the weirdest thing...

so, many of you know that our family made it's 7th move in 5 years over this summer. kind of a big deal, but we really wanted to do it. see, when we moved to Az 2.5 years ago, we thought we were building a dream house in a place called Verrado. in the mean time, we moved into another house in Gilbert. there we lived on a magical street full of fun and interesting people who became like a family to us. once we moved into the "dream home" we realized we were already living the dream back in Gilbert. a year and half, and 3 jobs later - we are back and loving it! now for the weirdest thing: this week, i drove through Verrado on my way to CA and was astonished to discover a well of emotion hidden deep in the recesses of my heart. i felt really sad as i drove around the tree-lined streets remembering Anna's first steps, countless family walks, and going into labor with Maddie. as much as i couldn't wait to leave, i truly did enjoy living there. it is a breathtaking town and our house was more like a mansion. but in the end, it's the people that really make life grand! so, goodbye Verrado, i guess i will miss you more than i knew.

keep on rockin'

time for a quick post from grandma and grandpa's house. we are rockin' and rollin'which is very tiring.but, Corby and Ash never let us rest!!!!!!!

entering year six......

the years in numbers:

5 - number of married years

2 - number of children

9 - number of jobs between us

7 - number of moves

5,000 - number of diapers (approx.)

1,000,000 - number of kisses (approx.)

2 - number of states

100% - amount of love

can't wait for the next five years!!!!

the newlyweds

if at first your postpartum weight loss goals do not succeed...tri, tri, again!

The Run The Bike
The Swim

The Fans!!!!!!!

so, it's been my experience now twice over, that baby weight just doesn't budge. my new approach to dealing with a post-baby body is to set a goal that is not related to the number on the scale. you may recall that back in may i participated in my first competitive sport since seventh grade, a 5k run. well, stepped up my game and competed in a sprint triathlon this weekend. that's right, i am a triathlete. funny if you've known me any length of time, even funnier - i loved it! i'm all geared up for another one in december. the whole experience from training to recovery had me thinking a whole lot about my body issues. specifically, how to overcome them. this is not a new line of thinking for me. therefore, i set up a new blog so as not to bore those of you who come here just to check in on the family and not to hear me talk girly. check it out if you feel like glimpsing another side of my reality.

yum!!!

i love these faces! in our kitchen we have pics of Anna eating her first foods, and her first ventures into self-feeding. now baby sister joins the wall!!!

p.s.: Tonya thanks for the blogwear, we needed and update.

what you don't know about Arizona

so, many people don't understand that the state of AZ is more than just barren, hot, miserable desert. in fact, we are mere hours away from the mountains! we head up a couple times a year and have fabulous time. but, we've never seen it like this. last weekend, our neighbors, the Whites

took us up to their cabin in Vernon. it was much further into the woods than we have ever stayed before, a good hour up from our normal cabin. once there, we relished the crisp air and quiet solitude. the first day we took the quads up to a hill with the most breathtaking views, but were quickly scrambling for cover as a storm rolled in. (escaping the valley does not mean escaping the Monsoon.) but the rain was welcome and made everything seem fresher. thanks to the rain we were treated with a wonderful surprise the following day. we took a much longer ride to get the lay of the land. Chad, our neighbor and tour guide, is an avid Native American relic hunter. he took us to an ancient Indian ruin and there we found pottery, an arrow head and a baby horney toad.

our nights were spent working on our latest addiction, Settlers of Catan.

what an Arizona adventure!

beating the heat

for those of you who may be experiencing some "summer heat," here are a few tips on beating it. by the way, these are tried and true taught by some heat-beating masters, my neighbors - AZ natives!



1) eat ice cream in a bowling alley 2) dress appropriately, eg: diaper and princess shoes
3) chill with your friends
4) take a bath
5) play indoors
6) and probably the most important rule - get out of town!