Jessica's wedding!

And we were off on Thursday, March 28th.  Picked the kids up early from school and headed to AZ for Jessica's big day.  When we arrived at the hotel we couldn't get in because there were police cars everywhere and yellow crime scene tape at the tram station across the street.  Lovely.  Come to find out there was a shooting earlier and luckily the guy was ok.  Stupid fight between "friends"?  Really?

Friday, Kirk stayed with the kids and they went swimming while I went to the temple for Jessica's endowment session.  It was very nice!

That night, they all had a rehearsal dinner, so our little family went to dinner and then to Bass Pro Shops to kill some time.  The kids always have a fun time there.

Saturday morning we headed over to the temple for the sealing.  It was very nice and the Jessica looked beautiful!

After pictures, we left and got some lunch and back to the hotel for a bit and then headed over the reception.
Love this picture of my cute niece and nephews all grown up.  :)

We were there during Easter Pageant time, so we headed over there that night.  Long day!  It happened to be in spanish, but they gave out earphones for English.  Devin had a very hard time sitting there, but survived.  :)

Sunday we headed out to Queen Creek to see Lori.  I really miss her and love that I've been able to see her for the past couple of years.  Our kids have fun together, too.

And this is the new Gilbert Temple that will open later this year.  So exciting!

It was a fast trip, but a good one.  It was the start of a 2 week Spring Break for the kids, so we got back on Sunday night in time to be home for a full 2 weeks.

The Bachelor

A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to go to the finale of The Bachelor!  So fun!  We got there around 1:00 and waited in line for about an hour and a half and then went to a holding area.  The taping was 3 hours long (live East Coast time).  I went with my friend, Lindsey and her 2 friends.  We had a great time!

 Here we are after with our roses and the t-shirts that 2 of us won (they only gave out 5 total!).

It's a small studio.  Just about every seat is a good one. And no, we weren't allowed to take our phones in with us, but we are rebels and did anyway and Dawn was gutsy and took a picture (hence it being blurry b/c she was trying to hurry without anyone seeing us)

 And here I am on TV!  :)

Lunch with the kiddos

It was that time again - have lunch with your kids day, at school.  I went and picked up McDonald's and we had ourselves a feast. I lucked out this year with their lunches being one right after the other.  I always enjoy going to eat with them and their friends.  :)

Avery's 10!

Avery's birthday was last month and since it was her even year she got to have a birthday party with her friends.  She chose to take 3 friends (cousin Lexi and twin friends Ella and Carly) to an indoor tramoline park near us.  They bounced and got very sweaty for almost 2 hours.   Then it was time to come back to the house to have pizza, open gifts and have cake.  She wanted a sherbet cake, so I made it and it was a hit.  I believe she had a very fun birthday!  :)

Avery

 Devin

 Grandma Sumida even got out of the house and came with us!

 Justin

 Justin and Devin playing dodge ball

 What a sweet brother.  He gave her $10 of his own money!

 Heart shaped Papa Murphy's - the perk of having your birthday on Valentine's Day.

Awards

Yes, I'm a bit behind, but honestly there wasn't a lot to post in January or February.  This is fun stuff though.  Devin and Avery's first semester awards ceremonies were on the same day and both of them received an award.  This is Devin's first time getting an award because they don't do them for kindergartners, so he was pretty thrilled!  Devin's is for "Most Inspirational".  Woo hoo, Devin!  Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Mata.

 And Avery's was for 'Academic Achievement in Writing'.  Go Avery!  And here she is with her teacher that she adores, Mrs. McNamara.

So proud of both of you!  XOXOXOX

Camping over Christmas Break

Over Christmas break we did a camping trip to Riverside.  I know...Riverside?  But there is a great county park there - Rancho Jurupa.  When Sandi was here over Christmas she taught Devin how to play Steal the Pile and he's loved it ever since.

Hanging out in the trailer

Playing on the rock playground

This cook tree was right next to our campsite.  We really scored on our site this time!

Kirk got the flu while we were there, so it was up to me to take the kids to do all the different stuff while he slept.  He was very, very sick.  Here we are at the park.

We had invited our friends, the Paulsen's and they were good sports and still came even though Kirk was sick in the trailer.  Thank goodness they did, too.  It really helped our spirits.  Wasn't so fun without Kirk around.

Sumida's and Paulsen's

This is the fun tree kids loved playing in next to where we were staying.

Our campsite.