Boys and Their Toys

Hunter had Doyle over for the day and they sure had a blast!

 

Counsins make great friends! 

 

These two rode quads all day tearing up the trails outside of Pima. 

 

I love that they thought to take pictures during their adventures!  So fun raising boys!  They are always up to something fun! 

Rough Night

It was a rough night for Ella Jane, which in parent lanugauge means a bad night for us. Luckily Justin actually woke up and offered to help with Ella. Usually he can just sleep through everything. 

Ella started throwing up at 1:30 this morning and continued to throw up every hour till around noon. She was exhausted and so was her dad. I was able to sleep from 3-6 so I wasn't as exhausted. 

Good thinking on Ella's part wearing her pink rain boots!!  Hahaha.....actually not a bad idea when you think about it?!? 

 

I love that little kids think a bandaid makes everything feel better!  Poor Ella! Her belly bandaid made her tummy feel a little better she said! 

 

Even though I am way behind on school work this week and I really needed Ella to go to Amy's preschool so I could have time to work on things, I have enjoyed holding Ella!!  We have watched cartoons, I've rubbed her belly, and sang songs. 

I sure hope she gets better fast because I am suppose to be leaving for Gilbert tomorrow afternoon with the older 3 kids, who have a dance competition this weekend. 

I had to remind myself that it is okay to get behind in school, laundry, house work etc, as long as your family is happy, loved and cared for, the rest can wait. 

So many things are on the "waiting list" for today. I am just enjoying my day loving on my sweet Ella Jane! 

Nuts

Grant was the cutest little squirrel in his school musical performance tonight! 

 

I told Grant I wanted a picture of him before we left for his play and he said, "Follow me, I know the perfect spot!"

 

I followed him outside and sure enough he had thought of the perfect spot for a squirrel picture....in a big tree! 

 

I love the little musical performances DPA puts on!  They are perfect!  Each kid gets a speaking part, they are each in a special character song with hand gestures/dance, and there are a few songs from the whole group. One of the things that make it perfect is that it lasts about 30 minutes!!  Short and sweet and adorable! 

Such cute rain clouds!

 

Love all the sun costumes!

 

But the squirrels stole my heart ❤️ 

Grant did a great job on his rap song. 

 

Grant and his best buddy Rigdon Claridge! 

How cute are these two squirrels?!?  Ella of course needed to be in the picture too. 

After the performance Justin had to pick Kiersten and Hunter up from dance and hurry to mutual. So I took Logan, Grant, Ella and Rigdon to Denny's for dinner. While we were eating I get this text from my friend MiQuel McRae.  

 

Oh man what a typical boy that Grant is. What a nut!!!

This was a perfect play for Grant and these kindergarten thru second graders!  

Grant did a great job and apparently was the entertainment on that side of the stage. Wish I would have known what side he was going to be on because it sounds like he was funny. 

Sweet Peas

This lady behind the sweet peas is my hero!  I love her so much!!

 

She is known for her sweet pea flowers and takes bouquets of them to so many people each year!  

I am so grateful I get to call her Mom!  Someone told me just last week, "your mom is a true angel!"  And I agree she is. She is constantly serving people around her. I am often the recipient of her service as well. 

Don't know what I would do without her!

Love you Mom! 

Easter at the Dunes

We kind of invited ourselves to go camping with the Earp's for Easter. And boy are we glad we did...

Best. Picture. Of. The. Weekend. 

Kiersten thought this mud was all dried up. But looks like she did a good job burying Justin's quad....lol!

In her defense the mud was totally dry looking on top. You would have never known it was such thick mud underneath. 

But she will probably never live this down. 

 

 

Love me some pictures of my cute kids in helmets. That means we are having family fun!

 

So Terry is slightly in love with Ella!

Shaylan says after getting to know Ella Terry has tried to talk her into having another baby in hopes of having a girl. That really isn't an option since Shaylan can't have more kids if you know what I mean. 

So needless to say, Terry spoils Ella Jane! 

 

This is the face of fun right here!!

Love that the kids can do for little rides together and we don't have to follow them. The Earp's have this 170 RZR and all the kids were in heaven driving it!  We need to get out kids one of these again. The fuel injected kind, like this one.  

 

Just chillin at the top of the dunes. We sure love the Earp's! 

 

Logan is such a stud! Rides the 250 like a boss! 

