Where have I been???

Sheesh.  It has taken me three weeks to finally not be lazy and download the pictures off of my camera.  There are literally hundreds from our trip to AZ and some of our adventures after.  I can't believe it took me this long.  ha ha.  Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.  I will try to stay more on top of blogging in the future!  (I know I have said that before...)

 We have been trying new things with Sadie's hair.  I did the one on the left...and my friend did the one on the right.  I tried to duplicate it the next day...it did NOT turn out well.  ha ha.

 Emery LOVES the swing...for about 2 minutes.  Then she starts crying.  pretty funny.

 Rob took Sadie on a date to go ice skating...when he got there it didn't open to the public for another 2 hours.  ha ha.  So they went to the temple and hung out there for a while.

 Sadie at the Provo temple.

 Here she is showing off her mad skills.  This was pretty much the only time she let go of Rob's hand.  ha ha

 We walked to Reams and got donuts for breakfast one morning.  Emery is wondering where her donut is.  Don't worry, I shared mine with her.

 We have been to the splash pad a few times since we came home from AZ.  Notice how there are like no kids there.  ha ha.  Sadie and Zac had the thing to themselves.  It was nice.

 This is Sadie this morning on our way to preschool.  (just a few of us moms are taking turns once a week.)  She was so excited.

 Remember about the snake I posted forever ago...we found out it was living in our rocks.  We hadn't seen it in a while so Rob went ahead and weed whacked the place where the snake had been staying.  That is when we realized there were 2 snakes and at least 2 baby snakes.  Yikes!  This is a baby snake that fell into the basement stairwell.  I made Rob rescue it and put it back in the rocks.  But it is rather scary to be walking in our front yard and see a snake slithering by your toes.  I haven't seen them much since I got home from AZ...I was hoping they were gone, but I saw one of the babies the other day.  ew.

 The kids looking at the animals a mile or so away from our house.  

This poor llama had just been sheered.  It looked funny.

Tuesday - day 9

On Tuesday, my mom, Emery and I went on a day trip to LA to visit the fashion district.  We woke up really early and got to the airport, and flew to LA.  We spent all day there and then flew back home that evening.  It was a long day, but tons of fun and very fruitful.  I got tons of fabric.  And I am already planning another trip next year (just kidding...maybe.) 

 Emery did great on her first plane ride. 

 When we got downtown...it was crazy.  There was fabric literally everywhere!  So many stores.  We found lots of good stuff. 

 My mom found this blue cotton gauze fabric and really haggled the guy down on the price.  Go mom!

 Emery really was an angel the whole trip.  Here she is asleep on our way to turn the rental car in.  The poor thing would always fall asleep right before we got to where we were going so we had to wake her up.  But all the shop owners were just loving her.  They all made comments about how cute she was.  It was funny.

 At the airport we ran into a missionary returning home.  We asked her where she served and she said Taiwan.  Then my mom asked if she knew my cousin Elder Gillespie and she did!  It is such a small world!  We were so glad we said hello!

The flight home Emery mostly slept.  That is after she won the hearts of the flight attendants.  Ha ha.  We were in the very front row so they got a good look at her.  And they gave her this certificate for her first flight.  It was a great day. 

I had tons of fun with my mom. We need to plan another trip soon!

Monday- day 8 (i think)

 On Monday we got a visit from my grandma.  The kids just love her and they sure keep her busy.  She played house with Sadie and Zac and the "what do you want game with Zac.  Ha ha.  It was fun.  Then we went to the candy factory so the kids could make a chocolate pizza.  It was a lot of fun.  Even though the kids were extremely tired...they had a blast and I loved it too.  Then we finished the night off with popsicles and the slip and slide. 

Grandma playing with all the kids.  THey were just in heaven!



 At the candy factory.

 Here is Sadie pouring her chocolate for her pizza. 

 The pizzas had m&ms for sausage, marshmallows for onions, and pretzles, swedish fish and other candies to decorate it with.  It was so much fun.

 Zac especially loved it.

 We also got to pick up the pieces we made at color me mine. Here is Sadie's.  I think it turned out great!

 Sadie shared her popsicle with Emery.  She loved it.

Just like she loves the water!

Days 5 and 6

On Saturday we spent the day in Mesa.  We drove by the temple, went to my grandma's house, went swimming and saw my brother's new house.  It was a really fun day...by the end we were all exhausted!  I fell asleep on the couch while I was trying to stay awake to watch the olympic men's 4x100 relay in the track and field.  Aparently my mom tried to wake me up a couple times when it came on, but I was completely out.  ha ha. 

