Latest looks from Arizona

Wow, updating this blog is harder than it looks. I can't believe how difficult it is to find the time to do the simple things these days. I could go on and on about how hectic life is, but that would take away from the reason I got on this thing in the first place. We just wanted to share the latest and greatest from down here in AZ.

I guess it's time to update

Since the last update, Emilee has returned to school. She is now in FIRST GRADE. She loves her teacher. She is doing incredibly well. We are so proud of her.



Zach celebrated another birthday. He is now the big FOUR. Lucky guy!!



Alyssa is still our little Princess. She loves her dolls (and Emilee's dolls) and Dora!!

Becky (Roberts sister) and Mark's Wedding

Robert's sister got married in July. Here are some of the pictures from the wedding.

Recent Trip to Utah

We had a cousins party with the Astle side while we were up in Utah. Here's a small sampling of the pictures we (and Jen) took. Jen went crazy with the camera, so there is a lot more where those came from. If you want to see more, let me know and I'll e-mail them to you or create a slide show.

All the kids shoes.
Swimming in the pool.


Checking out the treats!!

Grand Canyon - North Rim

The drive to the Grand Canyon is an hour off the main road at Jacob Lake. On our way home from Bryce Canyon we decided to take a "quick" detour to check it out. One weekend a month during the summer the National Parks are waiving their $25.00 fee. Since we were so close we couldn't pass up the opportunity to show the canyon off to the children. It's a very beautiful drive. It's amazingly green and full of trees.




When we first pulled up to the Canyon it was pouring rain. We decided to catch a bite to eat and see if the weather would cooperate for us. It did and we got some amazing pictures before heading back to the main road. Emilee kept saying "It is so beautiful." I didn't keep track of how many times she said it, but it was a lot.

Bryce Canyon Slide Show

We went to Bryce Canyon last weekend for a family reunion with my Mom's Family. Here are some pictures we took of the view up there.

They Grow Up So Fast

Emilee has a dance recital this Saturday. The studio arranged for a professional photographer to come into the studio to take pictures of the girls in their costumes with their class this past Saturday. We were told how to do their hair and make-up. When Emilee saw herself in the mirror when she was all put together, she decided that she was "beautiful". Here is Emilee, ready to dance...

Easter Pics....Finally

Robert and I flew in from Hawaii early Easter morning. Luckily for us the Harwood's had taken care of all the Easter preparations so the Easter Bunny could do it's thing. The kids had a lot of fun and here are a few of the cute pictures from that day.

Hawaii

Robert and I took a trip to Hawaii without the kids. We have been to both Oahu and Maui. It is so beautiful here. We have spent time on both Waikiki and Ka'anapali beaches. We survived the Road to Hana in Maui and hiked the Manoa Trail in Oahu to see some amazing waterfalls. We visited the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor and the Punchbowl. We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, blown away by Pali lookout, checked out the Dole Plantation, spent a day at the Polynesian Center, and walked the grounds of the Laie Temple. Today we went on a catamaran to go whale watching. The video attached it a sampling of what we saw on the cruise.

Yipee The Tooth is Out

Emilee lost her very first baby tooth. A little over a week ago, after Emilee had been tucked into bed, she came running out of her room yelling "Mommy" "Daddy". The first thing that popped into my head was she saw a scorpion or some other hideous bug in her room. That was not the case, her tooth was loose. Very loose. Well she would not let anyone touch anything anywhere near her mouth. It took some coaxing to get her to play with her tooth. Then last Friday, she let me check out her mouth. She let me wiggle the tooth a little and then decided that she didn't like me touching her tooth. Well as she was moving to get off my lap my finger popped that little tooth right out of her mouth and it landed on the floor. Yipee the tooth is out. The tooth fairy came that night and all is well in the world of Emilee once more.

Emilee's Birthday pictures

Here are Emilee's pictures we had taken for her sixth birthday. She was channeling her inner princess that day at the photo studio.

The picture fairy did it...

As I downloaded pictures from the camera recently, I noticed some shots that I did not take...and I am quite certain that Robert did not take these pictures either. It seems we have a little picture taking fairy at our house.

The Cookie, The Bike and The PJ's

The Santa Cookie...When Santa came to our home on Christmas to deliver toys, he only took a couple bites out of this huge cookie we left for him. Well Christmas morning during all the hoopla and craziness as the gifts were being attacked by the two oldest children, little Alyssa found the leftover cookie. As I look through the pictures taken Christmas morning several have Alyssa munching on the Santa Cookie. Luckily Alyssa didn't have to worry about opening gifts because Zach took care of that for almost everyone. He kept picking up presents and saying they were for him and opening them.


The Bike...the second most photographed item on Christmas morning is Zach on his brand new bike. I don't know that he got off that thing much that morning.


The new PJ's...the third most photographed item on Christmas morning were the pajama's we gave the kids on Christmas Eve. We didn't take pictures of the pajamas on Christmas Eve because it was late and the kids were so cranky that night. Then the next morning the kids did everything but look at the camera at the same time as we attempted to have them poise for the pictures.