New Do's, & New a School Year

Before school started the girls were in need of a little TLC for their lovely locks.

My sister Ann, our fabulous hair stylist.... informed me of a new hair technique that tames wild hair and makes it shiny and smooth.

Have you ever heard of a 

BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT???

It is special Keratin Treatment done to hair to make it super gorgeous and lasts for about 12 weeks. It is like a vitamin soak for your hair and so far it has worked wonders for my gals.

Here is a little more details from the official Brazilian Blowout website....ps In fact, the term “Brazilian Blowout” is a trademarked brand name – in reality just a process of a way of doing hair.

“The BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT is the most innovative and effective professional smoothing treatment in the WORLD! Through the use of a Brazilian Super Nutrient Complex and a proprietary polymer system, the Brazilian Blowout actually improves the condition of the hair by creating a protective protein layer around the hair shaft to eliminate frizz and smooth the cuticle. The end result is smooth, healthy, frizz-free hair with radiant shine! What makes us different? The ONLY Professional Smoothing Treatment that improves the health of the hair. No Damage! Entire treatment completed in just 90 minutes! No down time! The minute you leave the salon, you can wash and air dry your hair, and it will be smooth, frizz-free and radiant! Results last up to 12 weeks. Leaves hair smooth and frizz-free WITHOUT harsh chemicals. Acai aftercare products ensure longest lasting results.”

Carly hair is as spunky as she is. Wild & carefree....but don't get me wrong, it is great hair when tamed ;) She has these powerful waves that don't like to cooperate most of the time. My dad has naturally curly hair so I am assuming her unruly wave is part of her great family genes :) We thought we would give the Brazilian Blowout a try and you know what??????

Guess who this amazing shiny hair belongs to???

CARLY?! Is that you with some shiny and straight hair?! WOWZA!!! Girl you look amazing! Gorgeous transformation! :) it will be fun having straight hair for a spell! :)

Kaitlyn's Before pics.

Her hair is pretty straight for the most part. BUT it does not dry straight unless blow-dried. And I have been told the Brazilian Blowout will do just the trick to help long thick hair dry luscious and shiny and straight. We will see about that  :)

This is the stuff.... it is pricey but I think worth it, if you desire shiny, straight and healthy looking & feeling hair. Kaitlyn getting the works done :)

Who's is that long lusterous hair belong to?

It's Kaitlyn....looking smooth and shiny :)

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You 

to my sweet sister Ann and her awesome assistant Lindsey 

for giving my girls a beautiful back to school hair make-over! They look gorgeous!!! They LOVE IT too :)

I know I am a MONTH behind in posting the 1st day of school!

But here ya go! New backpacks, New Hair, New outfits, great summer tans and we are READY!!!

Miss Carly is going into 4th grade this year! She is excited to work hard and learn lots of new skills! Plus she is just so stinkin cute! :)

Our Beautiful Beautiful Carly Girl! 9 yrs old

Miss Kaitlyn in is her final year of elementary school. Miss 6th grader!!! This will be an exciting final chapter for her! Watch out world! ;)

Our Beautiful Beautiful Kaitlyn!  11.5 yrs old

Mr. Blakey Boy also gets to go back to school this year.... PRE-SCHOOL that is :)

One more year with THE... Miss Katie! He is thrilled beyond thrilled to be heading back to school!

He loves school and wakes us raring to go learn everyday :) But we have to remind Blake that preschool is only Mon., Wed. & -Fri. Those are the best days according to Blake!

Mr. Handsome boy! loving his muscle shirt :) 4 years old

A close up shot of a Classic Blake grin. When I showed Blake all the pics I took of him, he wondered where his teeth were! So we had to take one more :)

There are those pearly whites :)

Blake is happy to see his teeth! He cracks me up :) Love that Boy!

So here is to a new year filled with learning and growing! Love you kids!

Carly, cArLy, CaRLy, carly... this post is for you my darling!

Our sweet Carly had a birthday last month. I am finally getting caught up in blogging and couldn't miss posting about our darling girl's 9th Birthday! That is BIG NEWS!!!!

On August 3rd was Carly's special day.

She was so excited for her birthday to come. We were excited for her to! After all, this is her last single digit birthday... it's gonna be double digits from here on out! :)

She couldn't wait to open her presents! It is the most exciting part of a birthday any way.

I LOVE how expressive she is! Her excitement is contagious! We were all smiling from ear to ear seeing her very happy reaction she gave as she opened up each present.

This was the birthday of the Zhu Zhu pets.... yes we are a bit behind on the zhu zhu pet bandwagon and we don't mind. There were lots of choices & they are still cute and fun!

The Zhu zhu pet slide! YES!!!!

