Glad that's over

Last week started out with a bang! I hurriedly got ready for my preschooler's end of year celebration. It was a lot of fun. The kids were so excited. They have come so far and learned so much. And they are adorable! So Monday and Tuesday were spent preparing and celebrating. I had them wear graduation caps just for fun even though they all have another year of preschool. :)

My 'favorite' student
aka 'my teacher's aide'


........then......

everything went wrong

I woke up Wenesday morning with a mild itch. That turned into a full-blown case of HIVES by afternoon. My hands and feet swelled up and I looked afright. I've never had hives before. I took some benadryl and was feeling like I could handle this. Then in the wee hours of Thursday morning I was up using the restroom and afterward I got really dizzy and couldn't walk. David heard me stumbling around and came to help. He got me back into my bedroom but then I passed out on the floor. Passed out! Me. I've never done that before either. Apparently I wasn't making much sense so David took me straight to the ER. I looked like I had leprosy. They treated me, made sure I was a bit better then sent me home.

The next morning, Friday, I was about 100% worse and looked TERRIBLE. I didn't know it was possible to look that awful. I went to my regular doctor and he prescribed me some steroids. Within 4 hours I was presentable and they have been kept at bay since. The worst part was not the itching, it was the lightheadedness and weak, icky feeling. It was awful. I'm so glad it's over and I hope it never happens again.

Luckily by Saturday afternoon I was able to attend Beauty and the Beast at a local Theater. I had planned this for our ward's YW and had put a lot of effort into getting it all set up. I would have hated to miss it.

I brought Cyrena with me and she LOVED it. I was surprised how much. She kept telling me, "thank you for bringing me Mommy." I loved seeing her perma-grin. And I sealed the deal by buying her a t-shirt. Instant joy.

Our group

Yesterday morning Cyrena had a little fun with the camera. This is one she took of Natalie...too cute.

In the afternoon David and I attended The Gila Valley Temple dedication. We were able to participate via satellite. It was another great experience for us to be able to hear from our prophet and see blessings unfold in that valley.

So a busy, crazy, eventful week that had it's definite highs and it's definite lows. Gotta take the bitter with the sweet I guess. Here's off to a lazy first week of summer!

Safford Trip

This past weekend we made a trip to the Gila Valley. The purpose of the trip was to visit the Gila Valley LDS Temple Open house. We also wanted to visit the grave of the pioneer ancestor Cyrena is named for. Here are the pics of the big trip.

The girls and I headed out to Mesa around 2 so we could pick up David at work by 3:30. Both girls fell asleep on the way to David's work. We spent some time at his office meeting everyone then we were on the road.

We checked in, got some dinner then got ready to swim. However we realized the pool wasn't really 'heated' as advertised. So here's our "getting up the nerve" picture.

The girls and I braved it. We were shivering the whole time but what can we say, we love to swim!

Then we settled in for some ESPN time for David....we don't have cable so he was happy

popcorn girls

Natalie couldn't wait to wake up Cyrena the next morning

We were in room 206. We'll never forget it because Cyrena chanted it over and over and over again.

We then headed over to the Safford City Cemetery. Luckily, thanks to my aunt and uncle who had already found the plot last spring, we were able to locate it quickly. Here they are looking at the individual headstones. Cyrena, her husband Philemon, and two of their children are buried in this plot.

This monument is in the middle of the plot

So if any of you have ever wondered why we spell Cyrena's name this way it is because of this incredible woman. She was a strong, dedicated pioneer who gave all she had for her membership in the church. We've always hoped that our Cyrena will learn from her example and live a life dedicated to the Lord's church.
This was a really special experience for me, one I will treasure. David loaded the girls back into the car then came back to stand with me by the plot. We were in awe of these amazing pioneers and all they worked to accomplish. We know they are rejoicing to see a temple in the midst of what they established.

My aunt gave Cyrena this little covered wagon charm and she's been pretty attached to it. It's really cute.

