What's been going on...

This past weekend we went to Buckeye to spend time with my family. My sister, Lori, and her 4 kids were visiting from Utah, my brother Dave with Annie & Daniel, and my sister, Cristeen were visiting my parents also for Conference weekend. Oh, and my sister, Sandy and family came on Sunday. It was a lot of fun to be with them. Conference was good, also, but I found it more distracting with 9 kids in the vicinity (instead of just my 4!), and my note-taking skills weren't up to par. Oh well, that's what the Ensign is for, right?

Some of the highlights of the weekend:

We took some walks between Conference sessions. Saturday, we took some of the kids down to the end of the (dirt)road and they played in the irrigation water in the ditch. Kate sort of attempted to catch a frog, though West ended up catching it, and all the kids took turns holding it or petting it, till finally letting it go.

Sunday late afternoon, we all walked down to the end of the road again (except Jim who was napping). My dad got out his lawn mower tractor and hooked up a wagon and pulled some of the kids in the wagon down the road. On the way back, we hooked up a smaller wagon with Lori's dog, Charlie, in it. He sat on a bed of cotton looking real pleased with himself as the caboose of the wagon train.


Sunday, between sessions, Jim, Lissy and I went to visit our friends, Daryl & Misty for the afternoon. It was a fun visit, as always; they are like family. Daryl showed us his garden, which is blooming and looking great.

I think my favorite part of the weekend was Saturday night after the kids were put to bed. All the adults sat around the kitchen table and we ate Lori's Orange Chicken and Annie's flan; and laughed, shared stories, and reminisced about growing up together. It was so much fun. I love my family!

On Monday, Jim had a meeting in Chandler all day, so we spent Sunday night in Buckeye, then packed up and drove to Chandler, dropped Jim off at his meeting, then the girls and I got to spend the day at Cristeen's. I hadn't been to her new house, yet, so it was great to see it. I loved her house, especially the front with the extended porch and wild rosebushes growing all over next to it. The kids loved being there, too, and definitely made their mark running all over the house. (Had to keep my eye on Lissy who kept moving things around, and pulling books off shelves).

Cristeen treated us to a Costco pizza for lunch and we ate dinner with her, too (grilled chicken -- yum!) and got to visit with Rob for a bit till it was time to leave. It was a peaceful drive home, the kids slept the whole way and then we came back to a cold house. Jim made a fire right away, and the house warmed up.

So Tuesday was back to school for the girls, and I had a doctor's appt. in Flagstaff, so back in the car again for me, Lissy, and Brynna. It's kind of frustrating to drive for 2 hours, then be at the doctor's for about 15 minutes, then back to the car for the drive back home. It makes a really long day.

Today I went to Walmart for our monthly shopping trip (which is about 25 minutes away). I had 4 kids with me; 3 of mine, and Lori, my niece. They did decently; can't complain too much; but I had to threaten no treats to make sure they behaved. Another tiring trip... and we had crazy wind today, too.

I feel like I've been running around these past days, but tomorrow I can finally stick around the house (except for picking up the girls), and catch up on housework and laundry, etc. I'm really just a homebody, and too many days running around makes me cranky (or at least I am today anyway!). I am going out tomorrow night, though. Jim's boss is taking us and another insurance agent and her spouse out to dinner in Pinetop. It's nice to go out, but I always stress out about the socializing aspect of it all. Oh well.

Here's a few more pics from this weekend:

Here's Lori with Lissy after fixing her hair. Nice thing about Lori visiting is that she likes to do hair, and so all the girls get their hair fixed.

Kira & Lissy after a bath.

The kids digging in the ditch bank.

Some of the cousins: Bryce, Brynna, Destiny, Kate, West, Brent, and Jesse

Playing with Cristeen's cat

My nieces, Cristi & Heather with Jaron (nephew) peeking in between.