OH NO!!! Not during Basketball Season!!!

 I am SUCH a slacker!  I haven't blogged in 2 years.  My kids have been telling me I need to get back on it.  I just figured out how to log back on and now have to see if I can remember how to blog anymore.  Mercy.  Today is actually the last day of school.  Mason will be a Sophomore now.  This picture is during basketball season of 8th grade.  I guess I started a draft and never completed it.  Needless to say, Mason had a fractured growth plate on his ankle.  So, here he is with his beautifully decorated cast from all his friends Ü  Something I'm sure he will want to remember!  Time is flying so quickly!!!!!!

Desperate People making Desperate FUN!

IT's HOT here!  I'm not going to lie!  I love everything about living here in Mesa EXCEPT for the 117-121 degree weather that comes during the summer.  The only thing we look forward to is the Monsoon Season to cool us off a little bit!

I will admit it is really humid and muggy an hour later, but oh what fun we have when it comes!  I have NEVER seen such crazy rain and huge lighting and thunder storms like I've seen here!  And the earth is clay here, so doesn't absorb the water very quickly.  So when it POURS rain and doesn't absorb, what do we do?  We go PLAY in it!  I know, kind of weird, but we can't play outside much in the summer....

... Nathan our neighbor friend is a BIG joker....he loves to pick on Mason.  Mason and I were coming to observe everyone playing in the water, but obviously Nathan though Mason should PLAY with them!  So he ran and picked Mason up and threw him into the water against his will.  Mason was a little irritated at first...cuz he thought the stuff in his wallet was ruined, but after he figured out that everything was ok....he was a good sport.

Doesn't this look like so much fun?  I was half tempted to get in too.  Well, not really, but the kids sure made it look like a lot of fun!  I was the self designated camera lady....

David watching the kids having fun.  Especially the boys making diving catches into the water with the football.  You can see him debating if he wants to be a part of this or not....

Eli plays hard.  He LOVES diving and sliding and anything rough like that.  Thus the reason for him wearing out pants and shoes faster than any of the other kids.  BUT he sure does have good ideas, cuz after watching him a few times, the rest of everyone joined in!

After Nathan got Mason wet, he decided to join in and made some amazing catches himself!

I love that David is such a FUN dad!  He is always out playing with the kids.   He is just as big of a kid as them!  He threw a lot, but had some great catches too!  I was a little surprised since he is 39 now!  There really is only about 2 feet of water, which isn't a lot to absorb the shock of your body hitting the ground.  But David was totally game for it!  Ü

Nathan Sherwood is the biggest kid of them all.  He was out there acting like a kid.  Dragging Mason into the water, throwing and catching.  What a fun way to spend the day!

Oh What do YOU do in the summertime? Ü

4th of July in Heber, Arizona!

 The fourth of July has ALWAYS been one of my favorite holidays.  I love my Country and feel so blessed to be in such a great land.  Utah always did the 4th BIG....so each summer I'm away, I always feel a little homesick.  It's especially hard to be in MESA, AZ for the 4th cuz it's so dang hot!  I'm not bagging on AZ...I actually LOVE it here, it's just not your ideal place to spend the 4th.  That being said, there are some places 2 or 3 hours North which are FUN to be at.....and we happen to have some GREAT friends that have a cabin there.  My friend Katie invited our family to come up to Heber to be a part of the town's fun!  

The Allen family has it all figured out.  They go and set up chairs the night before....I guess you have to do that when you have such a HUGE family.  I love being a part of something big!  

Another Allen tradition is to play catch behind the cars while waiting for the parade.  Of course it's just the boys...

I think Bob Allen is one of the coolest guys I know.  He is very happy.....a fun grandpa....awesome dad to his kids....and really generous.  He bought Dilly Bars for everyone that wanted one.  I would say he got 30 or so.  He just kept opening boxes and handing them to all of his grand kids and kids that wanted them.  Maybe it doesn't seem like a big deal to him, but I thought it was so nice of him!
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I will say this is NOT the best parade I've been too.  Not to compare, but Utah's parade is better.  Maybe I"m used to floats, and bands and horses, and dancers, etc.....This seems to be a big advertising special with a little bit of decoration added to it.  Trucks would drive down the street advertising their business.  But the highlight of the parade for the kids was the amount of water being sprayed on the on lookers.  Our kids were soaked, but had such a great time!

