Target pictures

Not as much of a success as last year.


I blame the outfits.
(I never found anything cute and coordinated for really cheap. So I guess we could throw the economy into the blame fest too)


And Tyler.


Cause where did that smile come from?

And why did he only choose to use it during the group shots??? He was very cute and normal smiley for his individual poses later (as you can see on the side).

So I'm not in love with the pictures. But they will have to do. Because there is NO WAY I'm dragging four kids to the studio again until next year. It's a bit of an effort :)

And as for my blogging absense for the last 3 months...I can blame 2 months on my computer being broken, and that our laptop doesn't have my picture program installed (and who wants a post without pictures!!), but really I've just been busy and discovered that the longer you stay away from blogging the easier it is to stay away and ignore the guilt :)

I wouldn't expect the guilt to catch up with me anytime soon....

Soccer cleats: $20

Shin Guards: $10

Long socks: $5

Brendon making the Soccer "practice" Team: PRICELESS!!

**all the sixth graders who made the team made the "practice" team--with three grades (6th-7th-8th) and only 20 spots, it makes sense to only use older/more experienced kids for team, but I'm so glad that they're keeping some sixth graders on to train!!

A blissful beginning

It's been a great week! All the kids love their teachers and classes, and we're even feeling ok about the middle school for Brendon. Ty and I are having a great time playing, shopping and hanging out at home. If only the entire school year could go this well....

Anna's Baptism

Last Saturday Suzanna was baptized and confirmed by her dad.


She loved that one of her best friends, Megan, got baptized on the same day!








And when we went to take pictures in the gym, we got to pose with some cute wedding decorations because the room was filled and it was way too hot to go outside =)






We had a great day and we are so happy for Suzanna and proud of the wonderful girl she is!!

Arizona Museum for Youth

I lucked out and found a culture pass to the Arizona Museum for Youth at the library last week, so the kids and I made the trek over to the East side for the day and had a great time playing together.

I took about a million pictures, but I'll only post a few :D

We put together our own life size monster. There were lots of velro parts to choose from.

Dressed up like monsters.

Put on a monster puppet show.

Made pipe cleaner monsters--actually we were trying to make people, but I'm sure you noticed the monster theme here, and really, are people green???

There were a lot of other fun exhibits (like a black light room), and a nice playroom/lunchroom to eat in, but our favorite thing was playing with the Keva Planks.

Suzanna and I made some couches.

Brendon made a high rise building

and a bridge



I made some stadium sort of thing. Really, we had so much fun playing with them together (but not enough fun to justify paying $130 for a set of 400 to have at home...though I am tempted). It was just great to be in a cool place having fun together during our last week of summer.

Suzanna didn't love the blocks as much as the rest of us, but she entertained herself taking pictures while we built.

Ty also loved the 4 and under play area. If we lived closer, I'd totally get the membership and just hang out with him there while the other kids are at school. They had a slide, fully stocked play kitchen, a craft area, and so much more. He could have stayed there forever.

24th of July Family Reunion

Our family and my brother and his family all headed to Thatcher for a mini family reunion at my parents house for the 24th of July weekend. We had a great time together, and of course got a group shot:





and a picture of all seven grandkids together:





We also had fun watching the fireworks in Pima that night. They were right above us, and I was wishing we had brought blankets to lay on instead of chairs to enjoy the show more.




Phil's sister invited us to the park to play on a water slide, too.



Ty kind of liked it :D

Anna's Birthday

Suzanna had a great time with her friends at her birthday party. We went swimming, played dress up, painted crafts , and did the usual dinner, ice cream, cake and presents.

I think it was my favorite kid's party yet--probably because the guests were so great, and also because I had fun preparing all the girly stuff!!

Anna helped me decorate her cake like a purse. The candles are hiding the licorice handle in this picture, but we both thought it turned out cute. And it sure was easy to make =)