Happiness

The kids are back to school for the Winter Semester for half the time! Yay! I'm glad that get to go in person, to learn personally from teachers, to see their friends and to keep in contact with the outside world a little more. Oh, also to play their instruments in band- that is crucial! Elizabeth is a Senior this year and she is handling all of this commotion up in the air really, really well! I'm so happy for her. She manages her anxiety well and gets all of her homework done! She's going to ASU in the Fall and we are all very excited for her! I think she's a bit nervous.  Ethan is busy working 4 days a week at QT lately. He is excited to be saving up money for his mission! Jonah is taking 3 AP classes and so is also quite busy. He's also taking Robotics this year which he really enjoys. He wants to major in something Math oriented in College. They both don't know where they want to end up for College! Asher is an awesome student and rocks it in all of his Hon...

Well, the snow has all melted and it's been so warm here lately, but I promised some pictures of our new house- the outside at least- and I would like to document the snow so here they are! Now when you come visit you will know what to expect! Except, without the snow- even though it is so lovely for the first day or so!  Moving Day! (so cold and snowy)  Our View from the second floor- there is a park nearby with hills to sled on.  Icicles- the kids loved them!  Sadie settling in. And an Elizabeth in a snuggie in the background!  Our back yard. There are rock climbing things next to the slide- pretty fun!  The View from our Front Door  The Kids at Hale Center Theatre to see Uncle Ben's Hilarious Play "Is He Dead?"  I found this picture of Grandma Patty and my Mom while unpacking. It was sealed shut in a baby book but I have since gotten it out. So precious! Baby D in the snow! He loved it! H...

  Meeting Baby Declan! After school got out that Thursday, Josh went and picked up the kids and brought them to the hospital to meet their newest brother. Asher was so excited and was flailing his arms, saying "where is he?"- or something to that effect. It was so cute to see them meet him!   Jonah and Declan. Ethan and Jonah didn't want to hold him at first, thinking they would drop him, but we convinced them that they wouldn't and to go ahead and try.     Ethan meeting Declan   Asher meeting Declan. He was moving around a lot- Asher that is.    Elizabeth meeting Declan. She's been a great helper so far!      Declan checking out his Dad.     Meeting Grandpa Hulihan for the first time!   Welcome, Baby Boy!

  Elizabeth The Riparian Preserve is located a 5 minute drive from our house. We like to go there on Saturday Mornings or Sunday Evenings and let the kids explore. It has large, green grassy areas, quite a few man made lakes, a stream and various wildlife- lots of different birds (thus called the Riparian Preserve), ducks, animals, fish, turtles. You can even fish there, although it is often over fished and not very many fish are left! It also attached to the Gilbert Public Library, so I will sometimes walk around the largest lake before going to the Library. It's nice that the weather has been in the 80's- although lately it's been 87 degrees. The kids are still often wearing shorts and a t-shirt and for Halloween Asher is just wearing a t-shirt, shorts and gauze- a mummy! You can't do that anywhere else!   E than and Jonah  Asher boy- a little blurry.  A Large Tree the kids like to climb Me

  Can you see that precious smile? Baby Abbott at 12 weeks. Hey, bloggers! I am finally feeling better! I hit 12 weeks a week and a half ago and began to start feeling better soon after that. That Sunday I was able to do everything I normally need to do! Hooray!! I still need to eat more often, but that is doable!   Crazy Hair & Mustache Day!   You can't see Elizabeth's hair very well- but those are cupcakes back there- with a cherry on top! So...I've decided to change my blog up a bit. From now on, this blog is going to be more of a monthly, Family Update blog. Look for a blog post the beginning of each month.This way, if I ever make this blog into a book, it will be a lot shorter and a bit more concise. Enjoy!

Golfland- using our Summer Reading Program Prizes! I've switched back to my older banner and format. The banner is too wide- have to figure that out. Also, the pictures are too big. I'm okay with that though. I've also updated my sidebar a little- check it out. A little Bahama Bucks (shaved iced)- one of our favorite places to keep cool! Latest: -The kids are doing super well in school. We're back to our routine- Dad at work, Mom at home and all the kiddos at school. The students at ASU start back tomorrow, so Josh has been super busy with new law student orientations, questions from new students and meetings. It's amazing how much he does! He is doing a great job! Having "The Superman"- half blue, half red perfect for Ethan and Jonah -I'm still working on taking a class at ASU. I didn't make the cut off for this semester to apply for free tuition thru Josh (I didn't know there was an application process!). I also need to g...

   It was a bit sunny! Last year , about this time, I took all 4 kiddos down Higley St. and a good 15 minute drive west to the newly constructed Gilbert Temple (lds.org). They were only half way done with the facade and we grinned and laughed in front of the cold rebar on that sunny day. Since then, they have finished most of the outside of the Temple and have even crowned it with a golden statue of the Prophet Moroni (it happened last May- a sign that it was half way done!). While there is no finish date for the soon-to-be, gorgeous temple we think it may be ready in the Fall! (Anyone can enter and take a free tour right before it's dedicated. These Temples are amazingly beautiful, gorgeous and so, so peaceful. It would be a perfect time for a visit to the Abbotts- just let us know and we'll pencil you in!)  The Angel Moroni  Love the Palm Trees that are already going in! (this is the side of the Temple)  A lot of the decor is patterned ...

  Elizabeth  Ethan   Jonah   Asher (love that grin!)   All 4 (Elizabeth and the "triplets") A friend of ours was able to take our pictures a few weeks ago. We waited until the weather was cooler (in November) and headed to a wonderful wildlife preserve near our house- the Riparian Preserve. She did an amazing job and these are a few of the pics she took. I love the lighting on these!

 Looking Down from Pass Mountain  Last weekend, we went camping at Usery Mountain. I've been wanting to go camping for a while now and we waited until it was a little cooler. The weather was in the 90's and it got cool at night so it was a good time to go! We drove a good 20 min. east and found our site. After camping in Maryland for 4 years, camping in the Desert was a little bit different! It was just dessert, full of cacti and bugs, with some dirt smoothed down and rocks put up as barriers between camp sites. As we were setting up for dinner, I found a scorpion in a brown bag of food. Luckily I did not get stung! We couldn't tell if it climbed in from the desert floor or if we brought it from home with us. Ugh! Later that evening, on a walk, we saw a big tarantula (pic on my big camera). I had never seen one in the wild and it was pretty freaky! We had dinner, smores, a story around the campfire and had lots of fun! In the morning, we headed out for what turned ...