Marvelous Murrays

Mt. Lemmon

2012-05-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we took a drive to Mt. Lemmon to get a break from the heat of the desert. It is the only really green area around. We enjoyed seeing all of the evergreen trees, the smell of "green", and the water. It was a wonderful little get away and we felt quite rejuvenated after a day up on the mountain.

We played for a long time at Rose Canyon Lake. Jordan loved throwing rocks and sticks into the lake. We walked in the woods that were around the lake and enjoyed the peaceful scenery. It was so nice to be in a place that felt familiar.

We had a nice picnic under a pavilion and then played at the lake so more... by request of Jordan. Then when Jordan ran out of energy we headed back home.

It was a fun little day trip that we will have to do again sometime. In my opinion, out in the woods is the best place to be.

BYU Graduation 2012

2012-05-01T22:19:00.003-07:00

We made a special trip to Provo for Preston's official graduation of his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering. It was so wonderful to be back in Provo. That college town will always hold a special place in our hearts because of all the memories made there. We had a great visit with family and friends while there. It was a time of celebration, reflection, and fun.

My brother Bart also graduated with his degree in Manufacturing Engineering. I am so glad we were able to be there to support and cheer him on for his great accomplishment. Way to go bro!

It was amazing! All 7 of the Webb siblings were able to be in Provo. This is a very rare event. So we took the opportunity to get lots of family pictures. It was so wonderful to be with everyone. I'm sure my Mom loved having all her kids together the most. What a great time. :)

While in Provo we got to get together with some of our good friends. My childhood friend Michelle graduated with her masters in Social Work. Way to go Vanilla! We also got to have lunch with our friend Kevin. Preston's friend Bryce from capstone and through their masters degrees was also there graduating. It was great to be able to congratulate all of these friends and the great things they've accomplished. We wish we could have seen all of our wonderful friends from Provo.

We spent some time up north in West Point with Preston's parents. Jordan had a blast with grandma and grandpa's mini farm! He got to see chickens, horses, a cat, and a dog. What could be more exciting for a toddler? I know... a ride on grandpa's lawn mower and horse! He was in heaven. We had a fantastic trip and are so grateful for the amazing college experience we had at BYU.

Exciting News!

2012-04-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, you guessed it by the picture! WE ARE EXPECTING! The due date is October 25th! We are excited for this new member of our family to arrive. What an amazing miracle pregnancy is. We feel so blessed.

Here is a picture of Jordan wearing his "Big Brother" t-shirt. We know he's going to be a great big brother. We think it'll be so fun for him to have a little buddy to play with. Exciting times! Make your guesses for what you think we're going to have. We'll find out in June.

Our 5th Anniversary!

2012-04-17T21:24:00.003-07:00

On April 12th Preston and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! It has been a wonderful 5 years filled with lots of good times, change, teamwork, laughs, growth, support, and love. During these 5 years we have lived in Idaho, Washington, Utah, and now Arizona. We have both graduated from college with our bachelors and Preston with his masters. We have had our sweet little boy Jordan join our family.

An eternal marriage is wonderful and brings so much peace into our lives. I am so grateful to be sealed/married to my best friend for eternity. We are living happily ever after...

Easter 2012

2012-04-13T20:42:00.005-07:00

We had a lot of fun this Easter. Jordan had his first try at Easter egg coloring. He did a great job and went the extra mile to also color his hands. We have so much fun watching Jordan experience and discover new things. I absolutely love his big smile in this picture. He is having such a blast getting messy.

Enjoy this video of Jordan coloring eggs with his Dad. Jordan brings a lot of laughter into our home. He is such a bright part of our lives.

Rocket Science

2012-04-03T13:35:00.004-07:00

A couple of Saturday's ago we headed to a rocket show in a near by town. It was the ultimate boy scout experience! Kids, adults, and everyone in between went to this rocket show to fire off their own rocket that they had made or to just watch. I loved what this sign said, "Yeah... It's rocket science." Super funny.

Here is Preston trying to show Jordan where the rockets went after they fired off. It took him a little while to catch on to what people were doing. He liked the rockets, until there were some loud ones... then he said, "home... home."

Here is a picture of just a third of one of the hard core rockets that were at the show. This one was huge! Too bad Jordan wanted to head out.. it would have been neat to see these big ones go off. Maybe we'll come back next year and see what he thinks about the rockets when he's a little older.

