Bonfire

While I was going through the pictures from the 7 months I took off from blogging I came across these and I just couldn't resist putting them in here. It was late March and we gathered up all the weeds that had accumulated in our yard over the winter and windy spring and put them all in a big pile just outside our property line in the field. The boys then decided it wasn't quite big enough so they gathered all the tumbleweeds from the neighbors yards too. They then ran around the neighborhood and gathered any of their friends that were home. Even a few adults came over to watch. It was a big pile and it went up in less than 2 minutes. It was so fast and super hot. I, being a bit of a pyro, would love to do this every weekend but I guess that's not very feasible. Anyway, it was pretty cool to watch and alot better than just leaving them in the field to blow into our yard again. (March 2009)

Big Boy Birthday's

We planned it just right so we would be in Salt Lake for Gary's birthday. We went and played (Hollywood Connection) for the day but before we left he had gifts for Dad. Nothing we (I) buy could ever measure up to express our love for him. Gary is the most fantastic man. I don't know how I got so lucky as to find him and then actually trick him into loving me too. His greatest concerns are always how to better provide for our family. Whether it be monetarily, spiritually, physically, time wise or any other way. We love him so much. Thank you Gary for being the strength and back bone to our family. When we got back we had some family come over for a little party for Spencer. He had been asking for a Nintendo DS and in Gary's style he had convinced Spencer that we just didn't think he was old enough for such an expensive gift. I'm not sure if all of Gary's "I don't know about that..." is convincing to the kids or not but Spencer seemed sincerely surprised and genuinely delighted with his new DS.

The next weekend (Friday the 20th)we had a friend party. Spencer requested a sleep-over but me being the ogre I am made him settle for a late night party. They played games, decorated cupcakes, and watched "Space Chimps". They really had to work for the cakes considering an alien came and stole them. They succeeded in the end by following his trail of misleading notes and clues. They even completed their space training in the process. Great job boys.

If you watch the entire slide show you'll notice the boys holding or bopping their gift to Spencer on his head. When I was growing up we always played this game at our birthdays. I had forgotten about it until this party. The rhyme goes, "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head. What do you wish this person with a "bump" on your head?" Then the giver bonks the gift on the birthday kids head and the birthday kid has to wish something to the gift giver. We got alot of "You'll be rich" or "You'll be a super-star ball player." As you can see from the pictures they all (even Spencer) got into it and had a great time. We ended up with 8 friends + 1 cousin and 2 little brothers. 12 little boys got a bit crazy but it was great fun none-the-less.

Finally, on his actual birthday (Saturday 21st) We just had a little cake and ice cream. I was watching Nathan and Lindsay for the week while Kat and Tom took a much needed and well deserved trip. We loved having the extra company for the final hurrah to Spencer's 9th birthday.

Spencer is such a joy to our family. He is so much fun and such a big help to us all. We love you Spencer!!!

Enough Already...

Okay, it's been 6+ months since I have posted. Life got crazy (still is) and I had to make a choice as to what to drop. Blogging was one of the things to go. Well, now with the kids back to school I'm hoping to get back to it. I love having this record of our families life. The kids love to look through it and it reminds Gary and I that we are doing okay with our kids and eventhough we don't do everything the kids want, we do alot and the time we spend is chuck full of quality. My idea for getting the last 6 months caught up was to start current and have a "Flash Back Friday" where I go back to an event I have missed. Gary didn't like the idea. He wants me to just start where I left off and bang it all out and get current in the next month. Maybe I'll do a mix of the two. Catch up on the big stuff and flash-back on the fluff. I guess you'll just have to tune in to see how it works out. I figure either way, If I give it an hour a day I'll get caught up soon enough. So wish me luck...