Banishing

Ok, Josh is usually the one with all the stories, but I have to say...It has been Brett's day. Oh....this is not a cute story, this is Brett at his most active. (I am trying to stay positive with my comments). We were having some family over for dinner at 6:00 pm. Not a big deal, but company none the less. I was making dinner and the house needed to look decent. So the day had been going well, I paid Brett to babysit Josh (I do this once in a while so he will play with him instead of against him), and I was on track with dinner, house duties etc. As I was in the laundry room, I heard a loud bang. I knew Josh was okay, because he was with me, so I waited for a cry for help and didn't hear anything. I started walking toward the noise and encountered Brett.
"Mom, you wouldn't believe it..."
"Uh...what happened"
"I was climbing in your bedroom"
"Uh...what happened"
"I was trying to get something I needed on top of your cabinet"
"Uh...what cabinet"
"The one with your TV."
I then knew what the loud bang was. He was climbing in the armoire with the TV. I was afraid to go in my bedroom. He was apparently okay because he was talking a mile a minute. When I saw my big TV and VCR on the ground I thought, this is probably his biggest "Oops" ever.
"Mom, is Dad going to Banish me?"
"If you are lucky"
"Mom, I don't want to be banished, if they send me to Mexico I will only eat one meal a day and I will be so hungry."
"I am pretty sure you aren't going to get the X Box you have been asking for. I think you will be paying for a new TV!"

Oh...and that is not all.....
I did banish him outside to play with his brother. It was 5:30 pm and after the TV issue, I pulled myself together to start making a salad. Everything was going great until Brett came in from outside.
"Mom, Josh is covered in sand"
"How did he cover himself with sand?"
"I poured a bucket of sand over his head."
"Stay outside, don't come in!"
Josh was in the sandbox crying and Brett was pretty well covered with sand himself. I told him he needed to take off his clothes so I could hose him down. I thought of tossing them in the pool, but I didn't have time to get in the pool with Josh...so they both got undressed and "got the hose." Brett was enjoying the hose a little too much, so I told him, he was in trouble and to stop enjoying it! (I have no options here...) Then it was Josh's turn. I took off his clothes and of course he had a messy diaper. He did not like the hose and was clinging to me. So basically, we both got a quick hose down. I then put Josh in the bath for a more thorough clean up. Luckily, company was 10 minutes late and I was able to get put back together (physically, not mentally) When they finally arrived, they asked Brett,"What have you been up to today?" Brett's reply, " Nothing."

Summer Vacation

It has been a long hot summer here in AZ, but we have been fortunate enough to enjoy a lot of vacation time. We just got back from Pinteop and enjoyed 80 degree weather with rain showers everyday! We also visited Great Grandma and Grandpa Ballard in Snowflake. We took the boys to the Pioneer parade and they came home with a grocery bag full of candy! Brett said it was the best parade he has every been to in his entire life, I think he is right! I haven't been to a parade where they threw Reese's peanut butter cups and full size bags of M & M's. I agree that is a way to have a proper parade. At the end, the firetruck brought up the rear by hosing down all the bystanders. I thought I was safe sitting next to GG Ballard in her wheelchair, but she was lucky enough to be carrying an umbrella and we all got soaked! We are definitely going back and bringing more grocery sacks....

Pics from Utah

Josh at Sundance Resort. Hey look, there is water in the river! You don't see that every day in Mesa.











Sundance Resort.











That is the name of Lewis Barney. His name is on the "This is the Place" memorial. He accompanied Brigham Young with the first handcart company to travel to the Utah Valley. I think that is 5 "Great' Grampa's" Right Dad?? (Dad says it is the boys 4th Great...Thanks)














Ice Cream Snack - bubble gum flavor of course!

Pics from Utah

At "This is the place" monument. The village there is like a small scale Nauvoo. Fun for the kids!












View from the Confernce Center. First time I have been to the new Tabernacle. It was huge and I was impressed with the artwork collection.















Josh and Fashionista Moose from "Chloe Lane." A boutique on Main Street, Park City, Utah.















Typical Brett and Josh picture. Josh is always trying to catch up to his big brother.

