Hendrix is 3!!!

Hendrix turned 3 last Monday, August 18th, but his birthday is officially over today, because we spent his birthday money from Grandma on a new tractor set. Hendrix had a great birthday though. He and I spent the entire day together, and every couple of hours, I let him open a new gift. I really wanted to spoil him, and I figure he's still too young to remember he was spoiled. I was so elated that HE was finally excited for his birthday this year!

The "Jones Boys'" mommy made an awesome train cake, which he loved and he had some of his dude friends over for swimming.

The Jones Boys gave Hendrix a way cool shirt with Lighting McQueen and Mater that talks. Thanks!

And Gideon got Hendrix some water guns for the pool. I think Mike and I are just as happy to be able to have water fights too.

Hendirx shares his birthday with his Uncle Tyler. Here's the handsome birthday boys.

MilaBelle wanted to throw confetii, but only had her veggie treats to celebrate with. Thanks little sis for the thought though.

The day after Hendrix's birthday as we cleaned up the balloons, Hendrix said "My birthday is very very over." What a cutie. Also that day Oma (My mom) had to go home. :( It was so awesome having her here. She is a great Grandma and mom. The kids loved her. Hendrix saw an airplane today, and said "Oma went in an airplane, I miss her, and Mommy miss her too."

But we had some great road trips while she was here...

-Yuma; to see Uncle Jared, Aunt Tamara and play... Hendrix's favorite things at Uncle Jared's was the portable pool Oma bought and

Bonezy (The skeleton they keep in the spare bedroom; they love Halloween) I thought Hendrix would be afraid of it, but, nope... he loved showing us where HIS bones were in relation to Bonezy's and even slept in the same room so he could help put Bonzey to bed.

This was MilaBelle's favorite thing at Uncle Jared's house. Crawling on top of the DVR/DVD box and scowering the kitchen floor for leftovers.

-Winslow to see relatives, the Root Beer Stand and this...
My mom and I drove past this and couldn't figure out why anyone would leave a toilet in their front yard, so my mom decided to ask them. When she got to the door, there was a note taped up that said "If your toilet's still for sale, call me." Although there was no one home, there was someone in the car in the driveway. He was house sitting and said the toilet was for sale, but it had been out there for a while, there was spiders camped out in there, and I think someone's using it, because there's a newpaper on the back of it for leisure reading. Small towns, you gotta love 'em.

Chino & Prescott Valley to see more relatives. My Aunt Jeanie has chickens, cats and a rooster, which Hendrix loved. We also saw a bunch of different bugs and a tiny horny toad.

We had lots of fun and I hope all of you enjoyed the pictures.

31 and still a GREENIE!

For those of you that don't know Mike is a conservationalist and loves anything to do with saving the earth one recycled can at a time, so for his 31st birthday last week, we recycled!!!

We had been saving cans for months; he thought I was using them for an Enrichment project for church, so we had 3 huge garbage sacks of cans. I reserved the church parking lot to do the crushing. Mike has always had a thing about making sure to run over cans in the street... and in High School he even damaged his truck door by hitting a pole while attempting to back over a can he had missed going forward. His family has made fun of him for years.

He really enjoyed racing around the parking lot trying to get every can, even the ones in the gutter and those the wind had blown. Hendrix loved running after the cans he crushed, after the damage had all been done.
He had a great birthday with a new football jersery from the folks, a Mormon Scientist book from me, Indiana Jones playing cards from Hendrix and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate brownies with hot fudge (thanks Bekah, they were totally yummy).

I thought for his birthday I would also share some Green Tips with all of you.

(1) When your light bulbs die out, replace them with high efficiency ones. They cost a little more at first, but they shine brighter, while using less energy. They cost less in the long run, because they last much longer. If every home in America changed just one bulb we could shut down a power plant.

(2) Don't limit yourself to only recycling your aluminum cans! -Anything glass, plastic, tin, or paper, including cardboard can be recycled. You will be suprised how many things can be recycled. Check out this site for your nearest recycling facility.

