Day 1 - Funny Liv

Our to lunch with Dan and Miss Olivia. As always, she's hilarious!

Colorado Girls Trip!

You know you are on a cheap flight when you board the plane from the tarmac.



 My little sister Kristi decided that she needed an adventure last summer so instead of traveling to Europe or backpacking through the African jungle she decided to MOVE to Colorado. Her job was kind enough to transfer her to make the transition smoother, however, no one was expecting her to call in August and announce that she was having a BABY!!

We were soooo excited, but also super bummed! How can you go throughout your first pregnancy alone without me?...or any family for that matter! My mom and I decided that we needed to plan a trip to see her and that we did! We decided to wait until January so we could go to the movie together to see "One For The Money" with Katherine Heigl, since the three of us are huge Stephanie Plum novel fans! Plus - the good news is: we traveled on Allegiant and flights to Colorado Springs in January are like $40.00! NICE!!

YAY!! We made it to Colorado Springs!! Now we just have to get to Denver!

 On our first day we decided to go to the movie since that was the whole reason we came when we did! It's a good thing the company was good because the movie was mediocre. From Katherine Heigl's weird fake Jersey accent to the overall bad acting it left a lot to be desired but it was fun anyways. It's hard not to love it when you love the book so much and the people you are with. But in reality, the book is hilarious and has more action and the movie focused WAY too much on the romantic stuff (there is not a lot of romance in the books, just enough to tease the reader).



With the scanner gun! So fun! They should have Birthday Registry!

After the movie we decided to go a little baby "shopping". We went through Babies "R" Us and helped Kristi with her baby registry. She was cute because she had already started the registry months before and it was a whole 1 page long. By the time we were done it was more like 8 pages! hahah! Hopefully she will get some of this good stuff for her shower that we are throwing her in a couple of months. (hint hint) Then we went over to Target and did it all over again! New moms are so cute! Her thinking is " I don't want to register for bottles, paci's, bibs, towels, diapers, wipes, (Pretty much anything less than $10 in price) because I can just buy that myself they are too expensive! Ha! Problem is when you add them up its a small fortune! Register for it all!!!! Plus what you don't get from your registry you get like 15% (or maybe 10%) off on those items for up to a year! Yes, baby needs a 60" LED TV. hehe!

This was the view from our hotel room before the snow really started to flurry.

After all that shopping we were exhausted! Plus it was starting to snow so we decided to call it a day. We went back to Kristi's apartment and hung out for a while and said hi to Mark (her boyfriend) then we all went out to dinner. We went to a Mexican restaurant. Mexican food in any state by Arizona is always comedic relief. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good. When you have to smother everything in cheese you might have a problem. :)

Mom, Me & Kristi at the Mellow Mushroom in Denver

Our last day we decided to be tourists. Kristi and Mark took us around Colorado and we had so much fun! We ate lunch in downtown Denver at a place called the Mellow Mushroom. It was pizza (and I'm pretty sure they have a location right here in Tempe) and they specialize in the odd. They had funky pizza combinations that were pretty good. Its pretty pricey, but its a fun atmosphere and its not bad pizza.

Did you know that this really happens???

We also perused the outdoor mall (Yes, OUTDOOR in DENVER in JANUARY), however it didn't seem all that cold. It's funny how a desert winter night is more bone chilling than a Denver winter night. I couldn't believe that it was cold enough to actually have steam coming up from the ground! We also had Frozen Yogurt from Pink Berry at the mall. OH MY GOODNESS! I have never been on the FroYo band wagon but this was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! We need a Pink Berry in AZ ASAP! {Update: apparently there is one in Tucson, a lot of good that does me}

Mile High!

We hit up the State Capitol where if you stand on that exact step (that we are on in that picture) then you are exactly 1 mile above sea level. There were some seriously weird people hanging out at the State Capitol though, so we just took the picture and bolted!

Then.....

