The Flood

Sherwood Park after the flood.  Made it feel like we were in a nice rich neighborhood with a lake lol.
I took the kids to swim there (they advised against it, but I did it as a kid,,,and come on, this never happens...we weren't gonna miss out!  Calvin is a great swimmer, but went out a little far and I think he got scared...I thought he was joking, but when I saw panic on his face I dove in after him...fully dressed.  We saw the Morris' family there kayaking too :-). 

What a cool experience this was!  We went to the park a few times a day after the big storm.   They said it was the most rainfall we have had in almost 100 years.  It filled up our backyard but thankfully didn't come into our house.
We went to get sand bags the city was handing out for free...trying to help some neighbors (a lot of people in our ward has houses that flooded).  I tried to get involved in helping, but we had to get creative so that we were actually helping and not just in the way (with my two cuties)...we ended up bringing dinner to the men handing out the sand bags...they had been there since 5 am and hadn't eaten all day.  I want to get in the habit of serving, so that we are used to it...and when the kids get older we will be ready to help more!

Another walk over to our new neighborhood lake.

First time for everything

I Cut 4 missionaries hair on Monday while Calvin was at school.  Afterwards we had to rush out to go pick up Calvin.  I had left my clippers plugged in...
It took me a couple days to realize Calvin had gotten them and buzzed the front of his head :-).  I had thought something looked funny but didn't think twice about it...not figuring he would ever do something like that.  His hair was long enough that it covered it pretty well...I kept looking at him wondering why his hair was laying so funny and finally realized he had buzzed it.  I asked him about it and he just got that cute little guilty grin.  We both started laughing, but I tried to tell him even though I was laughing, he shouldn't do it again...

A few days later, he wanted to go outside and cut grass (which he does a lot...I have taught him scissor safety and he has shown me time and again
he is responsible enough to handle it.
Well...after a while, he walks over to me, and that buzzed area up front looked a lot different...he just gets that big smile again and told me he was "just cutting it like this."
Oh my Calvin...looks like we won't be cutting grass with scissors for a while...

Lessons learned...not so much :-).......He loves his new buzz cut!  It doesn't help that he's like the coolest kid in school now, letting everyone feel his fuzzy head (he also brought in his bow a few weeks ago which they loved).
Oh my Calvin...always keeping me on my toes:-)

Simple Joys...

Jordan loves to do everything himself...and he is pretty dang good at it :-)!
 I love when I catch him on his toilet reading to himself..
"Henry is a happy hippo, who hates to whine or fuss...:-)"

I delivered some Mary Kay this morning and had some time to kill before it was time to take Calvin to school.  We stopped by the park by Gilbert Greens and had some fun!  We had to leave early because Jordan stepped on something and cut his foot open :-(.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new house!  One of my FAVORITE things to do is just go out in the backyard and watch/listen to my boys!  They crack me up!  They get along so well and I love seeing them take care of each other...they are both very protective of each other :-).  Motherhood is WONDERFUL!!

The missionaries came over for Elder Erickson's (his companion was Elder Coulston) 18 month mark...he wanted to burn a pair of pants, and against my advice, he also burnt a bunch of  Journals.  Mid Summer fire in phoenix :-)...lol...we had fun!

Camp Out!  I love that these boys love to be together!  We had fun...I always start out on the floor with them...
but they move around so much I usually end up in my bed :-).

A favorite bathtub activity :-)...Ho Ho Ho

This was all Jordan's idea...He would not let me feed her.  He was so sweet and gentle with her.
A lady in our ward the other day told me that he came up to her daughter and gently held her little face in his hands and was speaking so sweetly and gently to her...it melted her heart.  What a sweet boy Jordan!!

Too Cute...Feeding ducks at Freestone Park...I just love his little feet!

Freestone Park

Calvin loved feeding the ducks right out of his hand!  

Freestone Park is one our FAVORITE spots!

Of all the places to sit on the couch, they usually choose to sit cuddled up together.  As irritated as Jordan looks in this picture, he really loves Calvin's love :-).
I am so thankful they are such good buddies!