RACE FOR THE CURE

Last sunday, we walked the 5K race for the cure in memory of jared's mother... a survivor of breast cancer, who unfortunately passed away to another illness years ago. 

We have never walked before, but this year a close family friend was diagnosed and it shook us all up. My husband quit smoking and we wanted to commemorate and celebrate and donate and have it become a yearly thing we do as a family to fight this disease and support the women and families it affects.

It was a touching, emotional day... I would be a liar if I said I didnt cry the ENTIRE time. I was so puffy from tears of sadness, laughter and joy- that when I got home- I didnt even look like myself.

We also ended up walking an additional mile and a half to the car afterwards instead of taking the shuttle- so we were physically exhausted as well... it was such an overwhelming experience- I am eternally touched by it.

Jared and Ira starting off the walk strong....... 

Ira dancing her way through......
Liv clapping comfortably in the sling- I wore her the entire time in a mei tei and sling.... alternating between them when jared needed the sling for ira....
Ira refusing to take one. more. step. this is on the way to the car.... we bought this shirt when we registered... it reads, "when I grow up there is gonna be a cure"

Daddy using the sling to carry a very very very tired ira.....

 

This is Ira with her crystal tree

She look less than enthused... and thats the furthest thing from the truth. She was ENTHRALLED. All night she checked on that thing every 20 minutes... it was fun to watch her as she examined the progress. It is now hidden away from our cats in the cupboard.

We also went to watch the bats emerge from an underpass near our house. These pictures probably do not do it justice... there were soooooo many bats, it looked like black cloud.

around the house

queen ira & her doting daddy.......

liv & her new OBSESSION- baby dolls :)

Park and Game Day

We spent the afternoon playing in the shade at a park.... then spent the evening playing the Very Hungry Caterpillar Game

easter

Just a small glimpse- it was a full day of egg hunts, egg dyeing, cuddling, present opening, puzzle completing, etc. 

I have no idea how we packed so much fun into one day, but we did..

ah ah ah APRIL!

its flying by!!!!

I have so much to update! so many fun things going on!

I had lost our camera for a while, and then when I found it, the task of uploading and catching up was too overwhelming!

not to mention that I am now officially 7 weeks PREGNANT!

woo hoo!

I and organizing my photos and such right now and will update more soon

wowza

so it has been just about 11 months since I gave birth to liv.... ira will be FOUR in just 3 1/2 months and I am inching my way to 29. 

Everyday I look at these two girls and wonder how on earth I got so very lucky to be able to spend my days with them. Everyday.

I am just in awe.

We are busy folks. busy. blessed.

I feel like my online time is diminished in exact proportion to the increasing daylight and subsequent heat. 

performance in the park

ira gave an impromptu performance for a small group of people at the hot springs.....it was awesome :)

home sweet home

the desert blooms...........

sedona

we drove through sedona.... the main tourist strip in sedona felt just plain wrong... but the surrounding views were breath taking.

we are going to try a big hiking/camping (okay maybe hotel) trip for july for ira's birthday.... 

flagstaff

view from hotel balcony....

we brought nothing as far as toys go, so it was fun to see how entertained the kids were..... ira was very excited to find that the hotel left a book in the night stand! between the bible, the maracas, and the hotel pen & paper... ira was inspired to create about 24 awesome drawings :)

liv just kinda loved the maracas......which my niece had brought back from the dominican republic for the girls....
pillow fights were pretty hilarious.... shockingly enough, ira won every time.

roadtrip

the first as a family of four...

my niece moved from michigan to vegas, so we drove up to flagstaff arizona to hang out for the weekend. flagstaff was definitely not one of my favourite places, but i'll just leave it at that... this was the drive up.

i'm happy to report that we made the 5 hour drive there and back without a single dvd.... just jack johnson, some annie's bunny crackers, puppets and good old conversation.

this was the way home....