Here is Preston and Jordan next to a big Crayola Crayon rocket. It was so big! I wonder what was put in this rocket to get it off the ground? Preston is sooo excited to build a rocket with Jordan someday. This day at the rocket show he was already starting to plan what they could make. I agree, it'll be really fun watching my two guys making things together.

St. Patrick's Day

2012-03-26T15:37:00.003-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We began our St. Patrick's Day by having a very green breakfast. We made green pancakes, green scrambled eggs, and green orange juice. Jordan really enjoyed putting the dye into the food and watching it swirl until everything was completely green.

Everything tasted the same but the color did mess with our minds a little. I didn't look at the juice while I drank it so that it would taste the same. Funny how our minds work. Jordan thought the green pancakes were delicious. Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day this year!

Exploring AZ

2012-03-18T14:23:00.004-07:00

We had some fun exploring our new area lately. We checked out a place called the Biosphere 2. It's a big science experiment on plant life and habitat. It is run by the University of Arizona. We had fun checking out the place. I enjoyed seeing all the green plant life.

Jordan got tired of the tour by the end. Next time we go he will be much older, when he can appreciate all that is there. He did have fun seeing the fish and climbing on whatever he could.

We went to a park not far away from our home. It's called Honeybee Park and it's a fun little walk that leads to some really neat Indian petroglyphs. The trail was all sand and Jordan liked when we stopped to do some digging. It is fun to see what is around here in Arizona.

Little Talker

2012-03-02T12:31:00.003-08:00

Here is Jordan showing off his talking skills. He is saying everything and anything now, though we can't always tell what he means. It is so fun to communicate with him beyond pointing and guessing what he wants. He is even beginning to put two words together. Our little boy is growing up and learning so fast. We love our Jordan! xoxo

Snow in AZ

2012-02-23T12:45:00.005-08:00

On Valentines Day we had an amazing weather phenomenon occur... it snowed! I didn't know that this could happen in Arizona, not being up in the mountains that is. It was really a fun surprise! Jordan and I had fun looking at it.

Snow will always have a kind of magical element for me. It totally changes your surroundings and makes you feel like you are somewhere special. Though the snow didn't stick to the ground, it was still an exciting event for us here in the desert.

Here is a fun video to prove that it really did snow. Enjoy hearing Jordan and his cute talking skills!

Laughs

2012-02-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Here is Jordan showing off how cute he is. I love how he laughs in these videos. He always knows how to make use smile. We love our little boy! :)

Best Birthday Present Ever!

2012-02-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year I received the best present ever! A PIANO! I have wanted to play the piano for years and now that we are not poor college students we looked around for one. We found one on Craigslist for an amazing prize and in good condition. We jumped on the opportunity and now we are the proud owners of a beautiful piano!

There is a woman in our ward that has said she would be my teacher. I am excited to begin learning how to play this beautiful instrument. We feel very blessed at how it all came together... from the quick find, to the low price, to the close distance, and having people in our ward willing to help us get it to our place.

I am so excited to have another source of music in our home. Growing up I loved having piano music playing often. It invites the spirit in a way that CD's can't. We'll see how my first piano lessons go. Wish me luck! :)

The Zoo

2012-01-30T20:33:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Jordan and I went to the Reid Park Zoo here in Tuscon. Jordan had never been to a zoo before and we had a great time. We went with our friends Rachel and her boys. We had an awesome time!

Here is a cute picture of Rachel and her boys on a train ride.

This was amazing to me... the zoo had peacocks all over the place. They weren't even fenced in! Here are some just hanging out in a tree. They are such beautiful birds, it was really neat to see them so close.

Here are some fun pictures of Jordan exploring the zoo. He was really hesitant at first and then as you can see I had to keep up with him. It is so fun to see him learning and experiencing new things.

We saw so many amazing animals while at the park! The unique thing for me was the animals were all outside! I've never lived in an area that was hot enough all year round that could have African animals outside all the time. It was really amazing... it felt like we were among them, not just looking at them.

We had a great time at the zoo. We'll definitely be going again sometime.

Sabino Canyon Park

2012-01-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

We were invited last Saturday to go to Sabino Canyon Park with our friends the Buck's. They have been great informers about the area here. We had a great time checking out the new and very different scenery.

Here is the landscape of the area. Lots and lots of cactus. This will take us some getting used to.

Here's a picture of Preston and Jordan with our new friends the Buck's. They have been the best new friends ever! They helped us find our house here, invited us to do things with them, and have been so welcoming to us in every way. We are so grateful for their friendship here in Oro Valley.

