Happy Birthday Tyler!

For Tyler's birthday this year we celebrated up in the canyon. He loves BBQ's and he loves the canyon so it was perfect. He had quite a crowd of people show up too. My parents, Nate's parents, My brother Rocky and his wife Meagan, Nate's brother Matt and his fiance Rachel, plus all of us. We had quite the meal too. There was hot dogs, hamburger, pasta salad (2 different kinds), chips, fruit salsa, and cinnamon chips. Oh I cant forget the marshmallows. You cant have a BBQ without marshmallows. Plus the birthday cake or should I say birthday brownies and the homemade ice cream that went along with it. It was all yummy. Tyler playing with Pepper the dog.Ella would run from table to table because she was afraid of pepper.Nate's dad David.Tyler in his new birthday clothes.My dad manned the grill. Funny story- So one of the times that the kids went hiking with my dad he brought along another little boy with him. Anyway while he was hiking the little boy asked what time it was. My dad quickly looked at his watch and said "According to the sun it is 3:23. So yesterday at the party Tyler came up to my dad and said "According to the sun grandpa what time is it?" My dad snuck a peek at his watch and told him the time. Tyler then ran over to me and asked me what time it was. Then went back to grandpa and said "You're right." Wow my dad is good.I love this picture!Natalie was trying to get all 4 kids in this one!Roasting Marshmallows.Tyler got quite the stash of presents. He got "How to train your dragon" and "the diary of a wimpy kid movie" books from my mom and dad.He got 2 Lego sets from David, Pam, Matt, and Rachel.He got a pitch back from NateHe got mini ninjas wii game and army guys from Nate and I.He got money for the carnival from Nichole and money from Ella. He also got a baseball and candy bars from Natalie.Tyler making a birthday wish. Yummy birthday brownies!When we were done at the BBQ Tyler's cousin was waiting for us at the house. He was supposed to go to the bbq but their car broke down and it was in the shop. They were running a little late. But, better late then never. Ryan gave Tyler a wii game and a game for his game boy. He also gave him this awesome shirt. The boys wanted their picture together in their shirts!

Tyler is one awesome little boy. He loves to play baseball and soccer. He loves to read and play on the wii or any kind of gaming system. He is really good at any kind of board game and especially good at playing card games. He is very smart. He is a kind and compassionate boy who tries to make everyone happy all of the time. I love you Boo! I am so proud of you! Happy Birthday Tyler!

You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job. ~Laurence J. Peter

I went with Carolyn (my oldest friend not oldest like her age but old like I have known her the longest- just wanted to add that since I had to explain that to Ella) and her cute kids to Jumpin' Jacks this week. We were able to catch up and talk while the kids ran around and played. I only get to see Carolyn twice a year in a good year. So I always am so happy when I get to see her. After we went to Jumpin Jacks we went over to Cracker Barrel to eat.

In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams

I am so glad that I am able to spend the time in Utah while Nate is gone. It has been a great help to be around my parents. I know that if I was in Mtn. Home right now all I would be doing is sitting on my tush all day long thinking about how miserable I am that Nate is gone ( I am kinda a Debbie downer like that). I have been having a lot of fun with the kids and being with my parents has forced me to get out of the house.One night my mom and I took the girls to go and get ice cream. Yummy! And the following night I took the girls to see Eclipse. We loved it and it!Ella gets asked to take care of the shoes everyday. When I first saw that she did this I thought she was doing it this way because she didn't like to do it and it was so much easier to just through them into a pile like this then set them out nice. But, as you can see she has neatly stacked them and all of the shoes are stacked together with their partner. And this is how she always stacks them now. It is funny because when we have to get one shoe out the whole thing tumbles to the ground.Tyler and Ella have spent a lot of time outside in the water. Mostly just playing with the hose but sometimes it is in the sprinkler and sometimes it is on the slip and slide. They have also been spending a lot with the neighbor kids which has been quite a treat for the kids. They don't have anyone that lives close by to just hang out with. So to be able to just walk over to the neighbors has been fun for them.Ella being brave and jumping off the swingWe have also been spending time hiking with my dad in the canyon (we have many canyons by my parents house all of them are within a few mins drive). Notice the sign by the girls. We go hiking in bear country because we are brave like that.After girls camp the big girls decided that the little kids had to go snipe hunting. Natalie went out set out toothpaste as bait and let the kids go and look for them. They brought their pillow cases so they could catch one. Ella came running into the house and said " I saw one with dark dark red eyes that means he is really mad. It brushed up by me. I am too scared to go back out. See even mine legs is shivering." She would go to sleep until the girls had to tell her thatll of the snipes took the toothpaste bait and left. She still didn't believe them so they had to tell her that all of the snipes took the toothpaste bait and left. She still didn't believe them so they had to tell her that there was no such thing as snipes except for in China.

Nichole also wore make-up for the first time to church this summer. Doesn't she look nice?

Tyler's toolbox.

Tyler finished all of his stuff that he needed to to get his bear badge for cub scouts. The last thing that he needed to do was build a toolbox. Tyler asked Grandpa Banks to help him out with that last project. He had to measure, cut, and screw together the toolbox. And if you ask me it turned out mighty fine.

