San Diego/Palm Springs

This year for Ryan's vacation we met Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Amy, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Elizabeth at Palm Springs. However, Ryan's week in Palm Springs was cut short because he was called in to moonlight at the end of the week...it was too hard to pass up on the money! Ryan felt a little cheated so we planned to go to San Diego a few days before we met the family in Palm Springs so the kids and I had a very full week and a half!

Highlights:
1. We went to the San Diego Zoo (We wanted to go to Sea World but since I'm pregnant I wouldn't have been able to go on any rides, but the kids still thought the zoo was cool). The only problem is that the San Diego Zoo made the Tucson Zoo seem not so exciting!
2. We spent some time at the beach...the kids always love playing in the sand, collecting sea shells, and getting chased by the waves!
3. We try out every pizza place we can find!
4. We walked around the San Diego Temple. Although I have seen many pictures of this beautiful temple I had never seen it in person!
5. We visited the Mormon Battalion Center and got a little history lesson and a fun picture!
6. The kids got to hang out with their cousins Taylor and Spencer with whom they always have a great time. Uncle Matt and Aunt Amy even had a sleepover in their room our last night there. Although Devon didn't make it past the first 5 minutes, Marissa had a great time!
7. Uncle Dan and Uncle Matt took the kids rock climbing and hiking in Joshua Tree National Park. Marissa and Devon both had a good time climbing for their first time, but Marissa turned out to be quite the little climber and made it to the top of the climb twice. When asked what her favorite thing was on the whole trip she answered, "rock climbing!"
8. Ryan and I were able to play tennis and go golfing neither of which we have done for quite some time! We may have been a little rusty, but it was good to get out! Thanks Grandma for watching the kids!
9. After Ryan had to leave, I left Sawyer asleep with Aunt Elizabeth and got to take Marissa and Devon swimming at the awesome resort pool!

We stopped at the beach the first day and let the kids play at the beach and there was a part of the beach that was taken over by sea lions. There was a walkway that let us go out over the beach and gave us a great view of the waves crashing against the rocks as well as the sea lions lounging about on the sand and rocks.

As we drove into San Diego we spent part of the afternoon at UCSD and ate lunch at their food court on campus. They had a bunch of outdoor seating around the perimeter with steps leading down to a platform. The kids thought that this was their stage!

Sawyer did not want to miss out on the action and climbed right up there with Marissa and Devon yelling who knows what like he owned the place!

As we were walking around the zoo we came across a worker who was handing out food for the kids to feed the camel...Devon had no problem sticking his hand out to feed the camel while Marissa was a little more hesitant!

Actually, one of the highlights of the zoo for the kids was the petting zoo. It mostly had goats and the kids liked being able to get close to them and pet them after a day of seeing animals from afar!

This was at the Mormon Battalion Center. The sister missionary asked for volunteers as she explained the outfitting for the soldiers and Marissa was eager to help!

Here we are in front of the San Diego Temple.

Marissa turned out to be quite the little climber - Uncle Dan said she seemed to follow directions on how to repel down better than many adults!

Here she is at the top where the rope is clipped to the rock.

Here are all the cousins just hanging out!

My little "hero" is growing up!

Devon turned four this February and he sure is a funny kid! I love having him at home with me...he keeps me on my toes and makes life interesting. He's my biking buddy when I go exercising in the mornings, he draws pictures for me all day, he helps me make dinner, and he's my "preschool" buddy as well. He amazes me with how fast he can go on his little 12" tired bike. We can't go on a bike without him stopping so I can get ahead of him. He then "lights" up his rocket on his bike and flies past me. Sometimes he'll even put a rocket on my bike for me, but mine never seems to go as fast! I am so glad he is not starting kindergarten next year because I'm not ready to be without my Devon. He does not lack for confidence and I love the conversations I have with him about how strong, smart, and fast he is...he likes them too:)! One time we were talking about how strong he is and Marissa said he's so strong he could pick up 10 houses. Without batting an eye or looking up from whatever he was doing he said, "20 houses!" Usually a day doesn't go by without that kid making me smile!