 

Hunter kills it on the 450. He really is a great rider!  And Kiersten is getting good riding Justin's 700 quad. Man our kids are growing up fast!  Too fast for my taste. 

 

We brought Ryker Shupe with us for the weekend and he had a blast riding quads all day!  Love this boy!  He is like one of my own! 

 

Easter wouldn't be Easter without dying eggs!  Kids had fun. Pretty sure some of the adults joined in on the egg decorating fun! 

 

Ella's buddy Recker!

Love his dirty face! 

 

I love any time we are able to get away from regular life and make fun memories!

 

These two 3 year olds play so good together!  They love each other (most of the time) and it is so fun to watch them! 

Mr. Steal boy!

He is the cutest guy!  

 

The kids begged us to take them back to the mud hole Kiersten got stuck in so we figured why not. 

They had a blast taking a mud bath!

 

Hunter decided to do a face plant belly flop in the mud hole. It was hilarious! 

 

They really were all happy they just weren't happy about me taking their picture....lol! 

  

We knew this would happen. Terry is just a big kid so he couldn't resist!!

This isn't a staged picture. Terry really fell asleep as he got Recker and Ella to sleep. Cutest thing ever! 

 

 

We have quite the crew of riders!

It was a wonderful weekend! 

 

This picture is no joke legit. Ella hangs all over Terry and he loves it just as much as she does! 

 

These boys decided to try jumping off the sand bank. Then they decided their clothes were slowing them down.....bahahaha! And magically they all had blue underwear on...no joke, it was too funny! 

 

This is Hunter having a grant ole time!

We enjoyed our Easter weekend together with family and friends who feel like family! 

"Snapchat Worthy"

Hunter had a bad morning. Things just weren't going his way. I have to give him a break. We've made a new morning schedule the past two weeks. 

He lost his phone and needed to earn money to buy a new one. I have been wanting to get on a regular schedule and hit the gym in the mornings, without having to get up at 4:30 in the morning. I usually make it to the gym at some point in the day but often it was like 10:30 at night once Justin got home. So it was just too crazy. 

To help me and to help Hunter, we decided he could be in charge in the mornings. Help remind the boys to make their beds and he could make a warm breakfast for everyone. In turn I would pay him $2 a day to do that. This has allowed me to go to the gym from 5:45-7:00. 

It has been working out so nice!!

Hunter got an old phone to use but needed a case for it. Since I noticed he was having a bad morning when I got home from the gym, I decided I should check him out of school for lunch. We went and got lunch and picked him out a case. Then I had one errand to run. 

Hunter knows just how to get to me. As we walked in to Home Depot he said, "Mom please let me push you in a child cart. It would be awesome and Snapchat worthy!"

Who can say no to that. Hahaha!

Made Hunter happy ✔️

Made me laugh ✔️

Got a few funny looks✔️

Don't care ✔️

 

 

This kid is a stud!!!

Best Way to Start Your Morning!

I have to say this little lady just made my day!

As I was starting a load of laundry she asked me, "Mom will you be my best friend?"

 

"Of course I will!" Was my prompt reply! 

I love my Ella Jane!  She is so fun and makes life interesting!  I want her to stay little forever!  As I was putting her to bed last night, she asked me to rock her. Normally I tend to say "no but I can read you a book." Trying to establish bedtime routines and all. 

Since I had been gone all weekend I decided rocking Ella sounded perfect to me. And so I rocked her till she fell asleep. As I rocked her I thought, it is things like this that I am going to miss. I am really going to miss having little kids that want me to rock them!  

How Did I Get So Lucky?

Today Hunter had a track meet at U of A stadium. I was in Sedona having a girls weekend with Kiersten and wasn't able to go watch Hunter's meet. I asked him how the track meet went Saturday afternoon and this was his reply....

 

This is the best text a mother could receive!  Not only was Hunter, my 13 year old son, watching general conference at his track meet but he also beat his PR in the mile by 5 seconds. He was happy about that!! 

 

Hunter took notes on all sessions of conference. Seriously what did I do in the premortal life to deserve such great kids!?! I am so blessed to be their mother. I am learning so much from my kids example. 

The next day as I was getting ready to travel home from Sedona I get this text from Hunter....

What an awesome young man Hunter is!!  He may be small in stature but he is anything but small in spirit. Hunter is really paving the way for his two younger brothers to follow. I am grateful for his testimony and example!

It is a privilege to be his mother!!

