And the Results Are...

Bring on the Pink, Princesses, and Giant Hairbows! We are having a little GIRL!!! We found out yesterday and are so excited. Everything looks great on the sonogram and Dr. Tran even said that she is a very active baby. I could have told you that though. I don't think Collin stopped smiling yesterday. I couldn't stop smiling yesterday. Mary Ann the necklace trick worked! I wasn't brave enough to try the Drain-O though. :)

Yeah!

We get to have another sonogram! We go in on Thursday morning and I'm not saying a word about this one. I don't want to jinx it again. Bets anyone?

Our Baby Is.........

VERY SHY APPARANTLY!!! So, okay, maybe I jinxed it with the overly modest comment, but come on! We went to the ultrasound and the good news is that there isn't an alien inside me. The baby looks healthy and active, except for its legs that were strategically crossed over that all important part! We were in the little room for a good 15 minutes or so with the technician trying pretty hard to get the little booger to uncross it's legs, but it wouldn't budge. In the mean time it was bouncing around waving at everyone and everything... Collin says it gets the spastic from me. How sweet. She finally said, well I guess you'll find out May 4th. I didn't think that was very funny. So I guess we'll just have to wait until later to find out. My mom says that this is my penance for all the Christmas presents I've opened before Christmas. Justice is cruel, thats all I can say on that one.

Christmastime is Here!

I am so excited for Christmas this year! Out of respect for my husband I saved all the Christmas music, decorations, etc for after Thanksgiving, so now I get to start! I plan on turning my house into the Christmas Palace over the next few days and I can't wait! Doesn't this time of year just make everyone happy?!


Oh, and we get to find out what we are having tomorrow (Cross your fingers our little bambino isn't overly modest...) Stay tuned for more news!

Happy Birthday Collin!

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man in the world! He turns the big 23 today. Thanks for being so wonderful and I hope you have a great day!

State Semi-Finals Here We Come!

Any one who knows anything about me knows how much I love Pima Football. It has been such a great season for our boys and they are doing very well. They defeated Williams handily on Friday night 58-7. Evan had a couple touchdowns and played very well. I LOVE LOVE LOVE small towns and the fact that when you go to the games everyone is there, your family has their own little section of the bleachers that they always sit in, and that the same people sit around you every week. I just LOVE football season! Anyways here are some cute pictures that my cute little mamma took at the game last week. This is pretty much my family's life from September to November... Collin's gotten used to it. :)

My cutie pie parents

Grandma and Grandpa Crockett and Dad

I WILL get him to smile in a picture one of these days!!!

Ooh! Look at the little studmuffin... Next to him is the amazing Coach Bryant.

Baby News

So sorry I haven't been very good at updating lately, but there hasn't been much to fill you in on. I finally got into see the doctor and found out my due date is May 4th and we got to take a gander at the little squirt. It was SO neat. They baby was kicking and moving the whole time and although its still too small for me to feel it, it was pretty cool to see that its already active. Considering I was expecting to see a tadpole looking thing, I was amazed at how much it already looked like a little baby. Collin came with me and he had a smile on his face the whole time. It was so fun. Dr. Tran gave me a prescription for some nausea medicine and it seems to be helping for the most part. Any relief is much appreciated. Our life is on the verge of a drastic change, and I feel like I should be scared to death. Don't get me wrong, I am a little nervous, but I am SO excited to welcome this new little person into our family and it will be so hard to wait until May!

So they tell me that the blob on the upper left hand side is its head and then the body is lower down and you can kind of see a leg sticking out but it moved right as the doctor took the picture so we didn't get such a great one. But thats okay.

My brother, the missionary

I just wanted to post this neato picture of my little brother. Isn't he a stud? He is in South Africa and doing such a good job. He's really an example to all of us and keeps us spiritually on our toes. We love you Elder Crockett!

Mountain Raspberries

This last Monday I tagged along with my wonderful mother and Gayle Bryce and went on the hunt for some raspberries on Mt. Graham. It was so much fun. Gayle had never been raspberry picking before, but by the end of the day she was a true professional. For those of you who have never gone berry picking with my mother, I guess you could say she is ALMOST obsessed. It is so fun to watch her shimmy down precipices and crawl through brambles where a rabbit wouldn't go, all in the hunt for "the Granddaddy of all Raspberries" as Gayle so eloquently put it. Mom gets on the hunt and it is truly contagious. We had to pry ourselves off that mountain because we were all convinced that we were not going home until every raspberry on Mt. Graham was safely in our buckets. I think we're planning on making some raspberry jam with them. I'll keep you posted. I just want to tell those fun ladies "Thanks for letting me tag along! I had a grand time."

