Easter with the Whites - and More Whites

We've had a super fun long Easter weekend here at our house. The White cousins (Tim's older brother David's family) came to visit from Las Vegas. It was a houseful of Whites! So fun catching up with Dave & Jonna and their family. We even let Eric and Rach miss a few days of school (it will give the other kids a chance to catch up I said :)). Here are a few highlights:

Hiking and playing in the water at Catalina State park.

One night we put all of the plastic Easter eggs in the pool and had a competition to see which team could gather the most. There actually was A LOT of swimming with the White cousins, who, we found out, are great swimmers! Jenna and Lizzy are in the middle of their ISR swim lessons, and the cousins got to watch one day. Here is a picture with Aunt Jonna & Lizzy. Lizzy, you will see, is sporting the most adorable swimsuit of the season. It came with this cutest swim hat which was an absolute bonus. It completes the synchronized swim look. She totally hams it up for pictures.

We had this fun bonfire the last night they were here and sang camp songs and roasted marshmallows. You'll note the dead grass which is driving me CRAZY. We are actually having fake grass installed this week. I've finally decided that we aren't meant to have grass here in the desert. Well, good looking grass that doesn't cost a fortune anyway.

These two crazy cousins didn't quite know what to think of each other. Lizzy and little Landon are about a month apart in age.

The day before everyone came we had a birthday girl. Little Rach (who is just growing up WAY too fast) turned 7. Happy birthday Rach!

Last but not least, here is a picture of Easter baskets this morning. Super fun and only half of the kids ended up with tummy aches. Next year perhaps we will monitor consumption a little more closely!

Valentine's Day

(Note: I tried to post this the morning of Valentine's Day, but was having blogger issues which have subsequently kept me away. Here it is at any rate, be it a few holidays late!)

Happy Valentine's Day! We are pretty excited around here.

Saturday was Lizzy's 1st birthday. Yes, I know, it is hard to believe she is one already! It has been a strange combination of a very long yet a very short year. She is such a sweetie and has been the most wonderful addition to our family. Everyone except her it seems was excited for her birthday. Although I take that back, Jenna was rather annoyed that someone else got to have a birthday when she desperately wanted one herself. I suppose it is tough to be three though. Here are some pictures from the small party we had.

Some Thoughts on a Tragedy

So I have been processing the events that happened here in Tucson a few weeks ago. The shootings happened about 15 mintues from our house in an area I am frequently in. Last Saturday was the first time I drove by the Safeway since the incident and it was such a somber feeling. I also happened to drive by Gabrielle's Tucson offices later that day and was amazed at all of the flowers and posters and stuffed animals out front. The news crew was still there. You tend to hear about these things happening in a far away location to someone else's congresswoman, but when it happens so close to home it is such a reminder of how fragile life is for all of us. I remember Sept. 11, 2001 watching the news that night as they were interviewing survivors thinking "WOW, these people just woke up and got ready for their day this morning as they normally do with no clue that in the evening they would be on the national news talking about the worst experience of their lives." We all have different missions in life and things that are indivdually important for us to learn. It sounds like an absolute miracle that Gabrielle was able to survive as she has. I wonder what missions she has left in life? What a reminder that life is so precious and we need to use our time here wisely. The night before the shooting I received an form email from Gabrielle's office inviting me to Safeway for her congresswoman on the corner get together. I remarked to Tim that it was one of those things that we should probably go to, although we never seriously made plans to. Gabrielle has not been the representative of my choice, but my prayers have certainly been with her and her family. Thank you again to all of you who have expressed concern for us! It still feels like the city is healing and trying to make sense of this and move on.

Thanksgiving in Utah

By request here are the pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Utah. It was such a fun time. My sister-in-law Emily threw the most wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, everything was absolutely perfect. It was kind of Robert and Emily to host us all. As much fun as it was, it was nice to get back to our perfect 80 degree weather in Arizona. I still haven't had to run the heater in the house since we got back from that trip. Here are the pictures, I don't know what got into me, I usually don't take so many (in random order):

The kids table. Emily had plates made for each child that said some things they were thankful for.

I'm thankful for this little guy.....

...and for these two crazies who both have freakishly long tongues.....

...and for this one who has one of the kindest hearts. She loves her cousin Anna.....

...I'm even thankful for this one who has given me the biggest run-for-my-money I have ever experienced. LOVE you Jenna. Here she is with her cousin Ruthie who is about six weeks older....

...also, I am super thankful for wonderful parents who have made FABULOUS grandparents!

