Happiest Place on Earth

This year we decided to enjoy Christmas at Disneyland. The decorations were beautiful. Main Street was lined with lights every where and the tallest tree I've ever seen. Several times throughout the night it snowed. The kids loved the fake snow. "K" tried to eat it and catch it with her tongue, to be surprised that it tasted like soap. Sleeping Beauties Castle looked like an ice castle. "K" loved the castle and "A" love the ride Thunder Mountain.

Sorry, my camera broke so I don't have any pictures of the decorations.

My niece, or as I call her my 4th child, joined us. The kids did well on the 5 1/2 hr drive. The dual DVD system we got for Christmas helped a lot. My cousin Charity and her girls met us there. It had been several months since the cousins had all been together, yet it's like no time has past. I am so glad they are so in close in age and grow up together.

The first day , Christmas day, we arrived later in the afternoon and were surprised to be able to visit California Adventures and Disneyland for the price of one park. They were diverting people to the other park, due to the mass crowds. So we got to enjoy both parks as long as we didn't come to the Disneyland side until 6:30 pm. Little man did pretty well, but half way through the night, Mondo and the baby went back to the hotel.

The second day we were up bright and early and rode almost all the rides we wanted to, including Thunder Mountain 3 times. We decided not to do Space Mountain this time, "A" is still getting over the trauma from 2 yrs ago when we put her on it.

Overall it was a great trip and we all had a blast. It truly is one of the happiest places on earth, though Mondo might disagree. He's not a fan of crowds and there were plenty of them.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mr. and Mrs. Whitehurst

We'd like to welcome Randy to our family. My cousin Amy, or as many of you know I call her my sister, was married this past weekend. It was so much fun to be in her wedding and share their special day with them. She was a beautiful bride.





Amy, you're the best cousin/sister one could ask for. It's so nice to see you so happy. Randy take care of her and we wish the two of you many happy years together. Now if only you were in Arizona and not Texas. We'll have to work on that.

Just remember to always put each other first and have God as the center of your marriage. With God all things are possible. We love you both!

A year to be thankful for!

I love this time of year. It's the one time of year that we all stop and think of what God has blessed us with. We really should be doing this daily, however many times we don't. That is one of my focuses over the next year to take time to remember who my gifts our coming from.

There are so many things I'm thankful for that it's hard to keep it to just a few.

1. Mondo and I have been blessed to both still be employed, even in this rough economy. They are even giving us Holiday bonuses, which was a nice surprise.
2. The kids have are ALL healthy and doing well.
3. I'm thankful for the wonderful husband I have. We have been married over 10 years and I love him dearly.
4. We welcomed my nephew Romeo to our family this month. He is so precious and a great reminder of the miracles that God provides us.
5. My cousin Charity (Also one of my bff) and her family is moving to AZ on December 9Th. I'm so excited that they'll be so close and that our children will grow up together.
6. This Thanksgiving weekend my cousin Amy and her fiance Randy will become husband and wife. May God bless their marriage for many more years to come. She is one of my best friends and I'm glad to see that God has blessed her with a good man. I look forward to what their future brings.
7. We had some scares this year with Mondo's parents' health. We are both thankful that his mom is healing well and that his dad is still with us for another year. Please continue to keep him in prayer and we continue the fight with his cancer.
8. We're both thankful for all the good friends and family in our life.

There are so many more, these were just a few. May God bless your family this year and may we all thank him through out the year, not just on Thanksgiving.

Welcome to the family Romeo Armando!

We are happy to introduce our new nephew Romeo Armando. Born Nov 2. 8lbs 1.5 oz. 19 inches long.

It's hard to believe that my sister-in-law, who was was 7 years old when i met her, is now starting her own family. (That's younger then what my oldest is now.) Man 13 years has gone by fast.

We had some scares, but after an emergency C-section, mom, dad & baby are all well. His cousins are so excited to meet him this weekend.

He has tons of black hair and is cute as a button.

I cooked and everyone survived!

I decided that I am going to start cooking on my days off. So today was the first of many days to come. It's called Taco Soup, but more like a chili. The kids even ate it, and K hates veggies. I had her close her eyes to taste it, to not see the corn.

I've never really liked to cook or been very good at it. Like most things it takes practice and I can say I haven't had much of that. I didn't grow up cooking in the kitchen with my mom, but I do have a husband that is a great chef!

