Every October

Jeff's birthday is this month, and if you know Jeff, you know he's ALL about his birthday month. That's right, he's claimed the entire month of October for his birthday. Jeff had an idea of how he wanted to spark off the month of celebrating this year, sooooo...

at 5:00 a.m. on Friday we said goodbye to our unsuspecting children...

and got on a plane for Albequerque, New Mexico. Why, there? You'll see.

Once in Albuquerque, we headed up to Santa Fe.

where we walked, took pictures, window shopped and ate delicious food.

The next morning at 4:00 a.m. (3 a.m. PST)...no, I'm not joking... we got up to go to Albuquerque's Annual Balloon Fiesta. We arrived at the fairgrounds at approx. 5:45 a.m. Okay I was dragging a little...and we hit some event traffic. We parked and grabbed some breakfast burritos and coffee, and then Jeff disappeared for about 30 minutes to take pictures of the "dawn patrol"...

No, there was no dawn at this point! But it's pretty spectacular, isn't it?

Then as the sun came up, we walked out on the field and watched the balloonists prepare for lift off...

We were pretty fascinated by this one row of balloons going up in front of us...

You could hear the sound of propane flames forcing hot air up into the balloons...

and people cheering wildly as each balloon lifts off into the sky...

and then we turn around...

and see this...

Okay, so now I feel like a kid in a candy shop. Everytime we turn around there are rows and rows of new balloons of every color, form and size taking shape around us.

and then this...

Neither words nor pictures can adequately describe the experience, but no wonder they say this is the most photographed event in the world.

We heard estimates of anywhere between 400 and 700 balloons at the event. I'm not sure of the number, but it was unbelievable!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Beach Babies

Went to Newport Beach with some good friends about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Nice to all be on the same schedule since they have a baby just 5 months ahead of our boys. We only actually hit the beach once but that was enough to give the little ones a taste of sand and sea. Here are some pics...

Sam, Wes & Nate

Nathan enjoying the sand

Sammy & Jeff

Wesley in my hat (couldn't find his)

Nate took a little dive in the sand after his mommy

had just finished putting sunscreen on him

Sam & Wes playing with Jeff's lens cap

Wesley's new thing is curling his tongue up

The Cooks...what a beautiful family!

On the Road Again...

Ahhh, vacation! We've begun a tradition of visiting Scottsdale every year in August. This is our third year now and it's really grown on us. Yes, it's the hottest time of year to go, and YES it's also monsoon season and YES we're a little bit nutty! The bonus is that it's within driving distance so we can just throw everything we need in the van and go. Now normally this is about a 6 hour drive. With the boys, it could easily turn into a 9 hour ordeal. So we decided it would be best to drive overnight while the boys were sleeping. It's a trade off...driving 9 hours with several stops or spending the first day recovering from a sleepless night. But then again, Scottsdale is all about resting and relaxation so what the heck?!

We did manage to get some of that much needed rest and relaxation in and visit a few friends who live out there while we were at it. Jeff, sweetheart that he is, gave me an afternoon of freedom to go shopping and I took that opportunity to go to my all time favorite discount store Last Chance. It's the final resting place of all things Nordstrom. It really is a crap shoot as to whether you'll find any really good deals but when you do...wow are they good! This time my best purchase was probably the pair of Merrill shoes at a fraction of the retail price. I wish this store were close by home so I could visit regularly! I highly recommend you pay a visit next time you're in the Phoenix area. My adorable husband also ponied up for a morning at the spa for me. I'm telling you, that is the life! Once a week please, please, please!!!

The boys got plenty of time in the wading pools and though they were skeptical of the benefits of water play to begin with, soon found they could have great fun splashing around and felt much more comfortable being able to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet. They also enjoyed the lazy river at the Westin Kierland. We took four turns around and wished we could have gone back again but somehow never got around to it. Next year!

The unexpected benefit of being in Scottsdale at this very hot time of year was that we missed out on all the fallout from the nearby fires here at home. So strange hearing all that awful news about home from so far away. I would love to see what it's like in Scottsdale in the Spring. I'm just curious. Maybe next year...or the year after.

Some more highlights from the trip...

baby fauxhawks

playtime with Pastor Scott

breakfast with the birds

boat tour of Canyon Lake

Look Ma, no hands!

sleeping in

bear bottoms

2nd Photographer

As a rule when we attend weddings, Jeff enjoys taking extra pictures as a special gift for the bride and groom.  He ends up being a second photographer of sorts.  Photography is his favorite hobby (aside from playing with the boys) as is evidenced by the tens of thousands of photos he has saved on our computer!  This is just one way for him to use his gifts and talents to bless others in his life.  He's even beginning to have people approach him to take pictures at their special events.  Here are a few of his favorites from last weekend's wedding...

Wedding Weekend Extravaganza!

This last weekend there were two important weddings happening on the same day, so Jeff and I decided to divide and conquer.  Jeff went to Oregon to attend a wedding for a friend of the family and I went to my cousin Michael's wedding in Modesto.  I drove up with my parents and the boys for our very first real roadtrip experience.  We loaded up in our relatively new minivan (affectionately dubbed "the Mother Ship" by my nephew Jeremy) and headed out on Friday morningish.  Little did we know it would take a whopping 9 hours to drive to Modesto with two infants!  The boys hardly slept on the way and their bedtime shifted from their usual 7:30 to after 10:00 for the entire weekend.  Needless to say, it was an exhausting trip.  The wedding was beautiful though and it was well worth the work to see Michael get married.  We also got to take a side trip before coming home and visited my aunt and cousins in Half Moon Bay.  Here are some pics from our weekend...

Sammy & Uncle Billy

Mom, Jeremy & Dad

Nanna Carroll & Wesley

I honestly didn't plan for us to match!

Michael with his bride and Dori

Cousin Heather & Aunt Melissa

Lacey & Evan

(the wedding Jeff attended in Oregon)