"Old" Friends!!

Today we had the pleasure of having Spencer and Jenny Aston come visit us from Phoenix. Spence is an old mission buddy of Kevin's that we have had so much fun with over the years since they both got home from their missions. And Jenny, his sweet wife, just fit perfectly into the mix when they got married about 3 years after us. They are expecting their first baby in June, a little girl, and so I bribed them with a TON of girl clothes if they would finally come visit us (we haven't seen them since we moved back!!). Anyways, it worked...and not only did we get to spend a fun day with them, I got a little more organized by going through all my girl stuff that both girls had grown out of and I gave it away!! I have so much more storage space now and I feel so liberated!! :-)

It is Spence's birthday on Monday and so we made brownies and Alexa wanted to sing Happy Birthday to him. The girls fell in love with both Spence and Jenny right as soon as they showed up and wouldn't let them out of their sights. It was pretty cute...even Payton, who can be a little standoffish until she gets to know someone, was sitting on Jenny's lap within minutes of their arrival. We sure hope to see more of the Astons and can't wait to meet their baby girl!

~A New 'Do & Party Time~

Alexa has been asking for months to have her hair cut short like mine. This isn't really a huge deal to me as I've cut her hair before, several times in fact, but they've usually been just minor trims, the most being maybe 2-3 inches. But I finally gave in and gave her a good cut. I think we chopped off about 4-5 inches. I should have combed her hair straight in the 'before' picture so you could see how much of a difference it really was. And after her hair curled up on it's own, it looks even shorter! She's adorable any way she wants her hair...and I have to say that I was flattered that she wanted to be like mommy!!

Here are our two cute little love bugs posing after the hair cut!

Later, we got to show off Alexa's new 'do at her cousin, Ainsley's, birthday party! We enjoyed a fun night at Peter Piper Pizza celebrating Ainsley's 5th Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINSLEY!!

-PlayGroup Fun-

Mmmmmm...cupcakes!!

We sure have enjoyed the little playgroup that Alexa is a part of! She has so much fun with these girls. Today's playgroup was at our house again and so the girls all got to enjoy the cupcakes I decorated as part of my cake class I had last night. Sorry moms if it spoiled their lunches but the girls sure had fun eating them!!

..::Visit from Gramma & Grampa Baker::..

My parents had their annual convention for their business in Vegas this past week and so they decided to come visit us on their way home since they were so close. The last time my mom came to visit, which was right after we moved back to Arizona, I somehow managed to get absolutely NO pictures of her with my girls. I don't know how that happened...but since it did, I made it a top priority to take a LOT of pictures while they were here this time. So beware of picture overload!!

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The first day they were here, we went to McDonald's for lunch since Gramma had promised Alexa we would do that. I did forget my camera the first day (2/16/11) so there are no pictures from then. But the next day, we went to Alexa's dance class. She was so excited to have Gramma come to her class. And Payton thoroughly enjoyed having Gramma around too!! We then went to Panda Express for lunch as Alexa has not stopped talking about the time we went there last year with Gramma. Seriously, every time we pass by Panda, she says "that's where we went with Gramma". That girl has the memory of an elephant!! And then the girls just enjoyed playing with Gramma and Grampa that evening.

On Friday morning, we went to visit Dr. Mortenson at his dental office so my parents could get some x-rays taken. The girls loved going to visit daddy at work and had a great time while Gramma and Grampa were getting x-rays and a quick examination.

I took this picture of Alexa and just loved it!!

Later that day, we ventured to the UofA Bookstore on campus. My dad LOVES bookstores, so we figured this would be a fun outing for him!! And my parents ended up buying us a UofA diaper bag for this baby boy!! Side note: I got pinkeye the night my parents arrived so there aren't many pictures with me in it, and the ones there are...wow, I'm not looking so great without makeup!! :-) After the bookstore, we had to take my parents for some good Mexican food. We went to Mi Niditos in South Tucson and it didn't disappoint! Mmmmm....

On Saturday, we went to Old Tucson Studios. And we had a GREAT time! Kevin and I had never been so it was a first for all of us. There was so much to see and do, we definitely didn't get it all done...but we did enjoy what we were able to do, despite the crazy wind that day that definitely gave it a true Old West feeling!!

The girls loved the train ride!

Things we saw while on the train and while wandering around Old Tucson.

When Kevin came across the Old West dental office, we just had to get a picture!! If you can't see it when you click on the collage, it says "Painless Extraction" on the sign with the big tooth hanging from it....yeah right!! And on the long skinny sign that says "Barber and Dentist", to the right, it says "Tooth Soap for White Dentures". Hahaha...we thought that was funny!! Oh how things have changed in the world of dentistry!! And thank goodness!!

There was a bathhouse right across from the dental office/barber and I thought it made for a cool picture. I just may even get it blown up to put in one of our bathrooms!

In addition to all the old western movie oriented things to see and do at Old Tucson, they had several things for the kiddos...like the train, a carousel and old cars to drive. And you can go as many times as you want with your admission into the studios. I think we lost track of how many times the girls went on the carousel!!

We even ate lunch there, then had ice cream as Alexa conned Gramma & Grampa into buying her some, before heading home. It was a really fun morning!! Thanks Mom and Dad for treating us to the Old West!

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We ended the day by taking my dad to In'N'Out Burger as he had never been. I'm never one to turn down In'N'Out!! And neither are the girls!

My parents came to church with us the next morning and then headed straight to Phoenix to catch their flight home to Canada. We did take some pictures at church with them, but they are on my mom's camera so I'll have to add them once she emails them to me (hint hint Mom!!!). Anyways, it was a great visit and we're glad they came. The girls are already in Gramma & Grampa withdrawal!! Good thing Gramma is coming back in a couple months to help when Baby Boy arrives!!