Peach Pickin' at Schnepf Farms!

One of the best highlights about living out here in Queen Creek is our proximity to Schnepf Farms (think a 1950's pre-amusement park version of Knott's Berry Farm), especially during late Spring/early Summer, because that is when their peach trees start weighing down under the weight of the juiciest peaches ever and we get to go enjoy a morning picking our own peaches to take home and create various culinary delights.

So, Saturday we decided to go pick our annual peaches with the Roses, but when we got there, the place was PACKED. That's when we realized that it wasn't just pick-your-own peaches time, it was their annual Peach Festival, complete with hay rides to the peach orchards, a petting zoo, fun vendors, and yummy samples. Although the cost was $2.00 per person to get in (we hadn't planned on spending any admissions fees to pick our peaches), we decided to make a full morning of it and had a blast. Two hours later, with sticky faces and fingers and borderline sunburns, we left the farm with a huge box of delicious hand-picked peaches that later became an amazingly tasty peach cobbler that we shared with the Roses and Howards Sunday night.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!!

The end of April brought our last great event for the month--Sarah's 3rd Birthday! Sarah LOVES her birthday and couldn't wait to have a real birthday party this year, so we threw Sarah her very own Princess Party. Sarah invited 8 little girls (two came a little late, so they weren't in the pic above), who all came dressed up as their favorite princess. Not to be excluded, Aaron came dressed as a knight and I came dressed as the Queen, of course. We had a perfectly girly-girl party with princess games and crown-decorating and a flower-shaped pinata. Sarah specifically requested chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting, so I made sure she got them. All the girls got to leave with goody-bags filled with princess jewelery and their loot from the pinata. There were so many cute pictures I decided to post a slide show along with a few pics here. Overall, the party was a HUGE success and all the girls (myself included) had a great time. Sarah is still wondering why it's taking so long for her birthday to come around again!

Oh, and a little note to go along with my super-big girl--Sarah also was potty-trained back in March! No more diapers for me!! Yes, that's two for two. Life sure is good! =)

Master Jon!

Congratulations, Jon!! On Friday, April 17, Jon officially graduated with his Masters in Educational Counseling from Ottawa University. It was an amazing graduation ceremony and even Dad Coombs, who was very hesitant about going to a non-BYU graduation ceremony since he expected it to be a raucous and irreverant affair, was very impressed with the wise words of wisdom proffered by their University President. I was especially affected by his comments that we should all strive for a life of significance, not just success. I actually left feeling very inspired by some of the insightful comments made that night.

Anyway, we were all very proud of Master Jon. We even made up a cheer--"S-M-R-T--you are smart!" Okay, so the rest of us don't have our Masters, yet. =) The Roses, Howards, Browns, and Mom and Dad Coombs all came to celebrate the occasion with us, making the event even more special. After the ceremony we headed to Claim Jumper, where Jon and I got to share our favorite dessert--the chocolate chip calzone. That's when we knew it was a true event!

I included the first picture below, even though you really can't see Jon (he's in it, though!), just to give you an idea of what the ceremony looked like. I still get teary every time I hear Pomp and Circumstance play!

Grandma and Grandpa at the Zoo

Mom and Dad Coombs came down from St. George to help celebrate Jon's graduation, so we decided to enjoy a day at the Phoenix Zoo with them while they were here! The kids LOVED being with their grandparents, and the weather was perfect for a fun trip to the zoo. Grandpa had a great time stopping at every snack stand he saw buying a new treat every 25 minutes--from sno cones to churros, our kids were quite happy during the trip. I think Grandma and Grandpa were quite happy, too, since being "on vacation" gave them a few more cheats from their normal uber-strict diet restrictions.

The only damper to the day was that we broke our beloved camera, so these were the last pics with our old camera. In fact, the last pic I posted (the really dark one) was the very last picture our camera ever took. Word to the wise--be VERY careful when handing your camera to someone else, especially when the camera is on. Open lenses are not very forgiving when dropped on hard cement. (Don't worry, we have since that time replaced our camera, so the pics will still keep coming!)

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter! I know it's already May, but I'm just trying to catch you all up on some of the exciting things that happened in April. It was a very busy month for us, but lots and lots of fun. Easter was a great this year--it was the first year our kids actually received a visit from the Easter Bunny, although I have to admit, I'm not sure I approve of all the treats he bought. I've often wondered if the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy have any kind of shady deals worked out for getting the kids teeth to fall out faster. Hmmm....

Anyway, we all had a wonderful time dying Easter eggs, having a wonderful Easter dinner with the Roses (man, we know how to plan a good meal!), and having a great Easter Egg Hunt and dessert at the Howard's home. We certainly love holidays!