Arizona

Back in May we went to Arizona for our friend's wedding. It was quite the road trip for such a short stay, but it was a fun adventure! We got to explore new territory as we drove down to Arizona. Southern Utah really has a lot of beauty! There are so many beautiful red rock formations and just amazing scenery! As usual, pictures just do not do it justice!

 As we were coming into the Arizona desert, I was wondering where all the iconic cacti were. I didn't see any and I had expected to see them all over. Then it was as if a line was drawn across the scenery. We went from no cacti to huge cacti everywhere! Some of them were seriously so huge! They are such strange looking plants!

Our awesome friends from Colorado, the Wastarts, were also there for the wedding so we booked our hotels together and got to play! We had a whole day open to explore. We went to downtown Scottsdale and walked along all the shops. We even stopped for ice cream at a cute little sweets shop.

Living in Utah has been disappointing when it comes to finding good Mexican food. We got a recommendation from the hotel staff for a Mexican restaurant and it ended up being delicious! Madilyn liked the salsa so much that at one point we caught her drinking it from the bowl! (It had a little kick to it, too!)

Jenn got married in the Mesa temple. It is a beautiful temple and we were happy we could be there. After the wedding we had a picnic lunch outside. Jenn made the comment that she loved the beautiful spring weather......um, say what? It was 104 degrees outside! If that is beautiful spring weather, I am sure glad we were not there in the summer! I was not made for heat! Bring me snow any day!

The reception was in Prescot which was a lot cooler and more of a mountain area. Madilyn had fun dancing and kept asking me if she could "give the princess a hug!" That's right, Jenn was a princess! We stayed the night in the hotel that the reception was at and our room looked like a condo rather than a hotel room. We had one more night of fun with the Wastarts before heading home the next day.

Earlier in May.......
Lucas and I went to a show called Cavalia. It was basicaly Cirque De Sole with horses. It was an amazing show and we really enjoyed it! We even had fun talking with the couple who sat next to us. At one point in the show the stage was flooded with water and the horses danced in the water.! The tickets were expensive (but worth it) and I think it is because of all the advertising costs they had. I am pretty sure they rented every available billboard in the area! There were about 20 billboards advertising for it just in the stretch of I-15 between Spanish Fork and Orem (about a 15 min drive).

Easter and The Tulip Festival

For Easter this year my parents were in town! We were excited to have a fun weekend with them and then....it hit! The pukes! 

We were on our way home from Costco when Tyson started erupting like a volcano in the car. We got home and got him cleaned up and he did it again! In the mean time, Madi was going potty and started crying. When we checked on her we found that she had erupted as well! I gave both kids showers and put them to bed. 

We began a game with my parents to try to enjoy what was left of the evening, and we were interrupted twice by Madilyn and at least one more time by Tyson with more eruptions. After changing the beds and cleaning the kids numerous times, we were finally able to get ourselves to bed. 

The next day they seemed to be doing better, but we decided to forego the egg hunt with my cousins, just in case. Sure enough, Tyson woke up from his nap screaming and covered in puke! Luckily, Madilyn was done with it! We were well enough to have a fun egg hunt from the Easter Bunny at our house on Easter and everyone seemed to be doing ok! It had been more than 24 hours since the last eruption, so it seemed we were out of the woods! There was a get-together at my grandma's house that night. Lucas, unfortunately, was starting to feel sick, so he stayed home, but the rest of us went. We had a fun time, but Lucas texted me saying that he had started puking! We went home and as soon as we got in the house, Tyson puked again! Seriously?!? That night my mom joined in the puke war. 

The next day I took them to the airport to go home and on the way back from the airport, Tyson went at it again! At this point I was going a little crazy! I'm just glad I didn't get hit with it because puking is one of the worst things in the world to me. This seemed to be the end of it, and we made it three whole days with nothing. It must be over with, right? On thursday evening as I was headed out the door for a meeting, Tyson puked! Luckily, this was the last of it! I don't think I could have handles any more!

 It was definitely an Easter unlike any other! I at least got some pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes at a time when they were feeling ok!

A couple of weeks later, Lucas's mom came to visit. We decided to all go to the Tulip Festival. It was so beautiful! The only other time we had been to the gardens was last Fall for the Scarecrow Festival. It was neat to see the different flowers that were in bloom now, and it was fun to try to re-create some of the photos that we took in the Fall. It was really windy, but we had fun and enjoyed sharing it with Grandma!

