Say Cheese!

When my mom was here visiting, she took some picture of us. It's so hard to get a good one with everyone and of course we didn't pick the prettiest spot around. I think they are still pretty cute.

We Love Grandma

Since Paul was in California for the entire month of August (minus 2 days that his company flew him home) my mom, Gloria came out the last 10 days to help me with the kids and keep me company. She worked so hard, cleaning my carpets, doing endless loads of laundry and just being the biggest help imaginable. We had such a good time together and since they were on their mission, it had been about 2 years since she was at our house last. The kids loved being with Grandma and had a blast just being crazy and showing off. Needless to say, they were spoiled rotten by her- but that's what Grandmas do best!

My Little Nigerian Girl

Not much going on in our family this summer, just a few trips to California, swimming as much as possible, working out everyday and enjoying my family. My mom had traditional Nigerian dresses and boys clothes made for all of the grandchildren. They all wore them to church the day of their homecoming talks and then she asked that they wear them just one more time when we returned home. Haley was anxious to wear hers the first Sunday we got home and Colton did too, I just couldn't get a picture of him. They were really neat and fun for the kids to have.

Celebrating my Parents

My parents finally returned from their 18 month mission to the ABA, NIGERIA Temple. Man did they have some stories to tell! We had an amazing reunion in Stockton, CA,(my hometown) June 6th through the 16th. All 30 members of my immediate family were there to welcome mom and dad off the airplane, which was obviously very emotional. For the next 7 days we played, ate, shopped, cried some more, talked and enjoyed every second of every minute together. It was the best reunion we have ever had and it will definitely be hard to beat. My parents served in one of the hardest missions and came away from Nigeria, changed and touched by the people and their culture. My family was blessed so much during their mission and they are such an amazing example to their children and their grandchildren.

Getting older . . .

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband, Paul who turned 32 on June 4th. We had a great party at Barros pizza with some wonderful friends. My dear friend Rachel made him a drum cake in honor of his incredible skills on the Rockband drums. We had a blast and Paul was grateful to have so many of his good friends there. I scored major points for throwing him this little shindig!

Adventures in Lego Land

During our weekend getaway to San Diego we couldn't miss an opportunity to go to Colton's mothership, Lego Land. The boy is completely obsessed with anything Lego and would move there tomorrow if he could. This place was so fun for our kids because every ride is made for their age and size. The kids had a great time with their Grandma and Grandpa Howard, Aunt Dawn and their two cousins, Jesette and Sienna.

"So much happened before Dorothy dropped in"

This was such an amazing production! I loved every single second of it and would have stayed another 2 1/2 hours to watch it again. I read the book about 3 years ago, so it wasn't too clear in my memory but I know that it was way better than the book and so funny. Glenda the Good Witch's character was so adorable and super funny. The music was wonderful and told the story beautifully. I heard it's coming to the Gammage theater sometime this year. Let's go again!

My night on the town . . .

Wow, what a week! I had such a great 30th birthday and I was surrounded by my dear friends and family who made it extra special for me. I already posted about my actual birthday which was so fun. But the most fun was really Saturday night for my Girls' Night Birthday. We met at Pei Wei where they have cheap, amazing chinese food. (I always get the Mongolian beef) After a little window shopping we decided it was time to head to BJ's for a traditional birthday pazookie. They are so good but we couldn't even finish it. By that time the group of 12 had shrunk to 8 but the party was still going strong. After dinner and desert, shopping is always fun so off to Ross we went. We tried on lots of cute things and we each bought a little something. After a final trip to Target we were finally worn out so we headed home about 10pm. I want to thank everyone who came and made this night the most fun I have had in a long time.

My Daughter, the Artist!

Just when you thought it was safe to leave your 3 year old alone for 5 minutes! Turns out they still need constant supervision. A nanny would be great!

Fun with Friends at the Mall

Playing with friends, eating cookies, running around like crazy kids, what could be more fun? We went to the Chandler Mall for lunch and fun on Friday and we had a great time with everyone.

This picture of Emily is so perfect for her because she's always in motion!

Turning 30 . . .

Even after so much anticipation and excitement, my 30th Birthday ended up being just as great as I hoped. I started the day with some shopping at Kohl's and Target and ended the day with pizza and cake at Barro's with my friends and family. I still have a fun weekend with my hubby and my friends to look forward to.

Plant a Garden, Watch it Grow

Paul has been beggging me to plant another garden (the first one was burnt to a crisp in the Arizona heat). I have not been the least bit motivated to take on such a project so he took it upon himself to buy seeds and soil.

The oldest 3 had fun planting their seeds while Natalie enjoyed many handfuls of delicious dirt! We discovered we didn't have a shovel and it was most likely thrown over the back wall by Colton some time back, so they planted with big spoons, which seem to work just as well.

We are anxious to see if this garden survives and flourishes.

Happy Easter

We had a very fun Easter this year, the Easter Bunny spared no expense (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Howard!). The kids didn't find their baskets until after church which created a lot of excitement and anticipation. Good thing mom was working closely with the Easter Bunny so he knew to wait until we were at church to hide them in the house (Haley was very worried).

It's days like this when I remember my own childhood and feel that nostaglia for the wonderful things that my parents did for me and I hope that my children will keep these memories with them forever.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too

Happy Birthday to Everyone!

We have four birthday in a short amount of time so I decided to post them all together just to show how much fun we had celebrating the birthdays of our beautiful children. Haley turned 6 in October, Colton and Emily turned 4 and 3 in January and our baby Natalie turned 1 in September.

We're finally bloggin

You would think that I would have gotten into this blog thing a long time ago, since I enjoy working on the computer and I love to scrapbook, but I just couldn't get into it. But after looking at so many fun blogs and seeing all of my friends and their families, I realized it was time to get our family's story told. So here we are, Howardfamily6.

We are loving life out here in the boonies also known as Queen Creek, AZ. Our kids are growing up fast and Paul and I are approaching our 9 year marriage mark. We have really enjoyed living in Arizona the last 3 1/2 years and can definitely see ourselves staying here for many years.

Paul is working as a Lead Technician for a copy servicing company in Tempe and I am working hard at home taking care of the kids and their constant needs and desires. I am also working part-time at home doing some data entry work. We stay busy with kids, work and callings and cherrish our alone time whenever that may be.