Arizona Sunshine

Friday, April 15 Abby and I drove to Tempe, AZ. I was nervous about how she would travel since this is her first trip potty trained. She was unbelievable! She held it for over 5 1/2 hours and finally I stopped and took her to the bathroom even though she did not ask. She was a perfect angel on the drive. We sang, listened to music, she read, played with Mickey, Minnie and the Toy Story characters, colored, did flash cards, etc. We had so much fun.

Our trip was full of fun and friends. We stayed with the Taysom's and Abby was able to play with Natalie's niece, Caely a lot. Here they are reading.
Ready for Church.
Saturday we woke up early and went to the Phoenix Zoo with Natalie, Caely, our friends the Jones' and a friend of Natalie's. We saw tigers, lions. . .
Mandrills
and even rode a camel thanks to Natalie's friend!
After baking in the Arizona sun (I forgot how hot it is!) we drove to Bahama Bucks and had a Bahama Mama Rama. So yummy.
After a brief stop at Natalie's Ward barbecue we drove to her Bishop's beautiful home and played in their amazing but very cold pool. It was cold even on my feet! Abby would shake with cold and then get back in! Crazy girl!
Sunday we went to Church in our old Tempe Ward and it was so wonderful to see so many friends. We do miss our Tempe friends!

Sunday afternoon we ate lunch with Carric and Jenny Smolnik.
Our rental car had a flat tire, so Carric took it off, put on the spare, and helped us switch the car. What a pain! Thanks you guys for lunch and all of your help!
Sunday night I attended a mission fireside and the choir I conducted for two years, the Arizona Deseret Choir performed. It was so good to see all of them. I really miss them. Carric is now conducting the choir and they did a beautiful job. I really want to start my own choir!
After the fireside we stopped to see the Jackson family. I taught Cami and Hannah piano lessons and we all became such good friends. Abby loves them so much and Lynn would always spoil her. Hannah played the piano for us and she is playing so well. It is amazing to think of where she was years ago when we began lessons and how beautifully she plays now. Makes me so happy to be a teacher!
I also attended the Mesa Temple while we were in Arizona. It is difficult for us to get to the LA Temple, so I took advantage of a temple so close. It felt so good to escape from the rest of the world and focus on the most important things in life. I am so grateful to Carric for watching Abby so that I could attend the temple.
I already miss the Arizona sunshine!

Happy Birthday Matt!

So I began this post on Matt's birthday and did not get it posted right away because things got a little busy! But I decided not to change what I had written. I just did not want anyone to get confused because Matt's birthday was the 10th!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life! Matt is not big on birthdays but I still want everyone to celebrate him. He is my best friend, my love, my strength, my laughter, my everything. I am constantly reminded in the big and little things of life that he is one of my very greatest blessings. I love you Mattie!

Anyways, it is time to catch up with some pictures since our party.
Pictures from gymnastics and swimming on March 28th.
Tuesday evening I teach piano to the Petersen boys--Aaron and Dallin. Abby loves to play with them. Abby and Aaron got out the BYU football helmets and went out and threw the football around.
Now that the backyard is partly finished Abby does not want to be inside anymore. As soon as she gets up in the morning she says, "Mommy, go outside?" She doesn't give up either! We eat lunch outside, play outside, do school time outside, etc. Here is Abby outside on the 29th. She insisted on wearing her train hat outside that day.

Saturday evening of Conference weekend Abby and I went over to the Pitts' home while the men were at the Priesthood session. There were lots of women and kids and Abby dressed up in one of their costumes as a pony and had so much fun with the kids.
Grandma and Grandpa Garrett came up during Conference weekend and we enjoyed having them. They came up specifically to watch Abby do her gymnastics and swimming classes on Tuesday morning. Abby loves to spend time with them.
Grandma and Grandpa checking out the new backyard!
Grandma and Grandpa brought Abby a fun skirt that she wore to gymnastics. Here she is trying it on.
Watching conference Sunday morning.
Grandma and Grandpa took Abby out for some adventures on Monday and Grandma called me after a few hours. Abby loves to be out and does not normally ask to come home. On Monday, after a while she said, as they got in the car, "Go home and see Mommy now?" I guess she asked a couple times and so Grandma called to tell me. It made my whole day! The two of us are basically inseparable now, so I guess it's pretty normal. It made me feel so loved! I was home madly grading the first wave of papers for the on-line class I am teaching for CSUB.
They took Abby to Tehachapi and found some kind of train museum.
Abby finally got a little sleepy.
Outside riding the 4-wheeler.
Tuesday morning: gymnastics and swimming.
After both classes we took a picnic lunch to a park.
Abby pretending to make and serve food. She even pretended to put in the order and brought the food out to people. She made me a yummy milkshake!
Where would we be without Grandma's and Grandpa's?
Matt mowing our backyard lawn for the first time!
Matt is now in charge of the Native American Cultural Awareness Club at Bakersfield College. He actually resurrected the club and is getting a good response from students. On Saturday, the 9th there was a Garden Fest at Bakersfield College and Matt's club had a booth. So he spent the day there and Abby and I spent a few hours in the morning. We actually watched a local pond shop build a pond from scratch. We are trying to finish our pond, so this was very educational. We can pretty much do it ourselves, but might have the professionals come out to hook up the pump and filter. There were just so many places to make a mistake. The Garden Fest was a pretty cool event.
Abby ready for Church on Sunday, the 10th of April.

Isn't she the cutest girl ever?!

Party!

Last Saturday we invited our ward over for a party to say farewell to our good friends, the Randall's. He has been a member of the bishopric and a lot of people were very sad to see them leave. So we decided we should have a party! My friend Amanda and I hosted the party and I believe everyone had a great time. People really seemed to like the house and backyard--which made us very happy. They still have a long way to go but we've made so much progress! Below are pictures inside and out (most taken before there was too big of a crowd). The kids especially seemed to enjoy the playground and the rubber mulch!

Before party:
During party:
Abby kept requesting to see the new Disney movie, Tangled again, so I took her last Thursday. It is still at the cheap theater, so that was great. Here she is before it started. This time she was quite afraid of the villain of the show and at one point I had to take her out because she was crying. I felt so bad for her. But she still wants to see it again!
A piece of good news: our LDS Services caseworker called today and our clearances from the other states FINALLY came through. We sent them in October so it took a long time. Our caseworker will be up on Wednesday morning to do our final home inspection and then we should be back up on the website--at long last!
Here are 2 videos. The first is a walk through just as the party started and the second is Sunday night. I directed a stake Women's Choir Sunday evening for the first time--and they will be excellent! I love directing stake choirs! When I came home Abby and Matt had played with a sword left by Abby's friend Caleb and a sword Matt created out of pvc pipe! Abby was so funny I had to film her!

Provo Girls (Spoof on Katie Perry's California Gurls)

Here is a funny little video that makes fun of the odd dating culture in Provo, Utah.