Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Lazy, Winter Days

{Playing in the Christmas snow with neighborhood friends}

The children are out of school for three weeks! 
The snow is coming down and it's absolutely beautiful. 
We are counting down to Christmas and enjoying lazy days with the family :)
Tea parties with dad by the fire are pretty special!
I caught little Minnie making up tunes to the "magical snow falling down outside", while looking out the window this morning.
She makes me smile.
"Look, mom! All those push ups I do at night before bed are really paying off!!" said Sport while flexing his his bulging muscles!
Warming little feet by the fire.
They take after their mommy!
Mickey Mouse sings of his birth! 
Gave me a good chuckle tonight after tucking the children in bed.
I love finding gems like this around the house...
Sleeping by the fire in the family room is such a treat!
Sport tried to keep his eyes open until the very last fire burned out in the fireplace...He almost made it.
 
I'm loving these days with no homework or schedules to keep! 
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Monday, December 3, 2012

Time To Say Goodbye

The party had to come to an end, and we were so sad to leave.
We had such a great time with our family and miss them already!
Hopefully it won't be too long before we see each other again.

Since my grandparents home was rather crowded, we stayed with my Uncle Greg, Aunt Rhonda and their family.
Little Timmy grew kind of attached to them while there!
He gave his 2nd cousin Stacey some loves before we left.
She would stay up late and play with him when he wouldn't settle down and go to sleep.
The girls followed their 2nd cousin's Bryce and Devon around everywhere!
And Sport slept in Devon's room.
He spent every night lying in bed talking with him.
It wasn't easy getting the two of them to go to sleep!
The children are already talking about their next visit.
Thank you for letting us ransack your house and for humoring the munchkins.
We felt right at home with you all :)
Baby Timmy loved to sneak Great Grandma Diana's potatoes from her potato basket and take little bites out of them!
So, I tried trading his potato for an apple.
He seemed to like it...
Minnie loves her Great Grandpa John.
(The two of them eating corn dogs}
Princess and cousin Mae climbed under the table to eat.
They needed a hidden place to share secrets about their magic necklaces and the witch that was trying to steal them!
Isn't this a beautiful picture?
I just love it!
I'm so grateful for my Grandmother and Mother.
I hope to become as wonderful as these two amazing women one day.
Sport getting some Uncle David time in before we hit the road...
My baby sister isn't a baby anymore!
She's a confident, smart, beautiful, inspiring young woman.
Everyone wanted her attention, and I hardly got to see her!
But, I'm not bitter...much. 
I love my Emma Wee Wee!
As we gathered for family prayer, 
our girls had to beat everyone else to Grandma's side!
They love and miss her.
It's tradition to take family photo's before loading up the car!
I don't know why we choose to do this the day we're dressed in our travel clothes...but we do. 

{Our family with Great Grandpa John and Grandma Diana}
The whole gang! 
{My side of the family (we are getting big!  And still missing my bro Josh who's serving a mission) with Great Grandpa John and Grandma Diana}
Thank you, Grandpa's and Grandma's, for doing all you did to make our visit so much fun!
We will never forget it and are looking forward to the next time we get to see all of you.
If only the miles didn't stretch so far between us!


The drive home felt like it would never end.
We don't like goodbyes...and were so tired.
Compared to the drive my parents had to make, ours was a piece of cake!
I felt like such a big baby.
Half way through, we decided we wanted pancakes and eggs.
Hamburgers just didn't sound very good, and there wasn't much else to choose from.
So, Denny's it was.
The Mr. and I ordered veggie stuffed omelets that were pretty darn tasty!
The children stretched their legs and cheered up when they saw their food.
Sport got a softball pancake and thought it was way cool...
Little Timmy did NOT want to be put back in his car-seat.
We let him bounce around at the steering wheel while dad gassed the car up, and he finally cracked a smile!
That smile only lasted until we strapped him back in his seat.
Poor guy.
He eventually wore himself out and fell asleep.
 
 The snow tipped mountains welcomed us home!
A big change from the 80 degree weather in Arizona.
It temporarily slipped my mind that it was winter!
I was happy to tuck our children into their warm beds and climb into my own that night.
Until next time, I'll be dreaming of sunshine, warmth, and family :)
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Friday, November 30, 2012

A Favorite In Arizona

I really did enjoy our entire visit, 
But there was just something special about our family stroll around the Mesa Arizona Temple.
This temple has so much history!
It was all decorated and lit up for Christmas,
the children were so excited to be there,
 we got to spend some time together,
and there was a happy spirit about everyone.
I absolutely loved it!
I think my family did too (the children are still talking about it!) :)

Thanks to Mr. JP's handy phone, he captured a few pictures of the evening...
{ Me with three of our kid-Os in front of Joseph and Mary}
{Sport got to ride on Grandpa's shoulders!  He loves his Grandpa.}
{Thumbs up! I think that's Princess nearly choking Auntie Em.}
{Thanks to Seth and Cami for bringing their awesome stroller!
Timmy was so happy for the ride...and Chloe almost got a bite out of it!}
{Cousin Bryce and his girl friend were pretty close to Minnie's favorite people while there.}
{The Mesa Arizona temple is special to me.
It's where my parents were married,
 and where I went through for the very first time with my sweetheart.
The best decision I ever made!}
{Looking at the nativity scene with the children.
I kept having to pull Minnie back from climbing the fence to hold baby Jesus!}
 
{Holiness to the Lord} 
What a great way to welcome the Christmas season.
A time to celebrate our Saviors birth.
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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Uncle John's Party! It's Tradition.

I placed my Uncle John on the "Awesome Uncle List" a long time ago! 
He's a hoot and knows how to have a good time with us kids.
Every year we visit Arizona, he holds his annual movie and pizza night for the WHOLE family. 
He projects a movie outside on the big screen and one inside for our entertainment, then we
chat it up while stuffing our faces and watching the children play.
Thank you, Uncle John and Aunt Monica (we know who really does all the work ;)!

Goofing off on the porch swing...

Yup! They're all related...
Baby Timmy beat his cousin Chloe to the top every time!
Ready to cause some trouble...
Second cousins!
The newest babies in the fam...
These two girls discovered the girly room!
We didn't see them much after that.
Getting cozy on the lawn, watching the movie...
I had to dig through the blankets to find Sport! 
Apparently 75 degrees in the desert is a little too cool for him...
The big boys watching the big screen...
Laughing with his Uncle Ben!
Timmy thought he was pretty funny.
Chowing down on some pizza...
The cool kids...
Cute girls watching the movie Brave...
While Great Grandpa John snored on the couch!
I believe it's safe to say that Uncle John has now been placed on Sports "Awesome Uncle List" too!
He pulled out a kit with all kinds of gadgets to assemble, and Sport was in Heaven!
That's where he stayed for the rest of the evening...and then it kept him busy for the rest of our stay.
Thank you, Uncle John!
Christmas came early :)
He's still working on piecing together his monster truck.
Cute momma Lauren with her happy little girl!
I miss that sweet smile already.
The boys topped off their night with a dip in the pool.
Check out those muscles...wooooah.
They were so dang cold!
Crazy...I tell ya.
 
It's always a good time when we're together.
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