Here are all nine of my parents grandchildren. I pointed out to my mother a few months ago that she now has just as many grandchildren as HER mother has. Quite an accomplishment! It was purely coincidence that all the girls are wearing pink and the boys red. I kid you not! Also, yes, this picture was just as loud as it looks!

The beautiful table setting at the adult table.

Now, this is a picture of Robert, Tim and Carson doing a 3-man push-up. And yes, this picture too was just as noisy as it looks as well. Lots of grunting. See, this is a perfect example of what I keep telling Eric: You will have brothers one day too Eric! Doesn't this look like a brother thing to do. Way to go for the brother-in-laws!

Because the 3-man push-ups apparently weren't enough, Rob did some with the kids on his back.

Lizzy appears ready to bush any hair that might grow at any moment.

Coloring with the cousins.

Ah, the ever popular "Angry Bird" game on my new iPhone.

Lizzy with her precious cousin Lily.

We went down the MTC for church one Sunday (for those of you know know what the MTC is, my parents are in a branch presidency there and their children and grandchildren can attend church there on occasion). Cousins Paige, Lijah and Taylor came with us.

I thought this was so adorable. My little Arizona babies in awe at seeing the snow. They played in it a good five minutes before realizing that it was super cold and maybe they would come in.

Hawaii

Tim and I took a much needed trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago. SOOOO relaxing. My Mom was nice enough to come and watch the kids for a week so we could get away. I don't know what we would have done without her, I am so grateful. While we were gone for the week they had an absolute blast with Grandma.


We flew direct from Phoenix to Honolulu and then checked in at the Hilton in Waikiki. The place is massive! Tim got us a room facing the beach which was fabulous. This is a view from our balcony. Luckily we were out and about a lot on Oahu because the Hilton employees were on strike during most of our stay. Quite annoying, and just reinforced our anti-union position!



One morning we drove out to Hanauma Bay which was spectacular. Tim did a bunch of snorkeling but I did a bunch of what I came out to do, relax and read on the beach.

Not a great picture, but here is Tim on the boat in front of the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor.

We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural center and stayed for the Lula that night as well as their spectacular night show "Ha, Breath of Life."

After Oahu we flew to the island of Maui. Words cannot express how in love with fell with the Fairmont hotel in Wailea. I'm thinking our next vacation needs to be wherever they have a Fairmont, that is how awesome it was.

LOVED the beach in Wailea.
Tim is certified SCUBA, but we didn't plan ahead enough to have him take a refresher course before we left. Rather then spending a half a day of vacation doing that, he just decided to go on a snorkel trip out to Molokini (again, me relaxing on the beach).

We had such a great time and came back so relaxed. Happy 11th anniversary to Tim and me(next month that is).

BOO!

Aren't they SO PRECIOUS!!

Tim and I were invited to a Halloween party which was super fun. We were super tired however because we had just flown back from our trip to Hawaii (pictures to come in next post) and gotten in at 3am and up in the morning at 6:30 with no nap. STILL a fun party though! As you can tell I am not big on matching family theme costumes.

I realized when I was getting her dressed that the red ruby slippers were at my sister's house, so we had to make due with red sock. However, she still thought there was no place like home after we kept her out too late at the church Halloween party. NO REALLY, she said (or rather cried), NO PLACE LIKE HOME in my crib.

Cookie monster here set a new record at our house for cutest costume ever....only in my opinion apparently. She decided an hour before we left that what she really wanted to do was to wear Rachel's costume which she had commandeered. In the end I had to MAKE her be cookie monster because frankly I spent too much effort putting this costume together and she just looked so darling anyway. "NO COOKIE MONSTER" is what she said (in a really mad voice). I remember going through a similar ordeal with Rach when she was this age except that it was a poodle skirt then. I should be all ready for another repeat when Lizzy is this age. Apparently it is taking me four kids to catch on here.

Yes, we do love zebras around here.

Eric came up with this pose right before I took the picture. Apparently he's got the pirate stance down!

Hope it has been a happy Halloween weekend for everyone!

7th Annual Murder Mystery

It was a dark and stormy night this year as we held our annual murder mystery party. It was our turn to host, and our dining room was transformed into a 50s diner for the event (yes, the kids thought it was way cool). It was Roley High's 5 year high school reunion. Tim and I attended as Pris and Cal (that is Cal Q. Later) the class nerds (I know, not too much of a stretch for us). It was a super fun night and I am so grateful for a fun group of friends who have kept up the tradition. Great costumes this year!