Family Night

Since Craig had school off for labor day we went out to Mesa, AZ to visit the temple. It was beyond gorgeous. First time at this one for me. It was hotter than hot but we managed to walk all the way around and get a fun family picture. We also stopped at Cafe Rio and visited with one of Craig's old mission buddies. They have the most darling kids. We had family night when we got home and made cupcakes for the treat. I decided to start an after school activity routine and Monday happens to be cooking class with mommy. Brooke and Jace had so much fun making their own cupcakes. It's wonderful to have an oven again. We went without one for 2 months while living at our old place. It broke and I felt terrible making our landlords replace it right before we moved ... so we did without. Our other after school activities will include: play dough, building with blocks, painting & crafts, swimming, and board games.

It's hard having Craig be gone all the time - well, he actually WAS here for most of today but I don't really count it when he's in the office with the door locked for 5 of the 5 1/2 hours he was here. I know that graduate school will pay off in the end but for now it's hard.

The New House

I've had lots of requests so here are some pictures of the new house in Arizona. The favorite by far is the toy room. The kids had a blast painting pictures to hang on the walls and I had fun putting up some pics that I had taken of the kids (thanks for the idea Jenni). Not all of the picture frames in the living room are filled yet but I just ordered some prints. We also like the backyard (when it's not too hot) - we did get a kiddie pool that the kids play in everyday to help cool off. We also like the big palm tree in our front yard that looks like a giant pineapple. Brooke loves having tea parties everyday - she's a new princess every hour. Jace is enjoying school. One of our cars broke down so I've been using the double jogger (awesome - thanks bec) to pick him up and we always stop at the park on the way home. We love our ward and have met some really nice people. We miss our friends in Washington and our families but are getting used to it here. Craig is super busy with school! It's 10:30pm and he's still not back - I had no idea it would be this intense but I guess that's what we get for doing the accelerated program and sqeazing 2 years into one. He's a trooper though. I'm finally done putting the house together so I can get myself and the kids on some sort of a routine. Well . . . we are safe and happy and here is to the beginning of a whole new adventure ;) lol - I'll keep you posted.

Princess Party & Kindergarten

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and sound in Arizona now. Right before we moved we celebrated Brooke's 3rd birthday. She had a Princess birthday party with our family and got lots of Princess things including a Snow White, a Cinderella, and a Sleeping Beauty dress. She rotates several times between the 3 of the them every day. .. that and her new pink tutu. Here are some pictures from her birthday.

Enjoying birthday pancakes.

Princess Cake

Blowing out the candles



Watching Snow White in her new Snow White dress with daddy. Her pictures didn't turn out the greatest. It was 2 days before we left and I was feeling the stress. I'll take some new ones of her in her princess dresses soon.

Right after we got here we got Jace registered for school. I was hoping for afternoon kindergarten since he's kind of a sour puss in the morning but they only offered morning so we're dealing with a grump for the first 1/2 hour of the day Mon-Fri. He's sure a cute little school boy though. Here he is on his first day - standing in front of the palm tree that the kids think is a giant pineapple. His teacher is Mrs. Figg and she calls her classroom Figg's Farm. It's really cute. I hope I can help out a little in his class. I'll post some pics of the new house soon. I trying to get organized and it's taking longer than expected.

Blueberries - YUM!!

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My BIG boy!

Jace had SO much fun at his birthday party. He had 14 kids come and it was WILD! A little too wild for mommy. I think next time we do a friend party we'll stick to the golden rule - only as many kids as they are old. He went with a spiderman theme and we had it at our community clubhouse. We played games like duck duck goose, hot potato, and pin the spider on the web, played outside at the park, did water balloons, a pinata, and had spiderman cupcakes & lemonade. Jace's favorite part was opening his presents. He made out like a bandit. Earlier he had a little party w/ his nani & grandpa and got a new bike with a spiderman helmet. Mommy, Daddy, Brooke, and Grandma & Grandpa JOhnson got him the new Ironman helmet he wanted and he got lots and lots of superhero toys, coloring books, etc at his party. I can't believe my baby is 5 yrs old and getting ready to start kindergarten. What a big boy he is! His comments on turning a year older were:

"It feels weird to be 5. I kinda miss being 4."

Arizona/ Utah Trip

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I had so much fun on my trip to Arizona!! My Mom & Dad had already gotten a condo in Scottsdale and were there with my sister Jenny. Becky and her kiddos picked me up from the airport in Las Vegas and we drove over together. It was SO good to see her. It had been almost 3 years. Her kids are all getting so big. We laughed the whole way ... even though I was a crappy navigator and we ended up taking a 40 min. detour. Where was the GPS when we needed it. I looked at lots of houses and got an idea of the area. It's very pretty - in a very different way then Washington. We spent tons of time in the pool cooling off. It got up to 117 degrees while we were there. I got to go exersising with dad in the morning and play with my nephews: Carter,Taylor,Hunter, and Ryker in the afternoon. I saw Eclipse in the theater with Jenny .. and dad ... that was kinda funny. I got lots of girl time in with massages and talking into the wee hours of the night. I'm really glad I got to see Becky and her boys before they move to Japan for 3 years. After driving back to Utah I got to see Jeremy & Brittany along w/ their two cuties Erik & Ryker and I got to help Jessi and Mom with Julie's Bridal shots. She looked SO beautiful! I'm bummed that I'll miss the wedding but at least I got to help out with this. SUch a fun trip. I missed my little family and I'm glad to be back but I sure had a great time! I love you all - thanks for making my trip great.

CRAZY 2 Weeks

Whoa! The last 2 weeks have been CRAZY busy! First of all, the Regal Movie theaters started their summer family fun festival so they show 2 new kids movie a week starting at 10am - for FREE so of course we had to take advantage of that. Also, the kids started swim lessons. They took a 2 week program where they would go Mon-Thurs. for 1/2 hour at 11:30am. Then I thought since we're already in Fisher's Landing area we might as well have a picnic and meet Craig at the park for lunch. We've been staying very busy being out and about almost everyday. Our schedule went like this: wake up and get the kids ready, exercise, pack a lunch and snacks for the movie, get out the door by 9am, movie at 10am, leave a little early to get to swim lessons at 11:30am, get the kids changed, head straight to the park, eat picnic lunch with Craig, hang out for 2 hours at the park, head home, plop on the couch exhausted, take a nap, kids stay up late since they took a nap, craziness, but lots of fun. I'm glad swim lessons are over. I've noticed that the kids are doing a little better in the pool though. Brooke will hold her breath for a longer amount of time underwater and Jace has been practicing pushing off of the side of the pool and gliding on his back. He rarely uses arm floaters anymore. Usually he just stays in the 3 - 4ft area. It was fun to watch both of them working with a teacher although Jace did get into trouble a few times for splashing the girls. He was the only boy in his class. Brooke was oblivious to what was happening most of the time. She just bounced around with smile on her face. I put them both in the same class but really Brooke probably should have been in the younger class - she was by far the smallest and just not quite as advanced as the others. It was fun watching them chase after the plastic fish, having to dunk their heads under the water to retrieve them.

At the park Brooke liked to swing and Jace had the most fun climbing trees.