Surpise Party in Phoenix

We went to Phoenix in July, the hottest time of year...crazy you say? Well, we felt lucky to be invited to our friend, Karl's, surprise 30th birthday party! We got to hang out with them for a few days & spend the fourth of July with them! I didn't utilize my camera as well as I should have, so I have a plethora of swimming & trampoline pictures!!

We went to this place called Jumpstreet, that, as you can see, had these over-sized trampolines to trounce around on. Does anyone see any broken bones or lawsuits in the future? Karl & Kevin also enjoyed some time on the massive tramps. I tried it, but there's something about jumping up & down while you're 7 months pregnant that isn't very comfortable & seems really awkward!

As it turned out, Marley & Charlie wanted to ride this mechanical boat more than jump. It had some weird magical appeal because they did NOT want to get off, even after riding it 3 or 4 times!

Mr. Ezra is just too cute for words! He is such a fun little baby & I really enjoyed getting to hold & play with him! What a sweetie! Fortunately, Marley was really nice & gentle with him. Hopefully that's a sign that that's how she will treat her little sister!!

Just in case you thought I might be exaggerating about how hot it really was in Phoenix, this is a picture of the rental car's temperature gage one day! 118 degrees! Whooee baby! I remember it being hot when I lived there but I loved it so much I think I pushed how hot it really was to the back of my mind!

Marley had so much fun in Charlie's back yard & always wanted to play on the play set & trampoline. I feel bad...since we live on a hill, having stuff like this in our backyard is a little difficult!

Their pool was a FANTASTIC break from the heat! Marley had such a wonderful time & was always wanting to go out & swim. She wasn't nearly as daring as Charlie in the pool, but she tried!

I love these kissy photos of Charlie & Marley!

I got so caught up in helping Chantae with her surprise birthday party for Karl that, sadly, these are the only pictures I managed to get of his 30th birthday. Our visit to Phoenix was supposed to be a surprise, but I think someone accidentally spilled the beans that we were coming & so that surprised was lost. But I think us coming down threw him off the trail of his surprise party because he was genuinely surprised that everyone was at his house waiting to wish him a happy 30th!

Charlie is so adorable & I love how she's trying to spray whip cream into Chantae mouth. Marley was a bit of a party pooper & refused to let us spray whip cream into her mouth.

Instead of battling all the crowds to watch fireworks, we decided to celebrate the 4th of July with some night swimming!!

We had (and always do) such a fabulous time visiting Phoenix & hope that we can go again soon!! Thanks so much Coopers!

Lil' Devil

We were cleaning out the backroom to get it ready for the new baby & Marley came across some costume things we had in their & decided to dress up!

A BBQ in the canyon

We have a pass for Mill Creek canyon and wanted to use it for more than a decoration on our rear-view mirror, so we got my siblings together for a picnic/barbecue!

Marley & Seth

Seth, Jono, & Tina

Marley is such a goof! I cannot get her to smile without her pulling a really phony smile where she says "cheese" through strained teeth!

Even though she was a bit fearful of it, Marley was really curious about the stream running through our picnic area.

Kevin got Marley a fold out chair that she absolutely loves. She always wants to sit in her "hippo" chair & gets really excited when we get it out!

Marley has been really into smelling things lately, especially flowers. She was sniffing a flower in our yard & got pollen all over her face...I guess she got too close!

Our neighbors let Jono sit in their Lamborghini & then took Kevin for a ride in it...they can't spend $100 on paint for the front of their house, but they can buy a $250,000 vehicle...really?!

Retirement Luau Partay!!

My mother retired from teaching with Alpine School District after 33 years...which meant retirement party to celebrate!!! It took several weeks of planning and coordinating: getting a list of guests, ordering the food & decorations, acquiring past school photos, and planning away to get the guest of honor to come...doing this all without her knowing because we wanted it to be a surprise!! Even though the day of the party was a time-crunch, everything came together and went smoothly! I could not have done this with out Kevin, Tina, Jono, Seth, & Alece! They did so much to help me and were so willing to put forth effort! A huge thanks to them is in order!!!!


Tina, Jono, & Alece were so much help in the food prep!!


Tina made her wonderfully delicious coconut cream cake!! People were asking her for her recipe!


After I about had an anxiety attack over whether or not we'd get the food prepped & the decorations up, we managed to get it together in time!


Everyone is waiting for the retiree to arrive and for the big surprise!


In order to get my mother to the church, Seth asked her if she'd come watch him shoot hoops and/or walk in the gym with my dad. When she came through the door, she was in utter shock and was so touched that all those who attended came to wish her well! Later my mom thought it was weird that my dad agreed to come to the church because exercise is so NOT his thing and was grateful she decided not to change in to sweats & put her hair up in curlers to come to the gym with Seth. As she thought about it more, pieces of the puzzles fell into place: why Alece (who does NOT cook) asked for a rice cooker & crock pot so she could make 'dinner with her roommates' or why I kept asking to look through old photographs so I could post them on Facebook.


She was so happy to see all the teachers/principals that she currently worked with or had worked with in the past! Some she hadn't seen in YEARS! Mr. Jensen was the first principal she had worked with over 30 years ago!


Several friends and neighbors were also able to attend.


