March Trip to Utah

We had such a great time seeing all the family while we were in Utah -- unfortunately, Dustin was not able to make it. We did a lot of things together as a family while we were visiting. Jenni took us to a community indoor swimming pool that had a big water slide--what an experience! First of all, I didn't know that we would be swimming in March so I didn't bring my swimming suit. Julie let me borrow one of hers, but I guess it had been a while since she had worn it and didn't know there was no more elasticity in it. The result, the most unattractive swimming suit I have ever worn! It was sagging off of me and it was even worse once it got wet. I was embarrassed to get out of the water. While we were there I thought I would take Makenna down this huge water slide -- I had seen other parents doing it with their children. BIG MISTAKE! As we are going down the slide it is completely dark. Makenna is sitting on my lap, but we have to lay completely on our backs because the tunnel is too short to sit up in. Makenna is stiff as a board and I am trying to make her excited by saying "yee, this is fun"! As we get to the end of the slide we come shooting out of there feet first. I am trying to catch my feet on the bottom of the pool to stand up and I am basically drowning myself to try and hold Makenna up out of the water by her swimming suit straps. I finally am able to stand on my feet, my hair is completely over my face and my whole family was at the end of the pool busting up laughing at the comical event.

One of the highlights of my trip was being able to go to Kevin and Amber Rice's temple sealing at the Salt Lake City Temple. Dustin and I were able to sit in on many of their missionary discussion as Amber became a member of the church. I have never been to a family sealing where their little children came in all dressed in white to be sealed to their parents -- what an awesome experience!

All the cousins had a great time together. Elle and Makenna had fun pulling each other around outside in a little car. Jen and I also gave Elle and Makenna pedicures together -- they love to feel like a big girl! Jen, Julie, and I were able to take Elle and Makenna over to Dacia's house to ride "Little Black"-- I think that was his name. It was my first time to Dacia's house and we had a great time. The girls weren't to sure about actually riding the horse -- maybe because we had to wake them up from their car naps when we got there and then just tried to put them right on the horse. Dacia got out the "buggie cart" and hooked it up for the kids to ride in the back -- they thought that was the best! We all took a turn taking the kids for a spin -- I think the adults had more fun than the kids! Thanks Dacia!

On of the last things we did while we were there was to go to Julie's gym where she teaches. We all went together one night and Julie turned on some tunes for us while we played a little volleyball and basketball. All the siblings got together towards the end of the night and played a couple rounds of "Lighting" -- that was so much fun, but the pregnant lady, Jessica, kicked all our trash! Thanks for all the fun times!

Trip to Flagstaff

Dustin had his NAU Physical Therapy program interview at the end of February on a Friday. We headed up to Flagstaff on Thursday evening after Dustin got off work and we stayed at a hotel there with his parents -- thanks Russ and Janie! The first night we all got pretty good sleep but the second night, I don't think anyone got any sleep between Russ's snoring and Hollis's crying. We were just happy to have a place to stay though and have a little mini family vacation. Makenna and Hollis both loved the pool. Makenna is always wanting to go swimming. I kept telling her on Thursday (the day we went up) that she could go swimming with grandma tonight if she was a good girl for me. Well, we got there and by the time we really got settled down it was time for Makenna to go to bed. She was so upset with me that she didn't get to go swimming that night with grandma. I told her she could go first thing in the morning when she woke up. Well, she didn't forget and she reminded me that she needed to go swimming as soon as she woke up before we even ate breakfast. We finally found our way to the swimming pool and Makenna knew just how to get there every time we went -- she has such a good sense of direction. Makenna is potty training so we had her in Pull-Ups. When the Pull-Ups get wet, they get even bigger than a diaper if you can believe that. Hollis really liked the pool as well. His favorite thing to do is to splash like crazy.

