the Ranch

This year for our Layton reunion we went to the ranch. Wayne thinks this is the greatest vacation in the world! He grew up going to the ranch a lot and loves any time we can get back there! We had such a good time and our girls are always in heaven when they get to be with cousins. Everyone was there at one point except for Brad and Amber (who we missed!) We hiked, swam, ate, swam, talked, ate, swam... you get the point... It was so relaxing and fun to catch up with everyone. I really miss living close to all of the Laytons. The ranch is so beautiful. It is like we are in our own little world there!

grandma swimming with the girls...

Hanna and Maci on the horse. this is a pretty good picture of the ranch house.. the pool is on the right side.

boys hike

emmy, hanna, kendra, haylee

sad, sweet story... last night we put the girls to sleep in the camper. i stayed in there until they were out. then i went back inside with wayne (and maci because she would go to sleep). well we were inside for about an hour or more talking and laughing.. then haylee and hanna walked in to the ranch house with sad faces and started crying. they had woken up out in the camper and hanna was scared and crying. they looked for us and waited in bed for awhile and then decided to walk in to find us. they held hands, which i thought was so sweet! (it was actually really dark and we weren't parked very close). i felt really bad, but i was so proud of the girls for handling the situation, especially for haylee taking care of her sister!!

one of our hikes... it was so hot and 2 of the girls and i all got stung by something...

family picture

this is right when hanna got stung, so she wasn't very happy when the picture was taken, i didn't even know what happen!

uncle kevin with maci and emmy

quinn, lacey, haylee

Leanne, Me, and Katie... right before our game of 3 flys up! we had so much fun. the water was cold and none of us wanted to jump in, so we all decided to jump at the same time.

we did a couple puzzles. wayne and haylee were the ones in my family who enjoyed it the most.

what a good little mommy!

my girls just eat up babies!! (i know i need another one!)

cute cousins...

i did all these girls hair one morning! thank goodness for that great hair blog!

just a couple of updates...

Last weekend my brother let us barrow his 4 wheelers for the day. Since my younger brother spent the night, we left the girls with him in the morning and Wayne and I went for a ride up the mountain. We found a beautiful spot with lots of water holes. (wish it wasn't cold so we could have swam in it).. Since it has rained a lot lately, everything was so green and pretty. We always have so much fun together and 4 wheeling is one of our favorite things!

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Haylee always begs me to straighten her hair and so on Sunday I finally did. (it takes so long, so it doesn't happen very often)... When Haylee's hair is straight I realize how long it is... It is so pretty and she looks so grown up! Hanna wanted to straighten her hair too, and it looks a lot longer too.. I love my sweet girls and they sure love their dad...

good muddy fun!

The other day after a good rain.. we had a lake in our front yard! The girls took advantage of it and had a great time getting all muddy! .. by the way, Wayne is working on leveling our yard, it seems to be the lowest part on our street! The girls were happy about it though!

girls night out... creepy crawly things...

Steven and Kami are the best! This is my little (big) brother and his cute wife! They live in Pima and asked a couple weeks ago if they could have our girls spend the night with the other girl cousins in Thatcher... My girls had a blast at the "girls night out".. they did dress up, movie, and sleepover. Steven and Kami even had Maci so Wayne and I had no kids for the night... I know we are spoiled! Thanks guys!



Hanna, Haylee, Kemilee, Keslee

The other night, Wayne and I were coming home from a date, and this is what I saw when I was about to open the front door! SICK... I hate spiders, espeically ones this big! My brave husband came to the rescue and put it in a plastic container. We left it outside and the next day, when we went to give it to my brother it was dead.. I was ok with that! I know tranchulas (sp?) aren't dangerous, but they sure are CREEPY! Since then, we have found two more of these around our house. Monsoons are bringing out some pretty gross creatures!

proud to be an AMERICAN!!

If you live in Thatcher, you will understand how our morning on the 4th of July went... At 5:30, or 6 a.m. there are fire engines driving around town with sirens on and honking their horns! (growing up we lived far enough out we didn't hear them.. but HOLY COW.. it is annoying!) the girls actually thought it was pretty great. Lacey Layton (our cousin) stayed the night at our house and went with us that morning to the track field for the fesivities... We watched the parade and then went to a program. It was good, but WAY to long... then there was a watermelon bust, and then the firemen spray the kids with the firehose. It was a fun morning, but we all woke up too early... Later that day we went to a pizza buffet, went swimming, and later that night had a bbq at Steven and Kami's (I forgot my camera!) We watched the fireworks in our backyard. It was a great day and I was reminded how lucky we are to live in this great country.. and great town!

Cute cousins!... I left Maci at home sleeping with Wayne.. Wayne didn't mind staying behind at all!

This was about how far back the girls stayed from the water!

Watermelon Bust

At R & R Pizza (my favorite!)

Sunday outfits!

it's raining, it's pouring

we had an unusual rainstorm yesterday and the girls thought they were in heaven... especially maci! as you can see in all the pictures, she enjoyed it the most! we've got to enjoy days like these, it doesn't rain here very often!

my baby is 2!!

i can't believe this was 2 yrs ago... it makes me so baby hungry.. NO i'm not pregnant! but isn't she sweet?? we couldn't believe her dark hair!

since that day... maci has brought so much happiness to our family! she is talking so much and always making us laugh. this outfit was a b.day present from our friends... i love that sweet face!

last weekend we went to mesa for the weekend. we got a hotel and enjoyed some time as a family. on sat. our great friends came to the pool at the hotel to bring maci her presents...




then.. while maci and wayne took a nap i took haylee and hanna to "as you wish"... it is the coolest place where you paint ceramics. (i was going to take my girls to a movie and they didn't even want to go.. this is way more their style)

here us their finished product...

maci's b.day at home...

b.day party with palmer cousins!

palmer sister in laws dishing dessert..

angry faces...

this was the reason we went to mesa. Levi, my younger brother, went through the temple for his endowments. he is the 8th kid in our family. it was an awesome day! 8 out of 10 of us 2 siblings were in the temple (phil was out of town)... and travis isn't old enough yet. Wayne and I were asked to be the witness couple.. the day was perfect and as you could guess my parents could not be happier.. this picture is of all of us at olive garden afterwards... YUM!