Voila!

And it is done! YIPPEE! We have grass! We have a backyard! We are SOOOO excited! Thatcher was in HEAVEN yesterday running around and playing on our new grass. He was jumping and dancing like he had never seen the green stuff before...poor kid! I am so proud of Todd for putting in such hard work to do the backyard! He did EVERYTHING by himself; the patio, the retaining wall, the sprinklers, and the grass. He had a little help here and there from some friends and my uncle, but he did the majority of the whole project all by himself. It was a lot of work, and a lot of days in the hot Arizona sun. One thing is for sure, I married a worker! I am so impressed by his ability to do anything he sets his mind to! We are really excited that our backyard is done just in time to enjoy the cool fall evenings!

Thatcher was in total bliss...

Sleeping Beauty

Nap time for Thatcher. He loves to sleep in "mommy's bed". Is this the same little boy who broke all my eggs?

Happy Birthday Todd!

Happy Birthday Todd! We had a fun day celebrating Todd's 25th Birthday on Wednesday. For his birthday I made him a book of memories from various friends and family. Thanks to all who participated. The book turned out really cute! He really enjoyed reading all the funny and sweet memories. We had a yummy dinner of Todd's favorite, Mexican Lasagna, and then of course the Birthday pie! My good friend Teresa was nice enough to watch Thatcher and Taggy while I took Todd to "The Borne Ultimatum" and it was really nice to get away to the movies just the two of us! Happy Birthday Honey!


Todd's Birthday Pie! I had to take a picture because I am so intimidated by pies and I mad this one from scratch and I was so proud!


Blowing out the candles! Wow look at those cheeks!


I made Todd pose for this picture. Ha ha ha!

"A Very Merry Unbirthday To You!"

Ever since I introduced Thatcher to 'Alice in Wonderland' he goes around saying, "cup of tea"! Well yesterday when we got to playgroup at Baily's house, Lacey and Baily were having a tea party! Thatcher was very impressed and loved it! He kept telling me that he was drinking "tea" (water) and sipping from his tiny tea cup. It was really cute. I wonder what he is going to think during our next Family Home Evening lesson on the Word of Wisdom...hmmmmm. :)


"You simply must have cup of tea!"


Even when the girls left, Thatcher still had a tea party for one.


I was surprised at how gentle he was with Baily's porcelain tea set. He loved pouring the "tea".


Delicious!

He strikes again...

This is what happens when the lock to our fridge breaks off. Thanks Thatcher, I needed something to do today. :)

Happy 1st Birthday Taggart!

Today is Taggy's 1st Birthday! This year has FLOWN by for me. I can't believe it was a year ago that I was holding this new little baby in my arms. He has grown up so much and has become quite the sweet little boy. For his birthday we had a little get together with some friends with kids that Taggy sees a lot at our neighborhood pool. It was really fun, and he seemed to have a pretty good time. He got some fun presents from his cute little friends, Grandma and Grandpa Monson, and a fun train from Mommy and Daddy. Happy Birthday Taggy! We love you!

Here are some video's from Taggart's Birthday Party. As you can see he had a fun time! Enjoy!

Is It Fall Yet?

It is so hot here sometimes you can feel like a prisoner to the heat! We have been trying to plan some fun activities to get everyone out of the house and also have fun while staying cool! We went to a play group this week at Lacey and Teresa's house and went to Pump It Up today. It has been really nice to get out and watch the kids have so much fun!


Thatcher and Lacey waiting for Pump It Up to open.


This place is like Kid Utopia!


Taggy with his curly hair! I can't believe my baby will be one this week!


Thatcher hearts the slide at Pump It Up!


Mommy and Taggy going down the slide!


Taggy loves the older ladies!


Taggy felt so big in the car all by himself!


Thatcher and Taggy riding in the cars! So cute!


So nice to let the kids play so the mom's can talk! Ummm Taggy has issues with TV. But like my friend Teresa and I talked about, at least we know he can sit and concentrate on something!


