Sedona Video 2

Sedona Video 1

Grand Canyon

On Saturday we took a Pink Jeep tour to the Grand Canyon from Sedona. We drove through Flagstaff. The tour was really well done, we stopped at unique and authentic shops for souveniers and breaks. As I look back at my pictures of the GC, yes they all look the same! And since it takes SO LONG for blogger to upload photos, I've only chosen the ones with people in them to share ... you can see more at my profile on facebook if you're interested. Pam at the Grand Canyon.

Me at the Grand Canyon.

Me at the Grand Canyon.

Me at the Grand Canyon.

Our tour bus, at the Grand Canyon. No, I didn't really mean to match the bus, it just turned out that way! This is a unique vehicle, 6 wheel drive, and made especially for Pink Jeep Tours. It was very comfortable. Seats 10.

Sedona

I spent last weekend with my friend Pam in Sedona, Arizona on a girlfriends' getaway. We stayed at the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. We did a lot of shopping, sight seeing, eating and sleeping. It was totally wonderful. I can't upload all the pics because Blogger is so darn slow at uploading, but you can check out more pictures on my facebook photos. Pam and I in front of the 'coffee pot' ... that's the name for the red rock formation on the left-most side. It does kinda look like an old-fashioned perculator pot from this angle. We were on a tour with Red Rock Jeep tours through Soldier's Pass in this picture.

Me in front of Devil's Kitchen at Soldier's Pass. Devil's Kitchen is a sink-hole that fell in during the San Francisco earthquake in the '80's.

The Seven Sacred Pools at Soldier's Pass. The Indian's believed these pools were sacred because they always held water. The provided a terrific hunting ground for the Indians because the animals would come to drink from these pools. Even in the driest times, the deepest one always contains water.

Me in front of this really cool tree. I did learn the name of the tree, but I've since forgotten it. This was a plaza where we shopped and ate on our first night in Sedona. There were beautiful galleries here with glass, jewelry and art. I didn't buy anything here.

The view out our balcony. Our room was big, and our beds were soft and fluffy and very comfortable. We got massages on Sunday afternoon at the spa. The view from everywhere in Sedona was gorgeous - the red rocks raise up all around and through the town.

Fun Family Pictures

The boys' favorite Christmas gift ... thanks for the idea cousin Lucas!
Gary made the delicious salad and I made the super lasagna - dinner tonight!

What can I say ... Ben and the dogs!

Inversion therapy ...

How tall do you think Ben will end up being? I'm guessing 6'2".

The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf

Ben's class did the same trial ... Ben the judge (wearing Alek's Harry Potter glasses from Halloween!)
Mr. Gray instructing the class
The judge (Ben) and the court reporter (Lillian) listening intently

Brian the Bayliff

Mrs. Signorelli

Carolyn-Grace as the bunny, Hannah as the Brick Pig, and Heather as the District Attorney

Iriana as the Defense Attorney

Carolyn-Grace as the bunny being sworn in by Lillian the Court Reporter

Skylar, the Big Bad Wolf, was found neither guilty nor innocent when the jury returned a hung verdict.

The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf

Last Wednesday, each 3rd grad class put on a trial ... the Big Bad Wolf was being tried for killing the Three Little Pigs. This was a terrific opportunity to learn more about the Bill of Rights, and what makes the US such a special place to live. Mr. Gray, a local attorney and son of one of the teachers, had worked with the classes over the last few weeks, to teach them about first 8 ammendments to the constitution. They used these principles in the play. Here are some pictures!

Lacey as the Rabbit, who sees the wolf eating the Stick and Straw pigs.

The jury watches intently ... Spencer, Luis, Jose, Jared, and Alek.
Hunter, the police officer.

Max, the judge.

Mr. Gray, explaining the bill of rights.

The kids had a lot of fun dressing up and acting it out, and the parents had fun watching. In Alek's class, the Wolf was found innocent!

Happy Valentine's Day

We've had a fun weekend. Friday night Ben went to the sports complex with his friend and did rollerblading. Alek stayed home with us and we had a special 'only child' night. Saturday Ben had rock climbing and Alek and Gary went to the batting cages. We just hung out in the afternoon, and then the boys both went to their friend's sleep over birthday party Saturday night. Gary cooked a wonderful valentine's day meal! What a treat to have a night at home alone!

This morning the boys came home around 10, and we've just been working on home projects and hanging around. That's probably it for today!

For Marian

Hey Marian - here's my new faucet ... Danze Bella Fleur ... And the granite is called Giallo Fiorito ... it's Italian, like the faucet.

A video of my kitchen can be found in the archives (look on the right hand side of the blog), in December, called New Kitchen. I was so excited about the countertops I took the video before putting the drawers back in! I've since gotten new knobs and a new fridge ... they can be found in the January archives, in the post called Pictures.

I live with a bunch of geeks

I just went to check on the family ... the boys are on the floor of Gary's office playing Bakugan, and watching Gary on the computer playing World of Warcraft (complete with headset). I'm gonna go read ...

Lovely Weekend

Last weekend was full of fun. First, on Friday night, Alek had a sleepover birthday party at his friend Robby's house, where he stayed up ALL night long. He ended up sleeping from about 10am - 3pm on Saturday. Gary and Ben and I went out to Cameron Village and had dinner at the Village Deli and then went over to the Great Outdoor Provision Company. Ben had won a $20 gift certificate from there from the Rock Climbing event. He picked out a new kite! It's very small and lightweight.

Then, on Saturday night, we had our friends the Blackshear's and the Matza's over for a Wii party. Gary made his 'famous' ribs, and they were delicious. I made brown rice with aspargus and cashews, and a Black Russian Cake. Yep, it had Kahlua and Vodka in it. Isabel brought flan, and Mary brought oatmeal butterscotch cookies, and it was fantastic. We had fun bowling and playing tennis. The really good news is that it forced me to clean up the playroom even more and now it looks really nice in here.

Then on Sunday we went out to enjoy the gorgeous weather. It was about 65 degrees, sunny, and a little breezy. So we headed out to Bond Park in Cary and Gary and Alek played football until Alek took a bad catch and sprained his finger. Ben and I put together his new kite. What fun! It has two strings, and is like a trick kite ... when you pull on one string the kite goes whizzing in one direction and when you pull the other it flips the other way. We did a lot of crashing into the ground, but we were getting better after a couple hours. The breeze was intermittent too, so a steadier breeze would have helped. It will be a great kite at the beach.

Since then, we've gotten back in our normal routine, but I just let Chase in from outside and it's SNOWING again ... geez, just a bit of snow and school will probably be cancelled again for tomorrow ... grrr... I need to get work done!

And for my friend Reggie ... here's my beautiful picture of Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia, taken in 2007:

And me on the ferry in the harbor in Nova Scotia: