Thanksgiving in "sunny" Arizona

This year we once again went to Arizona for Thanksgiving. Steven's Grandma and most of his aunts and uncles live in Mesa. We were also able to see 5 of Steve's siblings while down there.

According to a few of the relatives it was the coldest Thanksgiving Mesa has had since the 1930's. So much for my sunny, hot Thanksgiving. At least we had good company.

While there we went to the Arizona Natural History Museum. This is Mandy and I outside watching the boys dig for dinosaur bones.

Kari and I atop a lovely giant turtle. Hmm, maybe a Sea Turtle? Do they exist in Arizona??

The scene outside the museum. This is Braden, Kari, Preston, and Taylor.

This is soon-to-be Uncle Joey and Uncle Brian with B, K, P, and T.

I just had to post this picture because I LOVE Kari's grumpy face. She can make THE BEST grumpy face ever........and she means it!

Kari loves to draw pictures for anyone who will take them from her. Keen was a good sport and spent lots of time coloring with her.

Mandy brought some helicopters for the guys to play with. I have yet to figure out why they are so amazing, but apparently they are and now my hubby wants one. Brian, the 'pilot' is trying to feed Galen a pretzel that is hanging from the helicopter. I do not believe it worked however. Galen had to actually get up and follow the helicopter around.

Andy had much greater skill and ease in obtaining his pretzel. (JUST KIDDING GALEN, YOU ARE VERY TALENTED TOO!)

There's so many things I could say about this picture, but I'll let you make up the caption.

The kiddos at the play area when we went to the aquarium. Which was IN a mall. They have amazing malls there...........too bad I'm not a big fan of malls.

Me and Mandy at the aquarium.

The aquarium had a few hands on activities for the kids. You can't really tell, but they are 'petting' starfish.

I will post many more pictures on facebook. It's faster. Simple as that.

We did have lots of fun and we are so grateful that we were able to see so many family members. We love you all!

One AmaZING Story

So, I just want to share this cool story. About 3 months ago I mailed a fairly large (and expensive) package to my brother-in-law, Aaron. He is serving a mission for our church in Brazil and loves to get things from back home. In the package I had things like cereal, peanut butter, junior mints, crystal light packets for water bottles, pop rocks, warhead candy spray, razors, a CD, and a few other things. Well, he received the package and then accidently left it on a city bus, WITHOUT EVEN GETTING TO OPEN IT!! How incredibly SAD :( . For him and for me. BUT, the other day another missionary serving in Brazil in a different location than Aaron said that some random brazilian came up to them and asked them if they were Americans. The missionaries said yes and this random guy handed them the CD along with the package slip and customs slip that was on the top of the box!

Isn't that amazing that after 3 months Aaron still was able to get the CD! I'm not sure if it was prayers or a guilty consciuos of whoever took the package, but it's a complete miracle that the CD has found it's rightful owner!

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we asked one of our friends to take some pictures of our family. Here are some of them.

P*R*E*S*T*O*N

K~A~R~I



B*R*A*D*E*N

S~T~E~V~E~N~~~~~J~I~L~L

K*A*R*I*****J*I*L*L

Braden Baptism

So, I just realized that I never posted about Braden getting baptized this summer. He turned 8 in May, but he waited to be baptized until July so that he could do it with lots of family around. He got baptized in North Dakota on July 31, 2010 by his father, Steve Swenson. He was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Papa Riskedahl. I was so happy that he waited until we went to North Dakota so that my whole family could be there and even some aunts, uncles, and cousins. Thanks everyone for supporting Braden on his special day.
Of course while we were all together we had to get group family pictures. There are now 12 little grandchildren for my parents and picture taking was a bit tricky.

I promised Preston a new car if he listened and smiled nicely and Aunt Ronda promised everyone candy. These two know how to work the system.
My little family.

Steve and Braden right after his baptism.
Braden with Nana and Papa Riskedahl.
All (or most of) the children sang 'I am a Child of God" between the baptism of Braden and the blessing of Andrew.Thanks to Leesa who played the piano for us.

Braden and Steve right before the baptismal service.
Grandpa Gietzen and Braden

July 31st was also my mother's birthday. It was a busy day for us.

Because Grandma wasn't feeling up to coming to the baptism, we went and saw her at the nursing home. We were so grateful to be able to visit with her one last time before she passed away. Thank you Grandma for your good life and all your love. We miss you.


Aunt Donna and Braden. Donna taught my kiddos all about dipping Oreos in milk and having Cheetos's to accompany that. Everytime my kids see her they always eat oreos and Cheetos's. So, for Braden's baptism luncheon we had Oreo's and Cheetos's (Donna style as Braden put it.)

Braden

Top 11 Things I Learned on our Cruise

11. Ordering appetizers IS fun when I'm not paying extra for them.

10. Swimming in salt water is not as fun as it appears, and it really burns your throat when swallowed.

9. Reading a book by the pool without having to look up to spot kids every 5 seconds is actually enjoyable.

8. Steve and I have a lot of fun together when real life doesn't get in the way.

7. I love having my bed made for me.

6. Dressing up and looking nice can be fun and I actually like jewelry.

5. SPF 15 is NOT strong enough in the Caribbean.

4. Drunk people should NOT try to dance on a moving ship.

3. Shaving legs is IMPOSSIBLE in a 2 1/2 foot by 2 1/2 foot shower stall.

2. Salsa dancing is MUCH more fun in heels than in tennis shoes (Zumba aerobics class).

1. And finally, a vacation without children (though I did miss them) is FABULOUS!!

Day 5-CoCo Cay Bahamas

CoCo Cay is an island in the Bahamas that is privately owned by Royal Caribbean. You can walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes. We were lucky to be able to go to the island because the winds were pretty strong that day and we had to be tendered in from the ship. It was still a beautiful day and I'm so glad that we were able to go.

We went snorkeling here but I don't have any pictures. It was too tricky to walk with giant flippers on your feet. I don't think this beach was the best spot to go snorkeling, but we did see some pretty cool fish. Because of the wind, the water was really choppy which made snorkeling a bit difficult. I drank way too much sea water this day. In the picture below, you can see how windy it is by looking at the trees.
While our husbands slept in the hammocks we enjoyed some ocean time. I put my glasses on top of my head for this picture and never saw them again.

This is the hammock where Steve DID NOT want to leave, ever. Apparently it was very comfortable.

This picture was taken right before we left the island. I LOVED all the palm trees. We also tried parasailing this day, but due to the high winds it wasn't safe to be 400 feet in the air.

I actually didn't get a picture of our evening dining experience, but we did get some afterwards. This is my cruise outfit that I bought......and finally wore on the last night.

And just for fun, I had to take a ride down the banister. So lady-like.

Well, I must say this was the best vacation I have ever been on. I don't know if it was because (a) I was in tropical climate, (b) I had no kids to worry about or (c) all my food was paid for and I could eat all I wanted. Whatever the reason, I loved it and hope to go again before another 10 years. And THANK YOU SALLY for watching the kiddos for us. We truly appreciated it and know that you will probably never do it again!

.........................Happy 10th Anniversary Steve.........................