Clayton turned eight & we think he's great!

I can't believe my first born is 8! I let the birthday boy pick the menu for the day. Clayton chose crepes for breakfast.


Uncle Jonathan got him a snow cone maker (I like this gift because I will personally benefit from it). So we made snow cones this morning before the boys left for swim lessons.


For lunch he went to Red Lobster with Laun & got shrimp.
For dinner he chose chicken packets as usual. He requested monster cake (chocolate/pistachio cake) for dessert-I had never made it before but, I showed him a picture of it & he was sold. He picked vanilla & rocky road ice cream to go with it.



He wanted his friend Aaron to come over so, we had their family over for dessert. It was a good thing because the cake was huge & we also shared some with the neighbors.


He got his own set of scriptures & a case to carry them in from Laun & I. He started reading some chapters that night:)

He also got money from both of his Grandparents which he was excited about.

But the highlight of his day was going to Breakers Water Park:

This was the first time that we had been to Breakers- it was so nice taking the day off from babysitting & spending time with my kids. We meet up with some ladies & kids from our old ward when we lived in Marana. Clayton was so excited to see his cousin Cannen.

Marlee loved the wave pool- everytime a wave knocked into her she smiled.

Clayton, Cannen & Porter in the wave pool

Marlee patiently waiting for her brothers to come down the slide

It took some convincing from Clayton to get Porter to go down the slide

I love how Porter is about to fall through the ring^

Clayton loved the slides^

We had such a great time-we stayed for 4 hours!

Clayton had a great birthday. We love him so much & we are so glad that he is part of our family. He is such a great big brother & helper to everyone. We love you Clayton!!!

Mt. Graham

Friday night we took the kids on a mini vacation. We stayed in a hotel in Wilcox & went swimming that night. The next morning we went to Mount Graham & it was so nice & green there.

Porter is reading up on lizard facts

It was so nice to be in cooler weather & surronded by green-something we don't see in Tucson much.

Chasing lizards-it is a team effort

If scrapped knees is a sign of having a fun time then Marlee had a blast

Porter holding a yarrows spiney lizard

I'm loving this new camera


Marlee reaching for a bug

The boys had one of their dreams come true this weekend- they have been wanting to drive through the clouds & they got to...

love this girl

The boys had fun looking for animals & finding big pinecones

It was cloudy & rainy a lot of the day

We tried to convince Marlee to smell the flowers but she just said all done

cute kiddos

We went on a hike & Marlee let me carry her on the way in but, then she wanted her dad to take her for the rest of the hike.

Laun took some great photos on our hike

I liked this view-the circle fields are cool

Marlee got sick of being carried & decided it would be funner to hike like the rest of us.

Porter gave Marlee a walking stick just her size

There was a storm coming in & it shortened our hike & we were hurrying out to beat the storm. The lightening was pretty loud but, we got to the truck in time.

We had a fun trip. Although Clayton was bummed that it was raining when we were by the pond because he couldn't fish. We ended up eating our picnic lunch in the truck since it was raining. We had never been to Mt. Graham before & we had a good time & enjoyed the great views.

Zebratail lizard

Laun came home with this cool lizard he caught & the boys were so excited. Although our house has been reptile free for awhile now, so the boys have fun letting them go in the backyard now. Even I thought this lizard was so cool. We let them keep it for a couple days though & had fun watching it change colors.

buddies

Laun was up on the roof tonight so Marlee joined him^

She doesn't see why she should be left out of anything.

Toads

Last night Laun took just the boys out for a late night drive to look for snakes. They didn't find snakes but they did find toads. The boys had so much fun with their daddy & they were excited this morning to show Marlee the toads.

Daddys home!!!!!

Laun was out of town for a week for a conference in Colorado. We were all so happy to have him home again. When I dropped Laun off at the airport a week ago Marlee was crying, Clayton said he missed him already, & Porter said he couldn't even remember what his face looked like- this is all why we were still at the airport. Pathetic-maybe, but we sure do love our Laun. Another funny moment was when Clayton requested that I stop talking about Dad while he was gone because it made him miss him too much- he said that he stays up for about an hour each night thinking about dad & then he goes to sleep. Well I guess it is a good thing that Laun is home now so that his child can get a good night sleep (and his wife too). When Laun goes on a trip he brings us home a suprise:

Marlee got this cow, which she loves. But please don't touch it because it is HER cow. On a side note, she likes the word mine almost as much as the word no now.


The boys got these way cool mints, I have never seen anything like these before. They are very strong though-altoid has nothing on these suckers. Warning, have only 1 mint at a time or your head might just explode:)


They also got these coins^ and they were very excited because they are really into money and coin collecting right now.

Marlee was happy to be with her daddy again- even though I had to wake her up at 11:00pm to pick up Laun from the airport.

And for me, lots and lots of chocolates from Laun. Life is better when Laun is home.

More Marlee

You can't just stop at one

Working on her cheesy smile

Her hair is getting longer, which is fun because I can do more with it. Laun's sister Janae has lots of girls so, I have gotten good hairdo ideas from her-here is the latest one:

You make me smile

This little girl is growing up so fast. She has learned how to smile cheesy for the camera, in case you can't tell from the photo. She is so chatty lately & I love hearing her sweet voice.

The other night there was a moth in our house so, Laun & I were pointing to it & saying moth. Marlee said,"I see moth" & "it's a moth"-she just kept on saying that over & over again, it was so cute! It was kind of a random sentence but it was so funny to Laun & I.

While my parents watched her last week they discovered her love to climb. I guess Marlee was quite entertaining. My dad said that she was calm and cooperative most of the time-I love the most of the time part. When we picked up Marlee we all ran in the house & let her choose who she wanted to go to. She always chooses Laun but, not this time. She put her arms out to me & when Laun took her she got so sad & reached out for me. It was awesome- for me at least. It didn't last long but, it made me feel good & helped me realized how much she loves & needs her mom; even though she usually is a daddy's girl. This girl makes me smile!

Lydia May

My sister Rachel had her first baby on the 4th of July- very cool b-day. But when Lydia was born we were on our way to Lake Powell so, we had to wait & meet her when we got back.
Rachel is a natural born mother & looks like a pro already.

Here is sweet Lydia with her Grandma Turley:


Lydia meeting her Uncle Laun:


I just love newborns:


The cute Johnston family:

I'm sad we only had time for a short visit-we were all excited to meet this little cutie.