Marching into March

In March we had some visitors. First Grandma Arlene from Canada came. And she ended up buying a house in Ghost Ranch. A nice house, for a nice little price. We are quite happy about it. They will mostly just use the house for a few weeks or months in the winter every year. Then for spring break we had my sister and her husband and 4 girls come visit for a week. It was really fun to have them here. We did so many fun things, the girls were in heaven visiting and playing with their cousins.


Isn't March a lovely month, it was perfect weather for breakfast under the gazebo...


The girls spent a good deal playing in this little pool. Unfortunately they were all burnt to a crisp after the first day.




I didnt' know the ostrich ranch was such a fun place. Kids love feeding animals and straight from the hand is even better. Except that the ostriches were a bit ferocious, I was even scared of them.












This has become an annual photo for us, I love the childrens hike at Picacho because a 2 yr old could do it! And if its a hot day, then it is more than enough for the kids, they enjoy it.


Of course we went to the Tucson zoo, and of course it was a hot day so of course the kids soaked themselves in the spray area... lots of fun



If you haven't been to the Mesquite groves pool in Chandler, then you are missing out. For only a dollar it is a fantastic pool. Play structure with slides, real waterslides, tube ride and dive pool with boards as well. It was kind of a cold day when we went so there was hardly anyone there. I guess in the summertime, this pool fills to capacity almost every day. The kids just didn't want to leave.







28 weeks...... getting nice and round, you should see me now



ZeeZee and AL
Ruby, Lilah, Norah, Maggie
Villago Park



Me and Dan at Villago with our family of 7...... wow 7!


It was fun having my sister and family come for their annual visit... wish they could have stayed longer.

February Surprises!

A few days after we got back from our trip to Vegas I went for my first ultrasound. By that time, I was 21 weeks into the pregnancy. I was a bit nervous going in because my mind had been made up that we were going to have another sweet little girl, and she would be an absolute blessing. I had an inkling something was different with this pregnancy, I felt bigger than usual, but ignored that and actually laughed out loud at my friend when he suggested "maybe its twins". I said- don't curse me! This pregnancy I didn't crave sugar at all, had very little morning sickness and just felt different altogether. So after about 10 seconds the technician said, " so you know there's two" Dan and I burst out laughing and said "WHAT, you have to be JOKING". Then she said- you seriously didn't know there's two? She was astounded I was so far along and didn't know I was having twins. Then she said, do you want to know their gender? YES OF COURSE! After she informed us they are definetly both boys, we started crying and laughing at the same time. What a shock. Dan had a monstrous permanent smile on his face for the next week. I was so happy, mostly for him, because I know how badly he wanted a boy. I didn't care so much, as long as they are healthy. The girls were happy to hear we were having twins, but disappointed that they weren't girls. In fact one day Maysa asked me if the babies could hear her and I said yes so she yelled at my tummy, "BABIES, CHANGE INTO GIRLS RIGHT NOW!" I laughed and laughed.
Right now we are still 2 or 3 weeks away from delivery but everyone is excited and we are so prepared!





THese are the only pictures we have where you can see the twins together in the womb. So sweet. We decided to name them Jasper and Jayden. Right now I about 35 weeks. Baby A is still breech and Baby B is still sideways, so its looking very much like a c section for me. We have that scheduled for June 3rd, I will be 38 weeks. But I could go into labor before then... you never know.

January to May.....

Its been too long since I last posted. This is the only form of family scrapbook I have so I figure I had better keep up on it. I do scrapbooks for the girls from newborn to 8 yrs and I just barely finished all I could do with those. I have been feeling a frantic rush to get things done and accomplished before the babies arrive. So starting in January.......





So my dad came to visit us for a few days in January. That was nice, the weather wasn't too warm, as you can see we spent a lovely day at the Tucson zoo.

Then.......
the last week in January we met up with Dan's sister Lillian and kids Chanel and Paris in Las Vegas. It was quite a fun little trip.
We spent alot of time at the resort pool cause thats what kids like to do best.... swim. It was such a cold weekend, I think when we went swimming it was only 64 degrees, but kids don't notice cold when it comes to fun.









We spent alot of time walking around the strip at night. I don't know where I got the energy cause it was such a big place. We took pictures at the luxor hotel and this jellybelly statue of liberty I just loved. Jelly Bellies may be responsible for half my cavities....








We were in Vegas during Maysa's birthday so we had a bash for her at the resort, then we spent the rest of the day partying at circus circus. SHe turned 4 years old, got lots of fun clothes and books and webkinz for gifts. Maysa still talks about it, like it was the best day of her life. She loved the frog hopper ride, I think they went on it at least 10 times in a row. FUN day...





What happens in Vegas..... you get a picture taken with pirates of course....



A fun filled month, we loved it.

Christmas and Catching Up!

Christmas holidays at our house were especially fun this year. We were so happy to have Rio and Lillian and their 3 girls come for the holidays. We usually don't see family at Christmas so this was a special treat. Mostly we hung out around the house while the kids rode bikes enjoying the perfect weather and great food! Rio and Lillian also looked at a number of extra large homes to invest in!



This pinata needs to become a yearly tradition. The girls had so much fun on Christmas eve with this.


We didn't take alot of pictures on Christmas morning I guess cause we were having too much fun. Sierra and Maysa got brand new bikes from Santa and Elena got a stack of Beverly Cleary books she hasn't read yet. Between the 6 girls, I think there were at least 15 or more brand new webkinz that were opened that morning.


They went to visit the ruins. It is such a nice little trip in the winter.


Dan gave the girls rides on the motorbike alot. Do I even need to mention how much they loved it, or is it totally obvious.



We also took some time to go sledding in Flagstaff at Wing mountain. We stayed overnight in a hotel and spent the next day sledding. Maysa keeps begging to go back to "the snowy place". It was really so much fun.








I have lived in Canada my whole life (up until 2 years ago) and I have never ever seen better sledding than here at Wing mountain. There were bathrooms, a concession stand with hot chocolate and treats, and a bonfire area. Not to mention absolutley perfect hills for sledding with really great steps in the middle to climb back up the hill. I think this is our new sledding place, its much better than Mt. Lemmon.


To make a wonderful long story short, this was by far my best Christmas gift. I bought this antique violin at a pawn shop for 75 dollars a year ago. A friend luthier fixed it up for me. This year on Dec. 26th he finally called and said "your fiddle's ready, come get it". I was dying with excitement. He fixed it up and without going into great detail, he did about 900 dollars worth of work and only charged me 100, and he threw in a brand new case. It plays like gold, its very sweet, kind of soft but it has that deep rich mellow antique sound that I've been craving for the past 5 years. Anyway, its my new baby, I can't get enough of it.