The only mishap we had was when I thought I had turned the crock pot on and was informed by A, my 8yr old, that the orange light is not on, which means it's OFF. Who knew they made indicators. :)

So I have no idea what I'm making tomorrow night, but look forward to seeing if I can put this "not a cook" title behind me.

If you have any websites or recipes feel free to send them to me.

Somethings should just be left to the professionals!

So I thought I would save a few dollars and cut my sons hair myself. OOPS!.. I think I should have paid the money. I called my sister in law Dori over to rescue me or should I say poor little S. So we shaved it off.

I think he looks cute. It's starting to cool off here, but it's still hot enough for a bald head. Luckily, his daddy just laughed.

Anyone want me to trim their hair for them!

Steps to making an indoor slippin slide!

It's still in the high 90's low 100's here. The whole family is quarantine to the house with strep throat. My son, being the adventurous one, thought it would be fun to make an indoor slippin slide.

Step 1- Make sure you have made several prior messes right before wanting to set up the indoor slippin slide. This way your mom will be busy cleaning them and be distracted for a second when you do step 2.

Step2- Sneak into the pantry and dump the cooking oil all over the kitchen floor.

Step3- Stand and belly flop with joy across the oil, a running start will help for going the farthest distance.

Step4- Get up and run away , as your mom is probably noticed by now and coming after you to ruin your fun.

He is so fast and I was cleaning up a bunch of other messes and turned to find him holding the cooking oil bottle, as he dumped it all over the floor. By the time I could get over there he had already belly flopped into it and was enjoying sliding across the floor. I couldn't help laughing. He thought it was the funnest thing, until I ruined his fun by putting him in the bath. Needless to say, he won't have dry skin anytime soon. Poor Mondo is in there trying to figure out how we're going to get the mess all cleaned up. My little boy is a rambunctious little 15 month old and enjoys life to the fullest. I hope his joy of life continues into adulthood, but with a little more self control.

Go Team!

Today we went and watched K play soccer. She is so excited to able to play. It took a while to reach 5, but yea, she is finally there. She has watched her sister play for years, who is choosing not to play this year, and K is sure she knows all the moves. One of her good friends from school is also on her team, which makes her even happier. Luckily, I started my new schedule this week, just in time, and will be able to see her play. In the past I would of had to miss her games. I am now working 4 days a week, with Thur-Sat. Off. This will also give Mondo some time to pursue starting his own business. They have the name filed and now we have to wait for the Non Profit status from the IRS. We know how fun they can be. Mondo and two partners are stating a Housing Counseling business, later to include credit repair, and debit counseling. Baby Steps!

He will continue to work with his current employer, for now, and we are hoping down the road we can have me stay home as well.

He's Walking!

Here is a link to him walking. Can't figure out how to upload a video with out it erroring. Jen, maybe you can help.

Enjoy!

The End of Summer

We've had another busy summer. The girls completed another year of swim lessons. We were also able to visit Charity and Don, in California a few times. We always have a great time with them. The girls love visiting their cousins and the adults love the time together too.

We also were able to meet my future cousin-in-law Randy. I'm so excited for Amy and Randy. Can't wait till July 2010 to see them get married. I had a great time looking at dresses with Amy and look forward to being in their wedding. It was hard having Amy pick up and move to Texas, but I know that she has found the love of her life and wish them all the best. Best of all he's a Cowboys fan, so Mondo is thrilled. I keep hoping they'll catch on and get some better Football taste. GO CARDINALS!

August has been a very busy month. The girls went back to school and we're all getting back into our routines. S is getting use to not having them around to play with during the day. He screams with joy when the school bus arrives, as he knows they are home. It has been nice to have this time, just S and I. S is also now walking and making quite the mess. He's so proud of himself too.

We were also able to visit my friend Stacy, we grew up in the same church. It was nice to re-live many silly memories. My mom, the kids and I spent the day with her up in Payson. The weather and scenery was beautiful. She took the kids on their 1st Crawdad hunt. A was so excited every time she caught one. To bad it was a 2 hr drive back to Phoenix or we would have ate them for dinner.

We've also had our T.V. go out this month. Can't say that I missed it much. My parents were nice enough to loan us one of the spares, much to Mondo's happiness.

