Hello to all of our friends and family

Things here in the AZ desert are starting to heat up and we are staying busy (as usual!) and trying to enjoy the last few weeks of nice weather.

Matt has been tirelessly working at his new role with the Dbacks, traveling between Vegas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming along with seeing every draft eligible player here in AZ!  It has been an adjustment for all of us but we are looking forward to the draft in June and hopefully, a bit of downtime to recoup and recharge our batteries.  We are trying to plan some sort of get away for the 2 of us, but aren’t sure when or where that will work out.  We have taken a trip together each of the last 3 years (San Francisco, Canada and NYC) and we are hoping that we can continue the tradition and make it 4 in a row

Braelyn is still taking swim classes and progressing very well, despite how hard the skill sets are.  They are working on mastering the breast stroke and butterfly stroke and she is sometimes frustrated that her arms and legs don’t move together more smoothly!  The instructors warned us this may be the case because they moved her up so young, but nevertheless, she still enjoys it and it is good exercise for her each week.  She is also almost ready to graduate from her preschool class – May 20.  She has really enjoyed her teacher and her experience this year and I wish that her preschool teacher would teach Kindergarten because I think she is amazing but alas, that is not the case.  We still aren’t 100% sure where she will be in August – if we will homeschool her or if she will go to my Elementary school out of district.  I have spoken with the Gifted Program Director and they don’t have the funding to test before Kindergarten so he told me that he would test her in January and then promote her to the Gifted Program in 1st grade.  The program is really great – they do a gifted curriculum in 1-8 grade and I think it would be really good for her.  We looked into a couple of charter schools but 1 has a very long wait list (we are #16) and the other was not a good fit for us.  We still have a few months to decide but I can’t believe Kindergarten is on the horizon!  Braelyn is also taking a jazz dance class at her old studio and she is really getting into it.  She is the youngest one in class but her teacher loves her ‘enthusiasm’ and she follows along pretty well.

I have been super busy with some budding opportunities for my business as well as agility with Casie and maintaining our household in the midst of the crazy times we have here.  We are producing 2 new lines of products and are working with some potential BIG retailers and are very close to launching in their stores.  Agility is still weekly and Casie is doing so well.  She and I have a great time showing off her skills and being around other people who are just as crazy about their dogs as I am!  I will probably compete with her in some fun runs this summer or some evening trials just to keep it interesting and fun.  She hates the hot weather so we will keep the hard work at a minimum but she exercises everyday with Braelyn in the pool so she is staying in shape for agility.

We had a nice trip to San Diego for Easter a few weeks ago when Matt managed to get a few days in a row off.  Braelyn really liked being around other kiddos for the egg hunt and doing all of the activities and crafts that Gramma Sheri and Aunt Devyn had prepared for her.  The weather was gorgeous, the company was fantastic and the food (thanks to Jan and Bob) was super yummy!  We were very thankful for our time together and for the fact that Sara and Emma came down and spent the day with us.  It was a nice weekend and time for all of us to be together.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from our celebration and that you have a wonderful week as we head into May and the start of summertime!

Love to you all,

Lisa

So, Braelyn turned 5 on Monday – I CANNOT believe it! I know it’s cliche but, time FLIES and I honestly can’t believe she is already 5. My friend Holly lists out 100 things that she loves about her kids when they have a Birthday and I thought it was a GREAT and creative idea so, here I am attempting to do it for the very special girl that lights up my life! These are in no particular order except the order that they popped up in my head

