Me and the 2 little ones have been haunted by this sight for the last few days.  Well, actually it's been a waste basket at the least full of snot rags per day (note my description of used tissue here). Nobody likes the sniffles but in my opinion this has gone on too long! 

I cannot remember the last time I was feeling under the weather let alone having 2 of my little ones not feeling well right along side me.  Come to think of it...I don't believe that's ever occured.  I just don't usually get sick! 

And any one who knows me, knows I HATE getting sick and that I have a difficult time in dealing with those who are.  So you can just only imagine how much patience I have had in dealing with my daily duties around the house and with the kiddos with not feeling well.

But then...enters my hero!
Chris was so generous and sweet that he let me sleep for a few hours without interruption.  And to top it off...I awoke to a clean house!  Floors were mopped, dishes were done & the main bathroom was clean.

But that's not all.  You see, he had already worked a full day, then came home took care of me, all 6 kiddos, cleaned the house plus made it to his business meeting that night...oh, & did I mention he made sure to stop by the store on his way home to grab me some gatorade?  Well, he did.

I cannot be more blessed than to have a man like him!  I love you hunny!

The Primary put on a wonderful program this past Sunday.   Everyone was a bit concerned whether or not it would be pulled off well since the recent changes our Stake underwent with going from 9 Wards to 5.  Part of the reason why we didn't send out invitations to family/friends this year...just unprepared & without enough time.

We ended up having 3 of our 6 children in the Primary Program this year.  Dyson is in Sunbeams (his last year), Dagyn is in CTR 5-6 (her last year), & Devyn is in Valiant 9-10 (his last year).  All three of them did such a wonderful job.  Dyson had a bit of stage fright when it came to saying his lines but he did an excellent job at his favorite song..."I am a builder, working at home to build my family.  And I will do the best that I can to serve my family!"  I'm holding them all to that!

Throughout the program, Dyxon kept wanting to go up to sit with Dyson.  I'm thinking to help him out & to show him it's not so bad/scary!

On a side note:  The Primary had their Activity Day the day prior which included a practice for the program, treats & a game.  The kids had a ton of fun!  They played this fun balloon game where you tie a small balloon to your shoe/ankle and run around trying to pop someone else's balloon by stepping on it.  Our kids just decided it was just as much fun to run around twirling theirs in their hands.

Next year we will have 4 in Primary (Dyxon will be joining them in Sunbeams next year).  We cannot wait for next year's Primary Program!  Hope to see you all there next year!...granted we don't undergo any more changes. ;)

"Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha you gunna do?  Whatcha gunna do when they come for you?..."

You all know the song & if you now have that song stuck in your head...You can blame me for that.

Well, this past Wednesday we found out what happens to those who are not so nice...The Good Guys come for them...and this is their story...well atleast one of them...our Uncle Clyde.

Who is Uncle Clyde you maybe asking yourself?  Well, he is none other than the COOLEST Sergeant at the Apache Junction Police Department!

See...I told you!

And he likes us SOOOOOO much that he gave us a personalized tour.

Clyde is very impressed that Devyn aspires to become a police officer someday...and introducing him as such, Devyn was quickly given advice by a fellow officer to become a fireman...jokingly he said, "everybody loves firemen".   Call us biased, but we have a special love for the men in blue.  I mean, come on...besides the fact that they all love donuts...who wouldn't love those who serve & protect us!?! 
What's that?  No Donuts?!  Dyxon is going to be upset!

Because I LOOOOVE CSI...Forensics was my favorite part of the tour.  Here we met the resident Forensic Scientist and discussed the different jobs they perform plus we got to see a dismantled atm that was brought in for fingerprinting...pretty cool stuff.

Now you don't want to go venturing into this area w/o a key.  We found out that you get absolutely no privacy when stuck in a jail cell.  The toilet is in plain view of the 4 bunks that are stuffed within these small quarters....AND...to top it off... there is a camera watching your every move!

And if you are REALLY bad...you get strapped into this wheeled chair.  The hard part, we were told, is getting the "bad guys" into it!  They don't go quietly or without a fight!  But, once they are in there, they can easily be wheeled (transported) around to places like the court room.

The K9 Unit w/o the K9.  We found that the K9 was locked inside an office for safe keeping.  OUR Safe Keeping!

That's one door we won't be venturing through...
But, the door that leads to the yard was full of fun stuff!

