The Dog Days of Summer

We got a D-O-G:  Meet Rocky.  He's our 10 month old bulldog/pit bull mix.  Sounds mean, right?  His original name was Sparticus, but the girls couldn't say it right ("Barky-sis... Sparky-tits... Carby-stuck... what's his name?") so we told them they could rename him.  "Rocky" was the best of the choices they came up with (Rainbow, Shadow, Brownie white socks, and Bubby were the other gems they were deciding between.  Joel and I had to convince them that Rocky fit him best).  

Our previous super awesome bulldog Beau who we loved to pieces died a few years ago from parvo (JoLynn still prays for Heavenly Father to take care of Beau while he's in heaven) and we've been wanting to get another dog ever since, so when our friend mentioned that she was giving her dog away, we asked if he could come stay with us for a few days to see how he fit in with the fam.  That was about 3 weeks ago, so I guess that means we're keeping him.

I was a little nervous at first because pit bulls have such a bad rap, but he has been so gentle and submissive with the girls and is really obedient.  And I have loved having a mean-looking dog to run with in the mornings (but don't tell anyone that he's really just a big baby - he's got a reputation to protect!).  We run 3-4 miles every day and I'm hoping to have him up to 6 miles by November for the Turkey Trot (btw, who's up for running it with me?  Anyone?... Buler?  Buler?).

Shae loves him like crazy!  She will spend all day out on the porch (beads of sweat dripping down her face) feeding him (and herself - gross!) dog food, one piece at a time.  She'll pull at his ears and lay on him and laugh her head off while he just lays there and ignores her.  Hailey and JoLynn have been so good at making sure he's fed and his poop is cleaned up every day.  
Hope you like your new home Sparky-tits, I mean Rocky!   

Cha, cha, cha!

Shae turned 2 last week.  I can't believe our little Pioneer Day baby is 2 yrs old!  She has been making us sing "Happy Birthday to You" every night before bed for the last few weeks and she insists on inserting the "cha, cha, cha!" after every line of the song.  Goofy kid!  Her silky, angel-hair mullet is slowly growing out, so now she has wings on the sides of her head.  She is SO busy all the time and loves to make us laugh.  I love you so much my sweet Shae bird! 

Oh, She is my dear my darling one,

with eyes so sparkling, full of fun!

No other, no other could match the likes of Her.

Oh, She is my dear my darling one,

my smiling and beguiling one,

I love the ground she walks upon

my darling, sweet Shae bird. 

Camping

Our ward camp out was last weekend.  Since Joel couldn't get off work until late Friday night, I decided I was brave enough to take the girls up by myself on Thursday.  It was a little bit crazy, but oh so fun!  These girls LOVE camping!  It RAINED like a beast, but when it's Summer in AZ, I guess you'll do anything to escape the heat.  There was a pond near by with millions of frogs that kept the kids entertained for hours on end.  While I was cooking dinner, one of my elder daughters who will remain nameless was supposed to be babysitting Shae when she wandered into the firepit and started screaming, but no burns were to be found - fhew!  Then Shae tripped and smashed her eye into a camping chair, after which JoLynn got stung by a bee.  But other than that, we made it back home safely with some fun memories.

Meet "Sunshine" the frog

Poor, tender-hearted JoLynn was so upset when she realized 

that we weren't going to be taking the frogs home with us.  I told her I was going to take them back to the pond right before we left, when she lowered her eyes to the ground and said in a forlorn voice, 

"No mom........ I'll do it."

My tough little campers taking cover while we waited out the rain.  

It was so relaxing listening to it pound the outside of the tent (really, it was!)

"Is it done raining, yet?"

"We NEVER want to go home!"

We wish to welcome YOU to Munchkin Land!

Hailey got to be in the Queen Creek Community Theater production of Wizard of Oz in June.  She played the all-important roll of Munchkin Citizen.  She was awesome!!!  She danced and sang like it was nobody's business and was so animated on stage.  It was a super fun production and the colors and costumes were so cute!  She really loved going to all the practices and keeps saying she wishes she could do it again.

JoLynn wanted to be in it too and was so sad to find out it was only for kids 7 and older.  But she was a great Munchkin groupie and cheered her sister on.

I wish we would have gotten a picture of the Lollipop Guild - they were hilarious!

Thanks to all the family and friends who came to support her!

Adventures with Shae

This was the day before I left for YW camp:

Peach Pickin'

We heard about a FREE peach pickin' day at Schnepf Farms, so we loaded up boxes and boxes of scrumptious FREE peaches and we (I) made LOADS of Peach-Raspberry jam, and then canned the rest. 

Yo, that's good stuff! 

Family Fun

In June, our long lost cousins (Joel's sister and her family) came all the way from Indiana for a visit.  It was SSSSOOOOO fun to see them again and let the kids play.  We miss you guys!!!

(p.s. the quality of this picture stinks - did anyone get a clearer picture that you want to send me?)

These guys are at the age where Bunny Ears is the funniest thing in the world.  

They were crackin me up!

