Tyler turns 6

How on earth did 6 whole years pass....??? Our little bubba had a birthday in Sept. and turned 6. He had a dinosaur themed party and had tons of fun and got lots o fun gifts.

The TRIO batcave.....he loves this set. He has played with it almost daily since he got it.

Another favorite.....The Encyclopedia of the Human Body. Yes, we have a smarty pants on our hands. He loves learning about the body and different body parts and what they do. If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he always says, "A bone doctor." We are encouraging that as much as we can!!! I wanted to be a butterfly and Chinese when I was his age, soooo a bone doctor is really impressive.

Burner

I have know idea what caused this or how I managed to totally burn through the element.....it was wild. We were out of an oven for a week too. I borrowed the neighbors oven once, to make muffins. But ya, this is just crazy.

Labor Day weekend

Over Labor Day weekend, we spent the night at Jenni and Ted's house...in the backyard. The boys have never been camping before so this was a great trial run for us. We had so much fun eating dutch oven, swimming, and playing night games. The sleeping for us didn't go very well. Tyler doesn't like any sort of change, he had a really hard time sleeping in the tent. He kept asking us questions and was tracing the seams on the tent to stay awake. He also kept complaining that he didn't want to wear the jammies I brought for him and he didn't like sleeping bags. I finally had to squeeze my self into his bag with him and hold him till he finally went to sleep. It was 1:00 am by this point. I am glad we got to experiment with it over at Jenni and Ted's house though. It was way fun.

Mom and Dad's tent is by the fence and ours is the orange one.

Jason loved jumping on the the trampoline and having the sprinkler under it.

Fun on the tire swing.

Dad preparing a wonderful dutch oven meal in the fire pit. I love that fire pit.

Swimming at the lake. It was soooo fun to ride in the kayak. The boys just loved it as well.

Tyler loves the water....and was so excited every time he got to go out on the boat.

We also got to go visit with the Hulse family while we were in Stansbury Park. It was nice to visit for a moment and see cute little Caitlyn.

1st day of kindergarten

Oh goodness gracious. I cannot believe our little Tyler is going into Kindergarten this year. Today was his first day of school. It was a short day today...just an orientation. It was great to see him in a classroom setting again. I am a little frustrated with the school system at the moment, but hopefully that will change within the next few weeks when we figure out where his placement will be. For those of you who don't know yet, Tyler was diagnosed with ADHD about a month ago. We are just nervous about his group settings in classrooms. He does not do good in groups. Wish us luck within the next few weeks while we figure this out.

He was excited to meet new friends and his new teacher.

Tyler and Jason.

Excited boys.

This picture totally reminds me of Tyler's personality. He is such a ham, but is such a happy kind boy as well. I love him and am so proud to be his mom.

I am happy, sad, nervous, excited....etc....that Tyler is all grown up and in kindergarten all ready.

Eaby's baptism!!!!

It has been a 1 1/2 years since we've known our dear friend Eaby. She started coming to mutual last summer and has attended two years of girls camp as well. She asked Cory a few months ago if he would Baptize her. We were thrilled and ecstatic at the choices she has made. She is an inspiration to me. She is one of the most spiritual people I have ever met. At 16 years old, she can quote many, many scriptures in the Bible, and she is so nice and friendly to everyone. She babysits the boys frequently and they adore just adore her as well.

Here we are on her baptism day.

Cory and Eaby dressed in white.

Eaby and her mother Lorie.

US

Since I usually post about the kids, I will post just about us for once. I have been super busy learning how to coupon. As you can see in the picture, I never leave home without my pink couponing binder. NERDY!! I get a ton of good deals though. I have been busy keeping the kids entertained all summer. I cannot even count how many times I have played BINGO, made tracks for trains to ride on, and have been to the park. It has been a fun summer though. Just busy. I have still been crafting and have made a couple quiet books for church and have made a bunch of jewelry. I love to bead and make necklaces.

Cory has just been busy with work as usual. He has been promoted at work so I feel like we don't see him as much as we used to, so we cherish our evenings and weekends together. Cory started a date night or day with the boys, where he will take only one of the boys on a date. He took Tyler to The Green Lantern....very age appropriate for a 5 yr old...ha...He said that Tyler sat on his lap for a few parts of the movie. I think this has really helped the boys spend time with Cory one on one for daddy time.

Nerd Alert.....

I am very nerdy. Cory talked me into watching an episode of Dr. Who with him. I thought I would hate it...but I LOVE it. Yes, LOVE it. Am I a nerd...I think so. During one episode I told Cory how cool it would be if I had a TARDIS necklace. I think I mentioned this a time or two later. But, what did I receive in the mail a few weeks later.....this lovely necklace.

Cory is very thoughtful and I am so glad that he is my husband. I do not like flowers, so he often sends me cute little trinkets in the mail. I feel so spoiled. He probably won't like that I am sharing this with the world though. I love him and feel so blessed to be his friend and wife.

Girls Camp 2011

This is the only picture that I have from Girls Camp. It is very sad.
I was able to spend 2 nights at camp with the girls. Within an hour of being there, I broke my butt. Well, my tailbone. I am still in pain two months later. I cannot wait until I heal fully. I was pretty funny though. I went down the slide at West Piney, lost the rug I was riding on and flew up in the air and landed on my buttocks....and bounced 3 or 4 times. I laughed in pain. The girls thought it was hilarious. I was one of the only leaders to go down that slide in all of camp...now I know why. HA!
I love being at camp with the girls though. The kindness and spirit that is there is one that I will cherish. I did not always attend camp as a youth, but now as a leader I have so much love for it. I will remember from this year, breaking my butt, sleeping on an air mattress with my dear friend Lynda, having the girls paint my toe nails, and testimony meeting.

Couponing

I have started couponing. I didn't know really what the big deal was until recently. I am now pretty obsessed with it. Starting next Sunday I will be getting 5 papers every Sunday. Oh dear. Call me a nerd. I even have a ginormous pink binder that I take into the stores with me. It is well worth it though. Today, I got some killer deals.
I spent about $20 out of pocket (oop) and received $12 in register rewards that I will use next week. AWESOME!!!!

You can't see the picture clearly so I will tell you what is in it:

2 Dove Mens care soap (6 packs)
4 mens deodorant
8 crest toothpastes (the big ones even)
4 highlighter markers
4 boxes ronzoni pasta
1 box crackers
1 box cookies
5 (8oz.) bags tillamook shredded cheese
1 (6 pack) kids yogurt
1 jar Worcestershire sauce
2 laundry detergents (26 loads each)

4th of July 2011

Our 4th of July was pretty laid back this year. The night before and the night of the 4th we did a few fireworks with the kids. We specifically asked for some that were not loud since Tyler has pretty sensitive ears. They loved them. Jason was a little hesitant the first night, but they both loved it on the night of the 4th.

Here is Cory lighting some snakes. The boys thought those were cool.

Handsome Tyler.

We attempted to go to the parade...but due to rain and pretty extreme wind, we told the boys we would take them to Walmart and that they could pick out any candy they wanted. They loved that idea. Jason picked out a bag of gummy bears and Tyler picked out some gummy snakes. That was an awesome bribe. No cries or anything.

More of the parade.

The boys were so excited to run through the tunnel. It was near our seats at the parade. They screamed and yelled and ran the whole time. It was very loud in the cave.

And, we had dinner at Cory's aunt and Uncles house. We ate just in time. But, during the clean-up we had a huge rainstorm. We were soaked by the time we went inside. It was pretty insane. Fun, but insane.