Dead battery fun...

I took the boys to see Toy Story 3 today at the movie theatre on Stapley. I had a gift card and that was all I needed as an excuse to take my boys out for some afternoon fun. We went to the 12:55 showing. There was no one in the theatre when we got there at 12:50! It was great. Maybe another 6 people came in, total. It made for an excellent movie experience. Anyways, the movie was great. We love the Toy Story movies. They are all very entertaining and good clean fun.

After the movie, I noticed that Joe had been calling me. I called him back and told him where we were and asked if we could come visit him at work. He said it wasn't a good time, which is fine because he is very busy getting ready for the back to school rush. He told me he was planning on staying late to work on a few projects so not to plan on him home for dinner. I told him okay and that we'd see him later.

Then the fun began! As we exited the theatres we noticed a major monsoon storm headed right for us. The wind was blowing dust and the air was very cool. That meant rain was coming. So we hurried to our car and got set to head over to visit grandma & papa since they just live over the freeway from the movie theatre. But the car wouldn't start. Not a sound. Dead battery.

My first instinct was to call Joe, and that's exactly what I did. Joe of course said he would be right there. I got everyone out of the hot car and we headed to the strip mall to take some cover from the dust and wind while we waited for Dad to come save us. I then thought to call my parents and tell them we weren't coming. Which my mother said, why didn't I just call them? They are so close and could come help, maybe even before the rain hits. I told my mom that Joe was already on his way and not to worry. The boys were having a great time playing in the wind and looking for rain drops.

It took Joe about 15 mins to get to us from his school. In that 15 mins the rain started to come down. It was falling in sheets of water. The boys were having a great time dodging drops and pretending they were being shot by the large drops of water. They were screaming and running, it was fun to watch. No one else was outside so I didn't worry about the noise.

By the time Joe drove up it was pouring! We raced back to our car. I loaded all the boys into my car and got out the jumper cables. Just walking around my car to the back had me soaked. Needless to say, we got the car jumped and running. Joe and I were completely soaked. My hair was dripping, I could ring out the water. I got in the car and Jacob was just laughing at us. Aaron said, "Mom doesn't get this wet when we go to the swimming pool!" And that is the truth. I never get fully wet at the swimming pool because I have a reaction to the chlorine in the water. But I was wet today.

The best part...Joe was heading home with us to make sure we got home safe and take care of the battery. He had to bring a ton of work home and will probably lock us all out of the office for the night, but he's home. In all it was an exciting day. Not exactly what I had planned, but a great day to make a memory. Got to love these monsoon afternoons in Arizona.

Is the summer over yet?

I think Aaron's getting a bit bored this summer. Good thing school starts soon.

Jared's Birthday Party

On Thursday, July 15th we had a small birthday party for Jared's 3rd birthday. We invited Grandma & Papa over for cake and ice cream. That's it. No one else. It was perfect. We watched the TV show Wipeout, which Grandma & Papa had never seen. Papa laughed real hard that night. Jared opened his 2 presents, then we sang happy birthday, blew out the 3 candles and enjoyed the chocolate cake and ice cream. Perfect.

Grandma & Papa got him a Diego toy set. The other boys were all over it like vultures!

Aaron thought he needed to help Jared open his presents. Apparently he was not going fast enough.

We got Jared this Toy Story 3 Woody doll. Jared loves Toy Story.

Jared chose pink sprinkles to put on his cake. They were very pretty. His brothers about died when he chose them.

Lots of spitting on the cake....not much blowing. So Mom helped.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jared!

Happy Birthday to my youngest boy, Jared!

Jared was born on July 15th, 2007. He came as a big surprise. We had a c-section scheduled for the next week, but he was on his own time schedule. My water broke around 4:30am. We called Grandma & Papa to come over and watch the other sleeping boys so we could go to the hospital. In the past my labor would not start without the help of medication. With Jared it was a different situation. My labor started within the next 30 mins. Waiting for my parents to arrive was torture! We rushed to the hospital around 5:30am, with me screaming for Joe to drive as fast as he could. We had to travel all the way to Country Club and Brown to the Banner Mesa Medical Center, it has since been closed down. This is the same hospital that all our boys were born in, along with myself when it was called Mesa Lutheran Hospital. Once I reached the OB department, I had 4 nurses working on me. 1 took my history, 1 put in my iv, 1 prepped me for surgery, while the last 1 administered medication to stop my very strong contractions. Once I was in the operating room they gave me my spinal tap and I couldn't believe it when it didn't take. The nurse began prepping my belly and I would gasp at the coldness every time she touched me. She finally stopped and said, "She shouldn't be feeling this." I said, "I know, I can still move my feet." And began wiggling my feet. Everyone freaked out and started screaming because my spinal tap had not taken. A 2nd spinal was administered and this one took with no problem. They then proceeded to get Jared out. It was quite the experience. He was perfect in every way.

