Welcome Back Kids

The summer was fun and very busy, but it is now time for school to begin once again. YIPPEE!!! All of the homework, after school activities, carpooling, and early morning are now in session. Jocie and Mason had a fun summer filled with friends, cousins, vacations, plane trips, swimming, and countless other fun things. Jocie is starting the 5Th grade, and Mason the 3rd. Have a great year kids :)

That darn wasp

Mason is a trooper. He has no fear of any bug he comes in contact with. The other day he got stung by a wasp on his eye. He never even came home and told me. I saw it that night several hours later. He said it was no big deal and kept on playing. When he woke up the next morning his eye was sealed shut. His eyelashes, which are about an inch long, were completely covered my his swollen eye. It got so swollen it started to spread to the other eye. Thanks to the herbal concoctions from my friend the swelling started to go down and he can finally open it.

Then and Now

Then

When Sterling and I were married we had some pictures taken at an old castle in Provo. It is so fun to have a picture of just the two of us then, and now a picture of our family. So many years later, standing in the same spot.

and Now

Poor Emerson

My little doggy Emerson is like a member of our family. He has the cutest personality of any dog. I dress this dog in the cutest clothes and treat him like a person. I know I spoil him because he has his own drawer in our dresser. My neighbor called tonight in a crying PANIC!!! So the neighbor ran over our dog. She was so sad. She was freaking out saying " OH NO! I RAN OVER ALYSSA'S DOG! ANY OTHER DOG BUT EMERSON, NOT EMERSON, SHE IS GOING TO KILL ME! My poor neighbor saw him in his little shirt laying on the ground crying, and bleeding. She called me right away so worried. I took him to the vet. He is limping, has a lot of road rash and some cuts and bruises. The vet says be probably has a fracture in his leg or hip. Poor Emerson. So sad.

Grant's Farewell

On Sunday we all got together to listen to Grant speak for his mission farewell. Grant is one of my sister Dottie's boys. His brother Robbie is also on a mission. He is serving in Mexico City and will be coming home in December. Grant was called to serve in Ukraine. He will be speaking the Russian language. Dottie and Mike have raised wonderful kids. We are proud of the decision that Grant and Robbie have both made to serve full time missions. They are great young men and we love them very much.

Family Picture Time

All Grown Up

This past weekend we had our good friend Karen take pictures of our family. She takes beautiful pictures especially of children. As I was looking through the pictures I came across some she had taken for us about two years ago. Since we look at our children everyday we don't recognize all of the changes that are happening. I can't believe how much our kids have grown and changed in such a short time. They are really growing into such wonderful little people. Thank you Karen for capturing beautiful moments of our children and family.

Jocie the Babysitter

Jocie and Mason asked me if their little cousin Gracie could come and spend the night. So no problem. She is almost two. How hard could this be. I guess I forgot how hard it is! Gracie slept for about 1 hour the whole night. She wasn't sad just wanted to play. Jocie was so funny because of some of the tings that she said not even realizing they were cute. So it was about 4 am. Still no sleep. Jocie had jumped on the trampoline with her, played games, cooked, watched a ton of Sesame Street, and much more. Jocie turns to me as Gracie is jumping and laughing on the couch... " MOM SERIOUSLY!!! Do babies sleep? " I will be passing off the babysitting badge for Jocie. She is a trooper.

Fun with Family

We have had a wonderful time this past few weeks with Sterling's family in town. Marty, Shannon and their girls came to stay with us. It is fun to have the kids play together and share that time. It was a nice break from the Pheonix heat for them. Our kids had been at there home for a week swimming everyday. While they were all here we got together with the whole family for some fun at Lagoon, BBQ's movies, and more. They brought their funny dog "Jack" to play with our dogs. It is fun listening to kids and how excited they get to go to Lagoon. To kids Lagoon is HUGE! We had a place to picnic and rest right next to the "BAT". Aliya, Brooklyn, Aspen and Brenden were tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides this year. They were so excited to ride this big rollercoaster. They bravely stood in line and got on. As their fear turned into joy laughter started. You could hear them the entire ride. Aliya asked me if I could be her partner. She lead the way and told me everything would be ok. "Don't worry Alyssa, I have been on this ride like one million times". As we sat down she told me to watch her the whole ride. So I did. I look over and she is holding her eyes open with her fingers. "Look Alyssa! I don't even be scared. I can keep my eyes open the whole time". As she is screaming at the top of her lungs. One of the big croud pleasers was the Rattle Snake Rapids. We thought we were just cruising along until we get to the waterfall. The boat slows down and in slow motion I am drenched under the waterfall. I was absolutly SOAKED! I was still wet when we got home. So here are some random pictures of our little mini family reunion. We are glad you came. We had a really fun time!

Boys and Bugs

If anyone knows me, they know that I am scared to death of bees. I think evey bee is going to sting me even if they are a mile away. So Mason and his friend Talin are big into catching bugs. They use every Tupperware container and glass jar we own. Mason has no fear. He went right up to a "Bumble" Bee. You know... those huge man eating bees that can barely fly because they are so big, and captured it in a jar. With the flower and all. Then he gets more jars and Tupperware and captures honey bees and wasps. My front porch is covered with bees, spiders, earwigs, ants, and all other creepy crawling things. Sterling does not have the heart to let the miserable creatures die so they are given air and then released. One less bee in my yard can only do good things for me. I have a very brave bee killing friend Stormi. She is my bee protector. She will grap any wasp or bee in mid flight and crush it to save me. She is so funny! So here is a Mason moment for us all. If you know Mason, you know that bugs and dirt are very important things in his life. I think it is so cute that I have no Tupperware or jars until the snow melts each year. Then I find all of the things Mason has created something with.