we love visitors!

Jeff & Lucy came to the heat of Tucson for a visit. Today we went on a drive to Soniota, even if you never got out of the car, it would still be worth going just for the beautiful views. We actually went to go pick apples in Elgin but, a storm ruined their crops, which meant there were no apples this year. So we just found other things to do instead.




We picked some gourds to use for decoration- they are currently in a line up on the top of my entertainment center.

Jeff, Laun, the boys (you can hardly see), Lucy, & Jonathan searching for gourds.



I love Lucy- she is such an awesome mother-in-law. I lucked out big time.


Laun put these flowers in Marlee's hair- they didn't stay there long




Marlee was real freaked out by the bugs for some reason, she got scared & went right to her dad for protection.

Our boys with Jonathan:

Marlee loves her Grandma

Porter trying to balance his stash

There was some very high plants/weeds out there:

Too bad we don't have a bigger vehicle or we could have carpooled, the Frosts followed behind us

It was such a beautiful day & the weather was great.

Soniota was covered with yellow flowers & sunflowers.

Marlee is a fan of her Uncle Jonathan

We stopped by a farmers market in Sonita:

This seller was probably my favorite:

Heres what we bought: Tomato Date Relish (you serve it to accompany meat), Summer Squash Pickles (she pickles squash just like you would do with cucumbers), Prickly Pear Hot Pepper Jelly (you serve it over cream cheese & use as a dip-similar to the raspberry chipolte sauce from Costco), & Plumcot jelly (the boys like that fruit & I have never seen it as a jelly before). We still have prickly pear juice in our freezer so, we are hoping to figure out how to make the Prickly Pear Hot Jelly- plus she lists all of the ingredients on the lid. I liked that so many of the things were very unique & I'm very curious to try the Tomato Date Relish.

Then we went out to lunch:

I think this should be called the John Wayne room- his pictures were plastered all over the place. Marlee checking out the saddle:

Marlee stole my salad from me, I was suprised that she liked honey mustard dressing.

Clayton was a little embarrassed by our waitress, she kept teasing him. Which is funny because Clayton is such a tease himself. She was funny with Jeff too, so much that I thought Laun was going to start crying from laughing so hard. The service was great & after lunch we shared butterscotch, coconut, & sweet potato pie.

We drove to Patigonia- the rolling hills were so pretty.

Sunflowers lined the streets

The kids liked the Patigonia lake- the adults were not too impressed. But if the kids liked it then I guess it was worth the $20 to get in.

Lucky me had to get in the water so that Clayton didn't get stuck babysitting Marlee the whole time. She kept squatting in the water- too cute.

The boys were so happy to swim.

Here we are on the top of the bridge (the kids, me, Lucy, & Jeff)

Clayton-it would be safe to say that he was probably looking for some live creature.

The kids loved going up the bridge.

That evening I enjoyed going to the Relief Society Broadcast & meeting up with some friends for a movie.

Every time Jeff comes to town he treats us to dinner. We went out friday night for some mexican food. They had no kid cups with lids so, they gave Marlee this massive cup. She still spills it every where though.

We tried to go bowling friday night but, apparently everyone in Tucson had the same idea & the bowling alley was packed. So we settled for a redbox movie & thrifty ice cream.

We are always happy to have Jeff & Lucy come to Tucson.

these three crazies

Yes, I am still babysitting the twins: Kevin & Mark (6 hrs. a day, mon-fri). These three are so funny together. Don't let this first picture fool you. They look so sweet & they play great together, right?


Wrong. This is the stage of: mine, no, smacking, bitting, yelling-you know, that lovely stage. The stage where they think the world revolves around them (kind of like the teenager phase). This picture is more like it:

They all seem to magically want the same toy at the same time. Although they do play better when the blocks are out.


Marlee doesn't like to brag but, she has mad stacking skills.

you are the apple of my eye

I am in my 2nd week of school already. So far, so good, so busy!

Having a laptop is required for school so, Laun picked up this one for me. I love it & it has been so nice to have. Laun & my parents have been such a huge help for me to be able to get back into school again. Maybe I will be so busy that this semester will just fly by!

Open House

The boys had an open house at their school tonight and they are both doing great.
Good job boys- we are proud of you!

Ms. Etters & Porter



Clayton (pointing at the globe) & Mrs. Cohn

It has come down to this:

Duct tape on her diaper-is this really necessary? Yes.
I am sick and tired of finding her with no diaper on so, this should work.
Just think of it as an accessory- a big cute, stylish belt, if you will.

lunch date

Marlee^ sitting on potatoes

Since I didn't babysit today, Laun & I decided to go out for lunch. We went to the new Five Guys burger shop & it was kind of a disappointment. The food was expensive & wasn't that great. But it was still fun to go out on a lunch date.

