Mission San Xavier

We took a little morning trip to this mission that was build in 1783 by some friars from Spain. As we were there and learning about the history of it I realized 1783 was a really long time ago...who knew anyone but the Indians were here then?

It is totally in the middle of no where.

I love the white of the building against the deep blue sky.

The whole place was abandoned at one point and wild animals were living inside. They did major restoration on the whole thing.

They are just cute.

Deep in the labyrinth.

The Indians come to set up little eateries in the stalls on the mission grounds. There were about 7 or 8 stalls and all of them had the exact same menu. Fry bread, fry bread with sugar, fry bread with cinnamon, fry bread with meat, fry bread with honey. It was hard to choose who to buy from when they all look exactly the same and they are all eying you to see where you are going to spend your money. We chose the people who had two cute little kids:

I thought Jack and Chase looked cute playing under the table with these little Indian kids. Seeing them made me thankful that Quinn has a good job.

Have I mentioned...

That my awesome mom is coming in 2 weeks and that we have tickets to go see:

So You Think You Can Dance Live on Tour!!

I can't wait!

Halloween

We were the bat family for halloween. I wanted to do Batman and Robin for the boys but who wants to be robin?

Of course this pic is a little lame because you can't see Quinn's camo backed bat on his shirt and you cant see the boys awesome bat capes!

Chase particularly enjoyed the sugar feas!t

Carving pumpkins is really fun! Why did i not remember how fun it is?

The Man Hike

Quinn and a couple buddies from the ward decided to hike/camp MT. Wrightson, a mountain you can see from our house. It was a warm day and they didn't anticipate any bad weather. Well they returned home today triumphant and a very tired. They survived "hurricane force winds", pelting rain and hail, freezing temps and a very steep and little used trail. It was a mini epic and just what a man needs every now and then.

My favorite quotes from the retelling:

"I should have brought a jacket."

"Paul didn't bring a tent, just a tarp."

And last but best of all:

"We were talking around the campfire when Costco came up which naturally led to diapers and before we knew it, here we were...3 guys on the top of a mountain talking about which diapers we prefer."

A Date

I went on a real date with my awesome husband wednesday night. We did just about our two favorite things, mountain biking and eating. We weren't able to start until almost 5:30 so it was a race against the darkness. It was a bit hot when we got going but as soon as the sun went down it was perfect. The air was soft and warm and we caught glimpses of the amazing desert sunset at every turn. I wish the picture did it justice.
I love dates! I wish we were those people who did them every week. Quinn is so nice and fun to be with, especially when he isn't playing daddy and I love just being myself and having a break from my mommy side. Quinn opened doors, carried all the water, stopped to give me drinks, loaded/unloaded my bike and warned me of the sand traps and cactus. What a gentleman:)



Also, I got up early this morning to bike by myself before Quinn left on his Man Hike (more details and pics to come, hopefully) This little friend jumped up from the desert floor and wanted to hitch a ride!
I was seriously crusing along at a good clip when my tire flipped this cactus up and into my leg. I stopped as quickly as possible and gingerly unclipped my foot from the pedal. I was so glad I thought to grab my phone and snap a pic before the delicate (or not so) extracting procedure. I tell ya, the desert is beautiful but extremely sharp, thorny, rocky, hot and unforgiving!

My Boys

Have I mentioned lately that I love being a mom?

How could I not with these two guys hanging on me day in and day out?They seriously make me laugh...And they make me happy when I am sad.
Quinn was telling the biker dude from the previous post that he is an AF Pilot. He then turned to me and asked what I do.
"I have the best job in the world.
I hang out with those two all day and let Quinn make all the money." It really is the best job in the world and I am starting to realise that I won't be employed in this capacity forever. Better enjoy it now...I plan to.

