Arizona Trip 2011

We took our annual summer trip to Arizona this year and had a blast!

We did lots of eating, playing, and haviing fun with family.

One night, Laura and I took the kids to downtown Scottsdale to ride the trolley and hang out at the mall.  We had a good time.  Miss Arizona was there and Regan just ate up the chance to have her picture taken with her.

Of course, cousin time wouldn't be complete without signing karaoke, telling jokes, having a dance off and doing skits. I love to see how creative these kids are together.

One night before Jeff came into town, I had the chance to have the kids all to myself. We ended up going to the park at 8 pm when the weather finally cooled down to 104. We had fun playing on the play ground, then I decided we should all go roll down the hills.

To our great surprise, someone had left a bunch of ice blocks down at the bottom of the hills. I was so excited! I had the kids go to the truck and get the towels out of the back. I got to introduce them to ice blocking! We spent a good hour and a half sliding down the hills on the ice blocks. We had SO MUCH FUN!!!

Of course we spent a lot of time swimming. It's so nice swimming with the family it the hot summer. Made me wish we had a pool. I especially enjoyed watching the head stand contests and synchronized swimming that Laura, Sarah and Rebecca did. Always entertaining.

Laura was constantly coming up with cute crafts for the kids to do. We even got to paint our own 4th of July t-shirts! On the 4th of July, she had the girls make gumball necklaces in red,white,and blue. She and Rebecca and I painted nails in patriotic colors. And, Laura did the girls' hair super cute with festive ribbons. My sister is so creative. No wonder why she's the favorite aunt. :)

The Saturday before Independence day we went to downtown Mesa to enjoy a city party with games for the kids, a visit with George and Martha Washington, and fireworks. We had a great time.

The morning of Independence day, Laura had us over for breakfast.  She made delicious french toast with strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream topped with her special syrup. YUM! We later went swimming, had their super fabulous Krazy Subs, then went back to mom's house for games and yummy food. Grandma Willis even came to join us for the fun!

After games, we went to go watch fireworks and then came back to set off some of our own.

The kids also got to have a fun day with my mom for a special one on one time with Grandma at the Science museum. Just waiting for her pictures of that. The kids absolutely loved spending time with her. They had a ton of slumber parties with their cousins. Aunt Joyce and Uncle K.C. were in town when I first got there. We had lots of fun lunches, dinners and movie with them and my Aunt Janet and other cousins. I got to see some of my friends, Elizabeth, Mitch, Heather and Jennifer, that I love. But, like always, time went by way too fast. There wasn't enough time to do everything and see everyone I wanted.

What I absolutely loved more than anything, was seeing how cute the older cousins were with my younger girls.  They played with them, took care of them, and were just so dang cute.  I am so blessed with the most amazing family. We had a great time.



Lost Tooth

Regan Finally Lost Her First Tooth!!!!

Regan has been anxiously waiting to lose her first tooth. She's been asking for months when it would happen. Funny thing was, her tooth wasn't even very lose. Apparently all it took was trying to open the Ranch dressing bottle with her teeth! 

The next day... she was in my bathroom, looking at her self in the mirror, and said with a very thick twang, "Now I really look Southern!"

Super Cute Southern Girl.

March 2011

March was a very busy month. Brennan turned 15 and had his friends over for a sleepover. He also got his driving permit and is enjoying scaring the life out of us as he learns to drive.

 Bryce Sharp, Sam Thomas, Brennan, Mason Wills and Val Ault came to party.

 March 6th was my 41st birthday. It happened to land on a fast Sunday this year, but Jeff did a good job making it enjoyable. 

 We had EVEN MORE snow days in March. It was the most snow I've ever seen while living here. It was so crazy. But we enjoyed every minute of it.

 Regan's Kindergarten class had nursery rhyme day where they all recited a nursery rhyme of their choice. Regan picked "This little piggy went to market". She had a bit of stage fright and messed up the ending a little, but she looked so darn cute it didn't matter.

