1632 Days

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! WE LOVE YOU AND WE HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY! THE GIRLS WANTED TO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

1418 Days

Just a quick look at what the girls have been up to since we've been in AZ! Mostly having tons of fun outside and cooking with grandma.

Pool time!

Ari is wearing my old bathing suit and Lucy is wearing one of Ari's old bathing suits!

Ruby is also wearing one of Ari's old bathing suits (Lucy was in some crazy suit with a float inside of it)!

Ru discovers an classic childhood pastime. Drinking water from the hose.

Cookie pizza with grandma

1333 Days

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO OUR WONDERFUL MOTHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS!

My mom, Sharon Pfeifer. Thank you for loving me unconditionally even through some of my lowest and most difficult points. I know I was not always an easy child, but you never gave up on me and I hope to be half the mother to my children as you were to me as well as the grandma that my (someday) grandchildren deserve.

Grandma (and grandpa) and Ari after Ari came home from the hospital

Mom and I the day I got married

Grandma, Ari, and Lucy a week or so after Lucy was born

Grandma holds Ruby in church

Holding Lucy on her second birthday

Grandma, Ruby, and Ari

My mother-in-law, Leslie. Thank you for accepting me, loving me, supporting me, and being a wonderful mother-in-law and grandmother. Thank you for helping to shape my husband into the man that he is today. I hope that I do as wonderful of a job with my children as you have with yours.

Jon and his mom dancing at our wedding

Grandma Leslie meets Lucy

Grandma Leslie meets Ruby

My grandmother, Marge. We love you and miss you! Thank you for wonderful childhood memories of baking cookies, going to the post office, climbing the tree in the backyard, exploring in the basement, and Barbie ornaments on Christmas. I look forward to hopefully being able to bring my entire family to Kansas so that you can meet them all.

Ari and my grandma in September 2010

Jon's grandmother, Darrene. Thank you for always welcoming us into your home, praying for us, and being such a wonderful grandmother and great grandmother. We love you and look forward to hopefully seeing a lot more of you if we are blessed to end up stationed closer to home for the next three years.

Darrene and Jon at our wedding

Great Grandma Darrene and Lucy during Lucy's first visit to AZ

Great Grandma meets Ruby for the first time

TO MY CHILDREN: Thank you thank you thank you for the joy that you bring me, your hugs and kisses, your laughter, your beautiful drawings, and your forgiveness when I don't always get this "mom thing" right. I love you with all of my heart and every fiber of my being and I hope that I can live up to being the mom that you all deserve.

February 2007

November 2010

November 2012

April 2013

To our grandmothers in Heaven, Regina Pfeifer and Lucille Evans: Thank you for watching over us and we will see you again someday.

Going Back: 1285 Days-1304 Days

Photos from our Arizona vacation!

March 25th-

At the airport, ready to go!

Headed to Denver to catch the next flight.

It was a late flight.

March 26th-

Before:

After:

March 28th:

Eating at Rubio's, one of my favorite Mexican food places!

Wearing some of my old shirts

March 29th:

Heading over to have breakfast with Grammy and Aunt Shelley

Ari and Grandpa

Waiting in line to see the Easter Bunny

Easter 2013 photo

March 30th-

Lucy found Ari's skates

Renaissance Festival!

Best part of going to the festival

Chocolate covered strawberries

Visiting Grandpa Irving

March 31st-

Easter! Sadly I got no photos of the girls getting their baskets because they did it while Jon and I were still asleep :(

Easter service at Highlands Church

Egg hunt at church

After we ate lunch at Grammy's house....

Easter at the Adams' house. They rented a petting zoo!

April 2nd-

Going for a ride in daddy's Falcon!

Not sure what was going on here, but they all looked concerned.

Going for a walk with grandma

April 3rd-

Snuggles with Grandpa

April 4th-

The girls help daddy wash his truck

Dancing at Nordstrom while daddy shops for a suit

Ruby meets some of our best friends

April 5th-

My 27th Birthday! I had a great day. I got to go shopping with my husband (alone!), got a cake and presents from my kids, and felt surrounded by love and blessings. I have high hopes for 27 :)

Lunch!

Dinner (I did eat food on my birthday, I promise)!

April 6th-

Playdate/mommydate with my friend Emily and her daughter Natalie! Natalie and Ari have been friends since Natalie was 6 months old and Ari was one year. Each year when we go home to visit, we try to get an updated photo of the two of them.

Photos/collages were taken and made by Emily:

Ru loved Natalie!

She fell asleep on her own like this

April 8th-

Dinner and birthday celebration with our friends Missy and Rick (who I sadly got no photos of). Homemade ice cream cake!

April 9th-

Time to say goodbye :(

Lucy didn't want to say goodbye :(

The kids were an absolute DREAM on the flights home. I was so proud of them, especially since I know it's incredibly difficult for them to say goodbye to their grandparents.

She looks really grumpy, but she was just being silly

The day after we returned to AZ, I went up to Maryland to visit my friend Lisa and her new baby Maxine Sarah Kaida! I was supposed to be there for Max's birth, but Lisa went into labor the day that we left and it nearly killed me to have to wait two whole weeks to snuggle this precious little girl!

(Ignore my giant head)

Ru and her favorite Lisa!

Love

Max and Ruby. Ruby and Max.

Yup, we kept taking pictures! So mean.