We are looking forward to the weather cooling off in the next few months and have some special plans coming up in December. My cousin and I are taking the kids to Disneyland as their Christmas presents, while the husbands go deep sea fishing. The girls are already counting down.

Happy 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated S's 1st birthday. He actually turns 1 on Tuesday the 9th, but we had cake today with Mondo's family. As you can tell by the picture he LOVED his cake. God also blessed us with a very nice day here. In Phoenix, that's hard to find in the summer time.

Next Sunday, we will celebrate all the June birthdays with my family.

S, you are such a joy to have a round. It is true, boys are very different then girls. He is not scared of ANYTHING, loves dirt, and if he had his way would bathe in the toilet. You are such a blessing to our family and your dad, sisters and I all adore you. I look forward to watching you grow into a nice young man.

I'm still trying to decide what tradition I am going to start for his birthday, I have till Tuesday. With the girls I buy them flowers, but Mondo says boys don't want flowers. I was thinking of baseball card or something. This year I might get a plant in his honor. Not sure .. Any ideas are welcome.

Here are some pictures of over his 1st year of life.

S with Grandpa, a month or two before he passed. RIP

Look at those eyes!

The girls dressing him up right after he was born!

5 months old, the McDonalds playground.

Happy 5th Birthday

We started off celebrating K's birthday on Sunday at the Phoenix Zoo. This was quite a treat, as we have only been there one other time. Normally we go to the Wildlife Zoo by our house, but K wanted to make the hour trip. Of course, it was the hottest day so far this year 107 degrees. They have added a new water play area, which helped keep the children cooler. We were
done by 1130 as the heat was a bit much.

Today,05/18/09, I treated K and her cousin to Pump it Up. This is an indoor bouncy playground. We had so much fun. My mother-in-law watched S so Dori, my sister in law, and I could jump too. S wanted to be big so bad. He kept trying to crawl into the bouncy. Maye next year.

Tonight, after everyone was off work, we had some family and friends over. The Pinata was a hit, with lots of goodies to go around.

Happy Birthday, you are such a blessing. I love your fun spirit and how you keep me on my toes. I love how independent you are and don't let others get you down. You have a strong sense, even at 5, of who you are. I love every night how you want me to do our "I love you this much" saying and then run in for your hug. Now lets hope this year we can get through without cutting off any more hair.
(Sorry no pictures yet, will post them later)

Love ya, Mommy and Daddy

Family Love

This past weekend the kids and I went down to Tucson to visit my cousin Amy. It had been quite a while since we had seen each other, with one kid or another getting sick each time we've tried. We even got some free entertainment from Amy's upstairs neighbors, who decided to throw a base filled concert ALL NIGHT LONG. We still had fun though.

Whenever we visit there are two places that are a must. 1. Eegees, a sub sandwich shop and 2. Mt. Lemmon It's a 1 hour drive up the mountain, but the scenery is beautiful. It really lets you see what God has created. It is also 20-30 degrees cooler at the top of the mountain, which makes the trip well worth it. We enjoyed the Cookie Cabins HUGE cookie amongst all of us.

The kids did well in the car, minus the complaining of my driving on the curves making them sick.

I can't wait to see them again. At least this time i know it won't be 4-5 months, as Amy and I are
going to the Keith Urban concert in July.
The kids and I

My nephew and I

Wildlife Zoo

Today I took K and S to our Wildlife Zoo. It was a blast. They enjoyed the new aquarium. We even watched others pet the stingrays. I was a chicken and decided not to attempt that. S kept wanting to get out of the stroller and get a closer look. It won't be long. He is able to cruise holding on to items, but not walk on his own yet. I'm OK with that. He's already hard to keep up with just crawling.

We will be visiting several times this summer, as I got the family a membership. As most of you know, we live in Arizona, and anyone who has visited in the summer knows it's HOT. The indoor aquarium will be nice to visit and if we go early enough the rest of the zoo.

K enjoyed feeding the giraffes.

She got a lesson on how the baby giraffes eat. She was nice enough to share with everyone that they eat the same way Sean use to eat from his mommy. These girls by us, probably 6th grade, were grossed out by the whole show.

The weather was nice, in the high 60's low 70's, so not to hot. Now if can only stay that way through August that would be great.