Cousins Galore

So, after mounting jealousy on our part at constantly seeing pictures of the other three cousins all together, we finally made it to Arizona to introduce Maddie to her Rothlisberger (and Johansen and Barker) cousins! It was so fun to be all together for the first time with all the babies. Thanks Mayli for getting blessed so we had a good excuse to make the trip. This was actually Maddie's first long car trip and it went fairly well. We practiced a little bit with car trips around Provo and broke up the journey down to AZ by staying the night in Cedar City. She did great up until the last 5 miles. Then she was definitely done - she screamed worse than when she got her shots! We took our time on the way back with several more longer stops and made it home without our daughter hating us too much! Her biggest problem is that she's so little and light that her head bounces everywhere in the car seat and she can't sleep. But she'll grow out of that. Good thing too since we live so far from any of our families; she better start loving the car!

We had a great time in Phoenix (as you can see from the photos) despite the intense heat. I really don't know how people live there in the summer; our electric bill would be through the roof! While I definitely love being with family and showing off my daughter, the highlight of the trip for me was actually the ribbon store (sorry everyone :) ) Jordan's sister Jenna told us how to make our own flower bows and I got a great idea for a bow holder while I was there. It was awesome! I started to get a little bit crafty during the "nesting" phase of my pregnancy which resulted in my very first sewing project - Maddie's boppy pillow. The ribbon store inspired me even more! I've now made lots more flower bows and had Jenna get me more stuff to make another bow holder since the first one is already full! I also have some more great ideas for other kinds of bows, binky clips, tag toys and lots more! I told Jordan that I'm going to need a craft room when we finally have a house ... he just rolled his eyes :) But I'm very excited about my new-found craft gene!

Enjoy the pics!

 Mason and Brynli playing with Maddie's playmat ... at least someone is enjoying it!

 All together at last!

Uh-oh, that arm looks pretty tempting ...

 It's all fun and games until someone gets bit

The three babes (one of whom is still working on sitting up :) )

 I don't even have a caption for this picture; her expression is just priceless!

At least Mason is trying to kiss and make up! This picture is so funny to me - a perfect representation of what we have to look forward to when they all get together!