tales from a far-land

Today marks a milestone that fills my heart with gratitude and joy. Fifteen years ago, I said "I do" to the most remarkable man, and every day since then has been a journey of love, growth, and endless adventures. To my incredible husband, Joshua, on our 15th wedding anniversary: thank you for being my rock, my partner, and my best friend. Together, we've built a beautiful life filled with love, laughter, and countless memories that I hold dear to my heart. From the moment we met through Leadership West back in 2007, I knew there was something special about us. Our shared passion for making a difference in the world brought us together, and since then, we've been unstoppable. We've been blessed with two amazing children, Aiden and Madilyn, who fill our home with laughter, excitement, challenges, a hectic schedule, and love every single day. Watching them grow into incredible individuals has been one of the greatest joys of our lives. Our home has become our sanctu...

In May, Josh turned 40!  After the crazy year we had, he didn't want to have a big celebration.  In fact, he would have rather not celebrated it at all.  But, I couldn't let that happen.  So, instead, we went to dinner as a family for one of his favorite meals -- ice cream milkshakes.  It was fabulous and just enough over the top for this milestone birthday.   Post-dinner Celebratory Beer

With Arizona's "Stay at Home" executive order still in effect, there was no way to celebrate Josh's birthday with a traditional in-person party.  Instead, I planned a surprise Zoom wine tasting party for him on Friday, May 8th.  By the way, trying to plan a surprise anything while quarantined and working in the same office as your spouse is nearly impossible, but I pulled it off.   In order to make it feel like we were all at the same location, I had a Zoom background created for everyone to use during the party.  Also, on the day of the party, I delivered the following to each of the couples attending -- a wine rating sheet for each person, a cheat sheet of the wines that we would be tasting in an envelope for afterwards, four different red wines in tasting cups, a cheese platter to share per couple and a brownie each for dessert.  This allowed all of us to experience the same thing at the same time.  It was fabulous!  My favorite part was listen...

We spent the entire day celebrating Josh's birthday.  His special day included dropping of the kids at school, breakfast at Breakfast Kitchen Bar, Shabbat surrounded by family and friends and eating a homemade pazookie.  It was a fun birthday all around! Dropping off the kids at school Breakfast at BKB Shabbat! Josh with all of the kids Pazookie Time

The last grading period of the school year finished on May 18th.  Our entire household was ecstatic!  No more homework.  No more tests.  No more projects.  No more tears.  Just a couple weeks of fun learning and end of the year celebrations.  Although we were happy the grading period ended, our kids enjoyed their last couple of months of school  They definitely took full advantage of all of the fun "stuff" school has to offer them.  They participated in two after school clubs -- dance and Lego.  Madilyn invited Josh to be her date at the Royal Ball which was organized by the school's booster club.  And Aiden ended the year dressing up with his teacher for Star Wars Day (May the 4th).  And somewhere in-between all of the fun, they did manage to learn, problem solve, read, write and memorize "The Star-Spangled Banner".  We are so glad they have such an amazing community to call their home away from home. Aiden's GP5 Poem ...

Spring is full of so many celebrations.  Birthdays are among them.  We have so many friends and family members whom we had the opportunity to share in their special days.  We are so grateful for all of the fun and special memories that we made celebrating with them.. Brooke's Birthday Party ~ March Gretchen's Birthday Party ~ May Logan's Birthday Party ~ May Josh's Birthday ~ May Addison's Birthday Party ~ May