So it was my turn to have some cousin fun. I don't get to see my cousins often enough. Carey has been working for awhile to get Shay and Erin (Uncle Chris's daughters) out for a visit. They came for a few days this week and we headed over yesterday evening for some Friday night fun. Shay brought her two kids: Lindy, 13; and Chris, 10. Erin brought her two kids: Devon, 3; and Felicity, 20 months. One of the highlights was definitely the kisses and hugs I got from the very friendly Devon and Felicity. Chris and Lindy are really good kids. My cousins are awesome moms.

Jared had his dermatologist appointment that I scheduled for him 6 weeks ago on Thursday. I wish he would blog about the actual appointment because he had me laughing about it. 2 women scanning almost his entire body, measuring and writing descriptions of his every mole. Yes, I picked a female dermatologist for my husband. She is a highly rated, skin cancer specialist.

It is amazing how my perspective on age has changed as I am slowly getting older. I used to think my dad was so old but now I recognize he is still young especially for a grandpa of 19. Hopefully I will get to chat with him a bit for his birthday but as he is probably celebrating with my niece Kes who shares his birthday, I am not holding my breath.

Happy Birthday Kes and Dad!

It has been all about babies this week. My friend Fe went into labor early Wednesday morning so they called me on the way to the hospital. I wasn't going to drive Jared to work that day but because of the exciting news I did. The boys did an excellent job hanging with Amira in the waiting room. I rubbed Fe's back for a bit before she finally got her epidural. We had to leave to pick up Jared from work and after getting pizza for dinner, Elijah and I headed back to the hospital. The boys had Scouts so we could only hang for an hour or so.

The boys and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum two weeks ago. This was the second time for Maxwell and I and the first time for Xander and Elijah. Xander and Elijah were pleasantly surprised. Awhile ago I took them to the Mesa Contemporary Arts Center. Contemporary art is a bit weird. Maxwell loves art and thinks his brothers are crazy for not wanting to go to the art museum. They all really like Monet and there were several pieces they each really liked. We were running late for Maxwell's eye appointment.

It is now 2 weeks after Elijah's birthday. He had a fun friends' party on the 18th. Four of his friends came over to swim, eat, and play video games. Our only rules were they had to be boys his same age, grade, or class. He invited a lot more boys than that but many didn't come. One that had RSVPed was sick and the other parents didn't respond and let me know either way whether or not their sons were coming,

10 years and 24 hours ago my water broke.

10 years and 1 day ago my sister was praying I wouldn't have the baby until the 17th for her birthday.

10 years and 24-16 hours ago I was cursing my sister who prayed I wouldn't have a baby until the 17th. It meant an extended labor and delivery for me.

I finally found Elijah's card to me for Mother's Day. I know you were all concerned that I had lost it before recording it.

At the top it reads: Love couldn't be stronger.

He has a poem on one side:

My mom is the best
and this isn't a jest
For I love her more
than anything, even to soar

And a deep thought on the other side:

The reason mom is spelled "Mom" is because when you flip it over it becomes Wow

He drew a rose and several hearts. I just love watching my boy grow up.

After I.L.P.s and for a special treat for the boys we went and got Jared and went to Five Guys for lunch. We then drove up to Spinners a disc golf store and afterwards hung out at Jared's work for a bit.

After dinner Thursday night went to let Jared and Xander try out their new discs at Paseo Vista. Xander's new dragon mid-range is awesome and throws so much better than his shark mid-range. At least he thinks so. We could only do a few holes since it was getting dark but all in all it was a good time.

Every year we look forward to the public library's summer reading program where the final prize is a baseball ticket. We love to go see the D-Backs in action and this just makes one of our trips more affordable. Elijah was only 100 pages away from finishing his sheet. He has to have read at least 1500 pages to finish. This began on June 1st. Elijah just lost his right to read anything other than scriptures until further notice from Jared.

I expect Maxwell and Xander to either read 50 pages or 20 minutes for each of their 30 spaces.