great weekend...

I wish I had my computer so I could put some pictures on here! This past weekend was so fun! Wayne and I got to stay in a hotel alone! We wanted to have one last get away before he starts his new job on Wed. It was so fun. I got on priceline and got the Hilton for $40! We took our kids to our good friends house in Mesa and she watched them while we spent the weekend together. (The girls had a great time, they were in good hands!) We went to Macaroni (sp?) Grill for dinner (my favorite)! Then we went to "Live free, or die hard"... I tried to pick a show Wayne would like and it was actually really good! Then we slept at the hotel and actually got to sleep in. It was so nice. We swam together on Sat. morning and had races in the pool and handstand contest, etc! (all the things we can't do with kids there! we were acting like kids instead!)

Then we went and bought Wayne a truck. I hate buying a car/truck, it takes all day! But I'm glad he got a new truck (the truck he has now doesn't even have power windows... but I loved it. I thought he was so cute in it when we started dating!.. he still is! :) Wayne gets grumpy having to make big decisions and spend a lot of money, but we still had so much fun together. He was so nice about the truck he picked! We had a big dilema... he wanted a certain color of toyota tundra with a big engine, and blue tooth, and some other upgrades... BUT they don't have any of those trucks with a bench seat in front (to fit 6 people)... since we know we are going to have at least one more kid, I told him it might be more reasonable to get the same truck, but with the bench seats so our whole family can fit in his truck to go camping... the only problem is that the bench seat trucks only come in white and silver and they don't have the other features he wanted! He was so unselfish and decided on the truck that will fit our family! (It is still an awesome truck, but he gave up the one he really wanted!... He is the best!)

I love to be alone with Wayne for a little while and be reminded why I love my hubby so much and how lucky I am to be married to my best friend. I am always excited to see my girls after leaving them over night! It was such a fun weekend!

We really did it!

We are officially living in THATCHER! I can't believe it is real. I feel like we are just visiting. I have been slacking at my blogging duties :) because of the move. I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs. I went to Utah 2 weeks ago and spent a week there with our good friends. We had such a good time! We shopped till we dropped literally for the kids (hanna fell asleep in the cart).... I got so much cool stuff for my new home and can't wait to put it up! When I got home from Utah, we packed all week long. Yesturday we packed up the Uhaul with the help of our awesome friends and family! and got our Mesa home all clean. It was SO hard to say goodbye to friends and family. You are all the best and I can't wait to see you again... I hated to drive aways from our Mesa home, but it will be fun to start a new life here. We got in to Thatcher yesturday afternoon and had more help to unload! It was the first time we have seen our house for a long time! It looks so good! It is still not done (hopefully 3 weeks!) We unloaded into our garage and now are living with my family. This whole week my brother's family is out of town and they said we could live here. It is such an awesome house, with a jetted tub, and pool in the back... It is nice to have our "OWN" place! Then we will live at my parents for the next two weeks. We have already gotten together with my family and are going to my mom's for dinner. It will be fun to be close to this part of my family! I will update pictures when I have a "normal" life again! We went to our new ward today and it should be great.... lots of fun people. Already miss Mesa, but now we start our lives in Thatcher!

Happy 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. My sister even got the girls nails done cute for the occasion. We had a ward breakfast at 8. Then I took Haylee and Hanna to As you wish, and to a movie (wish I took my camera)! We had fun together. I think the rest of the world decided to go to the movie too, because it was packed! At 3 we had a friend/ward swim party and BBQ. It was a lot of fun. I have such great friends in our ward, it will be hard to leave them! From there, we went straight to Wayne's sister's house in Queen Creek, for more food and fun! We ate, talked about our country, the kids did a cute parade, and played with sparklers. The Laytons are great! We always enjoy being together. We had a perfect day! We love our family, friends, and our country.

THANK YOU!

I think my blog turned out so cute, and I can brag about it, because it wasn't me that designed it! It was my cute cousin, Ami Bethea. She is awesome and so creative. I love it Ami, thanks!

Our Thatcher House!

View from our back yard! ( I know it is desert, but the mountain is beautiful!)

Our house! It's coming along

Our entertainment center that we designed...

Our carpet and tile

It seems like it has been forever since I have been able to sit down and add something new to my blog! We have been busy packing and getting our house ready to have people walk through. Hopefully it will sell soon!


Well I asked everyone's opinion on wood or tile and I wanted to share what we decided. We went with both! :) We ordered tile for the kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms and wood for the entry, hall ways, and formal dining room. I added a picture of the tile and carpet we picked. They didn't give us a sample of the wood to bring home, but I love it all. I hope it all comes together. It is hard to look at little samples of everything and hope that it all comes together. We picked everything from our granite, to faucet fixtures, to flooring. Now I just can't wait to see it done! (which will be the end of July). We will leave in a couple weeks and live with my parents until it is done.... So there is the update on our humble abode!

My baby is one year old!

