Millions of Peaches...

Joe and I love to head out to Queen Creek to visit our friends, the Nickels, as often as we can. This usually ends up being about once a month, but it is a treat each time. It used to be that we would go out there anticipating weather that would be about 8 degrees cooler than it is here in the city. That may not sound like much, but there is a HUGE difference between 92 degrees and 100 degrees!

This trip we went to enjoy a day at Schnepf Farms. Right now they are having a pick-your-own-peaches activity and we thought that it would be fun to take Avery out and wander among the peach trees selecting a few of our own. And it was fun, for 20 minutes. It was so hot that day and you would not believe how LITTLE shade is created by the fruit trees. Add to that carrying a hot little baby and the fact that the ground was baked, dried, scorching dirt, and you have once dirty, sweaty play date.

The peaches were yummy, though expensive in the end. Avery seemed to be intrigued by it all, which was a relief. But then the heat just got to be too much for all involved. Avery was so flushed with heat that I got a bottle of water to pour on her to cool her off. As soon as the bottle got close enough for her to feel the coolness of it, she wrapped her arms and legs around the bottle and attempted to consume the whole thing in one bite. I'm not sure she had ever seen a water bottle before, but she sure seemed to know what to do with it. She spent the next ten minutes, and the drive, holding on to her little refrigerator try to suck out what relief she could. It was hysterical! I tried to take it away so that I could have a drink and she screamed at me. I think it was the first time she ever REALLY got mad at me for taking something away from her.

Hot and sweaty, yes, but still so much fun!

Joe

Did I mention that May is a busy month? Today is Joe's birthday!! My wonderful husband is 31 and starting to feel old; at least when he says his age out loud. When I have to call him away from his World of Warcraft game after 3 hours so that he can have dinner, I feel like he is still a teenager.

I do not praise my husband enough. He takes such good care of Avery and me and even though I try to let him know how much I appreciate him, I feel like I don't sing his praises as I should.

I love that he still tries to spoil me like he did when we were dating.

I love that he has his biggest smiles when he plays with Avery.

I love that he does all that he can so that I can stay home and raise our daughter, as we had hoped I could.

I love that he does the dishes.

I love that he brings Avery in to me every morning so that he can say good morning to her before he goes to work.

I love that he likes to cuddle when we nap, and that he sets his alarm 10 minutes early so we can cuddle before he goes to work.

I love that, even if I can't seem to get up, he studies his scriptures every morning.

I love that he has, and can still, take me to the temple.

I love Joe Jackson.

Georgia Sauter

I love my mom. Most women can think back on their childhood or adolescence and think of moments when their mother infuriated them. They can name wrongs done from years past, and sometimes they can even pin point specific ways in which they were traumatized by their mother's actions. "Mom was too controlling," or "My mom was fanatic about this," or "My mom completely embarrassed me when..." This may sound crazy, but I have no such complaints. If you want to get together and have a gripe session about the ways your mama did you wrong, sorry, I can't participate. My mother was and is wonderful.

She is kind and loving.

She has seemingly infinite patience.

She is a wonderful example of faith in action.

She still calls to see if I heard the General Conference messages.

She leads by example.

She makes a person FEEL loved.

She loves to learn and share what she has learned.

And most importantly, she told me that the woman she is today, patient and a giant spiritually (my words), happened later in life. This is important to me because the day I found out that I was pregnant I felt a little bit like a failure. I wanted to be so much more like my mom before I had children. I wanted to be stronger and more knowledgeable in the gospel. I wanted to have a better grasp on my temper. I wanted to know how to speak criticisms and punishments with a loving voice. She has taught me that it is not too late to do these things. As women, wives, and mothers we we an progress and improve everyday, we need not stop striving because or children are already here or because we haven't made good habits by our late 20's. Everyday is a new day to prepare and improve ourselves.

I love my mother. She is the most wonderful woman I know and I hope everyday that I can be as good a mom as she was to us 8 children.

Did I mention dedicated grandmother?

Avery...She's 7 Months Old

Yes, 7 months. I have little to report his month. She still eats, though more. She still cries, though more, and now with a little puppy whine. She still can't quite crawl, but she wants to. She still sings, to everyone's delight. She took her first plane ride, to great success. She is just a joyful little bundle!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Stacie and Melissa

May is busy. Not only was my sister Elizabeth's birthday on the 2nd, but my sister-in-law Stacie and my sister-in-law Melissa both have birthdays on May 3rd. This is also Jon and Val's anniversary, but I think they will forgive me for not sending a card.

I was home just in time to celebrate on Sunday with the family and have some yummy ice cream cake. Stacie is our super-involved aunt here in Phoenix and we were glad to be able to celebrate with her this week! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACIE!!

And Happy Birthday to Melissa who is so far away in Utah. I wish I could come and celebrate with you.

So, We Went to Texas

Avery and I have been in Texas for the last week and a half. We went to escape the AZ heat, already at 100 degrees, but mostly to visit with Grandpa Richard. My dad is not feeling that great right now and we thought that it would be a good time to drop by and say hi.

Avery was a dream on the plane ride. I was so worried that she would be a grump, but she played half the time and slept the other half. It helped that we had the ONLY empty seat on the plane right next to us. And once we got to D/FW airport, Angela was waiting!

We spent the whole of our trip hanging out at home with family and spending time with Grandpa. He and Avery hit it off right away. Almost as soon as I sate her down next to him she was smiling and laughing. I think she likes him best because she didn't have to perform. We all try to play with her and make her crawl or stand our grab the toy. With Grandpa she could just be, so she had a great time. We stepped out for an afternoon or two of shopping, thanks Grandma!, but really just caught up on a lot of movie watching since that is about as much excitement as Grandpa can handle. In preparation for this summer, I watched ALL of the Harry Potter movies.

It was truly a relaxing trip. We slept in, read, watched movies, ate, and visited for 9 whole days. I got to see Mom, Dad, Angela, Micah, Scott, Jennifer, Jon, Val and Kyra. Not to mention my good friends, Maria, Dawn, and Nancy. It was wonderful!

We left on May 2nd. This is my sister Elizabeth's birthday and we missed her by just a couple of days. So, we love you Elizabeth and hope that we can see you soon!