Happy Trails To You....

I'm a little sad. Okay, not a litte. A lot. Marissa just moved to Kansas today which means I will not be able to see her nearly as often. The next time I see her won't be until Christmas!! I can't believe it and the twins are going to be sooooo big the next time I see them. I'm going to miss them so much. (Ry - I'll miss you too). It's gonna stink because I've been able to see her quite often and I have also been able to take a few road trips down to St. George and have some good girl time. I know she'll be fine because Rissa always makes friends easily and she has a great personality that people love to be around. I know I'll talk to her just as much, but it's hard to know she's so much farther away. I wish you good luck Riss, and know that you'll absolutely love it in Kansas....over time! ;)

Also, I have had a really good friend of mine, Syndi, move to D.C.. She left with her family today and it's hard to know I won't have as much contact with her either. She's been a friend to me over the last few years, and it really stinks that's she moving because we've become better friends over the last year or so. Syndi has a very contagious personality and is so much fun to be around. She laughs really easily and it always makes me laugh. I wish you the best of luck Syndi, and hope all goes well with Reed and his schooling!

I Can Ride My Bike...

...with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars. So that's what Jace likes to sing when he rides his little "four wheeler." He heard the song on the radio and the next thing I know - he's singing the song when he rides his bike. Anyway...this morning we had a fun visitor. Mimi (aka my mom) rode her bike over to our house and had breakfast with us. She's been wanting to do it for about a month and she finally had the courage to do it. When she got here Jace told her that he wanted to ride bikes with her. So the two of them went outside and rode.


It was so cute and I have to say that my mom is an amazing grandma!! She does so many fun things with my boys, is always spoiling them with something, and is always asking when they can come sleep over. She is awesome! Thanks for visiting us today, Mom. We love you!!

15 Months!

Holy Canolly, Cole is already 15 months old. The cute little bugger is getting so big and so fun. We went to the doctor on Tuesday for his check-up and he is doing great. He weighs 23.4 lbs.(30%)and is 33.6" long (97%). He is so tall and stands a good couple of inches over kids his age and older. He is so much fun and of course extremely active. Here are a few things that I love about my Cole.
-I love the way he says "Mommy." It kind of comes out sounding Mammy.
-I love the way he wrinkles his nose when he smiles or laughs.
-When I'm rocking him before bedtime, he's almost asleep and if he hears a dog bark, pops his eyes open, he pulls out his binki, and says "Puppy!" with so much enthusiasm.
-I love how he'll all of a sudden stop whatever he's doing and run over to me and gives me the biggest hug ever.
-I love his excitement for life.
-I LOVE his big blue eyes.
-I love how he thinks Jace is the funniest peson in the world.
-Even though it drives me crazy, I love the adverturous side of him.

Preoccupied....

I haven't posted anything for a long time. Not a ton has happened with us lately but there's also another reason. I have spent my free time reading, maybe not reading, but devouring the Twilight series. Yes, I have already read them, but I am rereading them for the new release of Breaking Dawn. I am not one of those truly obsessed women, but I really do enjoy them. Why in the world do they have to be so addicting? Seriously. I've already read them, but I still can't put them down! UHHHHH!! I know that there are people out there that are either Jacob fans or Edward fans. I do like them both, but I have to say that I really do like Jacob. He and Bella have more of a normal relationship and I guess I feel like Edward's personality and the whole Bella-Edward love relationship is too abnormal. I think Bella and Jacob's relationship is more believable. And...he basically healed Bella. How can you not like him for that. Anyway....enough babbling and gushing over these books. Let's just say I'm excited for the new one to come out.

A New Addition...

Jace has adopted a new memeber into our family, and her name is....TIGRESS. Tigress is Jace's new imaginary friend. He has had many in the past: Optimus Prime, Luke, Makala (from Transformers), and many more. However, I don't think we've had one of his friends be part of our family quite like this. Tigress attends swimming lessons with Jace (not just attends but she too has her own swimming lesson), she went to the dentist and the eye doctor, she always rides in the car with us, and so much more. The other day at the eye doctor Jace had his eyes checked first then went out into the waiting area. When he was leaving the exam room he told me that Tigress was going to get her eyes checked too, but after me. I finished my appt. and as we were just about to leave he had to ask me, "Mom, did Tigress have her eyes checked?" She sleeps with him at every nap and bedtime and I have to be careful not to lay on her when I snuggle Jace. She does EVERYTHING with him. He tells everyone about her and I think sometimes they think he is crazy. Today at haircuts, I was sitting in the waiting area and I could hear him telling the lady cutting his hair all about Tigress. When it was Cole's turn she had to ask me what the heck Jace was talking about. The kid is hilarious and has an imagination like none other. He is always surprising us with the things he comes up with.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Jace and Tigress had a baby and her name is "Fame."

