Father's Day

We had a pretty fun Father's Day.  It started off with breakfast for daddy and opening cards.  

 

Then it was time for presents.  We got him a new Jeep suitcase for our trip this summer and the girls put their latest paintings inside as a surprise.

Lovin' the artwork!

We headed to the Arizona Grand Resort for a stay-cation.  Cory enjoyed a nice, relaxing massage while we played in the pool.  Then we strolled around the grounds before dinner time.  The kids had a blast staying away from home and it was fun to get away even for just 24 hours.

Date nights

Ahhh....date nights.  We treasure them so much.  We have been trying to get out every other weekend and it's been pretty easy to do since we had Ms. Lydia booked 6 months out.  Now that summer is here things are changing a bit and we won't get out as much as we like but hopefully we'll squeeze in a few dates to sit on the patio at CHoP or catch a few summer blockbuster movies.  There's nothing like being out together alone and catching up on life.

Best coach ever!

The girls have played soccer for 3 seasons now and Cory has coached every time.  They are pretty lucky to have such a great dad who is an awesome coach.  This spring season has been fun because the weather hasn't gotten obnoxiously hot yet and we have lots of friends on our team including: Barrett, Avery, Dylan, and Bryce from last season.  They are having a blast together.

Santa came early

My computer is way outdated.  It's from 2009 and that's like 100 in computer years.  My friend, Lori, gets an amazing Apple discount through her work 2x a year and the latest promotion was coming up.  I talked to Cory about it and I could get a great deal on a new MacBook with the Retina display and an Ipad Mini with 3G & WiFi.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a great deal on something I needed (& wanted with the Ipad mini).  Let me tell you that they are both amazing.  I'm in love with the screen size of my new computer and the Retina display is pretty amazing.  I also love the size of the Ipad mini.  It's perfect and having 3G on it is pretty amazing too.  Cory used it the other day showing houses and it's perfect for Realtors on the go.  I am officially all Mac'ed out over here and I love it!

Last soccer game

Our soccer season has come to an end.  The girls had so much fun with Daddy & Andy as the coach.  

They loved being on the team with Avery too.  Such cute little girls with toothless grins!

Dinner out with friends

We started a dinner group that goes out once a month and each month someone gets to pick the place we dine.  This month's was Alex's choice, Arrogant Butcher, in downtown Phoenix.  It was so delicious.  They have these little pretzel nuggets dipped in cheese & a salted caramel pudding that's to die for.  Everyone's food was so good.  It was a great night out.  Can't wait for December's choice!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing father ever.  We were so excited to wake Cory up and surprise him with all of our gifts and yummy breakfast.  Reese & Ryan were chompin at the bit.  

Ryder thought sleep was more important.

 We made Daddy a yummy breakfast of egg in a hole, bacon, fresh raspberries, & mango juice.

 Yum!

He was still waking up when we brought it all in.  I know he'll love me for posting this photo.  

The kids were couldn't wait to give him the tiles we created with hand prints (see below) as well as a new Triumph motorcycle Tshirt and some homemade cards.

 The best part was giving him these sheets we filled out.  I interviewed the kids one on one and they came up with the funniest answers.  Ryder said his dad was 2 years old and he likes to wear mommy's clothing.  Reese said that she loves her daddy because he chose Risen Savior as her preschool. Ryan said her dad is smart because he knows magic.  All of their answers cracked me up.

Cory, I hope you know that you are the most wonderful father in the world. I've said it before but our family is so amazing and it's because you are the rock of it all.  We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we love you so much!

Cory's birthday weekend

Cory turned 38 this past weekend and we have been celebrating all week.  This should probably be divided up into three different posts because so much went on but I'm lumping it all into one.  We had such a fun weekend with our friends in town--Brian, Claire, & their boys, Devin & Curtis.  They flew in around 1pm on Friday and the fun started that night with dinner and drinks at San Tan Brewery.  That place has become our little Cheers bar where we always run into people we know.  We had waaaay too much fun that night!

Saturday was a bit more tame.  We hung out at home and the kids played and played and played.  We couldn't get over how awesome it was to just spend time with our friends, enjoying the gorgeous weather while our 5 kids played together so nicely.  We made a scrumptious dinner of chicken & beef fajitas and then called it a night since the guys were golfing early in the morning and Claire & I were taking the kids to the zoo.

We got to the zoo pretty early and beat most of the weekend crowd.  Devin & Curtis are animal lovers and Reese & Ryan were so excited to show them around and tell them where all their favorite animals live.  I had to include this photo below because Ryan insisted on dressing like Devin.  We scoured the closets and dressers for a red shirt, plaid shorts, and a black baseball cap.  She was so happy that we found a close match to his outfit :)

 After a nice afternoon of naps we had all the family over for pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream. 

 We all helped him blow out his candles.

It was such a great weekend with family and friends and I know that Cory had so much fun.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.  Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband.  I hope your 38th was one of the best yet!  We love you SO much!

Torturing my husband

Cory always lets me pick the movies when we go out.  He's SO sweet like that.  He'll go see romantic comedies without complaining and is always up for anything as long as we can be out together, just the two of us.  I've been really excited to see this movie.