Brennan organized and did his Eagle Project.  He decided to collect shoes for an organization called Soles4Souls. This organization sends used shoes to different countries in need including those who have been effected by all the natural disasters that have been so prevelent lately.  He was told that these particular shoes were going to be sent to Haiti who had been hit severly by an earthquake last year. 

We ended up having about 80 amazing volunteers between two Saturdays show up to help distribute bags to neighborhoods, then collect the bags full of shoes the following Saturday.  Brennan also set up collection boxes at 3 church buildings and a couple of boxes at Valero Oil Refinery where Jeff works.

The girls were such good helpers too.  Anytime we got a new bag of shoes, Regan and Jadyn were on top of things wanting to sort through the shoes and rubberband them together to keep them organized. Brooke was good at running around with her friend Alyse to collect all the shoes. It definitely was a family project. 

The most amazing part of it was that the second week when we were supposed to go collect the shoes, it was storming real bad that morning and was predicted to keep storming all afternoon.  We just prayed like crazy. The Lord definitely answered our prayers. It was storming as we gathered together, but as soon as it was time to leave to collect the shoes, the storm passed. We were SO blessed!

Overall he collected 1, 920 pairs of shoes!!!!! It was AMAZING!!! We all enjoyed helping him and knowing that all the hard work was for such a worthy cause.  A few weeks later, we loaded them up in a trailer and drove them to Nashville where Souls4Soles has a warehouse. It was a great experience. We're so proud of Brennan for all of his hard work.



February 2011

In February, we had more snow days.  We had lots of  fun making a snowman, and doing s'mores in the fireplace. Snow days were fun.

Valentines Day we had a fun dinner of heart shape pizza and lots of pink.

Regan dressed up for Grandma Day.

The girls had a Western dance at school. Lots of fun with line dancing, food, and hula hoop contests. The girls had me do the contests for parents. I have to say, even though I hadn't hula hooped since I was a kid, I did real well. Who knew I could still do that?



Catching Up!

I know I am way far behind...so I'm gonna do my best to catch up for the year. It's gonna be a lot of work, but here we go. 

In January my mom came to visit! We had fun playing games, eating out, seeing a movies and visiting an Antebellum home. We loved having her here!

 We also took a day trip up to Nashville. It was the first time Jeff has been able to go with us. We had a good time showing him around.

 On New Years Eve we let the kids have friends over to celebrate. We had cheese and chocolate fondue then went outside to light fireworks. It was a nice family way to bring in the New Year.  Lots of fun!

Christmas 2010 and Brooke's 11th birthday

December 2010 was busy as always. Before Christmas I got to go on a field trip with Jadyn and her 4th grade class to the Pink Palace. We had a good time together and enjoyed Mexican food for lunch after. I love spending one on one time with my kiddos!

I also got to go to Regan's kindergarten class to do a craft with them. Here's a picture of us together that day. She's the cutest reindeer ever! I was also in charge of Regan's Christmas party for her class since I'm room mom. I then went to Jadyn and Brooke's class parties the next day. Always fun.

On a completely different note: I am usually not a person who ever wears hats. I just didn't think I looked very good in them. I finally decided to cave in and buy one. The girls got one too. Have to say...BEST THING EVER!! Who knew I didn't have to do my hair if I wore a hat. Now we wear them ALL THE TIME.  Guess I better get us some more. :)

Christmas 2010 was much quieter than normal. It ended up being just us and Jeff's parents.  Christmas eve we went to Jeff's parents house for a yummy dinner and the missionaries joined us. 



The kids had a small piano recital and then we did the nativity.  Since it was just my kids, Grandpa and Jeff got to help out. Brennan got to play a double role of sheep/wise man. I think they were super cute!

Afterwards, we took the missionaries out to look at Christmas lights and then went home to have the kids open their Christmas Pajamas. Jeff and I were a little tired in this picture. Definitely must be Christmas.

