One man's trash is another man's treasure

I went to my brothers house this past weekend. Boy, did I hit the JACKPOT!! Their neighbors had cleaned out their garage and were throwing away so many amazing things. I guess the saying "One man's trash is another mans treasure" was a definite in this case. 

We left with a skateboard, a five man tent in perfectly good condition, rollerblades, a bike, an electric scooter, a regular scooter. My brother took some great stuff as well. I should have taken a picture of it all. It was Crazy!! I asked them why they weren't at least donating it and they said they didn't have the time. I was shocked because around here, you just call the Red Cross and they will come pick up items and they don't even charge you. It's a simple phone call!! They said they didn't want to wait. All I could imagine was the garbage men taking these perfectly great items and throwing them in a landfill. What a waste!!! What a great weekend to stop at my Brother's house!

I packed things happily and giddy into the van until I couldn't possibly fit one more item. My husband rolled his eyes, as he let me know how many projects I have to finish, knowing these things could easily crowd our garage. I thought, hey, if we don't use them, we can sell them, and at the least we can give them away or donate them. I have a hard time watching people throw out stuff that can be used by others. These neighbors were literally throwing things away. I just about died because there were things that in my opinion should at least be donated!

As you can see in this picture, the bike these people were throwing away was the same bike that my daughter has!! Yes, it squeaked a little, but not bad enough to throw away. Avery had friends over and they had a great time riding bikes, but after a few weeks I ended up selling it for $40. Not a lot of cash, but someone got a great deal and I was able to make a few extra bucks!

The skateboard we ended up taking was way better than the one we had at home and it has become Boston's favorite toy. Now both boys can use skateboard with out having to fight over it. Boston is actually pretty great on a skateboard, unlike his momma! He may just want to snowboard this year instead of ski. I guess we'll find out!

School Bells a Ringin!

I'm sure I'm not the only Mom that is excited for school to start back up. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and we have all kind of fun together during the summer, but the week before school starts my kids are ready to get back and see their friends again, the whole house is full of anticipation. It is so nice to have a break during the summer, but almost just as nice to have a schedule and have a few moments to myself, kid free. The kids were excited for school to start this year. Avery will be in the 5th grade- last year for Elementary school in our neck of the woods. Boston will be in the second grade and Van will be a big Preschooler! Happy first Day!

 Avery was so excited for school to start. As a 5th grader, she is now apart of the Eyewitness Eagles News crew and was lucky enough to be chosen to be on the morning news the first day of school with her friend Noemi.

This was the first year Boston did NOT want to be walked to his class. He's a big second grader now. As I watched him confidently walk up the stairs by himself I realized how independent he has become. I wish I could say he looked back and blew me a kiss, but nope- not this kid. He didn't even look back to see if I was still watching him. That's Boston for ya- not that he doesn't love us but he is definitely growing up and trying to show us that he's o.k. doing things on his own.

Next stop was Van's Preschool. As he impatiently waited with his arms crossed, eyebrows scrunched in, and a few foot impatient foot stomps at the elementary school, he was all smiles as we rushed to the car to take him to school. It was finally his turn! He was so excited to go to school with his new batman backpack. He was giddy as he walked through the doors. As we walked through the doors, he did get quiet. That's how Van is. He likes to observe. I wouldn't be surprised if he only said a few words that day. It takes him a while to warm up but it doesn't mean he doesn't like it, he actually loves school. He just likes to warm up to everyone first. I know he's going to have a great year!

Beach Bums

We had so much fun with our friends at the beach this weekend. It was so nice to relax and fun before school starts. Avery's friend K got a new surfboard for her birthday so the girls had all kinds of fun catching waves.

Do you like our sand couch? Isn't it amazing. We had all kinds of fun taking turns relaxing on it. I wish I could say that we built it, but that didn't happen. Someone else did and left it for us to enjoy. Lucky us!!
Van, Boston and R had lots of fun playing in the sand. Let's just say we took two showers to get all the sand off of their bodies!!!

While we were at the beach we ran into Morgan who was Van's little friend from preschool. It was so fun to see them again. Van had the biggest crush on her at school (refer to princess post) and he still talks about her so it was a treat to get to see her and her family again.

As much as I love and miss the Mountains, it is pretty darn nice to live close to the beach!

 If you haven't been to Zion's National Park, It is a must. Last summer I was lucky enough to experience the park with a friend. The whole time I kept thinking, I need to bring my kids here! It is absolutely amazing. My sister in law and I wanted to go to Southern Utah while we were in Utah, but it was hard to find time with all the things we had planned while we were there. Finally it was Sunday night and I was leaving on Tuesday. We thought about it, and as crazy as it sounds, decided to take 5 kids for a one night trip. We packed up early the next morning and went straight to Zion's and did some amazing hikes. The first was Emerald Pools. Unfortunately they were doing some construction on this hike so we could only go to the lower pools. We still had a great time. Van always had to be the leader on this hike and would freak out if anyone passed him by. When we were finished the kids were still up for another hike so we headed over to Weeping Rock. It was a short hike but so beautiful to look at. We had an amazing time.