We went to Hammond's candy factory!! My mom had seen an episode of Unwrapped on the Food Network where they went to this place and she remembered that they gave free tours daily so we went. It was pretty fun to watch. They call it a factory but there was not very many machines. It was mostly people making candy by hand the old fashioned way. At the time they were just making ribbon candy since the busy season (Christmas) was already over.  

You get official candy maker hats when you go on the tour.

The Candy Room was amazing! I wanted to get the kids a little souvenir from here but man it was hard to pick stuff out! There was just so much! I ended up opting for large suckers for each of them. I picked them out according to color rather than flavor. It was just easier that way.

When we were downtown we stopped in to see Coors Stadium, where the Rockies play. I'm not a huge Rockies fan, but I am a HUGE baseball fan! This stadium was absolutely beautiful! I wished it was baseball season so we could just watch a game there. This will definitely have to be on the list of stadiums to see a game at when we do our tour. We tried to get in but they had to guarded because there was a funeral going on inside. What do you have to do to have your funeral inside a baseball park? That would be awesome!

We did other stuff too but we were having too much fun to document everything so I will leave it here. I am so glad that Dan and the kids were able to spare me for 3 days and that my Dad and Chad were able to handle things without my mom! It was so fun and something I would like to be able to do again soon. Maybe next time we will make it a trip to Oregon to see Andrea (if only Allegiant would fly there for $40!).

SemperFi Bowl

Today we went to the Semper Fi Bowl at Chase Stadium in downtown phoenix. It was a bunch of fun. This was the first year for this particular bowl so it was pretty low key - less than 5,000 people. Plus it was open seating so we got to sit anywhere we wanted.

The Marines hosted this bowl game and they did such a great job with everything. The national anthem and the presentation of the flag was amazing. Plus they did a fly-by. It was really moving to watch. During the half-time show they had about 20 new recruits swear-in. I couldn't help but feel for them. They all looked so young and scared and yet here they were, taking an oath to protect our country and all of us. I am so grateful for our soldiers.

The teams were East VS. West. They were the top 100 high school football players from all over the nation. We knew it would be a close game but we were rooting for WEST!

 Olivia was insane.

 as always.

 We brought Garrett along and those 3 boys had a blast together. Most of the game they sat along the front wall.

 Then they got caught on the jumbo-tron! They were so excited. They thought they were celebrities for a few minutes.

Oh! ..and WEST WON! 17-14

New Spec's

Two years ago we took the whole family to the optometrist for some check ups. The silly man told Dan and myself that our children had wonderful eye sight but we could, if we wanted too, purchase them reading glasses. Why would you ever get reading glasses for a child with perfect eyes you ask?? I wondered the same thing but we politely declined and went our merry way.

Spencer in his 9 year-old wisdom heard the optometrist say "Your child needs glasses, especially to read". We have been assuring him for 2 years that his eyes are fine and that he just misunderstood the doctor. Well this school year he has taken it a step further. He asked his teacher if he could sit in the front row because he couldn't see the board and he tells her that he can not see anything. At his 11 year-old check-up he failed the eye exam. I thought FOR SURE that this dang kid was pretending because he just wanted some cool accessories (like one of his best friends). In my mind, there is NO WAY for him to be a successful baseball player if he really can't see.

Reluctantly I decided to take him to a NEW optometrist to check out his eyes. I did a lot of research and found one that used new technology so Spencer couldn't cheat his way into a super cool pair of glasses.

Sure enough he is near-sighted and has an astigmatism.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Love: the Linn family

Since I failed to send out Christmas cards this year (I'm Sorry!) I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give a family update for those that are dying to know how 2011 has treated our little family. Here goes:

 Olivia:  Miss Livy turned 4 just a few days ago and is continuing everyday to bless our lives with her odd-ball personality. She is very precocious and a little wild and incredibly amusing. She says the strangest things. She is all girl and loves everything pink, glittery and Justin Bieber. She really loves to dance. I am hoping to get her enrolled in some dance classes in January.










