Tyler Turns Two!

Well the cake was a flop ( I spent less than five minutes frosting and decorating because Ty was a LOT grouchy and since it was his birthday I thought I should probably spend time with him instead of creating a cake masterpiece), there were no guests besides our immediate family, and the decorations were not so exciting, BUT...

Tyler had a great time at his party on Saturday. He totally loved opening his gifts, yelling "I did it" every time he ripped part of the wrapping off. And blowing out the candles was way exciting for this two year old! He kept blowing long after the fire was gone, and still asks me to sing "Happy Birthday You" so he can blow out the candles again.

Thank goodness two-year-olds are easy to please!

Overheard...

After seeing their dad wave to several forest service trucks on the way up the mountain last week, Suzanna asked why he kept waving. Jonathan, with his vast knowledge told her that Dad HAS to wave or they'll take him to jail.
"How do you know that?" she asks him later.
"Because I read it on the jail blog!" he responds.

Camping Favorites

So I thought I'd share a few of our favorite moments on Mount Graham last week. We had a wonderful time with the Allred side of the family, and only wish that everyone could have made it! I didn't have my camera out nearly often enough, but luckily my sister-in-law did (so yes, Lisa, I stole a couple of pictures!)

Favorite sibling time: Any time one of my kids would help Ty in the hammock.
Uncle Bradley brought up a hammock--which he occasionally got to use between all the kids taking turns.





Favorite card game: Phase 10
Aunt Rachel and I both brought up this game. Anna and Eric had fun playing during the day, and we adults had even more fun playing at night while watching for the elusive bear that the camp host a guarenteed we'd see--especially if we didn't keep our camp area clean.





We didn't see any bears that night(THANK GOODNESS!), but Bradley, Eric and Phil saw both the mama bear and cub early the next morning.

Favorite dirty face: Tyler
I think he wins the award because his face was the dirtiest--despite being washed the most often. He smeared dirt all over his face not ten minutes out of the car as he enjoyed the wild outdoors. This picture is day 3 when he was more than ready to go home.



Favorite fisherman: Phil of course!
He only fished for a couple of hours, but came back successful--even though he'd been told the fishing wasn't all that great this week. We claim that he's the only one who caught anything all week, but we didn't do extensive research =)



Favorite cousin time: walking to and around the lake.
The kids took many trips to the lake since it was so close, and one supervised walk around it with their awesome aunts and uncles while I stayed behind holding a sleeping Tyler. Aunt Lisa is the BEST at getting them all to pose so cute!



Favorite (and only) sword fight: Jonathan and Lelia.
I asked Jonathan to do something cute so I could take a picture since I didn't have any of him, and this is what he chose. Hmmm....

Favorite bug-hider: Jonathan--though calling this a favorite is a stretch!

By day three the flies found us, and found a tired Jonathan who totally freaked out. Not his best moment, or shall we say moments. But it's a moment we'll all remember--just not fondly.

Mommy's favorite time: when we were back at Grandma's and all CLEAN!!!!

Well that's all! We had so much more fun--roasting marshmellows, building fires, and just being together. I wish I had more on film! Thanks to all who came.
Same time, same place, next year?

Recital

After our camping trip, we held a small recital for Brendon and Suzanna. I've been teaching them piano lessons for over a year now, so it's definitely time to show off their skills. And what better place to do that than Thatcher where almost all their relatives live? Anna directed the whole recital and played two songs on the piano, and Brendon played both the trumpet and piano for their adoring fans, a.k.a. their parents, grandparents, great-grandmother, cousins, and aunt. Sorry for the poor lighting in some of the pictures--the recital went so quick the camera man didn't have time to move for better pictures =)

It's official...

I'm totally melting in the summer heat.

Luckily, we're outa here tomorrow morning and taking off for a camping trip to Mount Graham to enjoy the cool mountain air. Too bad we can't stay there all summer!

10 pictures for turning 10

So its a LOT of pictures, but not too much to celebrate Brendon's 10 years in our family.

Here's Brendon's entrance into the world. It was one long day at the hospital, but with a great ending.

Brendon's first Christmas at Grandma Flake's (by the way, I don't have a scanner, and we didn't have a digital camera way back then, so I had my mom send a few pictures of his early years).

1st birthday party. He's showing off his walking skills =)

2 years old

Fun with chocolate pudding--and fun with a bath afterwards, I'm sure.

First day of 1st grade. Waiting at the bus stop with his friends Jordan and Anthony.

Brother time...

Family reunion with cousins and a snake

Baptism day!


And the present...

We love Brendon so much and we're so proud of the awesome 10-year-old he's become!

We survived!

Brendon celebrated his birthday with a sleepover last week since a couple of his friends are out of town for his actual birthday today. The boys had a great time and I made it through the night, so I guess it was a success !?! Actually, the party went wonderfully. The boys were great and entertained themselves with dart gun wars, Guitar Hero and other video games, and movies (until 1:00 a.m. I might add), since Tyler decided that swimming lessons didn't agree with him and threw up on the way home--just as the boys were arriving. I felt like I needed to keep Tyler away from the rest of the kids, even though I was pretty sure he wasn't contagious. Maybe that's the secret to a great party for a ten-year-old: less parental involvement in the fun...

And as for the pictures...the first is of Brendon's pathetic ice-cream cake. Word to the wise, homemade ice-cream does not work so well for making an ice-cream cake. And I didn't get a picture of all boys who came, so this one of present opening will have to do.

One step closer...

On Monday the kids and I went to the state capital for the release of the Arizona quarter. They handed out free quarters to all of the kids under 18. My kids were a little impatient waiting for the Governor to finish speaking (her speech was really short and sweet, but you know how kids can be), but they endured and were rewarded with shiny new quarters. Brendon was the most excited since he's been collecting all of the quarters on his fun map. It was fun to see several other kids holding their quarter collections there at the capitol, and Brendon had fun talking to another boy his age about how many they each had. Now he only has three quarters left to find--which means some waiting since two aren't released yet.

Bed Graduation

Tyler has moved out of his crib and into a regular bed! On Friday (our first official day of Summer Break) the boys all moved beds and rooms. Tyler was super excited for his "big-boy bed," and brought in his pillow and blanket from his old room only seconds after we explained that it was his new bed. His favorite part is the freedom factor, of course. He was in and out of bed and room several times before settling down. Jonathan moved into Brendon's old bed (which he thought was pretty cool, too). And Brendon is ecstatic to get his own room again. He moved into the "extra" room. We'll have pictures of that when we get it painted next week.

60th Wedding Anniversary

So I'm a little behind on my blogging...

We went to Thatcher for Memorial Day to join in the celebration for my Grandma and Grandpa Flake's 60th Wedding Anniversary. We had such a great time celebrating them and with all of the family gathered there, that I forgot to get any pictures! I did snap a shot of the cake I decorated for the event with their original cake topper from 60 years ago, though! It was fun to decorate again--I took a break from that hobby while Ty was an infant.