Duet

Today before church Jesse brought a reminder card to me from Primary stating that he was to give a talk in Primary on July 24th. Oh wait! That's today! Ok, so I scrambled in my mind as to what to do in such a short amount of time. I grabbed the infamous Talks for Tots book that I grew up with and off to church we went. As I was sitting in Sacrament meeting I thought, "We just went to go visit the temple, Jesse could talk about that, maybe even sing his favorite song "I love to see the temple" since he knows all the words." I asked him if he would do it, he seemed uncertain. Then I said, "Well what if I help you or Max sings with you, will you do it then?" He hesitantly agreed, and so it was settled. So Mike and I met in the Primary room for sharing time and Max got up and read the scripture with daddy's help, then it was Jesse's turn. I got up to help him, I prompted him as to what to say so he didn't panic, (like he tends to do). He said, "I went to the Temple with my mom, I love to see the temple." And them him and I both sang I love to see the Temple. According to my critic (Mike) he said we did really good. I want this to go on the record as my first duet in front of a crowd. Yes, it was just Primary children, but still!! Even better, it was with my son. There were a few moments that Jesse really wanted to cry, but he held it together until the last word. It was a sweet moment.

Good job Jesse! Good job Max!

Salsa Sunday!

Okay, so Anna made this salsa at one of our family gatherings ages ago and we fell in LOVE, and now, it is apart of our family. Last week, Damien said, "Mike, are you going to make some salsa? It IS salsa Sunday?" LOL! We do make this salsa once a week and we down it by Thursday or so. Needless to say, we LOVE salsa. Every time Mike makes it, it comes out different, sometimes super hot, sometimes not. Even Max and Jesse are growing accustomed to the salsa. Since this has become such a family tradition, I decided to give the salsa its own blog post. We anxiously wait for Dad to make the salsa, and then rush the bag of chips to try his creation. Today, we made it with jalapenos from our very own garden! How HOT is THAT!! Oh it was HOT. You didn't know it was hot until a few seconds later :) Then you have major salsa/onion aftertaste for at least a day or so, that is, IF you don't have anymore salsa ;) Mike has since adapted the below recipe, now he only uses one can of Rotel, and goes from there.

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• 1/4 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• 1/2 whole Lime Juice

This recipe comes from The Pioneer Women website

Pioneer Day 2011

Today was Pioneer Day for our Stake. It was full of so many activities, good friends and food! I was being pulled in so many different directions, and my hands were full of bags of kettle corn, fresh squeezed lemonade, half eaten snow cones, a bottled water, and my camera!! Breakfast was yummy. Mike and Damien rode their bikes to the church early to help set up and flip pancakes. The weather wasn't too bad, thankfully. (FYI, the pics aren't in order, and I didn't want to mess with it, it would have taken too much time).

We had a special visit by the Fresno Fire Department (Bet your Pioneer Day didn't have THAT)!

They treated us to a spray down unlike any garden hose could do :)

The aftermath

Awesomeness

From all corners of the field, people were running to the water

Even missionaries ran through. Who could resist?!

The mother of all super soakers!

Took a look inside

Damien's feet and of course the passerby

Damien took on the dunk tank

Jesse's feet

He wanted to do the dunk tank, but his face doesn't show it

Jesse waiting

Congested Pioneer Parade. Didn't the Pioneer children walk and walk and walk? Probably was a lot safer!

High 5 on the Slide

Cotton Candy! Oh yeah!

We had a great day celebrating our Pioneer Heritage!

The 4th

Ok, so this post is outta place, but had to record our 4th of July festivities. We started out the day with a trip to the water park. We got there right when it opened to hopefully avoid most of the crowd, which we did. We hurried on to all our favorite rides, because we had Dad with us. And guess what, Dad surprised us this year, after 2 years of having a season pass, and Dad waiting at the bottom of the slides due to his fear of heights, he came on the big, 5 person raft ride!! We were all thrilled. We were tossed like a salad in that thing, but it was great to finally experience that ride together! And to show that his fears are being conquered, Dad proceeded to go on every ride, even the one that just drops you straight down, (kinda like the Black Hole at Wild Water, for all those familiar with that slide). I will not go on those slides. I'm not a big thrill seeker. So once we hit up all our favorites with Dad, (since he doesn't get to come with us very often) we just splashed around in the wave pool, lazy river, and kiddie area (love the mushroom waterfall, and various mini geysers). Just as it was starting to get crowded, we left for home to start our BBQ. To our surprise, we got a call from some new Member friends in our Ward, to come swimming at their house and eat. So we took our Tri-Tip and potato salad there. After that, everyone liked our idea of going to a little neighborhood park to watch the fireworks from Buchanan. We had quite the group, which was a nice change for our family. I played with the firework setting on my camera, to see what I could capture with it, so I was halfway enjoying the show and being distracted. Next year I need to get down and snuggle with the family. We enjoy going here year after year. The kids play on the play structure while waiting for the show to begin, which is nice. The trees keep getting bigger, so we wonder if we'll have to choose another spot one of these years?

