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

Basketball

Tyler started basketball this year. I know the pictures aren't too action packed, but I was cheering too much to stop and take any good ones.

He likes basketball, I just hope he can get a little more...agressive as the year goes on. He's such a sweet kid he just lets people take the ball from him.

And I found this picture on our card. Trevor must have taken it, but I thought it was really cute. Jason loves that rocking chair. When he sits in it he feels so big and proud of himself. It's really cute.

Sheer Genius

I didn't put this together--thank heavens...but my talented brother-in-law, Sam, did at the request of my parents. Isn't it cool? If only I could be so creative. I thought I'd post it because I thought it looked so cool. This my whole family--brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and parents. In case any of you have a hard time figuring what it spells out, it says: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Christmas Letter, as promised...

December 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

I figured I’d better post our Christmas letter as promised in some of the cards you may have received. I wasn’t planning on doing a Christmas letter this year, but I really like reading the year’s happenings of other families, so I decided to make our news to others optional. I guess if you are reading this—you decided you wanted to hear about us :)

It’s been another busy year, I guess I can expect that for another 17 years at least. I know I put in last year’s letter that we were probably staying in Oklahoma for another year. Well, we didn’t. Shortly after sending out that letter, Trevor decided to go look at some practices and he found one he loved in Montana. We were very lucky to be able to sell our house in such a crazy real estate economy, and it seemed like everything fell into place. So right after he took terminal leave from the army, we moved to Montana to start our life in this beautiful town. Once we got here, they put us right to work in the ward and made us feel right at home. We love it.

Trevor: Is the best boss ever…in my opinion. He’s had a lot of fun learning the ins and outs of a business, all the while doing what he loves (dentistry). I guess they heard what a good YM president he was in our past ward, because they put him right in as YM president here. Either that or he needed more practice? He still loves to spend days off and evenings playing with his kids and they can’t get enough of it. We love this man.

Kim: Is staying at home with all these little monsters…and loving every minute of it. Eventually when the kids get a little older I’d like to work a day or two a week…I miss working! I didn’t think this would happen, and it probably wouldn’t have happened if Trevor didn’t come home every day talking about the dentistry and all the things I miss in the dental office. Other than that I stay busy in the Primary. Who knew I could love other people’s children so much!? It’s so much fun.

Tyler: Is a big 6 year old first grader. He LOVES school and I never hear: “Do I have to go to school today?” It’s funny how proud I feel when he reads to me each night. My little boy is growing up! He hasn’t lost any teeth, yet. But he does have a few permanent teeth coming in. A couple behind the baby teeth and he won’t touch those loose teeth. I keep threatening him that we’ll just have dad pull them out…we might have to resort to that here pretty soon. He looks like a shark with those rows of teeth. He’s such a good brother to his little brother and sisters. And such a big helper to me!

Hailey: Just turned five and is in preschool this year. She tells me everyday what she’s doing at her school and who is boyfriend/girlfriend with who. In preschool! I know, a little young for that. It scares me, of course. She’s such a sweet little girl and such a big helper with Jason. She and Ashley are little buddies. Their newest game is “Sisters.” They hold hands and run around the house saying: “Let’s be sisters!” I know, it’s only cute to a mother. But it makes me feel good they like each other.

Ashley: Is such a character. I always tell Trevor how her looks don’t match her personality because she has this curly, bouncy hair and such a girly little face. But this girl is tough! She does like her girl things like Pollies and Barbies, but she’s a little more Tom-Boy than you would picture when you see her. She likes to get dirty and wrestle with Tyler. She’s a little too rough with Jason sometimes when trying to wrestle with him, and I have to remind her he’s just little still. She also has found a love for school because it makes her feel big like Tyler and Hailey. She goes to the “mom’s preschool” where we switch each week and she LOVES it.

Jason: Has grown leaps and bounds from last year…but I guess they do that first year. He turns one on December 22nd. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I had him!! I have enjoyed him so much. I have enjoyed every baby, but I think I was a little more uptight and worried about the older kids when they were babies. He crawls as of about a month ago, hopefully he’ll be that slow in walking. He says “Mom” and shakes his head “No” and jabbers a whole lot…well, more yells a whole lot. He’s just found how to hit and thinks it’s pretty funny. I have a hard time telling him “no” because when I say it seriously, he starts bawling like I hurt his feelings or something. The youngest is always the most spoiled, I guess. I’ll have to work on that.

Thanks for enduring the news of 2009 for our family. We sure love and miss all of you and hope to see you soon! Merry Christmas and have a wonderful 2010!

Love,
The Strupps

I'm Thankful

I know it's a little cliche to post how thankful I am for stuff during Thanksgiving week--I am thankful the rest of the year. But it's just been one of those weeks where I keep thinking about how really blessed I am.

On facebook there are a lot of people who have posted something they are thankful for each day. While I have not participated in this, I have been thinking about it all month.

So, here goes. I'll try and keep my list short...but I am thankful for a lot of things.

1. My husband. I'm not trying to be mushy or anything. But the man is amazing. Pretty much everything I am thankful for has to do with him in one way or another. He's such a hard worker. He's really motivated and works toward his goals. He's an amazing father and an amazing husband. Plus, he's super hot. I almost hope he doesn't check our blog because he'll be embarrassed I went on and on about him. So I'll move on...

2. The gospel. Ok, in hindsight I should've listed this first. But in all honesty, I thought of my husband first, so that's the way I'm leaving it. Really? Where would my life be if I didn't have the church in it? I can tell you I wouldn't be as happy as I am now. I KNOW it's true. One of the best things about the church is the focus on the family. I'm so grateful that I get to be with my family forever. Oh there are so many other things the gospel has done for so many lives...ask me if you'd like to hear more :)

3. My kids. I love my kids. Of course there are those frustrating mom moments. Everyone has them. But I love those kids more than life. Everytime I look at them I can't believe I have the opportunity to raise them. Sometimes I feel so inadequate--but they are such good kids, I can't wait to see where life takes them. I hope I can teach them what they need to know.

(They were making an "L"--long story)



4. A good job. Not me, my husband. I hope in an economy like this where so many people are struggling, this doesn't sound like I'm rubbing it in. But we(he) have a job that pays the bills, and for that I feel so lucky.

5. Good friends. I really lucked out in this area. Growing up until now I have had some of the best influences in my life by way of friends. I can look back and really see some pivotal moments in my life and see how so many times my friends have played a HUGE role. I hope my kids can feel the same way as they grow up. So far so good...but the oldest is only 6 1/2.

6. Where we live. I love it here. I know some of you that have the wonderful opportunity of living here don't love it as much as I do :) But that's the great thing about coming to a new place--I get to experience it for the first time without hearing everyone's opinions of it all my life. IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! You can look around and really know the earth didn't happen by accident. That's right, I don't even mind the wind in the winter. And so far, it's really reared it's ugly head a few times. You guys weren't kidding!

Alright, I'll leave my list to 6. Just know that I could go on and on. I'm not usually a "show your feelings in blogging" kind of girl. I'm more of a shallow blogger where I talk about what we've been doing as a family (lately those posts have come less and less frequent, but I digress) So just so you know, this is a special occasion. Don't expect it too much more.