it's been brought to my attention that I haven't updated this blog for over 8 months and I could hardly believe that it was true. the time has flown by so fast and i'm ashamed to say that I never even blogged about our little molly girl being born! So here's a glimpse at the past 8 months with photos of molly spliced in as she's been getting older. Sadly, our computer broke shortly after she was born and we lost a lot of her newborn pictures but there's still a lot of Molly photos to ogle over.
We left off last October when the weather was finally beginning to not be boiling here in the valley of the sun.
I was concerned that I would be sad to not feel a chill in the air during the fall festivities but I have to say that pumpkin hunting and trick or treating in the warm sun was Amazing!
Here we are on a hike in Papago Park with our friends Ethan and Isaac. Their mom Carrie and I have become really good friends since we both moved in last summer.
And of course my cute little duo...
They fight like cats and dogs but I'm not sure either one of them would know how to breathe without the other one around.
Here they are in front of our Mesa temple. We have 2pm church so we head over here a lot when James is on call on Sunday mornings to pass the time.
And here is our sweet little Molly Christine, born December 10, 2012 at 12:34pm. We couldn't ask for a sweeter baby girl. She loves being kissed and hugged and loved by her older brother and sister.
We were so lucky to have so much family come to town for Molly's blessing day. My mom and my sisters Kim and Steph came with the rest of Steph's family. It was a party of a weekend. Here's Scott and Sara with their cousins Katie and Josh.
My mom and Molly. She was perfect for her blessing day.
Everyone who was at the blessing (L-R Back): Kelly, Kim, Mom, Sara, James, Me, Molly, Cristy, Joel, Dane, Bishop Archibald, Susan, Bruce, Beth and Brian. (L-R Front): Steph, Courtney, Katie, Scott, Kenzie, Tyce, Leyla, Josh (Carrie Caviness was taking the picture)
All three of our kids playing under Molly's play yard.
Our first winter in Arizona was wonderful. Last summer when everyone told me how great the winters in phoenix are I didn't buy it. I didn't think anything could make such a hot summer worth it... but I was so very wrong. The winters here are amazing! And the kids lived outside in our back yard. One day it rained and I was nervous that they'd have to stay in all day... but I was so very wrong again.
I love that my girls have such an awesome big brother.
This picture speaks for itself.
I took this picture of Molly in February so she's about three months old and even when she was this small she was so pleasant to be around. This is the soft loving face that we get to look at all day long.
Though Sara tends to prefer a closer view...
We celebrated Sara's second birthday on February 22nd with a little party with Ethan and Isaac. Isaac is Sara's most favorite friend and she talks about him all the time. Though, ironically enough, whenever he's around she just torments him to no end. I wonder where she got that form??
Sara age 2, Molly almost 3 months
In March we got to go on our long awaited trip to Disney Land with Grandy! I was a little nervous when my mom told me she got a three days park pass... I just couldn't imagine three days straight of Disney Land with three small kids. But we actually had the best time and I was so sad to have to leave Disney Land in the end.
Scott's favorite thing (besides the Buzz Lightyear ride) was meeting all the Disney Characters. He made sure he met every single one. But his favorite, of course, was Mickey.
The Winnie the Pooh ride was the only ride that all six of us got to ride on.
Here we all are with Pluto...
And the kids' other favorite ride was "Its a Small World". I think they rode on it four times!
The last day of our trip my mom bought sara these awesome socks and the kids just happily ran around and played. I couldn't believe how well behaved they were and how much fun we all had. It makes me want to go back soon! Thanks mom for the great trip!
Soon after we got home from Disney Land, James took Scott on a special boys weekend to Utah for Uncle Phil and Aunt Kacie's sealing in the temple. Scott felt so grown-up and important with his very own rolling backpack for the trip. I still find him walking around our house with that bag telling whoever is listening that he's going on a trip to Utah.
Back at home the five of us like to spend time at the Riperian Preserve that's by our house. There's a bunch of lakes and trails to walk around and in the winter months we spend a lot of time there.
March was a busy time because we also had James' cousin, Heather Danner and her kids Damian and Shiloh come to visit. Scott and Sara LOVED finding out that they had more family here in Arizona.
That same weekend some of our med school friends Jessica and Carl Johnson were in the area and came over for dinner. Their older girls, Millie and Shalie played with Scott back in Iowa. It was so fun to see them again.
And still in March... me and Molly flew up to Utah for Kim's wedding reception. She married Brett Yadin and so far they're living happily ever after. (Brett is on the left)
After the reception we had a family party to celebrate my birthday.
My cute sister Kim with Molly, Ellie and one of her step kids (I feel so bad that I can't remember his name.)
And ALSO in March (seriously) I participated in a sprint triathlon (seriously again). I did it with a bunch of girls I my ward and it was actually a lot of fun. Maybe next time I won't be three months post partum. That would be nice.
