Tonto Natural Bridge National Park

The day after Thanksgiving we took a day trip north of Phoenix to Payson where we ate lunch at the Beeline Cafe and then found our way to Tonto Natural Bridge National Park. I have lots of pictures of this beautiful place. We hiked down quite a ways to the bottom of the "bridge" which was sort of like a cave/tunnel. It was spectacular and a perfect place for two boys who like to climb, explore and throw rocks. I hope the pictures demonstrate how big and beautiful this place was.The approach to the cave. See how little the people are in the bottom right corner. This place was huge!

Inside the cave.

See Erik and Mason, tiny in the middle of the picture. (Mason's wearing a bright blue fleece jacket).







Carter and I "rescuing" people in the cave. He was a little too busy to take this picture with me; too many people needed his help.

Thanksgiving After-Party

Apples on the floor before bed time. Erik and I stuffed ourselves but the boys still had room after all the turkey.

Music in his underoos

With Mason, the adoring (and rocking!) fan.

Carter's First Day of School!!!

Carter was so excited about his first day of school. He couldn't wait to put on his uniform and go. We were nervous that he would have a meltdown and not want us to leave, but he just waved from the play ground and said, "Bye Dad! Bye Mom!" and then gave us a thumb's up. It happened that his first day was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so they had a party in class. Carter made a handprint turkey and underneath it said, "I'm thankful for candy!" As other kids were leaving school behind Carter I saw that theirs said, "I'm thankful for Mom and Dad" or "I'm thankful for Grandma and Grandpa." Not Carter. His loyalty is for candy.

Carter quotes

"Yeah, cool dude, rock it!"
Yelled out the window, to an unidentified neighbor, while driving through the parking lot of our complex. We had all the windows down and were listening to rockin' music.

"That's what I'm talking about, baby!"
After opening our mail box and seeing we had mail. Our first visit to the mail box and it was full... of coupons. He didn't care. It seemed like a lot of fun stuff to him. He pulled out each piece individually.

"Mason, watch, I'm shooting rockets out of my nose!"
On the couch, with pillows thrown everywhere, while he and Mason jumped and played. It should be noted that Carter was wearing his new HotWheels sunglasses, which have been on his face pretty much nonstop since we bought them at Target yesterday.