Arizona Statehood Day

February 14, 2010 marks the 98th birthday of the state of Arizona . It became the 48th state in 1912. This state is birth place to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, musicians Stevie Nicks and Alice Cooper and of course the cult author Stephanie Meyers. Arizona's state bird is the the Cactus Wren and the State flower is the Saguaro Cactus Blossom (are you sensing a theme?) Arizona is the the home to not only many cacti, but also the London Bridge (in Lake Havasu City) and the Grand Canyon-Hence the "Grand Canyon State." Arizona mines more Copper than any other state in the union, which is why on the state flag the star is copper colored. The 13 rays behind the star represent not only the sun rays, but the thirteen original colonies. The 5 "C"s of Arizona are Copper, Cotton, Cattle, Climate and Citrus (no Cactus is not one of them) each C is a fundamental part in Arizona's economy (or at least they use to be. Now it's more like Intel, US Airways, and Honeywell).

Evan and I went out to dinner and a movie the night before Valentine's day, but I still wanted to have a picnic on Valentine's day... so we celebrated "Statehood Day." Right after our Sunday nap we went over to a park with a little short of an hour of sunlight left and ate sandwiches and played some card games.

Hockey

Another fun Phoenix Coyotes hockey game with Sue and this time the Wingets too! I had to miss the Bachelor to see the game, but at least they won this time.

Only in Arizona...

Only in Arizona can you attend a pool party for your nephew's fifth birthday at the beginning of February.

The birthday boy.

After swimming and food...SILLY STRING FIGHT

The aftermath

Happy 100th Day of School

February 5, 2010 was Evan's 100th day of school (for this school year) so I made him a "congrats" sign and wrote him a note explaining why I was congratulating him. He admitted that when he got home from school he was confused to the reason I was congratulating him, but (thankfully) he wasn't disappointed at the silly reason. After I got home from work we went to Subway to celebrate.

Here is the dinning room/Evan's study area in all it's glory with all the papers, backpack, computer, and highlighters.

Some things just never change

Evan and I volunteered to chaperon a youth stake dance at the end of January. We patrolled the building for a while to make sure everyone stayed safe. Then we watched the front and took money (yeah they charge now at stake dances, what's with that?) and checked dance cards.

Then we finally got to dance the night away. The youth still dance (or not dance) the same way as when I was a youth. The girls all stand in a circle and bop around and the boys sit on the edge of the stage NOT asking the girls to dance. Not surprisingly, even though the DJ got paid he was still as lame as the DJs when I went to dances. Although he did play songs from my home girls Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus he also played Cotton-eye Joe and "I Feel Like a Woman," by Shaina Twain. The kids dance to line dances and got all sweaty and then of course the DJ plays a slow song right after. Who wants to get close to someone right after working up a hearty sweat? Then (just like when I was young) the DJ plays another slow song. Do you keep dances with the same guy for both songs? What do you do when you can't find your girlfriends' huddle? There wasn't even a punch bowl to hide next to, even though the youth had to pay for the dance. I guess somethings never change
Evan and I had a great time, but then again we only had to impress each other.

Suckers

Evan's sister and her three kids came over a couple weeks ago for a slumber party. While I was still at work the kids wanted some suckers. No problem, right? Well Uncle Evan made them eat their suckers in the kitchen. Probably a good idea-none the less I thought it was funny when I found these pictures on my camera. It just makes me think of what kind of dad Evan will be when we have children. The kids absolutely adore him and hang on him relentlessly.

That night after dinner Evan's sister and I headed to a fun baby shower while uncle Evan and the kiddos made a fort in the front room. By the time Ghostbusters was over everyone but Wade and I were asleep, not too shabby. Evan studied the next morning while the rest of us headed to the park. It had just rained so the slides were wet and such. We did however have fun at the duck pond. I tried to teach the kids to skip rocks, but it ended up being more of just throwing them, oh well. My nephew started to chase a bird around the park, and to my great surprise he was very close to catching the poor bird. I'm not sure what I would have done if he were to have actually caught it. Then we walked home and had a "picnic" in the cabana area at the apartment and watched a little Nick in the clubhouse before the kids headed home.
I love that we have some family near by us, I'll be bummed when we have to move further away from the little family we have here.

Howl if you love the Coyotes

A patient at the physical therapy office I work at had extra tickets to a Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey game and invited me and Evan to go with her. The game went into sudden death overtime and then a shoot out. They ended up losing to the New York Islanders, but it was definitely an exciting event and one of the only events in Phoenix where I've ever worn a coat.
Me and Sue