Christmas Came Early

We were fortunate to have friends traveling to Idaho this week. They were super nice and took a gift up to Dee's parents for us. In return Dee's parents sent us a whole bunch for us to open when they got here. So here is our early Christmas!

Our huge horde of gifts from Dee's Parents!

We also got gifts from Dee's sister Shauna. These are my Zumba slider shoes. 

My family had an early Christmas too since we were going to be in different places this year. Here are some of the festivities.  See our Mexican food feast...

 And lots of presents to unwrap.

Dad with his new kindle. 

Vacation at Newport Beach and Disney

We spent last week on vacation at Newport Beach, and Disneyland. The weather was really good except one day when it thunder-stormed in the morning.  We went biking along the beach and walked along the pier.

We walked in the surf and read in the shade of the umbrellas our rental provided. Dee looks like the typical tourist in his hat and shoes still on. It was actually pretty cool that day in the wind. 

Dee rented a surfboard and had mixed success since the waves were breaking so close to the shore. Sorry, I forgot to bring the camera for the actual surfing and swimming.  Here he is doing a demo of what it would have looked like if I had the camera. 

We went ocean fishing and had some pretty good catches. We only kept a few. Dee grilled them up and it was quite tasty. Much better than lake fish.

We had 2 days at Disney, which was actually very busy for mid-October. I think there were several neighboring states with Fall Breaks occurring at the same time. Our advice for going to the new Cars ride... 1. Get a fast pass the very first thing, and 2. Pray that it doesn't break down. We spent a whole day back and forth from the ride to try to get on. We eventually made it. It is a fun ride, just some pretty crazy lines and frequent closures. There is nothing like being 5 minutes from the front of the line and having it break down.



We managed to entertain ourselves while waiting in lines for the rides. Watch out for this one he sneaks up on you.

Labor Day

This last weekend we spent at Carrie's brother and sister-in-law's (Bill and Laurel) cabin. We didn't take too many pictures, just of our bike ride on the top of the mountain and our little hike on the side of the road. Their cabin was great. The weather was cool and it was fun to play with their 3 girls in such a country environment. There was no TV, internet, or other distractions of the world, just quality family time. We picked fresh blackberries from the bushes, ran down and up their hill, played games, read books and relaxed.

New Adoption Profile!

We have a new adoption profile on Parent Profiles! Check it out. We are excited to get the word out to a greater audience. Hopefully we will find the little one meant for us soon.

Click below:

Arizona Hopeful Adoptive Parents - Dee & Carrie AZ. Parent Profiles

www.parentprofiles.com

Babysitting

A little while ago we babysat our nephew, Liam. He's learning to crawl around and is a total boy. He likes cars, trucks, and anything with wheels or moves. He's chosen his own likes and hasn't been too influenced by his three older sisters. He had no interest in stuffed animals or fuzzy things. He did enjoy being at the piano and listening to music though. We captured a few moments of Dee playing with him. I've realized how hard it is to catch the cute things he does through video.  I'll need more practice. At least it isn't too bouncy:)

The Garden Grows

Today we had a BLT for lunch with tomatoes and lettuce from our garden, and over the last three days we have eaten freshly picked squash for dinner. Yum! There is nothing like food from your own organic garden. Too bad it takes so much water to keep things alive here in Arizona. Here are pictures of how things are growing:

The squash and their plants on the right.

Lettuce and Tomatoes

The green beans are also growing, and I have harvested once already. 

Family Hike

Last reunion post. We got some fun pictures while on a hike with Dee's family. It was a fun nature trail just down from our cabins. It went by 2 small ponds, and had good scenery.

Trekking through the forest and meadow. The camp hosts spent a great deal of time warning us about wildlife, especially ticks, and poison ivy. But have no fear, all of us returned without incident. We did see deer several times, both on the trail and on the edge of our campsite. We weren't quick enough to get a picture of them. 

Heading up the trail.

Dee boulder hopping. 

Joshua and Landon crawling over rocks, and only getting stuck once. 

Dee's parents enjoying the view. Thanks mom, for arranging the whole week! What a fun time. 

Challenge Course

While at the reunion Dee went to a challenge course where he had to climb a cargo net, cross a staggered wooden bridge and take a zip-line. Some of the other siblings and cousins and even our niece and nephews participated.





Up the cargo net, and across the bridge














All hooked up...
















And away we go.

Landon steps across like a pro. "Don't look down? How can I see the next step if I don't look down?"

Brooklynn tackles the bridge, and although it is quite a stretch, with a few good leaps makes it to safety.












Joshua takes the zip-line with a smile the whole time.















Dee's mom, looking excited and a little worried while she watched with Joshua and Ethan.










Dee's Grandpa: Watching, without a bit of concern. Enjoy the show.

Family Reunion

Off to Heber Valley we went, for the reunion of Dee's mom's family. Most of the aunts and uncles and quite a few cousins were there, most of whom I have never met! This was a camping reunion in the mountains at the LDS Young Women's camp. It is the most amazing church campground I have ever seen. Fortunately we were in cabins because it was cold at night.





Here are our cabins, they can fit 16 people in each!!

Dee and his sister, Shauna, point out the one we stayed in.













Playing games, and entertaining the kids.













Craig plays referee during the golf ball throwing game. The kids loved it, and Brooklynn was pretty good at it. She liked showing the boys that she could beat them.










And as the evening grew dark, grandma decided that it was time to tell stories and jokes to the grand children.










It is a fun camp, multiple activities to do. We went paddle boating and canoeing, Dee did a challenge course, and there was plenty of hiking all around. (pictures later) The only problem with camping is the lack of sleep, well at least for me.

Pizza in Provo

We could have ordered pizza from a store, but that wouldn't be any fun. So we made pizza for 14 adults and kids. Dee's whole immediate family met in Provo at his grandparents condo prior to the larger reunion in Heber Valley (we'll get to that later.)

Stand back,  Kurt is making his attempt at tossing the dough. It didn't even hit the floor. But as we learned, this art is harder to do then they make it look on TV. 

So I went back to rolling it out. 

Then the kids went on and assembled the toppings under the supervision of grandma, and Chris.
Here are Brooklynn and Landon starting off with the pepperoni.

As you can see, the kids took turns... perhaps Joshua didn't want to be left out of the snacking. 

One for the pizza, one for me, one for the pizza, one for me.  Caught in the act.