Good Times

It has been decided when Jimmy gets the nice LONG weekends the world starts turning the right way.  Just before this long weekend we are running low on sleep, it seems we are all cranky, no one wants to cook and overall we're drained.  Then the gift of a weekend :)  

Logan and I went with some ward friends to Riverview Park Splash Pad in Mesa...SO awesome!  In fact, it was so awesome only 4 days later I had to have Jimmy go with us and get some more fun out of it.  Each time we were there for 2 hours and still didn't experience everything.  Love it.  Perfect for this 80-90 degree heat.

Which speaking of heat...what a disappointment when I think "man, it must be 100 outside" then I check the car for the temp outside and it says 81.  I want to die...it can get 40 degrees HOTTER than this!!

We went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant.  Super crowded, although we got some awesome seats in the back.  There was almost no one behind us and it's rather elevated back there so we could see most everything.  Funny thing we Logan asking mid play "I need to go to the bathroom, can you pause the show?"  Haha, sure...will just hit my pause button.  It's a funny stage.  The other day in the car he asks "why do people steal my name?"  This world clearly is seen as revolving around him right now...can hardly wait for this little girl to make her entrance.  

Jimmy's family took me to the Manti Pageant which is a touch longer and much longer of a drive.  This Mesa Easter Pageant 1 hour...PERFECT for a 4 year old!

The boys went to the Halle Heart Museum and loved it there.  They stayed until closing and would have stayed longer.  Logan had been asking for weeks to go there and was more than thrilled to show dad around the place.  

Dad's Day Off

 Taking advantage of one of Jimmy's days off.  Started it out by going to Butter's Pancakes & Cafe in Scottsdale, AZ.  Saw the recommendation with photos on pinterest and knowing my love for breakfast food had to check it out.  It sure was delicious, but a little on the pricey end when we're talking breakfast.  

 Jimmy got the Oreo S'mores pancakes that was super delicious.  I wasn't willing to dare trying it, afraid it would be much too heavy.  It surprisingly was nice, light, and let's face it.  All of us love Oreo's.


I got to enjoy this Wildberry Pancake...SOOO yummy!  Just need to figure out how to make these things at home.


Then the time came to burn off the calories we enjoyed.  We went to Desert Foothills Trail/Telegraph Pass.  It was perfect at 66-68 degrees through our hike with a light breeze.  Our white bodies forgot sunscreen which was a dumb idea even being early in the morning.  We all got burnt.

Stopped for a quick picture at the petroglyph's on the hike.

Logan was cute...he would crawl up the rocks.  "I'm a good rock climber."  Really he was a great hiker with not much complaint being a 4 year old.  2 miles round trip...not to shabby with very minimal carrying by Dad.

Family selfie!

Oregon Wedding + Vacation

It was a beautiful wedding and this time...we remembered to whip out our phones and capture some moments!  Yay us!!

They are being super heros...although Logan refuses.  He will only be a dinosaur.

Reception center was totally gorgeous with an amazing backdrop of the river.  This as you may know was the top table (if that's a title).  My Aunt Susan was caught in their despite her knowledge :)

We were strategically placed to actually make us socialize with people we would otherwise have not talked to.  Lesson #1: Spencer clearly has a great family!

Lesson #2: Always have a send off with sparklers at a wedding.  My mom raved about how perfect it was sending off the guests as well, giving us plenty of time to wrap up the mess and even get sleep at a descent hour that night!

This was at Safari Sams in Sherwood, OR.  Lesson #3: Jimmy's perfect workout = kid sized jungle gym + niece, nephews and son.  Such as stud! Never seen that man sweat more than this moment!!

Needing our calorie boost after Safari Sams...what better than 5 Guys with some reward mustache's.  Naomi has a perfect video dancing to the music playing at 5 Guys with that stache.  She's something else :)

This may have been Logan's favorite part of the trip...playing in dirt with Papa.  

After our trip we decided to get real with the fact of having our baby girl and how we'll fit her accessories into our life.  Babies come out so little, yet they seem to somehow require this huge amount of space!  Logan was a huge helper getting this together.

Our Sunday Evenings

Our typical Sunday looks something like this...

He's my favorite ;)

PB Chocolate Chip Cookies...in the words of Jimmy "nom nom nom".

We have been under the weather throughout the week with the cold.  Apparently in Arizona gift giving can include lemons from the tree in their backyard.  We enjoyed an icy treat from it as well as getting some benefits on our throats...is that a triple win (free, icy treat, soothed throats), yes!

Valentines Donuts

We don't have a tradition for Valentine's Day.  It's always met with "well, what do you expect/want for Valentine's Day?"  We were settling in for ignoring the holiday all together, when Jimmy's wished for craving finally became my craving as well...DONUTS!!  Jimmy is a donut guru...and boy he sure knows how to pick them.  

The rule was we each got to pick 2.  Logan, of course, went with the reddest donut he could find (ps. he still loves red).  Then being the kid that he is...you guessed it, sprinkles.

Jimmy got this AMAZING apple pie donut.  Thank you Tempe Arizona for the Donut Parlor...a real treat!  Surely not our last visit!!

I'm always on board with the custard filled, however this one was not the best I ever had.  I think this place was made for the unusual donuts and really they're good at it!  My second choice was blueberry with icing and it was out of this world!

Do I sense a new tradition coming on?

Feeling Accomplished

Being a stay-at-home mom...it is clearly about finding new things to feel a sense of accomplishment in a day.  Nothing like building a lego tractor to help one feel successful :)  We were on the tail end of our being sick with colds recovery this week.  Tired of TV, so brought out our legos that we inherited for free (thank you Aunt Susan).  We have been avoiding this project FOREVER...2nd pic shows why, hah!

It is from the technic sets...which are meant for 10-15 year olds.  Truly they are quite challenging...the added challenge is finding the bajillion pieces needed in a pile of a bunch of mixed up sets, not to mention missing pieces and figuring out how to work around it.  Not like any other puzzle we've solved before.  Definitely cured our boredom!

Phoenix Zoo

We absolutely loved the Phoenix Zoo!  Our mom's group ventured there this week and what a treat!! It is nothing like any other zoo I've been to.  Everything was out in the open more.  Even in our photos below are the crocodile exhibit.  They are outdoors.  In Portland they are behind glass totally enclosed.  The monkeys were awesome they are just out on an island swinging around on ropes.  Definitely not our last visit!