Arizona Trip

We were able to go to Arizona a couple weeks ago with my family! I will sure miss crashing their family vacations when we're in Japan. We have had a blast seeing new places with them every year.

Anyway, Heather is moving there in a couple of weeks and I haven't seen her in almost three years so she flew into Vegas and we drove to Phoenix together! It was so fun to be able to see her and visit! She had me giggling while we told stories of our naughty little kids! I'm glad I got to see her before we leave. We had a great time with Jenny, Grandpa, and Grandma too. Ryker is like glue with Grandma and loved to swim with her!

All the kids had a great time swimming and playing in the hotel!

Hunter fell asleep on the way to the pool!

Ryker leaning in for a kiss!

Ryker playing with Grandma in the water!

Cooling off with some ice cream bars!

Me and Heather! I love you girly! It was fun to see you again!

Thanks mom and dad for the fun trip! We just love you!

Aunt Jenny playing with Hunter!

Me and my little ones!

Ryker throwing a fit! He has recently been throwing his face on the cement when he gets mad!

Little Taylor- Always posing!

The babies while Heather tried to get some good pictures!

Carter is growing up so fast! I can't believe what a great helper he is now! He is so excited to move to Japan and start first grade!

I had NO idea!!!

I had absolutely NO clue that when I accepted a ring from this guy---

I would also get this "fantastic" guy, and I couldn't have been LUCKIER!!!

Holding the babies the day they got blessed!

Ken, you have truly been an inspiration to me and my children! We have loved you from the very start! You made me feel welcome into the family and treated me as you would a daughter and I love and appreciate you for it! Our relationship has grown so much in the past 7 years and I was so LUCKY to have met and got to spend so much time with you!

Ken passed away just over a week ago! We will love and miss you Ken!

I just wanted to write down a couple of my favorite memories of this wonderful guy!

When we lived in Hawaii, he and Melanie came to visit us! He got so turned around and was always losing his way. I thought it was funny because in the states he can tell me the fastest way to get anywhere!

He was always a great dresser and made sure he got dressed up for all dates including going out to see a movie! Oh and he always smelled so good! I thought it was a little odd when we took them to Sunset Beach and he had on a button up shirt, a pair of dockers, and penny loafers, but that was Ken Olsen!

He told me once that he hated the trips to California in the truck- He didn't get paid as well, and he hated the traffic, but that didn't stop him from coming to see us every chance he got! We would meet up for KFC and it always made me smile when he called Melanie to rub it in that he was with the grandkids! He always had us get close together so he could take a picture on his phone! :) Then we would look through all the old pictures he had taken on the road!

He also picked up me and the kids on several occasions to drive home with him in the big truck! The little boys were in HEAVEN! I loved that they slept on the bed and watched TV, so it made it a fast trip home! I will always remember the discussions we had and be grateful for his funny sense of humor! He was the ultimate tease!

We were both avid price is right fans and had several phone calls about how lucky contestants were! I loved when he was lonely and would call, we would talk about the kids and all the crazy things they were up too, and he would tell me where he was and what he was hauling. I will really miss all the phone calls!

I LOVE that he and Rhett got to golf together! It was many hours that they got to spend together doing what they loved!

He was such a GREAT grandpa and ALL of my kids absolutely adored him! Ken we sure LOVE you and can't wait until we see you again, but until then--- I would love if you would help me keep track of all these little boys! They can certainly use a guardian angel! :)

Here are just a couple pictures of this wonderful man that we were so blessed to have in our lives!!!

Holding the twins a week after they were born!

Playing Santa for all the elementary kids.

Holding Hunter during the graduation ceremony!

The plane ride back from Hawaii.

KFC with grandpa was my kids favorite thing! They got so excited when he called and said he was coming into town!

McDonalds in Hawaii.

Golfing with Rhett!

Rhett's dental school graduation! Always SO supportive!!!

Goofing around!

Thank you for ALL the great memories together!

Tournament of Kings~ Again!!!

WE have been to see the Tournament of Kings a couple times while living here, but it is still one of the kids favorite places to go! Julie was taking Brendan and Sarah and invited us to tag along and we jumped at the chance to see it again! It was fun to have Jessie come. We had a really fun group!

We also had a few minutes to burn in the arcade! Carter and Taylor loved the fishing game and even caught a few fish!

Jessie, Brendan, and Carter waiting while we bought the tickets!

Taylor fishing for a prize!

Carter with his prizes he won at the arcade!

Taylor with his little fishes!

Mommy and Taylor sitting down right before the show! He was my little lap sitter so he got in free!

Me and the boys! We had a blast together!

Carter with his chicken! He loved the tomato soup.

Taylor with his chicken leg. They were both fantastic boys! I love spending time with them without the babies. It's nice to give them a little extra attention! Thanks Rhett for watching the twins. I love you!!!

Me and Jessie in front of the sign!

Bad mommy moment of the week-

So the big boys were at Julie's swimming and we were running a little late to get to the show! I had set out their clothes so when she brought them home I just threw the clothes on- I didn't realize that poor Taylor was in Carter's pants until we got there and he was up up on the counter fishing and his pants fell all the way down! Poor kid-- I guess I had better make sure I have the kids in the right clothes before leaving the house from now on!

