Christmas Time

I do bake cakes. I promise. But it was such a busy time and Jason wanted a Thomas cake, so I called WalMart. He's such a sweet little guy. His favorite toy right now is Thomas the Train, he talks non-stop, and he loves playing with his brother and sisters and gets mad when they leave him out.

Ashley had a preschool Christmas Program. She had so much fun. Here are a couple pictures in her reindeer hat and witch hat (for a skit). I didn't get any pictures of her in her Santa hat because I videoed the whole thing, but in one little skit she played Santa and did GREAT.


We wrote a letter to Santa and asked if he would come to our house early. You see, we didn't have enough room in our van to take all the presents with us to Idaho, then bring them all (and more) back. So we had an early Christmas. The kids loved it! It was a lot of fun seeing them open presents. They were so excited. This time of year is so great for so many reasons!

Christmas Time Continued

We took a trip to my brothers house that he has been building (and doing an AMAZING job). His English Bulldog just had puppies six weeks ago. Apparently I thought this was the only thing picture worthy. Forget that all of my four brothers and their families were there, my little sister and her family, my mom and stepdad, my dad and stepmom. Oh we BROUGHT the camera, it just didn't make it out of the bag much...you only get the pictures taken from my phone (and I'm not so good at holding really still to take a good picture)So HOPEFULLY my stepdad will share with me all the pictures he's taken of everyone else...

Hailey wants this puppy more than anything in the world. It's a little sad. And it's the only one left for sale. She wanted to hold this puppy the whole 3 days we were there. She cried when she didn't get to help take them out, and she didn't even want to go to bed because the puppies would cry (and she KNOWS it's because they needed her to hold them. :) )


This is Ashley and my little niece, Emily. My nieces live so far away, so it was nice to see them and finally have some girl cousins for Ashley and Hailey to play with.

Featuring:

HAILEY. Hailey had a birthday not too long ago. I can't believe how fast time flies. Here's picture before we sang Happy Birthday.



That night when I put Hailey to bed, I was telling her about the day she was born and when I went into labor, etc. She looked REALLY worried when I got to the part about how she had aspirated a lot of fluid and one of her lungs didn't inflate, so they rushed her off to the newborn intensive care unit . I told her it all turned out fine because she's healthy now and just fine, but she still looked terrified. I guess it's still a little early to include ALL the details. Poor girl.





This is Hailey's Thanksgiving Program that her kindergarten class performed. It was REALLY cute and fun to see her and all her class sing and say their lines. I didn't even know she had any lines until I got there. Her line was even the longest and she said it by herself when all the other kids said their lines with two or three of them together. Had I known, I would've helped her practice at home. She never told me, though and I never got any papers telling me about speaking parts. She did great and spoke so loudly and clearly.

Halloween

And only a week late. We had a lot of fun Halloween festivities. The ward trunk or treat was excellent. A lot of fun carnival games for the kids, and then a lot of candy gathering of course.

We also went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Around here there is one street that closes to traffic that's like a "Halloween Lane" or something...all the houses on this street decorate and ALL the kids in town go there. I've heard that there are big lines and the kids get one piece of candy per house, etc. So we just trick or treat around our neighborhood. Our kids are LOADED with candy. We had one trick or treater at our house, and I think our kids were probably the only visitors at other houses. Needless to say, they were quite a hit at every house and got all sorts of attention...and candy...

Tyler was Mario, Hailey was a Barbie Mermaid, Ashley was a giraffe and Jason was a shark.




We also had this skeleton that was motion sensored and would talk when you walked up to it. At first,Jason wouldn't get close to it (like in this picture). But by the end of the night he wasn't as scared. That's all he talks about still--he says, "the scary guy fell over" (the wind blew it over one morning) and, "the scary guy....ha ha ha" and he mimics the way the skeleton laughs. It's really cute, I hope he doesn't have nightmares.

