Alex's 13th Birthday

For Alex's 13th Birthday Party he wanted to go snowboarding! We gladly obliged him. The family met up with Ray and his gang from Fredonia for a fun day on the slopes. It had snowed the night before and many of the Phoenicians didn't go to Flagstaff. This made for very empty slopes and absolutely fantastic weather. At the end of the day we were all very hungry, of course. Alex wanted to eat at the Olive Garden but the line was terribly long so we ended up at Red Lobster and Alex is not a big seafood fan. Poor kiddo had to smell seafood on his birthday!

What a Concert!

This was the picture projected onto the curtain. Way cool!
Elisabeth and Brooklyn at dinner On The Border. We sat outside on the patio. It got pretty chilly without long sleeves but they were good scouts.

We tried to take a picture of ourselves but nobody had long enough arms! So we had to squeeze together and figure out how to balance the camera with one hand and push the tiny button on the camera.

Uncle Ruthie gave Elisabeth a ticket to see the High School Musical on Tour Concert at the Tucson Convention Center. For anyone that has not been on planet earth for a few years may not know that this musical is the modern version of Grease, which some of us older people may know. The parents pitched in and bought two additional tickets so that Elisabeth could take her best friend Brooklyn and a designated driver to the concert.

On concert day the girls left home around 3 p.m. and ate dinner in Tucson at a restaurant called ON THE BORDER. They giggled up a storm and had a ton of fun. After that we went downtown to find parking and the like. The doors to the concert hall didn't open fast enough for them to go shopping for souveniers. The got a stretchy cotton bag with red strings and a cd. During intermission they were told to hurry up and go to the bathroom. What a blessing that they listened because when we got there there were no lines and when we got out the line snaked around the corner. Lucky for us! Elisabeth caught her mom sleeping during part of the show. Does that surprise any one that really knows our mother! :) Mom had gotten up at 4 to be at work early so she could get off early and this show started at 7:30 p.m.

The concert was actually pretty good. Elisabeth is quoted as saying "this was pretty good and my favorite part was Gabriella in the play actually looked like the one on the movies". (from quite the distance) We sat at some decent seats at the back of the first floor. Mom is quoted as saying "the coolest part of the evening was the moment the curtain was opening and the little kids were just screaming- almost like a rock concert! One could feel the energy in the music hall. It was a lot of fun. " Brooklyn was interviewed as well and she said "no comment".

The 1.5 hour drive home went by fairly quickly and was uneventful. The way we like them.

Slide Show

new years eve 2007/8

On New Year's Eve we decided at about 4 p.m. that we would like to join the rest of the clan that had assembled in Woodruff for the party. So, we crammed ourselves into Tony's car and headed "north". We merely grabbed our Wii and the coveted guitar hero and dance dance revolution pads. Three hours later we arrived and were ready to party, which we did until about 2 a.m.

The mom's and kids seemed to enjoy the dancing game quite a bit while others played rook (video cannot be shown due to card content and sign language). Laurie and Mannie jammed out for quite some time on the guitar hero that Ray and Laura brought...that was when it was vacated by the strummin' teenagers whose fingers just fly across the colored guitar chord buttons. Felicia and Laura had prepared this amazingly healthy snack bar with fruit and veggie trays and a chocolate fountain. Way pretty and yummy to boot. At midnight everyone toasted in the new year with sparkling cider. The kids thought that was fun.

The morning after seemed to come much faster than anticipated with Felicia making french toast for breakfast. People slowly dragged in their tired and weary bodies because it is very difficult to sleep when good cookin' smells permeate the house. After lunch everyone left to travel their distances home and surely Felicia was glad that she had survived yet another holiday held at her house. Without Ronny and Felicia opening their home, as a central hub for family gatherings, we would all be crammed into our very little Woodruff house. We are thankful that Ronny and Felicia allow us to all congregate at their home and not become imitation sardines.

Martin's Goodbye

Alex accompanied his older brother Martin to the airport on December 29th in the afternoon. Elisabeth had been over at Brooklyn's house all day and so we stopped by so that Martin could say goodbye. Here's the pictures. Martin is like a big brother to all the kids.