oasis

Mountain views

 shady marshes

trees that grow sideways 

a sandy beach

mossy hillsides 

water and desert birds

and the tallest cactus I've ever seen. 

Saguaro Lake and Butcher Jones Recreation Area are amazingly beautiful places. We could have spent much more than just half a day there. It's safe to say we'll be back again and again. I can't wait to play in the water with the kids this summer. I imagine that cold water feels pretty good when it's 100+ degrees outside. 

Four Peaks in the distance.

That thing was HUGE!

Marnie insisted on wearing her headlamp.

Seven

Nearly a month ago, our little man had his seventh birthday. The actual date fell on a Monday, so we spent the whole pre-birthday weekend celebrating. 

Which makes sense, since I first went into labor on the 15th, spent all of the 16th in the hospital, and he was finally born on the 17th. Yes, I'm gonna mention the 36 (THIRTY!SIX!) hours of labor every year. You would too, right?

Britt chose YC's Mongolian Grill for his birthday dinner. The boy could eat Chinese food all day, every day. We spent the weekend going to his favorite places, watching movies, and doing pretty much whatever he wanted. The day before his birthday, we surprised him with his present...a new bike! It still blows my mind that our once teeny, tiny baby boy is big enough to ride a full size BMX bike. He LOVES it. We've spent many afternoons since then walking with him as he rides around our neighborhood, and Marnie chases behind singing Deck the Halls. 

On Britt's birthday, I got to pick up my sister-in-law, Kaitlynn, and nephew, Beck, at the airport. Britt loved getting to see them when he got home from school. Grandma Tara and Uncle Jarret came to take Kait and Beck to the mountains, so Britt got to see them on his birthday too. Throw in the package he got from Granny and Grandpa Jones in the mail that day, and you have the most perfect birthday a boy could ask for.

I can't say enough good things about this sweet boy. He's got it all. He's funny, smart, kind, handsome, creative, witty- I could go on and on. 

Britt Garrett Brimhall: from six to seven years old.

I thought it was fun to go through the year and see how his hair has grown. His last haircut was in mid-2011. It's also noteworthy that the majority of these pictures include dirt, grass, water, or a pet. Such a boy. :)

Britt is not a cake fan, but always wants one for his birthday. We saw a cute cake with paper airplanes on top, and that's what he wanted to do this year. He wanted to do the airplane part on his own, and it fit perfectly that he was obsessed with paper airplanes at the time (literally, every note or paper he brought home from school was folded into an airplane).

Oh yeah. Pegs on the front and back. What a gnarly seven-year-old dude. :)

Some Christmas Favorites

That huge smile melts me.

Pajama piano party at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Meet Evvie.
We were so excited to meet this girl and her younger sister...

She's not much younger.   ;)
This is Mae, or "the blonde one" (as Marnie prefers to call her).

Cousins!
Britt, Ellee, Emelyn, and Marnie

Britt and Ellee are 6 months apart, and Emelyn and Marnie are 4 months apart. As soon as they saw each other, they disappeared into the play room for hours. The little girls played Barbies while the first graders drew and took polls about eye color. :)

Mae's twisty tongue smile cracks me up.

Turning Uncle Brett into a Christmas tree.

My brother, Blake, and his sweet elf-looking twinsies (Evvie and Mae).

Echo, Emelyn, and Marnie watching snow fall on Christmas Eve

Echo has pure mischief in her eyes. Sweet, fun, almost 2-year-old mischief. :)

These girls loved entertaining the baby girls.

I had fun chasing Beck around in the snow too. :)

Thanksgiving weekend

Great-Grandma Marili's poor, sweet, patient dog got waaaaaay too much love from Marnie.

Then Marnie and cousin Autumn splashed in the fountain.

And Marnie put on a musical for Great-Grandpa Phil.
{Where was Britt during all this Thanksgiving fun? Building a sailboat out of palm fronds and sticks with Uncle Jack. Did I take a picture?...no. Sadly it capsized before I could.}

 The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally our Christmas Tree cutting time. A trek out into the woods really gets us into the Christmas spirit.

Justin and Britt found what we decided to call, Stumphenge.

Can you tell how happy this guy was? 

Justin carried our tree back up the hill...

while Britt {ah-hem} "helped" Grandpa carry theirs.

Our little gang: November 2012

Grandpa Kenny, Grandma T., and Uncle Jerry

Had to stop and check out the view on our way home.

This girl...