Trip to the "Qwuary-am"

Gavin speaks pretty well (and a lot...) for his age, I think. I did notice, however, that he has a hard time saying aquarium and it sounds more like "Qwuary-Am". It's pretty cute and fairly subtle.

So off we went to the "Qwuary-Am" yesterday, just me and the boys. I like having a pass there. It's fairly cheap, not too far away, and you can go for just a short while because you know you can go back whenever. Plus, the boys love fish and it entertains them more than sometimes anything I can think of doing at home.

Say hello to my little friend...

We spent quite a bit of time out in the garden yesterday. I would like to say it was harvesting things, but it was more pulling all of the weeds than anything! When we first started our garden years ago, I realized that I was terrified of snails. I didn't know you could get snails in your garden. Really. One day I'm picking beans and move a leaf over and there is like a whole den of snails on this plant. ICK. Not long after that, I realized I would have to get over this fear if I was going to continue to garden. Last year I just stopped being grossed out by them. It's more the element of surprise than anything else and now I just expect them at all times so when I do find one, I'm not bugged. Or maybe I just had to tough up once I realized I was going to have 2 boys, who knows! They really are actually kind of cool (the snails...my boys are super cool..)

Gav and I had a great time outside yesterday with this little guy. Gav was very curious about how and what snails eat and whether or not they could bite him. I assured him he would not get bitten and then he was all about holding the snail. I have loved this summer and spending time outside in the garden with my boys. I don't think we have been outside as much any other summer. I feel like it's gone so quickly and I'm not ready for it to end.

Gavinisms

I have a couple for you today.

Me: "Gav, where is your bike?"
Gav: "I don't know mom. I'll just sniff for it." He proceeded to sniff like a dog while looking for his bike.

Gav: "I want to sit where you are and watch a movie mom."
Me: "Ok, I've got to get up anyway."
Gav: "Up you go, mom!"
Me: "You are such a cute, fun, happy boy."
Gav: "You are cute fun mom."

LOVE him.

Harry Potter Extravaganza!

I'm quite behind in posting as this was actually LAST week, but I've been slightly super busy. Again this year, I hosted a preview party before the Harry Potter release. This time I had to get 24 tickets (fyi you can only purchase 20 tickets at one time on the Megaplex website!). I chose not to do all of the crazy food from the books this time because I had done that last year and none of it was really all that great! I did do a couple of things and the pretzel wands like last time, but didn't take a picture of any of it. I was too busy getting our Hogwarts Class Pictures photo booth taken care of! It was so fun and silly to do, and not going to lie...I enjoyed that immensely! I will admit that I am glad this was the last of the movies because I'm getting a little old to stay up past midnight, but it was oh so fun!

Disclaimer...a ridiculous amount of pictures follow. Probably of people most of you don't even know. Thanks for indulging me!


The party's organizer Becca





She may or may not be our YW's pres....



This is just hilarious!

Oh Nance....









This was probably my favorite picture :)

She really did have "Mudblood" written on her arm!

LOL...

Yes, I was super creative and went as a Muggle

I turned all of the picture Black and White because I was having issues using the lighting stuff...but the color on this one turned out ok and I liked it better :)



Me and my sisters :)

Maxabillion Update

I was looking through old blogs and realized I used to write more about how Gavin was growing and progressing...things he was doing. Poor Max hasn't gotten a lot of that. Maybe because I have two instead of one?!?! Whatever the case, I want to look back one day and know how Max was at this very moment.

I LOVE kids between 18months-2 years. It has to be one of the best times aside from those perfect little newborns. They are starting to learn so much and it just amazes me how these little personalities totally come out. Max is NO different and is truly so much fun! He is one of the most easy going, all around good kids. He is very much a momma's boy, but is happy to be with anyone else. He loves to copy and repeat things we do or say. He is starting to really get into what animals "say" and is best at Horse and Monkey.

He wakes up every morning and yells "Mom!" until I come to get him. He has to hand me every blankie he has in his crib and then his "baby" (stuffed giraffe from Aunt Carlie, that I think was actually given to Gav, but Max has claimed!) Then he will let me pick him and up and informs me he wants "pink" (strawberry milk). I set him down and he grabs all of the blankets and says, "A movie". Usually when he wakes up Curious George is on PBS and he LOVES George. Just about every single morning goes EXACTLY this way and I love that he is so routine.

