Growing Up

This morning Kevin headed outside to mow the lawn, as he does every week (yucky bermuda). Karter decided he needed to help, really he just stood and watched. He is growing up so fast!

August Equals Birthdays

Another birthday shout out to my little sister, Lara, who turns 17 today (we have 5 August birthdays in my family). It is so hard to believe that the youngest of us six kids is now a senior in high school. Lara is such a great aunt to Kimble, Karter, Parker, Dallin and McKay. She always has time to play when we come over and is willing to help them watch a movie or play a video game. Not only that, she will babysit whenever we need her, as long as she doesn't already have plans with great friends. Love ya!

(Kimble actually took this picture last summer on our annual camping trip together.)





(I totally forgot to say Happy Birthday to Amy, my sister-in-law, too. Sorry!)

Mission Birthday #1

My little brother, Karl, turned 20 years old on August 22nd. We are so sad that we couldn't celebrate with him (he's in Philly serving the Lord). We recently received an email from him, telling us what he did on his birthday, including a yummy meal at Chili's. That made us feel better, knowing that he still had a special day. Love ya Karl!

(We also miss him always having the latest released movies and games. So many memories of playing video games together.)

Karter's Cube

My Mother-in-law gave Karter this song cube for Christmas last year. He still loves to play with it and just recently started carrying it from room to room. He has gotten really good at flipping it from side to side, making sure to hear just enough of the song on each side to get a little dancing in (hilarious). His favorite song is 'Pop Goes the Weasel.' Thanks Sharon!

*Karter is dancing (a.k.a. bouncing up and down) in the picture on the left.

Tales From The Tub

Kimble has always loved bath time. Can you tell?

Warning

I am one of those people who likes to be busy. But since I rarely am, I spend a lot of time playing with pictures (thanks Heather). So, if you see our blog header change, many times, that is why. It is something to do, and I have fun doing it. That's all...

Playing in the Rain

We all know that rain in Arizona is a treat, so when we woke up this morning to find the rain pouring down outside we had some fun. Instead of waiting inside for the bus, I gave Kimble the umbrella, which is just about as big as she is, and headed out into the rain. By now it was just sprinkles, so she was not afraid to leave the comfort of the porch. Eventually, the umbrella got too hard for her to hold, so we huddled together. (Karter chose to stay on the porch.)

Fun Times

I made the kids day when we headed to the park this morning. The playground does not have a cover over it, so we have not been able to go this whole summer, bummer. Kimble and Karter were both so excited, they could not help but run to the playground. Kimble loved the slide and Karter loved the open space to run. I am glad that we went!

Kimble made sure to jump in every puddle.

Wacky Summer Days

We were so happy today when we heard that the high is only 99 degrees and cloudy. So, we took full advantage of the "cooler" weather and headed outside just after 8am. Plus, the clouds were way low on the Four Peaks (looks pretty cool). We'll probably go to the park later, but that will be another post.

So Proud

I was so proud of myself this morning and I have to tell you why. Usually, I take about as much time to do something with Kimble's hair as I do my own. Yesterday, while searching for craft blogs, I found the "She Does Hair" blog and wanted so badly to be able to do those neat tricks with my own daughter's hair. Although Kimble's hair-do is not as elaborate as one's on the blog, I still felt great that I tried. Just thought I would share.

Happy Birthday Steph!

My oldest sister (not implying that she is old), Stephanie, is actually the one who turned me on to blogging. She is a great sister and always there to help. I am so grateful for her. We share a deep love for The Office- the television series on NBC. I think that it is what we talk about the most... thanks for the memories. Love you!

Favorite Beach Pics

This summer we were so lucky to visit California and get some fun pictures. I was scrolling through them, as I often do, and found my favorites from the beach. They make me smile. I just had to share...

(I got to take most of the pictures this vacation, so I didn't get to be in many of them:)

Cactus Festival

Saturday morning we all headed down to Town Hall for the Cactus Festival. Kevin volunteered to help and ended up being put in the kid's room ( I chuckled a little when he told me too). They had hired a balloon artists, very popular, and found all kinds of games relating to cacti. They did a really good job and I was so proud of Kevin for sticking with it. Of course we brought our camera along. The lighting was horrible, so bear with me...

Kevin had great patience with this little boy who ended up being there the entire time.

