Snow Day!

We woke up to snow yesterday morning. Arizona snow has got to be the best snow ever. It was snowing and cold at 7Am and by noon the sun was out and the snow was gone. My kinda snow!Clay had the day off so he actually got to come play with us this year. Most of the time it snows Clay is at work and doesn't get to enjoy the day with us. What better way to show him that we love him and that we love when he can come play with us than throwing snowballs at him!
We were cold, had frozen fingers and toes, and forgot our hats but we had a great time!

I looked in last year's blog book, we got snow in April. There's still hope for more!

D Hill Hike

Yesterday to celebrate President's Day we went for a hike.We drove to Douglas to hike up D Hill. It was very, very windy. It wasn't too cold and the sun was out so it turned out to be a good hiking day.
Now, some people may call this hike a "Grandma hike". I'll tell you something, it was quite a hike for me. I was coughing, out of breath, and as always holding everyone up. I made it to the top alive though!
Clay was so smart to pack the girls their binoculars, they were so excited when he pulled them out of the pack! It was so windy up on top but the view was amazing!
We sat up on top for quite awhile enjoying the view and the wind. The girls liked exploring and looking for pretty rocks to add to their collection.

The wind was so strong it was almost like being in a wind tunnel. You could lean into the wind and not fall over, it would hold you up. It was a fun experience for the girls. I do not like the wind, it tends to make me a little grouchy, but yesterday I actually enjoyed the wind for once.
It was Clay's idea to go hiking. I'm so glad we did. We all collected special rocks to remember our hike. We're going to try to get up to the B in Bisbee, we also want to see the A on A mountain. Then we'll need to find a C. Maybe we could do the whole alphabet in mountains! I love doing things as a family that the girls will always remember. It was a great way to spend a day off....together!

Until our next family adventure........

White Water Draw

Last week after church we wet for a family drive.One of the classes at school had gone on a field trip to Whitewater Draw to see the cranes. They said it was amazing. When Sydney was in third grade her class went to see the cranes. Sydney didn't get to go, that was the one day out of the whole year she was sick and missed school. The cranes are here from October until March so we thought it would be a good time to visit since they would be leaving soon.
It was amazing. They had long distance viewer's set up on docks. The girls really enjoyed looking at the Sandhill Cranes up close.
The girls enjoying the Cranes.
There were thousands of them. They were so loud! All the people that were out there were very quiet. The sound of the birds was loud but very cool. There are even a few geese mixed in with all the cranes.

We spent a few hours out on the dock observing. It was a lot of fun. The girls had a great time.

Clay even got to go with us! I think we'll always remember this little family drive. White Water Draw is only about 35 minutes from our house. A perfect little drive for the whole family. It was a neat way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

We set the timer on the camera to get a few pictures. We couldn't hear the click of the picture being taken over the birds or see the light flashing because of the sun. By the look of our faces we weren't real sure it took.

I love this picture! Daddy with his girls. Clay is an amazing Dad and husband and here is a picture to prove it. The girls love it when we get to spend time with Dad. We don't get to spend a ton of time with him, so when we get the opportunity to do so it is always special.

Today is President's Day. No school, dad is off, we'll see what today brings! (That also means we only have 3 days of school this week week woohoo!!)

A perfect Valentine's Day!

It was your typical Valentine's Day, a day full of fun and love! The kids and I spent the majority of the day in school. We handed out valentine's, we partied in our classrooms, and we ate way too many sweets. By the end of the day we were happy to get home. Clay had the day off and wanted to take his girls out to dinner. Whew, because I did not want to cook! Chili's here we come (thanks to Uncle Will and Mama, we got gift cards to eat at chili's for Christmas, dinner was yummy and it didn't cost us anything!) Off we went to Sierra Vista to eat dinner. When the girls woke up in the morning they opened their valentine gifts, when we got home from school Clay opened his gifts, and after dinner we went to Best buy to get my gift!
YAY, I got exactly what I've been wanting and what I'm sure I really needed! I love my new laptop. Like I said it was the perfect day. Since Clay was so nice to get me such an awesome gift (compared to his new work flashlight I got him, I'm the winner in the gift getting department), the laptop is now OUR new toy. I'm so excited to take it to work with me and look cool and important like all the other teachers!

We're already counting down to the next holiday, but I'm pretty sure it won't come close to this year's Valentine's Day!

LOVE Day!

I love my husband! What a wonderful man. He makes me smile, we laugh together all the time, and there is no one else I would rather spend eternity with than him.
I love my girls. Everyday is an adventure with them. I'm glad they are best friends, I'm happy they love their parents, and I'm so thankful they are part of our eternal family. My girls are amazing!

