ostrich festival.

After 3 years of living in Chandler, AZ, we finally made it to the Ostrich Festival. The festival celebrates Chander's early history of ostrich ranching. There are rides, carnival games, food, bands (this year's lineup included Eddie Money, the Spin Doctors, Gin Blossoms, and Los Lobos), and, of course, ostrich races! I forgot my camera so I have no pics of the ostrich races, but they were hilarious. We also saw zebra races and camel races as well as a dog frisbee show and a cool high-dive show.  

The only pic we got is of the kids and I pretending to be ostriches.

red wings in the desert.

For Christmas, Lincoln got tickets to a Red Wings vs. Coyotes game here in Phoenix. Matt and Lincoln said the game was great. The Wings won - in a shootout! Nice.

spring softball.

Cassidy started her second season of softball. She's on the Purple Panthers (same team name as last season, but none of the same players).

Cassidy volunteered to play catcher in the first game. Like brother, like sister.

At the plate.

On first base.

I love softball!

Dr. Seuss picnic

Each year, the kids school celebrates Dr. Seuss' birthday with a picnic at school. We eat lunch on the school grounds, read books, and just have a fun time!

Cassidy and Holland

Lincoln with his gang and Cassidy

Cassidy and her girl gang

Lincoln and Drew...reading The Cat in the Hat. Love it.

cactus league spring training 2017.

In Arizona, you can't escape the buzz in March. Spring Training is here! The 4 of us got the chance to go to an Angels vs. Brewers game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Though we root for no one other than the Tigers, it's fun to see the spring training stadiums and to sit back and watch a ball game in gorgeous weather.

Tempe Diablo Stadium

Cass and Linc at the game.

Best part of the game for Cass: ice cream cone!

Cass and her friend, Holland.

big brother. little sister.
love.

father and son.

Matt & Lincoln also went to a Giants vs. Reds game at Scottsdale Stadium. They were excited to have front row seats on the first base line. Linc got a ball signed by a hall-of-famer (I should probably know who it was, but I don't) and he got to run the bases after the game. What more could a 10-year-old want?

Linc at Scottsdale Stadium.

it's Girl Scout cookie season!

This is Cassidy's second year selling Girl Scout cookies. She enjoys doing booths at storefronts as well as pulling the wagon around our neighborhood to sell cookies. Actually, Lincoln has proven to be a great partner to her as he is the official wagon-puller. Cass even bought him a box of cookies to thank him for his assistance this year!

It was a busy, but fun cookie season. Cassidy earned some prizes (she always wants the stuffed animal prize) for her sales and part of the troop proceeds will pay for us to go to Spring Encampment at the end of March!

Cassidy sporting her Brownie sash and posing at her booth in front of a local grocery store.

Cassidy with 2 of her troop members selling cookies at a local retirement community.

disney on ice.

For Christmas, Cassidy received tickets to see Disney on Ice. The show was in mid-January at the Talking Stick Resort Arena, which is where the Phoenix Suns play.  It was a super fun girls day!

Cassidy posing in front of the giant basketball outside of the stadium.

Cass & I ready for the show!

There were four segments to the show (Toy Story, The Little Mermaid, Cars, and Frozen) with Mickey and Friends entertaining us between sets.

One of my favorite portions of the show was the Toy Story segment. how cute are these characters? 

And what little girl doesn't love to see the cast of Frozen? 

Elsa in her "ice castle".

Elsa getting her spin on.

So pretty.

happy birthday, dunkin!

Dunkin celebrated his 1st birthday on January 10th.  Woof!

Um, can you please take this dumb thing off of my head? Can't you see I'm ready to go for a W.A.L.K.? I have my harness on. Let's go already! Put the camera away!!!

christmas season in MI 2016.

This year, there were 5 of us traveling from Arizona to Michigan for the holidays. That's right, we brought our dog, Dunkin, with us. How could we possibly leave him behind? I wouldn't say he enjoyed being Matt's carry on bag and being stuffed under the seat for the 4 hour flight, be he did manage alright. He quickly made himself comfortable at my parents house and even had the pleasure of seeing snow for the very first time!

Dunkin, Matt, Lincoln, Julie, Cassidy ready for the Christmas Eve service in Northville.

The kids with my parents.

The kids with Matt's mom.

The kids and Matt with Barb, Matt's stepmom.

One of the brightest spots for Linc & Cass when we travel to MI is that they get to hang out with some of their cousins. Here they are with Nicole and Alli (and Yiayia and Papou).

My brother, Jeff, made this awesome Barbie cake for Cassidy's 8th birthday!

Me and our crazy pooch, Dunkin.

Dunkin made himself at home, finding the most hilarious spots to lie down throughout the house.
I think he's part cat.

It was bitter cold, but we quickly viewed the ice sculptures at the Plymouth Ice Festival. Brrrr.....

And, finally, here are the boys sharing headphones as they listened to the Lions game as we awaited our luggage back in Phoenix in early January.  Diehards.