And then...right up Devyn's alley.... (because they are just as [crazy] as he is) were the Special Weapons And Tactics (aka: SWAT) vehicles.

After viewing the motorcycles, Devyn decided he did not want to be a Motorcycle cop anymore based upon ALL of the buttons on it.  I think he was a bit overwhelmed.  And then to top it off, while I was busy trying to take pictures, Uncle Clyde turned on the siren...scared the tar out of me.  Yes, I screamed!  Hey, you would have too...it was LOUD!!!

And what tour of police vehicles would be complete without the "paddy wagon".  Denym climbed right up inside...silly girl.

For those of you that even think you could even steal the entry code to any secured area...think again!  Devyn tries to copy the code he witnessed being punched in...but to no avail.  The #s change every time it is used...HA!

What!?!  You were caught trying to break in to a secured area?  Great, now you must go through interogation. Busted, Devyn!  I told you to not go messin' around with that keypad.

Now Devyn, you must get your fingerprints done.  Hold still & relax your hand.  This is NOT going to look good on your record.  Unless of course this was intended all along to obtain your Cub Scout Bear Achievement Award for "Law Enforcement Is a Big Job"...which it was.  No worries Gma's & Gpa's.

I think Dyxon is STILL wondering where they keep the donuts...

And that concludes our tour of the Apache Junction Police Dept.

THANKS SO MUCH UNCLE CLYDE!!!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

The Ancient Egypt party was a blast!  The kids wrote their names with the use of Ancient Egyptian writing called heiroglyphics onto peices of paper cut out into little tablets...very cute. 
Here is a picture of the hieroglypic symbols we used:

Then they made little mummies to go inside an egg carton sarcophagus....another creative idea:

While they were making their mummies, we dined on Egyptian foods.  Such as figs, dates, grapes, pomegranates, raisins & and other dried fruits.

The kids gobbled it up before I could take a picture of everything...but here's what was left:

Our activity was last and ended up being fun for all the kids.  First we talked about the 3 different types of pyramids:

Then we discussed the structure of the pyramid and passed out our pretzels & marshmallows to begin construction.
Here is Dagyn's ...she's so proud of herself.  It wasn't an easy thing to do...the pretzels didn't always want to stick to the marshmallows.

And here are Dyxon (left) and Devyn (right) making theirs.  Notice Dyxon's concentration....tongue sticking out!  He gets that from his Daddy.  ;)

And here is Dyson in the lower right-hand corner concentrating very closely on his pyramid construction. 
Denym is being held by my friend Aubree in the background on the left.  She was so good for Aubree too.  Which helped me out a lot since I was running around assisting the children with constructing their pyramids & passing out more marshmallows.  For some reason they kept disappearing...hmmm?

And a party in the Arizona heat would not be complete without WATERMELON....YUMMY!!!

It would be OK to say that the kids had fun.

Next month we are traveling to ANCIENT CHINA!

A lot has happend over this past month...

...like for instance, Dagyn's birthay celebration.  

Since Dagyn got a 'newly refurbised' bike for her birthday, we decided to celebrate by taking a bike ride to the nearby park (or should I say, water retention area).  Chris had painted Devyn's old bike purple, added some bells & whistles (well a bell, a basket & some streamers) & I drew some silver pin-stripping decals on it ~ she loved it! 

Devyn, unfortunately, wasn't home to join us (he was at football practice) when we got the spur-of-the-moment idea to go.  Even without all of us there we still managed to have a great time.

Chris left me with the 2 little ones while Dylan, Dagyn & Dyson followed along with him to Mickey D's for some burgers & fries.
During that time Dyxon, Denym & I enjoyed playing 'chase down the mountain' (running down the slope/hill), hide-n-go-seek behind the trees (well actually, Denym just curiously watched Dyxon & I) & catch with the soccer ball that we brought along with us. 
Afterwards, when Chris & the others got back & we had eaten...we all played a very short game of (one-base) kick ball.  I think everyone ended up just kicking the ball 1 time.  If Devyn was there, I know we would have had to drag him away from playing all into the night... Even if he had just finished practicing football for 2 hours.

The kids also enjoyed playing in the trees & running around while Chris & I got to chat for a moment or 2 in between all the action.

We all knew it was time to pack up and head home when Denym spotted the moon.  Good night moon.
(more to come...)