Schwisow-style Thanksgiving

This year we decided to spend the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Nebraska with the Schwisow family. 

Scott was a little upset that he may not get to watch the annual Arizona State vs. University of Arizona football game, but with some clever technology fixes and a lot of patience, he was able to stream the game and feed it through the tv for all to watch (not the best quality feed which caused poor audio quality and lots of squinting).

We played games, watched football, ate tons of turkey (and leftover turkey), and Scott even got to drive a bulldozer.

Halloween 2009

Sadly for us, Katie spent Halloween with her mom again this year.  So in the spirit of Halloween, we carved pumpkins the weekend before Halloween and then got a costume for the dog...

Fall 2009

Sadly, Fall didn't bring us cool weather like we had hoped (we still a few days over 100 in November), so we were still able to do lots of fun outdoor activities.

Katie has been doing so well in her new school - she's only missed 3 words in 10 weeks of spelling quizzes.  She soaks up new information like a Sham-WOW and ends up teaching us new things all the time.  Her math homework the other day even forced Whit to double check the answer on-line (eeek!).  She's made gobs of new friends and really seems to enjoy school.

Here's a few snapshots of Fall in Arizona...

Western Australia - 2009

So after we left Melbourne, we flew directly to Perth.  From Perth, we caught another flight 2 hours north to Karratha.  Once in Karratha, we met up with the rest of the wedding guests and the wedding party.  We spent 2 nights in Port Samson and did some coastal exploring.

Next we headed inland to Karijini National Park.  The wedding was absolutley beautiful and the Karijini Eco-Resort was one of the more fabulous experiences of our trip.  Everything was wonderful, beautiful and the experience as a whole was really great.

After 2 nights at the Karijini National Park, we headed back to the coast to spend our remaining days in Exmouth, WA. While in Exmouth, we seized the opportunity to soak up some sun at the beach, swim with the wildlife and explore the western tip of the continent.  On our last full day in Australia, we decided to go Deep Sea Fishing with a few other members of the wedding group.  Neither of us had ever done this before and it was a great time!!  We were able to keep everything that we caught and had quite the feast that evening.

Despite our FABULOUS trip, our journey home was more terrible than we ever imagined it could be.  From start to finish, we travelled for 50+ hours, beginning in Exmouth and ending in our garage. Whitney was sick with a fever and cough, Scott was squished in coach and unable to sleep on any flight, our main flight from Sydney to Los Angeles was delayed, bags were damaged and/or lost and connecting flights were missed.  But man, were we thankful to get home.

Below is a chronological slideshow of our photos:

Eastern Australia - 2009

So we were invited to attend one of Whit's former co-worker's weddings in the Outback. After much debate, we decided it was one of those "once in a lifetime" events that we simply could not rationalize missing out on.

After realizing what a long flight it is to Australia (14 hours going west, 16 hours going east), we decided to make the most of our visit and try to see as much as possible. Whit saved up all her vacation and personal days for 2009 and we planned our 16 day voyage.

We flew from Phoenix to San Francisco to Sydney, spent 2.5 days touring around Sydney and then "hired" (rented) a car to drive to Melbourne. The drive was estimated to take 10+ hours so we decided we'd divide the trip in half and find somewhere to stay in between. We were not in any sort of hurry to get to Melbourne, so we hopped on and off the Hume Highway at our leisure visiting small towns, wineries, and other dots on the map when we wanted to.

We stayed the night in a small town called Wagga Wagga, which we can officially say has Australia's WORST Mexican food. I don't think we've ever paid so much for food so terrible before. So if you ever find yourself in Wagga Wagga, DO NOT eat at Montezuma's.

After our night in Wagga Wagga, we hopped back in our little car and headed to Melbourne to meet Whit's college friend, Jenny Chambers (formerly Jenny Muth). Along the way we stumbled across a FANTASTIC brewery in Beechworth (Bridge Road Brewery) where we didn't meet any beer we didn't like. We hopped back on the road and ran into a DELICIOUS winery (Sam Miranda Winery) in Snow Valley. Eventually we made it to Melbourne in time to meet Jenny for dinner. We spent 2.5 days in Melbourne touring around in the rain. Fortunately, the rain held off long enough for us to attend the Footie Finals at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. Jenny came to the game with us and served as our unofficial footie interpreter - what a bizarre sport.

On our final morning in Melbourne, we headed back to the airport and waited for our flight to Perth to meet up with the wedding party...

LegoLand and San Diego

We were delighted when Aunt Adrienne (Schmadrienne) scheduled another visit to Arizona to enjoy a relaxing long weekend and soak up some sun. We tried to think of things that we could do with her on the weekend to entertain her.

