Changes & Celebrations at Church!

This year marks the 50th year since the church was established in Denton County. At the time 23 members met in someones house. Now there are FOUR stakes. To celebrate the "Denton Jubilee" the church leaders have planned a whole weekend of activities. Sister Elaine Dalton will be visiting as well as other leaders. There is a dinner, roadshows, and other service projects planned. It sounds like it will be lots of fun. We will be in Utah that weekend, but it is neat to still hear about all the fun plans.

So along those lines I thought that is why we had a special combined Stake Sacrament Meeting. I am obvlivious and havent heard any rumors about changes - somehow my small 2 and 3 year old friends in nursery don't fill me in on these things :)

But, change did come. A new chapel was built in North Fort Worth and three wards will be meeting there. Ironically, they are three wards from three differnt stakes. Kinda cool I thought. Because of this there needed to be boundary changes in 7 out of our 10 wards. Everything was sort of shuffled and a little was taken from each ward and then a new ward was created - and that new ward was US! We are apart of the new Aubrey Ward. We had 8 families taken out of our ward, and we think 5 families (or so) added into our ward to create our new boundaries. So most of our ward is made up of the same families, just a new name and a few new faces. The Stake President was cute and said we might have an identity crisis for awhile. Now the Denton 1st Ward contains NO members from the Denton 1st ward that we once belonged too. It was the goal of the Stake Presidency to change the boundaries to accomidate more growth in the Church as time goes by.

We are excited for this change! I guess the church leaders thought there would never be enough members for an Aubrey Ward - but here we are!

Summer Vacations!

I thought at the beginning of the summer that we'd have a low key summer, but oh how quickly plans change!

The kids and I (Sarah) will be going to Logan, Utah for a Shelton Family Reunion and to finally introduce Ella to her other great-grandparents at the end of July.

We get home and do a quick turn around and fly to California to spend time with our family and friends there. The kids and I will be in California from July 31st to August 15th, Brandon will be staying for a bit and then coming home to get back to work. We are so excited to see so much of our family this summer!

Swim Lessons

Started Monday and went great! He was happily willing to try everything they asked him to do. Im hoping he'll have a great time and both he and I will learn some new games to help him play in the water and practice some skills.

Brody's latest achievement

Brody can write his own name! This was his third attempt -- his first two are on cards to his Grandpa Mike and his Uncle Kevin. We were coloring and he said, Mom I can write a "Y" I was surprised that he could do it, so I asked him to write all his other letters and I again was pretty surprised that he just did it. We've been working on it, but he has had little interest (or attention span) but apparently something stuck. Great job Brody!

Hot Hot Hot!

We officially hit 100 degrees for the first time this year - and we are expected to have 100 degree plus for the next 5 days. Then we get a break...it will only be 98 or 99 for several days. It has been 98-99 degrees for the last week or more so it isn't a huge change. The heat index has been well over a 100 degrees already too, so whats a few more degrees, right?

We beat the heat with mornings at the pool and afternoons inside and some times we round out the day with another trip to the pool after dinner (which is feeling increasingly like bath water). If we go out we go into the car - into an air conditioned building - and then back in the car. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think the worst part (for me) is sunscreening the kids everyday - but it would be a necessary evil where ever we lived.

On the plus side - despite the SPF 50 I wear I am getting a nice tan - and my tomatoes are LOVING IT! We currently have 18 growing nicely and dozens more blooms that leave me hopeful we'll have a good crop. We really wish we liked tomatoes!

Here is some interesting statistics:
Average date of first 100°F: July 1
Average date of last 100°F: August 25
Earliest occurrence: Mar 9, 1911 (100°F)
Latest occurrence: Oct 3, 1951 (106°F)
Earliest last occurrence: May 30, 1928 (101°F)
Latest first occurrence: Aug 23, 1989 (101°F)

Most 100 degree days in a calendar year: 69 (1980)
Fewest 100 degree days in a calendar year: 0 (1973, 1906)
Most consecutive: 42 (Jun 23 - Aug 3, 1980)
Most in a month: 31 (Jul 1980)
Greatest number of months in a year with at least one occurrence: 5 2006 - April, June, July, August, September 1925 - April, June, July, August, September 1911 - March, May, June, July, August
Only month to record both 100°F and 32°F: Mar 1916 (25°F on the 3rd and 100°F on the 21st)

