SKATELAND - Oh yeah.

Nathan and I attended a birthday party at Skateland. Skateland.  That name just takes me back 26 years ago to when my cousin Gayle would take me roller skating. It was a total throwback and flashback to the 80's for me.  The skates, the music, the people.  Hahaha - the people who CAN skate and the people who CAN'T.  Too funny!!  Much has been updated to stay current with the times, like inline skates are now available but the total roller skating experience  has remained the same and the spirit of roller skating is still very much alive!

I actually didn't roller skate, I just didn't want to break an arm again but I enjoyed watching our friends.

  

 

 The birthday party girls just getting their skating wheels warmed up...

Not many people know that I'm a fierce Air Hockey player, something I'm very proud to share.

Nathan is now 'in training' to carry the torch.

I love these pictures of Nathan totally enjoying this new game. 

...and HE SCORES!  (I let him score just for the record.)

Cake time, just seconds after I took this picture Nathan proceeded to blow out Sara's candles.

The birthday party minus Nathan (was on my hip crying and very tired by this time).

So much fun, I'm considering having MY next birthday party at the skating rink!

Workday

This Friday, I went into the Oracle Office for the first time because I needed to get my new badge.

Here's my badge picture...it'll have to do!

Engagement Photos? But I'm not a Photographer!

Here is another amateur photo shoot that I was asked to do. Greg plays Softball with Shane & Carly, who are getting married this year.  They asked if I could take their 'engagement' pictures to which I cited my non-professional disclaimer and then I acquiesced. As I edited 800+ pictures later, it became painfully obvious again that I really am not a professional - not even close.  Fortunately, I took some good pictures but I wished I had more considering the number of total pictures I took.  It seems like I only walked away with a small handful of pictures that I would qualify as 'frameable'.  Here's the good ones....

That's it for now, I'm gonna go look up photography classes now.
Wait, gotta make dinner first, then clean the kitchen.
Oh yeah, gotta move the laundry over.
Dangit, I forgot I gotta pick up the dry-cleaning today.
Ah...well, that photography class will have to wait a little bit longer!

Just a Hike

Just checking in with a few snapshots from a recent hike with the girls at San Tan Mountain....

That's it...for now....

Riding the Metro | Fast Train

Just a recent digi-scrapobook layout I recently put together of something we did this weekend.  We rode the Metro to downtown Phoenix with our friends, Mike and Becky.  Nathan thoroughly enjoyed riding the 'fast train' and the adults thoroughly enjoyed dinner at The Spaghetti Factory (thought of you Horvaths!).

This scrapbook layout is for Nathan's 2010 book...

Greg snapped that picture of Nathan with his hands up but I wasn't paying attention so I'm not sure why he struck that pose!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

While people on the East Coast are trying to get away from the snow, we recently drove TO the snow for some fun snow sledding in Flagstaff, AZ.  Here are some pictures of us and our friends, the Augers, playing in the snow...

Here's a video of Greg and Nathan sledding down one of the baby hills for Nathan's first few times:

The Best Baptism Evah!

 We went to one of the most special baptisms I've ever been to this weekend.

First, a good friend of ours, Brian from Boston, got baptized.  Second, our church does not have a building, so baptisms are held at a member's house in the backyard and the benefit to that is that we are able to stand near our friend during his baptism, which makes it very intimate and personal.

Brian's family stood in the water with him while our pastor, Bill and Brian's wife, Randi helped Brian back into the water.

The final factor that made this baptism day more special than others was that just minutes before the baptism, the homeowners COW delivered a baby calf!  Literally minutes before the baptism.  Amazing.  New life.  The calf and Brian.  So touching.

Here is the calf suckling  - on the finger of the man who helped deliver her.

The calf was probably an hour old by the time I took these pictures and had not walked yet.  They were rubbing her down and massaging her legs, trying to get her to stand up but she just wasn't ready yet.

The kids got a big kick out of watching the cows.

Later Nathan observed the bull eating, peeing and pooping, which he was apt at yelling and pointing out to make sure we all didn't miss it.  In this picture, he's eating a cookie, which the bull seems interested in taking a bite.

 

Just another very cool and neat day in Arizona!