Arizona Science Center

On New Years Eve we headed over to the science center to explore and play.  We got there early and it was Snow Week.  The boys loved the machine that made snow and were so excited to jump and play in the snow.  They didn't mind at all not having snow clothes.  They jumped right in.

 I couldn't believe how much the boys loved playing in the snow.  They were so excited to run and slide in the snow.

 Checking out the snow with their cousins.  They never wanted to play in the snow like this when we lived in Utah and had the snow outside all of the time.  Snow is so much more fun in the sunlight.

The boys had a great time playing at the science center.  They are always eager to explore.

Megan and Molly

We came back from our anniversary trip and promptly picked up two of our favorite people, Megan and Molly, for a mini vacation.  The boys were in heaven with their two doting cousins playing with them all day.  The girls stayed two nights at our house and we filled the days with a ton of fun.

We went to the zoo first thing in the morning and met up with a big group of aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my grandpa.

 The boys loved showing off the zoo.

 I of course only took these two pictures because I am horrible at taking pictures when we are on the go. 
Then we put Cameron down for a nap and started some projects.

 First we painted and decorated the piñata we made for New Year's Eve.

 We decided to make it a penguin and had a lot of fun putting it together.

The final pinata.
Then we began science projects.  Hunter loves science projects.  He is a little obsessed with science projects and was so happy that his cousins wanted to do a ton.
We did the milk, food coloring, and soap swirl project we have done before.

 The girls had a great time creating starry nights and other swirls. 
Then we did baking soda and vinegar shooters.
 They liked all of the volcanoes they could make.

 Last we made goo.

 Megan decided to try some and decided she didn't really like it.

 Molly isn't even sure she likes the feel of it.

 Hunter loves the goo and loved feeling how slimy it was.

 All the kids playing around. 
We had a pizza party and movie night and it was so fantastic playing with these girls.

Sedona

We spent the rest of our anniversary and the weekend in Sedona and left the boys to play with their grandparents. 

We had so much fun together just the two of us and I didn't freak out too much about being away from the kiddos, (this is the first time we have ever left them for more than 24 hours and only the second time anyone but the two of us has put them to sleep, what can I say I love my boys too much). 

Our hotel was amazing with a fire place and hot tub and the area was absolutely beautiful.

I made Patrick explore all over with me and on Saturday I made him hike all day.  We did over 12 miles hiking/climbing but the views were spectacular.

 

 Patrick is a really good climber and I think his ease at running up mountains and climbing over ledges kind of freaked some of the other hikers out. 

 This was a great hike out to a natural arch.  It wasn't as fantastic as the arches in Arches National Park but it was really beautiful.  I was laughing at how polite all the tourists were.  We each stood in a nice polite line to take pictures at the arch and traded off taking pictures of each other so we could all have nice shots standing over the arch.  It was really funny.

Our last hike was the cathedral and it was beautiful.  It involved more climbing and elevation but it gave us the best views of the red rocks.

Luckily each night we enjoyed some truly spectacular and yummy food so we had enough energy to hike more the next day.

It was a really great trip and the boys had so much fun with their grandparents that I am thinking we will need to do this again soon.

Family Anniversary Fun

Our anniversary is just after Christmas and this year we were celebrating ten years married.  We decided to start our anniversary celebration with our boys because our anniversary is the celebration of the beginning of our family. 

We went to the airport for breakfast together.

 The boys always love seeing all of the planes.
Then we went to the desert park to hike and play around.

We love our little family so much!

Christmas Morning

We had a spectacular Christmas with our two little guys and all of our family.

 Hunter woke up early so we let him open his book presents up and we read to him while we waited for Cameron to wake up.

 

 

The looks on their faces as they opened their presents was priceless.  I loved watching them and seeing their reactions.

They were so cute.  They had each bought the other a gift and they had spent all week talking to each other about what they got but they were still so excited to share and open those gifts.

Here are my two little super heroes on Christmas.

And here they are with their super hero their dad.  He is amazing and sacrifices so much for us.  It was a truly lovely day with so much more fun but this is the only other picture I took that day.

It was a very Merry Christmas.