HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE.....

That Brooks' parents come and:

-take the kids swimming (MANY times!)

-golfing

-to a hotel overnight

- to dance class

-multiple wrestle matches

-babysit them all day while I go to the temple

-take us all out to pizza

and I ONLY had my camera on hand when we went to Bounce-U?!?!?!?! ARG! I can't believe it.

Oh well. Enjoy the pics anyway.

(my cute boys)

Look at that awesome Grandma goin' down that slide!

R.A. throwing hard basketballs at the kids and laughing the whole time.

(Such handsome smiles on these boys)

Oh, and Iris is NOT an inflatable type of person! Surprised? Such a little panzy......we love her....

but a panzy nonetheless.

The Royster liked it though.

And since the kids decided to break the rules and take off their socks, it gave Royce PLENTY of things to go crawling after. Yes, you read it right, this boy is crawling! (and from room-to-room too! Ick.)

Got it. Check out that dimple!

And here we are all piled in and ready to go eat some pizza! Gotta love all the seating in the Yeti!

It probably goes w/o being said that I love my in-laws...........but I think I'll say it anyway!

This rocks

There no explanation needed on this picture, because this one of Iris just plain ROCKS!

Now THAT is why we all love her. She's this teeny little thing (22 pounds) w/ this huge belly, topped off with a little attitude. Oh, and a little hiney cheek thrown in for good measure.

There's nobody like our little Iris.

Dos

I can't believe Iris is two.....my little petite princess.

Since she absolutely LOVES bouncy balls I decided to make a bouncy ball pinata.

And she wanted to paint it (you know, those colorful bouncy balls are the best!)

She got a little stroller for her birthday, which ended up being used more for J.J. then her babies.

Here is the finished "bouncy ball"........even though it looks suspiciously like the shape of a balloon with a giant indent in it (don't ask)........to her, it was a bouncy ball.

Notice her left hand. She's holding J.J. in it. The poor little rat's last picture ever.

J.J. died yesterday and I was/am actually more sad about it then I thought. I kind of liked him, but more so, I feel horrible about WHY I think he died. Bronson and the boys actually cleaned out his cage once a week and put new bedding in, fed him and obviously bathed him. But when I went into the garage after finding J.J. I found his water bottle on the dryer..... meaning, it wasn't in his cage. So I'm pretty sure he had gone w/o water for 5-ish days (can't quite remember the exact day they cleaned out his cage). I think the poor thing died of dehydration and it makes me so sad because it was something that could've been prevented. Running away, I could've handled, but this makes me sick to think about it.

Oh well, on that happy note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE IRISITA!

Firsts and Lasts

Here is Royce's FIRST good cry while sitting up......

you know when they cry because they're sitting up and they can't get back down? That one.

The girls' FIRST little dance class that "Ms. Emily" does here with some little ones in the ward.

(They loved it. WHY haven't I been going the rest of the year?!?!?)

And I HAD to add this picture, because doesn't Iris just look like the sweetest little angel in this one?

J.J.'s FIRST bath with the boys. (In my defense I did NOT know they snuck him in the bath when they got in......poor J.J. he was probably dying in that hot water....and here I am taking pictures. Sheesh)

And it IS true, rats are VERY good swimmers. Infact, the kids give J.J. a "bath" outside in the wading pool at LEAST daily.

I am the proud owner of the CLEANEST rat. Wow, now THAT'S something to brag about.

The LAST days of preschool w/ Emerson are over!

Here is a picture of the preschool kids we all took turns teaching. (my boy is the one pulling the sexy swimsuit look)

And LASTly, I must share this page Emerson came home w/ from his week of preschool that they talked about Transportation.

The teacher told them to draw a picture of their FAVORITE way to get from here to there (airplane, car, truck, boat, helicopter, train,etc.) And here is what he drew........

Can you tell what it is?

It's a police car. Great. Just great. I can see his teenage years flash before my eyes already!

But seriously, when your dad LEAVES you at Bounce-U and the cops spoil you and give you suckers, I would want to ride in their car again too!

