Funny Comments

Max was crying because he couldn't play with something of Aidan's. I gave him a hug to comfort him and said it's ok. He said, "No, I'm cranky!"

Max leaned over and smelled my leg. He said, "Mom, you smell." A little embarassed I said, "I do? Do I smell good or bad?" Max said, "Mmmm good!"

We were putting together a bed for our foreign exchange student. Max lost his ball under it. He said, "My ball is under the bed. It really is. And I just can't get it. I really mean it." It was like he had to convince us there was no hope so we would help. Super funny.

Hair Cut Time

My little brother came over tonight and inspired me to do what I have been meaning to do for quite some time...cut Max's hair. I just want something simple that can grow until family pictures in September. It will also be nice for our family vacation next week. Not much maintenance. Here are some before and after, including both with the inspiring uncle.

Apricots!

I love my Mom. She has been so good to us. While we've been adjusting to our house and haven't gotten into a garden she is always giving us the excess of her garden. Then, today she gave us a bunch of apricots she picked from the neighbors. She did all the work and we get to reap the benefits! We are so excited. We made fruit leather that is drying as I type and now I am going to go make apricot jam to go with my strawberry jam I did in late spring. So yummy!!!

Ja Wohl!

I don't usually post on our blog but I have been super excited about this and thought I would share the news. I started going back to school in April and am into my third class. I found out in May that BYU was offering language tests that the University of Phoenix would accept as credit. The test was a pass/fail and was worth 16 credits. So I decided that it was worth the $30 to try and save thousands and see if I still knew german. To my surprise.......I PASSED! I was very excited and happy that it will move all of my school up about 6 months and that I start with my marketing classes sometime in Oct-Nov. of this year and should be done with my bachelor's degree next summer.

Our Little Rock Star

Here is our little Rock Star! He looks so cute with this strapped on. Also, here's a cute little video of him playing along.

Do you know your right from your left?

The other morning Max was putting on his socks. He grabbed one sock and held it up to his right foot and said this is my right sock. Then he said about the other foot, this is my left sock. I thought this was a fluke of some kind, but I have tested him several times since, asking him to point to his left or right foot and what do you know, he points to the correct foot every time! What the heck! I'm constantly amazed at what kids pick up on. Man, we have to really make sure we are good examples!

Memory

My friend Tracie had a fun idea.

Fun if you want to participate

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see all the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume your playing the game and I will come to your blog and leave one about you.

Thrillionaires

Saturday evening after the reunion we took Aidan and Andrew and went to see Uncle Jake in his improv show, Thrillionaires, at the Covey Arts Center. It was super funny. They do a straight play in the first half (funny) all made up as they go along. After intermission they do a musical all made up as they go along. They are all so talented. The boys had a great time. Andrew kept going to the bathroom so one of the actors mentioned him in his dialogue so Andrew was super excited and said, "It's like I was part of the show!" We would recommend anyone who likes improv to go. It is every Saturday night (and some Tuesdays) at the Covey Arts Center. They also have special celebrity guests sometimes. Check it out.

Family Reunion

Friday to Saturday of this week we went to my annual family reunion. The first thing we did was go swimming. Of course the boys all loved that. Then we went to the camp for all the other activities. It was a military theme, so we did a lot of activities following that. We had a dutch oven cook-off that was really tasty. After dinner we took down the flag and Andrew and my little brother were able to take it down and fold the flag. It was so neat. I will have to get a picture of this from my Mom. We had a little "USO tour" talent show where each family presented something. Then it was time for bed. The night was a little rough. It got colder than usual and Max woke up for a long time in the night. We did recover. The next morning we had a flag raising and breakfast. We all were given dog tags that had a sticker on them indicating our team. We then had games, relay races, etc. following the military team where we were competing in our teams. Aidan ended up on my team and Max on Shane's. Andrew was on a different team, but he didn't mind and still played hard. They were really fun games and Mine and Aidan's teams took 2nd while Max and Shane's team took 3rd. After the games we had lunch. They made sack lunches and wrote MRE on them to keep with the theme. Very creative. We had a good time. Here's some pics of us swimming.

The boys swimming in the water. Max is such a fish. He just goes under the water and tries to swim.

Max and Andrew waiting to go back in the water after a safety check. Aidan peeking out from the swim board during the safety check.

Museum Time

The other day I took the boys and my little sister and brother to the BYU Earth Science Museum. They had a great time. It is quite small, so we went around twice to make sure we didn't miss anything. Each of the kids wanted to take a turn taking a picture of me, so sorry about all of them.








The kids across the street at the cougar.






Me about to kiss the dinosaur and again with the 3 boys. I guess I didn't get the memo. All the kids wore blue shirts, which is very fitting for the BYU campus, but I wore my UVU shirt. Oops!




Aidan, My Sister, My Brother, Max, Andrew pointing to dinosaurs and all the kids pointing to their shoulder blades in front of the giant shoulder blade.
Aidan, Andrew, and Max with their heads up close and personal with the T-Rex.

My little brother, me and my little sister up close the T-Rex too.

Wahoo!

So tonight I tried a new chicken recipe and served it with a side of broccoli, which is not the boys' favorite veggie in the world. We have a rule that they have to taste the veggie at least once every time we eat it because they may find they like it. So Aidan tried the broccoli (which I cooked a little different this time). To my surprise, and his, he liked it! Finally! Then, we tried the new chicken dinner and Andrew said the following in a sensei kind of way, "You are very skilled...in the art of chicken." So funny! I just had to share the funny comment and the broccoli breakthrough!

