Meeting Abby!

 

We had such a wonderful time in Phoenix a few weeks ago!  It was a blessing to be able to meet our niece, Abby, and to spend time with everyone from Kim's side of the family.  As you will be able to gather from the following pictures, our days together revolved around caring for Grammy and Papa's five grandchildren.

Kim and Abby enjoyed meeting one another.

 Abby:  "Thanks for the cute hair bows and hair clips you made for me, Aunt Kim."

If you look closely, you will notice that Abby was singing a hello song to Matt as they shared this moment.

In typical Ian fashion, Abby was the recipient of lots of kisses during the weekend.

The main reason why we all traveled to Arizona was to help Andrew and Sarah celebrate Abby's baptism.  It is so awesome that Abby is now a child of God in addition to being Andrew and Sarah's daughter.

Now, that's one proud Daddy!

As you can tell, Papa had the privilege of performing the baptism.

It was a blessing to be able to relax, share good conversation, and play with kids for parts of five days.

Uncle Jason enjoyed explaining the finer points of flying to Ryan. Whee!!

There were a few times during the weekend that Jaden, Cody, and Ryan all decided to take their naps at the same time.

We enjoyed seeing the little boys interact with one another.

Ryan certainly enjoys standing in people's laps, and Grammy knew just how to make him smile as they spent time together.

Standing sure tuckers you out!

Kim enjoyed showing Sarah how to use the Moby Wrap to hold Abby.  Ryan is a huge fan of the Moby Wrap--we're pretty sure he didn't mind being the baby selected for Kim's demonstration.

Uncle Andrew showed us how Ryan can sit on his own as long as he is supporting some of his weight with his arms.

 

Ryan:  "This is my cool Uncle Andrew.  I thought we were just playing on the floor, but apparently he was doing some sort of 4-month physical evaluation on me.  Did I pass?"

Abby certainly passed her 3-week leg strength test.  She pushed with quite a bit of force on Andrew's hands and propelled herself across this quilt.

Ryan wasn't the only child perfecting the art of flying over the weekend (way to go, Abby!!).

Ian certainly was cared for throughout the weekend.  Here, he and Papa enjoyed building tall towers out of blocks after returning from the morning walk.

Grammy and Ian enjoyed playing with some wooden vehicles.  Ian was a huge fan of filling the dump truck with some of the stones near Andrew and Sarah's pool.

Uncle Andrew helped Ian assemble this race car looping track.  Thanks for bringing such fun toys from your house, Grammy and Papa!

Uncle Jason's legs quickly turned into an Ian jail--you should have heard our 3-year old laugh and ask for him to do it over and over again.

Grammy and Ian not only used those vehicles in the rocks outside, but they also liked building garages for them to park in.

Grammy taught Ian about "hot" and "cold" when searching for things she had hidden. 

A big thanks to everyone who allowed Ian to twist their arms and spend some time reading to him.

 One of Ian's most memorable activities from this trip to Arizona was cracking A LOT of eggs with Uncle Andrew.

The proud egg crackers!!

Just down the road from Andrew and Sarah's home was a construction site.

Ian and Abby enjoyed watching all of the activity at the site on the final morning of our trip.

By far, Ian's favorite activity while in AZ was swimming in Andrew and Sarah's pool.  He enjoyed wearing goggles while swimming under water, jumping off of the side into someone's arms, and showing people the "skills" he had worked on in his six swimming lessons over the summer.

Thanks, Uncle Jason and Uncle Andrew, for spending so much time caring for Ian in the pool.  He loved every moment of it!

Matt, Jason, and Andrew enjoyed diving/jumping into the pool while attempting to catch a frisbee.  We had some success, and shared lots of laughs.

It was certainly an adventure trying to get everyone (especially the 5 kids three years of age and younger) to look at the camera for group shots.  Here are some of favorites:

Thanks for hosting all of us in your home, Drew and Sarah!!  You pampered us and made us feel right at home.  Your baptismal day feast was unforgettable.  We love you!