Winter in Arizona

Winter in Arizona is pretty much the only reason people put up with summertime.
February is always the best month ever…most days the weather is in the 70s and positively gorgeous.

We love having a space of our own in the backyard.
We spent afternoons drawing masterpieces with chalk and blowing bubbles to the sky.

The warm sunshine just draws us out and we want to spend every moment possible outside.
I even caught TJ napping outside one day.

Olivia and Riker can just wander around the backyard all day.
Olivia is obsessed with rocks and just carries handfuls around with her.
Riker plays baseball and fights off the monsters that live in the bushes.
I sit in the sunshine, reading books, and apparently getting sunburned.

We were even able to go swimming at grandma’s house.
Of course, we stayed in the jacuzzi (with the heater turned on), but it was still a warm enough day to go swimming without freezing when you got out!
February is always the best month…when we lived in Ohio and it was still snowing in February, I would dream of the warm sunny days of Arizona.
It is totally worth the excessive heat in the summer to have a beautiful winter like this!

Balentimes

Riker has been talking about “Balentimes” day for several weeks now.
Any time we saw decorations or treats at the store, he made sure to point them out.
Of course, he really wanted to buy all of the Balentimes treats that we saw…but we limited ourselves to just a few!

I spent my Valentine’s Day with the two cutest little Valentines ever.
We had smoothies, made cupcakes, and played at the park.
Pretty much a perfect Valentines Day for these two!

To my Riker: I love your silly personality and your sweet soul…you might cause me all sorts of stress every day, but it quickly melts away when you hug me tight and tell me I’m your best friend.
To my LivvyBug: You are my cuddle bug and I love it! You might be a bigger trouble maker than your brother, but I love your adventurous spirit and spunk!

When TJ came home from work, the children were quickly tucked into bed so we could celebrate Valentines uninterrupted.

Our real Valentine Date will be this weekend (Benihanas!), but I still wanted to make the actual day of love special.
And nothing says “I Love You” more than a pot of cheese!

We enjoyed our fondue for two while being able to catch up on our days without two kids demanding our attention!
TJ has been crazy busy with work and studying for the bar, so it was nice to take a break for a couple hours and spent some quality time together.

To my husband: I am incredibly lucky to be your wife. I love your determination and passion…you want to give your children everything and work so hard to achieve all your goals. I love how much you love your family and I know you would do anything for us!

Happy Birthday!

Today is a very special birthday!
TJ’s grandma Dorothy is 82 today!
We absolutely love Grandma Dot and are so sad that we don’t get to see more of her.

But, she’s coming to AZ to visit in March and we are definitely looking forward to that!

Today is also TJ’s GREAT-grandma’s birthday…she’s 102!
We were able to visit her in Spokane a couple years ago, just before her 100th birthday (look at how little Riker was!)

We are wishing Happy Birthday to these two amazing women!
We are so grateful to have them in our lives and for the wonderful people that they are!

We love you!