First AZ Easter

Easter came and went. Time is flying! We had a good one here in Arizona. The weather is wonderful. We didn't do a whole lot. Every Easter there is an Easter pageant at the Mesa temple. We took the girls and enjoyed a night on the lawn. 

The Jesus in this play is in Tice's ward... cool side note.

Then on the Saturday before Easter, there was a promenade on main street in Globe. This is where you wear your Easter best and walk around the streets.

There were a lot of interesting characters to say the least.

Our girls were pretty dang cute though

It took a few, but we finally got the Easter bunny shot

Then Travis went crazy with the camera

He does that sometimes

And then I noticed how big our little girl has become

And then how sweet this one has become

And just how in touch with his feminine side this one has become

And then how weird this guy in the carrot suit was

I was really grumpy that morning because of how stinking uncomfortable I am, and Travis really captured the feeling

Then I saw these people and wondered if Trav and I will ever be like them one day?

And here was the crowd

Then we ran into some friends

And their creepy dad

Or maybe Travis was the creepy dad taking a picture of another man?

That night, we dyed Easter eggs.

The only problem was that I bought our normal brown eggs, not thinking and so they ended up very dull and boring! 

Sorry family!

The next day was Easter and the bunny came!

First he hid those very boring eggs in the backyard for the girls to find

Then they came in and found their Easter baskets full of candy, flip flops, bubbles and kites!

Then after church, we had the Merideth family over for some ham and potatoes.

It was a quiet and peaceful day, just like it should have been!

It was nice to reflect on Christ's Resurrection.

I really love Spring!

Now it is time for this baby to get out of me!

Oops

So I can sort of empathize with parents who are so naive about their teenage daughters whereabouts that they are shocked when they find out their daughters are pregnant. Why? Because the same thing happened to our cat. 

Our little kitten, who was not even a year old got knocked up. I'm sure you are wondering why we didn't get her spayed. Well I will tell you. The only vet here in Globe charges an arm and a leg for the procedure. Now I'm sure you are wondering why I just didn't take her into Phoenix. Well I'm glad you asked, its because if I'm going to take the hour plus trip into the valley, then I'm definitely not doing it for a cat. I'm going to go to Ikea or Costco OK. That is the honest truth. Plus my little baby cat wasn't having sex anyways. 

Ok Ok I will admit, it was irresponsible of us not to get her spayed, but seriously, I just didn't want to deal with it. But now we have to deal with the bigger mess of her having kittens.

On KC's first birthday, Avery noticed that there was snot all over KC's bum. I told her to not touch her and to leave her in the garage! I then proceeded to close the door, run inside and pretend nothing was happening. I could here KC meowing wanting to come in. I know it sounds cruel to ignore a laboring cat, but I read online (and everything online is true) that when the cat is in labor, they will try to find a bed or a closet to give birth in, and I was NOT going to let that happen. We had prepared a cardboard box with towels for this occasion. Don't be such a diva KC. I also read online that the cat will do everything on its own, so I let it happen. About an hour later, I peeped into the garage and I noticed a tiny little rat on the rug... or KC's first born. 

She was a trooper and knew exactly what to do. She licked the thing clean, then proceeded to eat its placenta. I can never look at her the same. She ended up having 6 kittens. Only 5 are alive now, but that is a whole other story! 

The kittens are about 2 1/2 weeks old and cute as can be! But don't even think for a second we are keeping any. I am a one cat owner, it is tempting to want to keep one, but they are only kittens for a minute and the next thing you know they are birthing a litter on their 1 year birthday. No thank you!

Another thing I learned is that pregnancy and labor is easy for cats. Seriously I have no empathy. They are only pregnant for 9 weeks and their labor looked as easy as taking a dump! If only! 

Well, we have learned our lesson, and KC is booked to get spayed at the end of the month. I do have to say that this experience was pretty neat. It will be sad to get rid of the kittens, we have grown to love them, and its been really cool to see KC be a mother. 

He might have a harder time parting ways than the girls!

Hospital day

There isn't a lot to do here in the small town of Globe, so when there really is something going on, we take full advantage! Every year, the hospital does a fair along with a 5K race. We were up bright and early to participate.

I was hoping this race would put me into labor, but no such luck!

Avery was a champ and probably ran a mile of it. She would just take off and then get really tired and stop then bolt again. Maybe I should read her the story about the tortoise and the hare?

Travis was also a champ and finished with the girls before me.

Lets not make this a habit of him beating me!

After the race were the festivities

Dancing, face painting, helicopters, you name it!

I had to go inside the hospital for something, and I looked over and saw this

It is Brooklyn advertising water safety tips

I guess Travis gave them the OK to use this picture from a work party. I had no idea she was such a huge celebrity!

We like our cute little town... most of the time :)

For love of the game

Amy Hogue is a celebrity in the softball world. She is the head softball coach for the University of Utah. I was lucky enough to play for her in Summer ball for two years. Tice also was lucky enough to play for her at Alta and Salt Lake Community College. We would both agree that she was the smartest coach we ever played for.

Well, since the U is in the pack 12, they come every year to play ASU. We of course had to go support our old coach.

