideshow

Aces Bowl XVI - Notre Dame

For our 16th edition, we went to Notre Dame, with the trip based in Chicago. In the Windy City, we ate deep dish Chicago style pizza, had a Chicago Italian beef sandwich, went to Second City, had drinks in the Signature Room at the top of the John Hancock tower, hung out in Millennium Park, played Whirlyball, and had some prime cuts at the Chicago Chop House.

For the football game we took a party bus down that included unlimited free adult beverages, tailgated in beautiful weather, played cornhole, and watched the soon to be #1 college football team in the country crush its opponent all while doing the chants and cheers and lifting Cyrus up 38 times.

Yeah. You could say it was a good trip. Enjoy the pics and videos:

Click to View Slideshow