Independence Day - 2011

Or otherwise known as my favorite holiday ever.

Even if there isn't any gift giving.

In the many years since we moved to Arizona, back to our extended family, we've always celebrated the 4th of July in one of two ways; 1) At a local park & fireworks show or 2) At my Aunt Anita's house & pool.  This year, I had the honor of hosting my peeps at my house.

Joy!

The husband, kids and I cleaned up and decorated a bit - gearing for our 4th (er, 2nd) of July party!

I realized I don't have enough 4th of July decorations on hand.

Maybe I need to remedy that. I am sure the HobLob has some sales going on tomorrow. =)

We made do with what we had.

Here's a pic of my "mantel." I realize it's not a REAL mantel.

But I think I will use it as a place to dress-up for each of the holidays & seasons.

It may look different from last time. Or the time before that.

I like it this way, much better.

Here it is again - this time with more treats on it!

Like my licorice bouquet?! Name that movie.

And darn it - I think I ate 94% of those Hot Tamales.

And every.single.time I got a really HOT one, I told myself I wouldn't eat anymore.

The bowl is empty.

:(

On the menu?!

Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, potato salad, jalapeno coleslaw, chips and dips and dips and chips, and a green salad. Now, I will note that the salad bowl hardly had a dent in it. My peeps need to eat more greens. Oh well, the man I said "I Do" to and I had leftovers last night for dinner. We love us some ensalada.

Besides all of that food, we had an array of canned soda, water and bottles of crush.

My cousin also brought a few bottles of wine.

We don't drink - and I do not have a wine bottle opener.

Fail.

She's a clever one though - and she got the darn bottles open.

I do have some wine glasses in the house, she found those okay!

No need to guzzle and pass for those that opted to partake.

=)

By the way, someone needs to gift me a wine bottle opener.

Some more decor:

Finally - firecrackers.

You see, Arizona has had some HORRIBLE wild fires going on in the state as of late.

Our unincorporated county island decided to ban fireworks this year (our first 4th since the state law changed to allow them in the first place). We were bummed. But, since we already had a small pack of small-ish fireworks, we decided the kids could light a few.

The little ones loved the sprinklers.

I know. Sparklers.

But I couldn't get it right.

I took a few pics, but none really turned out. I am hoping the ones my cousin took look better -

and that he feels like sharing.

What I don't have pictures of is the pool time or the lovely desserts that followed.

People will probably thank me for that! ;)

All in all - the last of our guests left around midnight.

Isabel had a friend stay the night - we were all sooo exhausted, I am sure she was bored out of her mind!

Marcos and I didn't even wake up until 11:30 yesterday. Crazy.

What's crazier is the aftermath.

.... that's still waiting for me today.

I didn't lift one finger yesterday... unless it was to change the channel on the remote.

Thank gosh for leftovers and half grown children.

And thank gosh for our beautiful country, our rights, our freedom and for those that serve and protect it all!

Hope you have a beautiful day today!

More Fun, Fun, Fun

Before I get into the meat of this post... I wanted to give a shout out to a sponsor... (you didn't know I took on sponsors?! what, what?!?)...

This post is brought to you by:

That's how many hours Marcos and I have left until we start our staycation! We will both be off of work until July 5. Yay us!

Okay - now to the meat! ;)  And speaking of meat - let's talk about the meat market we were at on Saturday; all of the fathers in my life were in one place (the pizza joint). Combine all that pepperoni and those hunky-hunks - it was a meat market for sure!

But, to bring this to a Rated G post - I will make mention of the all cute kids also in attendance. We spent a few good hours with food, fun, and all of the love we could handle.

Want proof?

We spent Sunday camera-less. lol... My parents came over, Marcos didn't have to work. The day was grand!

We had a lunch of Sloppy Joe's, Salad and Chips. I made the Pineapple Upside Down cupcakes.  (I evidently like Capital Letters) We went for a swim. I was kind of disappointed in the water temp... even though it was over 100*, the water was pretty cool. I think it was due to the wind - we get a lot of wind out this way.

