Lots of Happenings

We've been going and going this week and we have gotten a lot done. Peaches were canned, made into yummy jam and pies, friends were visited, meetings held, and so on. It's exciting to be able to cross things off a list, or delete emails no longer needed. :)

Our first stop this week was at Taylor's Apple concert. What a cutie! He was Farmer Brown for one of the songs but didn't tell me that he had a main part...he just kept saying that he needed to look like a farmer. On the day of the concert he came downstairs wearing Annie's denim overalls complete with ruffle, stars and an applique Tweety. He was also wearing his sombrero. Being the evil mother that I am, I wouldn't let him wear that outfit to school and he wasn't very happy with me. I felt bad that he didn't look like a farmer for his part, but he did a great job and wowed the audience. :)
Our next stop of the week was the same day as the concert. Troy was nominated as Student of the Month (AGAIN! as Annie says) for his high school. Such an honor...especially if you consider that he and one other student were chosen out of 9oo kids.

We got there a little early and had to sit through part of the boring part of the school board meeting. Here is Tyson finding ways to smile in the face of boredom. :)

Annie and Taylor were also likewise bored. I love the look of forced patience on Taylor's face and the cheesy grin on Annie's.

Finally! It was time for the awards. Troy recieved a medal from Amy Fuller one of the assistant Superintendents. Yay Troy!!! :)

This wasn't a stop, but it's the first (and probably last) time that Kevin has ever cleaned a toilet. I was trying to get housework done late at night and he just grabbed the brush and went to work (I found out that he was hoping for some "alone" time with me and was hurrying up the process. I'll take any excuse for extra hands at work). I couldn't help myself...I had to get a picture. (and please ignore the toilet...between the flash and the lighting it looks WAY worse than it actually was) :)

It was Tyson's turn to pick and make the FHE treat for tonight. We decided on peanut butter cookies with milk chocolate chips in them. Yum! Tyson loved "helping" and he really loved eating the dough. He was licking the actual attachment (while it was attached) for a while, but we missed that photo opportunity.

More licking...this is good stuff!

"Gotcha!" Tyson got tired of licking the attachment and decided to straight to the source. That look is the perfect example of his mischevious expression. :)

Happy Sunday! :)

Holy Guacamole!

It's been a while since I've posted anything! In my defense, we haven't had a spare moment around here. I decided to try my hand at making pickles and they turned out so good. Now I have two boxes of peaches that I'm waiting on to turn so they can be canned. Add that to our normal and not so normal goings on and you get the picture. :)

Time to catch up.....

Taylor was chosen as the Student of the Week and since the presentation was in the morning, Kevin was able to go. This is Taylor with his teacher.
We can almost say we are done with the Eagle stuff (all that is left are the thank you's). Troy's Court of Honor was on August 30 and it went very well. He and I put a movie together of his scout pictures and put it to music which was a lot of fun. Uncle Dustin brought out his equipment and we showed it "big screen" style.

Troy's friend and fellow Order of the Arrow member, Dusty, gathered the Eagle's nest. This is actually one of the costumes that I made for the Order of the Arrow in our ward. You can't see the beadwork because of the head dress, but it was pretty awesome that they used it.

Jay Ingram agreed to conduct the meeting for Troy and did an awesome job. He was also the recipient of the "mentor" pin from Troy. He is a really neat guy and a great scout leader.

Our former Bishop, Ryan Olson gave a beautiful and touching tribute to Troy. He actually called up Troy's friends and got their responses to questions about Troy and presented those. It was neat to hear about what others think of this super young man that we have a priviledge to raise.

The Eagle's Nest.....

Grandpa Willis (my dad) gave Troy the Eagle Challenge...basically to continue to live your life in a way that you know you should. It was nice to see the torch being passed in a way...a challenge for a new generation of leaders from someone who has been and will continue to be a big presence in Troy's life.

The awards...a beautiful certificate and the box with the patch, the medal, the Mom and Dad pins and the mentor pin. Our current Bishop, James Coleman awarding Troy his Eagle Medal. It was really neat to be able to have both bishops participate.