He is great about taking naps and going to bed. Seriously. Easiest kid ever. You lay him down, cover him up and he waves and says "night-night". How on earth did I get that lucky?!

Max LOVES his cousin Paisley. They are just 2 months apart and he thinks she is just tops! They are so funny to watch together.

Every time we walk into any Walmart store, Max yells out "Daddy!" Which is cute that he seems to understand that dad works at Walmart. Or sad that we go there that much...jury is still out.

He also yells "Dad" whenever he sees someone on a motorcycle. Cute unless it's some scruffy biker dude smoking a cig...

He recently decided he loves talking on the phone. It's pretty cute. He also love Buzz Lightyear and his big brother. Not sure in which order.

I'm so proud of this cute, sweet boy I get to be a mother too. He brings so much joy and LIFE into our family. Love you more than words, Billsy.

Nothing says summer....

like splashing in a pool :)
Photo Courtesy Kyle Meyers (because I was too busy dumping water on my kids head!)

So happy....

because I wake up to these smiling faces everyday :)

Beehive Camp 2011

Since our stake is going on Trek this year we just had Beehive Camp instead of a full on girls camp. Exciting for the Beehives...stressful for me. Not going to lie, I DO NOT like being in charge of things. I am a great follow orders kind of person, but I don't like to give direction, and plan, and well, think. But...we survived! (Insert sigh of relief here.)

It wasn't a particularly long trip, but I was surprised how much there was to plan and organize. It was probably good for me to reach outside of myself and comfort zone, but I wish I was able to feel more of a sense of accomplishment rather than worry about what everyone else is thinking of it. All I know is I did what I could and truly LOVE my Beehives. I definitely have a feeling of ownership over them and am so pleased to be sharing this exciting time of their lives. They are AMAZING girls and I can't compliment them enough on all of the MANY ways that they are MILES ahead of me spiritually. I think of myself at their age of just 12 and 13 and know that I was NOTHING like them. I love the way they are all kind to one another. I never see them leave anyone out. They are not gossipy or unkind. They are just beautiful young girls who bring so much fun and good into my life. They constantly make me want to better myself, and I love that.

We had the biggest stress finding somewhere to have our camp. The location changed about a million times and finally I just decided that we were going to a campsite and so be it. It worked out despite waking up the morning we were leaving to find out there was a mudslide blocking the road in the canyon and getting rained on a good part of our trip! A highlight of the trip was hiking up to Timp Cave (which is quite the steep hike...!). We did some crafts, played some games, ate some great food, had some spiritual moments and mostly laughed :) We had wonderful priesthood holders join us and they were MUCH help. Especially my sweet husband who rearranged work schedules and put up with me. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to serve and to learn from these amazing girls. I'm so thankful for those who came to help and were such a great support system for me. There is no way I could have done this without them! Also a big thank you to my wonderful in-laws for keeping the kids. I got a call from Keith's mom the morning we were leaving and she made me feel so much better and way less stressed about it all. She always seems to know just what to say to me. The kids were thrilled to sleep over at their house and then I had a message on the way home to just get everything cleaned up and showered before I worried about getting the kids. What a HUGE help they were!





Our theme was Pioneers since everyone else is going on trek. We made Mason Jar lanterns (which I think would have worked out way better doing them NOT in the dirt...) and these yarn dolls which were a bigger hit than I thought they would be.

Gotta love Jeri...she brings all the fun!

Time out for a little scripture study....




We actually celebrated 2 birthdays in the short time we were gone!

Skits were performed...one of which even made fun of ME!



Before the hike

During the hike

I have about 10 million pictures of girls posing and these seriously funny faces. I didn't have much time to take pictures so the majority of the time the leaders cameras were distributed to the girls which makes for some really funny photos!

Mistie was a trooper and brought baby Gentry to her first girls camp!

Mmmm...donuts!

More posing....

Our stake president came up to be a priesthood holder one of the nights. I caught this sly look while he was playing a tricky little game with us. I wish it was a better picture...it was actually tons darker then this, but I just loved this look like, "Oh Sister Smith, what are you doing?" I know...I'm annoying with my camera.


The girls have this game they play called, "Baby I love you but I just can't smile." Oh. My. Word. They make me laugh. I don't love the game, but probably because I could never win!

Hopefully lots of good times were had a friendships made!