Fun with Nana-Banana

Nana is here for the week - ten days actually. And we are feeling spoiled! She is such a great guest always helping me with laundry and dishes, cooking and playing games with the kids. We all love having her around. This weekend Ty and I head out yet again to Seattle for yet again another wedding! My BFF DeeDee is finally getting hitched!! I am so excited for them! And Nana is here to watch the kids. But this is a little recap of the fun we've been having since she arrived.

Swimming, of course
Eating some serious take out, of course!
Hitting chuck e cheese, a must do
Hanging out
and, drum-roll, breaking out the boxing with grannie (okay, so we haven't banned it yet)
This morning I took her to do water aerobics at the gym. She really enjoyed it. And now she's got Luke and Ashley at Ice Age 3. She is too nice. We love you Nana.

The man in the mirror

Yesterday Luke and I were at Eye Masters having his glasses adjusted. The lady took forever in the back room so Luke and I entertained ourselves with the mirror and my camera. Looking at his sweet face magnified reminded me of what he looked like as an infant. He is such a cute little boy and has such a good loving heart. We love him so much.

WICKED

Ever since Tyler and I went to see Wicked in NYC in October we have been looking forward to going again and taking the kids. We brought the CD home and have listened to it in the car for months and Luke and Ashley know almost every word to all the songs. It is precious to hear them sing. A couple months ago we finally got tickets and bought one for Nanna too! She came into town the morning of and it was a very fun and special event!

The play was three hours long and the kids sat still the entire time (Jake was not with us). Afterward I asked how much they liked it on a scale from one to ten and they both said "20!" Lucky kids.

Doing what guys do in the Mancave - I guess.

I came home from scouts last night and found the family having a great old time in the basement. Jake met me half way up the stairs and enthusiastically informed me that he had been boxing (the line he used was "breaking knuckles") on Wii. I gave Tyler the look he was expecting and he asked that I just go along with it and watch Jake do it once before we forever ban it from our house. I agreed. And this is what I witnessed.


Afterward the kids had another couple tricks they wanted to show me. Daddy created this game called "divers". It's a classic! :)
Ashley's

Luke's

Jake's (with special addition by Ash)

Pics from playgroup

I took a couple pictures this morning at playgroup because I felt thankful for the many new friends we are making in this neighborhood. People have been so easy to get to know and so welcoming, it has been a breeze to feel included.

I offered to have playgroup here so that we could swim together before the big kids head back to school in a couple weeks. I can't believe summer break is already coming to an end... But today was fun and I enjoyed the company.

4th of July Trip - Week 2

Friday - Went to the annual 4th of July party at the Long's with many old Seattle friends and my aunt Kristin, Tanya and Mike. Watched a great fireworks show over the Eagle Ridge golf course in Bountiful.

Saturday - Drove to Provo for a swedish pancakes breakfast at grandma Goesch's. Stopped by the cemetery to see grandpa. Hung out at my mom's then up to Shauna's for a BBQ and cousin fireworks party in the driveway. Smores and fun. Tyler worked the scene with the cousins and the fireworks and let Luke and Ashley light their own for the first time!









Sunday - Ali and Blake blessed their little Paige. She looked beautiful in the dress my mom made for her out of the extra fabric from Ali's wedding dress removed during alterations (so cute!) Had a nice lunch with all our families. Headed down to stay the rest of the trip at my mom's house.





Monday - Ty got back to the grinder and hit the lap top all morning. My mom took the kids bowling at BYU and I went back up to Sandy for our girl's morning out for lunch, pedicures and manicures... Shauna, Heidi, Natalie, Katie, Ali and myself (and the two baby girls, Paige and Julia!). Took Tyler to the airport for his trip to New Jersey for the week.... no fun.





Tuesday - Went to the movies, I saw half of "Ice Age 3" and half of "Up" going back and forth between the divided parties... dinner at Brick Oven, loved every bite of my 'feast for one' and then over to Stacy's to let the kids play in the yard. I seriously CANNOT get over how late it is light here, we left the restaurant at quarter to nine which is unheard of at home! The sky was lit up by the sun and the kids were on the trampoline until 10pm. Craziness!

Wednesday - Shauna took the kids to Chuck E Cheese so that I could hit Tai Pan in peace. Found some cute stuff, as usual. We all went up the the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, it was beautiful and a neat experience to take the kids through and teach them about what we do in the temple. Ali and I went to Hillstead's again to hang out with Shauna for the afternoon.




