Arizona

Over the weekend of April 24th we took a quick trip to Arizona to see the newest member of our family (cute little Trey) get sealed to Andi, Tate and Paige!

All of us were there except for Colin and Cori (we missed you guys!) Cori had a final that weekend so they couldn't make it, but all the grandchildren were able to be there. So of course Nana took the opportunity and got the kids yellow shirts and we snapped a few shots of them! (Look...this time Lily isn't crying!) In fact, Lily was a lot nicer to everyone this trip!

This would have never happened even a month ago... Lily is really starting to turn a new leaf and is nicer to people. It still takes her a little time, but this picture proves she is slowly moving away from the Mommy phase!

Lily and Addie were the best of friends this trip! Addie did such a great job helping me with our little stink!
The place we stayed at was a nice resort with great rooms...(they had a separate living room, separate bathroom and a large bedroom) The best part was the swimming pools. There were multiple little ones spread throughout the complex and one big one with a water slide. We spent a lot of time swimming and the kids loved it! It was a little chilly on the first day, but the water was heated so we swam and swam and swam! Tyson was a little fish! Coaxing him out of the water was not an easy task!

Lily loved the water too! She would get out and in and out and in...

She loves beach balls! That is basically all she played with in the pool!

Trey and Lily kept trading beach balls! These two are silly... they would fight with each other and copy what the other one would do, but yet they were great buddies too! Oh to be 1 1/2 again!

Tyson and Paige loved being thrown in the air!

Addie and Lily played a lot of catch on the stairs!

Here is the bottom of the water slide! It was fast and dark and fun!

(Tate's feet!)

Nana and cute Brinley! Little do they know a crazy guy is going to attack!

Lily and one of her classic tantrums! She really wanted to go into the hot tub!

Papa and all but 2 of his grandkids!

(Trey and Lily)

Cute Tyson waiting outside the Temple!

So we got to Arizona Thursday evening...went swimming, Friday...went swimming all day, Saturday they blessed Trey then they were sealed in the Mesa Temple!

Trey was so perfect in the temple! He was so happy and quiet and did everything he was supposed to do even though he wasn't sure what was happening (although being so young, he probably knew more than I think!)He just loved that he was with his Mom and Dad! It was an amazing experience!

I love this picture!

Brinley waiting outside the temple!

Chandler and Lily waiting!

The beautiful Mesa Temple!

I don't know if I have ever seen a temple without a steeple???

Tyson and Paige playing hide and seek!

(Tyson's favorite game right now!)

All the grandkids at the Temple!

(Lily's classic group picture face!)

After the Temple we got to party at Peter Piper Pizza!

The kids were in heaven!

Lily loving the rides!

Saturday afternoon...swimming again!

Good old Derek! What more can you say!

Me and Lily!

It was so nice to be swimming in April!

It did stink to come back to Utah and have winter weather instead of spring!!!

Saturday night Nana volunteered to watch all of the grandkids while Papa and the adults went out to dinner! It is always nice to get out once and a while without kids, so thanks Nana! You are one brave soul...but with McDonalds and cute grandkids I don't blame you!

When we got back from dinner (we ate at a place called Sauce. If you are ever in Arizona you should try it! The guys said it was chick food...and maybe it is, but it is delicious!)

When we got back the kids had been doing some plays and put a couple on for us. It was way to cute to see them act and get all embarrassed! Kids have the best imaginations!

Sunday we drove all the way home 11hrs total! ARG! But we made it!

Thanks Andi and Tate for letting us be a part of such a great day!

Congrats on being 100% official with Trey!

He is the perfect fit!

Cancun Mexico!

Brandon and I were lucky enough to take a nice little vacation to Cancun last week. We went with his work, so it was paid for...even better!

We stayed at the Golden Parnassus. It was an all inclusive hotel right on the beach.

This is the view from the patio of the restaurant at the hotel.

There were 2 pools then you walked right down to the beach from there!

Ahhh Luxury!

We got there on Thursday afternoon, checked into our room, met with our travel agency, then played in the ocean. It was awesome! I don't think I have ever been to such white sandy beaches!
On Friday, Brandon and I signed up for a snorkeling excursion. We chose the "jungle tour."
We got to drive these little speed boats about 30 mins out, through the jungle and we stopped at a coral reef to snorkel.
Ready to snorkel!

Here is the "jungle" part of the ride. It lasted maybe 5 mins!

After snorkeling. Our guide took everyones picture that wanted one!

It was beautiful! There were a lot of fish and they would swim right next to you!

We followed the rules and didn't wear sunblock because it is bad for the coral reef, but it ended up being bad for us because we both got sunburned! Oh well!

On Saturday we had a group adventure with the company at Xplor.

