The Brutsch's meet Arizona!

When Matt and I first got married we moved into our little apartment in Harmony Square in Provo. It didn't take long for us to meet our next door neighbors, Ben and Lauren Brutsch, and begin what has become a "such close friends that we are family" type of relationship. We have had many exciting adventures together and decided after four years it was time for us to take them home to meet our families! Ha! Acutally they already had met most of our families but we wanted to introduce them to the state we love so much! So we took off last week to spend the weekend in Arizona. The first night we got in, we drove out to Matt's parents house in Waddell. We really had a great day there but ufortunately I don't have very many pictures! Crew absolutely loves being around his grand parents and we loved being able to see Jeni and Buffy's families. Here is a great pic of Matt playing Wii Mario Kart with our nephews and neices. It was pretty funny!

Cason is staying cool in the Allen's fountainHere is Crew warming up for the next morning at Big Surf

So we are really lucky and get to play at Big Surf with just our family! It is so much fun! I honestly think this is the best kind of surfing (no sharks!)
Crew absolutley loved this place. He is a serious water boy! This is all of the grandkids on Matt's side except Remy who was running off somewhere. We had his entire family there except Katherine who we really missed!!!

Grandma trying to keep Crew from just jumping in the water!

Doesn't that face have fun written all over it!

We got to Big Surf a little after 9 and left a little before 1 and these kids were moving the whole time! We hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot before these kids were out!

Later that afternoon we went to the Choo Choo park in Scottsdale. It is a great park and we had a blast!

All aboard!!!
And then we rode the merry-go-round
Crew wasn't so sure about this but we did get him saying "Wee!" before it was over

We also hit the famously posh "Sprinkles Cupcakes" in Scottsdale. Thanks Jodi for the tip! It was really fun and delicious!

Eating our Sprinkles

Crew really loves the piano. We couldn't keep him off the pianos at either grandma's house. Oh and look at all that hair! Finally!
Crew playing in the sprinklers while grandpa Richter mowed the yard

Saturday night we got to go to the Diamondback's game! My parents were kind enough to offer to watch our kids while we enjoyed a night out. We had a blast but I think our kids had just as much fun. Crew and grandpa went swimming. Man that kid loves water!

This picture is hillarious of Cason! Please can I come in!!!
This is such a cute pic of Cason! Crew and Grandpa again
The couples at the D-backs game
It was a great game even though we lost!
And, it wouldn't be a trip with the Brutsch's if something didn't go wrong. When we got to Salt Lake three pieces of our luggage didn't make it and we had a flat tire! Luckily, Ben is very manly and had us back on the road in no time! And, Southwest got our stuff to us later that night. It was such a fun trip and we are so glad we have the Brutsch's!

Perfect Day for the Park!

This is actually what is looked like outside when we woke up yesterday morning. Kind of amazing but also kind of gloomy! Leave it to Utah to be a totally different day in a matter of hours!
Another shot of the mystic morning from our backyard.
Ah, and then came the sunshine! It was a gorgeous afternoon so we had to go and play at the park. Nicole and Miley Hunter came to play with us along with Crew's favorite aunt Katherine. Crew is a big fan of the swings so that is where you can usually find him at the park.
Matt also stopped by on a break from work. A cute sibling shot!

This is Nicole and Miley. Miley is also a big fan of the swings!

Crew also enjoys the slides. He looks like such a big boy as he roams the playground and slides down all by himself. He is so coordinated for such a little guy!
Crew and Miley swinging
Crew is pointing at a dog but a great shot with Kath.
Since Katherine is the favorite we needed to include this one too! We really need to convince her to finish out her school at USC with us because we are going to miss her!

Utah's Hogle Zoo

Since we know our days are winding down here in Utah, we have created a list of things we want to do before we go. Today we did one of those things and spent our morning at Utah's Hogle Zoo! What a fun day! The weather was perfect and the zoo was really fun. It isn't a really big zoo but the animals are really close. I have to give a little disclaimer, Crew will not wear hats so we had to lather sunscreen on him. So if his hair looks greasy that is why!
Crew is at a pretty good age for the zoo. Even though he can't tell you all the animal names, he can make most of their sounds. Of course, he is really good at monkey sounds!
This is the white alligator! Creepy!

By the elephant exhibit they have a giant elephant statue. It was a lot to take in as you can tell.

We had to get a shot by the cougars!
Those of you who knew Matt growing up know about his love for penguins! For some reason he has always been a big penguin fan but I have to agree they were one of my favorite animals today! They are such a funny animal.

No this is not at the zoo. Matt is currently making a surf board in our storage closet. He has his little section zoned off and even has a very attractive jump suit that he wears while he is at work. I must admit, it is actually pretty impressive what he is creating. We will keep you up on its progress.