More Arizona Fun in the Sun!

We've had a really fun week with Lori and kids this week. We've played, played, played and relaxed all week. I'm busy today cleaning up and actually doing dishes! We met Tyson in Scottsdale one night for dinner at Julio G's (our fave Mexican place) and the traditional trip to the RR park. We went to a Diamondbacks game on Wed night and Thursday we went swimming at the Mesquite Aquatic Center over by us. The big kids had fun on the slides, lazy river and whirlpool. We've been swimming every day in our backyard and Thursday I didn't take off my suit until bed time! How great is that? We had fun watching tv late at night and Frank doing midnight runs to Sonic for Lori and I! I have her hooked on Legend of the Seeker now and she got me hooked on Royal Pains. I'm missing those cute twins already. They were a lot of fun and I got lots of cuddling in. The only thing that was missing this week was Amanda at girl's camp. I'm glad she's back tommorrow!

While were at it...NeW FRENCH DOORS!

You do not know how long I've been waiting for these doors! After countless bruised fingers from the broken slider, to lockouts on hot cement, pounding to open up and then realizing we have an intercom outside and using bars of soap to help slide better (thank you dad - that worked for awhile)- it's a new door :).


I left for the orthodontist when they took the slider out and this was the opening left.

I so wanted to ask if I could you the crowbar and sledge hammer to the frame! They made it look so easy...I'm sure if we'd done it ourselves, we'd still be trying to figure out how to get it all in!

A New Smile on the Way

A new smile is on the way :). Wednesday of this week, we went to Couser Orthodontics for what seems like a rite of passage into the teen years. Blaine Couser grew up in Kaysville and hung out with half our neighborhood. His brother was in the office learning the ropes when we were there and said, "the white house between the Brown's and Forsyth's?" Yup, that's the one. Since they are soooo much younger than me, I quipped back, "Ya, you probably were one of the ones spying on me and my dates in the basement." Anyways, Amanda went with electric blue and green bands this time around. We've already been back to have a wire clipped that was irritating her cheek and to learn how the wax is really supposed to be applied. Fun times, can't wait to see the end results and yes, she has been warned that she will be paying us $30 a wk if she does not do exactly what they told her...these things are expensive!

ReD LoBsTeR FeAsT !

Every birthday, the girls get to choose where they want to eat out and Natalie chose her absolute favorite, Red Lobster! Now, our two landlubbers - Justine and Amanda - have been dreading dinner all night :). Frank told our waitress that we were going to be a difficult table ha ha. Poor Justine ended up with chicken fingers from the starters menu and a side caesar salad. Amanda tried the honey BBQ chicken. I think they were pleasantly surprised that you can get other stuff from a seafood restaurant. Natalie got the king crab and I get a kick out of watching her crack those legs apart and dig for the meat. She is a Bria through and through. I really didn't eat alot of seafood until I got married. Thanksgiving appetizers at the Bria's consisted of bowls of shrimp and cheeses I couldn't pronounce! The gals brought out dessert and we sang "happy birthday" to her. It was nice to go outside afterwards and see the dark sky and lightning storm in progress. We had a nice time and enjoyed chatting with the kids :).

Happy 8th Birthday to our Sweet, Sweet Natalie!

Happy, happy 8th birthday to our sweet Natalie. I can't believe that my youngest is 8 already! When did that happen? It just seems like yesterday that she was a little toddler tagging along with mom and now she is all grown up and ready to be baptized in a few weeks. We are so happy that she is in our family. Natalie adds a dimension of excitement/drama that we'd probably not have, but we can't imagine her not being here. Love you my little sports fanatic!

When did she go from 4 to 8???

Loved all the soccer clothes and accessories for her birthday!

Talking to Grandma Bria on the phone :).

Loved the soccer bag!

Waited patiently for Mom to get up for presents!