Family Pics at the cabin 2011

This is most of the Lunt family. We are missing Darin and Sarah's family and Tyler (he's taking the picture)

Fourth of July

We started the day off bright and early at the hot air balloon festival. There was too much wind for any of the balloons to take off but some still blew up so we could at least have something to look at. The coolest one this year was the darth vader balloon. We met Grams and Papa there with all the Lunt cousins. After that we went back to Grams and Papa's house and took a nice long nap. Then we went to the festival activities all afternoon where the boys rode all kinds of fun rides and got their tattoos. The first picture tells you what Max liked best.

That night there weren't any big firework shows to go watch, but Robbie and his friends put on a pretty close runner up. They had all kinds of big, loud, and crazy fireworks. Two minutes after we sat down to watch it started to rain. We sat through it for a bit, but decided it wasn't fun getting totally soaked so we ran back to the car. The car was a better spot anyway since we were so close to the fireworks before that we were actually getting hit with ash. All in all it was a great ending to our fun and eventful day.

Sports Sports and more Sports!

Tyler, Cole & Brady at the Suns basketball game.

Cole playing on his first little league baseball team. Isn't he so cute in a full uniform?!

Here's a quick look at Cole and Brady hitting a tee shot.

These guys are such sports fanatics!!! That might be an understatement too. They play and play and play some more then when they come in the house to rest they watch sports on tv. I love to watch the boys at their games and tournaments, even though sometimes I am a nervous wreck hoping that they play well. The boys are very competitive, try their best, and have lots of fun so this is just the beginning of many many more hours of sports I get to enjoy!

Memorial Day in ShowLow

Tyler was asked to play in a softball tournament in Show Low over the Memorial Day weekend. So us and a two other families decided instead of staying in a hotel that we would rent out a big cabin. So much fun. So much better than a hotel. It was pretty big and provided every family their own rooms and bathrooms. It was so nice to be able to cook at home too instead of eating out every meal and feeling disgusting by the end of the trip. The kids had fun playing outside and riding bikes and scooters and inside there was a fuse ball table that also kept them well entertained. We also hit a go cart racing track one day. The boys had never really been to one and couldn't get enough of it. Tyler and I were dizzy from going round and round and high on gas fumes. It felt good to break away from the heat and enjoy some cooler weather. Tyler's team didn't win that many games, but oh well we still had so much fun we're already planning next year's trip.

Graduations

Not sure why I can't seem to keep up with blogging. It really isn't hard, but for some reason it continues to find the back burner so please bear with me as I play catch up.

We had two graduates in our house this year. Our first was Tyler. Tyler graduated with his BS degree from the Universtiy of Phoenix. Better late than never right? We are so proud of him. I thought it was hard to go to school when I was younger, but I think it's extremely hard when you have a family, a job, a church calling, and whatever else life throws at you along with homework. He was very disciplined and juggled it all for the last year or so and even graduated with a pretty high GPA.(Sorry can't remember exactly what it was.) Now he can officially call himself a graduate student. Yep, he decided to keep going for his masters degree. So now he's handsome and distinguished ;)

Our second graduate, obviously was Brady. Brady made his way through two wonderful years of Little Sprouts Preschool. He learned so much and loved every single day! He was so excited to go each time. (which made it nice for me that I never had to force him kicking and screaming) He had one of the best teachers around who spent so much time and energy to make everyday great for the kids. He will definitely miss his teacher, but we are so - I mean he is so ready to move on to kindergarten.

It's Great to be Eight!

Today was Cole's special day! He was baptized and confirmed a member of the church by his dad today. Grandma and Grandpa Monsen along with his cousin Taylor were able to come too. Tyler and Cole both looked so handsome! Tyler did a great job. The confirmation was very beautiful. He is such a good speaker and really has a way with words. I on the other hand was asked at the spur of the moment to bear my testimony and words do not flow as eloquently, but I lived through it = thankfully. I can hardly believe this day has now come and gone. I feel so honored to be the mother of such a wonderful son. Cole is such a great example to all of us in our family. He is my lover lover. Ever since he was a baby, he has been such a cuddly and loving boy. He continues to tell me he loves me as he hops out of the car for school everyday and I will dread the day if he ever becomes too embarrassed to tell me. Cole is a great student in school and loves to read and be with his friends. He is having fun playing golf and baseball and is excited to now be in scouts. We love you Cole!