In case you were wondering, Zhu Zhu Pets are little battery operated hamsters that scurry around and make little rodent noises. What kid wouldn't want a furry little pet?? :) Carly was very pleased! 

What is this????

oooooh, ahhhhhh

YES!!!

The Glitter Barbie Hair doll.... the blow dryer even blows air and GLITTER!!!!! Things are gonna get pretty sparkly around her! This is the barbie she always wanted :) So happy u love it Birthday girl!

We saved the best for last :)

A Gift Certificate to get her Ears Pierced!!!! FINALLY!!!!!

Carly has wanted her ears pierced for quite a while now. But she has been mustering up the courage to get her ears pinched! I think she is ready! And she is so excited!!!!

I made this little gift certificate for Carly.

I think it is a keeper :) it will have to go in the scrapbook...well whenever I start scrapbooking again that is :) 

We would have taken her to get her ears pierced on her actual birthday but unfortunately she woke up with a stiff neck and couldn't straighten her head. I didn't think it would be very comfortable to force her head straight for the piercing, so she had to wait it out a few more days while her neck became unkinked. 

Despite the kink in her neck, Carly had a fabulous Birthday. We all went to Sweet Tomatoes for her Birthday Lunch, her choice and one we ALL Love! :) it was delicious. 

Happy 9th Birthday Carly Poo!

Carly's Swim Party was held on Saturday Aug. 7th

She wanted a PEACE sign cake! So PEACE she will get! She thought it was pretty cool! 

Swim Party at Grandma & Papa Daddy Gordon's!!! Always a big hit and PERFECT for a summer birthday! Looking cute by the decor :)

PARTY TIME!!!!!

The girls and Blake enjoying some snacks.

Time for Cake!

Make a Wish Carly! We love u!!!

Carly was thrilled her 2 cousins and 2 good friends could join in the fun this day! 4 friends were not able to make it! But WE had a blast anyway!

Sweet Presents! 

Thank You ~ Thank You ~ Thank You~

Carly is one LUCKY GIRL!!!

Now let's get back to the pool to keep cool!

These girls have some AWESOME tricks :)

Carly's Swim Party was a blast! Fun memories and best wishes to a great 9th year Carly!

The week after her birthday, her neck finally felt better and she was ready....very ready to get her ears pierced. She was so nervous and trying so hard to be brave!

This is it.... 1  2  3 .... little pinch and ......

Pierced!!!!! Beautiful Earrings Carly!!! You look great in them! She is very relieved and it was as easy as 1 2 3 literally. No tears! She was Brave and it was worth it :)

Checking the new jewels and learning how to take care of them! 

Isn't she a doll! wow!~

So there we have it!!! Carly has got her ear pierced and she is sooooo happy she did it! What a wonderful birthday week we got to celebrate with our daughter. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. It seems like yesterday I brought her home from the hospital. Our sweet baby girl, still sweet as ever and we love this girl like crazy!

Zito Family Road Trip.... Part 3 & 4.... Grizmo Cabin & Grandma

We have arrived at our final chapter of the Zito Family Road Trip... Summer 2010!!!

After our visit to Yellowstone we drove up to Livingston, MT where Leonard's buddy from work owns this BEAUTIFUL cabin. Harold was kind enough to let us stay a couple nights. We loved every minute and it was a perfect way to end a great vacation!

Isn't she GORGEOUS!!!

Welcome to the GRIZMO Cabin

 actually located in Pray, MT

We were in complete AWE!!! it was about 10pm when we drove up and so we didn't get to be amazed of the beauty outdoors til the sun came up! WOW!!!  The Mountains you see are Emigrant Peak. We could sit and stare at this beautiful sight for hours and the cabin views made it even easier to do that since they were an entire wall of HUGE GLASS WINDOWS!

Check out all these sweet details.... amazing fire pit, which we planned on using to roast marshmallows, but we got rained out twice! But we LOVED the rain :) There were grapes, blueberries or huckleberries and raspberries growing off the back patio! Beautiful flagstone paths around the entire place and down to the stream. 2 HUGE back patios that even wrap around the whole cabin! What a Perfect place for a PARTY!!! The trees and flowers were lush and it was just plain GORGEOUS!!!

Now check out the amazing inside! Loved this rustic log cabin! So cozy and comfortable! We felt like we were right at home. We could see our selves living here...well, some place like it one day! I WANT A CABIN!!!!!!!

Some of the rustic details that make the GRIZMO cabin a bit more special! Check out that cool fireplace! I hope to come back in the winter time and use it ;) hint hint! 

This Cabin has 4 rooms, 3 bathrooms, a full basement and room to sleep well over 16- 20 people!

We really thought the log stair case was pretty sweet!

