Flight of the Conchords

OK - Go to the bottom of the blog and click on the Playlist so that the music turns off then come back and hit play. Joe Arambula has been telling me about this FOREVER... and I have checked it out a couple of times - OK maybe more than a couple times...but I came across this!!! There are a couple racy ones but you should figure that out by the title and stay clear. The first one IS NOT - and it gives you the option to see more....I couldn't figure out how to get just the ones I really liked....These guys are from New Zealand and they are as funny as all heck.... Well if you have a sense of humor like I do that is...

Sun Showers - what a fun time

We had an awesome sun shower on Saturday and Ashlen and Clayton decided to take advantage and get a little wet.... check out these drops!!!

Ashlen is baking!!

So Stevan really felt like cookies on Saturday and normally we always have them - but I hadn't baked all week (Rice Krispies do not count I guess) so I got out the kitchen aid and figured Ashlen is old enough..it is time for her to start learning to bake Debby's Cookies. She did a great job as you can see and they taste just like mine and Debby's. Woo Hoo - I can have her bake one batch a week on top of the one I bake and we should never run out...that is unless mom & dad visit....j/k...we love having them.

The Storm

We are in the middle of monsoon season, which is another thing we love about living in AZ - it is super hot and then all of a sudden BOOM you got storms and lightning - which is amazing to see. I should have guessed it when it felt great out earlier this evening - all the kids were outside hanging with their friends at 7pm when the storm started to roll in. Stevan said that he saw it driving in from Tempe - you could see the dark clouds forming. Well I am not much of a photographer - I need Nettie to help me with that....but I took some photos of the house and you can see the dark sky behind us


Then you look to the left - down by Lisette and Devin's house and you see this


and then to the right.....yes it is coming


and then here are some strikes - this is looking from the patio to the side of the house - the dog-run is right here and they got let out to sleep on the patio tonight..it is probably going to be a wet one. Like I said I suck so just imagine the strikes a little better..and a lot more of them. It looks like it is snowing - but I believe it is the wind kicking up dust or something....



For those living in AZ this is no big deal - we see this on a regular basis - but for our CA friends....this is what you are missing out on. We love this!!!!

1st Day of School

Today was the first day of School for all. We went to meet the teacher night last week and met everyones teachers and then Tristen went to orientation on Friday from 9am until 11am, so they were all excited. We decided that we would get up 15 minutes early and see if we had better luck reading our scriptures at this time - night time is too hard for us. So we were all up at 6am - with the exception of Clayton - we let him sleep in - and we read our scriptures until 6:15, then we ate breakfast and got dressed. I made lunches and we were sitting about at 7am ready to go. I was totally shocked that it didn't take Tristen more time to choose an outfit - her room is a mass of clothes everywhere. Since the bus doesn't come until 7:30 They had to sit and chat and of course take a photo until 7:15. It was really quiet and I jumped back into bed with Clayton and we slept until 8am - yay me!! So I can't wait to see how everyone's day went. Mason had his schedule ready to go and had a couple friends in some of his classes,boy what a change - I have a 7th grader!!! Ashlen didn't have anyone in her class but I am sure she will meet up with her old friends during recess. Tristen has Jensen Searle and Austin Yost in her class so she was lucky, and the other kids in primary are in a couple of the classrooms right next door - so look out Kindergarten teachers - the K-mormon mafia is on to you. I think we have at least 10 primary kids from just our ward in Kindergarten this year !!! Gotta love it.

NEWS FLASH

Ashlen has chosen the name for her new pet gecko - LIZZIE

the Farm

We went to the farm this weekend to help Mum and Al put weezbo (I have no clue how you spell it) throughout the house so that they would no longer have problems with freezing water lines outside the trailer. The kids had a blast and it was nice and relaxing. Ashlen had the camera and took shots of whatever. Tristen spent her time plopped in front of the TV watching cartoons, Mason and Clayton ran around catching lizards and frogs - none of which made it home thank goodness. Ashlen and Tristen picked up cans for Grandma - the dogs ripped some bags to shreds and there were cans everywhere. Mason crawled under the deck and pulled out the cinderblock so Grandpa can build a fence around the house so the dogs can be locked out if needed. Clayton had a go at gardening. All in all it was a nice time - we had fun.

