Family fun

Last week Ben had the great idea to let the girls ride the train. He left work early Friday so we could enjoy our night out before it got to close to bedtime and the girls got cranky. The train starts really close to the Mesa Temple so we went to the temple first and took some pictures before it got dark. How cute are these kids!? The girls really enjoyed the train. We didn't want to take it too far so I looked online for a good pizza place around ASU. Yelp totally let me down. 39 great reviews and we got there to find a really yucky restaurant with pizza that looked like it was hours old. So we walked up the street to a Greek restaurant. I wouldn't say it was amazing, but the girls got mac and cheese so they didn't care. They just loved being out on the town with Mommy and Daddy. They even shared. So nice.

This is Adria's face when Ben asked her to tell him how yummy the food was. Love it! She also got chocolate milk ALLLL over herself. We were still out past bedtime, but we had lots of fun so no one minded.

My Piano

I am so excited! I have wanted a piano for a while and we found one last week that was a great deal and I liked it. (Did you know there are ugly pianos? Well, there are!) Now I just have to find the box that has all my piano music in it. The girls are excited too. Julia wants to know how many minutes it will take for her to learn to play all her primary songs. I'm looking forward to many years of piano music filling our home.

Tape and paper towels

So in the last post you may have noticed Julia's unique bandage on her foot. She cut open the bottom of her foot on a carpet tack when she was chasing her sister up the stairs. Since I've been unpacking things when we need them and not a minute sooner, I didn't know where my gauze and first-aid tape was. Also, it was bedtime and I didn't feel like looking through dozens of boxes. So we washed out the cut and wrapped it up with paper towels and painters tape. Adria, naturally, was jealous so she got her foot wrapped up too. When I took this picture, Julia tapped her foot against Adria's and said, "Cheers!"

Follow the Prophet

Last week, Julia sang with the rest of the primary kids in Sacrament meeting. When we lived in Texas, she learned a little disco-type dance to the chorus of "Follow the Prophet." No one in Arizona does it. I should have thought about it and told Julia not to dance in front of the whole congregation, but I didn't...so she danced. Last night I tried to get her to do it again so I could get it on video, but she wasn't nearly as animated. It's still cute though. The people at church thought so too. She was quite the show-stealer since she was the only one dancing. Ben and I laughed until we cried. She was so excited to sing all her favorite songs in front of people. We love our Julia.

Baby update

This morning I got an ultrasound at the doctor's office. I have to say that I love having ultrasounds. Baby #3 is doing well. She apparently likes to suck on her toes. I thought it was adorable but it doesn't make for a very good view for the doctor so they made her let go. She's just over 2 lbs now and as active as ever. Here's a glimpse at our little princess.

5 Great Years!!

Today, by complete chance, I saw the car that Ben and I had our first date in. Not just the same make and model, but the literal car. Ben took me on our first date in this Mustang to eat at the Mayan in SLC and watch Fantastic 4. Today we celebrated 5 wonderful, hard, irreplacable, love-filled years of marriage. We talked about how this last year has been such a great one for us as a couple. We both agreed that our love is so much deeper and richer today than it was last year. I'm so grateful for that! Thank you, Ben! I know I'm getting old when IHOP with the kids and new couches are all I wanted. He also brought me beautiful flowers, candy bars (for the baby of course!) and a "guilt-free" Target gift card. Happy Anniversary, Ben!

Julia's 4th birthday

I realized today that it has been almost a month since Julia's birthday and I still haven't posted about it. I know I have a million good reasons, but it's time to post. We are so grateful for this beautiful little girl who has blessed us with 4 years of love and joy. I hope she always knows how much her family loves her. Each year has been more wonderful than the last. I love watching her grow and learn. A few things she loves right now are

1. Her dance class. We just signed her up for a second one and she is soooo excited. She loves dancing. Right now she is dancing with her sister to "We're Gonna Find It" which is her favorite non-church song. 2. Primary and primary songs. Not a day goes by without her singing her primary songs. We listen to them whenever possible and she sings them to us all the time. I love the sweet testimony that she has of her Savior.

3. The pioneer story. She asks me a few times a week to tell her about the pioneers. On Monday we were going to Julie's house to do laundry and I told Julia that it was because we didn't have a washer yet and she got very excited, "We are just like the pioneers!!"

4. Grilled cheese sandwiches. That is what she wants for every meal. She is sad that mommy doesn't let her have more than 1 a day.

5. Her daddy. She gets to have a daddy-daughter night about once a month with her daddy. Her favorite thing to do is just go for a walk with him. Ben says she just talks his ear off the whole time.

She had a great birthday. I'm sure someday she will realize that birthdays are just one day, but this year she had several days of birthday. When we were up in Utah we invited all her family over to share some yummy food and open presents with her. She loved every minute of it! She wanted a chocolate cake so that's what she got. On her actual birthday we were in Arizona so we celebrated with her cousins. We got her a pinata and I need to get the video of it because it was so funny. No one could break it open, not even the dads. I will hopefully share that soon. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who made her birthday special. I am thankful that she knows there are so many people who love her. Here are the pictures and a couple videos I have from her Utah party.