Then, after Katie's first two weeks of school were a resounding success, Scott and I decided to surprise Katie. We planned a trip to LegoLand as a reward for studying so hard and doing so well in her new school. Adrienne picked Katie up from the bus-stop after school on Friday and we tossed her in the car. We started to drive and played '20 Questions' with Katie so she could try to figure out where we were going...it only took 6 questions.

Below are a few photos of our weekend at LegoLand and in San Diego.

Scott's Fat Tire Ride 2009

This past weekend Scott completed one of the silliest things I have ever heard of: a 65-mile mountain bike race.

The race started in the Coconino National Forest, just a few miles northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. The course decended through the pine trees (where Whitney managed to see a momma bear and 2 bear cubs) into the flatter high-desert landscape. The course then wound back into the cool forest on Forest Service roads following a historic stage coach route. The ride ended on Forest Service Road 302 just a few miles outside the boundary of the Grand Canyon National Park.

The course is normally approximately 65 miles; however, due to forest fires in the high-country, the course was detoured. The detour route added approximately 4 miles to the middle section of the course. Lucky Scott.

Scott started the race at approximately 7:30am and finished at approximately 2:15pm. Along the way he wiped out once (got a little eager and went a little too fast), successfully helped his buddy Jason (wearing Honey Smacks jersey in photos below) fix his bike with only a zip-tie and medical tape and also stopped along the way to help a stranger change a flat tire.

Enjoy the photos posted below:

Third grade at Katie's new school

Katie started THIRD GRADE last week at the school in our neighborhood, Ryan Elementary. She was very excited about her new school and her new teacher. After only a week, she had made 6 new friends at school and 4 bus-riding friends.

After 2 weeks she is requesting play-dates with her new friends, eager to sign-up for the drama/theater club, and sings songs on the bus with other kids.

Here are a few photos from the first day of school:

8 is GREAT!

Katie recently celebrated her 8th birthday with a Star Wars theme!! A large family birthday party was held pool-side at her mom's house and Katie's first girls-only sleepover party was held the following night at mom's house. Katie invited Whitney to come to the girls-only sleepover. Whitney helped paint fingernails and decorate cupcakes with the girls.

Here are a few photos from the girls-only sleepover:

Wedding photos

It was recently brought to our attention that we never posted our wedding photos.

WHOOPS!

I did a little digging and I've uploaded a combination of the professional photos and the more candid photos taken by family and friends. There's a lot...enjoy!

Once I locate the CD of our "dirty photos," I'll upload those as well.

The First Annual Daddy-Daughter-Doggie Fishing Trip

Scott, Katie and Sally headed up north to Bear Canyon Lake for a few days of camping and fishing. They found a great spot and both Katie and Sally were able to do some good exploring around the campsite. Katie and Daddy were not lucky enough to catch any fish, but Katie had a lot of fun with her new fishing pole and is anxious to go again sometime.

Whirlwind weekend in Seattle

So 2 weeks ago we made an impulse trip to Seattle. During Scott's mandatory week off work, he flew up to Seattle, rented a car, drove to Canada and explored for 3 days. I flew up on Friday afternoon and we crashed with my good friend Jerry for the weekend.

It was quite the whirlwind weekend: we hung out with Jerry's friends, toured the city, met up with our friends Steve and Jenny for dinner, explored a sliver of Washington's wine country and attempted to grill on Jerry's rooftop.

Below are some photos from our Seattle weekend, and since I wasn't there...Scott will have to blog about his Canada trip on his own...someday.

Sally-Wally

For those of you who have know Scott's dog Sally for many years, these next few photos may surprise you. For those of you who don't...

Sally-Wally, Sally McStruthaz, Slobbering Sally, Sally Sosa, etc. is our lovable 5-year old yellow lab. Scott originally got her as a puppy to keep the stray cats out of the yard at his old house. For years Sally was a crazy, hyper and obnoxious dog. Ms. Sally Struthaz LOVES attention and who knew that's all it would take to help calm her down.

Now, Sally Sosa has grown up, gotten gray, and even beaten medical odds. Katie and Sally are best friends and Sally is a big part of our family.

Chances for Children 2009

Katie and daddy ran in the Chances for Children race at Tempe Town Lake on May 16, 2009. Despite the HOT temps, Katie finished the one-mile race in just over 11 minutes.

(We finally got a new computer and I forgot to upload photos. Better late than never...)

The crew meets Riley Patterson Hayes

We traveled to Dallas for Memorial Day weekend to meet the newest member of the Hayes family, Riley Patterson Hayes. Pat, Wendy and the kids went also. It was such a treat to see Mark and Meridith's amazing new home and spend time hanging out with them. Parenthood suits them both very well and Riley seems to be a very happy baby. We can't wait to watch him grow...