Maci's b.day was June 22nd. I can't believe a whole year has gone by. She is the sweetest and happiest thing in the whole world. We love having her in our family. She is a daddy girl big time, but also loves her mom just as much! :) We have already had a couple get together's for her b.day and today we are having a couple more. She is so loved. She is a snuggler and always smiling. She has been a huge blessing in our family and I'm so thankful I get to be her mom. Love you Mac!

Wood or Tile??

Okay, most of you know by now that we are moving to Thatcher! I am so excited, and sad, and scared, and happy. Now that Wayne is a CPA, he is going to own his own accounting firm there. It is what he has always wanted to do. It is home for me and I have 5 other siblings there and my parents. It is a great place to raise a family, but I am sad to leave my amazing friends here and leave this convenient lifestyle! Anyway, one exciting thing about Thatcher is that we are having a new home built. We are going down this weekend to pick out our flooring. I love the look of wood floors (we won't get real wood because of the price), but I have heard good and bad about both wood and tile floors. Let me know your opinion. I'm not so good at making decisions, so maybe you can make mine! :)

To the dad's in my life...

Wayne's dad is such a great man. He is so spiritual and dedicated to church and family. He loves to learn about and teach the gospel. He loved his mission and can't wait to go back on another one. I am so thankful for the great son that he raised. He is so hard working too, and has a great love for the farm. We love you Pop!

My dad is so amazing. I feel so blessed to be his daughter. I really think he is perfect. He never gets mad, he is so much fun to be around, he is so spiritual, and such a good grandpa. Anytime I have sharing time, I call my dad and he will tell me anything I need to know. He is so smart in the gospel and so personal and kind to everyone. He always calls me baby. I miss him and love him so much. I'm thankful to have hime as my DAD!

I can't say enough about the perfect dad Wayne is. He is so good with our girls. He is just what they need. When they are so emotional, he is so patient and fun with them. Wayne is so funny and can always make me and the girls laugh. The girls would marry him if they could. Hanna already calls him her boyfriend. Wayne is so unselfish and willing to provide and protect us. He is everything a dad is supposed to be. I LOVE YOU WAYNE!

our perfect weekend!

We just got in from greer. We have gone there almost every year with my family since I was a teenager. We rent private cabins and enjoy the PERFECT weather. 9 of my 10 siblings were there together at one time. It was so fun. We rented 2 cabins this time. We fished, rode the zipline, went on drives to find animals, sat on the porch (alot), did crafts, laughed, karaoke, ate (alot), stayed up late and enjoyed family. On Sunday, we drove to Round valley for sacrament meeting and then went back to the cabin for sunday school with the family and my brothers did primary for the kids outside. It was a great day. My girls were in heaven because they were outside all day and with cousins. It was a perfect weekend. The land there is so beautiful. It takes your breath away! We were there from Sat. until today. Of couse I had to hurry home to check the blogs and see what I had missed! :)

The month of May

I know it's June, but here are some of the fun things we did in May. Haylee and Hanna both took swim lessons and improved so much! On Memorial day, most of the Laytons went to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Tucson and enjoyed the sun and good food and good company! Then the day after memorial day, my sister and I took our kids to the Mesa Cemetery to put flowers on my grandparent's and aunt's grave. We had a great day!

YEAH FOR WAYNE!

Wayne is out of town for 3 days and yesturday he called and asked me to check to mail... sure enough, after a long wait, it was here! ....the result to his final CPA exam! (certified public accountant) For those of you who don't know, you have to pass 4 test to become a CPA and they are supposed to be very challenging! He passed the first 3 test on his first try! (that is pretty unusual!) The fourth he had to take twice.... but he passed! YEAH! He is so excited, and so am I. This is what he has always wanted to do! It is such a huge accomplishment and I'm so proud of him. I really do have an amazing husband! :) This is only our second time in almost 7 years that he has left me at home alone. I really miss him and realize how safe he makes me feel. He is so funny, a family guy, hard worker, so smart, the best dad in the whole world, my best friend, and SOOO Cute!.... I could go on, but you get the point! I'm a luck y girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMILLE!

Today is Camille's birthday. She has been my best friend since 7th grade! She is so much fun to be with and always makes me laugh. I hate to not see her very often because they live in Texas! But we still keep in touch and stay close. Hope you have a great day Camille!!




Haylee loves to have camille cut her hair!


This isn't a good picture of me, but camille always looks good!

Haylee's preschool graduation

Haylee's preschool graduation was so great. It was such a good program! Each child said what they wanted to be when they grew up and why. Haylee said, " When I grow up I want to be a mom because I can read books, give big hugs, and paint fingernails and my favorite thing to do is to go shopping!" It was sooo cute! She was so nervous. Anyone that knows Haylee know how shy she is, so I was afraid she wouldn't do it. When they handed her the microphone, I got tears in my eyes and I was so nervous for her, then I was SO PROUD! She talked clearly and loud. It was perfect. They sang a couple of songs and then said a poem together. They had a slideshow of things that happened throughout the year. It was so cute. I had tears in my eyes then too! I don't know why I was so emotional. I just can't believe my oldest is about to go to kindergarten. The program was great. I love her teacher. She had made some great friends and had two of her boy Layton cousins in the class. My good friend came to the graduation and brought her 18 year old son to it too. Haylee has the biggest crush on him. She calls him her boyfriend. He brought her a big boquet of flowers. (He is so nice to her, not your typical 18 year old boy!) She felt pretty special. It was such a fun day. Haylee did a great job. I was so proud!

