Start of School and Inbetweens

Taylor on her first day of 3rd grade! She wanted to dress fancy for her first day with the "wedding way" hairdo and necklace. This girl LOVES school and is such a great student! She was mostly excited about seeing her friends and the prospects of learning to write cursive.

Oh my Kindergarten girl! All summer long (and I mean EVERY day, multiple times a day!) we've talked about how exciting it is to be a Kindergartener. Kennedy looked so big as I dropped her off! And yet she looked so tiny with that HUGE backpack. I shed a few tears as I walked home with only one child to entertain. But ahh...the possibilities!

After Girls Camp the fabulous YW Presidency was released (above) and I was called as the new YW President at church. This means I get to teach and do all the activities with the girls ages 12-18. I love it! My girls are so great and my counselors and secretary keep me on the ball. I believe I was 1-2 weeks pregnant in this picture thinking, "How can I do all this??" and "Wait, am I really old enough for this??" and some other unmentionables... but it's been a great blessing and a nice distraction from my growing belly :)

I helped throw a baby shower for my friend Kammi before she moved. It was so fun! We did a brunch with crepes and fruit and juices etc. This was another great distraction from all the morning sickness mixed with the AZ heat. This website had some great recipes for the crepes and yummy fillings--sounds yummy right about now!

And some more random summer pics. The kids did a pretty great job keeping themselves entertained this summer! With the crazy heat and a sickie mom we mostly swam and played indoors and ate out for lunch! Grant even yelled out "Taco Bell" very clearly one day as we drove past the store's sign--yikes.

Catching up--June and July

The camera's cord that downloads pictures to my computer was broken all summer and so I've been a slacker getting my blog up to date! Here's the cliff-notes of June and July!


Tim turned 35 in July and we made a huge cake and loved on him all day!

The Ward Camp-out was a fun little trip to get out of the heat up in Prescott Valley. Tim didn't end up getting off of work until late, so we traveled up after dark. It was about 2 hours away...but of course our lovely van got a flat in the middle of nowhere. We were glad Daddy was with us this time to quickly change it and get back on the road. We put up the tent in the dark and enjoyed our cute ward for the rest of the evening.
Grant was THE biggest stinker in the night! He was sleeping in between Mom and Dad to stay warm and woke up about 10 times crying in the night--with his feet in Mom's face and his head in Dad's armpit...not fun. I felt bad for all the tents next to us!
But, overall it was worth the trip to enjoy the nature and beautiful weather. We had forgotten what it was like to be COLD at night :)

Taylor has been busy losing teeth this summer. She lost her 2 bottom teeth within a couple of days of each other. One night she wrote the Tooth Fairy a note and put it under her pillow, "Please take out my loose tooth!" I was surprised that the Fairy found the note and gave her a reply that she would gladly wait :) Taylor also LOVED her Art Camp this summer where she made a butterfly costume and lots of other art projects.

For Memorial Day weekend we enjoyed some boat time at Lake Pleasant with Uncle Kelly and Aunt Sue. The girls rode the tube for a long time and held on tight! The water was beautiful and it felt SOO nice to actually be a bit cold. I tried to ski, but loved the knee-board even better. The girls were exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly on the way home--what a fun time!

Grant's 2nd birthday was pretty low key...but everything this boy could want!
We swam at the Webb's pool with all his "park day" friends and had otter-pops and snacks.
Our family took him to the McDonald's playground for dinner and playing!
And then we had an Panda Bear ice cream cake party with some family on Sunday.
What a sweet boy!!

You know how the blog hasn't been updated in awhile?

Girls Camp and Fiesta Time

See this girl? She looks kinda lonely on a canoe! But, she was not! She was surrounded by the cutest girls all week! Girls Camp was THE BEST!! And PS--you know you're getting older (and more mature??) when none of the other camp leaders mistake you for one of the girls ;(

Here's my cute ward. We "camped" at Camp LoMia in addies, which are pretty much cabins (that we decorated really festive with white lights, pom poms and banners). The girls were all fabulous and got along with each other really well. We were lucky to have great leaders that kept us busy with camp songs, certifying, EATING!, archery, walking / hiking, canoeing, crafts, MORE EATING, skits, cheers and fun little games and activities. Of course there was time in between for bonding, laughing, yes--more snacking, and just being silly getting to know each other. I tried to channel my inner teenager. At night I felt lucky to get a little glimpse of what their sleepovers must be like. Ha Ha! They are too funny.

One thing that I loved about camp (and did as a youth also) was the spiritual aspect. We did a rope course while the girls were blindfolded in the dark. Some of the leaders were "angels" and some were "tempters" that tried to get the girls to let go of the rope. It was amazing to see the impact this activity had on the girls. They probably don't realize now what a cruel world we live in and how quickly we can get off our "path". Thank goodness for the angels that keep us going in the right direction! I also LOVED testimony meeting where I grew to love each of the girls a little bit more as they poured out their feelings. Ahh, camp!

