We had an exciting weekend last weekend with both the Coons side and the King side of the family. Both were a great blessings. Tim was married in the Las Vegas Temple to Audrey on Saturday, June 12th. We are so excited to have Audrey in the family. They are such a good couple. We had a great time being there with all the family. We were even able to get a family picture while there with every single person there. It was so neat. Here is a picture of Tim and Audry coming out of the temple! (Thanks Sarah and Micah)

On Sunday June 13th, we were back in Arizona to hear Spencer, Danny's brother, give a talk before he left on a mission to Thailand. His talk was on Compassion and it was wonderful. I was very impressed. We were able to see him get set apart on June 15th. I have some pictures of that night. 

I am so proud of Tim and Spencer. They are both great examples to me and my family. We were so happy we were able to celebrate these wonderful occasions with them.

I am so sad i didn't get before and after pictures of our home, but I do have the after pictures and I thought I would put a few of them up on the blog. We are starting to feel settled here. This is a great home.

Enjoy the pictures.

I haven't written about this, but I didn't want to forget this experience we had. Four months ago we had a sad thing happen in Utah. Our Bishop lost two of his granddaughters to because of a pesticide that was put near their home. It leaked out a poisonous phosphine gas and these girls got sick from it and died. We were and still are so hurt and sad for this family. We wanted to do something for them. DJ had a good idea to do a bake sale. So, we put fliers up to everyone in our ward boundaries. Then we started to bake.  We baked bread, cookies, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, more bread, more cookies. Other people volunteered to bring more baked goods as well. I thought we were well prepared. The Bake Sale was from 2-6.  We had a steady line the whole time. By 3:30, I started thinking we might not have enough. Thanks to Steve and Krista who stopped by to buy things, and instead started baking more cookies for me. By 5 I was down to just a few things and taking orders for me to bake after the sale was over. It was a wonderful experience. People were so giving and kind. We had a lot of donations on top of the things they bought. In the end we made over $700. We felt so happy we could help this family out by giving them something, but also being able to provide an opportunity for other people that wanted to do something for this family a chance to give. I was completely overwhelmed by the love people had. Here are some pictures from this experience.

  Here is DJ's sign he decorated for the door.

DJ was very good at collecting money from everyone. We filled up 2 of these jars!

This is the sweet Mom we gave the "Bake sel" money to. She was so sweet and filled with the spirit. I know she still cries most days for the loss of her 2 sweet girls.

Here is a link to their story.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700009002/Toone-family-cherishes-memories-of-their-young-daughters.html 

This made me want to be a better mom and cherish the short time I have with my children. You never know what the 

Lord's plan is, and each day is a gift.

I am so proud of DJ for thinking of helping others. We learned a lot from this experience. 

We have now been in AZ about 4 weeks. We have been so happy here with family. The kids have adjusted quite well. In fact, Brandon declared proudly to my Mom on the 3rd day here, "I'm and Arizona Boy!" The kids have loved our pool. We go swimming at least 2 times a day. We have been able to spend a lot of time with my Grandparents (Papa and Mama) too. There are a few things we will miss about Utah though. We miss the our back yard and front yard. Here is a picture of the kids in front of our Utah house the day we moved out.

We don't miss this though

This was snow at the end of April. They got more like this in Ut at the end of May this year! 

We went to a few more places we loved before we left UT and DJ finished a great Soccer season. Here  are some random pictures of things we did in Utah the month before we left.

The Wood Park in Pleasant Grove.

Lots of COLD soccer games. DJ was really getting the hang of Soccer at the end.

One of favorite places in Utah. Kangaroo ZOO!

The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

These are a few thing we loved to do in Utah. A few more things I miss are the view of Mt Timpanogas from my back window,the big kitchen, the fun playset in our backyard, and all the wonderful people we me there. Utah was very good to us. We have a lot of good memories there. 

1. Went to College in Utah

2. Dated and got engaged to Danny in Utah

3. Danny and I Graduated with a Bachelors in Utah

5. Bought our first house in Utah

6. Danny's first 2 real jobs in Utah

7. Got my Masters Degree in Utah

So as you can see in 10 years of living in Utah, I feel like I have accomplished a lot and changed a lot.

We love being here in AZ though. As Brandon says, "I'm an Arizona Boy!" Arizona still feels like home even after all of these years away, But Utah will always be a special place for us too!

We have been doing some of our favorite things here in Utah before we take off to Arizona. The other day I took the kids to the Bean Museum at BYU. We love it there. We had a great time. At one point we saw something like this animal on display.

Bradon looked at it carefully and said, "Wow, welcome to Utah."

Then DJ says, "Brandon that is a Yak. Yaketty Yak, don't talk back."

I love the things that come out of their mouths.

Anna is growing up quickly. She recently had her 2nd birthday. She talks very well. She can say anything she wants too and most the time we understand everything she is saying. She loves her brothers and can keep up with everything they do. She wants to be with them all of the time. She loves her baby dolls and carries them all around the house. She really loves Dora the Explorer. She has a cute Dora the Explorer bed she has been sleeping in since January

Anna also loves a great reaction. She loves to bother Brandon because she always gets a very dramatic reaction. She was so excited for her birthday. She kept telling everyone "my birthday is coming up!" One time she said that to Danny and the boys and they all got excited and cheered. She clasped her hands together and said, "I am so excited!" We went to the Aquarium here in Sandy for her birthday. It was a lot of fun. Then we went down to Provo for cupcakes with Tim and Audrey, and Steve and Krista. Here are some pictures of her day.

