Brent's Birthday Get-together

Brent turned 26 yrs old today; can't believe where the time has gone(a statement made by almost every mother!*S*). When Brent was born, he brought so much love into our family and continues to do so.
I wish for Brent more joy than he can even comprehend and just a little opposition so that he'll recognize the joy when he sees it. He is a wonderful young man and I am so grateful to be his Mom.
So fortunately, we had his birthday celebration yesterday(Sunday) because he woke up at 6am today with food poisoning from a meal on Saturday night (he thinks). So today was not a wonderful birthday.
We had quite a few people come, which was so much fun! (Steve & Victoria Truscott and Afton, Kiel Munger, Seth & Carly Bagley, and Josh, Shannon, Jessica & Ethan Johnson. We barbequed steaks, chicken, hot dogs, had all kinds of food that we and the Truscotts made. It was a wonderful time with LOTS of conversation and Laughter!
These photos are not wonderful but they document the day!*S*

Brent wanted a HUGE piece of Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake and he got IT!*S*


Ranae & Brent

Ethan & Shannon

Kent & Kiel

Rob & Steve(wish I had noticed Steve's eyes were closed, I would have taken it over)

Ranae, Brent & Victoria (again, didn't notice Brent's closed eyes!)

Afton, Ethan, Shannon & Josh (what is Josh doing? *S*)

Alot of candles to blow out!

Count the candles and you'll see 27 since there is always an extra candle to "grow on"

Have a great day!

So, today I was at the grocery store buying a few things; mostly for Brent who got sick this morning. When I checked out the cashier told me to "have a nice day". People say that all the time but this time, I had a small "aha" moment.
In order to "have" a nice day we have to be OPEN to receiving it. There are times when I'm not in a great mood or even wanting to have a nice day. If I am OPEN to it; then I am looking for it and will be much more likely to receive it.
I know; a little random, but just something I learned today.
So, today, even with clouds and rain and with Brent sick on his birthday, I am OPEN to still having a nice day!

I can't believe it's been a year!

I have no pics to post at this point, but I just happened to log on to my blog to find April's blog to find a salsa recipe and could not believe it when I saw that it's been about year since I have blogged about anything!
Unfortunately, I have been using facebook as a way to "blog"; and the problem with that is that nothing is written "in stone". And it's not "storytelling" it's only listing the day-to-day activities.
It's been a full year and I will get around to posting pics to show my family and things we've done.
But for now, Brent and his new wife, Ranae are here for the weekend and it is his birthday weekend! (funny that my last blog post was Brent's birthday a year ago!).

Brent's Birthday celebration!

Brent was home for a visit for Memorial Day weekend so on Monday we had a barbecue at Shannon & Josh's house along with a little badminton in the dark!*S* Josh pulled his truck up with the headlights on so we could see better. We had cheesecake with strawberries & whipped cream! YUM I would have more photos but I didn't realize the memory card wasn't in my camera until I had taken some great photos of food and badminton. When Kent went home to get an airtank to fill Brent's flat tire he brought the memory card back so at least I had these photos!
Happy Birthday, Brent! So grateful to have you in our lives.

Westlake, AZ

The same evening that we went to Cabella's Sporting Goods Store, we drove across the street to this cool little shopping, eating, living area that is called Westlake (I think). This is down the street from the stadium that the Superbowl was played at. There is a cool in-ground fountain area that kids can stand on and play in the water and there are 2 large fountains that "dance" to music. I took tons of photos of the fountains, but don't want to bore anyone with all of them.













We had thought about going to the Grand Canyon but chose not to because of the drive; this billboard was beautiful so let's say we did.

My trip to Arizona

There are alot of places to see in Arizona and we thought about going to the Grand Canyon, but decided it would be quite a drive. We had heard that Sedona was a really nice place to see so we drove up; it took longer than we had thought. It actually took about an hour and a half one-way (or maybe even a little longer). It is a beautiful place, very "cultural" and alot of Spas and holistic services(even a little Woo Woo). You can take off road tours, hikes, and lots of shopping. We didn't end up staying very long, but it was beautiful. You'll see that I took quite a few photos of a bird bronze sculpture. For some reason I just loved that!*S*














I wanted to take some "driving" shots of the scenery driving in to Phoenix from the north (I believe it was 17S that we were on) from Flagstaff. Phoenix is very clean(at least the roadways are!)



Craig & Cyndi drove over to Scottsdale from Indio on Friday, the 19th of May. It was about a 3 1/2 hr drive for them. They brought Panda, their dog, and she loved playing with Rusty. They had quite a time!







That evening we went to a Park across from Donna's apartment. It's a nice park, with sporting facilities and a big pond. I'm not sure if it's always the case, but there were NO mosquitos!YAY!*S*





Panda wanted in that pond so BADLY! Craig almost let her off her leash to see what would happen, but I said "don't do it" LOL


That evening (after the park excursion), Kenneth, myself, Craig & Cyndi went to a Frozen custard place that also served crepes! YUM called Tangy "something" (can't remember the name). It was REALLY good. Craig & Cyndi left that night around 9pm; it was a really nice day.