Some Fun Things

 Last July Breanna lost both of her front teeth.

Two weeks ago they FINALLY decided to show themselves!  

I was thinking just this week that maybe I should call the dentist to make sure she has some. Thankfully their entrance is going at a much faster pace.  In fact, I think they've picked up the pace quite a bit that 
I can tell a difference after spending the weekend in Utah.  

She's thrilled because she'll be able to eat caramel apples now.

 This picture was taken some time last year, but every time I see it my heart swells with love for this little boy.  He loves working with Bruce.  He's always by Bruce's side mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, trimming trees, etc.  
I love it because our boy is learning the value of work.  

In fact, one weekend Bruce promised him they would work 

outside and they didn't.  Then came Sunday --

"But Dad, we didn't work yesterday so we have to work today!" 

"No, Hunter we don't go outside and do work on Sunday."

"But Dad!" (image this cute boy falling to the ground throwing a tantrum) 

"You said we could work outside and we didn't! 

So now we have to go out and work today!"

"Sorry Hunter.  Today is not a working day."

Stormed out of the room mad.

I'm writing this down so that later on when he doesn't want to work, 
I can show him this entry!

In January, Bruce's Aunt Vi passed away and since Rebecca had strep, Breanna, Rebecca and I stayed home.

I wanted to surprise the girls Saturday morning and take 

them out for breakfast for fun.  

After getting ready for the day, we headed off to IHOP 

for some yummy pancakes, eggs and bacon. 

It was a fun morning with just me and my girls.

These two fight like cats and dogs, but I love them SO MUCH!

Breanna is very creative and artistic, while Rebecca is all about FUN!  

I would have fixed your bathtub, Mom

The other day we (the kids and I) were driving over to my mom & dad's for Sunday dinner, when Rebecca asked,
"How did you fall in love with Dad?"

I said, "Well, long before I had told Heavenly Father that if there was ever a time when a man sent me flowers at school, then I would know he was the one. On the day Ashley (their cousin) was born, your dad sent me flowers at school.  I knew that he was the one I would marry.  We had already gone on a few dates already, but that day I knew he was the one."

Sarah, "Oh, ok."  (She was quite relieved that Bruce hadn't just come out of the blue from no where and just up and decided to send me flowers and BOOM we were destined to be married.)

Then I went on to tell the rest of the story -- "Daddy offered to fix the bathtub in my condo, and when he couldn't he called on Uncle Bary to come help him."

From the back of the car, the sweetest little voice said, "I would have fixed your bathtub, Mom."

"You weren't born yet, Buddy," was my reply.

"I still would have come to fix your bathtub with Dad and Uncle Bary and Brandon and Nathan."

"Yes, Buddy, you would have come with all those Turley boys to come fix my tub, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, Mommy!"

It was the sweetest thing!  My heart filled up with love for this little boy who believed that he would have come to his Mommy's rescue when she needed her tub fixed.  I love his kisses, his hugs, and his never-ending desire to help those he loves!

My sweet, sweet boy!

Love

A few years ago a friend of mine shared a blog post where she decided on a word that all of her goals and focus would be for that year.  I thought it was such a great idea that I thought I would do it myself.  The only problem is that I've had the same word for a few years now.

I'm still a work in progress, but I'd really like to accomplish it this year.  I think I haven't the past two years because I didn't write it down.  A goal not written down is merely a wish, someone once said.  Here I am writing it out --
MY WORD FOR 2013 IS LOVE. 

I want my focus this year to share more love, be more loving, and hope that by my love others will feel the Savior's love.  I just thought I'd warn everyone that the following might occur:

• I'll be hugging you more often.
• I'll be telling you I love you, more often.
• I'll be calling more often to check on things.
• I'll be inviting more people over for dinner.
• I'll be stopping by maybe with or without notice just because.
• I'll be taking more time out of my day for others instead of my "To Do" list.
• I won't multitask while I'm talking with you in person or on the phone -- I do that a lot and sometimes I don't catch all the conversation because my brain can't focus on two things at once, but the urgency to get it all done has taken precedence.
• I'll be writing more letters or emails or little notes.
• I'll be sending out more birthday cards!  This is going to be a major feat for me because I'm not on the ball about this at all.  I'm a work in progress!

