Halloween 2012

Ethan wanted to be a shark this year. I didn't get a good shot of the side of his costume, however, I can say he was the cutest little shark EVER!!! Cameron was my little cowboy. His costume was picked because I found a great deal! He is the cutest cowboy this side of San Tan Valley. We took the boys door to door trick or treating for the fist time ever. We also attended the wards annual Trunk-or-Treat. The boys had so much fun this year. I love how having children brings all the magic back into the holidays. Happy Halloween (a moth late)! 

Ethan Turns 4!!!!!

Ethan is 4 today!!!!!! It is amazing that another year has gone by! This year we did a family party at Ethan's favorite nearby park. His favorite present this year was a Tonka garbage truck. He had been pleading for a garbage truck for weeks...and he finally got it. Ethan is growing fast. He is a talker when he wants to be. He loves to explore how things work. His mind is always going. We love you so dearly Ethan. We are so thankful to be your parents. Love, Mom and Dad.

August - October

Once Jared went back to school in mid July I haven't really kept up on blogging. Mostly because life has been rather usual and busy. Jared and I recently decided to leave Facebook, and with that decision I am now re-commiting myself to keeping up our pictures and things on our family blog.  So here are a few things we have done recently with the boys. 

The last of our "summer" swimming

 (It is hot enough that we still have gone a few more times.)

Home Depot Workshops

Jared was on fall break for two week starting the last week of September so we did a few family activities together. We opted for a"Staycation" this fall break instead of a vacation.

We took a trip to the Phoenix Zoo

 

We also went to Enchanted Island (a permanent carnival at a beautiful park). We enjoyed these activities for a very small price. If you live in Phoenix I recommend that you check out the Pogo Pass. You get major discounts on admissions to many fun activities in the area.

This last weekend we were able to listen to our prophet speak during General Conference. You can view all the conference sessions HERE.  It was wonderful to hear the words of a living prophet and the words of the apostles. I was inspired and uplifted, and frankly, have a lot of changes to make in my life. I love conference! 

Growth

I measured the boys today and wanted to write it down in a safe place....so here are the measurements:  Ethan is 3 years and 11 months old and is just under 40" tall. Cameron is 2 years and 4 months old and is 34.5" tall.

Sunsplash

My mom flew in on Friday and my dad few in on Saturday for a quick trip.  We decided it would be fun to go to a local water park...since the summer is really not a good time to visit Arizona...it's a little on the warm side. We had coupons for Sunsplash in Mesa so we ended up going there. We had a BLAST!!! The boys loved the kids play areas and Ethan even went down some tube water slides. Having my parents there was wonderful, as usual. We will absolutely be going again! What a great way to beat the heat. :)

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!! Our fourth of July was quiet this year. It was just the four of us and we stayed at home a good portion of the day. It was actually quite relaxing and enjoyable but I did miss seeing extended family.

My favorite part of any holiday is cute-ifying everything...I found a bunch of 4th of July stuff at the dollar store and came up with a cute little bag to give to Ethan and Cameron. Everything was from the dollar store except the scrap book paper. I LOVE the dollar store!

Then I HAD to make some cute and  festive 4th of July food...

Then it was Jared's turn to have fun... playing with fire.

We started with the sparklers. Sparklers are like rough housing...fun until someone gets hurt :). Cameron grabbed the end of a sparkler after it was extinguished before anyone could stop him and he ended up with a mild burn on his finger. Then Jared burned his tumb lighting a sparkler. Other than that, we didn't sustain any further enjuries, thankfully.

Fireworks!!!!!!!!!!

Summer Fun

We have been home a good deal of the summer and it has been really nice to not have to worry about traveling...although we have really missed seeing our families. The kids and I go swimming 2-3 times a week. It has been a great way to survive the summer heat. I must say that the VERY BEST part of the summer is having Jared home!!! We sure love spending time with DAD!!! 

Playing at the splash pad

Our niece Austyn showing us some of her gymnastic skills

Austyn, Cameron and Ethan are apparently getting ready for the 4th of July...

Ethan and Cameron love painting with water colors. While Ethan was painting he kept saying, "Ugh, seriously!" when he got frustrated. I must say that when I get frustrated...whooops. :)

We have also been putting our ice cream maker to good use this summer. 

Ethan loves to help with projects like this. 

Cameron loves to eat the product of projects like this...

We went to San Tan Flat while Jared's little sister, Jenna, was in town last week.
We did our FHE lesson and roasted marshmallows. Our family loves San Tan Flat!

Jenna, Jared and Jessica...dancing...

On Friday we made a waterslide and it was a huge hit! Ethan has been asking for it every day since.
We will be doing this one again for sure. 

HAPPY SUMMER!