Playin' in the Yard

The kids LOVE to play in the backyard, especially since we got Bruno. Caelan wakes up in the morning (earlier than usual the past couple of weeks) and comes to the edge of my bed and asks, "Can I go outside?".... at 7 AM. Even with the heat, they spend a good deal of time outside (when it's really hot, they hang out on our screen porch).

Our Trip to Flagstaff

We originally had plans to go to a family reunion over the week of the 4th of July, but Sean didn't feel like he could leave work for the whole week, so we decided to take a little trip of our own. Despite our intentions of leaving on Thursday night, we didn't actually leave town until Saturday morning. We spent the 4th of July at home swimming in our little blow up pool and bar-b-queing and making homemade ice cream. We put a mattress in the bed of the truck and drove to a clear spot to watch the Kingman fireworks, which were surprisingly good (considering being a small town). We headed over to Flagstaff (just a short little journey) - we wanted to get out of Kingman and escape the heat. We took a long route there and stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns (some dry caves). We went and saw Wall-E, and swam in the hotel swimming pool and just relaxed. The next day we found church to go to and then made our way home. We stopped outside of Williams at a deer farm, where the kids fed the deer and saw all sorts of other neat animals. They loved it. It was a fun family trip, which we all needed (even if only for a day).

Welcome Home Bruno!

On our trip to Flagstaff over the 4th, we heard about some puppies that were being given away at a nearby RV park. Sean wanted to go and check them out.... and we ended up taking one home. This is Bruno. He is part Lab and part Rottweiler (we think - they aren't sure who the father was). He made a good first impression - traveled very well on our ride home with no potty accidents in the car. Good puppy! The kids LOVE him, and he is pretty fond of them too. He is especially drawn to Megan (maybe it's because they are similar in size). So far he has been a good little pup. He is young so we are trying to teach him all sorts of things that puppies need to learn, but he is getting the hang of things. We are happy to have a new addition to our family.

Happy 4th of July

As we are waiting for Sean to get home so we can head out of town, I thought I would take a few shots of the kids in the front yard in their festive patriotic attire (especially since it is only about 90 degrees today at noon - a real TREAT).

This is one of our awesome Mulberry trees (whose entire trunk is covered with vines - I love it).

Snakes and Pails and Puppy Dog Tails

That's what my little GIRL is made of. Megan is quite fond of bugs. She loves to get right down there with them and touch and examine them, which is the complete opposite of her older brother and sister.

We Love Pie!

This is how we like to eat treats at our house (straight from the pan).

Artsy Caelan

Caelan LOVES any kind of art project. She asks me regularly if she can cut or glue or use markers. She loves it all. So, I got out the paints and glitter and glue last week, and we had a hayday. Here is Caelan displaying some of our art projects for the day. She started her little summer preschool/reading class this week, which she loves because of all the different kinds of projects they get to do.

Growing Belly

Here is my growing baby bump. This is at 27 weeks. This little guy is as active as can be. He has been moving constantly since about 16 weeks. I love it!

Desert Visitors

We love all the land surrounding our house. We live on almost an acre of land, but we also live in the desert of Kingman, which means that several little creatures have made their appearance in this home. Here is a list of the visitors that we have seen either in our house or in our yard:
Bunnies (all the time)

Lizards (I saw probably one of the biggest lizards ever one day)
spiders (of all shapes and sizes)
Tarantulas (I realize this is a spider, but it deserves its own recognition)
Cockroaches (Oh, the bug guy comes out very regularly now so that they DIE)
Crickets (galore)
Birds (and a handful of dead birds also - I don't love to find those)
Snakes (not too big, thank heavens),

and many other little insect creatures