Good Times in Tucson!

On our first day of Spring Break, we headed down to Tucson to visit the Desert Museum and see the Roundys!!

The is the most amazing scene of saguaro cactus as far as you can see!

We had fun taking lots of pictures of the cool creatures in the new aquarium.

Of course we took a TON of bird pictures to satisfy our little Bird Girl Hailey!

Tom's sister, Colleen and her beautiful daughter, Amber came over to hang out with us in the desert.  It was SO fun to see them!  (Kohler was in Mexico with his best friend's family so he couldn't be there :(

After watching a pretty incredible "birds of prey" show, we headed over to the Roundy's house for a really fun dinner.  Colleen ALWAYS makes the best dinners.  My kids absolutely RAVE about her food and she comes up with the most fun themes.  This time it was a "hobo - redneck" style dinner.  Amber even made an invitation that was hilarious!  

Check out these amazingly cool redneck gobl

We are movin' . . .

 Tom and I got new mountain bikes for Christmas (well, we actually got them in February because we had to take back the ones we got at Christmas and order different ones that we liked better!).  So, we decided to take them out on a trail up at Usury Pass near the Superstition Mtns.  It was absolutely GORGEOUS and the ride was super fun!  Check out that  Arizona Moon and cactus.  I kept singing the song from the Three Amigos, "Arizona moon keep shining . . ."  

Tom and I have found our new hobby.  We LOVED getting out and trail riding.  Now, he just needs to take a day off or our kids not have any morning soccer games on Saturday so we can go again! ha!

 Here is Hailey at her 1st Grade Musical Performance at school.  So cute!

Another thing that has really got us movin' is our new marketing campaign for our Orthodontic Offices.  We are SO excited about what is going on and the buzz is really catching on!

 A few weeks ago we launched a year long patient referral contest that has major prize giveaways during the year and then the ending prize is . . . a CAR.  (crazy, huh?!?)  

 The gal on the left is our new marketing director and boy is she awesome!  She is from Tennessee and has such a great southern accent--and she is a mover and a shaker.  She gets things done and look what an awesome job she did at our launch party!

 There was a delicious lime sherbet punch, cookies, brownies, and even specially designed cookies from Sweet Cakes Bakery that look like little cars.  It was absolutely adorable.

 This is a great idea Tom had----every time a patient gives us a positive FaceBook review (which they can do right from the computer module shown) they get a Subway and Harkins movie gift card.  Simple huh?  Our positive reviews have gone through the ceiling!!!  It was a brilliant idea . . .

 How cute are these little sugar cookie cars???

And speaking of cars-----here is our brand new Hyundai Accent that we are giving away.  I LOVE how the wrap turned out (and btw - the wrap comes off with a simple heating tool and it actually protects the paint from rock chips and scratches so it will look brand new in April 2014 when we give it away.)  In the meantime, we are using it as an incentive for our staff members to use and drive around delivering monthly doctor thank-you gifts.  

Sooo---when I say we are movin' . . . we are really going to town with this new adventure.  Tom hasn't been this enthusiastic about our practices in a long time and it's been just the catalyst we needed to really grow and expand our business!!  

Sweets in February

Since I missed so much blogging in February, here are some photos of Valentine's Day and other stuff we did in February!

 Every Monday I attend my sister's Body Pump weight lifting class at the gym.  She is the one in the white shirt in the middle (and she is about 14 weeks pregnant with her 5th child---she is still so small!)  Mary Kay is a fabulous teacher and it is super fun going to her class each week!

 The kids and I made heart-shaped brownies for their teachers and for all of our orthodontic staff.  Yum!

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they still write Valentines!

 One day, at "Adventure Club" we made GAK, or "slime."  Hailey and her friend Isobel made their own club called Adventure Club and we have it every Tuesday after school.  They do really fun things and the girls absolutely love it!

Hailey plays on a soccer team with a bunch of darling girls.  She has even made some goals this season.  Yeah Hailey!!!

For Kelsey's YW Service Project, she hosted a cupcake party for some little girls in our ward.  She did a darling job and made it so fun for them!

Here are our Bishop's two darling daughters.  We even got matching zebra aprons for all the girls.  They were super cute!

