We LOVE Firemen!

Holy cow! What a morning! At about 8:30 a.m., I was taking out the garbage when my neighbor came running up to me. She was close to hysterical, saying that she'd locked her son in the running car! Yikes! She needed to use my phone because her house keys and cell phone were in the car too. I ran and got dressed so I could stay outside with the baby (he's about 18 months) and make sure he was okay, while she called AAA. They said they'd be 60 minutes (SERIOUSLY!!!) but that it probably wouldn't take that long since she'd be first priority with a running, lock out, baby in the car. She went out to wait for them. About ten minutes later, I went out to check on them and she was still waiting! The baby had fallen asleep and was profusely sweating (which scared the crap out of me, I would have broken a window by that time!) She got panicky again, so I ran in and called 9*1*1. They transferred me to the fire department and our AWESOME Surprise Fire Department showed up 2 1/2 minutes later!!! "Hooray," is what Emory shouted as they came around the corner. It took them a couple minutes to break in, but they did it and the baby (and car) are okay. Emory told the men, "Thanks for saving his life!" They were super nice, and gave all the kids firemen hats.

Who's my famous Dad?

A girl in my home ward is marrying this guy with a famous Dad. Can you tell who it is? Hint: A couple of the people getting announcements are Rosie O'Donnell and Michael Jackson!
When we saw him at church the first time she said, "If that isn't ______ _______'s son, I'll eat my hat!" She was totally right, and therefore did not have to eat her hat.

My camera is on the fritz so no pictures for today, but the girls are just too crazy to not mention.
Tess turned 9 months this week and HOLY COW! It's been a rough few weeks for her. She got two teeth within a few days of each other, and is working on more. She's moving all over which results in bangs, bumps, and tumbles. She's gotten a major attitude problem causing many a scuffle with Emory - serious fighting, which I'm shocked by! Her new stats are 20 lbs. and 29 inches, and I'm not surprised at all. Everyday she does something new. She's also sworn of baby food. Not interesting enough or something like that. She wants to eat what we're eating and does a great job. She loves noodles (especially Mac 'n Cheese, bread, the Gerber finger foods, avocado, cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese, peeled grapes, bananas, cooked carrots, and the list goes on. We've been swimming a ton, and Tess inherited Cory's amazingly olive skin. She's so dark, people ask what ethnicity she is!?!?
Emory is hilarious as ever. I love the stuff she comes up with. I've been packing and she insists upon helping. Everything we pack has a place already, "And the picture will go in Katie's room, and she'll love it! And this statue on Grandma's table, and she'll love it!" She's obsessed with WALL*E. I've never seen someone so excited to see a movie, and now we talk about it all day long. There's a part in the movie where WALL*E and EVE are telling each other their names. We had friends over the other night and there little boy said "WALL*E," pointing to himself. Of course she new exactly what to say, "EVE," pointing to herself. It was hilarious!

I WIN!!!!! Jesse and DeAnna FOREVER!

I totally knew it!!! That was the best, and they are so freakin' cute! Anyways, I couldn't say any of these comments before, so as not to bias the poll (which I rigged anyways - 2 of the 3 votes for Jesse were mine!). Seriously, if you watched how she acted, kissed, and looked at Jesse compared to Jason . . . let's just say that there's no comparison. I am going to go enjoy my victory back rub, and eat a few mint Oreo cookies to celebrate. Goodnight!

Hole in one!

We're announcing Cory's retirement from the medical profession! He will be joining the PGA tour, taking Tiger's place . . . just kidding! I really think I would cry after we've put all this time in, but if it meant Tiger's pay check, I'd do it in a heart beat. Anyways, Cory went golfing today and got a HOLE IN ONE! Seriously!! He's always loved golf, and really works hard at improving his game. He went with his cousin Jesse today, don't ask me why they golfed in 109 degree weather? (The girls and I were swimming like normal human beings should be doing) He was at:
Arizona Traditions Golf Course
Hole #11
124 yards
Sand wedge
Titleist Pro V1 Ball
Phew, that was a mouth full! He was as giddy as a school girl when he got home. My whole family is stoked, Adam is under some pressure now to get one.

Congratulations Cory!

The Bachelorette

We have a confession . . . we're closet Bachelorette Fans! Cory "accidentally" watched the first show and got hooked. I watched last week and now I'm obsessed! I KNOW she's in love with Jesse, but Cory thinks it's Jason. So, we're having a poll - if you haven't seen it you must!
(You can watch past episodes on the internet.)

My Husband!!!

This is classic Emory/Tinkerbell! Earlier that week we'd been discussing that Cory was mine first and then the word "husband" came up. This is us TRYING to convincing her that Cory is my husband! Later on that night, she decided that Tessa was her husband.

She's also figured out there's a difference between Utah and Arizona. We've been lucky enough to be invited to some friends' pools this last week, and she's always telling them, "MY pool is in Utah at my Grandpa's house." Emory went to her first birthday party all by herself. Seneca had a princess party and Emory chose to be this princess, and yes, she insisted on the wig and wore it the whole day!

She is also the singing queen. She's known all three verses to "I am a child of God" for awhile now, and loves learning new songs. She decided it's easier to just sing everything!

I'm not sure why I wanted Tessa to crawl, I think I was better off when she was content in a square foot area! She's a mover, finally. She's been scooting really well for the last week, and now she's off to the races. Yesterday, she got into the front room (which is vaulted) and started yelling because she loved the echo. Emory got worried and said,
"MOM . . . Tess is way far away!!"

