Where to begin

It has been well over a year since I last posted, that I'm not even sure where to start. Some told me to just start from today and go forward, others suggested going back.... ahhh, what to do?!  I think I will just post pictures from last year and do as much as a catch up as I can :)  And then when I find  my memory card to my camera (the pictures I will post tonight will be from my phone)  I will do another "catch up" post.   The thing is I have really wanted to get back to blogging.  Its my best form of journaling (pathetic, I know) and although I'm sure everyone on FB loves to hear about everything, I don't think I want everyone on FB to hear about everything. So, I hope to use my blog as a journal, where I can feel comfortable posting all the pictures I want and any updates of our family I want.  When I do that on FB it just makes me feel weird, and I feel like I'm losing important memories by not putting it somewhere.

 Last year for Christa's wedding we finally made it back to Alaska for the first time in 5 years.  It was great and there was a small part of me that actually missed Alaska (shh...don't tell Devin's dad ;) )  The kids loved it up there and seeing their cousin Wesley.  I wish we could afford to go back more often, especially in the summers, while we are dying of heat here in AZ.

 This picture came out blurry of course!   I remember this day getting ready for church just being in awe of how cute they looked and realizing that they are mine!  I love these two and as much as they keep me on my toes, I wouldn't change it for anything.

 Playing outside.  This was last year.  This year, before Devin deployed to Qatar we planted grass.  I wanted them to have a yard that they could go outside and play in.  The grass is already dead :(  Its hard to maintain grass in Arizona during the summertime.  This summer we got up to 118 for 2 days in a row and then stayed around 115 for several days afterwards!

Playing Puss-N-Boots.  I really just love how well they play together and how much fun they have pretending.

 Then there was the time that Rylie looked like Angelina Jolie.  Poor thing!  This was during the Holidays while Devin was deployed.  She had been running a fever but not severe.  She woke me up in the middle of the night saying her face hurt, but I almost sent her back to bed.  Instead I turned on the light and I'm glad I did...her lips were huge!   Luckily since Devin was gone I have great friends here I was able to take her to the ER in the middle of the night and drop Ezra off at Corynn's house. Turns out she had strep throat...who knew that swollen lips was a sign?

 This is my awesome Pac Man cake that Corynn made for me for my 30th birthday.  I will have to track down more pictures of that event.  She did a great job with my 80s inspired birthday party since Devin was still gone.  It was a lot of fun.  I was having a lot of morning sickness at the time so I'm glad she forced me to be social on my big 30.

 Ezra lost his first tooth back in March of this year.   We were up in Utah for Ethan and Courtney's wedding (again, need to track down more pictures of that)  It was quite exciting for him and scary.  He lost the second tooth about 5 days later.   My little boy is growing up.

 Part of our trip home from Utah was stopping at Hoover Dam. Not the best picture of me, why do I always end of being the one taking the picture and not the one in the middle :)

 Something that I have done the last 3 years is spoil myself with pedicures, about every 3 months.  I love them!   Turns out you can have them paint kids nails and only charge $5.  So now its something that me and Rylie do together. We love to go paint our nails.  She is quite the diva while we are there.

 oh yeah, we are having a baby... Oh, and its a girl.   I'm due in less than 2 weeks at this point!  The kids were beyond excited to find out what were having and still are.  I will do a much better post on this soon. 

 We did manage to get out and go up to the Cabin this year.  Its so peaceful and beautiful up there.  I'm glad that my grandparents have the cabin for us to visit. Ezra is in his element while up there...and Rylie too.  I hope that we take more advantage of it more often.

 

 Mothers day this year.  I have been craving a lot more salty than sweet this pregnancy and I'm pretty sure there was at least a month straight were all I wanted was hoagie sandwiches... yummy!  

 Last day of preschool for the kids.  Ezra will be in kindergarten in "two more sleeps" and Rylie has one more year of preschool before kindergarten.  I loved that they got to go to school together and be in preschool together.  I always knew who was good and bad during the day :)  

 

 not the best picture of Devin...but we don't have many of us together so I am posting it anyway!  Neva and Scott came to visit the beginning of the summer. They were a huge help in preparing for baby.  We cleaned out the garage, went through all our baby stuff, organized the office...cleaned and then cleaned some more.  As a reward of all our hard work we decided to go stay at a nice resort for the last 2 days they were here.  It was perfect and crazy all at the same time :)  

 Neva making the kids act like a statue...????

