A good reason to be little, Finally!!!!

                            This summer we got season passes to SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS!
                          When Kevin and I were dating we had a season pass, just the two of us....
                    We love theme parks, and having a season pass is good for Kevin's and my attention span....
           Kevin and I would go in the evenings and stay for a few hours until we'd get bored and we wouldn't feel bad for not staying very long. We knew this would be perfect with the kids this summer, since Texas is so hot, you just can't be there in mid-day with out melting to death....SOOO, the kids loved going to Six Flags three times this year so far! Kevin and I got to see a whole other side of the park that we had never seen, since we never went there with kids, until this year...Brooke's favorite time so far was when we brought her friend Natalie along with us.....

                                         I get to go on the kids rides with my kids since I fit!!!

                                  This smile on Will's face was due to our free fall!The ride is a mini version of the big adult free fall " Super Man " ride......

                                      Now he's beginning to wonder when the ride will be over....

                               Well...they wouldn't even let me try and fit on this ride....oh well....

                                                            They love the airplanes!!!

                          I didn't know this ride goes all the way upside down...Brooke came off terrified!

   The rocket goes upside down and leaves you hanging mid-air for what seems like hours when scared!!!!

                                            Nap time is absolutely necessary at theme parks....

                                     Brooke and Natalie felt so big going on rides all by themselves..

                                       Since we live in Texas the sombrero ride is a must!

                                                                      Spins pretty fast..........

                                 Brooke bought herself and Natalie Shade umbrellas with her own money!

Yoho, Yoho...A Pirates Life For Me

Brooke made a comment to Mrs.Cori that made her laugh.

           Brooke explained to Mrs.Cori one day while she was watching her and Will that, " We are trying to get Will off of Spiderman and onto pirates instead, because Daddy is worried that Spiderman makes Will violent."

Mrs.Cori said it sounded like Will had some sort of addiction to Spiderman, and he was using it like a drug....and that Brooke was trying to be supportive of the much needed change.....
               Well Will for sure does have some sort of Spiderman addiction.....
                         and I don't think this addiction is what causes Will to want to fight all the time....
                               I just think Will is a boy.....

But, I loved the excuse to get Will some fun new little boy toys, in order to peak his interest in other areas...and I did exactly that this summer....

We started watching Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Will loved it. For me, it brought back the memories of my older brother playing almost daily that I was Peter Pan, he was Captain Hook and Amy was his sidekick Smee....

It is super fun to play pirates with Will just like I played as a kid with my siblings.Will plays Jake, the Never land Pirate, Kevin plays Captain Hook, Brooke plays Tinkerbell and of course I play the very practiced role I had ever since I was probably six-years old, Peter Pan. We hide the treasure and of course Hook wants to find it, then the sword battles begin and it always ends with someone walking the plank.....

I have to admit that as cute as what I found Brooke and Will doing in her room the other day was, I was kind of irritated for a second....
             Here I had bought a whole new collection of toys for Will this summer that are pirate themed, and Brooke entertained Will for an entire hour while sitting at her desk, in her room, with Will sitting on a chair beside her, as she drew little pirate people on paper and cut them out for Will. They literally did this for an hour. Then she collected all the little paper people and put them in a bag for Will.

Will loved these paper " pirates " so much that he actually slept in bed with them the night she made them for him. He loved one in particular so much that he held it in his hand in his bed. I said, " Will you have to put the pirate in the bag while you sleep." He said, " No, I just want to sleep with my pirate, in my car bed."

So I let him......I laughed and snapped a pic when he fell asleep...

Grandma pack got Will a very exciting gift a few days ago...He has been wearing it everyday since she gave it to him...When Will saw the Jake and the Never Land Pirate costume that she handed him Will said, " Wow, is that Jake's costume? " Grandma said, " It's for you to be Jake." He said, " Thank you, this is my Jake Halloween costume." He had a huge smile on his face when we took him to the mirror so he could see himself....

                             Will also requested a paper sack moster as she was drawing him pictures

                                He fell asleep with his favorite paper " pirate " in his hand that night

                                           He has 100 pirate's gold pieces....We have counted

                                                   You can never have too many swords

                                   Will sings, " YoHo, YoHo, " all the time as we drive in the car

                   If he hits anyone with a sword it gets taken away...so he always holds on tight....