There's probably more I will be doing, but most importantly I just feel like I need to focus on people rather than the things that I always feel like need to get done.  Those things will still be there, but the people might not be.  I'm learning as forty has become my norm, that friendships and the people you love are the only things that will be there on the other side.  These things like laundry, housecleaning, etc. are temporal things, and will be here on the earth as long as I am!  Sharing love is the most important thing that I can do here on the earth for my family, my friends, and those that I meet along the way!

Welcome to 2013 -- even though it is already February -- the year of LOVE!

Fun @ Home Depot

Just about every month Bruce takes the kids to Home Depot to build something. 

 This weekend was a special treat!  

Sparky (the ASU mascot) would be there AND they would be building fire engines!

Just in case you didn't know, Hunter's dream is to be a fire fighter, so anything fire engines/fire fighters is always a plus for this kid!

Bruce's dream is to have his picture taken with Sparky!

FULFILLED!

Just a few things going on here!

We've had some exciting adventures going on at this house recently.  Bruce got tickets from a vendor to the Dbacks game against the Giants, so he took Jennifer and Sarah to the game.  In the middle of the game, one of the workers asked Sarah if she wanted to lead the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."  Needless to say, she was thrilled!  Loved every minute of it.  It was bobble-head night and Alumni Night, so they got to watch two games.  Loads of fun!

Then last week we celebrated Breanna's 7th birthday!  In the morning sang "Happy Birthday to you" and gave her cards and presents.

She ordered a fried egg with bacon and toast.  She's only child in this family who likes eggs.  Everyone else had pancakes, however Sarah missed the birthday breakfast due to early morning orchestra.

We do friend birthday parties on the odd years.  This year Breanna wanted a carnival party.  After borrowing some super cute stuff from a friend and getting a few things ourselves, it was a hit.  

We had a photo station where the kids could "dress up" with masks, hats, and funny faces.

 Nannie even joined in on the fun!

 Rebecca couldn't get enough of the "dress up".  She kept changing hers and making faces at people.

 Then we had a bunch of little carnival games like "ping pong ball toss".

 Knock over the tin cans.

 Ball & ring tosses.

 Face painting -- Sarah didn't realize what Bruce had drawn on her face.  We all loved it, but Sarah wanted something different.  

 The birthday cake was a ferris wheel -- thank you Pinterest.  However it was fall over fast.  

 Then there was the prize station once they were through with all the games.

 Presents!  Breanna got so many great presents from her friends and cousins.  It was really fun!  

Thankfully we only do this every other year!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Easter

 

  

Planting the Garden

 

 Fun with cousins

 

  

Our little preschool chef

Holbrook Dress-Up Party

Our sweet Jennifer (a niece) loves to play with the kids and do extra fun things with them while we are in Holbrook.  This last trip she definitely did not disappoint.  We went to the Holbrook Museum, such fun stuff to look at there.  Then we went off to the park for a quick picnic & play.  However, Sarah fell down on her bum from the handle bars and was in so much back pain that we had to hurry home to get her some Tylenol. 

For dinner that night we ate some terrific tamales, made by Brent.  Our family loves, loves, loves tamales so it was a hit.  Poor Lori, that is not always the case.  Sometimes my kids can be very picky eaters.

In the evening, Jennifer out-did herself by putting on an extraordinary fashion show.  She got the girls all dolled-up.  The girls absolutely love it!  Lori, my SIL, kept all her kids Halloween costumes over the years.  The girls got to pick our which one to where.  Here's your own little glimpse of a fun night!

 Pumpkin Princess

 Bride/Wedding girl (That's what Becca calls her)

 Cutest green M&M on the planet.

 Please, Breanna, look at the camera!

 Breanna, at the camera PLEASE!

 There we go -- that's a wrap everybody!