#1 – You talk in Southern and English accents and sound very convincing
#2 – You MUST pose whenever someone wants to take a picture of you
#3 – You refuse to wear jeans – only skirts, dresses and tights
#4 – You won’t eat chocolate OR red meat – just like mom!!
#5 – You love snakes, lizards and frogs
#6 – You call Casie your sister
#7 – You always want us to sleep with you in your tiny bed filled with stuffed animals
#8 – You try to exercise by going on the elliptical machine and doing push ups
#9 – You know how to use a computer, digital camera, CD player and the Tivo remote
#10 – You taught yourself to use your Leapster without any help from mom and dad
#11 – You love to swim and are a fabulous lobster
#12 – You are a good traveler on planes and in the car
#13 – You are easygoing and can sleep in any hotel, bed or car when we ask you to
#14 – You always tell me not to make your hair look ‘bad’ when I brush it in the morning
#15 – You are a good shopper and help put things into the cart
#16 – You love listening to audio books, just like me!
#17 – You are learning to read and are catching on so quickly
#18 – You know all about dinosaurs and if they are carnivores or herbivores
#19 – You learned all about mummification and you turn Cinderella into a mummy on a regular basis
#20 – You love watching Dancing with the Stars
#21 – You know that Fabio won the last season of Survivor
#22 – You like to read the maps at the amusement parks and figure out where we are
#23 – You give Casie a good night kiss every evening
#24 – You love learning your states on the TAG map – you already know about 15 by sight!
#25 – You sing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey at the top of your lungs in the car
#26 – You love watching yourself on camera when we skype
#27 – You can name any breed of dog you see walking down the street
#28 – You are tough! When you got hit in the face with the teeter totter, you only cried for a few minutes
#29 – You are VERY expressive and get excited about many simple things
#30 – You are a good hiker at Thunderbird Park
#31 – You are grateful for gifts that people give to you
#32 – You love the outdoors
#33 – You try to do belly dancing every night before your bath
#34 – You can play in the tub for hours
#35 – You are a snack monster!
#36 – You only drink water
#37 – You help me clean the house
#38 – you have never taken a shower
#39 – You often tell me I look like a Princess
#40 – You tell me I am a ‘really good mom to you’
#41 – You love playing with other kids
#42 – You are a good listener at school
#43 – You have an amazing memory and pay attention to small details
#44 – You love getting clothes and shoes for gifts
#45 – You don’t cheat on your sugar snacks even when someone offers you an extra one
#45 – You don’t ever throw tantrums
#46 – You like to eat while walking around
#47 – You snuggle in bed with dad, Casie and I every morning
#48 – You are always singing or humming a tune
#49 – You help me cut up veggies for meals
#50 – You would eat macaroni and cheese for every meal if we let you
#51 – You LOVE fruit but won’t eat watermelon or cantaloupe until you are 6
#52 – You love the slow, easy rides at Disneyland/world
#53 – You stand up for yourself
#54 – Your imagination knows no bounds
#55 – You always ask us if your hair looks ‘the same in the front, sides and back’
#56 – You put on your own makeup for special occasions
#57 – You are ok being away from mom and dad for a week at a time
#58 – You want to go with me to merchandise the roadshows to help dress the mannequins
#59 – You tell lots of jokes – some that are ‘real’ jokes and some you make up on your own
#60 – You use your hands to talk and act things out
#61 – You like to make shadow puppets
#62 – You make me do different voices for all of your stuffed animals
#63 – You are OCD about where your toys go
#64 – You don’t like going anywhere in the dark by yourself
#65 – You always get a sugar cookie after swim class
#66 – You talk like a 10 YO
#67 – You never want to get your ears pierced
#68 – You cry when other people or animals are upset or hurt
#69 – You narrate your playtime and include chapters with titles
#70 – You have an amazing singing voice
#71 – You always have to get the newspaper out of the driveway before getting into the car
#72 – You put your snacks into the door handle on your side of the car
#73 – You have great handwriting and can write all of your number and letters
#74 – You love doing any kind of artwork
#75 – When you draw, you always draw abstract things and when I ask what it is you say, ‘Why does it have to be anything?’
#76 – You tell us that you have ‘blobs’ in your socks when we put them on wrong
#77 – You always choose a fruit with every meal
#78 – Family is very important to you
#79 – You know that ‘school is everywhere’ and love to learn
#80 – You know where Denmark, Norway and Sweden are on the globe
#81 – You know you want to order apple juice whenever we fly
#82 – You like to dress up fancy and then go running in the desert
#83 – You laugh at yourself
#84 – You pretend to do emails on your computer and make up stories that your computer and website is ‘jacked up!’
#85 – You ‘tempt’ Casie with chicken from her food dish to get her to eat breakfast
#86 – You call her ‘GOOD GOOLIE!’
#87 – You put the untensils away when the dishes are clean
#88 – You hide when dad comes home and make him find you
#89 – You have 100% energy from the minute you wake up each morning
#90 – You sleep with your head completely underneath the sheet
#91 – You use a funny donkey voice for a character in your dollhouse
#92 – You love Christmas lights and decorating the tree
#93 – You love trick or treating but never eat any of the candy
#94 – You pretend to be the fruit lady at the grocery store and I order produce from you
#95 – You tell me that you think that certain muppets and cartoon characters don’t talk properly
#96 – You know how to Google things on the computer to get answers
#97 – You can use You Tube to watch Disney videos
#98 – You are sweet, caring and thoughtful
#99 – You are a great negotiator
#100 – You are the easiest, most fun, entertaining, smart, wonderful daughter that I ever could have hoped for when you were born 5 years ago!

