Spencer's first trip in the Pool

It was hard to take the 4 boys in the pool by myself, but my Dad came in to help. This day it was only 3 of them so Spencer got his first taste of the pool. He loves bathtime so I knew he'd like the pool. At first he just clung on to us like a baby monkey, but as soon as we got him a ball and showed him how to splash he was in heaven! The other 2 had lots of fun too.

The Johnson Space Center

The Johnson Space Center is really a fun place for kids. Michael & Ammon spent most of the day seeing all kinds of space crafts and doing fun things - like bungees and standing by cool pictures. Michael took a quite a few of the pictures. I wish I could have been there.

Talmage, Garrett & I had some fun too!!

When Michael took Ammon to Texas, the other 3 boys and I stayed at my parents house. The start to a long Mesa summer. On that Friday I took Talmage and Garrett to the Phoenix Zoo. We had fun in our 98 degree weather. We stayed only for a short time but the boys got to see the animals and ride the merry go round. Plus the free Icee really was a hit. We also went to see Kung Fu Panda, which they both just loved. And so did I. Amazingly, neither of them fell asleep during the movie. Talmage had gone to see the new Narnia movie with my parents and fell asleep. It's a very long movie for a 4.5 year old who likes to wake up at 5:30 am every day.

Houston Zoo

Ammon had his vacation with my parents just after his party. He got to see Kung Fu Panda, swim and relax before the big trip to Texas with Dad. He was really excited to fly on a plane, even leaving the house at 4:45am.

Their first stop was the Houston Zoo. Ammon says this was his favorite part of the trip. They got to see lots of animals, and get really hot and sweaty. Houston was hot and humid. They had a ton of fun. And now the other boys want to go to Texas. Maybe next year sometime. The Zoo was only first on their trip.

Ammon's 7th Birthday

The weekend after school got out for Ammon we started his summer of fun, before the big surgery!! Since Ammon's birthday is the 1st of July and we knew that Ammon was going to have surgery we planned his Pokemon birthday party a month early. We had a great time with his friends. Abe, Dylan, Caden & Olivia were all in his 1st grade class. Poor Olivia always seems to be the only girl at Ammon's parties, but we love her and her family and are glad to have them over. Ammon got fun Pokemon, Ben 10 and Power Ranger toys. Plus the ever fun for him clothes. (no kid likes clothes, but the parents love them. Actually he really liked the outfits Aunt Marilynn got him.) Nana & Papa Stiles, and Aunt Marilynn and Karen came up the hill from Mesa and Peoria to enjoy the fun. Grandma & Grandpa King were on the vacation around the world.

Spencer's 1st birthday FIESTA!!

It's fun having a birthday at the beginning of summer. This year the weather was great for an outside fiesta. Spencer's birthday is May 4, the day before Cinco de Mayo, so I've been planning a fiesta for the past year. We sent out chili pepper invites. I made chili pepper shirts for the boys: Ammon's said Wicked Hot, Talmage - HOT one, Garrett - Little Hottie, Spencer - Little Hot Stuff, Michael - steamy (like McSteamy from Grey's Anatomy. I think he looks like the actor who plays him) Mine - RED HOT! I even made them for the Nana & Grandma FIESTA! And our aunts had ones like Peppery, Spicy, Mild HOT, & Fiery. If you've ever met any of our aunts you could probably guess which went with who. Over all it was a fun night with quesidellas, beans, pinata, cake and ice cream. We were so excited to have mine and Michael's aunts come, and a friend of my aunts from California. We loved having Spencer's great grandparents West there with Wade. Grandpa West has a special connection with Spencer because Spencer's middle name is West. And we had had him bless Spencer last year. Plus we had friends who we consider family there with us. We love to party with the friends and family.

Garrett's Birthday

Summer activities seemed to start with Garrett's 3rd birthday party in April. He loves Little Einsteins on Disney so that was his theme. We had a great turn out with 5 kids from nursery. We had lots of fun with these little girls and boys. And best of all we had Nana & Papa Stiles, Grandma & Grandpa King and Aunt Marilynn & Aunt Karen all come up to help us celebrate. My mom helped me with the cake decorating. She is the master, but I am really picking up the creative juices on this. I've been watching the Ace of Cakes on Food Network and that is totally inspired me!! I've already started planning out Ammon's Pokeball cake!