Wicked, random photos

So from the title of this post you are probably expecting some "wicked" pictures. Well sorry to disappoint you but I am just combining a lot of information into one post.

WICKED
First of all, this last week I was able to go to the musical "Wicked!" It was so so good. I am ready to go again. It was my birthday present from Nick and my brother Kyle. I went with my mom (it was her b-day present too). We had so much fun. We sat by all of Nick's family who attended. I think there were about thirty of us all together. I wish I would have taken pictures but I left the camera in the car. Anyway, we had such a good time and I highly recommend the musical to anyone. The play wasn't the only part of the present. We stayed at Little America for the night and got to spend the day together the next day. Nick took the day off to watch the kids and my mom and I just got to spend some quality time together. We mostly just shopped and had fun being able to take our time and look at things. We also went to lunch with my Grandpa and had a really good visit with him. It was such a wonderful present! Thank you Nick and Kyle.

RANDOM PICTURES
better late than never, here are our pictures from our Easter egg hunt at Grandma Sue's house.

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG (he visited our library a while ago)

Trevor and Abby loved being able to see Clifford

Carter was not impressed to be that close to him

NEW BIKE GEAR

Trevor needed all the gear to take to preschool for bike day so here he is all decked out. He is getting pretty good at riding it (considering we only get to practice a couple days)

BREAD BEARS

The other day we decided to make bread bears from our bread dough. The kids had a lot of fun and were so excited when they got so fat!

The Three Bears

Carter showing off his bear

Abby and her bear (yes I know her hair is crazy, it was about bed time!)

Trev man and his bear

Enjoying the hard work

Yummy Yummy for her tummy!

you really want me to eat this?

Well that is some of what we have been up to. Hopefully I will figure out how to update more often so that they aren't so long!

Travel Journal Part 2

OK so this post is going to have a lot of pictures. I have a hard time deciding which ones to post so you get a bunch.

Wednesday
This day we decided to go to the Phoenix zoo. We went to the wildlife zoo which would have been enough but Abby has been waiting since last year to ride the camel. Trevor and I rode one last year when we went to visit but Abby was just barely too young. She remembered that she didn't get to and that she really wanted to so when we told her we were going to Nikki's house the first thing she said was, "And I can ride the camel." So we promised her she could. She was not going to let us forget it either so we went to both. We had a lot of fun and the kids just love the animals.

Nikki and the kids by the giraffes. (they were not as exciting as the ones we fed)

The famous camel ride! They had a blast and I was happy because I didn't have to go this year!

Trevor, Abby and Aunt Nikki enjoying their snow cones.

My three little chicks!

My first little chick (I told you he is just like a kid)!

Trevor riding the crocodile (he is obsessed with them)

Carter and Trevor in the clam shell (Abby was sleeping)

Carter the turtle

Carter driving the tractor. They had a little farm section and even though we see these animals all the time it was Carter's favorite part! He love cows and horses.

THURSDAY

This was pretty much a lazy day for us. We played outside and went on a picnic. In the evening we went to Fiddlestix for a while and then we went to a softball game. Trent is on a church team and they were kind enough to let Nick play too. So we went and watched. I just have to say that my kids are wimps. It was kind of a chilly night and we hadn't planned to go so I was not prepared with jackets. Anyway, the kids were all just whining and complaining about how cold they were. I finally ended up going to the car and getting their winter coats for them. We are the ones from Wyoming and my kids are the only ones with coats (winter coats none the less)! It was pretty funny.

FRIDAY

This was our last day in Phoenix so some of the day was spent sulking. We got up early and got ready to go to the children's art museum. (we tried to go Thursday afternoon but we got there 30 minutes before it closed so we decided to go back the next day). We went to this museum last year and I didn't get any pictures. Nick was sick last year so he didn't get to see it and I kept telling him how cute it was. I brought my camera but the batteries died after one picture and my extras were in our suitcase. Anyway, I really wanted to go back to Nick could see it and so I could get some pictures. Well, because I didn't get pictures last year, I made up for it this year. I took a lot of pictures. I just have to say that I talked it up too much. Nick was not really that impressed because I had made it sound so much better, and I do have to add that it was not as cool this year. Part of it was basically the same but the other part was completely different and pretty much stupid. Anyway, the kids had fun and here are some of our pictures.

