Birthdays!

Jonathan and Andrew are my August birthday boys!  Jonathan turned 5 and Andrew turned 9.  I'm not sure why we didn't get many pictures at Jonathan's family party.  It was so wonderful because their Grandpa and Grandma (Michael's parents) came and so did Aunt Betsy and Uncle Geoff (my sister and brother-in-law) and their kids--to both parties.  Their Aunt Erin (Michael's sister) was able to make it for Andrew's (she lives over an hour away but she still came just for his party)!

 

 

Jonathan wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cake.  I don't know why, but I obliged.  I can't believe he is 5 and in kindergarten!

Andrew wanted balloons on his cake, and this one made him very happy.  I usually bake the cakes myself, but we had a particularly busy day that day and he was thrilled to get a store-bought one.

The photo-bombing is getting out of control around here!

There, that's better. :-)

The whole party gang

Andrew wanted a desk and chair for his birthday.  I think his favorite part was helping me put it together. :-)

First Day of School

We are off to a great start this year!  The kids are all happy at their schools.  Well, as happy as they can be since they would rather still be on summer vacation!

 

 

Nathaniel, 9th grade--1st year of high school!!!

Daniel, 2nd grade

Andrew--3rd grade

Jonathan--Kindergarten!

Emily--6th grade--still in elementary school

Ready for a great first day!!  No uniforms!!

Nathaniel is at the high school, and the other four are at the same elementary school!  I love it! 

Moving

We finally moved!  It seemed like it would never happen, but we are finally here in Arizona.  June was crazy.  Once we got back from our trip to Florida, it was a race to get everything done and prepared for our move. 

First order of business--get Nathaniel's braces off!

 

Then, we were invited to a potluck at the Warrens'.  They wanted to have a cookout as a "goodbye" to our family. We had a wonderful time.  It's hard to say goodbye to friends.

The movers packed us up and we left pretty much on schedule.  It took us three days to get to Arizona.  On the second night, we were so tired and we found this motel that only had one room left.  They let us have it, but it was TINY!!!  We camped out for the night.  It was an adventure.

Daniel picked this spot and went right to sleep.

All the driving was worth it, though, because we made it in time to see Michael's sister Shannon, her husband Jay, and their two sweet girls.  Here is Emily with Chloe, Shannon's older daughter.  Can you see Daniel's photo bomb?

Michael with his parents and siblings.  They hadn't all been together in a very long time.

The whole crew, including Granny (Carol's mom) and all the spouses and grandkids

 

We were so excited to get to go to the Clantons' wedding reception.  Ammon Clanton was a missionary in our ward in Alabama.  He was the one who helped us cut down the tree that fell in our front yard.  The kids were so happy to see him.  He was a great example to them.

Well, it has been an adventure.  We are very glad to be here and we love our new house.  We have met some wonderful people in our ward and we are all making friends. :-)  Next up: SCHOOL!

Our Trip to Florida

We had a wonderful trip to Florida!  We left bright and early on the first day of summer vacation. 

 

We did many fun things, but going to miniature golf with Papa was definitely a highlight. 

Here are Papa and Jonathan, waiting for our table at Olive Garden.  We hadn't taken kids there in about 10 years, so for the little ones it was their first time.  Most of them loved it, but Daniel was pretty disappointed that they didn't have French fries.  Good food is lost on (some of) our kids. :-)

Another big highlight was our trip to Legoland.  Papa had to work, so it was just me and the kids.  Nathaniel especially loved Miniland, where they have mini Lego sculptures of famous places.

Here is a Lego Ford Explorer.  Jonathan did NOT want to be in the picture.  You can barely see his feet behind Andrew.

One fantastic thing about our day was that the lines for the rides were so short.  On one of the roller coasters, everyone but Daniel wanted to ride a second time so we waited for them to go again.  He just had to have his picture taken.

Nathaniel and Darth Vader!

What a fun day!

Not pictured was our day at the beach.  We went to Honeymoon Island and had breakfast and played in the sand.  Each of the boys took a turn being buried in the sand.  Emily loved the water, and they all thought it was pretty cool that they were actually in the Gulf of Mexico!  Emily also got her ears pierced.  They look great!
The kids were so good and it was an amazing trip!

Month of May

On Memorial Day, we took a drive to Horseshoe Bend.  It is a national military park and it is where Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians.  We always say we are going to go on a day trip to see some of the historic places in Alabama, and this time we finally did it.  We learned a lot and enjoyed the day together as a family.

Nathaniel was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society!  We are so impressed with his hard work and we are so glad he was recognized with this honor.

Emily received a medal for having the highest score overall on her magnet school math team.  This is for the Perennial Math program.  Way to go, Emily!!

Birthdays

My babies are growing up so fast!

 

For Nathaniel's birthday, he got to go see Captain America 2 and we all went to dinner as a family.  Here is my 14 year old!

 

For Daniel's birthday, he got to invite a friend and we all went to see Spiderman 2 and then we went to McDonald's for dinner.  This is his Minecraft cake.  It's supposed to be a Creeper.  I don't know what it is, but the kids thought it was cool.  Thank you, Pinterest. :-)

Daniel is 7 years old!

Emily's Atlanta Field Trip

I had so much fun with Emily on her field trip to Atlanta!  I felt so blessed to be able to spend the day with her!  We went to the Georgia Aquarium, CNN Center, and Coca Cola museum.  Here are some pictures of our wonderful day:

Georgia Aquarium, with the Beluga whale...

 

...with the penguins...



...petting a sting ray...

...and looking cute in front of an enormous fish tank

At the CNN Center

At the Coca Cola museum

I am so grateful I got to spend the day with my sweet girl!