Hiking the Y

We try to hike to the "Y" every time we go to Utah! It was just the boys this time because us girls went shopping! They had such a great time and the weather was fantastic! The boys still talk about how much fun they had that day.

Uncle Jared and Auntie Emily's

One of the highlights of our visit to Utah is that we get the opportunity to stay at Jacob's bother's place. They are gracious hosts and our kids adore theirs. They always have something fun going on. Ava particularly feels spoiled because of all their girls. She thought that this game was the greatest. They listened to music and danced along. She was in heaven. Gwen swayed and danced along, but it was hard to capture that on the camera, but, as you can see, she was having a great time too!

Back to Utah

We did spend a lot of time driving this trip, but the kids really did great. They loved getting to stop for meals, especially breakfast! We are so loving the kids at this age, they find the most simple activities to be so much fun!

random images of AZ

We really enjoyed ourselves this trip! Here is just a couple more pictures of some of the highlights! We are looking forward to the next time we can make it down to Arizona!

Our Morning Walks

We loved getting up early in the morning and going for walks with the kids down the canal and around the places I used to roam as a kid. We would always bring apples to munch on and the kids liked to share with the neighbors horse! We enjoyed these quiet mornings so much we think this needs to become a tradition when we visit down south!

Swimming at grandma's

The kids were in heaven. We left cold, rainy Canada and had fantastic weather in Arizona! They spent a lot of our time at grandma and grandpa's in the pool! Not a bad way to spend the day eh?!

Grandpa Curtis

Every time we visit Safford, we have to make a visit to the site where my daddy was buried. We love to tell the kids stories about their Grandpa Curtis and then show them where his body was buried. The kids think it is really neat and there is a feeling of reference there and I am glad the kids can be there with us to experience it! Oliver knows that he is named after his Grandpa Curtis (his middle name is Edward) and he thought it was neat to make those connections there!

Driving to AZ

My grandma Genie passed away early in May and we really wanted to be there with family, so after our 21 hour drive to Utah and stopping there for a few days, we continued on to Arizona (another 12 hour drive)! These are some shots of one of my favorite spots on the trip. We were all due for a break at this point and this spot was perfect! The kids did amazingly well and Jacob and I LOVE road trips, especially the drive from Utah to Arizona. It is beautiful and we cannot get enough of it! We are actually looking forward to the trip again, hopefully soon!

My picky/Not so picky eater

So all of my babies have eaten baby food in some form for part of their meals until they are at least two years old (it is such a easy/lazy way to make sure that they are getting all of their fruits and veggies). This one has decided that she wants things done differently. As far as she is concerned she will only have what every one else is eating. Good news that she will eat anything that I give her (pretty much) so good enough!

This guy means business

Jackson has such a fun and inventive imagination. He takes his playtime very seriously. He really is into matching lately, he feels like that when he is outfitted in clothes of the same hue that he is officially in uniform. He was pretty bummed that he couldn't find green boxer briefs though, and asked that next time I went to the store if I can put that on my list! You got it buddy!

Oh Vanity!

So I have a pedestal sink in my bathroom. Love it but it is not very functional when I am trying to get ready in the morning because of the limited countertop space. I usually end up dragging all my stuff over to the tub area and sitting on the floor to put my makeup on. This worked fine for awhile (although still a pain) until miss gwen started to pull herself up and had all access to my stuff. Jacob suggested that he make a vanity for this awkward spot in our bedroom that we weren't sure what to do with anyway. I showed him a picture of what I wanted it to look like and then he and the kids went to work! The great thing about this project was that it cost next to nothing because we used items we already had and most of the wood was used from leftovers of previous projects! I LOVE my new space and I actually look forward to getting ready in the morning. Ava is particularly fond of this space as well since the bench has room enough for two (she often keeps me company)!