Arizona Amazingness :)

Since Cade can work remotely with his job, we decided to take 2 weeks and spend some time with Cade's family in Arizona. They were very excited to spend some time with Emma...and maybe Cade and I too? We had tons of fun there! We went to a Suns playoff game, had fun girls nights out, Cade and I got to go on lots of dates! Good thing Emma was a good girl most of the time so Grandma and Grandpa Close didn't mind watching her a lot. Here are some great pictures from the trip...

Emma and Ashur meeting for the first time. They were both 3 lbs 6 oz at birth and are steadily growing. Ashur is doing a lot better. Ever since Tara has gone down to Arizona, he has been coming alive now and developing so much faster (now that he isn't as colicky anymore).

Grandpa Close has been a saint...helping with the grandkids whenever he can. He has stayed up with Ashur every night for weeks so Tara can recover. He is a lifesaver to all!

Aunt Tara bought Emma some cute cowgirl boots as well as this ADORABLE sailor outfit! I love them! Now Emma will be ready for the Boot race in July...it's a big thing in Prescott :).

We went down to Phoenix to visit Cade's Dad's side of the family and were able to go to a Suns Playoff game. It was a great game!!! We always enjoy seeing the extented family...hopefully we'll be able to more often!




Emma and Ashur in their matching outfits from Grandma..."Ashur, I just want to eat your hand, okay?!"


Cade and I met up with some fun friends...


And the trip wouldn't be complete without Grandpa accidentally flushing his teeth down the toilet....one of those moments you can laugh about after it's over :)!



One of the last things we got to do was see Cade's Mom's side of the family. We got together for dinner and pictures and it was great to see so much family!


The trip overall was a blast! Now that Cade's done with school, we can go down and visit more often.

Finding her voice

Emma has been such a blast lately!!! She is turning into such a fun, happy, loving, easy baby (except maybe battling naps). Happy baby=happy mommy :). These videos I tried getting after she had just woken up. She woke me up by her babbling, but I had to try to get videos of her without her seeing the camera. She is being so adorable lately and is growing up so fast!

Three happy grads...

Happy day! Cade, Kristen and I all graduated this semester! Well, I technically already graduated in December, but I got to walk with Cade. And Kristen gradutated the week after us from UVU, but she dressed up and took picutres with us. I cannot explain how proud I am of both Cade and Kristen. Both have had quite the journey and I am so happy for them and their accomplishments. Cade had to do a master's degree while working full-time and having me in the hospital, and then our first baby being born but in the NICU- all last semester...it was quite a lot (that is an understatement!). Kristen finished her student teaching as a health teacher and came to absolutely LOVE it! She is currently interviewing for teaching jobs and really, really wants to teach. I know she would be an AMAZING teacher! Here are some fun pictures from the happy day :).


Our friend Laurel. She has been one of my very best friends and it was fun that she could share that fun day with us! I love her!



This was at Kristen's graduation.
Me and Boose listening intently to the speakers...

Way to go, Kristen!!!

"If you couldn't tell...I'm happy!"

Finally Home!

Yay! We're in our new home. It's so excited after the exhausting part is done :). Cade's Dad came up here from Arizona and helped us SO SO much! I don't know how we would have gotten everything packed, moved, cleaned, and organized without his help. He was seriously a lifesaver! He installed a fan, did tons of cleaning, put up our desk, worked on a huge project in the garage and much more! On the day of the move, we also had some help from some of the guys in our ward, which was very helpful! It's always surprising how much stuff you accumulate over the years!


Emma got worn out from the move

We did still have to eat in this mess for a while :)

Cade and Dad did work most of the time and other times....worked on their karate skills...



This is Emma's cute room. I painted the stripes on the wall after seeing a cute room on Pottery Barn Kids website. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Well, still LOTS to do, but it's coming along!

Cute Emma Videos...

One of my favorite things was after recording her, I showed Emma the videos and she was smiling and giggling to herself. Love it! She is becoming more active and responsive with me. She is adorable :).

Yellow dress, fuzzy bunny, and crazy family...

Happy Easter! I had such a great weekend with Easter and General Conference weekend in one...I don't know that it could have gotten any better. However, I now realize it's a LOT harder to pay attention to all the speakers now that I have a baby. Good thing we can read them any time with the technology we have these days!

It was a great day with a fun girls night at Applebees while the boys went to the Priesthood session. Then we had the most amazing mint ice cream oreo dessert! It's to die for! Easter morning Cade, Emma, and I found our baskets (Cade didn't hide mine very hard and even told me what room it was in. I hid his hard and told him good luck finding it :)).


Then we got Emma ready in her cute Easter dress. Even though it was snowy, Emma was our bright ray of sunshine.





We enjoyed playing games and even doing yoga poses too! Well, the yoga was just for my sisters. But I enjoyed taking pictures of them. It brought me back to when I was 7 and my Dad would teach Kristen and I different gymnastics moves while my mom video taped us. Good times :).