Marshmallows, worms, and lots of mud!

(Looking across Big Lake)

At the end of July all the Duncan's meet up in the White Mt's. for an annual family camping trip. There's tons of food, good family company, lots of rain along with lots of muddy clothes! :)

The first two days we were there it rained all day, but the last two days we were there it was gorgeous sunny weather. Colin and I even got sunburns!

Poor Colin, spent most of his days being held or in his stroller...it was so soggy out, there was no way Mama was letting him crawl around in that muddy mess...but he enjoyed everyone passing him around...

Or should I say "thrown" around!

Weeeeeee!!

Pheww!! Back in safe arms!

He loved every minute of it, he was cracking up the whole time! :)

A big hit with all the kids was digging and collecting hundreds of worms! And when I say "hundreds"...they even counted them to prove it! They had alot of time on their hands. :) So, of course Ryan couldn't wait to go fishing with Daddy. And the hard work paid off because Ryan came home with a fish he caught all by himself! He was so proud, he ate it all for dinner that night. I call him my professional camper. :)

Fishing again at Big Lake. No luck, this time. :(

Colin's idea of fishing...chewing on a bobber! :) ...a clean one of course!

Camping wouldn't be camping without roasting marshmallows!

Haley ate her's in one bite...


Ryan would roast his, then pick off that layer, then roast it again, then pick it off...he was done with his first by the time Haley was done with her third! :)

Grandma Vera is the family's well known cook... and she spoils us! Every morning we would wake up to delicious pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Yummm...my favorite part of camping!

The two tots, Brenna and Macee...they are only 4 days apart. How cute are they!!

Here's all the "big" cousins together.

We have so many fun memories of this trip!

Haley's party!!

Haley wanted an only "girl" party this year, so she picked out "Hannah Montana" invitations and she invited all her little girl-friends to come.
We did it at the Safari Park in Rancho Sahuarita. We were a little worried about the monsoons, but we got lucky and had a wonderful, but humid afternoon, with no rain!! The first game was called " Wrap the Mummy". The girls had to wrap their partner up with toilet paper and come up with the best mummy! Ryan was the judge and he called who he thought was the best wrapper. It was really funny!
Next, I organized a scavenger hunt that ran the girls up and down the park from one animal to another, finding clues. They ended up with a bag full of treats! So fun!She received so many AWESOME gifts from her friends and family. This was one of her favorites, a sewing machine just for her!! She's so excited to start sewing with Mommy! :)
All in all it was such a fun afternoon!!

Happy 6th Birthday Haley!

Today, Haley turned 6 years old! I can't believe that 6 years have gone by as quickly as they have! Seems like she still should be crawling around! It just goes to show you that you have to hold on to every minute...before we know it she'll be off getting married!! ahhh!!!

We celebrated be doing a little pre-party for her. I made her favorite dinner, spaghetti and "meatballs" (which she was very specific with the meatballs part) and of course cake, that she helped make, and ice cream.

Ryan even made her the sweetest card (I almost cried when I saw it) and I had to capture the moment of them being sweet together...quickly!! :)

It was a special night for my baby girl, who isn't a baby anymore!!!...Ok, I can say it! :)

Happy 4th of July!

This year all the "Bell Girls" got together at a park by Sarah Bell's house for a potluck/water day. The kids ran around with squirt guns and water balloons. They spent the afternoon giggling and chasing after eachother. Even the mom's asked to get shot at by the water guns, just to keep cool! :) Every year we love to go down to the Tubac Golf Resort for the firework show. The kids love to run around on the grass, play in the sand traps (finding frogs) throw frisbee's and footballs. It's alot of running around! We have to pull them off the grass and on to a blanket when the fireworks start. This was Colin's first 4th of July and we were a little nervous how he would do...but the picture shows it all! He had us fooled. He was laid back in his stroller, enjoying the show...feet kicked up and all! :) So cute. Hope everyone had a great and blessed holiday!

Friends, food, drinks & lots of kiddo's!

Every summer when Eleanor comes home we like to get together and have our picture's taken with all our kids. It's so neat to look back every year and see how much our group has changed and count how many babies we have added to the group!! This year, Sylvia & Isaac joined us and Colin is in the group now too! Will the group be bigger next year, girls??? It better NOT be a Duncan! :) he, hee. While Eleanor & Melissa were in town we wanted to celebrate so we had a little BBQ at our house, and then the next day we decided to pamper our selves with pedicures. We all got matching 4th of July themed toes! :) It was so much fun! I can't wait till the next time! Love ya!!

Grama Sue's house!

We drove up to Chandler for the day to visit my Mom. She always has something fun for the kids to do in her back yard...they love finding potato bugs and snails in her garden, running threw the sprinkler or sliding on the slip in slide, but this time she had a blow up pool so Colin could join in the fun! He never wanted out, he splashed and splashed! Another day of fun in the sun!

Welcome to our blog!

The bugs are out and summer is here! I think it's officially summer when it hits over 100 and when you get your first mosquito bite! And it's HIT! So, since the kids are home from school and have a long summer break I thought what a perfect time to start a blog to keep all our friends and family caught up with us... Time flies by so fast, it's hard to keep up!

As most of you know, we returned home from our big trip to New York/New Jersey/Washington D.C. a couple weeks ago. It kicked off the summer with such a bang! We had such a good time!! We fit a month of vacationing into a little over a week!! So much walking and site-seeing! But what a great time we had with all the family that we got to visit!!

Ryan just finished up his third year of baseball. This year was by far his best year yet. It was so fun watching him play! He's really turning into such a good athlete, I'm so proud of him. This fall he will start his first year of football! OK, now I'm getting nervous! That's like a BIG boy sport! :) He's such a ball of energy, I have a hard time finding stuff to keep him busy! Usually anything that has to do with being outside, kicking a ball over our house a hundred times, or getting into water is good with him. :)

Haley currently is in a dance "camp". It's just 3 weeks long, 2 days a week. They are learning ballet, jazz, and hip-hop! (So cute!) She loves it, she always has the biggest smile on her face when I pick her up. When Ryan starts football, Haley will start cheer leading, and will be a cheerleader for Ryan's team! I thought that was so perfect!

Colin is 8 1/2 months old now! Wow, I know! When I say it, my stomach turns a little, since I can't believe he's not in my arms anymore, he's now into my plants and pots and pans and just everywhere! Baby gates are my new best friend! He's also a little vacuum cleaner, and puts everything in his mouth! Every now and then I fish a little bug leg out! UGH! :) But he's just as cute as can be, and so sweet. He's a lover that's for sure.

Other than trying to stay cool and in the pool as much as possible, the kids have two Vacation Bible Schools that they are going to go to this summer. Which they look forward to every year. Haley is always asking me for whatever she 's excited about..."How many more days"? and then comes..."how many hours?"... and then comes..."how many seconds"? And then I'm like" "How many more days of summer??" :) hee, hee.

Love ya guys...hope you drop by often to see what were up to! (I attached some pic's of our NY trip!)