Wolf Award

Last night Jaron had his first pack meeting in our new ward. He was really excited because he was getting his wolf award, one gold arrow point, and four silver arrow point awards that he's worked so hard to receive.

Here is my cute little cub scout and his awards.


After all the awards were given out the boys and leaders got to play some games. One of the games they played was with a parachute. Jaron and Jantzen had a blast with this. I remember playing these same games with a parachute when I was in kindergarten...those were good times!




The boys' favorite part of the night was the dessert. They got to enjoy some yummy ice cream with chocolate syrup, or strawberry if you're Jantzen.


I'm so proud of Jaron and for what he's accomplished so far in cub scouts. He enjoys it very much and I look forward to seeing what he does in the future.

So Rude!

Some people can be so rude, especially when it comes to damaging your cars! Last Saturday we took the boys to ride their dirt bikes and while we were there Josh noticed some damage on the front bumper of the Tahoe. I never hit anything, I did on the other side right after we got it, but this time it wasn't me. Apparently someone side swiped my bumper and decided it wasn't a big deal so they just took off without leaving a note or anything. At least have the guts to leave a "I'm sorry for hitting your car because I'm a horrible driver" note!!!


I think it might have happened at the boys' school parking lot when I went to pick them up because everywhere else I go, I park far away and on an edge just so I don't have this problem.

I know it's not a huge amount of damage, but it's very noticeable and it's going to bug me every time I see it. It's just so frustrating that people have such little respect for anyone else's property!!

"Minute to Win It"

Last night our ward had a "Minute to Win It" party, just like the TV game show. We had dinner first, then started in with the games. One of the first games everyone played was a feather one. You had to keep a feather in the air for a minute without letting it touch any part of your body or the ground. It was really funny watching everyone do this, especially Jaron and Jantzen.

There were several other games that were played throughout the night. I put Josh, Jaron, and Jantzen's names in to be pulled to play the games. I had to sacrifice putting my name in because someone needed to take pictures, right? They were all good sports to play along.

Jaron and Jantzen got to play a game with a cookie. They had to put a cookie on their forehead and try to slowly move it down their face into their mouth. This was a funny thing to watch because they kept dropping the cookies. Most of the kids playing ended up just using their hands to eat it.



Josh got to play a game where he had to alternate hands, re stacking cups until he got the blue cup back on the bottom. He did good, but I think they gave way too much time on this one. Everyone was done pretty quick.



The last game they did involved toilet paper. Jaron got to play this one with John. John had to spin around while Jaron wrapped him in toilet paper like a mummy and they couldn't rip it. They did pretty good for a while, but as soon as time was almost up they went faster and the paper ripped. It's okay though, they had a lot of fun doing it. Everyone was laughing the whole time which made it kind of hard to not rip the toilet paper.




The boys all had a good time playing games and I had fun watching them. I'm a party pooper, I know. I'm glad we're in a ward that gets together and does fun things like this.

Jantzen-isms...

Everyone and anyone who knows my sweet little Jantzen knows what a character he can be at times. He's a ball full of energy that keeps us all laughing and wondering if he's an adult stuck in a child's body.

I've been keeping a record all year of things he's been saying that make us laugh or make us wonder what he's talking about, we call them "Jantzen-isms". Here's what I've written down so far...

** "Today we're going to make a baby. It's hard to make a baby. I'm trying to figure out how to make a baby". - He said this on our way home from church one Sunday and continued the conversation with Jaron while they were changing out of their church clothes.

** "Old McFarty had a stinky, ei-ei-o". - He sang this while sitting on the toilet listening to Jaedyn playing with the Little People barnyard that plays "Old McDonald".

** "She's like a fish that we stole from the river, that turned into a baby, that's a human". - He said this one time when Josh was bathing Jaedyn.

** "I'm pretending to teleport water for my flowers". - He had made a flower with his washcloth and a cup of water in the shower.