Something Exciting is Going to Happen

If any of you haven't already heard... Drumroll please...

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

We found out on September 1st (ironically Labor Day) and we are so excited we couldn't keep the secret very long. I'm about 5 weeks along and we're due sometime in May. We are so excited we can hardly stand it and I have a feeling that its going to be a long 9 months waiting.

Here's some pictures of us telling Mom and Dad, and then Grandma and Grandpa Crockett. We didn't get any pictures of us telling the Claridge side. My brain wasn't with me...

I had these letters in the bottom of an early "birthday present" for dad. It didn't take him very long to unscramble them.

Grandma had them unscrambled pretty fast but we had told her that she had to do it for one of Olivia's class projects so she was staring at Olivia waiting for her time before she caught on... It was sure fun!

Pima's First Game of the Year

Pima Football has officially started! Yeah! Can I just tell you how much I love this time of year?! I think my family crossed the line into being MEGA-UBER-FANS last night. We drove to St. David to watch the football game and Evan wasn't even playing. We just all wanted to go watch the Roughriders faceoff with the Tigers. It was a fun game and we ended up winning 42-10 so the younger kids got to play as well. It was killing Evan not to be out there but hopefully his shoulder will be recovered to play next week against Veritas. Evan ended up coming home with us and we stopped at Wendy's in Benson to get a frosty and headed home. Here are some pictures I took and just maybe Evan will be in some of them next week.

 

 

 

 

Emily's Photoshoot

I am taking a Photography class this semester and I kidnapped Emily for a photoshoot the other day. It was pretty fun and she was a superb model. Here are some of the pictures...

Yet Another Wedding

This past weekend we embarked on yet another journey to experience another loved one's wedded bliss. You'd think weddings were in season or something... This time it was on my side of the family. My cousin Heather, who is six months younger than me so we've been pretty close growing up, got married to a wonderful guy and I couldn't have been more happy for her. It was fun seeing all of the cousins and Aunts and Uncles that we don't get to see alot because my dad's family is pretty spread out over the country. Anyways, here are some pictures of the lovely newlyweds with an added sprinkling of assorted family members. Enjoy!


Heather and Kevin coming out of the temple looking completely blissful.

Awwww!

The families. Shumways and Sandalls all mingled together.

Grandma and Grandpa Crockett looking as sweet as ever.

My wonderful Dad and Heather's Grandma Shumway

Chance and Megan's Wedding

Saturday we traveled up to Snowflake to be with Collin's cousin at his wedding. It was such a sweet ceremony and the couple couldn't have been happier. Our party was supposed to consist of Collin and I, Debbie, Grandma Norton, Tricia and Aisley, but due to circumstances outside of anyone's control, it ended up being only Collin, me, and Grandma Norton. It was sure a fun trip though. Thanks for putting up with us Granny! We met Russ and Janie, and Tammy and Sarah, and Wade, Amy and Gentry at the temple. We were few in numbers, but the quality was fantastic! Anyways, here are some pictures of the newlyweds and family...

Megan was such a beautiful bride (her dress was GORGEOUS!) and Chance was so handsome. They were both positively beaming. Congratulations!

I love this picture of Grandma. She looks like she is deep in thought about something. I wonder what?
I found this little arbor over looking the valley on the other side of the temple. I made Collin go and take a couple of pictures there. He looks pretty happy considering he is a hostage...
Half of our family at the wedding- Tammy, Sarah, and Grandma.
Janie, Russ, and Collin. (I think Russ just said something smart alecky if I remember correctly.)
Amy and Gentry. We are sure happy to finally have them in Arizona! Wade seemed to be missing in action for all of the pictures, but let me assure you he was there.