I love more than just these 100 things, but the list could have been endless!

I hope you enjoy these and that they remind you of a very special 5 year old that we love

Lisa

Hi to All!

We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and were able to spend much time with loved ones

We have had a hectic winter with Matt’s ‘off-season’ not really taking place this year. Lots of things we normally had time for, we haven’t had this go around. We even had to reschedule our Florida Family trip because his organizational meetings were planned right smack dab in the middle!! Luckily we were able to make it work and rearrange the flights and accomodations for the 10 people that were able to go with us on our fun, family adventure.

We ended up having a GREAT time visiting 4 different parks and seeing family and friends that made a special effort to spend time with us on our visit. The timing was perfect and the parks were virtually empty (by Disney standards). We never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride and we were able to move the wheelchairs throughout the parks pretty easily.

Matt, Braelyn and I ran ourselves ragged – getting up about 6AM and heading to the parks at first opening and then getting back to the timeshare about 10 at night. We all hung in there pretty well until Friday when we got home and at that point, we were so exhausted, we needed a vacation from our vacation. Although it was so tiring, we felt like it was what we needed to do. After all, we had spent the money, traveled across the country and we felt like we should see what there was to see since we probably won’t be going back anytime soon. We did Disneyworld and The Wild Animal Kingdom together as a big group and then Matt, Braelyn, Chris, Justin and I did Epcot. The big ‘kids’ also got to go to Universal Orlando and see the Harry Potter theme park which was VERY exicting for HP fanatics like Chris and I. It was VERY cool and we enjoyed ourselves.

I also FINALLY got to meet my business partner, Melissa in person. We have known each other for about 2 years and communicated through email, skype and phone multiple times per day since we started our business last December but we had never officially met until last week. It was REALLY nice to meet her and spend time in person together and just laugh and joke in the flesh instead of through the virtual world. She showed me our production process, her art process and all of our techie goodies like our giant canvas printer and our super-fast computer, none of which I had ever seen except in photos. It’s great that we can run our business from opposite sides of the country because of technology but nothing replaces talking and seeing the person face-to-face. It was SO GREAT!

Things went as smoothly as possible for traveling with 10 people, 3 wheelchairs, 1 5 year old and the ins and outs that go along with cross-country travel. Everyone had a wonderful time and we had some really nice memories to bring home with us. We are thankful that we were able to make the trip and that our family was able to come along with us to celebrate Brealyn’s 5th Birthday and all of my grandparents’ 80th Birthdays. Disney does everything top-notch and it is worth every penny you spend at their parks because they always make sure you have a great time – we sure did.

I hope you enjoy the video of just some of the wonderful times we had at the Happiest Place on Earth

Love to All,

Lisa

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving   We had a great time with family and lots and lots of yummy food!

Braelyn performed at her annual Winter Dance Concert at Glendale Glitters last night and they did a tap routine to the song “Baby it’s Cold Outside.”  They all did a really good job!  She had to wear tights and they were falling down a bit so you will notice that she hikes up her skirt in the front and shows off her undies and tries to pull them up -- LOL!  It was pretty funny but like a true performer she carried on with her routine until she was done and then complained to me about them backstage afterwards!

Anyway, we are sending our best wishes to you all and hoping that you are enjoying the Holiday Season and all that it means to you -- tapping, tights or lights!!!!  Much Love -- Lisa.