A Fun Visit

Michele and her family drove up from Phoenix for a visit. We made some fun plans to celebrate. One of Susie's favorite parts of the weekend was definitely the ginormous bubbles they brought to share. They were huge! I love the kids' faces in these pictures. Whoa!! Look at that bubble!

After dinner we had a movie night- The Lego Movie with mint chocolate chip icecream. I'm not sure what Susie was more excited about.. having Sam there, staying up late, or eating ice cream! It was sure fun. 

We wanted to take our visitors to do something fun in Flagstaff. I have been dying to check out the huge lava cave so we headed up there. I read on the internet that it was a "kid friendly" hike. Um. No. Maybe if your "kids" are 18 and are equipped with heavy duty boots and ultra bright flashlights. We wore our tennis shoes. And carried Braden in his carrier. It was an adventure.

 The cave was SO AWESOME though! I have been in some cool caves in my time and this one rivals for the most awesome one I've ever seen. It was amazing. I can't wait to go back. Without children. :) Let me add however, that I was amazed at what good sports they were! 

The cave entrance

Love Sam's face. He had just run into a rock. So he was injured. I love Susie's face here too. She doesn't know where to look for the picture. We turned off all our flashlights before taking pictures and just had to smile and guess where the photographer was. Looks like Susie guessed wrong.

We had a picnic outside after our cave adventures. Then we hung out at home for a little while before we had to say good bye. We have missed them so much and it was great to spend some time together. 

And I Thought May Was Busy!

The last couple months have been very full....

Paul graduated from Pharmacy school! His wonderful parents came down to celebrate the occasion. I have great in-laws.  I've been so grateful to know they are always there, steadfast and solid and supportive. They cheer us on and love us and our kids. It means a lot to me. I get a little weepy thinking about it sooo... I'm going to move on.

We moved to Flagstaff! There are lots of trees and it always smells like we're camping. Paul has really enjoyed working here at the Walmart pharmacy. 

We were sad to say good bye to so many wonderful people that we truly love. We threw a little swim party before we left with some friends in the ward. 

Most trying this last month has been seeing my mother get so sick. She went from healthy and active to in critical condition within a day. I'm not sure how it all even started but her insides just all became infected. She had a bladder infection, and kidney infection, and her lungs became infected. She had pneumonia and one of her lungs collasped. The infections spread to her blood which is called sepsis. It was serious and scary to think we might lose her. I was able to spend some time in Cedar City in the hospital with her while Paul watched the kids at home. After she came home from the hospital the kids came up and stayed with me at Grandmas. We took care of her for about 2 weeks and now we are home. She is getting better every day and I am so thankful! I had so many people text or email or call me to ask about my mom and send their love. It really touched me. I'm so grateful for so many friends and family members who showed their love. 

Now that we are home we are enjoying being together as a family again. We had a fun 4th of July together and are looking forward to getting to know people here in Flagstaff. 

I hope everyone is having a great summer! 

Here are some pictures of the latest: 

Our first meal in our new home: 

Playing at the park (in June!?! crazy!!!) 

Dad's first day at work. We are so proud of him! A real life pharmacist!! 

Father's Day Fun 

4th of July (we got rained on while waiting for fireworks)

 

A Fun Filled May

We have had a really fun month of May. It has been packed with lots of excitement!  

Braden and Susie and I took off the first week of May for Cedar City. From there my mom joined us and we headed up to Salt Lake to see my Aunts and cousins. We picked up my brother, Mackenzie, and  traveled up to Idaho to see my Grandma and Grandpa Garbett, and Grandma and Grandpa Hildreth. Susanna fell in love with Mackenzie instantly and didn't leave him alone the whole time he was there! It was great seeing everyone. It's been a long time! We made lots of fun stops on our road trip including our favorite, Gosners Cheese Factory in Logan, Ut.  I showed Susie the geyser in Soda Springs. It was great fun. I loved being back in Soda. It is one of my favorite places on earth and it made my heart happy to be there!

After our fun road trip to see family, Mom and I headed back down to Cedar City. We spent a week there. We went on lots of walks in the canyon and enjoyed spending time with my siblings. Tiffany gave me a short haircut. At the end of the week we all drove back to Phoenix to attend a wedding. My good friend Michele got married in the Gilbert temple. Mom drove with me to help with the kids (what a girl!) and I spent the day at the temple and then the luncheon and the reception at night. It was great fun and such a happy day.

Bright and early the next morning Paul joined us and we headed back up to Utah with a car full. (Whew, lots of driving!) I surprised Paul with a graduation trip to Washington DC. We went there right after I graduated from college in 2009 so I thought it would be fun to go back again. So mom watched the kids and Paul and I took off. We got to spend some time with Paul's brother Jonathan and his family, and his sister, Jennifer and her family. We went to see monuments and memorials the first night we were there. The next day we spent together exploring the city. Kylee knows someone who works for Rand Paul and she set up a private tour for us of the capital building. It was VERY cool! We got to see some neat secret parts of the capital building. We went to the Botanical gardens and rented a paddle boat near the Jefferson memorial. Our journey home was long.... we flew stand-by and got stuck in the Chicago airport ALL DAY! We finally made it back to Cedar City at 4am the next day. We did have a great time together though! 

The day after we got back from Washington, Livy graduated from high school. I'm so glad I got to be there. We gave her a trash bucket full of things for college. She is going to BYU-Idaho in the fall. Olivia is such a good aunt. Braden and Susanna love playing with her. We went to the Pizza Factory before graduation. The next day we stopped at a gas station and guess who is on the cover of the newspaper... Olivia! Pretty cool. 

Now we are packing up and getting ready to move to Flagstaff. It is going to be a hard move for me because I love so many people here in Phoenix. We are excited for a career and a new adventure though.