Happy Love Day Family! I love you!!
Hope your day is filled with lots of love and happiness.

Dog fun and dishes

We love our dog! He loves to jump on the trampoline. All four of us were out there on the trampoline and Cassius was having a great time. The girls have a lot of fun jumping with him too. When they have friends over we have to chain Cassius up or he jumps right on the trampoline and wants to play.
We've had to limit his trampoline time. As you know, trampoline pads don't last forever. Ours has died and we need a new one. So until we get a new one Cassius can only be on the trampoline when we're out there. We're worried his leg might get caught in between the springs and he may hurt himself. We try to play with him as much as possible. We ride bikes with him, walk him, and of course always make time to Jump with him. What a great dog!

Most of you know, I don't like doing dishes at all! If there was one of my motherly/wifely chores I could give up forever it would be dishes!

My girls like to do the dishes (wooohooo!). Well, Sydney does and I make Alex help. I know, I'm a mean mom. I still do the dishes occasionally but not nearly as often as I use to, and I love it!!

Thank heavens for little girls and big helpers!

The Tornado!

What better way to spend a day off from school than at the mall! Shopping, walking, browsing, playing. We did it all. Sydney, Alexandra (Sydney's friend), and Alex begged to go in the tornado. They forgot it was a hurricane simulator and not a tornado. They drew a big crowd, everyone really enjoyed watching these crazy girls get blown away! Alex said it was hard to breathe in there. They loved it though. Well, they loved it until we tried to brush out the tangles later. We love impromptu days off from school!

Thankful

This quote says it all... Sitting in testimony meeting yesterday made me think of just how fortunate we are. We had to have sacrament meeting in the cultural hall and no classes afterwards because of all the water damage caused by frozen pipes. Most people that bore their testimony had similar problems at their houses. We didn't have any problems at our house, I am so glad we didn't. I for one was very thankful for the cold weather. For me, it meant no school!! Wooohoooo, we all know how I like a day off! It also meant I didn't have to worry all day about the girls being warm enough or if they were freezing cold, or if the dog was cold, or if the house was OK. I spent Thursday in bed, snuggled under my blankets and slept the day away. On most days my worrying can be unbearable at times. I worry about everything under the sun, most things I have no control over and yet I still worry about them. Thursday night I was up off and on all night long. I was making sure the dog was comfy, the chickens were warm, the pipes weren't busting, and for some reason I kept waking up checking on our vehicles thinking the cold weather was going to break our windshields. I know, I can be a little psycho! Well this time, all the worrying paid off. We had safe animals, a warm and toasty house and no broken water pipes. We are going to have a huge water bill because I had every tap in the house dripping but it will still be cheaper than having to call a plumber and water damage!

Well come to find out, our next door neighbors (and my dad and half of southern Arizona) didn't fair so well. What do we do? We open our doors to them. We had hot running water and plenty of it. They came and got water for their toilets and dishes, and they came over and took showers, and borrowed tools. What better way to get your neighbors over to your house for a visit. It was a good learning experience for us all, and a great example of service for the kids to learn from. We went to Ace hardware looking for some things, the plumbing isle was packed. It seems everyone here had a break or two. Every store we went to there were people looking for space heaters, electric blankets, and pipe fittings with none to be found anywhere! I felt really bad for all of them. I am so so thankful we didn't have water or gas issues. We all have our tests and trials to overcome. I know whatever happens, heavenly father is there with us to help guide us. I'm just thankful we didn't get the added trial in our lives right now. I'm grateful we were in the position that we were that we could help those around us.

So, here it is, Monday morning and still no school. Our campus still doesn't have water so we got another day off. It's been a 5 day weekend for us! I love it!! The kids were a little mad, but after sleeping in they got over it real quick. Clay also has today off so we get to spend the day as a family, which I love. Hopefully we go back to school tomorrow. I am very thankful for our many blessings and I know that they come from my heavenly father. Stay warm!!

Too cold!

Oh my goodness!! I can't believe it is so cold outside! When I walked Clay out for work this morning the car said it was 6 degrees out. I have no idea how cold it got last night, but I do know we were all nice and toasty inside including out pets. I like living in Arizona because of our mild Winters and super hot summers. I am about to freeze today. So I got up this morning at my usual 4 o'clock hour. Got everything ready for our day, sent Clay off to work, got the girls ready for school and we were out the door! We get to the school and we're the only ones there! School has been canceled!!!! WOOOHOOOO. The pipes were frozen and we didn't have any water so they sent us all home! Let's hear it for a four day weekend! Hooray!! Hope you all stay warm in the record cold weather, I'm off to drink hot cocoa and watch movies! brrrrrr