Ethan: "E" turned 9 last August and is in 3rd grade. He loves school and is doing wonderfully. Holding strong to all A's & B's. He is very goal oriented and is usually good on achieving those goals. He is a talented athlete as well. He played a season of flag football this fall and really enjoyed it. Next time we will be putting him in tackle though, he just has a natural aggression that he was not able to use in flag, for fear of penalties. He is also playing Club baseball for the Raptor's 11U team. He is growing tremendously in baseball and he makes me so proud.

Spencer: Spencer turned 11 last October and is in 5th grade. This little man has finally met his match with school. He is highly intelligent and has been able to coast through school without studying and doing much work until this year. This year it has all caught up with him. He has learned the hard way that school is numero UNO in his life for the next 10 years! I think that finally, at the half-way mark, he has discovered that he is a smart kid and with 10% more effort he is a freaking genius. Spencer is also super athletic. He plays baseball for the same club team as Ethan, the Raptor's 11U. He is a huge part of the team and always a starting player. He is a phenomenal second and first baseman as well as a force in the outfield. You wouldn't guess it by looking at this kid either but he can CRUSH a baseball. Not too much longer and he will be putting them over the fence.

Ryleigh: Bug is going to be 14 in February.... she is half-way through her 8th grade year and is anxiously waiting for high school next year. She is SUPER driven. She always strives for straight A's and up until this year has always been successful. She has a couple of teachers this year that she struggles to learn from but she still manages a high 'B' in those classes. She is working hard at earning money to go to Europe with her Spanish teacher in May. So far she has saved $750.00 of the $4500.00 that she needs. We are really proud of her. She is also an athlete. Right now she is playing softball for her junior high school. She rotates between center field and first base. She is a great spirit on the team and a good player. She had spent most of 2011 playing softball for a club team with her cousin Jayda. They had a blast together and both of them improved tremendously!



Dan and I continued to raise our 4 wonderful children and are constantly grateful for their individual little personalities. I really mean that too - I am not just blabbing nonsense here. We talk - on  a regular basis - about how lucky we are and how awesome we think our kids are.  Dan graduated from Nursing school in August and in a freakish swing of amazing luck got hired on almost immediately at Banner Good Sam in Phoenix in their PCU department on the cardiac floor. He is really loving the work, but he is still going to school. He should have his bachelor's by this time next year (at which point he says we can PARTY!) and then he will apply for both NP & CRNA school. I am so grateful for him and the life that he provides for our family. I have just been busy being the mom. I drive kids all over the place and back again. I love every minute of it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Well until next year.....

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Lou Who

Four Years ago today our family got a little bigger and our lives got a little brighter. 

We sure had no clue that the sweet little red-headed baby would be a wild crazy maniac at four. But I sure am grateful for her spunkiness - she keeps us on our toes for sure. 

Happy Birthday Olivia Kaye

I love you!

Some information about Olivia:

Favorite Color: Purple & Pink

Favorite Food: Apples & grapes

Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba!, Dora, Bubble Guppies, Team Oomizoomie

Favorite Movie: Nemo, Monsters Inc, Cinderella

Favorite Toy: Squishy Squishy Squashies, Babies, guitar, piano & babies

Favorite Song: Baby by Justin Bieber

Favorite Store: Target 

Here are a few pictures of her over the past year:

Olivia & Addysen

Battle Nativity

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is the Nativity scene. In the years past I have tried to collect one a year, so I have a lot of them now. Most of them are up on higher shelves but some are either too big or too small or I just don't have enough space for them. When I set them out I like to have them set all beautifully so that I can see the whole scene, everyone looking out (towards me).

Olivia the other hand thinks it needs to be a more realistic set-up. She goes behind me and sets them all up, surrounding baby Jesus, probably more like it should be. It is definitely a battle of the wills. everyday.