Blast Off!

Eli loved the rocket.

The parachute opened up every time.

3...2...1...Blast off!

Ethan at the launch pad, getting ready to go.

Today we went out and launched Ethan's rocket that he got for his birthday. It was so much fun! The boys loved it. It worked great. We used all three engines and can't wait to get more. Ethan built it all by himself. He did a great job!

Happy Birthday Ethan

I can hardly believe my first little bundle of joy is ten years old. Time has sure gone by fast. It seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. I was honestly scared to death of him. I had no idea what to do with this little baby! Now he is grown to be such a great young man.

Ethan loves anything related to science. He is in the gifted program at school and is constantly amazing me with how his brain works. I am always hearing from his teachers how different he thinks. One example was a math problem on the board. "You want to buy 9 of your friends pizza and they get 3 slices each. How many pieces will you need?" Of course it was 9x3=27 was the right answer. When his teacher asked if anyone else got a different answer, he slowly raised his hand and said "40". When his teacher asked why he explained "Well, I don't want to sit there and watch my friends eat pizza, I want 3 slices too!" I love how that mind of his works. He is constantly thinking and analyzing things. Sometimes he is up so late because he can't stop thinking.

He loves to do origami and fold paper airplanes. He will sit for hours and fold paper. He has even designed a few of his own creations. His newest phase is magic tricks and he is getting really good! He is very persistent in everything he does. When he was six, he started doing handstands. He would practice all day long, every chance he got. Now he can do a handstand forever and walk on his hands. It is amazing what his perseverance will do!

He is always thinking of other people. He is very sensitive and worried about others. He is the greatest big brother. Little kids just love him. He loves to play with them and include them in what he does. He is a great helper!

We are so proud of Ethan and all of his accomplishments. He is growing into a fine young man. Happy Birthday my little guy!

Abracadabra!

Ethan is a boy of many talents. He seems to go through phases. Last summer it was origami and paper airplanes. He folded and folded until he got to be perfect. He still amazes me how good he can fold paper. Anyway, to keep from being bored this summer, we checked out some magic books from the library. He has been practicing and I got a really good magic show yesterday. This picture was too funny to pass up. I loved it! I must admit he is getting really good with his coin tricks. I could not even tell how he did it. Very impressive!!

Happy 4th of July!

Here is the gang, relaxing on the grass.

Watching the fireworks.

Emma had so much fun running around on the grass.

No 4th of July would be complete without glowsticks. We get them every year.

Andrew, spinning his glowstick.

Ethan and his glowstick.

We had a fun 4th of July this year. Of course it was miserably hot. I envy those people who can actually go outside for a picnic or BBQ and have nice weather. We were hoping a giant monsoon would blow in and cool us off, no such luck! We left early and went to Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream. We learned an important lesson after spending a small fortune there. - No matter how hungry your kids "think" they are, just get a kid's sized scoop for them!
For fireworks, we went to a park in Surprise. We avoided the ballpark where the actual fireworks are. We learned the hard way a few years ago that there is only one road in and one road out. It took us over 50 minutes to get out of the parking lot that year. The park was nice and plenty of space for the kids to run around and play. They loved the grass. Living in the desert and having no grass, it's almost like snow to them. A treat! They didn't seem to notice the heat, humidity and lack of wind. The joy of childhood! They had a great time playing, then watching fireworks.

Time for Slime

Emma wasn't too sure about this stuff!

Eli can play with slime for hours.

Andrew :)

Ethan :)

We had such fun this afternoon making slime. The boys love this stuff. I can't believe how long they played with it. More then they ever do with play dough. Emma was not so sure about it at first. She was a bit creeped out, I think.

We spent all morning cleaning the kitchen and dining room. The boys scrubbed the table and chairs for me. The floor was spotless... Then we spend the afternoon making cupcakes and slime! (You can guess what happened.) We should have made the mess first, then cleaned. Oh well, we had a great time. It was a fun way to pass a hot afternoon.

Fun at Grandma's

The water was pretty chilly, especially on a cloudy day.

Andrew is never camera shy.

The boys can find so many crazy things to do in the sand.

My little fish.

We had a fun filled day at my parents today. The boys braved the cold water and had lots of fun swimming. Grandpa cooked us homemade corn dogs for lunch. Yum. Of course no visit would be complete without some of Grandma's famous peanut butter cookies! This will be my parents last summer here, so we are trying to get in lots of visits. I am so sad they will be moving, but I'm also excited for them to retire in the cool pines. They deserve it. I am so grateful for all the fun time we have at their house.

Cousin's Camp

Emma and Jeremy.

Emma and Jackson hanging out in Nathan's truck.

My favorite part of the trip was the skits that the kids put on. They were so creative and did such a great job. It was great!

Emma wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow, but she loved it.

Nathan's fun gadget this year was a home-made potato gun. Those boys!

Andrew was having fun in the snow!

Emma and Keely, peeking out of the trailer door. They had fun doing "girl" things together.

Ethan peeking out of the chimney. They had fun playing in this old rock place.

Here we are at Cedar Breaks. The wind was icy cold up here. Eli was being camera shy, but everyone else had a smile for me.

Here are Eli and Dallin playing with trucks. They had such fun together.

Here is the whole group of cousins. We were taking a picture in the shirts they decorated. However, it was too cold for anyone to have their jackets off. They loved doing the shirts. That is one of the favorite things about cousins camp!

We just got home from our 4th annual cousin's camp. This year we went to Panguitch lake, in southern Utah. Let me start by saying there is a big difference between Arizona camping and Utah camping. It was beautiful up there and absolutely freezing cold! I had a hard time believing it was actually June. It was 48 degrees when we left Saturday at 10:00. Jeremy loved the weather. (He is crazy). We spent a lot of time trying to keep kids warm. Thankfully we had our 5th wheel. I am so grateful we were able to stay warm at night and have all the comforts of home with us. Especially a shower!

The kids had a blast with their cousins. They rode their bikes, made a fort, and did some crafts. Eli and Dallin were inseparable. They had such fun together. Emma got to spend some time with her girl cousins. I think she really loved Keely by the end of the trip.

We got some mountain biking in. Jeremy did some hardcore mountain bike trail with his brothers. I settled for a ride with the Moms and kids. We took a ride up to see Cedar Breaks. It was so pretty up there. We even found patches of snow. In June??? I still am amazed at the weather up there. Of course, it was so fun to play in the snow. Especially throwing snowballs.

We did lots of dutch oven cooking. It gave me a chance to use my birthday present. It was so fun to cook in a dutch oven. I can't wait to do it again. We of course had lots of campfires, glow sticks and Uncle Greg brought his projector so we could all watch a movie.

We are so grateful we were able to spend time together as a family and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Southern Utah. We can't wait for next year!