I have an announcement to make...

WE ARE...

...drum roll please...

Done with binkies in our house!!! That is right, we FINALLY did it. We took all the binkies put them in a bag and left them for the binky fairy.

And she brought us this. A Belle Barbie for Addison and a LittlePeople Airplane for Jace. I can say I am over-joyed to be done FOREVER with the whole binky thing. It was getting ridiculous the constant searching and searching the house 20 times a day. The desperation to find a binky or pay dearly. Addison has had a hard time adjusting. She doesn't ask for her binky, because she knows the fairy has it. She just throws ridiculous fits and the worst is at nap time and bedtime. She can't figure out how to go to sleep without it. The new nightly ritual is to keep getting out bed, going to time-out, and screaming her head off until she is too exhausted to do it anymore. Hopefully this too will pass. Jace has been a trooper and only asked for it a few times. Tuesday is 1 week binky-free. Now if we could just get Addison to potty-train....

Aunt Jenisper

We LOVE it when Aunt Jenifer comes to visit! Addison loves Aunt Jenifer! Aunt Jenifer brings her fun presents, plays tea party, stickers, and all the other fun stuff that little girls love to do. We wished she lived closer and we could see her everyday. This last time she came to visit it was her birthday. We had a big birthday bash for her, Uncle Gary, Bradan, and Aubree.

The kids love to run laps around the clubhouse at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Aunt Sandra made this delicious chocolate cake! I ate a huge piece.

Addison and Uncle Gary

Some of our Summertime...

This was actually awhile ago, not really in the summer, but funny. We went to an Ostrich farm at Picacho Peak. We fed the Ostrich, which are INSANE and pretty gross close-up, some deer, and these birds. Jon and Tate were the only ones brave enough to actually let the birds land on them. Birds freak me out.

GIRLS CAMP!! I got to go to girls camp this year with the YW in my ward. We went over the July 4th weekend. So we were there on the 4th and a Sunday. I had a good time hanging out with the girls and getting to know them better. Except for my neck popping out of place it was a great experience. I am excited for next year.

Jon and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this year. We wanted to take a cruise on the Caribbean, but being unemployed for several months, having kids, and just life in general foiled our plans. So we settled for a night at the Sanctuary(Thanks Jenifer for watching our demons), dinner at Alto(some fancy, smancy Italian restaurant) and a gondola ride at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale. The below picture is not from too much celebration, just a camera flash way too close to our faces in the dark. We were on the gondola. The guy even sang us some "romantic"song in Italian. It was a little awkward.

Our neighbor's sister works at the Arizona Science Center, and got us free tickets. We took Nathan, his friend Tanner, and the babies. This is Nathan riding the sky bike.

Having lunch at the Gecko Grill with most of the ladies of the Jarvis clan. I love hanging out with them and wish that we did it more often.

Nathan's Last day of school. We had ice cream sundaes and he put some weird hair glue stuff in his hair?? He is now a big 6th grader. At his school this is Jr. High so he is pretty convinced that he is hot stuff. I am NOT ready to have teenagers!!

Mother's Day-May is summer, right? These 3 studs took me out for a night on the town. We went to Texas Roadhouse, Target, Old Navy, and Lowes. I love these guys!

So that is a tiny taste of what we have been up to. I still have a few things that warrant their very own post. One of these days I will get around to it. Tate and Bradan spent the summer in Kentucky living the good life. Everyone is home and we are into the full swing of school and "normal" life. I HATE homework! Jon is still working under another RN as he learns the ropes. He will hopefully be on his own by the end of September. We are so glad he has a job, but miss him when he is not home. Why can't we be independently wealthy? I am still holding out hope for some unknown, rich relative.