We propped open the windows and put in a fan and let the cool mountain breeze keep us nice and cool!

The family just chillin and relaxing! 

We wish we could have stayed longer! It was so so so enjoyable. I could get really use to that lifestyle :)

See Carly's war wounds? She got in a fight with Granny's treadmill on the first day we arrived at their house. The treadmill won and she is left with some pretty skinned up knees. OUCH! Carly is one tough chick. 

A view from the lookout window from upstairs! Don't you want to come take a vacation here?

Ahhhh, The BASEMENT... a very cool place to chill and definitely a highlight of this adventure.

~ The Ping Pong Table ~

We stayed up pretty late having a ping pong tournament. It was a BLAST!!! We look forward to a rematch :)

Leonard's brother, Nate brought up his catamaran drift boat and we were gonna float down the Yellowstone River and do some fishing. BUT...we changed our plans and took it down to Dailey Lake which was a very short 5 miles from the cabin, to paddle around in and play in the cold water. Everyone is VERY Cold but me :) I opted to be the photographer instead ;)

Nate & Leonard ..... aaaah, the love between brothers.

Who can dunk who??? 

Looks like my husband is the Studliest of them All!  I knew I was right! 

We played in the lake for a while until a huge summer storm rolled in and rained us out. We took cover in our cars until it passed and then the sun came back out & went to play some more. We were lucky enough that Leonard's 2 other brothers came to join us at the lake to play and they brought their 2 jet skis!!!  SWEET FUN!!!

The girls discovered LEACHES..... the hard way..... Yes, you read that right. LEACHES!!!! They were small and they were stuck to their feet. As they pulled them off screaming hysterically, the little blood suckers would attach themselves to their fingers instead. It was quite an experience for sure and one they will never forget. Carly and cousin Aden would hunt them down and collect them in Carly's Bug jar she got from cousins camp. Carly even snuck one home in her jar, but it was dried out and crusty by them time we got home! That Carly girl is so spunky! We love her!

The kids LOVED taking rides on the jet skis. The water was perfect and smooth. I had fun just watching them laugh and squeal with delight! 

All the kids especially LOVE riding the big tube as Uncle Nate pulled them behind the jet ski!

Off they go! I love Carly's thumbs up... which means FASTER!!!!!

We loved seeing Paul again! He was so helpful. Took Leonard and Nate out on the tube and dumped both of them a few times!  Fun to watch.

Johnathan & Anneke & Josie took a couple rides on the lake. I got to keep my eye on their little munchkin Charlotte. What a sweetie! 

Amber met us later in the day with her 2 girlies, Heather & Aubrey.... i didn't get pics of them... oops :)

See I was there too! I brought my swim cap and goggles and took a dip in the lake and swam a bit. The only draw back in swimming in a clearer lake... unlike the brown dirty water of AZ, is that I could ACTUALLY SEE what i was swimming in, around and through. I did freak my self out a few times. The tall grasses and water weeds grabbing my legs and funky gooey mossy stuff floating all around me was enough to let my imagination run wild and swim me right to the shore where I chose to hang out and visit with the family and give hi-5's to the kids. We loved spending time on the lake with our Zito Family! Thanks for taking the drive and the time to hang out with us! We love you all!

Our stay in Pray, MT was much to short! It was definitely SHORT and SWEET! and left us longing for more! Blake tells me almost everyday since we have been home.... which is now over a month ago... that he wants to go back to the cabin. I feel ya mister! I would love to also! Hopefully, we will be invited back to stay another time sooner than later! Thanks Harold for your generosity! You put the cherry on top of our Zito Family Road Trip for the Summer of 2010.

Now it is time to put the pedal to the medal and take the 1600 mile journey through MT, WY, ID, UT and back to our home sweet home in AZ. That's only a few DOZEN hours in the car! YES!!!!!!!

The pitstop we make in Idaho Fall, ID is one of the most important stops we make on our yearly journey. 

We love to stop and visit Grandma Warner. This sweet lady is the so special. She is Leonard's grandma but she has made me feel like I am her very own granddaughter since I joined this family almost 14 years ago. I have a special place in my heart for Grandma!

She adores her great grandchildren and they adore her! 

Her sweet daughter, Laura Lee.... Leonard's mama! Made this special quilt for mother and she treasures it. She showed me it and the picture and poem Laura Lee made for her. She keeps it close to her chair so she can read it and feel that hug she misses so dearly! 

Isn't it the sweetest ever?! I know! I hope you don't mind Mom :) You really are so caring and thoughtful and Grandma loves it and you so much! We talked about what a loving lady you are and I really do think it brightens up Grandmas day and she feels your love!

Our visit with Grandma & Chet flew by and it was back on the road again! We look forward to visiting them again next year on our annual road trip!