Jordan and his new friends Kyai and Cirdan throwing rocks in the river. Kids can be entertained by this all day if you let them. Fun times.

Did I ever mention that Jordan loves water? We were throwing rocks in the river and he decided he needed a better look and walked right in. Dad stopped him from going any further.

Splish splash... we turn around and where's Jordan? IN THE RIVER! He decided standing on the side wasn't fun enough. When we turned our heads for a second he just walked right into the river, tipped over, and got soaked! Here's a picture of him in a blanket our friends just happened to have. We gotta keep a close eye on this one.

When Jordan was warmed up, he was back to throwing rocks in the river. Nothing can phase this kid from his love of rocks and water. Unfortunately we didn't bring an extra change of clothes. So here's our little boy in a diaper, jacket, and shoes. He wasn't even bothered that his shoes were still wet. That's our silly little guy. We are having fun times here in Arizona.

Our home in Oro Valley

2012-01-23T10:45:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of our home we are renting here in Oro Valley, Arizona. We really enjoy the area and the people are very friendly. There is even a little playground area just up the street. Our ward here is wonderful and we are getting to know the area as time goes on. We feel very blessed to be here and are making the best of this new adventure in our lives.

Here is the inside of our home. It's got a huge kitchen which I think is awesome! We have a nice living room that we still have decorating plans for. There is an office room for all of our projects and organizing space. Our bedroom is much larger then in our last place and it has a bathroom connected to it, plus a walk in closet!

Here are pictures of Jordan's favorite play areas around the house. He's got his own big bedroom. He can actually climb up on the chair by himself now and as you can see he loves books. Being a former elementary teacher I think it's the cutest thing ever.

Jordan also enjoys the back yard full of rocks. That's how they do most back yards here in Arizona. It works great for a toddler. Jordan also has his own bathroom... no he's not potty trained yet, but he loves having bath time in the tub as often as possible.

Moving In

2012-01-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

Moving into our new place here in Oro Valley, Arizona. Boxes, boxes, and more boxes. It was good times getting the rooms put together and organized. We started with Jordan's room first so he wouldn't feel so much of the chaos that the house was in. He really loved having his crib and toys again after a two week vacation of sleeping in a pack n' play. He actually slept through the night again... yay!

Our home is put together now and we are enjoying it here in Arizona so far. We are getting to know the people, places, and keeping a good distance away from those "pok'ey" (as Jordan calls them... quick learner huh) cactus. The next blog posting will be of our home and the sights of Oro Valley.

Look at this cute little guy that we unpacked. Ok, not really.. but he does look really cute in the suitcase. What a lucky find!

Here is Preston and Jordan. Jordan is hanging out with one scruffy looking guy.

After winter semester was over at BYU Preston decided to take the opportunity and not shave for as long as possible. He lasted about two weeks and this is what he looked like. Man, without that Honor Code he really let himself go. J/K

Christmas 2011

2012-01-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas we had the blessing of spending time with many friends and family. We were able to do some projects at home and have so much fun doing them. Christmas this year being on Sunday added an extra special spirit to the day. We so enjoyed being with friends and family for the holidays! We love you all and are so thankful for the impact you have on our hearts and lives.

Computer Kid

2011-12-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here is our computer kid. Jordan is such a smart little guy and he picks up on everything his parents do. I really think he'll know how to use a computer better than me someday. It's amazing how much he is learning. Enjoy the video!

Way to go Nick!

2011-12-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Nick for graduating last Friday with his Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education! You are going to be an awesome teacher and coach! Way to go!

We were so happy to be there to show you our love and support.

At the graduation ceremony Jordan was feeling like a big kid in his own seat.

Family supporting Nick on his great accomplishment. You earned it, you got it, and now you get to enjoy the rewards of all that work!

'Tis the season

2011-12-03T10:48:00.001-08:00

Ah, Temple Square... always a beautiful and uplifting place to be. We went as a fam to check out the lights. It's always amazing to me how many lights there are. When Jordan saw the temple his eyes went really wide. It's so fun to see him grow and learn about this big world.

All smiles at Temple Square... well Jordan's more like, "what are we doing?"

I love Christmas lights!

Jordan found the reflection pool. It didn't matter to him that the water was freezing. It's water... what else matters, right? It took some effort to get him away from it.

