Baptized

On Saturday, July 16 Max was baptized by his dad. This was such a special day and I was so proud that Max made the decision to be baptized.




I didn't take many pictures, but was so grateful for all of the family and friends who took the time to come. It really meant alot to Ian, Max and I.

After the baptism we went over to my mom and dad's for pizza, pool time and fun :)

I love my family. I feel so blessed to be Max's mother and to be a part of a family that loves and supports each other.

Spend the night

In the weeks leading up to Max's birthday, we went back in forth on whether or not he'd have a birthday party. I told him he could either have $50 or a birthday party. At first he wanted the party, but about a week before his birthday he started to negotiate. His first offer: "$60 and a spend the night." I countered with: "$40 and a spend the night." His response? "$50 and a spend the night." Sold!

So...a few weeks after his birthday he had Liam spend the night. Then Ben and Max begged for Christian to come too. So Liam and Christian spent the night. First up: swimming at grandma's.

Then we went to Peter Piper Pizza for pizza and fun. We love that place! After we came home for games. Xander, Max & Liam played laser tag while Ben, Christian and I played 5 Crowns. Ian had 120 minutes on - so we all enjoyed some great music.

The next morning we went for donuts at Bosa. I'm so grateful that my boys have these boys for friends - they are awesome!

and p.s. they all crack me up.

Vacation

Guess where we were last week?

Texts and Max

Ben got a cell phone. Never in my life did I think I would get my 11 year old a cell phone but times change and it seems like most of Ben's friends have them and communicate using texts. Also I am a little sick of getting 1,000 calls at work asking me things like, "Do you think Superman could beat Ironman in a fight?" Duh! Everyone knows that Superman would beat Ironman's arse! So now instead of getting calls, I'll be getting texts.

Anywho, Ben immediately started texting his friends. Every once in a while I'd hear Ben giggling and he'd be texting his friend Max. Max is such a happy, awesome kid. Just fun to be around. And he and Ben have the same sense of humor. A few days later we had Max over to spend the night. I had bought my Max (are you confused???) some silly string for his birthday so they went outside and had a silly string war. Unfortunately, I missed it. Also, now Evan insists that the only thing he wants for his birthday is silly string.

They also had some sword fights. And played a little basketball. Proof of the war:
Later, Max's mom picked them up and took them to the movies. Then she brought them back and Ian took them swimming. I had to go to work :(.

I'm thankful that Ben has such a great friend!

Scottsdale Getaway

My mom and dad have a Scottsdale timeshare that they use every June. We spent a lot of time there the third week in June. All the boys except Evan got to spend the night.

Xander relaxing:

We went out there Saturday, June 18th for Ruby's 2nd birthday.

The birthday girl:

Sisters:
Opening presents:

What girl doesn't love a new pair of shoes???
Cake and ice cream:

After opening presents and eating cake, we all headed down to the pool. I love that there is a splash pad, pool and spa there.



The boys playing a game. It looks like Xander is mad but he's not - they play a games where they are characters. Kind of like they are acting in a play. Ian and Trina taught the little boys to swim.



Birthday girl:


At this point Darrel splashed me, so it was on! As I went to put my camera away I snapped this picture of my mom and dad. They've been married for 43 years. More and more I'm realizing what an accomplishment that is.

I went back two other times during the week. On Thursday Kim and I went out and stayed for 5 hours. We ended up ordering pizza and watching SYTYCD with my mom. We had a blast.

One June evening...

When Jared and Tricia moved they gave their basketball hoop to my dad. He put it in our cul-de-sac so that the boys could have two hoops and they love it! They have so much fun.

June evenings are still bearable outside so the boys would go out at dusk and play around. Josh and Evan love to explore (notice Josh in his Indiana Jones outfit).

More bball.

Digging for treasure.

I love the neighborhood we live in. I love that the boys can play outside and I don't have to be stressed about. I feel lucky to live near family. It's awesome for me and for my kids.

Some June happenings...

A few weeks ago Kim and Brian had an extra ticket to see Les Miserables at Gammage and they invited me! Woohoo! I forgot how moving that play is - I might have shed a tear or two. Also, I love my sister Kim. She's the best. Ian took a picture of me all dressed up - I'm even wearing my super excited happy face!


The next day Ian went in to get an epidural shot in his back to help with the pain. They inadvertently did the wrong side so he ended up with 2 epidural shots. The good news is that he feels a lot better. He has been in so much pain for so long - I'm glad he finally got some release.

A few days later we celebrated his 39th birthday (one more year til 40 Ian - enjoy it while you can!). My mom and dad cooked him a steak dinner and I picked up an assortment of cheesecakes from the Cheesecake factory.

Our favorites were the de leche caramel:

and the key lime:
My dad loved the key lime so much that I ended up getting him his own key lime cheesecake for Father's Day.

This is just an every day - what's going on in the Trezise house-shot. I think this is right before Evan ran in to body slam them. Enjoy:

The night of Ian's birthday we had a visitor. He said his name was Indiana Jones.
I love how he is never Joshua. He's always a character, creature or superhero. I think he's going to be an actor like his big brother Adam.

To be continued...