Control Freak!

There is something that I have learned about myself, several times through out life... I am a control freak. I don't try to control others, I just hate when I feel like things in my own life are out of my control! I hate being patient enough to wait and see things work out on their own. So as you can imagine, Heavenly Father, quite often, has to teach me how to be patient and have faith that HE is in control, not me. Lately I have been experiencing one of these lessons and it was not a pretty sight :) I was freaking out to the point that I was literally sending myself into labor. But if I would have just calmed down and realized once again that I can't control everything and that He knows exactly what he is doing, I could have saved myself a lot of distress. We now have a new house to move into next week, Tyler is finally getting paid for all the hard work he has been doing this summer, and despite my crazy body stressing itself into labor, our baby is still in there and healthy! I see that Heavenly Father irons out our lives for us- even if it's at the very last minute :) And once again, I am humbled. Thank goodness he is in control and not me!

Good thing I have these guys (and little girl not pictured) to save me from myself :)

And here is the 8 month belly! Only four weeks to go!

PaRkEr'S BiRtHdAy PaRtY!!

Our Birthday Boy!

We decided to throw Parker a birthday party a little early this year because the end of July might be a little crazy for us as we prepare to move and make room for the baby, etc. His actual birthday is July 20 but we celebrated with family and friends on Saturday. We invited everyone to the little park just up the street from our house. It was perfect because the park is small and fenced in so the kids could run around all they wanted and the parents could enjoy visiting while keeping and eye on the kiddos. It was so fun! My mom brought a bunch of fun water toys and squirt guns, needles to say all the kids, both toddlers and the older kids, enjoyed getting wet.

I stayed up until 1:00 am the night before making these lovely soccer ball cupcakes. I thought they were appropriate because Parker loves soccer and he has spent a lot of time watching the World Cup with us lately.

Parker spent a lot of time on the swings! Between swings and any form of water (including the sprinklers that came on later that day) he was in Heaven!

He also insisted that he have one of his balloons at all times that day!

Playing on the playground with another balloon :)

Having so much fun with his daddy!!

Blowing out his 2 candles! He blew them out all by himself... I was impressed.

Yummy! Unfortunately he wasn't that interested in the cupcakes I slaved over, so no fun pictures of him covered in frosting.

Opening presents.... he got lots of great stuff, including a lifetime supply of bubbles- which is awesome because he LOVES bubbles!!

Chillin'... starting to get worn out from all the fun.

And this is where he ended his afternoon, crashed on our bed holding on to... balloons!!

Thank you to all our family and friends who made Parker feel so special at his party. We are so blessed and had so much fun with all of you! Once again I took 135 pictures at the party and we have a bunch of cute ones of all our friends and family. I will put them on Facebook so check them out!

Happy 4th of July!!

Independence day is one of my very favorite holidays! I love it! I love all things patriotic, then add summertime, BBQ's, fireworks and fun and I am a happy girl :) So I took about a million pictures this weekend. Here is what we did:

Saturday, July 3rd:

My little cousin Carly was baptized Saturday morning in Twin Falls so we spent the day in Twin with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and Grandma. We were very excited for Carly on her big day, unfortunately she was sick so she spent the rest of the day in bed :( But the rest of the family had a blast....

Blowing bubbles

Playing games

Spending time with the family

Watching my dad, uncle Doug, Tyler, Jake and my cousin Kaden set off their illegal fireworks

Sunday July 4th:

(back at home) I made red, white and blue pancakes for breakfast

We went out to Tyler's parents' house

And enjoyed.... you guessed it, more fireworks!

And no trip to Grandma and Grandpa Pooley's would be complete with out some trampoline time

We also played a really fun game of baseball that I didn't get pictures of. But Tyler was the home run champ... way to go hubby!

Then Tyler, Parker, Isaac and I went downtown to watch the Boise firework show. We found a great spot on top of a BSU parking garage. We set up our chairs in the back of the truck and enjoyed the show! Parker loved them!

We are so grateful to live in this beautiful, free country. Sometimes I think people get too caught up in politics and arguing and forget how very blessed we are to be Americans!! Thank you to the men and women who fight to protect our freedoms and especially to the families who give up their moms, dads, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters to fight for our home. We are especially grateful to our brother-in-law Denver, who is in the military! God bless America!