Camping at Lo Lo Mai Springs

The first day of summer break we took our little pop up camper and headed to Lo Lo Mai Springs. It is an older campground near Sedona. It is right on Oak Creek, and shaded with tall tall cottonwood trees. These trees were amazing...some had to be 70 ft. tall. They were beautiful. The campground was cute...quaint...older...and among other things is home to many bugs! The location was amazing though, really just a beautiful place. We were happy to find a campsite right by the creek.

Lewis and Clark

It took about 10 minutes for the fear of creek critters to wear off...and then we couldn't get them out of there.

Abby trying out the inner tube

More camping...and Sedona

We went to Sedona late one afternoon just to give the kids an idea of what it was like. We could definitely have spent more time there. Next time I'd like to stay a few more days and maybe go for a hike, visit Montezuma's castle, and maybe Jerome. We didn't have too much time, but we stopped at Tlaquepaque to walk around for awhile. They had a brass band playing below and the shops were open late--it was nice.

We had a campfire the last night and roasted/charred marshmallows and made smores. It was a perfect way to end our trip!

One piano, six hands

Matthew, Abby, and Olivia started piano lessons yesterday. They were SO excited! They have been waiting for this for a long time. I was so happy to find an awesome teacher within walking distance! She wanted to start them all together for the first couple of lessons.

How fun to be a triplet and get to experience these "firsts" together!

Taking turns finding notes on the piano.

And we discovered that Abby has a new hobby. They had to fill out these forms for their teacher.

Question: What are your hobbies?
Answer: Draw, piano, wach Matt play the Wii.

Also notable..
Question: Why do you want to learn to play the piano?
Answer: I want to so bad!

I love these kids!

We are trying something new at our house for the last week of school, and if it works we may try it next school year. It is the Early Bird Club. If they want to, they can wake up at 6:00 to do their homework before school. That way when they come home after school they can just play, retro-style.

So it is going pretty well, and they all woke up this morning for the Early Bird Club. We decided to squeeze piano practice in there too. So Matt had 6:15, Abby had 6:45, and Olivia had 7:15. That piano was a hot commodity this morning! Maybe the competition for the piano will create a kind of reverse psychology. Instead of "go practice the piano" it will be "sorry, it's not your turn, wait till tomorrow at 6:15 am!" Poor Hannah is used to having that whole piano to herself. She tells me she gets the entire afternoon and they can take turns with her pink keyboard.

Baptism Day

Last Saturday, Abby, Olivia, and Matthew were baptized. It was a wonderful day. Just so amazing. When they were babies we would think...wow, all 3 baptized on the same day...what will that be like? And then ZOOM--here we are 8 years later. They were so excited. It was a beautiful baptism and very sweet to see them take this step.

I don't think I will ever forget watching each of them walk down the steps into the water, with their dad waiting below. Faith, love, Priesthood, goodness, purity. I thought of all of those ancestors who had gone before and taken this step too, opening the gate to the path back to Heavenly Father. From their pioneer grandparents who sacrificed everything for their faith, to both of their grandpas who were definitely there in spirit to see this beautiful day.

I love how our church baptizes at the age of 8. That is a good age. They definitely know right from wrong, and are able to know what they are doing. They are so good and want to do the right thing. And they are young enough that choosing to follow Christ at this age can have an impact on their choices and help guide their path. It was neat to see them learn and prepare over the last year or so.

Look at these cute boys all dressed up! I love this picture.

It was so fun to have friends and family there to support the kids on their big day.

Baptism pictures

Olivia

Abby

Matthew

8 years old: the boy party

I can't believe my babies are 8 years old! The past 8 years have just flown by in triple-time. Abby, Matthew, and Olivia have been such a blessing. They have brought such energy and fun to our family, and an endless supply of hugs and love. I spent their birthday a little misty-eyed as I remembered their birth. 8 weeks early, and born by c-section in the middle of the night. I didn't get to hold them until I was wheeled into the ICU the next morning. They were so tiny, but so beautiful and perfect. It has been such a wonder to be their mother and to see them grow. I'll have to find a picture of them as babies. That was back in the "film" days, so I don't have anything digital. We need to figure out how to scan those in or something.

