March Western Night

Not alot to report for this month. Crazy busy. Its soccer season and the boys are getting into it. Mike is assistant coaching, which is fun to watch. Not that our boys listen to him well. :)

Grandpa and Grandma Banzhaf came up from Tucson to spend the weekend with us. We had alot of fun. Our community had a Western Night with BBQ vendors, mechanical bull, giant bouncey slides, live pony rides, petting zoo and a great country cover band. We had a great time.

Here a fun little photo.

February in a Post

February was the month of birthdays. The month got started with a birthday celebration for the twins. And what gift could be better than a trip to see the greatest birthday parade and all your love able friends? Yup, thats right. DISNEYLAND

Grandma Babbel flew out to California to join us in our adventures. The trip started with a much anticipated but never duplicated (well, at least we will not do it again) dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The kids loved it. Its a one time place at best. Its was overpriced and crowded. We are glad we are no longer curious about it.
The next day the kids arrived early to get their birthday badges and pictures with some fun friends. Mickey was a must. We had a great time. The food was fun, and the lines were short. We literally walked onto the busiest rides (Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mt, TeaCups,etc..)without fast passes. The longest ride we waited for was PeterPan (20 min).the new parade Soundsation was fantastic. I must admit I have a crush on Rupunzel. She was my favorite in the parade. They also brought back a classic featuring Mary Poppins and Bert riding carousel horses...love,love,love. The best part of the whole day was that during the parade each character specifically wished Zach and Tanner a happy birthday. It kinda surprised us when we heard Ariel yelled down from her seashell "Happy Birthday Zach!" and blew him a kiss. We had front row seats on Main Street and all the princesses and Peter Pan each said happy birthday to them. I would highly recommend not underestimating the power of the birthday button.

Notice anything missing...yes, people. It was a great day to be at Disneyland.We have very few waits in line.












Next Came Mommys birthday. Not much to say here. Another year older. Hopefully wiser too?! It came, it went.

Then we had Crew's birthday. Sweet Crewzer. He is the busiest little guy. We adore him. He knows it. He refuses to walk because everyone is always carrying him around. He also refuses to sleep through the night because he knows Mommys a wimp. Thus, we are always tired, but never tired of his smiles and hugs. At 1 year he has 8 teeth. and is 23 lbs. He loves to wave and clap. He is very curious about lights and points to every light. He loves looking at the moon with Daddy. He is such a blessing. Life wouldnt be the same without our little man. We love you, Crew.
Khyra, Lee and cousin Damon joined us for birthday dinner. Along with uncle Taylor and his 3 kiddos. We had a great time. We spent the next day lounging at the pool. It was a balmy 80 degrees. WOW! Fun memories.

Projects

One of my resolutions this year is to get my house projects completed and then STOP with home reno. I hate living in craziness. But, funds dont grow on trees and a fixer-upper home is a daily headache.
We are currently in the middle of landscaping drama with the drip system in the yard. It hasnt worked since we moved in. Of course, the inspector only turned on the sprinklers to see that they worked on the grass. Neglecting to test the irrigation system so, we were unaware that they werent working. AWESOME inspectors!! Did I ever mention that even after an inspection (by the same guy) we have had to replace nearly ALL the appliances that supposedly worked. **bitting my tounge so curse words dont fly out...yet another resolution**
Anyway, Hand watering cactus and other plants to keep them alive in the heat is getting old. Thus, we are fixing outside.
Here are a few projects that I finally got done. These are mainly for the moms, who havent seen our house since we moved in. Hope the rest of you dont mind.



Finally got coverings for the windows, a fan, and things hung

Painted Crew's room with stripes

Found a rug for the front room

made a baby gate out of fabric to keep Crew from going up the stairs. works well now, not sure it will last too long. PLUS, I still havent found anything for the top of the stairs. Any suggestions would be great. I cant drill anything and there is no where for tension set items with my banister.

Christmas is Over

Sorry this post is so late. I cant seem to get much done these days.
Asher has constantly been reminding us that "Christmas is over". Everywhere we go, he notices that there is no longer decorations or music playing. I echo the sentiment with a sigh of relief and the crossing of my eyes...Christmas is over.

Christmas was wonderful. Its was all you could hope for. It just felt like there wasnt enough time to get anything done. Silent nights were hard to come by (yes, Crew still is waking during the night) and I had project after project I was trying to accomplish. Still, I enjoyed the holidays and I am ready to return to some form of normalcy before we have the "season of the birthdays" (all our birthdays are spread over the next fourth months).