 Kelsey is such a doll when it comes to helping kids.  She really has a sweet way with children.  I can see her being such a darling little mother someday.  

Yep - it's was a day of Sweets for the Sweet at the Chamberlain House!

Shave Ice Cake . . . what ?!?

For our Blue and Gold Banquet this year, the theme was a Hawaiian Luau.  So, being the shave ice fanatics we are, there was only one cake we could make . . . a SHAVE ICE CAKE!!

 We went to Hobby Lobby and got a styrofoam ball that fit perfectly into a 'boogie board' sized shave ice flower cup.  Then we frosted and frosted until our hands were about to fall off!

 The shave ice fit perfectly into a bundt cake center.  How awesome is that!!  People always ask me why we say "Shave ice" and not "shaved ice."  Well, for starters, that how the locals in Hawaii say it and I'm not about to argue with that.  Secondly, think of it as we say "Ice Cream."  We don't say, "Iced cream" right?  So, there you go!

 Spencer LOVED IT!  I think it turned out really cute!

Brother Naunau, in our ward, used to dance at the Polynesian Cultural Center and was willing to come perform for the banquet.  It was totally awesome!  

Horseback Dream Come True

On Christmas Day, Hailey opened a present that had a picture of a girl riding a horse.  It was a gift of horseback riding lessons!  She was super excited and has been asking about that for months now.  Well, about a month ago, that day finally came for her.  

 Notice how she had the perfect shirt on (all planned by Hailey of course!)

 This is probably my favorite picture because I love seeing her little body with those little cowgirl boots on leading her horse.  The horse, Frosty, was a pretty old one and kept hanging its tongue out.  We thought that was really silly!

 Here is a clip of Hailey's first time trotting.  Listen to her giggle!

So far, she has gone back for 3 lessons.  I'm not sure how many we will do.  They are pretty expensive but she really enjoys it.  I guess we will see--but for now, I really enjoy going to her lesson.  We get to brush the horse, clean out its hooves, and saddle up to ride.  She is ALL smiles for the entire one hour lesson!!

Our Birthday Present!

Tom and I have wanted to paint our garage doors for some time now and life just always seems to get in the way.  Money seems to be needed elsewhere . . . i.e., new irrigation pipes . . . yeah . . 

Did I mention that all of our irrigation in the front and back yards needed to be replaced in January? ha ha--  Ya, not too fun to pay for.    

But in February, for our 43rd birthdays . . . we finally did it!  Yes, after years of the faded, egg-stained (yes, our garage got egged several years ago) garage doors, we treated ourselves to the Ultimate Garage Facelift!!

 We wanted the garage doors to look like "wood" so we chose a lighter color for the base coat, then a stain to go over that so it would give the wood grain look.  We also had our window trims painted to match the garage (they used to be a smoky blue color that I never really cared for . . .)  

 There is the blue you can see halfway above the front door.  Bye bye blue!

 Our painter and his guys worked for most of the day but they got it all done by the afternoon.  I was like a little school girl skipping around the house---I was giddy----SO HAPPY!!  I love how it turned out!

Thank you Tom for the best birthday present ever!!!!

Just Another Day . . .

Well, I don't have anything really exciting to post today.  I just haven't been able to fit in blogging every day like I have been in the past.  I am really caught up right now with other things (like organizing my house, trying to lose weight :), teaching ballroom dance to 110 5th and 6th graders (choreographing, splicing music, costuming, etc. etc. etc. :) driving my kids everywhere  . . . and so on!  Sooooooo - these are just a few pictures of Just Another Day in the life of the Chamberlains.

Hailey looked so cute before school - we just had to take a few pictures.  

She loves to see how long her hair is growing.  

Spencer had an orthodontic appointment but Hailey wanted to get an impression of her teeth as well.  Our assistants are super nice to let her get one too!  What a funny picture!

Spencer is getting ready to have a lower lingual holding arch put in by his dad.  :)

Of course Hailey had to take a picture of the blue heron just outside our office windows.  She still is in love with birds!

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE watching Tom work?  There is just something very special to me when I watch Tom work.  It's like all of those hard college/dental/ortho school days fast forward in my mind and I am always just SO proud of him and how hard he works to be excellent at what he does!