Caitlyn's Preschool Christmas Concert

This year Caitlyn started preschool which she seems to enjoy (at least after she gets there). The preschool put on a Christmas concert earlier this month in which they sang a few Christmas songs for all the parents. We were very surprised at how many kids go to the school being that the school itself is pretty small and only has a couple of class rooms. The concert was at the local performing arts center. The teacher forgot their headbands so their class was easy to spot.

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween Caitlyn was a butterfly while Carter was DJ Lance (a character from his favorite TV show Yo Gabba Gabba). We were joined for trick-or-treating by my mom, Molly's parents, brother, sister in law, and our nephew who was a monkey. The kids loaded up on tons of candy most of which is gone now.

Halloween Pictures

Barbershop Trail Fall Hike

A few weeks ago my friend Ryan, and I went up north to hike around some trees that were in fall colors. This is not an easy task in Arizona as trees are difficult to find and particularly trees that aren't evergreen trees. To my surprise we even managed to find some groves of trees which were displaying red colors unlike most of the yellow aspen trees that are found up north.

Barbershop Trail Fall Hike Pictures

Fall Prescott Trip

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Prescott to enjoy some fall weather with some friends from church. We camped near Lynx lake where did a lot of fishing, biking, and hiking. We also visited the Prescott zoo for the first time.

Fall Prescott Trip Pictures

Lancaster Pennsylvania

For the last part of our east coast trip we stayed with my grandma in Lancaster. We visited with my Aunt and Uncle at Longwood garden, went to a local park with my cousin, toured the railroad museum and capped off the trip with a visit to Dutch Wonderland.

Pennsylvania Pictures

New England

During our trip back east we drove up to Gloucester Massachusetts to visit with Mollys extended family. We joined her parents who were up that way and rented a house for week close to the beach. Unfortunately the weather for this part of the trip was terrible for the fist several days so we didnt get down to the beach nearly as much as we were hoping. We visited with her grandfather up in Kittery Maine and her uncle in New Hampshire.

New England Trip Pictures

Ocean City

The first part of our 3 week trip was to Ocean City in New Jersey. We were very fortunate to have excellent weather and a warm ocean which made the three day trip way too short. Caitlyn and Carter enjoyed playing in the ocean and going on the rides on the boardwalk.

Ocean City Pictures

Big Lake Camping Trip

In July we took a 4 day camping trip up to the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. This is probably by far my favorite place to camp although the 4 hour drive keeps us from making many trips here.

Big Lake Camping Pictures

Memorial Day 2010 Camping Trip

This memorial day we headed up north to camp out with some friends south east of Flagstaff near Stoneman lake. For the fist time in the last 4 years the weather cooperated with us for our entire stay. Two years ago we camped in the same area and got snowed on. A couple of days we drove to an area next to Mormon Lake where they had a small petting zoo and a general store where we could by ice cream. The trip was a lot of fun and we look forward to doing more camping this summer.

Memorial Day Camping Trip Pictures

Caitlyns First Airplane Ride

A couple of weeks ago I took Caitlyn up for her first airplane ride. Actually she has been several places in large commercial jets but this was her first real airplane ride in a Cessna 150. It ended up being a very turbulant day but I think it just made it more exciting for her. To my surprise she loved it and didnt want to come down.

Caitlyns First Airplane Ride Pictures

Camping at Willow Springs Lake

In the beginning of may we took our annual camping trip with some long time friends of ours. Last year was Durango, Colorado so this year we went in state to a lake on the rim called Willow Springs lake. Originally we had planned to camp at Woods Canyon lake however with all the snow they had this year many of the trees were down so the Woods Canyon campground was closed. Fortunately the fishing was much better at Willow Springs Lake so we were glad we ended up their. The kids had lots of fun getting dirty and even played in some snow patched that remained even with temperatures in the upper 70s.

Willow Springs Lake Camping Pictures

Caitlyn and Carters Birthdays

With Caitlyns birthday on the 15th and Carters on the 17th we weren't sure how to handle the party situation. We decided this year to celebrate Caitlyns one weekend with her friends and then have another celebration the following weekend mainly with family for Carter. Both party's worked out great and the kids had loads of fun.

