More Suns Fun!

Last night Billy and I had the opportunity to meet another one of my student's that I work with at University of Phoenix. I work on the professional athlete team, so I have the opportunity to work with athletes and family members of athletes. One of my student's plays basketball for the Atlanta Hawks. He has been in the NBA for 11 years, and was originally selected as the 7th pick in the first round in 1996. He was selected before Steve Nash (our own superstar in Phoenix) and Kobe Bryant. He is getting his degree so he can coach high school basketball after he retires from the NBA. Do we have any guesses of who my student is??? Let me help...We met Lorenzen Wright last night! He hooked us up with some tickets and backstage passes. He was such a down to earth guy and Billy and I think we could handle hanging out with him.

As you can tell, he is TALL! He is 6'11 and makes us both look short. Billy loved his shoes and I liked his diamond earrings and we both liked his pink tie. He is definitely a sharp dresser!

Unfortunately, he hurt his knee in practice so he wasn't able to play. He sat with the team during the first half of the game, but we didn't see him in the second half. We asked him where he went and he said he was embarrassed by the score. He said he couldn't handle watching the killing the Suns were giving them. What can you expect from the top team in the West though?

We had a great time and were very grateful for Lorenzen's generosity! We are so blessed!

SuperCross!

Working at the University of Phoenix, I work with a lot of students and build a lot of great relationships. Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet one of my students. Sony is the mother of James (Bubba) Stewart, the best supercross and motocross racer these days. Myself, Billy, and two of my coworkers and their spouses were able to meet Sonya. She got us tickets and pit passes for the race. It was my first time at a supercross race, and it was intense! It was crazy how many crashes happen right at the beginning during the very first turn. Those riders also get so high in the air, that I swear that all their bones would crumble is they fell.

Here we are with Sonya. She is in the middle with the fox hoodie on (go figure...it's one of their sponsors....must be nice!) Annabelle is on the other side of Sonya and Tim is in the back. Annabelle enrolled Sonya and Tim is the finance counselor I work with. We talked with Sonya for almost an hour which was unexpected and really fun. We figured that she would have other things to do, but she was just working on school work in the Stewart Trailer!

Here is us hanging out!

There were small kids who hope to be Supercross racers some day that raced. They were so cute!
Here is the starting line! Geez they go so fast, they are blurry with my camera!

That's our rider James Stewart! He won the 250 race! It always makes it more fun why your guy wins and he won by quite a bit. He really is the best in the business now.

We are excited because Sonya said anytime we want tickets at any race, to let her know....She was talking about us going to Vegas....she might regret that offer later. I had tons of fun and hope to go to another race soon!

Christmas - Better Late Than Never!

So I know that I am almost 20 days late, but I figure I would post a few pictures! Billy and I spent Christmas this year in California with my family. We traditionally spend it at my grandparents with my Aunt Shelly and Uncle Ken and cousin Dusty. We had a great time and it's always good to see family!

One of the highlights for me was talking with my grandpa about blogs. He doesn't have a computer and is almost 85 and doesn't have an interest in technology...(Honestly, I can't blame him!) He thinks it's crazy to get on here and talk about yourself. But anyway Grandpa...you just made my blog! :) Here is my grandpa! He is amazing! He is the hardest worker I know. Some people say I am a hard worker, and I think a lot of my work ethic comes from him. At his age, he still works out every morning at the junior college by his house, and he goes and works out at the Ranch! He is amazing and I love my grandpa! :)

Here is my amazing grandma! She is giving us a nice pose because she has a twinkling necklace with Christmas lights on it. She has quite the personality and is always fun to be around. We have lots of good memories together. I can say that she is the most stylish grandma. When she used to buy me clothes, people were always surprised when they found out that my grandma had bought them for me! :)

We all gave my grandpa a cell phone for Christmas! Not only did he make my blog, but he got his own cell phone. My grandma has had one for several years, but I guess it's time for my grandpa too!

Here is Rebecca....She is such a doll! She still is lacking the hair, and I think it's important for girls without hair to have bows. This is a bow from one of my presents from Billy. I thought it would work really well. She actually left it in for a while!

This Christmas was Billy's first experience with my family on Christmas Morning. We all open presents one at a time. It takes a while with how many people are there, and usually takes a couple hours. He took a turn playing Santa and handing out presents to others. His only complaint was that the present opening session lasted a little too long....all 4 hours! It was definitely an adventure!

