Surprise!

Well, our photo card broke (Scott said there were teeth marks on it and it was bent, but he thinks everything in our house that gets broken is due to this), anyway, I won't have any pictures for a few days. But I wanted to post that I'm pregnant. Along with the rest of our ward here. I am almost 10 weeks along and due in April.
Christian started soccer and he actually scored a goal on Saturday. It was very exciting. He still has a lot to learn, but he's doing well. Alyssa goes to a basketball clinic and she does about the same as she did in soccer--stands a couple feet away from the ball and bounces. But she loves it! And Amber loves her dance class! She keeps showing me her swan bow. I will include pics next week.
Scott had a day of golf in Phoenix last week and decided that was the last time they'd spend a full day outside in Phoenix while it's still summer. I think next time they'll head north. But it sounds like they had a good time.
I have not been feeling all that great so I'm just trying to keep my head above water. I have always had easy pregnancies, so I guess it's only fair it catches up with me sometime, but I can't wait for it all to be over--already!
Anywho, hope you are all doing well. Until later!

Camping II

This time it didn't even phase me that we didn't have bathrooms. Michael and Lindsey came from Mesa and we went up the "mountain" to spend the night. It was kind of scary at first with lightning, rain and cold winds. But the evening was beautiful after about 10:00 and we had a good time just sitting around the campfire. Amber got a lot of smoke in her eyes and couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Unfortunately, while the kids were playing in our tent, they spilled water all over and our bed was so cold! Scott and I took turns rolling over and keeping the other one warm while we waited out the night. We didn't get much sleep. But the next morning was nice so we took the kids shooting and picked wild blackberries off the hill. Much blood was lost to those plants, but it was worth it that night for the shakes we made!

The girls got to go out that afternoon and I got my first real pedicure. It was, um, fun? Painful? Gross? Remember, we had just gone camping and the lady doing mine had a lot of work cut out for her. Not only that, but I am either in sandals or bare feet. She asked me which spa I had gone to before, because they obviously didn't do a good job. But the results were wonderful. I can't believe these are my feet. Thanks so much to the guys for letting us go and Lindsey for taking me!

First day of school

I keep telling Alyssa that she's in second grade this year because there's no way I have a third grader, but she won't listen to me. She was very excited to go back to school and Scott, who dropped them off, said she was barely out the door before she was surrounded by friends. She is also starting band this year and will be learning the flute. Christian was a little nervous about starting, but he has a friend from his primary class in his class and so he's ready to go now. He will be playing soccer in a couple weeks and I think it will be very good for him. Amber began preschool the next day and has done some awesome things already and loves to play with her friends. We have preschool at our house this week, so hopefully we survive. There are 8 kids this year. She is also starting dance in a couple weeks, so it looks like a busy fall for us. Good thing I like to be in the car!

Alivia

I already posted tonight, but I had some adorable pictures of Alivia I wanted to put up. She has grown so much! She is like a tall, skinny weed. Her legs have fluffed out since the cast came off, but it will be awhile before she walks. She has to wear a brace at night, but she doesn't let let that bother her. She rolls all over with it on. The kids love to play with her now, but she's not a very nice playmate. Her favorite thing to do is scratch them, but they laugh and so she keeps doing it.

We all love her, though, and life would be dull without her.

Summer fun

I haven't posted for awhile because I didn't think anything interesting was happening, but when I was looking through our pictures I realized we've been busier than I thought. When we got back from our trip we went hiking, shooting, and fishing with some friends. It's so beautiful in the mountains it's hard to believe we're in Arizona.

The kids have been doing a lot of swimming, and Alyssa's hair has actually turned green. I was hoping it would wash out, but it hasn't yet. Hopefully it will fade before school starts.

Then we went to our stake pioneer day and the kids had a lot of fun riding on hay rides, playing in the water, eating lunch and having 3 snow cones each. Christian was very worried they were going to cost money, but when they found out the snow cones were free, they went crazy.

Yesterday was Christian's birthday, and I don't have pictures of his party because Scott took the camera with him to work. He wanted to have a Wii party, so that's what we did. He had eight little boys over and they played games and had cupcakes. Easiest birthday party ever. I felt guilty it was so easy.

