Wilcox Peach Festival

We took a quick weekend trip down to Wilcox, AZ for their annual peach festival. Gavin grew up in Wilcox so the Smiths make a couple of trips down there every year and showed us the ropes. We got to take a tractor ride to the peach fields and then take these green wagons to put our freshly picked peaches in. The kids had a great time picking the peaches off the trees and "gently" putting them into our buckets. I kept telling Drew to be soft - don't throw them into the bucket. So he'd carefully walk the peach up to the bucket, then lob it in... I guess that's just a 2 year old boy!

We were pretty sweaty and dirty by the end of it, but it was a lot of fun, and we were so excited to eat some delicious, juicy peaches. After the festival, we hung out at the ranch (Gavin's grandmother's home) for the afternoon. The kids got to check out all the land, and go on a ride in the Rhino. It was a long weekend, but super fun! Our drive home took us a little longer than we wanted (we had to make 3 or 4 bathroom stops, a dinner stop, and change a flat tire). Our tire was completely shredded, and our spare isn't a full size spare, so we couldn't drive faster than about 40 mph. The Smith's were so kind, and followed us home the whole way to make sure we didn't have any more tire trouble. Our slow speed & stops added another 2 hours to our trip.

More Utah

We had a blast on our summer vacation to Bountiful, Utah. Each day was so much fun and very full. We stayed with my cousin - Aubree & Todd. (Thanks again for letting us crash your house!!!) We had fun filled days, and stayed up super late talking and laughing and eating and laughing some more!


After 7 days of fun, fun, fun, in Utah, our kids were wiped out. They were so good on the trip, despite late nights and missed naps. They both crashed about 10 minutes before we landed in Phoenix. They were too cute, and I was sad I had to wake them up when we landed.


On one of the days, we were able to go through the Oquuirah Mountian Temple. It hadn't been dedicated yet, so we all were able to walk through. It is a beautiful temple, and it was really cool to explain things to Allie. We've talked alot about temples, and now she was able to see inside one. When we got back, she was telling someone that she went through a temple but it was okay because it wasn't "laminated yet". (She meant dedicated).


We also had a blast going to the lake with my uncle Shane & some of the Wrights and Aubree & her kids. The water wasn't too cold, and Allie had a blast on the tube. She kept putting her thumb up - giving us the "go faster" signal. She also designated herself as the official flag holder. As soon as someone went into the water or crashed, up went the flag. She'd hold it as high as she possibly could to make sure any and all boats around us saw it...

Dan was able to wakeboard and even try surfing behind the Wrights boat. He did a great job despite his lack of practice for the last 5 years... Shane did some fast turns and 360 spins with the boat that would make us fly across it. It was a blast - until some of the kids got squished... (Sorry Drew & Lily!)


We were sad when our week came to an end. We could have stayed up their for a whole month and still wouldn't have been ready to come home. It's so much fun to have lots of family - we missed them dearly when we came home... Hope to see them again soon!

Utah Trip - 4th of July

We were in Utah over the 4th of July this year and it was a blast. We normally go to Flagstaff with my family, but this year didn't work out, so we took our family vacation to Utah.

We started off our fun day by letting the kids swim. We told them we'd go all week, and of course, the day that worked out to let them swim was pretty overcast and got stormier as the day went on. To keep them from freezing (yes, we are spoiled from our super warm swimming pool water in AZ) Dan & Todd dumped in about 20 buckets of hot water to keep the water from being too cold for the kids. While the kids were swimming, it started to sprinkle. Luckily the pool had a tropical tree covering to keep them out of the rain.


After naps, we drove up to Park City with the Wrights & Cahoons. My aunt Dee Dee had a fantastic picnic dinner packed and lots of super fun activities. We set up our picnic in a field right in front of Skiers Lodge. We ate and played a little wiffle ball. Before the sun went down, we drove up to the Alpine Slides to ride the roller coaster and Alpine Slides before they closed. Dan had never been on either one, and had a blast on both. Allie was tall enough to ride the roller coaster ride with Tori (cousin). Drew and I waited in line at the Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory to get yummy carmel apples and treats for everyone.


It got a little chilly as the sun set, so we settled into our blankets and chairs with our treats and waited for the fireworks to begin. This was the 1st year the kids got to watch a fireworks show. We are normally in Flagstaff, and they've cancelled their big fireworks show the last 3 years due to fire restrictions.

