Jolie's Party at the Park

We were down in Tempe for Jolie's birthday so we decided to have her party at Kiwanis Park.
I remember having birthday parties here when I was a little girl.
We had a great time hangin' out with family and friends.

Chilin' in the paddle boats

Blaze, Bronson, Emma, & Jolie

Bronson & Kellen

Baby Faye going to town with the strawberries.

I can't believe it's been 7 years

Name: Jolie Alexis Mecham

Nicknames: Jolie Bear, Boo Bear, Boo Boo, & Loves

Age: 7

While out shopping the other day, Jolie says to me "Mooooomm I'm 7 now so I can't hold your hand."

I said in return "Okay then I guess I will give you kisses instead."

After that holding hands didn't seem too bad.

Breakfast from Jolie

For Bronson - A roll with jelly and white chocolate chips and a smoothie to drink.

For Mom - Bread with peanut butter and sprinkles. The drink is milk, marshmallows, and a little Hershey bar for good measure.

Jolie is my little sweetheart. She always wants to serve others and do special things for them. It doesn't always turn out but we love her for trying.

Sledding in Flagstaff

A while ago..........

Jolie and her cousin Zane didn't just want to sled on the same runs as everyone else. They decided to try out a nice new patch of fresh powder.

They didn't realize it was FOUR FEET of powder.

This led to Jolie getting stuck pretty good.
In short Ben had to climb down the wrong side of the sledding area to pull Jolie out. Incidentally Jolie lost her boot in the hole and Ben spent twenty minutes rescuing the stranded sledders. And the boot.

I think this was the only time Faye wasn't crying. She was not a happy camper.

Mental note...next time... don't bring a baby!

Bronson looked so dang cute in all his snow gear.

He liked to curl up on the sled while we pulled him around. Our little turtle.

Man, I wish I got a good picture of it.

We had a blast spending time in the snow and with Zaners!

The Return of Rusty the Elf

Rusty is our Elf on the Shelf. On Dec. 1st Rusty magically reappears and his sole responsibility is to watch our children's behavior and report it to Santa each night. When Rusty returns from the North Pole he is in a new resting place and the kids get so excited to find him. During the day when my kids get a little out of control I just remind them "Rusty is watching" and quickly they shape up. I wish he could stay all year round. We have lots of great memories from this wonderful tradition.

Thanksgiving

We had so much fun in Mesa for Thanksgiving that we forgot to take pictures. So here are just a few.

Grandma Mecham made capes for all the little kids. They had a blast playing around.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Halloween!

Aaarrrggghhh!

Bronson ate his weight in candy before we left to go trick or treating. He was unstoppable! He hit his sugar crash during the trunk or treat. He was so tired that he couldn't lift his pumpkin to get candy so we headed back to the car where he fell asleep in the trunk of the car.

Meanwhile Jolie ran loose in the parking lot with friends getting tons of candy.

Faye's blue eyes
I would like to document Faye's blue eyes.
Most likely they will turn brown, just like our other kids.
But for now we are loving everyday that they are blue!

Santa Monica Beach

Beach and Fire

Ben didn't have to work Saturday so we loaded up the car on Friday and headed out to L.A.

We planned on staying at Jen & Cory's Friday night, beach all day Saturday, and then head out to my grandma's house in La Crescenta.

The Station Fire north of L.A. came out of nowhere.

Grandma evacuated her house Saturday evening so we stayed another night at Jen & Cory's.

Sunday we drove out to my Aunt Sandy's where grandma was staying.

Ben, Uncle Mike, and Grandma drove over to her house to see if things were okay.

From the bottom of the driveway looking up you could see the mountain on fire.

Ash covered all her plants and the house.

Leaving the house was scary because the fire department was unsure if the fire would go down the canyon or not. If the fire were to move down the canyon, grandma's house probably wouldn't make it. That night grandma went back home and decided to stay and not to leave again.

Grandma and the neighbors who stayed had a plan in place in case the fire got to close.

Three honks if someone's house was on fire.....

Two honks if someone was hurt....

One long honk when you were leaving.....

It was hard to leave family and come back home. We got home early Monday morning.

I tried calling grandma but the phone lines have been burned down.

She just emailed me and said the firefighters have some control of the area and her van is packed and ready to go if she needs to leave.

Pray for the firefighters. I bet they're exhausted.

Towards the end of the street near Briggs Terrace. Very close to grandma's.

This is what the sky looked like as we were driving home.

Ben's Masterpiece!

The day finally came when the house was finished (mostly) and we moved in!
Of course that day was about a week after having the baby.
The move was tough but who's complaining.
I'm just glad Ben's long hard work is now done and we have a gorgeous home to live in!!
Ben's work blows me away.....it's just so amazing!!!

You're probably asking yourself what's next for us.......
Hummmm....Does anyone need any work done on their home?

Bronson Helping Out in the Garage.

Spontaneous Trip to Utah

Day 1: We drove to Salt Lake City to see my sister Cami and her family.

Me, Cami , & Faye

Thank you Johnston family for letting us stay at your house last minute. You did an awesome job remodeling your home....Good Luck selling it!

Day 2: Walked the Red Butte Gardens

Bronson & Carter

The boys had a blast running through the squirting water fountains.

I'm totally going to have Ben build me one of these in my backyard!!

Had to feed the fishes and duckies.

Day 3: To Altamont for the BIG Mecham family reunion.

We had tons of fun hanging out at the Lodge.

Crazy Jolie. She spent most of the time in the pool. We hardly saw her.

The Fab Four!

Gus, Kellen, Bronson, & Trey

This poor cat was left behind by a previous family. All the boys gave the cat plenty of love.

Ben had to take the kids out on the boat and try out some fishing. I don't think there were any fish in the pond but they sure had fun.

Day 4: Hit the Tracy Aviary before the long drive home.

I think they might be a little tired!!