                                       Grandma Pack and Will as " Jake the Never Land Pirate "

Denver Aquarium

                          We went to the aquarium in Denver the day we flew back home. Nicole and her kids met us there and we had a great time! The boys were trying to get Brooke excited about this green eel to the right of Eli....

                                                Nicole and I both have a boy and a girl!!!!

                                                             Eli, Brooke and Hyrum

                                                                         Jelly Fish

                                                              feeding and petting sting rays

                                                                  Hurricane simulator!!!!

                                                                  70 mile per hour wind                                                                          

Nicole and a Splash at the Park

                    
 Nicole met us with her two kiddos at the splash park in Denver, while we were there!!!!
I have been so lucky this year to have seen all three of my closest childhood friends!
Nicole Foster, Erin Lee and myself were best friends when I was in high school. Kim Ball, who I got to visit in Utah this year, was my friend beginning at only ten years old. I am so blessed to have kept these friendships!

 It had been ten years since I had seen Nicole last. I was twenty-years old and she came into Dallas for a few days. When I remembered that Nicole didn't live to far from Denver, I was so excited to give her a call and see if we could catch up, while we were visiting Audrey's house. It is so natural to be her friend. It was just like when we were kids only we had kids to watch ;)

The things I will never forget about Nicole are; Her being the most relaxed person I have ever met on the planet! I seriously can't even imagine Nicole being stressed or what that would look like. She is a happy, go-lucky, fun, down to earth girl. I wont forget her seeming so even-killed, then suddenly she morphs into another person as she'd get her behind the wheel of her convertible Mustang that she drove in high school. It was like suddenly she had a thrill for excitement, oh yeah...and the road rage...It might not have been that safe that I went home from school with her actually???? I will never forget driving up the canyons in Utah with her, getting lost. Going to Six Flags with her is a blast. She again surprises you as she is so calm, then you get on the roller coaster with her, and she has the loudest, most high pitch scream I have ever heard. I love it! She is fun! Lastly, I will always remember being so short next to six foot tall Nicole and five and six inch Erin. I was like the little midget in the middle....                                         

Holding your Breath....

Will has been saying some hilarious things lately. He has said some incredibly smart things, but along with verbalizing comes those things that little kids can say,  that can make a Mother hold her breath.....and turn beet red.

We have let our friend Tasha that has been investigating our church for months.... come live with us for five weeks.

We moved all her stuff into Kevin's office one night when the kids were asleep. Kevin was so nice to give up this room for a bit, to help Tasha out. Plus, it means missionaries and church members at our house for lessons all the time, so it is a huge support from him to help me, to help her.....

When Will heard a new voice upstairs the next morning he ran up the stairs, looked slightly wide eyed at the room filled with new furniture and said loudly, " This is not your house. " I had followed him upstairs and I said, " Will, Tasha is going to stay her for a few weeks." He got kind of frantic...he wasn't listening to me. He said, " Is that your bed? This is my house, you have a house." She was so nice and said, " I am going to stay in your house for a little bit Will. " He said, " You paid your house at the store. You have another one house." At that point I thought I better just take Will out of the room, but then he noticed the rat cage in the corner. He had a lot of fun playing with Tasha's two rats and after the end of our play as we were about the leave the room Will said,
" Tasha, is this your house? " With a nice tone of voice. It was like he was thinking, well....I don't get it, so I will pose a question to find out what she thinks....

I laughed out loud when Will woke up early yesterday morning, he came in the room and announced, " I just woke up. " I said, " I know you just woke up, good morning Will. " He then said, " I just woke up at thirty-thousand." I said, " Wow, thirty-thousand." He said, " No, I just woke up at thirty-o'clock." I smiled and laughed.....

The sweetest thing was laying with him for a min. before bed the other night and Will had his arm wrapped around my head. He said randomly, " I just love you Mommy. " I said, " I love you too Will. "
He paused in silence as we laid there and then said, " I just want you to be my Mommy. "
I said, " I am your Mommy Will. "

I didn't know I was on trial to be his Mother? I am glad he chose me.....