Carter fixing me dinner

Abby washing the dishes

Trevor bringing me a plate of fruit

Carter's puppet show

Abby's puppet show

Trevor's puppet show

Carter putting the apple on the tree

Abby inside the tree house

Trevor and his pet rats! (we took this picture just for Grandma Terry)

Dad reading to Carter

Abby posing on the bug pillow (she didn't want to sit still for a story)

Trevor and Dad reading a story

The three munchkins by the painting room

After we went to the museum we decided we needed to go swimming before we left. We had planned on going to an indoor pool but found out that it wasn't open, so all week we didn't go. Anyway, we had told the kids we could go so we went to Trent's parents house. They are so kind to let us use their pool and they are always so hospitable. We went there last year too. The only trouble is it is an outdoor pool and it is still really cold this time of year. However, the kids didn't seem to mind too much. Trevor really had a ball. It took Abby a while to warm up but then she had fun too. Carter never did get used to it. I didn't either, I didn't even put my suit on because I knew I wouldn't. It was a good time and we are so glad that the Cowley's are so nice.

Trevor, Nick and Abby swimming

Carter and I did keep our feet in but that was it.

Abby and her hippo

Trevor and his Crocodile

After we went swimming we drove out to Gilbert to see our friends the Shumways. We knew them in Laramie and we miss them. It was so good to see them. We just hung out at their house and let the kids play. We wish we could have spent more time with them but it was sure good to see them for a minute. Thanks Shumways! We got back to Nikki's house late that night and we just went to bed.

SATURDAY

We left on Saturday morning about 4:30am. We wanted to get an early start so that the kids would sleep and so we could get home at a decent hour. We had a good trip home. The kids did GREAT! They were awake for a lot of it but they were so so good. They read books, colored, opened surprise packages, sang songs and ate snacks. We did borrow a dvd player from a good friend and we let them watch 2 movies on the way home. I don't think that it was necessary to have it but it did give me a nice break from trying to entertain. Thank you so much Jill! Anyway, we had such a wonderful trip. It is always nice to be home when you get home but we are ready to go back to that warm weather again! Thank you Nikki and Trent for such a wonderful time! We love you.

P.S. I forgot to mention that Carter loved Trent and it was so cute. He is such a Mama's boy but he really liked Trent and it was nice to have a break. I didn't take any pictures of the two of them but I think it was a good thing for everyone involved!

P.P.S Nick wrote down everything that he ate at the ball game so I guess I better share

5 hot dogs, 4 bags of chips, 1 box of popcorn, 1 bag of peanuts, 6 sodas and 2 waters. It makes me sick just thinking about it but he sure enjoyed it! Way to go honey!

Travel Journal Part 1

We are back from our trip to Arizona! We had so much fun. Here is our travel journal for the first part. I hope I don't leave anything out. Beware it is going to be a long one, which is why I chose to do it in parts.

FRIDAY
The kids and I went to the valley on Friday the 3rd to help my mom with a little dinner party. We decided that Nick could sleep better without us around. Nick came home from work about 2:00 and went to sleep so that he could drive through the night. He called us about 8:30 and said he was ready to go. We packed up and met him in Evanston. We didn't actually get on the road until about 10:00pm. (I just have to add that is was starting to snow pretty good as we were leaving) We made pretty good time. We were planning on a 16 hour trip but it only took 13 1/2. The kids did great. They slept most of the way.

SATURDAY
At 5 am we all got out and went to the bathroom, and then the kids went right back to sleep. We stopped again in Flagstaff for breakfast and let the kids run around and play for a while. The rest of the way we were occupied with singing songs, coloring, reading books and opening surprise packages with toys and treats. We got to Nikki's house about 10:30 (Arizona time). We watched the rest of General conference session and then went to the park. The rest of the day we just watched conference, played outside and went grocery shopping for the week.

SUNDAY
This day was mostly dedicated to watching conference (or sleeping through it). We tried to go to a park again in between sessions but the park happened to be closed for a big event so we just played outside and enjoyed the heat. We also got to hang out with my cousin Jennifer and her husband Derrell. They came over and we had dessert and just talked. It was really good to see them. Ryan, Jessica, Talan and Camryn also came over. It is always fun to get together with family!

