This weekend we were able to leave town and go camping with my parents, and my brother Brian and his family. We love the outdoors and try to go camping often. The kids had alot of fun, the weather was beautiful, and we played lots of card games which are a family favorite, especially when we are camping! Here are just a few pictures of our trip.

 I learned how to play cribbage when I was really little and have been playing it ever since. I taught Kent how to play when we got married, and now he whoops me almost every time!

Early Saturday morning I was out with the kids starting a fire and Ruby found this nasty tarantula (at least I think that's what it is)! The spider ended up crawling into the fire to its death! I can't say I was disappointed =)

We had such a great camping spot! There was a huge cement slab that the kids rode their bikes on for hours. They had so much fun! They saw me take out my phone to take a picture and they all lined up and said "Cheese" without me even asking =). I have the cutest nieces and nephews! (Left to Right: Blake, Morgan, Ruby)

Last weekend was the Graham County fair in Safford, so of course we had do go enjoy the festivities.  We picked up grandma on the way so she could enjoy the fair as well. While there we enjoyed a hand dipped corn dog, hamburger, and one of our favorite snacks, kettle corn. We walked around and visited all the booths and found our niece's and nephew's artwork that was on display. Oh and my sisters started running and decided to do the 5K run that morning so I decided to run it with them. 

I ended up taking 2nd place over all the women!

Our oldest nephew, Austin, turned 12 a couple weeks ago. I cant believe he grew up so fast! He is such a good young man. He takes such good care of his younger siblings, he's respectful, and is always trying to do the right thing. We were able to be there when he was ordained a deacon and he is so excited to start passing the sacrament and going to mutual. We are so proud of the young man he has become! (and then there is Allie, photo bombing the picture =) )

Night Ride!

Kent and I showed up to my parents house last night to find 4 of my nieces and nephews at their house for a sleep over. It was a beautiful night so they were about to go on a ride on my parents golf cart. So of course, we couldn't miss out on the fun, so we joined them! We drove around town and then stopped off at Hawaiian Snow for some tasty treats!

Back to Gilbert!

This last weekend we went back to Gilbert for a wedding party. One of Kent's really good friends from high school, Amy, is getting married in Jamaica next month. Since most of us are unable to attend, they had a dinner party in Gilbert. Unfortunately I didnt get any pictures while we were there :( But we are super happy for Amy and Greg! While we were in town we visited with some good friends and we got to go to one of my favorite places to eat, Costa Vida!! We enjoyed a delicious dinner there with some of our favorite people, the Talbots and Maughans. These guys are practically family and have been so supportive and helpful during our years of infertility and our adoption process. We are so grateful to have them as friends. (Unfortunately Richard didn't make it in the picture because he had to take it for us).

California Trip

Last week we took a trip to California with my mom and dad. We did a lot during those 5 days. It was really exhausting but we had so much fun! We started out the trip by visiting the city I was born in and where my parents grew up, which was San Jose, CA. My mom's sister, Becky, still lives there so we stayed with her. The picture below is a park in San Jose by my grandparents' house that we used to always go to. They had cement slides that we loved to go down. You sit on a piece of cardboard, and you just fly down! I really don't know how we did it as kids so often! It was pretty scary. In fact, I finally convinced Kent to go down with me. He went once, and wouldn't go again. So unfortunately I don't have a pic of him going down.

Then we went to our favorite Pizza place- House of Pizza!

And of course, the main reason we went to California..... Oakland A's Game!!! My dad is a HUGE A's fan. He looks up their ranking and stats Constantly =)

 This is Big Basin near Monterey. Red Wood trees are Amazing!!!

 This is Carmel. Some of my best memories of California are at this beach. It was Beautiful and the sand was so soft!! Some of these pics show a little bit of our goofy side. We were trying to get a good pic of us jumping and kicking our heels =)

This is at Dennis the Menace park near Monterey. We used to go to Monterey quite often and we would almost always go to this park. We used to be able to play on the train, but now it is fenced off =(.

 Lover's Point at Monterey. So Romantic =)

 Eating clam chowder bread bowl on the warf in Monterey. It was DELICIOUS! We used to Love this place!

This is where we used to go camping in San Jose. It was really pretty. We even saw a deer!

After this trip, we got pretty good at taking Selfies!

 My parents thought they were pretty tough after climbing up the mountain to the waterfall =)

 My dad wanted to take a picture underneath the bridge. All the blood was rushing to his head so I didnt have much time to snap the picture. And I was scared I was going to drop my phone in the water!

Our last day in California was spent in San Francisco. I was pretty excited because there was a huge earthquake just outside of S.F. just a few hours before we got there. I was hoping we would feel some after shock. Unfortunately, we felt nothing =( But we got to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge!

 This was a day tour cruise. Went underneath the G.G Bridge and the Bay Bridge and also circled around Alcatraz. It was REALLY windy and cold. And it was kinda scary going underneath the bridges. Especially since there was just an earthquate.

 Here is Kent being goofy again!

 Overlooking the Crazy city of San Francisco.

It was a fun trip. Im glad my parents let us tag along with them!

Last night we went to Paige's birthday party. She turned 1 this weekend! I can't believe its already been a year since we first held her in the hospital. I'm not sure if I have mentioned yet, but we have 15 nieces and nephews just on my side of the family (there are 6 kids in my family. 5 girls and 1 boy). Everyone except my little sister live here in Thatcher, and that is definitely one of the main reasons I love living here. We all get together quite often for birthdays, the kids sporting events, and sometimes, just because. It is just so much fun seeing all the kids playing together and everyone getting along. That's what life is all about. Its about family. I'm not going to lie, at times, it does get a little crazy with that many kids, but in the end its all worth it. To walk into a room full of crazy kids that are distracted playing with new toys, screaming and having fun, and then all of a sudden feeling little arms wrap around my waste giving me the sweetest hug. It makes all the craziness worth it! The kids definitely love Uncle Kent too. Brooklee, the little blonde 5 yr old with the braids is always asking about Uncle Kent. One day I showed up alone and Brooklee quickly asked, with a very concerned look on her face, " Where's Uncle Kent?". I told her that he was at work, and I could tell she was sad. Later, as I was getting ready to leave, she followed me out to my car and said, "Auntie Amy, tell Uncle Kent that I said Hi". We love our nieces and nephews so much and we are definitely enjoying our short time here in Thatcher.