Devon had a "rocket" party this year. He got to help Daddy make his rocket pinata which he thought was pretty cool, and he gave it a good beating. Like our other homemade pinata (Marissa's castle pinata), Ryan had to eventually do the honors because it was just too sturdy!

His big gift this year was the "tag reader". So far he loves the games/puzzles book!

Grandma and Grandpa gave him a nerf gun...watch out!!

Christmas 2011

We decided to spend Christmas in California even though last year we asserted that we would never again try to transport our Christmas! We will be moving out there this summer and bought a house a little bit early so we thought we would take this opportunity to do some things with our house and of course, the kids love staying with Grandma and Grandpa! Unfortunately, we didn't get a whole lot of pictures but here's a few:

Here is my caped hero on his new, faster than ever scooter!

Although we did not wrap this scooter, Sawyer now claims it as his seeing as Devon has dubbed it much too slow for him!

We went out to get shakes with Grandma and Grandpa and we couldn't hide Sawyer's sweet tooth any longer!

These were the big presents for the kids this year...Ryan and I were hoping we passed some of the tennis gene on to our offspring. Since Christmas we have taken the kids out several times to find that indeed we did pass some of that gene on...in fact, it might not be too much longer before the kids could take us in a doubles match! (We really need to get out more!)

All Aboard the Polar Express!

Last year around Christmas time Ryan and I heard about the Polar Express train ride near Flagstaff. We both wanted to do it, but it didn't work out last year. This year we planned ahead and made it up there. We decided to keep it a secret from the kids until we went to put pjs on to board the train. We thought we would get a great reaction that way and we weren't disappointed. We maybe kept it a secret a little too well, though. The kids weren't as familiar with the story as they could have been, but luckily Marissa's and quick learner and Devon loves trains! We all had a great time and it was definitely worth the trip!



Devon looks pretty excited!!




We all got hot chocolate and cookies on the ride, had a visit from Santa after we picked him up at the "North Pole", and each received a bell to remind us to believe.


After the train ride, we went to a cute little cafe/diner for some pie.


It took us about 3 hours to drive to the train so we decided to stay the night afterwards in Flagstaff. The kids always love a night in a hotel complete with a continental breakfast and swimming pool! We thought we would try to drive up to the snow while we were there. Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you want to look at it) there wasn't a ton of snow as you can see, but the kids still enjoyed putting on their rarely used winter coats and tromping around in it!

Happy Halloween!

I was pretty bummed that this was the only picture we were able to get on Halloween that turned out, but at least we got something. Marissa was a sailor, Devon a magician, and Sawyer looked adorable in his alien (from Toy Story) costume. We went trick or treating with some friends and the kids had a blast!

Our little soccer player!

This fall was Marissa's first year in soccer and she turned out to be quite a little player when she wanted to. The league we were in didn't have any practices during the week so "Coach Ryan" took her out and drilled her between her Saturday games. She had some great games with her high scoring game at 4 goals! We were all sad to see the soccer season end and can't wait until next year!

My baby is 1!

We call Sawyer the king of the "half smile". For his 6 month pictures Ryan, Marissa, Devon, and I tried until we were blue in the face to get a big smile out of him and he was just Mr. Cool. He had this look on his face the whole time he was eating his cake. This smile right here says "Yes, this is how I should always be treated!"


The cake just wasn't enough for this kid. We left him unstrapped and after awhile he climbed onto the table to get at the frosting can and lick it right off the spoon!


This is one of the biggest smiles we can get out of Sawyer. He liked it when he bumped his scooter into things and we all made goofy sound effects.


I can't believe Sawyer is one. Although he was not walking on his birthday, by three weeks after he was cruising around thinking he owned the place. Grandma and Grandpa gave him the Little Tikes scooter that he loves to walk behind but loves even more to get pushed around on!