Happy 77th Birthday Grandma Great!!!!!!

This past Sunday night we got together with my dad's side of the family to celebrate Grandma Weight's 77th Birthday. We had so much fun, we had cake and ice cream and just visited with everyone. My grandma is seriously the funniest lady you will every meet, she is such a HOOT! I've always been very close to her and I love being with her spending time together. We've traveled together, scrapbooked together, played games together, you name it! She is one my my heroes! She has such unconditional love for her friends and family. I'm so lucky to have her in my life and as my grandma!





These next pictures are of her leading everyone as they are singing Happy Birthday to her!

TRAVIS' NEW BIKE!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 10th Birthday Travis! For Travis birthday Randy and I decided to get him a good bike. Randy and I and the kids are going to be doing a Triathlon in August so we decided he needed a new bike instead of his one from Walmart. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought him a 24 inch bike. He LOVES it. He's had so fun shifting gears and riding up and down the street and neighborhood. Tomorrow I'm going to take him and Taylor out for a long ride. They have to ride 4 miles in the triathlon so we need to start riding and practicing! Congrats on your new bike buddy and i hope it lasts you a few years!

Happy 10th Birthday BUD!!!

Can you believe this guy is 10 now? SCARY!! Its seems like just yesterday I was in LABOR with him. It's weird how much more I remember his birthing story more then any of my other kids. I don't know if it's because he's my first or what, but I remember the details like it was yesterday! I'm certainly glad there has been no pain or epidurals or contractions today, just a fun happy day celebrating with this guy. Tonight we are taking him to the diamondbacks game for his birthday and he is so excited. I took him out to Red Robin with the girls today (taylor is still up in ShowLow with McCown's so she didn't come) but the girls and I took him and we had so much fun. He's at the age where them singing some Happy Birthday song is embarrassing for him....which I don't blame him at all.

He is such a smart loving boy. He always tells me he loves me. Anytime I leave the house, drop him off somewhere, or say good-bye on the phone he always tells me he loves me. It is so sweet and I hope he will always do that. He truly loves his family and sisters. He loves to do things with Randy and I. He is so witty and funny...half of the time, I have to second guess what he says cause he's so funny. He's got a comment or thought for everything.....He loves sports and he loves to learn new things. He can read things once in a book and he remembers them forever! He knows way more trivia and facts about useless things then anyone I know! He loves his cousins, they truly are his best friends! We love him and are so grateful to have in our family. I appreciate all his help he gives me everyday! We love you bud and hope you have a happy DAY!!

Here are some fun pictures from our lunch at Red Robin!

I also did a quick birthday interview today with him.....

· What is your favorite song? Eye of The Tiger (this is on Randy's IPOD and he loves it)
· If you could have one super-power, what would it be? Flying so I could just fly around all day.
· What was the last chore you did? Make my bed
· What's your favorite food? Broccoli Casserole (he does love this....crazy kid!)
· What's the nicest thing you've done for someone in your family lately? Say Thank You to my mom.
· What makes you mad? When someone goes into my room and messes it up.
· Where would you like to go on vacation next year? Hawaii (i think he's dreaming!)
· Who's the smartest person in your family? My dad
· How are you like your dad? We both like baseball and sports
· How are you like your mom? We are both smart (thanks buddy!!!)
· What's one thing that your dad had that you'd like to develop? Strength and he can fix anything
· What's one thing that Dad always said to you? Never go extra bases with no outs!
· What's one thing that Mom always said to you? Clean your room!
· What's one thing that you and Dad did together that you'll always remember? Going to the Diamondback game with my dad and sitting in the dugout seats!
· If you had a million dollars, what's the first thing you'd buy? Catchers Gear
· How do you know that mom loves you? Cause you feed and take care of me!
· What's your favorite cereal? Frosted Mini Wheats
· What's your favorite TV show ESPN or Sports Center
· What's your favorite vegetable? Broccoli
· What personal item that you would never give away? My Bed
· What's your favorite game? Monopoly
· What's your favorite book? Harry Potter
· What food would you eat every day if you could? Broccoli Casserole
· If you could choose a different name, what would it be? Blake or Spencer (these are his cousins he idolizes)
· What's the scariest thing you've ever done. Watch the movie “CLUE”
· If you could eat at any restaurant for the rest of your life, where would it be? Outback
· What's your favorite candy bar? Hersheys Cookies and cream
· What's the last thing that you did that you were proud of? Hit a home run in my baseball game
· What's your nickname? T-Dog!
· What's the best age to be? 10
· What's your favorite holiday? Christmas
· What's the best present you ever got? My WII
· What do you like to eat for lunch at school? Mini Burger Buddies
· Is your room messy or clean? MESSY!!
· What do you and your sisters fight about? The Wii and the computer
· What's under your bed? Nothing!

Happy 10th Birthday Travis!!!!!!

SHOW LOW and SNOWFLAKE FUN!!!!!!

The kids and I went up to Show Low this past week while Randy was White Water Rafting with his family......We had so much fun. We went jumped on the trampoline, road quads, played lots of games and just had SO MUCH FUN!!

On Saturday Amy and I took the kids to Snowflake for their 24th of July celebration/parade. They kids LOVED IT! The loved the floats and the candy that was thrown to them nonstop! After the parade Amy and I took the kids to the Snowflake temple. It was a beautiful temple and the kids really liked it.

