Circus

Laurel really outdid herself this year. Isabel is four (FOUR!!) and her par-tay was bomb.
{Sorry. Some of these pictures are a little fuzzy.}

The scene.

The face-painting.

The butterfly.

The race-car.

The flower.

The cake.

The caramel-apples.

The party hats.

(Sarah took this picture... with Scott's help. Seriously.)

The roomies.

The birthday girl and the rainbow.
(And the earrings for big-girl pierced ears.)

The family.

The cousin.
(Jeff. I love this guy. He is Wade Jr.)

The other cousin.
(Jason's cute cousin, Kelsey... with baby Scarlett.)

The best father and little boy ever.

(Although, I may be a little biased.)

Smiley Sister

I've been wondering how to make my girl show off her smile for the camera. Turns out it's all in the camera... well, the light on the camera, anyway.

Check out this cheeser.

These first shots are stolen from Laurel's blog (from Scarlett and Ben's blessing.)

Love her!

These are actually from my camera, but I had Scotty right by me with his camera phone's light on.

And, check out this adorable "beanlee" from Megan. So cute.

She's almost there...

Since I've finally figured out how to take videos off our camcorder and upload them, here's one of Sarah girl. She's so close to crawling, but this "wounded soldier" army crawl is pretty awesome.

Sleepy Boy

Little Monsters

So, Jack is three years old.

I know. I can't believe it either.

We had a lot of fun at Jack's birthday party. Markelle went all out and did the cutest "monster" theme... Everything "monster": the invitations, the "monster mouths", the cake, the pinata. It was awesome.

Jake and Jack.

My little monster.

My other little montser.

Oh, and Sarah too. :)

Ian.

I love this crazy-smart, goofy kid.

Oh my gosh. Isn't she adorable?

This is Mia. (Hondo and Marisa's... and Ian's little sis.)

I'm loving this picture so much.

Ian thought it would be funny to whack his sister on the head. (It kind of was.)

 But, this girl is tough. She never broke her pose.

The monster crew:

Ian, Jack (Birthday Boy), Jake, and Mia.

Markelle's amazingly cute monster cake.

Marisa and Ian.

 Jen and Doug.
I cannot wait to see what their little Van will look like.
Geez... C'mon March--hurry up and get here! :)

Arizona Love

When my mom told me she was planning on going to Arizona to visit her mom (my Nannie), I jumped at the chance to invite myself along. 

As a family, we used to spend a lot a time in Arizona at Nannie and Papa's house. We were down there at least twice a year every year that my parents lived in Utah. Once they moved to Washington, I found myself in college, and spending all my time off from school or work journeying Northward instead of South.  Needless to say, I've missed my Arizona.

Although it had been over six years since I had been there, some things never change... and I found myself feeling very sentimental, nostalgic, and a little existential throughout my week with Nannie, my mom, and my kids. 

But maybe those nostalgic thoughts are for another post...

This one's for pictures. :)

 

This is Caleb. He's my cousin, Jacki's little guy and is about one week older than my Sarah.

Sarah is giving her new pal a little pat.
(I wish my "pat-down" at the airports had been this innocent and happy.)

I love this chubby little guy.

This is Lily.
If you think you are looking at my cousin, LaChae in miniature, you might be right.
I took to little Lily immediately. (Although I had met her before.) All week, whenever we were together, she would bring me her treasures and show off her talents. I loved it.

Miss Maddie. Jacki's girl. She is the sweetest little thing.

Are you kidding me with this kid?!! Little Wyatt. LaChae's newest.

My mom pretending like she is Maria... and the kids.

My Papa's grave.

I am so happy that we made this visit a priority. I don't think I've visited Papa's grave since he died. 

Nannie, Mom, and I shared a few tears and laughs here during our visit.

To say that he is missed is the biggest understatement ever... Actually, that sounds like I'm making light of it. I really, truly miss my Papa. He's one of the greatest men I've ever known.

Mom and Nan.

I love my Nannie.

My parents, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents were all sealed in the Mesa Temple.

I loved walking around the grounds with my mom and Jakey. (Nannie volunteered to sit in the car with sleeping Sarah.)

I may or may not have told Jake that this random truck in the parking lot was "Mater".

... And my mom may or may not have placed him on what he now calls "My Mater."

Pretty cool truck, though.

Arizona's sunsets are killer.

I dig palm trees.

Pretty.

Jake fell in love with Nannie's toys.

Especially Lara's old wooden chicken, Steve's old cars and trucks, and the Cowboys and Indians.

We put a pink foam curler in Sarah's "hair". It kind of worked.

Then, she and Nannie played their little game of of tilting their head back and forth... it's Sarah's new favorite game, and it's pretty adorable.

See? I told you.

I wish I went through my Nannie's house and taken more pictures. At least I got the pool.

We had to constantly tell Jake that the pool was locked and we couldn't go in.

Oh, man. Oh, man. 

These orange trees are amazing.

Seriously, the fruit is straight from heaven.

Jake loved picking oranges.

I loved spending time with m Kempton family. Here we are playing "Hilarium", which was hilarious.

Wade and Caleb.

Nannie and Sarah.

Jacki and Jeff.

 

And finally, LaChae and Wyatt.

LaChae and her kids came by before I flew out on Monday.

I love this cousin.

It's funny (and sad) how little I get to see LaChae  nowadays, when I saw her everyday for four semesters of college.

P.S. I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of little Kate. She is perfect.