Arizona Trip

We finally made it to Arizona. We were there over Easter. This trip was a long time in the planning. I had been wanting to go but it just never could come together well. But finally we made it work and man was it fun! Shanna and her family have been there for about 2 years. Weird to have such close family somewhere you have never been so you can't even get a visual of where they are and what they are experiencing. It was in the middle of the semester so Cole stayed but the kids and I went and had a blast for a solid week.  Here are some of our adventures!

Cade and Austin played so well together. It helps that they love they same things-cars and trains!

We went to the Children's Museum in Phoenix. The kids loved it and there were so many creative things to do. The first two are of Cade and Austin running around in the noodle forest.

They have a pool in their complex with a great shallow end and lots of sand to play in. 

Both watching Cars-their favorite movie.

Gotta have a twin picture!

We, of course, needed a project to work on. We made matching maxi skirts.

I loved the time I got to spend time with Kensley.  She will be so big the next time I see her I am sure. She was adorable. 

Shanna's blog also has some cute pictures found here. It was nice for the kids to have some good quality cousin time. Cade loved someone following him and Austin loved someone to follow. We loved our time there hope to be able to get together some time soon!

Easter

I am so behind! Oh well. Here is to documenting our Easter. We had some fun Easter festivities. Best of all we got to be in Arizona with Shanna and her family (another post will be dedicated to that). Worst of all was that Cole couldn't come. So we were not a compete family but we were definitely with family! Before we left we have a Easter egg hunt at a nearby park with friends. We have loved getting to know these families.

 She was really into the cheese puffs!

I love how she is trying to hold this as a purse!

Then here was Arizona. We first had an Easter egg hunt at Midwestern where Shanna's husband is going to school.

Here is Easter morning. And yes more matching. We really wanted at least the girls to have matching dresses. I was already planning on making one for Rylee so I did a smaller matching one. (They were not something I just whipped up-I think Easter dresses took over my life for like 2 weeks! But very worth it!)

We also dyed eggs and had Resurrection rolls.

 

 We had so much spending time with far away family as well as celebrate Easter. More on our Arizona trip to come!

Kansas City Temple

Yesterday Cole and I had the opportunity to help with the temple open house. We were tour hosts and led groups through the temple. A very unique and exciting opportunity! For a few weeks we have been reviewing and practicing our talking points. It was a little nerve racking at first but then just turned really exciting. Up until Friday, there were about 21,000 people who have gone on the temple tour. They are expecting around 90,000 total. We had a few hiccups and difficult questions but overall, a great experience interacting with those on our tours. 

It is pretty exciting to be part of a new temple district. The night before the dedication the youth of the temple district will participate in a cultural celebration including song and dance. The prophet and Elder Holland are scheduled to be there. I have been helping the youth with the dance portions and will get to be there that night back stage helping. I am so excited! It has been so much fun to be part of this change.

This was taken about a month ago on our way back from the airport. It was being finished on the inside.

 This was after our tour guide training.

Children's Discovery Center

On the last day of Cole's spring break we took a little day trip to Topeka to visit the Children's Discovery Center. It was perfect for Cade and Rylee. They loved it. And I guess I have grown up, at least a little bit, since I had just as much fun watching them enjoy themselves as they did exploring all the fun things. Here are a slew of pictures.

Very typical. 

Her constant cheesy smile for the camera.

Great 'keystone' teaching moment!

He is always finding new ways to write his name.

Cade and Cole got to go into the workshop to build something together.

Here Rylee was playing and singing to herself. It was very sweet. And she LOVED these magnetic flat block things. We might need some of these!

Still building!

The finished airplane.

Happy children happy momma!