Independence Day Weekend

Oh my! What a fun weekend we've had!
Friday we went over to my Uncle Scott's house for our (now) annual 4th of July BBQ. It was such a blast! They have a trampoline in the backyard, and Scott bought a slip-n-slide for the kids. They ran around for hours with squirt guns and buckets of water, soaking anything that would move. :) I have to confess that I spent a fair amount of time on the trampoline myself and, whooo-boy!, it sure was easy to work up a sweat. :) I was almost grateful when I got doused. My cousin's fiance' did all the grilling. I've never had a better burger (except for In-N-Out, but who can really compare?). Then we played this game that was so fun, called Virus. I'll have to explain it another time if you've never heard of it. I hadn't. But suffice it to say that it was worth a great number of laughs. I love getting together with my extended family so much! They are crazy fun. After several rounds of Virus we set off our little fireworks on the street, and by the time we were done it was about time for the BIG ones. Scott and Paula have the greatest view of the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire from their backyard. Some of my good friends came over to watch them with us, and it was really good to see them. I've got to find my camera, but when I do I'll post a cute video of Hannah on the slip-n-slide.
Saturday we spent mostly recovering from Friday and picking up around the house. Even that. though, can be a kick. We unpacked and organized some toys that the kids haven't seen in a few months, so they enjoyed it immensely. :) Aspen got to go see Wall-e with my mom and my grandma. She's given it a GLOWING review, so we're really anxious to see it. Later, Aspen read several Dr. Suess books to the kids. It was such a cute scene; I wish I'd taken some pictures of it!
And the big news! Jake is HOME!!! Yay!! He got here at 3:30 this morning. lol But what a wonderful thing to wake up to. That's one middle-of-the-night-mommy-moment that I don't mind at all. We have all missed Jacob so much, especially Aspen. It's great to have him back here.

Just another quick post; no pictures this time. Sorry!

So I just have to brag for a moment. :) I made BBQ Chicken pizza today, (almost) just like Pier 49's, FROM SCRATCH! :) It was sooooo yummy. I even made the dough myself. I baked it on one of those Pizzazz pizza bakers and it turned out perfect. Totally loving this stay-at-home mom thing. I'm learning so much new stuff. I started baking bread (which I've never done before) and rolls from scratch. I've even tried my hand at lasagna from scratch- turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And next week I'm making curtains!! :) I know, it's so silly. But these are things I've always wanted to do, but never had the time. Next up, cinnamon rolls and a quilt or two!! I'm on a ROLL! :)

I'm so thankful to Duke for helping me to come home and be here with the kids all the time. They sure make me crazy some days, but there's also so much joy to be found with them. The other day I was upset about something that had gone wrong around the house (I can't remember what) and I said "Well, what am I going to do now?" And Hannah, cute as can be, just looked at me and said, "Just be happy!" Those kids come up with some of the most profound wisdom sometimes. I love to just listen to them- especially Aspen; she says the funniest things. I love them all so much, and I've been so blessed to be granted stewardship over them. I am grateful that I'm around to watch them grow up and blossom into the people they were meant to be.

Flying Kites

We received the neatest kites for Christmas from Vi and Shane, and though we've flown them before, we finally took some pictures. They never actually got airborne today, but it was fun to get outside with the kids and run around. Aspen was still at Nanna's house having a special sleep-over, so it's just Duke and Spencer and Hannah and me. We've got a pretty butterfly with really LOOOOONG green streamers, and a BLACK PEARL!!! :) I'll have to get some pictures of them in the air to put on here, too. They both fly well, though you'd never know from looking at that pirate ship. At least, I didn't expect it to fly at all. :)


























Upcoming Events :
+Family 4th of July BBQ

+Hannah's 3rd Birthday

+Jake comes home!

+Llama Fest

+Pioneer Day Carnival and Fireworks

Cutest Thing Ever

It has been kinda quiet around here lately. Jake's in Alaska, and Aspen has been spending a lot of time out with my mom and my grandma running errands and SHOPPING (lucky). Granted, Spencer makes enough noise and craziness and fun to make up for 5 kids, but it's still much quieter without the older two.
So, Spencer and Hannah and I were sitting down for lunch together the other day (quesadillas and apples! YUM!) and I was kinda lost in my own thoughts for a bit. When I started paying attention to their chatter, here's how it went down:
Hannah (who was pretending to be a monkey): "One more time?"
Spencer: "Okaaaaaaaaaay. Once upon a time there was a bee-yooooooooo-tiful princess, named Monkey. And there was a DRAGON! and a coooooool prince, named Spencer! The end."
Hannah: "One more time, Spencer?"
Spencer: "Okaaaay. Once upon a time there was a GIANT! A forte giant. And his name was Spencer. The end."
Hannah: "One more time? With ghost-es."
Spencer: "Okay, with ghost-es. Once upon a time, there was a GHOST! and he was a little boy named Spencer. The end."
Hannah: "I love you, Spencer."
Spencer: "I love you, too, Monkey."
Obviously I missed several stories before that. But it was just the cutest thing ever. This is why I love being a mom! These kids are such a blessing. When they're not eating PlayDoh... or flushing my make-up down the toilet. :) I can say one thing, it's constantly interesting. :)

A quick hello

Just a quick "hi" to all my friends in RS who are checking out my blog for the first time. :) I had a BLAST today! You ladies are all awesome.

Updates

So we passed Spencer's 4th birthday without mishap. Woohoo! :) He got a brand spankin' new 16 inch bike. He was soooo excited, until he realized that all the other 4 year-olds in the neighborhood have smaller bikes. Now he wants to ride theirs, and ignores his. Psh. Kids. Of course it doesn't matter that he begged for the bigger bike- it fits him just fine, too. lol At least it will last him a few years.

It's now summer break! Jacob is in Alaska having a blast, and, though we miss him bunches, we're having a pretty good time, too. :) The kids have SO MANY friends in the neighborhood- they're busy ALL DAY LONG! :) We just leave the front door open all day (thank goodness it hasn't been too hot yet!) and about 10 or 12 kids will just come and go, come and go. Between all their houses, these kids are probably getting more than their fill of Popsicles.

Duke and I have officially decided to go to college this fall. He'll hopefully be starting this month for the second half of summer semester, and then I'll start in August when the kids go back to school. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. It's so silly, but I'm most thrilled about HOMEWORK! lol and taking the assessment test. The idea of getting to work my grey matter again is getting me amped. :)

Hannah's birthday is coming up in July- along with Independence Day (party!!) and Pioneer Day (more party!!) and the Llama Fest! (SNOOOOOOW CONES!) July is always my favorite month during the summer, and it'll be even better because Jake will be here for all the fun this year. I can't wait.

Now that we've got everything out of storage finally, I can't find anything! But I think after the yard sale this weekend I'll be able to track down that USB cord and get some pictures up on here. I know I keep promising, but I'll get to it one of these days. Here's a few from earlier this year (and Christmas time):

Anniversary

Just another quick post. Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. It's insane how time flies. No one ever imagines getting divorced when they're newlyweds, but it's still hard to imagine 5 years. It simultaneously feels like we've been together forever, and for no time at all. So, here's a current picture, and a picture from the beginning. And here's to another forever. :)