Kevin getting his pin....After the ceremony we had some yummy cookies (thanks Mom, Stephi, Karalee, and Liz) and cake and let everyone visit and take turns looking at the display we put together of Troy's life in scouting. It was nice to be surrounded by all of our friends and family.

Once we got the church cleaned up and everything put away it was time to head home for part 2...Troy's birthday party. He invited his scouting buddies and some friends from school and we did a movie in the backyard. I was really lazy about taking pictures (really I was just exhausted) so all I have is Troy's birthday cupcakes (sorry Troy):

There...now we are caught up (for now anyway). I'm really working at getting all my ducks in a row so that I can keep things done on a regular basis. It's been a challenge...it seems like RS gets more and more busy as people continue to struggle and my laundry seems to take over the living room faster than I can get it folded, but I'm trying. We have a lot of fun activities (both church and personal) coming up that I can't wait to post about. :)

What the Heck!!! (I really wanted to say hell, but I'm working on my language)

I have often wondered why the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, decided to send Tyson to me. He wasn't planned..in fact we had given away all of our baby stuff and were enjoying life without diapers. I know without a doubt that he was to come to our family, but I do have to wonder about the timing sometimes.

You see, if Tyson had been born to me in my 20's like the rest of my children I may have been able to handle him better. I definitely had more energy and if he had been my first, maybe that special constant one on one time would have been beneficial to him. Maybe days like today wouldn't have happened......
Yes indeed...that is an entire box of Trix dumped out on my floor and yes indeed he is running through it enjoying the "crunch" under his little tootsies. And, after he caught me taking pictures, it is his little self hiding behind the wall 'cause he knows he's in trouble...big trouble. (Tiger on the other hand in thrilled with this lovely mid-afternoon snack and Taylor thinks it's hilarious) It took 20 minutes of vacuuming to get this cleaned up and the carpet smells fruity fresh.

And then again, considering the special spirit and personality that Tyson has, these days may still have happened. Kevin and I have decided that he is the Tazmanian Devil with OCD (crazy and messy with a penchant for having things just right)

So, after much consideration and pondering of the why's of Tyson, I have decided that he is my last because if he'd been my first, Kevin wouldn't have been allowed to touch me with a 10 foot pole without having the snippety snip done. Also, his older brothers and sister are a great help and can take him to go play in another room when my patience has run it's course...which is often with this child.

It's days like today that I must remind myself what an cutie he is and I look at these peaceful pictures of him playing in our last rainstorm and remind myself that when he is happy (and asleep) all is right with the world. :)

Yep...adorable. Is there any rain or bedtime in sight? I'd like to be reminded of how peaceful he can be...after I febreeze the carpet. :)

Monster Jam Date Night

So, Empire provided the equipment used for Monster Jam. As a perk, the company received several tickets that they handed out to the employees. I was going to let Kevin take Troy, but since our anniversary was a little messed up, we decided to make it a date for us.

I was a little nervous...the commercials you see for this kind of thing show a lot of tattooed, pierced, screaming people holding beers, so I was a little worried I would stick out a little. I was pleasantly surprised that sprinkled in with the folks I just described were lots of families. I felt a little overdressed until one of the co-workers showed up with his girlfriend and she was wearing a cocktail dress...after that I was completely comfortable. :)

Since University of Phoenix Stadium is so stinkin' far we decided to make it a day trip and our first stop was Cabello's. We have wanted to go there since it opened. It was an interesting experience. I guess for all the hype I thought it would be bigger, have a better selection and be super-special in some way, but it was just another sporting goods store. The one thing it did have that other stores don't was a museum of stuffed animals...some native to Arizona, others not, but all pretty neat.

I love this polar bear's face...I'm seriously thinking of making this my profile picture for facebook. :)
The Arizona displays were so neat...I love this one of the mountain lion chasing it's prey.

And this one of a mountain lion grabbing it's prey...the stuffer guys (can't remember what they are called...early morning seminary is frying my brain) really did an awesome job in posing these animals as life-like as possible.