Three Down, One to Go

Nope, not potty training (although that too, I guess...but that happened long ago.)


RIDING BIKES!! Ok, so it's old news by now. She's actually been riding for two months. I'm just that good at blogging. Ashley did great, though. It took a lot of prodding for the other two (...one...) but Ashley begged me to take off her training wheels one Saturday while Trevor was gone. So I did and we practiced and by the time he came home, she was showing off her mad bike riding skills. She could even kick off on her own. I guess she was ready. Now if Jason could just learn to ride a bike in the next two months, that will be all four kids learning in 2010. I won't hold my breath.


Not much of an action shot, but I couldn't take any while I was running alongside her, making sure I caught her if she fell over :)

First Day of School

Tyler had a great first day. Tyler's such a fun kid. He has some kids in his class from last year, but his two favorite friends are in the other class. He has a really good attitude about it though and says he can be friends with all the other kids and still play with his two favorite friends at recess.

I was worried Hailey might be a little shy in kindergarten. She LOVED her first day, though and feels so grown up. She loves getting homework and thinks her teacher is amazing (and she is). The elementary kids have lockers and everything :)

This is Ashley in a box sliding down the stairs. (PS I did NOT make them wear that helmet, they came up with that on their own. I thought it was pretty funny, actually) She has preschool this year, which she loves. But I didn't get a picture of her first day. Boo. Her first day was a week after Tyler and Hailey's and it just about killed her. It's funny, after her first day when I went to pick her up--the teachers were commenting on how different Ashley and Hailey were/are. They said Ashley is more outgoing and wants to answer all the teacher's questions. She plays with all the kids and doesn't cry a lot if she gets hurt :) Poor Hailey--that makes her sound bad. Hailey is SO great, just a little more sensitive and shy than Ashley.



So that's that. They had great first days, and I miss them while they're away. Jason hardly knows what to do with himself. If we ever drive past the school while running errands, Jason yells: TYLER! HAILEY! I'm glad they have great teachers,great friends and a great school.

A Family Reunion

We spent a weekend at Trevor's parent's house with ALL of Trevor's brothers and sisters. It was really a lot of fun to have everyone there! Bryson, Briana and Scott from Provo; Britta and Brett from California; Cliff and Lisa (and Nyah and Saibra) from Idaho, and us (from Montana :) )


We played a crazy game of whiffle ball...a little safer for the kids to participate. Don't think it wasn't just as competitive. :)


All the Strupp grandkids--except Jason. He ran off right before I snapped the picture. See next picture.


Here's Jason, in different clothes than he was the day he ran off. Just pretend he's in church clothes and standing nicely next to the other children, like a good little boy.


Hailey, Ashley, and Nyah getting ready to ride the horses. Nyah's quite the little cowgirl. She even gets a twang in her speech when it's time to ride. SOOO cute.


Lisa with Ashley and Grandma with Nyah. The kids love riding the horses!


We were able to get a bunch of family pictures (thanks Lisa!) And as soon as I have some copies I'll have to post them (Lisa? :) )

We also went skeet shooting so I'll have to post a picture of that one day.
Lots of fun over the weekend with the family. Lets do this again, OK guys?

Some Summer Fun

That's right, my kids haven't started school yet. :) So we still have some fun going on. These are random pictures from over the summer. I was going through the card on the camera and thought maybe I should share :)

The kids kept asking if they were going to get to do "gymnastics camp" again this year. It's way overpriced and very little gymnastics going on. More like a day care...but they had fun last year, so we signed them up again this year. Between their story time and craft time, I was able to get some pictures of the gymnastics they did.


Tyler (the one on his back) on the trampoline.



Ashley swinging on the rings.



Hailey swinging on the rings.


We visited grandpa and did some fun things at his house, including a ride on the scooter with grandpa. This makes me laugh. Never in a thousand years did I think my dad would buy a scooter. More of a motorcycle/4-wheeling kind of man. He is getting old though...


