I wish I had my camera with me

Today - as I was driving home on one of the freeway's here in Phoenix I saw one of the sites that make you think about who we are hiring in government agencies. There was a large flat bed in front of me with a few large packages on it. I noticed two crates on the back. As I got closer, I realized that the two crates were from the US Post office. They are the crates you often see sitting in the corner of post office - the white ones with no cover, handle holes on each side and they say "Property of US Post Office" on front and back. As I passed near the truck, I noticed it was also a US Post office Truck.

Made me wonder - did they put these two open top crates on the back of this truck full of mail when they started out their trip? If so, the mail for several people is now spread all over some highway on the west side of Phoenix.

Dan - Since I know you read this this is not a knock on US postal workers in general . . . just these two morons. I hope it wasn't my Million dollar check from publisher's clearinghouse.

MPO

Our 6th Anniversary

Mike and I were able to go away for our anniversary! My parents gave us an overnight stay at the Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountain. How nice that was. (Patrick stayed over at their house.) We arrived early and checked in. We wanted to see Pirates 2 so we headed to the AMC theatre at Desert Ridge. We were early so went over to The Yard House for chicken wings and beer (for Mike not me). They had SO many different beers on tap including Pabst Blue Ribbon. That one really made us laugh. Mike even asked when they last tapped that barrel! Glad I'm not a bartender there. Wouldn't want to have to change those barrels! We saw Pirates which was very good, but of course leaves you in suspense for the next one. Headed over to JW Marriott Desert Ridge for dinner. I had won a gift certificate for the Blue Sage restaurant entitling us to dinner for two. Nice anniversary treat. The meal was awesome. Mike had buffalo ribeye and I had bacon wrapped beef tenderloin. The meal was yummy. We headed back to the hotel where we checked out the pool and hot tub. This morning we had a fabulous breakfast buffet at the restaurnt downstairs. It was SO yummy, but boy were there a lot of carbs. We walked around to check out more of the hotel and then left for home. We really had a super time! It was a nice close get-away for us. What a neat treat!

Family Night at Preschool

Tonight was Family Night at the preschool Patrick will be attending. He'll be part of the San Tan Montessori school which starts August 1st. Our baby is going to SCHOOL! Anyway, Mike and I weren't able to take him so my parents took him. They said he just walked around and observed and took everything in. He obviously impressed a couple of the girls already as they made it a point to say good-bye to him. Patrick and I met with his teacher, Miss Danielle, yesterday. She is very sweet. I am excited about the year and a little nervous too. I know it will be good though. I know the directors as well as the music teacher which was a major draw for me. Patrick is excited to go to school I think. It will be good for him.

Happy Birthday Cabo!

This is Patrick's Buddy! They are two peas in a pod. What one doesn't think of the other one does. This is a baby picture of him. I will try to locate a more recent one to show how much he's grown over the 2 years.

Happy Birthday Dobby!

Dancing Clothes!

To get Patrick excited about Katy's wedding we've told him that the clothes he will wear are special dancing clothes. It's worked so far and he was thrilled to shop for them, at least so far. So to date we have his dancing coat, dancing shoes, and dancing socks. Hopefully the dancing pants and dancing shirt will follow soon! He even practiced dancing in the shoes in the middle of the store. Now that was precious.

Robby the Fish

After the passing of Patrick's fish named Fish we promised he could get another one. So Mike took him to the pet store where he picked out another Beta. This time he named it Robby. We have no idea where the name came from, but at least it's more creative. So far Robby is doing well and Patrick is happy to have a fish in the tank again. He is content though with the knowledge of Cojack looking after Fish!

Sleeping Angel

Swimming Lessons Part I

We enrolled Patrick in swimming lessons in June with his friend Sofia. In fact, he will tell you that she is his "girlfriend." He tells Papa that he won't give her kisses, but that they hug. When asked if he'll take her on a date he usually reponds no because he's too little to drive! :) They are too cute together. They both passed Seahorse White and now are currently enrolled in Seahorse Red. They are having a blast in the pool and learning so much as they go!

Uncle Bernie, Aunt Teri, and the BOYS

I have finally gotten around to getting these photos onto the computer so thought I should probably post some. We truly enjoyed our visit with Bernie, Teri, Harley Bird, Fritz, and Brutus. In fact, Patrick still is talking about them. He thinks they should just be able to come on over and visit. (I think he believes that the camper is their house!) They actually all came to the house and we had a great time. Badger did very well with the dogs and didn't mind Harley too much. Patrick even got brave the second night and held Harley. He refers to the dogs as the "Big" dog and the "Little" dog. He certainly made friends quickly. He loved wearing Bernie and Teri's hats so they got one just for him. Boy does he think he's cool! We keep telling Patrick that he will see you all again at Katy's wedding. Guess that seems like an eternity as he still continues to ask. You are welcome out here anytime!

Goodbye Fish...

Patrick had to say goodbye to his fish, named FISH today. He didn't want any part of the "farewell." Mike had to tend to that alone. He was sad and kept saying he missed his fish. Mike told him that Fish was being taken care of by Cojack.:) That seemed to comfort him. We told him that he could go and get a new fish with Daddy on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Hope your birthday is filled with many good things. Thought we'd post this picture of you with Patrick his first Christmas.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! Wishing you all a day filled with the things you enjoy most!
Thanks so much for all you do and all you are. You are such an important part of our lives. We love you!




