Tate: Mission Accomplished

Tuesday night my brother arrived home from serving a mission in Honduras, along with my parents and sister Heidi, who went to pick him up.

And by Tuesday night, I almost mean Wednesday morning...

 He was supposed to arrive at 10:45pm, but actual arrival time was 11:08pm, which actually translates to emerging to meet family/friends at about 11:30pm. We pulled our sleeping boys from their beds about 10:30pm & headed to the airport. They stayed asleep as we transferred them from home to car and then car to stroller & then went to find the correct gate. There was a crowd waiting for us...I mean Tate:)

Ryler decided to wake up and join the fun...

 I think Tate was most excited to see his nieces and nephews...

of course.

 one of them even had a surprise for him...

Everyone got to see him, 

except for Parker...

who just kept on sleeping:)

Even though it was LATE...or EARLY by this point, we stopped by parent's house on the way home to see if they were happy with their Master Bedroom we redid while they were gone.

They were.

My Superstar!

This kid melts my heart...

every single day.

Parker Matthew

Parker is always surprising me with the things that he says & does.

I love him so much!!!

 We were eating Sunday dinner at the Allen's this week and we turn around to see that Parker figured out how to hang the playhouse people upside down from the kitchen island. We thought it was hilarious.

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Parker saw a picture of my lil sister Heidi on the computer & said, "Ohhhh! That is Heidi...my best friend!" Then he said, "Liam, Heidi & Daddy are my very best friends" 

haha. I laughed & thought Heidi & daddy would love to hear that;) And Liam is a TWELVE year old boy that lives across the street that is SO NICE to Parker! On Sunday when he sees him passing the sacrament, he usually points & loudly says, "There is my friend, Liam!" So cute that he thinks they are best friends.

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Parker calls Ryler "BABY" about 99.9% of the time. Every and now then, you will hear him say "Ryder", but usually it is just "Baby" & has been since Ryler was born. A couple of days ago, we had all just woken up and crashed on the couch for some morning cartoons. Out of nowhere, Parker sat up, looked at Ryler on the other couch & started talking in the cutest voice with his eyes scrunched up & said, "Oh baby...you are so cute. I love you so much. I want to make you happy. You look so cute. You look so cute. Smile Baby! Smile!"

I thought it was so sweet that he was trying to make his brother happy 1st thing in the morning :)

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The other night, we were getting home later than normal & I decided to just drive around until the boys fell asleep. As we were driving, Ryler OPENED the car door! Luckily it was late & there was no traffic & I reached over and shut it. I didn't want Ryler to do it again, so I was telling him "NO, Ryler...we do NOT do that". Parker took over from there & said, "No...No..Baby! You can not open the door or you will fall out onto the street...and a car will run over you and you will die and we will not be a happy family anymore!"

He said it with so much worry and concern in his voice & I thought it was so sweet(and maybe a bit graphic). OH...and the doors are child locked now...Thanks Chaya for reminding me about that car feature!

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Sometimes at night I sing, "The sun has gone to bed and so must I...da da da daaa da da da" ( They sing it on Sound of Music)

One day about noon, it was bright and sunny and we were in the car driving. Parker looked out the window & just started singing, "The sun has not gone to bed and I don't have to...da da da daaa da da da"

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I was telling Parker about his sweet little cousin Mason that was stillborn last Sunday & I was explaining that his cousins Talia and Brogan had a sweet little baby brother, named Mason & that we were very sad because he died. He quickly said, "Oh he died too like Jesus? Jesus died so that we can live again. Now they live at the church together."

I think kids understand more than we think.

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Tatoo Artist

Please send me the address for the person who invented markers...

So I can send them a {sarcastic} Thank you card...

and ask them to come and give my child a bath...

Fruit...with a dash or BBQ!

We came in from swimming at my parent's house, I put Ryler on the stool by the counter & gave him a bowl of fruit, while I went to change out of my swimsuit.

I came back to find this...

The BBQ MAY have been left on the counter, just close enough for him to reach...

and he MAY have emptied the ENTIRE bottle onto his fruit...

and he MAY have liked it!

Mason Craig

I don't feel like "blogging" about this, but I do want to JOURNAL about it for the future. 

I know there really isn't a difference, but this just seems so personal.

I think I will give myself some time, before I write more.

Until then, please keep my bro-in-law/sis-in-law, Craig & Heidi in your prayers. 

Heidi delivered a beautiful baby boy, named Mason Craig on Sunday night & never got the chance to see him take his first breath. It has been a difficult week to watch them go through this & I wish so badly I could take away their pain. 