Bathroom Reveal

Lucas and I love doing projects around the house. We love it so much that I refer to Home Depot as "my happy place".

Since our hallway bathroom seemed so plain, I sketched out a plan for it and Lucas was on board. It started with finding the right shower curtain, which we did over a year ago. It just took some time before we finally got the rest of the plan in motion.

Shopping at my happy place!

BEFORE:

I got a little excited to start and started sanding before I got the "before" pictures!

I was the designer and Lucas was the muscle. I did help with the work, though. I helped paint and I sanded down the cabinet. Lucas built the frame for the mirror and raised the light fixture to accommodate for the frame. He hung everything and made sure it was caulked and looking nice. We added hardware to the cabinet and swapped the towel bar for some hooks. We picked out a new towel ring and TP holder to match all the new hardware.


AFTER:

I think the frame on the mirror made the most difference. We are very pleased with how it turned out and it was fun to see what I had sketched out over a year ago finally come together!

Tyson's Birthday... and Other Happenings

My baby boy is a year old now! His birthday was January 15th and it came way too fast. He started walking just a week or two after his birthday! Now his favorite thing to do is to practice walking. Tyson is always laughing and is one of the happiest babies I know. He loves going to the store, especially when we get a race car cart. He is starting to talk more and can now say: Mamma, milk, uh huh, no, ok, thank you, prayer, amen, more, night night, and love you. Lucas taught Tyson how to shake his head "no" and it is the cutest thing. He always does it with a big smile on his face! Tyson has started folding his arms for prayer and exclaiming "Amen!" when it is over.

Tyson loved his cake! After both of his hands were coated in cake and frosting he stared at the cake for a moment then went for it face first!

                        

Tyson keeps us entertained. He loves to take off his socks and carry them in his mouth like a puppy! The other day he was playing with blocks while I was resting on the couch. He got quiet for a moment then started to laugh. I looked up and he was walking toward me with the blocks bag over his head! He thought he was so funny!

One day Tyson decided to climb into this drawer in the kitchen. He was so proud of himself that he does it all the time now!

One day I was making dinner and Tyson stole my towel and put it on his head. He crawled all around the room and put it back up every time it fell. He thought he was so funny! (I thought so too!)

Lately when I tell Tyson to go upstairs he will go straight to the toys and pick a toy to carry up the stairs. Silly boy!

Madilyn is the cutest 2 1/2 year old and she keeps us entertained as well. We were at my parents house over the holidays and there were some water bottles and sparkling juice bottles in the fridge. Madi went up and pointed to each one saying, "water, water, water, bubbles, bubbles. There are three waters!" Now she can count to ten all on her own and is working on the teens. She can also sing her ABC's.

Madilyn saw me straightening my hair and asked me to do hers. Ever wonder what she looks like without all those curls?

Madilyn loves to be independent and her new thing is to dress herself in the morning when she wakes up. This is what she picked out the first time she did it. She was so proud!

Me: Did you have a good nap?

Madi: No!

Me: Why not?

Madi: Cuz Snow White (her doll) was taking a nap, too. She was snoring! It was noisy!

One of Madi's favorite things to do is have me chase her around the room until I catch her and tickle her. Then she chases me. At least we are both getting our exercise and I am getting my steps on my fitbit!

Madilyn has become very aware of emotions and for a long time would pout and say "I'm so sad!" Sometimes she had a reason, but a lot of the time she couldn't tell us why she was sad. We started talking a lot about being happy. Sometimes she is still sad, but more and more I am hearing her say, "Mom, I am SO happy!" That makes me happy, too!

Madilyn had her first sinus infection in January. She and Tyson had both had colds and she kept pointing to her sinuses saying it hurt. We took her to the doctor and got her some medicine. One of the worst things about being a parent is seeing your kids suffer.

We got to go to the Provo City Temple open house. It was beautiful! I was neat to see because I had been to this building several times in college when it was the Tabernacle.

Madi and Tyson have gotten very used to shopping with Mommy! They love the race car carts at Smith's.

My sister had another little girl in January. This is my beautiful new niece, Kate!