Hot Air Balloons

We went to "Glendale Glitters" on the last day of their festival for the "Glendale Glows" part. They still had all the lights up, but they brought in a bunch of hot air balloons! It was SO cool. They were beautiful! There were a lot of bands there including Peppermint James, one of my favs and some fun activities for kids. Love it!

This guy asked if I wanted to get into his balloon. I did, but it was scarier than I thought it would be. Up until then I had always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon, but now that I was in it, it freaked me out. :)

Notice the strong grip I have on the post. Then as I was posing for a picture, he lit it up! Yikes! I screamed with excitement and fear. :) The picture is dark, but you can sort of see the screaming face.

Then we watched them take down one of the balloons... As we were watching, Stacy noticed the sign on the side. :)

It says "experimental"... Hmmmm... That is an interesting title for a balloon, yeah? Anyway, I don't think I will be going up in this balloon anytime soon, but maybe a different one some day. :)

Girls Lunch

A few days ago I went to lunch with some of Paul's family for the traditional "girls lunch"... :) Hawken tagged along, and was the only boy there. :)

It was lots of fun. We all chatted and caught up on things, since there aren't too many opportunities for us all to be in one place at one time. It was really nice to get to see everyone before I go back to the island. Although we were missing a few people. :( Oh well, maybe next time, right?

Left to right: Liana, Stacy, Colleen, Shanda, Maren, Starr, Me with Hawken, Tera, and Leah.

Below is Paul's cousin Starr with the largest piece of cake ever! Yes, it is 6 layers thick! YUM! This photo doesn't really even do it justice. Yikes! Don't worry she shared it with some of the other girls. :)

Mommy-Matix Date Night

After I went to Cholla, I got home and wanted to spend some time with Matix, since I hadn't seen him all morning or afternoon.

So here is the conversation we had...

McDonald's it is... He was so happy and excited to go.

Matix didn't sit the entire time. :) What tastes better? Chicken nuggets?

Or the toy?

Then he discovered ranch sauce. Yum! :)

After we ate, we played. :) The McDonald's had this great play place with all of these big foam musical instruments and a big FAO Schwarz type piano.

Matix had a great time, and so did I. I think we might keep up this tradition of having Mommy and Son dates. :) We stayed out past his bed time (hence the sleepy look in the picture), but he did great anyway.

Cholla Visit

On Friday I went to Cholla to visit and show off Hawken. Matix and I had been there a month or so ago, but we missed some important people, and of course I wanted to show off my cute new little guy.

I got to see lots of my friends and co-workers. We brought some snacks and since it was a Friday, no one had kids in their classroom that day, so we had time to chat.

I really miss some of these ladies. :( But it was SO nice to have time with them... even though it's just a little.

Here is Gretchen playing the look alike game. She did a good job matching Hawken's face, right?

Hawken was such a good sport and let everyone hold him. What a good boy... Well, he was a good boy up until he started crying in the car... LOUD. :( Weird, since he is usually so calm... I was a little nervous to find out why he was upset.

I got him out of his car seat, he seemed okay, until... You guessed it. Blow out diaper. :( If you don't yet know what that is, be happy. I got poop all over my hand and arm.

Here is the massive damage he made... First we lost the diaper (of course), and with that, the pants, onesie, and blanket... Yikes.

It is a good thing we are in Arizona and he could drive home like this without getting cold. :) Nakey boy! The socks were the only articles of clothing that made it through the disaster.

Temple Lights

We went to see the Christmas lights at the temple this year. Matix had a great time running around pointing at everything and saying "OOOooooooohhhh!" :)

They always do such a great job of decorating, and there are always new things so it is different year to year. Here is the group of us that went:

My Dad, Me with Hawken, Paul with Matix, and Colleen. We also ran into my friend Michelle, but the pictures of us didn't turn out very well... Sorry Michelle. :)

The family picture :) Jessie holding Hawken and Paul carrying Matix.

There were lots of cool nativities from around the world inside the visitor center and this big one was outside. Look how bright the star is! Wow!

Date Night

Date night at the temple. So romantic. :) I miss you Paul! See you in 9 days!

Peter Piper Pizza

We went to Peter Piper Pizza back in December to catch up with a few of Paul's friends who now live out of state (as do we) and then we went there again a few weeks ago when my Dad was here. It is just like Chuck E. Cheese, for those of you who don't know. And it is now Matix's new favorite place. :) He tried lots of new things...

He doesn't really understand skee ball yet. :)

Colleen hit the jackpot on some impossible game and won 1,000 tickets! Then she got Matix a ton of prizes, thanks Colleen!

Here is the whole group from the first time we went (minus Colleen... she is in the background playing a game):

Here is the photographer. :)

The second time at Peter Piper's, my Dad took us all out. It was fun for everyone. My Dad even got in to playing some of the games. :)

Colleen, Paul and Matix all enjoyed the rides. :)

Hawken, of course, being the good baby that he is, was content to just sit in his car seat and watch. :)

Stacy got Matix a balloon.

We all had a great time and when Matix realized we were leaving, this was his reaction. Is that too funny, or what?!

Slide

Look what Matix can do! What a big boy.

Climb up the stairs...

Sit down, get Grandpa Chuck's attention by giggling...

Slide to the bottom and clap for yourself!

Hooray, you did it, now run to Grandpa for a hug, and repeat! :)

Happy

Today I love Matix getting into trouble... because even when I catch him putting all the dog food into the dog water...

or eating the birdseed, he is SO stinkin cute!

Today I love having 2 babies in the car with me. 2! Can you believe it?!

Today I love when Matix insists on only wearing his diaper, even when he has goosebumps from being so cold.

Today I love falling asleep holding Hawken's hand, because it makes us both so happy and calm.