Taylor's 10th B-day Party

Taylor's b-day party was a big success.  First we stuffed the boys full of chocolate marshmallow brownies and ice cream, then we took them to a trampoline park, of course!

I think 2 hours of Get Air for 10 year old boys is about like 2 hours at a spa for me.  They are such cute boys. 

And after 2 hours of jumping... such stinky boys!  :)

Stitches!

So.... I have been the proud mother of boys for almost 12 years now.  Boys and only boys.  And I don't have meager, mild, meek boys either.  Is there such a thing?  I have rough and tumble, wrestling, sports-loving boys.  I have actually been surprised at the minor degree of injuries they've managed to sustain over the years.  We've never had a broken bone (well, except for a pinky once... that hardly counts) or any stitches.  Until this month.  This month was actually our first episode of stitches.  Eric tripped and hit his chin on the corner of an open entertainment center door.  We tried to go to the InstaCare, but of course they had closed 5 minutes before we arrived.  So we went to the ER at McKay Dee.  Our doc was super nice and fixed Eric up quickly!  He complimented Eric that he had been stitching kids up all day, and he was the first kid that wasn't crying.  And he's only 5!  Eric was ultra tough, and of course earned a toy of his choosing after he was so brave.

Aquarium

It's been a while since we visited the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, so we took a summer field trip and went to see all the cool new stuff they've got now.

 

My sister Robin and her husband Evan met us there.  Oh wait, Evan was already there.  He works there and takes care of all the animals.  He is the head aquarist, so we got a professional tour of the place!

 

There is a giant snake behind the glaring glass.  But my camera didn't do a very good job of capturing the things behind the glass as well as the people in front of the glass.  So when faced with the choice to get a good picture of the people or the huge snake, the choice wasn't too tough... definitely the people!

 



 

We loved all the neat things there: jellyfish, sharks, otters, penguins, stingrays, etc. etc.  My kids had a blast.  Thanks Uncle Evan!

 

Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man

One thing you may or may not know about Porter... he loves to get dressed up and look good.  He has never complained about wearing church clothes, or an uncomfortable tie, or pinching shoes.  He loves to look his best.  So, needless to say, when his cousin gave him this white suit, he was pretty excited.  This was his first Sunday to wear it, so I couldn't resist snapping a pic.  What a handsome kid!

 

 

4th of July

Happy B-day America! 

 

Here is a little run-down of our Independence Day festivities:

 

First off... the local Morgan parade of course!  It is the greatest parade ever.  It lasts about 30 minutes and the kids get their fill of candy thrown right at them.  What more could you ask for?

I have a firm belief that you and your kids should dress in red, white, and blue for the 4th of July.  It's just tradition!

 



The last couple years at the parade, we have happened to sit right by our friends, the Carneseccas, who are also recent Morgan move-ins.  Michele and I went to nursing school at Utah State together.  We love these guys!  Hope to see you again next year, same time, same place!

 

Later we went to Scott &

Kim's house for dinner and fireworks with some of my fam. Good times.

 

 

 

 

 Oh my gosh -- who would let those children light fireworks?  And with bare feet?  Can you tell that maybe their mother is old and pregnant and tired?

 

 

Taylor's 10th B-day

Taylor made the big move into double digits this year.  What a great kid he is.  He is so smart (too smart for his own good), he is funny, and he looks out for his 5 year-old brother like no other.  (That is, when he's not teasing him...)  He is well-rounded too.  He loves scouts, doing art projects, and playing most all sports. 

 

His nickname at our house is "Smots."  People always ask how that nickname got started.  So here's the scoop on that:  It's kind-of an evolutionary nickname I guess.  When he was little, we called him Tater Tot, which progressed into Totso Smotso, which just ended in Smots.  And for whatever reason, Smots has always stuck.

 

Here is a rundown of his big day:

 

 First thing in the morning... holding up his 10 fingers since he's 10.  And yes, that's a Butterfinger that he's snacking on in the early morning hours.  Somebody had brought it to him, so he asked if he could eat it right then since it was his birthday.  As you can see, I let him.

 

 Just opened his birthday outfit...

 

 

 And now his actual breakfast... that is, after the Butterfinger was all eaten.  He wanted a ham and cheese omelet.

 

 

 And then later, lunch @ Cafe Rio with a chicken burrito and a Mexican Coke.

 

 

 That afternoon we went to "Brave"... which the boys liked ok.  Eric thought it was too scary!

 

 

 We met Steve in Salt Lake for dinner.  Taylor wanted his presents loaded up and taken to be opened as soon as he possibly could.  So, we had a little restaurant-parking-lot-present-opening-session.

 

 

These are some of his favorite presents:

 His own "Big Barrel Bat"... apparently that extra 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch makes a big difference when smacking it out of the park!

 

 

 A new mitt

 

 

And, of course Legos

 

Then dinner at Spaghetti Factory...  my kids' favorite!

 

Taylor isn't a big fan of cake, but he decided we could do cupcakes.  He wanted to light his own candles of course.

Looks like he'll get his wish!

Happy birthday Smots!

A little announcement...

In January we are expecting another little addition to our family...

 

 

 

Is that about the cutest baby you've ever seen?  :)  Or at least one of the 4 cutest, right?  We are thrilled. 

We told the boys by having them go on a treasure hunt for clues, which Porter and Taylor heavily resisted.  They thought they were too old for such games.  But when they figured it out they were pretty excited.  This baby will sure be loved.