Made my day!

Another week has come and gone with no job offers for Brady yet. It's been a rough month for us, but we are trying to make the most of it by doing free family activities and just spending time together. Brady has been a huge help around the house, he even organized the garage! We have been able to go to the splash park a couple of times as well. This last time Zenock said he was going to be happy about wearing a life jacket...good for him! He has figured out that if he has a life jacket on he can get around in the water by himself and it's not scary! I just like the water slide!!

Sunday and Monday we had some fabulous weather. I'm not saying a summer of sunshine isn't nice, but it's just too hot. However, those two days is was "fairly" cool...in the low 90's. Sunday evening we were outside and I noticed how cool it felt. Sure enough, it wasn't even 85! I was really happy. I made the most of it by cleaning up the patio and having the kids pick up all the rocks they have spread all along the turf. I think they only got 1/3 of them taken care of, but there's a lot of rocks out there where rocks don't belong. Leave it to boys to find a way to scatter dirty stuff all over the yard. I am sure if it wasn't rocks it would have been sand, or dirt, or some other landscaping material. They're just so good at making a mess.

There are 17 days left until Ammon starts kindergarten....do you think I am excited? YEP!!! I am excited for someone who has the patience to answer his mound of never-ending questions. I am excited for him to learn new things like reading and spelling words. I am excited to save all those cute art projects. And I am excited to have just one kid home for a couple of hours (at least until the baby comes). Summer is quickly coming to an end, HURRAY!!! Then we can play outside more, and the boys can ride their bikes as much as they want. Hopefully then they won't be so bored!

Another day

Today ended up being not what I expected. I got up with Ammon twice during the early early morning hours so he could be sick. I had him finish the night on the couch witha bowl beside him just in case. Zenock was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7 am, except that he had his whiney button turned on permenantly. I stayted home with Ammon from church and he was feeling better. He ate a piece of toast and then said, "Oh, Mom. That was so good. Can I have another piece?" I definitely know how he feels. When something actually tastes good you just have to have more. Zenock refused to go to church since I wasn't going, so he stayed home too. Brady said he had a nice time at church though. I am sure sacrament meeting was much better since he didn't have to break up arguments or take kids to the potty/drinking fountain more than once! I thought Ammon was getting better before naptime, but he got sick again...but maybe he is done with that by now. I just hope Zenock doesn't have his turn tonight. He's been complaining all day about his tummy hurting, but I'm not sure if it's because it actually does or because he is copying Ammon.

I also found out today that as of today, Brady has applied for 54 jobs since last Sunday. I just wanted to cry when he told me that. I thought applying for 50 jobs in 6 months was a lot (that's what I did every six months for two years before giving up). We also found out that had Brady not quite his job when he did, he would have been let go along with several others at the end of the week. So either way he would have been jobless. I just keep hoping that he will apply for the right job that will let him start asap...since he can't get unemployment. Keep us in your prayers, please. We need all the heavenly help we can get right now.

In some other exciting news in our family, I am pregnant with our third baby. I am 15 weeks along, and I am still sick. Although today has been remarkably good. I have good days and not so good days, and so far I think I have had only 3 cravings: Taco Bell's taco salad, california rolls (non raw fish sushi), and yesterday I had some soda crackers with cheese slices. I keep saying I am so unsatisfied food-wise most of the time because I am nauseated a lot and have no desire to eat anything. Not to mention the fact that absolutely nothing sounds good to me...except for those 3 times. People ask me all the time if I think it's a boy or a girl, and honestly I have no idea. It's a baby. We get to find out what the sex is in 3 weeks, but I am thinking I might have the tech just write it on a paper and seal it in an envelope so I can open it on my birthday. I think that would be an awesome present!

Picutes from our vacation

Getting used to this heat

We have had some really fun adventures in the last few weeks. We were able to go to our 10 year high school reunion (I enjoyed it very much), visit family and friends in Idaho, and bring my sister back with us for almost a week. I went to the temple with one of my sisters while we were both home, and Brady and I tried to go when we got back, but the temple is closed for cleaning. We didn't find that out until we got there though! We went to a Pioneer Day celebration put on by our stake today, the highlights were seeing our kids on the float and getting soaked by a fire truck hose.
I am so, so, so excited for the day to move back to Idaho...whenever that happens in the next few years, since I am really having a hard time with the heat. It seems silly to me to trap the kids inside all day during a time when they should be outside most of the day. I guess that's what October - April is for here! Shopping during the day is a nightmare, at least the walk to and from the car. We also finally got our dishwasher fixed. It has been broken for a month, then when we came back from vacation the part was finally in, so the repair man came out and I had to call him to come back the next day because the timer he installed was somehow bad or upside down because the off postion was where the rinse cycle should have started. It was a little amusing! So after a new door latch and two timers, we are finally back in business! I really, really, really love using a dishwasher, even if it is the space-saver size.
I am working on downloading the camera and sorting pictures to put on here from our vacation and the parade today, so there will be another update soon.

