Christmas time !!

This year we had another wonderful Christmas, It was low key, not too many presents, but we had some good family time and that is what really matters to me!

 

This is "Rockstar Aidan"  His dad got him an electric guitar for Christmas, he has tought himself some chords already, and we will have to look into lessons..... he sure looks the part of a rockin' teenage boy!

 Our Stockings were hung next to our friend Desmond this year..... Desmond was sporting a cute santa hat until some boy decided it would look better on his own head :)

 Our Christmas tree was actually bigger than the biggest room in our house..... this is what happens when you let Adam and Dylan be solely in charge of picking out the tree!

 Zander made the cutest little elf for the year, he is growing up faster than I can believe.... still my sweet snugly little man.

 Hayden is such an angel, she loves the new chair that mimi got her!

 Dylan will be 18 next week, hard to believe that the darling obnoxious little boy I fell in love with 10 years ago is an adult.... he has also completely lost the ability to make a normal face when there is a camera around, and yet he is still cute and charming.... don't ask me how, he just is!

 Zander was so happy with the box of 100 slim jims that mom-mom bought him!

 Aiden Tanner is one handsome boy, he looks alot like his dad, he got motorcycle riding gear for Christmas because he rides alot of dirt bikes at his mom's house, and now we have one at our house to.... help my heart and his moms because it is scary as heck to see him take off on those powerfull machines!

 Adam and his sweet mom

 This is our herd of deer, they are all over our yard almost every day, this picture was taken from inside our house, that is how close they get!

 Cute boys

 Aidan and Zander got a 3ds that they are sharing, it was their big present and I had my doubts about them sharing something like that but so far so good, and they are both so happy!

I told Adam that what I really wanted for Christmas was a family picture while Aiden Tanner is here, I told him I wasn't going to bother him or remind him, so we will see if it happens.... or if we wait until the day before he leaves and I choose to remind him and we take one of those no makeup hurried pics.....

I spent most of the last week recovering. I had a minor surgery that I have been struggling with for a couple of years. I had my tubes tied. I have known for a long time that I was done having babies, I lived that part of my life and I lived it well. I not only got to raise and enjoy my two babies but I got to enjoy my husband's three kids from a young age as well. Aidan t. Was only about a year and a half old when we got together, it was like having twins about half the time and I loved those little almost twins to death! I thought I was done then but things changed and Adam and I wanted one baby that never had to go to another parents house.... he was 100% ours 100% of the time. It didn't make missing the other kids any less but it was perfection!

Even with all these sweet memories I knew my time as a mother to babies had come to an end ( and I ended with the perfect son) but it was still a hard decision for me to make, it kind of felt like I was losing a big part of who I am as a woman.

The surgery itself wasn't too bad. The sweetness that my husband, mother in law, and kids showed me helped me tons..... you would never look at my husband and think of him as a caregiver but he was so great to me! Zander very gently came to snuggle me every day before and after school. He brought me crackers and water without being asked and he layed in bed with me and read. He also told me that when he was in heaven he asked to come to our family to be a source of love..... he has succeeded! That boy is pure love and I am so lucky to have him !

Seriously happy times!!

I am just in love with my life right now!  My kids are at great stages in their lives, I really really love my job, I am office manager and transaction coordinator at a really great real estate company.  The people I work with are amazing.  My sister and her family not only moved back to AZ after 10 years but now they are moving back to Lakeside.... my kids can grow up with their cousins and I get my best friend back!  There are a few downers in my life but I am going to ignore those. 