the kids are back in town

Well the kids are back - and I am happy, but missing the deafening silence I kind of enjoyed while they were gone. They had quite a busy week filled with fun. On Monday they went to visit their Maw Maw and PaPa and hung out with cousins until Grandma Debby came and got them for the night. They went swimming at her house and Clayton had the adventure of his life. He must have had a little more confidence than normal because he decided that he needed to go down one of Debby's slides into the pool. She put a life vest on him, sprayed the slide down with water and helped him down the slide. I guess he struggled when he got into the water and couldn't keep himself flipped over to kick to the side. I am not sure what the girls were doing (I doubt they would have been able to calm him down anyways) and Debby had to slide on into the pool - clothes and all - to rescue him because he couldn't seem to get it. Mason was inside busy playing Wii and couldn't help either - way to go Mason. So they went to the Boultons for FHE and apparently had a great time - the girls played dominos with Jody while the rest played Settlers. On Tuesday they hung out and went to see Kung Fu Panda with Robbie and Debby. On Wednesday they played with cousins, and on Thursday they went to the beach and then went to see cousin Ethan's T-Ball game - that was a blast. The girls had a sleep over at Aunt Kelly's and the boys got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa. They had quilting on Friday and then hung out with cousins again until Grandpa got home and they went to see Wall-E. They had a great time. Stevan and I arrived Friday night and we went to visit Robbie and Debby. On Saturday the boys went bowling with Robbie and RJ and the girls went shopping for ribbons - we had dinner with Maw Maw and PaPa and then dessert with the cousins and then game night at the Farrers - whew..... what a packed week. We left Sunday to come home. I drove only a small portion of the way once we got into AZ - it was super windy and I was not enjoying hanging on for dear life as trucks passed by. Stevan traded me and just in time - the monsoon rains came and I couldn't see a thing. There is a picture that I will post - camera is not downloading right now - that shows the sky - pretty scary if you ask me. What a great time for all - thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Debby, Robbie, Maw Maw and PaPa.

A Gecko for Ashlen

Tonight when I got home from my Primary Presidency Meeting Stevan pulled up at the same time. I was putting off going inside because there was a cricket on the door and I didn't want him to jump on me, so I was hanging out waiting for Stevan to get out of the car. Well as we were chatting about to go in - imagine my surprise as a gecko ran in front of the door. I didn't scream - I told Stevan calmly that he needed to get it quick. So he caught it and decided that Ashlen could use a pet - after all she could use a little more responsibility. Apparently Tinkerbell isn't enough!!! So she now has a pet gecko to take care of. Let's see - I think we are up to 5 pets now - Holly (black Lab) Tinkerbell (queensland heeler) Stripes (king snake) Geico (the boys gecko) and this one....I killed the algae eater and Tristen killed Freckles the Frog..... no more pets for a while!!!!!

Reflections of Christ

Stevan and I went with Mom, Dad and Clayton to the Mesa Visitors center on Saturday to see the "Reflections of Christ" exhibit, which is a must for all . Mark Mabry the photographer was asked to be the publicist for the Mesa Easter Pageant by the Temple presidency but only agreed to do so if it was extended to him as a calling. He set models in place and took photos depicting the life of Christ. This was such an awesome experience. The photos are breathtaking and the spirit you feel brings you to tears as you look at the amazing photos. Clayton was very reverent in the exhibit and asked about the photos, which brought me to tears as he asked at one picture if Jesus was fixing the eyes of the man in it. Children are still so close to the veil - they can see what others may not. This was a wonderful experience and well worth our time. We headed to Deseret right after to see if we could get a book or buy a print - but to no avail. Mark will not be selling these photos as this was his calling - he will not be making any money from this exhibit. We hope that the church will release these photos soon so we can have a piece of this is our home. I have attached a link in our "Friends and Family Websites" area to the right at the bottom and hope you check out the website with the photos. Also, if the exhibit comes to the temple near you - make it a point to visit, you will not be sorry.

We are Alone!!!

