Where are Josh & Matt?

So as I look through the blog there are not many photos or entries of the boys of late. Why is this? I have so many photos of things that Cait and Ryan are doing, or getting into, but where are Josh and Matt.....oh that's right... It is summer. Josh sleeps in as long as he possibly can. Then when he gets up him and Matt try to play video games all day long, or hide from me when it is chore time!!!! So there aren't any photos of that, oh, BUTT there might be one. Ryan escaped from the tub yesterday morning to watch the boys play WII...... How cute are baby bums?

Lavendar days in Utah

Josh & Matt

We had a great time visiting family in Utah this summer. One of the things we did was to head over to the Lavendar festival in Mona. This kids had a great time roaming through the lavendar. It was similar to a small renasaince fair. They had old fashioned rides, animals, pony rides, and of course great fried food. We did try some things like lavendar ice cream. Wasn't our fave, a little too strong. And lavendar lemonade. That was good. Any who the kids had a great time. We even saw a zedonk for the first time, a mix between a donkey and a zebra!

Cait, Mckenna & Lil Mo (matt mason)

How Beautiful are those Utah Mountains in the back ground!!!!

Cait got to meet the Fairies. How cool is that!!!!

Mudslide Cookies

I am in the kitchen alot these days creating new cookie recipes, and Ryan really likes to help, especially with clean up!!! If he would just stay in the kitchen. He is so fast, he'll get off the chair and make a break for it. Then we have cookie dough fingerprints everywhere. I am not complaining. I wouldn't trade this cute little cookie monster for anything.

Curlers

I wish I was this cute in curlers!

Dressing Myself

Caitlin is all girl. She has discovered that she really likes to pick out her own clothes. Since we never really go anywhere, this is not a problem. Every morning she usually comes in wearing a church dress. I can usually talk her out of those, but that just means she gets a little bit more creative with what she will choose to wear that day. This week, she really fancies her tutu and any shirt and boots seem to match!!! My favorite...her cape that she wears and flies around the house in. She is usually wearing a bright pink and orange hat too...can't locate a pic of that.

Dirt, Frogs & Otter Pops

Caitlin LOVES to catch frogs, lizards, bugs, whatever she can find. She desparately wants a pet of her own. So everyday she is out back on a quest to find another pet to love. The problem is she tends to over 'love' the animals she finds. They are often dead the next day from her tender loving care. I am convinced only a huge dog could hold up to her lovin! Here she is with her frog, which only lasted a day. The next morning she informed me that he was 'cold' (dead stiff) so she had put him back in the bushes to warm up. Ryan loves to go out back with Cait and catch stuff, or chase the wild bunny that lives in our bushes. He is a boy. He loves to throw rocks, and of course play in the dirt. We have tons of dirt and gravel for him to play in. But his favorite dirt comes from my flower pots. Why stop at the dirt? He has pulled all the leaves off the flowers, and then uprooted the whole plant. My poor flowers!!!!!

Computer time with Cait

Caitlin loves to play nickjr on the computer. On this day she was really into wearing headphones so that she could hear better. I got a cute picture of Ryan from 'behind' watching Cait play a Dora game.

Slippery little sucker!

My nephew Tytan (jess's little guy) is so stinkin cute. Jess and I were busy elsewhere in the house, when someone discovered Tytan in the bathroom, with a bottle of Lotion. Now how can you get mad?

Visitors in May

Jessica and Becky came to visit us in May. We had a really good time. With 9 kids running around it was crazy! Jess and I still had time to design a few cookies while the kids played. They really enjoyed swimming in the jacuzzi and eating otter pops!

Countdown to Edward, um, I mean 'Breaking Dawn'

So in anticipation of the 4th book in the 'twilight' series to come out, I have added a countdown clock. I am very excited to read the book. Hopefully we will finally find out if she will turn into a vampire...I hope so. She has to choose Edward over Jacob!! We will be getting off the lake at shasta after houseboating with Marks family for a week.....first stop will be to get the new book so I can read it all the way back to Arizona!!!! :)

Mohawk

Mark cut the boys' hair the other night. I was busy with the little kids, so I didn't see Josh and Matt, until they were all cut short and nice. Well, when I was downloading pics onto the computer I came across a few shots that I had to share. Pretty good mohawk Josh!!!!

