Fun with Baachan and Grandpa in AZ

This past week we had my parents come into town from dropping off my sister and her boyfriend at BYU. They were a little crazy and decided to drive from East Tennessee and then go to Utah, then to Rexburg, ID, then finally come visit us in Phoenix.

It was so nice to have them come over and visit since we haven't seen my side of the family since Christmas.

This Father's Day was extra special because the kids got to spend it with their Grandpa and their Dad. We decided to go up to South Mountain at the Dobbins Lookout Point. It was so pretty to see Phoenix and enjoy the natural scenery of the hot Arizona desert. Hahaha... not much to look at. :) But it was still pretty.


Happy Father's Day!!! We love and appreciate all that you do!


Grandpa and his famous "shaka" sign. Happy Father's Day too!! We love you!

Emi was in heaven and enjoyed being spoiled by her Baachan.


Family picture at Dobbins Lookout Point. It would have been a good picture, except Emi looks like she's in pain.


Then Monday, we went to Chuck E Cheese for the kids. This time Brenden had a blast riding on all the rides. Emi, of course, had so much fun playing with everything. But as soon as the Chuck E Cheese mouse came out to greet the kids, she said, "I'm finished, let's go home." She's so funny with those kind of characters...

Brenden and Baachan


Brenden Driving. Aaah crazy! :)


Then Emi started swim lessons all by herself!! Thank goodness... For the past two years I have had to go in with her, so this is such a nice change. Brenden is in swimming lessons too, but since I'm in the water, I can't take a picture of him. Sorry buddy...


Tuesday we went to Snip-its to get haircuts for the kids. I was a little hesitant about Brenden because I knew he would cry, but after some talking with the hair stylist, I decided to just do it. He cried, no screamed like crazy, but it's so nice that I don't have to cut his hair for a little while.

Emi Before Shot:


No before shot of Brenden because of the screams, but here's the after.


Kids posing after their hair cuts.



Later that evening we got to go to the Diamondback and Yankees Game. We lost pretty bad on that day, but it was fun to be at the baseball field and feel the energy of the fans. It was so crowded! But the kids did great and we had a lot of fun.

Family in front of Chase Field.


Grandpa's biggest fan, Brenden. This boy loved his Grandpa and never wanted to come to his Mommy.


Dad and Brenden at the busy baseball field.


And of course, when you're with the Minami family, you are constantly eating. So we ate and ate and ate... Now I have to go on a long fast. Overall, it was a fun, short, and exhausting visit, but we can't wait to see you all again! Thank you so much for everything!

Emi's Birthday Party

We had Emi's birthday party three weeks ago. I'm a little late on my blogging because we've been so busy this summer; as a result, this summer is going by way too fast. We had her party again in our backyard. We took out the kiddie pool and turned on the splashpad for some water fun.

Emi all smiles and excited for her party to start.


I'm not sure what theme we decided to go with. We started off with an ice cream theme, but then Emi decided she wanted a princess theme. I tried to change her decision, but she was kind of dead set on the princess theme, so we decided to do that at the last minute. Anyways, the main thing was that she had fun and she did.


Blowing out the candles on the cake!


Modeling off her bling that she got from her party.


Mom and Dad had to recover from this birthday party, hence the three weeks no blogging. But overall, SUCCESS!!! Happy Birthday Emi! WOO HOO!!!