April in April

We were so excited to have Mike, April, Camryn, Morgan, Logan, and Chase Felix come visit us the first week in April from Utah. We really miss our friends and the kids had so much fun playing with them. We even pulled Hyrum and Noah out of school early one day so they could have maximum play time together. We played and swam at our house most of the time, but we also went to Freestone Park to release some energy too.

Uncle Ted and Jenny's Farm

As part of Spring Break we visited Uncle Ted and Jenny's Farm. The boys absolutely loved playing with the animals and running around. We brought a bag of carrots to feed the horses with. They were so excited to hold the baby chicks and even see some newly hatched chicks still in the incubator.

Spring Break 2017!

Spring Break in Arizona is awesome. The boys get a whole week plus one day off from school. I've kept them busy with a lot of deep cleaning chores. Their bedrooms and the bathrooms in the house are now very clean, as well as dusting, vacuuming, and wiping down the rest of the house. I may not be a great mom, but I hope I can instill in them the importance of taking responsibility for the atmosphere and cleanliness of the home. Every person should contribute and take part in making a house a home. To reward them for their hard work, I've taken them to a new park every day and we went hiking at Popogo Park. The boys really loved the hole in the rock at Popogo. It was an easy park and the boys loved to explore.

Noah's Baptism

It really was a day to 'March Fourth into Righteousness'. Noahs baptism was scheduled for 3pm on March 4th. Grandma and Grandpa Rushton drove here from New Mexico, only weeks before they will be leaving to go on their mission to Lansing, Michigan. The program went great. Aunt Cassi played the piano, Katelyn conducted the music, and Brother Hamada presided at the meeting. Grandma Rushton gave the opening prayer followed by Aunt Amy's famous peanut butter baptism talk. Both the Grandpas were witnesses during the baptism while Dad performed the ordinance. Uncle Chase gave a great talk about the Holy Ghost and gifted Noah some special things to help remind him what the Holy Ghost can do for him. Grandma Partridge said the prayer to close the meeting. Afterward, we invited everyone over to our home for a little dinner. It is so nice to have so much family here.

Noah Baptism Preparation

Dad has been studying every night with Noah from the Book of Mormon leading up to his baptism. Noah has such a sweet tender spirit. His testimony is in the beginning stages, but is very sincere. He has prayed about the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true. He loves Jesus and trusts Him. Noah is always looking for opportunities to serve and help others and wants to do the right thing. We are very proud of his choices and that he has chosen to be baptized. We went to the temple to take some pictures at the temple to have for his baptism. He also wanted to make cookies to bring to Grandmama and Grandpa Long's house Sunday night to celebrate his birthday.

Grandma and Grandpa Rushton

Grandma and Grandpa Rushton got home from serving a six month mission in the Nauvoo Illinois temple. Shortly after they got back they came out to see us and the new house. They were only here for a few hours when my Dad noticed an empty space behind a wall in the closet and asked if we wanted him to take the wall down. We had so much fun taking the wall down, putting support beams up, and turning a dead space into a fun little storage area. The boys loved to help where they could. Owen and Emmett especially loved being helpers and handing Grandpa nails and sometimes even swinging the hammer when needed. Brett performed with the Cinamatic Pop while my parents were here so I took the boys one of the nights and Grandma and Grandpa got to go out on a date another night. The music was incredible and it was great to see Brett sing with such a big choir. Before they left we went to the Mesa temple lights as a family.

Thanksgiving 2016

One of our favorite family traditions in Utah was Thanksgiving with friends and neighbors. Every year since we've been married, excepting 2, we have opened our home up to people who had no one else to spend Thanksgiving with. I spend the days before baking pies, rolls,  and side dishes and Brett spends Thanksgiving cooking the bird, making mashed potatoes, and gravy. Thanksgiving is Brett's big cooking day of the year. With all that said, we knew we would need to make some changes in Arizona, and we loved being able to spend Thanksgiving with the Partridges. We've spent so long without all this family close to us, that we sometimes forget how wonderful it is to have people to spend holidays with. It was fun, relaxing, and the kids loved being able to spend the day with cousins. I still made a couple of pies and Brett got to make the turkey.