The 4th of JulyJuly is, without a doubt, my favorite month. I love everything about it, the heat, the festivities, EVERYTHING! This year we started off by going to the City of Fun Carnival on Wednesday. Awesome! It was 2 for a dollar tickets and every ride was one ticket. We were so lucky to have Ike with us for the evening. We love to take him places with us. He loved the rides and didn't want to get off. Brock and Parker had fun on the rides too. Our neighbors Ryan and Candace were there and it was fun to hang out with them. On Friday we did our usual fourth of July activites. Cory and CJ put together a softball team. Their first game was Friday at 6:00. So, we went to that and then to the parade with Annette and Mel and Bree and Justun and the girls. We love the Riverton parade. This year was even better than usual. Brock and Parker had a sleepover at grandma and gradpa's, because I was running my first ever 10k at 6:00 a.m. and Cory had a game at 7:00. My cute friend Adrian ran with me. She was so nice to do it with me. She was sick and did it anyway. We weren't very fast (aout 65 minutes) but it was a fun experience. Next year we want to do the fun run with the kids. Grandma and Grandpa brought the boys back to Riverton at 7:30 and cheered us on during our run. So nice! Then they went to our ward parade and breakfast. Cory and I met them there. We ate and headed back to the softball field for 3 more games. They finished about in the middle, but had lots of fun. Later that night we had a BBQ/Birthday party for Kim at our house with our families and lots of friends. Then we headed off to the Fireworks at Riverton Park. They do the best show ever. Its such a fun tradition and I look forward to it every year. We were such rednecks. We packed everybody in the back of our truck to go over to the park. The 4th of July is such a fun day. Can't wait for next year!

Father's Day

For father's day this year, the kids wanted to do something fun to give Cory his present. Here's what we came up with! We sent him on a scavenger hunt for two hours to find his present. So off in our PJ's we went.

His first clue took him to his jeep in the garage

The next was attached to the tramp in the back yard

Next to the mailbox. (don't worry they get better)Then he had to go to CJ's houseBetos!Then to Mavrick where a clue and a "Monster" was waiting for himOn to Bree & Justun's house for the nextFinally we made it. The present was hiding in Chad & Kim's Garage.A Brand New Basketball Hoop for the back yard!Happy Father's day Cory. Thanks for being the best dad for Brock and Parker in the whole world. We love you so much!

What happened to me?

I have bitten my fingernails since I was a little girl. In February, I looked down and saw some white on the tips of my nails. "Holy crap", I thought, what is happening to my fingernails, they are growing. Ever since then I have not bitten them. Not even once. I don't know what happened to me, but after thirty years and am no longer a nail biter and I wasn't even trying to quit my dirty little habit. What triggers a change like that in a person?

Happy Birthday Grandma Nett!

Last weekend was awesome. For Anntte's Birthday Request, we went to Echo boating/fishing with Cory's family. It was so fun. My mom and dad went to the cabin and invited Brock and Parker to go with them. Cory and I were so completely selfish. We wanted them to go really bad. We really needed a weekend without kids. I love em! But, I love to have a break from them also. And, I imagine its nice for them to have a break from us too. Its so weird how chill I can be when the kids are not around. We fished and skied a little. The water was freezing. But we had a good time. Bree and Justun came for the evening. Justun wake boarded and Bree skied. They froze their butts off too. We had hot dogs and Alayna made birthday brownies. Happy birthday Annette. We had a super fun day with you.

Brock and Parker's Fishing Trip with Grandma Jen and Papa

The World's Longest Blog Post

Okay, this is going to be a long one. If you choose to quit reading at any time, No hard feelings. Time just seems to get away from me. It seems like if I don't blog every week, pretty soon I have a novel to write. It's quite overwhelming to me actually. But here we go.
Easter
This year, Easter Sunday was quite different for us. We were home. The Easter Bunny came to our house and hid eggs all over the place. We went to church and had a Easter dinner at our house. I know, sounds pretty normal, but believe me, it was so weird for us. Cory and I have been married for 10 years and this is the first year we stayed home. The kids loved it. They even got Sunday clothes for Easter. After dinner we had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard with Josi and Rhylee. The prize eggs were awesome. They won stuff like a miniature golf trip with uncle Chad and a half an hour of driving Cory's jeep in Moab and a sleepover with Grandma. It was fun and we may even consider staying home next year.

Moab

This may have been one of our best Moab trips yet. I know, I say that every time we go. But really, this was. We had so much fun. My parents and Chad and Kim and their girls came. Again, the Mower's were there. We love them so much. Bree and Justun and the girls came. I'm pretty sure Justun still "needs" to buy a jeep. Our friends Greg and Christie and their cute kids were there and also Shawn and Anita and and their kids. So, I think the key word here is KIDS. The adults were totally outnumbered this time and it was so fun. On Thursday, It was only our family and my mom and dad. We decided to go for a ride. About 1 mile in, we were headed up a little obstacle and we were heard a loud "SNAAAAP". Cory said, "what was that?" and I was like "a leaf spring". He said, "how do you know that?" and I said "because, I can see it here, laying on the ground." Needless to say. We spent the rest of the entire day on the trail. It was really fun though. My dad and Cory went back into town to buy a new leaf spring. ($250.00 later) While my mom and the kids and I went for a little hike. They came back we had lunch and the work started. We realized that we were missing an important bushing. So, my mom and dad and the kids headed back into town for that. ($6 more) Cory and I hung out on a rock and listened to music. Finally at 5:00. The Jeep was as good as new and we went back to meet Bree and Justun for dinner.

