Veteran's Day 2011

I usually NEVER want the weekend to end… and after having a wonderful 3-day Veteran’s Weekend… I really don’t want Monday to come!!!

Our weekend began Thursday night as we welcomed the Suarez Clan to Arizona! Joe’s mom and dad came to town for the long weekend and we spent it honoring our Veterans… with a little fun mixed in.

Friday morning we woke up nice and early and walked over to the Anthem Park to take part in the dedication ceremony of Anthem Veteran’s Memorial. There was a great band, lots of inspirational speeches, and an F-16 fly over (Joe’s favorite part)!!

Over a year ago, Joe helped with the fundraising efforts for the Memorial and purchased a brick in his grandfather’s honor. Grandpa Cason served in the Army and he is now a small part of our community! Grandpa Cason passed away a short time before I met Joe, but I can see that he left a large imprint on Joe’s life. I never had the honor of meeting Grandpa, but from all the stories and memories shared, I know he was a wonderful man! I look forward to the day Joe and I will take our children to the Memorial and show them their Great Grandfather’s Brick.

Saturday was a fun-filled day!

We began the morning watching the Anthem Veteran’s Day Parade. Joe and I live 2 minutes from the parade route, so we all walked over to enjoy the festivities. The weather was perfect and the parade was very well done.

There are so many wonderful activates our community hosts.  I am impressed each time I attend one!!

After the parade, we got in the car for the long trek down to Picacho Peak, Arizona. Joe’s mom had found an Ostrich Farm there that she wanted to visit. I had no clue what to expect and was a little unsure about the whole idea… but it turned out to be a lot of fun!

The Ostrich Farm is family owned and operated and you could really tell. Everyone was so nice and knowledgeable. I learned more about Ostriches than I ever needed to know…. So very interesting!

Ostriches were not the only animals on the farm. We were allowed to feed Donkeys, Deer, Goats, and Lorikeets. It was no neat! The animals were so friendly and VERY excited to eat.

If you have children I would highly recommend this farm! It is very close to Tucson… so if you are headed down there for any reason… stop in along the way.

I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend! Does Monday have to come???

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!

Ok… I know it’s early, but I just couldn’t help myself! Christmas has arrived at the Suarez Home!!

Joe and I decorated the house, last weekend, for the holidays. Some may think I am crazy, but I have my reasons for the insanity.

My have quite the Christmas tree! It is a HUGE job to put it up, fix the branches, and then decorate it. I feel that since it takes so much effort… I might as well enjoy it. Joe was a big help and climbed the ladder to place the high decorations. We were both very tired when the tree was finished, but I think it was a job well done!

On Sunday we put up the Christmas lights on our house. In Anthem we are allowed to have our lights up starting November 1^st and they must be down by January 15^th. I saw the neighbors putting up their lights and thought we would jump on board.

I wasn’t much help… Joe deserves all the credit for the outdoor lights! He took them out, climbed the ladder, and used the staple gun. I just stood around and told him what a great job he was doing.

When all Joe’s hard work was done… it looked nice! I like simple white lights, nothing fancy. I am very happy with the way all the décor came out!

Bring on Christmas… oh wait… Thanksgiving comes first :)

Chilly Weather

This has to be my favorite time of the year!

There is nothing better than opening up your windows and letting in the cool air. Last weekend we had quite the fall storm.

I am in LOVE with rain! I was so happy to hear the drops outside my window as I cuddled up in bed.

Joe and I spent Saturday morning outside! We took a nice walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed the chilly weather. I actually had to wear a jacket!!! We spent Sunday putting up our Christmas décor (more to follow in my next post)

I had to take some pictures of the clouds! They were so dark and low… you could actually see snow on the mountains Monday morning.

It was a terrific chilly weekend!

Halloween Happiness

The holiday season is in full swing!

I think this has to be my favorite time of the year. As soon as Halloween rolls around I know that Thanksgiving, my birthday, and Christmas are just around the corner!

Each year, Joe is encouraged to wear his Halloween costume to work! All the employees at the bank dress up and the customers decide which costume was the best. Sounds like a lot of fun to me!!! Last year Joe was a 70s Disco Man.... This year he decide on.....

THIS!!!

What a cute little Scottish man! He even had the accent down and everything :)

After a long day at work, Joe and I spent Halloween night at my mom's house. She recently moved into a new neighborhood and we wanted to check her "trick-or-treaters" out.

My mom had brought her fire pit out into the front yard and we all gathered around with wine and pizza in hand.

We ordered pizza from the best pizza joint in Glendale... Oggis! It is located on 67th ave just south of the 101. It has amazing food and is a great place to go when you want to grab some grub and watch a sporting event... TVs EVERYWHERE!

We all enjoyed seeing the kiddos in their costumes. I think my favorite had to be the babies! They had the cutest costumes and I wanted to pick up each one... but their parents might of found that a bit weird!

It was a fantastic Halloween night. Thanks mom for the great time. You have once again helped Joe and I create a lasting memory!

A Little Halloween Spirit

Saturday night seemed like the perfect time to get into the Halloween Spirit!

Earlier in the day, Joe and I took a trip to Fry’s and picked out 2 perfect pumpkins for carving.

After a wonderful family dinner at Firebirds (some of the best food we have eaten in a long time), we headed home to get our “carve” on!

Joe had spent a few hours in the afternoon creating and drawing his own carving template. He had decided that in honor of the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series he would dedicate his masterpiece to them. I was raised a Cardinals baseball fan my entire life and when Joe became my husband, he too began to cheer on the Red Birds!

One of the best moments that occurred on the field after the Cardinals World Series Victory was the look on closing pitcher Jason Motte’s face. Joe’s inspiration looked a little something like this….

I decided my pumpkin would take after our dog Cody. Being that I am not nearly as artsy as Joe, my carving template was found on the internet.

As we got to work, Joe realized his much larger pumpkin was going to take some “elbow grease” to scrape clean. My nice tall skinny pumpkin was all clean in no time!

We spent much of the evening enjoying each others company and creating our works of art!

In the end… both of our pumpkins turned out pretty good! I was impressed with Joe. I could not believe he had designed his pumpkin from scratch and it looked amazing.

I love quiet evenings at home with my husband. I cannot wait for all the upcoming adventures the holidays have to offer.