I don't have any pictures to post just yet, but we did make it to California and are slowly getting our lives back in order. I love the weather and being on a farm. The kids are loving being able to spend so much time out doors and all their fun new chores, such as, gardening, picking vegetables from the garden, feeding the chickens, riding the golfcart to go find blackberry pushes for a special treat, and all the other fun things that come along with being on a farm like riding on tractors playing in dirt all day long!
There will be pictures soon, as soon as I can find my camera hookups. Till then!
My parents were here visiting this last weekend and we had so much fun! We went swimming, shopping, eating, game playing, show watching, rough housing, and overall had a great time. My parents even took all three of our kids to a movie so Justin and I could have some much needed alone time. It was great. We finally got to go check out Dave and Busters for a bit and had a good time. Here are a few of the pics that I took. Most of the pictures are on my mom's camera so I'll have to wait for those ones.
We have some of the very best people in our ward at church and one of those couples is brother and sister Allen. They are so sweet to open thier home to so many of us to use their swimming pool and backyard. So, while my parents were here, we took advantage of that and had a morning full of fun wetness! Rylee loved the diving board! Gracie thought it looked like a lot of fun, but once she got on it, looked down and saw how far down her daddy was before he would catch her, she quickly changed her mind and made due with jumping in from the side instead. Cole loved wearing his little arm floaties and the freedom of being able to swim around the whole pool with them on. Rylee also started to climb up the slide, but quickly decided against that when she got near the top and saw how far down the ground was. It was super fun and I can't wait till we go again!
to show me today. It use to belong here. . . She's so excited to have lost her first tooth. She's been working on it for a while. She says she doesn't want to give it to tooth fairy yet because she wants to keep it, so she's carrying it around for a day or two in a little baggy. I can't believe my baby has lost her first tooth!
Some of you may have heard that we are moving back to California. It's true. We'll be moving in just a few short weeks, just after my parents visit at the end of the month. Real Estate hasn't been as lucrative as we had hoped (dang market!), and while we've been okay up to this point, it's time to move on to something new. So, we've decided since we have to start over anyways, why not start where we want to be!
We have mixed feelings about it. We are so excited to finally be living where we've always wanted to be and raise our family. We love that we'll be so close to so much of Justin's family and just a bit closer to mine (but hopefully we'll get to travel to see my family more since we don't have to juggle travel time and two families).
We are also very sad to be leaving so many AWESOME friends that we have made during our nearly five years in Arizona. We plan to make the most of the time we have left.
Something I need all of you Arizona locals to help me with is to figure out what I've missed. We've lived here for nearly five years and have done and seen many things, but I want to be sure that we don't leave the state saying "I wish we had. . ." Here is a list of the things we have done so far. If there is something you've heard of or think we must do before we leave, please leave a comment and let me know!
-Tempe Town Lake Splash Park -Phoenix Zoo -Wild Life Zoo -Science Center -Dinosaur Museum -Arizona Museum for Youth -Downtown Mesa Art tour -Renaissance Festival -Pumpkin Patch -Zoo Lights -Christmas Parades
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. We've actually done quiet a few super fun things!
Does anyone else remember growing up with "Brite" tapes? My mother-in-law gave me several that she had from when her kids were small and I just got them out for Rylee to listen to. She loves them! She is listening to them non-stop! She's even beginning to sing some of the songs, such as "gratitude attitude" (something there's is a small lack of in our home sometimes). I love Brite!
When I was talking to my dad I realized that I had forgotten one of my proudest moments as a mother these last few weeks. My son Cole is usually not one to try anything new, especially if it seems scary. But the prospect of a blue-raspberry snow-cone was too much to pass up and onto the knee board he went! That's right, he went knee boarding! I was so excited for him to try something he thought was so scary and when he was done he was so proud of himself! He enjoyed it quiet a bit and wants to do it again soon. Thanks to Rylee for setting an example of adventure to help him see that it's not so bad!
Probably the most exciting thing to happen during my trip was my brother-in-law Cody proposing to his girlfriend on the airplane before they got there. He had a script written out that he gave to the stewardess on the plane that she read over the speaker and he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him and, of course, she said yes. Most of us hadn't met her yet so we were excited to get to know her and to continue to get to know her. Welcome to the family Kate!
What was fun for me is they let me practice taking pictures on them. I think I learned the most about what I like and don't like during this photo shoot. We were seriously limited on time so we weren't able to do it at the best time of day, but it was fun to take them around the farm and use different creative spots. Thanks for your patience guys! Hope you liked some of them!
I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged! So here is you're warning, there are a number of posts to follow all about our adventures in California this last month.
My sister and her husband are wanting to adopt a baby. They've been through quite a journey in hopes of recieving such a blessing. To learn more about them, please click on thier photo.
