AWESOME NEWS!!!!

well, for us anyways, it's great news. chuck is entering his 3rd and last year of law school this fall. each summer, you want to intern somewhere. paid internships are even better. we were blessed last summer for chuck to intern with an immigration lawyer. he learned a ton and enjoyed it. then this summer, not wanting to drive to the city each day or be away from us for parts of the week and travel, he wanted to find an internship here in town. well, he was offered one at a great firm downtown. and he's been there all summer. again, he's learned alot and made great contacts and networks. the internship was offered only for the summer. but we were hoping that they'd extend it throughout the school year. extra experience and money is always good. so, last week, his boss asked him if he could talk him into staying for the school year!!! we were soooooo relieved!! money will be extra tight this last year, so anything helps. plus, he enjoys working there. so we were on a high about that for a few days. then, a few days later, some of the attorneys pull him into their office to talk to him. he was pretty nervous he said. they told him that they want to start an immigration dept and would like him to basically run it!!!!!!!!! since he's not an attorney yet, he'll have to work under his boss still. meaning chuck will do the work, but his boss' name will be on it and he'll go to court with him and so forth!!!!!! nothing in writing for a permanent position after school yet, but we have our fingers crossed for sure!

exactly how long does it take to clean your room!?!?

so, kurtis and blake share a room. it had been a mess since last sunday. each day this week, i sent them in there to clean it all up. each day, i would walk by and check on them and find them laying on their backs playing with bionicles and legos. all of which are strewed all over the room still. so on thursday, i went in there and helped. i did about half of it. then, i told them to finish up. guess what, never happened! so, yesterday (saturday) i told them that i am going out for pizza in one hour. if they want to eat, they have to have it done. an hour came and went and still......you guessed it, not done. chuck was getting after them and so was i...all afternoon. i don't know about you, but things like that just wear me out so fast! i give myself a headache from all my griping! i was going down the hallway and i see chuck going to tell them to get up and clean. i stopped him before he said anything. i went into the room and told them they didn't have to clean anymore and that i would finish it all. they immediately perked right up and darted out of the room. nothing else expected, of course. well, i cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. i cleaned so much, that there weren't any toys left in the room after i was done. i packed it all up. they have books and they can color. but other than that....nothing. and to tell you the truth, i don't feel sorry for them right now. they weren't taking care of their things, so i don't think they need them. today, i heard blake ask kurtis if he wanted to play star wars. kurtis told him yes, but they don't have anything to play with. i then heard blake say, "oh yeah." chuck and i were evil and were laughing quietly in the next room. now i didn't throw them away. just packed them all up. they earn tickets for good behavior each day. and at the end of the week, they get to buy stuff that i have in this big container. well, i'm going to save money for the next few months. cause i'm not buying anything for the box. i am putting their toys in there and they will have to earn enough tickets to purchase their toys back. i'm just fed up with toys. i don't think my kids have a ton of toys. but the ones they do have are all over the place all the time. well.....not anymore.

summer 2009

well, it's been a few months since i updated the blog. i thought i'd post some pics and let you know what we've been up to. obviously, it's summer. you'd think that things should slow down and be more calm since i'm not running the kids back and forth to school. but no. kurtis and blake have been in little league. i'm not complaining, but i guess i am in a way too. with all the practices and games, it just really kept us busy during the week. luckily this is the last week of games. both the boys did really well, and enjoyed it alot. one of the more exciting things that happened is kurtis' baptism! it was really wonderful. my extended family was there and then chuck's parents and brother and his family came out for the event. it was totally a parrish event. first, the library was locked. the key we were given didn't work. so we couldn't make copies of the program. then, the air conditioner was on, but it was stifling in there!!!! then the program starts......time for the actual baptism. chuck and kurtis go back there and we are waiting for them to walk down the stairs into the water. instead, we hear a muffled voice telling us the font door is locked. it was chuck on the other side. again, the key wouldn't work. so the bishopric member had to ho over the font and unlock it and then hop back. other than that, it went really really well. chuck and i are so proud of kurtis and his accomplishments. afterwards, we had a big party at my house. and yes, like a parrish event, there was lots of food and good times. jared and blake also had great birthdays this summer. blake is 5 now. he will be starting all day kindergarten this fall. yes, you read right. all day. i will have only one child with me!!!!!!!!!! i've already decided....i'm napping when he does!!!! jared is now 2. he thinks he's one of the big boys now. he's talking a ton and putting sentences together pretty well. i waited way too long to take the binky away. it was after his birthday. i know i know. but he's the third kid. and lets face it, ya just don't care as much about those things with the later kids. just how it goes. he'd need braces anyways. kurtis did football camp last week. the draft is sunday, so monday we'll know what team he's on and stuff. since he's a 3rd grader now, they won't play other people in the district. they will be playing other towns and traveling for games. we will be very busy with all of it. now that he's older, they allow the teams to practice more a week. they are allowed 4 events. so 3 practices and 1 game. he'll be a tired little man, that's for sure. but football season is lots of fun!
we've done lots of family things all summer. you know us, we like to get together and eat and play. it's been fun. school starts here in 3 weeks for the kids. i'm so ready for them to go back. they are just around each other so much right now and fighting way too much. plus, it's harder to keep the house clean too. so anyways, that's just a little update on us. we're hanging out and trying to keep cool in this terrible heat!!

this was a fun day! ben and dori came for a visit to tulsa! they live in texas now...just 3 hours from us! we had a blast! of course ate lots of food and the kiddos played and played.

emma and kurtis. i took this pic while dori was telling to make all these funny faces. i love this one of emma.

lola and jared eating their popsicles.

okay, the Hill's kids and my kids. you see, i've had this problem with bunnies eating the fruit in my garden. even though i had already put up a fence to keep them out.....the kids took it upon themselves to make rabbit traps. they picked all my spicy peppers first. then dug holes and placed the peppers inside and covered it with leaves. this way, the bunnies would fall into the hole and then eat hot peppers and never come back again. no, i didn't get mad. i have lots of peppers again, and hey, the bunnies are gone. :)

brooke and blake. they were having so much fun.

the boys on the carousel at an amusement park.

blake didn't want to get on the log ride...can you tell?

everyone else did though!!!

my mom and sister and then kurtis and his cousins...we all went to the amusement park that day. lots of fun...waiting in line.

jared was super excited to get on the log ride. he loves all the rides actually. he raises both arms and loves it!

kids at the aquarium with their cousin abby.

birthday at Ted's Escondido!!!!