Hailey and Grandpa.



Jason was relaxing one day while eating his pizza. Such good manners. One day I'll teach him you shouldn't put your feet on the dinner table.

Because We're Spontaneous Like That

It's hard to be spontaneous with little kids. You can't just pick up and go places without planning--at least that's the way I see it.

Last weekend Trevor had a couple days off because he was supposed to go on a scouting thing. Well, long story short: it fell through. So after he got back from a morning golf outing, we wondered what we would do with the rest of our very rare time off together. Not wanting to waste this precious time on something that NEEDED to be done, I said: I think we should rent a jetski and go camping. And he said: OK. And so we did :) And because we're also such a good team, it only took us an hour to gather all our junk and pack it in the truck and rent a waverunner. I was pleasantly surprised.





Avert your eyes from the pasty whiteness that is my legs...first time out in the sun...


He's sleeping :) It was funny when we would take Jason out for a little ride, he wouldn't say a word. Didn't smile, didn't scream--just acted very nonchalant. Like he didn't care if he was going for a ride or not. It was kind of funny. We know he liked it because he begged to get back on once he was off, but when we were out on our ride, he was SOOO quiet. Anyway, must've been pretty relaxing (plus he was tired from going to bed late and no nap) but he fell asleep on the jetski! Poor kid.

The kids did really great on our camping trip. Makes me want to go more often!

Daddy's Boy

Jason loves his dad. He's finally gotten to the point that he doesn't cry for 10 minutes after Trevor leaves for work. That's probably because with Trevor's "summer hours" he leaves at 6:50 a.m. and Jason hasn't woken up yet. Rest assured Jason will wander the house after he wakes up (and intermittently throughout the rest of the day) whining, "Daddy, Daddy."

Then, when Jason hears the garage door open--whether it's Trevor or not--he gets all excited and runs downstairs to greet dad.

If Jason gets hurt, it's not me he wants to hold and cuddle him, it's Trevor.

When he's in his carseat to drive somewhere, he doesn't want me to get him out, he wants Trevor. Heaven forbid I do get him out, he squirms to get down to run to Trevor's side.

I gotta admit, Trevor's the best dad ever. And it doesn't even hurt my feelings--I think it's endearing to see my baby boy love his dad so much.

Jason always wants dad to sit and rock him or hold him when he gets home from work. In this picture it's about 5 p.m. Definitely a bad time for Jason to take a little nap, but he grabbed his blanket and binky and climbed up in dad's lap to watch a little Sports Center...and they fell asleep. I guess they were a little tuckered out.

A Little Bathroom Comedy

This happened a couple months ago, but when I think about this story, it makes me smile. So I thought I'd share.

We were all at church and I was helping Ashley in the bathroom. There was a guy at church that needed to talk to me about something and when he saw Tyler he asked, "Where's your mom?"

Tyler answered, "She's in the bathroom wiping Ash." (You might have to read that part aloud to get the full affect:) )

It took him a second to realize what Tyler meant, but had a good laugh with us as he told us what happened.

Some Recent Pictures

With the summer beginning and Tyler out of school, we wanted to plan some fun things to do during the summer. It's been raining a lot here, though. So we haven't been able to do a whole lot. But here are some pictures of our recent adventures...

I can't believe my kids (except for Jason) actually got into the water. All three of the older kids got their swimsuits on and played in the water for a good 45 minutes. It must've been about 50 degrees outside and the water was probably about the same. Brr. Trevor ran the van the whole time so when they finally decided to get out of the water they could get in the warm van. They had a good time though and kept asking to go back in the water after we got them out and dressed. Crazy kids.


We've had plenty of time to play in the rain, that's for sure. And they've taken full advantage.


Don't know why this is flipped? Whatever. Trevor got some packages and the kids played in the packing peanuts for like 2 hours. I love it when they entertain themselves and play together for so long like this! Had to document it.


