Courage

A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk in Sacrament on Courage! I was sooo nervous! We were blessed to have my Mom and my Grandparents here to witness this day! We sure enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa Francis here with us. I'm not so sure they will be back in the summer time again though! And how lucky am I to have my family fly over 700 miles, just to hear me speak! The talk went well and I am glad that is behind me! Thanks for your support!

Staying Cool!

When Mylee and Taegan were here, we had a fun day at the park playing in the water!




And on the playground!

Fun in the Sun

A couple of weeks ago we had some very special guests, COUSINS!!! The kids new that Grandma was coming, but when she got off the plane, we found, Mylee, Taegan, & Tristan, even Baylee and her sister Morgan and cousin Casey. WOW! What a fun suprise. We knew it would be a short weekend, so we had tons of fun! We swam, shopped, played at the park on the playground, and in the water, went to the zoo, and even went to dinner, all 12 of us! We are so glad that we get to have them come and stay with us sometimes. Mylee said that Arizona rocks!


They all flew in on our friends private jet on Saturday and then on Monday night some of them had to go home. We miss them already! But, we caught TMZ at the hanger and snapped some pics of the celebrities as they were heading home, so we have these to remember!



Some of these HOT CHICKS, had to stay behind, but it was fun to pretend anyways!

Swimming Anyone?

Yesterday we picked up a couple of friends to go swimming, when we got home, we found out that a couple of friends were already in the pool! Here is what we found . . .

Cutler

Cutler, Cutler, what more can I say! He is one 7 year old that definately keeps us going! He loves, loves sports, he especially loves to play with his balls!!! Ha Ha! He is such a good kid and we are so proud of how well he is doing in school.



Here is Cutler with is cousin Taegan. They had so much BOY fun!

Macie

Macie is our unique little 8 year old. She loves being the social center of attention. All of the kids in school just love her. She is very excited to be getting baptised this summer.





Here is Macie with her BFF and cousin Mylee!

Ceejae

Ceejae is now 11 years old. She enjoys spending time with her friends, playing sports, and reading. She is an excellent student and just finished 5th grade on the Principal's List, the highest honor you can get.




Notice anything different!




She just got braces put on today. We love our big, little brace face!

Ceejae and cousin Tristan, livin the high life!

We miss camping in Utah!

We have been here now, almost 3 years, can you believe it? Time has gone by pretty fast! When we first moved here we were excited for the new adventure that was waiting for us, and that is pretty much what it was for us. We had many visitors, lots of ups and downs, and many new things to get used to. But, no matter what, we still miss many things about Utah and our family and friends up there too! As far as the summer months go, we really miss spending many of our weekends CAMPING! We were able to go camping one time, when we came home in the summer for a visit, a couple of years ago, but that was it, until last weekend. Because I always have to work on Saturdays, it has been hard for us to enjoy weekend activities as a family. So, since last weekend was a long weekend, with Memorial Day, we decided to go camping. We even found a place that was cooler, and had pine trees. It wasn't close, like the mountains in utah, we had to drive a couple of hours to get there, but it was worth it. We had a lot of fun. I even stayed in a tent! It wasn't too bad, but I sure miss my nice big trailer! Now that we have a tent, I think we will try and go a little more often.

New Adventures

In Arizona there are different bugs, creatures and animals, that we had to get used to. We also had to warn the kids about some of the dangers involved that we weren't used to. Like Scorpions, Black Widows, Rattle Snakes and more. When we first moved down here, we had our first experience with a Scorpion. We found a small one inside Ceejae's bedroom on the floor. The girls were playing and messing with it. I could hear them talking about how it looks like a worm. So I went in there to check it out and it was a very small Scorpion, and it was kind of a clear yellow color. They say the smaller the deadlier! Cody wasn't home so I went and got the neighbor to come and kill it. He said it was already dying, probably because the pest control people had been there to spray. We were really lucky that nobody was stung! They will sting you over and over again with there tail. I heard it feels like a Bee sting, only a lot worse! Anyways, we were told that if we see another one, it is best to mash it with a shoe or something like that. But we are lucky because we haven't seen one since! However, we have seen lots of lizards, in fact a few weeks ago I found a big one in the backyard. Usually they are pretty small, and really quick, but this one has been living there for a while, because he was pretty big for being in the backyard. I took a picture!

It's getting hot down here! We are definately headed towards a hot summer. Last month, in April, we hit 95 or better for several days, then it cooled down a bit, but not for long. We always dread the heat, but look forward to having lots of fun hanging out together and swimming. We also look forward to that 2 week long vacation in Utah with family and friends. I wish we could stay a whole month, but duty calls!

Okay, finally . . .

It has been a long time coming, but I am finally getting the hang of this blog stuff. I am learning how to put pictures on there, a playlist, write, add links, friends, and maybe even a slide show. It has taken me ALL day! And, Cody is always wondering what I actually do all day? Anyways, I am working on my pictures and such, so hopefully soon there will be some better ones for you to see, maybe even some new family photos, and an individual profile of the kids. Stay tuned, for a while, cause it may take me that long.