We headed to Tucson again this year for the holiday. It was beautiful weather and we enjoyed hanging with grandparents,great grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins. The kids were spoiled. They had every wish fufilled. My favorite silly gift of the season was a little snowman that sings when you open your fridge door. It cracked me up. My inlaws recieved one that sings in the bathroom. It scared me to death the first time I heard it. I walked into the bathroom, closed the door and heard "Whatcha doing?..."
I looked around to see who was there. Then it spoke again "on second thought, never mind". It is quite hillarious.

The party foul goes to me this year.
I was on the tail end of a cold, so I coughed all night. At my in-laws. Filled with people.Trying to sleep. All night I coughed. All day I coughed. Every second. Always. Horrible.

These pictures are AWFUL. My camera was in the wrong mode and I didnt change it when snapping these. You get the general idea.





Great Grandma and Dottie were a blast. Totally hillarious.






As for the New Year. I'll be honest, I hate New Years post marriage. It has nothing to do with Mike. I like having someone to kiss. But, I do the kiss around 10pm and call it a night. I just dont see the point. When I was single it was about party's, people and that big question "who will I be kissing in the new year"? With little kids in bed and trapped babysitting in your house, you are forced to turn on the TV. Which means, Im forced to watch Dick Clarks Rockin New Years Eve. Which lets be honest...is just plain MEAN. Torture even. I'd rather poke my eyes with sticks than watch preformances by Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber. YUCK. For the maybe the 3rd time in our marriage I decided to stay up with Mike till midnight. Everyone had cancelled on our attempts at a party due to illness which was spreading around. So, we had our own party. LAME. By 10 I was ready. By 11 I was over it, By 12 I was done. BLAH,BLAH, heres the ball drop. Woop-De-Doo!. Never again. Dick Clark should have been off the air decades ago...this is getting ridiculous and uncomfortable to watch now. I learned one thing: I miss NOTHING by going to bed early on New Years Eve.

Sorry, there are no pictures of Mike and I. You catch my drift right?

Christmas Wishes and Kisses

Follow the this link and watch a little video from us to you...
Family Video



Merry Christmas Family and Friends,
Our family is happy and doing well during this holiday season. This year has been exciting and and full of new experiences.
February brought a new little one to our family with the introduction of CREW ALEXANDER. He is a sweet baby with lots of bubbly personality. He is now 10 mths old and is crawling and climbing into everything. He loves his brothers and likes to be the center of attention (I cant imagine where is got that?). We are glad he almost never cries and is generally a pleasant guy. He has been dubbed "Cooky" by the kids.
Sunday's he disappears into the Young Women's organization as he is the adoptive baby for the girls to all love on.
March brought a move from East Mesa to our new home in North Peoria. We have really enjoyed our neighborhood and the amenities this area has to offer. We are just south of Lake Pleasant (abt 10 miles) and its a dream that one of these days Santa will bring a ski boat to our house for Christmas. For now, the kids are content with our own pool in the backyard, which has been a big improvement to the gravel of our Mesa rental.
Zachary and Tanner (6 years old) started 1st grade this fall. They love their teacher,a male native New Yorker and avid sports fanatic. He has given the boys an excitement for school that we really appreciate. Our only complaint is that we hear the phrase "What yous guys doin?" in a hard Brooklyn accent around the house more often than we'd like.:) Both boys are becoming great readers and they are quite the social directors.
Asher is 3 and also attending preschool at the same elementary as the twins. He loves school. Asher's interest in science has bloomed into a full obsession with the solar system. He loves to tell people about nebula's, comets, and planets. He can argue with the best of them for Pluto's downgrade from a planet to a star. He really thinks he is an expert. He has broken the picky eating curse in the family.He is the only person besides mommy that likes nuts in our family and asks at least once a week to go get Chili's bottomless chips and salsa...this kid loves to eat!
Mike is still happily working for Physiom Monitoring (Denver). He really likes the surgeons he works with and has increased in dr's who are asking for services. The neuromonitoring field is starting to spread as standard of care in many hospitals. We are encouraged in the stability of employment as the openings in various states are expanding nationally. Recently Mikes old company Impluse Monitoring was acquired by NuVasive and will also be expanding nationally. We are hoping down the road to see hospitals in southern Utah using this advancement in surgical procedures of the spine and brain. Its our desire to relocate to St. George Utah in the future. For now, we are enjoying our time in Arizona and have resigned to the heat with the promise of beautiful and warm winters. Mike is serving in the ward as the 10-11 year old primary teacher.
Eden is also busy with church assignments as the 16-18 year old Young Women's advisor (Laurels). She is also spearheading a new assignment for our ward called "The Oath and Covenant firesides". These are monthly speaking engagements covering topics for women 18-21 who are transitioning between high school and college. Its similar to missionary preparation and temple preparation all rolled into one. She has loved studying and preparing for these firesides and feels blessed to have a deepened love for the scriptures and gospel of Jesus Christ. Eden has overcome her aversion to Arizona and has made many friends in the community. She continues to teach Zumba on Friday mornings and would love to pick up more classes and work on losing her baby weight!

