Feliz Cumpleanos

In honor of Laura's 15th birthday we threw her a party! It is amazing how many friends she has made since her arrival! There must have been over 30 teenagers here! I had never thrown a party for a teenager so I wasn't sure what to expect! I had way to much food (duh I forgot that teenage girls don't eat in front of boys) and over planned activities (duh I forgot that kids just sit around and talk!). Even though they would have been comfortable just hanging out I did make them do some karaoke for my benefit and we surprised Laura with a pinata (Anna's idea!). Laura got a kick out of the blindfolding and hitting it with a bat as I found out this is not how they do it in Spain (there they just pull a string)! The night ended with a scary movie (in honor of Halloween)! It was a great night and I think everyone enjoyed themselves!! Hopefully this will be a birthdays she never forgets! (My one regret...we had so much fun I hardly got any pictures!!! Thank goodness there was a photo booth so we got a few...)

There were several boys at the party...he's the only one that would pose for a picture!

Road Trip

Over fall break we took a little road trip up to Flagstaff. The plan was to show Laura the Grand Canyon but our wonderful government decided to shut down all national parks until they could resolve issues with the budget! Ugh! The timing of it all was just crazy. But we didn't let this hiccup ruin our trip! There is still so much of Arizona that Laura needs to see, so we ventured out to Jerome, Williams, Flagstaff and Sedona. The weather was gorgeous and it was the perfect time to see the leaves changing colors! In just a few short days we were able to see so much!

I love the town of Jerome and it really is one of a kind! We walked through the ghost town, had burgers and shopped a bit. I could people watch in this town all day...Afterwards we headed up to Flagstaff for the night. First thing the following morning we wandered over to Bearzona. Such a cool idea! It's like a mini safari but with animals from the US! We loved seeing the wolves, bears and buffalo up close! This is definitely a must see! After that little adventure we drove over to Williams to have some lunch and Laura and Trent bravely took a trip on the zip-line. We then headed up to Snowbowl where we rode the ski lift up to the top of the mountain. I am not sure if I have ever been so scared :) It is one thing to go on a ski lift when there is white fluffy snow underneath you. . . it is completely another when there you can see all the jagged rocks! Because Laura and Anna were on my lift I white knuckled the bar and smiled so I didn't freak them out! I was grateful to not be on Trent's seat as he thought it was fun to rock it! Surprisingly going down was not nearly as bad as going up. I think it may have something to do with the prayer I made at the top! It also helped that the scenery was stunning! It is not very often that us Zoni's get to see yellow, orange and red leaves! After arriving safely back on the ground we went to downtown Flagstaff to eat and shop. We accidentally ran into this cute little cluster of shops on the corner of Birch and Leroux that I would love to visit again sometime. The following day we drove through Oak Creek Canyon (STUNNING, especially in the Fall) to Sedona where we took a jeep tour! I have been to Sedona several times and I have always wanted to do this. It was a great way to have an experienced guide share with us information about the land and rock formations as well as take us to places we might not have seen otherwise. I think Laura was impressed with the landscape of Sedona...beautiful! It was a quick but great trip and we were able to see so much of Arizona! Hopefully the Grand Canyon will open soon so Laura will get to see it before she leaves!

Searching for arrowheads with our awesome guide!

Amazingly each of the kiddos found one! I have my suspicions that this was not a coincidence!

I think Laura enjoyed the 4 wheeling the best!

Soccer

Anna has been trying a variety of activities in search of something that should would like to devote her energy too...tball, dance, tumbling, choir, you name it we have tried it! So when she said she wanted to try soccer I was thrilled and hopeful! Soccer is her daddy's game and such a great sport for keeping you fit and healthy so my fingers were crossed that she would like it! And she did! She seems to have her daddy's affinity for the game and some natural talent! She needs some work on her overall endurance (wow, there's a lot of running in this game) but she is aggressive and picked up the skills quickly! Trent coached the team and that was an awesome expeirence too! This is the first time he has been able to coach one of the kids and I love that he was able to spend so much time with her! It was really tricky with his work schedule, but he did what he had to to make it work! Being that this was the first time he coached for AYSO, Trent was given a lot of new players. After the first few games, it was clear that the Panthers were going to be the underdogs! But they never gave up! They worked hard and made improvements every single game! And as we know perseverance pays off...they won their very last game :) You would have thought we won the state championship when that winning goal was made!!!! People were even cheering from the next game over! It was a fun season and a great expeirence! Can't wait till next year!