::way to go::

Way to go Fisher Price for making at least one toy that doesn't have flashing lights, obnoxious electronic music or require batteries.


Way to go for making a toy that excites my little guy so much that when he sees it he starts panting, he reaches with every limb he has and he wiggles.


And way to go Sand for turning into such a legitimate person--eating real food (lots of it), playing with toys and laughing at the funniest things (like when I blow my nose.)

Love that silly little boy.

::a smokey sunset::

We're trying not to suffocate on the Arizona smoke out here. Seems like lately every evening a big smokey cloud rolls in and covers us so thickly that we can't even see the mountains. I sure hope they can put that fire out soon. Fires are scary and we're so vulnerable out here.
We'll just keep on praying for rain and for the fire to finish up somehow.

::bryan wrap-up::

A couple of things I didn't get to post.
10,000 little boys:

(There are six boys in this picture--you can hardly notice Clayton on the far right for some reason, and Quin is hiding in his car seat. But they're there for sure!)
This was the morning they left. Max didn't want them to go. He was pretty bummed for the rest of the day.

Best park ever:

(I stole this picture from Kari.)
Can you believe the size of this slide? Our friends in the ward told us there was a two-storey slide park in town that their kids would beg to go to--we thought they were exaggerating. But no. It's HUGE.
The boys loved it. Too bad it was super windy (springs tend to be out here.) It was so windy that the babies couldn't catch their breath. So we'll have to hit the park again next visit. Twenty minutes probably wasn't satisfying enough for the dudes.

To wrap it up, we had a great time. We're so glad that Kari & her family came even though they all ended up sick with pink eye and colds a couple of days after they got home--they were forewarned though, so it was a known risk. Thanks for driving all the way out and risking the dreaded pink eye guys! Come back soon!

::::

Is this the most ridiculously humongous baby contraption you've ever seen?

Good thing we have a big enough living room to handle it because the boy loves it. The toys captivate him and he's actually (finally) starting to use it to jump too which is so fun.

Check out those fat little piggies. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I could just eat him up. And I do.

::house::

While at Sam's the other day we spotted the playhouse kit I'd had my eye on for while. Max and I saw it in April, but when I went back with the intent of getting the thing, they had been cleaned out. And I hadn't seen them in again. Until Saturday when we were getting all the food and snacks for Kari & Aaron's visit.

So we got the dang thing. And when we got home Kris got right to work putting it together. Bryans were due at around 3 and Kris got to work around 1. He figured he could get the things done and the kids could be happily playing by evening.

Hah. It took him ages just to get all the pieces untangled, then making sense of the instructions (which never really happened) took another forever. I think he had a couple of the bay windows put together when they arrived. He did a little more that night, but it still didn't get far.

But the kids were anxious. So he and Kari spent a bunch of time sunday afternoon working on it while the kids noodled around in the backyard and the babies napped.
Unfortunately they ran into a few snags, such as one of the roof panels being blown over by the wind and breaking into a bunch of different pieces, argh. But Kari is serious about building stuff and she didn't let Kris slack on it.


Closer, but still not done.

Then, memorial day, after we went out to lunch and had some fun, Kris manned up and finished the rest of the thing up. What a great dad, because it was a pain.

Happiness and joy ensued. Parker hollered, "This is SO AWESOME!!" and the house was chock full of kids from there on. Also, it has a working doorbell and the thing is LOUD. That thing didn't stop ringing all afternoon.



The big boys went and got Max's play food and made the house into a drive through restaurant. Such smarties.

Fun stuff!

::dinner::

Having dinner with four more kids than normal is no easy task. Not that it's not fun--just a lot more complicated. Good thing there were four of us adults vs the six crazy kids.


(KC says "I don't want what I have, I want THAT one!")

Surprisingly enough all of us adults survived the kid craziness and had a really good time visiting.
And I love that the table is outside--makes cleanup so darn easy!


Love those darling babies!

::in memoriam::

I know Memorial Day is mainly supposed to be concerned with those that have served in the armed forces. And that's super great and important and I'm very grateful for them. But when I think of memorial day I also think of loved ones that I want to always remember and how I want to be able to pass on their memory to our kids.

My paternal grandparents, Clayton R & Betty A. They've been gone for a few years now and we miss them.

This is Max at their gravesite in California when he was three. I wish he could've had an opportunity to visit their wonderful house and swim in their pool. He would've loved it.

Ken:

Kenny:

We miss them both and remember them all the time. Such losses.

And then there are those who are still here physically--but we are forced to miss them as well.

My dear Grandma Jackie hasn't recognized anyone for years now. We miss her and I know my mom misses her terribly. She still deserves to be remembered, though in some ways she's still here.

"I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."
--Tennyson In Memoriam

::bryans::

Kris's sister Kari's family is here visiting with us over the holiday weekend. We're having a lot of fun with them, but the kids are the ones really having a blast--between the screams and accidents and falls and crashes that is.

It's so fun when cousins can spend time together and have fun.
Today we went to church together and then the kids spent a bunch of time outside. When they were all worn out we watched a movie. The new living room is perfect for that sort of thing.


After that we had a fire and smores with the bigger boys. Now they're all in bed, at least for now.
Looking forward to some more fun tomorrow!

::phone photos::

I have some fun photos I took on my phone over the last couple of weeks. I thought if I posted them and told a bit about them it would remind me of what we've been up to while I've been too busy to post anything.

This is a familiar sight--Sandy in his bouncer. In this particular shot he's at work with me (which the poor guy has to do ALL the time.) He's being cool and enjoying himself. He never gets to stay in the bouncer long though, somebody always wants to hold him or see him, so it almost makes the bouncer useless.
Kelly & Lechelle came to visit for a bit in the beginning of May. We had a fun little BBQ in our courtyard and I took some phone pics to send to Kris's mom. We were enjoying ourselves even though it was a bit windy.

(Note the dog bowl water cooler thing in the bottom right of the picture. Best purchase ever for a huge dog.)

So nice to have an enclosed courtyard while there are little goofballs toddling and riding around in it.


This is Max reading (and reading and reading) Calvin and Hobbes while we were on our way to Phoenix this last weekend. A friend was saying on facebook how her boy who's close to Max's age loves reading Calvin and Hobbes and how it keeps him practicing reading. I thought it was brilliant and went and bought some Calvin right away. Max loved it of course. In fact he drove us crazy reading the same strips to us over and over during the drive.

Sandy just barely started officially and consistently eating real food. In this picture we're all out to dinner for family home evening (my favorite FHE activity.) He had just finished a big pack of squash and was feeling like a legit guy, sitting in a chair with the rest of the family. He did great and we were so proud of him sitting up big in the bumbo.


While in Phoenix we had dinner at BeniHana (or however you spell that.) It was great. The boys were both entertained by the chef and Max ate an unusually large amount of legitimate food. He also persisted with the chopsticks for quite a while. (He also said he liked the miso soup and ate a bunch of it which I think is SO weird.)

I love this picture because of Max's hat and chopsticks and because of the way Sand is reaching for him in such a proprietary manner. Like, "This is my brother and he's MINE. And all his stuff is mine too." I can just see Max's future of trying to keep Sand from grabbing everything he owns. So funny.

Last one:

Sand at work, and evidently, working.
He's sitting in the lap of one of our front desk ladies, Judy. She adores him and he adores her. He insisted on typing, there was nothing we could do to stop him. I love his little concentrated face.

So that's your grab bag for today. I like grab bags. Sometimes you get the best stuff that way.