The next day we woke up a little before 6 a.m. to open presents, and had Jeff's parents over for our traditional breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent playing games, going to a movie and eating more delicious food. You may not be able to tell by the pictures, but we also got a little snow Christmas day. Even though it didn't stick, it's always exciting for us when we get snow. Had a semi-white Christmas!

Two days after Christmas was Brooke's 11th bIrThDaY!

Unfortunately, we have been battling sickness the whole month. Poor Brooke got my gunk of ear infection, cough, wheezing, no energy and raspy voice the day before her birthday.Since Brooke gets jipped a lot having her birthday so close to Christmas, she had only had one party so far in her life and had planned a slumber party. We ended up taking her to lunch at On the Border Mexican food and did a little shopping. That wiped her out. So we got her home to take a good nap, drugged her up and had the party anyway. 

                    

We had Brooke's closest friends over which ended up being perfect. They had fun eating fondue and pizza, playing games, watching movies and just being goofy. It all went really well. No drama and Brooke had a great time!

Before Brooke went back to school, we ended up redecorating her room which was part of her present from us. She didn't want a little girl horse room anymore. She has now graduated to a big girl room. It was fun to do with her, but made me a little sad I admit. It's hard to see my little girl grow up.

This is a picture of Brooke and Jadyn back in 2002 when Brooke was two and Jadyn was 8 months old.  When I look back at this picture, I'm amazed at how quickly time goes by. I wish I could just pause time for a while because it's going by way too fast.

But Brooke has grown into such a sweet young lady. I'm so proud of the choices she's made and am so happy to be her mom.

Family Pictures November 2010

We were blessed to find a fabulous photographer for our family pictures this year. I met Stephanie Moore at Regan's dance class and we became fast friends. Turns out she's a Tempe, Arizona girl too! I knew I liked her. Here are some of the pictures she took in our little square in downtown Collierville.

I absolutely love these photos and am so happy to be able to keep  forever! 

 

2nd Part of October 2010

The second part of October was busy.  For the third year in a row I participated in Race for the Cure to raise money for Breast Cancer research. It has become so important to me since I've had friends, especially my best friend, Elizabeth Cluff, diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  This year, Brennan, Brooke and Jadyn decided to do it with me. As always, it was a wonderful experience! They even had a pink port a potty to sign.  Jadyn wrote Elizabeth's name and Brooke wrote Sister Phyllis Nelson, her primary teacher's name for everyone to see two of our favortie survivors!



 On the 25th, our baby Regan, turned 6. It's hard to believe she's 6 already! I really don't want her to get any older.  Sometimes I wish I could stop time.  I brought her lunch at school and had a family party with her that evening. The green dress is the one her kindergarten class provides the birthday child. She loved it!

This year, Halloween was on a Sunday. So, our ward had the trunk or treat the day before. The kids had a good time. Brooke was a Cereal Killer with boxes of cereal glued to her shirt with plastic knives stabbing them. Brennan was The Doctor from Dr. Who, his favorite television show.  Jadyn was a twister board game, and Regan was a witch.  On Sunday, Halloween, we met at Jeff's mom's house for our traditional Halloween dinner where everyone brings a scary dish to share. I brought a craft for the kids to do. They all had fun and didn't even miss going out trick or treating. Good times!

Fall Break in Washington DC

This year for fall break we decided to take the kids to Washington D.C. and LOVED it!

We rented a house in Arlington, Virginia close to Mt. Vernon. The first day we spent most of the day visiting the Air and Space Smithsonian as well as the Smithsonian of American History.  You can literally spend all day there. We also got to see a few monuments. 

That night we took the Metro Subway to Silver Springs, Maryland to meet my cousins Mark and Melissa Bradshaw along with Mark's wife Jamie and cute baby Courtney. We had such a fun time laughing, remembering our dads and talking about old times. Seeing them was the highlight of our trip.

The next day we woke up and went to Mount Vernon. George Washington sure had a beautiful piece of property.  It's absolutely gorgeous. We had a good time seeing his home, teaching the kids about the colonists and slavery. It was as fascinating as I remembered.