"I want to be a Missionary Now....

I don't want to wait until I'm grown. I want to share the gospel while I'm young, for I have a testimony of my own."

I think that could be a theme song for Max and Jesse. They are missionaries in training. Let me give you a few examples of what I mean...

They love to wear their "Missh-mary jackets" to church (a.k.a. suit coats)

They tell their teachers and coaches that their parents go to the Temple when they are asked about their day or weekend.

They told their T-ball coach that they are going to go on a mission. This instantly prompted the coach that we are Mormon and to come up and ask me if I knew a particular family (and I did).

Here is a conversation they had with a friend of mine whose husband plays baseball....

Friend (pointing to game on t.v.): You know, when you 2 get older you can play baseball in the Majors?!

Max & Jesse: How old do you have to be to play?

Friend: 18

Max & Jesse: Oh we can't, we'll be on our missions.

Friend: Well you can play in little league

Max and Jesse: How old do you have to be?

Friend: 8

Max and Jesse: Oh, we'll be Baptized (of course they can still play, but it was cute they said this)

So cute! They are such examples to Michael and I. They are unashamed, and I admire their boldness. It really touched our hearts when our friend told us this conversation, and I think it touched him as well being a recent convert. He complimented us telling us we're doing a good job.

I continue to hope and pray. I also record this for future use :)

Here is another conversation:

Max: I will miss my wife while I am on my Mission

Me: Well Max, you get married AFTER you come back from your mission, so you don't have to worry about that :)

They also talk a lot about being a Dad :)

Max: Mom what does Dad do all day at work

Jesse: Play lots and lots of ping pong

Me: (smiling) Son, Dad fixes machines that break (that's his day in 5 year old terms)

(Doesn't Dad wish he could play ping pong all day)

I love my boys, they teach us soo much!

A Good Place to Be

I am always looking for new ideas to do with the kids and lately I have been fresh out of them except for going to the library, T-ball, the water park, and swimming lessons. Last night I was up reading old journal entries and looking through photo books that I had made and I came across pictures of Max and Jesse outside of the Temple, and I thought, "That's what we will do tomorrow." Excuse our lack of Sunday attire, but it was a nice visit filled with lots of picture taking and talking about the importance of the Temple. On the way home Max and Jesse sang the whole first verse of "I love to See the Temple", too cute! It is my hope that one day I can take my 12 year old sons to do Baptisms, and ultimately take my missionaries through for the first time.

Jesse loved the pretty flowers

I told Max & Jesse that one day they can stand here with their bride after they get married in the Temple

Jesse is waiting for his bride....he has quite a few years :)

Max is very proud!

I Love this picture!

And our Cousin loves to see the Temple too!

(Thanks for inspiring us to go too)

(If any other cousin has been to see the Temple, I would love to add pictures of them too).

2-4-6-8 Who do we Appreciate?

Max and Jesse!!!

For the past few weeks, Max and Jesse participated in their first ever organized sport team. They learned new skills, drank lots of water and had a blast. They looked forward to going to T-ball everyday. Some nights they slept with their gloves, or refused to have their shirts washed (like only serious T-ball players do). And, I was in true form as well, camera in hand for all 5 games, wanting to capture them in their element. I had so much fun taking pictures, looking at the preview and being so excited about the moment I was able to capture. So bare with me, picture overload ahead from one proud Momma. I will admit, the summer heat made it difficult at times to go out, but now looking back, it was all worth it.

Max and Jesse LOVED their coaches!

Here they are at their first game

Jesse's first At Bat

Max's first At Bat

The parents did this tunnel at the end of every game for the kids. I liked to be at the end to capture the moment. And I scored!

Max in ready position (notice his favorite coach is just feet away)

It's HOT! But we're happy to be Jr. Giants!

Yup! Childhood joy right here!

And the million dollar smile!

They loved being a part of something

Even awesome players get distracted. Right?

Crazy socks Max listening intently to his Coach

And we had our sideline cheerleaders...

Max, running to third

Now, this is cool. I was playing with the sport setting on my camera and I captured Jesse giving his coach a high 5 when running in to home. (Scroll down 4 pics and watch the moment unfold).

I LOVE these faces!

Great throwing position Jesse!

A season well done Max!

The Giants donated a bunch of goodies for the kids. So COOL!

Last day with their coaches

They couldn't wait to get their trophy

Someone made these cupcake for all the kids!

The team

A season well done Jesse!

Miss America cries for joy..... a T-ball player gasps in amazement and......confusion??

Yes Jesse, you earned it!!