The best part of swimming?! Getting out and laying in a lounge chair - letting the SUN dry you off. I LOVE laying out near the pool.  I think the Valium* I took just before hand helped me enjoy the minutes even more! I fell asleep while the rest of my family continued to play! I am happy to say that even though I slept out in the sun, I do NOT resemble a lobster today. Not at all.

(*Back pain, remember?! I don't condone prescription drug use before swimming. I waited at least 30 minutes after our meal and my pill popping before getting in the water. I had 5 lifeguards family members on duty. I survived.)

All-in-all, I think Marcos and my dad had a good time; on Father's Day, that's all that matters.

Me & My Peeps

Normally, when I refer to my "peeps" - I am talking about my cute-as-sin husband and those three tag-alongs we spawned.  However, today I am going to introduce you to the gene pool; my mother's side of the family.

That's right - they all live here in Arizona ( 'cept forJesse who's sun tanning in the big "I" right now).

The picture fest is courtesy of our annual Father's Day get-together (we also celebrated my two nephew's birthdays). We had lunch at Peter Piper Pizza (for you out of towners, think Chuckie Cheese, but not as cheesy).  We are blessed to have so many really good people in our family.

I will note, for the sake of noting it - Marcos has to work today, so he missed the pizza, Mr. Pibb and bloated feeling. His loss. :)  We WILL celebrate Father's Day with him tomorrow (and my parents - my dad must feel sooo special, he gets doted on twice in one weekend!).

Without further  - wait... I should warn you. The title of this post is ME & My Peeps. Emphasis on ME. After you scan the photos below you will learn that I am, in fact, left handed.

Whew.

Let me break it down for ya:

Grandma and Grandpa have 4 kids (3 pictured)

One is Anita - she's married to Mark. They have 2 kids (1 pictured).

One is Brianne - she's married to Jason. They have 2 kids: Ben and Charlotte.

Grandma and Grandpa's second kid is Julie.

Julie is married to Mike. They have 3 kids (2 pictured).

One is Chell. She is married to Darryl. They have 2 kids: Austin and Evan.

The other one is Carrie. She's my counter-part (a little over a month apart in age!).

Grandma and Grandpa's third kid is my mom, Michelle.

Michelle is married to Dad (duh!) - Charles. They have 2 kids (1 pictured).

One is Jaime (me!) and I am married to Marcos. We have 3 kids: Alex, Isabel and Nic. I assume you already know this...

Their first born and favorite (don't worry, mom... I know and understand! He's special ed.) is Jesse (who has a daughter named Abby).

Whew! (again). We need to stop procreating, huh?

Well, if nothing else, someone can print this post off and show it to me when I am 90 and can't think straight.

I am exhausted and have to get ready for the parents' visit tomorrow. So I will sign off here... but don't you worry, tomorrow I will post all of the action shots!! ;) We were at a pizza joint, after all!

Happy Saturday!!

Celebrations

It's late night.
The house is quiet... except for the tapping of my fingernails on the keyboard keys.

I feel blessed.

Today went off without one, single hitch.
We signed a million pieces of paper.
We handed over a check.
We learned that we would be getting a refund of about $1000. Yay!
That part was done.

We went on to do our new home orientation.
That went well.
There are a few cosmetic things here and there that need to touched up,
and our appliances still need to be delivered.
But everything should be good to go by next Thursday, when we are given the keys
to our new home.

Wow. 15 years in the making.
It feels a bit surreal.

We celebrated last night with trips to the Cheesecake Factory and IKEA. What until you see what I picked up! I didn't want to overdo it as we still need to finish packing this place up - but I couldn't help myself on a few items such as:

Love these lanterns. I got a few six to use for the back patio. Not sure of my exact plans, but whatever they are, these sweeties are included.

We picked up three of these (for now). They are wooden drawer organizers.

We also picked up drawer liners.

I wanted to purchase my lazy susans, but the husband asked me to hold off.

They have them at IKEA for $7.99.

I am going to get a few for my pantry.

Don't really love the color of pale wood, though - so they will be painted.

I also walked out with a few other things I couldn't resist.

One I will keep a secret for now... but man, I can't wait to get started on that project!

In the morning, we are off to celebrate [again] with my parents.

We are going to Cracker Barrel.

Nothing says "Congrats on your new home" like biscuits and gravy.

Nothing.