Visit with Grandpa Don

My dad came down for a visit last week and we had such a great time! Silly Putty and View Finders seemed to be the hot toy this week! Man to the kids adore their Grandpa Don! We went to the park, to the zoo, out to eat (a few times), and played at home lots! It was hard to see him go but that just means that we'll have to head out there to see him or bring him back here soon!

Start em' YOUNG!

Avery and Andon participated in their first cycling race!!! Sure they had training wheels but that's not important! Mark was in a a 3 day race and on Sunday, they have a Kids Fun Ride and the were so cute they even got to wear official numbers on their backs! Mark even taught them to "Get on their race face"! There were 3 different starting spots...one was really short (like 100 feet), one was about 1/8 of a mile (the one they did) and one was a full mile. I wanted them to do the entire mile but we opted for the middle distance for their first one. They had the flag start and off they went......Avery was riding like a racer while Andon was taking it all in and enjoying the crowd cheering them on! So, don't tell Andon, but yes, he was beaten by a girl...not to mention his sister! Hehehe! They both got medals, got to stand on the podium and had such a blast! They can't wait to do it again!

While the pro racers (and Mark's Cousin's Husband, Kyle) were racing, we took Avery and Andon over to the bouncer where Avery had an experience with her first bully....a 6 year old girl! She walked right up to Avery and pushed her shoulder into Avery and said, "How old are you? I'm older than you...Ha, Ha, Ha!". Then she walked around in the bouncer, walked over to Avery and picked her up and threw her across the bouncer!!! I wanted to step in but I also wanted to see how Avery was going to react. Avery, in her shy little voice with strangers (not at home though), said, with a not so nice look on her face, "Stop it.". Then the girl did it again!!! I stepped in with this one...no parent around....and she gets out and steps on another kids leg and hops on her bike to leave! I was not a happy mom!

Busy, busy, busy...

Well, I know it has been WAY too long since posting but we have been super busy so far in 2008!

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In January, Mark and I started the year with a night in Vegas for my birthday! He had an overnight there so I tagged along (mom watched the kids) and while we stayed at Circus Circus, we had a 3 hour dinner at Maggiano's which is a new favorite of ours!

Then we made a last minute trip to Michigan to see my Grandpa Joe, who Mark has never met. He is up in the upper penninsula of Michigan with Dave's brother, Steve, so we flew to Chicago and drove up for about 6 hours....in the negative degree cold, I might add! The kids were so great the entire trip!!! Dave went with us. We stayed at a really cute ski lodge but unfortunately did not have time to ski...next time! We spent about a total of 8 hours with Joe, Steve and Liz and then headed back to Chicago to spend the night before an AM flight home the next day. THe kids were able to have their first experience with the Wii...totally fun...we may need one! Oddly enough, the Chicago Bibbey's were coming to stay with us for 11 days a few days after we were there...it was kinda wierd!

While the Chicago Bibbey's were here it was great...although crazy with 9 of us (5 kids 5 and under). I don't have any pictures from their visit yet because we had broken camera so Michele has them on her caamera. All the kids got along and the kids did great with the dogs, which was a fear of Lucca's. The first day they were here the girls went to Disney Princess on Ice which was fantastic!

Then the kids, Michele and I all rode bikes to a small park where Lucca and Andon collided resulting in a bloody nose for Lucca...of course we did not have any tissues or even napkins so Michele carried her home while I got to ride the razor scooter! All was ok!

They spent some time with Michele's friend from ASU, Sally and their family so it was nice to still have time for our family. We went to Organ Stop Pizza one night for dinner which was also fun. Mark and Mike went to the FBR Open and enjoyed some golf....Michele, the kids and I went to the new Tumbleweed Park in Chandler and brought a picnic lunch...what a great park! Then on Friday we spent the morning walking around ASU and shopping at the ASU bookstore. They loaded up on ASU garb and all the kids wore Sparky tatoos...too cute. We had some lunch and headed home. Then we all watched the Superbowl and munched way too much. The last full day they were here we went to Makutu's Island and we had some fun times climbing LOTS!

So, an update on me. I started boot camp at the gym on January 14th which mets MWF from 5:30am-6:30am.....a huge challenge in itself....and have been really counting my calories. I am just sick and tired of not being as healthy (and thin) as I know I should be. I never really ate bad, just realized how it all adds up fast! I have lost about 8 pounds and have really toned up. I only have 4 more classes to go and then it's on to another routine. I have been burning about 800 calories in each session so I love going. This week was the first week where I really wanted to go back to bed!!!

Mark has been sick this week and I think today is the start of Avery and I getting it too! His started with a headache and yep, that's what I have today! I hate being sick! Mark is also in a cycling race this weekend. It's a 3 day event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so he HAS to be better! I beleive this will get him qualified for Platinum status is he makes the time cut.

We are doing Tour of the Tucson Mountains the end of April on the tandem with the hopes of Platinum qualification for me. 70 miles in 3:10...training starts as soon as boot camp ends next Friday!!!

We did finally manage to get a REALLY nice digital camera base that fits all of Mark's lenses for his film base. Not too many excting one's here but a few....

Well, I think that get everyone a little bit caught up on what's happening here in the crazy AZ Bibbey house!

Merry Christmas!

We hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas! We are truly blessed for the family that we have. Mark's parents were able to join us for 6 days and Mark was off for all of them except for having to leave Christmas morning at 10am. We were very active...going to Zoo Lights, baking, church and just playing together! Love to you all and Happy New Year!

Bike Race Photos!

We finally had the chance to order the photos from the race in November! Gotta love it! We are going to do 2 more in April and possibly one in Tahoe in June...around the lake!

Quick trip to Chicago

This week the kids and I had set aside some time to visit the Stacy/Ritter/Littau clan in Redding but unfortunately, it didn't work out. So, we decided to take advantage of the light flying loads and head to Chicago to take the kids to play in their first snow with their cousins. it couldn't have been a better trip! They had a blast!!! We made a snowman, a polka dot tree with snowballs, and Andon loved "flying" down the slide and crashing at the bottom!

We were able to go with Mark to the airport when he went to work and then met him at his gate as he was being released from work...it couldn't have worked out better!!!

Mish Mosh Fun

We have been doing great here! In fact tonight, we actually had a fantastic time out to dinner at our favorite pizza place, Nello's. We have not been having the best experiences going to eat...usually a tantrum or a fight over where we are going to all sit (yep, Mark and I are constantly fighting over where to sit...hehehe).


These pics are a little of what's been happening around here...
The kids had their first hot chocolate moustaches...as you can see they had a blast!

Last week we were so excited to deliver 97 shoeboxes filled with gifts and necessities for kids around the world through Operation Christmas Child. My MOPS group got it all together and the kids had so much fun putting them together!

Mark and the kids decorated our train table cover last week as well. Now both Mark and Andon's trains are set up around the Christmas tree. We are gradually getting ready for Christmas...our tree is up but we are going to be working on outdoor lights this week.

Avery is our little ballerina! She had her first "recital" today and I think she was a little shy because Andon and I were there. She'll be continuing lessons in January :-)

More updates to come...