Fireworks!!

The Heiners came over for some, dessert, watermelon, and FIREWORKS. We had sparklers, poppers and fountain things... (fireworks are illegal in AZ, I don't know what things are called.) The kids loved them all. We had a lot of fun watching the kids faces light up, talking, eating, and just hanging with our friends. We sure are gonna miss them when we all leave!!

Poppers...

Gracin took it upon himself to gather all the poppers that didn't pop. He was really good and finding them!

The sparklers were a big hit...








I love the faces!! After shooting a bunch of strobe/sparks the firework would make a really loud pop and scare us all!

Oh look I did get some pictures of Riley:)


Once it got dark, Rhylan and I headed out to see some fireworks. We didn't want to go to the park and pay and park with the big crowds, so we headed to a nearby parking lot where we saw them last year. But after patiently waiting 30 min we decided to leave. I had heard other fireworks going on behind us. So I drove that way and parked our car a safe distance and watched an independent show... you know these were just a bunch of teenagers setting of fireworks in the street. We still liked them:)

4th of July

During the day we headed out to do some errands as a family and of course our weekly pet store visit. We also got some delicious snow cones!! These were a big hit with Gracin... until he dumped it in his lap- which explains the pant-less pictures. After nap time we headed outside for some backyard fun. It had rained and cooled it off outside and created puddles for us. The kids had a great time just playing around waiting for the Heiners to come over for dessert and fireworks. (That post will come later.)



Here are some my best attempts to get a picture of both my kids... at the same time... smiling...too much to ask apparently.


Oh man I wish this one wasn't blurry!! Look at Gracin's eyebrows, haha.

10 things

10 thing I won't miss about the south:
1. 100% humidity
2. the dirty streets
3. the bugs
4. tornado warnings
5. having a hard time understand some people
6. being on the east side of the Mighty Mississippi
7. crazy Memphis drivers
8. no mountains
9. smokers
10. ice storms

10 things I will miss about the south:
1. green everywhere
2. beautiful plants
3. trees and bushes that blossom pink, white, purple, and blue
4. my ward
5. Memphis Zoo
6. all the kid friendly activities
7. my friends that I have made during this tough time of life (college)
9. warm weather for 9 months of the year
10. rain

I heart linky parties!!

Wow check out this link up party!!! Lots of ideas to do with little kids!

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2011/07/link-learn-14.html

Quarters fo Apple Jack

About 1.5 weeks after Rhylan's birthday she saw something new in Wal-mart that she thought she NEEDED!!! She said I want this for my birthday. I told her that her birthday was really far away and that maybe she could earn it. She really liked that idea. She had been saving money for a while now and when we counted her money, she already had enough. But I wanted this to be a lesson for her and for her to work hard for it. So I took out a few dollars worth of quarters. Then for each chore she did to help me, she got to put one of those quarters in the bank. Some days she would earn 3 or 4 and others none. It took her 20 days to earn enough money (put all the quarters back.)

Some chores she did were: unload the silverware from the dishwasher, set the table, clean her room with little or no help, take care of everybody's shoes that were piling up by the door, help hang up laundry, put away her own clean laundry, unload the dryer, clean the table, tidy the living room, clean her bedroom, do her morning chart, clean up/straighten the dvd's, vacuum, and I am sure other things I can't remember.

As soon as she earned the last quarter we dropped everything and got in the car with her money. As we were pulling out she said "THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!" I thought that was precious. We found Apple Jack right away and took her to the check out. Rhylan told the cashier all about how she did chores and got quarters for Apple Jack. She was so proud to pay with her own money and get her own receipt.

When we got home, she played and played with that toy for over an hour. She gets it out a few times a day and has a great time. I think this was just the right toy for Rhylan, it is a My Little Pony that came with a farm some animals and a garden to plan. How fun.

De-junking

I have been busy de-junking our house for the move. I finally decided to get rid of some of my stuff from my teaching days. I taught 2nd grade. I found all these sweet notes and pictures my kids had made for me and they just made me smile all over again!!

Scary!!!

I just read a story online about a woman who was mauled by a black bear right by my parents house, about 4 miles away actually!!! It happened earlier this week. If you don't know, they live in Arizona and you have probably heard they have had a particularly dry year... total rain fall this year is less than 1/2 inches!!! Causing the dangerous wildfires that I have lost count of more that 7. It also causes the wild life to move closer to people searching for food.

My dad sent me this picture today...
Sky-Hi Retreat is the housing community where I grew up, where my parents live. And apparently now... it is also a "bear frequenting area." I am so glad I am not there right now... but I will be in 4 weeks!!! Yikes!!--Stay safe mom and dad and Zak.

Tired

I guess we need to go swimming more often... but I think the fact that she woke up before 5 am on accident this morning has something to do with it:)

No, we didn't let her stay up or get out of bed when she woke up that early. But I don't know that she ever really went back to sleep.

Fathers Day

We tried to spoil Riley on Fathers day. The present I was most excited about was the matching ties I made for the boys. I attempted using "fancy" silky material instead of cotton. They turned out great! He loves them, I think I can make more like that.

Rhylan and I woke up early and made him a southwest omelet that he requested with a side of fresh raspberries. Then we let him open presents and he really liked the painting Rhylan made for him. I printed up a bunch of poison dart frogs and Rhylan looked at their pictures in a book and painted them exactly the same way. We put it in a frame and he thought it was so special.

Then at church, Rhylan sang for the first time with the primary!! We were so proud, she was so smiley and waved to us several times. It was so cute!!

Then after church, we let Riley play his new computer game and relax. Then for dinner I made pork adobo from his Philippines cook book.

He had been in Utah for 4 days before Fathers Day so we were all really excited to see him and spend time with him (and of course he was excited to see us as well.)

Copy cat

Rhylan wanted to make that same pancake stack that was on the box. I think her stack is a perfect match:)

Oh that cheesy smile!!