The game was a nail biter. ASU is in the top ten of the country and Utah nearly beat them, they lost by one run in the last inning as a girl was called out at home, ending the game.

Tice is the one who really keeps in touch with "A" so I didn't want to burden her, after losing such an emotional game, with small talk. 

After the game, she walked right passed us with tear stained eyes, then she turned and said, "aren't you guys coming?" She wanted to get away from all her players and parents and just vent to us. It was such a nostalgic experience for me. The way she was talking about the last play and why she made the decision to send the runner and all the emotions going through her was an experience for me that I won't forget. There is something about this game that I can't explain. But you either "get it" or you don't. And when someone brings those raw feelings back, its really hard to walk away.

I cherish what I gained through all of those years and experiences.

Thanks for the awesome night!

Now back to being a civilian again. 

April Fools

I have been waiting for my kids to be old enough to play pranks on. I decided that they were getting close enough that I could pull a few on them this April Fools day.

For dinner I made "grilled cheese sandwich's", "juice" and "cookie dough cupcakes." And because I'm normally so cool and laid back about what my kids eat, it wasn't weird at all that I suggested we eat dessert first.

April Fools

If you look closely, you will notice that the actual cake is really just meat loaf and the frosting is mashed potatoes and the cherry is actually a tomato. 

Ha ha! Brooklyn didn't quite get it, she just said, "ooh this is gross," and moved on. 

I also gave them red juice.... or a cup of jello with a straw in it. 

One suck from them and they were had! Suckers! 

And finally, to the main course, the "grilled cheese" sandwiches

Or angel food cake with orange frosting

Brooklyn took one bite and said, "mmmm this peanut butter is good."

Why can't they always eat their "entrees" this easily?

It was a fun day and Avery is getting to the age where she can start helping me get her dad. Yeah!

Baby celebration

I am pregnant with my 3rd girl. I kind of felt that I didn't deserve another baby shower because really, I have every frilly, cute girly thing you could ask for. So when my friends here in Globe told me they wanted to do a shower for me, I declined. They wouldn't take no for an answer, so we compromised and decided to have a baby celebration. No cheesy games, no going all out, just a fun girls night to celebrate the birth of my baby. The theme was "a pamper Milli party," which meant people were supposed to bring diapers (get it, Pampers). So this is what we did. It was so fun and nice to sit around and laugh with my new friends. They were super cute and decorated and supplied the place with yummy food, even though that was against the compromise! I'm really grateful I have found some awesome ladies to kick it with! 

8 actual years

Time really flies! Somehow we made it past the 7 year itch and made it right into our 8th year of marriage. This past year was probably our biggest year of change. We survived residency, finding a job, moving across the country, buying a house, starting a new job and getting pregnant all in one swoop. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy, but hey ya live and ya learn.

I think I can safely say that I think I'm starting to "get" Travis after all these years. Obviously I wouldn't have married him if I didn't click with him, but we came from very different backgrounds and have had to adjust and learn a lot and I think I'm starting to figure it out.

For our anniversary we went out on the town of Globe. We splurged and went and got pedicures!

Travis was a little worried he would have to hand in his man card, but I'm pretty sure this won't be his last one.

It was a nice change! After pedicures, we went and ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Globe/Miami, its called Burger house. Go there if you haven't been yet.

After that we were home and probably asleep by 9 pm. I don't even feel lame about that because when you are in love you don't have to prove to everyone by doing something totally awesome that you are in even deeper love... ... ... OK maybe I do feel a little lame about it. I'm really pregnant, back off!

Happy Anniversary Trav, you are the nectar to my flower! Whoa!

Cheap date

Sometimes we are in the valley, and you know, we "need" to make a stop at Ikea. They have really nice light bulbs. Oh and ya know, if we happen to be there, "sometimes" we drop our kids off at their little children's play area. It is fully equipped with all of their Ikea toys and free babysitting for 1 hour. 

Those Swedish people couldn't make me happier. From a free date to really affordable/sometimes a little weird furniture we are fans! Plus they have really great meatballs.

Its a win/win situation and I recommend going on an Ikea date before you die.

PS do you realize how hard it was physically to get out of that hammock?

Spring Break

My parents have a time share in Scottsdale so every March they get to come stay there for a week. And when I say "they" I mean "we" get to come stay for a week. We and the Jolley's were lucky enough to stay with good ole Sid and Tam.

When you are there, you don't really need to leave the resort. There are pools, courtyards, BBQ pits, you name it! It is beautiful!

Travis wasn't able to join us for the week because he decided to go on his own vacation to Vegas with his brother to watch BYU basketball.

We explored the desert... or golf course

We went to the Scottsdale farmer's market and jammed with this guy

We drank hot chocolate by the fire

We got to see a lot of these two crazies

They started rubbing off on the kids

We swam like we were Kevin Costner in Water World

Which in turn caused this

We celebrated Brayden's birthday in style

Then we showed him the appropriate way to celebrate a birthday

by sitting on him

We designed a new line of clothing

Oh and did I mention they got spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa?

But the best part was again being around these two crazies

Thanks a lot.