Visit to Tucson

On Monday my mom and I drove down to Tucson for a few hours.  I love the Reid Park Zoo and was excited to take Landon there for the first time.  We met my friend Lori and her boys there, who we haven't seen in almost 5 years.  Landon was kind of a stinker for the first half, until he warmed up to the Robinson boys.  Then he was great and excited to look at the animals with them.  He especially liked the peacocks and turtles that we saw in various places.

They have a huge new elephant enclosure since the last time I was there, with 5 elephants.

 One of them is a baby, and one is a teenager I guess you could say.  This is just a small part of the enclosure, but it's neat that it wraps around in a horseshoe shape so that you can see them well from anywhere after they let them in to find their food and play.

Landon & Grandma LeSueur 

 The frog squirter that all of my kids have loved.

 

 And look!  We even found the "Boy Exhibit."

 Landon latched on to Braydon.  I guess he just figured that Braydon was a good replacement for Jacob since he wasn't around.  Landon LOVED the monkeys, and kept wanting to go back and listen to them howl.

 I think these fish have doubled in size since Jacob was little.

We went to the Robinson's house for a couple of hours after and Landon had a blast being entertained by Braydon, Zach, Ben and all their toys.  We even got to see Ember & Dusty as well.  It made me a little sad that our boys aren't getting to grow up together because they did and would get along so well!  We miss you Robinsons!

Thanks for letting us visit Lori.  It was so fun to see you in person!

On our way out of town we drove by my old house and Jacob's old school.  Everything looks pretty much the same, but after living in Texas for so long the landscape seemed even that much more barren.  I forget what a desert it is there!

Alisha's Wedding

On Saturday I went to the wedding of one of my best friends, Alisha Shumway.  We knew each other in high school, but became really close in college.  I am so happy for Alisha that she found the perfect guy for her.  It was nice to finally meet Jeff and his kids, and they are great!  Thank you for letting me be there on your wonderful day Alisha!

Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Southwick

 Alisha now has two teenage daughters and two boys the same ages as Jacob & Savannah.

 

 It was fun to be at the lunch reception and see a couple of friends from high school and a couple from college.  It was a small reception with lots of family there to support Alisha and Jeff.  My mom and I had the responsibility of hiding Alisha's car before the reception started and bringing it back after, so it didn't get decorated.  Alisha did the same for Dallin and I, so it was payback time.

Congratulations to the new Southwick family!

Visiting the Strongs

On Friday we spent the day at the Strongs' house.  Dallin's siblings that live nearby came over for the day with their kids.  Luckily Carrie's kids don't have school on Fridays, so they were able to come from Buckeye for the whole day.  We loved seeing and spending time with all of them.  Thanks for making time for us everyone!  

Landon loves men (especially grandpas) and riding his cars up them.

Justin's family

  The kids were getting restless so Grandpa took them all outside to help "rake" the leaves.  The adults joined a little later and we had lots of fun.  

 Landon did NOT want to go outside because I wouldn't let him bring the toy out with him.  But he was happy and throwing leaves after just a few minutes.

 

 You can't tell in this picture, but Allison had just thrown a big bunch of leaves on Landon and he loved it.

 

 Afterwards the kids all took a break and watched a movie.

 Landon spent a couple of hours outside with Grandpa, Carrie & Tanya playing with the dog.  This kid loves dogs, especially Laddie.  He wore himself out good chasing Laddie all over the backyard. 

 When I came outside to check on him after a while, Landon showed me his "ball" and said "Mommy!  Ball tree!!!"  He was so amazed that there was a whole tree just full of balls waiting to be picked and played with.  Luckily he only picked one of Grandpa's grapefruits and carried it around the whole time.

Landon and Trenton were the best little buddies and played together pretty nicely the whole day.  It will be fun to watch them and Rusty together as they all get older.

 Trent and Landon even built themselves a "fort."

 A big "HI" from Matthew

 On Saturday I dropped Landon off for the whole day while I was at the wedding.  I think he loved having Grandma & Grandpa Strong to himself for a day.