 Then we went to Sweeties for a week.  The kids have a very special bond with Sweetie. We swam a lot at sweeties house.. Ezra is a really great swimmer, Rylie is timid but by the end of the week she was taking off her floaties and doing great.   We have gone swimming several times this summer and she is still doing really good... I'm proud of her since she was so afraid at the beginning of the summer. 

 Rylie helping Sweetie water the garden.

 

Rylie being Rylie! :)

 

 

I am going to be posting more random pictures as I find them...but also hope to just start catching up on everything too.   I think my next post will be about being pregnant :)

 

some cute videos of the kids

Easter

 

 

Easter was perfect this year.  We had a lot of fun play dates with Easter hunts leading up to it, a ward Easter egg hunt, the Mesa Easter Pageant, and a fun Easter morning.  The ward Easter egg hunt was a lot of fun, I think Ezra got like 5 eggs because he would stop and open them all before going to the next but Rylie was a Rock Star and got like 20!  The kids came home and enjoyed dying the eggs...excuse me Easter eggs.  Ezra kept correcting me when I would call them just eggs, they were specifically Easter eggs. 
The night before Easter we went to the pageant.  It was a beautiful night!  We also met up with the Johnson Family and honestly I'm so glad we did, the kids play so well with them and it was great company for such a special show.  The picture of us with the characters I really debated if I was going to post it, I hate when I look so much taller than Devin.  I need to just accept that I am taller than him.  I think I'm only like an inch taller, but in this picture some reason I loke like 3 inches taller than him..oh well.  Back to the pageant.  The kids did wonderful, 20 minutes into it the Johnson's 2 kids were out and Rylie too...of course my energizer bunny Ezra was the only kid that stayed awake.
Easter morning the kids woke up and enjoyed their baskets.  Ezra got some Toy Story toy characters he was missing in his collection and a chocolate bunny and a couple other little things.  Rylie got a princess toy and a new movie.  My mom bought her the pretty dress and they also got some new paints and chalk paint.   For breakfast I also made bunny pancakes.  We didn't give them too much candy because Devin and I are both on diets and I just don't want it in my house, luckily they are young enough that they dont' care. 

Here, there and everywhere!

 It is hard to believe that such a cute little girl and give her mommy such grief sometimes.  Rylie is such a sassy little girl, people don't believe me when I tell them some of the things she has done to me (hissed, scratched, hit..you name it) but she is also such a cuddle bug and just loves attention and her family.  She may not also get her point across the best way, but I wouldn't have her any other way...i think ;) 

 For St. Patty's day we went to a movie and used our Build a Bear gift cards we had from Christmas.  Rylie of course made a puppy because she is obsessed with dogs and Ezra made Alvin, going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks earlier in the day i'm sure inspired him.

 For Spring break I really wanted to take the kids horse back riding, mostly Rylie but I also knew that Ezra would love it too. We went with Corynn and Jake (the three are like the 3 amigos)  Kids loved it and we can't wait to go again.

 Here are just some random pictures I wanted to throw in the group.  Ezra is really into Star Wars these days, hmm I  wonder why :)  The picture with me and the kids in all blue is for Autism Awareness day.  The weather is getting pretty hot here so washing the car seemed like the perfect Saturday activity a couples weeks ago.  The picture with Devin and I is us before we left to go to our Strong bonds retreat that the Air National Guard put on for us. Tannis and Clayton came to watch the kids for us, I don't think the kids thought twice about us...they love their Aunt Tanni and Uncle Clayton.

Rylie turns 3!