                       It is not fun to come into the room and find a closet Will has destroyed like this.......
But, it is super hard to have a bad reaction when you realize he was just trying to entertain himself by getting the game Perfection out, and you find him quietly sitting there in front of the mess, putting all the shapes in place showing off the smarty pants that he is......

                                                   Will's face expressions are priceless........

DREAM COME TRUE

I made a check off my bucket list while visiting Audrey's family. Actually, it was WAY MORE than a check off my bucket list...and I didn't feel so dorky when Audrey looked over at me in this event and said to me, " This is a dream come true. " I felt the exact same way....

Audrey makes friends with all of her neighbors where ever she lives. How can you be of service to anyone if you don't know them, and they don't feel comfortable asking you for help when they need it? I try to follow her example and do this in my own life as well...

 So, Audrey got one of her neighbor friends to watch our kids so that her and I could take a hike up a mountain near her house. I believe it's called Stanley Canyon when we went up?

At first I didn't understand what Audrey was talking about when she said that I shouldn't bring my phone or camera? She said that she would bring her phone in her hip pouch for us to take pictures....

I didn't know what kind of a treat I was in for...

The hike was hard! You had to use your hands to climb up the rocks many times on this hike!
And, what made it a dream come true is that WE RAN! Well as much as we could until we had to slow and use our hands to climb...It is a strange thing... my neck and running. I can run up a hill, but the second I go down my neck starts cracking. My left foot was numb the whole hike so that made footing a bit more difficult, but I just ignored it....

We both wore our heart monitors and we were both in training zone the whole time. It was amazing.

It was beautiful to be in the peace of the mountains with one of my best friends. It was incredible to be running and breathing mountain air. It was intense the deep conversations that we had while doing this...

We laughed a lot....We also actually both cried, talking about spiritual experiences. We shared our fears, hopes and dreams on this hike. I will never forget it....

It started to storm on our way down the mountain...and since we were on the Air Force base a voice said loudly throughout the mountains...

" Lightening is less than five miles away...seek shelter. "

We had to go slower on our way down, and we did get a little scared...

Audrey had to help me on the way down...holding my hand...letting me hold her shoulder..I kept slipping on the wet rocks, with a numb foot, it didn't help..and I thought...
This is just like always...Audrey is leading my way...and I was so glad I have always had her help in my life....

        NO MAKE UP FOR RUNNING UP THE MOUNTAINS ALLOWED!!! AND WE LOVE IT!!!!!!

I will forever be thankful for her sisterhood and friendship.....

Kevin said on the phone to me before the hike, " Well, I know you have been wanting to hike, so this will be good to get this out of your system."

He wasn't surprised when I called him after and said," That was just an opening to a new door....I will be finding hikes in Oklahoma and Arkansas only a few hours away. I can't believe I didn't do this when I lived in Utah as a kid! "

Monument, Colorado- The Mcneill Family visit

         My older sister told me that every night..... when she was five years old, she prayed by her bedside, on her knees, at bedtime....... that she could have a little sister.

I was the answer to her prayers. I know that I was looking down from the pre-mortal spirit world just dying to get down to earth, so that I could be with her....So that I could hold her hand, and couldn't wait to enjoy the great blessing of being her little sister.........

                            Hyrum and Brooke on the trampoline with a forest in their back yard

                                                       Will and Fawn having a tea party

                                                         Will and Isabel playing pirates

                                         Hyrum, Eli, Brooke going on a hike in the mountains

                                                                 Playing at a splash pad

                            All gathered in the living room for family prayer and scripture reading

                                                     
                                           I taught Audrey how to make these awesome bracelets that our Aunt Maria from Austin taught me how to make when she was visiting McKinney the week prior to our trip.....

  My older sister is perfect...I have never known a person with so much charity, honesty, forgiveness, and diligence to the Lord in my entire life. I am so blessed to have her as one of my best friends.

The kids and I have been in Colorado for a week now. It has been one of the most fun trips that we have ever taken! The kids have forgotten about home, and they don't want to leave! We leave today and it will be a sad departure......