Quick Update

Stephanie did have her baby!! YEAH!! And SO EXCITING!!

Born July 27, 2007
1:44 am

Brigham Ryan Schlappi
9-lb, 10-oz...BIG BOY!!
20.5 inches long

Stephanie and Brigham are doing great. Our thoughts and love to the three of you, Ryan, Steph and Brigham.

Babies, Babies, Babies!!!!!

We started off our day with an exciting phone call from JOSH & TRISH sharing the news that Travis and I are going to be "Uncle & Aunt" again. So exciting...and she's due sometime in March 2008. Their first, Braden, is nearly 18 months.

We also have my brother, Ryan and his wife, Tisha expecting a baby in December 2007. That makes child number two for them. Rylee will be 2 in September.

I received news today as well that a friend of mine is pregnant and due in the Spring of next year. I am choosing to not share her info at this time...because her husband's family does not know yet...but CONGRATS!!

Then comes an EARLY or LATE CONGRATS to RYAN & STEPHANIE SCHLAPPI!!! I need a huge update on these two, but I heard through the grape vine (not the best way)...that Steph's water broke today. So...she may still be in labor or may have already delievered. She had a due date of July 30 or 31...and was expected to have a BOY!! I know they had a few cute names for him, but were going to wait until he arrived to make one permanent.

All in all, CONGRATULATIONS to each of you and your cute families. We love you all very much and can't wait to start a family of our own. Let's see...who is out of the loop here??? US??? You think!?!?! We decide on a dog instead. GEEEEEE...we'll get there, I promise. Ü

**Also, I can't forget my good friend, Shara, due in September 2007 with a girl.

And then, There Were TWO!!

No, NOT Lucy...this is Rosie

Our New Puppy, Rosie

Lucy (red collar) staring down Rosie

MEET ROSIE! We ask ourselves..."What were we thinking?" We're not quite sure what we were thinking. Purchasing her was definitely a push from me (Brooke). We had been talking back and forth with the owner for about a week and were finally able to go see her and her sister last night. The parents were also on site. Once I saw her, I fell in LOVE. We forgot so quickly how cute Lucy was as a puppy...but also HOW MUCH WORK a puppy is. Anyway, she is a Purebred (AKC) weimaraner, just like Lucy except Lucy is not AKC-registered. We hope the two of them will get along and become good friends. If not, we may be posting a "DOG FOR SALE" sign. Ü

New Toy

This one is nice, but not what I want...

Our choice...2008 Yamaha Raptor

Must have protective gear - helmet, goggles, etc

Brent/Brooke's choice - 2007 Honda TRX450R

After MANY HOURS of discussion and thought about this purchase, Travis and Brent decided that they just needed to "look" at the ATVs. This then led to "trying" each one out. They were not able to test drive them, but they made their way around the store sitting on the choices - Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki. At some point, Travis ended up on one side of the store ready to buy a Yamaha Raptor and Brent on the other to buy a Honda 450R. I'm not sure how excited Brooke was with Brent but I was pumped and Travis even let me pick out which one we were going to get. We are very excited to have our new toy and look forward to excursions to the Dunes, Benson, Sycamore, etc.

Golf n' Stuff

Totally diggin Trav's very wet hair-do

Olivia, Jeremy, Me, Travis

Olivia and Jeremy

This past Saturday night, Travis and I went out with his brother, Jeremy, and his girlfriend, Olivia. We started the night out on the wrong foot and it just seemed to go downhill from there...until we made it to Golf N' Stuff. We had just had dinner at Fuddrucker's prior to our golfing experience. There were a ton of people golfing Saturday night, but we did slowly make our way around one of their two 18-hole courses. It was muggy outside, but Jeremy did manage to hit TWO HOLE-IN-ONEs!! Both guys beat the girls at number of total strokes, but we had a good time.