 At the temple.  Sadie noticed right away that there wasn't a big spire with the angel Moroni on it.  What a smarty.

 All of us in our tie die shirts ready to go to the swimming pool.

 Grandma giving Sadie and Zac a ride on the golf cart.  Zac didn't last long...so I took him out later.

 Oops...my hand is blocking his face...but Zac sat on my lap and helped me drive around the neighborhood.  It was lots of fun.  He pointed out all the cacti he saw in everyone's yards.

 At the pool.  It was a great pool...good stuff for kids and adults.

 Emery fell asleep, so grandma and I hung out in the shade while She slept. 

 Sadie and Zac had an absolute blast at the pool.  We stayed for almost 2 hours.  It was fun.  Sadie jumping in the pool.

 Zac jumping in the pool.

 Then we all went back and ate lunch at my grandma's house and relaxed for a while.  After that we saw my brother's new house.  It was really nice.  I didn't take any pictures though. 

Then today we just took it easy.  We pulled out the dress up box and played a little.

Sadie would try on different hats and aske everyone if they liked it.  She really loves her dress up!

Day 4- Bikes, Splash pad and tie die

Another fun filled day...Emery decided she didn't want to go to sleep last night until 11 so I didn't get a chance to update yesterday.  But I guess I can do two posts today.  We started out the day by the kids riding bikes with grandma in the morning.  There was a breeze outside so it didn't feel so hot. 

After bikes we made some tie die shirts.  Sadie really enjoyed it and Zac was pretty much just present for the activity.  ha ha. 

 Sadie squirting the colors on her shirt.

 Zac's turn.  I thought he was just going to make a big mess, but he did really well.

 Then we went to a new splash pad.  The water was suipposed to turn on at 10, and by 10:15 the kids were getting ansy.  So my mom walked over to a nearby building and asked about the water.  They made up some story about how there is a button to push and the water will come on...but we think they just didn't turn it on yet.  So about five minutes later, the water was on.

 And of course, the kids loved it.

 Sadie ran and ran.  She had great fun.

 Then my mom pulled out some dress up stuff.  Zac was a pirate.

 And Sadie was a fancy butterfly.

 And here is cute Emery.

 Then that night we went to Jordan's.  This is my favorite mexican restaurant.  It was so yummy.  I have yet to find a mexican restaurant that compares in Utah.

And here are the shirts we made.  I think they turned out awesome.  The colors are bright and the designs are great.  I love it!

Day 3- hike, children's museum, and Cabella's

These pictures are a little bit out of order.  But this evening after dinner, we went to Cabella's with the kids.  I had forgotten how many cool things they had there for the kids to look at. 

 Here we are looking at the big fish tanks.  Their favorite was the big white fish. 

 Sadie fishing.

 Zac fishing.  Ha ha...look at his face.

 This is what they do when I tell them to make a bear face.  ha ha.

 Grandma and grandpa with the kids...and a big elephant.

This morning, we went on a little hike.  Sadie had said she wanted to climb a mountain, so we went on a really easy trail.  We were all sweaty and yucky after the short hike/walk, but Sadie really loved it I think.

 We took lots of water breaks.  It was already 100 degrees when we got there at 9 am.  :)

 This is the new phoenix temple.  It's pretty cool to see what it looks like before it is all finished. 

 This was as far as we made it on the hike.  Zac was pretty much done by this point.  As you can see by the look on his face.  So my mom carried him on her back most of the way  back to the car.

Then right after the hike, we went straight to the Children's museum.  It is so much fun.  They have allkinds of simple activities that all kids love.  It was great. 

 Sadie and Zac manning the Ice cream stand. 

 Zac was so fun to watch.  He would get so into an activity. This was "play food" (fabric scraps) and plates and kitchen utensils.  He spent a long time filling up this plate and then he found an oven mitt...and carefully carried the plate to the oven...

 And then he dropped it.  The look on his face when he dropped pulled at my heart strings.  He was so sad, but he didn't cry.  So I helped him pick it up and he was happy again.  ha ha

 Sadie was nice and gave Zac a ride on this fun bike. 

 Emery had lots of fun with grandma.

 I think this was my favorite thing.  the kids really loved it too.  You put handkerchiefs into those plastic tubes and they would blow around and come out different openings.  Sadie was waiting to catch one from above, but instead of coming out that opening, about 4 of them flew out an opening that was right by her face.  They stuck to her face from the air blowing out of the hole.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of that one.  It was hilarious. 

And here is Zac trying to catch the orange one.  I think he could have stayed at this thing all day.  He loved it.

Miss you daddy!  Wish you were here with us!