Just Read It :)

Two posts two days in a row!! I'm trying to catch up on my photo album, and I might as well catch up on blogging while I'm at it.

Coloring Easter eggs!  These were taken so long ago, we lived in the house we were renting. *Note: It's cool to have Christmas plates to decorate Easter eggs on.  FYI.

The Loot.

I hate when blogspot flips my pictures and I'm too computer illiterate to figure out how to flip it back. Why only this picture? Anyway, we had a talent show one night for FHE.  The girls did a dance (it was surprisingly well choreographed) and Jason sang "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam".  Tyler showed us some of the pictures he's been drawing.  He's been drawing a LOT this last year.  I really love the imagination he has with these drawings. Ah to be a kid again.  He has a little "portfolio" now with all his drawings because he had to make one for the Artist badge in scouts.

He's 10 now.  Double digits! I love this kid.  He's such a good little boy and so sweet.  I think we're really alike because we say the same thing at the same time a lot.  We think a lot alike.

I had to add this for Amanda (my sister).  She showed me this picture on pinterest of a shaved bear.  I think it's the ugliest and funniest thing I've EVER seen.  She thinks it's terrifying.  We text it to each other every once in awhile to make each other laugh (or to give her nightmares...I hope not)  :)  

Milestones

I've got a lot of pictures to catch up on. These were in my phone...

Just a few "milestones" to mention:

Tyler becomes a Webelo

Trevor bought me a .17 HMR for Mother's Day.  This man is THE COOLEST husband.  Tyler helped me sight it in. It's a gopher killing machine. :)

We've tried out my new gun a few times.  This time we took Tyler and went with some of our good friends (thanks for letting us borrow these guys Jessie!)

 

Hailey got a tick.  I was doing her hair and found it while I was braiding.  After I pulled it out (she was a brave girl) I put it in a cup to kill it slowly and painfully.  But Ashley wanted to keep it.  Like as a pet.  

Ashley wants to keep EVERYTHING lately. Weird things like old candy wrappers and stuff.  I hope I haven't turned her into a hoarder because of all the stuff I get rid of all the time. Sigh.

Our first zombie party.  It was a surprise party for one of our friends 40th birthday.  The kids were soo excited to dress up.  It was a lot of fun.  I wish I would've had time to dress up myself!

Hailey and Ashley's first 5K.  Jason ran the 1/2 mile kids fun run.  He was so excited when he saw the finish line and bolted--he got his arms pumping really big--it was pretty hilarious.  Trevor ran the 5k  and then went back to run with the girls while they finished the race.  I ran the 10k so I didn't get to run with any of them.  It was a fun day.  Pancake breakfast after the race and everything. :) We missed Tyler, he was at a scout camporee :(

Jason's preschool graduation.  If you see him in this picture, just know he had on pants that fit when I dropped him off...the ONE day I took the change of clothes home (that were left at school all year long) he has an accident.  Awesome.  He looked really cute in someone else's pants that were 6 inches too short :)

Trevor's been doing some golfing now that the weather is nicer.  He takes one of the kids each time he goes. They all love going with him.  Probably because he lets them drive him around in the golf cart.  Good times.

 Jason pet a wild bird.  We've had birds running into our living room window.  We were out on the deck one time and one hit the window and Jason thought it was the funniest thing.  He couldn't stop laughing!  Then he noticed the bird was sitting on the railing and walked up to it.  It didn't move so I told him to touch it.  He poked it and it didn't fly off so he started petting it.  He pet it for at least 3 minutes.  I'm not sure if the bird was just dazed or had a broken wing.  It kind of "flew" to the ground and hopped off, so it was probably hurt.

The first time we played in the river this summer.  More like by the river, the water's still pretty cold.

Trevor caught a bullhead minnow with his hands.  The kids all wanted a turn holding it.

We got a driveway :) It's a good thing, too, because it's been raining a lot and the van gets stuck in the mud.  

PS These two are the best contractors.  Let me know if you need one, I'll give you their info.  They're hard workers and do amazing things.  They really pay attention to detail and are so easy to work with.  Plus they're hilarious, and we all know that's the most important thing when building a house.

Thanks for reading my randomness.  We've had a lot of fun the past couple months and lots of fun things planned ahead!

Some Days in the Life

I've put blogging on the back burner the last few busy months.  I want to remember these last few busy months though, so here are a couple pictures...

Jason's 4th Birthday was in December.  I love this kid, he makes me smile.  I have many other pictures of his little family birthday party, but this one sums it up. He's a character :)

Yep, just getting to blogging about Christmas.  It was a wonderful time at home with our little family and it was amazing.  These kids are the greatest.  Love them.

I also love this man.  His birthday was on a Sunday this year--hence the suit pants and white button up shirt. Ashley dresses herself.  Guess what her favorite color is?  I know, you would think pink.  But it's really blue. I digress. 

