July 2009

July was full of family. We kicked off the month by going to Phoenix for the 4th of July. We met up with my sister Bethany and two of her kids, Vanity and Riley. We stayed in a hotel and the kids swam all weekend.

Then on the 5th, Jon and the boys got on a plane for Pennsylvania to see his family. They were in Pennsylvania/ New York for 2 weeks. They stayed with Jon’s parents for a few days, and then headed off to a Dexter family reunion. After the reunion, they went to Little Falls, NY for 2 days, to see Jon’s grandma and grandpa Quinn, his sister Bethany and his aunt, uncle and cousins. They had so much fun! This was the longest I’ve ever been away from the boys and I missed them so much! I had to stay home because I didn’t have any time off with my new job.

The weekend after they got home, the boys and I went to Safford to see my family. (Jon was working.) My brother Curtis and sister Amber, who I haven’t seen in two years, were both in town. My Mom had a family breakfast, Sunday morning and most of my family attended. It was fun to get together and hang out, but it went by too fast and soon it was time to head home.

I’m glad that we had the chance to see so much of our families this month. I wish we could see more of them and didn’t live so far away.

Dexter family reunion.

In front of race car in Hershey, PA.

With G & G Quinn.

Jon, Austin, Aunt Shelly, Natalia, Coy, Uncle Dom.

The boys with Jon's parents at the zoo.

June 2009

I didn’t take many pictures in June because it went by so fast. We celebrated father’s day by staying home. The boys made Jon a card and magnet at school; they picked out a new NASCAR t-shirt. He also got a new watch, since his old one was broken.

My nephew Riley came for a week visit. He went to an animal camp at my job and had a good time. The boys love to see Riley and they always cry when it’s time to say good- bye.

I put on a picture of my Dad and Coy because of Father's Day.

My 3 boys on father's day.

My Dad and Coy, July 2006.

Austin with an ice cream face.

May 2009

On May 6, we celebrated our 3rd year as a family. It was very hard the first year and I wasn’t sure we were going to make it as a family, but I’m happy that we are united! Nothing can change that now. I posted pictures from our past. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Coy April 2006

Jon and Austin Nov. 2007

The first time we met the boys. Dec. 2005

Coy took this picture of me at the petting zoo. Jan. 2009

Austin March 2006

April 2009

April was a wonderful month for us. The first week, I got a job offer to work with the humane society in Sedona. I’m now a kennel associate that means I clean up after the animals and help with adoptions. I’m so happy to be done with being an office manager. I’ve been trying to quit for two years and now I finally have!

We celebrated Easter. We went to the towns Easter egg hunt, went to see a monster truck called big foot, crush some cars. The boys both loved it but Austin is bothered by loud noises, he covered his ears and asked to leave just before it was over. Then we headed home to dye Easter eggs. This is the first year the boys got to do this. They loved it and didn’t make too much of a mess.

We also went on vacation to San Antonio. We decided at the last minute to take my niece Vanity. We headed through Safford on our way to pick her up. It was a super long drive, 16 hours to be exact. The boys did so well, that’s big because Austin hates being in the car. We stayed in a town called Bandera, just outside of San Antonio. We went to see my brother Darin in Austin, had a really good time with him. We went on a bike ride to the river so the boys could swim and just hung out for the day. Went to the river walk boat tour, everyone loved that. We went to the natural bridge caverns. Since Jon pretty much grew up at Kartchner Caverns it was nice to see another cave. Natural bridge caverns were not nearly as cool as Kartchner. We went to sea world, Coy’s favorite part was seeing Shamu and Austin’s least favorite was seeing Shamu. He splashed us and Austin didn’t like getting wet. Austin liked the penguins. We ended the week by seeing my sister in law, Tracy and my nieces, my brother Curtis was out of town doing training for work. I haven’t seen him in a few years and was bummed we didn’t get to see him. But the boys and my nieces had a good time playing.

Hope you had as good an April as we did!

Darin and Austin

Vanity, me, Coy, Darin, Alanna.

The boys at the river walk.

Austin and Coy at the Alamo.

Vacation pictures

Coy, Jon, Austin am Vanity at the caverns.

Vanity and Coy after the Shamu show.

Jon and the boys in front of a race car at Sea World.

Austin, Halee, Coy, McKayela, Nora, Vanity

March 2009

Spring is here and March was a good month to be outdoors. The boys got to try flying kites for the first time. They both needed a little help getting the kites in the air, but no help after that. It was good practice, because the breeze wasn’t strong enough that day. We’ll try again on a windier day. We also went to the park and had a picnic.

My niece Vanity came to visit for her spring break. She is 13 and a lot of fun to hang out with. We did a lot of shopping and went to the movies. The boys love Vanity; Austin even calls her his girlfriend. He chased her all week calling, “girlfriend, girlfriend, don’t leave me.” Vanity was a good sport and carried Austin around all week. We were all sad to have her go home.

We also went to see my friend Cathy. She has 2 boys Logan and Quinton, they are a little younger than Coy and Austin, but they all play well together. We went to the Phoenix zoo. Their favorite part was seeing the monkeys because you get to walk into their habitat and monkeys are everywhere. After the zoo we got some lunch then headed to Cathy’s house where the boys played and played. We stayed for dinner and left about 7:30. It was late when we got home, but it was a very fun day.

The boys flying their kites.

Coy playing under a mushroom.

Vanity, Austin, and Coy

Coy and the giraffes at the zoo.

Logan, Quinton, Austin and Coy at the zoo

February 2009

February was a good month for a birthday and to visit with family. Coy turned 5 on the 16. It seems like just yesterday he was a chubby little toddler, now he’s getting ready to start school in August. Due to Jon and I working on Coy’s birthday he got to celebrate before and after his birthday. We had out little family party on the 15, with cake, ice cream and presents. Then on the 27 we headed to Tucson to see Jon’s sister and have the rest of Coy’s birthday. He wanted to go to build a bear workshop and bowling. Build a bear workshop was a lot of fun. The boy’s started by picking out the stuffed animal they wanted, then they picked out the sound they wanted their animals to make, then they got stuffed, and clothes picked out. When we were all done a birth certificate was made. Coy picked a Lamb, named him Lambert, and dressed like a football player. Austin picked a Frog, named him Coffee, and dressed like a rock star. After build a bear was all done we headed to lunch, then bowling. This was the first time the boys have been bowling and they had a blast. Only problem was I forgot my camera. Coy had a very fun birthday and it’s always fun to get together with Kari and Mike.

We also headed down to Safford to see my family. We just went for the weekend; it was fun to see almost everyone. I missed one of my sister’s because she was out of town. When we visit family the time just flies. It doesn’t seem like we ever have enough time.

Coy with the Frog towel my Mom made him for his birthday.

Not wasting anytime on opening his presents.

Blowing out candles.

The boys with their animals from build a bear workshop.

Our first snow of the year, it melted before the end of the day.