Finally to April! And Easter Eggs! The kids had a blast coloring eggs for the Easter bunny to hide.
And here's our little Sara girl squeezing the guts out of our little Molly girl who would be right around 4 months in this picture. (I can't tell you how many times every day I say the words, "Sara, please stop squeezing Molly." and "Sara, please get off Molly." She just loves her so much she can't contain it.
Another favorite place for us to visit around here is the McCormick Train Park. This day we went with our friend Julie Tripp and her kids Grant, Christopher and Emiline.
I love this photo of them all sitting on the bench in front of the train.
In April we opened up our pool and the kids became fish again. Now that I'm not pregnant I'm really enjoying having a pool of our own.
In April a very sad thing happened... Sara refused to sleep in her crib. She started crawling out of it every night and during her naps so we were forced to put her in a big kid bed. Thankfully, our neighbors gave us a bunk bed they weren't using so we put it up.
I was skeptical about Scott and Sara sharing a room and actually staying in bed. But they've actually done a really good job.
Also in April James' sister Amanda, her husband Ryan and their kids Allie, Ilene and Cameron came to visit.
And of course we took them to the train park too!
Amanda with all the kiddos.
Amanda and I have been fortunate enough to have our kids all at roughly the same time so each of our kids has a friend their age. Its so nice that Scott and Allie are old enough to just sit and do "big kid" things together.
And here are Sara and Ilene chilling on the couch together.
And here are Molly and Cameron just getting to know each other for the first time.
I love this picture of Scott and Allie running through the park.
And here they are in front of the soon-to-open Gilbert temple.
Love these kids...
Such good posers. :)
Molly doesn't look to happy in this picture but as you can see she is putting on the pounds here as she approaches her five month birthday.
In May Scott graduated from preschool. So in preparation for kindergarten we've been doing a lot of school work at home. Our first exercise on our first day was for him to write out the whole alphabet. I was so proud of my little man!
He was pretty pleased himself.
Scott and Sara having a movie night with their friends Gracie, Bridger and Chase.
Family Home Evening night at Chuck E Cheese to reward the kids for filling up their warm fuzzy jar.
Another walk around the Mesa temple grounds with friends Ethan and Isaac.
We found this street sign on a Sunday morning drive... we couldn't help but take a picture.
And this is pretty much what I look like every morning (thanks, james, for the straight out of bed shot). Even though I look a little scary I couldn't help but post this picture because I love these three rascals so much!
Molly at almost six months. She's our little marshmallow baby and we can't stop squeezing all her edible little rolls!
Peach picking with the Tripp family at Schnepf Farms.
On May 26th Scotty turned the big 5 years old! He had a pirate birthday at Chuck E Cheese and it was a huge success!
Because if you can't decide between a pirate birthday party and a chuck e cheese party... why not do both!
Our handsome little guy is growing up so fast.
He got a ton of awesome gifts.
L-R Isaac, Ethan, Garrett, Tian, Federico, Scott, Brayden and Sebastian
Can't get enough of this girl's cheeks.
Scott's birthday at home. Waffle breakfast and more presents! Can't ask for more than that!
And okay, yes, I went to the Taylor Swift concert and had a blast! I went with some friends in the ward, Kimber, Sara, Sandee and Debbie.
I'm totally dorky but I loved every second of it. I'm a huge TS fan! :) (Thanks James for giving me a girls night out!)
In late May James' mom came to visit. The kids introduced her to our sand pile.
And we took her to a little water park.
And she bought scott some very awesome binoculars (that are still a big hit I our house)
But sadly her trip was cut short when her father passed away. Here she is with the kids before flying back to Utah. Thanks for coming Grandma Palmer!
And here's a nice little post-church pic of our party of five.
I really did catch the kids reading to Molly one day.
And who can get enough of Sara in her ballerina outfit? She and scott have been taking summer classes through the city of Gilbert and Sara's is a baby ballerina class. I can't get enough of her.
Molly at 6 months and fresh out of the bath.
In mid-June my cousin Cristy left her kids Leyla and Tyce with us for a couple days while she went to her Dad's wedding. We LOVED having these kids around our house for a while.
We went to the Science center one day where the kids had a blast learning and running and playing a million games.
Here's another glimpse of Molly just cute and smiley as ever. :)
Here is James reading a book to the kiddies.
The last night they were here we had a semi-sleepover in the front room.
That is until the movie ended and they were all sent to their own beds to sleep. :)
And I just had to throw in this stellar picture of Scott. Because of his ear tubes he has to wear ear plugs when he swims then when you add the huge goggles and his barrel chest you have one awesome kid.
To wrap things up here is the most recent photo shoot of Mollerina. I can't believe she's almost 7 months old!!!
Not sure if this video will upload but if it does you're in for a real treat. I love this video because it shows just how much Scott and Sara love each other.
Well, I think that about cover it... the past 8 months of our lives! I'll do my best to not let so much time pass before I write again!
