Cousins come for a visit!

Back in early September my sister and her husband took a much needed vacation to Vegas, and we got to spend a few days playing with 4 of our cousins. It was so much fun! You would think having 8 kids in the house would be chaotic, but they all played together so well, that no one ever bothered me, or whined to me about being bored. Meal time, on the other hand, now that was a little crazy, but we had such a good time.

My little nephew, Joel, was quite fascinated with the doggie door. This was his access in and out of the house, as he could not open the sliding glass door by himself. (Just a note: I would have gladly opened the door for him, but this was his preferred method).

Just checking out how it works:
Pushing his nose up againist the glass for the picture.

And making his escape.

Sophee, Jessica, and Lacey decided that they needed to make Audree a birthday card, so I got out some 3 x 5 cards that I had bought on clearance and some crayons and handed them each a card to color then went off going about my business of cleaning things up.

A little while later Kaylee came and found me to tell me that the girls were 'totaling wasting all the 3 X 5 cards and making a huge mess at the table'.

I told her that it was okay, since I only spent 35 cents on the whole pack of cards, and if it was keeping them entertained for that long that it was well worth it.

Here are just some of the creations they made:

A closer look:

Then girls then proceeded to use a kleenex holder that I had in the bathroom as a mailbox to deliver all the letters. I thought it was quite cute, and it kept them entertained for hours.

Who can beat that for only 35 cents?

Anyway, the kids had a great time and can't wait to get together with their cousins again!

Audree turns 7!

Just a few days before Audree's birthday we took her to get her ears pierced. She's been wanting them pierced for awhile now, but just worked up the nerve to have it done. She was super brave, even though there was only one lady working there, and she had to have each ear done separately. She picked out gold heart earrings with a diamond in the middle.

What a cutie pie!

We just happened to be watching my sisters kids for the weekend, so we took them all to McDonalds then came home and opened presents.

Then had cake. Audree actually requested that we have cinnamon rolls for her birthday so we had those for breakfast, then I went ahead and made some cupcakes for after lunch. What's a little extra sugar on your birthday? Those are some plastic rings on the cupcakes.

Then, with the money that she got from both sets of Grandparents I took her to the store and she picked out this:

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Oatman

Back in August my SIL, Kim, and her two boys came to visit. They wanted to go to Oatman to feed the burros, so armed with some carrots from Grandpa's garden, we went. Unfortunately it was kinda' rainy, and the burro's were retreating so we only saw 2 the whole time.

Since the burros were no where to found we walked around, ate ice cream, and took some silly pictures. Here's Kaylee:

Sophee:

And Audree:

Kory and Josh were at a swim meet, so they weren't able to go with us. Here's some of the Burgess cousins:

It was a quick trip, but it's always fun to get out of the house every once in awhile.

Back to school!! Wahoo!!

Today the kids went back to school. All 4 of them. I almost don't know what to do with myself-almost. Don't worry about me, my classes start up next week.

Here's the group: It's interesting that they are going to 3 different schools, yet they all have blue school shirts.
Let me tell you, coordinating 3 differents schedules is a bit challenging. I actually have to pick Josh up 20 minutes early so that I can be back home for the little girls to get off the bus. I'm hoping to get Special Ed. transport for Josh soon-we'll see.

Here's Sophee, the Kindergartener:
Don't let that sweet smile fool you.

Audree the 1st grader:
Now the 'big sister' at school.

Kaylee the 6th grader:

Now officially in middle school-with 7 different classes and teachers, including band, where she will learn to play the flute.

Josh the 8th grader, big man on campus:

He is actually going to a different Jr. high this year, we feel he will get more one-on-one attention there. Hopefully it'll work.

Only in Arizona

The other night Kory and I were out on a date. As we were driving down the main drag we kept passing by people who were out enjoying the weather.

It was about 8:00 p.m. and 99 degrees.

Apparently when the temps drop below a hundred people come out at night and celebrate how 'cool' it is by hanging out in there front yards, taking a walk, or sitting in there truck beds.

I guess I am not truly a native because I don't believe in 'hanging' outside when it's above 90 degrees. Oh, and just to clarify, nobody has a cute little porch like this in our town-or grass for that matter. Oh how I would love to live in a city with tons of houses that had cute little porches.

Josh's first swim meet of the season

Saturday Josh had his first swim meet. We were lucky enough to have it here in town. Josh swam the 50 meter breakstroke, and the 50 meter freestyle and got 2nd place in both. He was so thrilled to get two medals and he has improved soooo much. We are super proud of him.

Happy Birthday to me!

I celebrated my 33rd birthday this past Sunday. It actually turned out a lot nicer than I expected. As an adult I've come to expect that nothing special really happens on your birthday-especially when you're a Mom, and in charge of making your own cake-it's just not all that fun.

Anyway, Thursday night my SIL, Kris, called me up and asked me if I would like to drive up to Cedar with her that weekend to pick up one of her daughters from EFY, and we could do some shopping in Vegas, see a show in St. George, and spend the night there, since she had to be in Cedar at 8:00 a.m. to pick up her daughter. She twisted my arm pretty hard, so I gave in.

We got to Vegas Friday morning right at about 10:00 and did a bunch of shopping-I got some cool new clothes (which was all I asked Kory for anyway), ate lunch, then headed to St. George around 4:00.

Once in St. George we checked into our room, then quickly made our way up to the Tuachan Theater where their local high school was putting on the "High School Musical 2" play. We took Kaylee and Sydney with us because we thought this would be a fun summertime experience for them. It turned out to be really cute and we all enjoyed it. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, but the girls got signatures from a lot of the cast members afterwards-including Troy, wahoo!

Saturday morning the girls and I slept in while Kris ran up to Cedar (about an hour from St. George). Then she came back to pick us up and we went out to breakfast at Denny's. I love breakfast. I love to eat out. Period. If only I had lots more money-I'd eat out all the time.

I got back home Saturday afternoon to a nice and clean house. Kory was just heading out to take the kids to McDonalds so Kaylee went with him and I had a peaceful nap, in my quiet, clean house.

Sunday morning-my actual birthday-I made myself some refridgerated cinnamon rolls, and announced that that was all I would be making that day, and everyone had to fend for themselves. After church we had lunch, then I laid down for another peaceful nap. At about 5:30 the kids came pounding on my door telling me it was time to get up. When I came downstairs I found that the kids had cleaned the house-again-and my husband had made dinner! This pic was taken after we had already eaten most of it-it was BBQ chicken, potato salad, and rolls. This was such a sweet gesture-since Kory rarely ever cooks.

Shortly after sitting down to eat my Mother and Father-in-law showed up with my niece and nephew and a pan of brownies, then, not even 5 mins. later my Brother and Sister-in-law, Kerry and Amber, showed up with their kids and a nice little gift for me. I was pretty surprised-especially since I was sitting there in my nightgown. According to my in-laws, they had to crash the party since we never invite them over.

Kory even remembered dessert and bought me an ice cream cake. I so love ice cream cakes.

Wow! Shopping, eating out, seeing a play, having my house cleaned for me, and dinner made by my husband-it turned out to be a pretty great birthday after all!