** "I can't open my head cuz it's locked and I lost the key".

** He won't drink pop because, "It's spicy!"

** "When I'm a dad I'll go to work and my wife will go to bunco and kids aren't allowed at bunco, so I'll have Buzz Lightyear babysit cuz he's old enough". - Do I go to bunco too much while Josh is working?

** "I'm cold cuz my fur is all gone". - He's referring to his hair on his body or lack there of. He then says...

** "I'm cold because I don't have fur on my body. When I'm old like dad I'll have fur and be warm". - He said this as he was getting out of the shower one night.

** I came upstairs one day to hear Jantzen playing his DS. When I told him he better not be playing it because he's grounded from it, he said, "I'm not. It magically turned itself on". - Yeah, right.

** Here's Jantzen's attempt at negotiating... I asked what he wanted for lunch and he said, "Chicken nuggets and a bagel and some cake". I told him if he eats all his lunch, then maybe he can have some cake. He responded with, "I'll just have cake and a bagel then". - He wasn't happy when I told him that's not how it works.

** He was sick one day, but he still asked to play with a friend. I told him it's probably not a good idea because he's got a little bit of a cold coming on. He then asked, "Can you find me a friend that has a cold too that can come over to play?"

** One day Jantzen asked to play on the "puter" (computer), so I asked Josh to help him get on parents.nickjr.com. Jantzen immediately responded with, "Yeah, that's the dot com I wanted, thanks for understanding".

** "My legs ran out of gas so I can't move". - This is the response we get when we ask Jantzen to do something or to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

** "My batteries are dead!" - This is his newest attempt at stalling when asked to go to bed.

** I asked Jantzen to get me a new roll of paper towels one day and he said, "Jaron's the paper towel guy and everything else".

** "Jaedyn isn't a human yet cuz she doesn't walk".

** Here's a discussion I had with Jantzen one day about how you tell the time on a clock... he says, "you say it's eight zero four", and I said, "No, you say it's eight o four". He then says, "Number's and letters don't mix on a clock so you can't say it that way". After arguing for a little bit I gave up.

** "When I get 'old' like you mom I'm going to have three monsters, four if you count me. Their names are going to be Mickey, Jaedyn, and Tarok". - He said this at Jaedyn's well check visit. Here's how he came up with the names of his "monsters"...Mickey because he loves Mickey Mouse, Jaedyn for obvious reasons, and Tarok because he's one of his green Bionicle guys. I hope his wife is cool with those names.

** "Look Jaron, my boobies are swollen!" - They were in the swimming pool, not sure what brought that on or where he heard that from...I swear!

** "Jaron, don't do that, it hurts and it's torture!" - Jantzen did a belly flop into the pool and learned the hard way not to do it again.

** While I was laying out in the pool, Jantzen comes over to me, starts pouring water all over my arms and says, "Mom, you have fur. I'm trying to get it off for you". - Thanks buddy, I appreciate you looking out for me and making sure I don't have any more "fur" on my arms.

And here's my favorite one...

** Jantzen started dancing one morning, shaking his tooshy in my direction and said, "This is how I flirt". Then he started smacking his toosh, I couldn't stop laughing, it was the funniest thing.

I'm sure there's more funny things Jantzen has said and done, but I don't remember them all. I love how so much comedy and whit comes out of someone so young. He's definitely the funniest one in our family and I love that we have him to entertain us all the time. Oh how we all love our little Jantzilla!

Got Vanilla?

Since Jaedyn has started crawling, she's everywhere! One of her favorite things to do, besides high tail it up the stairs to play with her brothers, is to get into the pantry. If I happen to leave the pantry door open for any reason, she's right there to explore.

I've noticed her favorite thing to play with is the vanilla, since it's on the bottom rack of the door. Anything else that's on the rack will just get thrown out on the floor, but the vanilla bottle seems to be her favorite item to play with. Sometimes she will throw the vanilla bottle too. Thank goodness it's in a plastic bottle and not glass. My last bottle of vanilla, the good kind from Mexico, was in a glass bottle and I think I'd be super mad if that one got broken.