Wendy did a great job of taking pictures most of the weekend, but I managed to remember to take a few with our camera.

Tom and Courtney's wedding

One thing we learned from our wedding is you can never have too many photos of your big day. After all, you spend months planning it so you might as well enjoy the photos.

So here's our photos from Tom and Courtney's beautiful wedding. There are quite a few so disable your pop up blockers, click on the slide show below and the pictures will open in large form in another window (http://picasaweb.google.com/azhayesfamily). This will allow you to scroll through them in a bigger window and at your own speed.

We will be sending a CD of all our photos to Tom and Courtney and also to any family members who want one (just send me an email).

ENJOY!!!

Easter 2009

Scott took Good Friday off to spend the day with Katie and Whit was stuck at home battling the stomach flu. Somewhere in the middle of the day, we all decided to dye Easter eggs...

Mountain biking with Daddy

Scott does his best to go mountain biking at least 2 times a week. This time, he convinced Katie to go along with him and give it a try.

They loaded the bikes on the car and head to a trail we normally hike in the SanTan Mountains. Katie worked really hard, gave it her best effort and had one pretty good wipe out. BUT after all that, she ended the day with a smile on her face and is ready to go again sometime!!

First Water Trail

Scott and I tossed Sally in the car and headed out to the Superstition Wilderness on Sunday for a leisurely hike...9.5 miles later we were all starving and exhausted. It was a beautiful afternoon and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

First pitch

Larry earned the honor of throwing out the first pitch at the Oakland Athletics home game against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday at Phoenix Muni. So we rallied the troops and went out to support him and to enjoy a beautiful day!

Neighborhood camping trip

For the last weekend of Katie's spring break, we went camping in White Canyon with our neighbors Kris, Courtney, Andrew and their future-baby.

Katie and Andrew had a blast playing in the spring and exploring all around the campsite together. Naturally, Sally wore herself out following them everywhere they went.

Southern Arizona weekend

Last year we started a tradition of getting out of town and exploring Arizona on Whit's birthday. So this year we chose to explore southeastern Arizona.

We began with a trip to Arizona's wine country. We stopped at the Callahan Winery in Elgin, Arizona for wine tasting. We continued on to Bisbee, Arizona with enough time to catch the Arizona basketball game. We walked around the town and soaked in the history while Whit took photos (a new favorite hobby thanks to new camera).

After the Arizona basketball game, Whit ran into 2 bikers outside the bar. One biker was wearing a University of Nebraska fleece so naturally, Whit started a conversation. After just a few minutes, Whit discovered that her new biker friend, Allen Poore, had her mother's maiden name and ties to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Allen was convinced they were relatives and began buying drinks for "Scott and Whitney Poore." A quick call to mom and Gramma Poore revealed that Allen's father, Robert Poore, was Whitney's grandfather's cousin. HOW BIZARRE.

The next day Scott and Whitney visited the Queen Mine and took the tour. Whit was nervous but emerged fascinated by mines and mining operations. After the tour, we skipped town and headed off on our Ghost Town tour. We visited Gleeson, Courtland and Pearce, Arizona. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-ghosttowntrail.html

Sunday morning alternative

Scott and I had started hiking with friends on Sunday mornings recently, but this week we decided to change the location and instead, try to make it a family outing. So we tossed Sally and Katie in the car and headed to Larry and Judy's house. Uncle Pat and Andrew decided to join us as well.

Andrew and Katie enjoyed the opportunity to hang out on a beautiful day outdoors...

Katie's Skirt Chaser Race

Katie's running club at school signed up to run in the Skirt Chaser Race, a 1 mile race at Tempe Town Lake. Her schoolmates all wore Hula Skirts...and most of the daddy-runners did too.

Katie finally convinced Whit to run with her in the race and she had a lot of fun running with both Whitney and daddy.

Home Improvement

After a few months of marriage and co-habitation, we decided we needed to renovate our master closet to give us more space. After all, our house has 10 foot ceilings and there was lots of extra space just begging to be maximized.

I called around and got a few outrageous quotes for custom closet designs and eventually Scott said it was something we could build together. So I drew up some designs and Scott and I brainstormed how to actually build my dream closet.

Then the fun part began, demolition (they really make it look like way more fun on HGTV) and construction. We are currently about 60% done with the closet. The "his" side is just about complete.

Here are a few photos of the beginning....

Adult Snow Vacation

Our good friends Jason and Shannon found a great deal on tickets to Salt Lake City, so naturally, we decided to go for the weekend. At the last minute, our friends Rob and Jan decided to fly up and join us (he works for US Airways so last minute travel decisions are second nature for them).

