PROBLEM SOLVED

I was telling Jessica the story of Little Red Riding Hood and after a little while she says

"I'm going to ask Santa for a princess gun so I can shoot that big bad wolf!"

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

5 yrs in Arizona and we finally made it to a Diamondbacks game. Weather was HOT (115! glad its an indoor stadium), game was FUN, kids were GREAT, company was the BEST and food was EXPENSIVE. What more could you ask for.

(lets just agree that this isn't the best pic of anyone. Ha!)

Jessica, Jessa, Little, Miss Marie, Big Girl Little Package

I have always thought that kids do not need to be in a ton of activities at such a young age. BUT then (never say never) this new dance studio opened up. They have great teachers and are more focused on opportunity then money. So for $12 a month I couldn't pass it up.

Watch out Ballet and Tap here comes our Jessa!

She was so excited and they all were so stink'n cute!

Coming out of her first class.

They don't let parents in the studio during practice time but there is a waiting area and a window we can watch them through.
She also had her first day of Joy School! After watching Justin do it for 2 years she was more then ready. She was even more excited that I was the 1st teacher and all the kids got to come to our house.

She is a little ham. Getting a normal picture of her these days is tough.


We all know how neighbor kids go. You love them and they drive you crazy and you are glad your kids have someone to play with and you want them to go home. This is Jessas little buddy Mason. They love to ride bikes together, play cowboy/girl, and sneak into my house when I have asked them to stay out.
They are the younger sister and brother to these 2 monkeys who were almost the same age when this picture was taken.

Jessica is Daddy's little girl. I knew she would be the moment HE said her name would be Jessica (6 yrs before she was even born). She loves to wear skirts then go out side and play in the dirt. She plays cops while pushing her baby in a stroller. I take her to her first day of dance and on the way home she asks when she will be old enough to play T-ball. She is everything we could ask for in our little girl.

Arizona Summers

Summer in the morning/early afternoon

Summer in the late afternoon/early evening (same day)

I have come to love (after my first summer here) the Monsoon rains.

July 24th

In some places in the United States the 24th of July is a Holiday (in our family its my moms birthday). I know not everyone knows this but it is true. So much so that in some towns everyone gets the day off work. That's how much of a holiday it is. Although this is only is some parts of Idaho, Utah and Arizona its a holiday none the less. And here in Snowflake, AZ it is one of the BIGGEST of the year. It is a pioneer celebration...to celebrate the pioneers settling these here lands:) Anyway, it is fun. And I am glad that we were back in time to be part of it.

Rodeo. Who doesn't love a rodeo. Cowboys, country music, horses and dirt. They are one of my favorite things to go and watch. The kids really enjoyed it too especially the fireworks at the end.

Some friends and I took the kids to the park that had probably 4 or 5 jumpy castles set up. Jessica was an animal. I didn't think she would do it but she climbed to the top of the huge slide one and went down all by herself. She love the obstacle one and this one here (in the pic) had this little rock wall thing with a rope. She must have climbed up it and slid down 15 times. Look at her here hardly being able to stand the wait.
This was both the kids first time getting their faces painted. They were VERY sad when it washed off in the bath that night.

Happy 24th of July!

Montana Part 3

Our last week in MT was a little Scussel family reunion with Chads parents, both his sisters and their families. I always love it when everyone can be together. And luckily for me I LOVE my in-laws....ALL of them! I just didn't take as many pictures as I wished I had.

Round 2 of pony rides. This couple is amazing. They use their ponies as therapy for kids with handicaps and through a friend of a friend they let all of us go up to their house so all the kids could ride.

Jessa enjoying some ice cream with Nana
One of our family reunion days was spent up at Lake Seeley. We rented 2 jet skis, and although it wasn't super warm (I went out one time with my sweatshirt under my life jacket), we still had a great time.
Sorry about the backside shot. This is Addie(5), Collin(17), and Jessa(3). Collin and Beau were so amazing with all the younger kids. The whole day they were so willing to take turns taking each one of them out on the jet skis and behind on the tube.
Maisie(9), Noah(10), Seth(9) and Justin (5). Justin love love LOVED being with all of his older cousins.
Chad and Jessa
This is a picture of the last ride that does not even begin to tell the whole story. Chads sister Tammy took 5 kids out (bad idea). 3 in front with her and 2 on the tube. During the middle of their fun ride the jet ski quit working so the 2nd jet ski with Matt and Beau on it went over to see what was going on. This is where it goes from good to bad. The tube rope from Jet ski 1 gets sucked up into Jet ski 2. Now BOTH jet skis are stuck. And then bad to worse. It starts to rain. Chads parents hop in the canoe and go out to "rescue" the kids. More rain. The kids make it back safely to shore. The canoe goes back out to help tow in one of the jet skis while the other one slowly gets pushed back by 2 of the guy swimming behind it. Thunder and a complete down pour =TOTAL CHAOS! Long story short. Kids were screaming, a few adults were trying to get gear hauled out and the others were loading up the jet skis. The only way we possible could have gotten any wetter was if we had jumped into the lake with all of our clothes on. IT WAS AWESOME! The only reason we didn't get a picture was because none of us were willing to get our cameras out. There was nothing to do except look at each other and laugh!
Grinding meat with Papa



Everyday of our whole trip was GREAT! We loved every minuet of it. We left Chads parents house at 9:00 am and after a little visit to my sisters house in Utah (playing, dinner, baths, pjs) and a few stops along the way we pulled into our drive way at 7:00am the next morning. Chad always amazes me with his driving. He drove until 5:00am and then finally switched and had me drive the last 2 hrs. We LOVE Montana! It will always be home to us....until next year.

KiNdErGaRtEn!!!

Justin was so ready and excited for his FIRST day of kindergarten. He was up at 6:45 and we didn't even have to be there until 1:30. For the first day they have to have a parent with them. We sat and listen to all the announcements and other information for the parents then he went with his teacher, Mrs. Romney, only for about 30 min. while I filled out paper work. So really it wasn't that much of a first day. This was Thursday Aug. 11th. I still can't believe how EARLY they start here.

Day #2 He was still very excited about going so waiting until 11:30 was still a little tough but better then the day before. I wanted to walk him to his class to make sure he knew where he was going and planned on only being about 5 min early...then my car wouldn't start! This is when you are so grateful for neighbors! I walked across the street left my other two and took off in her truck..this is also when you are grateful you only live half a mile from the school. The kids go out to the playground first and wait for the bell and their teacher. But since it is the other big kids lunch time it is a little overwhelming. I stayed with Justin until his teacher came. He turned and gave me a big hug then walked up and hugged her. I got a little choked up but knew that he would do GREAT!

I will not be taking a picture everyday but I wanted to remember that he picked this shirt out because he said it looked like a scouting shirt:)
So today (day #3) I STILL got a little choked up when I dropped him off.

I know that he is so ready to learn and be big and I am so happy for the loving helping caring little boy that he is but I am also so glad that it is only 1/2 day. Ever since being around his cousins up in MT he CAN'T wait to learn to read. That's what he says he is MOST excited for.