Jaedyn loves to try and drink the vanilla and if I'd really let her try it I know she'd hate it! Why is it that vanilla tastes so good in different foods, but is so gross plain?



When Jaedyn figures out that she can't get anything to come out she gives up on it. She's such a good girl to put the bottle back.


I'm really scared for what she's going to get into when she starts walking!

Coral Pink Guys Weekend

Last weekend Josh decided it was his turn to have a "guys weekend". He went with Erik Foisy to the "Coral Pink" sand dunes, just outside St. George, Utah. He had been planning this for a couple weeks and was so excited to get away with his bike that he's been neglecting for a while (his work schedule hasn't allowed much quality time together for him and his bike).

Since I wasn't there to know everything they did, there's not going to be any specific journaling about their trip. I told Josh he could write it all down, but he said just say...we rode a lot and it was so awesome!! So, there you have it, Josh and Erik had a great time in the sand...on their bikes!

Here's a picture of Josh and Erik together...


...and a bunch of pictures Erik took of Josh jumping. I love to harass Josh about his jumps. He tells me how high and awesome they were and I like to say, "It doesn't look very high to me!"







I could tell the guys had a fun weekend, they didn't even get home until 11:30pm! I'm glad Josh was able to get away and have a good time with Erik and his bike. I know it's something he really enjoys and we all need to have our little breaks from reality every once in a while to keep ourselves sane.

Young Love Begins...

I know Jaron's going to be so embarrassed when he reads this, but I thought what he said to me today was so cute and sweet that I have to write it down so I can always remember it.

Jaron's at that age where girls are really starting to be "cute" to him and he's always had more than one girl he's liked at a time for the past couple years. One of the girls he liked (Kristin) moved after the school year last year and he was heartbroken, but he always has a back-up. The other girl is named Kylene...she's such a beautiful little girl. Unfortunately, this year Jaron and Kylene aren't in the same class, but that hasn't stopped anything. The other day while I was waiting for Jaron's teacher to come get the kids for class, Kylene walked by with her class. As soon as Jaron and her saw each other their cheeks turned red, they both bowed their heads down a little, smiled at each other, gave a small wave that only they could see, and said "hi" to each other. It was so cute!

So, today Jaron came home from school all excited, I could tell he had something good to tell me. Here's how it went...

Jaron: "Mom, I have the best news!"
Me: "What is it?"
Jaron: "Today Kylene told me she likes me and I told her I like her too. She's now my girlfriend."
Me: "Oh, that's so cute!"

...I don't think that's the response he wanted from me, but I really do think it's cute and they're so innocent so there's nothing wrong with it. Am I really ready for Jaron to start having real crushes on girls? Someone please stop him from growing up...please!!

Here's a picture of Jaron and Kylene from the last day of school last year. It's one of my favorites because of the look on Jaron's face, not to mention how he has his arm around her.

Labor Day Picnic

Yesterday we headed up to Mt. Charleston with the Foisy's and Heiselbetz's for our annual "Labor Day Picnic". When we got there it was in the low 70's, so much better than the 99 degrees back at home. The boys were so excited to go up to the mountains again so they could run around and be as loud as they wanted...I don't let them do that at home. We don't get up there enough, but we should.

After we got our picnic spot and unloaded everything, we enjoyed a yummy lunch that consisted of Subway sandwiches (which Josh almost left back at home), chips, drinks, fruit, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and some other yummy snacks. Let's just say our tummy's were very satisfied.

Jaedyn still isn't walking on her own yet so we brought up some blankets for her to play on while the other kids ran around and played. She hates the grass at home so I knew I wouldn't have to worry about her crawling off the blanket into the dirt. I think she was loving the cooler weather too...just check out that happy smile!


Jaron and Jantzen didn't waste any time building their super cross track in the dirt that they make every year. It's funny how they always remember to bring their dirt bikes to play with. They also made a pile of sticks in case we wanted a fire, not that we could have one there even if we wanted to. Every time we moved our chairs out of the sun, the boys would move the pile of sticks so they would be close to us.



