Where did the summer go? (Part 3)

All right, here we go with part 3 -- I only have a few minutes before my next meeting so we'll see how far I get.

We did get to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house which was really enjoyable and it was fun to be in the temple with Austin.

As mentioned earlier (maybe) we played a lot of volleyball and badminton -- here's Grammie and Papa schooling all of us!!

Here's Austin with Papa -- they had a lot of fun together.

Well, I have to run but hey, at least you got a few more pictures. And the next post should be really fun -- just to get you excited for it!

Where did the summer go? (Part 2)

All right, so after our fun week in Colorado, we drove over to Utah to visit the Maulers and Tracys in the Payson area.

We know they love to have us over -- here is a picture of Austin and I trying to help Kassie wake up (she must love having her brother and nephew around -- we are a great alarm clock)

We had a lot of fun in Utah. One day we went on a hike to some nearby waterfalls and it was really pretty (we loved the summer weather in Utah!!)

Austin loved the trip as well and he received tons of extra attention (here from Grammie)

We also got to see some of Melissa's relatives while we were in Utah --Austin loved seeing some of his aunts and uncles and cousins -- here Austin is giving some advice to his younger cousin Jayden.

All right -- I have to go work on some research -- I'll keep trying to get caught up slowly! :)

Where did the summer go? (Part 1)

I know we say this at the beginning of every post but we really are sorry we haven't been more prompt in our blog posts! While restrained on time (I'm taking a little break from a review paper I am writing) I will try to give some high-level highlights of the past few months with some pictures and then later when/if we have more time, we'll fill in more details. At the beginning of June, I took my first-year exams and passed which means the U of A will let me stay in the program!! We then took a family vacation to CO and UT to visit our families. First, I'll add some pictures from our time in Colorado.

First, Austin with Grandpa Dyer.

Then Austin with Grandma Dyer.

Then with Grandpa Mauler.Then with Grandma Mauler

Then with Nanny.

Last, but not least, we were able to see Grandma New on our drive from Colorado to Utah.

We never get to see the grandparents enough but we loved the time we had with them all.

While we were there we went to a community festival-activity-fair thing which was really fun. One of the highlights was that they had pony rides and so Austin had his first horse ride and he was a great cowboy!

Here's a picture that is included just because I think we got quite the handsome boy and I like to show him off!! (Isn't that my job as a parent?)

One of the other benefits of going to Colorado was getting to see Justin (now Elder) Dyer before he left for the Phoenix Arizona Mission. It was fun to see him and we know he's going to be a great missionary!

We also got to see Justin (Mauler) and his family for part of a day -- we had a great time with them (what a good lookin' bunch).

We had a great time in Colorado and loved seeing so many relatives and friends!! We went biking, played frisbee golf, went bowling, played Wallyball, and had a wonderful time. On our drive to Utah, we stopped by Glenwood Springs to swim (Melissa and Austin had never been there so they had to experience it). We had a great time and Austin loved the break from the car and the chance to swim.

I better get back to work so this is just part 1 -- I'll get to the rest of our trip and summer shortly!

Catch up time

Sorry it has been a couple months since our last post -- we've talked about catching up for a while but I'm finally going to try and get it done. Life has been great for our family the past couple months. Austin is growing quickly and learning new skills constantly. He's started to crawl in the past couple weeks and he is so much fun. Melissa finished one soccer season and has started another one. I finished my semester and am busy studying for preliminary exams (they cover the first year and must be passed before continuing in the program). After the exams, we are hoping to have a fun summer. I am going to post a slew of pictures with brief descriptions -- we have had fun going on family hikes, camping out, going to the zoo, and swimming. The weather is very warm now (almost always at least in the 90s) here in Oro Valley. Anyway, I'll see how many pictures I can post -- here goes (starting with the oldest ones)!

My roommate (also an Austin) and his family came to visit so we had to get the two Austins together!!

We got a jumper for Austin and he loves it! However, sometimes he just tuckers himself out (the funny part was, when we tried to get him out, he'd start jumping, but the second we left him in, he fell back asleep).

We went to the Tucson Zoo and had a great time. Austin wanted a little more excitement though and so we let him ride an elephant!

Melissa has been loving the opportunity to play soccer. She is known as one of the fastest players on the team and she does a great job and is fun to watch.

Austin seems very mature for his age so I figured it was time to teach him how to drive. He is learning very quickly (he only scares me when he takes his eyes off the road for a picture!!).

We went hiking at Catalina State Park and hiked up to Romero Pools. It was a very fun hike and we had a great time!

Austin is a great hiker and he loves the outdoors. Whenever he is outside, he is so happy!!

A few weeks ago we went camping at Picacho Peak and it was Austin's first campout! He did wonderful and loved being in the tent, having a campfire, and just being in a new environment!

Here we are ready for our hike -- in the distance you can see Picacho Peak which is our goal!

The hike was so much fun -- it was really pretty and challenging -- there were some steep parts with cables but we just took our time, were careful, and it was a great time!

Here we are at the summit!!

Austin enjoys being in the pool (which is wonderful because we will be spending A LOT of time there during the summer).

I have a new calling in church which requires me to think about hometeaching assignments. Austin had some great ideas so he was helping me out the other night -- what a good kid!!

Again, overall we are doing wonderful -- we'll try to be better about updating our blog this summer!! Hope all is well for everyone

Bath Tub Parties

Ok, so I thought I caught up on my last post, and now 3 months have gone by and I found pictures from Thanksgiving that I like so much, I am still going to post them! My entire family was together so there are some priceless pictures. Here are my awesome brothers....

with us sisters...

with all the spouses and kids...

just the cousins...
Now back to March.

We took Austin to the pool for the first time! However, it was VERY cold. Once the temperature outside hits 80 degrees, they turn off the water heater. Well, the water was very cold (unless you're training for a triathlon). It looks like Austin's handling it better than me. SO... ...we had a family bath tub party to warm up!
Here's all of us working out in gym at our complex. Landon and Austin traded off between sets...

Austin's such a good sport (does he really have a choice though?)

It's nice to be able to hike in January. Landon's sweet to always carry our cute 21 extra pounds on these excursions...

We couldn't get Austin to smile, so we followed his lead-- looks like the good old days, eh?

Austin is very lucky. He has so many friends his age. Here are two of his buddies whose mothers I met in my birthing class at the hospital. These guys were all born within 2 weeks of each other-- Rylan, Max, and Austin.
And here are his friends from our complex and in our ward at church, all within 2 months of each other--Mylie, Garrett, Ethan, and Austin.

And although they don't live as close, (and this picture is outdated by four or 5 months) here are him and his cousins that were all born within 5 months of each other-- Avery, Jayden, Lincoln, and Austin.

8 under age 8 and posted very late

Our first "real" gingerbread house, thanks to our good friend Becky who baked all the gingerbread and made frosting that hardens so that you can't really pull off the candy and eat it. Very different from the graham cracker ones I'm used to, but very fun-- and healthier. :)

Austin and Ethan, only 10 days apart and such good friends. At least, we're encouraging them to be since me and Ethan's mom are such good friends too.

Here's Landon hard at work making cinnamon rolls for my birthday. I thought it was funny that the dough took up our entire dinner table.

Here's Austin in both Nevada and Arizona at the mere age of 3 months.

3 handsome generations of Mauler!

This video is back from Thanksgiving, but I thought it was fabulous that all 13 of us adults could go play Walleyball while babysitting 8 kids under the age of 4. We'd rotate in and out of the court so we'd all have our share. Here's how it's done...