Dustin interviewed on Friday morning and what was suppose to be a 3 hour interview ended up being 4 hours -- Russ, Janie, the kids and I spent an hour in the car at NAU waiting for Dustin to come out. I had to go to the bathroom so I asked Janie if she wanted to go in to the school with me -- that was probably one of the worst things I could have done. All the people that were interviewing were in there and it looked so competitive. The worst part is every single guy had a suit on and I told Dustin not to where a suit because I thought it would be too over the top -- I was so sick about it and that was all I could think about. Of course Dustin still looked nice, but he didn't have to suit on. I can't tell you how sick that made me! Dustin finally came out of his interview and then we all went out to eat so he could tell us all about it. Dustin ended up having 2 half hour interviews and felt that both went well. We left to go home the next morning knowing that sometime the following week we would find out if Dustin got into NAU or not. Dustin's parents came back to Phoenix as well and came over Monday morning to have breakfast with us before they headed back home. While we were all eating breakfast, Dustin checked his email only to find out that HE GOT ACCEPTED! I can't tell you how happy I was -- I even tackled Janie to the ground. I was so giddy all day. It is just so crazy to have a plan and have it actually happen. Dustin will be starting a 3 year PT program in August so we will be moving up to Flagstaff sometime this summer. We have so much to do around here to get our house ready to rent out so I am not sure how much I will be blogging in the next couple of months. We are so excited to start a new chapter in our life but very sad to leave all the friends we have met here in Phoenix.

Bartlett with Jamon and Kristen

I think this has to be one of our favorite things to do with Jamon and Kristen -- we love to go camping or fishing with them! We decided to go up to Bartlett Lake on a Wednesday evening just to go fishing and roast hot dogs with the kids -- so much fun! Kristen brought fun buckets and shovels for Makenna and Keegan to play with in the sand, but most of our time was spent trying to keep them out of the water. I think their feet got wet in the first 2 minutes that we were there, but they didn't care even though it was still February -- crazy kids! Dustin and Jamon were good "Boy Scouts" and got us a firing going before they went to go fish. Kristen and I decided to tag along with them and the kids. I held Hollis the whole time in a carrier thing that he was REALLY TOO BIG for. Dustin attempted to show Makenna how to fish and then she found her own fishing pole -- a long stick. After the fishing we all went back to the campfire to take off Makenna and Keegan's shoes and socks that were soaked and tried to dry them by the fire and laid out a big blanket for them to sit on. We then ate some hot dogs and tried to keep kids out of the fire. I think most of the time was spent trying to keep kids out of the water, on a blanket, and out of the fire. Kristen and I remember going camping and fishing before we had kids and how it was so much easier, but anytime Dustin saw us getting frustrated he was quick to tell us "don't get frustrated with the kids because then we will use that as an excuse not to come back and look at how much fun we are having!" It really is true -- even though it is harder to do these things with the kids in make it more fun at the same time and gives us great memories.

Under The Couch

Makenna and Hollis both love playing under the couch together. The truth is, Hollis only likes it until he rolls himself all the way to the back-side of the couch and then starts crying because he doesn't know how to get back out.

In The Crib

Every once in a while I will catch Makenna in Hollis's crib with him. She knows she is not suppose to, so she is usually pretty sneaky about it. It doesn't seem to bother Hollis though -- I think he enjoys the company and usually thinks his sister is pretty funny. Also, you will notice Makenna's great outfit. Makenna is in this phase where she likes to dress herself -- even if I have already dressed her for the day. Usually by the end of the day she has on about 3 shirts which amounts to a lot of laundry. He favorite things to put on are pajamas and princess looking skirts. If she can't find any of these in her drawers, because she has worn them all, she will then start going through her dirty clothes which has really become a problem because we are potty training and her wet panties will go in there. She came up to me the other day and she smelled just like pee. I was a little confused because her underwear were dry -- well, she had pulled a shirt out of the laundry that was sitting right under her wet panties and there was pee all over them -- so gross! Maybe I should start putting her laundry basket up on the changing table so she can't reach it, but then that looks really tacky -- what to do?

Tickle Me Hollis!

Dustin almost always can get Hollis to laugh. I don't understand why Hollis will smile and laugh more for him than he will for me when I am the one home with him all day. Makenna was the same way. All Dustin has to do is look at Hollis and Hollis will give him a big smile. Hollis is always so happy when Dustin gets home from work and really likes it when his daddy says "hi" to him.

Happy Hollis

I can never get the kids doing what I want them to when I pull out the camera, but Dustin was getting Hollis to laugh pretty good and I thought it was cute, so here it is.