Baby Blessing

Ava and Emma were blessed this last Sunday. I am so thankful for all of you who came to the blessing to share the special day with us. Ava looked like such an angel and she was so good. Before the blessing she was fussy and I was worried that she'd cry the whole time. I was mainly worried because I had bet that Emma would cry, and Ava would be fine, but they both did great!

Happy Birthday Owen

Owen turned 6 years old today! I have to brag for a minute and say that he is the coolest, kindest, most giving, easy to get along with child I have ever met. I am so thankful to have him as one of my children. I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father sent him to me to keep me sane!! Now usually this is were I would put that I can't believe he is six years old already, but not with Owen. He acts more like he's fifteen. Owen has always idolized teenage guys. Whenever he sees a guy with a mohawk or tattoos he tells me he wants to be just like them, I know, I am scared for his teenage years. Maybe he'll get it all out of his system while he is young, or at least that's what I keep telling myself. So for his birthday this year all he wanted was a skateboard, a real one, not a cheapy walmart one. In fact he asked for one with a skeleton or the devil on it, I was waiting for him to ask for his first tattoo as well, but luckily he just wanted the skateboard, i'm sure the tattoos will come later. He also wanted "cool skater clothes". That is what I absolutely love about Owen. He not only knows what cool is, but he IS cool. I was never a cool kid, so to give birth to one somehow makes me cool, right? O.k. maybe not. So back to Owen's birthday...We started the day with him opening his presents from Devin and I. We did get him a skateboard with a skeleton on it and a hat with a skull on it, because it looked cool. We went to Wendy's for lunch with Aunt Neenee and Emma because Owen LOVES the chicken nuggets they have there. Then we went and visited Nana and Papa. Grammy met us back at our house and brought Owen his own cake with his name on it and cupcakes for everyone else. I must say they were the best tasting cupcakes I have ever had! After a while we headed to chuck e cheese's for Owen's party. I was surprised at how well the party turned out since I am such a spazz that I never sent out invitations. I totally forgot to send them and then we went on vacation. So if you weren't invited, please don't be mad at me, you probably were invited I am just not as organized as I need to be, O.k. anyway...When we got home I asked him how his day was and he yelled, "AWESOME!" so I guess he had a good day. Now this officially closes birthday season for our house. We start the next season with Ava's first birthday, but that's not until April 2nd, so be ready!

Pictures of our vacation

Picture # 1 Ethan and Owen shooting their bb(?) guns. We talked about senseless killing, so no animals were hurt by these weapons, just alot of cans and bottles.

Picture #2 Beautiful Ava sleeping while the boys fished

Picture # 3 Fishing

Picture #4 Family picture on the 4th of July

Picture #5 Jack throwing rocks

Picture #6 more fishing

Picture #7 Jack before the fireworks

What we learned on vacation

Most of you know (because most of you were there) that we just got back from our vacation to Utah. It was alot of fun and there is alot that I can write, but i'd probably just bore you with the details, so I decided to write a list of what we learned. There will be more pictures with my next post, I just have to wait for Devin to get home with his computer (another long story) so for now I just have these two pictures and "The List"

What Tiffany learned on vacation:

* It's possible for a child to ask "Are we in Nevada yet?" 400 times in one minute.

* Blueberry pancakes are worth waiting an hour for at IHOP.

* A queen size bed is not big enough for an adult and a three year old that never stops moving, even in his sleep.

* A fourth of July parade is not a parade without a 100 million ton tank driving down a rather small main street.

*Eating homemade taffy that was thrown off a make shift float will not kill you.

*All craft ideas start in Utah and get pretty diluted by the time they reach Southern California.

* Firework shows are so much better when it's 108 degrees at 10 at night and you have a trembling three year old curled up in your shirt.

*My grandparents are very interesting people that have lead very interesting lives.

*Uncle Jack was an alcholic, who would've guessed?

* Fishing is as barbarrack as I thought it was, yet so excting to see my boys catch their 1st fish, and then their second, the third got kind of boring and by the fourth and fifth I was ready to go. (See picture above)

* Sunblock is not as affective while fishing.

*Frying fish is easier then I thought, but I would have to be starving to actually try eating one!

*Everything tastes better when it is cooked in a dutch oven especially peach cobbler!

*Devin has an incredible blood supply in his chin.

*With a little creativity I am able to make a pretty good pressure bandage in a hotel room at 11:00 at night (See above picture)

* There is no such thing as to many scones.

* I do not know much about astronomy and making up answers no longer works.

* It takes 8 hours to get to Cedar City and 13 hours to get home.

What Devin learned on Vacation:

* Tiffany will wait an hour for blueberry pancakes

* Fishing is pretty easy at a 12 and under pond

* Wearing a helmet while riding quad runners is always a good idea.

*Chins can bleed alot!

*Someone always has to use the bathroom no matter how many times we stop.

