Heavenly Father has blessed with wonderful kids. I was little worried because I had to work 2 shifts back to back. I was worried about getting enough sleep to go back to work and also, what were my kids going to do while I slept. Leigh took charge and took the kids out to the movies then out to lunch. I woke up and they showed me these pictures. I guess they were fine without me.

4th of July: Visiting Montezuma

Today we needed to head up to Flagstaff, so we decided that on the way up, we would stop at a few sites that we always see. First stop: MONTEZUMA'S CASTLE

Ancient Puebloan dwellings in the cliff. When you see it in real life, its kind of curious because it is waaaaaaaaayy up in the cliffs. Makes you wonder how the ancient native Americans got up that high to build a home, or even why?

After walking around the site, we packed up the kids, stopped for a Sonic drink and headed to the next stop: Montezuma's Well

We spent a little more time at this site. I thought it would be a quick stop but it ended up being a little bit of hiking. Montezum'as well we learned is this water source in the middle of nowhere. 

We read that at the bottom of this water source were vents that water came through and entered into the water. Also, there are no fish in here, but THOUSANDS of leeches!!

It was fun exploring, but we were ready to go home and rest. It was fun spending time with each other. As we drove we talked about big road trips we want to take soon, exploring this wonderful country.

In the meantime, 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Tempe Wave Pool with our AZ Cousins

It's been years since we've been here, but we've decided to return. Before moving to Hawaii, we came here with our "AZ Cousins" and had a blast. 

Jace of course was not born at the time, so naturally we needed to make another trip here with the cousins (cause it's not the same without them) to make sure he felt included. I'm kind of kidding, but he had no complaints about being here.

Us moms had to capture the fun memory by taking a pool selfie. 

We had an awesome time. Even Aunty Sara and I grabbed a tube and rode the waves. The kids tried to flip us over, but weren't very successful. We helped them out in the end ; ) Because of schedules, we ended a little early, gave each other our hugs and good-byes. We'll be seeing them again real soon. 

Jonathon will be leaving soon for his missions in the Phillipines.

Another fun day to add to the "Sasaki Summer  of 2014".

Can You Tell What's Different?

I'll give you three chances to guess.

 . . . . . . No. She didn't get her haircut.


. . . . . . No. You can see that braces are still on.


. . . . . . What?! No glasses! Ding, ding, ding.  

This lovely lady got contacts today. Popped them in like a pro.

YW Camp 2014

This morning I dropped off both my girls for YW's camp. I'm left alone with all the boys! Have fun girls! Can't wait to hear all your stories.

Father's Day 2014

Father's Day has come again, and we were ready this year. I decided that I wanted the kids help with the preparations and really be a part of the celebrating their dad. Kara put together the cute tie-banner that read Happy Father's Day.
I think Dad was surprised when he came out in the morning and saw the banner.

Tonight's dinner request was Japanese food. We through in some Chinese for good measure. We prepared somen salad, tempura, ordered sushi, and picked up some egg rolls and noodles from the store. The food was great!

 I helped Micah and Jace make cards for their dad. This one was Jace's. It was cute. Inside, I wrote down the things that Jace wanted to tell dad.

After dinner Randy played "How Well Do You Know Your Father". The kids actually were actually able to answer I think all the questions. Good job kids! My favorite question was "What was the weirdest thing I ate on my mission?" A few of them raised their hands and said "Sheep Tongue!!!" LOL! I had forgotten about that.

We LOVE Randy and all that he does for our family. He's a great father and husband, worthy priesthood holder and loves us dearly.

Before we called it a night, we called Grandpa Ray to wish him a Happy Father's Day. It was a short chat, but we always LOVE talking with him. Grandpa always makes us smile and laugh. We miss him and hope we get to see him soon.

I did want to end this post with a few words of gratitude to my own father for all that he has done for me. He has always been such a great example to me. A lot of the life lessons I learned growing up were from him. I've had many private conversations with him about life while growing up. I wish he lived near me so that I could spoil him on Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day!!

Our First Prom!!

I say "our" because I felt very much involved with the preparations of this prom. In Surprise, the two stakes put on a "Mormon Prom". I'm so thankful that the leaders here felt that this fun event should be in an environment where the kids felt comfortable and able to have fun.

We had Ashley Hill helping with Leigh's hair, while Joanne Gundersen and Payton helped with the makeup.

 Randy and I needed to go pick up Leigh's date and another girl's date. Here's the story with Leigh's date. Aunty Sara had set her up with Riley. Leigh had never met this person. As soon as she found out who her date was gonna be, she immediately jumped on FB and instagram becoming the boy's friend online. The two of them have been texting each other, but up until this point, had never met each other.

He was gentlemen from what I heard, very polite and well-mannered. Leigh said the night had been so much fun!

Leigh had helped out Kadie (to the right of her), find a date as well. She had someone ask her yet and she and Riley set her up with Riley's friend. She was so happy that she was able to go.

Randy snapped some cute pictures of the kids before they headed out to eat.

This one was one of my favorites!

This shot was another favorite of mine.

After pictures, they drove off to Longhorn SteakHouse, then off to Prom at the Vistancia Country Club and then home. So glad that her first prom experience was nothing but fun!