It was a lot of fun. There were 12 zip lines...some that landed you in water and through waterfalls and some that took you to the next tower.I don't think the people who worked there (most were Mexicans) were used to people with blue eyes. I had about 5-6 people complement me on my eyes! One guy didn't say anything to me, but he radioed to the guy at the other end of the zip line to watch out for my eyes! It was pretty entertaining! One guy joked with Brandon that his zipper was undone! (everyone was in swim suits...no zippers) Ha ha Brandon! So then they asked me how to say shoelace in English so they could trick their next victim. They thought they were hilarious! Then we rafted and swam through stalactites caves, then drove off road vehicles through a "jungle" area and through more caves. It was a lot of fun. It was perfect timing for Brandon and I since we were sunburned we were mostly in caves so we didn't get any more burnt!

Brandon couldn't get enough of his helmet!

After Xplor. The group decided to eat some real food! (The restaurants at the hotel were not very good and that is putting it nice!) So we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse! Can you say DELICIOUS! I am not a huge meat eater, but this place was amazing! And since the company was paying we got it all, appetizer, salad, steak, potatoes, and dessert! YUMMM!

On Sunday, we just had a relaxing day. We headed down to the flea market to pick up the kids souvenirs. I thought it was a lot of fun talking to the crazy guys trying to sell us everything! We found an authentic Mexican restaurant and had lunch. The tacos were so simple and delicious!

Then we came back to the hotel and hung out on the beach. We did a little boogie boarding everyday! I loved it! Except on day I went searching for a "bigger and better" wave and almost came in without my swimsuit and unconscious! I quickly learned my lesson and stayed in front of the big waves! We had dinner at the hotel and called it a night! ( I wish) A few hours later I ended up with food poisoning! I am pretty sure it was the Japanese restaurant we ate at the hotel. I was up all night long! I got really nervous that I wasn't going to be well enough to fly home, but by the morning I was feeling better! Achy but better! I was glad it happened on the last night! We left sunny 85 degree Mexico and flew into cold, rainy, 50 something degree Utah! That was a little depressing!

It was an awesome vacation! I want to go back soon!

We sure missed our little ones!

At home again with these two monkey's! We got Tyson a Mexico soccer shirt and Lily this cute little Mexican dress! Along with some seashells and pesos!

Thanks Nana, Papa and Zak for taking care of these two! I know you had some adventures of your own with them! You guys are the best!

18 Months!

Here is a shout out to our little Lily... She turned 18months on the 6th.

Seriously...where has the time gone?!?She looks like she is being booked into jail in this picture! I love it!
Lily's 18 month stats:
Weight: 26.2....70%
Height: 31.5....50%
Head:46.5...75%

This little thing is full of spunk and attitude!

She loves to hug her Mom and Dad and wrestle, then hug her big brother!

She loves her friends (as long as the don't touch her or take her toys!)

She loves her Grandma, Nana, Papa, aunts, uncles, and cousins as long as she gets about 30-45mins to get used to them and they feed her!

She pretty much refuses to talk... she would much rather do things on her own than say "please", "help" or "up"!

She is our runner, biker, climber and trouble maker all wrapped up in this sweet package!

We love you Lily!

Bring on the spunk!

Happy Easter!

This is not what you should see on Easter Morning!!!

I was a little perturbed when we woke up to snow!
But the Easter Bunny still did his job and left colorful eggs and yummy treats at our house!
Lily didn't care about the eggs, she just wanted the suckers!

Tyson found all 31 eggs all by himself!

Overflowing the basket!

Even though Easter fell on Conference weekend, I still made the kids get in their new Easter church clothes for pictures!

Brandon took these pictures of Tyson.

He did a great job!

These two crazies were not too cooperative, but I think I still got some cute ones!

Love this one!

Sweet!

She didn't want to do anything but her own thing!

She thinks he is the coolest!

Getting tired of pictures!

Too Cute!

An attempt at a family picture!

B and his kids!

Tyson was sick for a couple days before Easter, so we didn't get to go to the cabin with Brandon's family to celebrate Easter with them, but luckily by Saturday night he was feeling a lot better, so we did get to celebrate with my family on Sunday.

All the grandkids at Grandma Wendy's house.

Grandma Wendy and the Easter Bunny concocted a plan to send all the grandkids on an Easter Safari scavenger hunt.

There letter from the Easter Bunny talked about all that has been going on in the world, earthquakes, wars, etc... and that we all needed to be prepared.

While the big kids went to find the first clue, the little ones had an egg hunt at Grandma's. Lily didn't want to let go of any of her eggs!

Tyson reading his compass to tell us where to go!

The first clue led the kids to Maverick.

An essential in preparedness is water!

The second clue led them to Harmons for snack/treats to give them another essential, energy! (a donut!)

The third clue led them to the Megaplex because we all need some entertainment!

The fourth clue led us to Red Robin because food is a necessity, you can't live without food!

Here is the whole gang (minus me and Lily).

In their last egg at Red Robin the had a note that said...

CONGRATULATIONS, you made it! How about a little nourishment, everybody loves hamburgers!

Clue: You have done an excellent job and now you are prepared with all the items required for survival:

1.Water

2.Snack/treats

3.Entertainment

4.Food

We are just missing one thing to make this quest complete. Retrace your steps and end at the beginning!

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!

It was such a fun Easter Egg hunt!

Thanks Grandma Wendy and Mr. Easter Bunny!