Happy Holidays

The holiday season is upon us! Disclaimer: no photos :(

The fabulous weekend began with what else? A three day work/school week! Which let's face it, cannot be beat.

Meghann's sister Stephanie (and family) came into town to visit Steph's in-laws which coincidently live in Tempe, AZ. So good news for us, we got to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family!

As usual patrons celebrating Thanksgiving, we snacked all day and ate a huge turkey feast, ate some pie and repeat. The night ended with Meg's two nieces, Madeleine and Olivia and nephew, Noah having a sleep over at our place! Nothing like a slumber party with Aunt Meghann and Uncle Daniel! The short story is, Noah (on more than one occasion) asked if he could move in with us. Beat that other aunt's and uncles.

The rest of the weekend concluded of braving the crowds on Black Friday with other crazy bargain shoppers, drive-in theaters, more family dinners, putting up Christmas decorations and some much anticipated sleeping in and chill-axing.

We hope everyone had a fulfilling holiday and is getting excited for the Christmas season! But first, Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without saying what we are thankful for.

Daniel's list: His loving beautiful wife, HD tv and hot dogs

Meghann's list: Family, 80 degree weather and sonic cherry coke (easy on the ice)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN....a little late

After all the ghost and ghouls have had their fun and we have gorded ourselves on the troves of candy collected (or stolen from your respective kids), the Arizona Tracys are wishing everyone a Happy "Late" Halloween!

Ours began a week before Halloween when we went to the local pumpkin patch and picked out the most perfect pumpkin! We braved the blazing October heat (it had to be 80 something) and cut through all the vines to find that all elusive perfect pumpkin. We went back to the Hatch's place and had a great pumpkin carving party!

At the party we kept the old tradition of all pumpkin carvers world-wide, Meghann, Kylee, and Clarie were busily getting their men Halloween treats while the men were actively engaged in a good work (making the pumpkins SCARY).

Some of you might be wondering, "Why is a piece of paper on Daniel's pumpkin?" Well, Daniel is always out for perfection. He HAND drew the image he wanted on the pumpkin and wanted it do be the best pumpkin EVER (it had to be better than last year)!
These are the pumpkins that we all carved that night!!!!! The picture below is our pumpkin with the candle in it. It looks scary huh!?! We even got the drunk neighbors approval when we put it on the door step.


Does Meghann ever turn into a monster on Halloween?????
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Yes, but Daniel had her back in the house before the last stroke of Midnight fell.
Halloween was fun and we dressed with the theme of Decades! Meghann was a hippie in the 60's (she even tie-dyed her own t-shirt!) and Daniel was a Wanna-be in the 70's. We ended up going to the Thunderbird Old Hallows Eve party and got to see all kinds of costumes. Namely Vampires (non of the Edward variety), Smurfs, Kung-Fu Panda, a Gold Digger, Satan, The singing bush from Three Amigos, Easter bunny and so many more. We had a great Halloween and hope that you all had a good one too!

Trip to Utah!

One thing Meghann REALLY misses about fall...are the changing leaves. Since we've been living in Arizona, we are constantly reminding ourselves, yes, it is October. It's easy to forget when it's oohh 90 degrees outside! During our drive up to Utah it was nice to be able to get a sense of good ole autumn weather! As you can tell, Meg was super excited. So excited, we had to stop and take a picture of her hugging a tree. Tree hugger.
We made the trek up to Utah for wedding festivities in the honors of Rachel and Scott and to spend some family time with the Tracy's. It was nice to be able to spend a long weekend with the fam vacationing from work and school! Our weekend however did not go untouched from delay. For the 4th time Meghann has, you guessed it, locked her keys in our car. Yup. We had to take a moment and document Camille's diligence in jimmying the car door with a wire hanger and screw driver. Classic. All is well! The keys were right where Meg left them...in the back seat.

After two days of shopping, eating and eating, the fam was able to gather together for Rachel and Scott's reception. It was so fun to be with everyone during the exciting beginning of Rachel and Scott's life together!

Wedding weekend would not be completed without the initiation of the newlyweds car! Streamers, two canisters of silly string, some markers and condoms later we have completed our masterpiece! It was all out of pure love, we promise.



On the way home from a relaxing weekend, we took our time driving back home to enjoy the scenery. We think this is a "baby" canyon leading into the Grand Canyon. Whatever it is, it was an awesome view!

We made it home safely and want to thank the family for such a great weekend. We miss you all!

THE KILLERS!!!

Recently Daniel and Meghann had the opportunity to see one of our favorite bands play down here in Phoenix. As you can tell... THE KILLERS took the stage. And all it took was Meghann to pout for an evening lol. Mission accomplished! For a Monday night concert, we needed "pick-me-ups" so there we were... equipped with energy drinks in hand and ready to brave downtown Phoenix for the first time!

