Our Very Best

I have always been a procrastinator but not posting anything for 8 months is unacceptable! I apologize to ~~my readers~~ Marina for not keep you posted about the details of our existence! I know it's always so fascinating :) I also apologize to Aiden and Anna for not recording every amazing thing they have said and done for the past 8 months! I have not been MY very best! But because it would take a billion years for me to write about every event that has taken place since November I am going to do my best to summarize! Here it goes:

New Years in Springerville

After Christmas we had the opportunity to spend a few days with Grandpa Dan, Kyle, Ashley and the twins in Springerville. It was a fun filled and busy few days! There were several highlights but one of the faves was shopping at Western Drug which should be considered a tourist attraction. Its the only drug store that I have ever been to that sells guns and prescriptions! Oh and you can buy fabric there too! Gotta love a small town! If you asked the kids they would say their highlight was sledding down a massive hill near Sunrise! Trent nearly broke his tailbone when attempting to sled off a cliff and Aiden almost had a TBI after a pretty rough fall but all in all it was good times in the snow. I think the highlight for Ashley and I was target practice! I have never been a fan of guns...until now! I enjoyed myself a little too much and found out that Ashley and I are a pretty good shot. We saw a little fear in our husbands eyes :) It was a great weekend and we loved being with Grandpa Dan in his cute house! I know he liked having us there but man did we take over his space! It probably made watching us leave a little easier!

Trent after his sledding accident.

Aiden after his accident! He did not move for what seemed like forever! I totally freaked out. As you can see in the next pic he was fine!

Best photo ever! Nothing better than snuggling with Grandpa. Well for everyone but Jackson. He would rather watch TV!

Helping Hands

Anna's darling friend Maddie was so moved by the children at Cardon Children's Hospital when they performed a choir concert there that she came up with the brilliant idea to start a "service" club. The plan was to organize charity events that would raise money for the children at the hospital or other people in need. At their first meeting each of the members picked an event they would like to host. Anna was first and she chose to hold a bake sale. It was a great event and the girls raised over $300! I am so proud of these girls and their willingness to help others! The club has been on hold over the summer but I believe the next event will be a fashion show! I'll keep you posted!

The Bishop was one of their best customers!

Field Trip
Anna FINALLY had an opportunity to go on a field trip in May. I say finally because she literally thought it was never going to happen. There are not a lot of FUN moments at Franklin and to Anna school is pure torture! She was thrilled to be getting out of that place for a day! I was fortunate to be able to take the day off and chaperone. The field trip was at the Wells Fargo Museum in Phoenix. Ya I know what you are thinking I had never heard of it either! This was not a place on my bucket list and I think everyone agreed that it was boring but I will admit I learned a few things. The old stagecoach inside the museum is cool and the history was interesting, but you could walk through this place in 15 minutes and we were there for 3 hours! The highlight of the trip for Anna was riding on the bus and lunch :)

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball
It's odd to think that just 1 year ago Aiden was playing little league for the first time and was one of the worst players on the team! I'm not being cruel it's a fact. He played on a team with some seasoned kids and he had a lot to learn. To see where he is now is AWESOME! He has been incredibly lucky to have amazing coaches that encourage him and teach him great skills as well as buddies that make playing fun! The team he played on in the spring was not the best but Aiden had a great season and was able to be one of their star pitchers (who knew???). I had decided to keep Aiden in the minor leagues this year although most of the boys he had been playing with moved up because 1. I wanted him to play with our favorite coach, Ron, and 2. I wanted him to have lots of opportunities... he was able to stay in the entire game and either pitched, played 2nd or short stop. The boys that moved up to majors were the youngest on their team and didn't have the same opportunities. It was a great expeirence and increased Aiden's love of the game. I will admit I am a crazy baseball mom! I wouldn't miss a game for anything! I do need to be careful about what comes out of my mouth sometimes! I know this is little league but it gets very competitive! I am in huge trouble when he plays in high school!


Detroit Tigers

Some of his "oldest" and best fans! (Sorry I didn't mean you mom!)