Here are a few fun pictures of my baby boy.

All the Macdonald boys celebrating the birth of the youngest brother. Baby Jared and Daddy.
Grandma Phyllis, Grandma Janell & Papa Hastings

Jared enjoying the leftover cake batter/bowl after making his birthday cake this morning. That boy loves chocolate!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jared! We love you.

July 4th Celebrations

July 4th was spent as always up in Heber, AZ at grandma & papa's cabin. This year we had a smaller group. Just the Macdonald's, Grandma & Papa & the Merrill's along with cousin Allie attended. All the kids got along great. They played and played. Enjoying the great weather. On Saturday, July 3rd we all went down to the Heber parade....along with everyone else that was on the mountain! It was a great experience.

Here are a few of the kids hanging out in the shade waiting for the parade to start. We had to go down 3 hours early just to get a small spot on the side of the highway. Then we had to go to our spot an hour before the start time to secure the spot and park our cars before the highway was shut down. It was nuts! Waiting for the parade to start. From left to right, Uncle Sean, Allie, Tatum, Aaron, & Dusty.From left to right, Back row, Papa, Aunt Christine, Grandma, & Joe

Front row, Aaron, Dusty, Garrett, Jacob, Tyler & Jared

Here is what the highway looked like. This is facing west.

Facing east toward Show Low.

One of our favorites in the parade. A guy with a snake on

his neck!Jared's reaction to all the loud noises of the parade. Car horns, engines, etc. He does not like loud noises!

On Sunday, July 4th we took our boys to the Willow Springs Lake to get out of the cabin for a couple of hours. This lake is smaller than Woods Canyon Lake, but still a fun adventure for the boys.

Tyler and Aaron on a rock.

Tyler & Jared

Jacob, Jared & Tyler on our hike around the lake.

Tyler inside a fort we found.

Enjoying the water. There were people fishing everywhere so we really couldn't throw rocks. Bummer for the boys. They love to throw rocks in the water.

Jared took the liberty to throw a few small things, whenever Dad wasn't paying attention. I believe Joe is dreaming of a canoe about now. Someday.....

There is nothing like fireworks in the cool pines. Heber always has a great show. We took our jackets and glow sticks and enjoyed homemade ice cream in our favorite spot. Galen and his new wife Julia came over to have dinner with us and enjoy the show, too. Of course,

every year I say I'll take pictures of us at our favorite fireworks viewing spot, and every year I forget to get out the camera. Oh well, next year!?!

Arizona Natrual History Museum

On June 30th I took the boys and their visiting Utah cousin, Curtis, to the Arizona Natural History Museum. We had a great time walking around looking at the dinosaurs, jail and panning for gold. It was a great day to get out of the heat.

Tyler & Curtis looking through a space rock.
The boys in front of the dinosaur flash flood exhibit.

Jacob & Tyler ...dinosaur bonesTyler in jail

Curtis & Jacob in jail

Aaron in jail

Curtis panning for gold

Aaron showing me his gold.

Jacob

Tyler

Jared, Tyler & Curtis on a giant sea turtle

The museum lobby

Catching Up... Building a wall & Woods Canyon Lake

The weekend of June 25th-28th we took a quick trip up to my parent's cabin in Heber/Overguaard. It was nice to get out of the heat and enjoy a nice quiet weekend in the pines. Joe has been working 4 10's with every Friday off and he had some time that was either use it or lose it, so we decided to use it. No TV, no phones, no radio. It was glorious!

We enjoyed reading books while the boys watched old VHS tapes and ran around outside. Aaron even learned how to ride his bike without training wheels (I didn't get any pictures though, oops). Joe and Jacob built a wall/room divider in the basement for my Mom. One side is a closet, while the other is for shelving. Jacob was the big helper. He was interested in every aspect of the project and stayed to help the entire time.

Here is the beginning of the project. Tyler and Aaron wanted in on the hammering too. Thanks to extra nails and spare wood, everyone got to help.Aaron showing off the extra nails.
Jared says, "Me too".

Starting on the drywall.

The closet side.

The storage side.

On the way home we stopped at Woods Canyon Lake. Joe with the boys.

Sherri with the boys.

Looking for rocks to throw.

CHEESE!

Finally, throwing rocks.

Hiking around the lake.

We spotted the Bald Eagle. It kept flying around the lake. So we hiked closer and got some great pictures of it sitting in the top of the very tall trees.

Joe & SherriPicture taken by Jacob. I'm so glad he is able to get some good pictures of Joe and me every once in a while.