We're going camping!

Yippee! We're actually going camping! I didn't think that was possible at all this summer since Caleb is in class every day, but he talked his teachers into letting him take several tests after we get back so we are leaving for Idaho tomorrow! (He had some pretty big motivation because it's HIS family reunion we're going to, and his brother is going to let him borrow his dirt bike to ride! He hasn't ridden in a year--since his bike got stolen.) Anyway, we'll be camping near Boise for a whole week! The only part I am dreading is that 17 hour drive to get there...
Anyone have any great car tips for keeping toddlers happy that they'd like to share with me? I need all the help I can get. See you when we get back--and I'm sure I'll have LOTS of pictures to post!

Our Exciting News...

Well...some of you already know this, but for those of you who don't yet........(drum roll)..........WE'RE EXPECTING BABY #2!!! I'm actually four months along today. What's that you say? Why haven't I posted anything sooner? I know, I know...I should have. Sorry. I had a bit of a scare a while back with a lot of bleeding so I was afraid to say anything for fear it was over. But...here I am 16 weeks and everything seems to be okay. I was supposed to have a Dr. appt. today but it was canceled because my Dr. was called away to an emergency C-section (hope that's not EVER me!). We should find out in a month (or less) what we're having. Considering that with Caysja this was the time I actually found out I WAS pregnant, this pregnancy has gone VERY slowly in comparison! At least I'm not sick though. I'm so sorry to all my friends who get sick. I don't know how I've been blessed with that but I'm so grateful. I have been pretty tired though, which doesn't work too well when you have a toddler. The due date is (don't laugh)...Dec. 26th. Yeah, we didn't plan that one too well, huh! Guess I'll have to hope I'm either early or late. We're so happy, excited, and feel so blessed though! Caysja needs a sibling. She gets so bored with just me. Now I have 5 months to get her potty trained...

Our scanner wasn't working very well so unfortunately this isn't the best picture.

My Amazing Little Pill

Today I told Caysja that it was time for her nap and as usual she wasn't too happy about that. Well, I was finishing up an email on the computer so I figured I'd let her have just a few more minutes to play. The next thing I know, she goes and gets her doll, goes in her room, shuts the door, climbs in her crib and practically puts herself down for a nap! I was so shocked!! I guess she knows she needs one in order to stay happy.

I also have to write about two little incidents that happened yesterday to show you that she is still a little pill. She gets up usually about 5:45 am and comes in our bedroom every morning and let's just say that Caleb and I aren't exactly morning people so we usually tell her to go read some books or play with some toys for a while. Well yesterday she found my scriptures, pulled out the pen stuck in them and proceeded to draw on the couch with pen!! Aaaagh! Luckily it came out okay with a little hairspray. Then we went swimming later that evening and I came home and got her undressed to take a bath and I let her run around naked for ONE min. Well, in that one minute she climbed on the couch and peed!! What a great day, huh?

Happy 4th of July!

We hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day! We sure did. Although it was SUPER hot (I think the high was something like 114 degrees), and we missed our families a LOT, it was still a great day. (Sorry, these pictures are kind of posted in reverse order.)

Here we are at Glendale Community College waiting for the fireworks to start. I have to say that Caysja wasn't too fond of the fireworks and ended up crying when they started! This is the first year I have ever been away from home for the 4th of July and it was kind of sad. (For those of you that don't know, Idaho Falls has the best display of fireworks West of the Mississippi and let's just say I am a little spoiled...) We were glad to spend the day with our friends though. That 's something we are so grateful for here in AZ--good friends! Thanks for spending the day with us guys!There was a pretty cool band that we listened to for a while in the stadium of the college.

We were so lucky because the wind came up and the clouds covered the sun so it wasn't too hot. I thought the sunbeams behind the clouds were just beautiful!

Here we are watching the juggler at GCC with the Morris family.

He put on quite the show for us and even juggled three bowling balls, a sword, golf club, and baseball bat!

Best friends!We spent the afternoon at our pool and then had a BBQ with our friends the Morris's.

Here we are at the park near our apt. Our day started off with a pancake breakfast here at 7am put on by our ward. Can you believe it was already 106 degrees by that time?!!

These are pictures from our ward's playgroup the week of the 4th. My friend Alissa (pictured here with Caysja and Halle) put on a little patriotic party for the kids. They got to make edible necklaces and then watch a movie while they munched on them. Thanks, Alissa--it was so fun!

The "Patriotic girls" with their necklaces.

How blessed we all are to live in this great nation under God! May we never forget that freedom isn't free. God Bless the USA!

Aloha!

So this is a totally a late post, but I finally got this picture from the ward party we had back in May and I thought it was so cute, I had to post it. Our ward held a Luau before we went on vacation and it was sooooo fun! They had awesome decorations, (each table had a goldfish!), traditional food (I tried poi for the first time) and some amazing traditional dances for entertainment after dinner put on by our primary, YM and YW. One of the ladies in our ward on the activities committee painted this backdrop to take pictures with! Isn't it cool? (If you can't tell, we're pretending to "surf".)