Fathers Day

We celebrated Fathers Day all weekend at our house! Saturday morning we gave Brandon his presents...complete with Brody's macaroni father's day card. Afterwards we took the kids to Gatti Town in Frisco for some food and fun. I think Gatti Town is an inbetween of Chuck E Cheese and Dave and Busters...so it was fun for all of us. We bought a package where we got a bunch of money on a game card to use, and we were having a hard time spending it all. brandon and I tried to win as many points as we could to get a good prize - Ella and I ended up hitting the Jackpot on a game that all you do is push the button. Then right after that Brandon did the same thing on another game! It was our lucky day I guess. We ended up bringing home a new soccer ball that the kids love to throw around.

Sunday we went to church and came home and had dinner with my Dad, Mom and sister Stephanie. We went on a walk that evening and couldn't wait to come back into the air conditioned house! It was a nice family day with a good reason to celebrate. I have great dad's in my life...husband, dad and dad-in-law. We love all of you and we are thankful everyday for all you do.

Something Clicked...

and Brody LOVES the swimming pool! I am so glad because swim lessons start next week and I was afraid he'd freak out on me. But this morning he finally got the hang of swimming in his life jacket with all his other friends. It was so exciting for me to watch him swim away and play and be happy about it! He even starting jumping into the water by himself and now he is addicted - we can't pull him away. We went back to the pool tonight with Daddy to show off his new skills and took some video too...he is turning into such a big boy.

Family Photos

The Mullin-Burton-Wells Gang as of June 2009
My Parents
(A little bragging...this year will be their 30th Anniversary AND my dad hit the milestone 100 lbs lost at the end of May - way to go Dad!)

The GrandkidsGrandparents & Grandkids

Burton Family

(no we will NOT be purchasing this photo. My kids were way past done when we decided to try for a photo. All they really wanted was the bag of cookies I had hiding behind me. I want to try for another family photo soon - Tara get ready...you'll have your work cut out for you.)

Wednesday night: Dad picks up Amy and Aiden and we have dinner at mom's. Amy and Aiden come home with us to spend Thursday at the pool. Thursday night we head back to mom's for dinner and Brandon picks up Will at the airport. They stay with us again and spend Friday shopping. I drop them back at mom and dads in the after noon for a date night with mom and dad while Steph babysits. We (the Burtons) go home to catch up on sleep! and get ready for the weekend.

Steph planned a Half Birthday party celebration for all the kids. She studied and learned how to decorate a cake with fondant, had gifts etc. to spoil the kids with.

The bash was supposed to come at the end of a day of blastball games, swimming and bbq...but because of changes there was no blastball game to be seen. Bummer. Went to the pool and bbq'd still. Wore everone out - but a great time was had by all.




After Sunday afternoon naps (a must for any nursery leader)...we head back to mom and dads for Sunday dinner and playtime. We load Amy and Will and Aiden up again and take them back to our house so mom and dad can work on Monday. Aiden is able to spend the day resting after a trip to the urgent care center revealed a double ear infection and an upper respiratory infection --- although you'd never know it. The kid is a PERFECT baby!


Monday was spend relaxing, lunch at the park...we've hit the end of our lunch days at the park though...it is heating up here! After about 15 minutes of smearing sunscreen on the kids and then letting them play for about 15 minutes, we had all had our fill of sweating. Back home we go to put all three kids in the tub...got pics of that too...but won't post to keep grandpa happy :). All week they LOVED playing with each other. Ella has shown she is a nurturer and loves to take care of babies and hold them. All three were very sweet to each other. Can't wait to see them in a year when they are all chasing each other around.

Monday evening we had a family photo taken...they'll be posted later...and then our night at the Roughriders game. With the exception of losing Brody it was a fun night and perfect weather...warm and breezy. At the end of the night we all said our goodbyes until we meet up again in July in Utah for a family reunion on my mom's side. Now, I am sure I speak for all of us when I say we are TIRED and have all our other responsibilities to catch up on that we've ignored to spend time together...it was a very fun week!