Weeds, Dishes, and Way Too Much Time On My Hands

This week I have found myself with alot of spare time. Something I am not at all used to. I don't really know how to handle it, so I have been coming up with a whole heaping lotta projects for myself. I have gotten alot done too (can you tell how proud of myself I am...). I have become a master weed chopper this last week cleaning up my yard. This is something that I honestly thought I would never do voluntarily in my life, but I truly isn't that bad. Its kind of fulfilling looking back at what you have accomplished, and I now have a grand scheme for what I'm going to do with our yard. There is a perfect place for a picnic area, and I've picked out a spot for a garden. Who knows when I'll actually plant anything, but when I do I know where I'm putting it. I also degunked my kitchen. It is dang spankin' clean. You could even eat off the floor if you really wanted to, or even the table now for that matter. I cleaned out my closet and dresser drawers (Olivia will be so thrilled with the 2 bags full of clothes that I will soon be handing over) and you can actually see my bedroom floor and walk around without fear of breaking an ankle. I've been doing pretty good at keeping busy, but I am running out of ideas that don't cost alot of money... Dang. I kinda think Collin secretly likes having me home all the time. This has been a nice little break, but I think I'll be ready for a schedule when school starts up again on the 18th. Its so fun playing the litte homemaker, I love it!

Photography

So, I've kinda been interested in photography for a while, but I've sort of been too scared to try it. I really like playing off of the natural shapes and lighting that nature has (i.e. all the clouds and tree pictures) but I think that its really neat. I think I also like working with black and white film (do you call it that when its digital?) because I think that it plays up the shadows and shapes that are created. One night at home the monsoons were rolling in and the lighting was AMAZING, so I took my little digital camera out and started snapping pictures. I think some of them turned out okay... I definitely would be considered a novice, but perhaps this has shown me that I might be better at it then I had once thought, but I am still really nervous to put my pictures out there in the very critical world... So, here's a couple of pictures that I have taken, some of them are just random pictures of the mountains, but the lighting was really great. Let me know what you think!

Photo Op

Fun in the Sun at the Pima Pool

So this summer has actually been pretty fun for me. I work long hours, but I get to work with some really fun kids. Well, I have a couple of stories of our doings and goings on at the pima pool... The last couple of days have been really cloudy and overcast but they haven't produced for us at all. We have spent hours scouring the clouds for any sign of lightning and praying for the slightest downpour...NOTHING. We started joking that we needed to do a rain dance. A little while later this is what the MALE lifeguards came up with...
So we were very optimistic and all day waited for the thunderstorm that we just knew this rain dance would bring...NOTHING. However, the next day a kid got sick and threw up in the pool. We got to close the pool down for the rest of the day and go home! We are not sure if the kid got sick because of some adverse, delayed side effect of our powerful rain dance, but you can be assured that we will be doing some more experimentation and investigation into the subject. ALSO, while we were waiting on the verdict to come back on whether we were going to get to go home, or open up at a later time, me and another guard (Kali Carlsen, whom I absolutely LOVE!)ambushed a poor unsuspecting little boy and started playing with his hair. Eventually the hairspray came out and this is the end product. Notice the look of priceless enthusiasm on his face... We told him he had a white Lenny Cravitz thing going (I know, what every 8 year old boy wants to hear) and he went home looking somewhat unconvinced, but perhaps just a little flattered. :)

