Flame Thower vs Marshmallows

A few days ago my two younger sisters came over for a sleep over at my house. We had a lot of fun going walking, and watching movies until 2 am. Of course, as any good sleepover requires, we had to make a sweet and gooey treat to eat during the movie. We tried out a new recipe (I will not include in this post because it wasn't really that great) which involved toasting marshmallows on the top. I couldn't get the "broil" function on my oven to work so the marshmallows weren't toasting! A tragedy! So we called in Scott to save the day. He got his blow torch that shot a 4 inch blue flame and tackled the job. Every few seconds the marshmallows would catch on fire and he would have to quickly blow out the flames. It was really funny (when I was done worrying about the kitchen being caught on fire)!

Memories

Play along with me!!
Here is how:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory of you. It's actually pretty funny to the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I did this on a friend's blog and after reading some of the fun memories about her I decided that I want to hear what people remember about me!

Happy Birthday Scott!

July 18th marked Scott's twennmmmmthh birthday! We celebrated by going to Texas Roadhouse with Scott's family, having cake at the Smith's house and watching Alvin and the Chipmonks, later at home (yes we are behind on movies). Texas Roadhouse is one of those wonderful places that embarrasses you on your birthday - they have you sit on a saddle and get everyone's attention and then everone yells "yeeeeeee haaawww!" He seemed to have a good day - having a birthday on Friday is always nice! I love you Scott and I am so glad that you were born and I got to marry you!

Little Beach Bum

I had to do a separate post about the fun we had at the beach while we were in California. We went on three seperate trips to Huntington Beach which was only a 15 minute drive from where we were staying in Fountain Valley. It was so funny to watch Stephen at the beach - he wasn't afraid of the water and spent a lot of time playing in the surf and never cried even when he got knocked over by waves and dunked under a few times. After getting cold in the water and then warming up in a towel on someone's lap he would go back to playing in the sand. He literally rolled around in the sand and was covered from head to toe. He kept repeating the words "dirt, truck" over and over again in a deep, growly voice, as he played in the sand - I am not sure why, but he was obviously very happy. He ate sand on a few occasions, both purposely and accidentally. Taking off his diaper afterward was a shock - I think we had half the beach with us! The pictures do not adequately portray the amount of sand that was on Stephen's body. I think that if we lived in California, he would become a beach bum.

CALIFORNIA!

We had a FANTASTIC time in California last week! We went for five days with my parents and younger sisters and brother and stayed with my older brother and his wife. We were in Southern CA - Huntington Beach area. It was one of those wonderful vacations that was actually a vacation - we felt more relaxed at the end instead of tired out. There was a perfect balance of play and relaxation and the gorgeous weather helped a lot too! (Funny - those that live in CA were apologizing for the heat wave - oh no! 80 degrees as a high! We thought the weather was perfect.)

Here are some highlights from the trip:

Relaxed in my sister-in-law, Rebecca's back yard

Talked and watched Stephen and his cousin, Anna play

Went to the Orange County Fair - saw animals and some giant sand sculptures

Went to the beach to swim and play in the sand

Walked around South Coast Plaza (who in the world shops in these stores??)

Went to the beach again (Stephen is obsessed with the "dirt" and water - he gets upset when you call it sand...)

Ate at Ruby's at the end of the Huntington Beach pier

Went to church on Sunday (only five kids in nursery with three adults!!)

Went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and pet the sharks

Saw the Queen Mary (a cool 1950s cruise ship)

Went to the beach again - more swimming, boogie boarding, sand digging

Had a mini bon fire at the beach and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for S'mores (I had marshmallows all over my face)

Went to some awsome outlet malls somewhere in CA on our way home (now this is a place I can shop!)

* Thank you, thank you, thank you! to Aaron and Rebecca and the Richardsons for their hospitality!!!*

Here are some pictures of the fun we had:

Fourth of July

To be completely honest this wasn't the best day for me because my baby that I lost was due on July 4th and I spent a lot of time thinking about that. Being with family and having distractions was helpful so the day wasn't a total bust. We spent most of the day with Scott's family - we had a BBQ, watched the Bee Movie, and finished up with fireworks. Scott's grandma Thatcher was in town visiting so we all drove over to Fiesta Mall parking lot to watch the show at MCC. Scott's sister Brooke and her husband and kids went early and staked out a good spot. Stephen and his cousins Talan and Atley were having fun playing in the back of the cars while they were waiting. There was a nice wind so it wasn't too hot. Stephen really liked the fireworks as you can tell from the picture! Can I also just comment on what a handsome husband and son I have? I mean, really.

So Sweet!

I came across these pictures we took of Stephen with his cousin Anna, shortly before Anna (and my brother, Aaron, and sister-in-law, Rebecca) moved to California for the summer. Anna and Stephen are such cute little cousins and friends and he has really missed Anna - we are so excited to go and visit her in California next week!