So since it is August I thought I would get around to putting up my

4th of July pictures.

We went to our cabin in Strawberry where it was.........
still hot, oh well, beautiful at least.

First stop was Woods Canyon Lake so Todd could do some
fishing and me and Carder could explore.
Then we rented a boat and went out onto the lake to try to catch some fish and
maybe get a look at the baby bald eagle that was just hatched.
(we didn't by the way but we saw either mom or dad which was cool enough)

Too much fun and a lot of sun later we decided it was getting crowded
and went back to hang out at the cabin.


The next day we decided to check out Potato Lake.
It took longer to get to then we anticipated but was on and OK dirt road and
there was a bunch of people so we figured it was a nice spot.
It was a classic Arizona lake (a.k.a POND) and had frogs and crawdads
to make it a little more creepy. We ate our sandwiches then went exploring.
Daddy and Carder went all the way around the lake throwing rocks
and doing other boy things while I read my book. Now, as I'm sitting there the sky darkens rapidly
and the lake clears out like a bomb is going to go off
and "la la la dee dee da" we are still hanging out
when all of a sudden you can hear this wall of rain coming.
Its not a refreshing sound either.
It was a clip straight out of some horror rain movie.
We gather up all our stuff and run as fast as we can out of there.
Not fast enough for the hale though.
We got pelted with dime sized hale for a good 3 minutes before we get to
the carand threw everything in. Carder was morified.
(good job mom, now he'll be afraid of rain for the rest of his life)
and we were all drenched.
Absolutely the funniest experience trying to run in flip flops over mud.
Classic.

Here's the after pictures........


Todd was so mad about the hale hitting the car, boys........

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Todd works Saturday nights so he headed home while me and Carder stayed
to hang out with my family for the fireworks.
Fireworks are my favorite part about the 4th.
Payson was the closest show to our cabin so we loaded up
everyone in the car and drove down.
We ate at Chili's then parked to get ready for the show.
It was a pretty good show and the kids had fun.
Here's some of the better pic's I got.


Yeah for vacations!

I finally figured out how to get my videos off of my phone.
I couldn't find the adapter for the longest time and now I have it!

These are some videos of Carder singing.
He loves to sing.......

Here is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

And here is ABc's.

Depression

About a month ago Carder's wonderful preschool teacher, Miss Kerry, told us she was moving back to California. To say the least we are devastated. She was the best teacher. She got Carder to talk and associate with other kids with no problem. She taught him all his colors, letters and numbers in English, Spanish and Sign Language(not that I'm bragging or anything), how to sing songs, be polite, how to share and a whole lot of stuff I can't even list.

Carder absolutely adores her.

This is one of those horrible happy but sad moments that tear your heart in two.
I am so sad that she will not be teaching my son anymore, even though we will keep in touch,
but I am so excited for her to be able to go back to where she feels more at home and gets to spend more time with her husband.
She became such a good friend and someone I felt comfortable to talk to about
kid stuff and even family stuff when I was having problems.

I'm sure she feels way more emotional about this than I do because she is ending her lifelong career of teaching and caring for children with this move.
She will not be opening Little Acorns Preschool again.

I still have this little hole in my heart that can only be filled with the love she gave my son.
By being so involved in our son's life and teaching him so much more that we could have alone I am forever in her debt.

BUT it gives me an excuse to visit California more often!

I just needed to get this out so hopefully I can stop feeling so sad about it. I am so bad with words but I hope she knows how much we appreciate her.


These are some pictures from our going away party for Miss Kerry.
The kids had so much fun.

Sense of Humor

For anyone reading this blog I apologize for this next picture.

One of my favorite blogs is BWE.tv.com and this picture is from one of their posts.
It isn't really that funny by itself, skanky would be my description even though Heather is gorgeous. The reason for this picture will be to follow.

Here's the picture.....

Now (boys, eyes up here....)

I fell in love with one of the commenters on BWE.tv.com when she then linked
a photo that will forever change my perception of how boobs look.
She said that the above photo reminded her of it and how could I argue.

So, go back and stare (no one will know) at her chest.
Now scroll down and see what Heather Graham's boobs will forever remind me of.

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If you don't get it go back and look at Heather and back down to this picture.
The faster you do it the funnier it gets!

If you don't get it your too much of a prude and just forget you ever read this.

Trip to Utah

This year Todd wanted to go to his missionary reunion. He went to Costa Rica which we plan on going back one day. (hopefully before all hell breaks loose) It was quite an experience. Todd saw, count them, ONE person he actually was in the mission with. We met some very nice and very, ahem, unique people. It was one of those things that you can say you did. (and not have to ever do again) We had fun site-seeing the next day at Thanksgiving Point though! It was snowing off and on so we all look wind swept and freezing but we had fun. Here are some pictures of our once in a lifetime trip! (wink, wink)

Carder played in this little cave FOREVER. And I didn't want to crawl in there to get him out so I had to wait until he ran out so I could snag him. He thought that was hilarious.

This was the dinosaur skeleton room, RAWR! There were some pretty creepy dinosaurs.
Like this guy! Yikes!

The seconds before this picture made me almost pee my panties. I don't know if you can see the horror written on Carders face but Todd held him up so he was right next to the T-Rex's mouth. Carder flipped. A. Wig. The horrified look on Carder's face was priceless.
(we are mean parents and frequently find our son's horror hilarious)

The biggest turtle you have ever seen. Would you just die if you were scubba diving and saw this thing swim by? Goodness they don't make them like they use to. (notice the ant sized guy in the lower left corner. This thing took up almost the whole room!)

Again, something you would just die if you saw scubba diving. At least this one was just the head. Carder would not stand in front of this. I even have proof of him running away in terror!

There was an awesome petting zoo but it was so cold and windy we were the only ones out there. Carder got his pick of horses to ride on and touched every animal possible.

Look at this crazy guy!

I was this close *holding fingers a millimeter apart* to buying one of these little Easter chicks. Aren't they the cutest thing you have ever seen???? I wanted the little pink one. AND they were only $5! Good thing Todd was there to talk some sense into me. I probably would have bought one for me and one for Carder.

All in all we had fun. The ride up was traumatizing (we crashed into a Bud Light truck because of the snow storm (not our fault, the truck slid on the ice and ended up across the entire road. It's kinda hard to stop on ice, on a hill, with no 4 wheel drive) while Carder was car sick and throwing up. UGH! ) But the ride home was perfectly uneventful and surprisingly fast. Not much to say about the missionary reunion unfortunately. Todd got to hang out with one of his favorite companions which was worth it I guess. Now we can keep in touch with him. Todd always comes alive with old friends. It's always fun to see how he acts with friends from when he was young and carefree.

Playing with Daddy.

Carder got a T-ball set up for his birthday so Daddy was helping him learn how to play. He did pretty good for a little while then decided that he just wanted to run around. Oh the attention span of a 2 year old.

First Freckle

Carder found his first freckle recently. He can NOT stand to have anything on his feet. If he happens to step on something and it sticks to his foot he automatically sits right where he is and picks it off. Well, one day he notices this little black speck on his foot and it is driving him CRAZY! He can't get it off and is getting frustrated about it. "Maywin!!!!" he shouts at me. (he calls me by my given name rather then mom...... oh well, pick your battles right?) I ask him what is wrong and he tells me there is something on his foot and I can tell he is MAD that it won't come off. After giggling I explain that it's a freckle and it doesn't come off. I show him some of my freckles and he feels better about it. Now his freckle on his foot is his pride and joy.