Aidan and Zander are best buds and I love that.  A few weeks ago I got a text message from a friend saying that she had seen them walking down the road, on their way home from the park no doubt, and they were walking with their arms around each other just talking and laughing.  It made me so happy to hear that they are nice to each other when I am not around to tell them to be! 
Aidan has turned into such an amazing person the last year, I just could not love him more!  His grades are great, he has a great, happy, helping disposition almost all the time, he is amazing with Zander MOST of the time!  He rides his bike to school in the mornings and stops by my office on the way home every day, he will make the rounds and talk to everyone who happens to be in the office, hang out for 15 or 20 minutes, then go over to Zander's school to walk him home.  Last week I had a minor surgery and the day of I let Zander's homework slide, but the next day I got up about an hour after school was out to help him do the work for the last 2 days but when I got his packet out of his backpack the whole weeks worth of homework was done!  I told Zander I was so proud of him for getting it done without me telling him to and he told me that since I wasn't feeling good Aidan had helped him do it the day before.  Those are 2 good boys right there!

Aiden Tanner was with us for the summer and that was such a pleasure, he is a great kid, so much like his dad and Dylan.... they look like a bunch of clones I tell ya!  Aiden T. is super tall and can really hold his own in wresteling matches with his dad and Dylan these days.  Him and Zander became good buddies over the summer, Aiden T. babysat 5 days a week while Adam, Dylan and I were working and Aidan W. was away at his dad's house. 

Dylan is a great guy to, he is really quite good to his brothers, he teaches them all the innapropriate yet hillarous things that a big brother teaches younger brothers.... He humors them and plays with them quite frequently, or rides bikes with them.  Him and Adam have been working hard to get us enough wood to get through the winter nice and warm and he can't wait to go back to his job at the ski shop :)

Now pictures, this might be an overload but I just love these guys!

  this is such a common place to find zan!

                                            Love that handsome Aidan boy to death!

                                            Beautiful Lyndsay and her handsome daddy!

Aiden t. Doing what the Staley boys do..... running, climbing, and above all competing!

The aidan's..... awesome brother's. Not by blood but bound by being family nonetheless.... they are great together

Dylan might not admit it but he really does love being surrounded by these little ones... they tend to flock to him!

This picture is great of mom mom and Zan but I can't make it rotate on my tablet

Family Pictures over the years

I recently found all the family pictures we have taken the past 10 years.  We have done them every year around Christmas, this is the first year we haven't gotten around to it...... with Lyndsay being off at college and the visitation schedules being so hectic we just never seemed to be all in the same place at the same time this year.  We are going to visit Lyndsay for spring break but my Aidan will be with his dad so we will have to take a picture and photoshop him off to the side somehow to make it work.

2003

Adam, Jen, Lyndsay (9) Dylan (8)

Aiden T. (4) Aidan W. (4)

 

Believe it or not we Adam took this picture himself with the timer on the camera, he pushed the button then ran over and we all piled on top of him and tried not to laugh! 

 

2004

Lyndsay (10) Dylan (9) Aidan W. (5) Aiden T. (5)

Jen, Adam

This was the year we added dogs to our family, you can see how well they were cooperating with the family picture idea, an interesting picture idea was just not going to work if we wanted the dogs in it and if I remember right the kids really thought the dogs needed to be in the picture!

2005

Dylan (10) Jen, Aidan W. (6) , Adam,

Aiden T. (6) Lyndsay (11)

Tree climbing by our house in Show Low... I think this was on a mountain bike trail that Adam used to ride alot, he loved the tree and thought it would make a good picture :) 

 

 

2006

Adam, Jen, Aidan W. (7) Aiden T. (7)

Dylan (11) Lyndsay (12) Zander (6 Months)



 



This year Zander joined our family, He spent the year being adored and spoiled by his big brothers and sister.... he has got to be the most loved little guy in the world!

 

 

2007

Aiden T. (8) Dylan (12) Adam, Jen, Zander (1)

Aidan W. (8) & Lyndsay (13)

 

We took a hike down the black river to take this picture.... fun times with a fun group !

 

 

2008

Jen, Zander (2) Aiden T. (9) Lyndsay (14),

Dylan (13) Aidan W. (9), Adam 

 

 

This picture was in the front room of Don & Jane's house in Woodland hills shortly after it was completed 

 

2009

Adam, Lyndsay (15) Aiden T. (10) Dylan (14)

Aidan W. (10), Zander (3) Jen 

 

 

This was our resort syled Christmas, we took the whole family to the Tapatillo Cliffs Resort in Scottsdale for Christmas since we were in a transistion period between houses, it was great to swim and lounge in the sun for Christmas break!

