Made by Memilyrae

A lots been going on lately so here’s a large post to catch you up….

We moved into our new home end of May/beginning of June.  We had such wonderful friends and family help us load and unload and unpack. Thank you EVERYONE who helped! (I didn’t have my camera during the packing and unloading…so this is all I have…

The first thing I hung on our walls….

Steve got a new grill and loves it.

I had to say “see ya later” (I won’t say goodbye!) to my Primary girls. I cried. A lot.

The kids have been having a blast playing in the sand lately. Lucky for them they have a box at Netty’s and Grandma & Grandpa’s!

And they love playing with their cousins….

We’ve seen SO many beautiful rainbows lately! They’re SO pretty!

We’ve been to the pond a few times to feed the ducks and play on the playground. One FHE we spent with our friends Brian, Nikki and Neve.

A random picture…Someone was tired…

And a new family member, thanks to my high school friend Celeste…

What a fun Memorial Day we had! I woke up not knowing where Stephen went, until I remembered Volleyball at the Church! We packed a little and then got ready to head to my in-laws for a BBQ. Stephen and his dad cooked the meats (and corn!) and his mom made the sides. It was so yummy and I ate way too much!
Steve’s brother, Rich, and his wife, Bri, bought a(nother) Slip n’ Slide. Last year the kids played on it…and it worked great…until Rich tried sliding the cat on it!!!! (Hilarious!) While Bri and her girls got pedi’s…Rich said he’d watch one of the girl’s daughter (that’s her in the pics)…and boy did she tease the men…and ended up getting tossed in the water a few times! Jayden was a lot more daring when it came to different ideas the men came up with to throw them down the slip n’ slide. Spencer didn’t seem to get into it as much, although he liked the water, he wasn’t willing to do it their way. Evie didn’t do it either, although she seemed to get more wet than Spencer would.
We also played cards with Stephen’s parents…AFTER Steve and his dad tore apart and fixed the card shuffler. All in all we had a great holiday!

I feel SO guilty! I had that prompting to shut the bird’s door on their cage, and didn’t listen…that’s right, I ignored the Holy Ghost! How awful am I?!?!?! What makes things worse, is that I opened the front door to let the kids play and WHOOSH! Out flies Bumblebee! 🙁 I chased him down the street…even got him on my finger, but he flew another block over. I left my kids with the neighbor, grabbed the cage (with Princess inside) and headed over a street. Found Bumblebee in the tree but he wouldn’t come down. He ended up flying behind a house…so I knocked on the door and a boy and his mom let me in their backyard. I got Bumblebee on the cage, but when I went to open the door, Bumblebee flew off to the front yard. The little boy told me where the thought Bumblebee flew to, and when I got to that backyard there were too many trees (green leaves and a green bird are not a good mix!) and Princess wouldn’t chirp (so Bumblebee would respond) so I ended up giving up.

The kids were sad, but they understood that Bumblebee probably wouldn’t be able to find his way back. The world is much bigger than our apartment and finding his way back was a real stretch. I didn’t feel too bad until Steve pointed out that he probably wouldn’t live past 2 days. I’m a bird killer! That poor bird either starved to death, couldn’t handle the weather, or met bigger and meaner birds! If only I would have listened to that little voice…I feel so guilty.

We did get a new bird…Princess was really lonely. It’s sad when you can tell a BIRD is LONELY! So….meet SunShine (aka “Sunny”). Not sure if it’s male or female, but Sunny is smaller than Princess and not only is it white, but it’s white, blue AND yellow. Very pretty.

Last month (yes, I’m late posting it!) we visited the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The flowers were at 90% bloom (I think) and we had a great time!  It was chilly and overcast and it ended up raining on us, but we still had a blast. It would have been better if Joel & Evan (Evan had his surgery days before this), Mike, Nicole and Gavin (not wanting Gav in the cold…don’t blame you!) and Steve (studying for finals…or working…can’t remember!) could have come too. Here are just a few pictures from our visit…enjoy!

Every week our Saturdays start off the same way. I go to work at 10 AM and come home at 4. During that time Steve and the kids usually go to Costco for samples and rolls. Yes, we love their rolls. Some days they’ll bring me some at work, others I get them when I get home. This last Saturday I got off work at 2 to get ready for a baptism for a girl in my Primary. The kids (Spencer mainly) were really wearing on Steve’s nerves. I thought about taking one or both with me but didn’t in the end. When I came home, here’s what I saw…

Cute, huh?

