Never Stop Playing!

I need to hijack my blog for a moment
to write a quick note to a truck driver
we 'met' today on the highway.

Dear Mr. Truck Driver(You know who you
are {Keith Urban Look-Alike}),Thank you for your adorable sense
of humor. You made our car full
smile, as I am sure you made many.

I think my smile was as big as my
4 year old sons when I saw what you
had done with your Tonka Truck!

We promise to follow your instructions
to "Never Stop Playing!!!" I hope your
message reached thousands today on
your journey. You rock!
Sincerely,
The Stewarts

P.S. Thanks for the honk and the thumbs up when
you saw this crazy woman and her camera hanging
out of our Yukon XL. Yep, that was me!!! :0)

All about Ty!

Rub-A-Dub-Dub,
One Little Man
In the Tub!

It's time to get cleaned up,
get the giggles out, and....

...head back to school!
Ty started a new preschool
this year. He is going to his best
buddies (Helen) school. It was a huge
success and he is excited to go back
again on Thursday...spiky hair and all!

Elder Stewart

OK, it may not say Elder Stewart,
but how cute is our little missionary!?!
He prays about his mission every night
and has really enjoyed the time he has
got to spend with the elders. This name tag is
interesting because it is Elder Wolcott's from
the Indian Reservation. Who knew they had their
own language still? OK, maybe I'm the
only one who didn't know. :0)
By the way, Ty's church shirts don't have pockets,
so he is sporting a Hawaiian shirt with the tag today.
We're thinking a mission to Hawaii would be sweet!

Ninja Destruction

We have been spending our Monday nights
with the missionaries. Elder Wolcott (on the
right) has been with us for a really long time
in the missionary world. We get nervous every
time there is a transfer, but he escapes the
move every time. His companions....not so lucky!
Elder Sundles just arrived and we like him a lot, too.
Hopefully we get these two a while longer. I feel
like we have created lifelong friendships with
Elder Wolcott. He may not feel the same way. :0)
If you look closely at the picture, Ty is wearing
one of Elder Wolcott's name tags. He gets to keep it
for the week and wear it to church on Sunday.
He thinks that is pretty cool. He's picked out his
tie and everything already. I'll post pics!

We have been teaching the Elder's Ninja
Destruction. It is, quite possibly, one of
the funnest games ever. I'll give you a
quick rundown on how you play.
Like the picture above, you start with your
hands in the middle. Then, yell out NINJA
DESTRUCTION. Everyone strikes a ninja pose.
The person who is it tries to hit someone
else's hand in one quick move. Everyone
takes a turn...moving clockwise.

There are only 2 times you should move.
1. When it is your turn and
you are attacking someone
2. When you are trying
to avoid an attack

Simply, if your hand gets hit, you are out!
Be the last one standing and you win
that round. That means you go first the
next time. Try it! I promise you will
laugh really hard and it is impossible to
play it without smiling the whole time!!!

German Exchange Students!

This summer my sister Becky took on
a new job. I'm not sure what her official title
is, but I'll call it "One Busy Lady"! She is in
charge of over 20 German Exchange Students
for 4 weeks. Not only is she in charge of all their
excursions, but she is also their teacher. I bet she is
counting down the days until her real summer begins!
Well, my parents are housing 2 of the girls.
They decided to bring them to Sedona
for the weekend. They also brought one of
the boys with them, too. We had a ball!

My dad rented a Jeep and we hit Sedona's
best trails. My dad is one crazy driver!!!
He used to race off-road vehicles and we were
crazy to ever let him behind the wheel!

The German girls (Selena and Kim) enjoyed it,
but I think Selena was happy once we hit the
paved roads again. Daniel (the German boy),
loved everything. We introduced them to KFC
and they chowed! It was fun watching them
experience it for the first time. They are ready
to open their own franchise in Germany. :0)

We aren't big gamers, so I found it funny that
our American kids had Daniel playing GameCube.

Our nightly ritual was a good game of cards.
The first night we played SkipBo...we love that game!

The last night, they taught us a game with a
name that made Sydney blush and excuse herself
from the table. We will now call it 'German Rules'.
Hopefully we can come up with a better name,
but at least it doesn't make Syd cry. :0)

All in all, we had a great time! Miss them already!!!

Taylor Swift's hilarious CMA opening!

Have speakers? You will laugh (even you, dad)!!!
Watch this!No wonder Sydney is such a huge
fan of Taylor Swift! She is adorable!
Thanks for the link Jen Rose!

School Started...Darn it!!!!

Sydney the 4th Grader!
Taylor Swift hair and all!
In my elementary school,
4th grade was considered
'upper-grade'. Crazy!
Slow it down, Syd!
SERIOUSLY!!!

Summer the 7th Grader!
Only a 7th grader could make the squat
pose look so awkward. I love this girl
and her 12 year old attitude. Jason and
I are pretty darn lucky with the 3 kids
our Heavenly Father sent us!!!

The Beach House!

Gary and Marie spoiled the whole gang
by taking us to the nicest beach house ever!
We had great company, amazing meals,
and unbelievable weather! I love San Clemente!

It was a great way to close off our
summer. School started today! :0(

The cousins always have so much fun together.
We sure do have a great bunch of kids!

The little kids loved the zip line that
ran down the side of the beach house.
We should call Ty 'Tarzan'!

To end the vacation, we got to meet up with
my family. Tammy and my dad (Mark, too) were
celebrating their birthdays, so we headed out
the The Cheesecake Factory. Yum! Doesn't
Brittani look like a model in this picture!?!
What a gorgeous family I have (on both sides)!

Dad, Trevor, Summer, and Eric enjoying
the 3 hr. wait at the restaurant. We
ran over and watched GIJoe to kill the time.
Ty was a tough dude and sat through that
crazy movie! Does that make me a bad mom?

THANKS FOR A GREAT SUMMER!!!