Jace Invades Kaphi Park!!

There is a wonderful little park fairly close to our home and Jace is now old enough to enjoy the playground equipment. It is completely fenced so he can run around and burn off some of his engery. He is becoming quite a terror on the slide.

What's new with the Malones?

James and I have been working like DOGS. We have the 2009 Mary Kay Leadership convention. For anyone who works in hotels you are cringing right now. I knew it was going to be bad- how bad was up in the air. The hotel has 700 rooms. Imagine 1300 ladies (all wearing the same brown suit) occupying the hotel. These are the Sales Directors and thier teams that have ascended on the hotel. We have 3 waves so it's a 16 day wallup that is wearing on me. Between James working for the City last week for the play off game and at the hotel, he will have had 1 day off for almost 18 days of work. Whew- so I am trying to stay out of the 'whoa is me' mind set but if I don't have a day off soon we aren't going to have any clothes to wear since I can't do laundry! Last year this time, we were living and breathing SUPER BOWL. That was long hours, a lot of days working but it was nothing like this lovely MARY KAY group. I haven't taken any pictures lately except one of the dogs cuddling the other day. So, hopefully James and I will get a day off soon so we can clean the house, do the laundry, do the yardwork and take care of the bills.

On the flip side- we are very excited for the AZ Cardinals. I have been to 1 Cardinals game and it was back in 1995 at the Sundevil Stadium- they played the Bengals (I think) and I am almost positive they lost. 3 Years ago, I bought James a Cardinals T-Shirt that he has only worn like 2 times. Mysteriously, it has come out of hiding and he has worn it like everyday afterwork (I have to sneak it into the 1st load of laundry I do so it's ready for 2/1). I am not a big football person myself, but I always love a good underdog story. We are planning on going to the Wilke's Superbowl party and look forward to watching them beat the Steelers.

Great Grandma Aranna, Great Uncle Norm and 2nd Cousin Alex meet Ava!

Today Aranna, Norm, Alex and I went over to Michelle and Chris's house to see the family. Callin was loving seeing his Great Grandma Grannaran. Baby Ava is so cute and loved meeting other family members.

Mollie and James see the AMA Supercross event

Mollie got to pose for a pic with Jason Lawrence seen here. He is a Supercross/Motorcross rider. Do you know the difference between Supercross and Motorcross? Supercross is on a track inside an arena and motorcross is on a track outside. Mollie and James had a great time and spent 10 hours there!

New Year, New Me.....HOPEFULLY

Okay, only 1 of my friends took heed to me tagging them for the NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS. That's okay. Now I know who REALLY reads my blog! Well, last night James and I watched a show that I Tivo'd called, "You, Staying Young" with Dr. Oz (Oprah's favorite Dr.). It took a couple and assessed thier health and the difference between thier health age and thier real age. So the bottom line is for 2009 is to get healthier. Since my mom passed, I have gained an insane amount of weight and I would really like to say goodbye to it.

I also found out last year that I have an auto-immune disease called, "Hashimoto's Thyroiditis". Basically, my body is attacking my Thyroid gland and making my metabolism slower than it should be. My Dr. was pretty pleased with herself for finding this out. Now I take a thyroid hormone and will forever. It was the reason for a lot of the unexplained weight gain. Now that I have the hormone regulated, it will be easier to lose the pounds. I have always been happy being me but with all the family history of cancer, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and thyroid problems, I would really like to get healthy for myself and my husband.

Together, we decided to work on getting healthier. I will keep you updated on our progress. The discovery health body challenge started and we are going to sign up at: http://health.discovery.com/national-body-challenge/national-body-challenge.html

We are also focusing on saving $$$ and being more frugal. Any ideas or suggestions for either of these focuses are greatly appreciated.

World: Meet Ava Fitzgerald Farr!!

The newest member of our family arrived today at 9:58 AM this morning. She weighed in at 6.4 pounds and 18.75 inches. She is very sweet and I can't wait to watch her grow and learn. It seems like just yesterday we were at the hospital when her big brother Callin was born (August 8, 2007). She has lots on dark hair on the crown of her head. Mom (Michelle), Dad (Chris) and baby Ava are doing well.

Happy New Years

Happy New Years to everyone.

Norm and I got up early and went fishing....he fished and I sat in a beach chair and read a book....

Hope everyone has a new year full of happiness and health.