Getting Out Of The Heat

We met Shane up to the top of Mt. Lemmon, and had lunch. He needed to do some altitude running before his next two races, so he left about 6 and got us a good picnic spot before most people got up there. It was right next to the creek, and the kids had fun. There are always so many people, so we like to go up early to secure our same picnic spot and parking. :) The boys went on a hike. 

My favorite girl

Christmas

We had a fun Christmas, even Grandma and Grandpa came to spend the Holiday with us. We are so blessed, and I hope we always remember the true meaning of Christmas!

My Kinder Graduate

 

Handsome boy! :)

Class of 2027

The wonderful paraprofessionals that helped Matthew.

I'm so proud of him!

Super cute

Megan loves her brothers, especially Michael. He's kind of her protector from her younger brother! 

Can't get enough of this sweetie!

Birthday Boys'

Matthew turned '5', and we had his birthday party on Saturday, July 19.  We invited his friends, and had fun in the pool!

The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline, and throwing water balloons.

This pool was his gift from Grandma Chism, it's been a fun way to entertain the kids this summer.

My little boy is growing up, and is into Superheros now, he's come a long ways since Toy Story.

We had cake and ice cream.

He got a lot of really nice gifts.

Michael turned '11', and we had his birthday party after Matthew's on the same day.

His Dad bought him this inner tube as one of his gifts, he has gotten a lot of use out of it.

This is one of Michael's favorite parts of having a birthday party. blowing out the candles and eating the cake!

We invited more kids, but they weren't able to come.  Michael still had fun with his friends, Aubree and David.  He got a lot of new Skylanders, so of course they went inside and played video games.

We'll miss you Scout!

We had to put our dog down last week. It was a sad day, but we know he is in a better place.

1/22/01 - 6/19/14

Our Sweet Girl Turned ~1~

I can't believe it has been a year since I had this little princess.  She is so fun, and fills our home with such happiness!

Grandma Chism came to celebrate with us, and to spoil this little Granddaughter of hers. :)

She loves to get a hold of any kind of paper, so this was perfect for her.  She had lots of fun opening her presents.

Her brother's helped with opening the gifts, they were so cute with her.

Here we are playing with one of her toys.  The elephant spits out balls.

Matthew enjoyed playing with all of Megan's new toys.

Grandma keeping Megan busy.

We had cupcakes and sang happy birthday to this little dolly.  She dug right into her cake and had frosting all over.

We just love this little girl, and can't imagine life without her.  We love you Megan Jo.....Happy Birthday!

Spring Break Utah

We were able to spend a couple weeks with my parent's over Spring break.

We went to the zoo -- not sure why he was making this expression.

We finally gave up on cleaning up the toys until the end of each day.  This is what the floor looked like every day......I don't think Megan enjoyed being put in the bin. :)

Grandpa took Matthew outside and they rode their bikes around.  He was being goofy here.

We went to Sam's Club for lunch, Megan is always happy even when she has food all over her face.

Grandpa bought Matthew a cowboy hat at the Dollar store -- Matthew sure does love his Grandpa.

Megan got to know Grandpa and Grandma really well, and she loved having them around.  It was hard to leave and know that we won't see them again for a while.

This is such a *sweet* picture.

Here are some more pictures from the zoo.

It was a little cooler in Utah, but it was still nice enough to go to the zoo.

Matthew doesn't get to wear hats and gloves very often, so he loved putting on all his gear to go outside.

Dry Tortugas National Park - Key West FL

On our way out to the island.  It was a 2 1/2 hours Ferry ride.

Here we are approaching Fort Jefferson National Park.

We did lots of snorkeling, hanging out by the water and site seeing.

Here is a picture of the Ferry we came in on.

A lovely Hermit crab the boys saw on their walk.  I'm glad I wasn't with them.