A 50 Degree Morning...

We are planning to spend Christmas in a cold climate, so my sister passed me a box of "cold weather gear" in prep for our trip (as she moved to PHX from SLC one year ago). The girls opened the boxes this morning and when I looked outside this is what I saw. They are beyond thrilled to discover these new clothing articles that they are NOT familiar with.

Merry Christmas 2007!

Hattie & Neeley

(Thanks Aunt Diana for the great dresses - the gals love them!)

Gardens at Christmas?

The Christmas season is upon us! This is a great time of year for us. This picture was taken decorating our tree the other night. Of course the girls were more interested in decorating themselves. Here's the result!

It is quite a switch living in PHX compared to cold weather climes, but we are ok with 70 degree holidays! A few PHX specific holiday traditons:

• Sun
• Sun
• Sun
• Warm
• Christmas light displays that are truly "Christmas Vacation" like (have you seen the movie? I'm not kidding. People go crazy with lights here.)
• Sun
• Warm
• Santa coming to town on a Harley Davidson. Truly a sight. Our community of Ahwatukee has an annual festival and all area Harley riders bring Santa in riding Harley's 100 deep. And the Jolly Red Man too!
• Did I say sun?

The official Secrist Christmas Tree 2007!

Welcome to PHX - land of extremes! How can I decorate a Christmas Tree (or cactus) and plant a garden all in the same day? This is my first real attempt at being a green thumb. The gals and I spent a sunny afternoon planting and now we are seeing it grow! In December! Look at that awful rocky soil and yet, this puppy is growing! Radishes, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, onions, peas and in the far upper corner - strawberries. So, Merry Christmas and happy gardening! Wish us luck! Carrots for the New Year! If we master this - lookout Farmer's Market!

How's Your REAL-A-TOR Working Out for You?

I know most of you log in to see pictures of my family and hear what's going on in our lives, but humor me for a moment while I express something that has baffled me my entire real estate career. I'm going to call this series "How's Your REAL-A-TOR Working Out for You?"

I show a lot of homes. I see a lot of interesting stuff. And I'm always working to understand trends, see patterns, forecast the future, etc... As a result, I am online looking at many homes. I see what other agents write and the pictures they place in the MLS to "showcase" their client's home. Often we come across a few gems. My sister and I keep these "winners" tucked away for our future NY Times bestseller, but then I realized these are BLOG worthy! So, welcome to my new series. The moral of the story? When your home goes on the market make sure you double check your pictures. If they are lousy, chances are your entire experience may be lousy. After all, a picture is worth 1000 words!

California Thanksgiving 2007

Well...we are back and had an outstanding time in California with Taani's family. The weather was perfect and the scenery was incredible - a needed break from the daily grind. Here are a few pictures from our trip. This Thanksgiving we were most grateful for family and friends and small miracles.



It was a mountain biking T-day! We rode everyday. From mountain roads to beach-side destinations, we were always peddling! Taani's parents live in a very mountainous location with perfect trails, so this was a real treat. Ryan was able to get out twice some days. MTBing is great for meditation - we highly recommend it!

Here we are at Mission Bay after miles of riding. We had a great time peddling around Mission Bay and the boardwalk. It couldn't have been more beautiful.

With trails like this, one has to ride! Taani and I headed out without kids one morning and had an excellent time (thanks Grandma & Grandpa).

Our mountain escape...ridin' hard to work off loads of good food from the day before.

The Thanksgiving Day Hike after dinner up the canyon behind the Harrison home. Included in this picture: Taani's family and the Esplins (more family from So Cal but known from Naperville where Taani grew up). We had a great time and a perfect day!

The Gals! All the girls on the hike collecting "rare hard-to-find" gems. Guess who ended up with the bags? The girls played so well together and that night we sat around chatted, sang to the guitar, and listened to Elise (pictured hugging her sister) play the violin.

Hattie and Neeley doing what they love best - helping in the kitchen!!! Here they are making gingerbread dough for tree decorations.

Our all-day beach bike ride took us to Mission Bay. After riding several miles we went hunting for shells with the gals. Here grandpa and Neeley are digging for the find...

Searching for shells is ultimate bliss for the girls. Can you tell?

On the beach with Grandma Debi! We absolutely love spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and being outdoors.

The Christmas Season has officially started with the cerimonial decorating of Grandma and Grandpa Harrison's big backyard Christmas Tree. The question on all of our minds...when will Grandpa finally cut that thing down and take it inside to decorate?

Have a happy Holiday Season from Ryan, Taani and the gals.

Halloween 2007 - GO COUGARS!

Stingrays in the PHX Zoo!

Grandma & Grandpa Harrison came to visit and we went to the zoo. We were able to pet Stingrays! Way cool!

Me, Hattie & Kyle


Grandma, Kyle & Neeley

In the Spring we connected with a way artistic photographer that could even take our motley crew and make us look a little presentable. She drove us far into the East Valley into an abandon pecan grove and started shooting without really posing. These are some of our favorite photos.

Add "Bloggers" to Our Resume

Here we go...the official blog spot for all things Secrist. This truly is a great medium to keep people informed of our happenings and share our family photos. We look forward to keeping in touch and laughing, crying, sharing with the best of 'em. Off we go...