84 degrees!

That is the perfect temperature for a swimming pool to be and we have finally gotten there this summer. It is a wonderful temperature for getting in without "hvaing to get used to the water" and staying in without your teeth starting to chatter. Reese agrees with me - she loved the water this time.

About Town

When we lived in Logan, we were forever saying "we need to do...." or "we need to see..." and never did many of the things right around us. You know how it goes? You think you have all the time in the world to do those things nearby. Well, we didn't do them and then we decided to move, so we tried to cram them all in in the last few months we were there and, of course did not get to it all.

This summer, we are doing somethings about town that we have heard about since we moved here and have not done yet. Some of them we did many, many years ago when we would visit Dave's parents at Thanksgiving each year and play tourist. But now we are doing them as real live citizens of Tucson.

Last week we went to see Biospere 2. The remains of a scientific project that was done in the early 90's to see if a group of people could live totally sealed inside a bubble/dome/community for 3 years with no help form the outside world. They are now conducting many research projects having to do with weather, erosion, water, tempurature, etc. on plants and soil. We did not get any pictures that day (typical of me). We went with our friends from the Simpson family.

A few days later, we went to Bisbee, AZ to see the Copper Queen Mine. We donned mining gear, road and old mine train down underground and learned about mining copper, lead, and zinc. We did this activity with some very good friends from the neightborhood - Kimber, Tyler and Aiden. Thanks to Kimber we got lots of great pictures of our adventure. Reese did great - she loved the bumpy train ride. The kids found a fun park to play in while we waited for our table at lunch. It was a wonderful day, except for the part where I thought we were going to have to push the car to Bisbee because we were running on empty for quite some time. At least there were a lot of us that could help push. Bisbee is a neat little town - it would be fun to explore it more when we have some time again. I love this picture of Reese at lunch - she was hungry and on the verge of getting mad.

Today we went to the Pima Air and Space Museum with Kimber and boys where we saw many, many, many different forms of flight. I was amazed at all the shapes and sizes that aircraft come in! The biggest hit of the day was the hands on area where the kids could get into cockpits and pretend to fly. Maybe we have a future pilot among us. I forgot my camera (typical) so here is a crappy picture I took with my phone.

I look forward to seeing many more sight about town as we live our years here.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

That was the theme for the first VBS partially sponsored by Community Christian since Dave has been there. It was a joint venture with another church and held in a local elementary school. It was a great success. Dave was Pirate Bumpo for the week and I was running the mad science pirate lab. It was limited to 40 kids and filled up fast. Much smaller than the one at First Pres in Logan, but still a huge amount of work.

My parents came to stay with us for the week and brought my nieces. This was their idea of a summer vacation - some vacation?! They worked hard all week, but we had a good time, however exhausting. We did VBS each morning, swam every afternoon and did crafts and went for walks to the park.

First time

We were able to get Reese in the pool for the first time this past week. We have been swimming for awhile, but the water has not been warm enough for Reese. She did not quit know what to make of it, but definitely did not dislike it (she is not shy about letting us know when she is unhappy). I am so excited to do lots more swimming with her!

First giggle

We have thought for awhile that Reese would start laughing anyday. She has been trying for quite some time to get it out. It fianlly came out today - here is her first laugh. (Actually, it is her second. I did not have the camera on her for her first).

Annual picture

Every year, my mother has taken all her grandkids to get professional pictures done. She usually has purchased all the outfits and taken them all by herself so that it would be a surprise for us and my brother and wife. I was always amazed that she managed by herself getting all three kids ready for a picture appointment. With the addition of Reese this year, she finally decided that she probably could not do it by herself and she let me help. The kids all did so well - this is probably the first year where no one started crying - which is amazing. We were saying, however, that it would be nice if we could have super-imposed each child's best facial expression onto one picture. With four of them, it was hard to get them all at their best at the same time. The pictures turned out precious anyway, of course. I'm sure it;s nice for my mother to have another year out of the way though. After we got home, the girls wanted to both get their pictures taken holding Reese in their matching outfits. Her cousins really love her.

Nightly walk

Around 7pm every night possible, the dogs, Reese and I have been going for a walk. Reese loves to get outside and it gives us something to do to kill time before bed. Recently, we were staying in Phoenix with my parents and everyone wanted to go for a walk. We had the three dogs, all 4 kids, and 4 of us adults. We concluded our walks there with a stop in the park to ride on hte swings. It was fun to have everyone come with me. I am looking forward to walks next week while the girls and my parents are staying with us.

I forget

I have been bad mouthing our little pug, Diamond, alot lately. I don't think she has been more horribly behaved than normal, but it seems that way because I am tired and always dealing with the baby, so I do not have time for her. I forget how funny she is and how much she makes me laugh with all the crazy things she does everyday. I have to keep in mind that the things that are making me mad now, used to make me smile. Here are a couple of pictures to help remind me why we love having her around.

