Another busy weekend.

Doug and Cherie were kind enough to invite us for supper Saturday evening. They live sort of out in the country and have a big yard that was fun for Alexa to run around in. Caitlyn enjoys playing in the dirt..

And on Sunday morning we went to Willamette University for Carolyn's graduation from law school. It was sort of a long ceremony, but Alexa entertained herself very well playing with Kalin (a family friend of David's family.)

And then we went to Carolyn's place for lunch, raced back to get to our gospel meeting, and went home and cooked a celebration dinner for the family. Alexa loved having two Grandma types to play with..

I am not very good at the candid shots, so you'll have to bear with me.. This is Bea and Lloyd, David's aunt and her husband from Texas.

The Little Gym

I mentioned in a previous post that we were doing gymnastics at a place called The Little Gym. I can't say enough good things about this place. The staff is friendly and helpful, and the big thing I love is the noncompetitive focus. They aren't training kids to be professional gymnasts, they are teaching them playground skills and beginning sports skills. Alexa just needs to try to use her body in new ways, but it doesn't matter that she can't do half of the activities-no one cares. They encourage her to try, but don't worry too much when she gets distracted and wanders off..the other kids do their own thing some of the time too. If there is a branch near you I recommend them without reservation. I have linked their website in the beginning of this post.

More Arizona pictures

Here are the last of the pictures from Arizona. I tried to just pick out the best of them. So here we go. This is my brother's wife Chloe.
My mom, with Aiden (my brother's son), and the back of Andrew's head. (My stepbrother's son)

My brother Cody. (Whose artwork is shown on the website link I have listed to the right.)

The whole circus. You know how fun it is to get a group shot!

Aiden again, being adorable. He looks so much like Cody did as a boy.

Simone, my brother's daughter.

Aiden again..still gorgeous.

My cousin Melissa, with Cody's youngest, Avalon.

And Alexa, in her swimming outfit.

Wish I looked that adorable in my swimsuit!

Some Arizona vacation pictures

We are still in Arizona. The night before we left I got a fever and was sick all day Saturday. I took a lot of ibuprofen to stay functional. When we got to Casa Grande, I went to the hotel and slept, while Holly took Alexa to convention. By Sunday morning the fever was gone, so we went to convention. Alexa did pretty well, although she has continued to have a horribly snotty nose. It was pretty hot Sunday, and by the time lunch was over Alexa was acting like she didn't feel well, she just wanted me to carry her around. She was really red in the face, so we decided to take her home. We went to Holly's apartment and took her swimming.

Monday evening Mom, Alexa and I went up to Prescott. On Wednesday morning we had breakfast at the Hassyampa Inn, an historic motel in downtown Prescott with Suzie and Thelma.

And I got to visit with my best friend from high school, Melody.

Then we came back to Phoenix, stopping at the outlet malls to play in the fountains.

And Alexa went to spend the night with Nana and Poppa, while I took Holly out to dinner for her birthday.

It was very odd to be separated from both David and Alexa, I felt like I was having a slumber party or something, but it was really nice to get to visit with Holly uninterrupted!

What have we been up to..

Well, mostly we have been sick. We will hopefully be fully recovered by Saturday when Alexa and I leave for a week in Arizona and David goes to D.C. for four days to visit a friend. I have finished a sweater (just in time for summer of course.) I have almost finished the front of the aran sweater..this one is going very slowly due to all the cabling, and the fact that I don't work on it as often since I don't like to have to stop in the middle of a row. (Which makes it hard to knit with Alexa around!)

Our bird, Tweety..

And a picture of Alexa (without which, no blog entry would be complete.)

She brought a Mother's Day present home from school yesterday..her teachers are very clever and kind.

My horse Red..

Okay, she is getting older and her hair is turning a bit white, but she is really nice and patient with me. Alexa still loves going to school and getting on the bus..

Alexa Grows TALL

Okay, not really, but doesn't she look very tall in this picture?In other news at our house-I made Alexa a skirt from this tutorial. Unfortunately I should have trusted my instincts, which said "That skirt is way too wide for your skinny daughter!" It looks sort of dumb on Alexa because it is too gathered. Hopefully it will look better on one of her friends! Unfortunate really, since I took my time and sewed it so carefully.

We bought a parakeet this weekend. He is yellow and named Tweety. I know that isn't terribly original, but we wanted something Alexa might be able to say in the near future. Alexa can hardly keep her hands off his cage. We keep telling her.."Just LOOK at the bird, don't touch!"