Another Reason To Love My Home State

The last temple built in Arizona is in Snowflake, in the northeast of the state.


“The blessings of the temple are eternal,” said President Monson. “Those who come to this holy house will feel of God’s love for His children and come to a greater understanding of their own divine origin and potential as His sons and daughters.”

There are currently two temples in Arizona, in Mesa and Snowflake. Two additional temples were announced last month for Gila Valley and Gilbert, Arizona.

The Church’s Temple Department reports that the Mesa Arizona Temple, close to the city of Phoenix, is attended by more worshippers than any other Latter-day Saint temple in the world outside of Utah.

Engaged

Okay Troy, I had to steal this pic from Jodi. But I'm putting you and Kristin on the blog. Congrats, and I can't wait to meet her...I'm sure we will get to know each other super well. Love the boot!!!

Getting Stronger

He's lifting the noggin a lot higher now.

What a cute chunk of love.

Thanks For The Package Daddy

Rian put some good use to the color streaker you got her. She's a little bummed that she will have to wash it out before swim lessons...who knows what chlorine will do to it.

Raegan loved the pink. Rian loved to share it.

More Cousins!!!

Here are this kids watching a Sunday movie before church. We stayed a weekend with Ben and Karen (my brother Ben) so the kids could play all day. Everyone is there except Ammon. So you can imagine the pew at church...ten kids and 3 adults.

I didn't get the picture of the kids playing in the irrigation, so imagine water all over the yard and Karen rinsing them off afterward.

Air hockey was fun. This is Jarom and Reed playing to the death.

Tailor couldn't get enough of Ammon. It was really cute how she wanted to help with everything.

Yes, Tarin found another use for Mr. Potato Head's parts.

Trent I did get my hair done! But you will have to wait. Wow, I look psycho...one hint, my hair is shorter than this. And no Kendall, not as short as you had cut it many years ago.

Rian got her hair cut too. Now I guess she's going to have to let me do her hair...so it can stay looking good like this.

Any Questions?

This is only in the shade!!! And it's just the beginning of June. Now you know why there are so many pools.

Swimming Lessons

Before swim lessons each day, we get to the pool for open swim. Here, Rian took a picture of Ammon and I. He's not to excited to be in the water yet. It's not the usual warm bath he's use to. Tarin is my fish behind me.

Raegan has "Mr. Cameron" for an instructor. She loves her class and bobs everywhere. She's the one furthest on the right.

This is Rian and Jarom's class. Their instructor is Miss Katy. They are doing a great job in class.

Does this surprise you at all? Tarin is so energetic and wants to be apart of everything. What a cutie. Her instructor is Miss Katy too.

Big Family Home Evening

We met over at my oldest brother's house. It was neat to see it finally complete. We had a break-the-fast dinner. This is only a few of the neices and nephews.

I caught a few going down the stairs. They all had a blast.

Hamilton Aquatic Center

We have been to the pool several times this week. To change it up a little we thought we'd try one of the newer city pools a bit further away. Here is Jarom trying his talent on the diving boards.

Rian made it down the slide before I could catch a picture.

Uncle Tony came with us. He was awesome help...because it was extremely crowded...and the two girls are very, very brave. That makes me very, very scared. They were watching Rian and Jarom go down the slide.

Tarin and Raegan enjoying the baby pool area...I love the zero depth, beach area. It's perfect for little ones.

I thought I'd get one last picture. They weren't too happy that we had to leave. But all the pools in the City of Chandler are only 50 cents for admission...can't beat that! So we will be back for many more visits.

Great Grandpa Maynard

Here is the kids Great Grandfather Maynard. He turned 91 in February. I thought it was really sweet to see him hold Ammon.

More and More Fun

Slip n' Slide was a hit. This is Rian with her side slide. It was cute watching them line up for their turn...except Raegan wasn't patient to wait her turn everytime.

Jarom and Tarin tried to go at the same time. So funny.

Tarin loved being rained on.

By the end they just basked in the water and tried to catch the droplets in their mouths.