H2O: two parts Heart and one part Obsession. ~Author Unknown

Nate's mom and I took the kids to the reservoir the other day. It was a blast! Pam put up an umbrella and we chatted and read while the kids played in the water. Pam brought tons of snacks for everyone to eat. We had altogether a really good time.Ella and I. Sometimes not all of the time but sometimes I like to get some photos of me just to prove that I am around. Scooby is the only one that would come and get her picture taken with me.The kids decorated Ella like a mermaid. The sand here isn't really sand it is like tiny rocks. Not very fun to walk in but the kids don't mind it at all.Natalie, Nicole and Tyler. One of the rare moments when all of them are getting along. It is so nice.Tyler thought that he was being so brave when he would throw water from the bucket on top of him. Really but you are.Ella visited with Pam and I the most. She would play in the water then sun bathe then play in the water then sun bathe.The big girls spent most of their time just floating around on this.

And these two would spend most of their time playing in the sand and water like this picture (that is when Ella wasn't sun bathing).

Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-not's, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have's. ~Earl Wilson

I post this awesomely unflattering picture of me only because I am so happy to say.... Nate and I are debt free! No more credit cards for us! I cancelled my discover card the other day and the lady was so snotty to me. The conversation went something like this.

SL (Snotty Lady): If you are going to cancel your discover card today can I ask what other kinds of credit cards are you going to be using?

ME (well me of course): Ummm I think that is really none of your business. (well, is it? come on discover get your nose out of my info.)

SL: (from now on spoken with much more attitude) If you decide to cancel this discover card today you will never, ever be able to get another one.

ME: (extra cheerful) sounds good to me.

After this there was several more minutes of unsolicited talking about how great discover was and how stupid I was being for actually cancelling my credit card. There were are you sures? and you cant come backs? and we can offer you better do you want better?

Finally ME: I just want to cancel the card without anymore questions and without you trying to talk me into staying.

SL: Fine, Have a great day

Me: Oh yeah I need it in writing.

SL: Fine, Bye

Ahh it feels so nice to not have that monkey on my back.

And the funniest part....

Four days later I received a letter in the mail from Discover offering us a lower interest rate if we would just consider coming back. What is this? I thought that I could never, ever get a discover card again.

I leave you with an awesome letter that my husband wrote and it made me laugh.

To whom it may concern:

We regret to inform you that after a careful review of our financial situation, we have decided that your company no longer has our family’s best interests at heart. As a result we have decided to close our account immediately.

We understand that you will not be excited to lose this account as you receive thousands of dollars a year from us in interest and fees. Unfortunately we can no longer afford to pay you this amount. We know that you are probably very concerned about our ability to survive an emergency and will advise us to keep the account in case of such an emergency. Be at ease. We currently have more cash in savings than you offer as a credit limit so your hedge against such disaster is not needed.

You may decide to offer us various benefits to stay such as raising credit limit, lowering interest rates, or increasing rewards. Please know that this will not work. Any offer you give to us will result in this counter question, “Can we send you 10k and you pay us the interest.” Obviously you will not agree. I can negotiate any discounts I may receive from hotels, airlines, rental cars, etc.

As a severance package I would like to offer you the following:
A link of chain to signify the millions you hold in the bondage of debt, one brick to represent the thousands of homes people have lost because of your company, and one pair of plastic handcuffs as a metaphor of the illegal collection practices your company participates in on a daily basis.

I advise you to close this account quickly. Any loss of our family due to the amount of revolving credit on our credit reports will result in swift legal action. I strongly urge you to close the account immediately, report the closure to all credit bureaus, and send us written confirmation.

Sincerely,
Jessica and Nathan Musil
Unsatisfied Customers

Grandma/grandkid dates

It was Tyler and Ella's turn for the grandma/grand kid night outs. Tyler went on a date with Grandma to go and see the new Karate Kid movie. He said the best part of the movie was the fighting. But when I started fighting and hitting him, he cried so I think he may actually be lying about that part. My mom had to go into the snack line to buy the tickets. How weird is that? When it was their turn to buy the tickets the guy said "I don't think its your turn you need to get to the back of the line." So they had to go to the back because he wouldn't help them. Tyler paid for some popcorn and when my mom got to the front(3 mins. before the movie started) she paid and he told her it was free popcorn night. Lucky for her the guy gave her a refund after charging Tyler for the popcorn in the first place. Tyler had a great time at the movie with Grandma. Ella for her second Grandma/Grand kid date took the next door neighbor to the park (cuz what kid likes to go to the park to play by themselves) and to get ice cream. The girls played and played. They would eat some ice cream, set it down and play some more. They spun around on the tire swing, slide on the slide, and just worn themselves right out. When we went to leave I told Ella to say thank you to her friend for coming (I was trying to get a thank you from the little girl) and of course Ella did. But the girl got out of the car and started walking away without even acknowledging Ella. So I said I don't think she heard you say thank you again. This time the little girl said "I heard her." and walked away. Ella came home from the park dirty and exhausted. That sounds like my idea of a perfect date!