Teresa did this cute project with the kids, they loved cutting out the jello with cookie cutters! The kids also liked eating the project! Taggy and Kira couldn't get enough of the stuff!

Superfudge

Thatcher is Superfudge. I don't know if you have read the Judy Blume books about Fudge, the adorable mischievous little boy, who always got into trouble. I am convinced he is my son. I am going to start taking pictures of EVERYTHING Thatcher does, just to show him one day and maybe he will understand then what he put me through! I am not kidding (I wish I was) when I say that something like this happens at least once a day, usually more. These things usually happen when I am showering, using the restroom, changing Taggy or being busy outside of his sight. He is quite the little piece of work. Good thing he is cute, that is all I have to say.





And this is how he got into it...he boosts himself up to unlatch the LOCKED pantry door, and got the Baking Soda.

30 is creeping up on me!

I had a great birthday yesterday! Thanks to everyone who sent cards, called, and thought of me! It was a very fun day and Todd really did a great job to make me feel special. I got what I wanted which was a photoshop program and I am excited to start digitally scrapbooking, making dvd's with our pictures, and sprucing up my blog! Todd and I went out to dinner last night at our favorite little restaurant called Pastiche. It was nice to get out by ourselves on a real date without the kiddos. Today my friends and I went out to lunch at Texas Roadhouse. This is a great tradition that we started to all go out to lunch for every ones birthday. It was really fun, and I am just glad that I didn't have to sit on their huge saddle for them to sing Happy Birthday to me!

With this birthday I have realized 30 is just around the corner. I am feeling old. Never mind that I am getting gray hairs, although I blame most of them on Thatcher and a few on Todd :), I was sitting on the couch watching a TV show about Disney World's new attractions and I kept thinking, "wow they have done a lot of new stuff to Disney World in the last few years, I was just barely there and none of this was there!" Then after adding in my head I realized it has been 10 years since I had been to Disney World. What? I can't believe it. Almost 10 years since I graduated High School and went to college. Wow. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. Good thing I have a younger husband to keep me young!


This picture is for my parents who love to snap pictures of me blowing out candles with big puffy cheeks!


Sara, Cami, me and Teresa at Texas Roadhouse for lunch...yummy!

Peter Piper Pizza

This past week Teresa, Sara and I took our kids to Peter Piper Pizza for an afternoon of fun. We have to come up with places to go that are cool, because it is still SO hot. We are all looking forward to Fall. I can't even tell you how this little outing rejuvenates me and I know it might sound weird but getting out for one afternoon with fun friends really helps me be a better mom and wife. I feel really blessed to have such great friends to do stuff with here in Tucson, and more importantly that they have darling kids for my kids to be friends with. It was a fun filled afternoon with only a few miner setbacks along the way, ie: Thatcher decided it was a good idea for a makeover as I was rushing around trying to leave the house, and after wiping all the makeup off his face that he got into, we were only 30 minutes late. Kira got her head stuck in the railing and after trying to pull her poor little head out, having the manager tell her to calm down or she couldn't ride the merry-go-round again, and me running to the bathroom and filling my hands full of soap, her mom got her out safe and sound. Thatcher getting into trouble for climbing up the ski ball machine and finally I got yelled at for cutting in line to get Taggy another bread stick. All in all it was a fun time for the kids and mom alike and that makes it all worth it.


"Woo-Ha!"...this is how Thatcher says, "Yee-Ha!"


