2 Happy Birthday Shout Outs!!!

We have 2 birthdays to celebrate today!!!

First, we have Aunt Trudi! She is the kid's wonderfully crafty aunt that lives in Utah. The kids just love seeing her, which isn't AT ALL as much as we would like...BUT, we are so excited that she is coming out to Indy in a couple of weeks!!! We love you Aunt Trudi!!!


And then, of course, there is our oldest niece/cousin Madison! She turned 6 today! We just miss seeing that crazy kid since we moved! She is so sweet and silly! She will also be coming out to see us in a few more weeks. We are just so Superdy Duperdy excited to be able spend some time with her, Jorgi & Miles! We are going to have the best time ever!! We love you tons turkey buns!!


We LOVE you guys! See ya in a few weeks!!

Long, Fun Weekend

We were so excited to have a long weekend before Thomas' Summer Semester starts. The only thing we planned on doing was hanging out and relaxing. Well, the kids just weren't going for that!! So, on Saturday, we loaded up the kids and went to a yard sale. This particular yard sale was to benefit a family here in Indy. I have met the mom, and she is so great! Anyways, it was across town, so we ended up driving around and looking at all the neighborhoods over that way. I love Indy because it is so pretty to just drive around and do nothing.

Then, the kids got a little restless, so we decided since we were out, that why not go to the zoo!! Saturday was the first day that the Koalas were on exhibit. So, we planned on just going in to see the Koalas. I love having a membership, so we don't ever have to stay for a whole day and try to see everything in one swoop! So, we went and saw the Koalas (So adorable!) and then Ryker begged for us to go and see the turtles. Then we headed home, and the kids played until the sun went down....which right now, is about 8:30pm! In a few more months, it'll be daylight till about 10pm!

Sunday was church and lots of lounging around!

Monday, we had the kids do their chores with the promise of going to the park when they were done. Thomas ended up taking the girls, while I helped Ryker get motivated to clean out his closet that hadn't been cleaned for awhile. Not too much later, all the girls came running in saying, "We're going swimming...get your swimming suit on!!" I just looked at them like they were all crazy! The pool in our subdivision had just opened on Saturday, and I was pretty sure that the water was freezing. Hello....the water was freezing in July and August last summer!! Plus, the weather hasn't been all that warm to be able to warm up the water. Did I mention I love these 70 degree days!! Ahhhhh!! Anyways, we went ahead and let them go swimming thinking that they wouldn't last too long. Boy, were we wrong! Aspen only got in a couple of times, but everyone else swam for at least an hour! It started rain, so we made them get out and they were so sad!

Thomas remebered on Saturday, that we had passed a movie theater that looked like it was a Dollar Theater. It had some older movies showing. So, I checked out the times for Horton Hear a Who, and we changed and headed to the movie. All 7 of us got in for $3.50!! I was so excited!! After the movie, we went home to grill up some hot dogs and hamburgers. Our free grill that we got last summer wasn't working so well, so we ended up cooking them inside. Bummer! Guess we'll have to keep our eyes out for a cheap grill. We just love "cooking out" as the kids call it!

That pretty much sums up our weekend! The kids last day of school is Thursday, so they are looking forward to some fun summer days. Thomas starts class on Friday night, then is flying Ryker to Vegas on Saturday. Ryker will stay for about a month, but Thomas will be back that next week, of course!

By the way....the button on my camera that I push to take a picture broke off a couple of weeks ago, so I will have to figure out how to fix it, or get a new camera! Hopefully, I can just find the part! So, sorry about not having any pics lately!!

Mini Family Vacation

We decided that since Thomas was off of school for the next 2 weekends, that we would take a short little vacation. So off we went to King's Island on Saturday for some much needed fun! King's Island is like Six Flags in California but much better. It is in Cincinnati, and only 1 1/2 hours away from us. So, we decided to just go there for the day and come home the same night. That way, we saved money on a hotel and extra food for another day.

Well, we finally got there after getting just tad lost in Cincinnati, but we easily found out way and made it there only about 1/2 hour past what we had thought we would be there. We unloaded, and headed to the fun! I forgot something in the car, so I went back to grab it. Thomas took the kids to wait by the front gate for me. While he waited, a lady came up to him and asked him if he had tickets yet. He said No, not yet, I'm waiting for my wife who just ran to the car. She then proceeded to give him 6 tickets!! He couldn't believe it! Apparently, her school had purchased too many, and the park wouldn't give her a refund. So, that saved us about $180! I was so excited! We only had to buy Marina a ticket for $20!

