Cabin fun for the 4th!

We went to the cabin over the long weekend. It was great. David’s parents came up too. It was a little of a tight fit, but we all had a good time.

Cooking s'mores at the campfire



Ashlynn was determined to catch her first fish. Well, she was determined for the first 20 minutes.


Brianna gave it a shot.


I think I could of stayed at the lake all day, so peaceful! We started on a quad/jeep ride, but the weather had other plans. It started to rain and hail on us... so we headed back. We went to the Park Parade for the 4th year. I love small town parades.

So our weekend was a lot of beer drinking, BBQing, s'mores, quad rides, jeep rides, rack-o... yep, it was a great weekend!!!

Finally a moment to breath!

Oh, the whirl wind of dance is finally over. Friday was Ashlynn’s dance recital, and she did great! I must admit that I’m happy all the extra practices and all the rushing around is over. No more dance until August.

Ashlynn as Cinderella's mouse


Boogie Shoes. The crowd went nuts! They really did. One of the biggest hits of the 2nd act.

We also had a garage sale this past weekend. Wahoo, made $120.00. Now, that’s the question. Is it worth it to wake up at 5:00 am to sit in the heat until 11:00? Who knows, I got rid of a bunch of junk and I have a little fun money in my wallet. Actually we all went to Valley Luna where the lunch and bar tab was $50.00, so I guess I'm now down to only making $70.00.

I helped volunteer at UMOM with Cindy. It was a blast! We had a great time, even laughed so hard one time I had tears. You should check out all the great things you can volunteer at. http://www.phoenixvolunteers.org/ Cambridge House here I come. Is it just me, or is Cindy pretty freaking amazing? Honestly, I am a better person for just KNOWING her!

Well, that pretty much is me. Next week is the 4th of July at the cabin. The following week in Disneyland and a week after that is VEGAS with the moms. Good times.

Just a lot of pictures

Sorry it's been so long. We're just crazy busy lately. Here's A LOT of pictures of the girls

Brianna - her 1st official play date.


The girls pictures take 5.31.09

Ashlynn's Preschool Graduation

Ashlynn Jazz group - Boogie Shoes

This is a pretty bad picture. I snuck a picture of the proof with my cell phone.... but you get the idea. And yes, it is all Ashlynn own hair. Amazing what happens when I spend an hour blow drying it and flat ironing it!

That is the Hightower's in a nut shell. Ashlynn dance recital is June 19, so life should return to normal, whatever that is. I will post pictures from her recital.

Locks of Love, Easter & a broken arm

Well... I did it. I chopped my hair off and donated my ponytail to Locks of Love. It's a wonderful organization that you should check out.
http://www.locksoflove.org/
I had no idea it takes 6-10 ponytails to make one hair piece or that each piece has a retail value of $3500.00 - $6,000.00 (although the children's families do not pay for it.)


After my hair cut we went to Disney on Ice... we had an awesome time. I didn't get any pictures of the girls... but here is one of David....


Easter was a blast. It was just one of those wonderful days. After the egg hunt the boys watched baseball and the girls played Yahtzee and cards.


Last Sat. night we took Brianna to Urgent Care. She was favoring her left arm for a few days. It seemed to get slightly worse instead of better. Well, she had a broken arm. The x-rays came back that it was 2-3 weeks old. Tough little bugger!

Well, that's the Hightower's in a nut shell.

A 5 year old answers to some fun questions

Thanks Leah for the idea. Here are a few quesitons I asked Ashlynn last night. Keep in mind she is only 5.... These are her answers word for word.


1. What is something mommy always says to you?
A. I love you.
2. What makes mommy happy?
A. When I listen.
3. What makes mommy sad?
A.When I don’t listen.
4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
A. You make funny faces.
5. What was your mommy like as a child?
A.I don’t know
6. How old is your mommy?
A. 1? 2? 3? 4? 5? 6? 7? Are you seven?
7. How tall is your mommy?
A. That’s a tricky one.
8 What is her favorite thing to do?
A. Play with me.
9. What does your mommy do when you’re not around?
A. Go to work
10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? (I had to explain what famous is)
A. Because your fun
11. What is your mommy really good at? (she had to think really long and really hard to come up with anything…..)
A. Writing (I’m pretty sure she only came up with this because I was currently writing her answers on a sheet of paper.
12. What is your mommy not very good at?
A. I don’t know, you’re good at everything (oh sure!)
13. What does your mommy do for her job?
A. Work
14. What is your mommy favorite food?
A. I don’t know
15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
A. When you made cards for our b-day (she’s seen me working on Brianna’s just moments before)
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A. I-Carly (not a cartoon character….)
17. What do you and your mommy do together?
A. Play
18. How are you and your mommy the same?
A. We have the same hair
19. How are you and your mommy different
A. We don’t have the same clothes
20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
A. Because she helps me do things
21. Where is your mommy’s favorite place to go?
A. The mall
22. Where do you play?
A. At home
23. What will you be when you grow up?
A. A gymnastic person

Going, going.... GONE!

Well, he did it. David shaved his head today to help raise money for St. Baldrick's Children's cancer research. David raised $1000.00 and his team raised $6000.00!!! GO ON SEMI!!! I'm so very proud of him. It was a very emotional day!

The before

The during....

The finished product.... (yes even the 5 & 3 year old boys did it!!!!)

.

The support staff..... we were all very proud of them!

This Thursday was another successful weight watchers weigh in for me. I was down another 2 pounds for a total of 25.2! Wahoo.... I'm feeling pretty good!

Belgium

Ok, so this is a few weeks late. Instead of tackling our whole Europe trip in one posting I thought I would split it between Belgium & Paris. David was already in Gent, Belgium when I flew out to meet him. He had to work so I had 2 days to explore Gent on my own. It was amazing. The architecture of the buildings is mind blowing (pictures below). Here are a few things I found interesting in Gent. Beer is important. Beer is very important, almost as important as their chocolate. When you order a beer it is severed in its own labeled glass. Example, if David ordered a Leffe Braun it would be in a glass labeled Leffe Braun. Each glass is different in shape, size, and style. Also, all bars advertise what beer they serve more than their name. So looking at a bar you would not notice the name of the bar but you sure knew what kind of beer they had. The other thing that I found interesting is that they served French fries with every meal, and I mean every meal. Gent is one of the few cities that Hitler declared as a “free’ city, so it was unharmed in the war path to Paris.


Here is the castle I toured. It surprised me that castles are no way pretty or romantic, but very fascinating. There are numerous torture rooms with a lot of torture equipment (freaky stuff). It's very dark and very spooky.





A view from the river walk

These statues covered the front of the building.


One of the several cathedrales


Aren't these just the cleverest little statues?

Another river walk view




World's best waffles.... EVER