She had to be in on the picture taking

After some lunch we headed over to the temple open house. It was very crowded but still a great experience. It was fun to share that time with Cyrena, explaining to her the significance of each room and what David and I do when we go there. And also for her to see a room similar to one that we were married in was neat. It is a beautiful temple (as they all are). I can't wait until the other 2 temples are built here in the valley so we can attend their open houses also.

Cyrena's Preshool Tumbling

Cyrena just finished a 6 week preschool tumbling class. She had a great time learning different skills. She was pretty quiet and reserved during it which is unusual. However, she liked Mr. Bryce and looked forward to every class.

One night we made our own gym at home. Think broom handle balanced on chair backs....yup it was dangerous. But it made us all very hyper and silly. And yes, David and I did somersaults in our living room. And we lived to tell about it.

I put a little video together highlighting her accomplishments. The beam was by far the hardest thing for her, she's had balance issues for a long time. The bars were her favorite.

One Lucky Mom

That's definitely how I felt yesterday and today and I'm sure I will tomorrow and the next day.

Cyrena was up early Sunday morning throwing up (early like 3:30 a.m.). She had thrown up in her bed and I thought it was just on her pillow so I changed that and gave her a cracker and some water and put her back to bed. 30 minutes later she was back and I was holding her hair for her while she puked some more. That's when I noticed her hair was full of dried throw-up from the last session. YUCK. I guess I hadn't looked closely before. I started picking it out and then I finally woke David up to help me get her bathed and back to bed. Poor girl. She's all better now.

David made me an AMAZING breakfast of Eggs Benedict (a favorite around here!) with strawberries and brought it to me in bed. He had bought some roses the night before for me. When he brings me breakfast he always puts flowers in a vase on my tray.....just a little extra touch! :)

We were busy the rest of the day with temple recommend interviews, I had a YW meeting and we headed to church. David had to speak and it was so hard for Natalie to be able to see her dad on the stand and not go to him. He gave a wonderful talk. Cyrena still wasn't feeling great and actually fell asleep during Sunday School on David' lap so we headed home a bit early.

David made an tasty dinner of fish tacos-recipe found here on my friend's great blog. And brownie sundaes for dessert. He cleaned everything up, took care of the kids and worked hard all day! When we were going to bed I said, "oh we didn't take any pictures" and he said "Oh man, I thought I gave you the perfect Mother's Day but we forgot pictures" I assured him it was still the perfect day!!!

Day trip to Sedona

Warning: A LOT of pictures to follow.....

Grandma was in town last week so we decided to take a little day trip to Sedona. We went to this

Afterward we went to a TASTY mexican restaurant. It was wonderful and they brought the girls free ice cream afterward!

Then we went and visited a beautiful artsy shopping center. We didn't do any shopping but instead explored all the beautiful gardens and architecture. It was breathtaking!

We've lived here over 5 years and that was our first trip to Sedona--it definitely won't be our last.

museum which was a lot of fun AND cheap! It's on an apple farm. We explored an old homestead cabin then went in back to check out an apple packing barn which was full of cool equipment and other great stuff. All around there are fun little trails to explore as well. It was beautiful!

'hiking' to the museum

Every other minute Natalie had her finger up close to her face pointing at something and speaking gibberish. It kept making us laugh! This girl loves the outdoors!

Inside the cabin there is a replica of an old school room. I HAD to put the dunce cap on the girls, I couldn't resist.

In the packing barn we tried out an old apple scale. It was still very accurate.

This gives a pretty good view of the packing barn. Cyrena's in front of an old-fashioned fire truck. Next to her are all the apple sorting barrels. You could watch videos showing how they packed all the apples.

Cyrena lassoed Natalie

love this picture

the best quacamole I've ever had

Cyrena's mouthful of whipped cream

Natalie wanted the couple across from us to talk to her so badly and they didn't give her any attention. She kept trying though.

Cyrena posed everyone for this picture.

The girls

We went to this area that had all this furniture made out of rocks and it was all very comfortable!

Natalie loved these red sculptures

goofy girl

Typical Sedona view