Labor Day Weekend

Time to head up to cooler climes and escape this desert heat. Me, Freddie, the kids and my parents will be going up to the White Mountains in Pinetop, Arizona for a long weekend. Hopefully we'll get to experience the big annual White Mountain Apache Rodeo Parade. It is a true Arizona experience that I have enjoyed since I was a young child. My least favorite part back in the old days was that sometimes the crown dancers would circle our truck and I would be terrified. Or they would pick me out from the parade route nearly every time and threaten to kidnap me. It was so scary back then as a child, but now I have so much respect for those who keep their culture alive. Not only that, but I'm looking forward to eating a piece of Indian Fry Bread...like the natives say....KIYEAAAAH!

Check it Out

As mentioned, one of my passions in life is for Scuba Diving and travelling the Caribbean.
There is a new travel website started by a friend we met in Whitehouse, Jamaica. Her name is
Shelby and she lives about 5 miles away from my cousin Brant in New Jersey.
The website link is: http://www.rantalot.com/
It also has disney links. I am looking forward to seeing her message board grow into a beautiful resource for travelers and I wish her all the best!

yes this is a picture of me (third from the left) scuba diving with my compadres Jody and Deanna Castaneda and my hubby Freddie this past April, 2008 diving at a spot called Koloa Landing in Kauai. This is one of my fav. pictures of all time. How many people get a group shot 40 feet under? GOTTA LOVE IT!

Tribute to my Neighbor

I wanted to take a minute to honor my neighbor
from my childhood home. Ross Bittner passed away over the weekend. He was our city councilman, member of Holy Angels Catholic church, husband to Armida, father to David, Kim, Lisa and a loving grandpa. I still remember when they first bought the lot above us and I used to go play in the dirt while Ross worked to build their home. Probably never again will I know someone who builds their home with their own two hands. He lovingly built a modern, beautiful, castle-like home with an amazing 2-story view. He was a gentle giant, patient, caring and a wonderful neighbor. I'm sad he's gone, but celebrating his entrance to heaven as I am sure he is there. Ross-thanks for a lifetime of memories, you will be missed.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to Me and Susan McFadden my scrappin' buddy.
we are 'twins' and celebrating our 29th birthday again today.
Mom and Dad called first this morning and Mom said I am not
officially 'born' until after 1pm. So lovely for her to remember.
She always says Dad wasn't there and that he had gone to eat
lunch when I arrived. Those were the 'old' days.
Going to Stamp Club tonight at the Stampin' Up demonstrator's House.
She is a neat lady. We learn great techniques there. She does an
excellent job of presenting what you're learning step-by-step.

Happy 1st Birthday Son!

Zeke-I can hardly believe it was a year ago today that you were born. What a handsome little boy I have been blessed with. I can't wait to see you get cake all over your hands and face, but more importantly, I can't wait to take a picture for the scrapbook of course!

We'll be having a house-full of family and friends tomorrow for a little cowboy style BBQ lunch and swim party to celebrate Zeke's 1st Birthday. It should be a real fun event.

Work has got my day going fast and furious. I can't wait to get home to
my kids and Freddie. The weather outside looks dark and ominous. I hope I can beat the storm home. In fact I just saw lightening strikes out in the desert floor.
YIKES.
Hopefully I'll get some time to scrap later tonight. I have all the stuff! hehehe.

Finally decided to get my blog together. Seems like all the world is saying what's going on in their lives...why not me too?! So here I am. Hopefully you can find some patience until I can get this groovy little tool where I want it to be. Just got finished with a long day's work and going out to dinner as soon as my hubby gets home. I am trying to find some tunes for this thing too. Geesh if I could remember the names of the artists I like that would be a start! LOL

Went to Salt Lake City last week. It was my first trip to Utah and I was amazed at how beautiful it was there. I went for the Memory Works scrapbook retreat in Layton, UT. Left on Wednesday with my friend Susan and we had a blast. I did really miss Freddie and the kids. The retreat was absolutely amazing. The guest speaker was Stacy Julian of Big Picture Scrapbooking. She was phenomenal to say the least and we were treated to a copy of her newest book AND she signed it! Lucky me!
Our flight home was cancelled so we got stuck in a really awful airport hotel. I hope no one out there ever has to stay at the Salt Lake Airport Comfort Inn. What a dump! It made our trip home even better though.
I'll try and post some pictures of what I made real soon!