 

2010

Jen, Zander (4) Aiden T. (11) Dylan (15)

Adam, Aidan W. (11) Lyndsay (16)

This is the view from the top of our apartment complex, overlooking Adam's favorite place for the past few years, Phoenix Law School!   

2011

Adam, Zander (5) Dylan (16) Jen

Aidan W. (12) Lyndsay (17) Aiden T. (12) 

 

 

This was the most last minute ... hurry up and get home from work, forget about doing your hair or makeup at all, picture in the world.  It was at the little park in our neighborhood in Mesa.  I love how Zander has his arms around Daddy and Dylan.... 2 of his favorite people in the world! 

 

 

Surprised!

My birthday was a week and a half ago, I am 36 this year and thought I could slip under the radar of everyone I know.  In our family we don't normally do much for adults birthdays, which is just fine with me, my kids are kind of oblivious unless someone tells them and then reminds them at least a few times, so I didn't think they would notice, and I am the one in the office who passes around the birthday cards for everyone to sign so I thought if I just didn't pass one around for my birthday no one would even know I was having one... Wrong, I didn't factor my friend Trisha into this occasion, apparently Trisha is quite opposed to letting a birthday go by unannounced, so she not only told everyone in my office that I was having a birthday, she insisted that we have a mid-day pizza party, and our resident cowboy cooking expert made my a dutch oven peach cobbler and ice cream to go along with it, so we had a nice little party (against my will, I don't like to be the center of attention) right here in the office.... Adam brought the boys down for lunch and we all had fun.  My birthday was on Friday night so Adam and I had plans to go out.  When I got home from work the boys had the house all clean and Dylan said that he would feed the younger boys dinner and we should just go and have fun.  We had an awesome night of shopping and dinner on the agenda and I was excited!  After shopping for an hour and a half or so we were hungry and headed back to Pinetop, Adam had missed a call from Dylan so he called him back and told me that we needed to stop at the house real quick because Dylan had a question about a pen he was making, I must admit I was annoyed but it really was right on the way so not a huge deal.  When we pulled up the house was dark but the boys are strange like that so I didn't think much of it but when I opened the door just about everyone I know in this town was right there!  I have never had a surprise party, and to be honest I do not love being the center of attention, but it was so much fun.  Everyone brought Mexican food, Trisha made home made Pina Colada's which were amazing, and quite a few people from work had made up completely false stories about going out of town for the weekend and were there.  Our house is great for parties with plenty of room to spread out, the kids played upstairs mostly, and people played pool, there was lots of room to spread out food and just hang out.  It was really a fun night and my husband and friends made me feel so special :)  I didn't take any pictures other than Kim, the hot young girl at our office posing with the preteen boys who are looking quite pleased with themselves, but they were just blurry cell phone pics (since I wasn't prepared for a party!)

Time for school!

Today is the first day back at school for my kiddos, Zander is in 1st grade, Aidan started Jr. High (how did he get so dang big!!) and Dylan started his Junior year in high school.  Aidan was by far the most excited to go back to school, he loves school and I love that!  They are all 3 starting a new school this year, so it will be an adjustment but one of Aidan's best friends from Mesa actally moved up here over the summer and will not only be going to the same school as him but is also living less than a mile from our house!  That was very exciting news for him!  I had to surpress my motherly desires and not follow them in to the schools to get 1st day of school pics but I did manage to snap a couple of Aidan and Zander when we were leaving this morning, Dylan wasn't with us so I just got the 2 of them but I am adding a great picture of Dylan and his dad here just because they are so handsome :)

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I love the way Zander looks up at Aidan with that loving look.... I just love those boys so much!









Zander is off to first grade,
Aidan to 7th....... AHHH Junior High!!!