In the back: Sara and Kira. In the front: Lacey and Teresa


Lacey and Thatcher on riding the mechanical car

Baby Jaguar

So Thatcher is really into Go Diego Go. Diego is the cousin to Dora the Explorer if anyone has heard of Dora (if you haven't you must live in a box!). He LOVES Diego, and loves Diego's little side kick animal friend, Baby Jaguar. The other night Thatcher wouldn't eat his dinner so I had the idea for Todd to call Thatcher and pretend that he was Baby Jaguar. (I got this idea from the movie Big Daddy and the incident with Scuba Steve). So Todd went in the other room and I told Thatcher Baby Jaguar was on the phone for him. He doubted me for a moment but lucky for us Todd can do a mean Baby Jaguar impression and it worked! Thatcher's face lit up and he talked to "Baby Jaguar" for a long time. "Baby Jaguar" asked him if he would eat his dinner to make him big and strong and Thatcher said, "Oh yeah, sure." After he got off the phone with Baby Jaguar he ate the rest of his dinner. Since the other night Thatcher has asked to talk to Baby Jaguar multiple times and so he gets to call him while Todd is at work (it works out nicely this way). Today he has talked to Baby Jaguar three times. He absolutely LOVES it. It is so hilarious.

Thatcher's Latest....

I made these cupcakes for my father-in-law's birthday and we were going to have them the first night of our camping trip. The night before we left Todd and I were busy getting ready to go, and Thatcher got a hold of the cupcakes! In a matter of minutes all my culinary work went down the tube! Got to love little boys!

Lessons Learned....

Here are some pics of our camping trip with Todd's family to Zion's National Park. We stayed at a really cute resort called Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Resort, although if we could do it all over again we wouldn't camp but stay in one of their cute cabins. Camping with two little ones was REALLY hard. I would not recommend it to any of my friends with little kids, unless you are Annie Oakly! I also got really sick and so between that, the heat, and watching after Thatcher and Taggart...it felt like I was in 'Malta'. There also weren't many kid friendly activities planned or to do in Zions so we spent a lot of time on the playground and the pool at Zion Ponderosa. But, I learned a lot of lessons on this trip and so it wasn't a total waste! My vote for our next family vacation? Disneyland!

Grand Canyon!

Since we are from the 'Grand Canyon State' we thought we would stop by the Grand Canyon on the way home from Zions. It was fun to see and it really is amazing to see in person and not just on the Brady Bunch. Thatcher thought it was cool...but to be honest he loved the stone tower more then the HUGE canyon in the ground. He is such a funny boy.


In front of the Tower.


Todd and Thatcher in front of the grand canyon


Todd and Thatcher waving from the tower!


The Grand Canyon.

High School Musical Two

This Friday is the premier of High School Musical Two! Yippee! I know it might be a little sad or pathetic or both, but I love High School Musical! I am excited to see Gabriella and Troy back at East High and on their summer vacation. We will be camping on Friday night, but you better bet that my DVR will record the premier on the Disney Channel and we will be watching it Saturday night!

BBQ

Just a little update on what we have been up to! Life here in our home has been helter schlter since we got back from Bear Lake! From planning another vacation to Zions, to cleaning, to kids colds and play dates, we have been busy! Last night we went to a BBQ at our friend and neighbors house, the Tonks. Here are some candid pictures I caught while there. I have to have something to blog about!




Todd listening intently to a very interesting conversation.


Ian Tonks, Thatcher's little friend.


Taggart loved all of Ian's toys! (They always love everybody else's toys!)


Thatcher looking at my ring through a magnifying glass

President Faust

President Faust died today at 12:20am. I always thought that President Faust was so much like a loving Grandpa. I always felt his love for us when he spoke. Many of his talks have inspired me as a missionary and as a mother. This is a great loss and he will be missed.

Knock Knock...

'Who's there?' This is what I hear all day long now. Thatcher's new thing is knock knock jokes. He loves them. If he wants my attention he will say, 'Mommy, knock knock!' and he will actually knock on me! He also makes up funny answers to the 'who's there?' part like...orange, fridge, light, Taggy, basically anything in his sight. It is really cute. Thatcher is such a fun kid. I absolutely love having him as my little buddy.

What A Shocker!

You Are 92% Girly

When the term "girly girl" was invented, they were thinking of someone like you. You're a feminine and sweet and very high maintenance. But you're worth it!

How Girly Are You?

You Are 96% Republican

You are a card carrying Republican, and a pretty far right one at that! There's no chance anyone would ever mistake you for a Democrat.

How Republican Are You?

For those of you who didn't know this, then you really don't know me at all! :)