The Adventure Begins...

15 hours in the car. This is what it did most of the way.

Wandering Watermelon

We didn't plant any watermelon in our garden this year, but due to irrigation watering, a seed from someone else's garden must have washed down to our plot. Thank you, whoever you are-- we owe you a seed! A fun FHE treat:)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers in my life. I love you!

We enjoyed a very laid back Sunday {Stake Conference}. After calling our Dads & enjoying the day with Darren, we pulled out some home movies. We watched the day Darren became a father to a son, and then to a daughter. Even back then he was so caring and natural with our babies. I appreciate him so much and am grateful for all he does. This year I had a concern with one of the kiddos that I was agonizing about, and he gave me a simple suggestion that was an answer to my prayers. Love you, babe!

Day Camper

Aaaaaaaarg! Cub scout day camp is hands down the highlight of the summer for pre-teen boys. For three days they are constantly moving, building, and learning archery, BB shooting, swimming, yelling, obstacle courses, and the list goes on. Our camp goes for three days, and the boys don't get home until 11:00 p.m. By day three, they're beyond exhausted. This year's theme was Pirates of the Pueblo {as if you couldn't tell}. Xander Man loved every minute! {except for getting a nasty scrape on his back} I don't know how I feel about the camp giving them hoop earrings... Darren was able to go up and participate with the boys on their last day. These are a few pics he snapped with his phone.

Up!

We watched Disney/Pixars latest in 3-D. The kick was these old man 3-D glasses they gave us--pretty dang hilarious!

Alexander was at Day Camp, so it was just Mom, Dad, Courtney & some friends. The movie was so sweet, quite intense, and as always, funny.

Our New Library

It seems I've always lived in places that had fabulous libraries... either by inventory or aesthetics. The kiddos and I have always been big fans of Story Time & weekly trips to the library, until... we moved here. I was flabbergasted. When we moved here, the library was a stuccoed trailer. It was scary. The librarian kept cats in a box under her desk, it reeked of cigarettes, and the inventory consisted mostly of paperback romance novels and Sci-Fi. Yikes! Sadly, that was the end of Story Time for the Roos family. We were pretty excited to get a bit of an upgrade, just adjacent to our neighborhood. It's not the Yuma Library, but hey, it's much better than what we had!

Practice

Makes perfect! Alexander enjoys memorizing and playing by ear rather than looking at music.

Pretty Baby

I switched this from being a halter top to a skirt. I think it works either way:)

Movie in the Park

We had light sabers of every shape and color at our house this weekend. I think you can tell who's having the most fun...
Of course, it's much easier to defeat the Daddy monster with wicked cool costumes {duh}
We finished up a fun night with friends @ a movie in the park.

Soccer Par-Tay

Did I mention Courtney's soccer team was undefeated this year? Her coaches were just a little bit proud:)

Scratch it where it itches, princess.
The 'girls only' picture. The older girls on the team are in the "ew gross boys" phase, and requested that there be none of them in their picture.

Fruit Salad... Yummy Yummy

{Do any of you remember that Wiggles song?}

This is a delish recipe that my Sis-In-Law Melisa makes. It is yummy & sweet enough to be a stand alone dessert. Melisa's Cookie Salad

1 large tub Cool Whip

1 large package instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 c. buttermilk

Fruit

1 package fudge striped cookies

Mix together Cool Whip and pudding mix. Fold in buttermilk. Stir in desired fruit {diced strawberries, halved grapes, mandarin oranges, any combination to your liking.}. Chill in fridge for 3-4 hours. Just before serving, fold in crushed cookies.

The Return...of Marshall Roos

The cousins are gone. Tears of sadness have been shed. Now it's time for summer to begin! Melisa & Jordan bought Xander this toy rifle from Rawhide {as a belated B-Day present}. We thought X Man had hung up his spurs years ago, but they've returned. {My Mom made him this costume a few years ago:} He wanted to watch an old John Wayne movie today, and has been begging to make his own version:

Pretty impressive gun twirl there, pardner!

