12 Years / 12 Weeks: Week 3 The Ladders

So the kids have gotten a little into my reminiscing and said I had to do the ladders, so this week we remember the ladders.

 

These ladders came to us when Braxton and a little boy named Jacob became friends in kindergarten.  They lived behind us and instead of having to walk the boys around the block every time they wanted to play Jacob’s dad made a set of ladders for them to use.  These ladders have provided many great memories of friends for the kids.  When Jacobs family moved a few years later they left us these ladders and they traveled to our new home a few years after that where once again they were used as new friends were discovered just behind us.  I guess we are great a making backyard neighbor friends.

Sadly, we will be leaving these ladders behind as they have seen many a rainy and sunny day that have left them quite old and splintery. 

12 Years/12 Week: Week 2 Our 1st House

Another blessing that came to our family because we came down here to Sierra Vista, AZ was we were able to afford and purchase our first house.  It was through some amazing people that this came to be especially a wonderful relator, who unknown to us until years later waived many fees to help us fund this home. 

This home is where many great memories were made, where Braxton grew from a little kid to a boy, where wonderful lasting friendships were made with amazing neighbors.  It is where the Lord granted us the miracle of one more child so that Megan could join our family and where we were able to share a common love for Jesus Christ with a sweet neighbor as she breathed her last breath.

It is where Braxton finally learned to ride a bike

where Megan said good bye to her binky

Where we received our first toilet papering from Seminary kids   (not to be our last)

and who could forget our one and only snowman in Arizona.

IT WAS A GREAT 1st HOME

We will miss being able to drive by and watch the palm tree grow.

12 years/12 weeks: Our Amazing Arizona Memories

So I realized today that we have 12 weeks left here in Sierra Vista and we will have been here for 12 years.  So I thought it would be fun to document 12 amazing memories of this place we have called home.   So here we go. . . . . .

 

#1  Fried Chicken Picnic and Fireworks with Amazing People

It would be fitting to start with the fist day we arrived here in Sierra Vista.  Brian had come a month earlier, but Braxton and I had stayed in Utah to help with a wedding so we arrived here on July 4, 2001.  It had been a long month without Brain and then a very long, long drive to get here.  I was ready to just relax when Brain announced that we had been invited by the Thornburgs to the fireworks. So we packed up and headed off to the soccer fields.  Little did I know that this would begin our first and my most favorite family tradition.  It also was the beginning of realizing that even when you are far far away from family the gospel provides an amazing family to fall back on. 

A Special Thank You to the Thornburg family for making our 1st day in Sierra Vista AMAZING!

Nothing beats PoFolk Chicken and Niagra Falls. 

2001

2002

Brian even added to the tradition the next year buy making Homemade Root Beer for all the seminary kids and friends who stopped by to just say Hi.

2007

Niagara Falls

We are going to miss the amazing fireworks here, but even more all the friends we get to see each year at the biggest, best picnic I have ever been on.