In the display of African animals there was a rhino and an elephant, but the lion is king after all and needed his picture displayed. As life-like as these are, I was really glad that this scene wasn't bloody in any way.

After wandering around Cabello's and finding a great deal on bullets for Troy's birthday we decided to check out Westgate...the shopping and restaurant area next to Jobing.com arena. We decided to eat at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. While we were waiting for a table, we sat outside and watched the fountain in the center square. It is set to music and watching the water dance was so much fun. I could have watched it for hours, but our beeper finally went off and we got to go and eat.

It's like a giant marina inside and all the servers wear Hawaiian shirts. There are TV's all over the place and they show several videos of Jimmy Buffet's songs and a few other artists. The food was good (a little overpriced) and the experience was awesome.

Kevin at our table next to the stage...I was curious about what kinds of bands come in and play but I forgot to ask.

The airplane hanging from the ceiling.

This guy on stilts went all over the restaurant making balloon animals and hats. He was very talented and fun to watch.

After dinner we headed over to the stadium. It's a lot bigger than it looks...we were surprised at the sheer size of the thing. (I still think it's ugly, but it's impressive anyway)

When we got inside they were running little car races and also racing quads. Finally they started to prepare the course for the monster trucks. Since we got the tickets for free from Empire, I figured I should take a picture and do a little free advertising. :)

Here is Grave Digger and Maximum Destruction after their first heat.

Escalade getting ready for it's run.

Superman...I loved the cape. :)

Blue Thunder...one of my favorites. The Patriot...my other favorite.

The race was fun, but Freestyle was the best. Each truck got 2 minutes to jump, climb, pop wheelies and do donuts. Several crashed...Escalade came down off a jump, turned too sharp, rolled completely over and then just kept going. I was quite impressed.

This truck in Bulldozer...when he came down off of one of his jumps, the front axle broke and he had to be towed off the course.

Superman at the end of his Freestyle time. He actually parked the truck on top of the cars, got out and did the Superman pose. I missed the pose but did catch him climbing out. Maximum Destruction rolled a couple of times during his turn. He was the first that had to be turned with the Caterpillar.

They basically hook a huge chain to the monster truck and then back up and slowly bring it over until it is upright. The drivers were never hurt, but some trucks will need some TLC. :)

Maximum Destruction back where it needs to be, but out of the competition.

And finally Grave Digger....Kevin's favorite. He won the Freestyle competition and then while showing off a little rolled his truck. It was pretty funny.

We had such a good time together. I can't wait until next year and I think we'll try to take the kids...they will love it! :)

My Sweetie is 43!!!

Ok...so I missed posting on Kevin's actual birthday, but in my defense, last week was so crazy that I couldn't even remember my own name. Besides, better late than never right?

We celebrated on Sunday with Brian, Julie and their boys. Kevin requested all of his favorites so I made enchiladas, carne asada burritos and tacos. Yum!

I thought I had candles, I did not have candles, so we scrounged around and found 5 mis-matched pink ones. He understood though...he didn't want the smoke alarms going off. :)
Since he's the man of the house, he gets to light his own candles. :)

I have no clue as to why Taylor is wearing Yoda on his head nor do I know why Kevin has that particular look on his face while we sing (strained patience maybe?), so it's probably best not to ask.

I still don't know why Taylor is wearing Yoda on his head, but I'm much happier with Kevin's expression...he's almost happy to be the center of attention! (not)

When you say "smile and say cheese!" this is what you get. I'll take it. He's so cute. :)

Happy Birthday Sweetheart...I love you more than everything!

A Time to get Dirty (and no, that's not what I meant)

We headed up to the Rim on Friday for the annual family reunion. Our poor car was packed from top to bottom and side to side with everything you need for four days of camping (and then some), plus 2 adults, 1 teenager, 3 kids and a dog. I'm sure when we got out for breaks it looked like the evacuation of a clown car. :) Kevin uses this example for the argument that we could use a bigger car (minivans are not his thing), but I myself am happy without having to make car payments.