Sand + Water = FUN!!

Yesterday I had my friend, Syndi's, two little boys over. Their names are Jake and Cole. (Yeah, it can be a little confusing when they're together.) I took the four boys outside and we (I mean they) ran through the "sprinkles," blew bubbles, and played in the sandbox. My boys mostly played in the water and Syndi's boys played in the sand. They definitely have their preferences. The boys would run through the sprinklers for a few minutes and then find their way back to the sandbox. By the time they were through, they were all caked in mud! One by one I stripped them down, hosed them off, dried and dressed them, and then shut them in the house while I would go through the whole process with the next lucky kiddo! They had a lot of fun and it was nice to sit in my lawn chair and watch them just be boys.

P.I.M.P.

I was cleaning up breakfast this morning and Jace says, "Look, Mom." I turned around to see this:


and he says, "I a Pimp!"

BBQ and Fireworks

So the 4th celebration didn't end after the flag ceremony. After the ceremony we went home and caught some naps and then we were off for more. Bryan went golfing with all of my brothers and dad and then me and the boys, Rissa and the twins, Mom, and Karlee went swimming! It's a good thing there were the four adults because we each had a kid to take care of. Things get pretty crazy when Rissa and I get together with our four kids. It's always an adventure.
After swimming we went back to my parents and had a BBQ. Jace anxiously waited for the fireworks to begin. I can't tell you how many times that boy asked when we were going to do fireworks. He definitely makes things more fun and exciting - especially the holidays. It finally got dark enough to start the fireworks show and what a fantastic display of colored lights! Oh the joys of the bouncing florescent flowers, the shooting tanks, the floating parachutes, the spinning pagoda..... Jace LOVED them and Cole was pretty interested until he fell asleep on me. All in all it was a fun day and a great way to spend some more time with Rissa, Ryan, and the twins before they head off to Kansas. We are going to miss them so much. It has been nice because they have been able to spend so much time up here lately. We are going to miss you and it's going to break my heart not to be able to see Chance and Logan for so long. I hope they don't forget their favorite aunt! We hope everyone else had a fantastic 4th of July!!

Flag Ceremony - A Turner Legacy

The 4th of July started out awesome as always! We joined Grandma and Grandpa Turner at their condo for the annual 4th of July Flag Ceremony! (To all of you other family members - you missed out!) We have had this tradition for as long as I can remember. It has always been just my family and Grandma, Grandpa, Jill, Jean and any other family members who just might be in town for the holiday. Well, since Grandma and Grandpa have moved to their condo, Grandpa has invited all of his neighbors and it has been quite the celebration. This year we had quite the crowd - about 20 people!

This year it started out with Randall posting the colors. For years it's always been Dallin posting the colors, but somehow this year he missed out. We were then honored to hear a beautiful rendition of "America the Beautiful" by the family choir: Grandma, Grandpa, Jill, Jean, and Randy. (Ya still got it guys!) Then, my amazing husband gave a FANTASTIC speech on patriotism. What a sport, he has now given the speech twice since he's been in the family. (I have never had to, hehe) I was so proud of him - he didn't even complain about it when Grandpa called to ask him. He did such a good job that all of the old folks in attendance asked him for a copy of the story he shared. He's such a great guy - I love you Bry!

After that, we had breakfast and just hung out with the fam chatting and visiting. It was fun to be with everyone and it was a great way to start the 4th. It gets you thinking of why we celebrate this holiday and how blessed we are to live in America. Here are some pictures of the wonderful event.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...."

The inspiring musical number

The Keynote Speaker

My Patriotic Boys

Jesse over Jason?

My friend Masha is going to give me a hard time for posting this, but oh well. (This is for you Kristin!) I have had a guilty pleasure for the past couple of months, and it is called, Bachlorette! I know, I know. But I really have enjoyed it. I too was pulling for DeAnna to choose Jason. He was just so sweet and it was time for him to "find love" again. I have to say that I was sooo shocked that she chose Jesse. I thought the whole time she was going to choose Jason for sure. They just seemed to click better, and I thought they were a cuter couple. I did like Jesse, thought, he was a good guy. But poor Jason had his heart broken all over again. I felt so bad for the guy. But whatever, it's just a lame show, right?!