Hand It Over

Like many of my friends I can't wait ro get my hands on Breaking Dawn! I was telling Adam last night that it's coming out August 2nd and I wanted to be at Walmart at midnight to see if they have it out. He laughted and said, "So we won't see you for a couple of days". It wasn't a question, more like a statement. How right he is. So excited, can't wait!











Why is it that these books make you feel like a silly high school girl all over again? I thought these were funny and wanted to share, there are even more crazy ones on Photobucket!

Bear Lake

The Grunanders invited us to stay with them at Bear Lake. Adam had a few days off because of the holiday so we headed out Thursday.

We spent part of Thursday day night and then all day Friday at the Lake. We had a blast! We loved getting to ride the SeaDoo. The water there is so clean, warm, and shallow. The kids can go out in the water a good distance and be safe. Our boys are just now learning to swim and this is the first year they were really confident in the water. To our surprise Ebony is quite the water dog. She hates getting wet at home but couldn't stand being away from us so she would swim out to everyone. Paige loved the water too, she played so hard she zonked out a few times at the lake.

We also went hunting for Geo Cash. It's where you follow coordinates to a location and find a box of goodies. The deal is you add to the box any little trinket and then take one for yourself. The kids loved hunting treasure. We went hiking on Saturday, it was a beautiful hike we were surrounded by trees and had an awesome view of the lake. We also enjoyed getting to take rides on Mopey, the scooter, around the grounds where we were staying. We also went swimming at the pool there. The kids were being very adventurous and doing all kids of tricks and jumps in the water, I am so glad they aren't scared and rigid about it anymore, it's a lot more fun!

Thanks Gruanaders for the invite and great weekend, we didn't want to leave!

Get Real

Jake's soccer team was invited to walk out on the field pre-game with The Real Soccer Team. The boys love to do this, Brysen was really excited because there were enough spots open for him to go out too. They kept holding each others hand, I love seeing them love eachother! We had a lot of fun hanging out with The Grunanders too. Afterwards they had a fireworks show celebrating Pioneer Day.

Water is the theme for the day.........

I signed the boys up for swimming lessons. This is the first time for Brysen and the second class for Jake. I can't believe we have put this off for so long. Brysen was so worried that he was going to drowned. It's all he has talked about for two days straight. The biggest obstacle is wrestling with Paige for 40 min. during the lessons. Here's to hoping they learn quickly!




Excited to start swimming

Brysen ready to go after seeing the kids alive and well in the class before him.


It is raining cats and dogs outside, we decided we couldn't pass up the fun!


The fun kinda ended when we were worrying about the house getting flooded..we are soaked inside and out!

It's A Hard- Knock Life

So I kicked the boys out of the house this morning. You heard right folks, kick 'em out on their tush. They have been fighting a lot and I was at a loss of what to do. So, I told them to get their blankets and pillows and to "get out" and that "they no longer lived here" and to "find somewhere else to live". It may seem mean, but they needed something drastic!

Wow, they freaked out at first! After the shock wore off I'm pretty sure they were completely confident that I would never get rid of them. I watched them and listened to them the whole time. I had a pretty good laugh. So did the neighbors. Brysen was pretty unfazed by it all at first. He made the rounds to our friends to see if they could live with them, little did they know I called in advance and told them to turn them away. I explained we were having a "Love & Logic's Moment". We have had such a contentious feeling in our home for a while and I couldn't take it anymore!

I wouldn't be surprised to see some kids out in the streets locked out of their houses this week after speaking with some friends, apparently I am not the only fed up Mom right now. I also called Adam at work to tell him what was going on and he had a pretty good chuckle and called periodically to see how things were going.

The kids tried playing basketball and riding bikes but I told them they couldn't because it was no longer their stuff because they no longer lived here, they were not happy about that. Jake was scared but was too proud to admit it. Brysen kept trying to think of people who he could ask to move in with.


After a few hours of this we talked and I let Jake back in. Since Brysen was taking most of this in stride and is my toughest one I made him sweat it out longer. He sat outside balling and caring on. He talked to himself and then cried some more. I finally let him back in too.


Jake had a birthday party to go to and we just dropped the present off and didn't stay. He's going to soccer practice tonight but has to just watch. I told Adam that it's more important to me that he is a good kid than a good soccer player. All privileges are suspended! We will see if this shocks their little systems into not feeling so entitled! Here are some pics from our emotional day!

Fun in the Sun

We had a fun day last week. We invited some friends to see "Horton Hears A Who", with us, went to lunch, then played in the water. They were so cute playing together, I love summer, thanks for the fun day guys!


Jake, Anna, Bryn, Brysen & Parker


They were racing thru the water



Anna and Parker.....cute kids!



This is Bryn, she has been Brysen's "girlfriend" since he was 3! You got great taste B, I will give you that! ;)





Jake in Paige's pool

Finally!

