{Help}

Help....

Me....

I'm STUCK!!

Wyatt loves to play in my cupboards and take out everything I have in them. Well after he emptied my pots and pans cupboard he thought it would be fun to see how he fit in it. As you can see, not too well. I of course had to get a picture all while he was fussing for some help!! You can tell by the look on his face he is saying "dadgumit woman put down that camera and help me would ya!!" This kid is a funny one I tell ya!!

Need a laugh?

Are you having one of {those} days? Do you need a good laugh?
I can help you with that!

I know just what to do.

Come one, you know you feel that chuckle rising. Go ahead and let it out. You will feel better!

Ahhhhh, don't you feel better? Now enjoy the rest of your day!

Oh yeah, You Are Welcome!!

ONE

Our little Wyatt turned the big ONE on Saturday. We had a small party for him with Ryan's Mom and our neighbors the Millers. It was fun to celebrate this little guy. We are so glad he came to our family. He cracks us up all the time and is so much fun!!

I decided to make him a giant cupcake that he could destroy if he chose!!

Little cherub. I don't think that face could be any cuter or sweeter for that matter.

He looks pretty excited about his birthday, even though he didn't know what day it actually was!!

He is starting to sing when he hears music. When we started to sing to him he started right in with us!! He wanted to touch the flame of the candle really bad.

Not sure what to think of the blue stuff. He really didn't eat any of it, he just picked at it and smeared it. Which is why we put a disposable table cloth on the table and then set him and the cake on it.

He had to get hosed off before he could start opening up his presents. He loves the bath and he fought getting out.

He was actually really good at opening the presents all by himself. We sent the bigger kids out to eat Orange cream bars. That is why we could get a clear shot of him with no big kid trying to "help" him.

He got a few Tonka cars and a Little People airport. The older kids have been having a blast with his toys, he has enjoyed them when he gets a chance to play with them. It was a fun evening and we are so glad we got to celebrate Wyatt's first birthday. Time has gone by too fast, dang it!!

THE END!!

In Portland for the Day

This is the beautiful temple that Ryan and I were sealed in 10 years ago. So we thought for our anniversary we would go back to do a session at the temple. What a perfect way to celebrate your marriage right? We had it all worked out with Ryan's mom, she would come and take the kid and then we could go. Well the week before we were planning on going, we looked on the church's website to see when the sessions started on the weekends and sadly the temple was closed for cleaning and maintenance. Seriously!! Well we thought we could still meet his mom at the temple and at least take pictures on the grounds and then go and do something fun in Portland. So that is what we did. They had the grounds closed off so we only got pictures right in front but it was nice to at least go there and remember how beautiful the temple is and how blessed we are as a family to be sealed for eternity!!

We didn't have these FOUR rugrats 10 years ago!!! They are such a blessing in my life. They keep me grounded and they keep me humble to say the least!!

So onto the Zoo we went. Everyone else had the same idea we did. The lane getting off the freeway to the zoo was backed up for what seemed like forever. So we got off one exit earlier and took the shuttle. There wasn't any parking at the Zoo anyways. It was much less of a headache doing it that way!! The kids were excited to see the animals but I think they were much more excited to be with Grandma Margaret and Papa Greg!! The zoo was their treat for our anniversary!! It was fun playing with the new camera (as you will see later on).

This was one of two bald eagles that the zoo had. Really some magnificent birds.

Wyatt was bummed because we left this binkie in the car back at the shuttle place and he really needed a nap. He didn't get one but we kept him somewhat entertained with all the animals to look at.

The girls loved driving the tractor at the old homestead part of the zoo.

Ayden looks less than thrilled, but he had fun too. The whole day I couldn't keep him focused when I wanted him to look at the camera!!

The elephants were fun. There was a new baby elephant that I couldn't for the life of me get a picture of. Someone always got in the way at the last minute. Dang it, he was cute (I think it was a boy, I am not sure though).

This is where I was playing with some settings on my camera. I like the shot, but the grass is a bit VIVID. The setting I tried does just that, make things look vivid. It also make it look like it is on steroids. I think I'll stick with the default setting on that one!!

Ryan got a really cool shot sequence of this tiger dragging that barrel out of the water and back to it's cave area. It is a beautiful animal.

The sea lions are always fun. This one was looking for a fight. He was barking and charging. The other sea lion really didn't want anything to do with him. It was cool to go underground and watch them swim. The kids liked that the best I think!!

Ryan and I decided this was me and him. I think he is the one on the right since he has a hairier face and ears. I'm the one on the left because it is more petite, if a hippo can be petite!!!

It was a fun day and we had a blast with Ryan's mom and stepdad. Thanks guys for a wonderful day!!!

Ice Cream Melts

Ice Cream melts. It does. Especially when you dip it in hot chocolate. Then it really melts.
For dessert last Monday night after Family Home Evening we took advantage of McDonald's summer special. 50 cent vanilla cones or 80 cent chocolate dipped cones. The kids really wanted the chocolate dipped ones so we thought what the heck, let's splurge!!
Keep in mind, the McDonald's is just two miles away. We went straight there and straight back.
In the time it took to get back home this is what our kids looked like. The chocolate melted the ice cream but kept it contained....until the kids took their first bite of chocolate. Then it let the flood gates open. The poor kids couldn't hardly keep up with it.
They enjoyed their ice cream though, every last drop.

Baths we taken that night in an effort to clean up the ice cream from their elbows!! Next time I think we'll stick with the plain vanilla cones.

Working Man

Ayden has been really interested in making money this summer. He has some pretty lofty goals of saving money to purchase the toys and such that I won't get him. He doesn't think he can wait around for his birthday or Christmas, the two dates when we "might" get him something bigger. That is just fine with me. So he asked what he could do to make some money. I don't pay my kids for making their beds, or emptying the dishwasher, ect. I consider those to be their responsibility because they are a part of the family. So we compromised on him learning to mow the lawn. He was pretty excited about that prospect. Ryan showed him how to start it, how to overlap his passes and how to do a pivot turn. I told him that I would pay him $5 if HE mowed the entire lawn by himself. If he did just the front then it would be half that. Thankfully to him $5 is still a huge amount.

The first time he did it himself he started the lawn mower all by himself, and he mowed the whole front yard by himself. The back yard is a little harder because of the layout and the fence makes turning around harder, so I did that. He was pretty proud of himself to have earned money to put in his own wallet. He is also learning about tithing, saving some and then having some spending money.

This growing up stuff can be fun and hard all at the same time!!