Happy Birthday America!!

I love this holiday so much. The music makes me get a little emotional because I think about all those thousands of people who gave their lives so I could live free. Brady likes this holiday too because he LOVES fireworks. Tomorrow we are going to take a drive to the beginning rim of the Grand Canyon. It's only about 2 or 3 hours from our house. I am excited to do something I have never done before. Brady has only been there once, when he was 5 or 6. So this will be a really fun day trip for everyone. I hope you all get to enjoy this special holiday with your families too!

Found more free fun

Last night we were a little bored, so Brady got on the computer to find some more free stuff to do here. And then we went for a drive down to the Strip after dinner. He took us to Caesar's Palace and after walking for what seemed like forever (especially to Zenock) we found a really cool aquarium with several Mr. Ray's and Dori's and other fish. The kids loved it. We saw several fountains with cool statues, and a few of those have water/light shows at the top of the hour. We missed the shows, but the water was still fun. Brady let the boys throw some pennies into one of the fountains, and they loved that. But I forgot the camera. So use your wild imaginations for how cool it looked. We also found an escalator that went up and down in a circle. I think we rode it twice. It was nice to get out and about, but it would have been better had I kept the umbrella stroller. Zencok complains about walking a lot, and he's really slow. I am very grateful he has decided that rides on Daddy's shoulders are now fun instead of scary. It was much faster and easier that way. Free stuff is really fun!

CNN Special

This special is from a series on CNN about different faiths. I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was cool, so I want to share with all my blog readers out there. I LOVE going to the temple! Brady and I went yesterday, and I felt so refreshed afterward. I love the peaceful feeling inside the temple. I love spending time with just my husband and I. I love being a member of the Church so I can expereince the wonderful blessings of the temple. And I am very thankful for wonderful neighbors who are willing to trade babysitting so we can go out and not have to schedule or pay a babysitter. Sometimes when we schedule to go to the temple things happen and we aren't able to go, so we have found spontaneous trips work the best for us. I am so grateful the temple is only 20 minutes away!

Our funny Prophet

May I borrow $5?

My wonderful mother-in-law emailed this story to me. I thought I would share it with you. This is one of the reasons I don't work outside of my home. It's rough on the kids and the parents too.

A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at the door.

SON: 'Mummy, may I ask you a question?'

MUM: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the woman.

SON: 'Mummy, how much do you make an hour?'

MUM: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the woman said angrily.

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'

MUM: 'If you must know, I make $20 an hour.'

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Mummy, may I please borrow $5?"

The mother was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut
the door..

The woman sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the woman had calmed down, and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $5 and he really didn't ask for money very often.The woman went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' She asked.

'No Mummy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the woman. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $5 you asked for.'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you Mummy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The woman saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his mother.

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the mother grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.

'Mummy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow.
I would like to have dinner with you.'

The mother was crushed. She put her arms around her little son, and she begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $20 worth of your time with someone you love.

Railroad Museum

This slideshow (thank you Keriann for showing me how to do this) is from our adventures in Boulder City, 15 minutes from our home. They have a train museum we got to see. There are pictures of the post office car we got to go inside of. We also took a ride on the train from Boulder City to Railroad Pass Casino, the origional casino built in the 1930's for those working on Hoover Dam. It was a very fun day.

Summer is here!

The last month has been eventful. The weather has turned HOT, so we go swimming often at Brady's mom's house. The boys love it. I like it when the pool is heated and it's not too windy outside.

Ammon and Zenock's first day of preschool together. They are in the same 2 classes, an art class and a science class. Last week they learned about rainbows and frogs and volcanos. I love to have 1 1/2 hours to myself twice a week, and they love to learn. So it works well for all of us!

We have discovered local sray parks throughout the area. This is a picture of me showing the boys how to run under the water. It was SO COLD!! And the wind was really bad that day, so I was freezing after this.


I made these aprons out of a pair of old jeans. Mine is one leg, and the boys' are made out of the other leg. Zz's is a little short, but he loves it. His is Thomas, and Ammon's is planets. He was excited about the saturn/jupiter pocket.

Cleaning up his rock mess. What a helper!

Playing in the water, before it started to get too hot to play outside.

Zz put his shorts on by himself. Is there something wrong with this picture? He sure had a hard time walking!

More spray park.

Zenock sitting on the water.

I LOVE this picture!!

Boys got to go camping with Dad by Red Rock Canyon. They loved it...but Brady was so glad to get home. It's hard to do stuff with kids but without the other half.

Zz in the tent.

Filling up the pool.

Blowing bubbles in the water with a straw.

This is a dump truck wash, they tell me.