The kids love these camp outs. They get dirty, they play with sticks and fire, they ride quads and eat candy, and they get to play with their cousins. When they don't have a TV or computer kids can get pretty creative. For example the picture below....

No, they are not doing blue darters (the thought did cross their little minds however when the uncles explained to them what blue darters were). They are playing a game they made up and call "Buttsie". The object of the game is to put your rear to the fire and get it nice and warm and then sit and listen for a sizzle. Weird I know, but it kept them entertained for quite some time. :)

The folks registered the quads which meant that we actually got to ride them this year instead of using them a camp decorations. So, I finally get to post pictures of Robot Mountain and Pee Your Pants Hill. (yay!) It is actually the same hill...going up it's Robot Mountain, named for the power line things my kids call robots. Going down it's the other name because it's steep and rocky (and a little scary). Here is the view from the halfway point up...
And the view going down. Between the top and the bottom is the road that we use to ride. I've only been all the way to the bottom once and I won't do it again. The halfway point is just fine for me. Because it's so steep, I couldn't get a good view going down, but you get the picture.

I took the kids for rides during our time there, and each of them got a turn on Pee Your Pants Hill. I'd take them up, make a u-turn in the clearing and then take them down. When I got to the place where you can see the trail looking down, I took pictures of them...Taylor loved the ride to the lookout part, but when I started going down, he started yelling, "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!". What a comedian.

Annie on the other hand wasn't one bit happy going down the first time, but after a couple of runs she realized how fun it was and was begging for me or Kevin to take her there.

Once again Tyson was attached to the "rides" for almost the entire camp out. When he wasn't riding the quads, he was sitting on them, and when he wasn't sitting on them, he was throwing dirt. In this picture, he's climbing on for a ride with Daddy. He was so excited!

Finally, Daddy finished talking and climbed on to go. I think Tyson put more miles on the quads than anyone else.

Kevin and I took the two-seater out for a "date" on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun riding together and enjoying the peace, quiet and smooching in the forest. My hair is finally long enough that it wouldn't stay out of my eyes as we rode, so I had to tie it back in a bandanna. Karalee called it my "Hell's Angel" look which made Kevin laugh because I wasn't wearing any leather. I'll have to remember that for next year. I wonder if leather shoelaces would count? :)

Sunday we decided to hike into the lake and have some quiet family time. It was so pretty there, but then again, it always is. Kevin decided to spend some time lounging before helping the kids catch crawdads.

I have a picture from last year's trip that is similar to this one, but I love this view. Especially when the clouds are gathering.

What started out as Troy, Taylor and Tyson wading turned into a full fledged, soaking wet water fight. The water wasn't very warm either, but they had so much fun.

Even Tiger got into the water for a bit, then spent the rest of our time there exploring the area. Miss Annie tried to catch some crawdads to put into her jug, but wasn't very successful. Mostly because of Tyson's reaction to the water (don't worry...I documented it. It's coming up)

Taylor also tried to catch crawdads, but no luck...it's kind of hard to see them to catch them when the water is extra muddy. And why is the water extra muddy??? (next picture)

Because baby brother decided to strip down, sit in the lake and throw mud. Tyson had no fear when it came to playing in the water. He loved every muddy minute of it. The only thing he didn't like was the hike back to the car with a diaper full of lake water. :)

Tyson finally got cold and hungry and decided to have a "fishy" break. You don't necessarily have to catch fish to be able to eat them. :)

His clothes took a while to dry and he was still cold, so into mommy's shirt he went. Thank goodness for over sized t-shirts. I was able to get him warmed up and back in the swing of things in no time.

And here are a couple of videos of the kids playing in the lake.

We had lots of fun, but it was so nice to come home and get a long, warm shower and scrub all the dirt off and also to sleep in a good bed with no woodpeckers and crows waking you up at four in the morning. I'm sure once we've cleaned and put away all the laundry and caught up on our rest we'll be ready to go out and do it again. :)