Bustin' out the gun show! And more bunny ears.

How do you know if your toddler 
is ready to be potty trained?  
If your husband tells you that while you were away at Girls Camp he took said toddler to the public library and while he was perusing the DVDs he turns around to see her streaking down the isle completely naked and when he goes to catch her, he passes the bathroom where her clothes and diaper are laying on the floor next to a flushed toilet,         that might be a sign.

Summer with Shae

A bit of what Shae's been up to the last few weeks:

Shae keepin it real during Hailey's play practice. 

 Hailey landed the all-star roll of "Munchkin Citizen" in our 

community theater production of Wizard of Oz which opens at the end of June.  

Hailey's loved learning all the music and dance numbers and we've loved watching her.

We went to Peter Piper Pizza with some friends and had loads of fun!

Just swinging naked in the backyard with a slice of watermelon.

Soakin' up some sun with her long lost twin brother.

Joining forces with her cousin Tyler to make this guy the happiest Grandpa on earth.

It's tough being almost 2, but Shae is doing a good job of keeping us busy and on our toes 

from sun up to sun down!  So far it's been a fun summer!

Temple Trip Triathlon

I just got back (seriously, like 30 min ago) from the best week end ever!  We (me and the other youth leaders in our awesome ward) took the Priests and Laurels up to Gila Valley to tour the new temple and participate in a varsity triathlon.  It was so fun!

  

...and very windy!

The new temple is breath taking.  If you get a chance to go, DO IT!!!  It was amazing.  Being there with my beautiful Laurels and experiencing it again for the first time with them was an unforgettable experience.  It made me want to be there with my real daughters.  So guess what I will be talking Joel into when he gets home from work tonight? (taking our own daughters up there next weekend, that's what).  Some members of our ward have connections (remember before how I said this ward is awesome?) and they hooked us up with a place to stay the night at the Temple President's home, which was wonderful.  He took time out of his busy schedule to talk to our youth about the history of the Gila Valley and why there is a temple there and some other really neat things.  We were fed a delicious dinner and then went to a dance to kick off the triathlon events the next day.  What did us leaders do at the dance, you ask?  We got our Electric Slide on, joined the Macarana madness, and YMCA'ed to the amazement of the young folk.  It was so funny - they kept asking me "You know this dance!!???" as if it had just been invented last year.  I was like "Honey, this is old school." I actually was pretty surprised they were playing all the same songs from when I was in high school.  And they were old songs then.   No school like the old school.

Anyhoo, the next day we did the triathlon.  75 meter swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run.  It was challenging enough to make you work for it, but not so hard that you were hating life 1/2 way through.  I loved it.  The water was FREEZING.  It took your breath away the second you got in, and I don't think I started breathing again until I got out.  But the rest was fun and I hope we do it again next year.  My Laurels did awesome and I am so proud of them!!!!  (even though I creamed them all in 52 minutes :) ) 

Now I need to sit down and figure out a way to tell Joel thank you for being such a sweet man and taking care of the kiddos while I had a weekend of fun.  Hmmm... I think I can come up with something. 

This is more like it...

This is totally stolen from my sister Megan's blog, so she gets props for being funny.

Merrell-thon

The annual Merrell-thon has come and gone.
It was loads of fun!
Thanks for blogging about it Cindy so I don't have too :)

Blake finished first in like 5 min.  
Cindy kicked my trash.  
I came in 3rd at 25:14.
Joel killed it in 27 min. (beat by a girl AGAIN!!!  Ouch!)
Megan set an all-time personal best.

Now I'm off to get ready for a 
varsity triathlon this weekend.  woo-hoo!

Disneyland Vacay

To celebrate our 10 yr. anniversary, Joel and I decided to be the meanest parents in the world and go to Disneyland for the week without our kids.

(we actually didn't even tell them where we were going until we got back with presents to ease the disappointment.  We just told them we were going to "Anaheim") 

It was awesome!

It was so great just to be able to have fun with each other and talk 

with out being interrupted every 1.5 seconds.

  

see how excited Joel was?

The firework show was spectacular, despite the hoards of grumpy people who thought they had to have a front row seat in order to see fireworks hundreds of feet in the sky.  

Dude, it's the happiest place on earth - go eat a churro and calm down!  

"It's Tough To Be A Bug" show was so cute!  It was one of my many favorite parts.

Oh, and did you know Captain EO is back!?  We were so excited!  M.J. in all his glory.  It was radical.

Mr. and Mrs. Wagenman with Mr. and Mrs. Mouse

Tower of Terror and Space Mountain - best rides ever.  Check out my man and his buffness.

We ate dinner one night at the Blue Bayou.  It was way over priced, but we felt so superior to everyone riding by on Pirates of the Caribbean with jealous looks on their faces.

Character sightings:

We stopped by the beach on our way home.  I wish we would have planned another day to spend at the beach instead of just a 1/2 hour.  Or maybe I just didn't want this vacation to end.  I love my daughters more than life itself, but it was so wonderful to be able to reconnect with eachother and remember why we fell in love in the first place.