7.5.12 and 7.6.12

 One night we went to the Children's museum  with the Neely's. We hadn't ever been there before. We went on a night that is free so that is code for "super busy and you better keep an eye on your kids or they'll be lost in 2 seconds."

 In the art room the kids made monster bookmarks.

 The next day was HOT! We went to a splash park. Not a splash pad, but park. Again we hadn't been before. It was in Tempe. Macie and I found a shady spot under a tree and watched the kids and Jeff run around.

 It's so fun to see and hear Macie laughing now. She's such a good baby. We're so grateful and so am I since she lets me sleep through the night every night!

 Levi racing down the small water slide.

The Fourth

 It was sooo nice to have a 4 day weekend and spend lots of time with Jeff. We started off the 4th with a ward breakfast.

 The activity day girls and leaders sang "You're a Grand Ole Flag" at the breakfast. I brought Sydney and Jordyn up with me because there was only 1 girl there. The other 11 were all out of town.

 Levi and Jordyn in the fire truck that came to pay a visit to all the kids.

 Then there was the parade.

 That night we went swimming and had a BBQ at the Petersen's with some other families. Jeff doing a back flip.

 The kids enjoying their "water slide."

 Levi saw Jeff do a backflip and then wanted to try himself. I love that he has no fear but at the same time it scares me.

 We had our own firework display and watched some major ones from the street. The kids loved it. It took awhile for Jordyn to warm up to holding a sparkler.

It was a nice, relaxing day. A day to reflect on our many blessings, one being our freedom. I'm grateful for the many people who today and a few hundred years ago fought for the freedom we have today.

Pinetop, AZ

Once again, Jeff's grandparents were very generous in letting us use their time share in Pinetop, AZ. Pinetop is about 3 1/2 hours north east of Gilbert. We couldn't have gone at a better time. This past weekend was record highs in Phoenix. It was 119 in Phoenix on Saturday. In Pinetop the high's were in the low 90's. The weather was awesome. It was overcast, breezy, and waaay cooler than Gilbert. Pinetop is nothing like Gilbert. It has huge tall trees, thousands of them. No cacti in sight! We went swimming and fishing. If were weren't fishing we were swimming. Saturday morning we tried our luck fishing at Woodland Lake we had power bait and worms. There was only one spot to fish from. We fished from a floating dock with about 25 other people. No luck here. Then we thought we try Show Low lake. We found a secluded spot to fish from, but again, no luck. Sydney was getting rather frustrated that we weren't getting nibbles or anything. We did, however, teach them about the experience in John chapter 21 when the disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Then Christ appeared and told them to cast their nets on the other side and they caught more fish than they were able to pull into the boat. Our time was not wasted and the next day we tried a third lake. I told Sydney to put her good luck fishing clothes on as this was our last chance at fishing before we had to drive home. We drove to Hawley Lake. When we got in the car it smelled like onions in someone's pit. We concluded it was the worms we accidentally left in the car over night that had died. We got to Hawley Lake and casted from shore again. We had a small herd of cattle staring us down and encroaching on us....better than bears I guess, but I was still uneasy about it. We had no luck and spirits were down. Jeff made the executive decision to rent a dinky little motor boat for an hour. The kids perked up about going on the lake. Our first cast and we caught something! Levi reeled it in and caught his first fish. The girls each caught their own fish too. It was so exciting for the kids and Jeff and I to anticipate reeling in a fish and seeing the joy in our kids faces. Macie was sleeping so she didn't participate in all the commotion of catching 3 fish. The power bait worked the best. The only problem was the fish were swallowing the hook. We didn't plan on it, but we ended up killing all the fish. After we made it back to the dock, we filleted the fish at the Hawley Lake store, drove home, and cooked and ate the trout we caught. We had a great time. Fishing was relaxing in the cool weather and beautiful surroundings. We met up with some friends for dessert Saturday night. On our drive home we DIDN'T even stop. All the kids crashed for a good amount of time. I'd love to go back in the winter and go skiing at Sunrise Resort that is 30 minutes away.

 Pool time and Macie's first official time in a pool (all the way in). She already loves the water.

 Woodland Lake

 Hawley Lake

 Levi wears this BYU hat every single day.

 Macie's first time on a boat. 

 Jordyn loved petting the dead fish, holding it, and making faces with it.

 Gutting the fish. The girls were all about anything to do with the fish. Levi could care less. He was annoyed with the smell and flies that surrounded us.

Back at home and eating the fish we caught. It tasted yummy. Thank you fishies.

Jeff's birthday

In case you can't tell we had a mustache theme for Jeff's birthday. I figured since he can't grow a moustache, I'd make him one :)  I made a moustache cake and bought these mustaches for us to wear. Even Macie wore a moustache. The kids loved it! They helped me bake the cake too.

 In the morning we made Jeff breakfast in bed and the kids had picked out presents for him. Levi got him a new soccer ball, Jordyn picked out ASU b-ball shorts, and Sydney picked out car air fresheners and they drew him pictures.

The night before when he was at scouts we wrote him notes and decorated the inside of his car with these notes and streamers. We all love Jeff and were so blessed to have him as our dad, friend, care taker, provider, and lover.

3 Months

Macie had many "firsts" during her second month of life including: first road trip (9.5 hours long), visiting her first state, Utah. She also went to Nevada. This month she'll visit California too. She went on her first flight in an airplane (Vegas to Mesa, AZ) on Father's day. She went to her first Circus and Rodeo. She had her first laugh on June 21. I was making some up some fake words in probably a really dumb voice....but it made her laugh nonetheless.

 At the Vegas airport. Yes, I traveled with 4 kids by myself. Unfortunately Allegiant Air wouldn't let my parents help me to the gate. An older, sweet lady helped me put and tie my shoes after going through security because macie was in a baby carrier so I couldn't bend over.

 This is Macie on the flight. She slept the whole way, well it was only an hour. The problem with a sleeping child on you is that it's difficult regulating the older two sitting in the row in front of you. They started arguing (big surprise right? Siblings at each other) towards the end of the flight. Everyone was still pretty good though considering. We were so happy to finally see Jeff after 2 weeks.

Macie relaxing on our couch after the flight.

 So now this little one is 3 months. Seriously, I'm not sure how time goes by so quickly. She is such a joy. A happy baby that talks a lot! She also started cooing this month. She weighs 13 lbs 7oz. Still sporting cradle cap. Going into the pool now. Still sleeping through the night!! Sleeping in her own crib in her room now. Life is good with 4.