(3)Listen to Jack Johnson's song about the 3 R's, when he says to Reduce and Reuse, even before you fall back on Recycling! Bring your own bags when you go shopping. Costco sells 6 canvas bags for under $2. Don't use those little plastic bags for your produce, you only use them from the store to your drawer at home. I don't put anything I'm going to wash or peel in a bag. Who needs em?!

(4) Any mommies thinking about going natural? Here's a great site with cloth diapers, I just found out about.

(5) Don't throw away your old CD and DVD's, either donate or recylce them here. They take forever to break down and it's added waste in our already overburdened landfills.

There's many many more, please comment and leave some of your "Living Green Tips." We're always trying to learn more. Find more great ideas HERE.

Merrill-Just a Good Neighbor or a Modern-Day MacGyver

My cousin is in Holland for 3 weeks and left her car with us, it couldn't have come at a better time. My mom is visiting from Washington and if you read our last post you know our car has been in the shop. Sooo... tonight as we're driving home, we notice the light above her driver's side visor turns on, the visor is broken and we can't figure out why this light isn't turning off when the car isn't running. Two neighbors mis-advise later and one phone call to Holland, which was no help, I just got the machine (I have no idea what time it is there) I call our neighbor and good friend Merrill over to see what the problem is (Mike was out of town) He figures out it's the mirror sensor and it's broken,

"Maybe if you use a bobbypin or something. We can hold it closed." He suggests

" I have a bobbypin in my hair." I remark.

" This is just like the movies." He says.

Although the bobbypin did not work,some cardboard from the recycling we had in the trunk worked perfectly. Thanks to good friends who are always willing to help.

The Curse of Three But Blessings Galore

Have you heard that bad luck comes in threes? This happened to us last year when our computer crashed (#1) While Hendrix spent 4 days in the hospital for a virus we still haven't identified (#2) our fridge went out (#3) Well, I guess we were up for some more trials to strengthen us, because last week our dishwasher broke (#1) we decided not to buy a new one just yet, it wasn't a true emergency and we have some vacations coming up, good thing we didn't because Monday our air conditioning went out (#2) and we spent over 1,000 bucks to fix it, why not just get a new one you ask? Did you know they're like 5,000 dollars? I had no idea. Anyways, two days of a 90 degree house and our awesome parents who let us stay the night with them, I'm back home, and decide to take the car in for a routine oil change before my road trip with my mom next week. Come to find out my little Daewoo needs a new timing belt, front brake pads and rotars, an isolated pulley and something else I don't know how to say, let alone spell. The bill was just over $800. (#3) Needless to say, we are no longer going to Cali next weekend and I am officially our new dishwasher. :)

It would be really easy to think my life sucks right now, but then some really great things happened this week that I can't deny I'm being watched over. (#1) We had an emergency fund to be able to pay for most of the damage, although we had to dip into our vacation fund, my family was really great about downgrading our Cali trip for a trip to Jerome or somewhere as equally inexpensive. (#2) Monday morning when I went to try and reset the A/C Hendrix followed me outside and he walked the oppostite way then me, I didn't see him leave, therefore I couldn't find him for almost 5 minutes, I was in full panic mode and even called 911. He had made his way to the other side of the complex and a sweet lady who I don't even know brought him back to me, She must have heard me screaming "Hendrix if you hear me, yell Mommy!" It was the scariest thing in the world, but I've learned to be more attentive and that he knows how to open the front door. (#3) I am in love with my little MilaBelle, I had a hard time adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom, but now know she truly completes this family. She started crawling, and just scoots around the house exploring new things...

(#4) I have a great husband and although he's been gone the majority of the month, has driven home early 3 nights now to go to a marriage class we're taking through the Stake, and then drives back at like 4 in the morning to make work on time. (#5) My mommies coming to town and I couldn't be more excited to see her. (#6) I have amazing friends who have helped in so many ways, thanks especially to Lanae who lent me a book thats changing my life. Leadership and Self-deception, this book couldn't have come into my life at a better time. I have many many more, but wanted to make sure I counted my blessing, because if you don't count them, they don't count. Much Love

Hendrix giving MilaBelle cheerios, his new favorite thing to do.