Sunny Sunday

Quiet Winter Weekend at Home

Girls in the back of the car upon arrival at schoool. They enjoy school but we love weekends too!

Blue skies and sunshine are a bit rare this time of year, so we make the most of it when we can.

 Playground selfie!

 The girls' new nightstands arrived this weekend!

We spend a lot of time hanging out in the living room, kitchen nook, and kitchen area of our house. In this photo, Emily is playing on the computer and Lauren is doing origami.

 Bubble bath time!

 Lauren playing with toys.

Eating roasted carrots with cinnamon... the girls LOVE them!

Baking muffins! Emily is getting ready to add the wet ingredients.

Lauren scooping batter. 

We made zucchini, banana, and flaxseed muffins... they were delicious!

Photo Potpourri and Portrait of Frenna

Emily (left) and Lauren (right) playing with Legos... they love to create imaginary scenarios and can play with these for hours!

Lauren giving her favorite Betty Bunny a kiss.

Lauren created this pretty hairstyle all by herself!

Emily made this beautiful emerald necklace. 

The weather is cold, but the girls are always up for ice cream!

Our friend Amanda came over to play and make pizzas for lunch. 

A precious portrait of Emily and Lauren's great grandmother... we used to call her Frenna.

Swimming Pool Fun in Arizona- A Movie

Justin made this short movie using footage he recorded using his waterproof video recorder!

Butterfly Wonderland

We visited the Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale... the largest butterfly atrium in America!

Lauren in the butterfly atrium.

We discovered that Emily is frightened of butterflies. 

Emily initially felt safer wearing Justin's hooded jacket but later took it off as she was worried the butterflies might mistake her for a tree.

So many pretty butterflies!

Emily liked the chrysalis room, where all of the chrysalises and emerging butterflies are enclosed in a glass case. 

Girls with their souvenir butterflies!  Lauren named hers Maggie and Emily named hers Bella.

McCormick Stillman Railroad Park

We visited a railroad park during our visit to Scottsdale... the girls enjoyed riding this miniature train!

There was an extremely impressive model railroad exhibit too... the girls liked the Wild West Lego town. 

The amusement park area was cute too.

Riding on the antique carousel!

Desert Botanical Garden

We visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale... there were so many cacti to see!

Justin explaining how to read a sundial. 

Checking out a desert hut!

Lauren saw this butterfly and was hoping that it would land on her finger.

Arizona Vacation

We went to Arizona after Christmas to relax and enjoy some sunshine!  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort at Gainey Ranch and had a great time.  This giant gingerbread house was on display in the front lobby... it was made with over 700 pounds of gingerbread!

Interior of the house featuring a portrait of the gingerbread family. 

There were lots of palm trees and cacti!

The resort had kid's craft activities... here is Emily painting a wooden snake and Lauren painting a wooden lizard. 

We spent afternoons at the fabulous pool area!

Girls taking a break to drink some chocolate milk. 

Scottsdale has lots of great restaurants. This fountain was outside one of the restaurants... the girls threw in pennies and made wishes!

In the evenings after dinner we relaxed in the hotel room. The girls love to do Mad Libs!