Pheonix, AZ

We were so excited that we were able to get away for Spring Break this year! Even more excited that we were able to go somewhere warm!

I had been trying to make a trip to Mexico for the whole family work. Between layovers, passports, and the inability to guarantee us rooms that would connect at the resort, it had kind of lost its appeal!

So I started looking around for something fun to do in Arizona, because I knew we would be sure to find some sunshine there!

That's when I came across the Tanque Verde Ranch. It is a dude ranch that offers a week of riding, roping, kids club, mountain biking, hiking, and all inclusive food! That was all it took for Del to have the whole trip booked within an hour of me telling him about it!

We decided we had to take the chance to drive up to Scottsdale for a couple of nights when we found out our friends, the Tyson family would be there for the Colorado Rockies Spring training! Jared works for them as part of his fellowship before he opens his practice in Utah.

We were able to go to church with Leslie and the kids, and hang out at the pool. We met up with Jared to make a trip to see the new Gilbert, AZ LDS temple, and eat dinner!

That temple is amazingly gorgeous. One of the most beautiful by far! The palm trees lining the drive in are so dramatic and pretty! We were there until the sun set, it was so peaceful! A great place to catch up with lifelong friends! We even met the entire temple presidency as they came out of the temple to go home for the evening. We chatted for a few minutes. Great men!

When we planned this trip for Spring Break, I was not yet pregnant. I was worried about how I would be able to keep up on all our adventures. I did okay, especially at the ranch, where kids club helped out. With the keeping up, I did not take great pictures, however.

At church with the boys in worship outfits done halfway thanks to my forgetful packing.

Leslie and I are both going to be in the 5 Kid Club. She is due in a few weeks with a girl!

Super flattering! We are so sophisticated!

My beautiful girl! She has grown about a half a foot in the past year! I think she got the leg gene from Del's family. My height is all torso.

Two lovely ladies! Spending time with our good friends was good for our souls. The Tyson family tends to have that effect on just about everyone! They are amazing people with a million amazing friends! We are just glad to be included! Our kids grilled us about the next time we would see the kids while we drove away. Georgia summed it up for us, "They are just so fun!"
We headed back down to Tucson to check into the Ranch early the next morning!

Welcoming Baby Number 5!

I am pregnant! I still feel a bit like I am surprising myself every time I say it!

This baby is certainly unplanned, but most certainly welcome! We now realize events that led up to this even being a possibility were all a means to a greater plan. Everything that happened, needed to happen to open the way for this baby to bless our lives.

We are very excited! In spite of my not feeling well. At all. I do have three months under my belt, so I am kind of hoping I am on the uphill end of the sickness battle. We laughed and I did a little crying, when we figured this whole thing out. After about eight pregnancy tests. Which kept giving us mixed results. That was an interesting day!

Walker, our current youngest, and the baby will be a month shy of five years apart in age! I have given away all of our baby paraphernalia. Caught a little off guard! We have decided that we better try very hard to be in the moment with this baby and enjoy each step along the way. Apparently that includes the shopping for baby stuff part of it too! We are blessed to have been given the chance to be expand our family once again. I have not done the pregnancy thing in five years. That feels like a really long time when you take into consideration that I was pregnant again with a year and a half of each of my previous babies!

We are hoping the baby will cooperate enough that we can get a glimpse of the gender at the end of this month!
We told our families and our children while we were on an extended layover in Salt Lake City over Spring Break. Everyone was VERY surprised!
Wally fell right on the floor! Oh the drama! He came to me a few minutes later and said, "Mom, I thought you were done having babies."
I told him I had thought so as well, and we will all just have to be on this ride together!
Georgia told us that she is still feeling a little scared. She is so excited she has not been able to keep it to herself! Anyone that pauses long enough to have a short conversation with her gets the scoop! She just can't keep it in!
Here is the ultra sound I had to confirm. With the date clearly showing, since I decided to announce on April Fools Day, and threw everyone off on if they should believe me or not. Oh, this is real people!

We do tend to get a lot of looks with the four kids we have, so I can't imagine the looks and comments we will get with five. I guess I will just have to keep in mind that the people who think we are crazy, just don't know what they are missing!

You can consider this my three month progress shot. I do feel that this baby is popping a little earlier than the others have, but I realize to others I am still not really showing.

Thrilled to meet this little one in mid October!

Wally Is 11

I am very behind on my posting. I need to play a bit of catch up.

Wally turned 11 back in March. My boy is just getting bigger and smarter and it is amazing that we get the chance to marvel over our children growing in this life!
Wally is a good boy. He has such a good heart. He loves his siblings.

This Winter Will got sick one night. He was having a rough time. I put a bowl at his bedside so he could use it if he needed it.
He did need it many times.
His stomach was so upset.
I woke up when he would get sick, but before I was able to do too much to help, Wally would be there, reassuring me that he was taking care of it. He told me to go back to bed and get some sleep. He spent the night up with Will. When Will got sick, Wally emptied his bowl in the toilet and rinsed it out. He helped Will to the bathroom. He would sling Will's arm over his shoulders and steady him while they slowly made their way, then help him back to bed and tuck him in. Will found so much comfort in Wally's care. He was content to let Wally help him through the night. I could not believe that every time I heard Will, Wally was right there, all night long.

The next day, they were both exhausted, but Will felt better. I let Wally sleep in, so impressed, and touched at the brotherly, and mature love he had shown Will. I love it when those moments of great character really shine through. I wonder sometimes who is taking care of who here?

My good friend Maria offered to make Wally a cake for his birthday. She does such a good job, and Wally's cactus cake turned out to be adorable! She knew we were spending Spring Break in Arizona, and the cake was to get Wally excited! We loved it! So thoughtful!

Wally wanted to play arcade games and eat pizza for his birthday. So we did!
Wally is hard to shop for because often  if he has not specifically asked for an item, he can take it or leave it. I thought it would be a good idea to get him a new bike this year. I was happy that he was thrilled with it, even though it had arrived that day, unassembled, and still in the box.

Wally pointing to himself each time we sang the word "you" in "Happy Birthday."

Taking a peek into a hole in the box the bike came in.

Money from Grandmas and Grandpas is always a birthday highlight! Another year better when it comes to this guy!