Kris and Blake visit!

The Smiths came down for Easter weekend. They stayed at the Arizona Grand. Samantha and I went over on Saturday and visited them. I was a little bummed I didnt bring my suit because they have an awesome pool and I wasnt expecting it to be so warm out over there!

Jordan and Chris headed back home on Sunday while Kris and Blake stayed a few more days and a couple days with us! On Tuesday we headed over to the Phoenix Zoo...
Courtney, Samantha and Blake road the camel...Sydney was too scared, you would think that Courtney would be my little fraidy cat but it's Sydney...Courtney is the daredevil!

This fake cow you could fake "milk"

Petting (brushing) the goats is always fun!

they pretended they were mermaids

and a merman!

On Weds before Sam went to school, I took them out to the White Tank mountains...I got a little lost on the way there so Sam was late for school but it was worth it. The flowers are blooming now. We went on a short half mile hike and played on the playground for a bit.

Courtney

I love it when she is so happy and all smiley!

skype

Chatting w Namy on Easter
The girls blew kisses to Unlce Lex
and he blew them back!
We love Skype!

Dying of the Easter Eggs

Beka helped the girls dye eggs on Easter. We made deviled eggs out of them for dinner that night!

Easter

On Saturday our church had a walking play about the days of before and after the Crucifixion. Sam seemed to really enjoy it but the twinks were a little young for it. On Sunday after the Easter service they continued it with the Resurrection. It was really neat to see Samantha understand the whole blessed event. I am so glad she goes to Trinity for preschool. The only time the kids go to the actual church service is on Christmas and Easter, they are usually in Sunday school while I go to church. The past few times we've gone it's been hard because the twinks dont sit still and Jon and I spending more time trying to keep them quiet but this time they were content and we could enjoy the whole service. Sam was cute when Pastor Bolte came in she said, "That's my pastor, Pastor Bolte, what's he doing here?" He gives little preschoolers a message every Weds and she didnt realize he gave the sermons on Sundays too!

took 20 pictures and this is the only one that turned out...love it!

Jon and picked out these dresses over a month ago and I completely forgot about new shoes for them. I loved the shoes they each picked out...Courtney and her 'duckie' crocs, Samantha and her ruby red shoes and Sydney went with black "Christmas" shoes!

I am really bummed because I video taped the whole easter egg hunt and when I uploaded to my computer it got messed up so it's gone...so no pictures or video of the hunt! Oh well, the egg hunt and the bunny have really nothing to do with what Easter is all about anyways...

Jesus Christ has Risen,
Happy Easter!

Friday Night Enchanted Island

The $5 Friday night all you can ride wristbands are back at Enchanted Island. I invited the Kemps to come along, Bradley is in Sams class and Allison is the same age as the twins. They had never been and a good time was had by all...

The Merry go round is always the first thing we go on...

Courtney is our little daredevil and wants to go on everything!

Samantha and Bradley on the Dragon rollercoaster...Bradley was a little unsure at first but after the 3rd time around he was digging it!

Courtney has her arms up! Wahooo!!

all the girls in the helicopter!

Bradley really wanted to go on this ride, Amy is afraid of heights but took him anyways...what a good mom!

Daughter and daddy!

It goes up pretty high!!

while they were on the ballon ride I took the twinks on the spinning teacups!

We packed a picnic dinner and fed the ducks. What a great way to spend a Friday evening!!

On March 15, 2009 Alyssa moved in with us. We had a great year with her but today she moved back to WA. It was a sad moment to see her go. The next few weeks are going to be hard adjusting to life without her around. The kids absolutely adored her and they had brushed hair and painted nails because of her! Cheers to the next chapter in her life!

The room is always available for her to come back...