Thanksgiving this year was with Greg's family
and was hosted by his brother's family.
The food was a-MA-zing and the company de-LIGHT-ful!!!
We had a BLAST!

After we ate we hung out in their HUGE acre+ backyard which was awesome because the weather was fabulous and they have TONS of toys and animals
(cats, dogs, tortoises, bunnies, and a horse).
What more can you ask for?!?!

Here are some fun pictures we snapped:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camping

We took the boys camping at a park near by.
The boys had a lot of fun roasting hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for dessert.

Everything went great until our dog had a standoff with a skunk!
Of course it sprayed and it was horrid!
Luckily the boys slept through it.

The next morning our dog was banned from anywhere near us!
(can you see him in the background?)

Plant with a Message

My bestie gave me a present one time that was this plant in a can. Everyday Reese made sure it had water and watched it grow. After it bloomed you could see a message on it. How cool is that? How do they do it??? It was a fun gift!
Thanks Cerra!

Silly Boy

Reese is such a character these days. It's a good time he's as entertaining as he is frustrating because otherwise I'm not sure if either of us would survive his terrible three's!

This reminds me of a picture my mom took of my brothers when they were little and had underwear over their heads too. CRAZY BOY!

Every morning Reese comes into our room (lately it's been before 6:00AM thanks to the early rising sun). He used to climb into our bed but now he climbs into Jake's bed and goes back to sleep.
Too cute!

Grand Canyon

Greg and I decided we wanted to hike the Grand Canyon. Greg had done the hike last year with the scouts. This would be my first time. We went down the South Kaibab trail to the river and then back up to the rim via Bright Angel trail. I think the whole trip was about 17 miles. This was certainly the longest hike I have ever done. I wanted to enjoy the hike, so I trained and trained and trained. Lots of running on an incline and steep hiking to build up endurance. I'm glad I trained because it made the last part much more enjoyable...Greg says he trained to make the last part just "less miserable". It is true, the last 2 miles are much harder than the first 15! We had a great time. It was such a good experience and I would do it again.

(Is it bad that one of the best parts for me was that I got my first overnight away from my kids???)

Boo splash pad...

A few weeks ago I took the kids to a splash pad. I was trying to keep an eye on Reese when I suddenly heard Collin cry. I turned around and he was leaning over with his hands on a metal grate. I could tell he was in pain by the way he was crying. I ran over to him (luckily he was only 10 feet away) and picked him up. His hands were red so I ran them in the water. It didn't take very long before I saw blisters starting to form (on both hands).
I called his pediatrician's office and the nurse said to take him into the Children's Hospital ER. I met Greg there so that he could take care of Reese. Poor Collin was crying the whole time. They finally gave him a dose of Tylenol with Codine and things were better after that. They wrapped his hands and told us to follow up with the AZ Burn Center the next day. I thought I was in for a long night with him up crying since they wrapped his thumb he sucks on... but the Tylenol with Codine worked great and he slept through the night.
So the next day I took him into the AZ Burn Center and they said his hands didn't have to be wrapped and to just put a lot of Hydrophor on them (to keep them hydrated). It took a couple of weeks for his hands to fully heal from the blisters, but he didn't seem to mind them too much.
Needless to say I had a few words with the Park's supervisor regarding that metal grate. When I told her my son burned his hands she knew the exact grate I was referring to. That tells me it probably happens fairly often each summer. So how come they don't have a cone or a sign around it? And why is it not painted white or something that might keep it cooler??? This happened on one of the 1st hot days here and he got 2nd degree burns???? I can only imagine how hot that grate gets when its been a constant 110 degrees for weeks! The supervisor said she would see about getting the grate painted white or a sign up over the grate. Maybe she will, maybe she won't but I felt like I had to at least call and try to get them to do something!

Splash Pad

Tis the season for Splash Pads!