Here's a picture of her new favorite thing to do, store food in her MASSIVE cheeks! We knew they had to be good for something other the munching on and pinching. On a side note, Emory does the same thing, stores food in her cheeks. It'll be 30 minutes after dinner and she'll be running around with her last bite on food in her mouth. At church, she finished up her granola bar as Sacrament Meeting was starting. I kid you not, 45 minutes later, she choked on some spit and volcanoed granola drool everywhere! Seriously! The old people behinds us were dying!

And last but not least . . . drum roll, please . . . introducing Cory Maughan!!! He's finally done with the major studying portion of medical school. The test was ridiculously hard, but we're glad it's over. It has been amazing to have his undivided attention and help. Seriously, is this what it's like to have a husband? The girls are loving it and can't get enough of him. Once in a while, when he's left the room or something Emory asks, "Where's Dad?" and then says, "I know, I know, he's studying!" I love saying, "No he's not studying, he's in the bathroom!"

I LOVE MY HUSBAND! We had a little party with some friends on Friday to commemorate his achievements, playing Rock Band and pigging out. I made this Lemon-Berry cake, my friend Alicia was in love with it. The best part was that it was a cake mix!
Pillsbury Recipe:

1 white cake mix
1/3 c. oil
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. frozen lemonade concentrate (thawed)
Bake as directed.

Frosting:
1 can white frosting
1 - 8 oz. container whipped topping
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
Fold together.

You can frost it however you want. I put one cake-round down, frosted and then stuck fresh raspberries in the frosting. I put the other cake-round on top of that, and frosted the entire thing, garnishing with raspberries and a lemon slice. Yum!

I guess it's tradition now to have a picture of one of my children sleeping in a random place or falling asleep while doing something for each Blog. Need I say more?We went swimming at our friends house on Saturday. Emory and Kate are so cute, they do the silliest things. This is them feeding each other snacks! Here's Tess, the cutest rolly-polly ever!
I love how my 9 month old baby has more cleavage than me!

My testimony . . .

I'd like to bear my testimony, that I know Air Borne is true . . hah, sorry, that's a little sacrilegious, but this stuff is a miracle here on earth! Seriously, the girls started up with these little colds a few days after we got home, and I started pumpin' my tablets. End of story: Cory = Sinus infection, Girls = Virus-of-some-miserable-sort, Rachel = not sick, but stuck taking care of the said sick ones. What can you do, it's that dang, nasty recirculated airplane air!

Home sweet Home! What else can I say? Our visit to Utah was great, but it's so nice to have my life back. I really missed my friends, and so did Emory. It was so cold and rainy in Utah, that we've really been enjoying this 114 degree weather, no, seriously. The splash park and friends' pools have kept us cool in the morning, movies in the afternoon, then the park after the sun goes down. (It's still 105 after the sun goes down, but you can't believe how much cooler that feels!!) I think Cory's glad for the company, although we still don't see him too often. Wednesday is the LAST-ish test and we are dying! He did take a break last Saturday to take Emory and I to Kung Fu Panda, which was fabulous! Emory invited Parker (who was accompanied by his dad, Jeremy) and they pretty much acted like they were on a date. I don't know what we'll do with them?!?
Emory continues to make us roll with her off the wall comments etc. Here's a few of the latest:

Emory: Dr. Ravi, why is 6 afraid of 7?
Dr. Ravi: I don't know.
Emory: Because 7 8 9!! Get it? 7 ATE 9!!!

(playing with toys in her bath tub)
Emory-baby duck voice: Hello Mother Duck, how's the water?
Emory-mother duck voice: The waters great, but I have a surprise for you! Baby duck, meet my niece, Emory!!
(she whips out a Barbie, who's obviously meant to be Emory!) I love how she heard this word in Utah, and uses it all the time now.

Emory: Dad, I'm your sweetie, right?
Dad: Right!
Emory: And that makes you my Cory and that's mom's Tessa!
(Early that day we'd been discussing how Cory was mine first, I guess that's why Tessa and I are Captain Hook and Wendy?)

Tessa is trying so hard to crawl! She loves to scoot over to stuff to climb up on it, and gets in and out of the position like a champ, just can't figure it out. It frustrates her to no end! She'll get it pretty soon I think, and if not, she'll just take off walkin'. She's also cutting her first tooth and it's on the top! I thought she'd been extra fussy this week, and I kept feeling for any sign of teeth to no avail. I thought to check the top the other day and there it was her lateral incisor.
I'm sorry this is super long, but this is what I consider my journaling!

Picture catch up:

Ike and TessaPlanting tomatoesSissy Snake (named by Emory, caught by Josh)Grandma Lisa and TessaTrain ride to OgdenJungle Jim'sAs you can see I was a little freaked out by this one, but Emory loved it!I've seen a trend in some of my friends'/familys' blogs about children falling asleep in random places and positions. This is enough to have CPS come take my kids away, at least I thought! Notice Baby Einstein in the background?It said specifically on the package, Not For Real Babies, but what fun is that?My beautiful mom, Grandma Chris, and Tess.Grandpa Chris and Em at her birthday lunch at CPK.
I forgot to say something on Father's Day, but I love my daddy so much! He is always there for me and my girls. I love how he gets down and plays with them, even though he's old and decrepit! I always said that I wanted to marry someone just like my dad, and sometimes I'm a little freaked out by the "Tyler-ish" things Cory does! I couldn't ask for better dads in my life, love you all!Emory's B-DayMy masterpiece, the Tinkerbell Cake!!!
I almost cried when I had to cut it up, but it was "licious" Emory said!