After quite the rental car episode, we headed out to the mountains on Friday with our boarding passes in hand (note to any powder hounds reading this: if you fly into Salt Lake City on any day, fill out a form and then go to any of the Park City ski resorts that day...you ski for free) and hit the slopes. The rental shop outfitted me with the most uncomfortable ski equipment so I quickly switched to snowboarding. I hopped on the lift with little hesitation (I kind of forgot I didn't have skis on) and wiped out HARD while getting off the lift. I made my way down a blue run...and then went immediately to the bar.

The temperatures in Park City were a bit too warm and produced lots of heavy snow and sleet. Lucky for us though, the temps in the mountains nearby were perfect for dumping LOTS and LOTS of snow. On Saturday we headed out to Brighton and were delighted to find lots of fresh powder. I again attempted snowboarding and was excited to see myself making progress. After a while, Scott, Jason and Shannon headed off to find the double black runs.

No one was hurt and good times were had by all...a successful trip indeed!

Kids Rock 2009

Katie's running club at school signed up to run in Kids Rock 2009, the kids version of the P.F. Chang's Marathon. So she and daddy ran the 1 mile race with hundreds of other 2nd graders in just under 12 minutes. Meanwhile I chased them around the course taking photos. I'm not really sure who ends up running more...

Frist Annual Light Rail Pub Crawl

Scott had the brilliant idea to organize a pub crawl utilizing Phoenix's newest, and only major public transportation system...the Light Rail.

So we did some homework and devised a plan for which bars to hit along the line. There are 28 stops and we did our best to find a bar for each stop. We rallied up a few of our friends and a few of their friends and headed out.

We began at the far west end of the line at Groggy's bar in Mesa at 3pm. We quit 13 stops later in downtown Phoenix at Hanny's when we realized we had 5 minutes to catch the last train home.

Thanks to everyone who showed up to help keep us company!!!

Snowy New Years Trip

Midway through the year, we decided that we weren't going to do a huge a Christmas celebration with lots of presents and toys. Our main present was going to be something that created memories. Stuck in the tree was a card telling her that we were planning to take her skiing in Colorado for New Years Eve. She was very excited about this.

Low and behold, Santa, who knew that Katie was going to be at her mom's house for Christmas brought Miss Katie a pink snow helmet and new ski goggles. Attached to the presents was a note from Mrs. Claus saying something to the effect of, "Santa and I wanted to make sure you had something for your daddy's house too." That Santa sure is clever!

We left Phoenix on December 30 to make the 10-hour drive to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. When we arrived at our rental house on New Years Eve, Katie discovered that the kids who had stayed there before us had left her 2 snow caves in the front yard. To say that she was happy and excited does not begin to describe her level of excitement. Our powder-hound friends Jason, Shannon and Chris met us there also. We played in the snow, played on the Wii, drank champagne/kid-friendly bubbly cider and hoped for snow.

The next day we enrolled Katie in ski school. She did outstanding!!! At the end of the day, Scott and I checked her out of school early and went on the small slopes with her. We ended the day with a HUGE smile on Katie's face. The next day we skiied on the green slopes with Katie and played mommy-duck and baby-duck. Katie quacked her way down the hill following in Whit's tracks like a professional. Both of us were very impressed with Katie's skill and toughness.

Friday night brought 6" of fresh powder to the house. It continued to snow into Saturday morning and when we arrived on the slopes bundled up to our eyeballs, Katie got a little cold, a little nervous, and a little whiny. So we went home and built snow forts and had snowball fights. It was a great day to play in the snow at home as it continued to snow all day...although it would have been fantastic conditions on the mountain.

Happy New Year to all!

Christmas 2008

So despite this being our first Christmas together as a married couple and family, this year was a bit sad for us as Katie spent the holiday with her mom. However, we celebrated Christmas a week early with Katie by packing up a few mugs of hot chocolate and a bag of cookies, throwing her and Sally in the car and heading over to see the Tumbleweed Christmas Tree in Downtown Chandler.

The next morning we surprised her with her favorite breakfast (pancakes) and a surprise visit from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Larry. We opened presents and pretty much pretended it was Christmas morning. We tried our hardest to make the best out of the situation.

The following week, Scott's brother Mark and his wife Meridith flew in from Texas and kept us company over the real holiday. This was especially fun because Meridith is 7 months pregnant!! It was certainly nice to have guests around to keep us from feeling the empty house syndrome. Sally was especially happy to have Mark and Meridith in the house because they spoiled her. She was pretty sad when they left...as were we.