Beastie Boys vs A 2 Year Old

Tonight we were playing Rock Band. It is more fun if the whole family can join in so we would turn off one of the instruments or mic and let Max "play" that while we played for points. He could rock out, but not make the game stop. We decided to go ahead and let him try one time on the mic singing the Beastie Boys' song "Sabotage". I don't know if I should say I have a musical prodigy or if I should say the Beastie Boys are paid WAY too much! Max scored 90% on the vocals for the song!

Family Home Evening

I had to work all day today because some people are out of town. Shane got to stay home with all the boys and they had a great day. When I got home they had family home evening all planned. Max got to lead us while we sang the songs. Aidan and Andrew had reading parts for the lesson. After FHE Andrew recorded Max shakin' his booty! I don't know who taught him this, but he does it all the time now, so we all play along.

Please excuse me in the background, I was super slouching with a pillow behind me and I look like 50 pounds heavier!

Another Fun Saturday

Today we got up and realized we had a whole day with nothing planned! Well, Max quickly took care of that. He told us he wanted to go to a Museum and see a snake! We decided that would work. We first went to R.C. Willey to get an idea of what table styles we both like so I can start looking for deals. They happened to have free hot dogs so we participated in that event! I have to admit, I love FREE stuff. I don't care what it is, it's awesome if it is free! After the hot dogs we went to the Bean Museum and walked around and watched their Reptile show. After we were done we went to the Creamery for some ice cream. Max was nicely worn out after everything and is now taking a nap.

Independence Day

Our Independence Day started kind of early. We were in charge this year for finding the spot for the parade. We were debating University Avenue and the side streets. We usually stay on the side streets, but they changed the rules this time so you couldn't sleep over night on the side streets, only University. Part of me was nervous about University because I wasn't sure I could sleep on the street with Max and have him actually sleep. That decision was made for us when there were NO spots left. We weren't sure how well they would enforce the side streets so we didn't want to sleep at our house and just drive down early in the morning and miss a spot, so we parked my Dad's motor home and slept in there. It worked for Max, and allowed me to get out every hour and see if people were putting things out for the parade. At about 4:15 a.m. the mad rush began and we got a GREAT spot! Now we know for next year if they are strict like this year we can sleep at home and just drive down early! The parade was so much better this year. They kept it at a good pace so there weren't big gaps. The floats were cool, even the ward floats were really well done this year. Here are some highlights. Again you will see some weird things I saw, just because they caught my eye. My favorite was all the veterans they had. I forgot my memory card, so I was limited on camera space so I didn't get any of that, but it was so cool.

Me with my painted face. Can you see the lack of sleep in me?

In a previous post about the Summerfest parade I mentioned a creepy guy that I didn't get a picture of. I got it this time! Apparently he is Andy from a new children's show made in Orem that is getting a lot of awards, so that is pretty cool. You can check him out here.

My little brother and Max showing how they caught water bottles. Max was a little mad in the photo because he didn't get a t-shirt like my brother. Not to worry, when UVU came by he danced for a t-shirt and got one.

This poor creepy blowup man/fire hydrant got too hot so they loaded him up and let him ride the rest of the way. Max liked the dog that came with the hydrant and loved that he got to go say hi to him.

Governor Huntsman was walking the parade route instead of going in his car. He stopped to say hi to my Dad and it reminded us all of past parades. You see, my Dad pretty much knows EVERYONE. We would go to parades and someone would see him and point and say, "Doyle!" So one year my sister wanted some attention and saw Governor Leavitt. She shouted, "Mike!" He looked over and saw her (and I think saw my Dad behind her) and she said, "Doyle's daughter." He brightened up and waved at her like, oh yeah, now I know who you are! Every year now, someone makes a similar comment to a political official. We've heard Doyle's daughter, Doyle's niece, etc.

The WalMart float had an issue with spelling. Besides the dropped N in Childrens, can you see anything wrong with this picture?

Max was super excited to see the BYU float go by! He even gave one of the basketball players high 5! He is definitely his Father's child!

After the parade we went home and relaxed a little before our annual barbecue. We had it at my parent's house this year with my cousins. It was yummy food and always good to see everyone. After the barbecue we did fireworks as a family. We had the option of going to The Stadium of Fire, but ultimately decided it would be more for Aidan and Andrew than for us and Max. We had seen The Blue Man Group before and Shane prefers to do his own fireworks. Aidan and Andrew were able to go with their Mom to the Stadium since they were with her for the holiday. We had GREAT fireworks this year! I was quite impressed with them.

One side note that was really funny! My Mom had paper plates for us to eat on and instead of a flag or something it was a plate with fireworks and a maple leaf! What the Canada!? She thought it was funny and she is on this Canada kick since her recent trip there. So, we had our Independence Day lunch on Canada Day plates! Go USA!

Ellis Island

Today we took the boys to the Ellis Island exhibit at SCERA Park for the Freedom Festival. They had more activities if you paid, but we didn't have much time so we opted for the free stuff. They had a ton of flags out. The flags were positioned in the shape of a star if seen from above. They also had old clothes to dress up in, which was quite entertaining. They had an information video and pictures/gallery. They also put on a little show. We didn't see all of that, but we did catch a little bit.

Some of the flags. I love when flags are all just lined up!
Aidan from far away in front of the Statue of Liberty and close up, so handsome.

Max from far away in front of the Statue of Liberty and close up, straight from Newsies!

Andrew from far away in front of the Statue of Liberty and close up, doesn't it look kind of like he's leaning on it? Too funny.

The three boys and then the three boys and Suzy.

Shane with all the boys. I love these pictures!