~Coyotes Game~

Maddy has a student in her class whose Dad works for the Phoenix Coyotes. He had free tickets for the game on Tuesday! Avery and I are still feeling under the weather, so Scott and the kids went with our friends Dan and "E".........The seats were awesome according to Scott! They all had a great time. Getting up the next morning was like pulling teeth.... Oh well it was a nice treat...

~Sibling Love~

Scott and I feel so blessed to have four healthy, happy and for the most part well adjusted kiddo's. For a while now we have been talking about adopting a child(a boy). The kids are so excited, especially Harrison. He would LOVE , LOVE, LOVE to have someone who wants to build Legos, play Star Wars, and kick the Soccer ball in the yard..Even someone to share a room with.....Avery does fill in for some of those activities, but it is not the same as having someone to rough house with and be a little naughty with at times. Channel 12 has Wednesday's Child and there is a cute, loving little boy that would like nothing more than to be with a family. We called on Friday and will wait to see WHAT the process entails and if it is a DO-ABLE thing...Wish us luck! By the way we do play all those things with Harry but he always tell us he wishes he had a brother... :)

FAB FOUR
Three beautiful blessings

They look so peaceful..ha ha

Carley LOVES her little sis!

~My poor little Ava~

Today I got to school and had just gotten all my students off the bus.....And the class phone rings it was Avery's Daycare....My poor little girl was sick with a temp and had the chills. We had a Mommy and Avery day.....I miss those.....When she was sleeping I was looking at all my pics that I took over Christmas and came across this one, she is such a ham! She is growing up so fast, I just relish every moment since there is no more babies in this home....HOWEVER she will always be my little baby..... :)

~YEAR OF THE BIRD~

HOW exciting. Since 1988 we have been waiting for "Our Cardinals" to make it to the Super Bowl! WOO HOO.... the dream has finally come to fruition......Tonight we went to a party to watch the game, everyone in the room was so exited and so into the game, I think the beers had something to do with it too.....The Cardinal Win ended with Patron Tequila shots..Not for me but the house was rocking...GO CARDINALS............ :)

~OMG~

SO we were eating and all of a sudden Carley started screaming! She goes "Mom do you know who that is?" I had no clue...She Shouted "JUSTIN" (David Henrie) from Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place". The kids ran up to him and started talking to him and his girlfriend Lucy Hale (she has been on that show as well as Drake & Josh).....He was really sweet with the kids. Scott asked if they could have their picture with him and he said of course. My kids ran around the rest of the evening spying on him and his girl! He was in town for the Fiesta Bowl Parade, he was on one of the floats.....HE was truly a neat kid......He handles his fame well :)

Justin, Carley, Harrison, and Madison!

Justin, Alex, and Max!

"Wizards of Waverly Place"

~New Years Eve~

We passed on two adult New Years Eve Parties to ring in the New Year with our awesome kids! We headed to D&B at Desert Ridge and started the evening with an intense bowling match! Then we headed upstairs for Dinner and Games.....We had such a fun evening with the kids, we even saw a star from the Disney Channels "Wizards of Waverly Place" (see the next blog to see WHO)

Striking a last 2008 POSE!
The Bowlers!

Avery dancing to the tunes at the bowling alley!

"The Cheater" We put the gutter rails up for the kids but

Scott kept cheating and banging his ball off of them and

getting a STRIKE!

The ROWDY BUNCH!

Big Daddy the Bowling Cheater got 1st......

~2009~

~Happy New Year~

As I watch loved ones so close around me struggle through life and circumstances out of their control and yet they always seem to come out on top and better because of it... this quote rings so true to me today, so I had to share it with all of you!!

"The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have."
...thank you, all of my friends and family who always continue to inspire me.

~Snow Day~

Harrison after a sled ride down the BIG HILL! He could

totally model for J Crew winter line!
"NO FEAR" Avery LOVES to sled she has been given the
nickname NO FEAR... Someone I will not mention names
took her up pretty high and let her go, she did about three
somersaults and landed on her tummy, I thought that was
it but she cried for 2 minutes and then was ready to go!
Maddy looks too cute here! My little SNOW BUNNY!

Carley taking a rest after being injured on her downhill

sledding voyage....Do you see the PAIN in her eyes?

~The Paul Crawl 2008~

We had so much fun in the snow. Sunrise Ski Resort was packed...

~Christmas in the White Mountains~

The day after Christmas we drove up to Pinetop for Christmas with my parents in the SNOW! The drive up was okay until we hit the rim then we came across ice patches and falling snow. Once we got to where my parents lived, we had a little trouble getting in because the roads were not cleared yet. It took us about 10 minutes with the Yukon XL. HOWEVER my brother, and sister who were right behind us, finally got to my parents an hour and a half later! The snow was about 3 feet high. My parents home looked beautiful! Once everyone was settled we gathered around the tree. My parents planned a story to read to the kids about "The True Meaning of Christmas" all the adults read a portion. The kids and even the adults learned something and it was really touching. Then my parents made special ornaments for everyone so we took turns placing them on the tree. We opened gifts which took a while with 14 people....We then had a scrumptious dinner and RELAXED. The next couple days we played in the snow, played games, watched movies, ate, ate, and ate....(below is a slide show of all the fun we had).

Driving up the RIM.....
Look at that SNOW!

~Christmas Day Continued~

After presents we had a delicious breakfast made by DAD! We decided to go to the Movies even though it was pouring out. We saw Marley and Me... Very cute movie, even Avery sat for the whole thing, I think the DOG really intrigued her....I knew nothing about the movie but we walked away with tears and a good perspective about pets......LOVE EM no matter what!

A must see........ :)


When the movie was over we came home to a house that smelled awesome. Our Prime Rib had been slow cooking all after noon...We had a nice family dinner with sweet potato mashers, fresh asparagus, salad, bread, and sparking apple cider for the kids and champagne for the adults! For dessert we had Tapioca Pudding with fresh fruit...YUM

Once dinner is over we played with the new toys, video games and watched some movies. Then we packed because the next day we were leaving for Christmas in the snow with my parents, siblings and their families!

~Christmas Day~

I love Everything about Christmas Day! The anticipation of morning, the presents, the kids excitement & being with my family. Mostly I love the "spirit" of Christmas and what it means to our family. My kiddo's woke around 7:30am ready to go! Avery was too cute because this year she is more into Christmas! All of us first opened our stockings, the kids were so excited about what Santa filled in them. I think Scott was a little surprised too! Next were the presents, and everyone was pleasantly surprised. Scott got has Advanced Scuba Certification Class, an hour massage, clothes and cologne. I got some great stuff, perfume, facial, pedicure, purse and a great hat (Fleur De Lis) from a boutique by our home. The kids made out and loved all their gifts.......

Carley got her electric scooter!
Tucker got a bath/brush plus a rawhide bone!
Harrison got an electric scooter!

Maddy got her keyboard, she is starting piano lessons soon.

Avery got a Leapster she thinks it is a Nintendo DS!