AZ or Bust!

We just got back from our trip to Auntie Jill's house. It was a week of fun, laughter, sleepless nights, and tons of memories. Here are just a few of the most memorable moments.

Parker dressed up as a Mexican wrestler, while unknowingly wearing the girls' Hannah Montana boots.




The Conference tent the kids built to listen to the Prophet like the people did during the time of King Benjamin. I called it the great and spacious building.



Oh, and just so I don't qualify as Mother of the Year again, this picturesque scene of the kids all sitting and listening lasted approximately 2.7 seconds. It was more of a conference chaos day with Jill and I shouting,"Sit down and listen to the Prophet!" LOL!

This is Spencie on the phone with Justin. He missed his daddy while we were gone and would blow kisses to him over the phone. It was so sweet!




We spent Monday at the Phoenix Zoo. Haylee and Parker posed by the gorilla statue they labeled as "Papa Tom."



The highlight of the zoo trip was feeding the giraffes. They have black tongues that are 18 inches long, rubbery, and rough like sand paper.







These pictures are of when Haylee got pooped on by a bird while posing for a photo op. It was awesome!







One afternoon, I caught Tyler reading to Spencer. It was so cute!



But check out Tyler when he saw that I had taken their picture. Classic!



On Tuesday, we took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum. Jill got us free passes through her library. It was awesome! Parker loved every minute of it!



The kids in front of the T-Rex.



Parker holding fossilized dino poop. We got to hold fossilized eggs, brains, toenails, teeth, horns, and skulls. The kids were in awe.



Spencer's favorite part was playing with the plastic dinosaurs. He liked to "Roar!"



My favorite part was panning for gold. Jill was calling me a "gold digger."




On Wednesday, we headed out to Gilbert to Mother Nature's Pumpkin Patch.




The boys got into a hay fight.



Tyler loved it! Anything Parker did, Tyler wanted to do too.







The 3 boys in their matching t-shirts from Grandma Vicki.



Check out these 2 nearly identical faces.



Parker and Haylee in the hay maze.



Thanks Jill and Mark for the wonderful trip! We love you!!!

Worth Every Penny

This was Parker's first year of playing flag football. He finally caught his first pass when he played his friend Derick's team, the Raiders. He was so excited!

On the Road Again

Our Accord hit the 100,000 mile mark in September. It has been a good car to us over the years. We purchased it a few weeks after we were married and it has been with us on all of our roadtrip and carpool adventures and it even brought both of our boys home from the hospital. Here's to another 100k!

Seafood? No See-Food!

We've created a monster! I will admit, it was hard not to laugh. Spencer thinks it is hilarious when he shows us the food he is chewing. It doesn't help that he has an audience (thank you Parker) to encourage him.

Scout Awards

Over the summer, Parker was able to earn quite a few of the belt loops, pins, and arrowheads for Cub Scouts. This is what he earned:

1 gold arrow
3 silver arrows

BB gun belt loop
Archery belt loop
Science belt loop
Marbles belt loop
Astronomy belt loop
Badminton belt loop
Flag football belt loop
Geology belt loop
Collecting belt loop
Heritage belt loop
Bicycling belt loop
Bowling belt loop
Swimming belt loop
Baseball belt loop and pin
Basketball belt loop and pin
Fishing belt loop and pin

Fun in the Sun

We spent yesterday at Twin Lakes Beach in Santa Cruz with 2 of our family friends, the Grays and the Moomeys. I made everyone a beach mix CD for the 2 hour ride to help us get excited for the beach. Driving over, I was a bit worried because it was overcast in Fremont and San Jose, but Justin assured me that if it was cloudy inland, it would be sunny on the coast. He was right (don't tell him I admitted that!) and we had a beautiful sun filled day at the beach. We've even got the sunburns to prove it! As soon as we got settled, a pod of dolphins swam by really close to the shore.



Parker was in the water immediately and Spencer didn't seem to mind it either.



Parker and Derick dug a big pit that they could hang out in.



My crazy husband swam clear out to the dingy.



Parker got into a sand fight with Derick and his dad, James.




Here are the results of the battle.




After a while in the water, Spencer was happy eating his lollie with Izzy and playing in the warm sand.



I got some girl time in the waves with Emma and Trisha. Despite my best efforts to cover up, I still got a little red. I wore Justin's goofy hat and was referred to as "Gilligan" all day long.




It was a beautiful day and the second year in a row that we've done this with the Gray's and Moomey's. I hope that this will be a tradition for us every year!

Must Love Dogs

The other day I bought Spencer a dog that barks and walks via remote. When we got home from the store, he quietly played with his dog while I put the clean dishes away. All of a sudden, I noticed it was too quiet and found him near the dog bowl. The dog water dish has recently become a favorite of Spencer's, so I immediately grabbed it from his hands. He screamed at me and pointed to his new dog. I realized he was getting the water dish to give to his new puppy! How smart is that! He was very happy when I handed it back and he was able to give it to the dog. A few minutes later, Spencer found one of Justin's Diet Mt. Dew cans in the recycling and shared that with the puppy too.