I'm a Binge Blogger Too

To steal my friend Chelsea's line from her blog . . . I am a binge blogger as of late. I put a million things on here and then wait forever to do it again. So, here is my newest binge for all to enjoy.

Family in Town and The Fourth

My sister Stacey and her husband have three boys who are married and live here in Phoenix, so they came for the fourth along with my parents and my sister Tammy from Ohio. This is us at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant in downtown Phoenix. Soooooooo good. I now love Greek food!

Afterwards, Dad, Joseph, and I took Alex to his first theatre movie: UP. We are pixar people, so it had to be a pixar. It was such a great movie!

These are Justin and Chelsea's boys. Cole is the oldest, the twins are Trace and Brody and then you all know Alex of course. I love these cute boys!

This is their youngest and a little girl Brynn. Such a dolly. Love her!

Our day with Jarom and Charla was super fun as we went to the Bounce Jungle by their house in Chandler. Alex absolutely loved this place and I think it goes down in our books as one of the best family activities we have ever done.

Yes, I totally beat him on the first hit. Sorry, honey. I had to put it on here. :)

I'll leave the judging up to you on who actually won this one. :) And you all thought Joseph was calm?? mmm.hhhhhmmm.

Rebekah had fun while we were there just talking to Grandma and chewing on plastic. :)

At Josh and Kara's house we had some tap dancing fun. This was so hilarious. I have to say I was impressed with my 2 year old's dancing skills.

My cake tradition for the 4th. I love this cake. This year I used a yogurt cake recipe for the cake and frosting. So yummy.

I just think these two are so cute.

He is growing up so fast.

Had to show off my 4th of July bow. I am so happy she keeps them in.

We sat on my Brother in Law's big truck to watch the fireworks. In this picture, Alex is "touching" them. He was mesmorized. I was tired. :)

California Trip!

Isn't it sad that this is the best picture I took in the entire 6 days we were there. My excuse: 4 college girlfriends turned moms, 8 kids, 0 dads. When we did have breaks and quiet time from the utter chaos, we enjoyed talking with each other so much that pictures were the last things on our minds. Thanks Sheila and Kari for being such great friends and letting Amber and I crash your cribs. :)

Kiddo Updates

I had to post his picture because this is Rebekah's most common look. Sucking away on that bottom lip with an innocent stare. She is nearly 8 months old now! Crazy! She is also almost crawling. So close and so so determined. She gets really frusturated when she watches Alex running around and can't get up and go with him. She is babbling more and more, eating soft finger foods like bananas, peas, puffs, cheerios etc. She is seriously such a cool girl and I am totally in love with her. She is happy and outgoing and very silly. Love this girl. Ok, so she does drive me crazy sometimes too, but doesn't every kid? :)
Here is a cool video of Alex swimming. We are so excited for all he has learned this summer. He is growing up so fast. The first video is swimming under water. The second is doing the backfloat. Both are very short.

An Arizona Monsoon

Charla can attest, since I made her take this video . . . I was a little over excited to see an Arizona Monsoon. Believe it or not, we even saw some hail land on their patio. After a 114 Degree day, you would think it impossible, but it is true my friends. Scout's honor. The monsoon was crazy! And honestly the desert smells sooooo good after a downpour like that. The video certainly doesn't do it justice. The wind was unbelievably strong and making the rain come in sideways.