FIJI!!!

We had the great opportunity to go to Fiji and help with Homes Of Hope. We had a great time and miss it very much. If it were up to Roy we would be living there! we spent 10 days there doing lots of work and playing with all the great children. The kids love having people come and play with them and just run around. It is so much fun to see them play and all the moms just sit back and watch. There is so much love there, its incredible. It rains( what we call sprinkle) in Fiji everyday and it was so nice, its funny because it would be raining on the left side of you and be completely dry on the right side. Roy did alot of construction work( built beds, room dividers, cabinets) while i did a little bit of everything, painted rooms, watched kids, helped do dishes, cooked lunch and dinner, and hung out with all the girls there. Anyways on the last day and night we spent our time on the beach. we went to a resort and just lounged and did some shopping. in the end is was a great trip and i can not wait to go back!! Here are some of the pics from our trip in no order. Enjoy!!

All the guys from our trip on the last night at the resort. they wanted to get in one last swim before dinner.
here is the sunset on the beach. You cant ask for anything more
on the last day we spent the day and night at a resort. It was really pretty and right on the beach. Here the guys are using a machete to break open a coconut.
on the last day there was a rainbow after it rained. Hard to notice it but it was really pretty.
top of the garden checking out the views. It is a little bit of a muddy hike to get up here, but well worth it in the end.
Every day the girls spend three hours beading. This is one way they make money.They dig up there own clay and then shape it and fire it. they then make necklaces, bracelets, and earings to sell.
Roy and baby Josh. Josh is cross eyed and club foot. They are in the process of trying to fix his feet, so hopefully he will be able to walk soon!!
Three of the kids walking up to the Garden. They found this kitten and they carried it around everywhere.
Jen and I and Lucy. she is 4 years old. We loved playing with the kids.
baby annie. roy fell in love with this little girl.
Here is some of the work roy did. He built a dividing wall and 4 beds. and the cabinet on the side. They worked really hard!!
Here is Roy with Joe. The kids just love having people around, giving them all the attention!!
This is the garden. they grow all there own fruits and veggies. there are about 10 girls who work at the garden everyday for 2 hours. there garden was huge. i could not imagine taking care of it!!
Roy and I at the top of the Garden. This is where all the great vies of the city were.
This is our entire group that we traveled with. there was 17 total.

OUCH!! HOT!!

well once again Parker is my little dare devil. He will attempt anything and everything. This morning i was getting out of the shower to Parker screaming Horribly. As usual i did not react. He cries alot for no reason. Well after a few minutes i noticed why he was crying so bad. He got a hold of my flat iron and yes it was ON!!! So the result of this story (like you don't know) is that he burned the tips of 4 fingers and the bottom part of his thumb. Needless to say, he has been quite the grump today not only because his fingers hurt, but we have wrapped them up so he will not mess with them. There is always a lesson to be learned with every incident, hopefully he learned the word HOT!!

water

I never knew how much fun the kids could have with an upside down deflated pool. I was emptying the pool today and ryland go the hose out to help me water my plants. then decides to see if the pool will fill up while it is upside down. well it got about an inch of water and they had so much fun. All they wanted to do is run and fall down. Parker was laughing so much at ryland doing this that he figured how to do it as well. They always seem to find fun in anything rather than real toys!!!

ICE BLOCKING!!!

ok pictures will have to come later. my husband got this new lens for his camera and loves to take pics in raw format. well anyone who knows cameras knows that blogger will not download pics in raw format, so as soon as he gets them fixed i will post them. wow i have not done this since junior high and high school. my nieces birthday was on fathers day, so monday she decided she wanted to go ice blocking for her b-day. So off to freestone park, they have the best hills. Needless to say we had a blast. Ryland loved it and Parker had a blast running around. The only bad part was i did not realize how much work it is to keep carrying the ice block back up the hill, even more i did not even get to ride down every time i carried it up, what a nice mom I am.

Happy Fathers Day!

I just want to Say Happy Fathers Day to my Hubby. HE is a great guy. He is always there for me and our kids, with whatever we need. Thank you so much for all that you do for us, We Love You tons. Ryland and Parker look up to you so much and want to be just like you. Thank you for everything...

Parkers 1st b-day

Nana, GG, Gpa, Papa
The middle of the snowball fight!!
Ryland throwing a snowball
Parker and one of the many toys he got
The kids helping Parker open presents
Parker and his presents
Not sure if he really likes cake
Testing it out
Kids and the pool
The Fam
Parker--- Birthday boy

we celebrated Parkers 1st birthday last night. We had some family and friends over, ate dinner, played in the little pool , opened presents , had cake and then had a snowball fight!! it was lots of fun. the kids really enjoyed the pool and opening all his presents. Thank you to everyone that came and for all ur help..

Out of Africa

the Grahams
White tiger
Parker looking at the camels
Ryland and Levi being silly
Ryland feeding the giraffe

This past weekend we drove up to Munds Park. Our friends have a cabin there and so we headed up with them for the weekend. Its kind of funny because he owns a neon sign shop, so there are lots of bright lights there, for instance, he has a huge clock with neon lights inside, and like 4 more huge signs in the garage that say his family name and so on. Ryland was so mesmerized by all the cool lights and how bug they were. He really got a kick out of it. So our plan was to hit up Out of Africa now that it has moved up to Camp Verde. We had tons of fun there. Ryland got to feed the giraffes and he loved it, he even fed them a biscuit right out of his own mouth. You take a bus tour when you first get there. The zebras and giraffes come right up to the bus. It is really cool. Well we had tons of fun!! here are some pics. I will upload more as soon as i get them off the other camera.