Happy 4th and Days *Thirty Eight -2- Fourty Three*

So, a lot has gone on for the past 6 days!! Monday I had a stress meltdown, and decided that I needed to not go for Scrapbooker of the Year this year. I will do it for sure next year. Since I seem to be an Olympic procrastinator, I still ended up having 5 pages left. And, it may not sound like a lot to most people, but when it takes me at least 2 hours to do 1 page... 5 is A LOT! I just felt that it wasn't fun anymore if I was crying over it. :) So, I will try for *Hall of Fame* in a couple months. And, if nothing comes of that, then I will try out for Scrapbooker of the Year next year. And I won't let my Gold Medal worthy procrastination get in the way. :) You can definitely say that this was a life lesson for me. ;) Anyway....
Over the weekend I got a new phone, which I am really loving a lot! You can see it here. :) Angelina went to a store in the mall which made her eyes pop out of her head and her mouth hit the floor. Which means, she was amazed and SUPER EXCITED all at the same time! Libby Lu is the name of the store. If you have little girls take them! It is an AWESOME place! Or, look forward to taking your daughters their when they get older, because it really is a cool place! She got to make her own lip gloss, glitter body spray and sparkle lotion.
Sunday we went to the Phoenix Zoo... which oddly enough is in Scottsdale. ha ha! Let me just say... going to the zoo in the summer here... hmmm. We must have been crazy!! LOL. Getting to the zoo at 10:30 am it was only 99 degrees. But around 3pm it was 110 degrees and by 4m it was 113 degrees! Fortunately, the zoo closed at 4pm, so we were leaving when it was 113, but still!! ha ha! I forgot to wear sunscreen, so of course I burned. :( Hate that! We had a blast, though! Saw lots of animals, and Angelina got to brush *the real* lambie. :) And, of course, I took a TON of pictures! 494 to be exact!! Too many to post here, but a lot of them will be uploaded to my flickr page.
I have realized since being in Arizona for the past few weeks what a great place it truly is! There is a *ton* of stuff to do, lots of really great and interesting restaurants, and in general just a fun place! We are going to buy a second home out here very soon, which will be cool, because it will be a home for Mike to stay at when he travels out here, and a home we can vacation to whenever we want.
Today is the 4th of July, and I honestly can not believe how fast it came!! I keep thinking about a year ago. Pretty funny how fast a year can fly on by! :) Seems like having kids makes the time go by faster. Speaking of fast... Angelina starts year round school on MONDAY!!! Pretty incredible that she will already be in Kindergarten. Year round! She is *so.so* excited!! She absolutely LOVES school, which is awesome!

**OK** Back from 4th of July party and fireworks show...

We just had a lot of fun at Anthony and Jojo's house. They just had their pool re-done, and their backyard worked on, so they had a bunch of people over to celebrate the 4th and to get some use out the backyard. It was fun! Food, beer, pool time in 118 degree weather (I opted out), and lots of FUN and talking. :) Today was much too hot for anyone! I don't even care if you have lived in Arizona forever! 118 degrees is just TOO HOT!!!! But we had fun non the less. It is currently 10:30pm, and the sun and heat has sucked most of my energy out of me.

All in all, our 3 weeks here in Scottsdale, AZ has been A LOT of fun!! :) I really like all of the people that I have meet out here. Everyone is very welcoming, and accommodating.

We only have a few days left! Saturday we fly home. And... Mike was upgraded from coach to First Class seating on the plane, and he is having me sit in First Class *ALL* the way home!!!! I got to sit in First Class from Houston to Phoenix, and it is AWESOME!!! So, I definitely won't mind sitting there again! ;)

Well after a fun and busy day, I am beat! Off to bed I go!! Enjoy the MANY pics below!

Zoe and Jojo

Baby Blue Eyes

SO hot at the zoo, but still having so much fun, and being SO GOOD!

Like I said, it was hot! That cloth on her head was soaked in water. :)

Wearing her cute zebra onesie, which couldn't have been more perfect for the zoo!

We call this man *Super Dad* But... in 113 degree weather... we call him *AMAZING Dad*

.Dragonfly.

::Cud::

*love* this flower! Called: Passion Flower

LOVE this baby orangutan.

She was *so* hot, but still willing to smile for her Mama.

Brushing the *real* lambie!!

Silly, right? She borrowed this towel from Zoe because she was Really hot!! ;)

One of Angelina's favorite things to do... ride the *merry-go-round*

Angelina playing in the water. Much needed cool down. *love* this pic.

looking at the turtles in the pond.

Conversing with a baboon, whom, I might add was *very* interested in her.

And, of course... another form of cacti!