We are HUGE Cardinal fans!!!!

Umm....... no.

Jeff heard that the Cardinals were up here at NAU for their practices and we decided to go check it out. It's not like we were hoping for autographs or anything, we just jump at anything there is to do here in good old Flagstaff.

It was pretty warm that day, so we stopped by Sonic's Happy Hour and got some slushies. Have you ever tried a cherry-limeade-cream-slush? Do it. It wasn't too exciting to watch, but like I said, it was something to do. As we got up to go, Jeff noticed a little kids area. They had a blow-up obstacle race course, a run-thru-the-defenders-for-a-touchdown thing, and an accuracy throw station. The boys loved it.

Jeff kept taking pictures of the players and I didn't understand why. It's not like we are going to put them in our photo albums and tell our story about going to the Cardinals Practice years from now. Maybe if one of the players were holding our kid or at least sitting next to them, then the picture would be worth taking. But I told him he could just take a few and I'd post them before deleting them off the camera. So here you go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRIFFIN!!!!

We celebrated Griffin turning 4 years old this past week as well. His birthday was on July 20th, but since we were going to be in Snowflake the day of, we invited family over the day before we left. Nothing too big this year. All he really cared about was his "Turtle Cake" he had been asking for since months ago AND presents, of course.

I spent hours on this cake. It wasn't super difficult, just time consuming. He loved it though. The reaction didn't include jumping up and down and screaming. Griffin stared at that cake for a long time -- making sure I had all the turtles correct, I'm sure.

When it came time to blow out the candles.... it didn't go exactly the way he though it would.

Notice his intense facial formation that created a torpedo of air? Well, his aim was just a little off. The flames danced a little at his attempt, but none went out. Total embarrassment. Poor guy.

It took a good 2-3 minutes to convince Griffin to try again. Help was added.

The gifts and cake were enjoyable and memorable for our big 4 yr. old, but that hasn't stopped him from letting me know that at his next birthday, he wants a Spiderman theme.

"Return Missionary"

I used that as the title of my post because WAY too many people use those words to describe guys. "She's dating a return missionary." "Oh he's not a return missionary." "They're getting married? Is he a return missionary?" Besides, is that even the correct phrase? Shouldn't it be "returnED" missionary? It's silly really. Because those words don't necessarily mean they are FANTASTIC people. There are some really nice guys out there who never had the chance to go. AND there are some who return and fall away from the church, bringing their whole family down with them.

That being said........... one of the good guys ..........

JASON DOUGLAS DEWITT......... IS HOME!!!!!

He got back from (Canada) on July 18th. We picked him up from the airport around 7pm that night. My mom had made these hilarious t-shirts for all of us to wear at the terminal.

The next morning we left early and went up to Snowflake for the annual Pioneer Day Celebration. We go to the parade in the morning, the ladies usually hit the craft fair (we didn't get there this year) and then the rest of the time is spent eating and playing volleyball. It's just fun to be around family and it was really good to see Jason and have him and his sarcasm home again. I LOVE IT !!

Oh yeah....that's what my name is.

I'm sure this has happened to some of you other moms out there, but it's still funny.

I was sitting next to the tub the other night waiting for my boys to get done with their bath. Acutally, if I left it up to them, they'd be in there all night. What I was really waiting for was them to get enough play time in before I washed them and made them complain about getting out. So my mind was not on full attention mode. As much as I LOVE that they'll play Spiderman and Turtles all day long....... I don't really care to know the details EVERY TIME. Like: "MOM -- Raphael can't get Spiderman 'cause he gots bubbles all over him." -- or -- "MOM -- Ninja Turles has to swim fast in the water before Shredder gets their pizza." When Griffin narrates for me, I kind of just nod my head most of the time. But this particular night, that wasn't good enough. As I was staring off into space, my response to him saying, "Carolyn" was immediate. I looked over but don't recall what he said to me after that because I was in shock. Not that he knew my name.... but at how happy I was to have my identity back...... if only for a moment.

Lunch with the Ladies

While we were down in the valley this past weekend, my Grandma took us girls out to lunch. It's something that we all LOVE to do. Jeff gets jealous because she never takes the guys out to lunch. I asked him once, "When you are a grandpa, do you plan to take out all the GIRLS in the family, or would you lean more towards a GUY thing?" He insisted that he'd take the girls out too, but for some reason, I don't believe him.

Blogging has made me about 5 times better at taking pictures. Agree? So, of course, I had our waiter take a picture of us.

At first glance it looks like a usual "picture at the table".

Until you look closer........

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zoom in a little more.......

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and discover..........

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a WISE GUY WAITER who had to go and jump in the picture just to be cool.

You know it's this joke that they all share.

"Hey next time you have a table that wants a picture, let me know and I'll jump in the back. It'll be SWEET!"

I actually think it's pretty funny. It's something I would do for sure.

Can you believe the size of his mouth !!!!

ALL HAIL AVEENO!!

A few weeks ago, I noticed Trey getting some baby acne. I am convinced that I cursed him with it. The night before it showed up, I had just thought about how lucky I was for him to not have it. (It takes all my will power not to pick at those things.) Then, after a few days, it started to get worse. REALLY red cheeks and then a few days later, the redness had a rough scaly feel along with it. I knew it had to be eczema. The doctor was going to be my first call when we got home from the valley. For sure we would have to put some kind of steroid cream on his cheeks to remedy this awful symptom. I ran into my friend Rachel Gannon (previously Bingham) at church and she said that her little one had it bad. An allergist (?) told her not to use the cream the docs gave her and recommended she use Aveeno 2-3 times a day until it gets better. I tell you what -- THAT STUFF WORKS!!!!

My precious Treyson cheeks were 3 times better after just 2 applications. I was amazed. This picture shows the beginning of the redness and irritation:

Then it got even worse. This next picture is after the 2 applications I told you about. So try to picture it three times worse than this:

This next photo is one I took today. A day and a half after we started the treatment. Can you believe it?!

SO MUCH BETTER!