Brothers did Awesome!

This is just a quick note to congratulate my brothers on an awesome performance in the Gila Valley Temple Cultural Celebration last night. We were able to watch it via sattelite broadcast at a stake center here in Tucson, and both brothers were highlighted several times as the camera panned over the hundreds and hundreds of youth that participated. They both did a great job, and the show was really fun. President Monson was particularly hillarious too, especially his stories about learning Spanish and his duet that he sang with President Eyring. Can't wait to watch it again on their dvd.

Mikayla Laughing Some More...

The Big Day!

Doesn't his face say it all? Dustin graduated with his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Arizona on Saturday and it was an amazing day! After a very LONG semester of thesis writing and lots of years of schooling, he is done! He was so cute as he walked in with his class because he was almost dancing with excitement. I mean, look at that tassel swaying from his momentum!

One of his biggest fans...her little U of A dress was adorable (if I can say so myself!) and definitely won everyone's approval. ;)
For a graduation present his parents gave him this amazing painting. This is one of his favorite pictures of Christ because of his mission to South Africa. It was a really touching, spiritual moment at the park when he opened this gift. Christ and his family are truly the center of Dustin's life and the reason he does everything he does. I love him so much and am proud of him!
...More to come on the rest of graduation festivities and pictures of all the family later. Dustin will probably want to post about his big day, but I thought I'd at least get a few pictures up for now.

Mom's Day

We had a super great Mother's Day this year. Dustin and Mikayla made me waffles for breakfast...cinnamon, chocolate and a chocolate chip waffle sampler plate. Marvelous. I would recommend the cinnamon. SO yummy! Dustin had to speak in church and was conducting a song with a Young Men's choir so my parents and Maren decided to join us for church. It was really fun to have the fam there. After church we snapped a few pictures of us girls.

Mikayla loved it...NOT. Totally uninterested. Don't worry, we still love her lots though! ;)
Then we went home and the boys made us dinner while we waited for this call...

It was awesome to talk to Seth! We talked to him about all the normal things. You know, TP, bodily functions, food, Mikayla, Toby, you get the point. Seriously, it was so fun! He sounded great and is doing well in the Dominican Republic. Weird to hear him speaking Spanish with his companion!

I am grateful for all the lovely ladies in my life. Especially since Mikayla was born I've realized how much they have done for me and how much they help me out everyday. I feel like Mikayla being born has only strengthened the bonds I have with all the wonderful women who are a part of my life. I love you all!

Random Pictures...

Cousins!

Dustin's Uncle Derick and Aunt Cheryl came into town on Tuesday and Mikayla got to meet her cousin Lincoln for the first time! Lincoln is 1 month and 2 days younger than Mikayla and he is so big (he's 15 lbs and Mikayla is 11)! They enjoyed blowing bubbles together, but other than that, they didn't really notice each other much. And, no, I am not pregnant in the picture above, I really don't know what that pose was all about. ;)

Here's all the little cousins! They are so cute! The boys are definitely chunky and Mikayla is um..."dainty" (or one could call it super skinny)!

Laughing!

Kids Table

So last Monday, Deja & Josh and Dawn Sheree & Steven all came up for a Family Home Evening and we had homemade pizza for dinner. We only had enough seats at the table for the adults, so we obviously needed a kids table. I laid down some beach towels on and under our coffee table with a box and large dictionary for seats for the boys. I thought it turned out pretty fun. Obviously Mikayla did too, since she fussed and fussed until we took her over to join her cousins.

All three of them just had a blast, laughing and laughing. Garth had a blast entertaining Mikayla, and Colt had a blast playing cleanup, trying to eat everyone's unattended food.

Great Times!!

Changes.

I gave work notice that I will not be returning after my leave ends in a couple of weeks. It was one of the hardest things that I have done in a long time. Dustin and I both know, after long hours of prayer and fasting, that this is the right choice for our little family. Honestly, I am scared to death. The future is pretty up in the air for us, but I cannot deny that we absolutely know that my staying home with Mikayla is the right thing for us right now. Dustin graduates in May and we are still unsure as to what our next step will be after that point.

I know that a lot of my co-workers follow our blog and I just wanted to tell you that I am grateful for you. I am grateful for a boss that was understanding of my need to be home with my family right now. I worked with some wonderful people and I am so thankful for all that you taught me and for the friendships I made. I will miss you. If you keep following our blog, please leave a comment from time to time so we can keep in touch!

Some (if not all!) of you may think I am crazy. The reasons I made this choice are many, but one of the main reasons is that I firmly believe that "Mothers are primarily responsible for the nuture of their children" whenever possible (click here for more info). Now, this is not to say that I will never return to work at some point in the future (near or far), either by choice or necessity, but at this moment in time, my job is to stay at home with this little munchkin...

We will keep you updated as we find out where we will go from here. Thank you for your love and support.

Tummy Time Revisited!

Mikayla still hates tummy time and just screams when we put her on her belly, then just rolls over. We put her on the exercise ball (don't worry, her Dad was holding her!) and she just loved it, despite what her faces may look like! We get kind of bored around here sometimes if you can't tell!

The new do, too....It's a terrible picture, but it's the only one I have. I chopped it all off. It was time for a change!

Hollywood, here we come!

Mom's Big Helper

For Christmas Dustin's parents got me this cute matching set of aprons, one for me and one for Mikayla. We decided to try Mikayla's on her just for kicks the other day when she was being a big helper in the kitchen (i.e. she wouldn't be put down when I was trying to make lunch). She looked pretty cute, but she was totally swimming in it! Room to grow, right?!

Beach Babette

For Easter Mikayla got this super cute swimsuit and Dustin had to try it out a little early so he took Mikayla swimming in my parent's spa and she just LOVED it!

She also got this hat and some shades from her Grandad and Nanny Jill and since we're working with the beach babe theme I thought I'd share some pictures of them as well...

We got to go to Pinetop with my parents for Easter weekend and it was an amazing get-away. Here are a couple of pics from what Mikayla did on our adventure.

Played lots and lots...

Even played cards...

Went on walks with her cool beanie...

Snuggled with Grandad...

Had bed parties with Nanny Jill...

and Mom and Dad ate lots of junk food, went thrift store shopping and took long naps (I took full advantage of lots of babysitters!)! It was awesome!

In John Deere Green

I went and visited DawnSheree today to do a little crafty time and Garth really wanted to take "Baby Kayla" on a wagon ride and was so excited to pull her in the wagon. DawnSheree had brilliant idea to put her in the Bumbo chair for the ride and it was absolutely hilarious! This car full of ladies even stopped to holler and whistle at these cute kiddos as we were walking down the street. They were totally in love with these kids (who can blame them, right?)! Garth was adorable with his little cool strut action going on when he was pulling Colt and Mikayla in the wagon thinking he was pretty hot stuff. I just love these pictures! I am still laughing at how funny this little excursion was!

Colt wasn't so sure about the chick riding in his John Deere wagon...

Mr. Cool in charge and getting to cross the street.

Poor Mikayla is certainly my daughter when it comes to skin color and sun tolerance levels...she was not liking the sun at all and her slacker mom didn't think to take anything to cover her up for the walk. She couldn't even open her eyes and they got so swollen and red from the bright sun. I felt really bad! Luckily Aunt DawnSheree was there to save the day with her super sweet shades! Go Hollywood!