Our Trip- Part One

I am enjoying a relaxing Sunday at my Grandmas house and figured I would blog while she watches Scooby-doo with the kids. (She thinks it is a very ridiculous show) We are on a three week trip and have been gone for six days so far. We spent three days in Seattle and then the next three in Tri-Cities. We are having a great time. My only complaint is that Matt is not with us. Wish he could get three weeks off and be with us, but can't really afford to take three weeks off! So, I am posting pictures so he can visualize what his family has been up to.

The flight here- Mazzi chillin' on the floor of the airplane- Ashton and Tera being silly. The kids were actually pretty good on the flight, but it was humorous checking in and getting my baggage. I had six bags, two car seats and one stroller and three kids. It was quite sight to behold.

First stop- Bothell, Wa to visit the Cooks. It was so nice to see their family and their new home. We miss them living close! We enjoyed some three-digit weather in Seattle without an AC. So we did the slip n' slide and the splash pad and just had fun being hot and sweaty with our good friends.

The boys enjoyed playing X-box and Wii. Even though it was very hot inside.

Despite the heat, Ashton really wanted to roast marshmallows so the agreed to using the fire pit. So hot! I am posting this lovely picture at Ryans request. I think it is hilarious. Shelley looks really classy right? Here's one below to show she really is a sweet beautiful girl.

We met up with my cousin Rachelle and her kids at Chism park. Carter and Ash enjoyed collecting all the dead fish they could find. It sure is beautiful and green there.Tera and Sydney eating cookie dough together.The kids helping create bugs to put on Carters b.day cupcakes. Rachelle and I making the infamous "Fish face" When Rachelle lived with us for a summer we would always make this face for pictures. IT was so nice seeing her again. She will always hold a special place in my heart and feel a bit like a sister to me. I adore her.

Next stop was the tri cities to visit my Grandparents. We stayed with my Grandma Bickle and ti was so nice being with her and having her play with the kids. Mazzi took to her right away.

My Grandma Scrimsher and I were able to attend a session at the Columbia Temple in Richland, Wa. It was nice spending that special time with her.

Grandma B putting legos together with Ashton. It was so cute to watch!

Swimming with my second cousins, Annette's, kiddos.

Tera feeding Mazzi Popsicles in Grandma B's front yard.

Grandma coloring with Tera.

Tera got to ride with Aunt Leslie on the horse. She had a huge smile on her face the whole time. Thanks Leslie!


Tera and Grace were instant buddies and it was so fun seeing them laugh and play together.

Now we are taking off for the Oregon Coast for a family reunion!
Matt feel free to spell check I posted this in a big hurry! Love you :)

Cheap summer fun.

I love seeing these three cute kids of ours crammed into this little five dollar pool from Target. Gotta do what it takes to stay cool in this weather!

Good sister

I love these pictures of Tera feeding Mazzi her peas. She is a good big sister.

Have I forgot you?

I redid my blog list to see the blogs that have been updated, and in the process I think I got rid of some your blogs- oops! If yours is missing please leave a comment with the link to your blog so I can add you- otherwise I might forget you exist.

Seven months

My baby is seven months old and chunkier and cuter than ever. She is starting to army crawl around to reach things she wants, my i-pod and camera cord being her favorite.

Some things I love about my little girl: Her whispy-mohawk hair. Her heavy breathing when she gets excited. Her bright eyes. Her chunky, squeezable thighs and buns. Slobbery baby kisses. Her sweet snuggles. Her "I love you so much I want to rip your hair out grabs," her contagious smiles, her sweet baby babbling . She is still the best baby ever. Love you Mazz.

Determination

Mazzi is a very laid back little girl, but when she wants something she gets this look in her eyes and goes for it. It is so cute to see her focus and get so determined.

You got it baby girl.

In our house, but not ours.

We had a dog who decided he wanted to be our dog and lived on our porch for a few days. I felt bad for the poor thing living out there in the 100+ degree weather. So, I decided to give him a bowl of water and some lunch meat. Matt said this was a dumb idea because the dog would think it was his house. I have always liked the idea of having a pet- but always envisioned a somewhat cute looking pet and this was definitely one of the ugliest dogs I have ever seen. Poor thing. He was part chihuahua and part some other ugly dog , was partly shaven and had cataracts all over his eyes and looked like his eyes were red. Scary! So I knew this could not become my pet. I would be too embarrassed to even allow people to think it was ours. But, it remained there because I didn't want to call the animal control people. But then I heard barking outside my door and opened it to see a bigger dog about to attack the poor ugly little fella. So, I chased the big dog away up the street shouting random things. When I returned the dog had entered my house (I had left the door open) and had ran upstairs and hid under Tera's bed. The poor little thing was terrified and I sure wanted that nasty little dog out of my house. Her whole room was filled with the smell of dirty dog. I couldn't’t get the dog to come out and wasn't going to reach under there and grab the potentially Rabi ridden dog, so called animal control and they suggested leaving the door open and seeing if the dog came out. Really helpful right? So, since Matt wouldn't be home for hours and I pictured fleas jumping all over my carpet, I called our friend Clint (he's always so good to help whenever I have a random task) and he came to the rescue. He flipped the bed over and got the dog out. He was so good and gentle and patient with the poor dog. Then he took him out and put her in his truck. She immediately warmed up and was so happy. So Clint drove her away from our house and dropped her off in a field. I wish I was kidding but that really is what he did. I said the dog could stay in our yard and I could wait for animal control but he thought he would just run in my house again. So, I hope somewhere out there this ugly, pathetic little dog is happy and will forgive us for booting him out. I still feel bad inside about the situation. But, I really couldn't' t keep this dog. Teras room smelled dirty for two days after the dogs invasion- even after a very intense vacuum session and febreeze. The dog was that nasty. Good luck dog.

