Bonus Family Time

Darren and I grew up together and our parents both still live in the same town. So that means whenever we go home for a Wells family event, we get to see the Stewart side of our family as a bonus. It works the other way around and so our kids are blessed to get to see both sets of grandparents quite often even though we don't live close. The night before and two nights after my family's reunion we stayed with Darren's parents. While there we celebrated Parker's upcoming 7th birthday with Darren's side of the family. Most of his extended family lives in the town we are from so it's fun to see them once in a while too. Here are a few pictures from our time with them.Cousins Tiana Guillory and Alexia holding cousin Kyla's twin baby girls. Tiana is holding Scarlett and Lexi is holding Violet.

The cake Aunt Rachelle and Grandma made for the birthday boy.

Parker and cousin Olivia blowing out the candles on his cake.

With so much of Grandma Stewart's attention being demanded by the three "bigs" sometimes it's hard to get some time alone with the little one. Here is a sweet moment between the two of them. Grandmas have to soak up the love anytime they get a chance.

Family Reunion 2010

Aunt Melissa (Provo, UT) and Spencer outside our cabin.
Benjamin (Rigby, ID) and Parker are the same age and were good buds all weekend long.

Every year my family makes a point of getting together for a reunion. I have seven kids in my family and right now we live in three different countries and four states. If we don't make the effort, we don't see each other. So this year my younger brother Scott was in charge and we ended up in Durango, CO. The food and scenery were great and so was the company. The kids had so much fun together. We played games, rode bikes, sorted family pictures, went swimming, and toured some Indian ruins. That Sunday my dad was put in as bishop of my home ward so it was great that we could all be there for that.
Two of my sister in laws: Katie with Alyssa (Rigby, ID) and Lindsay (Vancouver, BC)
Elijah with Aunt Becca (Cozumel, Mexico)

The kids rode their bikes all over the campground.Alexia with Kurstyn (Cliff, NM)

The kids spent lots of time in the swimming pool. I don't swim well myself so I'm a bit paranoid and I insist that an adult be in the pool with them if they are swimming. Darren never disappoints. The kids love to have Daddy throw them.

It's crazy how much I love this man.Asher, my brother Randy and Kristin (Sandy, UT) at Mesa Verde.

Group shot in the kiva. Wow it was dusty down there and I was starting to get claustrophobic. Funny story here. Aunt Melissa took my big kids and went down into the kiva. She noticed that Elijah was doing the potty dance and asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom. He suggested that he could just go there in the kiva. No way was she letting him do that. While waiting our turn to go down into the kiva, Elijah came up the ladder. Before I could get to him he dropped his drawers and decided to relieve himself right there on the ruins. When I yelled at him it was just in time and Darren then grabbed him and found a more appropriate place down the trail. Oh man, little boys are a trip!Our little family on a tour of Cliff Palace Indian ruins in the Mesa Verde National Park.
Spencer and little Alyssa (Brad's youngest from Rigby, ID) at my mom's house in Kirtland, NM.Melissa (Provo, UT), Shelby and Lindsay (Vancouver, BC) Sunday afternoon.

There are 10 grandchildren so far and it is so fun to see them. Good luck getting everyone to smile at the camera at the same time.
Kurstyn Johnson, Alexia & Spencer Stewart, Elijah Stewart, Benjamin & Alyssa Wells, Parker Stewart, Shelby Wells, Emily Wells & Asher Wells
Of course anytime we are together I have to get a picture of my wonderful sisters. Me with Melissa (Provo, UT).

Rebecca Ugalde (Cozumel) Heidi Stewart (AZ) Alena Johnson (NM) and Melissa Wells (UT)
I wish we lived closer. Thanks Scott for a fun reunion!

Summer is here...

But first, a little comparison...

First day of school year for 2009-2010

Last day of school year for 2009-2010

What were you doing at 3:30am this morning?

Yahoooie! It's done! Now, to see if we can keep it alive! You thought the cable guys were bad with their window. We were told that the sod would be delivered between 6pm Friday night and noon on Saturday. Since it is supposed to hit 107 today we were really hoping for last night. Just after Darren crawled in bed at 11:30pm I heard the truck come and drop it off. I was sort of tempted (because I'm a night person) to make him crawl right out of bed and do it on that side of the night because the alarm was set for 4am and I am definately not a morning person. Elijah walked into my room this morning at 2:53am to tell me he couldn't find his mousie. Aahhh! That boy and his stuffed animals! Anyway I knew there was no way I was going to fall asleep knowing that I had to get up in an hour so I woke Darren up to see if he want to start early....

