Abby's Baptism Day

 We had a special program at the baptism.   Amberly got to pick the whole program.  The entire bishopric was there, all our friends and family came to support Amberly to make this a very special day.  I loved that we had so many of our family helping.  Sariah (cousin) played the violin prelude music, McKenna (cousin) played the piano for the eight year old cousin song of I Am A Child Of God (we have 6 cousins who are 8 or will be turning 8 all within a year!), Matt and Kurt (uncles) gave the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost.  Grandma Margie and Uncle Joey gave the prayers, Aunt Joni led the singing.  It was a family affair and I loved every single minute of it. It's always very emotional when we have these sweet baptisms because my parents aren't here.  But we know they are able to be with us on these very special days and can feel them near us.  We love them and miss them and are so thankful to know that we are a forever family♥

I can not believe my baby is eight!  She was just learning to crawl yesterday!  Time goes by way to fast.  We were so proud of Amberly choosing to get baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  She was beaming with excitement and could not keep that darling smile off her sweet face.

 Here we are as a family.  Cassidy is pretty proud that she only has 1 1/2 inches until she is as tall as I am.  I had to wear my heels so I would at least be as tall as she was on this day. 

 I somehow lucked out and was offered a sub in the shape of an eight!  I went in and was ordering some party subs and the girl at the counter heard it was for a baptism and said, "we can make the sandwich into the shape on an eight!"  Oh boy you better believe I jumped on that one!  How awesome is this four foot "8" sandwich?!

 

Amberly got her very own scriptures with her name on them, a special baptism towel

and a CD with songs to help her remember this very special day.  

Thank you family and friends who came and helped and loved us on Amberly's baptism day.  

We ♥ you!

Chasing Balloons

I was out running errands and I saw one of the hot air balloons that fly around our part of town going towards our house.  These balloons seem to be out and about three times a week in our 'hood.  We haven't been able to see one land because we are always busy going somewhere and don't have time.  "This day was going to be different," I said to myself while coming home.  I got home, grabbed Abby and her friend Karlee that were playing in the water in the backyard (yes- swimsuits in Jan!) and took off for a balloon chase!  Oh the fun we had trying to determine which way to go and where it might land.  We followed it for about 30 min and at one point we parked in a CVS parking lot and was able to wave and say hi to the people in the basket because it flew right over us and only about 15 ft high!

It landed in a grocery store parking lot and the girls were so excited to be able to watch it land, then deflate, and then get put away.  I have to admit, I wouldn't mind going for a ride but I do not want the job of putting it away!  Man, that looked like a hard job!

 

I remember my Dad taking us on little adventures when I was young.

Hopefully these girls remember this and can pass on the tradition when they have kids.

Where's The Beef

I got some wild hair and split a 40 pound order of hamburger with my neighbor.  This is half of my order.  There were two HUGE tubes of ground beef in my fridge!  Are you grossing out as much as I am?  I divided it up into 1 lb bags with the food saver and we are now set for a long time in the beef department.  Chili anyone?

Get Away

We stole the kids away from their real life and took one more trip to Disneyland before our passes ran out.  The weather was bliss and I'm so thankful we were able to be together just the four of us.

I'm so blessed to have this sweet girl.  She is so helpful and obedient and a wonderful example to her little sister!  Plus she loves Disneyland the most.  On the way home we were talking about what trips we would like to take in the future.  Tom said we probably wont be coming back to Disneyland in a long time.  She said "how long Dad?"  he said "oh I don't know 3 years?"  Cassidy said with a sad little voice, "but that means I would be 15!" I just love her!

The girls didn't want to leave without seeing the princesses.  If Cassidy knew I was posting this she would die but I can't help it, even Tom and I love to see the magic that Disney has to offer and those Princesses are the most magical of all!


Abby wanted to dress up for our fun day.  This is the costume she found out in our costume box.  I think all the other dresses have been worn to death or are too small.  Cassidy did a fantastic job on her hair and Abby saved her chopsticks from lunch the day before to put in her hair.  (she thought of it all by herself- clever girl)  We were in the park all of about 15 minuets before she was sweating to death and asked if she could take it off.  Good thing she wore clothes under it!


