Trying to SURVIVE Summer!

Summertime in Phoenix is just about trying to endure the heat. We try and find things to do at home indoors or places to go with A/C. We've done lots of playgroups at peoples houses, mall playgrounds, $1 kid movies at the theatre, childrens museum, ChuckECheese, swimming, or even just roaming Super Target. Anything we can think of to keep our sanity. Here are just some random pictures that we have taken so far this summer.

We had to bring the carseats inside one day and the boys thought that was the coolest thing ever. They were climbing all over them acting like they had never seen them before.

Logan at one of the mall playgrounds. I just love that little face.

Tyler and Logan fishing one morning. I guess they were trying to catch themselves something to eat for breakfast.

Tyler will randomly put on his hard hat, grab his tools and tell us that something needs fixed. This day it happened to be his car that needed fixed. Logan gets the pleasure of being Tylers little sidekick. I'm not sure who enjoys that more, Tyler or Logan.

Tyler and Logans little hangout is in our closet. They love to pull all our shoes off the shoe racks and play in this little room. They think they are hilarious in there all by themselves with the door shut. I guess they think they are being sneaky.

Tyler and his little buddy David at the movie theater. They have $1 kid movies every morning. Tyler loved it! He keeps asking to go back. Ever since Tyler has gotten home from the movies he keeps telling us how little our TV is.

We braved the heat for about 10 minutes because Tyler was so excited about flying a kite. We kept telling him not to let go of the string. He thought about that for a minute and then he told us with an excited look on his face that if he did let go then an airplane could help us get it. If only it were that easy.

Tyler tends to freak out every time I even mention the word vacuum. The only place Tyler feels safe from the vacuum is in Logans crib, I guess because he is all caged in and up off the floor. Anyway I'll put some books and toys up there and they really have a good time playing in there. Tyler will start jumping up and down and Logan thinks that is hilarious. It is always nice to hear them laughing and playing together instead of screaming and yelling at each other.

Our friend Melissa moved down here to Phoenix which has been so fun. Rick drove her moving truck down here and we let Tyler go for a ride in it. He was so excited because he is such a boy and he loves TRUCKS. He just kept saying that he was riding in Mack (off of the movie Cars.)

We got the boys this little pop up barn and Tyler insists that we turn our living room into a farm almost everyday. There is a little stall off to the side that Tyler thinks is his garage. He always parks his car in there.

Tyler and Logan playing in the giant box that this came in:

My new digital piano. Woohoo! I am so excited about this that I am losing sleep over it. The only problem I have now is that everytime I sit down I expect to play a solo and I always end up playing a trio before the song is over. If I even play one note my boys come rushing over and want to join in. Hopefully when the newness of it wears off they won't be as drawn to it. I'm still having a lot of fun with it though.

Ricks dad came out to visit last week which was a lot of fun for all of us. The boys loved having Grandpa around. As much fun as Grandpa had he did say that he would not be visiting us again in the summertime. I can't say that I blame him when temps soared around 114 while he was here. Here is a picture of them swimming. Ricks dad thought the pool felt like bath water. And I must say it was probably the warmest pool I had ever been in.



And that is a little look at our summer so far.

Helping Himself

I was really shocked and a little amused when I turned the corner into the kitchen today and found this

Logan hanging on for dear life in my fridge! "How on earth did he get in there?" I thought to myself. I have a feeling his older brother must have left the fridge door open and then he somehow climbed inside. There was a big bowl of cut up fruit on the top shelf and I guess he must have really wanted some because when I got a closer look I noticed his cheeks were packed full. He was stuffing his face as fast as he could. I couldn't stop laughing because he was just looking at me like everything was normal and he knew exactly what he was doing. He was just helping himself. He is only 10 months. He started walking this week and apparently he is climbing now too. It was pretty funny.

Fourth of July!

The Fourth of July. When I was living in Idaho it was always one of the highlights of the summer but I have to say that is not the case here in Phoenix. It was so stinkin hot here, 108 degrees hot, but we tried our best to make our day fun. We did the traditional BBQ and then we rode the light rail downtown to the firework show. Even though we did have a good time I would have to say that the fireworks show in IF is better and there is just a better atmosphere in IF. Anyway here are some pictures of our day.

The night before the fourth we lit a few fireworks in our parking lot. Tyler doesn't think they are fireworks unless they go up in the sky. So he was a little disappointed with our pop-its, spinning flowers, and sparklers.

Rick and Tyler braved the heat and BBQ'd some hamburgers and hotdogs for us.

Tyler loves to be the one to throw the hotdogs up on the grill.

Tyler and Logan at the fireworks that night. Tyler looks like he is up to something and Logan looks terrified. I don't know what was going on. They did look cute in their matching red, white, and blue polos though.

Our family at the fireworks show. Rick talked one of the vendors into giving Tyler two of those light sabers for a "real deal". Tyler loved them.

Us on our trip home. It had been a long, hot day and we were exhausted. But glad we went.

San Francisco (finally)

Okay, so I have been a big slacker about blogging lately and I really don't have a good excuse, I just wasn't feelin it. But anyway I am finally getting around to blogging about our all girls weekend in San Francisco. This trip actually happened about a month ago but better late than never. And now my family can quit giving me a hard time.:) So anyway the weekend was fabulous. It was kid free which was such a nice break ( a big thanks to Rico for keeping the kids safe and happy and the house in one piece while I was gone). We spent lots of time just shopping, eating out at yummy restaurants, shopping some more, site seeing, more shopping, and probably my favorite part was going and seeing the Broadway musical Wicked. It was a great weekend girls and a fun tradition we have going. Here are a few highlights of our weekend.