Then when Camden saw it, he said, "Hey, I've been in a policia's car too!"

(Remember the security car in Florida?..........)

Apparently, it's the new popular way to travel around here.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

I got a free Jell-o flag mold earlier in the month of May (I probably don't need to say what a flag/July 4th fanatic I am, do I?) I can't TELL you how excited I was.....and even MORE excited to try this recipe out. Check out THIS beauty!!!!

Oh wait, that's the picture on the RECIPE card. Silly me.

Here's how mine turned out........

(don't you just love the blueberries falling off the flag!?) Just in case you're wondering you can't pour HOT Jell-o on top of the other layers, because it melts them, and they mix, and make purple. And when the recipe says to put the pan in hot water for a FEW seconds......that doesn't mean a minute.......because once again, the Jell-o melts and runs everywhere. Good thing I had another hour and a half before I served it huh. That leaves me JUUUUUUUUUUUST enough time to throw it in the freezer.

Which, as it turns out, is ALSO not a good idea.

This month marks the big.....

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

FOR US!!!

The night before our anniversary, I looked through my wedding album, bawled, smiled, laughed and just had the BEST time reliving one of the BEST days.

I was sad because NONE of the pictures are digital, etc. So I made Brooks scan some and here's what we've got so far..........

welcome to memory lane!

Me getting ready in the morning w/ my niece Liberty (this was taken right before I left to take Brooks his wedding present.....a snow cone maker. It was then I was shown his unfortunate run-in with using "Nads" on his chest. ha ha ha ha. That was awesome)

Meet the NEW Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

It was the most BEAUTIFUL day.....here we are in front of where we were married, the LDS Logan Temple.

In most pictures, Brooks and I were laughing.....and laughing.....and laughing.......

This picture made me laugh just because I know the background. This was towards the END of our picture-taking and we were so tired of it all, so I thought of ways to make Brooks laugh/smile (since our cheeks were hurting so bad)...........aaaaaand since we were technically married, I had EVERY right to pinch my OWN husband's boo-tay!....one of the perks of marriage. ;)

My reception was a dream. Absolutely perfect in my backyard. I actually just picked my favorite photo from the reception to show though. Here's my dad, waving to me from our deck where he was playing in a 12 man band (all were over 75 years playin' some good ol' oldies songs for me). It reminds me of him waving good-bye to his youngest princess......and showing quite a bit of courage to hand me over to the silly man I married.

And we were off.............together.........hand in hand.........

and that STILL hasn't changed.

Are you kidding me?

I get together w/ my friend Jess to watch the Biggest Loser finale. We have our not-so-healthy-but-yummy salads and Strawberry smoothies all ready. Then THIS happens......for the NEXT 45 MINUTES!!!! Are you kidding me?

It's bad to say, but I really could CARE LESS about severe thunderstorm warnings when BIGGEST LOSER FINALE IS ON!!!!!

Are you kidding me that Aleeya wore this to Ace Hardware today?!!?? (and no, she's not in dance class, but I made it look like it so she could get away with wearing her new leotard.)

Are you kidding me that I have the CUTEST kids?!? Especially Bronson right here, who I caught "dancing with Iris".

My other "Are you kidding me?" moment happened on a Girl's Temple trip on Wednesday. There were 5 of us in Nikki's van......okay, I'll try to make this long story short.......she was CRUISING because we were late getting off, took a wrong turn and ended up on some country roads. We got stuck behind a car going UNDER the speed limit, so when it was legal Nikki passed the guy. While passing him Nikki looked over and since she's "a pro at reading lips" said that he told us, "I'm a cop". Well, I'm thinkin' he wasn't, because cops PROBABLY wouldn't have kissed our bumper for the next mile. Cops also wouldn't pull up on the side of us at a stop light, ask if we're "freaking *$&#*$" and then proceed to call us perverts. Are. you. kidding. me?!?!

I'm laughing as I'm even typing this out. It was sooooo completely random and considering we were sitting still, in church clothes and being nice, it's even more funny. I found myself smiling all night about it, even when I realized that all my unwrapped mints/Werther's in my pocket in the temple started sticking together.........wow, guess I'll stick with LifeSavors.