At one point a bunch of Allens and Abbie went out into the street linking arms to be a part of the parade.

Mark and Debbie Allen have a cabin a short ways from Bob and Sue.  This weekend was also a family reunion ....so we ended up eating at this cabin a few times.  This is our friend Brian and Tawni's parents'  cabin.  We love that we know both sides of the family...so felt right at home!  Can't imagine having money like this to build a house to live in, let alone a little weekend get-away like this!  Mercy~!

On our down time, there was plenty to do over at the Bob and Sue cabin.  The kids played house and dress up.  They had a fun time playing with Katie's kids and Dave's kids....

Pool and foos ball were a fun thing to pass time also.  The boys thought they were in heaven!

This is more like a LUXURY LODGE.  I'ts 7500 sq ft.  We didn't even want to come home!  Such a fun place to be!

The weather was beautiful and the company was fun!  Couldn't ask for a better 4th in Arizona!

By now, Mason was feeling sick and had thrown up once.  But when David said he was going to out with Dave for a ride on the 4 wheelers, he felt better for that 1/2 hour and went for a ride and then came back feeling sick again.

We miss Dave and Jessica and their family so much!  They moved away from us a couple of years ago, but we are so glad that we still get together from time to time...

So Dave and Jessica used to live by us, and then his sister Katie ( in the white shirt) met us and started coming to me to do her hair.   Katie invited us to come up while I was doing her hair last time!  This brother/sister duo is one of my favorite!  I love to hang out with them!

Abbie said the girls needed to go out for a ride.  Needless to say, I had a hard time getting it into a gear.  But then I got the hang of it and it was really fun!  I could get used to a 4 wheeler very easily!!!

Abbie and Allie buddied around the whole weekend.  It was really cute watching the 2 of them together!

Bob and Sue Allen.  Such wonderful people.  Very giving and generous.  We love your family!

Mark and Debbie had several little quads to ride.  The kids thought they had died and gone to heaven!

                                              The kids look cute riding these little things

David looks good, but I have to admit, I look like a fool on a mini quad.  It sure was fun though!

                 This looks much better!  Me and my honey riding off into the sunset!  Hahaha....

I will say that Heber put on a really great firework show.  It's so close that you can just feel them in your chest!  Quite a show!  Hopefully we will get to do this again!!! hint hint....

Never Thought We Would Be One Of THOSE kind of People!

I have always thought it was funny when people talked about their dog like it was a real part of the family and almost one of their kids.  I'm not trying to be rude, I just find it comical.  I mean c'mon, it's just a dumb dog or cat!

We grew up with animals.  We had dogs and rabbits.   I never really got attached though.  I hardly remember their names.  Maybe Scruffy and Lady are the only ones I remember.

Our kids have bugged us for years to get a dog.  Especially Abbie.  We kept saying "no".  I know, MEAN PARENTS....right?  We just saw no reason for one.  They are stinky, they shed, they bark, chew up everything, piddle on the floor when they get excited,  a BIG inconvenience when you go on vacation and have to find someone to take them, etc.     Anyway, I think you get my point.

Well, this year Abbie was tough on us.  She ONLY wanted a dog for her Birthday.  We said "then you're not getting a present, cuz we aren't getting a dog. "  And that was that.  She continued begging and pleading. She promised to pick up poop, walk the dog, and even to help pay for it.

LLOONNGG story short, her birthday came and went and we didn't find a dog.  BUT we  started to soften our hearts and felt  like we should get a dog.  The week after her birthday I went out to San Jose to do hair.  My in laws owned this cute little Shih-tzu named Maggie.  Isn't she cute?  They have had her for a couple of years.  We have always really liked her.  She is not trouble at ALL.  She is a rescue dog.  She was a breeder....and must just be SO WORN  OUT!  I would be worn out if all I did was be pregnant and have babies!!!!

