Someday....

..... we will live in a place that has sunsets like this. It might not be until we get to heaven, but someday we'll have this as our view.

We LOVE the beach! Even though it was cool and cloudy inland, it was a GORGEOUS day at the beach 6.6.09

It was hard to keep Julia from chasing the waves out.... she loved the sand and rocks under the waves... I had to keep a very close eye on her and try to distract her elsewhere!

Eliana with "uncle" Ben

Ben and Sheri now live in San Clemente... and yes I am trying not to be jealous ;) We actually spent the day at the beach with them and Miley, their beautiful little girl... and some of their friends. I also got to take some pictures of their Miley. To see more click HERE

California

Our plans were thwarted by California's cool weather. It was in the mid -low 60's which is cold for us Arizonans and for swimming. We were looking for things to do so we took Eliana to Victoria Garden's and took her on a train ride and for a ride in the Trolley. She really enjoyed it.

On Saturday morning my friend Jenn came over with her three kids. Eliana and Carissa and Camden have been friends since she was 2 months but they only get to see each other occasionally now. It took a bit for them to warm up to each other but once Eliana found a worm it got them together. Pictured below you will see the "cozy home" they made for the worm which they named Patty. Eliana loves gross things... slugs, worms, seaweed, mudd etc and has no problem touching and playing with these things. I don't discourage it or let her know I think it's gross, I don't want to hamper her exploration but it is pretty gross sometimes and she definetly gets really messy most of the time.

Eliana, Addison and Carissa. Of course Eliana couldn't be serious.

Today is Carissa's 5th Birthday!! Happy Birthday Carissa!!

Vegas

Christian had a training in Las Vegas from 6.2-6.4. He invited us to go along since he had a suite. We decided that as soon as the training was over we'd head to CA to swim at his parents and go to the beach. We had to leave at 5:30 am on the 2nd to get there (we drove). We stayed in the Palazzo which is connected to the Venetian. It was really nice. The girls and I swam and went to the Silverton to the free aquarium and walked around. They were very good and had lots of fun.

This is at the aquarium at the Silverton. It was really cool.

These umbrellas were hanging in the shopping area at the Palazzo. I loved it...

Another aquarium in the shops by Ceasar's Palace.

Holbrook

During Memorial Day weekend, we took a quick trip to Holbrook for our nephew Ethan's blessing. It was fun to see Katie and Jason and be there for Ethan. We are blessed to have a great family.

On our way home the sky was so beautiful...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

5.20.09 Our cosmos are out of control and taking over the garden and they still haven't bloomed. Going to give them a little more time to bloom and if they don't we'll have to get rid of them. (they are just at Eliana's right)

I removed them before our trip to NV and CA (more to come on that soon)


We returned from our trip to find many more sunflowers blooming and growing so tall! I LOVE THEM!!

This is our squash, watermelon and pumpkin garden. We just planted the pumpkins before we left and they are now small plants (on the right). We are so excited for our fruit and vegetables! Gardening is lots of fun!

OUR SANDBOX!!

Right before we left Christian also finished the sandbox for the girls. It is huge and they love it! It provides hours of entertainment and lots of gritty floors, scalps and bums... but, it keeps them busy and they love it so much it's worth it to me.