Catching up…

I have so much to blog about so I’m just going to throw it all in one huge compiled post… have fun reading this… if you read it, but I know there are many of you out there that just like to look at the pictures (kinda like Brayden… he’s 5, he likes picture books) either way, enjoy!!!

First things first, Milli found out what she’s having… and it’s a Spudette! I’ve already discussed this with Anabelle and she’s so excited to have a little GIRL cousin to get pedicures with! Congrats Milli and Travis… I’m so excited to meet little Letice Jr.!

Next on the list is the rest of our summer… here are some pictures of more swim parties and barbeques that we had while escaping the Arizona heat. We had such a riot in Utah for the month of July, it really was like staying at a resort with so many friends and family around. Thanks for letting us stay in your basement apartment mom and dad, this was a summer I’ll never forget!

I’m nominating myself for “Mother of the Year”, if you would like to vote for me I’d appreciate it. On this particular day Jack was being so annoying and he wouldn’t stop, even with the threat of a spanking, so I just picked him up and put him in my parents stream… he wasn’t very thrilled… again, feel free to vote for me!

Draper Days and the good old Draper Parade. The boys and Anabelle loved it, my dad and I were counting down the minutes for the thing to be over! Actually, I heard that compared to last year, this years parade was awesome… sorry I missed last years! The highlight of the parade was when a Karate company came around with wooden boards and held one up in front of Brayden, they showed him how to hit it and BAM, it snapped in half (that’s not quite the highlight yet) then they held one up to Jack and he tried to karate chop it… let’s just say I’ve never laughed so hard… his hand just bounced off the board… it was literally the width of toilet paper!!!

It was so good to spend an evening with Grandpa Jolley and Nana. It was nice to see Jen and Angie and their kiddo’s (although we’d be seeing a lot more of them… just continue, you’ll see)… and a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MAX!

Okay so you’ll never guess what happened to me again… another freakin’ toe surgery on the same toe (stupid in-grown toenail). Arggg! This time they said it was pretty bad, and it was a lot more painful but it feels better now, at least for the next 6 months I guess. If it happens again they are going to have to remove my entire toenail and then shoot some poison in my toe to keep the nail from growing back… I know, lovely right!!

One of my favorite parts of being in Utah was our visit with Kathy, Chuck, Danny and Jesse Horman. They are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. Oh, and their yard is to die for. The boys loved it, and I was in awe of it. We love you Horman’s!

Okay so here comes the juicy stuff!!! I went for about a week with my in laws to a cabin in Idaho. No, no, you aren’t reading a repeat, the first family reunion was with my family in Idaho, this one was with Jon’s mom and their family… has anyone heard of San Diego?!?! Really, Idaho twice in one month?!?! NEVER AGAIN!

So for this reunion we had theme nights again so I chose “Vampire” night and wah-lah, it was already planned because of the first reunion! I know, I’m pretty smart right!? The first day we got there (Sunday) everyone just chilled and claimed their bedrooms. We ordered pizza and there wasn’t a theme night. On Monday we went to “Bear World” in Rexburg. It was surprisingly cool! I had been told to only take kids that were 8 years old and older because sometimes you don’t see much, but not our clan, we saw it all… and more! We actually were right behind the feeding truck so all the bears were out and about. I loved it for the most part but I’ll admit, there was a part when I thought the bears were going to get on top of our car… during that time I just yelled and yelled at Jon because he thought it was hilarious and just kept laughing… Jon, you wouldn’t have thought it was funny when the damn bear took a chunk out of you! The kids loved “Bear World” and afterwards there were lots of kid rides to ride on, I think my boys thought they were at Lagoon again! Monday night was Vampire Night, I had lots of help and support from the family to get my night done… I want to throw out a special thanks to Lynn for helping me with the dishes and not complaining about it once!!! (Lynn, do you read this?) All in all, Vampire night was successful. Thanks for all the help.

On Tuesday everyone went to Yellowstone. Everyone except the smart people!! Jon and I decided to stay behind with our kids because it was an hour and a half drive to get there… and lets face it, our kids had had enough of the car. We were at the barn (it literally was a barn/condo) with Angie C., Jill, Lynn, Grandma Evans, and our kids. It was a nice day, we just relaxed. Again, I want to throw a thanks out to Lynn for letting the kids take over the movie room. They really liked “Night at the Museum” instead of “Transformers”… the greatest thing is that Lynn didn’t even complain… again!!! Lynn, you know I love you! Let’s face it, Transformers is rated PG-13, Night at the Museum only rated PG… it had to be switched. Angie C. was in charge of Tuesday’s theme night, it was “The Forth of July”, so we had hamburgers and all the American fixin’s. It was such a fun night, we even started up a soccer game (oh wait, isn’t baseball America’s pastime?)… but soccer was fun, until it got so dark that people were getting injured! My favorite part of the game was when Ryan kicked the ball behind him landing straight on his back… and then he tried to steal my Lortab (toe surgery) because his back hurt so badly!

On Wednesday we bummed around again. The kids got in the hot tub and it was crazy! There were so many kids there, but until they all jammed into the hot tub, I didn’t notice how many there were. Angie J., and Jen were in charge of theme night this night and it was “Cinco de Mayo”. This night was my numero uno for food selection. The girls copied the Café Rio salad… yummy! We also had a piñata which Matthew wasted, and then we had karaoke (this was horrid)! There are so many talents in the Jolley family, but singing… well lets just say I had to go outside because I was starting to feel ill!

On Thursday we went on this killer hike… and by killer I mean I wanted to kill Jack. The entire way up the mountain he cried, kicked and screamed, all because he dropped his stick. Let me explain what his stick was, it was a freakin’ stick you find in the mountains on the ground. He dropped it and we couldn’t find the EXACT stick to he threw a tantrum. Jon and I tried so many different times to convince him that we found “his” stick but he wasn’t buying it… so until we got to the car, he just freaked out! Once we got him in the car he fell asleep within 30 seconds… still, I wanted to beat him! As you can see the hike was beautiful, and if I was deaf, I would have really enjoyed the second half as much as I enjoyed the first half! Love you Jack! Thursday night was Debbie and Jill’s night, they chose “Olympic Night” so we had the best Chinese food EVER! We also learned how to say “thank you” in Chinese… it sounds like “Shi Shi”… I’m sure you can imagine how that went over!!!

Highlights:
-Playing ping pong and beating Jeff
-Getting hit in the face by Jacob and Jon while pitching during the baseball game (don’t worry it was nerf, and don’t worry, Jon paid!)
-Running with Angie and Katie in the early mornings
-The amazing sunsets
-Spending time with people I love
-Trying to teach all the BYU grads how to play speed uno… seriously you guys… seriously!
-Meeting Marita and Cliff for the first time, then realizing they live in Scottsdale
-Being doped up on Lortab the entire time!
-The food!

Upcoming blogs (I am too tired to do more right now... as I'm sure you are grateful for):

-Where's Waldo

-Soccer update

-First day of Kindergarten

***Stay posted***