Landon & Lauree's Arizona trip

On Thursday, January 17 Landon and I flew to Arizona.  The purpose of the trip was for the wedding of one of my best friends.  Dallin dropped us off at the airport right after we took the kids to school.  Dallin was able to work from home a couple of days and the older kids also went to a friend's house one day after school as well.  They did a great job keeping the house together and getting everything done.  I know this trip wouldn't have been possible without Dallin being so supportive.  Thanks Dallin! 

 This time Landon had his own seat and it was SO much better than when we went a year ago.  I brought his car seat and strapped him in just like a car trip.  He didn't know he could get out and I didn't tell him.  I didn't even have to use all the new little toys I had bought for the plane, he did so well.  He mostly just held his new Scooby-Doo and watched shows on my Kindle.  I love that Kindle.

 When we got to AZ we had lunch with Grandma & Grandpa LeSueur.  In the evening my mom took me to get a pedicure with her while Grandpa took Landon to the park.

 Friday we spent at the Strongs, but I'll do that as a separate post.  Saturday was wedding day!  When my mom and I got to the temple we ran into my mom's best friend and her daughter, also there for a wedding.  They live in eastern AZ, so it was great and a major coincidence for us to get to see them and talk to them for a few minutes.

 On Sunday we went to church with my parents, and then had my aunt and uncle's family over in the evening.  I really appreciated them making the long drive out to see us.  Landon enjoyed using Todd as a racetrack.

With the Garbisons, "Shapes," "Mer-silly," and Todd

 

 Landon LOVED playing with Shae, who he called "Shapes."  They did legos and she played lots of hide-and-seek with him.  He was missing his siblings by then, so it was a nice play date for him.  Oh, and he wore that Santa hat any time we were at my parent's house.

 Landon enjoyed having lots of one on one attention with family during the whole week.

 

 

 We left on Tuesday after lunch, but stopped at Grandpa's work to say good-bye before we left, since it's right next to the airport.  I used to go visit my dad in that building when I was a little girl, and now all of my kids have been there to visit Grandpa.

 Landon got a new "puppy" for the way home, and is still carrying it around non-stop.  He did great on the flight again, and even took a nap for half the time.  After both flights the guys sitting next to me complimented him on what a good boy he was, which made me happy.  It was a fun, fun trip, but it's nice to be home and back in our routine again.

Science Fair

Zach had to do the Science Fair this year, and did his project with his friend Tyler.  Their project was titled "How Different Liquids Effect Plant Growth."  They started out trying to grow beans in cups, but the bean seeds were duds and none of them sprouted.  Then they tried flower seeds in bags, and finally did bean seeds in ziploc bags and that worked great.  They put cotton balls soaked in different liquids in each bag.  They had a fun time doing it together.

Dino Pit

On Saturday I took the little kids to the Austin Nature & Science Center downtown.  The older boys didn't want to come, so we left them at home.  We haven't been here in 2 or 3 years and Connor & Landon LOVED it.  It's free too, so you can't beat that.  I didn't get any pictures by all the fossils and stuff because I was trying to keep Landon from breaking the microscopes and magnifying glasses.  The kids are free to touch things, he's just a little too rough still.

 Landon love "whooing" to all the birds in the aviary.

 Of course Connor loved the snakes and fish.  They also have a few local rescued animals, like fox, racoon, etc.

 Then we headed to the dino pit.  Connor has gotten into dinosaurs lately, so he was very excited about this part.  He was only 2 or 3 the last time we came.

 Landon just followed Savannah around the whole time saying "Dig!  Dig!  I dig!"

 Until he found a nice hole to dig in.  Then he stayed put for a while.

 Connor thought it was great that I let him jump off all the rocks, since it was just sand to land in.

 It's such a pretty place to visit.

Through the eyes of Savannah

Savannah loves to use our old camera and take lots and lots of pictures (I wonder where she gets that from?).  Last week she had the camera and brought it to me when it was full so I could delete them all.  I just  went on to it today and it just made me smile.  Here are some of my favorites.

We have felt faces that you put on a flannel board, but we like to put them on each other.  It's much more entertaining.

 

 

 Self picture

 Landon always carries his toys in one arm so he has his other arm free to play.  That particular day he carried around Velma & Daphne all day.