The weekend...

The kids & I went to Phoenix for the weekend. It was a fast trip though, we got there late friday night & left early sunday morning. So I pretty much had a crammed full day on saturday. I first went & got my haircut from my friend Karen early that morning. Then my mom & I went to the temple (my sister Rachel babysat my kiddos for me). I visited with my sister & her sweet baby Lydia. Then we went & visited my Turley Grandparents. And lastly I went to my 10 year high school reunion. It was a long day.

I love my mom


My kids love babies-well Marlee has a love/hate for them. She likes them personally but, she doesn't like that they take attention away from her. Clayton is so good with babies, just like his Daddy.


Marlee looks so grown up & tall compared to Lydia. Hopefully these two little girls will grow up liking eachother. As of now, I think Marlee likes Lydia much more than Lydia likes her. Marlee kept touching Lydia's face & then Lydia would cry.



The high school reunion was fun. Becky^ did all of the planning & it turned out great. Becky & I carpooled together since both of our husbands couldn't make it & to set up some stuff. I remembered to get this photo long before the event even started but, then I forgot & didn't take any pictures when the event actually started-oh well. We had around 60 people there, I think? But when you consider that the graduating class of 2000 was only around 230 people & that you cannot always locate everyone to even let them know about it, that is not to shabby of a turn out. When you see people again, it almost seems that it hasn't been ten years ago. It was fun to catch up & see old friends. From visiting with people, I'm pretty sure that I have been married the longest & have the most kids. It is crazy how much my life has changed since high school.

Dear Marlee,

You are so cute, sweet, and curious. Your full of adventure and happiness. We love you so much!

P.S. Could you please stop...

-screaming every time you don't get your way

-getting into the chalk and crayons and coloring things you shouldn't or eating them

-throwing food at others or on the ground

-taking off your diaper whenever you feel like it

-emptying the wipe box

-telling your mother no

-eating the chapstick

-pulling my clothes out of the dresser

-rearranging my high heels

It would be much appreciated, thank you.

Love Always,

Mom

Chicken anyone?

For Christmas Laun gave me this ^ so we could cook our chickens on the grill. It is now September & we are finally testing it out. You have to be careful not to burn it but, the chicken turns out really tasty.

I love date night

Last night Laun & I went to his department dinner at The Mountain Oyster Club. The company was great & so was the food. They served creme brulee for dessert & it was amazing. I have got to learn how to make it.

Our long weekend....

I took Porter & Marlee with me to my cousin Sam Miller's wedding reception. Clayton stayed with Laun & helped him at work. It was fun to see so many family & friends in one night. My sister Laura & her husband Justin even came from Utah. Laura is a huge Marlee fan so, I pretty much had the night off.

Me & my pretty sister Laura (we are really the same height, Laura was wearing flats)


I think every kid loves balloons


Marlee was checking out these statues, it was so cute. She would get right in their faces & kiss them on the cheeks, like they were real or something.


We stayed the night at my Dad's house & so did the Laytons, it was nice to have time to hang out. My sister Rachel & my sister-in-law Richelle came over to visit. Rachels baby Lydia is just perfect. Then my dad babysat while Laura & I went to last chance to do some shopping. We are a bad combo because we take forever but, we have such a good time together & got some cute stuff.

Marlee wasn't looking at the camera so, Porter "helped" her.

These kiddos love to play the piano.

Sat night we went to the Layton's house & Porter had fun swimming. We had hamburgers & then headed over to the Miller's house for games. I had a great time visiting with family but, I think Porters favorite part was playing the ninja game.

Porter, Riley, & Liz were the final 3 left in the ninja game.

Laun went to the Smart's Ranch for Labor day but, I had to stay home since I had a primary training meeting on sunday night. But luckily we weren't bored because our friends invited us over on monday for some amazing food & swimming.

Speaking of our little cowgirl...

Marlee got her biopsy resuls back & they are a lot like we figured but better. She has acid reflux & it showed some redness/irritation which is from her intolerance to milk & soy. The great news is that the diet & medicine she is on are working pretty good & her villi look good too (this is great news because when Port was having issues his villi were almost gone-villi are in the intestines for those of you wondering). They only want me to add one more thing to her medicine list & we are good. She is to stay on her EO28 (a medical drink-that smells & makes her breath smell). Yea- we are so happy that we are treating her correctly & that she is growing! The best part is that because it is just an intollerance & not an allergy, she should out grow this problem just like Porter did.