I've Aged...

because of this little man...

To end our fun filled family week with Amy and Will we went to the Frisco Roughriders game. They are the AA farm team for the Rangers and their stadium is so fun! They have lawn seats in the outfield (raised up of course) and a pool you can even rent out. We've been before and we love it. The kids can play on the grass while you watch - its just a fun place.

We took them last night with everyone. The middle of the third inning came and I looked around and Brody was GONE. Brandon my dad and I immediately stood up, my Dad went one direction around the stadium and Brandon and I went the other. Brandon was looking and I ran for the gates. I told security my little boy was missing and I turned around and they immediately had the stadium locked down. No one in or out. I don't know if that made me feel better or worse - I was feeling pretty crappy either way. The security team was asking me what he was wearing, height, weight, etc. and then repeating it over their radios. I saw people combing the stadium, my dad heard people calling his name...it was AWFUL.

Then the security team said to me - they have him, your husband has him. Brandon walked over to where I was and handed Brody to me. I, of course, started crying and Brody looked up and said "Im sorry I scared you" I was just so glad we had found him. The whole thing lasted maybe 15 minutes - but they were some of the scariest minutes ever.

Brandon found him in the mens bathroom. He was going potty. After the game he ran away again - but we saw him right away and Brandon ran towards him before he got too far. He hasn't done this before - but if the running away is a new habit...you will find us at our house all the time. AND...Brandon and I discussed getting locks on all our doors at the top so neither kid can escape.

Our Last Couple Days...Our Next Couple Days

We have had a CRAZY chain of events the last two days...

It started with pulling a load of laundry out of the dryer and all the clothes looked like this:

Brick red crayon creeped into the laundry and scattered its waxy color all over our clothes - it looks as if someone was bleeding everywhere from some horrible crime. But it all came from one darn crayon.

Which prompted a quick call to mom and an internet search of how to get melted dried crayon out of clothes and off the inside of my dryer.

So a little (actually a lot) of this...A cup of this...

Throw it all back in the washer with these:

And walla, we should get clean clothes again ... I hope! Oh - the dryer came clean with a lot of elbow grease and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

I don't know if it worked yet though, we are just barely getting to the washing of it all, because of this...

Until this afternoon we had a four foot long and 2-3 foot deep hole in our front yard! We have had a soggy spot in our yard since we moved in. We mentioned it on our walk through and it was brushed off because of recent rain. Despite many other efforts to have our builder follow through with their warranty (the builder has since gone under leaving us with a useless 2 year warranty) - we still had a soggy spot in the yard. We had a landscaper (figuring it was the irrigation) come out to look at it and fix it. They found no leak the first time they came, but they came again yesterday and found the problem. A puncture hole in our main water line. Landscapers arent plumbers and are not allowed by law to fix it. So...three trips to Lowes later at 11:00 at night we were still trying to fix it (and along the way the line was cut - so we were completely without water). I had already begun treating the crayon stains with the in anticipation of the leak being fixed, so I had clothes soaked with WD-40 and it was all over the kitchen floor where I was working. We needed water! We drove to the closest friend that we would dare call that late and loaded up as many big containers of water as we could. It was enough to soak the clothes with the Dawn in my bathrub and have a glass of water and brush our teeth.

Brandon was up and at the plumbing store at 7:30 this morning, and then a second and a third. Apparently the type of pipe they used on our house isn't too common. He attempted again to fix the leak, however it left him frustrated, muddy, and late for work without a shower to shower in. He thought he'd fix it enough to take a shower, but that resulted in flooding the yard. So, I called a plumber (the third place he visited today - props to Miller and Miller Plumbing in Denton) and they came out at 1:00 this afternoon to fix it. Brandon almost had it, the pipe just needed to be shoved in more before tightening down the compressor. Thats okay though - because - WE HAVE WATER NOW!! Hooray. Now I need to finish the stain treating and clean up the last days worth of dishes that have piled up and get ready for our next couple of days while we get to spend time with my sister and her family.

Yeah - we are so excited to see Aunt Amy, Uncle Will and Baby Aiden!