Eleven months and growing!

Young Rembrandt

This is a picture Caleb drew in school the other day during 'Free Time'. He had a little help spelling 'Ponderosa', but 'Lidojo' (Little Joe) was sounded out all by himself. Right above the word Ponderosa is a cat and a mouse. To the right of it is the map burning (from the opening credits of the tv show). Above the map is a rattle snake and to the right is a King Cobra snake. Little Joe is riding his horse and shooting coyotes. The coyotes have blood on them from where they have been shot and the bullets are laying underneath the coyotes. The rest is fairly self explanitory - the thing in front of the horse is a scorpion. Caleb is really proud of this picture and has hung it up in his bedroom over his dresser. In case you couldn't guess, he loves the TV show Bonanza.

Hiking in Cave Creek

We went hiking in Cave Creek on Labor Day. It was pretty warm (102), so we didn't go as far as we would have liked to. On the way down the mountain, we met two girls who took their dog with them to hike. They had already hiked several miles and the dog was exhausted and wouldn't go any further once she found a patch of shade. Upon closer examination, the pads on the bottom of her front paws were raw and shredded. Needless to say, we had to help because there was no way the dog could walk any further and the girls couldn't carry her down the mountain by themselves. Caleb, Myah and myself headed down to the car to get our emergency kit and Rob stayed behind to help carry the dog down. Rob carried the dog (all 100lbs of her) the rest of the way down the mountain to the parking lot.

My hero - plus it's always nice to know that if something happened to me while hiking, Rob would at least be able to drag my sorry self down the mountain for help. lol

YUCK!

I don't like Cheddar Broccoli soup!

First Day of School

Caleb's first day of school. He is very excited to be a 'big kid' and start first grade.

Growing Up

Pioneer Village & A Baseball Game

Caleb and Myah's Aunt Rhonda (Rob's sister) is here visiting from Illinois. On Friday she and Caleb went to explore a historic Pioneer Village and then we all went to a baseball game at Chase Field. The Diamondbacks were playing the Braves and we didn't know who we should root for. Old alliances die hard - Go Braves! (Just for the record, they creamed Arizona)

Check out the 'tough-guy' face

Caleb and the Sheriff at the General Store


On the way home Aunt Rhonda bought both kids their own ball



Enjoying the game together

This is what you look like after too many chocolate chip cookies

Bath Time

Sorry for the lack of postings lately, Myah came down with her first cold last week and generously decided to share it with me. Needless to say, I think we are finally getting over it. Here are some pictures from a recent bath. She loves the water and is always trying to bend over and drink some - yuck!

Can 'Blah' be Considered a First Word?

Myah doesn't like taking her vitamins.

A Night at the Rodeo

On Friday night we went to a local bull riding competition (yes these still do exist in the west). Caleb has been wanting to do this for a long time and had to get all 'Cowboyed Up' - ie. cowboy hat, cowboy boots, cowboy belt, etc. We tried to find something matching for Myah, but the best we could do was a denim jumper - she's just not ready for the cowgirl thing yet. Anyway, Caleb was in awe watching the bulls buck the riders around and he thought it was pretty funny when this one bull kept spinning in a circle (like it was chasing it's tail) instead of bucking off it's rider. The bull then stopped and stood still for a few seconds like it was dizzy (definitely not something you expected from a bull) before he started bucking. Pop-pop also enjoyed the bull riding - something you don't see in PA very much!