 Oh, no wait -- can't forget the cutest boy on the planet!

 When he found out that his Aunt Lori kept Nathan's hat from a costume, he was in heaven the whole weekend!

Fun, fun trip!

It's about time & 2011 review

It's always better late than never!!  I know I don't update our blog as often as family would like, but this year will hopefully be better.  Since we didn't get our family Christmas card out, I thought I do a quick year review of the family and what we've been doing.

Bruce

• Extra busy at work this year.  So many projects going on and trying to keep all the products in order and make sure they have enough.
• Teaches a class at church for the High Priests
• Built two great gardens this year.  So much zucchini and so many tomatoes! Right now we have lots of peppers, radishes and carrots.  The broccoli and peas are flowering.  

Erin

• Survived her first year as Relief Society president in the ward -- over about 178 women at church.
• Has had a blast volunteering in Sarah & Breanna's classrooms.  Makes her miss teaching -- SO MUCH!  Just a few more years and maybe she'll head back into teaching.
• Continues make cards each month with her friends -- it's a great night off each month.
• Started babysitting a little baby a couple of days a week.  She has been a great blessing in our home.  It's fun to watch the kids take care of this little one.

Sarah

•  Currently in 3rd grade and absolutely loves her teacher -- and we do too!
• Got baptized.  A huge thanks to so many who came to celebrate this special occasion.
• Passed a level in abacus math.  Loves to play the piano.
• Loves to play basketball and is finally riding a bike on her own (it's late, I know, it's our fault).
• Her mom and dad have gotten her hooked on playing card games.  Some weekends she's been able to stay up late to play with us.  One night she was up until 10:30pm because her dad had to win at least once.
• Loved having lots of cousin sleepovers this year.

Breanna

• Started Kindergarten this year and is loving it!  After the first day she said, "Do I have to go again tomorrow? I don't want to go for so long!"  It's been an adjustment for her, but she's doing great!
• Learning to read -- her favorite books are Dick & Jane.  She loves to read them to Mom & Dad.  She's getting really good at sounding out words.  
• She is very creative -- she loves to draw, color, paint, basically anything that has to do with art.  She loves to create something all the time.  
• Lost her first tooth!  She tried pulling it out herself, then saw the blood and mom had to finish the job! So exciting.  She has another loose one and wanted to pull it out, but it's not quite ready.

Rebecca

• Started Preschool this year and loves it.  She loves everything about it and all the fun activities they do.  Her favorite centers to play in at school are the kitchen and painting station.
• Broke her foot in three places while playing on the fun stuff at the mall.  It was a rough adjustment for her because she's so active.  She managed and her foot healed just fine.
• Loved having a "tea" party with Mom, Nanny, Auntie Megan, Andie, and sisters while dad & Hunter were camping.
• Within a two day period she got gum in her hair and cut it herself, then fell while caroling and scraped her nose and got a fat lip.

Hunter

• Loves tractors, firefighters, and K'nex.  His new found love are Legos.  He loves to build.
• His favorite thing to do is work with his daddy.  Whenever Bruce has a yard project going on, Hunter has to be by his side with goggles & gloves on.
• Has had a lot of fun riding a bike.  He's been our only child to catch on really quickly to riding.  He understands to pedal in a circle.  We have two little girls who can't quite catch on to that concept.  Hopefully this year we'll have all four kids riding without training wheels -- 1 down, 3 to go!
• Went on his first Fathers & Sons outing with Bruce.  He loved everything about it!

We've been so blessed this past year with good health and fun. We've made many family memories such as the snow, camping in the yard,  swimming, trips to Holbrook, going to the Arizona Science Center, Schnepf Farms, spending a few days at a local hotel, having fun with family and playing games.  

 Short, short bangs, scraped nose, and fat lip!

 Sarah caught this ball at the Diamondback's game!

 Ready to go to Fathers & Sons -- wouldn't leave Bruce's side all morning.

 Tea Party while the guys were gone.

 Our cute little 8 year-old

 Schnepf Farms

 Broken foot

 Lost tooth