We had such a fun week and we are so grateful for good friends to get to hang out with!

~~~Summer LIVIN~~~

These kids are loving summertime! They live out in the pool.....tonight we had my family over to celebrate my dad and Travis' birthday! Travis will be turning 10 next week so this was the start of the birthday celebrations.......My camera battery died half way through the night so I'll have to get the cake pictures from my Sister In Law! For now, you just get pictures of my kids in the pool! Hope everyone is staying nice and cool!!

Playing In The RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Not very often do my kids get to go out and play in the rain......After dinner tonight we looked outside and saw our first "monsoon" storm of the summer! The kids were so excited and asked if they could play outside. Of course Anney was the first one out and the wettest. She was fascinated by the water coming out of the sky. As soon as she sees the camera she says "cheese", It is the cutest thing ever. After about 10 minutes in the rain it got really windy and lightning started, so I made them come in. As soon as we walk in the door travis and taylor ask if they can have HOT CHOCOLATE! Crazy kids!! It's still 95 degrees outside, and they want hot chocolate! Too bad I'm mean and I didn't want to deal with the mess, so I made them have a cookie instead!

Happy 4th of July!

Okay.....so this is something new....a collage!! I was going to do a slide show but I thought I'd try this. We went to Showlow this past weekend and had SO MUCH FUN!! We took our toyhauler up there and left it up there for the rest of the summer. Some friends of ours own a church camp up there so we are able to leave it up there and it's protected. There are 2 other families in our ward who all took their toyhaulers up there also. We plan on going up there quite a bit to escape the heat, and let the kids play and ride quads. Plus, it's about 30-40 degrees cooler with rain everyday! It's awesome!

We had so much fun watching the LONGEST fireworks show EVER.....It was an hour long and the kids were going crazy watching it...they kept saying.."When can we go?" The kids had fun playing with all the other kids. Travis LOVED learning how to play volleyball with all the adults, he could even serve over the net! There were these horses there that we thought were so friendly cause they would let you pet them, etc. One of them got spooked while the kids were playing and they took off and ran over Megan. It was so scary, but she seems perfectly fine. She was so scared, but I kept asking her if anything hurt, etc and she kept saying she was fine. Today she has said a couple of times that the horse stepped on her stomach, so we'll keep watching her. Poor thing, she is TERRIFIED of horses now! All in all we had a great time with great weather!

Ramblings and 3 recipes!

hey guys! It's been forever since I blogged...things have been busy. We just got back from lounging on the beach in Carlsbad California where the weather never got over 72 degrees...some one tell my WHY....We live in this oven where it is 115 degrees!! Randy and I went for a walk every afternoon pushing the jogging stroller eating Popsicles and ice cream and they never melted! Can't say I do that very often in Arizona! Anyways..we had a great time with my family and the kids loved the beach like always. Of course Anney thought it was just like our swimming pool and she loved every bit of it. A few times the waves would completely knock her under the water and she'd come up smiling and laughing wanting the next one to do the same thing. That girl is CRAZY! It's good to be home and we brought home half of the beach with all the sand that is all in my laundry baskets from the dirty clothes!

Yesterday the kids and I worked around the house ALL DAY! My poor house needed some TLC and we got quite a bit done. I was kinda surprised no one complained all day about cleaning....guess they knew it needed to be done. Travis and Taylor hadn't been feeling well so we didn't even go to swim team or swimming in our pool yesterday.

Tonight Travis is going to the diamondbacks game with my dad so he's really excited about that....he actually got in trouble for being disrespectful so instead of grounding him from the game I told him he could go if he mopped all my wood floor (which is a TON) and cleaned the bathrooms. He was thrilled with his option and he's busy working like crazy!

Last but not least....my good friend posted these recipes on her blog and thought I'd share them with you....They all look yummy and I plan on trying all of them..let me know if you do and if you like them!


For Breakfast:
Cinnamon Apple Tortillas
Flour tortillas
applesauce
cinnamon sugar
shredded Monterey or Colby Jack cheese
vanilla yogurt
Place one tortilla in an un-greased skillet or griddle. (These are super quick if you use small tortillas on your electric griddle.) Spread a spoonful of applesauce on a tortilla, then sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over applesauce. Top with shredded cheese and second tortilla. Heat until golden brown. Serve with remaining applesauce and yogurt.


For lunch:
Italian French Toast
Whip up your traditional batch of french toast with eggs and milk in the blender, minus the normal sweet seasonings. Instead, add your favorite Italian seasonings... basil, oregano, garlic salt, Parmesan, pepper... Slice up a loaf of french bread (about 1" slices). Dip your bread slices into the egg mixture and place on a well-buttered griddle. Cook as you would your french toast. When you turn the toast to cook on it's second side, sprinkle a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese. Cook until melted. Serve with some marinara sauce on the side for dipping.




For dinner:
Garlic Herbed Crock-put Chicken

1 pkg. McCormick Italian Herb Chicken Seasoning
2 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
8 oz. package sliced mushrooms
2 15 oz. cans Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes
12 oz. pasta
Put chicken into crock pot. Mix the seasonings & stewed tomatoes in a large bowl. Pour that over the chicken then toss mushrooms over the top. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours depending on your crock pot. Add and toss your pasta of choice into the chicken mix just before serving.





Have a wonderful day and try and stay cool!