Wednesday, January 26, 2011

conquering piestewa peak

So this last saturday I had the great idea of taking the kids and going on a hike. It is my goal to go on a new hike at least every other Saturday until it gets too warm. I need to get out of the house on Saturday's and it is good for my kids. My dad had taken my sisters and I up Piestewa Peak many times in the past when we would come to the valley to visit Grandma Wessel. Back in the day when it was known as Squaw Peak, we would hike it...I don't know how willingly, but we would hike with my dad. So I took the kids and we were off to Piestewa. It is straight up!!! Didn't remember that too well. My kids are very active, we walk mile every day, they ride bikes, roller blade, ride scooters, and Jacob has been enjoying his ripstick. So I knew they could handle it. A few weekends before we hiked the Wind Caves Trail at Usery Park which is a 3.2 mile hike and they did just fine. But this trail wore them out! It was just too steep. They were fussing, whining, and not happy when they realized how straight up it was and when they noticed how much further we needed to go. We had a 'small' pep talk, seemed to work. They pushed thru the pain and tiredness, and beat me to the top. What a hike! They are troopers, my kids! Was so proud of them and they were pretty pleased with themselves once they were on the top. It was well worth it. They practically ran down the mtn, happy as bugs, while my legs nearly gave out on me. Going up was hard on the breathing and heart, going down was hard on the legs! After conquering the mtn, we headed to my sister Gabys house, she's just about 10 minutes from the peak. Spent a good 3 hours with her, Carson, and their kids. She fed us a yummy dinner and we headed for home.
















Friday, January 21, 2011


New bunk beds!!!! Our 30 yr old bunk beds recently bit the dust. The girls were sleeping on their mattresses on the floor and I was going to have to wait for tax returns to get new beds for them, when our SUPER neighbors/friends offered us theirs. They were set to buy new bunks for their kids, found out about our bunks (thru fb) and offered their old ones. They are sturdy, pretty, and in great shape!!! Thanks Smith family. They even came to my house to put them together for me, which was super because, holy schmoly their were alot of screws! Love the little blessings, or in this case huge blessings that occur everyday in our lives.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

My niece Maggie turned 15 this year. We were invited to the Fernandez home for a small family party in honor of her. They had carne asada which I LOVE!! Haven't had it for a while, so it was heaven. Zilveth was there with her two kids, Arizbeth and Gabriel. Gabriel is just a month old, 1st time I've seen him since he was born and was in heaven holding him all night. The kids liked holding him too. Fun to see them with a baby. It was an enjoyable evening. The kids had fun playing Just Dance on the Wii. I had fun laughing at them dancing. Good times. I'm glad I'm still considered family and I know I am loved in the Fernandez clan.

Me, baby Gabriel, Zilveth, and Magnolia



My beautiful niece Maggie and me









Saturday, January 15, 2011

love notes

so sweet. gotta love the notes i receive somedays on my desk at the end of a long day. they mysteriously appear and brighten my day.


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

eleven

Jacob had a birthday this week. He turned a whopping 11 years old. I can't have an eleven year old. Just doesn't seem possible. We started the day with the birthday tradition of doughnuts for breakfast. We stopped at Circle K on the way to school. Boy do they ever have the best doughnuts!!! Jacob had guitar practice after school, then Sofia had piano lessons. Jacob decided on Chili's for his birthday dinner. It was yummy. Then we went home and he opened his presents. He had a phone call from his dad, his Grandma and Grandpa Wessel and his Aunt Gaby, Uncle Carson and Tierney, Avery, and Coco. His Tia Magnolia, Maggie, Yessi and Alex came over with a gift and had cake and ice cream with us. He seemed to have a pretty great day. I'm glad that birthday/holiday season is over for our family until September!! Happy Birthday J!! I love you bunches.












Friday, January 7, 2011

Christmas in P-town 2010

Spent a week in Pinetop for Christmas. Had a great time. Mom and Dad fed us well, I really wish they would move down here and cook for me everyday. Probably one of my favorite things about going home is the good food! We played a ton of games, most importantly, rummy. We spent a weekend with everyone home. Gaby and Carson came with their kids Christmas day and stayed thru Monday. The kids had too much fun together. Didn't get enough photos of that. We went on lots of walks around the lake and neighborhood. I made Kaitlin walk with me at night. No street lights in the neighborhood, pitch black, 30 degrees, BEAUTIFUL stars...made for some fun! At least we knew the bears were hibernating and we wouldn't run into any. We did some shopping and ate yummy food. Did I already mention that? It was too hard to go back to Mesa. Took me a good few days to get back to 'normal' life. Enjoy spending time with the fam!