and then you think to yourself...

last weekend jeff got his hands on this little dingy:

he thought it would be fun to go camping here:

blue ridge reservoir.

the fishing was suppose to be good.

you have to boat to the camping spot. sweet.

we (us, gardiners, fryers) were so excited for the adventure.

that is until the night came.

cold set in and so did our rude camping neighbor's.

all night cussing and then loudly making-up.

oh, and who can forget the fog horn they hooted at midnight.

at this point you think to yourself,

"now why did camping sound like a good idea?".

needless to say we all felt like this in the morning:

after breakfast clean-up

the rain started and we all had to find something to do in our tents.

like put a diaper on the bunny over and over

(for about 1 hr. non-stop).(ocd much?)

we wanted to wait out the rain but our kiddos were getting really cold

and our camping neighbors weren't leaving.

we called it.

we were lucky enough to save the trip by going to my

favorite arizona spot.

conference seemed extra sweet watching it at the cabin.

the next best thing to watching it live.

my fav: pres monson sunday morning

"Let us relish life as we live it,

find joy in the journey,

and share our love with friends and family."

#1

jillian gets curls for church now-a-days.

jill LOVES drinking from water bottles now

and often times i find her sitting in the hat box during nap-time.

somersault from Alisha on Vimeo.

this is the day she learned how. she's much better now.

no handed and all.

4 down

this sweet face is 4 months old (last sun).

she's 75% in head and 60% in height and weight.

her car seat is decorated appropriately.

jeff named her "monkey" for the cute way she grabs a hold of

us and just latches on like a baby monkey to her momma.

she's learned a lot in the last few weeks.

she giggles more and more everyday.

she can roll too!

rollie-polie from Alisha on Vimeo.

Texas fun

san angelo has the coolest public park i've ever seen.

this is the family posing by one of the BIG texas trees at the park.

jeff went mountain-biking at the state park in san angleo.

he only fell once.

the wildlife in san angelo is abundant.

do you know these are there?

san angelo has a big 'ol river called the Concho.

ducks are all around it and jill loved feeding them.

however, jill and i got attacked by some aggressive geese.

we both got bit by them.

i hate birds. always have, always will.

this ranch is right by the church building.

we had to go see the goats, horse, llama etc.

this is my dream house/land.

part of jeff's high school reunion was to attend a

CENTRAL BOBCAT football game.

we had a great time and jill loved the mascot.

the reunion consisted of a round of golf, family picnic and dinner/dancing on saturday night.

it was a blast!

here's some of our texas favorite friends.

chelsea (jeff's hs gf and who also caught the bouquet at our wedding) and ryan (her hubby).

this is our hostess ashley (colin's gf)

and host colin (jeff's best "let's get into mischief friend"),

cory (jeff s. wife that is also an ER nurse)

and jeff stewart (a football buddy and local celebrity).




jeff got his hands on a tambourine somehow.

you know you're really having a good time if your

eyes are closed and your singing to the music.

on the way out-of-town we hit up a legendary texas BBQ joint Coopers.

hopefully the next time we go to texas it will be to stay.

GTT

"GTT"

(Gone To Texas: a common posting nailed into the door of plantations in New England by those who left to settle TEXAS)

on wed. we took a two hour flight with two babies under two years old to san antonio. jillians expression pretty much sums up how we all felt.

we were running late out the door, jeff got a ticket on the way for an illegal u-turn, you have to buy the snacks and drinks on the flights now (no more free peanuts), and jeff got in the wrong car at the rental place so they wouldn't let us out of the lot.

we were so happy to see our sweet hotel:
it was right across the street from the alamo.

jill LOVES texas birds. there are more than one at once.



we toured the Alamo

and went on the river walk. we all LOVED the sight of green and BIG trees.



now we're in san angelo gearing up for jeff's stroll down memory lane


jeff's 10 year high school reunion coming right up.

cabin fever

i've been dying to go to the CABIN and Fossil Creek. we packed up the path and headed up.