Thursday - Opted out of 7 peaks or the new park Cowabunga for a simpler pool experience at the American Fork pool. Had a good time and it was perfect for my age kids... Went to dinner with more cousins, Seraph, Bergen and Gordon and to the Hale Theater to see "Singing in the Rain" with Luke and Ashley. We all LOVED it so much that we bought tickets to go see "Wizard of Oz" on Saturday!

Friday - Met the troops for all-you-can-eat french toast at Kneaders...divine. Vegged out all day (everyone is exhausted) until Ty's flight got in at 9pm. Partied it up again with his bros - Blake and Ali leave tomorrow, trip is coming to an end.




Saturday - Went to see wizard of Oz at the Hale theater, packed up the car, and enjoyed one last beautiful, relaxing night in the Hillstead's backyard! Until next year...

CAKE BOSS

I guess this is what happens when your family watches too much 'Cake Boss' (TLC) in the summer. Yesterday we were all gathered around watching our new fav show and decided we wanted to set our hands at cake baking and decorating!

As part of our date, after a delicious dinner at Brio (SanTan mall, we recommend it!), we walked down to Barnes&Noble and I found a decorating cakes for kids book. Ty was being so cute and helped me choose which cake to make and then we went to walmart and got the items we needed. Buddy (the Boss) says 'fondant' in a really cool way with his New Jersey accent and now that is our favorite word : "fon-dawnt". We considered making our own since that is the neatest part of his cakes but found that they sell it ready to go on the cake decorating isle so we scored some that way.

Anyway, our task today after church was to make our (mine included) first cake from scratch, frosting and all, and decorate it like the book showed. It was so much fun! Took hours. And it was definately warm in the kitchen. But it was fun.










Isn't she perdy?! We haven't tasted it yet but I do think she looks good! :)

UPDATE: The cake was average at best. We each ate a little bit after dinner and concluded that none of us including the kids are really 'cake people' - we'd much rather spend our time, money and calories on things like plain chocolate (Sees), ice-cream or even cookies. So why did I just buy a $20 cake decorating book? I'm not exactly sure now. Looks like the birthday cakes this Fall might just be store bought... or at least out of a box!! :) We'll leave the cake business to Buddy.

It's so hot in Arizona that...

The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
The potatoes cook underground, and all you have to do to have lunch is to pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
The cows are giving evaporated milk.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
You no longer associate bridges (or rivers) with water.
You can say 113 degrees without fainting.
You eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
You can make instant sun tea.
You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
You've experienced condensation on your behind from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
You would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.
The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!
You discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
You notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water now comes out of both taps.
It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is out on the streets.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. before work.
No one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
A sad Arizonan once prayed, "I wish it would rain - not so much for me, cuz I've seen it -- but for my 7-year-old."

This email was forwarded to me. I wish it wasn't, but it is SO TRUE!!

4th of July Trip - Week 1

Friday - Picked up Tyler at work and pulled out of Phoenix around 4pm - drove all night.

Saturday - Arrived at Hillstead's 4am tired but happy to have made it while the kids slept so much. Slept in while Shauna took care of the kids, then went up into the mountains for a little hike with the cousins and Heidi. Went to see The Proposal.






Sunday - Church, Jakey fell sleep in my arms which was precious and never happens anymore. Ate a delicious meal, played outside all afternoon, went to Park and played Sequence with Steve and Shauna after the kids went down.


Monday - Drove up to Boutiful to meet Heidi at the kids' camp. Brookly and Ash started a four day princess camp and Blake and Luke started a Pirate camp. Everyone was happy about that. The kids slept at Finklea's; Ty stayed with his mom and Jake, took his grandma Wells to dinner and went to see Transformers; and I had a night alone at my mom's with my sisters (shopping and My Sister's Keeper - SAD!!)

Tuesday - My mom watched Jake all day and Tyler and I took off for a long date. We went to lunch, went golfing which was really fun, got some DQ and went home for a long nap. L & A still at Finkleas with their cousins. Ali came to town that night and we finally met little Paige. So cute! We also swung by Todd and Nat's new place and caught up with them for a couple hours.








Wednesday - Got up and went to the new, beautiful Draper Temple with Tyler. Cafe Rio for lunch. To Temple Square to listen to Steve play the piano at the JSMB and to Finkleas to sleep over. Watched "Forever Strong" - great family movie - I recommend it!





Thursday - Watched the kids last day of camp, took pictures, they had a ball! Went to the Church's Art and History museum/ Temple Square with the kids, home for naps, then off to the Rodeo with everybody (Nat and Todd, Blake and Ali, Steve and Shauna)...