Catching up again before the Canadian update

I wanted to catch up on some blogging before we left for Canada but I didn't manage to do that. So before I blog some Canada pictures, here are some pictures on my "save now" that I didn't write captions to before our trip.

Chay felt like cake one day and took it upon himself to bake his FIRST cake...all by himself! I had to go to work before it was done and told him he had to take a picture of it (because I knew that by the time I got home, it would not be intact...)

I was right, a good portion of it was eaten...and then I ate another good portion of it....
(I will ALWAYS carry this memory WITH ME...actually, I'm sitting on it right now...)

In July we were lucky to have family visit for 4 days! Mom, Dad, Sheila and Auntie K! Auntie K had tickets for the Pioneer Day Mormon Tab performance at the Conference center and some of us were able to attend...some of us had to stay home (Blade was too young to attend and so Dave stayed home with him. As Blade will tell you, "I can't stay home by myself, who will take care of me?"

"The sisters"

"The Mom and 2/3 of her girls"

We had root beer floats afterwards and Sheila was telling us how she could tell the difference between the rootbeers. So, we did a blind study and she was Right, she could tell the difference between the rootbeers. She was able to correctly identify the rootbeers, not just tell us which one tasted better to her.

Mom brought Blade a sticker book and she spent some bonding time with him going through the book. Blade loved the book and completed it by the time they left to go home.

And of course, we HAD to have a Beauty Shop while Sheila and Auntie K were visiting. Why have cosmetologists in the family if they can't have the honor of cutting our hair? (I know, there are differing opinions on that one)

I was going to give away a baby winnie the pooh activity blanket that has been around since Nicole was a baby, and has not been given any attention since Blade was a baby but, when Blade saw it, he had to have it with him everywhere we went. Auntie K thought she would be smart and hide it under the couch cushion (out of site, out of mind) but Blade didn't forget about it and was looking for it. He found it...and I don't know how the next pictures happened but it was documented.

Their stay was too short, and we were sad to see them leave. But we had a great time with them while they were here and did a lot of running around doing shopping errands...which I love.

Chay was anticipating getting braces on and so he wanted to have corn on the cob while he still could. The three had a race to see who could finish their corn first.

The methods varied but I don't recall seeing the "typewriter" method used...of course some out there may not know what that method would look like...

Blade learned all his alphabet sounds and earned his "alphabet crown" at Challenger!! He had been excited about earning this crown since he first heard about it, and NOW he had his own!! I'm so proud of him, he's such a smart boy!

The boys love going to the zoo and I finally took the time to do something that they wanted to do. Blade loves Tigers and was entrigued by the tiger sitting up against the window and the impressive size of the tiger up close. I must admit, I was abit impressive myself. The picture unfortunately just doesn't capture the feeling.

"Take my picture"

AND a 5 day old BABY!....so cute...

It wasn't too hot out (I purposely went early so that we would beat the heat) but who could resist the blowing mist? (I could but I was the only one)

I made Chay sit on the gorilla (he's such a good sport). He told me that next time "I" could go on the carousel with Blade..."

Time to do some chores.

The fading rails have bothered me for years and so I made it a priority to get them painted. That joy was taken from me by Nicole since she wanted to have the pleasure of spraying the paint. I was okay with that because I just wanted the rails painted.

I was surprised one morning to find out that Blade had gum in his hair. I tried the ice cube trick but it didn't work. I thought about cutting Blade's hair but that would have been a disaster.

Then I remembered the "goo gone" that Mom told me about and how well it worked on things after she received some from Doug's girls. I just happened to have some in my cupboard. (thanks Chay for the picture)

It worked very well...gum be gone, hair intact...the brushing of teeth had nothing to do with the gum in the hair, it was just part of our morning routine and he was standing still)

How are you liking the random pictures? Don't worry, they are coming to an end.

Days before we left for Canada, I left Dave to take care of the kids and their dental work.
Nicole had 4 Wisdom teeth removed, she had alittle bruise and swelling but not much. One thought that we both had was that she looked like she did when she was 12. It's scary that Nicole and I have the same thoughts often...I don't know though who it is scarier for, me or Nicole.


And there was NO sympathy from Chay and Blade....


And Chay finally had his braces put on...something he had been looking forward to for months.

Surprisingly, and luckily, Chay's teeth didn't give him much discomfort. I didn't hear him complain once and he was eating most solid foods fine. He can be a tough kid.

At work, I try to make people feel comfortable...and I don't often know how my actions have effected the people that come for surgery. I like to think that I have made a positive difference. Well, I was surprised one day when I was told that a patient had left something for me, and then I was surprised when I discovered that it was a gift card to The Spaghetti Factory. That night, we went out to eat...
I didn't order a main course, just dessert and ate it while the others ate their pasta. I have always loved their Mud Pie and looked forward to it. Well, it is not the same as the ones I had years ago, I was a bit disappointed....but the good thing is that I will no longer be coveting their mudpie.

That's all for now folks.

Celebrating the beginning of July

July is here...and finally so is summer!
June was a nice comfortable temperature with a lot of rain but, now it's hot.

Blade is still in school during the summer and received an "awesome" shirt and made a fun 4th of July necklace.

We purchased Stadium of Fire tickets as soon as they were on sale to the public so that we would be there to see the Jonas Brothers...the time finally arrived!

Chay helping with transportation for a little boy whose legs were "too tired".

Just hanging out waiting for the preshow to begin.

Okay, time to snack on something while waiting.

We received free flags with some free tickets that Dave was able to get through law enforcement. I was very surprised that tickets weren't sold out within days AND that free tickets were offered a couple of days before the show. Since we had tickets, that morning we gave the tickets to my friend's son and his family ...which included young girls so I'm sure they were excited!

Here they are....The Jonas Brothers!

We had young girls in front of us who were standing/jumping and screaming the entire time and so I watched almost all of the performance on the large monitor.

As always, the fireworks were impressive! We all managed to get hit with debris during the firework show. I know that I got hit hard on my leg and a little less on my cheek...nothing left a mark.

This huge 10 year old flag, which flew during the Winter Olympics in SLC, had put in its' time and it was time to retire it. It was interesting to see how they burned the flag.

Military men carried the flag into the stadium, put it into a metal container, placed a lid over the container and then the flag was burned. A person just doesn't get to see this event happen in their life.

And then more fireworks.

Since it has been hot, we decided it was time to get a pool for the yard so Blade could cool off....Nicole and Chay had this opportunity when they were young and we couldn't deprive Blade.
The amazing thing is that Chay BLEW up two of the sections because he was excited for Blade to use the pool and we couldn't find any of our pumps. Now that's love....

I blew up the last section outside while we started to fill the pool and Blade jumped right in before it was filled.

And yesterday, Blade experienced his first dentist appointment. he wouldn't open his mouth initially, which made it difficult for the hygienist to do her job but she was great with Blade and had him opening wide...

I love that there is a TV to watch while lying there. Blade watched SpongeBob, Chay watched something on the Disney channel...
And Blade definitely looked comfortable while waiting for the dentist to arrive...

And I haven't seen this much excitement on Blade's face since his birthday! He was deciding what to pick from the treat basket...he picked the airplane and played with it in the waiting room while we waiting an extended period of time for Nicole to finish.

And that' the update.
It's not that Blade is the favorite child, it's just that he's the one that it is the easiest to take pictures of and he has so many "firsts" happening.
But, Chay has grown a lot this past month...I'll have to try to capture that.

And now, it's time for me to go to work...and I mean at my "paying" job.