Arizona Sunsets

One of the best parts about living in the barren desert is the sky that you can see down to the horizon in every direction you look. Our new backyard faces west and so the sun sets in our backyard each night and it is just beautiful to watch. Sometimes I feel like I am in one of the big IMAX theaters where the screen is all around me with this pretty sunset. Nights like last night where I sit in a patio chair and watch my family swim together under the setting sun are my favorite.

Feeling Good on Father's Day!

I was happy that Tyler had a nice Father's Day this year. He deserves it, no doubt.

My mom and I went to dinner with him Saturday night and went shopping to get him some new summer clothes. Taking him shopping is a rare occasion and he was looking good in that dressing room! :)

Sunday morning the kids made him cards and breakfast in bed. My mom had gotten him a new BYU t-shirt (I told her anytime she wants to get him a gift, get something with BYU on it and he will love it!) and I gave him the blog book that I had made!

He was a happy daddy and I was glad - because we all love and appreciate him so much!

HAPPY 6th FATHER'S DAY MY LOVE!!

A stay at the Princess

My mom and shelly were here last week and we had a full day open with no plans on Friday. We got the idea from my mom's good friend Denise to check into some of the resorts up in Scottsdale because they usually have really good rates during the summer since it is so hot here. We ended up booking a night at the Scottsdale Princess, a 5-star resort for only $104! It was awesome. So we checked in right at noon and swam and played all afternoon! They had a shaded and cooled with fans (oh so posh) sand area where the kids stayed busy for hours making castles, water slides with no lines that we raced each other on, and the water was perfectly warm! It was great.





Tyler met us there after work and we ended up going fishing in the hotels pond with their complimentary poles and gear. We were pulling up these slimey cat fish every 30 seconds it felt like. Definitely our most successful fishing trip ever, but I didn't have the camera with me.




Each night they play a movie at the pool so we finished the day with Monster's Inc. and a box of dominoes pizza. The night was cool and beautiful which is somewhat unusual for this time of year and we were glad we took advantage of this opportunity! Mom and Shelly stayed the night and nest day but we headed back home about 11pm. It was such a fun thing to do! A "stay-cation" as they call it!

Steve and Tyler and the Boys

Ever since losing my dad I've understood well the importance of family pictures. I tied the boys down for a couple of seconds to capture these photos of Tyler and his dad and our boys. Some day as everyone grows older they will be precious to us all.

Couple things

One - I walked my children out of our first movie yesterday and Ashley called me 'a lame mom'. That's another first, and I'm sure there will be more from where that came. But we had gone to see "Spiderwick Chronicles" and I'M SURE!! A horror movie made for kids is what that is!! I'd had it when the big bad goblin disguised himself like the father of the terrorized children, coming back to rescue them until his eyes went devilish and gremlin parts started popping out of his head! "Grab your shoes, we're leaving" is all I could say to the kids... and they obeyed!! My gosh.

Two- There is this great frozen yogurt shop up on Baseline and Val Vista right next door to Gymboree that is called 'Ocean Blue'. Went there today and it is awesome. Great, healthy style yogurt with good toppings and they just weigh it in the end so it comes out to be a lot better and cheaper than, say, Golden Spoon or Cold Stone. Try it sometime.

Pima Air & Space Museum

Steve and Shauna came to town last weekend and we had such a great time with them!! We BBQ-ed and swam, went to Tucson to see this Airplane Museum, went to parks, enjoyed the sunsets and stars, Shauna's cookies and one anothers' company. It was wonderful to have them here at our house.

These pictures are from the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, an hour and a half from here. We are so glad that we made the day trip because this place was worth it. They have nine hangers full of antique planes, war planes, the smallest plane that ever flew, the first Air Force One, etc. The kids got in on the action in Hanger One which is designed like a children's museum where they could climb into airplane cockpits and let their imaginations soar!

The place isn't cheap ($13/adult) but it is a neat place to go on an outing for dad. Ty definitely dug it - especially the Lockheed Blackbird.

Happy to be Jake

So he's three in August. Think maybe it's time we say good-bye to the bottle?! Yes, I finally think it is time, and this very morning I threw out all the rest of his beloved bottles! By way of celebration we are going to finish off the gallon of chocolate milk tonight for Family Night! And this chapter will be closed. But oh Jake ... isn't life grand with a bottle in your hand??


Here he is yesterday at the urgent care when I took him in to be checked for strep - looks really sick, huh? That's what the doctor thought too. Oh well.

Today on our way in to swim team.
Take it all in ladies...
We can't imagine life without this little guy. He's always making us smile and laugh.

Down at the Stake Farm

Yesterday we drove the ten minutes into Queen Creek to visit our stake farm because we heard that the corn was ready to be picked. We happened to get there during irrigation so it was pretty muddy and we ended up working on staying clean and cleaning shoes more than harvesting crop - but it was still fun! The corn that we brought home tasted awesome!

It was a beautiful time on night and we got lots of pretty cool pictures. It was fun to have Nana and Poppi there experiencing a taste of the farming life together.

Pooped Princess

This is a funny picture I took of Ashley when she fell asleep in the car the other day. I love her so much. She is such a little girly girl and so much fun to have around.

Today is a special day because the boys are leaving for the Fathers and Sons campout and she and I are on our own tonight!! She has our scedule all worked out and we will be keeping many of last year's traditions for our girls night: Dinner at Applebees, home for bubble baths and painting nails, watching a movie, and "garage-saling" in the morning (that's how she puts it!). She already volunteered to help get the boys all packed up this morning so she and I did it for them. And now it's just a matter of time before they hit the road... 6 more hours... but who's counting?

Swim Season

Swim season is back. I can't believe that another summer has come already! Ashley and Luke have been swimming every morning for three weeks now and had their first meet last Saturday. They both swam freestyle and came home happy to show me their ribbons. I am very proud of them for working hard and I joke with the other moms that we should be the ones getting up each day to swim laps for 30 minutes!! Just think what that could do...

Anyway, here are some cute pictures: