A great week

The boys took one last excursion before Paul left. They went bouldering and on a little hike. They took backpacks and were determined to come back with a snake they could keep as a pet. They didnt find any snakes, but they did come home with something else in the pocket of a backpack.



They named her Lizzy. She has since moved to a bigger cage and the crickets-food have moved into the smaller cage. Eric told Jack that if he wants to keep her, all the responsibility of taking care of her belongs to Jack. That means finding or buying crickets, feeding her, cleaning out the cage or whatever. Jack has done a great job. Jack, like his mother, has a phobia of bugs. I would rather stick a cup over a bug and leave it there for Eric to take care of when he gets home, then actually have to smash it and dispose of it myself. But knowing that keeping Lizzy depends on Jack feeding her- touching or catching a cricket now and then has helped Jack conquer his fear of bugs.

On Monday, the kids and I drove to Phoenix to take Paul to the airport. My mom thought it would be a pain to drag all the kids through the airport and security, so she offered to meet me off the freeway where we exchanged cars and she took my kids home with her. My kids were so excited to see Grandma that they didnt even say goodbye to Paul or care that he was leaving. It made the goodbye so much easier and happier than it usually is. After Paul left, the kids and I stayed the week at Grandma's. We had so much fun. We did lots of fun stuff with all the cousins and it made me miss living so close to them.

Another reason for the trip was to visit with my sister, Linsey, before she moves to Utah. We had a lunch with just the girls and it was so much fun. (We missed you Jennette and Brynn!)

After saying goodbye to my sister, I realized how much I love her and will miss seeing her so often. (My hair will miss her too!) I love you Linsey!

The week went by way too fast and before we knew it we were back home. I brought home a little surprise for Eric from the trip to Phoenix, which topped off an already perfect week.

Goldwater Lake

We had a fun BBQ with great friends at Goldwater Lake last night. Some of our friends brought kayaks and we had a blast! Thank you, Banfields!

The kids loved feeding the ducks and when the bread ran out, they just threw rocks. It was a lot of fun.

Missing Teeth

It was over 3 years ago, I got my last smiling picture of Jack with all his teeth. Taking pictures of your kids sure change when you go from this...

(taken on the day he lost his first tooth)

to this...

Jack just lost his fourth tooth and has yet to fill any spaces. So, he has got quite a gap in the front of his mouth.

Like this picture of Jack at his end of T-ball season pizza party- Jack was so excited to receive his very first trophy. I guess he was still learning to smile with missing and wiggly teeth.
But losing teeth means he is getting older and with that comes other cute things. He's learned to read and write and learned that he loves it. We were at an event recently that was handing out free notebooks and pens. Jack was so excited. He has since filled his book with so much artwork and writing. One of my favorites is a poem he wrote. It goes like this:

In the graveyard, the zombies rise

the ghosts come out and shout.

Boo! I am hungry Dracula said

and the werewolves howl at the moon.

Paul's visit

Our family sure takes on a different dynamic when Paul is here. It is different having a teenager in our home. I was able to go visiting teaching this month with no kids since Paul is old enough to babysit. While I was grateful for this opportunity, I had to rethink it when I got home. The house was destroyed, there was food in places that it should not be and Paul had the broom out and was teaching the kids how to pole vault over the back of the couch. Needless to say, they were having a blast. It's no wonder why my kids love to spend time with Paul. He has no siblings at his house and the only cousins he knows are the ones he visits at his dads house, but he is so great with younger kids. He is just like Eric in that way. He doesnt act like a teenager thats too cool- He gets right down like a little kid to play with them.

Every summer my family has an Aaronic Priesthood preparation camp. Grandpa, all the dads, and the boys 8 years old and up go for three days. It is a great experience- especially for Paul since he is not a member of the church. They have firesides and testimony meetings each night, work on scouting and faith in God and have lots of neat spiritual experiences. This year the theme was Zion's Camp: Trials of Faith. Here are a couple of pictures from the camp.