Ode to Ethan

I'm sure most of you know or have heard of the famous Ethan. Ethan (son of the famous Natalie), and his family moved to Sunnyside about a year ago. We were so blessed that they moved in our neighborhood, Cam and Ethan have spent the last year running back and forth which I will miss terribly. Those two hit it off the second they saw each other-it was love at first sight. They speak the same language. From battling Power Rangers, playing video games, playing in the mud (sorry Natalie), and always wrestling, they always are buddies. He is such a sweet, loveable boy-I will really miss him! We are definently going to have Ethan withdrawls. I know their friendship won't always be the same, but I hope they can keep in touch (Natalie, keep his calls coming!) and I know we will visit, especially having family in the area. Here's a few pictures of the boys doing what they do best, being silly...

Happy Birthday Alex

Mmmm, cake....where have you been all my life?

Here is Alex opening his presents.....he had some very eager helpers

I was going through some pictures on our computer and found this one; I call it "painful smiles":

This is us after church today. I made this black jumper yesterday! I was so excited about it, I had to show everyone. It's not a maternity dress, but it's a roomy fit, so I think I'll still be able to where it for the next 3 months-ish. And Caitlin's dress was a skirt (Kate, I think you actually gave it to me) that I made into a little dress. She liked it a lot. Lizzie...well, how can you leave her out of the picture?

slc update

For the 4th of July I went camping at Mirror Lake.
It was so pretty!


Em and Brett came down a couple weekends ago
and came to our party.


These pictures are backwards... but we've been
busy with our kitchen. Below, you will see the pink
wallpaper we took down, and above is during the
painting process. We're all done now and i'm so glad!!

R.I.P NUGGET!!

Nugget passed away on Thursday...He was lookin pretty sick and it was hard to see him and not cringe. So we're happy that he's in a better place! Duncan is still alive, i just found this picture and had to post it to remind everyone of how cute he was when he was a pup!

New Nightgowns

This is why I love having girls. I made them matching princess nightgowns today!! It doesn't get much better than this!

Caitlin was so excited about sewing..she suggested we "sew all day"...which I confess, is how long it took me to make these. But her and Lizzie loved cutting up scraps of fabric and putting them in piles while I sewed. Caitlin even told me I was a good mom! We were commenting on how Lizzie is a good mom to her bear, and Caitlin says, "Mom, you're a good mom to us." How often does that happen??? So sewing all day was worth it!

This is usually how Lizzie falls asleep- she's figured out she's much more of a force to reckon with if she cries or whines or asks for stuff from under the bottom of the door- where it's MUCH louder!!!

Cute swimsuits

I know summer is almost over, but www.modbe.com has the cutest swimsuits! They are based out of Utah and designed with modesty in mind...I just think they are really cute

So long Spokane... sniff, sniff

Troy and Nathan took the kids to Boulder Cave, about an hour and a half from Sunnyside. The caves are pitch black inside and the kids love it. I had a day alone with Alex and got a little packing done, although it barely made a dent in the packing mountain we have in front of us.
Inside the cave
We just got back from spending a few days in Spokane. Nathan and Bev were there too, so it was great to be with them and we don't even see the kids -they have so much fun playing outside on 3 acres, it's WONDERFUL!! On Monday Troy and I took Dev and Cam (grandma had Alex and Audrey-thank you!) to Silverwood, kind of a scaled down Six Flags. They had a lot of fun, although Devon was disappointed by the roller coasters. For days before we went, we was looking on-line at the coasters and finding out all the names, how fast they go, how tall they are...pretty much anything he could find. He even found some clips on youtube. Anyways, he was SO excited to ride on one. So we are finally on the roller coaster and after the first big dip that makes your stomach end up in your throat, he was yelling, "I don't like this!" over and over. Well he was so upset that he didn't like the roller coaster. He has trouble when things don't go according as planned. He wasn't prepared for the intensity of it, I've even forgotten! As the day progressed, we did find rides he liked, then we went over to the waterslide park and he loved that. So the day was saved.
Ashlynn and Cameron spent HOURS, even DAYS, catching frogs and bugs in his new bug catcher. We now have four pet frogs at our house....

We spent an afternoon at Riverfront Park feeding the ducks, going on a gondola ride over the waterfall and of course going on the big wagon slide! We had a fun time in Spokane and are sad that we won't get to go there as often. But we are excited to explore our new home in California. Speaking of which, our move date is July 31st....Troy, Nathan and the boys are going to leave the 31st and they rest of us will follow on the 1st. Is this really happening?