Gpa was a hit. The other day, he let Rian drive the riding lawn mower. Today he broke out the ATV and piled all four on. Of course Tarin wanted to show off the egg she found.

Tooth Is Out

It took a little coaxing, but we finally got one out. Now we need to get the other front tooth out along with a bottom tooth. Gpa said if they aren't out by the end of the trip, he will use the method he used on me (mom)...PLIARS!! I thought my dad was kidding, but he said he really did use pliars on us kids...I must have surpressed those memories.

Aunt Judy

Surprisingly my Aunt Judy came down from Northern AZ to visit family...I was so excited I was here when she came down. We all have a favorite aunt, this is mine.

Everyday an Egg Hunt

Everyday the kids love to go out hunt for eggs in the hen house and all over the pasture. We finally had to tell then not to go out in the back until noon so the chickens could lay their eggs. Tarin still sneaks out to try and be the first to get the eggs.






Here they wanted to show off what they found.

Wackey Internet

My parents internet is kind of wackey right now. Someone is coming out tomorrow to look at it. Hopefully by then I will be able to post more pics. One crazy thing about Arizona...they aren't on daylight savings, so the sun comes up at 5:30am! And unfortunately, so do my children. Well more like 6am but it's all the same to me when it's before "school-wake-up-time" and school is out! With all the running around in the sun, they crash between 7 and 8pm, so that's nice. But I too am ready to crash. Oh well, with all the swimming, chasing chickens, slip n' sliding, and time with grandparents, it's worth it.

Gma and Gpa's House

As soon as the van door opened when we arrived...the kids were out in the pasture chasing the chickens.

They tired to catch one, but to no avail. But it still didn't stop them from waking up the next morning to try again.

We are official...our kids have there turn on the notorious tractor. Jarom was so excited to try it out.

Tarin took her turn.

Voyage Across The Country

We left Friday evening at 6pm. After a few hours the kids did finally fall asleep...which means less bathroom/snack stops. This is what the back of the van looked like. (It was a good thing we didn't get pulled over for anything.)

After a straight 24 hour drive, we made it to El Paso, Texas...over halfway to our destination. The kids were definitely ready for something to do other than sitting and fighting. The hotel break made the rest of the trip bearable.

The kids wanted to be creative and built a fort for Ammon to take a nap in. Hotels bring out the crazy in everyone.

We finally made it to AZ! After so many, "Are we in Arizona yet?" we could finally say that we were. Of course there was still 6 more hours of driving. But we made it to our destination by 3pm Sunday...I can't believe we made that trip in about a day and a half!

School Awards

I can't believe another school year is coming to an end. Wow, time sure flies when you are busy raising kids. They grow up so fast. I'm very proud of their hard work. Next year Thomas Crossroads Elementary will have 4 Wardwell's!

This is Rian with her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Bassett. A wonderful teacher. Rian had gotten perfect attendance, 85% or better on AR (reading), high points on AR, and "The Class Thinker".

Rian with her buddy Riley...both call each other "Ri Ri". They are in class together and REACH. Sometimes they are inseperable and other times enemies...must be a real friendship.

During the awards, Ammon was just "Lion Around".

Jarom had gotten awards for 1st grade. He's excited to be a 2nd grader in the fall. He had gotten perfect attendance, and All Star Reader for the Book It program all year.

Jarom and his teacher, Mrs. Kenty. She too was a great teacher.

Ammon Smiles

Ammon is over 8 weeks-old. Smiles and cooing are becoming more common. Just thought we would share some of his cutest moments.

Here We Come!

Guess where we are going this summer?

Turns out, I have a craving to visit family. We are going to drive cross-country to Arizona with our "little" family and stay for a few weeks...okay, a month. Saddly Trent will have to return to GA...he will be greatly missed. We leave Friday night and will be back early July. I'm going to continue posts from AZ if anyone is interested. This will be a great opportunity for my kids to know their Gma, Gpa Palmer, GGpa Maynard, Aunts, Uncles, and many, many cousins. Then we will drive to Utah to visit more family. Yes I do come from a very large family...Wish us luck on the insane drive out.