Even though Jaedyn couldn't go off the blanket to play with the other kids, she still had friends to play with. Both Avery and Rylee kept her company for part of the day.



After hanging out for a little bit the boys all wanted to go on a hike up the mountain, so I took Avery with me and we all headed up together. The boys were having a blast hiking on the trails, playing fun games together while Avery and I just followed behind having a fun girl conversation. When we finally caught up to the boys, we took a breather on a log before heading up further.

What a bunch of cute kids...and why is it that my kids are always the ones posing funny or making weird faces and gestures?


After a short rest on the log the boys took off again up the trail. Avery and I followed behind them for a little while, but then this old lady was getting tired so I told Avery we were heading back down.


Avery had to give the boys a quick hug before we went back down...it was sooo cute!


When Avery and I got back down from our hike we didn't see anyone at our picnic site. Apparently while we were gone a guy got hurt pretty bad while playing football with his dad. He fell into a ditch and snapped his foot completely sideways, it looked so painful...the poor guy! Lucky for him, Neil was there to help him out until the paramedics arrived. It's nice to know there was someone around who had the proper training to handle a situation like that. He even knew more than the paramedic did on how to splint the guys foot, how scary is that? In all the years we've been coming up to Mt. Charleston for picnics, we've never seen an injury quite like this one. We were all sure to tell the kids how to carefully play after that.

The boys came back down a little bit later and decided they needed some Jaedyn time, so they played toys with their little sis whom they had been neglecting all day. Don't ask me what Jantzen was doing with that lid...I have no idea!


I think Jaedyn was getting tired of being on the blanket and wanted to get off, but there was wood chips all over the ground and she liked them about as much as she likes the grass, which isn't at all. Being the smart girl she is, she figured out a solution to her problem...just dig them out of her way, who cares who's behind her (Jantzen). It was the funniest thing watching her dig. She was doing it just like a dog and was throwing it all on to Jantzen. He kept brushing all the dirt and wood chips off the blanket and Jaedyn would just keep digging and throwing more on it. Not to mention she was laughing while doing this...funny girl!



Here's my little dirt magnet! Why is it that no matter where we go Jantzen always manages to get his face all dirty? I understand that we're in the mountains, but he looks like he purposely smeared dirt all over his face and he loves it. I guess he takes after his mom, I was the same way when I was younger. My mom said I could walk into an operating room clean and come out filthy dirty.


I had Jaedyn sitting on this chair while we cleaned some things up to get ready to go home and Rylee wanted to get up there with her. They looked so cute together in their almost all matching outfits, and no, Lara and I didn't purposely coordinate them.

I love how Jaedyn was poking at Rylee like she was a toy. Then, after a few minutes on there together Jaedyn got sick of sharing the seat and tried to push herself and Rylee off it...she's such a bully, I wonder where she learned that from.




I managed to get a family picture before we headed home, not without any complaining though. They just all have to deal with it because I'm the mom and I said so! Because of this, it took a few shots before I got a decent picture without any weird faces or poses.

(Nevermind mine and Jaedyn's hair...it was windy!)


And to make Josh happy, I got a picture of just the two of us. Okay, so he didn't really want it, but I made him because, like I said earlier...I'm the mom and I said so!! It turned out cute because he actually smiled. It's so hard to get him to do that in pictures.


The ride home was a lot quieter than the way up and this is why...

...I think Jantzen was completely pooped out! He played a ton and burned all his energy by 4pm. Why can't he do that at home? He usually wears me out up until bedtime, he has so much energy! I think it's funny that it's always him that falls asleep on the way home. And, for some reason he always forgets to use his neck pillow...that doesn't look comfortable.



We all had another fun Labor Day picnic in the mountains this year. It was nice to have good friends to enjoy the cool weather and fun conversations with. We all, including the kids, had a great time. I'm so happy to have such awesome friends to get together with since we don't have family close by anymore. Thanks guys for the fun memories!