What Ethan, Owen, and Jack learned on vacation:

*Mom will tell us when we get to Nevada, we can stop asking.

*Hotel beds are much more comfy if you jump on them before you lay down.

*Fishing with Daddy and Papa Casey is really fun, especially since they bait the hooks, cast the line and take the fish off the hooks.

*We are more afraid of blood then we thought.

* Mommy and Grandma DA are good cooks, but are not able to make fish sticks or sushi with the fish we caught


*Pretending to eat our good food, then filling up on junk food will result in a tummy ache every time.


*We shouldn't name a fish that we are going to eat, it's just weird


*Throwing rocks into a pond never gets old


*Fireworks aren't as scary when watched from the inside of mom's shirt (Jack)


*Wrestling in the back seat while driving on the freeway really makes mom and dad mad.





What Ava learned on vacation:


*My family is crazier then I originally thought!





We did have alot of fun and we all realized just how lucky we are to belong to such an amazing family. Nothing beats sitting in the circle in Kanaraville and connectiong with your roots. I feel blessed every day for my family and trips like this really make me remeber how lucky I am!

Ava the bathing beauty

Today Ava and Emma made their swimming debut in our pool. O.k. so they didn't really get into the pool, but we did dip their feet in and they seemed to really like it. Sorry for the poor quality picture, but she kept moving everytime I tried to take a picture. She still looks cute though!

On a totally other note I need to vent, why is it that no one can pronounce or spell Ava's name right? I mean it sounds just like it's spelled and it's spelled just like it sounds, so what's the problem??? Everyone wants to spell it with an E or they pronounce it Eva or Ehva. Even her doctor's office wrote Eva on her immunization record. HELLO!?!? Did they not read the millions of pieces of paper that they made me fill out???? I WROTE AVA!! In all fairness we do tend to call her Sassy more then Ava, so I have to let Jack get away with the occasional "Eva", but he is only three years old. NO EXCUSES FOR ANYONE ELSE!! Ahhhhhhhhhh, I feel better, thanks for listening (reading) . I promise my next post won't be so psychotic.

Ode to the stomach flu

Once again we have been struck with the stomach flu! It was a horrible bug that even got Whitney and Chase this time. I'm glad to report that we are all feeling better now and we can get back to enjoying our summer. The boys are feeling good and are running all over the house again. I'm so glad that I am breastfeeding Ava so I know she can't catch it. Just another wonderful advantage of mother's milk!! I don't have any pictures to post with this post (be thankful) So I promise to find something exciting to do this week and hopefully have alot of pictures to share.

When toilet seats attack. And cubscout camp!

I am always amazed at the predicaments (spelling?) that boys seem to get themselves in. I always try to be prepared for any situation, but I never came up with a plan of action of how I would remove a toilet seat from my three year olds neck. Now it wasn't a panic situation. I mean you can tell from the pictures that there was plenty of room for Jack to grow into the toilet seat. I'm figuring we could've just left it on for the next 5 years and he would've been fine. But the next thought that came to my mind was the fact that I was due to pick up Ethan from CubScout camp in about 30 minutes and I would be a little embarassed to walk into the Stake center with a walking toilet seat. I tried pulling the seat off his head, but it kept getting stuck on his ears. I asked him how he got the seat on his head, but he couldn't remember. So I did the only thing I could think of, I called my mom. She assessed the situation over the phone and determined it was not an emergency, so she sent my dad. My dad tried pulling ( I guess he didn't trust my pulling abilities) Then he asked if I had a hack saw.

me : "A HACK SAW!!, ON JACK'S NECK!!!"

dad: hmmmmmmmmmmm, How about baby shampoo.

Ah hah!! Baby shampoo is safe, it wouldn't even burn his eyes. So we lathered up Jack's head (picture #2) and off slipped the toilet seat. I was so relieved, but Jack was pissed. Apparently he liked the toilet seat on his head, I mean he put it there right? My dad consolled him with an otter pop that my mom brought over and all was calm once again. I was able to pick Ethan up from cub scout camp and no one would have ever known what had happened except Jack's head was still soaking wet from his mid-afternoon shampoo.

On to other news...Ethan went to cubscout day camp!!!!! And he actually had a great time! It certainly was a growing experience for both of us. I felt horrible leaving him there. He didn't know anyone and it was his first time doing anything with cubscouts. When I left him his lip was trembling and so was mine. I called to check on him an hour after I left and they said he was doing fine. When I picked him up the first thing he asked was "Can I come back next Saturday?" Needless to say, he had a blast! He learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, light a fire with a magnifying glass, tie knots,make a catapult, and went on a treasure hunt. He did all that in three hours. Plus managed to eat 4 pieces of pizza and ice cream. He even performed in a skit. I am so glad I made him go, but it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.

I confirmed today that being a mother is exhausting!!!

On a side note, I just wanted to thank Owen and Ava for not adding to my stress today, but then again, the day isn't over yet!!