Camping!

The last weekend in May we went camping up on Mingus Mountain with the Dommers and the Gronemans (families from our ward). We looked all over for a spot where we could have a campfire but ended up just having one illegally. We didn't get in trouble until we were about to pack up so it was all good.

This was the kids' fort that their dads made for them.

The dads also took the kids fishing at a near by lake. We had a lot of fun. The weather was wonderful and the company was great. I love camping!

summer continued...

We spent Mother's Day at home with just our little family. It was actually Marshall's birthday as well. The kids and Luke gave me a sweet card and a new bike (which I still haven't actually gotten!)

Then the next weekend we went down to Pima. Friday night was Father's and Sons. Luke was soooooo excited. He had waited ALL year to take Marshall. Luke said Marshall got a little cold in the night but that he was a champ and they had a blast.

Then that Saturday was my 24th birthday (I don't know what I was thinking putting up 25 fingers, not like 24 isn't old enough!). After the boys all got home from camping Luke and I went on a motorcycle ride to Pinetop. We went up the Coronado Trial on Saturday, stayed at a hotel that night, woke up and went to church and then came home down Mule Creek on Sunday evening. It was sooo fun! And it was absolutely beautiful!

It was freezing going up Saturday so I had to stop and get some hot chocolate! That night when we got to Pinetop we were trying to find a place to eat and EVERYTHING was closed at 8pm! It was soooooooo cold so I didn't want to drive very far so we ended up going to KFC for my birthday dinner. It was fun though. It was also quite a site to see Luke and I on the motorcycle riding to church in our Sunday clothes. I am so mad that I didn't get a picture of that!

Luke's parents kept the kids for us and they got to play with their cousins. It was a very fun weekend. Here is all of the grandkids except for Hollen going for a buggy ride with Me-Na.

It is so nice to have parents and in-laws that are willing to take our kids so we can get away together every once in a while. We had a blast.

Marshall's 1st Birthday!

Then on Saturday, May 9th we had a pool party for Marshall's 1st Birthday. It was a lot of fun. Most of Marshall's cousins from Luke's side were there. Tan and Lee and their two boys, Hannah and Nick and their two, and Danny and Diane were all there. We swam, had a BBQ, ate cake, and opened presents.

This was the funky double decker cupcake I made for him...

Luke and I gave him this fire truck and he loved it. He still loves to ride it and has gotten really good at turning and popping wheelies (don't know if that's spelled right). Bentlee still rides the Dora one she got for her first birthday. All our tile is perfect for riding on them. Everyone had a great time. First birthdays are fun!

Summer Recap!

Wow, it's been A LONG time and we've had a really busy summer! I don't want to forget about all the fun things we did so I am going to do a summer recap post...


It all started happening in May... We went to the Children's Museum with some friends in our ward. Bentlee really enjoyed it. They had all kinds of fun little things to do.

Here the kids are riding trikes through the car wash...



Here is Bentlee painting...

They also had a noodle forest and lots of other things that are hard to describe. Bentlee's had a blast and talked about it for a while. We are going to try and go again this week.

The RIDE!!

I've been meaning to do this for over a week but I just never got to it. So the last weekend in April Luke and I got to go on a motorcycle ride with some of his family. We went to Laughlin for the River Run (it's a bike rally) and then also to Vegas. It was lots of fun! Here is some of our gang. Luke and I, Brian and Allison, Tanner and Elyssa, and Danny all went.

I took this picture going down the freeway.

This was at Hoover Dam. It was really fun to drive through there on a motorcycle and see everything. They are building a ginormous new bridge, it was awesome!

It was also really fun to spend the whole weekend with Luke and not have any kids to worry about! Thanks to my mom and dad, they made that possible!

This was in Vegas after a long day of riding. We went and ate at a buffet (Luke's favorite thing to do) and that was about it. Everyone was too tired to do much of anything else.

My super cool father-in-law! :) He made the trip possible.

Danny got us a super nice hotel in Henderson to stay at. We were a little out of place with our bikes and crazy hair, but we didn't care. Over the weekend we saw an Aston Martin, a Ferrari, two Bentleys and lots of other cool cars parked at the hotel.
This was my first big trip and I really had a lot of fun. My only complaint was that it was cold and I didn't have warm clothes, but next time I will be more prepared! I had so much fun that Luke and I are going to go on another ride for my birthday! I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Bentlee!

Monday my little girl turned 3! I can't even believe that she is that old already! So Monday we invited a bunch of our ward friends over and then also Tanner and Lee and their two boys. We had a great time and Bentlee loved her birthday party. That is all she could think or talk about for a whole week before!

Luke cooked some really good hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken!