Goodbye, Rocky

Well, I know I've been posting a lot lately, but I had to update you all on our cat Rocky. Lately he's been pretty sickly, especially the last few days he's been really bad. He could hardly walk, it was sad to watch him. I actually prayed that if he was going to die, he'd die quickly because it was obvious he was in a lot of pain. That very day I put him outside and he was at the sliding door looking at me, then next time I looked he was gone. Now when it's 115 degrees outside, there's not a lot of options for a long-haired black cat. He wasn't there in the morning (he usually lies on the lawn and gets soaked by the sprinklers every morning) so I knew he wasn't coming back. I'm 99.9% sure he just left and passed away somewhere. Where, I have no clue, (I even drove around looking for cat roadkill, but now I think he was translated) but I assume Cali knows and that's why she's not too perturbed over the absence of her brother. I imagine she spent her night near him, comforting and grooming him in his last hours. Farewell to a unique and spunky cat, Rocky.

Just a quick addition: After a little research, it seems that's it's pretty common for cats leave their families when they are very sick or dying. I think that's really interesting. I was reading how they'll go to a peaceful and quite place suitable to them to die in. So yeah, now I'm 100% sure he passed away somewhere. Now I'm just wondering where the heck did he go?

Obama

Now, I don't want anyone to get too fired up here, but a little political blogging doesn't hurt anyone. I must confess, as of now I'm leaving behind my Republican status and voting for Obama. I can't stand John McCain. There are so many issues that just rail me about him, I think he's the most ridiculous presidential candidate we've had in a long time. The only way he could tempt my vote is if Mitt Romney were chosen as his running mate. Barack Obama, on the other hand, I really like. One of the main reasons is his refusal to be bound by party lines. The Dems were freaking out this week about a press conference he had about the Iraq war. He explained his plan for withdrawal of troops, but also stressed that that plan is dependent on and subject to change on actual conditions. Democrats were freaking out because he wasn't saying all the troops are out the month he's elected President. I just really appreciate a politican who has a few issues that aren't directly along his parties lines. I hate mindless ones (Harry Reid is a biggie here) that say or think whatever it is their party says and thinks. True, John McCain is also at odds with the Republican party in many ways, not being a conservative candidate. Which is different in a bad way. Like what's the advantage of voting for him if on moral issues, like gay marriage, he's as wishy-washy as the next guy? Moral issues are supposed to be Republican strengths, and McCain has none of that to boast. Obama is different in a GREAT way. As of now my vote is for Obama!

4th of July weekend

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. Rod had Friday off, so it was nice! Thursday they do big fireworks from a local park, so we watched those. I think they do them Thursday so as not to compete with The Strip's Friday night ones. Did you know half a million people were here for the 4th? Crazy. Anyway, Friday we had a nice lazy day, and I got to do some clothes shopping. Then we went up to Mt. Charleston to do a little picnic for dinner and enjoy the MUCH cooler weather (notice the girls' sweaters- it was 105 degrees when we left home at 5 pm, Mt. Charleston is a great break from the heat). Saturday morning we all went to a fun family BBQ and did some swimming at some friends' kids' b-day parties. Then we headed to the Temple for date night and got Capriotti's sandwiches afterwards (oh so good- I can't even explain it!). It was so nice to have a 3-day weekend with Rod! We want him home more!

Caitlin kept leading us on "hikes" around our picnic area. They were both so excited to be playing outside without risking heat stroke.

Making s'mores!!

This is our pantry door. I actually did this quite a few months ago, but as I was doing laundry or something, I was thinking, that looks so cool, I'm glad I did it, and I took a picture to show everyone. It's chalkboard paint and it's awesome. The kids color on the bottom part, I use the top for lists and stuff. And the bulletin board is nice, too. I especially like the black with our olive green paint on the wall. Waddaya think?

Party Time

Last week it was three of my friends birthdays, including Natalie the ultimate party-throwing guru. It was a bit intimidating doing a party for her! My friend Becky moved out of her apartment but still had it for the rest of the month, so we had a hawaiian luau in her empty apartment. It was a lot of work, but so much fun! We had hawaiian haystacks, fruit kabobs, chicken and shrimp kabobs and an "Island cake" for dessert. Yum.

Beckys husband made this 'fire pit' for us. We played a few girls camp classic games and told fun stories. Notice the 'beach' in the background-that's real sand. We really felt like we were at the beach :)

We had smoothies and stawberry daqueris

My amazing friends