Every year we have to stop at the Jelly Belly factory and stock up on jellybeans for the weekend. Very fun place to visit. Here we are in front of Mr. Jelly Belly.

Me stocking up on jelly beans. The whole wall is full of all different flavors of jelly bellys. You can't help but go a little crazy in there.

Me and my sister Lisa waiting for our food at the Cheesecake Factory. We ate lots of good food that weekend.


All us girls in front of the Wicked theatre


Me, my prego sister Jill, and my mom in front of the Wicked poster. I really really really loved the show and I realized that I might have been listening to the soundtrack a little too much since I have been home when Tyler started singing along to the songs and telling me which ones he wanted to listen to.

We did tons of fabulous shopping in San Fran (what else would you expect from us). Here we are all trying on shoes at Nordstroms. They had these really cute pink sneakers that we all liked so much we couldn't help but all try on the same shoes, and all buy the same shoes for that matter.

Me lacing up my shoes

Me my sister Lisa and my mom down at the pier. It was fun but freezing the day we were there.

All of us walking around Ghirardelli square.

Me and my sisters in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Very windy that day obviously. My hair is usually big but it was extra poofy that day.:)

Me and my sisters walking around the Stanford campus. Probably the prettiest campus I have ever been on.

And then I saved my favorite picture for last. This was taken back in Sacramento, where my sister Jill lives, at the end of the our weekend. We really do a lot in a short amount of time and it does wear you out. Obviously, the picture speaks for itself.

Priceless girls.

Thanks for a great weekend girls. I will try and post some of my families most recent pictures soon, or should I say my kids most recent pictures, because I know that is what our families really want to see.

Viva Las Vegas!

Viva Las Vegas! If you read my last post then you know that we spent last weekend in Vegas. We went up there to visit our friends Melissa and her mom Vonnie who was visiting from Ricks home ward back in New York. Vegas is only about a 4 hour drive from Phoenix (three and a half if the boys are crying in the back seat) We had a great time walking the strip, going on top of the stratosphere, swimming, barbequing and just hanging out. It was nice to get out of Phoenix together as a family. Here are a few fun pictures we took of our little getaway.

Me and the boys at the M&M Factory. Tyler was so excited about all the candy everywhere. He loved it!

Rick and the boys on the strip.

Me and Tyler watching the fountain show at the Bellagio

Rick and I renewing our wedding vows at the forever grand wedding chapel. Not really, but we couldn't resist taking this picture being in Vegas and all.

Our family riding the monorail. Tyler loves anything that reminds him of a train. Funny story: We were chit chatting with another couple on the monorail and we were asking them if they knew any good shows to go and see. They told us about one of their favorite shows and then said what became our favorite quote of the trip "It's a topless show but it's not dirty or anything" What?! Rick and I just looked at each other like that didn't make sense, how could a topless show not be dirty? We got a good laugh out of that later.

When Rick thinks of Vegas one word comes to his mind, Buffet! He is in heaven with all the buffets to choose from. Here he is enjoying lunch. I hadn't seen him this happy since breakfast! :)

Tyler loved the buffet as well, especially the dessert table.

One day we were able to go up to the Las Vegas temple and walk around. It was very pretty and we enjoyed it a lot. Here we are in front of the temple.

Rick and Logan at the temple grounds.

Tyler and Logan on the lawn of the temple. I love this picture of them both in their green shirts on the grass. So fun!

Here is a pic of Rick and Vonnie. It's always nice when Vonnie is around because she's not afraid to put Rick in his place when he gets out of hand.:) Rick was the one who introduced the gospel to Vonnie and Melissa. And they have remained good friends ever since.

Tyler with just a few of the many many goodies Melissa got him. Melissa, you spoil him more than any one we know. No wonder ever since we got back he keeps telling me he wants to go to "Lissa's house "

Our family at Melissa's apartment. Thanks for letting us take over your apartment for a few days Melissa. We really did have a great time!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler turned three this past Sunday! I can't believe it. When I look at him he already seems so much older for some reason. We happened to be in Las Vegas this past weekend visiting our friends Vonnie and Melissa so we got to celebrate his birthday with them. I think he had a great day and loved his presents. We are so proud of Tyler and we are so glad that he is part of our family. We just think Tyler is the cutest and the sweetest and the smartest and the funniest and I tell him that everyday. :)

We had the apartment all decorated when he woke up. He was so excited! Here he is first thing in the morning sitting at the table wondering where the cake was. He just kept asking me where the cake was.

Eating his birthday breakfast. Chocolate doughnuts and chocolate milk. His favorite!

It was a little chaotic in the morning trying to get to nine o'clock church so we told him he had to wait until after church to open his presents. As soon as we got home from church we could barely change out of our church clothes before he was diving into them. He was pretty excited.

Opening more presents

As excited as he was about his presents we did manage to capture his usual serious face.This picture cracks us up because it is sooo Tyler. Have you ever seen such a serious face on a three year old opening presents on his birthday. He acts like it is no big deal and that he is not impressed. Too funny!

Tyler showing off all his gifts. He looks pretty happy doesn't he. Coloring books and finger paints, it doesn't get any easier than that.

Rick showing his excitement for the festivities

Tyler got so excited when we brought the cake over and started singing happy birthday. Little does everyone know that Tyler loves to pretend it is his birthday all the time so he insists that we light matches and sing happy birthday to him on a weekly basis.

Tyler blowing out his candles. He got all three in one shot. You gotta love the Star Trek cake. At 11pm at wal-mart the night before there is slim pickings. Even though he has no idea what Star Trek is he was still excited about it because of the, what he thought was a rocket ship, on top of the cake.

He is not so much into the cake as he is the ice cream. The kid loves his ice cream.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD! WE LOVE YOU!