Emerald Pools

Weeping Rock

Our next stop was St George, Utah so we could take the kids to see Aladdin at the Tuachan Theater. I absolutely love this outdoor theater. The red Rocks in the background are breathtaking and they always put on amazing shows. The kids had a great time. Our favorite part was watching the magic carpet fly over the crowd as Jasmine and Aladdin sang "A whole new world"

The kids were exhausted after such a fun filled day. As short as our trip was, it was worth it!

Park City Fun

This summer we were able to go with our friends to Park City Mountain resort. It is tradition to take a trip to Park City and ride the Alpine Slide and Alpine Coaster. Avery, Boston and Van always have so much fun and it was even better this time around because we got to share the experience with friends. As I was riding the coaster with Van his hands went up in the air like a roller coaster champ, crying "Faster! Faster!" He's my little dare devil. What a fun day for us!! 

 Melissa has been one of my best friends since Junior High. We both had our girls 5 weeks apart. We did all kinds of fun things together up until they were toddlers and we both moved outside of Utah. Luckily when we visit Utah, we are lucky to be there at the same time as they are so they have remained friends over the years. I love watching them giggle and have fun together. I only wished we lived closer.

Oh happy Days!

It's always so fun to go back and see everyone I grew up with. It;s amazing that everyone now has kids that are almost the same age I was when I met all these guys. It was so nice to laugh about the past, catch up on what everyone has been doing and look towards the future. I love every single one of these guys and know that no matter how long we don't speak, we always start right back from where we left off. These friends are keepers!!

YUM!

One thing I love about going to Washington is the fresh berries that are everywhere. We decided to go berry picking while we were in Seattle. We had lots of fun picking them at a U-pick farm.  The only problem was we had to search hard because there weren't too many berries left at the farm. We had great fun but wished we had time to pick more. On our way home from berry picking we stopped by the house my husband grew up in. As we slowly drove up the gravel road to his house we noticed there were fresh wild raspberries everywhere on the side of the road. We scurried out of the car and started picking. We picked the same amount of berries that took us an hour to pick at the berry farm in 15 minutes on the side of the road. I couldn't believe how many berries there were with no one to pick them!! Genise and I made 22 tubs of raspberry jam, a raspberry cobbler and we had more berries for just plain eating then we could have hoped for! Yum!

Mr Pottyman

So Van is finally potty trained. This picture marks the first day he was free from diapers and in big boy underpants. Doesn't he look so proud? He is such a funny little dude.
He actually had a hard time deciding if he wanted to wear big boy underpants. I think he really wanted to hold on to the fact that he was and still is our baby. Many times when Boston or Avery would start whining and I would say "You're being a baby", Van would jump in the conversation and say "NO! I'm the baby". I could see the wheels turning in his little brain when I let him know that just because he was going to wear big boy underwear didn't mean that he wouldn't be our baby. He will always be our baby. He really and truly loves being the baby. I think it's sweet. One more reason that he is my last. I love you my little Vanner!

Memorial Weekend

This memorial day we decided to stay up at my parents condo in Merritt Island. Unfortunately for us when we got to the beach, there were jellyfish EVERYWHERE, and not just a few hundred- thousands and thousands. I didn't dare get in the water. I have never seen the beach looked like that, EVER! It was disappointing and really cool all at the same time.

So instead of the beach we decided to go to the local aquatic center and had a great time. They have a diving board and a really fun slide that the kids loved. They also had a huge splash park. Lucky for us, Ryan and Tori have an awesome underwater camera so for hours we had fun just taking pictures.

Owen and Van had fun swimming together.

I'm so glad they live so close to us! They a great little buddies!

Boston Jack Attack

love the clouds above Ty in this pic

Avery and Kaelie weren't into tanning (thankfully) instead they decided to stay under their towels and play with their electronic gadgets and not get burnt. Miles is my youngest nephew. He is such a little sweetie and so happy all the time!

my two favorite pictures of van. I love his hair in the underwater one and I love that his swim suit was barely holding on. He was obsessed with shooting his water gun.

Avery and Kaelie. Gotta love Avery's face.

Aves and I

Kevin is always making faces and is probably about ready to kill me for posting this

Love this of Boston jumping off the diving board

Ry Ry

So at the end of the day I think I preferred the aquatic center over the beach anyways. It was a great memorial day weekend and lots of fun spending time with family.

Happy Father's Day

So lately every time Boston gets in trouble he says "You are the MEANEST Dad/Mom in the WORLD!!!" Kevin thought it would be so funny to get a shirt that said that on it, and what perfect day to give it to him? Father's day! We made him a shirt and this is what it looked like. I put the saying on the front and the kids faces on the back. Kevin is quite the joker so yes this wasn't something he felt bad about (he actually thought of it). He loved it and we love him. Happy Fathers Day to one of the most incredible guys I know! You amaze me! Love ya Kev!

They also made this with no help at all. I think it turned out perfect!

Hey "Mr Goodbar"
This is from us "Junior Mints"
You are one "Hot tamale"
You are "extra" funny
You are very "Special" to us
Happy "watchamacallit" day
Love your "3 musketeers"