The GREAT TIME came when we decided to do the BUMPER BOATS. All of us determined it had been a long, long time since we had been on them. Each boat had its own "go" button and "sprayer" button. Yes, I said sprayer button. We were SOAKED by the time we were only minutes into our ride. Travis and Jeremy...I wish I could have video-taped them. They were both laughing hysterically and Jeremy came out literally dripping wet. You can see in the pictures above how wet Jeremy was. All of us got our share of being soaked. Olivia and I had such a good time as well. Thanks Jeremy and Olivia for the fun night!! We are so glad to be able to spend time with you! We love you both!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD FENN!! WE LOVE YOU TOO!!

We wish we could spend today with all of you, but although we can not, we still wish you each a wonderful day!! Love you - Travis and Brooke

Fourth of July in B-Town!!

Travis, Me, Laura, Steve

Grandpa Fenn "Grand Marshal" of the Benson Parade

Aunt Carrie taking pictures

Uncle Mark - Newest "Mayor" of Benson

This was CLASSIC!! Our "rig" to make homemade ice cream!!

Well, Benson seems to be the place to be for the Fourth of July! Mesa always has fireworks, but there is nothing like the small town events that make this holiday fun. We (Travis, Steve, Laura and myself) headed down to Benson Tuesday night in order to be rested and ready for the next day. Ü The day started off with a parade through town. Grandpa Fenn began the parade as the Grand Marshall. Following not too far behind him was Uncle Mark (and wife Carrie) as the "newest" Mayor of Benson. As you can see in the picture above, Aunt Carrie was busy trying to take pictures of us, while we were trying to take pictures of them. Trav's cousin, Jackie, was also part of the Curves float in the parade, but I was unable to get any good pictures to show.

Once the parade was over, we headed over to Lions' Park for the "BIG" water fight. Members of the surrouding towns' fire and police departments as well as the fire service, etc. challenge each other in a big water fight. It is hard to explain unless you are there, but it is definitely a good time. I even get somewhat competitive just watching. Ü

Later that night, we had put together the makings of some peach homemade ice cream. As we attempted to start the ice cream maker, we realized the motor was going out. It would not continuously turn. Therefore, Paul, Travis and Steve rigged what you see in the picture above in order to complete the job. Laura and I were cracking up and decided it was definitely picture worthy. Last but not least, the fireworks were fabulous!!

I love this country and I can be very patriotic at times. I am grateful for the freedoms we have and for the chance to be able to celebrate this holiday once a year...especially with family and friends.

Crazy Month of June

Our nephew, Braden, loves Lucy!!! He would stand at her crate for as long as we would let him and shake it.

Is he SOOOO cute??? We love him!

Uncle Trav's favorite, an otter pop! Braden ate it too fast and got a brain freeze. This was just moments before he bursted out in tears because it hurt.


Braden is Lucy's most loyal fan.

We were so excited to have Josh, Trish and Braden down for a weekend in June. We all had tickets to go to see the Beach Boys at the casino near our home. We able to take them over to the swimming pool and splash park that is a part of our community that we live in. It was fun, but the splash park water was SO cold. Braden was tired as well so we only lasted just a little while. The concert was alright, but not one I would want to attend again. I guess the Beach Boys have a new CD out (I had no clue) and they failed to sing a lot of their classics because of it. We were definitely glad, regardless, that we were able to spend time with family. We love you Josh, Trish and Braden ("Booga-Booga").

Trav and I kicking it in our killer seats at the D-Backs game.

Me, Travis, Brent, Brooke - Enjoying the game too!!

Lucky for us, Travis was given D-Backs tickets from the owner of the gas station he is building. The tickets were located behind home plate, row 39, which is actually the last row of the lower level. We had a perfect view and it was so fun to be there with Brent and Brooke. Brent is Travis' best friend and he and Brooke got married last June. Everyone laughs that these two boys are such great friends and they each ended up, by coincidence, marrying girls named Brooke. Brooke is a great girl and we have fun when we are all together hanging out. We spent most of our weekend at their new home in Queen Creek. They are wonderful friends and we love getting to spend any time with them.