We were lucky to spend a little time with GG and Papa and Sweetie for Ezra's first game so we thought we would combine the game with the fact that Rylie's birthday was only 2 days away and throw a little party for her.  I somehow neglect Rylie's birthdays because it is right after Christmas, our anniversary, my birthday.. and it's just a busy time of year.  So this year I was going to make sure to throw her a fun party. (Ezra has had a fun party every year..the guilt was getting to me ;) )

So for our fun little party we did a princess and super hero's party.  I really had a hard time committing to it because again it is just a busy time and with TBall going on now too I just wasn't feeling it..so literally I invited people a week before the party and we still had a great turn out.  The kids enjoyed dressing up. It was just play as you want type party. the had a lot of fun.  Rylie got some great gifts, my little pony (her favorite right now), dolls, play dough, and a couple of games. 



Rylie turning 3 also meant that she was going to start preschool.  She qualifies for preschool for speech and so far so good.  She loves it, she loves that she gets to go to school with Ezra.  Before when we would drop him off she would cry because she didn't get to go beyond the gate, but now she does!  These days Rylie is into my little pony, my little pony, and my little pony.  Seriously, the girl loves them!  She also likes the Disney princess', dogs, acting like a puppy, wearing dresses, and of course playing with Ezra.  I love to watch them play. Ezra is a great big brother and rylie is your typical little sister..its cute.  Rylie does not like to have her hair touch in any shape or form...don't mess with her. She is also now saying her own prayers, which is completely adorable!   Rylie doesn't not like to have her hair messed with in any shape or form..so no cute hair style for me to do and no cute bows...sad day. :(  She is talking more and more and she seems to be wanting to talk sentences now just need to work on her articulation.  We love our little Rylie bug, she has quite the spunky personality, but its just what I would expect from my daughter.
Happy birthday Rylie!!!

Ezra is a baseball stud

Ever since Devin and I have been married we seem to be drawn to small towns.  We like living in small towns, but close enough to a big town that it isn't a big deal.  For us living in Maricopa has been proven to be a blessing in more ways than one.  I personally feel like I have met some of the most amazing people out here and the ward has been so easy to move into and make friends with.  Another thing that I love about maricopa and know that this is exactly where the Lord wants us to be right now is the services that we have been able to have for the kids here.  We have been involved with the best therapist ever, been involved with support groups, made best friends with other people that have children with the same challenges, and now Maricopa offers a challenger division for their little league team.  Here is more information on a challenger team and from what I understand its nation wide..so spread the word!  This program is awesome, I'm so happy to be apart of it.  Because this is the first year in Maricopa there are only 2 teams.  Most of the kids are around the same age, 4-7.  I would also guess that 90% of the kids are on the spectrum.  On Ezra's team we have some really great friends that play with him.  We had a practice on Thursday and his first game was Saturday.  We got there on Saturday and each child was assigned a "buddy" .  The buddies did awesome!!  Another thing that I love about the little league here is the values they instill for the children.  Opening exercises included a prayer, flag ceremony, and a pledge to the league.  The pledge said "I believe in God, I love my country, and I will obey the laws of the Land"  How impressive is that for a city sport?!  The prayer was also impressive and I just felt like to be participating with this league.  I never really thought we would be a baseball family per se but honestly I love the values and their give back to the community that I would love to be a baseball family now. 

At practice.

Opening exercises.  So impressive!

Colby and Ezra.  Ezra told Colby when they first met " Hi, I'm Ezra. Silly putty is my favorite toy, its so awesome"  Colby responded perfectly and told Ezra how cool he thought silly putty was too and gave him a high five.  it was really cute.

Warm up lap before the big game.

My left handed stud.

Very excited...actually they were trying to hold him back because he was more interested in running to the ball rather than running the bases.

And the cutest little cheerleader out there.  "Go Ezra Go!"

last year in my 20s

I have one more year to enjoy my 20s!  My 20s have been great to me.  Went on a mission and loved every moment of it, got married, had 2 children, will finish my associates (in about 2 months), and have lived in 2 countries, 4 states, 7 cities.  This year some things I would like to accomplish be for the big 3-0 are lose weight, become more organized, love more, play with the kids more, and learn to love my scriptures even more. 
So to celebrate my birthday my friend Corynn and I shared a party.  Her birthday is just a couple days before so we thought it would be fun to invite a bunch of couples to go bowling.  We had so much fun.  All together there was 25 people that came and in our group we had 5 January birthdays.  I think we need to celebrate birthdays with friends more often.