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.

IT'S OFFICIAL

Congratulations to Jenny and Tanner. So now that Tanner will officially be a part of our family he gets to be blogged. So here's to you Tanner and Jenny. Jenny is one of my favorite people. I remember when you were just a little baby smiling at yourself for hours in the mirror. Here you are all grown up and ENGAGED! How exciting!!! We had a good feeling about Tanner from the very beginning. He is nice, considerate and treats Jenny like a princess. This will be a wonderful time in your life. We love you very much

Up Up and away

Jocie and Mason are off on an adventure. They flew to Arizona on Saturday. They are so grown up now! They are the funnest coolest kids ever. The house is usually full of kids, noise, otter pops, trampoline jumping, and laughing. I love it and miss it when you don't hear it.Everyone is telling us to go do something but all I want to do is paint, clean and work on the computer.

Dance Party USA

So this week has been so fun! The kids have had a lot of fun activities. Our house is full of kids all day and we love it! Jocie and some of her friends wanted to audition for a dance team. So after we got the music and the dance we got straight to work. We moved out the furniture and turned the family room into a dance hall. Over and over again we listened to the same two songs. "This is My Now" and "Misses Glass". I couldn't get these songs out of my head. The girls asked me to "Boot Camp" them. We talked about everything from facial expressions to jazz hands. It made me think about all of the cheesey chearleader things from long ago. So the good news is they all made it. Jocie on the Diva Ellites, McKennah on the Encores and Taylor on the Divines. It was so fun to be the team mom for the week. I loved it!

4th of July

Every year we get together with friends and family and have our firework derby. It is a really fun time. Everyone makes cars with fireworks on them to see which car goes the furthest and the fastest. I think the men enjoy it because they can blow something up. So this year Sterling built his best car yest. This car had hundreds of fireworks on it. He spent time painting it, cutting, arranging, making it just right. He made one for Mason as well. It is so funny to see how excited these guys get. I did not get the "cool wife" award this year! We had previously bought tickets to the Stadium of Fire so I insisted since it is a family occasion that we go. So next year I owe Sterling big time. He can make a car as big as a tank. He sat through Miley Cyrus and the Blue Man Group. Good Man! When all was said and done I think the boys had a good time. We got a phone call that Mason's car took first place. He was so excited!So here are the pictures of Sterling and Mason building and constructing the coolest firework cars.

ok don't laugh

So as I was searching and I mean searching online for some pictures of these exciting places this is all I could come up with. Some dude on a bike riding through Muddy Gap. LOL! Also, I was wrong. Maybe I was on the other side of town because I didn't notice a stop light. Yes, Muddy Gap has a stop light. Don't get me wrong... I really enjoyed myself. It was great singing to the songs I actually wanted to listen to. Driving and just being alone. It was nice, but lonely. So this gives you a visual of the exciting town of Muddy Gap.