The next two days were great. Nothing else broke. We tried a new trail that we have never done and we were able to spend time with some of the coolest people in the world. Cory has a new master plan. Its to start picking up parts and working on Jeeps for Brock and Parker for when they turn 16. I know, CRAZY. We love Moab and look forward to the next 50 years of rock crawling with our friends and family.

On our way to Flat Iron MesaGreg and ChristieScott and his new toy.

I am sure this is a very important conversation.Here come the troops.Papa and Grandma let Brock drive, are they Crazy?

Matt thought he was funny and stuck his head in all of my pictures.

Cory Wheelin'

We were going to winch Matt on something, but as soon as he said go, the guard fell off his bumper. Hilarious!

Cory had 4 little girls ride in the jeep with him for about two hours. They "pretended" that they were running from the bad guys.

Papa teaching Brock to loosen the Lug nuts

All the kidsYep, Jeri can fix a leaf spring.

Baseball
Holy Cow, I cannot believe baseball has come and gone. Maybe that is why I have not blogged in such a long time. This year Brock and Parker were on different teams. This means we had 4 practices and 4 games every week. Do you realize how much baseball that is? Cory was the coach on Parker's team and the assistant on Brock's. He's such a good dad, I love to see him out there coaching our boys. It was a really fun season. Brock played Pee Wee this year. Its quite serious. He had lots of fun and improved like crazy. He met some really fun friends and he had awesome coaches. We are excited for next year when Brock and Parker can be on the same Pee Wee team. Parker was so good this year. He played machine pitch. He hit almost every single time he got up to bat. We love baseball season, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm excited for normal evenings again. Well, at least until football starts ..........!

Tending AJ

We had a chance to spend some time with our new baby cousin AJ. Alyssa was in town for a couple of weeks. We got to tend AJ twice. Brock and Parker loved him so much. Brock even read a book to him. "Animals facts" I'm sure he loved it. Randy and Alyssa wanted to bless AJ while they were here in Utah. So, we did that in our back yard. It was fun to have everybody here. They have now moved to Alaska. Its so much farther away than California. We are gonna miss them so much. I promised Alyssa that I would blog every week, so she wouldn't miss what is going on with us and miss out on the kids' stuff. I hope she remembers to do the same.

Parker's Kindergarten Program

My baby is almost finished with Kindergarten. We are off track for one more week. They go back for nine days. Then on to first grade for Parker. I have no idea what I am going to do without my little "T" home with me during the day. I'm gonna miss him so much. Kindergarten has been a great experience for Parker. He had a really good teacher, her name is Mrs. Winegar. He is reading like a champ and is totally ready to "eat lunch at school". His program was darling. What a cool little kid you are Parker T.

Parker the Performer

Parker, Gage and Kip

Mother's Day
I love mothers day. Not only because I have the best mom and best Mother-in-law on the planet, but because I truly love being a mom. I know its not always perfect and I am certainly have so much to learn but I cannot imagine doing anything different in my life right now. I am so thankful to be a mom and have the two funniest, coolest, hardest, weirdest kids in the world.

Amber and Kirk's Wedding

Well, they did it. My cousin Amber got married on May 16th. She was a beautiful bride and it was a perfect day. Parker was the ring bearer. He did a great job. Rhylee was the flower girl. Brock and Josi had important jobs. At the wedding, they were in charge of handing out programs and at the reception they got to carry the presents. All I can say is, Amber and Joan know how to throw one heck of a party. Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day.

Amber, Parker, Rhylee and Kirk

Parker and Kirk

Parker, Josi, Rhylee and Brock at the rehearsal dinnerRhylee the Flower girl

Memorial Day Weekend at the Lake

We went to Yuba for Memorial day weekend. We went with some other families in our neighborhood. It was so fun to get to know them. Its funny, the things you learn about people around a campfire. I didn't take many pictures because it rained pretty much the whole time. I didn't want to ruin my new camera. Saturday was my birthday and Annette and Mel were so nice to bring me a cake. At about 7:00 pm, Cory was all cleaned up and in his sweats when the water calmed and I was going nuts to ski again. he said "fine, if you really want to go, I'll take ya" so he put the boat back on the water and took me out one more time. What a great guy! Happy birthday to me. We had good water for a couple of hours on Sunday. It was FREEZING, but not choppy. We went out in the boat with the Snow's. They are such a cute little family and it was fun to get to know them better. Ryan helped Parker "try" to wake board. He did so good. I have not doubt that when we have some warmer water this year, both Brock and Parker will be wake boarders. By Sunday night, I couldn't take the rain anymore. Everything was so muddy. We packed up and headed home. Its a good thing, because it took us pretty much all day Monday to clean it up. At least we can say that boating season has officially begun.

Sam, Brock and Parker

Parker learning to wake board

Jeri & Izzie

Welcome Baby-Cousin AJ

We have a new baby cousin. AJ was born to Alyssa and Randy on April 2, 2009 at 11:55 am in California. He weighed in at 8#15oz. Wow, Big baby! We cannot wait to meet him. I think I will go completely nuts before he gets here in May. We are really excited for Alyssa and Randy. Being parents is the coolest thing on earth. They are going to be great! Welcome to our crazy world AJ.