The kids had so much fun. Harley even rode some of the "adult" rides, that I thought for sure there was no way she would go on them! She even went on one where your legs are dangling in the air. Ryker told us right away that he didn't want to go upside down, but wanted to do the other big rides. Well, he liked them so much, that by the end of the day, we got him on Vortex, which takes you upside down a total of 6 times! I was super proud of him. Aspen and Sierra couldn't wait to get on Delirium! I let Thomas take them on that one, as I had already done too much to mess up my back more than I should have.

When we got there, we realized that this was Marina's first trip to ANY amusement park! She has never come with us to Disneyland because she was always too little. Well, she was in heaven! She just couldn't get enough. I just loved seeing her face while she was exploring all the new things to do there.

Can I get a Woot! Woot!

As you all know, Thomas started his college education this semester. He is now officially finished with the Spring 2008 semester! I am super proud of his accomplishments! In addition to taking 5 classes(15 credits), Thomas has also been working 45 hours per week. This includes a daily round trip drive of about 3 hours. (In good traffic) Oh yeah....he is also the Elder's Quorum President in our ward too. Yep, he's been busy!!

Well, feast your eyes on these grades!!!

Math - A
Sociology - A
Biology - A
English - A
Computers - B

So...let's hear it...Can I get a Woot! Woot!

Keep A Scrollin'

I posted 3...count 'em 3... posts after this one! They were just too good to wait! Enjoy!!!

Another Great Family Night!

We had another fun family night last night. Last week, Thomas went on a field trip for his biology class to an EcoLab. He thought it was really neat, so we decided it would be fun to take the kids there. (Free + Outside in the fresh air=Perfect Family Night!) This place is right in the heart of Indy. It was crazy to think as we were walking around discovering all this nature, that huge buildings and homes and freeways were all around us. There were tons of different kinds of birds, frogs, turtles, ducks, and beavers. That's right...I said beavers! It was really neat. We saw the beaver lodges and dams that they had made. The kids were really fascinated to see what those tiny beavers could do. At first, we didn't see any beavers, then just as we were about to walk away, I saw a beaver swimming across the pond! It was much smaller than I expected. The kids were so glad that they got to see one. We will definitely have to go back! (Hey Madison & Jorgi...get ready to see some beavers!!)

Indy just keeps getting better & better!

For the first time in my life, I got to witness a mother duck leading her baby ducklings! It was the so adorable. They were right outside our dining room window...I mean, I could have reached out and touched them! I think I was more excited than the kids! So, I run to get my camera, but by that time, they had already headed down to the pond behind our house. Oh man, I thought, there's no way I'm gonna find them now!

Wait a minute...who's daughter am I???? Yeah, my mom would have killed me if she knew I didn't, at least, TRY to find them. So, that's what I did. I trudged back behind my house, where it is NOT landscaped in the least little bit, and headed down to the pond. (Which, techinically isn't a pond yet. It just a big whole in the ground...more like a marsh!)

After searching and searching, I found them hiding in with the long grass. Here are the pics I could get. Mom you better be impressed!!

First dry Saturday!

Last Saturday was our first dry Saturday in quite awhile! Marina has been asking to go to the zoo for months, and I have had to explain that we couldn't go while it's so cold out. Well, Saturday was beautiful, so I took the kids while Thomas was in school. It was so fun, and not crowded at all. We first went to the butterfly garden. It was really neat. There were all kinds of butterflies everywhere! Huge ones. We had to be really careful, though, because they would land on the ground, and sometimes you wouldn't see them till it was almost too late! I had a few close calls with the stroller! Then we just walked around the zoo. I love being so close to a zoo, and not have to rush through it because we are only visiting. I love that we can come back again and again, and not have to worry about missing something. I love it!!

Happy Kid!

Last week when Ryker got home from school, his cheeks were really red. So, I asked him, "Why are your cheeks so red? His simple reply was, "Because I'm Happy!" I love him so much!!