We then drove over to Arlington cemetery. What a humbling experience it is to be in that sacred place and see the names of so many who have fought to maintain the freedom we have in this Country. Truly awesome. From there we jumped over to the Jefferson Memorial. Very cool. 

The next day we took the metro down to D.C. again and started another day of MASS amounts of walking! We first went to the National Fallen Law Enforcement Memorial where I was able to show the kids my Dad's name on the wall of fallen officers.  The strange thing about being in D.C. was that the whole time I kept having this huge urge to run over and see this memorial. I kept feeling like my Dad was there and I needed to hurry up and see him.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I stood there with my family. There were so many names of so many people who had lost their lives just like my dad and knowing there were loved ones attached to those names who have suffered like my family had. It was an incredible experience. I am so glad I got to share that with my children and Jeff.

We then went walking to the Capitol building, then the Washington Monument, then over to the Jefferson Memorial. 

You know, when you just look at them all lined up in a row, they don't look very far apart. We found out we were wrong. HOLY COW! It was major walking. But worth every step for sure. The kids were great. Regan was the only one to complain, but she didn't complain much. Thank heavens we were smart enough to bring a stroller by that 3rd day.  Afterwards we hit the Smithsonian of Natural History for our last stop.

Overall, our trip to D.C. was exhausting, but worth it. I love being in that city. It reminds me of how much our founding fathers were guided by our Heavenly Father, how much we are blessed to live here, and how grateful I am for all those who have sacrificed so much to allow us our freedom.

We LOVED Washington, D.C.

Field Trips and Other Things

October began with General Conference. Jeff gave a talk in church about ways to get the kids involved with General Conference. One of the ideas was to set up a tent like the people watching King Benjamin. So, we did. Add Halloween candy to the mix and it was a great and peaceful conference. The kids loved it.

 There's a man in our ward named Phil Coley who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Garrets disease). He and his sweet family have been suffering a lot. His wife Stephanie put together a team to do the race for ALS cure.  We thought it would be a great experience for the whole family...and it was. It was incredibly moving to see those suffering with the disease in their wheel chairs participating as well as the people walking in memory of those who have passed because of this horrible disease. I'm so glad we did it. 

This is Regan's baby named Molly. These past few weeks she has informed me that I am her Grandma and I am to take care of Molly while she's away at Kindergarten all day. I have to report to her at the end of the day all the things I've done with her. Regan even gives me instructions of how to take care of her. Very cute. But I wasn't expecting to be a Grandma so early.

Brooke had a field trip with all of the 5th graders at her school. We took tour buses to downtown Memphis. We got to see lots of the historical sites of Memphis including where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and St Jude's hospital along with many other stops. We stopped for lunch at a park that was close to Jeff's work, so he was able to join us for that. One of the traditions is for the kids to go to A. Schwab's store where the kids all picked out goofy hats to wear. They loved it. It was a very interesting trip, but long. It totally wiped us out!

Regan had clown day in Kindergarten. I completely forgot about it until the last minute so this is what we ended with.  Brennan had dress up days every day of Homecoming week at the High School. He really got into it. This was his choice for tacky day.  Silly kid.

Regan's Kindergarten class also had their first field trip. Regan was so excited to go on it and on her first bus ride. She woke up at 4:30 in the morning because of it.  We went to the zoo. 

 The zoo was decorated with all of their Halloween stuff. The weather was absolutely gorgeous that day. We had a wonderful time.

Jadyn and Regan had parent night at the dance studio where we were able to come in and watch them. The girls just loved it. But poor Regan was still suffering from lack of sleep and the trip to the zoo. That girl was tired. She sure did fall asleep quickly that  night!

I ended up rushing home to put her in bed. When I got back to watch Jadyn, I completely forgot to take a picture of her. Sorry J.J. That girl is fun to watch. She sure has some good hip hop moves and really knows how to shake her booty!