April...

A lot has been happening in the month of April. Mostly filled with get togethers and many trips to Ice King have a sweet, smooth ice cream cone on the warmer spring nights. As soon as the month started, the parties started.

On Friday, April 2nd Bradford was in HEAVEN! A couple of friends of ours Ryan and Jade were tempted in by Bradford and I to go to Globe to the casino for their all you can eat crab leg night. Jade and I aren't much in for seafood so we didn't get to enjoy it as much as Ryan and Bradford but they ate enough for the both of us and got our money's worth. The rest of the food at the buffet wasn't too great so I was craving a greasy burger about 10 minutes after the boys were done. We gambled away every last nickel, dime, and quarter left in our pockets because we are all so poor we couldnt afford more. HAHA! I think between the four of us we spent $20 and walked away with NOTHING! Not a habit I think I could ever catch on to. I am WAY too cheap. When we got home I realized how bad the casino smelled. I swear I developed COPD just from sniffing my clothes they were so smokey. YUCK!

Bradford turned 30 on April 13th and it's hard to believe that I am married to a 30 year old! We had a party/ BBQ on the Saturday before at our house. We invited a bunch of friends and just hung out. Being the amazing person I am I totally charged my camera battery before the event to capture this once in a lifetime opportunity but much to my avail I managed not to take a single picture of that night. All I can describe to you about that day is the weather was perfect and the food was good.

That next Tuesday was Bradford's actual birthday and we celebrated with his family at our house. It is nice to be able to get the whole family under one roof just to hang out and chat. Our nieces and nephew ran in and out all night and I did manage to snap a picture or two of them.

Mason wasn't very interested in paying any attention to me while Brailynn wanted all the attention. Lauren doesn't usually look so....strange...she wanted to show me her missing teeth.

The weekend of the 16th and 17th we took a trip down to Surprise to visit my side of the fam-dam-ly. My dad's birthday is the 16th so we went out to dinner and got on one anothers nerves for the weekend. Saturday was full of garage sale-ing and Garrett had a baseball game that evening. They got creamed but I was impressed to see he was THE best player on the team. And when I say the best player I mean he is the ONLY player that had touched a baseball or a bat before tryouts came around. It was ridiculous!

I had to post this picture of my mom. She HATES when I post scary/stupid/not wearing make-up pictures of her for the whole world to see. (Refer to Christmas post for a GREAT picture of her on Christmas morning) LOVE YOU MOM!

April 23rd was the first day of the open house for the Gila Valley Temple. What a special experience it was to be able to walk through the new temple in our valley and see all the hard work and details put into it. I have never been to an open house so it was special for me to be able to just walk through and stare at every last feature on the walls, the colors, and especially the GAZILLION shiny crystals hanging from the chandelier in the Celestial Room. AMAZING!!! We are so blessed to have a temple so close to us now and I am so so so very happy that we don't have to make a 3 hour trip anymore to receive those blessings. We can see the temple from right down our street!

The Gila Valley Temple

(sorry the picture isn't that great, I took it on my cell phone)

The Kenneth Bigler family reunion was on April 24th at Bradford's Aunt Sharon's house in Safford. Kenneth Bigler is Bradford's grandfather that passed away when Bradford was really young. Grandpa Bigler was married three times and has about 500 kids! Ok, not really that many but it seems like it. They all get together once a year to gab and eat. It was really fun and got some cute pictures of the kids.

Julia aka The Firecracker

Bradford's cousin Adam. We spent the summer after we got married with them in Connecticut.

Emma. I wish that Adam and Kayla would let me take her home with me. She is a doll.

My niece Lauren

Hannah held onto that Mountain Dew the whole way down the slide and didn't spill a drop. HAHA!

That night we took the older girls to Ice King (we like to get the addicted while they're still young). They were so funny and I was laughing so hard at some of the things they said. Oh to be that age again where you didn't have a care in the world other than the color your rainbow sno-cone makes when you mix it all together.

I have more to post but the hour is nigh and it's bedtime for old fart Val. Goodnight until next time. FAREWELL!!!