Gila Valley Temple

Last Saturday we were able to go to a special open house at the Gila Valley Temple. It is the 3rd temple to be built in Arizona and I was excited that my daughters would be able to go through the temple for the first time. My dad's company helped supply the steel structure for the temple so we got to have a special open house just for those who helped build it. The girls loved seeing all of the rooms and it was priceless to see their expressions when we walked into the celestial room. They were in awe of how beautiful it was, especially the chandelier. Afterwards they had a yummy lunch for us at the stake center next to the temple. I am so grateful for temples and that we had the opportunity to be with our daughters inside. Thanks dad for inviting us.

Here are most of my parent's grand kids. It was fun being with them and seeing how they all reacted. Before we went inside they showed us a video about temples and when it ended Joshua, my sister Christin's autistic son said something like, "that was awesome". It was so precious and melted my heart.

Pig Tails

The other day I decided it would be fun to see if Alexis' hair was long enough to do two pigs tails. She really didn't enjoy sitting still long enough for me to part it and put in two pony tails but we managed to do it. The hair on the side of her head isn't quite long enough to reach but I think it still turned out cute.

She is growing up so fast and I can't believe she is going to be one next month.

Biography Day

Peyton's 3rd grade class had biography day on Friday and she was so excited. She had to read a book on her person and then had to present a speech which the class had to guess who she was after.

Here are all of her classmates. There were lots of great costumes and it was fun to see what everyone was.

Peyton chose to be Betsy Ross and loved learning about her. Thanks Grandma Ferrell for helping Peyton with her costume.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

It was Ryan's birthday today. We celebrated a little yesterday when I took him miniature golfing and out to dinner. Today we let him relax and read books and had a big family dinner for him.

The girls made him a book with pictures and reasons why they love their dad.
Alexis gave him lots of smiles and giggles.

We made him a bunch of coupons for the things he loves the most.

Happy Birthday Ryan! We love you.

Happy Easter!

What would Easter be without matching homemade dresses from Grandma Ferrell! The girls had a great time wearing them and I think they look adorable. Happy Easter!

Easter Bowls, Egg Dying, and Egg Hunt

On Saturday morning the girls woke up and got to hunt for their Easter baskets (although this year they were Easter bowls because I forgot to get the baskets out before Alexis went to bed for the night). They were so excited when they found them and couldn't wait to eat some of their yummy treats. Alexis got applesauce and she wanted to eat it right away as you can see!

During the first session of General Conference I got out the egg dying kit and let the girls dye eggs. They had a great time coloring them with crayons and then seeing how dark of a color they could get with each egg.

Hailey loved her pink egg.

Peyton is more into blues and greens.

Later that day we got together with my whole family and had an Easter egg hunt in the green belt by my parent's house. The girls were so excited to see how many eggs they could find.

Hailey found her eggs fast.

Peyton enjoyed finding the ones that were a little more hidden.

Alexis enjoyed walking around with her cousin Summer. She didn't need any eggs this year but I am sure next year she will be excited to hunt for them herself.

What a great Saturday we had. I can't wait to do it again next year.

Easter Pageant

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant this year. I got a babysitter for Alexis so we could really enjoy it without a crying 10 month old. My sister Christin got there early so she could save good seats for us. She got us seats on the 4th row center stage and they were awesome. Here are Peyton and Hailey playing with their cousin Kate and a friend from church. They had fun running around before it started.

We picked the only cold day we had last week to go so the kids wrapped up in blankets to stay warm.

My brother Andrew, his wife Michelle, their 2 month old Drew, and my sister Rachael all came down from Utah to see the pageant and to celebrate Easter with us. We had such a great time with them. Thanks for saving us great seats Christin. It was such a wonderful and spiritual evening.

Pinewood Derby

Peyton's Activity Days group decided it would be fun to do a pinewood derby. Peyton was so excited to design and make her car with her dad. Hailey really wanted to join in the fun so she made a car too. Peyton painted hers all by herself and Hailey let Ryan help her. They had a great time making their cars.

Here is the whole group of girls that participated. They had so much fun racing. No one was super competitive and they really didn't care too much who won. They even let Hailey race her car. My mother-in-law said that the scouts could learn a lesson or two from these girls in how to act at a pinewood derby (she also said that the dads could learn a lesson or two about good sportsmanship). Thanks Ryan for making this such a fun daddy daughter activity.