Arizona-May 2012 (first half)

Call me gross, but this was pretty yummy! Oreo with cookie dough on top. 

A couple days after getting into town, was my grandpa Brown's funeral. It was a great funeral with several tributes to him and his life. I think the caption on the program fit him well: Gentle Servant.

We got a few pictures of families.

 My grandma and her sons and daughter.

 Uncle Kevin was so great to help with William. I was so impressed at how great he was about seeing William needing a friend and jumping right in (without being asked to do it) to hold him and keep him company. 

 Lydia and Rachel. What cuties.

 Aunt Ruth is so fun!

William and Jacob are almost 2 months apart, but just about the same size! It's crazy!

Larry and Karri's family

 April and Blakes family

Ah, without even being asked too.

 So cute, Lydia giving William a big hug!

A few days after I got into town, April was ready to go back home to New Mexico, so we made a trip to Joe's REAL BBQ. Larry was over so he got to come along as well. It was fun!

 Love my sisters!

Happy Birthday, Maycee!

Grandpa Mickelson giving the grandkids rides on the ATV. Their favorite!

 And the rest of us enjoying the time together outside.

  

 And some sister pics.

 No teeth smile. This one was for Rachel.

 And he gave rides to all these kiddos! These are all the grandkids out of state right now.

 And handsome, Uncle Dallin. 

 And the cutie, Henry.

So, soon after I got into town, David M. asked me to come to his spring sing concert. We didn't know till we got there, but he was picked to be the narrator for the whole thing and performed his singing parts and played the percussion as well at various  times throughout the night. He did such a great job and we all gave a standing ovation when David received recognition for being the last Mickelson to graduate from Franklin. All 10 of us attended that school!

Just before leaving for the concert we looked all over the house for Kalvin's shoes, but they were missing. So, we improvised by using David's shoes. Kalvin did not like this.

 Poor kid.

My Mom and Dad house sat my uncles dog. Her name is Sophie. She is a good dog, but needed too much human interaction for our family. Most the family members threatened to get rid of her one way or another, at least once during her stay. It was sad, but she was so sweet and could take a beating.

Tristen is our little fishy! He loves being in the water! We had fun with our waterproof camera at my mom's house in her pool.

 Tristen's favorite thing was to swim down to the bottom of the pool (in the shallow end) and touch the bottom. 

 And he liked getting piggy back rides.

 Stratton and Emerson and Marisa and Charlotte came too.

 William was sad to left out (Tristen was pretty needy for my attention in the water with wanting to go under to the bottom, but needing my help).

 Stratton

 Okay, okay.

 He wasn't too sure about it at first, but then he tolerated the water okay.

At 4 1/2 months William is sitting up! On May 20 I put him down in the grass at the Ellsworths and I was gonna sit behind him then I let go for a second and he sat there a good minute on his own. What a big boy! I think he was proud of himself!
It's funny though. He really does not like laying on his belly, but his cousin Charlotte seems to only lay on her tummy and she is rolling all over the floor and William is not interested in that in the least.

 On May 21 (Duane's birthday) there was a moon eclipse. We were at my parents for a bit and had fun making a circle with our hand, but having it project onto the wall as a crescent.

 I turned around and got a shot of all the kids who were making the shape on the wall.

 I think it was Duane who noticed all the shadows on the wall from the tree leaves were also in the shape of a crescent. 

 Once again, Kevin is holding William.

On the evening of Duane's birthday, his brother, Don hosted a family swim party at his place. It was a lot of fun for the kids but Tristen was a little timid about the water.

  

 More swimming at my Mom's house! This time Duane was with us too so that made it extra fun :-)

I'm not a huge fan of how regular pictures turn out with the waterproof camera, but the underwater part of picture taking sure is great!

When we got there Ruth was laying out, relaxing.

 Ready to dive in again!

 Daddy was able to talk the boys into touching the bottom of the pool in the DEEP END! They thought it was a thrill and did it over and over!

 I remember doing this all the time with my hair as a kid! Then we'd pretend that we lived in the 1800's.

  Wow! This is a scary picture... makes me smile every time though!

 Rachel, love the long flowing hair! You like a mermaid!