First Stitches!

Well - it's happened! The Monsen household has now had its first, and I'm sure not our last, visit to the ER. We were having such a nice Sunday watching conference and enjoying the beautiful weather when Cole and Brady decided they wanted to practice their baseball hitting with this zip line thing that Cole got for his birthday. Cole had hit a few and was stepping away to let Brady have a turn and didn't get far enough away when Brady took a practice swing and just cracked Cole right in the head. Tyler knew instantly that it was too deep to just bandage up so we were off to the ER. Right after it happened Cole's biggest worry was if it hurt his brain. It was so cute and offered a little relief from the scariness of the moment. Brady was so sad and felt really bad, but Cole was brave and told Brady he wasn't mad at him. So in the end it was a lesson learned about forgiveness and there is no hitting without a helmet!

MAX!!!!

Last weekend we celebrated Max's 2nd birthday! We kind of had a crazy March and honestly I was a bit worn out so Max got the short end of the stick. We ended up just celebrating with a night of swimming with a few neighbor kids. He is only two - and probably won't remember so he won't care, but I felt kind of bad. We still had fun though and he loved staying up late and eating cupcakes. Max is obviously our third boy. He definitely tries very hard to keep up with the older kids and thinks he can just run around the street by himself. He is already motoring around on a two wheel scooter and zippping around the yard on the harley and playing games on moms phone. He loves to be outside, to wear his hat backwards, and has endless energy. He has entered the terrible twos and is now so nicely throwing fits and doing whatever it takes to get his way. Just when you are taken to the point of strangling him he comes to give you a kiss or asks for something followed by "peeez" and that is why he often times gets what he wants and we continue to just love him!

Brady Brady Brady!

These are pictures of Brady from his first couple of golf tournaments and his birthday. We have another golf superstar on our hands. He loves to play. He is the kid that can go out and hit golf balls on the range for two hours and still not want to go home. Brady turned 5 this year. He decided he wanted yet another birthday bash at Chuck E Cheese. He can't get enough of that place. I have to say I like it too since I don't really have to provide the entertainment. Brady is our crazy kid. He is very well behaved at school and at church, but at home is the total opposite. He definitely inherited some of the Lunt loudness. We're glad he's in our family to add some excitement and a little drama.

Football Finals

I don't ever brag enough about the stud of a husband I have so here goes. Tyler played on a flag football team at work. They played in a tournament and made it all the way to the finals. There team name was Uncle Rico (from Napoleon Dynamite). They grew out their stash's for the week to really look the part. The University of Phoenix went all out and made it a big deal; they even rented out a local college football stadium for it. They had concession stands, cheerleaders, drum lines, and even the Phoenix Cardinals Mascot. It was a fun afternoon - we were really proud to cheer on Tyler!

Christmas 2010

So this post is a little behind the times, ok a lotta behind, I have no good excuse except to say that I am a procrastinator, thus this will be short and sweet! Anyway! Christmas this year was really fun!! We got to have a few extra visitors, Katherine, Paul, and Dillon! We were so excited to have some extended family around even though we didn't make the trip to Utah. We didn't do a whole lot except hang out, visit, and let the kids run wild.

Temple Lights Xmas 2010

This was our night out to see the Mesa Temple Lights. There isn't quite as many lights as Temple Square, but hey, you don't have to freeze while you are walking around either;)

Ward Smores Night!

This year our ward didn't plan a campout so we had a smores night instead. I was really excited to enjoy the best part of the whole camping experience without really going camping. We don't have any camping gear and so we haven't ever gone to any of the campouts anyway. This was way better! Everyone who had portable firepits just brought them to the church parking lot and we brought our camping chairs and sat around the fire for roasting and just hanging out. Hot chocolate, smores, and great friends - need I say more?