This was the day after the kids last basketball game.  We were REALLY busy for a few weeks trying to get all of our regular stuff done, plus Trevor coached Tyler's basketball team, as well as Hailey and Ashley's team this year.  We were constantly at practices or at the Civic Center watching games all day Saturday's.  He's an amazing man.  Sometimes he stretches himself too thin, but I know the kids will look back and remember he gave up a lot of time to be there for them :)  Too bad I didn't document basketball.  We did buy individual/team pictures. They're in the photo album. You'll have to come visit if you want to see them. 

You may remember Trevor had a pinewood derby race for an Elder's Quorum activity last year.  It was a lot of fun, and he had so many requests for another derby this year that he decided to do it again.  Also, he had so much fun building his car last year he wanted to build another.  There were a couple different "classes" of cars this year: regular cub rules, modified cars, and super modified cars.

Here are the results of the cub rules (there were WAY more than nine entries, but that's as many as the screen would display at once).  I whited out the last names to protect the innocent.

I entered the "modified" division.  My car had the balloon attached to it to propel it.  I had a little valve that I zip-tied the balloon to that was attached to the car.  It worked great when I tested it on the floor.  I should have tested it on the track because it kept jumping the track during the races.  Fail.  By the third race I just took off the balloon and added a bunch of weight. Should've done that to begin with.  Oh well.

This is Trevor's car.  A picture doesn't really do it justice.  He had a good time building it.  It was entered in the "super modified division".  Since he was the winner last year, he raced last year's car and this year's car. That's the video I posted. This year's car is the faster car in the video.  Last year's car the (barely) slower one. Hope the video works...

PS  I had to catch them at the bottom to make sure they didn't fly off into the wall.  Good times.  

I went as a chaperon on Tyler's school skiing trip recently.  It was a LOT of fun.  The kids had a lesson at the beginning of the day, then we met for lunch.  For the second half of the day I was in charge of a group of kids.  Here are a few of Tyler's really good friends.  Left to right: Carter, Tyler, Oliver, Danny, and Jack.  What a fun group of boys.  I'm sure glad he has nice friends.

 Here's a lot of what's been taking up our time lately.  I keep telling people I'll post pictures, but I never post anything ever :)  This is the back of the house, same view as what I posted a LONG time ago when it was half framed.  It's been fun, and so busy.  Who knew I would be talking to contractors/subcontractors/construction supply stores so often. And I mean a lot. I think I might miss them all when we're done building. I like it, though.  It's been a lot of fun to watch it go up.  I think the guys building it are doing a great job and they're so easy to work with and really particular about their work. You'll have to come visit if you want to see more of it.  That's how I roll.

Things MIGHT slow down once we move in, but I kind of doubt it.  There's always so many activities we're all involved in.  I hear it only gets worse as the kids get older.  Someone asked me yesterday what I do with all my time now that the kids (except Jason) are in school.  I hate that question.  There's always so much going on and so much to do, but it sounds so pitiful to talk about the housework, dishes, laundry, ironing, errands, etc. that I busy myself with.  Oh well.

2012--A Summary

This year has been really fun and busy.  We’ve had a lot of basketball games, ballet, moving, and all the fun that goes with building a house. We haven’t moved IN to our new house…but when we told our previous landlord that we were starting the building process, she said she would put our rental house up  for sale and see what happened.  It sold the first day.  So we moved into another rental house for a few months while our house is being built.  (Thanks Bruce and Jen!!  We owe you BIG time!)

Aside from moving over the summer, we spent our time going to a few continuing education courses (quite the date night, eh?) and visiting with family.

We've had some visits from family and friends this year. We always have a fun time going to Yellowstone and showing visitors our beautiful area (even if the wildlife was lacking at times…sorry Ridpaths!!).

Trevor is crazy busy, but is still the best husband and father ever. He’s busy with work, church callings and the kids and balances it all so well.  When he saw a lag in the calendar, he filled it with prairie dog hunting, pheasant hunting, and deer hunting…whatever he can find.  I sure love this man and all he does for our family.

Kim stays home with the kids and runs them to and from their activities.  Many of you can relate J I’ve worked a few days each month at the office to fill in.  I love having the few days to be a real adult, but I find it makes me miss my stay at home job.  I love being able to spend time with the kids each day.  I also love playing city league volleyball and going to the YW activities each week.  I’ve found a new love: picking stuff for a house.  I’m sure the time will come when I’ll get sick of it.  It hasn’t happened yet J

Tyler turned 9 this year.  He’s such a good kid and really likes school, basketball, swimming and cub scouts. He continues to be a wonderful big brother and loves to play and wrestle with Jason when he gets home from school.  Friends are getting so important to him lately, and he’s always disappointed if he can’t go play at a friend’s house.  So it begins, I guess. He has some great friends, though, so I don’t worry when he wants to spend so much time with them.  They’re good influences!!

Hailey just turned 8. The last post on this blog talked about her baptism.  She loved every minute of the baptism and program!  She’s such a loving, fun little girl. She and Ashley decided they wanted to sign up for ballet this year.  They’ve been having a GREAT time.  Their teacher is really good at entertaining while teaching.  It’s neat to see them learn so quickly and like it at the same time!!