Kimble got two balloons, a horse and a snake, and Karter got an airplane. The balloon artists was awesome, she could make just about anything!

This is Karter saying cheese. He says it as soon as he sees the camera now.

These lollipops were so cool and so big...

...Karter had to help Kimble finish it!

Bugs

Last night for mutual (I am a Laurel Advisor), we let one of our girls teach us how to make scorpions with wire. Although I really do not like bugs of any kind, it was fun and kind of cool. I have to admit, though, that I will NOT be duplicating this craft anytime soon.

Gaming Buddies

Sunday night, we had dinner at my parent's house to celebrate Dallin (nephew) and Stephanie's (sister) birthdays. Lately, the kids have been finished before any adults and so they kind of go crazy. So, they have been allowed to play the Nintendo64, particularly Pokemon. I found it so cute how they each lined up on the table, one right next to the other so that they could all battle each other.

Parker, Dallin and McKay

Meanwhile, Heather (sister) kept Kimble and Karter entertained with coloring books.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS

Today is Dallin's 5th birthday and we just had to celebrate. Parker had his 7th birthday just a couple weeks ago, so we didn't want to leave him out. Love you!

Firefighters in Training

Today we made the trip to Surprise for Landen's 4th birthday. Landen's mom, Julie, made arrangements for the kids to visit their local fire station. The entire way there, Kimble was so excited for the party, but as soon as we walked into the building she clammed up. This makes it really hard to get good pictures of her and to show just how happy she was. Great pictures or not, we had a fun time hanging out with four super nice fire fighters.

Karter was brave enough to try the hose. Kristi helped to knock down the cone.

This is the only way Kimble would wear her hat and keep it on.

Kimble figured out that the bumper of the fire truck worked just like a mirror.

Happy Birthday Landen!!

Messy, Messy

I am now convinced that Karter always has a dirty face. As I sat at the computer, looking at pictures I recently snapped of the kids, I came to this interesting conclusion. Is it just that he is a boy? Or am I not doing a good enough job keeping up with his messes? I don't remember Kimble having a dirty face in every picture I took of her. Really, it's not a bad thing. I just find it interesting. What do you think?

Old Friends, New Blogs

I recently started this blog after discovering that my high school friend Ann had one. I thought, if she can do it, so can I. Then, I found out that another high school friend had one too. It got me to thinking that maybe I could get all my friends from high school (there were not that many) to start blogs too. We have lost touch as we have gotten married or moved to Utah for school. So, if any of those high school friends read this blog, leave me a comment. I would be so happy to hear from you!

Back to Preschool!

Today Kimble went back to preschool... YAY!! I am pretty sure that I was happier than she was that it was the first day of school, but I know that she will have a great time and make a ton of new friends.

It looks like she will have the same bus drivers as last year. They are a couple of really nice women and make sure to welcome Kimble by name.

This is Kimble's bus... last year it was just a little one.

Karter did not feel the same when Kimble left on the school bus.

Story Time

Although Kevin can sometimes teach the kids silly things, I have to give him credit when it comes to reading stories. He reads to Kimble almost nightly and I know that she loves it. I am so happy when I see the two of them together and even more when it is a quiet activity.

Thank Heaven For Daddy

I am so happy that Dads are here to show children the wrong way to play with small toys. Last night, Kevin proceeded to teach Kimble that Mr. Potato Head could share his mouths. Kimble resisted at first, as I kept telling not to do it. But with more and more coaxing from Kevin, she started having fun with it. What would we do without our dads?

By Small and Simple Things

Yesterday morning, the kids found my shoebox of memories. It was on a shelf, in our closet, so how they found it and reached it is another story (I am thinking Kevin had something to do with it though). Anyway, they found Eeyore ears that I bought at Disneyland a long time ago. Kimble is still talking about our recent trip to Disneyland, among other theme parks, and could not get enough of them. So, of course, she found the Eeyore doll to go with it. I was so amazed by how happy a headband with ears and a tuft of fur made her. I also love how attached she has become to the baby sunglasses that she would never wear when she was actually a baby.

Potato

Remember playing with Mr. Potato Head? I sure do. Kimble pulled out the box today and had a great time coming up with all kinds of combinations. Since she is so into taking pictures lately, we just had to document this fun occasion.

I liked this creation the best.