I got tagged!

I got tagged... if you read this you have been tagged too.....you are now officially tagged by ME! You are now supposed to post 7 unusual things about yourself.... here are mine!

1) I can not park in just any parking spot. I have to drive around forever until I find a good one! It drives Wayne crazy!

2) I can not stand hair on the floor. Everytime hair falls out of my head, or when I am doing my hair in the morning, I have to throw loose hair in the garbage.... (I sound a little obsessive!! :)

3) I love to work as a family (I didn't always love it growing up, but now I miss those times!). One of my favorite times recently was in the fall, with leaves that needed raked, and Wayne and I raked and the girls were throwing the leaves in the trash and jumping in them. It was so fun. There is nothing better than a Saturday afternoon sitting outside watching the kids play on a newly mowed lawn, with all our work done for the day!

4) I love hotels. I don't care if we are down the road, or in another country! I just think it is so fun to be somewhere different and not have to clean up after yourselves! (I have rubbed off on my girls, because they love hotels too!)

5) My favorite people in the world to be with are my family... inlaws or mine. I have been so blessed to be married in to such a great family and to be raised in a great one too. I love to eat, go on vacation, play games, or just sit around and talk with family. Of couse Wayne and my girls are my favorite people to be with!!

6) I love to be a hostess! I love to have people over for fun, games, food, or whatever. I don't do it as much as I should with friends, but I do love it. I have a member of my family at my house at least once a week to stay the night or eat dinner! I love it...

7) I love crafts. I love scrapbooking, tole painting, vinyl lettering... anything. It is so fun to start from sratch and then see what you can come up with. I'm not super creative, but I can copy anything!

Well those are my random thoughts... now it is your turn!

Puppy Love

I am not a huge chihuahua lover, but my mom
and dad gave us a male and female for free, so
we took them. We have had them for about 2 years,
and we love them now, especially the puppies.
The female just had her third litter of puppies...
They are soooo cute! (she had 2 males this time.)
We keep each litter until they are about 8
weeks and then we sell them. It is sad when we
sell each litter, because we get attached! These are some
cute pictures of my girls and the puppies....
They are ready to be sold... if you
know anyone who wants one!! :)

Maci and the puppy are close to the same size! :)

Powdered donuts are the best!

This is where they always sleep! They are so cute!

Got to give credit where credit is due...

Mother's day was so great! I have the best hubby and kids in the whole world. The day started out with me being able to sleep in. Then Wayne and the girls fixed waffles for me. The girls gave me a cute painted block?! and a card... so cute! We went to church and then came home and Wayne made lunch and did the dishes! He wrote me the sweetest card and told me that he would "happily" take me shopping!! WOW! That is a treat! We went to a friend's house for dinner. Her husband made us dinner and she gave me an adorable watch and some chocolate. Then we went to Wayne mom's house for more food and fun! It was so fun to be with family. My day ended with a massage from Wayne. He is the greatest. I had a fabulous day. I have the 2 best moms in the world! and I am so blessed to be a mom of the cutest girls ever!

$5 SHIRTS

I just got an email telling me about a website with $5 shirts. The site is http://belleclothing.com/ I looked and they are super cute. They look a lot like shade, or mod be, and all those brands. I haven't ordered YET, but I thought I should post the good news... eveyone wants to know about a good deal! :)

All in a days work!!

Last week was a whirl wind... Starting on Wed.
I had a vinyl lettering party that night in Flagstaff.
Wayne was so sweet and didn't want me to drive
alone, so him and Maci came with me. (the other girls
were with a babysitter)... That WHOLE day
I just cranked out projects... That is the picture
below. My poor kids had to just play alone for
the day. The other picture below is them eating cereal
outside while I was working on the projects!
It was the fastest, easiest meal, and they love it..
Everything got done on time and the party was
great, except Maci ended up sick. The next day
I had bunko to get ready for and took Mac to the dr.
to find out she had double ear infections! Poor kid!
This whole time I was watching my brother's
little girl... Friday I had 13 people in my family spend
the night. It was so fun. Then the rest of the weekend
we went out to coolidge to Deanne's baby's blessing.
Sunday I had more family spend the night. I love being
around family, it is so fun. Yesturday when everyone
left I had a quite and messy house... so that is what I need
to be doing instead of blogging :)

ALOHA

Last night I had bunko at my house and we had a Luau.
It was a lot of fun. I love anything social anyway
and the girls in the group are awesome!!

My house can barely hold all these people!



This is what we had for dessert. You can get them
at Costco. They were so good! It is sorbet ice cream
served out of the shell, or peel of fruit. It went along
great with the theme!


Dinner Time...

Another fun Thatcher trip...