4th OF JULY!

4th of July this year was America's 250th Birthday!! We were thinking about going up to Idaho to spend it with the Stolworthys but tickets were so expensive we just decided to stay here. But the closer it got the more I didn't want to be here. I thought of a lot of different options...but I also knew that if we didn't "leave" somewhere then the twins wouldn't hang out with us and I really wanted to spend it with them. So 6 days ago Jared and I booked a stay-cation at the Scottsdale Grand Hyatt Resort. We headed up there around lunch time, checked into our room, staked out a spot to call our own, ordered lunch by the pool, Miami Vices, strawberry daquiris, pina coladas, ice cream, etc. The boys swam, wrestled in the pool, played volleyball, we laughed and joked around together, got dinner together, watched fireworks together, ate a whole bag of pirates booty, etc. It was the perfect 24 hours! I love getting away with the twins and they put their phones away and we get to see their funny personalities! So grateful for this great nation we live in, so grateful for all our forefathers did for our country and so grateful to all those for fight to protect these great freedoms we have! God bless America! 

MY FIRST GARDEN!

 Well technically I did some 5 gallon bucket gardens many years ago with Jaime Votaw - but that doesn't count. In March after basketball ended and there was no baseball to fill my life I wanted to find a hobby. I decided that gardening was it. Jared was very sweet and indulged my dreams....we spent over $2,000 getting the garden ready, buying the beds, soil, plants, vines, etc. I mean in all reality I will probably never even save $2000 from the garden, but I love that he let me do it, cause I also needed it to be pleasing to the eye.  For the first season we planted: tomatoes, tomatillos, basil, mint, cilantro, cucumbers, 3 kinds of bell peppers, carrots, green onions, jalepenos, watermelon and cantaloupe. 

The neighbors chickens have reaped the benefits of my garden....we never got to eat a tomato so we tossed all of them to them, the tomatillos never worked out, the green onions never grew....we grew 3 carrots...got lots of cucumbers and turned them into pickles - that was a success...ate one cantaloupe so far and it was so sweet and juicy....the cilantro died...the basil and mint went buck wild....and so far that's it! 

DELLA DOO CAME FOR ANOTHER VISIT!

 Miss Della Doo came for another visit...well really Emma needed to come here for a cheer clinic so she brought her with her and we got to yum her up and play with her all week! We took her to Nathan's pool one day, took her on some errands because she loves to get out, introduced her to baby goldfish crackers, took her to frost gelato and then to the San Tan mall splash pad. She got SOAKED! But she LOVED every minute of it! She was having the best time splashing all around in it! Emma and I took her to In-N-Out for her little 9 month photo shoot...I seriously can't with her faces she makes, they are the BEST! We love this little girl so much! Counting down the days until the next visit....

TWINS TURN 18!

 Summer birthdays are hard - people are out of town...the boys didn't say much of what they wanted to do or really what they even wanted for their birthday...well that's not true...Tyson sent me multiple lists but Tyler wouldn't say a single thing. So we got Tyson what he wanted and gave Tyler cash! I did want to make sure they had a good birthday though...they had basketball practice in the morning so I talked to Coach Nuttall and I dropped off 3 dozen donuts in the morning and then coach had the team sing Happy Birthday to them and passed out the donuts. The boys told me I was absolutely not allowed to do that, but I know they secretly loved it! Then after practice they went to McDonalds with the Fullmer boys. Then I had talked to Nash and asked him to get some bball boys together and arrange for a quick little breakfast run with the twins, but he did me one better! He texted their close friends and had them show up at our house at 12 and suprise the boys with a birthday lunch! Then they all hung out all day together and Nash's house, went to dinner and stayed the night! Jared and I were feeling bad that we hadn't hung out with them, but on the other hand we knew they were having the best day....but we did end up showing up Nash's house with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake for all their friends! We love them so much and they are loved by many! Happy Birthday babies! 4 days AFTER their birthday they were finally available for us to take them to dinner...they picked The Keg! Thanks for squeezing us in boys! 

RANDOM SPRING SHENANIGANS!

 Random spring things I want to remember...Della and Emma came to visit. Tyler doesn't want to hold her, but if you put her by him, he will touch her and it's the cutest! Tyler and Tyson spent every Sunday going to Mission Prep in our old stake with the Brooks! Jared surprised me with the shoes I wanted AND the expensive church outfit! Sara and I kept going to the Temple once a week! We had our ward Senior Sendoff! Some random kid who showed up new that week so we let him come last minute and never saw him again, ha ha! Tate, Tessa, Lilly and Lynlee! We let Tyson get instagram so he could join Austin Brown's dunk ball league! Sara and I showed up to help Doorly move and were dressed the same! We took the youth to the Easter pageant! I needed to go get my toes done at a place because Jessyca was off for a month so my mom and I went together! For St Patricks Day I gave the boys a green basket filled with green treats! And Brasser got his mission call and it was fun to show up and see some of Eli's old buddies and they even facetimed him so he could watch it live!