Ben and fam, us, Charlie, Bart, Ron, and Mom. It was quite the get together.

The Roylance Christmas Party was a blast! We saw family, had great food, and Jordan got to hit a pinata! What could be better?

Dad giving Jordan come coaching.

When the pinata exploded... Jordan was happy to find that he got candy. His facial expression totally says... "oooohhhh."

Here's Santa at our ward Christmas party. He looks so jolly and friendly.

But not to Jordan... he was TERRIFIED!!!

Still terrified... The picture is shaky because I was laughing so much.

Trauma over... he got a toy car from Santa.

Maybe he's not so bad after all. We'll see what he thinks of Santa next year.

Here's our cute little guy. He's on the "nice list" for sure. Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Make it a wonderful one filled with family, friends, and centered on our Saviors beautiful birth.

A very Murray Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T13:11:00.001-08:00

This year we had a very Murray Thanksgiving! We were up north in Ogden and had Thanksgiving held in a church gym. That tells you how many Murray's were there. The food was delicious and the company was outstanding!

All these folks are Murray's!

It was quite the get together.

Here's Jordan enjoying his juice after his meal of yams, turkey, and whatever else we could get into his mouth. He's starting to get picky about food... not fun.

After the food the guys participated in a crazy game of dodge ball! Everyone loved it! I am so grateful for family and especially for how families can be together forever. This is a special time for us as we are soaking in as much family as we can before we move to Arizona. We have been greatly blessed by our Heavenly Father in obtaining an education, having a job, having the church all around the world, our wonderful family, our marriage, and our sweet son to name a few. Let us always remember to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Job!

2011-11-23T20:41:00.001-08:00

Announcement!

We have accepted a job with Honeywell in Tuscon, Arizona!

We will be there by January. Preston starts work on the 9th. We feel so blessed by our Heavenly Father. Wish us well.

We are excited for this new adventure in our lives.

Dinosaurs go Rarrrr!

2011-11-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

Jordan has a new favorite toy. He's really into dinosaurs right now. He can even do the sound effects. We think it's the cutest thing ever. Enjoy and smile :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

I hope yours was a great one! Here are (left to right) Bart, Preston/Hillary/Jordan's, and Ron's creativity of making our jack-o-lanterns. I was impressed with all of them. Bart's was... can you guess??? Jack The Pumpkin King, ours was just a scary pumpkin and Ron's was so funny... it's a Taiwanese person. You can tell where he's been for the past two years? You can't see it in this dark picture but Ron's has a little hat on too.

Here we are showing Jordan how to carve a pumpkin. It's so fun to show our little guy new things.

Here's everyone working hard on their creations. It was really fun! We haven't all carved pumpkins together since we were little. Ah memories....

Jordan looking at the pumpkin like... "What are you doing dad?"

Here is Jordan and I at the ward Trunker Treat. He thought it was pretty strange. I can understand... he's never seen anything like it. Next year he'll probably get more excited.

Here's Jordan's cute costume. He's our little skeleton. P.S. it glows in the dark too!

Mommy and Jordan... Happy Halloween!

Here are some really impressive pumpkins from the Trunker Treat. Fun times.

Surprise!

2011-11-08T08:11:00.001-08:00

Charlie, Cara, Bart, and Preston all showed up late Thursday night to surprise Ron. Mom and I were trying to keep him up late enough to be able to see the gang. There was a ring from the door bell and we told Ron he had to answer it. He did and was happily surprised!

While in Washington we had a chance to do a lot of fun things. We watched a BYU football game at the Russell's house with Kira, Jason, and their little guy David.

We played a lot of Uno. Not sure how the Uno marathon got started but it brought a lot of laughs with it.

We went to the Webb's favorite park, Illahee and had fun times there. We actually saw tons of wildlife... or should I say marine life while we were there. It was all very different for Cara. We saw jellyfish, crabs, starfish, fish, seagulls, and I might be forgetting some. Here's Bart carefully handling a crab they caught.

Charlie and Cara having fun on the dock.

Jordan was having fun on the beach. It took some real effort to not let him run into the water. Here's Preston showing Jordan how to write his name in the sand. How cute!

Mommy and Jordan. This was the first time that Jordan has been to Washington. It was so fun to show him my favorite things about the Great Northwest and to show him where I grew up. True he won't remember it, but it was still fun.

Here's the fam walking on a trail at Illahee State Park. What fun times we all had together. Welcome home Ron! We love you!