We sure love our litte Anna Girl. Happy Birthday!

Earlier this month we took a somewhat surprise trip to Arizona. We were able to drive in and surprise Danny's brother Spencer who was just about to open his Mission call. He was called to Thailand!!! We all had made a guess and DJ guessed Thailand. Woohoo! Brandon guessed Disneyland (or maybe Bug land in California Adventures Park), and when we asked Anna where she thought Spencer would go she said Milk. You can decide where you thing that may be. Anyways, we were so happy we were able to be there for that exciting moment. I love this picture with everyones faces as he reads Thailand.

Danny went back to Utah after a couple days, but the kids and I stayed for just over 2 weeks. It was perfect. My sister Sarah had her baby girl Rachelle while we were down there. I got to hold her and love her a little bit at the hospital. The kids got to see her when she was just under 2 weeks old. Brandon and Anna wanted to hold her.She is such a sweet baby!

Mostly we just played outside all day everyday and we got to see a lot of family! Here are some random things that we did.

The boys and Anna got to plant a few Cacti with Grandpa King in the Cactus garden at Park of Canals. They worked hard.

We did a lot of this...

I love this one. Please do not bother Lacy. She is busy reading a book:)

 The boys got to help Papa Dad turn his garden too. They had a great time!

We loved being there so much we are moving down there at the beginning of May!!! 

DJ had a birthday this week. He is a big 5 year old boy. Danny asked him how it felt to be 5 and DJ said, "It feels really good. I feel like I am 6!" He had informed me of a few things that big 5 year old boys can do. They take a bath in the morning by themselves. Usually we do baths at night, but he can do them in the morning now by himself. Also, he can pour his own milk, and big 5 year old boys can help their mom when she asks them to. He is such a good boy and he really is a great helper. I love him so much!

Well, we had a great birthday. We had a birthday party on Saturday with all of his primary class. He loved it. We sent out pirate invitations, we had a spiderman cake, and we had a cookie monster pinata. So if you were wondering what the theme was, there wasn't one. He had a great day and that is all that matters. Here are a few pictures from his birthday.

Mamama's package got here and the kids loved the packing peanuts! What a mess.

  Pin the tail on the donkey!

  My good try at a spiderman cake.

Opening up presents on the morning of his birthday! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa King and Mamama and Papa Dad.

We have been reminded a lot this weekend about how fragile life is. We often get caught up in our day to day lives and forget how fortunate we are each day to be with our loved ones. Our sweet 2 year old nephew Nash has been diagnosed with retinoblastoma. Basically it is a cancerous tumor in the eye. We keep praying for him and his family. He is scheduled for a surgery this coming Friday.

We also found out that our Bishop's daughter lost her 4 year old daughter yesterday to Carbon Monoxide poisoning in their home. Our hearts are broken for them as they deal with this loss. They are also in our prayers. More than anything this loss has caused me to realize how life can change in a matter of moments and I have been holding my kids a little tighter and a little longer these last couple days. What a gift it is to have the knowlege of the plan of salvation and know that we will be with our loved ones again. It doesn't make the pain of losing a dear one go away, but it at least lightens the burden a little. So remember to say I love you to those you love and be thankful for each day we get to live here on this earth together.

For Christmas Danny got me a sewing machine. I have not touched a sewing machine since I was probably 8, but I am determined to start learning again. So I decided my first project would be a superman/batman cape for the boys. I thought it all out and had it completely visualized before I ever took my sewing machine out of the box. Brandon has really been into being a superhero lately and he had a small apron that he kept turning around to his back to be his cape. So yesterday I decided would be the day to attack my plan. We loaded up and went to Joanns fabric store. I told the kids they would have to be patient with me. We got all the fabric loaded up in the basket then headed over to find  some other sewing neccessities. I found a sewing machine kit with thread, pins, measuring tape, bobbins, scissors, and more. It was perfect! Then I decided Anna would need something too, so I grabbed some elastic and some tulle for a tutu.  I finally got my fabric cut and payed. Whew! First part of the plan was successful. DJ and Brandon were so excited.  We headed home and took DJ to Preschool. Then I put Anna and Brandon down and started the cutting. I found a batman logo and a superman logo online and blew them up to the size of a page and  printed them off. Those were  my patterns. The other cloth I just cut into rectangles. That part was done. Then the sewing machine part. I got out my handy dandy users guide. I figured out what everthing was called, and started following directions on how to thread the bobbin and the top thread. 45 minutes later I had it all figured out. Now I was ready to sew. The first lines went really well. Not beautiful, but I was happy that the thread was actually working. That means I understood the directions! Brandon and DJ helped me cut out and push the pedal. They were thrilled with themselves. By dinner we had all but the top part done. I wasn't quite sure how to do this. After the kids went down Danny and I used our combined brain power and sewing skills (both of which are not much) and by 1:00 in the morning we were done! Here is the finished product.

Not bad for first time sewers. Danny really pulled through for me. He was a trooper! 

I got Anna's elastic sewn together last  night but that is it. So today we worked on her tutu. We had to go get some more tulle and now we have the finished product.

She loves it! So that is our fun for a while. I am worn out but the kids are thrilled and I learned a lot and so it is worth it! Here is to fun stuff!