Everyone??

I got these little bottles of Martinelli's sparkling apple cider on clearance and I thought the boys would love them. They didn't, which was fine with me, as that meant I got to drink it all. They did love the bottles, though, and used them as weapons, of course. When he first saw them, Jason said,"These kind of look like beer." Now, I'm pretty sure he's never seen any beer before, in his short lifetime. I said, "Beer? How do you know about beer? Did you see it on TV, or hear someone talk about it?" He said, "No. Everyone knows what beer is."

The Party of Parties

It had to be the best one ever because it's the only one he'll ever have. I really dislike doing friend parties, but I decided they can all have one when they turn eight. Eight. Can you believe I have an eight-year-old?!
The invitations were fun; Joey requested a pop-up card, so I got online and found a website that makes it really easy. Just copy, cut, glue and color, and they turned out really cute. He wanted a Darth Vader pinata, which if I bought it would probably have been 20 bucks, without the candy. So I decided I would make my own, which cost next to nothing. He LOVED it, but unfortunately it broke after only 4 kids. I thought the rest would be disappointed that they didn't get to hit it, but I guess they were too excited about the candy to care.

He wanted a Soundwave cake, which is a Transformer from the cartoon we watched when we were kids. He transforms into a tape player, and has some little tape transformers that go inside. I think none of the other kids knew what a tape player or tapes even are. These days the Soundwave Transformer is an MP3 player with little flash drives. Joey said it was really awesome. Good thing, since I was up till 3:00 in the morning making it.
They had a big water fight. This poor girl brought a huge water gun, and everybody ganged up on her. She was a good sport.

The treasure hunt was Joey's favorite part. At the end was a bunch of little dollar toys, one for each kid. Jason got a whoopee cushion. He said, "Know why I love this thing so much? Because it's orange and it makes a funny sound."

So the party was a success, and Joey was really happy with it. I haven't yet recovered (They're so exhausting!). Only 3 more years till Jasons . . .

Dinosaur Museum

They loved the sand thing, where they were supposed to dig for dinosaurs, but built a dam instead, and the little tunnel was fun, but the highlight of the trip was the smashed penny machine that made souvenirs.

Idaho

Last week we took a trip to my brother's house in Idaho, and spent some time with them, their 2 little boys, my mom and dad, brother Rob and his son Riley. Mike and Milissa have a great place for little boys, which is a good thing, since there were 6 of them.
We went to a great splash park in Rexburg, which Jason really enjoyed Tyler enjoyed the drier aspects of the splash park. Not a drop ever got on him. I don't know why I bothered to put a swimming suit on him. Too wimpy to ride a horse on the carousel Gage and Tyler going for a ride, complete with a gun on the hood
Riley, Gage and Tyler enjoying the little pool

There was also the ever-popular dirt pile, camp fire, trips to the park, plenty of cool bugs (They loved the huge moths, but Jason did NOT like the pine beetle crawling up his shirt toward his face. He SCREAMED), not very many baths, and plenty of Sponge Bob and junk food. What more could a little boy want?


Ever try to get 6 boys to sit still, look at you and smile all at the same time?

Cute little boys, and they had a great time together.

4th of July

We went to the hot air balloon race, which is quite the accomplishment for us since we had to be there at 7:00 AM and we are not morning people. I woke Jason up and went and got him some clothes. When I turned around he was back in bed asleep again. I woke him up and said "Don't you want to go see the balloons?" He said "Yes I do, just not right now" and put the blanket over his head.

We spent the day playing Settlers with Laura and Terrence (Jared won, for about the 50th time in a row), and enjoyed some yummy taco soup.

We went to the fireworks at our normal place, on campus, where we had reserved our spot early in the morning with a blanket. Their favorite things are the glow sticks, which of course turned into light sabers.
Joey likes the fireworks, but says their too loud, so always puts something over his ears.

Tyler was terrified. He kept crying and asking if we could go home, or inside. When I covered his ears he was OK.

Happy Birthday to the Best Sister in the World!

I always took it for granted that I had a sister until just a couple years ago. Laura came to visit and at church the lady teaching the lesson commented on how nice it was that my sister was there because she never had a sister and always wanted one. It hit me like a ton of bricks how lucky I was, and how different my life would be without my sister.
Things I remember and love about her:

• spending endless hours playing My Little Ponies and "Miniatures" in our closet
• hours and hours of Super Mario World when we were older
• eating ichiban and watching Inspector Gadget, Teddy Ruxpin and Care Bears everyday at lunchtime
• being bored together at Grandma West's house
• riding our bikes to The Store to buy candy
• taking swimming lessons together
• she was always explaining things to me, like the plot to complicated movies because I was often confused
• She made me breakfast in bed on my birthday when mom was at work
• sleepovers with friends or just eachother
• She is an amazing cook, and inspires me to make yummy things
• She is very kind-hearted and has always been a great exmple to me
• I couldn't ask for a better sister and I love her SO MUCH!! Happy Birthday, Laura!
  Dorky braces picture of me. She looks cute, though.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

We went and picked up the kids in Colorado and stayed for a few days. The kids had a great vacation from us. Joey asked again if he could live there forever. There's so much to do there, and they had a blast.
Jason torturing Grandma's cat Joey and uncle Jason roasting marshmallows

Joey giving Grandpa a haircut

Tyler eating smores one ingredient at a time, heavy on the chocolate

Tyler taking a nap under Grandma's sewing table