School Trip to the Farm

 We took a field trip with Esther's school to the local dairy farm. We saw over 2,000 cows.

 We took a hay ride and fed the sheep and goats

 We played on the tractor, which Henry loved.

We held Chickens

 This goat got a little to close to the girl with no fear and he learned his lesson, he had a hard time getting her to let go of his horn.

 The Chickens saw what she did to the goat and ran away

We played on hay stacks,...

 ...and ate ice cream and flavored milk. Esther choose chocolate milk, Henry blueberry milk, Michael pistachio milk, I got strawberry banana milk, and Ainsley shared. This is Esther with her BFF Sage. 

 Right before we left Esther stepped in mud and Michael turned to help her with her shoe. I turned to help Henry off the tractor and nobody was watching Ainsley who decided to get in the mud. She had a good time and got a bath when we got home because she stunk like manure.

.

When it Rains it Pours

Last Wednesday it rained. It only rained for about an hour but when it rains it pours. After dinner, and before baths, we just had to do some puddle jumping. In Arizona there are little ravines around the communities and roads because of monsoon season and they fill up fast when we get a good rain storm. I love it when it rains because it is a change from the gorgeous every day sun, it is nice to have change every now and then.

Sprinkler FUN

As the temperature rises we have been spending time outside swimming. The pool is a cool 80 degrees, which sounds warm but is not. Most of our swimming has been playing in the sprinkler.

Discovering New Things

Ainsley has discovered the lights and can spend 20 min just turning them on and off. She especially loves turning the bathroom light off when Esther and Henry are trying to brush their teeth at night.

Mouse?

I think we have a mouse in the house. I keep finding things that have been chewed on. This mouse seems to have no preference and will chew on just about anything.

Windowsills, this is one of many windowsills in our house.
Books
Muffin mix boxes

Wood
Leather computer chair
A leather chair that Michael's grandparents had when they lived in Peru

Michael's ties

One day I finally got a picture of this mouse, who is chewing up my house.



Scroll down


















































I think we will keep it............ as a pet :))

Random Fun Pictures

Esther is all ears these days.
Henry likes to build Hospitals with helicopter landing pads, I think he is a little obsessed

Here is Henry all wet after he fell into the fountain at the Mesa Temple. When Jill came to visit we decided to take the kids and walk the temple grounds. Like most of temples the Mesa Temple has a water feature. You can see the pool at the top and then the water runs down the side into a second pool of water just below where Henry is standing. Henry was sticking his hand on the side and feeling the water when, I don't know how, he ended up in a hand stand position and fell on his back right in the lower pool of water, immersing himself completely. It was hilarious. I should have been mad but I couldn't stop laughing.

SNOW and random pictures

I know this is not the best picture but that white stuff is snow in our backyard. What you are seeing is right next to our pool there is an area of bark and a brick wall. It has been raining cats and dogs all day and then about 6:00pm it snowed, well in Utah it would be called more sleet than snow but it is as close to snow as we are going to get.


This is right in front of our house. That puddle is waiting for someone to jump in.

This is what we were doing three days ago in the 89 degree weather. We got a pool vacuum and Esther and Henry had to check it out by sticking their feet in the pool. I just put their swimming suits on since Henry got his pants all wet. The pool is only 60 degrees so it is still too cold to swim in.


This is our new pool vacuum. It does a great job of keeping dirt off the bottom of the pool. It even climbs the sides of the pool too.

It has been warm enough so we decide it was time for the buzz cut. Don't worry Michael did finish. Henry may need to wear a hat for the next couple of days to keep his head warm since it is going to stay cool for the next couple of days.

HAPPY TUMMIES

I won't even try to explain how this started :))


Yes Esther needs to pull her pants up


Watch out future model



I hope you enjoyed. We should be in a commercial for Activia.

New backyard

Old Backyard
New backyard


It has taken us a year but we finally have a backyard we can enjoy. We put the sod in on Saturday so it will be a couple of week before we can really enjoy it. Next we will plant 2 orange trees, one lime tree, build garden boxes and put in a swing set for the kids. I love looking out the window now, it makes me happy and not depressed. I am looking for the day when I can say, go outside and play. We are also planning on putting a fence around the pool, in case you were worried.

Sledding Arizona style

Who needs snow when an old crib mattress with do :)

Walking

Ainsley took her first steps the weekend before her birthday but didn't do it again for a week or more. Now she is walking as much as her little legs will carry her. She gets in a few steps and then falls down . Yesterday I noticed though when she does fall down she tries to get right back up without holding onto anything. I am sure in another week she will be walking more than she crawls.

A year ago

This is what I was doing a year ago on Jan 19th





As Ainsley turned one this week I am wondering were this last year went. Can I just stop time and hold my baby one more time and smell her newbornness. I know I can't reverse time and I will just have to remember my baby through pictures but I am enjoying the toddler she is becoming. Ainsley is a very happy one year old. She loves to be right in the middle of Esther and Henry and whatever they are doing. She is adventurous and gets into everything. She loves to eat Esther and Henry's books and any and everything else she can get her hands on. She smiles when anyone smiles at her and is not afraid of strangers. Ainsley completes us as a family and I feel very blessed to have such a sweet, not so little, baby.

Here is a look at a day in the life of Ainsley

She can sense the dishwasher is open from the other room
Ainsley loves to be pushed in this cart that was supposed to be for our computer desk
She likes to help me cook dinner
Could there be a more adorable baby?