Halloween at the Votaws

A princess, a princess, and an army chick. I love my girls!Dave and I ventured into the bounty hunter's world. I think Beth was WAY more excited about these costumes than even Dave was (and he was excited- really!).My good friends dressed completely wholesome. You'd think I'd get with the program...

Happy Halloween from the Votaws!

Gila Valley Temple Open House

At 2pm today I realized that it was half day for Beth. (She got out at 1:30). Then I decided to get in the car and drive my three kids to Safford, AZ for the temple open house going on this week. Mapquest sucks. It said it would take 2 hours 27 mins to get there. It obviously did not factor in three potty stops (one of which was in the dirt on the side of the road - in dresses!), gas, and a pizza from little ceasars on the way. Oh, and Sophia screaming that her tummy hurt the whole way. (I think she has a bug. Yuck. Triple yuck to the Circle K in Superior. I will NEVER go there again. - The rocks on the side of the road were WAY cleaner.) So we just got home at 10 pm. I'm praying they'll sleep in until 6:30 tomorrow. Who am I kidding?
Upside was that my kids are thinking lots about the temple. I can't believe that I was a teenager before I ever got to go in a temple. And Sophia at 2 has been inside 2 open houses. Super cool. The only really odd question I got out of them was when Kate wanted to know if you go into the temple with your baby after you have, or while you're having it. Nope, no delivery rooms on the temple tour...

The final bonus is that since we booked our tickets to Boston in November to visit Lynz, I'm thinking we might be able to really do the Macy's Day Parade. We're just building stamina here, people. :)

Busy Busy - We're not even in May!

So we've been plenty busy around here. Our neighbors has a garage sale and the girls decided to sell my hard earned sugar cookies.
The girls saw the butterflies at the Botanical Gardens. Kate went around with the guide book identifying each one. She was a SERIOUS butterfly hunter. Also, Dave wore his gardening hat. $2 from a walmart - and he's making such a fashion statement! I should be grateful that he doesn't want to die from skin cancer. :)





Oh, and Sophia has decided that she is the family photographer. She only took 300 pictures since my last download of pics. Such a cutie. Here is one of her pieces. She takes a lot of shots of the ground. Oh, and people's bottoms. I really didn't want to know what mine looked like from her angle...


Zoey met Cobra Bubbles. Cobra charges. Zoeys runs away. Pretty awesome nature show in our own back yard.
The girls chose and decorated their own flip flops. I could do art projects all day long around here with these three.
Here's Kate and her friend Edynne at the zoo. Preschool fields trips make the zoo fun - and affordable. :)




Kate performed in her "Video Killed the Radio Star" dance performance. She was a ROCKSTAR! Dave contributed some mad dancing genes to this one. Makes me feel coordinated just by association. :) I will say, I got to contribute the tutu. I was SO grateful Kate is less picky than I was as a kid. Anything my mom ever sewed for me I would cry about and say it didn't fit. Kate didn't care about fit here - she just loved that it was PINK.

Hmm... Am I back?

Just thought I'd insert some pics form the last little bit. I can't seem to commit to blogging. But at least it will update the out of towners :)

Beth turned 7, got her ears pierced, got new glasses, and (finally) got the dog she's been asking for for the last 7 years. Thank you, Grammy. She is small, she is black and she is exactly what Beth wanted. (On the plus side, I talked Beth and Kate out of naming her Hannah or ICarly - her name is Zoey).

We got to spend lots of time with Evi and Micah. My kids are going to cry for a long time when they move to Harvard!
We hiked to the Wind Caves. I think in our life with kids we have begun this hike at least three times before. Hallelujah for the age progression of children. We finally made it. And they loved it. If I'm correct, it is either 4 or 5 miles round trip. They are awesome kids.
Beth had Dr. Seuss dress up day at school. She told me she wanted to be Suzi Loo-Who (I can't even remember her name exactly). I did my best...

Lava Tubes in Flag

In hopes of coping with my insane week, I gladly took Dave's invitation to bring the girls up for his last day in Flag. We swam in the pool, watched cartoons on the hotel TV, and ate at Outback. What more could you ask for? Well, the two mile two hour hike in the 30* lava tubes didn't hurt either. Beth is asking if we can come back tomorrow. Next time she gets to carry Sophia.

"V" for "VOTAW"!!!! This is us at the end of the tube. I can't believe we made it. It was much more like rock climbing than hiking. The $12 head lamps from Walmart were TOTALLY worth it.

Kate really really wanted a picture of her "bloody" fingers (her red head light made them look this way). So we don't have any pics in the cave of her looking up. Cutie.

Dave leaves. All heck breaks loose...

So, Dave decided to stay employed and leave us for a week. I can't blame him. I would rather have been in Flagstaff this week too.

In the course of the 5 days we missed him: (1.) I lost Sophia. A neighbor called the police when a cute, but young, little person rang her doorbell. Sophia told me later that she had been going to see Brenna (a little baby of a friend of mine). Nice. (2.) Sophia allowed Ernie the $200 parakeet to fly into the wide world yonder. He has not returned. My dad worried that he won't know how to eat. He has probably been eaten. So I'm not worried. (3.) Sophia killed Taco Bell the everlasting beta fish; (I may have also had a hand in it). She dumped a bunch of herbal pregnancy supplements into his bowl (note: I am NOT pregnant). In my frantic state to get him in fresh water, I filled his bowl with hot water. Then after putting him in the hot water and realizing my mistake, dumped out hot water and filled the bowl with cold water. While trying to not pour him down the drain. Somewhere amidst the supplement, hot water, and rapid water change, he stopped moving. Now every time Sophia wants to use the toilet, she says, "Fishy in poo poo?". Note to self, do not flush the fish in front of the 2 year old again.

Dave has to go out of town for 2 weeks in September. I ask myself - how can one prepare for this?

First Day of school

We had a lovely back to school dinner and fashion show the night before Beth began school. Kate decorated for us by taking the contents of my craft box and hanging it about the living room.... She's cute!

Beth began two weeks ago. She's riding her bike to school!!! The dust has finally settled, and she officially loves it. Yesterday she informed us that she was going to grow up to be a basketball player. I can see it in the future...

Kate is returning to Miss Becky's. She is thrilled. I only got a pic of her at the end of the first day - so you get the general idea!

Sophia and I are enjoying the rest of the days together!