Fourth of July

Fourth of July this year was really fun. Kinda lowkey, but I like it that way sometimes. For the actual 4th, Rochelle invited us to go and celebrate with her family in Central. My parents were up on the mountain, and Collins family were mostly out of town. We went over there and had a super fun barbeque and round of card games afterward. Those Ferrins sure do know how to play SPOONS! We were on our way to the spot that we usually watch the fireworks when they started up. We just kinda pulled over on the side of the road and watched them for a little while. Kind of a bummer, but it was okay because it was raining and lightning anyways and I almost enjoyed watching the lightning more than the fireworks. On Sunday morning we went to Columbine to be with my family for the day. Collin had never been to our cabin, nor to church at the mountain, so it was pretty fun for him. I saw some people there who I hardly ever see anymore and it was really fun to rub shoulders with them all. We had an amazing R.S. lesson by Leora Taylor about pioneers, and being our own kind of pioneer today. I swear there was not a dry eye in the place. It was really neat. Sacrament meeting was cut a little short. It started raining two testimonies in, so we said the closing prayer, and everyone made a mad dash to their cabins. Mom made an awesome dinner for us. Manicotti! Woo hoo! I love that stuff! They cleaned up after lunch and left, Dad leading the way on the motorcycle (I'm sure mom was a nervous wreck the whole way down). We stayed and visited with Carol Anne Weech for a while and then Phillip and Sophie Weech (NEWLYWEDS!) and Emily Weech and her boyfriend, Jason, came over and we visited with them for a while too. It was fun to get to see Phillip. I haven't really talked to him since he got off his mission. He has been a little preoccupied though, so I guess there is a good reason. We took a short nap after they all left (I swear there is nothing like sleeping in the mountains) and we took off too. Let me tell you Dramamine is a LIFESAVER. That mountain road is HORRID, but we made it down. It was really fun to get to hang out with my family up at Columbine. Here is a picture of us all outside our cabin getting ready to go to church (I told Collin "Nobody wears Church clothes up there, its the mountains" Needless to say he was kinda miffed at me when he saw that my family wasn't the only ones in white shirts and ties. Oops!)

Saga II

So this lovely Saturday morning Collin and I didn't have to be anywhere so we slept in. We stayed in bed a little longer and visited and then decided to get up and make a huge breakfast. Yummy bacon and eggs, hash browns, buscuits and gravy- it was quite a spread. I was making the gravy and noticed Jason Black driving by on a trencher and really didn't think anything of it. We ate breakfast, and then I was going to get in the shower to get ready for work. I went to go turn the water on and.... NOTHING HAPPENED! Collin called Jason and guess what? That innocent trencher (with him driving) hit the water line. Water, Water Everywhere, but not a drop for me... So the second day in a week where I am learning what a precious commodity water is. I live in the desert so you would think that I know that by now, Eh? Well, I guess this calls for another dip in the pool. For me, this is having a little too much in common with all the little pool rats (thats our fancy term for the kids that are at the pool all day, everyday). Thankfully, unlike Thursday, there was still enough water for one more flush of the toilet. HALLELUJAH! There are still miracles from heaven! The funny thing about this is that I have had a song from SESAME STREET, stuck in my head all morning. It goes something like this. "Cool, Clean Water (Water, Water, Water) Cool, Clean Water." How's that for life's little ironies.

No Water WOES!

So this morning, Collin went to flush the toilet and GUESS WHAT? No water. We called Gerald and to make a long story short the pumps broken, and the pipes are broken and we don't know how long we will be out of water. Its funny how you don't realize how much water you use until you have none. I ate some Spicy Nacho Doritos for a snack and went to wash my hands... No water. I went to wash my face... No water. Its amazing how little water you actually need to brush your teeth when you are using the last of the bottled water in the fridge. HALLELUJAH for the tiny bottle in the fridge. Well, I guess I can just take a dip in the pool today and call it good... I swear half the kids that swim there all summer don't take showers anyways, so I'll fit right in, right? Just make sure that you don't stand too close to me today... Hee Hee. Isn't country living grand! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! :)

Arizona Monsoon We Salute You!!!

Can I just say that I love this time of year! We had some pretty amazing weather today and I think it is safe to say that the monsoon season is here. Anyone who has ever lived in Arizona knows how cool it is to watch the storms roll in. The clouds start to accumulate and then BAM! all of a sudden you are smack dab in the middle of a thunderstorm. One of the hazards (or perks if you're a glass-half-full kinda person) of being a lifeguard is the weather. I was supposed to work until 9:00 tonight, but the weather was being hazardous, so I got to come home 2 hours early! No complaints here! The typical storm in the Gila Valley goes like this... It usually starts in Solomonville and barrels through the valley. There are rolling power outages all over and by about the time it hits Thatcher everyone in Pima is out on their porches watching the storm because well, the electricity is off and what else are we supposed to do? So in the end you spend a wonderful evening with your family on the front porch watching the lightning and rain as if it were the 4th of July fireworks show. It is sure great! I have alot of memories hanging out with cousins on Grandma and Grandpa Crocketts backporch watching the storms come over the mountains. Its enough to make any person nostalgic. Well, no salute would be comple without some pictures. I did not take these, however they are still pretty cool. Some of them are pretty close to what we experienced today too, others are just cool pictures.