PS- After typing this up I found the little dog back on our front porch. Who knows what my next move will be. Any one want a slightly hideous dog?

Purple Cobras- Mud Run

Last Saturday, Matt and I, along with the Hackers (aka the Purple Cobra's for those Dodge ball fans out there) teamed up to kick some major butt in the OC Mud run. We had high hopes of finishing first in the team race- okay not first- but high hopes of getting a decent time. I mean look at us- we are in elite shape right? I mean we even warm up and stretch together, kind of.
Our high hopes were quickly squashed when the race suddenly began and we found ourselves towards the end waiting in a really long line to go over the first of many obstacles- hurdles (seriously defeating the purpose of a race). This turned out to be a theme for the race: run, wait to go over an obstacle and then run again. And yes, we could have passed by the obstacles but then we should have just done a regular 5K. Then after about a mile Megan began to complain really annoyingly (j/k) about the duct tape holding her shoes on hurting her. I was uncomfortable too with gravel and mud in my shoes but I wasn't acting like a "twelve year old girl" about it. But when Rob and Matt tore off her shoes and there was blood all over her foot I realized I had been a witch and she had every right to be complaining.

So, accepting the fact that we would definitely not be getting a good time in this race- we both took our shoes off and ran the next two miles barefoot. We thought this would feel better, but I don't know if it did. There were several times that I stepped on sharp rocks, poky stickers and rough pavement that I wanted my shoes back. Matt and Rob even gave us piggy back rides through the extra rocky spots and the areas where I spied glass.

Needless to say, we did finish, just with a horrible time. But, it's not all about winning (or so I keep reminding myself) We had a lot of fun crawling through the mud, jumping over tires and hurdling over each other on the inner tubes through the stinky stream, (My favorite part) waiting in line for a long time to take a shower and eating at a really good Mexican Restaurant while licking some guys shadow on the wall (I reverted back to my high school self)

(Meagan's hair was a little gross after she took out the piggy tails!
The back of Me and Matt shirts said:Nobody makes me bleed my own blood, Nobody!
And the Hacker's shirts said:Cram it up your cramhole…

And the best part was the snake coming up the back of the guys' purple soccer socks. So hot!

I got the feeling back in my feet about 36 hours after the race occurred and the back of my feet stopped hurting two days later. Poor Megan got it a lot worse than me. She was a trooper and I feel bad that I thought she was being a pansy- poor girl. All I know is next year we are going to kick every one's trash by skipping all the obstacles and wearing shoes with long socks and NO duct tape. Can you tell I am a bit competitive?

The happy team getting all snugly together. I didn't realize Meagan and Matt's cheeks were actually touching until Meagan pointed it out- that is a little awkward :)

Next year - we will be back with even snazzier outfits. I have begun brainstorming already (not really- okay maybe a little) Have you noticed I like parenthesis? (a lot)

My dear husband...

I decided if Matt continues to fall asleep on the couch minutes after I ask him to do something- I will take a picture of him and blog about it. Doesn't that sound fair? So this may be the first of many blogs to come of my sleeping husband. Isn't he adorable? If you could only hear him loudly breathing to go along with it. Maybe next time I will post a video, but the one I got was too dark. This particular day I don't remember what I asked him to do... take out the trash or maybe unload the dishwasher, but the point is, it didn't happen because this is where he ended up. His new job is really wearing him out and me also because I have to take the garbage out a lot these days as he is usually working late. In fact, a few months ago I even mowed the lawn the first time in our marriage but it was a bad idea because now that he knows I can do it I have done it a few times. He really is working hard though and I have to say we are grateful that things have been picking up at his work and he has been selling more car insurance these days. Go Matt! I love you sweetie... Just stay awake until the garbages are taken out and you will be free from these embarrassing posts.

Oh, what do you do in the summertime?

We swim because it is ridiculously hot! I love to hang out at the pool and so do the kids. We don't have a pool in our community so we go along with whoever is going to a pool that day.

These are a little older but the kids were being so brave jumping off this wall with MY FRIEND Emily. :)

At the pool Mazzi discovered McKynlee tastes good after she eats strawberries. It was pretty cute seeing them kiss.

Fourth of July

We're a little late on the fourth of July post, but we had a great family day. We started the day with doughnuts at the park- in my book, doughnuts are the perfect way to start any day.

At the park, Ashton discovered he could do monkey bars by himself for the first time. (He has blisters to prove this) I also discovered I can do the monkey bars though they are very painful.

Then we went to Toms Farms and Ashton participated in the magic show. It is free every Sat. at 12:00 and 2:00 for those of you living in the area.

Then we hung out on the grass, listened to music and danced.

At night we watched the fireworks with friends. It was a great day.