Blake and Martha Finch: July 2011

It seems like summer just started and it's already the end of July!!! School starts again in a month! Crazy...

We have been having a great summer, filled with walks, trips to the park, and playdates with friends...Tess and Riley are growing up so fast...Every day it seems like Riley gets taller and learns new words and phrases...One of his new things is telling people, "Be right back!" He tries to put shoes on (he gets them on correctly about 25% of the time) and then stands up and says it and marches away...He is becoming so independent...It is so cute but it can also be frustrating for both of us...Especially when he gets his 2-year-old attitude...But we are surviving!

Tess has been pulling herself up to stand for the past few weeks...She can stand by herself when she doesn't think about it...If we try to get her to stand away from anything to hold on she chickens out but I see her let go of the couch and stand by herself sometimes...She is so funny :) Her hair is growing sooo slooow...Half the time strangers will say how cute "he" is...Despite the pierced ears and obvious GIRL clothes I dress her in...So in my desperation I have started to put an itty bitty somewhat pathetic ponytail with a bow on the very top of her head...If I don't feel like fixing the ponytail I put some of her hair in a clip...I am no hairdresser but shouldn't I get credit for trying???

It is so nice that they get along so well together...Every once in a while Riley tries to rough-house with her and I have to intervene but for 95% of the time they are best friends :)

This lovely bruise on Tess' forehead is the handy work of her first few times standing up and getting brave...We have since added more bruises and even a small black eye...But they have to learn somehow right???

A few of my friends and I all took our kids over to St. Johns to the pool for a swim...They have an hour blocked out on certain days where only parents and their children ages 0-5 can swim...LOVE IT!!! Hopefully we can make it over again soon because we had so much fun!

So I know this is way late but I thought I'd get it up anyway for posterity and what not...A couple weeks ago we were evacuated because of the Wallow Fire burning near our town...Blake and I loaded up the kids and the things we thought we should have in the event our house was destroyed and headed over to Snowflake...We stayed in Snowflake for a couple of days and I went over to Showlow to have a root canal done and we pretty much just chilled...My family also evacuated to Snowflake so we hung out with them those days...Denver and Megan had offered for us to go stay with them in Kayenta...I'm not gonna lie, I wan't too keen on the idea...It's not that I don't love them, it's just that it's a long drive and I've never been so it's unfamiliar territory and they have a couple of college-age girls living with them for the summer to help them learn the ropes of managing the Pizza Edge...Blah blah blah, we get it, I didn't want to go...But we decided to anyway...

Seriously...It was one of the best vacations ever...All kidding and sarcasm aside!!!

The drive turned out to be very scenic and beautiful...My family only drove through northern Arizona about once every couple of years, if that, on our way to Utah so I am not very familiar with the landscape up there....I LOVE it...I love how you are driving along and it's so flat and you can see for miles and then randomly there are these huge clay mountains right in the middle of nowhere!!! It's like someone just dropped them in random places all over the Reservation...Call me crazy, but it's probably one of my favorite places to look at EVER...

This is what I'm talking about people...I think it's beautiful...

You know these days people just type an address into a GPS system and let it take them to their destination...I was going to say without any problems but I take that back...Hahaha I just remembered an incident at our big Thankgiving weekend at the ranch...Cough cough...Matt and Raynie...Good times...

ANYWAY!!! Blake and I don't have a GPS and so we just took an atlas with us to get us to Kayenta...It was fun to navigate ourselves, even if we may or may not have taken a slight detour on our way back home...Apparently the sign for our junction was like 500 feet before the actual junction and we blinked and missed it...We went 30 miles past it before we realized we were almost to New Mexico...Turned around and went back...An extra hour but it wasn't too bad...Spilled milk people, spilled milk...

But as I was saying, we ended up having a great time and those two college girls I was talking about actually turned out to be REALLY nice and just very friendly :) I may be partial to them because they were super sweet to Riley and even took him for a walk with them...Volunteer babysitters are always winners in my book!!! Although I didn't take any pictures of them because I didn't want to be upstaged on my own blog...They were too cute...Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all??? That's right people...I am THAT crazy...

We arrived on Thursday evening and had dinner at the restaurant that Denver manages...It was delish, but when is pizza/salad/wings/calzones/breadsticks ever NOT delicious??? Then we headed over to the house and put the kids to bed and watched the new True Grit...

Friday morning we slept in a little and mostly lounged that morning...Denver went to work that afternoon and Megan, Blake, and I took the kids to the park, which has the most gargantuan playground I have ever seen...I was in so much awe I didn't even take pictures...I still kick myself...But seriously people this was HUGE...I took Riley to the very top, which I am pretty sure was like 20 feet and slid down this slide that was pretty gross but we just had to do it...I almost wet my pants...It was so high...We only did that once...

Friday evening we ate dinner at the restaurant again and, once again, it was delicious...Can you ever have too much pizza??? Then we went back to the house and chilled and went to bed.

Saturday Blake and Denver did some maintenance on the restaurant and Megan and I kept the kids...We went to the grocery store and the girls and Megan took Riley for a walk to see when the pool opened and we had a nice, relaxing day...That evening we went to the pool for a little while...We didn't stay long because the water was cold...Then we grilled hotdogs for dinner and hung out and had a good time...

Sunday we went to church...The ward was pretty tiny...It was a new experience for me...When the speaker said, "Good morning," the entire congregation replied back, "Good morning." It was different, but that's ok...Oh and everyone was tone deaf, which was pretty funny, but that's ok too!!! A couple had just came home from serving in a branch about an hour away...The husband was full-blooded Navajo and gave his entire 30 minute talk in Navajo!!! It was pretty cool...

After church Blake and I took the kids for a drive...We may or may not have stopped at a local gift shop and bought me a turquoise ring...Don't judge, people...We are sinners...We also may or may not have gone to a movie that night while Denver and Megan watched our kids...They have a pass that gets them in free so we took advantage...Thanks again guys!!! Seriously people I already feel bad enough about it so stop judging me!!!

Back to the turquoise ring for a minute...My mom's mom, Granny, as I so affectionately call her, has always worn turquoise rings for as long as I can remember...There is a story behind it, I think, that involves my Grandpa buying her one on a trip or something...I need to ask her about it...ANYWAY!!! My mom has also developed this love for turquoise and my dad has bought her turquoise jewelry when they drive through the Reservation also...So, of course, I HAD to follow tradition and make my husband buy me one too!!! That was the main reason for such sin...

Monday morning we woke up, packed up, and headed out...It was nice to be going home but it was such a fun vacation, so we were a little sad to go...Thanks again to Denver and Megan for the great time!!!

So finally, here are the pictures...They are all from the swimming excursion...