Family Fun!

We headed to a Fall Festival during the middle of the day and it was 95 degrees...yikes. The kids had a blast - riding the barrel train.

Showing off their muscles!!

And their bean bag throwing skills.



Benson making his way through the hay maze at record breaking speed - he was a machine trying to get out of there.

Jumping!



Yay for the teeter-totter!

The kids loved it!! (They had never even seen one before and had no idea what it was...sad, huh?!)

Starting the corn maze...sadly enough it was just to hot to finish it - so we went in and then popped back out for a nice refreshing beverage.

The kids loved painting their pumpkins.

Grandpa Brad flew home on his 50th birthday...so we had a party the night before they left. Coby made that awesome Black Forest Cheesecake Cake - it was delicious!! We had so much fun with the Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kasey, and Brayden - and were so sad to see them go. We moped around the house all day after they left. We loved having them here and are counting the days until we get to see them again!!

Fun with Grandma!

We were so excited to have Grandma slip away for a few days to spoil us. We headed to the zoo and the kids loved showing Grandma around.



I don't know why Alayna rarely smiles for pictures...she gets this solemn, pouty face on whenever I pull out the camera - she thinks its funny, I hope it is just a phase - that will end soon!

Conference Weekend

I know I am a little late, but Conference was weekend was heavenly...in more ways than one. We loved having Aunt Kali come spend a lazy weekend with us in our pajamas, making sugar cookies, and painting fingernails.




Kali was super nice and let Alayna paint her fingernails :)
Conference was so inspiring...we had Coby home with us for the weekend and we just hung out at home and in the swimming pool between sessions. The messages were beautiful and the Spirit was strong and we felt heaven in our home.
One last thought to end with...I loved Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk addressed to the Fathers of Daughters...
"Love her mother so much that your marriage is celestial. A temple marriage for time and all eternity is worthy of your greatest efforts and highest priority. It was only after Nephi had completed the temple in the wilderness that he stated, “And … we lived after the manner of happiness.”² The “manner of happiness” is found in the temple. It is covenant keeping. Don’t let any influence come into your life or your home that would cause you to compromise your covenants or your commitment to your wife and family."
I just want to echo her...that true happiness is found in the temple and in keeping our covenants.

Catch-up: Graduation!!

Coby - with pre-graduation jitters!!
The last 6 months have not been my best blogging months...so I have lots of things I wanted to blog about, but have just lacked motivation and add in the craziness of life - and I fall way behind. As Coby neared graduation, we were frantically packing and getting ready to move - so blogging fell by the wayside. Recently the Doc - reminded me that his graduation wasn't even important enough to be blogworthy...no worries I reassured him that it was and he knows how proud of him I am for graduating and how hard he works for our family.
Post-graduation craziness


Love this pic with my mom!!

Our Shoes :)

The Doc and his Wife!


The Doc's better side ?!

Coby with his sisters, Angie and Kasey

Grandma Carol and Coby

Coby and his dad are always sharing "jokes"...you can tell it was real funny to them - maybe not completely appropriate from the look on mom's face...

The Doctor with his proud parents

The Doctor and his proud Grandparents...Grandma and Grandpa Kitchen.


Dr. Brown (Aunt) and Dr. Brown (Nephew), both OB/GYN doctors, both trained at U of U Medical School followed by Phoenix residencies.

My parents, Coby, and I.
There are so many people that have helped us and supported us through medical school and beyond. Thank you and we love you...words cannot express how grateful we are for YOU!
Becoming a doctor is hard work, long hours, and doesn't end with graduation. As we start this week...Coby will be working the next 16 days without a day off...and I couldn't ask for a more dedicated husband who works hard and loves his family. He continues to amaze me and make me proud of all that he is doing and accomplishing. Love ya!

Catch-up: Graduation Party

Cousins!

Grandpa Lloyd and Great Great Grandma Richards (for Alayna and Benson)



Alayna, Benson and most of their Grandma's!! L-R Great Grandma Carol, Great Grandma Linda, Great Great Grandma Richards, Grandma Kelli, and Grandma Lana

and Grandpa...who is usually taking pictures and avoiding the camera :)
We were so glad to have all of families get together and celebrate Coby's graduation and bid us farewell. We love everyone and miss seeing you so much!!

Catch-up

This post is long overdue...but I have a ton of posts that I need to catch up - so this seemed like an excellent place to start. In August, the kids and I took a trip to Utah to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Stewart. It was Benson's first time on an airplane and he was very excited!

Alayna was so excited to go swimming even though it was overcast, windy, and the pool was freezing...which is a far cry from our AZ swimming conditions.

We went to an Orem Owlz game.


Kali did some intense swirly fingernail painting.

Baking cookies with Grandma.

This is how Grandma rolls...

We loved mini-golfing.

Benson watched for a minute and then dove right in - he loved it...he had to do every hole by himself!



Kali and Preston convinced Alayna and I to challenge them in the bumper boats...it was a bad idea - they totally ganged up on us and soaked us to the bone. We were completely helpless against their attacks. We barely got them wet...not fair!

Not a dry spot on either of us!
Thanks again for a fun week Kali, Preston, Juli, Grandma and Grandpa!! We love you and miss living by you!

Zoo-tastic

We went to the zoo this last Saturday. It has started to cool off a bit, but it is still over 100 degrees. Alayna really did enjoy the zoo despite the scowl on her face. Benson on the other hand...loved the zoo. Every time we stopped to watch some animals he would hold on to the rail because he didn't want to leave.

There was a pond with hundreds of turtles in it...and they were all covered in moss.

The kids loved petting the goats - they could have done it all day.

This was a monkey walk-through (I can't remember what it is called)...you get to walk on a trail in an open monkey area. The kids loved having the monkeys so close and running right over our heads.

The highlight - was the splash pad at the zoo.