the weather was perfect, the pines were tall, and the wild flowers were many. jillian had the time of her life and cam did well too. Fossil Creek was as beautiful as ever to snorkel and now has one less fish (thanks to stan and the spear gun). jeff and i broke in my new bike and ventured to the rim of the mountain. the front porch swing is our fav spot.
can't wait to go back...(may-be i'll remember to take more pics).

blessing camille

camille was so excited to get blessed today. after-all she had to wait 3+ months for gpa and gma pete to come down to az. the dress fit perfectly.
here's our sweet family.
we had a great group show up for a great blessing.
camille is getting stronger and stronger everyday.
however, jill and cam can't get enough of the pacifiers (notice how jill has three, and if given the chance she will steal camilles').

26

today i am 26 years old. i am also content. i have a great husband, two sweet daughters, my own home, a great education and career, and my health. not too bad for a chick in her late 20's. (i also have a sweet new bike!)

back in the day...

i was pretty cool with my eyes half open and my tounge out.
nowadays...

jill loves to hold cam. she always holds her hand (i.e. wrist)
jill also enjoys drawing on herself when i'm not around.
who woulda thought that after 26 years of life i'd have two of the cutest little girls depending on me?


sisters from Alisha on Vimeo.

san tan moutain

this is me...
i wish. jeff and i went mountain biking last weekend. it was my first time. i got a quick lesson on gears and off we went. it was a great workout and way more fun than running! i think i have a new hobby. i need to wait until it cools off though and i have my own bike (hint hint jeff).

quick note: Pres. Bush does have some redeeming qualities. he's from TX and yesterday he rode the mountain bike Olympic trail then played pepper with misty may. i'd like to do that.

summer fun

camille loves the bath. she also loves to sleep on her belly. every morning she has a new little "patch" on her cheek from sleeping on it. not to mention the heat rash she gets from the AZ sun. a daily bath seems to help her complexion the best.
jeff and i went to the New Port Beach temple last weekend. my new favorite!!
jill and cam enjoyed sharing a moment in the hotel port-a-crib. they loved the beach but no pics.
jeff confirmed kristen, the bride, years ago from his mission and then we got invited to her sealing. very rewarding for jeff.

flowers and rocks

i thought we could all use a dose of sweet camille. she's 6.5 weeks now and i can't believe how fast it's going! i lose track of time taking care of the girlie's. jillian is getting better with the whole situation of having a sister (i think). instead of the all day attitude, jill now just has a couple HUGE tantrums a day. overall though jillian is happy, i'm happy, and camille is sick.
she's had V/D for four days now. i'm keeping a close eye on her to watch for dehydration. today she's acting more herself and nursing much better than yesterday. it's not fun to see your little infant babe sick though.
i was ignoring her sickness as we went swimming for the fourth... not a good idea. my poor friend shannon got puked on. it put a damper on watching fireworks for me. jeff and jill (and some friends) went up on a hill at the golf course to watch them. jeff said jill had a blast.
here's my sweet #2 after church last week.
isn't that the cutest little nose and mouth? i love the differences between cam and jill. they are so different looking to me but both so cute.
holy pointy chin. gotta love it.
last saturday jeff and started our "let's be adventurous/sporty" phase. we drove to the salt river with ben and caitlin and went repelling. due to the heat, we waiting until about 6:30 and got to enjoy the sunset on the river. i love seeing places like this in arizona. it's good for my bad attitude toward az to spend as much time as possible in areas like this.

caitlin and i had never been repelling. i got pretty freaked out as i was walking off the edge of the 125 foot rock. once i got to the point of no return i relaxed and had a blast. this is a crazy sport. who would trust a little rope with your life? especially after having two sweet perfect babies waiting on the ground below. only a crazy person that's who! but seriously it's really safe (apparently) and totally amazing to be suspended in the air jumping down a bid ol' rock.

here's jeff mid-way down.
this caitlin starting to go off the edge. we can see ben's head peeking over the top of the rock and jeff is the belay.