MONDAY
Nikki had to work all day on Monday so we decided to hook up with my Jessica and her kids and go to the wildlife zoo. We had a lot of fun at the zoo. The highlight was probably feeding the giraffes.

Carter, Trevor and Abby at the petting zoo. Carter loved the animals until he got too close, then he was not too impressed.

Trevor and Abby loved the animals. I couldn't get them to come out.

Trevor, Carter, Talan and Abby outside the petting zoo.

This is Carter feeding the giraffes. They all loved this a lot!

The kids before going into the zoo. They don't look that excited in the picture, but they were!

After the zoo we were all pretty exhausted so we went to Ryan and Jessica's house and just hung out. We ended up just staying there most of the evening. We had a really good time and it was so good to hang out with Jessica again. We used to live by them in Laramie and we got to be really good friends and we miss them a lot. While we were at Taylor's house Jerry Hanson and his son came over because they were looking at houses in Arizona. We knew them when we lived in Star Valley so it was crazy to see them in Arizona.

TUESDAY
This was the hottest day while we were there. I think it was about 95. We spent most of the morning dying Easter eggs. In the afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt in the park. Nikki is a nanny for a little girl named Drew, so her and her mom came and joined us for the hunt. The kids had a lot of fun looking for eggs. We found out the hard way that Easter egg hunts are different in Arizona than Wyoming. We bought chocolate - oops it melted really fast.

Trevor and Abby looking for eggs

Carter found one!

Drew, Trevor, Abby, Carter and Nick showing off their goodies!

The rest of our day was pretty lazy. Nick and Trent (Nikki's husband) went to a Diamondbacks game. They sat in an all you can eat section and they ate enough for an army, but they really enjoyed it. Nick caught a ball at batting practice and he had to sleep with the ball that night. I have always said he is my first child! He was pretty excited and had a really good time. While they were at the game we went out and got ice cream and then went to the mall. We had a lot of fun looking at the pet store and the rain forest cafe.

The three amigos at the rain forest cafe.

Nikki with the kids by the frog at the cafe.

I think that I will call that good for today. I will post about the rest of the week tomorrow.

Arizona countdown!

Okay, so I am terrible at being consistent with my blogging, but sometimes we are just more exciting than others. We have been fighting colds and just go, go, go so I guess that is our reason for not blogging. Anyway, We are counting down the days until we make the long trip to Arizona again! We are leaving on April 3rd so we only have 10 more days. Yeah, we are so excited. The kids have a countdown calendar on the fridge and anytime they walk by it they count the days, it is pretty cute. Our little family will be leaving on Friday and we get to stay for a whole week. We will for sure have some pictures and stories to tell when we get back so be prepared!

P.S. For all of those who don't know by now. We are expecting our fourth child! He/She should be here the first part of July. We are tentatively looking at the 10th. We are not finding out what we are having so that should be fun. We are really excited and Trevor and Abby can not wait!

Update time again

SLEDDING
Awhile back we were visiting my parents and we were trying to find things to entertain us. We decided that it was the perfect day for sledding, if we could find enough snow. Well we happened to find enough snow so we went sledding for the first time this winter. The kids really had a blast. We thought that we were going to end up just pulling them around but they actually went down the hill pretty good.



Carter Sleeping
The other day we were having lunch and I left the room for a minute to say good-bye to Nick. I came back and this is what I found...


Carter sleeping in his pizza!
Brooke's Wedding
Nick's littlest sister was married on Feb. 6th. It was a really special day. For some reason we don't have very many pictures. Hopefully we can talk Nick's mom into duplicating hers. Anyway it was a great day and we are so happy and excited to Brooke. Here are two of the pictures we did get.

Last but not least, our candy house...
We have been cooped up inside because we have had colds and it is really cold outside so we have been looking for things to do. Well we made some dog houses out of boxes a couple of weeks ago and the kids absolutely loved them and played in them non-stop. The only downfall was that they couldn't stand up in them and Carter would get pretty frustrated. So I decided that bigger would be better. We decided to make a gingerbread house. The kids had so much fun decorating it with the paper candy. They call it the candy house and they love it even more than the dog houses. They can all fit in it at the same time and they have a blast!