While I was gone at camp my mom planned a week of Spanish! We checked out lots of books from the library and she had lots of things to keep the girls busy! She's good at entertaining them and teaching them at the same time! I'm so lucky to have grown up this way...kind of a flashback moment. She taught them lots of Spanish words and had lots of things labeled around the house in Spanish.

They planned for a FIESTA when I got home. I love how she included them in all the details including: making signs, stuffing a pinata, getting out all of Tim's mission special things, getting a pin the tail on the donkey and planning lots of food. When I got home from camp she had about 6 recipes that she still planned to make (in one hour..)! Can you say LOCO!! Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Aqua de Melon, Beans, a couple fresh salsas/guacamole and decorating cupcakes (I am definitely drooling writing about all this again!!). It all turned out great and we had lots of fun with my cousin Becca's family, the Webbs, our neighbors the Carters and Mom's friends from Loomis that live here now. What a fun night! Great company. Great food. We should do this more often...but only if my mom can come help ;) Thanks again MOM! You are amazing and the kids will always remember all the fun they had with you this week. Love you!!

Swimmin Momma!!

Grandma came to the last 3 days of our swim lessons this year. The last 2 days I was at Girls Camp for church and took the kids on her own. She was up for anything!
She was very patient with this little guy

He loves the water to play in...but I think he found it annoying to be told what to do!
This was the first time I had ever done a Mommy and Me class. Since I taught swim lessons for lots of years, I always figured that it was pointless to pay someone to teach me how to play with my child in the water. That is, until I had 3! Now I will gladly fork over the money to be in the water DURING swim lessons instead of watching and roasting in the AZ weather.

Grant was supposed to learn how to blow bubbles, do the back / front floats, KICK, jump in, climb out, move along the wall etc. But, he mostly wanted to be toted around like a blob. In the bath at home he blows bubbles and kicks like a crazy man, so it was a little maddening that he wouldn't do anything. Oh well. We had fun and got used to being in the water :)

Kennedy is a little fish! Last year she learned to swim pretty well with her survival swim class. This year she's working on doing some strokes and coming up for a breathe. She's improving lots and even jumped off the diving board on the last day of class! I was sad to miss that milestone. I'm proud of her.

Taylor continues to do really well too. She had a grandpa as her teacher and that was a little surprising. But, she did great and loves to dive off the diving board too. Maybe next year we'll check out swim team.

My favorite part of swim lessons was chatting with the other moms while our toddlers refused to float on their backs. It was kinda chilly! I don't get to do many things with JUST Grant, so I enjoyed some extra cuddle time and play time with my sweet boy. He loves to say "swimmin' Momma!" until we get in the water and he begs for the "tooowl" (towel).

El Pueblo Grande Museum

For our first field trip this summer we decided to see what this museum was all about!

We learned about the ancient Hohokam people that used to live in Arizona. The museum has tons of artifacts and hands on activities about archaeology.

Grant stayed in his stroller the entire time and was a trooper!

Taylor was surprised that a cactus has a skeleton--scary!

Kennedy creating symbols on her pottery.
ps--I made her short's ruffle /headband...it only took me forever to figure out the ruffle :) I am trying!

The kids standing in front of what's left of the ruins. It was fascinating to learn of the intricate details of the housing, canal system, gardening and even the ballcourt. It really was!! We stopped to read a lot of the signs...but the highlight of the trip was the gift shop! The girls bought some postcards and were thrilled to have their own receipt. They crack me up. And they save everything!

We even swung by the Last Chance (Nordstrom's leftovers) store while we were in the area for a few great deals. Love that store. Next time---no kids! It takes forever to weave through the isles and wait in line.

First Week--Outdoor Fun!

I'm hoping to have some themed weeks this summer so that we are entertained, learning and filling the summertime with enriching things! This week we thought it would be our last chance to do lots of outdoor things...before it gets too HOT! So, we checked out lots of books at the library about outdoor camping, cooking and games etc. The other night we camped in our backyard. Tim slept in the house with Grant. And we've decided that this is the way to camp! It's next to a clean (semi-clean?) bathroom, running water and it's free--woo hoo!

We busted out the firepit to make some smores, played some games around the fire, told "scary" stories, sang silly songs and the girls performed some cheers. Earlier in the week we did a scavenger hunt while on a nature walk and also made a sundial in the backyard (see below for instructions).

We made a simple sundial similar to this one (pic and idea from this website). This was SO cool! And it really works. I am definitely trying this at girls camp. Hopefully we'll end up making the little solar oven in a shoebox too. Gotta use all this sun for something.

Stay tuned for our field trip to a local archaeological site: Pueblo Grande Museum