Anyway,  Bob and Linda are on a mission in San Jose, but are gone for 10-12 hours a day and Maggie was so lonely!  I half jokingly told them that I should bring Maggie home and watch her for a year and a half and then they could have her back.   Linda said she was wanting to give her to one of her kids, but thought David didn't want a dog.

I had to buy an airplane ticket $75 and a pet holder with mesh so she could breathe and brought her home on the plane with me.

I LOVE MAGGIE!  I can't believe I love her so much!  She is such a CHILL kind of dog.  Others say she is boring and doesn't play, but I LOVE her!  She sleeps alot, likes the back of the couch.  She is a little cuddly dog and I love having her on my lap!  I have had so many clients offer to take her if I don't want her because she is so cute and so well behaved.  She is PERFECT for us!  Love you Maggie Mae!!!!

She complete the family.  Ü

Always time for SISTER TIME!!

I  LOVE my sisters!  I wish I lived closer to them!  They are truly some of my best friends!  Ü  Amber is a gem.  She is 4 years younger than me, but I feel sometimes that she is older than me just cuz she's so wise.  Amber works for Jet Blue Airlines and gets to fly places for pretty cheap...so on her way to pick up Brook's girls in Florida, she stopped by for a couple of days to see us!  We talked and talked and talked some more!  It's hard trying to catch up on all that lost time!   While here, aunt Amber spoiled us.  She took us out to dinner, and then took me to the movies.  Actually, in the short day and a half she was here, we saw 2 movies.  AND we even went to the temple!  We really tried to cram a lot into the little time she was here.  And I loved every minute of it!

Amber lives in Utah, which is just far enough away that we only get to see each other a couple of times a year if we are lucky.   These moments are precious to me.  I love when my family comes to visit!  Hope you come back really soon Amber!  Love you!

4 Families + 2 Boats = A GREAT Time!!!

We have had such a great time living here in Arizona. So many fun families that seem like our own family sometimes. The Lunt and Wilstead families invited us and the Turners to go on an exciting adventure to Roosevelt Lake. (Which is about 2 hours or so away from home.) It was such a fun day. Since there were 2 boats and one of them was a "party" boat, we were able to accommodate more people.... Ü We set up a little camp over in a cove. We had a couple of tables, a grill, etc. so we could stay the whole day. Funny thing was we didn't realize we were set up in the "Sheriff's cove" Haha....that was funny. They told us they have never had anyone try to set up a day camp kind of thing, but they let us stay. (after they looked at Jason's drivers license) apparently they came and talked to him while we were out wake boarding and stuff.

The Lunts have quite the set up. Jon's work is putting in sound systems, alarms, cameras, etc...into million dollar homes. Check out the sound system on his boat! Mercy. Charis is one of the most Christlike loving people I know. She is my Enrichment Leader in our ward. We work really well together. They have Rylan and Brooke. (They left Brooke at home with gma and gpa). Rylan was a good sport.

The Wilsteads are such a fun family. Casey is a total joker! He is also Eli's Sunday School teacher. We loved his boat. We loaded up lots of people and all of our stuff....dropped it off, and then pulled tubes and stuff behind for the kids to have fun. I loved sitting on his boat....we fit lots of us on there and would go out to where Jon had the kids wake boarding. That way we could all be together, instead of the 8 or 9 people going off by themselves. Also, just to show what a small world it is, Vanessa's sister married a guy I knew from Ricks College. Actually, his name is Jared Dotson. He marred one of my roommates....they ended up divorcing and then he married Vanessa's sister. Kinda cool.

The Turner family are really like FAMILY to us. We just love them! We love to do things with them! They are so much fun to be with. I especially have a soft spot for Talan. He is such a cutie pie!! Shelly and Vanessa had fun getting whipped around on the tube. It was funny to watch. And Jason did really well wake boarding. Hopefully we can do this again sometime!!

Mason found his new "favorite sport!" He tried wake boarding for his first time. It took him a couple of tries to get it, but once he did, he just LOVED it! It's so fun to have experiences like these! I wish we could provide this kind of stuff for our kids, but it's nice that we have friends that will invite us. We stayed until it was completely dark before we headed home. Talk about going for the WHOLE DAY!!! The kids went to the Lunt's to clean the boat and didn't get home until 12:30am.