Finally, an amusement park

We asked Noah what he would like to do for an end of the year event. He wanted to ride some roller coasters. We have drug him to Disney theme parks so much in the past three years that he was craving some serious rides. So we headed again to California, but this time to Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain. Other than the typical LA traffic, we had a perfect time. Reese did so awesome during the drive and at the parks. The weather was just right and Noah and Dave and I got our fill of terrorizing thrill rides. Noah's next goals are to get to Cedar Point and King's Island in Ohio and Great Adventure in New Jersey. Maybe when Reesie is tall enough to ride in a few years. She is already a thrill seeker - when she is in her stroller, she likes it bumpy and fast! I was not able to get any pictures on rides because they were all to fast and crazy, but I did get a few other pictures.

This is as fast and bumpy as it got for Reese on this trip, but soon she will be riding with us.

She did get to meet Snoopy!

Everyone crashed at night after our exciting days getting whipped around on the rides. Time for us all to go to the chiropractor when we get home!

Fleetwood Mac!

I have not been to a concert in a very long time. The most recent one was Gordon Lightfoot a few months ago, but I would hardly call sitting and watching a 70+ year old man play his guitar on stage, no earplugs necessary, a real concert. Granted, it's amazing that he can still do what he does, but I'm talking a standing-room-only-permanent-hearing-loss-several-encore concert. And I can't remeber the last one of those I had attended - maybe Nine Inch Nails in college. So, when I heard that Fleetwood Mac was coming to Phoenix, I got excited. I bought tickets for my dad, Dave and I. We were 17th row center! Now I know what you are thinking "Isn't Fleetwood Mac a group of old poeple also?" Well, yes they are, but they put on an amazing show. It was all I had remembered a real concert should be, but I have to admit, it was a little loud and went a little too late :) ! It was a great time.

Living vicariously

I have thought that I would like to take up rock climbing and become really good at it. What a great way to get into shape and do some thrill seeking. When I have done it before, I enjoyed it, but have just never made the commitment to do it alot.

So, for a Christmas present for Noah's friends, we told him we would take him to the local climbing gym. I thought this would be a great chance to get Noah and his friend to fall in love with climbing and get hooked on it. I was sure it would become their new passion - what boy does not like climbing rocks?!

Anyway, I was forgetting who my son is - someone who does not end up liking anything that he cannot master the first time he tries it - and climbing is tiring and very hard. And although he did very well, he became quickly fatigued and frustrated. Needless to say, Noah did not come away from the experience very excited, and I guess if I am going to become a climber I'll have to do it myself.

Tin Grin

On the last day of school, Noah's big reward was to get braces! Not much of a treat. He has been such a trooper. First a retainer that promptly got lost by his mom, then another retainer that got eaten by the dog, and now this. Hopefully, he will only have to endure for a few more months and he will have a brilliant smile for the rest of his life. I think he looks brilliant with his braces though!

First year over

Noah's first year at Sonoran Science Academy ended on May 21st! I can't believe how incredibly fast it went! I am so impressed with how well he adjusted and performed with all the changes that happened this school year - a new school, new friends, new sister. Noah, I hope that you are extremely pleased with yourself and how you have overcome and succeeded in all the challenges you faced this year - highest scores on MAP testing, straight A's, second place in the region for science fair project, "Music Student of the Year".

On the last day of school, there was an assembly where awards were given out. Dave also wrote a song that he and the music teacher taught to the kids and sang it to Noah's homeroom teacher - Miss Leyla. It was so awesome to see how much the kids all supported and knew each other and how much they all loved their teachers.

I am so glad we made the switch to SSA - and I think Noah is too. He deserves a huge amount of credit for struggling through the difficult beginning and sticking to it. Noah had great teachers (one of which got "Teacher of the Year") and a wonderful group of kids to help him feel confident and welcome. We are looking forward to seeing them all next year!

Her blessing

On May 17th, we had Reese blessed. There were 4 babies blessed that day! It's amazing to think that just over two years ago, when we first arrived at this church, there were many Sundays when Noah was the only child there and now there are so many and growing! It was very special to have Dave be the one to bless her.

Here are some pictures after we got home of her beautiful gown that Grandma bought for her special day. She was fairly cranky that day at church, so I got some pictures when things were calmer at home. Again, I totally messed up getting pictures of everyone that came to share the event with Reese - Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma Great Hardcastle, Grammy and Pop, Aunt Heidi, Cousins Sadie and Burnee and big brother Noah. We missed Uncle Tate who had to work.

Burrrrr!

We have had some unseasonably hot weather this May (I know that is hard to believe). So Noah wanted to get in the pool. I got overly anxious to see how Reese would react to the pool and decided to take her in. I am a real baby when it comes to the temperature of the water and me wanting to get in. Well, it was only about 74 degrees (ideally I like about 84) and it was cold! Well, Reese really is a baby when it comes to the temperature of the water, so she and I were only willing to go as far as the first step. I'm not sure what she will think when the water gets warm enough to get in. We should find out in a couple of weeks.