Feel free to sing along, as the lyrics do in fact correspond with the few photos that actually turned out. Clever? We thought so....

"Are we human, or are we dancers?! My signs are vital, my hands are cold...and I'm on my knees searching for the answers. Are we human, or are we dancers?"

Meg's favorite.

"I got soul but I'm not a soldier, I got soul but I'm not a soldier, I got soul but I'm not a soldier, I got soul but I'm not a soldier....I GOT SOUL BUT I'M NOT A SOLDIER!!!"

And for the encore, Dan's favorite....

"HE DOESN'T LOOK A THING LIKE JESUS! But he looks like a gentlemen like you imagined, when you....WERE YOOOOUNNNNNGGGGG!!!!!"

They rocked this last song!!! We do have a video of the finale, but Meghann didn't realize that screaming and jumping up and down would loose the effect of watching the video later. Also, you couldn't hear a thing....rats.

Concert tickets, $100.00. Monster energy drinks, $4.00. Parking, $10.00. Missing Monday night class and screaming so much your voice is hoarse the next day for the best band ever...PRICELESS.

Apartment Pics

Today's temp: 103 degrees (a cool streak, yes!)

We have enjoyed adjusting to our lives in Arizona, but now it's back to the ole routine. Meghann started her new job this week working for a Medical Billing Company, she works in the claims dept. We are thrilled to be getting a pay check again! And Daniel is super stoaked to have a "sugar-mama" for the next 2 years!

Daniel starts his week-long school orientation tomorrow! Yes, on a saturday. Once classes begin, we will be back to our old lives. We have definitely taken our life of leisure the past 2 weeks for granted! Sleeping in, laying by the pool, eating popcorn and homemade ice cream every night...Yeah rough life. NO MORE!

Sorry for the delay! But we finally got around to taking a few snap shots of our new place.

Our Latest dam Trip!

Welcome back to our blog. This last week Meghann and Daniel went to go see the Waite's in Vegas. They just happened to be visiting Jessie's parents in Logandale, just outside of Vegas. Unbeknownst to us we just happened to stumble over one of the modern marvels in US history. Yup, you guessed it... The Hoover Dam!
As Daniel drove, Ken (our GPS) showed us a national POI (point of interest) on the map, and because neither Meghann nor Daniel has seen the Hoover Dam before we had to stop and take some dam pictures. The one below is at the dam lookout (on the Arizona side).

*Disclaimer* simply reading and viewing this blog does not mean that you no longer need to see this historic monument. Meghann and Daniel want you all to experience the Arizona/Nevada heat for yourselves.

Just like the previous dam picture, this dam picture was taken at the dam Arizona lookout. This is where Daniel bought his dam refreshment. Suggestion, when you take your dam trip make sure that when you buy your dam refreshment; make your dam purchase a water or Gatorade. The mountain dew did not quench Daniel's thirst.

As we got back into the car and started our dam decent, this is what we saw. Soon after we saw this, memories came back of Star Scream landing on the walk-way between the turbines. We awed and marveled that not only after the destruction from Star Scream but also Megatron, the dam looked totally rebuilt and operating at 100%. Absolutely amazing!

As we began our dam walk and noticed that everything looked original, we began to question if sector 7 really held the All Spark and if Megatron really broke out of Cryo-stasis. As we began to ask those dam guides if MBE1 (aka Megatron) and the All Spark ever existed, they nonchalantly shook their heads and calmly pronounced, "No comment". This only triggered Daniel's excitement and belief that Transformers do exist and live among us.

After our dam trip, we finally made it to the Waite's house in Logandale. We got to spend time with long lost friends and we even got to ride their four wheelers. It was Meghann first voyage on the atv and even got to ride it by herself. Overall it was a fun trip and loved seeing our friends again. Oh, one last thing... if you ever get the chance to see the Hoover Dam, take it!

BUH-BYE IDAHO!!!

Sorry it's been a while since our last post, but things have been CRRAAAAZZZY! Since the beginning of July we have been slowly packing up our lives in Idaho for the big move to Arizona!
Meghann finished her internship with the Museum and is officially a college grad. She patiently awaits her diploma. Daniel worked very hard this last month to get he and Meghann safely down to their new home!

Sure enough we were able to fit our entire life back in Idaho in a 5X8 U-haul! Nate and Camille were THE BEST when they agreed to pull our U-haul down to AZ for us and spend a couple nights with us. Leaving Idaho was bitter sweet for Meg, she's been in Rexburg for the past 5 years! She was sad to leave the life she had made there, but anxious to start a new one in Phoenix. Dan couldn't be more happy to leave and never look back!!! Now he's missing the cool nights and the slight summer breeze Idaho offers. No more cool nights. Last night a 2am it was still 107 degrees!!! TOASTY!