4th of July
This year we were lucky to be able to go to Pinetop to celebrate the 4th of July. It was just Anna and I because Aiden had to stay home for baseball and Trent had to work :( We went up with Lisa, Chandler and Hayley. It was such an awesome week and we had a blast! We spent most of our time over at the Woods cabin and we loved spending so much time with our family. They are so fun and it's impossible not to have the best time when you are with them. Every year Jim and Sandy host a huge party on the 4th, with great food and of course darling decorations. There was also a carnival down at the clubhouse and Anna was thrilled to win a fish (which did not make it home to Mesa). There was also impromptu baseball games (in which I showed everyone where Aiden gets his talent) and even a hike to find some treasure! We had a great time and I can't wait to go back next year (yes, I just invited myself)!!

Miss B, Chandler, Presley & Hayley

Anna and Ella had such a blast playing together all week! I sure wish she lived closer!

Anna, Ella, Brooklyn & Presley-Getting ready to go Geo Caching


H, Cave, Ella, Kendall, Brooklyn, Anna & Presley

Treasure Hunters!

NEW EVERYTHING
2013 has been the year of NEW! There are so many NEW things I will use bullet points:

Trent's new job with SRP!!!! NO MORE GYPSY LIFE FOR TRENT! I know it was a huge adjustment (both for our bank and Trent's lifestyle) but it has been amazing! We love having him home every night and best of all he can participate in all the kids activities! This has been such a blessing for our family! I think he is a little bummed at times when he talks to his buddies that are still traveling but I just have to remind him that we can be gypsies again when the kids move out (9 years and counting)....
New address! We are in our own home again! While I LOVED living around the corner from my mom it is so awesome to be homeowners again. It would not have been possible without Trent's dad, as he sold us his house! Yep, Trent is living in the house he grew up in :) It's changed a bit since then and we are very happy here. It's a beautiful home that fits us perfectly and we have settled in nicely!
New car! I am not putting this in here to be superficial but because it's a noteworthy...no more minivan! I really thought I could do the mini van thing! I put in a good effort...really tried to suppress my feelings about mini vans but I just couldn't get used to it! I felt like it aged me and changed my personality! So I am back in a Tahoe and feeling a little bit cooler!
My new job! This one was a shocker! I loved Gilbert and the school where I worked! I really had no intention of going elsewhere, but when my INCREDIBLE principal, Mr. Chomokos announced his retirement, and the Gilbert Board of Directors started showing their crazy side I started to consider my options! Then my neighbor across the street told me the SLP at our neighborhood school, Entz, was retiring and although I thought it was long shot I decided to look into it. I was dumbfounded when I was actually offered the job! It was literally the hardest decision I have made in a long time but after several sleepless nights and tears (both from me and my co-worker Annette) I decided to accept the job in Mesa. It's still pretty new to me but so far so good!
New kid....we have temporarily adopted a 14 year old! Really she is just an exchange student that is here until May but I do feel like she is a member of this family. I love her and I will dedicate a whole post to her very soon!
New home addition...because of the new kid I needed a new craft room so she could have a bedroom! My awesome husband spent 6 very HOT weeks enclosing the AZ room just so I could have a creative space (really it's because I am a hoarder and I need an entire room to store all my crap). He is such a hard worker and never ceases to surprise me with his talents! The room was done very well considering he has never done anything like it! I am sitting in it right now as I type this because it's my favorite place in the house :)
New school....after LONG deliberation we decided to have the kids go to their neighborhood school. I love Franklin and I don't think you can beat their curriculum and the level of responsibility they instill in their students! We had a wonderful expeirence there (the kids would disagree but they learned SO much there) and it served it's purpose which was to build a strong foundation. But it has been hard to have them go to a different school than the neighborhood kids and transportation was always a problem(I couldn't have done it with out my mom being their personal bus). When I accepted the job at Entz I knew it was going to be impossible to tell them that I was going to be at their home school but they weren't! Fortunately, it's a great school too and I am confident with our decision. I love having them on my campus! I can help in their classroom and eat lunch with them...although Aiden is getting a little to cool to have his mom sit next to him in the cafeteria.

