Oldies but goodies...

Rylan & Daddy Time

Chunky Chunk

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Found these on our computer and thought I would share :)

Five minutes later....

Fourth of July Fun

New Creation

Travis and I have been attending a new church recently and it has been really really inspiring for both of us. For the last five years we've been attending a church near our home which was a great starting place for Travis in his new faith but over the last few months we've been feeling like it was time for something deeper and little more challenging for our faith.

We started attending Palm Valley Church and it's been really awesome to not only leave feeling like we've learned and grown during the service but to also get the opportunity to spend some time with our close friends who also attend there. The kids LOVE the children's ministry and Rylan has the coolest way to get into his class... they have a slide so the kids can "slide into church". EVERY weekend he asks if we're going to "the slide church?". ADORABLE.

Pastor Greg has recently began a new series called "All That I Am" and is really challenging the church to live out the life that God has planned for us. Two weekends ago he was discussing baptism and how many churches have many different doctrinal beliefs on when someone should be baptized. For example, I was raised in a Lutheran Church and was (like most people) baptized as a baby. After looking through Travis' bible I realized that last month it was five years ago that he first became a believer. Can you believe it?! After the service Travis really felt called to be baptized now as a believer and thought this would be the perfect way to commemorate this special year. This last weekend he had the opportunity to do so and it was such an AWESOME experience.

Our friends, his parents, my mom, Braden and I and the rest of the church were able to watch him be baptized and there wasn't a dry eye left in the house!

***Especially for this pregnant lady who cries at the sight of cookies***

I must say that I am so proud of this man and the journey that God has lead him on over the last five years. Anytime that I am feeling alone or that God isn't hearing my heart, I remember how I prayed for this man - before we ever dated - that his heart would be touched and that God would use him.

It's really awesome looking back through all the pain and the heartaches, all the laughter and the tears, all the troubles and all the praises that God has changed his life completely and made good on His promise just as Romans 8:28 says.

He's brought Travis to a place where he's able to touch the lives of those around him with God's grace and salvation and made him into a man that couldn't be a better leader for our home, loving husband or amazing father.

I love you Trav and am so excited for all that is in store for you and us as a family in the years to come...

Travis & Pastor Greg (on the right)

Papa and silly Braden

Ry Ry

I have a confession...

I am SCARED!

Very very afraid.

Why you ask? Because my children say they are hungry...Or in Rylan's words "I'n still hoongry momma". Now before you start sending me care packages, let me explain...

I have recently come to the conclusion that these boys MUST be going through a growth spurt. They will eat and eat and eat all their breakfast, lunch and dinner AND snacks and after each adult sized meal will still say "Mom, I'm hungry".

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?!?!

And further more.... WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHEN THEY ARE TEENAGERS! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

AND WE HAVE THREE!!!! Sweating bullets over here!!! May be bald or gray or both soon!

Thankfully, I have discovered the adventure of Couponsense which is really like a gambling or crack addiction for my grocery shopping habit. I have always loved grocery shopping - totally weird, I know - but NOW, oh my lawd is it fun now. I am saving so much money its laughable AND the amount of free stuff that we get with our coupons it is (as one of my previous angry tenants said) "REDICULOUS"! Travis is fully stocked on name brand deodorant for a YEAR that we got for FREE. Some of the free stuff I have gotten over the last few weeks include: Colgate Toothpaste, Tuna, Sunny D, Energy Bars, Gum, Deodorant, Toilet Paper, Mashed Potatoes, Dish Soap and more...

If you have not heard about this wonderful little tool, talk to me. You will forever be changed. In fact, many of the people (mostly moms from what I've seen) won't pay more than $.49 to $1.00 for many of their grocery items. I LOVE IT!

Travis is just as in love as well. If you know my husband, then you know what I am talking about. How when he gets excited about something - the world MUST KNOW. If you don't know my hubs, then let me shed a little light on him and his goofiness. To put it in a nutshell he has been banished from using the phrase "lets go rob the store!" in front of our children because I was sincerely fearful that our kids would repeat that phrase while on one of our shopping trips. I, for one, have never had a rap sheet and am not about to start one over purchasing our milk and eggs. It's become like a game or entertainment for our family.

The boys - especially Braden - have however begun to learn the importance of being a wise steward of your money and how if you spend less on groceries then you save money for more important things. It's really cute to hear Braden ask "Mom, how much did you save this time?" He gets really excited - super adorable. Makes me feel like a superstar :)

So with that said, pray for us me as we may be eaten out of house and home when these boys are a bit older. But with a little grace and Couponsense stocking my pantry hopefully we'll be able to manage the damage.

Christian Taylor Palmer

We got to see what Christian's going to look like and once again confirmed, that yes, he is still a boy - LOL. He's super cute looks EXACTLY like Rylan. He is already getting chubby and is weighing just over 3 lbs.

He was snoozing for the entire appointment and it was pretty cute to see him sleep just like daddy. Travis is thinking he's going to have dark hair but I am fairly certain he's gonna be a blondie...

Christian is going to be here the week of November 8th - 12th and we're all really excited to meet him. It was really cute at the appointment to hear Rylan ask to see his "heart".

Four years and a whole bunch of legos later...

Trav and I decided to spend our anniversary this year in Legoland with the boys. Braden was totally stoked to get to do this for his 6th birthday this year. And looking through the pictures from our trip, it's really amazing how fast time flies and how big the kids have gotten. My belly is growing and Christian is such an active little baby!

Rylan wasn't feeling too well at the beginning of our trip but seemed to perk up at the site of Legoland.

We even were blessed with my Aunt Nancy offering to watch the boys for the evening so we could have some alone time for an anniversary dinner. All day Saturday was spent at Legoland - here are some of the pics....

The rest of the trip was spent at the beach and Travis refused to wear sunscreen which has left him with a nice shade of pink on the front of his chest. He and I laughed the whole way through Dateland about "date shakes" and I am still smiling about some of his comments. The weather was wonderful and we decided that  some how, some way we would like to live there... we'll see ;)

Birthday Time

It was Braden's birthday today and he's officially 6 years old! We started our celebration on Saturday with a birthday party with all his friends and family invited.

This year, Braden chose a sports themed party so I made him some cupcakes that matched. They turned out pretty cute I think!

I made a buttercream frosting and colored it for most of them - the football ones were the easiest as I used coconut shavings that I colored green and rolled in the frosting... Most of them were eaten by the end of the party so I think it came out pretty well!

This morning, in keeping with family tradition, I decorated Braden's door - he slept in Rylan's room last night so to be technical, it was really Rylan's door BUT ANYWAY!

We then had Braden's choice of meals for the entire day which quickly became:

Breakfast

Cinnamon Rolls & Fruit

Lunch

PB & J with veggies and dip

and finally when you give a six year old the option to choose their dinnner...

Dinner

ICECREAM

Yes, I did allow icecream for dinner. We figured #1 the memories are what matter most, #2 they had their vitamins and #3 it's only once a year :)

Since it was hella hot here in AZ today we took a much needed trip to the community pool. Braden rode the water slide about 50+ times and Rylan was busy trying to keep his bathsuit up the whole time... It's a size too small but his little butt crack keeps slipping out!!!

I have to say, I was a pretty cool day. Next weekend, we have Legoland and California to look forward too (our anniversary and Braden's bday present this year!) Can't wait!!!