Fun stuff

I leave Maysa alone with Jayden for 2 minutes and this is what I find..... Poor little guy, he is already being subjected to sibling cruelty.... :)


This was a fun family home evening project. Maysa picked the color- "cotton candy blue", it is very bright and cute!





My sister had these beautiful flowers delivered for my birthday last week, aren't they great! The girls loved watching the lilies pop open every day.


Maysa took this cute little picture of Jasper, seriously great picture, she needs to sneak the camera more often.... mmmmm maybe not


And more of my handsome brown eyed devils....


They keep me up all day... AND all night...

...but their cuteness forgives them.

~Apple Annies~

Well fall break is just about over and we've had so much fun. After coming back from Emerald cove we took a few days off at home then we went to Wilcox for a couple days. We stayed with the Allreds, who use to live in our town but moved out to their own little slice of heaven a couple years ago. They live in the boonies on a beautiful acreage with huge groves of magnificent pecan trees. It was so nice and peaceful there. The climate is also much milder there. We really miss the Allreds, they are such a fun and sweet family. On Saturday morning we all went to Apple Annies for breakfast and apple picking. We ate all you can eat pumpkin pancakes with apple cider syrup. And yes, it is actually more delicious than it even sounds. Then we went for a wagon tour around the orchards, it was beautiful. We then spent the afternoon at Jared's parents house, the kids had lots of fun playing in the yard and playground. Then we went out to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. By then the sun was going down so it was nice and cool inside the maze. The babies loved the stroller ride but Melanie had an eventful time chasing after her two year old in the 12 foot high maze. After conquering the maze we had just enough time for the girls to pick out their very own halloween pumpkin. I have to say what a fun time we had, we hope to come back real soon.


There were no apples left on the trees to pick, except for maybe one or two old ones.

Sierra did manage to find this nice one, it still tasted ok actually.

The babies do so well when we are out and about, they like the excitement. This was on the tractor tour and it was kind of sunny for them.


The kids liked the tractor tour, but they had to be told at least twice to "SIT DOWN" very firmly by the grumpy old man that was driving.

Here we are eating homeade apple crumble and pumpkin icecream. I liked the apple kind better. It was SOOOOOOO delicious!


Elena is making jump ropes from a rope twister.

Elena and the other girls used their ropes to jump but of course Grant and Davey used theirs as a lasso

This is Maysa on the "firehorse" as she called it, at the Allred farm.


The Allred farm was really fun, Dan had fun taking the kids for a ride on the 4 wheeler trailer.

Maysa and Davey played with this little frog for over an hour.


The pumpkin patch was HUGE, the field seemed to go on forever, and then there was some buildings, and then another field that went on and on and on. You would be hard pressed not to find a perfect pumpkin every ten seconds in this patch.


This corn maze is especially impressive. We decided to take the advanced tour and came out pretty well in the end. At halfway is the circular sun, I thought we were done, but the corn cop came along and said we're not even half. It is supposedly the biggest corn maze in Arizona, which is easy to believe.


It was a grand tour, I loved it. We had to answer questions about agriculture and corn to advance and make the right turns, we only messed up a couple times I think. I'm not really sure because I was at the tail end pushing my massive stroller enjoying the nice cool air breezing through the 12 foot stalks. The babies really liked it too, was a tad bumpy but they didn't make a peep the whole time.



I would encourage you to make the two hour trip from CG for this place, it was really a fun day. I think we'll be going back for peach season next summer!

October Beach Vacation

October is always a fun month for us... there's conference, fall break, and somewhat cooler weather. The girls got their first progress reports back from school. I am so happy with their efforts. Elena got straight A's and was put on the Principals Pride list, Sierra also did very well. Except for math, she got a C, a rough start, but only because at Legacy they are a year ahead in math, so she was expected to jump right into 4th grade math, when she is only in 3rd grade. However the school does free tutoring so after 5 weeks of tutoring she went from a 37 percent on her first test to a 100 percent on her 5th test and she has been getting A's ever since. Its too bad those first couple tests tanked her grade. I can't say enough great things about Legacy traditional school, I am so happy with it.
For five days we went to our favorite vacation spot- Emerald Cove rv resort along the Colorado river. Its always warm there because its along the sun belt. We usually stay at a rental rv along the beach, but this time we felt like a we needed a cabin instead. With a family of 7 afterall!! The cabins are tiny but we could put up a tent on the deck and the kids had a blast sleeping out there. We met our good friends Russ and Tanya Johnson there, they rented a cabin right beside us. Our kids are the same age, so they play and play together, its so much fun.
















We go to emerald cove about 2 or 3 times a year. October is one of the best months cause its not too hot or cold. We spent alot of time at the kids club making crafts, playing pingpong and shuffleboard, playing at the playground, swimming pool and the beach. The babies liked swimming, but the water was a bit colder than at home. Dan and the kids always do the swim races on Saturday and they end up winning anywhere from 10 to 20 dollars of resort money everytime. So we always buy a huge lunch at the pool cafe after. The river water was much colder than I remember, everyone had fun jumping off the dock, but I hardly put a toe in this year. We usually take our bayliner boat so the kids can tube and waterski but obviously with the babies thats not possible, so maybe next year. We just got home, but I'm already thinking of when we can go back!

August and September happenings

Well, time flies when you have a million kids. Its been a very very busy time for us. The girls started school, and Dan went back to work all in the same week. It was very difficult those first few days but then things got much easier. The babies are growing like the stars shine. Everyday they seem to get a little chubbier and a little heavier to carry around. I found my saving grace though. They LOVE the stroller, I can go for a 2 mile walk and they don't make a peep. Problem is the HEAT! I can't take them out for a walk until about 6, even then its hot, but not blazing. They love it, and it is liberating for me to get out of the house everyday. I've seen my share of sunsets though, magical and peaceful, I love Arizona.



The girls have to wear uniforms to their school, it is a charter school called Legacy Traditional. I didn't know if I would like this school but Dan was absolutley insistent that they start attending this school. So far, I'm suprised that I actually like it. The teachers are fantastic and I love the whole layout, lots of homework, but the girls are challenged, they like it too, which is good. Elena will be reciting the Declaration of Independence by memorization in front of her class tommorow.



PHOENIX ZOO- we decided to get a pass. The girls always love coming here, and we need a fun place to push the twins around in the stroller, still hot at this time of the year so we spent the day at the zoo's leapin lagoon.





Dan's sister bought a house here in Casa Grande for vacation purposes. They've been here twice already this summer. The girls got to play with their cousins Talia, Chanel and Paris alot, we always have so much fun with them. This is their pool that we are more than happy to look after... :) The twins like swimming, but Jasper seems to like it a bit more. Jayden is the one screaming in the picture.



Here is the most recent picture of my chubby babies. 3 months old... Jasper left, Jayden right, THEY JUST WON"T SMILE FOR THE CAMERA-- EVER!!!! Little stinkers, this was the best shot out of 500, oh well, ce la vie.