Allie & Drew LOVED the fireworks. Drew sat on my lap for the entire show mesmerized by the show, eating his enormous sucker. Allie kept saying "this is the best 4th of July ever!" She loved every minute of it.

We had a blast with the Wrights & Cahoons and can't thank them enough for making it such a fun holiday!

Dan is talking to Owen...

Allie is enjoying some celery.

Allie & Lily in their matching 4th of July dresses.

Utah Trip - Aquarium & Zoo

We went to the Hogle Zoo in SLC, Utah with my cousin Aubree and her twins, Lily & Enzo. It was a cute little zoo and all the animals were close up and the exhibits were easy to walk to. It was one of the warmest days on our trip - 95 degrees, but it was still doable. The kids really enjoyed seeing the animals close up, but Allie did NOT like the way they smelled.


When we looked at the giraffe exhibit, we had to go inside a building. You could go up the stairs to be a the same level as the giraffe's faces. When we got inside, Drew said "Oh look, blueberries!" Allie was thoroughly disgusted and quickly corrected Drew. She let him know they were NOT blueberries but that they were giraffe potty. She covered her nose from the smell and wanted to get out of there fast! We rode the merry go round with the twins - it was their first time riding one.

We also went to an aquarium in Sandy, Utah. It was cool to check out the different sea creatures they had. In the middle of the aquarium, there was a large pool with sting rays and fish in it. You could reach over the side and touch the sting rays. Allie wanted to touch one, but as soon as they'd come close, she'd reach her hand out with a little squeal.

Swim Lessons

This summer the kids took swim lessons with Mrs. Stacie throughout the months of June and July. We had an unusually mild June, so the first few lessons the kids had to endure some chilly water and overcast days. Not cool when mom had to get in the water with them...


Allie learned so much this summer. By the end of the summer, she was swimming by herself across the pool, diving down to the bottom of the pool to get the pool toys, diving in the pool from the side and swimming back to the edge, and practicing her freestyle stroke. It was impressive how much she progressed. She LOVED to swim, and loved to do it all by herself.


Drew HATED swim lessons at first. He'd cry each time I put his swim suit on him, and say "no swim mom, no swim". I felt so bad handing him over crying to Mrs. Stacie but she would give him a big hug after every couple swims. I wasn't sure I wanted to torture him for the second session, but went ahead and did it anyways. I was SOOO glad I did. He did a complete 180 - I'm not sure if it was the warm weather and warm water that made the difference, but he did great and now he's a fish. He liked to spend more time under the water than above it and he LOVED to practice his bubbles with me. By the end of the summer, he could jump in from the side and swim to the edge. He could almost climb out of the pool by himself too. He would swim across the pool with help from mom or Mrs. Stacie reminding him to come up for a breath.


It was a lot of fun to see both kids learn and see their confidence grow.

Pictures of our unborn fetus...

First Ultrasound - 4/8/09
Here is the first ultrasound we had done around 13 weeks. Everything looked good, and he was already measuring a little big for his due date. We had hoped to catch a glimpse of what the gender was, but no such luck. With Drew, the ultrasound tech gave us a 70% confidence that it was a boy, and it was confirmed at the 19 week appt that it was a boy. But the lady that did our ultrasound was strictly business, and wouldn't even humor us - Dan called her "Cruella DeVille" and even hummed the song as she performed the ultrasound.

2nd Ultrasound at 20 1/2 weeks (6/1/09 & 6/11/09)

We had 2 ultrasounds done around 20 weeks. One was just to get basic measurements in the Doctors office, and then we did a detailed one at a place that specializes in ultrasounds. The babies kidney's were slightly enlarged and they just wanted to check them out. Luckily, everything turned out good, and this enlargement of the kidneys is more common in boys than girls.

The following 2 pictures are in 3-D. It was pretty cool to see his face and profile, but the baby looks a little bit like Gumby.

AND ITS ANOTHER BOY!!!!

His foot

A profile of his face, with his arm and hand above his head.

3-D picture of his two little legs. They look very long and skinny...

Mother's Day Pics

May 5, 2009: So this year Sarah and I attempted to get a grandkids picture for Grammy Scarbrough for Mother's Day, because we had a new addition to the clan (little Emery Smith) and it had been a couple years since a grandkids picture. But, it turned out to be a little more difficult than we thought... It was a SUPER hot day, and the kids were melting as soon as we got there. Their cheeks were flushed and they all were a bit cranky and didn't want to be photographed...


Here are a couple of our attemps... (Thanks Gavin for being our photographer).