Two Weeks...

The past two weeks have been great.

Jerry has been off the whole time. He took his nights off then had long change. Its been heaven. It's been the first time in a LONG time that he has taken time off and used it for a family vacation instead of working on a house.

It feels strange.

It feels great!

So what did we do with all this time off??

We planned on going to the Phoenix Zoo, a spring training game, Freestone Park, Jeepers and the Arizona Museum for Youth.



However, the day we planned to go to the zoo was the day it poured in the valley. Luckily we were there for 3 days and were able to be flexible with our scheduling. So on the rainy day we went shopping and also enjoyed In-N-Out Burger and Texas Roadhouse! Our favs. Mmm.mmm.mmm



So since it poured Tuesday, we went to the Zoo on Wednesday. We usually go right when it opens in the morning but this day we decided not to be in such a hurry. I'm so glad we chose that. It was the best day we've ever had at the zoo. Usually the animals are just laying around doing nothing and are so far away the kids can't even see them. This time the baboons were right next to the window picking bugs out of each other's hair and Kaysen was right next to them. The rhinos were close to the fence eating and we got to throw a carrot at the elephant and watch him walk over to us for more. Kaysen's favorite animals were the Orangutans. The baby one was playing peek a boo with a sheet, making Kaysen laugh like crazy.


Jerry and the boys in front of the elephants.
Cheesy boy. Gage always has to smile like this if we tell him to smile for a picture. He rarely does his real smile anymore. He's still cute and funny though. Kaysen was much too interested in the elephants to stop and take a picture with me though.

Here Kaysen is pretending to be a flamingo. He thought they were "silly" because they only stand on one leg.

The next day we went to the Arizona Museum for Youth. They had soooo many fun activities for kids. Plus, I didn't really have to worry all that much about my kids breaking something. It was all for kids. They boys were able to draw all over, make numerous puzzles, go in a tree fort, play in a kitchen, garden and bedroom area and much more. It really was a neat place for kids to go. They loved being able to run around from one thing to the next without Mom and Dad nagging at them to be careful. We will definitely be making another stop by this place again.
Finally! A REAL smile. Isn't he cute?


After the Museum we headed to the Mesa Temple so that Kaysen could see Jesus. One of the recent Friend issues had the Christus on the cover and ever since Kaysen saw it he wanted to see it in person. So we took him here. Kaysen and Gage loved it. Gage would just point and smile. We asked one of the Sister missionaries to take a pic and I love it....even though it took a few tries to get us all looking at the camera, without Kaysen's finger in his nose.


I may be bias but aren't these the cutest boys in the world??

It was a very good, much needed trip but I think ALL of us were so glad to finally be home. Although I can't wait to do it all again!!!

Once we got home we hit it hard. Well the boys did at least. We are still digging away on our trench for our retaining wall. Kaysen and Gage have so much fun digging with Dad. They think they are as big as he is.

Now Jerry is back at work. Kaysen woke up this morning and asked where Dad went. When I told him he was at work he said, "Why? He doesn't need to work anymore. He needs to be with us." I wish that he didn't HAVE to work sometimes but I'm sure glad that he has the job he does and that we live where we are now. We see each other so much more and it's making life better then I thought it could be.