"Walk alongside me daddy and hold my little hand.
I have so many things to learn that I don't yet understand.
Teach me things to keep me safe from dangers every day.
Show me how to do my best at home, at school, at play.
Every child needs a gentle hand to guide them as they grow.
So walk alongside me daddy - we have a long way to go."

Tonto Natural Bridge

Our visit with Mike's parents was very nice. We were able to go out to eat a few times and just hang out. We also visited the outlets in Anthem. That was quite fun. Besides enjoying riding in Grandpa's truck and having Dama read to him and play with stickers, he really enjoyed looking at himself on Dama's camera. He spent lots of time looking at himself again and again.
On the last day they were with us we visited Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson. The weather was about 20 degress cooler than here, which was a bit of a change. It was a good time and very pretty. It was a little cold to get wet from the water falling though. On our way out of Payson we stopped at an arts/crafts fair downtown. We finished our day by returning to Mesa to eat at Macayo's.

Arizona Science Center

Patrick and I took Grandma and Grandpa Obert to the Science Center. They still had the "Robots" exhibit. Patrick and Grandpa tried their hand at creating one. Patrick and Grandma made and flew paper airplanes. That was quite entertaining. Patrick's favorite exhibit was in the Grossology section where there was an interactive section where you were to match the animal with the correct POOP! It was kind of gross but he was very entertained by the talking penguin. After a couple of hours we met Mike near his office for lunch at Lenny's. (WOW! What good burgers!)

The Little Devils

Patrick's first soccer season has come to a close so we thought we should share some of the highlights with you. His team was red and white (much to Daddy's delight) and were called "The Little Devils." He really enjoyed his team. He got better as the season went on. Initially he didn't really want to PLAY during the games. It was more fun to just stand in the middle of the field and watch everyone else run back and forth past him. He occasionally would pick some grass though. As the weeks went on he did eventually MOVE out there. By the end he was running and even sometimes attempting to kick the ball. There were NO girls on his team. So whenever there was a girl on the other team you would see him near her at times throughout the game. A little flirty going on at age 3 I guess. He met many new friends and loved Coach Bryan and Coach Shawn. He was SO excited to get his trophy at the end of the last game. He wanted to take it EVERYWHERE! We are hoping for a fall season with some of the same team members together again.
(PS. If anyone knows how to rotate photos on the blog site, please fill us in on the details.)

If you liked movie "Waiting" . . .

I know where they got their ideas. If you thought that was all made up - think again. The names of these individuals have been removed to protect the innocent, uh - guilty. I will say I personally witnessed these acts when I was in college.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! We had a very nice day here. The boys tried very hard to let me sleep a little longer which was much appreciated. Then Patrick couldn't contain himself anymore and wheeled in a suitcase (carry on size) telling me there was a surprize inside. He was SO excited. So I got up and he was able to give me (well open for me) my gifts. I received the suitcase with perfume, shower gel, and other shower items. Very sweet. I LOVE it! My boys did a good job. Mike and Patrick changed the oil in the Pathfinder. I'm sure Patrick was a HUGE help! :) We were able to go for a late lunch to BJs Brewery which was very good. Even got a Mother's Day gift there-a coupon for a free dessert next time. Then we headed to my parents' house. Mike and Patrick and Auntie Mel went into the pool. Unfortunately I could only put my feet in. (Hope to get in this week.) They had a good time. Patrick and I took Cabo (their dog) for a walk and then came home later this evening. All in all it was a very nice day! Thank you Mike and Patrick for making Mother's Day special!!! :)

Patrick's Dental Work

Patrick had to go to the dentist this morning for some work on his teeth. We had to be there at 7:30. He took the sedation medication about 7:40 or so. He did NOT want to give in to the meds. Guess no different than going to sleep on a normal basis. He became argumentative and "punchy." Guess it was a view of what he might be like drunk some day. He would have been willing to have a fist fight with me. He was swinging his arms and kicking. He was determined to NOT sit still. He kept trying to get out of the room and see what was going on out there. Finally at about 8:40 or so he was asleep for the most part and they put the monitors on. They took him back. I was not allowed to go with him. That is the part I really hated. So I sat in the waiting room and cropped photos. I had them check on him a couple of times. He was doing well. Finally at 10 he was all done and back in the little room. I now had to work out the payments and set up his 6 month appt. to follow up. Let's just say that his teeth better be GOLD! I went in and he was asleep. Tried talking to him and he'd make little noises but that was about it. Finally about 11:30 we got him to open his eyes and talk. They took his vitals and sent us on our way. So we left about 11:40am. Nothing like spending FOUR hours at the dentist office! Patrick is doing well. He's been drinking and wanting to eat EVERYTHING. Bad part is that he eats a little and then wants something else. Such is life I guess. Today he can get away with it. He is supposed to remain calm etc. We'll see how that goes. He's already been outside riding his trike when I wasn't looking. It could be a LONG day! Hopefully some videos will help.

AVP Volleyball at Tempe Beach Park

WOW! I couldn't imagine watching volleyball any other way. My Mom, sister, and I went to the AVP volleyball tournament on Sat. at the Tempe Beach Park. We got to sit in the VIP section on a COUCH! Can you believe watching volleyball on a couch? We also got all kinds of food and there was water and beer too. It was too cool. We got to watch some of the top names compete. It really was a lot of fun. The games were awesome. They were close scores and the competition was tremendous. Looking forward to it again next year. DAD???? :)