We are without our children for an entire week!! What will we do with ourselves!? Mom and Dad drove up this past weekend with cousin Hannah to take ALL our kids to CA for the week. They have a busy schedule planned with appointments all over the place and I am sure they will have tons of fun. As for Stevan and I - I do believe this will be the longest we have been without all 4 of them at the same time. What will we do you say? Go to the movies, eat out, not worry about a thing...that is until we have to go get them next weekend. I must say though - it will not be too leisurely.....in the heat of packing and having a fun filled weekend they managed to make one heck of a mess and I will be spending most of tomorrow putting things away and cleaning up after them...then the fun can begin. I am sure this will be bliss - although I will miss having all of them under my feet. Thanks mom & dad.

the bead mess - Thanks again Carrie & Jeff

Carrie and Jeff Farr are in for a BIG surprise when Emmalyn gets to be around 5 years old....I love them... I do.... but they need to feel the pain I feel on an almost weekly basis when I find beads all over the floor in Ashlen's room. Last night we had friends over to watch the UFC fight..and just like adults do when watching a fight..the tending to of the children goes to the wayside. We left Clayton and Jada to theie own devices and found this mess when it was time to go home. Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jeff bought this set of beads for Ashlen for her birthday a while back...and as you can see, they can be quite messy. Luckily Ashlen was next door when this happened and Michelle and I were able to pick this up before she got home to see the mess. #1 - she should have had the beads up high in her closet and #2 - she should have had her door shut...so technically it was her fault right??!! J/K. So when we asked Jada what happened she said that Clayton spilled the beads and when we asked Clayton he said it was Jada's fault. We will never know the truth and in the future we will have to make sure either the doors to the girls rooms are shut & locked or pay better attention. I think the most likely scenario is that the doors will be shut - who are we kidding - its a fight - like we are going to pay attention to our kids!!!!!

**** Clayton is the favorite****

So despite what the kids say - the ONLY reason there are more posts on Clayton on this blog is because THEY are never around. What is a mother to do??? I did get pics at the waterpark, but they were on the big slides and I was in the baby pool with - you guessed it Clayton and Tristen. So......I do not favor Clayton above the rest of my kids - he just isn't allowed to take off and leave me like they do. I told them if they wanted more on them they need to hang out with me.....I guess we will see the outcome of that :)

Our Rockstar

As you can see from the video - we have not only one rockstar in the family - but 2. Clayton puts on his rockstar face and gets pretty serious when it is time to play. What a face - he is a crack-up. Normally he is jumping around too - but we didn't get that on tape - I am not a very good videographer so I have some work to do.

Waterpark Trip

We went to Marana Breakers Waterpark today to get the kids out and about. We went with our neighbors the Hunsakers and took Mason's friend Cortlin with us. Marana is about 60 miles from Queen Creek so we started out early and left our house at 8:45 and got there at 10:00 just as it was opening. We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves a lot. The big kids spent most of their time on the large slides and in the wavepool. Michelle and I spent our time at the kiddie pond with Clayton, Jada, Ryker and Tristen. I did take Tristen on one of the all access slides and she did well until we landed in the pool and her foot got stuck in the tube. She panicked a little but got over it - she said it was fun but she didn't want to go back again. After we left we stopped for gas - it is still in the $3.00 range out there...grabbed slurpees and drove home. We are all a little toasty and I am sure we will all sleep well tonight...but it was fun - and we will definitely go back again.

Clayton's New Undies

Clayton got some new undies from Grandma Debby!!! He got some NFL ones and some Cars ones. From the pics you can see he chose to wear the one with Lightning McQueen and was quite upset when he discovered that the pics were on the butt. We managed to convince him to wear them the right way and then took photos so you could all see. What a cute butt he has. Thanks Grandma Debby - he loves them :)

Run for the Border

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OK - so with temperatures getting up there we figured we would "Run for the Border". No...not Taco Bell, the AZ/CA border - Parker to be more exact - to hang out with the Farrers at the river for the day. We packed up and left Friday afternoon and headed to the river. It was 128 degrees when we arrived in Parker and boy was it hot. We had a great time - we played in the water...rode the sea doos...went on the boat....and floated by the casino. Of course the river isn't the river without Tetris, but we couldn't challenge each other because we only had 1 working controller :( And Lisette and Devin came down to hang out with us too. Bishop Farrer had to be back for Sunday so we packed up and got home really late after stopping at El Sarape for dinner. We had a great time and can't wait to go back for our week long relaxation trip in August.

Clayton's Potty Stance

Clayton has joined the world of "standing pee persons" and we think his technique is amazing :) So we captured it and decided to share - You can't see anything embarrassing because of the way he stands...but I am sure you'll agree we have one talented little guy.