So, on to the party...we had a boy party and a girl party, simultaneously. We started off with separate activities, then combined for dinner, cake, presents, and an outdoor movie.

Matthew's party was a Pinewood Derby party. Here are some of the boys customizing their cars.

Look at these racecar masterpieces!

The track. Does it look a little familiar? Like it matches our house? Yes, we made it out of some extra vinyl siding from our house.

Cute boys.

8 years old: the girl party

Abby and Olivia had a pajama/webkinz party. The girls made little houses for their stuffed animals. They put carpet in the bottom, decorated the walls with artwork, and made blankets and little tables for them.

Abby with the cupcakes (and a birthday crown)!

The Gem Hunt.

2 tables of girls!

Baby Chicks

When we got home from Amazing Jakes, we got to meet our new baby chicks. We had placed an order with a few friends in the ward, and they were shipped from a hatchery in Iowa. Shipped! In a box!

Olivia meeting her new baby chick.

So cute!

We each looked through the catalog and chose a chick. There are a lot of different varieties! It was fun for everyone to choose one that they wanted. Here is what we ended up with:

Chloe--Barred Plymouth Rock (Zebra)
Hannah--Red Star (Trixie)
Matthew--Black Star (Cookie)
Olivia--Red Star (Sugar)
Abby--Silver Laced (Lacey)
Me--Aracauna (Peaches)
Kresten--Frizzele (Napoleon)
and one extra "warming buddy" chick--a White Leghorn (Rosie)

More Spring Break

We spent a lot of time outside. Here are Abby, McKenna (a McGrath cousin), Juliette, and Hannah

One day we rode the new Metro light rail to the Phoenix Art Museum. They have free admission every Tuesday evening from 3-8. It was a long ride on the light rail but a fun day.

Olivia looking at one of the miniature rooms. Does anyone else remember these? They were a favorite of mine when I was little.

We went to Amazing Jakes on our last day of break. The kids had so much fun. Here is Matthew and Mitchell (one of Heidi's nephews) on the rock climbing wall. We stayed for lunch and dinner, and even then the kids were not ready to go home.

Spring Break

We had such a great Spring Break. My family all came to AZ and it was so much fun!

Here we all are...
My brother Andy and his wife Heidi are on the left. They have 3 cute kids: Juliette, Genevieve, and Anderson. They live in Oregon now and drove for 2 days to get here! We are so glad they did. The kids had a great time together.

My sister Jennifer and her husband Robert are on the right. They live in Manhattan and have one sweet little girl, Ruby, who is sitting on my mom's lap.

Then in the center is my grandma. We call her Gorgus (pronounced Gorgeous). She has been called Gorgus since before I was born. Can you believe that she is turning 93 this month? We all hope we have her genes.

First Camping Trip

Well we finally made it! Last weekend we went to Picacho Peak State Park. We had so much fun! It was great. It is only about an hour away. We had planned on camping in Sedona, but heard they were expecting thunderstorms all weekend. So we almost had to scrap the whole plan (again), but found a vacancy at Picacho Peak. So I loaded everyone up and zoomed down there to get a space. Kresten worked a half-day and then came in the afternoon. It was really nice! They had very clean bathrooms and showers, which was great. This is a top priority in my book (I'm such a camper, aren't I?) The weather was perfect...sunny the whole time. It got cold at night, but our heater kept us nice and toasty. During the day it was in the mid 70's, but felt warmer. Maybe just because we were out in it the whole time. There wasn't much shade. Just our little awning that we tried to keep from blowing away and taking flight. We even got a little sunburned, wearing sunscreen.

Kresten took Chloe, Olivia, and Matt on a little climb. This is overlooking part of Picacho Peak and the campground. The kids did the Junior Ranger program while we were there. We found out that the translation of Picacho is "peak." So we were at Peak Peak. We had a pretty view from our campsite. We even saw a beautiful moonrise on our first night, and then lots of stars the following night.

They had a cute playground with these cool swings...they had these levers you pull with your arms. I have never seen swings like this before.

On the hike to Children's Cave. The distance for the hike was 0.2 miles. LOL! But it was uphill--maybe that's why it seemed longer?