We are grateful for the reminders of the season of love, giving and service. We are especially grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ who was born in Bethlehem so long ago. We echo his message of peace, kindness and love. For in him we will truly find joy and rest. May you feel his message throughout this holiday season and into the new year.
We love and miss you all.

-Mike, Eden, Zach, Tanner, Asher & Crew
Banzhaf

Snow Way!

Believe it or not, we had snow here in Peoria. Ok, ok, so it wasnt brought here by mother nature. Our HOA brought it in for the neighborhood Christmas party. It was actually really cool. The boys loved riding down the hill on our sleds.

The poor, poor sleds. They have been neglected since the move from Hershey. Im glad they got some use. I always feel like objects that I own have feelings. Especailly when they arent used, played with or neglected. I am sure they cry and are lonely and just want their day in the sun. Maybe its the movie "Toy Story" that has done this to me. I dont know.
Anyway, the sleds sure had a thrill riding down a snowy hill in 60 degree weather. I can see them secretly smiling now.

It was a fun day as you can see. Or maybe you cant see. As soon as I was ready to snap a picture they turned around and I missed their faces. Believe me, the had fun!

Thanksgiving 2011

Pin the hat on the turkey

Crew and aunt Mariangel love to play

Heres why the couches are only built for two at grandmas house.

Crew and Aunt Christy


I've been pretty lazy at our blog lately.
Thought I would post a few of our Thanksgiving pictures. We traveled to Utah again this year. It was perfect driving weather and there wasnt an inch of snow to be seen, so I had zero complaints about the drive. We had a great time with G'pa and G'ma and the many aunts, uncles and cousins that we were able to see. Thanks for squeezing us into your schedules. Crew was in "auntie heaven" as you can see...
The boys love coming to Utah. Its the only thing they talk about. Even now we occasionally hear someone say "Mom, Uncle _____put in a name___ is my best friend. I want to go see him". The name changes daily but my boys make it clear that they love all their uncles!!


Now we are just trying to get into the YULETIDE with some decor and lots of RAIN here in AZ. Its actually feeling festive with the need for coats and hats during the day. Believe it or not, we actually used our down blankets this week. Will wonders never cease?
I will admit that Arizona is growing on me. I dont love the extreme heat, but the winter is lovely.
I will enjoy it while we are here. You never know when things will change.
I true Thanksgiving fashion, I should mention some things I am thankful for this year.
First and foremost, Im thankful my family. Yes, at times I want slip quietly away from everyone and just disappear for a while. Then a sweet little voice will say "Mommy, I love you" and I remember why I wanted to be a wife and a mother. Is it weird that I actually like doing laundry and cleaning? maybe. But I find it bring an odd sort of fulfillment. I love my sweet children. I love my hunky husband too! He is my best friend and he puts up with all my shenanigan's. I adore him. He makes my life more than I had hoped for. He is truly a great man.

Im grateful for good health and great employment. Especially seeing the direction of health care and economy right now.

Im grateful for a God who knows me and loves me. For an elder brother Jesus Christ, that lay down his life for all mankind. Who bids me to follow him and find peace and happiness even amidst the chaos of the world. Im grateful that God didn't leave man to just spin in circles and wander without direction. He gave us the bible, the book of Mormon and living prophets. I love the gospel. The light it brings into my life. The anchor is gives me everyday. Im grateful to know where to look for answers and joy.


Well,I will try to get another post up with pictures of the Christmas decor and the kids latest adventure but, I've run outta time for today. Here is a glimpse of the tree. I will try to be better about posting.