A New Job, New State, and New Adventure

 There was a time that I was pretty good about keeping this thing up-to-date, but that time has come and gone.  This post is just to let you all know that we are still alive and well, while giving you a very brief update on what has happened with us since the last post.

Alyssa and Ambrey got their ears pierced.  I don't have a picture of Ambrey because she was with Janna when she had it done.  From what I heard she did great with it.  For Alyssa this was the second time that we've had her ears pierced, and just like last time she dealt with some swelling afterwards that prompted us to take the earrings out and let the ears heal.

Summer was horribly hot again, which was really no surprise.  The biggest shock was when we got in the pool near the end of June and found that the water 95 degrees!  That would be awesome during the wintertime, but when it's 115 degrees outside a 95 degree pool doesn't do a whole lot of good.

In part because of the heat, as well as some changes with my schedule at work we decided that it was again time to move our family elsewhere.

 But since the move wasn't until December 14th, some within our family insisted that we had to have a Christmas tree up before the move.  So we got a small one.  But that's not even the most troubling part.  Before we got this tree we had already put up two other Christmas trees.  Yes, there may be some insanity within our family.

 While dealing with about two weeks worth of delays on the close of our home in Arizona, Janna and the kids moved to our new place in New Mexico.  Moving sucks.

 This is a picture of my trip from Arizona on the 21st of December.  Janna didn't take any pictures of her trip.  When I asked her why she didn't take any pictures she said something about screaming kids, icy roads, a blizzard, and stress.  I don't know what that has to do with a camera, but whatever.

 We were supposed to leave for Utah the day after I arrived in New Mexico, but when I arrived I found a house full of sick invalids.  After considering cancelling our trip to Utah for Christmas, which was to be our first Christmas there in about five years, we spontaneously decided to leave on the afternoon of the 23rd, equipped with trash cans to catch any overflowing sickness that might appear.  We stopped in Moab after about six hours of continual screaming from Westley.  In the morning we traveled the remaining three and a half hours with a little less screaming, but this time in dense snow that at times provided as little as 75 feet of visibility.

Though the trip was difficult, it was well worth it.  The kids got to spend time with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and we got to see what Christmas would be like if we had never left.  The picture shown above is of the girls receiving gifts that my mother asked my grandma to make.  The girls were very excited to receive the handmade dolls.

 Since returning we have settled in nicely here.  The picture above is from something that came out of the bathroom sink in the master bath.  We're not sure what it was, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that the Loch Ness Monster may have tried to escape down the drain.

 The Two oldest have settled in with school.  Alyssa is in Junior High, and Ambrey will soon be finishing third grade.  Anna is excited about starting school after the summer.

 This is my birthday gift from Janna.  I confess it's pretty awesome.  I'm spoiled.

And this is a picture of Westley eating second breakfast this morning.  I think we may have a rather large hobbit on our hands.



Let the Swimming Season Begin!

With the weather warming up it means that we can finally start using the pool.  That's not to say that it hasn't been used before these pictures were taken, but not all of us like to freeze.

I'm not sure if I've got something on my face, or if Westley's just trying to figure out the easiest way to drown me.

Staycation

I had vacation time in February that we were having a difficult time deciding what to do with.  We were debating about whether we should head to the beach in southern California for the weekend or drive to Utah to visit family.  In the end we decided that we didn't want the girls to miss any school we decided that we would stay here and discover our own town.

The first night we went camping... in our backyard.  This was the first time that Anna had ever slept in a tent.  Alyssa and Ambrey have actually camped (for real) on two other occasions.  Once while we were in Buffalo, and the other time was up at Payson Lakes before we left Utah.

After our camping adventure we went to the Phoenix zoo.  Ambrey, Anna, and Janna all got to ride on camel's, which they thought was pretty cool.

I have to honest, I thought it was a pretty hot day.  And it was only February.  I don't know how people can stand to visit this place later on in the summer.

We also went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix.

Now this place was pretty cool, and not just because it was indoor.

The girls spent most of their time at the play market.  They spent time playing as a shopper, as well as a worker.

This was Alyssa playing with one of the vacuum things.

This was my favorite part.  It was like a HUGE jungle gym.

This last picture was on Lucky Charms Day.  I mean St. Patrick's Day.  Don't they look magically delicious?

Keeping the Girls Busy

Since Westley got a post of his own, I figured that the girls should get one too.  We are after all, an equal opportunity family.  This first picture is of Alyssa and Ambrey up on stage preparing for their piano recital.  They both performed well.  Unfortunately I videoed their entire performances so I don't have any video that I can post to the blog.

We decided that it was time to put the girls into softball.  This first picture is of Ambrey getting her first uniform.  She was so excited!

 She was the only girl on her team to have her last name put on it. She chose to do it this way because that way it would be just like Alyssa's first softball uniform.

 For some reason Alyssa was being uncooperative which meant that instead of getting the full picture like we did with Ambrey, we got the Cousin It version.

 And finally she decided to cooperate.

 Two girls ready for spring ball (which is more like summer ball in other places).

 Ambrey up to bat.  I think she went something like 0-2 this year, but her on-base percentage had to be somewhere around .900.

 Alyssa up to bat.  I tried to find a picture with her pitching, but for some reason I was unable to come up with one.

And here they are with their trophies at the end of a long, hot season.

Christmas and Easter

I'm at work so my supply of pictures is limited.  This first picture is of the girls wearing jogging suits that they received for Christmas.

This picture was taken at our family Christmas dinner.  It was a good day.

 No we didn't color eggs for Christmas.  Skipping forward a few months, this picture was taken the evening before Easter.

 And this was the end result.

 Easter egg hunt before church

 Can you see the egg?

Anna waiting patiently for dinner.

A few Pictures

So these next few posts may seem a little random.  Since it has been about six months since the last one, I confess that I'm putting a little less effort into trying to keep things organized while trying to get caught up on what has been going on.  This picture was taken of Westley at about three months.

 Here's Westley in the basinet.  He has been out of this for around five months now.

I just thought that this was a cute picture of Ambrey and Westley. 

I took this picture while I was waiting for Janna to show up to our Monopoly show down.  I waited, and waited, and waited.  She finally did show up... about two or three months later.  In case you're wondering who won lets just say that Janna went down in flames, but not before pieces of the game went flying in my direction.

Westley has Grown

Apryl, this is for you.  This post is all about Westley, and how much he has grown in the last few months.

Smiling for the camera.

Little man hands.

Westley with his older sisters getting ready to do what he loves most... eat.

How cute is that?

 Hanging out in his saucer.

 The little guy sleeping at one of the girls many softball games.  He looks huge in this picture!

Playing the piano.  It doesn't sound as good as it looks.