Girls Weekend in Sedona

Kiersten is the only one of her friends not going to prom. A couple of her friends are not sixteen yet but they still decided to go to prom. Kiersten was pretty bummed out! Add to that the fact that two of her girl friend started to fight with two other girlfriends so it has kind of split her friend group up a little. This has left Kiersten in the middle. She isn't a part of the fighting but she has to constantly play peacemaker. 

With all this going on I thought we should get out of town prom weekend!!

 

I decided Sedona was calling us!  I love Sedona and knew Kiersten would love it too. 

This picture was taken PRIOR to us reading the sign that says "do not climb on horse!"

LOL....we had a good laugh! 

  

We decided to bring Kallie Smart, Kiersten's friend that is a freshman. 

 

These two had such a blast together!!  Kallie is always a good time! 

We ate dinner super late the first night we got to Sedona. We didn't know Sedona goes to bed early. Most every Restraunt closes at 9:00 even on weekends. We were happy to find yummy food so late!  

 

Saturday morning we woke up and went on a jeep ride!  It was beautiful and super fun!  

 

Oh how I love these girls!

 

My favorite parts were the steep 4X4 areas!  I wanted more of those! 

 

I loved everything about his weekend!! 

It was a little colder than normal but other than that it wa perfect! 

 

I am so glad Kallie is such a fun and sweet friend for Kiersten. There is no drama with Kallie and that is refreshing!! With all the friend craziness Kiersten is dealing with she is so grateful for Kallie! 

On the spur of the moment as we were doing a little shopping in the heart of Sedona I decided why not book us a helicopter tour. I thought $80 for a 30 minute flight over the beautiful red rocks of Sedona was just what all of us needed. 

Things haven't been super amazing back at home. Justin's depression is in full swing and some days it is hard for me to find the desire to cope well with it all. Finances have been tied up in "things" they NEVER should have been tied up in with the company and that is REALLY, REALLY weighing heavy on Justin. He is in a constant state of stress these days and all he hears is that the money should get paid back "real soon".  This has been going on for many many months and Justin's stress level keeps rising and rising.  I feel so bad for him to be so stressed about work stuff.  So that "real soon" that he keeps hearing,
 can't come fast enough!!  

Anyway, enough rant about life's stresses let me get back to the fun girls trip. 

 

The girls were about to hyperventilate when I told them we were going on a helicopter tour!! Hahaha.....seriously I thought Kiersten might pass out just at the thought of it. 

 

Turned out just like I thought it would....

They both LOVED the helicopter ride! 

 

It was breathtaking!

We saw many Indian ruins and have decided we need to come back another time to hike to some of them. We flew through canyons and love it all! 

 

"This beats prom for sure!" Was the words both these girls told me during our flight! 

 

One place Kiersten was dying to go to was an acai bowl joint. Luckily we found the perfect place!

 

This was my first time having an acai bowl!  Oh wow it was delicious!!!  We might have gotten acai bowls twice over our short weekend in Sedona!  That was that good! 

 

Flying through the canyon was exhilarating! 

 

This memory was more than worth the $80, it was priceless! 

 

After our helicopter tour, I decided to take the girls over to Jerome. It is such a fun and cool little town on the mountain side. 

 

Lucky for us the first Saturday of every month is a music and art festival in Jerome. Which means the stores stay open late and there are musicians playing all over. 

 

It was really cool!  The girls fell in love with this little town and talked about bringing dates back some day. 

This picture sums up our weekend!

These girls and I laughed so much this weekend. I left so much lighter after having this get away!  I am so grateful Justin let us come and have some girl time. 

 

I can not count the number of times Kiersten and Kallie both thanked me for bringing them to Sedona!  

Such sweet girls! 

 

Fun in down town Sedona! 

 

I enjoyed the random art that is all over Sedona. 

  

We enjoyed some hiking before we headed home. 

 

This was the view from the top of our hike. It was Soilders Pass Trail that our jeep tour guide recommended. Next time I think we will hike a couple of places my friend Rachel recommended because I think he pictures looked more dramatic. But nonetheless we enjoyed the beauty of Sedona before we headed home. And we might have enjoyed an acai bowl on our way out of town. 

It was such a wonderful weekend!  Laughed so hard we cried!

Made memories and loved every minute of it!

I even got a 100% on the test I took for my class one evening while the girls went to the hotel hot tub. 

Fabulous girls weekend!!