Hiatus

I've been on a blogging hiatus because I haven't had time. So here are some pics of the last little while to catch up:

Part I: WEEKENDS AWAY

We were able to go camping with some friends over Memorial Day weekend. It was up north, past Strawberry, in a little secluded spot in the woods. Unfortunately, it rained hard that weekend. BUT, we were blessed that it was dry the entire time we were there (which was only about 18 hours) besides the storm that came in while we were asleep. The girls did NOT sleep well, but at least they had a great time the next day in the wagon and playing in the dirt.

As soon as we put Taryn in her carseat, she fell asleep. We literally hadn't pulled away. Keara followed suit soon after. We then went to Braden's parents house because it was so nearby, took long naps, and had a great dinner with his brother's family. It was a good weekend. Memorial Day was then spent working in the yard, moving rock, and planting a worthless flower garden that did nothing.

The next weekend, our good friends, the Reidheads, came to Queen Creek for the day. It was SO great to have them here! We went to a big pool and enjoyed the 98 degree weather, commenting on how strange it was that even with it being that hot, we were cold in the water! Keara, of course, loved having Kloey here. She has missed her SO much.

The next weekend, we went back to Braden's parents' house for a birthday weekend for his dad's 60th birthday. His sister, Laurie, and her daughter, Brie, even flew in for the weekend. It was great to be with them again. Brie is 11 days older than Taryn and Asia is a month older than Brie. This was the first time the 3 girls had been together. They were SO cute!
T is definitely the smallest of the crew, but I think it's quite possible all my children will be.
This was SO fun (at least to watch). Laurie had made a HUGE Twister board and everyone got down to play. How fun!
We did have an interesting experience while there with Taryn's allergies. At one point, either some sweetened condensed milk or heavy whipping cream got splattered on her face. There were about 6 dots of milk on her face, arm, and hair. Not a big deal. I washed it off but kept her with me. I was amazed to see that within 2 minutes, she was itching her arms, her face was covered in a rash, and hundred of tiny hives covered her face and arm. WOW! We gave her Benadryl and within 15 minutes, it was gone. But she sure is sensitive!

PART II: NEW TENANTS

The other night, I walked out into our garage to throw something away. As I opened the door to go back inside, something caught my eye up in the corner on top of a big roll of remnant carpet. It startled me to see a bird! She was just sitting there on top, minding her own business. I didn't take a picture then, but a few days later, Braden caught her on top of our water barrels.

She stayed about a week and has since moved on.

We also decided to get a new fish! We fish-sat our friend's betta a few weeks ago and decided it was time to get one again. Interestingly, these same friend's fish-sat Blue right before he died and he inspired them to get a betta. And now they were re-inspiring us. Blue died a long time ago and we decided to replace him for Keara's birthday, but didn't feel like it when that time came. So one family date night, we chose this guy.
Being so creative, we named him Big Red. At first, he didn't eat for 3 weeks. But we are happy to report that he is thriving and eating and enjoying life. He's almost as fun as Blue!