Sucker

Notice the sucker on the side of James' head? That's one way to get him to forget about it. He screams when the other kids have candy and he doesn't, so Lilly gave him her sucker. He ate a lot of it, but it ended up here.

Jacuzzi

For "Family Night" last Thursday night we put a rib eye roast on the rotisserie (it was awesome) and the kids swam in our new hot tub. Yep, we now sell spas/hot tubs or whatever you want to call them, along with the chemicals for them. The kids thought it was a little too hot (104 degrees) and treated it more like a pool than a hot tub. They splashed a lot of water out that we had to mop up. Jay got in when they were done and enjoyed a massage from the jets. The night before he used it by himself, and slipped on the concrete when he got out. He was a little sore after that.

Sonogram

No, I haven't had my sonogram yet, but it's scheduled for October 15. Still debating about whether or not I want to find out what it is. Jay and I are going to Reno and Oakland from Oct. 7-13, so we'll be having the sonogram just after we get home. For the first time in years, we're going to miss the Graham County Fair.

Emma's Certificate

This is Emma with her certificate. I guess on the Terra Nova test you can't get 100%, so they consider 99% a perfect score. She was so shy when she went up to get her certificate, but proud.

Go Emma!

Last night I got a call from the school principal, and I immediately thought it was bad. Not the case. He said Emma scored a 99% on their Terra Nova testing at the end of last school year, and they like to publicly recognize the students who do so well. They're having a program tomorrow night, and requested we be there so she could receive a certificate. She was so proud when I told her about it. The sad part is, being a twin stinks sometimes. Abbey kept hoping he would call again, and request her to be there as well. It didn't happen, so she's kind of bummed. She did well on the tests, just not 99%. Darn!

James Turns 1

We had cake at the nursery to celebrate James' 1st birthday. Unlike our other children, he dug right in to his cake. The others had to be coaxed (or forced) to partake. He opened 2 balls, and didn't want anything to do with the rest of the presents. In the picture of his face in the cake, Ashley (a cousin- the one with her tongue out) sitting next to him actually licked his face to get a taste of the frosting. It was hilarious.

Apple Butter

My family- mom, dad, Rachel and Cole- came to Safford for Labor Day. We all spent the day laboring. My dad helped uncle Clel put in some fence posts, and the rest of us made apple butter with the apples we picked at Angle Orchard a few weeks ago. It was a lot of work, and my mom did most of the work, but it's so good! We have shared some with our family and neighbors, who are now enjoying the fruits of our labors.

4-Wheeler

I couldn't find a recent picture of the kids on the 4-wheeler. I'll have to take a new one. Anyway, last week they were out back riding around, and chose to break just about every rule I've set for them. Janna was driving with Lilly and Abbey on the back (rule #1- only one person at a time). None of them had shoes on (rule #2). They didn't have helmets on (rule #3). And, they were driving on our neighbor's driveway. Bob was throwing rocks at the riders, and Emma was chasing them to try to tell them something. Janna was going way too fast to try to get away, and ran into the corner of our neighbor's house, then bounced and hit his car. Luckily, with a small 4-wheeler and governed speeds, there was no visible damage, other than scratches on Abbey and Lilly. Abbey came in to get me, and by the time I got outside, Cliff was consoling Lilly and checking on everything. I asked if his car was okay, and he said he wasn't worried about the car, just wanted to make sure Lilly was okay. Apparently she bumped her head. I felt a little relief, but was ANGRY that when I got out there to see what was going on, Janna had taken off, and was already in the back field riding around. She knew she was in trouble. Until yesterday when my family was here, the keys were taken away. We're still working on following ALL of the rules.