I have been wanting to re-do our yard forever! First thing when we bought the house we took the chain link fence down. Then came the ugly dwarf pine trees. I recently painted the backyard fence, covered up some of our flowerbeds with sod, and filled our existing beds with perennials that I love. I live to go sit outside and just admire the finished product!

Reunion Time

We made our way up to Idaho 4th of July weekend for our somewhat annual Jensen Reunion. The kids did great...they zoned out on movies all the way there, except Paige she was skreatching at them because they were ignoring her.















We had so much fun visiting and doing fun activities.
We took the kids up to the Idaho Falls Temple and greenbelt on Thursday to show them where Mom and Dad were married. It was fun being in our old stomping grounds. We sure miss I.F.















Friday was a lazy day and we just shopped and watched Jack be a pyro with the fireworks that they bought. Thanks for the show Jack!


Saturday we met up for breakfast and then traveled to Lava Hot Springs. We wanted to swim at the pool and arrived right when they opened, but there was still a couple hundred people...new plan. We decided to float the river. I don't have any pictures of that because I didn't want to get my camara wet. We had so much fun. It was a little scary in a few spots, but we loved it. Adam about broke his butt hitting a rock, he is still hurting. Afterwards we went swimming and then fireworks later that night.















We had a blast taking the kids for rides on the 4 wheeler...wish we had one!











Sunday was a layed back day, getting packed and playing games. Thanks for all the fun guys, it was great to see everyone.




Our boys loved seeing their cousins and couldn't get enough of eachother. Miss you guys already.




Our troop did't make it very far on the way home before snoozin', except Miss P.

Our New Love

LAST NIGHT WE HOPPED IN OUR CAR.....AND TOOK A DRIVE..... WE SAW A WATERFALL....... AND A MOOSE.....AND IT WAS A GREAT NIGHT!

Confession

Adam and I are hooked on, "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?" It's the only reality show, if you can call it that, we watch. There was a dance on the other night that we both loved and have watch repeatedly more times than we are willing to admit. Here it is, and the really great part is that these two dancing are from Salt Lake. It's much better to view on the TV but here it...

OUCH!

Jake had a spill yesterday on his blades. I have to admit we have been very fortunate with our kids, we have not had any ER runs thus far. I think Jake was pretty close yesterday, he almost put his fromt teeth all the way through his lip. He has a nice war wound on his chin for good measure.

Mission Completed

Today we turned in our loot from the service project. We wanted to thank everyone for being so generous. It felt good putting the toys ect. that you donated in the box today at Jake's school. It was fun to see how excited the boys were about it. We went to TJ Max last night to finish up the shopping. I think we found some great deals and made the money contributions go along ways. We wanted you to see your contributions and what your donations bought. Thanks you guys, it must be such a comfort to the Mitchell family to know that so much good had come out of such a sad trial for their family. You guys are awesome!

Stinkin' It Up!

I have had some friends invite me to go to a few different work out classes with them. The first was a Zumba class. It was dancing with a Latin twist. I was horrible!
Then my neighbor, who had a baby a few months after me, invited me to a kick boxing class. Well, it kicked my butt! It was quite humbling really. Considering my history with gymnastics, dance ect. you would think I would do OK. Well, I stink! I felt like such an uncoordinated old fart.
It was interesting to take a step out of my safe little work out world, but I will happily be back on my treadmill embarrassment free, or at least I hope so!

Father's Day Weekend

I have had a few friends write to me and asked if I have been kidnapped or something. Sorry guys, we have been very busy in the yard prepping it for sod. And as I mentioned before, Paige has been sick. She is finally feeling better and no longer attached to mom's hip.
I hope you all a good Father's Day weekend! I sure felt bad for Adam. We (meaning Adam) put sod in on Saturday morning. After that he helped coach a soccer game. Then he helped move in a new family in our ward. The whole Elders Quorum Presidency had to talk on Sunday so he was also prepping for that. Paige being sick didn't help things run smoothly Sunday morning. I wanted to hear Adam''s talk but I wasn't sure she would make it through. She zonked out and slept through a lot of the meeting, which was nice. Adam did great, and after sacrament sis and I headed home. I bought the stuff to make Adam favorite, strawberry waffles. Needless to say our day was a little off schedule and he had them for dinner. We was such a trooper and never complained, although he spent most of the weekend helping other people. That's my husband, he is awesome that way! He did get a ladder that he has been wanting though, and the boys bought him some smelly.
We love you Adam Ray! Thanks for all that you do, our children couldn't ask for a more loving, devoted Dad!

Go Me!

I just wanted to write down the cute thing B said to me the other day. He always has something colorful to say.
I was digging in the yard yesterday. I had moved a lot of dirt from the front yard to the back. B had been playing and didn't realize how much work I had gotten done. As I was standing looking at the spot I had just cleared of dirt, Brysen impressed with what I had done said, "DANG! YOU GO GIRL!". I had a good laugh!