Caitlyn and Carters Birthday Pictures

Easter

This year we celebrated Easter over at Mollys parents house after the kids searched for their baskets in the morning at our house. I was on call but was blessed to not be called out so I was able to enjoy the day with the family. Caitlyn has Easter egg finding and basket hunting down. Carter will figure it out eventually but was mainly engrossed in watching a mechanical bunny dance that Mollys uncle gave to the kids.

Easter Pictures

Joshua Tree National Park

This past weekend we took our first camping trip of the year. We met up with some friends of ours in Joshua Tree National Park. The weather was perfect. Not too hot during the day and not too cold at night. It was our first time visiting this park and we will definitely visit it again. We had a lot of fun taking short 1 mile hikes with the kids and playing on the boulders surrounding the campground and many of the trails.

Joshua Tree National Park Pictures

Hiking the Goldmine Mountains with the Kids

Yesterday I was feeling ambitious and decided to take the kids on a hike in the nearby Goldmine Mountains. I had taken Caitlyn on the hike several times in the past but this was the first with Carter. I was hoping for some wildflowers but as of yet they haven't bloomed. Caitlyn seemed to enjoy it as always and Carter was happy so long as I was moving. He was also determined to try and consume parts of the peak we just conquered but I managed to stop him.

Goldmine Mountains with the Kids Pictures

Oak Creek Canyon AB Young Trail Hike

This past weekend my friend Ryan and I decided to drive up to Sedona to do some hiking in Oak Creek Canyon. We were hoping for good weather and a bit of snow on top to make for some cool pictures. The weather was pretty good but the bit of snow we were excited about ended up being about two feet deep on top. We made it to the top of the canyon but were forced to turn around when we could no longer find the trail in the deep snow and could also not feel our feet.


On the drive back we saw a man taking pictues of what apeared to be some bushes on the side of the road. We thought he was crazy so I began to make fun of him when we realized there was a giant waterfall on the lip of the canyon formed by all the runoff from the snow melt. It was probably one of the largest I have ever seen in the area, probably falling 50-60 feet.

Oak Creek Canyon AB Young Hiking Pictures

Black Mesa Loop Trail

Three weeks ago Ryan and I took an easy hike around the Black Mesa Loop trail in the Superstition Mountains. The weather was perfect (not too hot and not too cold) and the desert was extremely green with all the rain we have had recently. The hike was pretty uneventful as we did not run into any mountain lions or crazy mountain men.

Black Mesa Loop Hike Pictures

Caitlyns First Soccer Game

Caitlyn had her first soccer game last week. She was assigned to the "Grasshoppers" and is number 6. She got pretty into it and it was pretty funny to watch. Basically they make the kids play 4 on 4 games. There really aren't any out of bounds (parents and coaches run around and kick the ball back toward the field). There also aren't any designated goals so the kids kick it in any goal they feel like.

Caitlyns First Soccer Game Pictures

Caitlyns Winter Dance Recital

Caitlyn had her second dance recital a couple of weeks ago at the Queen Creek Recreation Center. This one wasn't quite as exciting as her first in that they weren't up on the stage and whole group didn't seem to interested in performing. But they were eager to get their sticker at the end.

Caitlyns Winter Dance Recital Pictures

Heber Trip

Last week a friend of mine, Justin, invited Caitlyn and I to join him and his daughter, Alexis, up at their cabin in Heber. Due to all the recent storms there was lots of snow on the ground to play in. We built snowman, went sledding, and threw snowballs.

Heber Pictures

Christmas 09

This year we had a great but very busy Christmas. We started the month off with a trip to Zoo lights and followed it up with a trip up to Williams Arizona to take a ride on the Polar express and play in the snow. We also added a new tradition of going around the valley and visiting backyard train displays. This year was the first year since the kids have been around that I have been on call for Christmas but thankfully was never used so I was able to spend the day with the family at the house celebrating.

Christmas Pictures