No he didn't.

So after tossing for half an hour I threw back the covers and told him to come on. Our best work was done before sun up (4:45am) and by 8 we were dragging but just finishing up. I can't wait to sit outside and look at it! Finally! I know, an all grass front yard with real flower beds...so un-Arizona! ;0)

Swim Lessons

Elijah has always been such a daredevil in the water. I'm not a big fan myself so I'm always a little late getting the kids into swim lessons. In fact, I signed up Parker this year for the first time and his teacher told me that he already knew how (thank you Darren) and there was no point having him continue. Whoops! A little late. For the past two weeks Lije has gone every day and he is so much better! Now when we head to the public pool this summer I can relax a little. I was wondering how I was going to hold the baby and take care of my daredevil. I remembered my camera on the last day so here are a few pictures of my little man.

Women's Conference

Darren's fabulous. That's all I have to say about that. When I said I wanted to go to BYU's Women's ference and be gone for 6 days, he said to have at it. I took Spencer with me and hopped on a plane. Sweet baby love slept both plane rides - he was a perfect angel. He soaked up all the love he could from the aunts, grandma, and the girls from Raintree apt #205. My mom, my sisters and I had so much fun together. The conference was nice and I took away some great ideas but the highlight for me was spending time with the great girls that are in my family. I have such fun women in my family. My brothers married some seriously fun girls and my mom and three sisters are some of my favorite people. I love when we all get together. Here are a few pictures of my time in Utah.On campus. Looks like Brother Brigham is trying to knock some sense into me. ;pMy sisters and I after our last class of the conference. (Alena, Becca, me and Melissa)Spence in his little hat that I love so much on him. He looked like a little pudgy gangsta. I finally got to meet my sweet little niece, Alyssa. Katie brought her down and of course we had to take some pictures of the cutie pies together. She's a sweet little thing who doesn't spit up ever...except on me. ;PI know I have big kids, but next to Alyssa's petite little hands, Spencer's looked like mitts.

Father and Son's

This weekend was highly anticipated by the boys. They both remembered the fun they had last year and couldn't wait to get away with dad again this year.
Dad and the boys just before heading off on a boys weekend.

It turned out the location was a little bit more off the beaten path then they thought. It was 10 miles of climbing dirt road. Many got lost trying to find it. There were four flat tires on the road up the mountain. Luckily Darren and the boys made it without incident. Darren said it was beautiful up there and he took a few pictures for me.
Someone brought this zipline up and the kids had a blast. Notice Elijah on the ground watching Parker, and waiting for his turn.
Looks like he got his turn and a little extra help from a friend of ours.

Two blond Stewart boys who need a haircut.

I asked the boys what their favorite part of the trip.

Parker: "Roasting marshmallows...I roasted 9 and I ate them all!" (Thanks Jason for remembering them and sharing too!)

Lijah: "I grabbed on to this thing and I swinged down."

Easter Pictures

I had a ton of pictures from Easter and thought this might just be the best way to share them with you all!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What up cheeks?

More posts coming soon - no, I swear this time! In the meantime here are a few to satisfy all of your cheek squeezing urges. Oh wait, that's ME!Oh the cheeks on this boy! Help me Rhonda!

Elijah turned four

My April Fools day baby turned four this year. Oh my how I love this little boy! Elijah and I had a rough start. We moved right after he was born and the baby blues turned into full blown post partum for me. He spent most of his first year sitting on his daddy's lap as he worked from home. Now Elijah lights up my life. I will be so sad to send him out into the world in August. He's signed up for preschool this fall. I went back and forth about this because I feel like this little guy and I have grown so much together and I want to keep him all to myself. But it is probably the best thing for him to learn to sit down, hold still, and mind someone else besides me. This handsome boy is super smart, strong and independent. He's an old soul. I'm pretty sure he was older than me in Heaven and that he did great things there and he's waiting for the rest of us to catch up. Weird I know, but it is a feeling I come back to over and over. He's a thinker and a people watcher. He has his own way of doing things and it throws him for a loop if it doesn't happen that way every time. He likes order, a schedule, and knowing what is coming next. He is so sweet with his little brother - which for some reason is a surprise and is a big help to me at home. I love his flicking his ears, and those big beautiful blue eyes, long eyelashes and ruby red lips make him such a cutie pie. Happy fourth baby love!