Swinging

So we got a swingset a few weeks ago. I was very excited, as excited as Cait. I better start at the beginning... One morning I told Caitlin to quit jumping on the couches. We have a trampoline, so I told her to go play outside. She looked up at me and said (with her puppy brown eyes) "but mom, we don't have a swing for me to swing on." So, for family home evening that night, we went to walmart and bought one. So again, we were all excited, especially Mark. He started reading the instructions and the estimated time to build the swingset was 12-15 hours. So Excited! (He is such a good guy, he put it all together on one of his Fridays off.) Any who, to make a long story short, it is a huge day when a parent no longer has to spend hours outside pushing the little ones on the swing.....2 days ago, Caitlin learned how to pump her legs from a dead stop and get going full force. She loves it. It is a new found freedom for her! I think it is much like flying. She loves to go as high as she can. In fact, when I tried to take pictures, she was very upset that she was not going at full swing when I was taking pictures. She kept scowling that she could go higher and I needed to wait. Very cute!!! Here is one of the non scowl pictures I was able to get, even though she wasn't 'super' high'.

Holes

So, I don't think that I have really told you all about my Matthew. He is such a sweet kid. Cute smile, little dimple in his cheeks, twinkle in his eyes....sounds harmless right? Well the kid is holey! I can't keep him from cutting, chewing or ripping holes in his clothes!!! I am sure that his teachers think I am horrible to send him to school with his clothes full of holes, but I can't keep up. And, I refuse to buy him new clothes. As soon as I do, he comes home with a hole in it!

Terrible at this!

I really do have the best intentions....including this blog. Note to self, blog more than once every 5 months. It is sad when I have family telling me to update the blog so they can see what the kids look like, and what is happening with us. So sorry!!!! I will do better!!!

The Polar Express

Tonight we had the best time! We bundled up in our pajamas, coats and scarves and headed out into the cold to ride on the Polar Express! Our train departed out of the Grand Canyon Railroad station in Williams AZ. Before we left, we were able to get a few photos with Mrs. Claus in the waiting area. We boarded our train and were served Hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies by the chef on board. Then we listened to the book Polar Express. When we got to the 'North Pole', Santa boarded the train and gave all the kids a jingle bell. On the way home we sang Christmas carols. It was the perfect way to start the Christmas season. I think it will be a yearly tradition for us. Matt and Cait were enamored by everything that happened on the way up and back. Josh, at almost 10, thought he was too old and cool to be there. But I could tell he had a really good time too. Ryan, well, he was a maniac as always. He was up and down the aisles, on and off the seats. The cocoa and cookies didn't even keep his attention for long! Oh my! It was a bit too much for Cait. She threw up twice on the way home. Yuck! I sincerely hope that doesn't become a yearly tradition!

October

Well, we made it through October. It was such a busy month! The monday night before halloween, we carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening. The kids each got their own pumpkin and we spent the evening picking out fun designs, getting the goo out of the middle, and carving up a storm! It was fun to be in Arizona and have the weather cool so that the pumpkins could be on the porch a few days before halloween without getting moldy. On Halloween night, we went Trunk or treating at the church. Josh ended up being Mario this year (again, it's his 3rd time). Matt was a green ghost from packman, but do to a shabby paint job... looked more like a giant pickle, or the cucumber from VegieTales. Cait was an adorable black cat, and Ryan was our brave little Indian Chief. Ryan, at 18 months, wasn't sure what was goin on with the trick or treating thing. But he loved the candy especially the suckers! The kids always have so much fun picking out their costumes and anticipating the candy! Mark and I don't mind it either. It makes us feel like kids again to watch them have so much fun! We like to pick and choose a few treats out of the kids bags at the end of the evening, and the next day, and the day after that! Halloween is the beginning of eating horrible for the rest of the year. But hey, it's the holidays!!!!!