4th of July

I was SO excited for the fireworks this year! The babies were so little last year that they fell asleep long before we did any fireworks! I thought it was going to be a blast for them this year and I couldn't wait! The big boys were pretty stoked too! We started the fireworks at 8:00. The babies usually go to bed at 6:15. They were in a pretty good mood to start off, but right as we started I could tell they were NOT going to like them!!

Rhett getting everything ready to light~

The group so excited for fireworks~

Carter holding the babies back while one was lit~

The BIG boys loved them~

Ryker HATED them from the start-- Hunter was just a little nervous~

Then he was confused~

Then he was scared~ This pictures pretty much depicts exactly how much the twins liked fireworks!

This is them hauling butt to the front door to go to bed! Oh well, I guess my expectations were a little high! Hopefully next year they will like them better!

Best Buds- 23 months!

The babies aren't really babies anymore! It's crazy- they are just little boys now! They love to play & fight together!

A couple things I love that they do-

(1) The random hugs & kisses to each other!

(2) Clean up time before bed- they know how to put all the toys in the right places!

(3) Singing time- 3 little ducks is their favorite, but they just love to sing!

A couple things I DON'T love as much-

(1) The fighting, they fight over EVERY toy they own. It doesn't even matter if we have two they just want the same one that the other is playing with!

(2) They take off their diapers ALL the time!

(3) They LOVE to paint with poo! It is so gross. None of my other babies did this. I don't know why they think it is so funny! They are SO busy all the time too!

I love you babies. I can't believe you're going to be 2 next month!

Playing catch with each other.

Laying down ready for TICKLE TIME!!!

Look how tall they are getting! I love you monkeys!!!

Las Vegas Zoo!

We have been babysitting Julie's (soon to be) kids while they are at work. It has been a ton of fun, but a little crazy!!! 6 kids ranging from 7-23 months is a little intense, but overall they have been pretty good listeners! I have mostly let them play in the yard and the house, but we were all starting to go a little stir crazy and needed a fun outing to go on! Some people may think I'm nuts to take out 6 kids by myself, but I think I did a pretty dang good job! I didn't even lose one! :) Anyway, we decided to go to the zoo!

We went over rules in the car and they came up with some great ones-

Brendan- Be responsible & respectful!

Carter- Be a good listener & stay together as a group!

Sarah- No crying & hold hands! These were really good for her. She is a bit of a whiner!

Taylor- No hitting, kicking, biting, or punching in faces! I guess punching anywhere else is okay with Taylor! ;)

As you can tell from the responses we have gone over rules several times together!

We learned a few things at the zoo! Sarah and Brendan have never fed goats before and are pretty terrified of even the idea of being in a cage with animals! The twins LOVE running holding hands, but aren't very good with balance running together. Lots of scraped knees! Peacocks DON'T love kids chasing them. In fact they can be a little aggressive. lol. And lastly GIRLS ARE SO MUCH HARDER THAN BOYS!!! I will thank my father every night for giving me the opportunity to have boys instead of girls!

The group looking at the turtles and flamingoes!

Ryker in with the goats waiting patiently for his turn with the food! He thought they were so funny!

Hunter wasn't really digging it the way Ryker was UNTIL I let his hold the food by himself. Than, he just ran and ran while goats ran after him. He thought it was hilarious!

Carter loved the goats and was careful to make sure that they all got an equal amount of food! I just realized I don't have a picture of Taylor feeding the goats, but he made me smile the most! He was so brave- right when he went in with his cup of food a HUGE goat was standing on the rocks right in front of him. He lifted the cup to his mouth and as he started to walk away to feed a different goat... the HUGE goat took both his front legs and knocked the poor little guy onto the ground, spilling ALL his food! He got up, dusted himself off, and said "That GOAT knocked me down!" All of this without a single tear! I was so proud! While we were in feeding the goats Sarah and Brendan were in between the gates so the goats wouldn't get them. Sarah cried the WHOLE time just because we were so close to the goats!

Carter with his FAVORITE animal there! The chinese alligator!

Hunter with his FAVORITE- the emu! He kept putting his head on the other side of the fence and the bird would run over, probably to bite him, then Hunter would pull his head out and LAUGH and LAUGH!! Ryker also joined the game and had a BLAST!

Hunter playing peek a boo!

Me with the little kids- they don't really look like they are having fun, but I assure you... EVERYONE had a great time. It was SO hot though!

The kids enjoying a ninja turtle ice cream after I sanitized their hands until they were almost bleeding! :)

New friends & keeping cool!

We have been so busy lately! We have been trying to get ready to move, babysitting new friends, and trying to get out of the house without frying in this heat!!! We have had a ton of popsicles and ice cream lately! I really need to stop because I can feel it sticking right on my hips! :) I will be posting 3-4 posts tonight because I've been suck a slacker with the blog lately!

First of all-

We have new friends that the kids LOVE! Julie, my sister, is getting married and with her new love comes 2 adorable kids! Brendan (7), and Sarah (4). We have had a blast getting to know our new little family members! The kids love playing together and get along pretty well!

Carter cooling off with some ice cream at the park!
Taylor with his ice cream bar!

The four little twerps cooling off in the backyard!