Mrs. Berry's Class

Alexander was lucky enough to have Mrs. Berry for 2 years. She enjoyed her class so much in 3rd grade, that she moved up with them and taught 4th grade as well. Today is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Woohoo! When I arrived at the school, the class was doing "team-building" activities with water balloons. Of course, it ended with a full-blown water balloon fight:)Mrs. Berry is so engaging & entertaining. The kids LOVE her. She utilizes so many learning methods, integrates music, dancing, incentives & fun. Her class is so well behaved because she has taught them the importance of mutual respect, being polite & expressing gratitude.
We love Mrs. Berry! She will be missed!

Thank You, Teachers!

End of the year gifts... we have been so blessed with awesome teachers this year!

Cousins

But Mom... I don't WANT to brush my teeth!

The Adams Family

We had company this week! Yea! Darren's sister, Melisa, and her family came to visit sunny Arizona. Luckily, they brought the cooler Idaho temperatures with them. It was only in the 90's! Our 1st stop was Rawhide. The kids love coming here & they were so excited to have family come along with them.
Abby is such a cutie. She broke her arm {falling off the monkey bars} a few days before their vacation, poor girl! She was a real trooper and still insisted on doing everything herself. Bless her heart, she is quickly learning how to be a lefty.
First off: a ride on the horses
Alexander loves the creepy shooting gallery
The girls went on a burro ride while the rest of the gang went to a gunfight show.
Little Pioneer children
We finished off the evening with a train ride. That's Jordan & Caty in the middle.
Auntie Melisa & Maddy {these are the only pictures I have of the twins & Melisa & Jordan--sorry they're not great!} We had a blast with these guys! The girls were absolutely adorable & everyone got along so well. We enjoyed every minute of entertainment, laughs & songs {the twins enjoyed "Twinkle" & "Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed"}

Kindergarten Graduation

This was Courtney's 3rd graduation. It's getting a little ridiculous. The girl is five years old. She graduated from Joy School, Pre-School, and now Kindergarten. Alexander felt a little slighted. He said, "I'm 10 years old and I've never had a graduation." Oh well. I must admit, the caps and gowns were hilarious on these little kiddos:)Yea Courtney!
The graduates sang two really cute songs, and the program was short & sweet. It hit me like a ton of bricks-- my baby is going to be in 1st Grade! I bawled through the entire program.

Courtney loved meeting Legacy Lion. It was one of her teacher's daughters--she was such a good sport!

Ms. Goldburg, Mrs. Voyles & Courtney. They were awesome teachers and Courtney adores them both. Her favorite thing to play right now is "school" and she imitates them and their mannerisms.

Ballerinas

Courtney's dance teacher had a photographer come take "professional" pictures of the girls. Hmmm... well, I had to edit, crop and straighten them myself. Half of the pictures were blurry, but she did get a few cute pictures that I was able to salvage.

This is the best picture she got of the class. I didn't bother to edit it.

Mystery Solved

Remember when I told you about this? We found more gargantuan green snake-y things in our garden tonight. Becca informed us that they were cucumbers.

Aren't they cute? They look all flowery when they are sliced. I'm not a fan of cucumbers, but they have a sweeter/mellower/juicier flavor than a regular cucumber.

Recital Night

We had to divide & conquer tonight. Alexander had his orchestra concert and Courtney had her dance recital. {You can pause the music on my flash player so you can hear the videos}

I'm impressed-- this is coming from Elementary School students! Alexander is the only cellist, and he totally rocks! Just think what he could do if he practiced more than once a week:) He had to show me "concert position."

Courtney's turn: {Sorry about the grainy video--our computer isn't smart enough to process it in high quality}

Courtney's recital was JAM packed. The guy in front of me kept putting up his program, right in front of my camcorder lens, so she did a 2nd performance at home. She's not with her class, but you get the gist.

She is getting so graceful & dances throughout each day. She loved putting on makeup & sparkles, but wasn't thrilled that Momma used up half a tube of sleek-n-shine on her hair.

Their costumes were so darling, complete with sparkly tiaras.