Ella's First Field Trip

Ella had her first field trip in Mrs. Wiedeke's Kindergarten class.

We all got to walk to the Firestation down the street with about 80 Kindergartners. They were all so thrilled.

We toured the whole station and the kids were in awe of the huge kitchen with 3 refrigerators.
Here is the class in front of the fireman. Ella was in the front because she was afraid of Mr. Firefighter with all of his stuff on. It was a fun day for all of us.

Utah Trip

We took a trip up to Provo to visit Matt and Melissa and the kids for a week. We miss seeing them everyday, but it was just like old times and we had a blast and the kids were so glad to see each other again. Here are a lot of pics...

Here we are at Tucanos, it was the BEST restaurant ever, we ate so much food, but it was worth every pound and dimple for sure.

Temple Square, the most beautiful place on earth. We literally spent all day here, we visited the Church history museum, Joseph Smith memorial, Beehive house and both visitor centers. It was awesome. Only one child lost....poor Sam.

Landon

The whole gang

Me and Melissa, thanks to Ella's photography, pretty good after 8 tries.

So Wayne had never been to conference, so he has been begging for 8 years to go, so with some great tickets, (thanks to Brooke and Alex) Wayne and I got to go. It was really amazing, and the spirit was so strong as President Monson entered the room, there is no holding back tears, I love that man. I'm so glad we were able to be there.

Here we are at Bridal Vail Falls. It was such a beautiful place. Melissa made delicious BBQ beef sandwiches and we all had a picnic under a canopy of huge trees.....so cool. I don't know why I live in Arizona......

Landon and Ella on our picnic

Melissa and Cora (happiest baby on earth) during our walk

My cutie petutie.

Chasers, the only way I can take his picture is if I hold him down.

And so it comes to an end, one last pic before the long drive home. So many good laughs and great company in such a beautiful place. And one thing I want to remember: Dr. E. Wayne McLaws, "I got called a doctor" "Did you correct them?"....."No," Thanks Matt for making Wayne feel important. X30

Camping Trip

So this year we went up a day early for our ward campout. We thought it might be fun to just hang out with our family for the a night. Well all was going well, we made dinner, built a big fire and played until dark then we went to bed......half way through the night I was awakened by the loudest howling I have ever heard. Landon awoke and said "Dad I'm scared" Wayne tried to calm him as I lay frozen afraid for my life as well, I'm totally not kidding either. All I could thing about was how close that carnivore was outside my tent and absolutely no weapon of any sort. The howling finally ended and 2 hours later as I still lay there awake, I had finally resolved that there was an absolutely good chance I could kill the thing with my bare hands if need be (mothers instinct) and finally could fall asleep. Note to self, bring a gun when sleeping with wolves.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Wayne came in one night, got down on one knee and asked Ella if she would go to a ball with him. She screamed YES!!! So that night he took her to get a special dessert and they danced the night away at our wards Father Daughter dance. She is so lucky to have a Daddy that adores her.

Schools .....IN...for.....Summer!!!

Well, it's happened my little miss started Kindergarten. She is so little, it was hard to find a backpack that didn't swallow her up. Anyway, It was an awesome first day and both of them were super excited and have great teachers. Wayne always stays home from work with me to see them off on their first day. So here is our first day pics

And the proud parents

Landon guided Ella and showed her the ropes, he was so helpful and explained every little detail, she felt very secure with the whole thing and was so proud to be at school with him.

Here's Ella in her new classroom. She also reminded me not to forget that she had school the following day as well. (I decided not to remind her it was for the next 17 years)

And after all was said and done, we have the poor, lonely Chase, who was not thrilled with the idea of losing his siblings so suddenly. Hopefully he will recover.

Ella Turns 5!!!

Ella turned 5 on July 11. I seriously can't believe she's so old. She has been such a fun and entertaining child and we just love her to death. But this year she wanted a "friends" Birthday party for her present. So we invited her cousins and friends from church and had a Summer water fun bash!

It was a lot of fun and here are all the party animals for a pic

and her big 5 cupcake (thanks Melissa for your blog post)

New Kid Pics

My family found this cool little nursery in Pinetop where you can go and take pictures on their grounds. It is a very stressful thing to take your children's picture and after a lot of blood, sweat and tears.......here are their happy faces.