Birthday P-A-R-T-Y

I had an amazing and SUPER fun birthday yesterday. It only required a few willing victims, I mean participants, and a trip to the dollar store. It all began with the thermometer reading HOT HOT HOT. For two measly little dollars we purchased 100 water ballons and four squirt guns.

The water games began as a innocent little balloon toss ensued. At first we (mom, dad, dave, me, david, and ben) were all in a circle and would step back progressively as we tossed water ballons around it. Then, we broke off into partners to do the same thing. It only progressed from there.

Truthfully, I didn't expect the water guns to work since they were only a quarter a piece but I was pleasantly suprised. Those little babies could shoot up to about 20 feet away and not even one of them leaked!! We then decided to have a four way duel. We all faced a different direction and on someone's count, would take three paces. We would then turn and rapid fire for all we were worth. Realizing how fun this was, we would do it again and again.

Somewhere during the course of our duels, David decided it would be fun to have "target practice". Someone would lay down on the grass about 10 yards from the "marksmen" (and women), and we would each take turn tossing our balloons onto the current "target".

...wiping my eyes...again

During one of the duels there was a saboteur...he opened a BIG can of worms and re-defined the meaning of wet.
We each took our turn in the middle of the madness.

We showed the saboteur who was boss...

It was one of those magical days. We will all look back with fond memories of how juvenile a bunch of adults (and one almost adult) can be.

Hair Cut

Carson enjoyed a day outside yesterday. We learned amid all the water games that we were playing, that Carson loved to suck on the water gun. We would give him tiny little squirts of water every now and again. We ended up keeping him quite hydrated that way. Also, be sure to notice how long his hair is on top. It was getting tangled all the time because it was so long an whispy. It was time to do something about it...


Pretty adorable, isn't he?!?!

David comes to BYU!!!

This weekend we moved David into Heritage Halls for a summer term at BYU. It made me laugh because there were about 10 of us there to help but all David had was two suitcases and a partially empty box. I literally had 10 times that amount when I came to school.

So I wanted to get a picture of David and Ben together so when I had them stand together, this is what I got...so then I tell them to be serious and they took me too literally.
After threatening them with their lives, this is what I got.
Jenn and I were on unpacking duty.
Dad was on meeting the RA duty.
Mom was on Carson duty and Richard was on cheeleading duty.
Dave was on "life of the party" duty.
Ben was on... juggling duty?? (You think I am kidding, but he sat an juggled probably 75% of the time we were there.)Carson was on pacifier duty.

And I thought I enjoyed back scratches...

...this horse puts me to shame.

I thought this picture was funny enough to deserve its own post. The horse above is a Curly named Dallas. Dallas LOVES to be scratched. After we got back from our ride the horses needed to be watered. While my sister was watering Dallas, my brother in law hopped into the pen to give him a little lovin'. Richard got his hands working furiously under Dalla's mane and that's when it happened...

Dallas' lips started to twich like he was holding in a sneeze. Then, they started to pucker a little and twitch even more, kind of like a teenage boy practicing kissing in the mirror. From there it progressed to something like a toothy smile. And finally, Dallas' lips curled back into utter delight. His upper lip would flap clear back over his teeth and he would throw his head up in the air and roll his eyes in pure ecstasy. I thought I might die laughing. When Richard was done, Dallas would chase him around the pen hoping for more. (In case you can't tell from the picture, those are the horses top teeth with his top lip flappin' in the wind.)

Equestrian Adventures

This was what we got to do bright and early Saturday morning...

...and these are the lovely people that made it happen.

Above is my sister Jenn. She was the babysitter. Below is her husband Richard. He was our trail guide and did everything else involved with riding horses for that matter too.

I felt like a real cowgirl with these rockin' boots on. They are my sister's mother-in-laws (figure that one out). They were the perfect size and although they are definitely the ugliest things I have ever worn, they are quite possibly the most comfortable as well. I considered running off with them, but then I couldn't think of any outfits that would go with them.

This is me pretending like I wasn't intimidated by the HUGE horse I was riding. I really don't know much horse jargon, but for those of you that do, his name is Business, and he is 16 and 1/2 hands high. He was BY FAR the biggest horse of the three.

This is handsome Dave riding Angel. He was a regular cowboy.

I saved the cutest cowboy for last. We didn't think he was quite up to handling his own horse. We think walking first might be a better idea... or even sitting for that matter.

One of these days I am gonna get him to smile with me :)

Baby Carson Einstein

This is just a fun short video of Carson in "his toy" as Dave calls it.

Some Pictures (of our lives for the past month)

I recently received a call from BYU requesting that I bring Carson in for some kind of study. It had something to do with the development of baby brains and if they could differentiate certain stimuli at 5 months old. They put this net thingy on his head with a whole bunch of electrodes attached. He was thrilled to put anything dangling off the cap into his mouth so the study actually went really well. When all was said and done we got this rockin' certificate. We filed it away in the circular bin. This is our little Baby Einstein do-dad. Carson didn't like it so much at first but just in the last couple of days he had taken to it a little more. It is so cute watching him try to flip the plastic pages in the book and bonk and whack various bonkable and whackable parts.


So Dave was a bit incredulous that Carson could be as long as he is. I do have to admit that him putting on 8 inches in four months seemed like a lot, but lo and behold - he is as tall as they say he is. These pictures are of us trying to get totally accurate measurements. I don't know why we thought it would be easy to measure him when it's hard to even get a diaper on the kid.

These pictures break my heart. Carson developed a NASTY cough and wheeze. We became alarmed as it was getting worse and worse. When we took him to the doctor we were told the virus he had could lead to RSV or pneumonia. The doctor was concerned about the wheeze and told us to use a nebulizer to administer albuterol to him every four hours so his airways would dilate and he could breathe a little better. This is Dave holding his precious little buddy in the middle of the night. The nebulizer would mist albuterol into his face for about 10-15 minutes. We were to hold it about and inch from his mouth and nose till each treatment was gone.

This picture was taken on our anniversary. I was SOOO sick.
Carson isn't sure what to think of rice cereal. Each time we feed it to him he gives us the most sour face possible, the face gets less and less nasty with each bite until it goes away entirely. By the time that happens, he is grabbing at our hands, the spoon, the cereal, his bib, or anything and tries to shove it in his mouth because the food just doesn't seem to come fast enough. We laugh every time we feed him :).

Alright, Julie HH - this one is for you!

I figured it would be WAY easier to make this a post than a comment so here it goes.

-Cover 4 chicken breasts with foil & bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. When done, dice it and lay it in a 9 x 13 casserole dish and set it aside.

- In another bowl mix 1 family sized can of cream of chicken soup with 24 oz cream.

- Pour mixture over chicken.

-Smash 1 column ritz crackers and sprinkle it with 2 TBSP poppy seeds over the dish.

-Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.

-Eat it over whatever you want - rice - potatoes - noodles - etc.

I LOVE this recipe because it is SOOO easy. None of the proportions have to be totally accurate. The first time I made it I measured it all out, since then, I have just added stuff till it's to my liking (the amount of chicken you use can also be totally variable). Also, I have left out the poppyseeds all but once. If you have them, add them. If you don't, it's not worth the effort of buying them. There isn't much of a difference. Lastly, if you want to buy the fat free version of everything, it still tastes great.