Monkey Pants

Scott's group at work had a fun picnic at a park up in Chandler. Scott was in charge of music and his co-worker "Hi-C" (short for Hiacynth) made sure that we had enough food for an army! There was a bouncy thing and you could pay to ride the cool train around the whole park. There was also a splash pad for the kids to stay cool in the "dry heat" of Arizona. It was such a fun day! Scott was in charge of music so he set up the XM radio to the stereo Boy, did they know Scott would be there (if you didn't know Scott's blood is actually Diet Mountain Dew he loves it that much)? Mitch in a tree Rylee in the same tree Crazy Chase Carson, Chase and Rylee get ready to ride The train was fun Carson, his Dad and his eyes on the train Even my "Bigs" enjoyed the ride I LOVE the palm trees in Arizona Mitch and Chase have been on a bit of a yo-yo craze lately and Scott and I have tried to learn their tricks too...they are much better than we are T...

I love this. Graduating from preschool when there is still another year of preschool left. Carson loved going through these motions though. He loved the hat, the ribbon, the necklace and the ceremony. I wasn't able to go because I was in the pool teaching lessons, but Scott was able to go and got some nice pictures. Congrats Carson on making it through your first year of preschool! Waiting for the ceremony to start Alden and Carson were the only members of the 3 year old class. Miss Kris did a great job! The walk Here he is...an official 3 year old graduate. Now on to bigger and better things...the 4 year old class!!

Chase's 4th grade class was given the assignment to research a famous person from Arizona. They called it a "wax museum" project. Chase was given Geronimo to research. He had to write a full report on him and then stand up in front of his class, the 3rd graders, and parents (all at seperate times- he recited it 3 times!) to recite his MEMORIZED report. The whole class stood like wax museum statues around the classroom with their backdrops behind them, in costume and recited their reports. I was really impressed with those kids! The costumes were great, the backdrops were nice (except Chase's) and they all recalled the information flawlessly. My Chase has an amazing memory. I wasn't surprised that he could do it...but I was still amazed at how much he had memorized. Telling the story all from memorization itchy head after from Dad's hat Carson was good throughout the presentations but after he got to play with Chase's classmates Geronimo and Jo...

Chase and his 4th grade class (along with all the other 4th graders) got to go to the Grand Canyon on a fieldtrip. What a great experience! Chase got to wear his Dad's "Indiana Jones" hat and was one of the only kids to go on the hike. They left EARLY in the morning and got home about 10:30 that night. Group shot on the hike - Chase is the one in the back with the "Indiana Jones" hat on Class pic at the rim of the canyon - again in the back with the hat Chase's view #1 - Chase took a disposable camera with him and took all sorts of neat pictures from his point of view. Chase's view #2 Chase's view #3 This is Chase's friend Collin Hunt that had moved to Peru but came back for a visit Chase just loves his "little" friend Nevan Mrs. Shields is the best teacher EVER! I'm so glad she is moving up to 5th grade next year. Chase will be in her class again!

Our ward's Father's and Son's campout this year was a bit earlier than we are use to. We've always thought it was the same weekend as Mother's Day which also coincides with the anniversary of the Priesthood or something like that. This year they had it in mid-April the weekend after Scott had taken time off work to take Mitch to SLC for conference. So...he couldn't take 2 weekends in a row, therefore we had to find rides to camp for our 2 sons. Mitch went up with Brothers Hough and Elcock and Chase went up with Brother Small. A HUGE thanks to those guys willing to let them tag along! They had loads of fun! Mitch loved how Kruz Hough had so many things to tell Mike Elcock. "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike...cow" he would say. Mitch thought it was hilarious! I'm not sure what Mike thought about it. Chase went up with his best bud Cooper and his Dad. The only pics I got from the weekend I had to steal from other's blogs. They had t...

Mitch was invited by his good friend Logan to hit the dirt hills on their bikes. Logan had his birthday party at this BMX bike park in Chandler. The boys had a ton of fun. Mitch was timid at first but ended up more brave riding faster and jumping.

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Fathers - a special breed. Girls love them, and boys want to be them. I have 3 very diverse and special Fathers in my life. My Dad came for a visit and was here in AZ for Father's Day. It was so nice to have him here. Not just because he's my Dad and we love him, but because he is so helpful with the kids. I made him stay longer than he planned so he could help with my kids during my last session of swimming lessons. I say I "made" him but he stayed willingly and my kids were so happy to stay home and be tickled by Crapaw. He's the best snuggly teddy bear. I'm so grateful for all he has done for our family. We had so much fun while he was here. He spent most of his childhood in Mesa, AZ so I have learned of a ton of extended family I have right here in the east valley! He's huge into Family History and has taught me so much of the history of my family. He's called Crapaw. You may think that's not a nice name to call him but he loves it. His oldest...

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog! Alrighty then...here goes! 3 Joys - *My family, mostly my 4 adorable, growing kids *Extended family - I love vacations to see them all *Really good food - seafood/sushi, yummmmmm 3 Fears - *Biggest Fear = my kids hating me...I'm dreading the teen years *Heights/rollercoasters - self declared whimpy girl *Something happening to my family 3 Goals - *Get out of debt *Lose more weight *Go back to school 3 Current Obsessions/Collections - *Can't stop twisting my hair into knots *Everyone else's blogs *Playing video/computer games - alone or with my kids, either way, it doesn't matter 3 Random, Surprising Facts - *I'm really a blonde, skinny girl *I have had 6 surgeries in my life ...

One more day. 2 more 1/2 days. 4 1/2 more hours. 9 more classes. 30 more kids. One more day. I have loved teaching swimming lessons this year. There have been so many positive things come out of it. I lost more weight than I thought I would. I'm tanner than I have been in 10 years. I have made lots of new friends. I've gotten to know some friends better. Cute kids come up to me at church just to say HI to "Miss Pam". I'm known as "Miss Pam", "Teacher", and sometimes "Mrs. Pam". I made some money to help my family. I've seen kids that are terrified of the water turn into little guppies in a short time. Screamers become laughers. Parents beaming with pride. However, my body is yelling at me daily that I'm not 21 anymore. Yes I'm tan, but how many of these new freckles are just new freckles or do I have to worry about something more? I'm tired and think I could sleep till the millennium. I haven't mopped my floors in...

CHIP's CHALLENGE - I just ran across this game again earlier this week. I use to LOVE to play this game when I was nursing Mitchell. He's 12 now so it's been a while since I've seen it, let alone played it. Anyone else remember it? You can click here to download your own copy http://www.takegame.com/arcade/htm/chipschallenge.htm Let me know if you remember it...or download it and tell me if you like it!