Nana in Vegas

We had such a wonderful time with Nana in Vegas.  She was so sweet to help me with the LONG drive back home to Vegas from Boise.  While here, we went to the museum, made zuchinni muffins from the WHOPPERS that have been popping out of my garden, and just had fun.  At one point I swear I intended to give the kids haircuts myself, but once I asked Mom for advice and she saw how rookie I was, she is so gracious and well . . .  I definitely learned a lot and my kids look soooo much better!:)  Here's a few cute shots.:)

It was sooo great sharing foot rubs and waxing eachothers' opponents on Words with Friends (sorry Ashley & Kimbre!) and just hangin' out with my mom.  Love you!!!

Happy Birthday Ava - 7 years old!

Our little Miss is 7 years old - how did that happen?  We woke up early thursday morning to open presents from mommy and daddy.  She was particularly excited about the Hello Kitty Password Diary (voice activated) and her "ticket" to join a ballet class this fall!  Then it was time for breakfast - her choice - cereal.  This girl loves her rice krispies!

Once we were all done with the morning craziness - we loaded everyone into the van and headed to Pojo's. Ava loves it here - and thankfully Drew was able to get off work and come with us.  Let me explain...  Last time Ava and I went to Pojo's for a date - we collected only about 200 tickets.  Today when Drew joined us - he helped us collect over 1200 tickets!  Let this be a lesson to all that Pojo's is much more fun with Drew than it is with me - I am terrible at arcade games!

Poor Carter was so bored and a bit sleepy - but he was quiet and eventually fell asleep.  What a trooper!

After Pojo's we raced home to clean house and get ready for all the grandparents to join us for dinner, dessert and presents.  Ava chose a taco bar and fruit salad for the menu - YUM!  And then her dessert choice was ... lets call it BRIGHT!  She had a strawberry cake (pink) with bright purple frosting and black, lime green and purple sprinkles.  Then her icecream was cake batter with rainbow candy pieces!  This girl loves pink and purple!  She is definitely ALL girl!

Thanks to Grandma and Paka, Nana and Papa - for joining us for a fun evening.  Ava felt very loved and very spoiled for her big day!

Summer's here!

Summer is here and it's been getting hot so we got Riley in her swimmy suit and she had some fun with a sprinkler. 

 Then I put down a tarp and created a little home made splash pad.

 It was a great way to cool off!

Gardening 101

This year I finally planted a garden!  Thanks to Matt's brother, Kevin, and his ability to be very handy we got the box built...

 The sprinklers set...

 The box set in place...

 Filled with soil...

 String set for sq. ft. planting...

And vegetables planted!

I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing so we'll see how it goes!

Oh, Boys.

So the weather has been beautiful here the past couple days and yesterday was nice and hot, so we went to Grandma's house to play. The kids had a blast jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers, playing on the swings, riding bikes, and just running around. Well, later on in the evening, all the kids were once again on the trampoline playing a fun game when Landon's and Tucker's heads collided! Landon immediately started crying and Tucker was down holding his head, then started to cry too. Then I got over to him and saw the blood! Landon came away with a good goose egg, but Tucker's head split open right on the eyebrow! I held his bleeding head till nurse Clarissa came with first aid supplies and bandaged him up - but the cut was deep enough, so onto the ER for stitches! Jayson had his truck so he took Tuck and I took the others home and put them to bed. Jayson and Tuck waited around for quite a while playing games and watching movies, but Tucker was a champ and did great when the time came to sew him up! He ended up with two stitches inside and four outside. Daddy promised him a milkshake afterwards, so even though it was after ten, they enjoyed a yummy treat before coming home. Oh, my boys...  ;)

Watching TV while waiting for the Dr.

Before  (ouch!! The guys think this picture looks just like Dallas.)

After

Milkshakes are good even when you're a bit sleepy.

To Boise We Go!

We were missing our Daddy, but since Mom and Dad moved back to Boise, I've been dying to visit.
Can I just say I have been blessed with some pretty amazing kiddos.  We left SLC right after dinner so that they would sleep again, and only ended up stopping 3 times--one of which was for gas.  I am so grateful that they were such good little travelers.
We had a blast in Boise!  It was so great spending time with our Boise family and friends.  My favorite thing was watching my kids making memories with their cousins.  We played and went fishing with Mandy's kids, had a big dinner with the Taylor clan, went to the park with Amber and her kids, and did an over-nighter with Nikki.  Not to mention, we enjoyed Nana and Papa's amazing new house, complete with playroom and a "hidey hole" beneath the stairs with toys and movies!  It feels so good to know that next time we get together they will remember their Boise friends and Meyers cousins.

This picture just melts my heart.  At one point I asked Jacob to help his sister on a slide, and he just stuck with her the rest of the day!  He even got her down one of the "bigger kid" slides.  Needless to say she loves her brother was in heaven!

Love my little musician!

Jakey and Bray were pretending to be crazy monkeys!

A little rain doesn't stop us!  The boys were determined to have fun in Amber's backyard!

The Best Mother's Day Weekend Ever!

The weekend of May 11 turned out to be just packed!  Kevin-- Shannon's husband graduated from University of Utah Law School, I had a concert with the Choral Artists of Southern Nevada in the Assembly hall on Temple Square, and of course it was Mother's Day.  We drove to SLC late Friday night (so the kid would sleep on the way) to stay with Sharie and had a TON of fun!  Saturday was fun with the Baker girls, then a picnic lunch, meeting up with Shannon and Kevin, and Grandma and Grandpa MacKay.   The kids were in HEAVEN!  I never saw Ethan laugh so hard on a swing!  I thing we all ended up taking turns pushing him--including Jake and Braden who almost knocked themselves over trying to push-- but Grandpa was his favorite.  Mylie was so sweet with Brooklynn-- she was Brookie's little buddy and protector.  And Brynlee and the boys just ran and played to their heart's content!

Then I headed to rehearsal, and the rest of the fam headed to the Sheild sporting goods store and a block party complete with bounce house and hot dogs.
Next was the concert in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square!  Singing in that facility was just amazing-- so beautiful!  Sharie was sweet enough to take the kids for us overnight so that Jason could come to the concert!  And, so that we could have a night away--this was my Mother's Day present!  It was so sweet to just have some time with my hunny.  He massaged my achy feet, we enjoyed the pool, and had some late dinner from the Olive Garden next door.

The next morning was brunch at Sharie's house and then Jason hitched a ride home . . . while I took a trip. . .  to Boise!  A few weeks before the Concert, it dawned on me that SLC is halfway there!

Iron Man Tooth!

Jacob had his first real dental procedure today. He got one “Iron Man tooth” aka crown, and had one tooth pulled-- a couple of his back teeth had some serious cavities!  In two weeks he'll go in to do the same thing on the other side of his mouth.  And, since he had a literal run-in/smooch with a tree, one of his front big teeth gets to come out too! Yikes! Poor kid. 

 He did sooo great though. Started out nervous, but once the drugs kicked in, he was happy-go-lucky Jacob.   I am so grateful he didn't have any nausea or bad reactions.  At one point, with tubes coming out of his mouth, he pronounced “this is a best day ever!” It was pretty cute.:)  

Carter is Nine Months Old!

Time has flown by.  I wish the 9 months being pregnant went as fast as these last nine months have been with him here!  

All I hear from friends and family is, "Carter is such a good baby!"  And they're right.  Carter has been such a dream and a blessing for our family from the very beginning.  Recently he has started crawling, and I know it won't be long before he is upright and walking!  YIKES!  He is always smiling and he loves to laugh with Ava and Brycen.

See why I worry - this was today - he pulled himself up to standing.  What a handsome boy though, right?