I am grateful for my family and fun times we have at the holiday time. I am looking forward to 2008!

Suns Fun!

Over the past couple of years, I have become a BIG Suns fan! Last season Billy and I watched a lot of their games and it fun because I feel like I know all their players. Billy and I joke around because I made up nicknames for Steve Nash and Amare Stoudmire. I can talk with all the guys at work and I know the lingo. I think I catch some of them off guard with all that I know! :)
I hadn't ever been to a Suns game though....until last weekend. Uncle Bob and Aunt Shelley gave us tickets to the game last weekend. We sat on the 5th row had a great time! :)

Here are Billy and I at the game. I couldn't have asked for better seats! :) It was fun to have to wear your ticket around your neck since we sat so close! :) Our tickets also included free dinner, drinks and dessert...Not bad huh! We were very fortunate.

This picture shows you how close we were to the floor. There is Marcus Banks, Steve Nash, and Amare right there!

Another highlight other than the basketball game was seeing one of the Suns dancers. You may think I am kidding, but I'm referring to Jenni who was on the bachelor this last season. She was in the final two, and then the bachelor didn't choose either one of the girls! Jenni is the girl to the left of the girl in the brown hat. It was funny to watch her after the game, and a couple of guys went up to her and talked to her. I'm sure they were trying to win her heart.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

This year, Billy and I spent Thanksgiving in Arizona. We had a great weekend and did a couple fun things! Thanksgiving started out with me running a 5K race. It was the first annual Turkey Trot in my very own town of Laveen. I hadn't really trained for it, and I don't usually run 3 miles, however, I surprised myself and did better than I thought.

This is my friend Heather. We go running a few times a week together and that was the only training we had!

Here is a picture of me making it across the finish line. My time wasn't anything special for a runner, but I don't consider myself to be a runner and since I hadn't really trained for it, I was very proud of myself. I will say that it felt so good to cross the finish line. I think I understand a little bit why people like to run long races. It's something that you work hard to finish and it feels good when you do! I am waiting to see if I get accepted for a half marathon in March....and if I do, that will be interesting. I am going to continue to run and try and enter a 10K race here soon!

J and his kids came to visit on Friday after Thanksgiving. Billy and I took them to the park that is down the street. We had a lot of fun feeding the ducks. The kids scared us all, because they were so close to the edge and the water is NOT clean!

Here is Fenton and I going down the slide at the park. I will tell you that kids really do take a lot of energy out of you. It amazes me how much energy Fenton has and how long he can play really, really hard!

We had a really great Thanksgiving weekend. I had so much fun, I got a sore throat and lost my voice this week. I guess all the long hours of talking on the phone got to me. I am excited to have a more relaxing weekend and getting better.

Family Fun

Billy and I were blessed to have my parents and Sister Christi come and visit for a while. My parents stayed a week in Sedona with my Uncle Ken and Aunt Shelly and Christi stayed with us. We had a great time shopping, playing tennis and watching football. I just wish I didn't have to work all week while she was here! Fortunately enough, Billy had the entire week off work to spend with Christi. That was definitely a blessing! Here are some pictures from the trip:

Billy, Christi and I spent the weekend in Sedona with my parents and aunt and uncle. Here is a typical picture of the football lovers cheering on their team after church!

Billy and Christi are both big dancers. After dinner one night, they had a freeze dance competition. Christi won...She can dance all night! It was fun to watch them go at it!

Here is Christi on our hike in Sedona...How do you like that big rock? It is almost as tall as Christi! :)

The red rock country is so beautiful! I think it is one of the most beautiful parts of Arizona. Probably Sedona and Lake Powell is number one...Keep in mind that I haven't been to the Grand Canyon yet. I'll give you an update as soon as I get there.

Christi and I were getting ready to get our game on! Christi surprised me with her skills. After she warmed up, she is actually pretty good and we rallied a little bit! She can talk the talk, but she can also walk the walk!

Here is Christi in action...Like I said she really has skills. I'm sure she is ready to take anyone on who wants to compete after her. She told Billy and me that playing tennis was her favorite part of the trip. I love how the simple things make her so happy!

I honestly have the best family! I just wish I lived closer to them! We can't wait to see J's kids over Thanksgiving weekend and we can't wait to see Rebecca (our Georgia Peach) this Christmas! Stay tuned for more posts! The holidays are coming so I am sure I will have a lot more pictures!