Jerome Mining town

There is a quaint little historical town outside of Sedona called Jerome. Basically it is a 5500 ft. mountain with 88 miles of Copper mine tunnels underneath. The town has too much history to blog about here, but it is a great place to check out. We went to the haunted ghost town and old mining area, where they have all this stuff on display to play with. Its so fun!
I had never seen such a beautiful rooster before!
"Look Mom, a steam shovel!"
My mom and Joe in a mine tunnel.
This place is so much fun, they even have a sweet old donkey named Pedro who will kiss you for a carrot!

Montezumas Castle National Monument

Indians lived here hundereds of Years ago. It is amazing to think of them scurrying up these cliffs with thier children, making meals, and fishing in the nearby Beaver Creek.


William is our photographer in these pics, well really anytime you see Joe and I together its a good bet William took the picture!

Christmas in Arizona!

We spent Christmas in Arizona with Gramma Kay this year! We went up to Sedona for a night, and stayed in a really neat hotel. And in the morning...we found gifts from ol' Jack Frost!
Real Icicles! Now my little California boys had never seen such a sight, so leave it to Dad to bring one back to the room and start a frenzied icicle hunt!
Sedona was so beautiful and breathtaking!

Hiking in Wildwood Park

To burn off those turkey day calories, Joe decided a hike was in order. We went to Wildwood Park in thousand Oaks for 4 mile hike. We saw authentic Chumash Indian caves...
bubbling brooks rimmed with Poison Oak leaves...
a coyote crossed our path. It was pretty nice weather, a fun family outting, but I was thankful to get back to the truck and to civilization.
Noah had the time of his little life, what with all those rocks at his disposal for throwing.

Thanksgiving!

This year I had a small dinner, just us, my Dad, and my best friend of 17 years Donnie. I always take pictures of my holiday food, I guess its in case I ever get accused of not knowing how to cook or something! :) I make a mean turkey though!
And here is my whipped sweet potato bake with marshmallow topping my Mother In Law would be proud to see made for her son!

Gobble! Gobble! Let's eat! Donnie was ready!

Happy Halloween!

William is the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz, and Noah is Paul Bunyan!
He looks alot like his Daddy here!

Mugging for the camera

My little pumpkin head!

Carving up some fun!

Pumpkin Time!

Our pumpkin patch in Saugus had sigant fire damage. So it wasn't as fun as usual, but we went to support the farm..its called Lombardi Ranch! Pickin out our Pumpkins is so fun when you are 3!


And home with a wagon full of pumpkins we go!

William pitches a no-hitter!

Well it was his 1st time pitching in a game. And he did throw a few strikes! He did pretty good for his first time out!
And he also hit his first ball of the season and made it to 2nd base! But the 3rd base coach told him to run off the next hitter and he got stuck in the pickle between 2nd and 3rd, and got tagged out. But who cares! He got on base finally!!

Southern California Wild Fire Season

We have fires all around us , but none in Simi Valley so far. Yesterday the smoke was really bad, it was awful actually. It looked like nightfall around 3 pm and was very hard to breathe. The winds are absolutley the worst we've seen in a long time. Sustained at 30-40 mph, gusting to 80-100 mph. We live just below a canyon so we get strong gusts.
This is smoke from Stevenson Ranch by Magic Mtn. about 15 miles away!
Dad lost his hibiscus!
And the pool and spa is just NASTY! Poor Dad, we keep telling him to wait until the wind stops, but he's a trooper!
More to come, we'll keep you posted!

Our "Wicked" 4th Anniversary

Tradition states that on the 4th wedding anniversary it is appropriate to give flowers, fruit, and theatre tickets. Joe brought me a beautiful bouquet of pink and white daisies, lilies, and roses; and I of course made him his most favorite...pumpkin pie!
We went to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, the show was fantastic! It was so nice to be dressed up and going to the theatere on a real date!
A handsome couple!
Many more Happy Anniversaries to come...stay tuned!