Kevin has a co-worker that managed to score a Parrot Ice machine & was kind enough to let us borrow it (as you can see in the bottom right picture). The self-serve slushees were a complete hit!


My mother thoroughly enjoyed going around to chat & catch up with everyone.


Marley thoroughly enjoyed the slushees...it's sad to say but I don't even know how many she had to drink that night! We also found her sitting at a table with those who were strangers to her, just hanging out eating treats!

I coerced my brother, Jono, to get up and say a few things I had written about my mom:

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming to celebrate this landmark event in my mother's life! Born in Japan, Orimi Ackroyd came over to the United States when she was just six months old. She

spent her younger years growing up in Montana, but moved to Utah where she received her undergraduate degree in education from Brigham Young University. She has been married to her husband, Doug, for thirty-one years, and has four children, two boys, Jonathan & Seth, and two girls, Alece & Kimbra. Her first grandchild just turned 2 years old in March, She also had the opportunity to have each one of her children as a student in her class (Alece for 3rd & 4th grade). Teaching has been apart of her life for nearly 33 years. Orimi started her career teaching in Draper, in the Jordan School District, as a first grade teacher for the first two years. She spent 13 years teaching third grade, and nearly 15 years teaching fourth grade. Although she has also taught sixth grade, student taught fifth grade, and has been a substitute for second grade, she is partial to fourth graders. She find the age level and characteristics of the fourth graders satisfying, and "enjoys presenting and talking to the kids, and [being able] to prepare lessons". She also enjoys running into former students and being able to see what they have done with their lives. In fact, two of her former students came back to visit her with the news that they both had achieved perfect scores on their ACT tests!! While teaching full-time, she managed to earn her Master's Equivalent in Education, plus the highest amount of hours you can receive in education through the Alpine School District. She has always worked hard though out her life, which carries over into her work as a teacher. Her future plans include volunteer work, taking lessons & classes in things that she is interested in, but never had time to try, doing a deep clean of her house, traveling, and spending more time with family, including her favorite pet Bischon, Shandon."

I want to congratulate my mother on all her accomplishments and wish her the very, very best in retirement!!

Bitter Sweet

I was attempting to turn my blog into a book, which required me to look back at past photos. It's been quite sometime since I have done that. The pictures really took me by surprise when I realized how much Marley really has changed since she first came into our lives. I have mixed feelings...I'm so grateful she's growing & happy & healthy, but at the same time, my heart aches for the time when she was a tiny little infant. I'm sure anyone who's a mother has these same feelings but I'm truly happy that I'm able to spend all the time with her that I do! I try to spend as much time with her as possible knowing that these days of her childhood are short & will pass quickly! I love you my sweet baby girl!!!

These boots are made for walkin

Marley is always wanting to wear my shoes & when I got these boots out she kept pestering me to help her put them on. She tried to walk in them, but found it difficult & finally took them off!

Let's Swing

Sadly, most of our yard is down hill so we don't have much room for a swing set. However. we have this tree in the backyard that's perfect for a swing. When Marley first tried the swing out, she was a bit wary & held on to the swing with a white-knuckle grip & wouldn't let her hands go! But now she is always asking to go out & swing...she could be out there for hours!

Splish Splash

Our neighbors had a pool party in their fantastically WARM pool to kick off the summer season. Marley was so excited! She loves swimming or playing in the pool, rather, since she hasn't quite got actual swimming down yet.

Porter & Mack are so cute! Porter has absolutely NO FEAR! He was being tossed around the pool and couldn't be happier!

I love this picture of Mack & his little hoodie. I especially love this picture of Maren! So attractive!

Putt-Putt Golf

It was Marley's first time at miniature golf. At first she was really excited to have a golf ball & golf club, but then she found it more fun to try & touch the water features!

I felt really bad for the people behind us...Marley really slowed us down because she wanted to play around at each hole instead of golf.

The fun in golfing for Marley isn't being able to golf, but to find rock! She kept picking up rocks and wanted to keep them all!

If you look carefully at the score card you will see that the person who won got 48...only four over par...hmmm...could it be me? Boo-yah!!

The Color Red

Marley was downstairs being really quiet. When we went down to check it out, we found that she had pulled all of the red balls out of the ball pit. I was kind of surprised she knew they were red & managed not to get any other colors out besides red!

A Visit with Charlie

Karl, Chantae, Charlie & Ezra came up for a wedding so we got a chance to hang out with them for a day. It's always good to see them & wish that they would've stayed longer!


Charlie & Marley loved the playhouse. Charlie is potty training so she was sans pants in order to make any trips to the potty quick. Marley wanted to copy Charlie but only in not wearing pants. I'm still trying to convince her that potty training is a really good idea *sigh*


I am so surprised that Charlie actually got on the rocking horse. Most kids that come over are TERRIFIED of it & refuse to go near it!!


They obviously loved the ball pit! I love little Erza...he's so adorable!!!


Charlie was fascinated with the scooter & was actually pretty good at riding it even though she hadn't ever played with one before!

'A 10-Foot Wall'

Kevin's cousin plays basketball for the University of Utah and has been featured in the paper several times. I've had this picture forever, but kept forgetting to post it. Even though college basketball is over for this season, I wanted to post it because I think it's a great picture!