Utah-Fall Style

We had an awesome trip to utah a week ago but a one week trip was too short! The best part for the boys was hanging out all day with their cousins. Jack was in "play and play" heaven. (Every morning when he wakes up I ask him what he wants to do today and he says, "Just play and play all day.") Here are all the utah cousins all on one slide at once! We hung out with Becca up the canyon. I love hanging out with Becca up the Canyon, it brought back many fun memories. We hit arches on the way home and camped for a night. It was so FUN!! We were able to hike to quite a few of the arches.
I love these boys!

A nice man from new zealand offered to take our pic. 80% of all the tourists there were from other countries. Those Europeans know how to vacation. They come here for a month or two at a time and visit all the national parks.

Here are the boys on the Harley of the guy who camped next to us. He is on a month long bike ride around the country. How do these people get the time away to vacation for so long?

I see you!

I'm a lucky girl

Vacation is awesome...

You may not think of Little Rock Ar when planning a vacation, and frankly neither would we, but we are loving it none the less. It is fun to be back in the Big Rock (as our boys affectionately call it) where Quinn and I have spent some considerable time in the last 5 years.

Weve gone to our favorite Pizza place, our fav frozen custard shop, worked out at the old gym, gone to our former ward and basically driven around town repeating, "Oh, remember when we (fill in the blank) here?" and "Thats where we did such-and-such." We're reliving the glory days like an old married couple .

We hiked to the top of Pinnacle peak today, the highest point in Arkansas. The first time we did it Jack was in my tummy, the next time Jack was on Quinn's shoulders and Chase was in my tummy; this time Jack hiked himself, Chase was on Quinn's shoulders and ? was in my tummy. It is so fulfilling to hike an entire mountain in less than an hour :)

I am in full vacation mode, I have done absolutely no cleaning and very little child care chores (those have all fallen to Quinn as he had been out of town for 3 weeks so it's his turn). Just lots of swimming, eating free hotel food, reading and just having a blast with my husband and kids.
Oh, the best part? We still have 7 more days of this ahhhhhh......

By the way, JK I'm not pregnant....just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Ha, ha

The swimmer boys

We spent a long weekend in the pool at my in-laws house.

My boys are becoming quite the swimmers.

Here is my little "Noodle Cowboy" He was so cute peddaling his way around the pool on his "sea horse."Jump!

That is a belly-flop waiting to happen!
But then he pulls out of it at the last second:
Geronimo!

This is Jack's "Crazy Jumps"
This is why i love my camera, look at that face!

A big BIG thank you to Grandpa Nixon. He wins the award for long-suffering with our fish named jack. Example: He spent 4 hours in the pool with him on Monday!

(And jack still complained about getting out)

This monster came walking past me...

during naptime. Very quietly...just tip-toeing along on its way to the toy room. I looked up from my scriptures and supressed a laugh as I watched for a minute until it banged into the corner.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing Mr.?"

"If you thought I was a pillow, you wouldn't put me back down for naps." Came the muffled reply.

He has got a point there.

Although I wasn't fooled, he got major points for creativity and did not have to go back in his room for naps. I love my 4 year old! He just gets funnier and funnier.

Speaking of funny. Chase is our ham.

I love having a few hours alone with my little pal while Jack is gone to preschool.

He is my little helper, here he is helping with the bathroom cleaning and growling at me while pretending to be a lion. He's a multi tasker.

In other news. Quinn is gone. He left for Little Rock, Ak yesterday. The boys like to call it "BIG Rock", what is it with men and everything having to be big?

I sure miss that Capt of mine. It is not as much fun without him. It is cleaner around the house though. Military boots, back packs, lunch boxes, camel baks or wallet lying around. Gotta look at the bright side right?

We are going to visit him in Little/Big Rock for 9 days over Labor Day, so excited!! The kids are pumped about swimming in the hotel pool/hot tub (they asked repeatedly if there was in fact a hot tub), having waffles for breakfast every day and sharing a room. Flying sure costs alot now. Last time I flew the three of us to Little Rock Jack, not quite 2, sat on my lap and Chase was in my tummy, we all shared a single seat! Now it will take three tickets but it sure will be nice not having to carry anyone around.

I leave you with a pic of the last time we were in the Big L.R.