I'm so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that this life is not the end.

Blue Man Group

Parker is working to become a member of this group...

With the help of a Blue Washable Marker...

ALMOST THERE!!!

So True...

So funny yet so true...

I saw this list on another blog and I couldn't believe that I laughed/agreed with every single one:)

1. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

2. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

3. Was learning cursive really necessary?

4. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

5. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

6. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

7. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

8. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

9. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

10. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?) but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

11. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

12. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

13. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

14. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

15. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

16. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

17. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch  or phone 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Fun at the Museum

Went to the Children's Museum this week...HOURS of FUN for the kids!

THANKS for the FUN morning Julie!!!

Shout out to the Birthday boy this week! My nephew Mason(below) turned 9! 

My brother Matt turned the big 30 & my nephew Brogan turned 2...all three on the same day!

Congratulations!

Went to my friend Kristi's Baby Shower this week. 

I am SO HAPPY she is a MOM!

She had a LONG wait & just a few weeks ago was blessed through the miracle of ADOPTION, and received a beautiful baby boy! He is adorable...I got to cuddle him for awhile on Thursday:)

Kristi is in my old ward & it was SOOO good to go back and see so many people. I really really miss everyone from that ward...a lot. Luckily they aren't that far away & I've been able to keep in touch with them & they are still nice enough to invite me to their Girls Nights:)

Kristi is one of those people that is ALWAYS SMILING & that you naturally GRAVITATE towards! She is SO much FUN & has more talent in her pinky finger than most people have in their whole body! I'm so happy for her & just want to say CONGRATS to her on becoming a MAMA!

PS. Tell Kase to be good tonight, so you can get some sleep! ;)

Fireworks

For our 4th of July Weekend, we headed up to Show Low for the Ellsworth Reunion, which is held for the descendents of Edmund Lovell Ellsworth every 10 years.

He has 10,000 living descendants today which they compared to Abraham Lincoln, who has zero living descendants. Quite the difference...

might have something to do with his 4 wives & 46 children..haha.
Edmund's youngest daughter, Effie Ellsworth is my Grandpa Phelps' Mother. That is how we tie into the Ellsworth clan.

We arrived Friday, after stopping at BURGER HOUSE for a delicious lunch & the kids thought the hotel was pretty cool, since the beds were close enough to jump back and forth from...

Friday night we headed to the Stake Center to watch "1856 The Musical"...

which lasted about 10 minutes with our kids & then we left to go to the McD's playland down the street:)

Got them all worn out (or wound up) for bedtime...

Saturday morning started BRIGHT and EARLY...when Ryler woke up at 4:30am & didn't want to go back to sleep, because we were all in the same room, which he isn't used to:(
After several attempts to get him back to sleep, including Matt driving him around for an hour, we got up and got ready & ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel & then headed off to the parade...

The parade was fun...but a bit long. They had 120 "floats", most of which were boring, but there were some good ones & the kids all got plenty of candy!

Waving the American Flag...

After the parade, we headed to Pizza Hut for lunch & I was reminded why drive thru is really the only option with my 2 boys...

Then we headed back to the hotel for naps...well Matt & Ryler did. 

Parker & I hit the Dollar Store & then some antique stores.
I wanted to buy EVERYTHING I saw...but those darn antiques are EXPENSIVE!

Later in the afternoon we headed back to the reunion for GAMES!
My cute nieces, Hallie & Abby on the train...

Aunt Heidi playing "soccer" with Ryler...

The boys made a rocket, that flew Really FAR!

The reunion provided a delicious BBQ dinner for us. It was SO WINDY at dinner, we worried about them canceling fireworks!

After dinner we headed out to find a park. 

We ended up at the Elementary School playground that was right next to where they would be launching fireworks! So we laid out our blankets & saved a GREAT spot & then let the kids play...

Right next to the playground where we were, was a big 4th of July Carnival & of course the kids wnated to slide down the BIG BOUNCER SLIDE...

Matt & Ryler...

Heidi & Parker & Hallie...

The smells lured us over & we bought a bunch of junk food, including Cotton Candy & Funnel Cake to eat while watching the fireworks...

We waited as it got dark...

The show was AMAZING! We were so close! The kids loved it...despite the fact that Ryler looks half asleep/half constipated...

Part of the beautiful show....

During the finale, we looked over to see both our boys sound asleep.
Oh well:) they saw MOST of the show...

Saturday night Ryler did MUCH BETTER & even let us sleep in! We woke up about 9am Sunday morning & headed home to the heat!

Such a FUN holiday to spend in a small town! 
We had such a great time & the weather was AMAZING!