This was Hailey's preschool graduation. I can't believe she's going to kindergarten. She had a great year in preschool with a lot of really fun activities.

I'll try and remember the camera when we go places. Trevor's really good about bringing it along, but if I pack...not so much. We (me and the kids, Trevor had to work) took a trip to my mom's not that long ago and did all sorts of fun things. We went to the zoo and visited Aunt Amanda and Uncle Brett and Grandma and Grandpa. But no pictures to show for it...maybe Amanda will send me some? :)

Just Because

It seems like everytime I turn around another year has gone by. Trevor took this picture of the kids the other day and I was looking at it and marveling how much older they all look. Tyler was thinking he'd be funny and throw something as the picture was taken. Such a fun age :)


When I do the girls hair I sit them in these little rocking chairs--they're just the right height. Every time I get a chair out for one of the girls, Jason drags the other chair over so he can get his hair combed...what little hair he has. Never wanting to be left out. Notice the look of sheer joy on Ashley's face? And yes, she does pick her own clothes (and socks) out herself most days.


I love this picture. My kids bring me such happiness (most of the time) and I can't believe how fast time flies. This one is of Jason--he just makes me smile. He's such a good little guy and so happy. He's growing up so fast!

I Want Some

This is what Jason does when he wants what you're eating. It's really cute and he's been doing it now for quite some time, but I wanted to post a picture of it because it makes me laugh. And if I'm using this blog as sort of a photo book/journal (I know, sad how I don't post more often if that's what it's for) I better have some pictures to help me remember the cute things my kids do before I forget :)

6 Feet

is how much gum a three year old can eat and swallow before her mom realizes she ate the whole pack. Yep, in like 10 minutes. I'm a good mom. If it's true that gum stays in your body for 7 years (which it isn't) this one will have a lot of gum to clog up her system. Not that I would normally blog about something like this (I hardly blog about anything anymore...) but just one of the many things I want to remember someday down the road. Note to self: Do not open the bubble tape and give it to your child in the backseat on the car ride home.

On the bright side, at least it wasn't chewed and put in various places all over the van.

Scuba

Ok, so I'm computer illiterate. I started with the post below, and then tried to put these two pictures in the second post. It didn't work. So instead of doing it all over, just read the next post before this one :)




That's a starfish on my head. Our instructor ("Divin' Ivan") put it there.




That's a LOT of bird poop. Click to enlarge.


So there you have it. A little taste of our trip. We saw a lot of things under water and I can't believe what a whole different world it is under there. We saw all sorts of fish, lobster, sea urchins, baracudas, seals, you name it (well, no sharks this time) But it really was amazing and I can't wait to go on an other trip!

Scuba Diving

Alright. You see? I do things worthy of blogging about, I just am a little busy and don't get to the blogging very fast, or ever.

So Trevor and I have joined the ranks of the scuba certified. My brothers and a sister are certified and wanted to plan a trip to Catalina Island. They invited Trevor and I to go, and we were really excited. We took our scuba classes and then were able to do our open water dives on the trip with the instructor that went with us.

It's been a long time since we've taken a trip with just the two of us (and most of my family :) ) Well, actually we haven't done that since we've had kids. But finally I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding (it's like I have my own body!) and we thought this would be something really fun that we've always wanted to do.

Anyway, Trevor got an underwater casing for our camera and took some pictures with it. So here they are. And for future reference, I'll try and be a little more dilligent about blogging.


Trevor and I getting ready to go. That's a lot of gear, huh? The water by Catalina is really cold so we had full wetsuits, gloves, hoods, booties--the works. And even though it's a huge pain to put it all on, especially if it isn't dry from the last dive, we were SO glad we had all of it, it was freezing!



This seal played around us for a good long time. It was really neat. I tried to touch him/her? a couple times because it came so close, but never did. It was on our first dive and I was a little apprehensive...


Trevor


Kim