One thing that Meghann was VERY happy about when it came to leaving Rexburg was the retirement of our sofa! Yup, this couch has seen better days and is now patiently waiting for some poor college student to come pick her up at the Rexburg Distribution Center!!!

We are slowly getting settled into our new place. Meghann unpacks while Dan reads/watches/listens to soccer and baseball until she gives him a task! He can hang a picture like nobodies business! Since we've arrived, we swam in our pool with Nate, Camille and baby Maya. Meghann's niece Maddy came over and stayed the night as well! We've made countless trips to Wal-Mart up the street and have enjoyed driving around getting familiar with the area, which we couldn't have done without our GPS tour guide Ken...Thanks Ken!

We also had an unexpected guess our first night. Meghann about blew a gasket when Dan found the little critter hanging out on her leg. Needless to say, she checks absolutely EVERYTHING when it comes to putting on clothes, opening drawers and crawling into bed.

Expect some more flaming hot post in the weeks to come!! Arizona is going to take some getting used too. Although we will be complaining of stiffling heat in following posts, we will be nice and tan real soon! We will also be posting pictures of the new place when we get everything situated.

4th of July Festivities!!!

So we are a little late, but it's been crazy adjusting back to day-to-day life! We were excited to have family in town for the long weekend. Becky and Doug drove from CA on Thursday and Rachel and Scott drove up from Utah on the 4th to spend the holiday in Idaho Falls with us and Nate and Camille! The weekend festivities begin with a little golf action: Girls vs. Boys! Meghann, a representative from the girls team, documented their victory!

Here we have the team captin, Camille Tracy. Camille led the girls in triumph a whopping 47 on a par 36!!! She has a mean drive, look out.

Becky, although fascinated with the "ball cleaner" was quite the putter. Many-a-times did her ball lead us straight to the cup!

Meghann...well she lost her balls lol. Yes, her yellow Sponge Bob ball got away from her. But that didn't stop her from enjoying her first time golfing with the big kids.


GO TEAM GIRLS!!! They Slaughtered the boys...

To end our first evening we started roasting marshmallows outside on the bbq pit, but once the sprinklers soaked us, we had to migrate inside to the gas stove.

Daniel was not happy.

On the 4th the troops went to see Transformers!!! (go autobots!) And we ended the night with a baseball game (go chukars!) and FIREWORKS!!!! They were probably the best fireworks ever, besides Disney :)

What better way to end the weekend than to all go to church and be there for Maya's baby blessing! We're stupid and didn't get a picture of baby Maya and the GORGEOUS blessing dress that grandma Tracy made (before Maya dumped her pants... and all over Rachel lol)

We're just glad we got to be there :)

HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE!

We hope that yours was family and friends filled just as ours was :)

Taste the Rainbow

Ok, so here is our latest concoction! What begins as a simple box of Betty Crocker white cake mix turned into a brilliant bursting of colors right in our mouths!!!

STEP 1: white cake mix

STEP 2: TASTE THE RAINBOW


STEP 3: TA-DA!!!

Ok, so there are more than 3 steps so here it is....

Ingredients:
2 boxes white cake mix

24 oz of Sprite

gel food colouring

16 oz whipped topping

2 boxes instant fat-free sugar-free pudding mix

Cake:

Mix 2 boxes white cake mix with 24 oz of Sprite (no eggs, no oil, no water). Divide your cake mix into 6 cups or bowls and stir in gel food colours. Next, drop the colours, one by one, into the middle of the pan, in neat concentric-ish gobs. Do the reverse order of colors in the other pan.

To finish up follow the box’s baking instructions.

Topping:

Stir your 2 boxes of instant pudding with 2 tubs of cool whip. The frosting will be a little tough to spread so be sure the cake is completely cool before frosting. Also, I added a little milk because mine was REALLY thick.

This is what it's suppose to look like :)

I think we're gonna have to give it another couple trys before ours looks like that.

But anyway...ENJOY!!!

Swimmin' at Lava

The day began getting to the pool a whole 40 mins before it even opened! Yes, we wanted a nice shady spot under the tree and we also wanted to beat the rush on the water slides. In the mean time Meghann found the perfect distraction for Jensen...PUPPIES! There was a lady in the parking lot who was selling toy poodles and we got the chance to play with them while Jensen clinged to one whispering, "puppies, puppies, puppies!"

Our day at the pool consisted of laying out, snacking, and cooling off in the water. Jensen's favorite game was definitely the "throw me as high as you can" game. She would not stop laughing! It was hilarious! Uncle Dan's and her Daddy's arms were tired by the end of day.

As we snacked while catchin some rays, Jensen was the cookie hoarder. Every time we turned around there she was running off with the bag of Chips A-hoy cookies!

Overall it was a great day! We got to be outside, enjoying the warm weather and be with family. To end the big day we went back to Nate and Camilles for yummy BBQ and watched the Orlando Magic sweep Cleveland off their feet!