Apparently I didn't get any pictures of Eli wake boarding. We do have video of it. He actually got up the first time he tried. He had a little harder time staying up, but he would get right up. Sometimes I was on a different boat and David had the cameras. So sorry to Eli for not having pictures of you wake boarding. He seemed to have fun riding in the boat, listening to the awesome tunes and tubing. He got tossed like a booger. We were just laughing watching him and Crew holding on for dear life!

Abbie had fun riding in whatever boat she was in. The party boat doesn't go quite as fast, so when it wasn't challenging for her to keep in the tube, she would stand up and try to act like she was surfing or something. Then Casey would stop really quick and she would totally fall. We laughed watching her be a little ham out there. Then she tubed behind Jon's boat and we laughed watching her and Cali try to hold on for dear life!

Apparently I didn't get a picture of David Wake boarding either. There was a time that I was over on the beach helping to cook hot dogs and getting kids lunch and stuff, but I know he did well. David is athletic and makes everything look EASY! He is definitely the kids idol. You wouldn't know he is 39....he acts like one of the kids still. We totally enjoyed being as a family and being together. Thanks again Lunt and Wilstead families! We had a blast!

Abbie's 9 Already? WOW!!

Happy Birthday Abbie Claire!  We decided this year we wouldn't do parties.  I already discussed that in the post about Mason's birthday.  I think I forgot to post the present Mason ended up getting.  He got a big automatic air soft gun.  We say on the years that they don't have a party that we will get them a bigger present.  Anyway, one of Abbie's friends had her birthday party on Abbie's birthday, so here she is all glammed up from Ella's party.

Isn't this funny?  The girl who wasn't supposed to have a party, somehow managed to have her 2 best friends bring her presents.....which she was SOOO happy about!  Thanks Ashely and Kirsten, you make her feel so good!

SO after we sent the friends home, we asked Abbie where she would like to go for her birthday.  The boys were at a friend's party....so it was just David, Abbie and Me.  She thought for a minute, and then said, "Actually, I just want to go be with my friends, so never mind...I just won't have a birthday dinner...."  What are we?  CHOPPED LIVER?  hahaha....we felt kind of bad that she would rather be with her friends than us!  We totally wanted to be with her, so realized we would need to compromise.....

Obviously, this wasn't David's idea of fun.  Look what a good sport he is.  He was sitting in a chair feeling really awkward wanting to be with Abbie for her birthday.  What a great dad!

Well, I guess I didn't catch the nicest face from Abbie here, but they were ALL so excited when I said we were going to take Abbie and her friends to get a pedicure for her birthday.  They just ate it up!  It was really cute to watch them.  Special little chairs for the girls with the little shes shaped tubs for their feet to be washed.  They had little bottles of water and a mini tv to watch a movie.  Talk about spoiled!  To be fair, the only present that Abbie wanted was a DOG!  I really didn't think we would be able to come through for her.  We looked for a dog, but they were either too expensive or didn't seem like the right kind of dog for our family.

THese girls really seem like our own daughters sometimes.  They are at each other's houses all the time.  They really are Best Friends!  We love Kirsten and Ashley so much!  They said that was the funnest birthday ever!  That was Ashely's first time getting a pedicure.  She LOVED it!!!

Happy 9th Birthday Abbie Claire!  We love you!

Here are 9 things we LOVE about Abbie

1.  She is very organized and a great cleaner

2.  She is a great dancer and has so much fun making up dances with her friends

3.  She has a love for animals.  She especially loves DOGS!

4.  She is an athlete.  She played football, and baseball.  Her coach talked about what drive she has!

5.  She's a GREAT babysitter.  She was really helpful with our friend's son Rylan. 

6.  She's really pretty.  People have always remarked about her looks

7.  She is a little apprehensive to try things, but once she figures out she can do it, SHE LOVES IT!

8.  She is smart.  She does well in school.  She is in a school that is accelerated and can keep up well

9.  She's a leader.  She has LOTS of good ideas and know how she wants things to be.  If we can channel this the right way, she will go far in life!!!

HAPPY 9TH Birthday Abbie!!!!