Birthday Wishes

I got to spend my birthday with my family in Utah. It was a real treat! Both of my grandmothers came to my birthday celebration. I was honored and thrilled to see them.

Great Grandma Hill and Great Grandma Seal

The kids spent the evening eating good food and playing with their cousins and their aunts and uncles. We don't get a chance to be together very often, so it was an extra special event.

I had to capture a picture of my two youngest sitting happily together. Look at those sweet faces. I can't get enough of them!

Some of the Seal cousins in front of Grandma and Grandpa Seal's house.

Uncle Michael was bouncing the grandkids on the trampoline. He has a real way with them and they were in heaven, giggling and smiling.

Peyton played ball. I've got to get that girl into sports. She has a natural ability.

Benjamin loved the wagon. He got rides with different cousins around the circle. I am not sure why we don't own a wagon. They are lots of fun.

Happy Birthday to me! It was a lovely day. It was fitting to celebrate the day with family, especially with my mom who brought me into the world 34 years ago.
Thanks, Mom, for more things than I can mention here! I owe you my life.

Moving to Michigan!

Here we come!

Yes, it almost was just yesterday that we moved to Phoenix, so it comes as a big surprise that we are picking up and moving again after two short months. We have loved Phoenix and may return someday. Mark traded in his job as a preliminary general surgery intern for a categorical orthopedic surgery position at Wayne State University in Dearborn, MI. He will begin his residency on August 1st. We are thrilled about his new position and can't wait to discover the beauty of Michigan. I guess it is time to return to the snow. Carston couldn't be more excited about that!

If I can survive repacking all of the things that we just recently unpacked, I'll be blogging again in no time. This will be our tenth move in ten years of marriage! I believe we fit the definition of transient. It will be nice to put down some roots in Michigan for the next five years (far away from menacing hurricanes). So, now we just need to find an address to move our things to, talk our families into helping us yet AGAIN and we'll get busy doing what we are getting pretty good at doing -- moving!

Here are some facts about Michigan for those of you, like me, who have never visited before:

US State of Michigan

The name is derived from Lake Michigan, which in turn is believed to come from the Chippewa Indian word meicigama, meaning "great water."

Bounded by four of the Great Lakes, Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the continental United States.

Michigan, upper Midwestern state of the United States. It consists of two peninsulas thrusting into the Great Lakes and has borders with Ohio, Indiana (S), Wisconsin (W) and the Canadian province of Ontario (N, E).

The Lower Peninsula, shaped like a mitten, is separated from Ontario, Canada, on the east by Lake Erie, Lake Huron and by the Detroit River and the St. Clair River, which together link these two Great Lakes. It is bordered by Lake Michigan on the west, across which lies Wisconsin. The Upper Peninsula lies northeast of Wisconsin between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior and is separated from Ontario by the narrow St. Mary's River.

Celebrating America!

This evening, we went to Steele Indian School Park near the VA Hospital in Phoenix to attend the Fabulous Phoenix 4th Independence Day Celebration. It was hot, but not the muggy kind of heat we endured in Louisiana so it seemed easily bearable. I like the dry Arizona heat.

There were all kinds of blow ups in the park and a firetruck with fireman spraying all of the kids with water. The mess left after the firetruck stopped sharing its wet wealth was what we got to walk through on our way back to the car after the celebration. It seems like fun gets messy!

There were small stands set up with various items either for sale or for free. One gave out free small garbage cans for recycling if you lived in the city, which I was excited about and the boys were gifted these D-Back hats at another one, which they loved!

You can tell the kids were nice and warm,
but not pouring sweat like they would have been in Louisiana.
As the desert sun was setting, we found a place to view the fireworks not far from the stage where live music was being played. I set up our picnic blanket and some chairs while Mark took the kids down the Cars blow-up slide.

I got there in time to witness the action.

Once it got dark, we danced to the live music and listened to the presentation before the fireworks. Jackson was in his element. He loves to bust a move! My favorite part is the look he gets on his face while he is dancing. He knows he is a rock star.

Peyton ran around with the boys in circles until they were all so sweaty and tired
they actually stopped for a moment to eat a treat.

We loved watching the fireworks! They were impressive and the songs inspiring.
We love our country!

We got caught in the traffic leaving the park, so we were exhausted and thirsty by the time we finally reached home. Next year we will take a whole cooler full of drinks instead of our camelback and water bottles for each person. Hydration is important around here.

Happy Fourth of July!

Fourth of July Swimming

We got to swim in our own pool for the fourth of July! I guess, for the kids, it wasn't that different from any other day we've had since we moved here. We swim everyday.
The difference was that Mark was home for the day! Swimming with Mark is so much more fun probably because he enjoys it so much. Besides, swimming on the fourth of July is a Calder family tradition.

We started the morning by going to McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale
to ride the train. It was Mark's first time there with us. We were SO hot by the time we came back home we didn't even stop in the house but went straight out into the backyard and jumped into the pool. We swam all of the rest of the day. Mark barbecued some great food while we swam and then we ate dripping wet by the side of the pool, in keeping with family tradition.

When we first moved here, Grant didn't really like to put his face in the water. He also had to wear a life jacket. He now swims underwater everywhere he goes in the pool. I still have to closely monitor him, but he is pretty good at staying in the shallow end. Mark and I are so proud of his progress. He is becoming a great little swimmer!

The scary thing is that he has no fear! The danger is that he prefers jumping into the pool to swimming around so he spends all of his time testing out crazy new jumps that crack me up.
I'm afraid he is going to hit the side and split his head open one of these days.

I taught the kids how to dive earlier this summer and they are all great divers. Carston prefers the kneeling dive off of the diving board (shown above) . Once he gets into the water, he is fearless and fast!

Jackson does tricks off of the diving board like his dad! He is also our best diver and is getting to be a fast little racer. He practices racing by swimming the length of the pool with Peyton. They race a dozen times each day and it is funny to watch Jackson swimming for his life while Peyton glides along, gets distracted and sometimes heads another direction in the middle of a race. BUT she can also be very competitive as well. You're never quite sure what you are going to get with Peyton!

Benjamin has just started swimming by himself with his life jacket on. He used to make me hold him the entire time or he wouldn't get in the water, but he has now figured out how to propel himself in any given direction and kicks his little legs furiously to get around. His arms are merely for steering and holding toys. He still doesn't like putting his face in the water, but will allow for it when he jumps into the pool to me.

Carston is taking off as a swimmer and I am so excited to get him onto a swim team so he can refine his abilities. He isn't anxious to have to swim laps since he loves to just swim freely.

Peyton is our champion at holding her breath! She makes me nervous staying under the water so long. She loves to swim right up against the bottom of the pool and won't let herself take a breath until she has successfully navigated the entire length of the pool swimming down a wall and only back up on the completely opposite end.

We have contests doing pull ups on the diving board (probably not great for the board, but fun for us). Peyton and Jackson prefer pulling themselves completely out of the water.

Here Peyton is successful at the diving board pull up game! She gets so brown in the summer. Sunscreen doesn't stop her from tanning. She'll love that someday.

What a fun day of swimming! We have absolutely LOVED having a pool, although it is a bit scary at times. We are grateful for the net that fits over the top as well. Because of the pool, I have spent a lot of my summer outside with the kids and I am learning all about pool care. I actually have a tan (now that I am trying to protect my skin:)). That hasn't happened in years.

I love Arizona.
This is my kind of place.

Our New Home in the Desert

Southwestern charm,

Nice landscaping (there are even green grapes on the vine by our front gate),

A refreshing pool,

and even some Green to remind us where we came from:
What more could we ask for?

We love Phoenix!!