Your The Man

Okay, a couple thing about Mike. We have been to Disneyland and now Utah so basically we have been on vacation for a couple of weeks. Mike has worn this White ASU hat everyday of vacation. Lucky for him, he hasn't had to comb his hair for a couple of weeks. Wouldn't that be nice?? Of course he has to wear it backwards too, I am sure there is a reason for it, I just haven't asked. It has come in handy, whenever I have tried to find him in a crowd, he is easy to spot. He also wears ASU shirts everyday. Lucky for him he has about 8 or 9 ASU shirts to choose from. No question where his loyalties lie.
He did earn his Man of the Year award for changing a flat tire in the middle of nowhere in Utah. We didn't have cell phone coverage so it was all up to him. Mike isn't very mechanically inclined so we all said an extra prayer and since we were in Utah I think that helped too. It took about a half hour on an incline (he told me that made a difference in the level of difficulty). My job was to keep the kids from running into oncomming traffic and also warn Mike if a car came to close to the van. He finally finished the job when it started to rain. He completed this daunting task unscathed and only one swear word was heard. Yeah for Daddy!

First Mates

On our way up to Park City, we stopped by Lake Powell for a boat trip. Our neighbors invited us to join them on the lake for a day and we were happy to go. This was Brett and Josh's first time on the boat and they loved it. Josh protested at the beginning because he did not like wearing his life vest. As soon as we started the boat and began to head out he really enjoyed it. He would say,"Yeah!" as we hit some choppy water and he even fell asleep a couple of times from the motion of the boat. Brett rode the kneeboard and the innertube. He had a pretty good wipe out on the innertube though. They crossed a big wake and Brett did a cartwheel out of the innertube into the water going about 20 mph. When he got back in to the boat, he said, " That was sweet!"











The canyons are beautiful at Lake Powell. This is a picture outside the hotel at the Wahweep Marina. We were a little slow going in the morning, Mike had done a lot of waterskiing and kneeboarding so we took our time to head out for Park City. We really enjoyed our day at Lake Powell! Thank you, Laytons! 

Happy 6th B-day

One of Brett's birthday presents was to go to Build-a-Bear. This was his first time and he was so excited. I actually got a picture of a genuine smile, a nice change from a goofy face when I say the word "cheese."

For Brett's birthday he had thirteen of his neighborhood friends over for a party. Funny how I do not have any pictures of the madness, I am sure I was a little busy. Luckily, I had Mike to wrangle the kids. I would never attempt anything like this unless I had Mike. It is incredible how he can hold their attention for two hours. If anyone is interested, he is available for rent for your next kid party! 

Beach Bums

We did get some beach time before we started our Disney adventure. I love this picture of Josh's feet. This took about 6 tries to get, he kept running towards the waves and every time the tide would wash in he would say,"Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!" and run toward the beach, he did not want that surf to catch him!











Brett would never come in from the waves. He was so cold and shivering since he has no body fat. But, he stayed out until I told him we would never go to McDonald's again. It works every time.












Josh was constantly in the cooler for snacks, he would get out the cheetos and soda and offer it to the people next to us. I am sure they were happy to have a concession stand next to them. 

Been There..Done That...

...Bought the T-shirt and the Mickey hands! Disneyland can be a blast and also an endurance challenge when you have 9 kids to constantly gather and keep track of. We did lose two of the kids right after the fireworks show for about 1/2 hour. When we finally found them, they did not realize they were lost. They had just gone on a ride! They still got a talking too by a security guard who was recruited to help find them.

We spent three days at the Happiest Place on Earth and were very happy (and broke) as we headed home. We always left the hotel by 8:00-8:30 am and returned by 10:00- 10:30 pm and we still didn't do everything we wanted to do.















All of my family were able to enjoy this vacation together...Next year my parents are voting for San Diego, something a little more slower paced than Disney. This is a picture of my sisters. Cynthia (left) Karen (middle) and Me. We are all smiling because it is the beginning of the first day. Good Idea Mom!










The babies of the group were Josh and Rachel. Everyone took turns supervising them while the others got to enjoy the grown up rides. They had fun just being playmates and riding in the strollers. There time came when we visited Toon Town and Small World.