We walked like MADD

more pictures at the zoo

We went to Grandma Rebers Sat. to walk in a race against drunk drivers. It was held at the Phoenix Zoo. Grandma has a friend that had her only son killed by a drunk driver. We had a great time. Sadie was amazed at all the animals. We had just gone to "Out of Africa" the week before so Sadie was excited to see some of her favorite animals. It was such a fun day. After the zoo we headed home and stopped in Anthem for some outlet shopping. The weather was absolutely perfect. We ate dinner, shopped, had ice cream and let the kids play at the park. We all had a good time. We are excited to do this again next year.

Out of Africa

Matthew and Caden feeding the giraffe. Ben and Michelle invited us to go to "Out of Africa" in Camp Verde. It was unlike any zoo I have ever been to. We got to go in and pet the animals. It was so much fun to see Sadie get excited about the animals. She knows them from her books but she got to see them live. She pet the snakes, turtles, giraffe and some type of big lizard. We went to a tiger show where we watched the tigers run, jump and play. The kids had a great time. It really is a cool zoo. We got to ride an old open bus around to see and feed the giraffe. We also saw a 4500 pound rino named boom boom. The kids were so excited because we yelled so loud that he turned around to look at us and actually stood up. Sadie still talks about Boom Boom. Thanks Ben and Michelle, we had a great time. Oh ya, you probably noticed Matthew wearing the same outfit to both zoo's. Well, he got that shirt from Grandma Rebers house and absolutely loves it. He calls it his zoo shirt. So when he found out we were going to the zoo he had to wear his zoo shirt. I love how he gets excited about the littlest things!

The best family vacation!!

Ok I decided that my favorite vacation with the family is to drive 2 hours max. to a hotel. Travis had a podiatry conf. in Scottsdale 2 hours away. We left Flagstaff with maybe 55 degree weather and arrived in Scottsdale two hours later to a beautiful 85 degrees. I still can't believe how different 2 hours can be from pine trees to palm trees. Anyway, it was fun to watch how excited the kids were to drive up to the hotel, ride the elevator up to our room, check out their beds and the bathroom and then get into their swimming suits. We swam Friday afternoon then went out to eat and shop. Saturday while Travis went to his conference we just swam and enjoyed to beautiful sunshine. Grandma, Michelle and the girls came to swim with us too. It was so much fun for us because we just relaxed and talked while watching the kids have a blast. This was my kind of vacation-relaxing by the pool, shopping and sleeping in a nice clean bed. We need to definitely do this again.

Easter day

The kids were so excited to find their easter baskets. After church we drove to Camp Verde to eat dinner with Ben and Michelle (Trav's sister) and Grandma Reber. Michelle just had a baby and still had us all over. Grandma Reber had the ultimate egg hunt. She filled 100 eggs with candy and MONEY!! One egg even had a $5 bill. There were so many eggs that we ran out of places to hide them so we just started throwing them all over. The kids had a blast and Ashlee won the $5. I think each kid made at least 5 dollars in quarters though. That was my kind of egg hunt. Thanks Grandma!!

Pinetop cabin with friends

In March we went to Pinetop to this cabin with some friends in our ward. It was freezing cold, but we had a great weekend. The kids had soooo much fun too. Caden and his friends rode on 4 wheelers all day. Matthew loved the zipline. Thanks Carter and Rebecca for inviting us to your beautiful cabin. It was fun staying up late playing games. I can't remember, but didn't Trav and I win? Anyway, we will have to do it again. It was fun to get away.

Update on the last few months

I have to thank Stephanie for her last blog entry. It really inspired me to write. I don't write in a journal and being so far away from my family I feel like I need to keep everyone updated. To tell you the truth this winter has been a really hard one. I've hated being here alone. If it wasn't so cold and windy I could probably handle it a little better by getting outside. I have been having a hard time living away from my sisters. It makes me feel so bad that all Caden and Matthews cousins are growing up together. And that Leanne, Michelle and Maryann are together to help each other with raising kids, cooking ideas, exercise groups, trading off babysitting and helping each other clean house and get organized. One of my favorite things to do is to run a long run. I feel so good when I do, but I'm just not that motivated to do it by myself. I have such a hard time when I call and my sisters have just finished a 6 mile run together. I just need to be ok with not exercising so much. This winter has been so cold, its just so much work to bundle up the kids and get out of the house. I'm already worried about how I'm going to handle next winter. I know, I am really pathetic. I have just had the worst attitude these past few months about living in Flagstaff. I need to get a better attitude about it. It makes me feel so guilty because this is something Travis has worked so hard for and now I feel like I'm not happy for him or supporting him. I am just being really selfish right now and I need to figure out how to grow up and live on my own (with my husband and kids of course.)

The kids are doing really well. Caden is doing well in school and makes friends easily which is such a nice blessing. Matthew is such a fun kid. He is a really good kid too. I was just thinking I don't remember the last time he has thrown a fit. He will mope and go in his room, but he rarely cries unless he gets hurt. I really have enjoyed spending my afternoons with him. He is learning to read pretty well. He goes to Preschool Tues. and Thurs. I actually trade teaching with 5 other Moms in my ward. All 6 kids in his class are so cute. Its been really good for him. I signed him up for "real" preschool next year. I still can't get over the fact that it's going to cost us $200 bucks a month just for 3 days 9 - 12pm. Can you believe that? Its just a normal nothing special preschool. Oh well, what do you do? Sadie has been talking so much more. She loves her brothers and calls them her "boys." She has been our easiest kid yet. She honestly loves to go to bed when it is time. I know, seriously what kid likes to go to bed? We just give her her blanket and binky and give her kisses goodnight. Then she loves to blow us kisses the whole way out the door. She still is taking a 3-4 hour nap every afternoon. Then goes to bed around 7pm. I am getting excited for another little boy. We think if he looks like Matthew we like Crew. If he looks like Caden we like Landon. We are still open for any ideas. Matthew really wants to name him Thomas after Thomas the train. He is excited to teach him how to run really fast. The boys are still practicing their violins. I am having such a hard time knowing what to do with that. It is a lot of work to practice with them. Not that they don't like to, its just the simple fact of getting out the violins and actually doing it. Its hard working so much with them when I know later I am just going to switch them to something more practical for boys like piano. For now its good for them I guess. And they look so cute playing.

Travis is doing great of course. He loves working with his Dad and Sister. He grew up in Flagstaff so he loves being back home. He really is a great doctor and Im not saying that because he is my husband. I am amazed at how much he loves to come home and study about surgery's or cases that he has. He reads his podiatry magazines just for fun. He really is a great people person too. He has just made medical school, residency and life so easy for me. So now I just need to learn to love living in Flagstaff.

Well, sorry no pictures.



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