Ashley is 6 years old.  She’s such a happy kid and sure likes school and playing with her friends.  I love hearing her giggles throughout the house.  She knows how to make anyone happy. She wants a bunny more than anything.  Poor bunny-less Ashley. She also loves going to ballet with Hailey.

Jason is 4 soon.  Weird.  He started preschool this year and goes twice a week.  He asks every morning if it’s a “school day”.  You’d never know how much he loves it by the way he whines after he finds out it is, indeed, a “school day.”  But he does have so many good things to say about school each time I pick him up, in spite of the whining I hear before I drop him off.  He holds his own with the older kids and always wants to join in their playing.  He loves wrestling with Tyler and wants to play basketball like the rest of his sisters and brother.  Alas, he has to be in kindergarten for that.

We are so grateful for our Savior’s birth and atoning sacrifice.  We count our blessings every day and are so thankful for our family and friends and the opportunities we have.  Thank you so much for blessing us with your friendships.  We love and miss you all so much!

Hailey's Baptism

Hailey had her 8th birthday not too long ago.  I sure love this girl. I can't believe she's already 8 and making the decision to be baptized!

We had a family birthday party and went out to eat in the next town.  We also stopped by a place to look at garage doors. :)  I'm sure she was very excited about that, but she did say it was fun so I didn't feel too guilty.

I DID feel bad for her at the restaurant because she wanted them to sing to her, so I asked the waitress and she said she would gather some people. Then at the end of our meal the waitress came over and said she was sorry, but they were too busy and no one could sing to her.  It was so sad.  Mostly to see the disappointment on Hailey's face.  Come on, they can't take 30 seconds?  I told her we'd sing extra loud for her at home and she seemed to be OK with that...or maybe it was the cookie they gave her that made her happy again... We came home and had cake and opened presents.

The next day was Hailey's baptism.  She was SOOO excited and couldn't wait.  I sure love that with her sensitivity comes the sensitivity to the spirit as well.  After her baptism she came out of the font and was crying.  I hugged her for such a long time.  It was really neat to be able to be there right after and to share that with her.

My parents and Trevor's parents were able to be there and give talks.  Um, wish I had taken more pictures than this...

During the program she was so intent on listening to everything.  Her favorite Primary Song is "I Know That My Savior Loves Me." She wants to sing that song for every FHE each week. It's a newer song, but she loves it and tears up every time she hears it.   So I had the senior primary girls sing that after she was baptized.  Thanks girls, you did a great job!!  

I love this little girl.  She's such a big helper whenever I need anything.  I love listening to her giggle with Tyler when they sit and talk with each other.  She always wants to "babysit" if I'm busy doing something and need some quiet while I'm talking to the contractor or looking up some appliance or fireplace or something (my only past time these days)  She loves school (math and PE), and loves to cuddle.  I hope these days last a long time!!  The teenage girl horror stories have me worried.

My Birthday Present

I wouldn't usually post about my own birthday, but this year was especially fun.  Since the kids are getting a little older and more aware of months/days/etc, Tyler has a little count-down on his calendar when one of the family's birthday's are coming.  They've been notifying me each day about how many days are left until my birthday.  They're so sweet :)

Last week, Tyler and Hailey wanted to give me an "early birthday present".  So they wrote me a book.  After seeing how much I liked it, Tyler wrote me a sequel. :)  

(Ashley also wrote me a couple books, but I'll have to include that one in the next post because I just didn't have time today.)

I was telling my sister about the drawings and she really wanted me to post the pictures so she could see them.  So here they are, Amanda! :)

The first book is on the left, and the pictures of that book follow.  Then the sequel comes after. Enjoy!

Notice my "competiters" are very sweaty.

Blow this picture up if you have to, it's worth it.  That buff man is all sweaty only lifting 50, but I'm lifting 100--in front of my workout video.  

I personally think that's a great illustration of our mini van.

Actually, a dental hygienist.  But I do give sweaty, nervous people injections.

Ah, isn't that the sweetest thing?  I'm tucking them into bed, and we love each other. 

Now for book 2.  And now you know how old I am.

This might be my favorite sequel ever. My son has a promising future in writing/illustrating.

Don't know what that's supposed to mean.  I've "been better at driving" ??

His head exploded :)

I love my kids.  Completely.Love.Them. 

I hope I can be the mom they deserve.  They're such great kids.

Ballet and Halloween

They obviously go together, right?

The girls REALLY wanted to do ballet this year.  So we signed them up and they're having a blast.  I'm just wondering when the "gracefulness" develops?  It's funny listening to them leap across the dance floor. Very...ahem...graceful.

This was our ward trunk or treat night.  

On a side note: I wasn't able to be there because I made a trip to help my mom who had to unexpectedly go through quadruple bypass surgery.  Since she had to have her sternum opened up, she isn't supposed to use her arms for 8 weeks until it heals...the point of this side note being:  I wasn't there to do Ashley's (or Hailey's) hair.  Don't judge.