So yes that's a lot of new but it's not over yet...we are going to have a new niece or nephew....but not until next year! Ashley and Kyle were shocked to found out about their little surprise and I am just glad the new Bevier is theirs and not ours!

We have wanted to take the kids to Disneyland for a while now but I get very anxious going during busy times because of the crowds and lines! So when Trent came home for a quick visit, after working crazy hours for two weeks straight during Hurricane Sandy, we jumped at the chance to take advantage of a typically slow week at the magical kingdom. The best part of the plan was that it was a complete surprise. This worked out for two reasons, I did not have to hear about it every minute of the day and there is nothing better than an awesome reaction to a surprise (oh there is actually a 3^rd reason, Trent did all the packing while I was at work so the kids wouldn’t see him).

Wednesday afternoon I left work early so we would be able to pick the kids up from school and head out. Trent was amazing and thought of literally everything we would need. He went grocery shopping so that we could eat at the hotel, he had everything charged and he packed all the things the kids needed. He also cleaned the house!! AWESOME! With the van all packed up, we headed over to the kids school. They were a little surprised to see me, as I am never able to pick them up, but got in the car and chatted about their day. I told them we had a bunch of errands to run and we better take a quick bathroom break so we made a quick trip to the QT (which included purchasing sodas, milkshakes and snacks). After driving for about 20 minutes, Aiden asked “where are we going?”. I responded, “where would you like to go?”, and was totally got off guard when he said “Disneyland”. After taking a minute to compose myself I responded with “okay, I think there is something here for you guys that you may need”. We then gave them a Disney gift bag with their game boys, candy and a Minnie/Mickey t-shirt. Aiden seemed confused and thanked us for the shirt but Anna started screaming her head off and yelled “We are really going to Disneyland?” I don’t think they believed us for a few minutes until we assured them that it would be a very mean joke if we weren’t!

We decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel to get the full experience. I will say the convenience of it is definitely worth it but other than the neat details of Mickey throughout the room, it was just a regular hotel room. I loved being right next to Downtown Disney and it was definitely worth getting the magical hour where you get to enter the park an hour earlier than everyone else. I honestly don’t think we would have been able to ride on the new Cars ride if we didn’t get into the park early. One of the best things we did this time around was bring bagels for breakfast and make sandwiches for lunch. It saved us a ton of money and allowed us to splurge on other things. I have always wanted to eat at the Bayou restaurant inside of Pirates of the Caribbean, so we booked a reservation and had lunch there on the first day. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! Other than the awesome ambiance the food sucked and it was crazy expensive. Anna did not touch her $13.00 kids meal, which was a plain cold chicken breast and a side of spaghetti. Oh well, lesson learned! I could live on the churros and that is what I did the next day.

Our first day in the park, we ran into one of my oldest friends, Edie MacDonald Gardner and her family. We didn’t have a lot of time to chat in the a.m. as we were in line for the Matterhorn but when we ran into them later at Toontown we ended up spending 5 hours with them cruising through California Adventures! She has kids the same age as mine (plus a gorgeous baby that makes me SOOOO want one) and our kids and husbands rode every single scary ride in that place! I could not believe that they even went on the Tower of Terror and liked it so much they did it again. I of course waited with Edie and the baby, in case she needed help! We had such a blast with them and it really made the day more fun. Next time, we will definitely want to go with friends.

We literally rode every single ride we wanted to and more than once. We were able to practically walk on the rides, which made the overall experience amazing. Anna was able to get lots of autographs and I was so grateful that she still loves her princesses. As great as it is that they are old enough and big enough to ride everything now, it was bittersweet that they weren’t more excited about the Disney hoopla as they once were. I was though and would love to go with people who want to see every show and deck themselves in full Disney gear!

It was a perfect trip and we had an amazing time. It will definitely be a trip I remember for a lifetime, and the kids are at the age where they should too!