Scott had the weekend off and school starts next week, so we took advantage of the freedom and went camping. As we're getting in the car I asked Scott if there are bathrooms at the spot he was taking us. He gives me a 'duh' look and says no. I replied I didn't mean showers or anything, just toilets. He just looked at me. Port-a-potties? Nope. As we're driving the two hours away, I realize maybe there's no water. Nope. Good thing we were only staying one night.

Anyway, it was absolutely gorgeous where we were and it didn't matter that we used trees for bathrooms because we had the mountain to ourselves. The stars were amazing and we saw three shooting stars. I can't describe how dirty Alivia got, and you can't really tell from the picture, but believe me, she was.

Hope you are all enjoying the last part of summer as much as we are!

Too much fun!

Pictures say a thousand words so I have a novel this time, but I couldn't help myself. It's been a while since I posted because it took a week to get ready for our 2-week vacation and then another week to crawl out from under the mountain of laundry and yardwork we had and now I can find the computer.

Right before we left Alivia got her cast off. I intended to take pictures of this event, but I couldn't because they needed my help during the procedure. Needless to say, her legs were skinny and scaly but are doing much better now. She didn't even cry too much when they were cutting it off. A couple days later we were off.

We started out our trip spending time with Scott's family (went swimming, out on a date, visited Scott's old ward--no one recognized him) and then headed to Salt Lake to stay with Mike and Nicole. It has been way too long since we've seen you guys! We had a lot of fun at the Church History museum where we got to see some amazing things and they dressed the kids up in cute costumes (Christian was Gordon B. Hinckley and he looked adorable). Scott enjoyed golfing a couple times with Mike and it was nice just hanging out playing games and catching up.

After that we came back to Provo and the Reece reunion started. We had a lot of fun. The kids got to ride Arian's pony, marched in the children's 4th of July parade, we went and saw Wall-E, went to the temple and out to Brick Oven and then we went up the canyon for an Olympics. We hate to say it, but the Thompsons dominated. Scott won the pie eating contest and Christian and Alyssa participated in the ice-cream cone eating contest.

You'd think after all this we'd be vacationed out, but the next day we left for Colorado for the Thompson reunion. Oh, and Scott will be mad if I don't mention that he was horseshoe champion at the Sweeney reunion again. He was disappointed he didn't get a hat, but I was happy with the crisp $10 bill they gave him. Anyway, thank you Grandpa and Holly for the wonderful time we had in Colorado. Grandpa took us to a Mexican restaurant with cliff divers and performers, etc. in Denver and the kids loved it. We also went to the zoo, shooting, on hikes, saw fireworks at a park and did lots of swimming. The kids loved the cabin we stayed in even though it was just a glorified tent. It was also good to see all the cousins and the beautiful country there. It will be remembered for a long time.

Anyway, we're finally home now and have been enjoying the monsoons. It rains just about every afternoon and cools everything down and we have lots of loud thunder and lightning. Also, this morning Scott went outside and found a new friend. A big hairy tarantula. I could really have lived without the knowledge that those things are in my backyard. The kids have named it Doc Oc and it has 2 more days here and then it's moving on.

Hope all of you are doing well and enjoying your summer!

Wow! What a weekend.

Wow! What a weekend. It's been a while since I last posted because I went slightly manic and decided to overhaul my house before company came for Alyssa's baptism. We painted, changed light fixtures, got new curtains and slept very little.

Scott's parents and his sister and her family came all the way from Provo for 1 day to be here. Thanks so much! And to Lindsey for driving from Mesa by herself with the kids. We appreciate all who were able to be there. What an awesome experience. Alyssa looked beautiful in her white dress and everything went well. The talks were really good, and just at her level. Scott threatened everyone with pain if they went over 3 minutes to speak, and we had everything over in about 1/2 hour. And then we had a luncheon with a 6 foot sub and was good except for the cake which was supposed to be white but turned out to be carrot. Alyssa didn't even touch it. Oh, well!

Afterwards the girls went shopping (again--I guess our prices are better than Utah's because we did that a lot) and the guys napped/watched the kids. Then we had a BBQ and celebrated Alivia's birthday. She got her own piece of cake and a bunch of clothes that she can finally wear next week after her cast comes off. We'll definitely send pics of that. I am so curious what her legs are going to look like.

Until then, thanks for everything all of you do. Hope you have a great day and we can't wait to see everyone in Utah next week!