And then we sang to Bentlee and she blew out her candles. She was SOOO excited for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her!

Here is Bentlee and her friend Kade enjoying the pink and purple cupcakes that I made!

And then FINALLY Bentlee got to open her presents (she had bugged me all day)! She was very spoiled and got lots of stuff, including this sweet tricycle from poppa Danny and me-na.

I have to say Marshall had a blast as well. He had a great time raiding the tables for leftovers.

And then he found the ice cream!

And life was REALLY good!

I just have to say that it was a really fun party and Bentlee loved having all of her friends there! I am so thankful for Bentlee and the sweet little girl that she is. Here are a couple of things she loves to do at 3 years old:

• ride her pink bike
• go to the park
• go swimming
• play with her friends
• eat (just about anything!)

She has also become very good at saying her prayers and lately loves to be thankful for daddy and his hard work.

Happy Birthday Bentlee, your family loves you!

Easter

This is how we spent our Easter, laying on the couch! We all got the flu bug that has been going around. Marshall had it Friday, I had it Saturday, Luke had it Sunday, and Bentlee had it Monday. So needless to say we all just stayed home from church and laid around all day. The kids did really enjoy their Easter baskets and looking for the Easter eggs though. I think we all had fun despite the sickness!

Marshall Walking!

Marshall just turned 11 months old two days ago and everyday he improves his walking. He has just recently started to let go of one thing and walk to something else all on his own. (Like from one couch to the other, etc.) Yesterday he took about 6 or 7 consecutive steps. He is getting so big and he's such a happy boy. Before too long he'll be walking all over the place! I'll take some pictures and post them soon. For now I'm going to say that I am CAUGHT UP! HIP HIP HOORAY!

General Conference

Last weekend we got to drive up to Utah with the Nelsons. Brett, Rocki, Brinlee, Luke, Bentlee, Marshall and I all rode up in the Yukon. We spent the weekend with Sherra and John and the girls. It was a ton of fun! Rocki and Brett and Luke and I were able to go to the Sunday morning session of conference and that was really neat. I love being in the conference center with all those people that believe the same way I do. It is so powerful! It was a great weekend and we were so glad that we went. Thanks so much to the Carter's for their hospitality. You guys are awesome!

Here are some pictures of one of my favorite activities of the weekend...

Even Mom got into it...

And Bentlee was a SUPER cheerleader! Her cousin Shayla taught her well! :)

The ZOO!!

Since we moved back down to Peoria, the kids and I have had a blast playing with all our friends that we knew when we lived here before. One of the fun things we did was go to the zoo. (My kids had never been and they LOVED it!)

Bentlee's favorite things were probably the monkeys, but she also really liked the giraffes and the elephants.

It's been A LONG time!

Okay, I know I've been slacking big time but I plan to be better in the future. Once I got behind it was really overwhelming to me so I'm just going to take it one step at a time!

Anyway, things have been pretty crazy with us lately, there has been a lot going on. I'll back track just a little...

Here are the kids in the new Sunday clothes they got for Christmas. Savanna got Marshall his super cute outfit and Santa brought Bentlee's dress.

In January Luke and Bentlee went to the annual Hoopes' boys trip to the monster trucks (Bentlee is the only girl that gets to go!) She absolutely loved it and still talks about the "monster trucks that ramped over the cars".

Unfortunately, on the way down to the monster trucks Luke rear ended a lady and totalled our camry (the good car!). But, everyone was fine and that is all that matters. I wish I had a picture to show but I didn't take any. They were able to put the car wreck behind them and go enjoy the monster trucks.

The month of February the kids and I spent the WHOLE month in Thatcher. We went down because sweet Grandma Carter had died. We went to her funeral and then spent the week with family. The Carters stayed for and week and so did the Tucson Best's. It was so fun to spend all that time with my sisters... and Vince! We went on a couple of really fun dirt bike/4-wheeler rides and just had a really good time. Here is some pictures from our trip to Frye Mesa...

Then after everyone left, I had to get busy studying. I had one more section of the CPA test to take so Mom and Dad helped me with the kids so that I could study. They are amazing!

The kids (especially Bentlee) loved getting to see baby Brinlee!

Marshall started crawling one day before his 9 month birthday. (He followed in his sister's footsteps and started at grams and papas).

After the funeral Luke had to go back to work but he came back a couple weeks later (Valentine's Day) to spend the weekend with us. We spend the day in Pima riding 4-wheelers and playing...

I took my test on February 27th and then we went home to start packing. While we were in Thatcher studying our renters moved out of our Peoria house and we decided that we were going to move back in. For the next two weeks I packed like crazy and Luke got ready to move into his NEW office! On March 12th Luke moved into his office and on the 14th we moved back down to Peoria.