I am so happy to have finally got a normal smile out of Dylan, (and him and his dad look great together!) he either makes a goofie face or..... makes a goofy face when I try to take his picture, which I guess is true Dylan!  He makes us laugh every day.  I really love that boy and am so glad to have him in my family!  He is a chip off the old block so he got a ton of amazing traits from my perfect husband (Can you tell I love him very much to!)






When I came home from orientation with Aidan last night this is how I found Zander... I wonder who helped him get up there!!

Summer Time

This summer has been super busy, mostly good, and gone by way too fast!
We got moved into our new home in Lakeside, we love it..... the kids really really love it!  The crazy things boys will do when given a big back yard never fails to amaze me!  This summer we had the 4 boys home all summer, it was great... they got along well and didn't have a moment of boredom!  Adam helped the boys make the first ever "Staley Family Ninja Training Course" in the yard.  First they made a 1/4 mile bike track, once they got good at riding that without crashing they decided to kick it up a notch by building a couple of jumps and a bridge that you ride up and across, that was just a gateway into the rest of the yard.  Next came a "Skywalk" which consists of cimbing a big tree, then 13 feet up in the air they took a 2X10 and attached it to 2 trees so you climb 1, walk across this board crazy high in the air, then climb down the other tree.  I guess climbing down took too long because it wasn't long before a rope swing was added, which they could take on the way down, then the trampoline got moved under the rope swing so they could jump off and (hopefully) land on the trampoline.  My dad came over and thought the kids were training for Circ. De Soli so he dared them to learn to bounce on the trampoline and land on a platform in the tree, it took Dylan no time to master this skill.  Of course the safety net on the trampoline had to come off in order for some of these tricks to work....  The boys got really into the show American Ninja Warrier and would watch it every week then spend the next few days trying to re-create the obstacles.  They made some contraption where they would run on these big rocks that were set at an angle and your feet could never touch the ground, then you have to jump up and grab onto a bar that was suspended by rope between 2 trees and swing out on that then jump off on the other side.... that worked well until the rope broke with a small boy on it, no worries, he had a few scrapes but was back up in minutes!  They would set up the garage with boxing bag, pull up bars, sit up area's, things to jump over and spend hours with the 4 of them going through this course. 

Dylan climbing the pegboard & Zander on the rope swing

 Aiden lounging and swinging

 Aidan W. chilling in the tree and Zander and Aiden T. snuggeling

Aidan W. swinging... looks like Tarzan to me, this is pre-haircut.... and here is the after shot 

My boys, I love them so much!!

Zander had 2 weeks of swimming lessons and actually learned to swim, I am so proud of that little guy! Aidan got a hair cut, thanks to the prompting of a certain cute girl he has eyes for, and looks fantastic! Adam studied hard and took the bar exam, and I got a promotion to office manager at the real estate office I work in. Dylan and Aiden Tanner took their 1st solo (almost solo, just the 2 of them, no adults) camping trip which made me nervous but they loved it! Zander also lost his 1st 3 teeth within a week of each other, he now has the cutest smile and the funniest lisp I have heard in many years! They sure are growing up fast!


There were a couple of events that kind of rocked our world in a not so good way, the day after mothers day Adam's dad went into the E.R. with what we thought was a back problem and we found out he had stage 4 renal cancer. Our hearts were broken at this news and only 5 weeks later he passed away. He was such an amazing man who would do anything in the world to help anyone he came across. He changed me so much as a person and taught me the skills that have me in a job I love today. I hope above all else that my kids all have fantasitc memories of their pop-pop who was so loved by all of them. My mom has also had a rough go of it health-wise, she has been in the E.R. 4 times this summer and is no longer able to work which I am sure has her pretty depressed. Aidan has decided that he can ride his bike to her house to visit her and keep her on her toes, and I think she enjoys that time with just him.

Next week the boys start school, 3 boys at 3 different schools, on 3 different time schedules..... wish me luck, I might need it!!