Service Project

In honor of 12 year old Kayden Mitchell, who was killed last week in a bicycle accident, Jake's school is doing a service project. They are gathering certain items to donate to Primary Children's Hospital.
We thought this was a great opportunity to encourage service with our kids and thought this might be something you would be interested as a family as well. If you decide to donate any of the following items, I would be more than happy to pick them up. These items are due on June 25th. Thanks so much!

~WASHABLE MARKERS
~SPANISH BOOKS
~INFANT (CAUSE & EFFECT) TOYS
~MATCHBOX CARS (OR ANY SMALL CARS)
~CRAFT KITS
~SOUND BOOKS
~TOYS
~BOOKS
~SUPPLIES
~BLANKETS
~MUSIC
~GAMES

Hula Hoopin' It Up!

This is the video I took of B hula hooping at Sean and Angie's. It was so hilarious! I wish you could see what he was doing with his tongue better. Brysen was over at his "girlfriend's" house the other day. He and Bryn were having fun playing the Wii. Jen recorded Brysen playing a boxing game, it's a hoot. If you want to see it go to my friends and family links and go to Steve and Jen.

It's BBQ Time

So we had our first summer BBQ with the Boyer's & Grunander's on Sunday. Adam wanted to make a chicken receipt we got from a friend. We didn't have the exact ingredients, but we made do. It turned out pretty good. We had to go on a walk so Danny wouldn't fall asleep, but he managed a cat nap when we were outside eating ice cream. It was a fun night....thanks for coming guys, it was good to finally get together again!

The Real Game

We had tickets to the Real game Saturday night. Jason and Heidi have season tickets so we met there. It was a really good game. The other team was very physical so it made things interesting. We won! Thanks for the fun night guys!


Jake and B

Adam and Sis

Soccer Party

So we got home and the next night was the end of the year soccer party. I mentioned before that half of us had been together for 5 years. This was our last party with all of our team together. We are losing some of our players. It was fun to have everyone together one last time. Looks like Jake is going to play after all, along with football. Self inflicted craziness is what it is....

Jake getting his trophy

Coach Andrew and Coach Adam. We had all the kids sign a ball for Andrew

Our team, minus Kaden and Tanner

Trippin'

OK, I am attempting to post about our trip and go in order and remember everything! Yikes! Here it goes.

We got to Indiana Wednesday night. They have a camper that we slept in so we told the kids this trip doubled as a camping trip too. Thursday morning Paige was up at 6 am which is 4 am our time! So to let everyone sleep we went on a walk.


Thursday we went on the Mom's day that I already posted about. Later that night we went to Quintin's Pre-school program. It was pretty cute



Friday was a lazy day. We hung around the house. It was the kids' last day of school and Sean and Angie went to watch the kids get their awards. Grandpa got the golf balls out and the boys had a blast using Sean's front yard as a driving range



Saturday, Sean and Angie had friends over for a BBQ. It was nice to get to visit with everyone. I started feeling sick so I had to go lay down, I didn't get to visit as much as I wanted. We did fireworks after. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out. Here are pics of Brysen and Jake trying to hula hoop. I was laughing so hard I was crying...

Jake did pretty well

Brysen was a different story, he was almost doing the splits!

Sunday, the guys went to the race. We girls just hung around the house. We attempted a bike ride but didn't get very far, so then later in the day we went to the park. Mom made spaghetti. Yummo!

Monday we went to the zoo. We had a lot of fun. They had so many things that we don't have here at our zoo.

All of the kids after the dolphin show

Feeding the giraffe

Getting to pet the elephants

Jake touching a shark

Brysen was freaked out but tried to be brave and attempted to touch the sharks

Paige and Dad playing in the water

After the zoo we headed to the memorial for the USS Indy. Most of you know about it, but it's the ship my grandpa was on during the war that was sunk. He spent days in shark infested water, and survived. I thought it was fitting that the last thing we did at the zoo was pet sharks and then headed to the memorial.

Here is our whole group of 16. I loved getting to take my family there for the first time. I hadn't been back sine it was dedicated. Having the whole Shaffer clan there was a neat experience for me.

After we got home that night Mom and Dad watched all the kids so Adam and I, Sean and Angie could go on a date. We went to Outback. It was yummy. I love their soup and salad!

Angie decided to let the kids ride their miniature horse. Our kids were excited. It didn't go as planned. When B was on the horse it was spooked by the dogs and bolted. Luckily Angie grabbed B and he was fine, a little scared but fine. I wasn't sure if Jake would go after seeing that but he did. He was on for a minute and then the horse bolted again and he flew off. It was pretty funny. I am not sure if the will want to ride a horse for a while. Thanks for trying though Ang!

Brysen enjoying his ride

I only got one picture of Jake before he went sailing through the air!

Dad and Sean took us to the airport. We were dreading the long flights home. But to be honest our kids were awesome. On the flights out and back they did amazing. We were so proud of them. We had a wonderful visit. Thank You for everything guys, we miss you!

The boys spotted this car in the airport before we flew home!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here are the rest of our pictures!