Brandon and Jennifer

Arizona Trip - Day 2

We are at the resort for a National Farm Bureau Conference that started today. Brandon and I will try to attend as much of it as we can while trying to keep the kids busy playing and having fun too.

I woke up before everyone else and went to the gym to get some "me" time. Then we all went for a morning walk. Brandon and the girls wanted to show me all the pools I haven't seen yet. We stopped for a family pic. Brandon said there is A LOT of pink in this picture... Yup! :)

It was perfect when the sun peeked through the clouds.

Brandon took the twins back to the room for a nap, so I could go swim with the kids.

At the Family Escape Center the kids made postcards to send. Kalyssa made one for her Dad.

Baylee made her Grandma Mitzi a postcard wishing her a Happy Birthday. Abbee and Kalyssa wrote her a message on the back too.

Abbee sent one to her Mom.

They ate lots of candy from the Mini Snack Bar.

Baylee and Abbee played games on the Apple computers.

Willie made his postcard for Lana.

Kalyssa found a fun game to play on an iPad.

All the girls were playing games and were anxious to go swimming, but we had to wait for Will. He took 20 minutes to finish his postcard and didn't want to go until he was done. He carefully scratched it all over and tried not to get too close to the message. It was cute how important it was to him that he do a good job.

They did a good job!

Time to swim!

It was cloudy and sprinkling so we had all the pools to ourselves for awhile.

We swam in the lazy river for awhile. It was fun floating in the current.

Bay and Abb are the only ones brave enough to get a tube. It was too cold for me outside the water to sit on one.

We moved to another pool that was set up for basketball. The girls played for a minute, but I kept walking to the Jacuzzi... it was raining and I wanted to really warm up. :)

We had the huge Jacuzzi to ourselves. We played Marco-polo and Will played with the "bubbles". I thought it'd be way too hot for him, but he got right in and loved it.

Will playing with the bubbles again. :)

Then we went out for dinner to get pizza and pasta. We found a really good place called Crust. Kalyssa is eating her huge personal pizza and about ate the whole thing.

Willie fell asleep as soon as we left the resort (and is sleeping on the table), so our evening quickly turned into a girl's night out. We laughed a ton... mostly at Kalyssa. :) She instantly fell in love with our waiter, Mark. Turns out he is also a manager at the resort we're staying at, so he gave us 6 free fruit smoothies back at the Cafe there. Super nice of him!

We ordered Brandon dinner to-go since he stayed in the room with the twins. The girls blew the statue outside a kiss and we headed back.

Paisley and Emmy were playing on our balcony. You can't see it at night, but we had a great view. Part of the golf course was right behind us.

Feb 9, 2013

Arizona Trip - Day 1

Road Trip!

Destination: Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix

We're on our way to Arizona with our 6 kids. We left last night about 10pm and have been driving through the night. Everyone did fine except for Paisley. She had a few screaming fits where nothing makes her happy. All of us gritted our teeth and bared it. She'd dose off and wake up about every 30 minutes. None of us got much sleep. But Will and Emmy can sleep through that noise so they were lucky.

We stopped for breakfast and let the kids run around for awhile.

The sun is coming up and we have about 90 more miles until we reach Phoenix.

I got out the camera to keep Will entertained...

I sat in the back row with him all night to keep him happy and busy... he started taking lots of pictures.

Abbee gave him a gummy worm.

Emmy got one too.

Abbee and Paisley

Will took a picture of our feet together... the cactus as we drove by... the back of Paisley's head...

We're here... in sunny Arizona!

We arrived about 9am and the resort already had our room clean so we could check-in much earlier than planned. It was great. The first thing the kids wanted to do was go swimming - of course! Brandon ran to the store to stock up on groceries and I took the kids to the shallow kiddy pool nearby.

It had a cool frog that spits water and palm trees. The resort keeps all their pools heated at 86°, so its easy to get right in!

I wasn't planning on getting the twins in the water this time, but.... what the heck. :) Abbee helped Emmy get her feet wet. Them Emmy walked out of the pool a few minutes later. She wasn't sure about it yet.

Paisley got in with Baylee and she fell, but she got back up and played for a bit.

Kalyssa went under the spitting frog.

Paisley started to cry after a few minutes.

Willie swimming... this is the deepest part of the pool. It was perfect for him.

Paisley is warming up in the sun with me.

Baylee gave Will a piggy back ride.

The kids having a ball together and playing games. :)

Kalyssa grabbed Emmy and got her in the pool again. Emmy did much better this time and actually liked it.

Bay was holding her and Emmy started kicking both legs to splash.

Paisley got back in and did fine too.

There was an endless amount of towels at each pool. The kids grabbed a bunch and warmed up. It was only about 65° today. A little cold for Arizona this time of year. There was a cold front here this week. :( But its definitely warmer than Utah!

Emmy is such an explorer! She'd walk up and down the side of the pool... over and over... all by herself... and totally content staring at the ground.

Brandon is back from the store. I took the 3 little ones back to our room for naps and Brandon took the older 3 to the bigger pool to swim. There is a lazy river over there with tubes to float on... the kids are dying to check it out.

The 4 of us took naps and when the rest got back from swimming, Will wanted to blow dry Abbee's hair.

Paisley is still zonked on the couch! Nothing could wake her up. She didn't sleep well in the car last night and must have been exhausted.

William blow dried Baylee's hair too after her shower.

I took the kids for a walk around the resort...

It was gorgeous there at night. There was several fire pits and a live band playing outside by the pools.

There was escalators in the conference center. Abbee is doing her best Will Ferrell impression from the movie Elf. LOL.

All of us are so tired from the car ride here. Paisley, Baylee and Abbee slept on the couch bed the first night here.

Kalyssa is already asleep on the floor with the couch cushions as her bed. Brandon, Will and Me are sleeping in the king-size bed. And Emmy gets the pac-n-play to sleep in.

All 8 of us snug in our room together... haha. Was this trip a good idea? We'll see. ;0)

Night, night.

Feb 8, 2013

Eating With a Fork

I was cutting up the twin's chicken with a fork. Emmy grabbed it out of my hand and started feeding herself with it. LOL... why didn't I let her do that earlier?

She did great, but I switched the big fork for a toddler fork.

They both were experts all the sudden. Up to this point, I've always spoon fed them or gave them finger foods, so this surprised me. They sure let me know, they are big girls and can do it themselves!

Kambrie didn't want to smile for me. Haha. I tend her every Monday and the twins love playing with her.

Feb 5, 2013

Heidi's Funeral

My cousin Heidi passed away this week. She was 38 or 39 years old. She's been living in Logan for the last 12 years with her husband and 2 kids... I had no idea we lived so close until I learned of her passing. I'm so sad about that, cause I haven't seen her in 20+ years. I'm so grateful that I could attend her funeral and see other family I haven't seen is so long!

This is Heidi's 9 year old daughter, Jordon.

Heidi's husband Nathan, and her 12 year old son, Hunter standing on the left.

Jordon gave Mary a flower from the bouquet.

Jordon was so sweet and made sure everyone had a flower that wanted one. She was such a good example and was the one who made everyone smile. I can't believe the amount of strength she showed. Heidi called Jordon "peanut"... that has always been Mary's nickname as a kid too.