Something else that happens other days, not just Saturdays, is that Steve is learning to play the guitar. It’s great seeing (or hearing rather) how much he’s improved so far and watching him proudly show me his fingertips. 🙂 Funny guy. He’s proud because they’re getting more coarse and allowing him to play more without feeling like he’s going to loose his fingertips. I’ll even sing along with him some. Thanks sweetie for bringing more music into our home!

Okay – so I’m officially a bad mom. I forgot about Easter!!!! Well, sorta. Two weeks before Easter I was (at least) smart enough to grab 2 big eggs with assorted candy in it. On Easter morning (at 3:00 AM) I was finally going to sleep after working on Sharing Time (which I decided to change last minute) and it hit me! I don’t have baskets or anything! Then I remembered the eggs. So, what did I do? I broke open the large eggs, and filled little plastic eggs with it. Then put an “S” or “E” on it in marker and then hid them around the living room. The next morning I was trying to get my family up for church and remembered the eggs (that got the kids awake!). They actually enjoyed finding their eggs and Spencer was great to point Evie in the right direction. So yeah…I need to work on this holiday stuff. Maybe next year I’ll keep Saturday as the “egg” day and Sunday as the real reason we celebrate (no baskets/eggs/etc on Sunday). I really like that idea… Stephen and I have been talking about doing the same for Christmas too…celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas day and then choose another day to do gifts, etc. La Bafana is a holiday the Italians celebrate…maybe we’ll do that? I’m not sure…but I really want to separate the real to the worldly. Oh yeah…I didn’t take picture of any of this either. Poo.

ANYWHO – that evening we went to Stephen’s parents’ house for Easter dinner. Ham and various salads and rolls… Yum! (except for the ham…not the food, but what it does to everyone afterwards!) We played Hands and Feet:Couples Style and enjoyed pie and ice cream. Alec (Grandpa) mixed this really neat concoction… I believe it’s just Baking Soda and water… or was it something else? I can’t remember…but it’s really neat! Evie loved it! If you touch it with your finger, it will stick but then drip off. If you grab a handful, you can form it into a ball but as soon as you open your hand, it goes back to liquid and drips back to the bowl. If it drips on the table – no worries because it dries and brushes right off. It’s SO cool! Evie loved it, Jayden wasn’t sure, and Spencer refused to touch it. Silly kids.

Kayley turned 9 last week! AH! I can’t believe she’s that old already! Annette planned a fantastic Rock Star party (I helped some). The girls showed up, had to make sure they were on the A-List (or else get escorted out by the Bouncer), then received their list on how to become a Rock Star. They started off with Fashion and picked out their Rock Star shirt, next came nails, hair (crimped), make up, tattoos (fake, of course), and a photo shoot! We followed up with Pizza, Presents, and Cake/Ice Cream. Annette and Steph did an awesome job making the guitar cake! Seriously awesome! Then we took them downstairs to the VIP lounge where Kayley (and the rest of the Lyons family) got Rock Band for the Wii. Lauren screamed she was so happy! We created CDs (Kayley burned each of them a copy of some of her favorite songs) with their “band’s” cover and individual shots on the inside. The girls really liked them and they turned out really good. These girls are so photogenic and they have such sass! They all fit the Rock Star attitude perfectly! We had so much fun – I think the girls did too!

The meat section of Walmart is now a funny place for us. Stephen and I were discussing how we don’t really like ground beef much, except for in certain meals. We started listing off what we’ll actually eat with ground beef in it. Stephen said one thing, then I said another, and Stephen said another, and all of the sudden Spencer blurts “STOP FIGHTIN’!” I said, “Spencer, we’re not fighting.”

Sp: “Yes. You goin’ back and forth back and forth back and forth.”

Em: “That’s called a conversation.”

We could not stop laughing!!! He was so serious and we really don’t fight – not even quietly. If we get into an argument, it’s usually normal talk and then some quiet time while we both tell ourselves we’re right. What a funny, funny kid!

Last Friday, after a long day away, we came home to find our oldest bird, Goodwin, had passed away. He was very old and kept getting sick so we were expecting him to go. Spencer seemed okay with our explanation.