The firework show was amazing.  I'm not a fan of the new policy that Disneyland has where they make everyone stand up in the designated areas for up to an hour before and squish you in like sardines to see the show.  There was no parade this year and luckily we rode rides while everyone was in line and then walked almost to the exit to see the fireworks.  We were among the first to leave and miss the stampede.  (just kidding, it wasn't crowded so we were fine)



















 I love this picture.  Tom loves these girls so much!   And he is the #1 BEST Disneyland Dad ever.

We found a new place to eat this trip.  Big Thunder Ranch BBQ.  You get all you can eat and a fun little show and a TON of food.  How have we missed this before?   I'm talking all - you-can-eat-and-drink!  unheard of at Disneyland where you can't even get a refill on your soda.  Plus we got a skookie for dessert that could have fed 8 people instead of our 4.  Don't worry though, we ate the whole thing!  (I gained 3 pounds on this trip thank you very much!)  The portions are HUGE, the food was fantastic and the service and atmosphere were perfect!  Will do that one again (when Cass is 15 of course - wink)

It was a fun trip, I'm thankful for my sweet family and for their wonderful teachers who didn't curse my name when I told them I was taking them out of school.  Sometimes you just need to make family time and this was one of those times. 

(thanks blogger app I loved posting this from my phone! - pictures are from my phone too! Who said iphones where the only cool phone........Droid has got it going on!)

Staycation Day 1

It's spring break over here and our week is so busy and filled with so many previous commitments we have had to plan a vacation here....right in our own town.  Don't worry though, we aren't dissapointed.  In fact we are excited about all the fun we have planned.  The girls made a "spring break to-do list" and are happy as can be about it.  Plus, we are having such amazing weather why would we want to leave?

Day Uno:

Lunch at Sweet Tomatoes

Goofy Golfing

Bahama Bucks

Homemade tostadas for dinner

(pretty fun huh?)

Here are some pictures of our fun day:

 Love her little tongue sticking out!

 Yes..there is ONE picture of me....thanks Cass!

a mini CA Mission!  ♥ it

 Halfway done - man it was HOT in that sun!

 Do you see the Moon? 

Why does it do that? 

It was 3pm in the afternoon?

Cassidy was feeling pretty darn good about herself 

in those sunglasses.  I think they are adorable!

 Abby wore her golf shoes - smart girl!

 18 holes.....and we're done!

Fun times with the family!

 Bahama Bucks...shaved ice de-lish!

It was a fun day!  

Thank you my sweet family 

♥♥♥ xoxo

Fun with Abby

We here in Arizona have our seasons a tad off.  In the fall when all the rest of the USA is getting ready for winter, enjoying beautiful autumn foliage and wearing sweaters we are planting pansies, geraniums and petunias, swimming in our pools and we still have our A/C on full blast. 

In January in Arizona when the east coast is covered in white our leaves start turning beautiful reds, oranges and yellows.  It gets chilly and we can finally pull out our sweaters and sometimes a coat and scarf.  This is our fall.  It's lovely.

We have a huge greenbelt (large park) at the end of our street.  All the Ash trees have been dropping their leaves like crazy and the kids have been in heaven!  Abby and Michael (the boy across the street) have swept (because we don't have a rake) the leaves into a HUGE pile.  I'm talking large, ginormous, extremely big!  So big in fact that four children could run and jump into the pile and you wouldn't be able to see any of them.

Take a gander at the fun that's been being had over here in our wacky Arizona weather.

   ***please don't use my pictures without my permission****

Fun with Cass

You don't need much to have fun over here at our house.  

Just a dry desert night, a couch and your imagination. 
Step 1 - rub your head/hair all over the couch.
Step 2 - laugh really hard!
Step 3 - Do it all over again.

We have decided to call this "Static Hair".

Cassidy is so funny!

Never to Old to Dress Up

Over Christmas break the kids had so much fun with the dress-up clothes I've been storing in the garage. You know that old saying, out of site - out of mind? Well these have been out of site for at least a year and it was like they had brand new toys to play with! I love that.

They drug both huge totes out onto the driveway and must have changed costumes 256 times each. Except for Michael....I only have tow boy costumes - a prince/king and a soccor player. He was fine and dandy as the King. Would you blame him? Look at all the little princesses he has to dote on him!

Michaels little brother Ryan wanted to lay but didn't want to dress up. Cute tender moment with these two little guys.

Michael and Abby play endlessly and never get tired of eachother. Isn't it nice to have a friend who lives right across the street and is at your door the minute you get home everyday? I'm so thankful for all the children we have in our neighborhood. They sure make playtime FUN!