You see where I get it?

I had a friend tell me about my Jury Summons blog post that it was EXACTLY how she would EXPECT my jury summons day to go.

I guess she's right. As my day was unfolding I never once thought, "This CAN'T be happening to me!!!!" Because infact, it would be WEIRD if it went normal.

I've learned to cope, laugh and go with the flow when these things happen and I've been reminded today WHERE I GET THAT FROM................ my mother.

She was recently asked to write a blog post for a Book Store that she works at on "Memorial Day". She had me laughing......and really, I can see what my future holds........... GET READY BROOKS!

READ IT HERE!

(oh, and comment too, she probably would LOVE it!......and her boss too!)

What does that mean?

Brooks had a softball tournament all day last Saturday. All throughout the tournament my boys would admire the trophies and ask if they could have them. Well, Brooks' team took 3rd place and the team captain guy gave the trophy to the boys. They were all sooooooooo excited.

Here they are when they came home. Camden said, "It's the 3rd place trophy!" Then I heard Brooks yell from below, "What does that mean, Camden?" Then Camden said, "It means you're the 2nd loser." Perfect.

Iris has taken it upon herself to feed Royce now when I'm not looking. I've caught him being fed PB&J, ham sandwich, oatmeal, cheerios and this particular day......dum-dums. (and no, I haven't started the kid on cereal yet. After all these yummy tastes, he probably won't WANT it!)

And here's a good ol' fashioned sideways picture of Iris holding JJ in her death grip (after her nap on Sunday)

However, I will close this post by making it public for all to read that I BEAT BROOKS AT BOWLING!!!!! (by one point......details, details)

So wouldn't that make him the

1st LOSER?!?!?!?

"Mommy Ears"

Sometimes Heavenly Father speaks to me though my "Mommy Ears".

You know what I'm talking about............the Mom ears that helps us hear a wrapper being opened 3 rooms away or tip-toeing feet out of bed or the unbuckling of seatbelts before you're actually in your driveway? Yea, those ears. The sounds most people don't hear, but a mom can.

I was getting ready for bed tonight, brushed my teeth and was ABOUT to say my prayers when I heard one VERY faint sound I've become VERY good at hearing..........a water sound. It's the sound the pipes make when the washer is running, dishwasher running, toilet flushing or an outside hose turned on. I thought it strange considering none of the above applied. It HAD to be the hose. It was raining and thundering outside so I couldn't just step out to listen for it, I actually had to walk out and find the hose. I went in the front yard, nothing. Then I went in the backyard to find the hose nice and wound up next to the house (my personal contribution in keeping the backyard picked up.............well, it back-fired this time).............WITH THE WATER ON! Considering it was 10:30 the house had to have been on for at least 4 hours, RIGHT in the spot where the water kept coming down and flooding our basement last year. Arg.

I went downstairs and found water in the garage area. Just in that corner and along the wall and only extending out 3 or 4 feet. Without wanting to wake Brooks I just grabbed the shop-vac and started sucking up the puddle of water. I did that for about 45 minutes. I couldn't help but think of the tender mercy Heavenly Father had just given me. I immediately felt so much gratitude and peace.....that still fills my chest as I type this. I could've NOT checked the hoses, or just one and found a REEEEEEEEEEEALLY flooded basement/downstairs/garage in the morning. HEAVEN KNOWS it would've been a REALLY bad morning for me to wake up to THAT, because I am NOT a morning person......at. all. (Just ask my mom).

As little as this event might have been I see it as a little loving sign of mercy from above.........a little evidence that someone is watching out for me and cares enough about my sanity to perk up my "Mom Ears" to what could've been a mess. With all that is going on around the world it's pretty overwhelming sometimes to think I have a Father in Heaven who cares enough about me this evening in my safe and now-dry home.

And now that it's past midnight, I think I'll go finish saying my prayers that got interrupted before.............but this time, with a few more things to be thankful for.