Cory was up for it since it got really great reviews, even though he really wanted to see some other movie with Liam Neeson lost in the Alaska wilderness.  I thought The Descendants was great.  It was funny and sad, and the acting was really good.  I could tell about halfway through that we were losing Cory.  He was bored out of his gourd.  I shoulda saved this one for my mom and me and taken him to the wilderness movie.  I promised him last night that he could pick the next 3 movies.  That will probably be for the next year because we seem to get to the movies only about once every few months.  We had a nice dinner at BJ's after and then picked up the kiddos at Grandma & Grandpa's house around 8:00. It was so fun to go out for an early date night and be home to put all the kids to bed.

The W

We went out for a work function last night to the W hotel in Scottsdale and it was pretty swanky.  We don't get out to Scottsdale much so this was a treat for us.  One of our lenders moved to a different company and celebrated the switch by throwing a party. Grandma & Grandpa were kind enough to watch the kiddos for us and we carpooled with my mom & dad up to Scottsdale.  It was funny because we had no idea what the event was going to be like and what we should wear.  My dad had a brown blazer on and Cory took one look at him when we got out of the car and said, "I'm not dressed up enough".  He had on the perfect outfit and looked great, but I'm sure that it wasn't very helpful of me to tell him that his shirt was slightly wrinkled after we already left the house.  If he said that to me we would be turning around, heading back home for me to change.  Sometimes I need to keep my thoughts to myself.

We got to the event a little after 7 and it there were a bunch of people we knew there.  Cory and my dad were so in their element with the schmoozing and making friends.  They had some OK appetizers and an open bar, which was nice, but I needed waaaay more food than what they had.  I was pretty much starving most of the night.  We ended up staying until midnight and the place was seriously hopping at that point.  My mom was in disbelief of everything she saw.  She just kept saying, "Is this what people do?!?  I am SO old!"


It was a fun night out, but it did make me happy that most nights I get to curl up with my hubby & kids on the couch in my pajamas instead of out frolicking at Scottsdale bars.

Goodbye, 2011

2011 ….
 is it already time to say goodbye you? It seems like it was just a few days back we were greeting the new year and getting ready to celebrate Ryder's 1st birthday.  Now here I am again - same place, same time and looking forward to greeting another new year.  2011… you have been good to us.

Ryder boy turns one on the 7th.

He's such a happy boy and his party is so much fun. 

 We lose our sweet little Maddie in a tragic accident in February.  

This is the last photo we have of her, snuggled up in her favorite spot above Cory.

We plant a tree in her memory and it's blooming so nicely in our backyard.

 

Cory celebrates his 37th birthday and 

 our good friends, Brian & Claire (and their kids) come into town to celebrate.

Scott Berchman takes some of my most favorite photos of Ryder for his 1 year milestone.

 The girls take dance class, gymnastics, karate, & cooking class (not all at once) and they love it all.

 We get all the McCulloughs together to take photos at Easter time while everyone is in town.  

Poor Scott had his work cut out for him!  

It's always such a great time when we're all together.

We have waaaaay too much fun with our cousins when they spend the night.  

AND we are really good at making some fun messes.

 We road trip it to San Diego in July and we're packed to the gills.

 4th of July is such a wonderful time with friends and family.

 We take pictures of Ryder at 18 mos. at the cheapy portrait studio and he is the biggest ham in most of the shots.  What a character.

 First day of PreK at the end of July.
The girls love their school and their teachers are so wonderful.

 Cory and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.

 Girls spa trip to Sedona.

 Swim lessons with Ms. Mary for the third summer in a row.  

The girls are little fishies that love the water.

 

 Soccer starts and Daddy is the coach.  

We're busy every weekend during the fall with our fun new sport.

 I discover Pinterest in September and all of a sudden I'm totally inspired.  I become awesome crafty mom, a better cook, and my house is more organized than I ever thought possible (sorta).

 This takes the cake for extra activities.  Little DaVinci is such an amazing place.  The art classes the girls take are perfect for their creativity that's brewing.  They showed off their masterpieces in October.

The weather cools down and I'm out trolling for deals at garage sales when the girls have late soccer games.  I find some pretty awesome deals, including this school bus for $20 that sold last year at Costco for $130.

We go to Mexico in October for a long weekend.  The weather is gorgeous, the water is warm, and the best part is our cells phones don't work down there.  A great way to recharge your batteries.

We also get away to Pinetop to enjoy some cool weather in October.  

It's so nice getting away just the five of us.

 Halloween was a blast.  I love the kids costumes and how different the girls' choices are each year.  Ryder was the cutest Spiderman I've ever seen.

 Reese & Ryan turn five on the 15th of November.  

We celebrate at Airworx with a fun trampoline party.

 They also celebrate at school with ice cream sandwiches and homemade crowns.

 Thanksgiving fun.

 Mimi and Papa's Christmas card for this year.

 Ryder is such a funny little firecracker and we get to spend some nice alone time together while the girls are at school.  No wonder he is the world's biggest mama's boy.

 We start some new Christmas traditions in December...

 and continue some old ones.  Kati was adventurous this year.

 Everyone's got an obsession--the girls have JB

 and Ryder has the Ipad and his truck.

We count our blessings every day for all the wonderful people
in our lives that help us create such amazing memories.
Cheers to 2011 and here's to love, laughter, & happiness in 2012!