Chinese New Year

This year we celebrated Chinese New Year! It's the year of the lion. Jim and I are going to China in early March so I thought it would be fun to tell the kids about where we are going and attempt to make Chinese food. My good friend Carollee had decorations already so I put them up and whipped up some sweet and sour chicken, rice and fortune cookies. I turned out to be fun. The kids like the colors and the dragon. China here we come!!

The great escape!

The escape!

So happy to leave!!

Old Pals reunited!!

January brought the release of David from the State Hospital in Provo. He spent three months there. Jim and I would visit him just about every Sunday since he went in. It was one of the most heart breaking things to watch someone endure. Especially someone who doesn't understand why they are there. He finally passed all of the things he need to do and was release. Bonnie was up from St. George for Little Buddy's endowments. He will be leaving for Mexico in March for his mission. (Can't believe it) Any how we picked up Bonnie, Cathy and Joey to go and pick up David. Of course he was packed 5 mins after they told him he would be going home. In fact he called Jim to ask us to hurry. I think he was afraid they would change their mind. LOL. After all the paperwork was signed I told him to pose for a picture and act like he was escaping! He thought it was funny. During his time in the hospital we watch his dog Jada. I was so happy to let her go home with David. My house has never seen so much fur!!

Ice Skating or falling....take your pick.

This year for a new tradition on Christmas Eve we decided to go ice skating. The boys loved it and Savannah....well she liked it better towards the end. After a few close encounters with the ice to face we decided that Savannah probably needed a helmet. Rylan & Dylan got ice hockey skates instead of the regular ice skates. Rylan wore ankle socks instead of tube socks and rubbed is poor leg raw to the point of bleeding. Note to self next year long socks a MUST! All in all the kids want to do it again.

Chirstmas PJ'S

You would think it would have been so much easier to get a picture with all three of them in it. Yep, but I like to do things the hard way I guess....here to livin on the edge...

Awards!

Yikes...He is a BOY SCOUT now!! His first award.

Thanksgiving

The cook.

The hungry brood.
I am so "thank"ful for my family. I love them so much.

Thankful

This year I was in charge of the Thanksgiving lesson in YW. I found this awesome talk that Pres. Monson gave about service. I thought that is perfect for Thanksgiving since we are "thankful" for all the service we have received and done over the year. Anyhow in the great tradition that most people have of saying what you are "thankful" for I decided to have the girls put them on fall leaves. The basic idea was to show them that their service is great in the sight of Heavenly Father. And if we put all of the leaves or "service" in one area it becomes many just like the leaves on a tree. It was a fun visual for them.

Disastrous!!

Yep! That is Savannah's missing eyebrow!! So how did this happen you ask? Well she decided to take a shower in our bathroom. She looks up in the soap dish to see my razor sitting there. I suppose she decided that it would be a really good idea to shave off her eyebrow. The killer part of the story is, this was a Sunday morning and in the mad dash to get to church on time, I didn't even notice until we where home. Yep that’s right she when to church like that. Guess it's a good thing her eyebrows are so light that no one noticed. Not even her Mom. Sheesh! Kids! Yep!

So much fun!!

I can't believe this weekend is already over. It went by too fast. Savannah and I went to Baltimore to visit my sister Angela, her hubby Nick and Baby Ian. He is the cutest little baby ever. We went to his doctor's visit and he is a whooping 6 lbs 6 oz. at 2 weeks. Seriously, my kids were never this small outside the womb. I enjoyed every second with him. He is such a cuddler. His little goo's are to die for. Can you tell I am in love? I also got to spend some time with my little brother Mathew. He has been living in Miami for the past 5 months trying to launch a computer software company. Things are going well for him. This makes me happy for him. Ang and Nick took Savannah and I to Washington DC to check out the white house and the monuments around town. It is so amazing to see these buildings in real life. Takes history to a whole new level. I am so bummed that some of my siblings and newest nephew live so far away. But there is always Skype. Right? Or at least that is what I keep telling myself. Love you Baby Ian...see you in January!

Aren't these cute??

I made these darling witch shoes for all of my YW girls. I rolled up some cute halloween socks inside the shoe. I also added a bag of candy...Ofcourse what would Halloween be with out the candy. Right?

Halloween

I am so excited that Halloween was on Saturday this year. For one thing I didn't feel like a chicken with its head cut off...running from one thing to the next. Trying to race across town to get home in time to trick or treat. This year was very relaxed. I decided that I wanted to make a fun/spooky dinner. I made eyeball soup. I used whole green olives for the eyeballs. It was in taco soup so, I told the kids the corn were werewolf teeth along with zombie brains. We had breadstick witch fingers and candy corn delight. It was different puddings. Carmel, Vanilla dyed yellow and whip cream topping. It was yummy!! They boys went trick-r-treating with their friends and had a blast. They came home with quite the bounty. Savannah went with the Levitres (Sammy and Grant) her Dad and Randy. I got to stay home and pass out candy. Later that night we went to a Halloween party at the Jaffa's. The older kids made a haunted house and had all of the neighborhood kids and the parent to go through. It was pretty scary. It was a fun night. I do like Halloween because the kids can make believe into whatever they want. I love to see their imaginations at work.

Aunt Arlene

On October 22, 2009 my great Aunt Arlene passed away. She was so amazing. She grew up in Mink Creek, ID. Later marrying John Warburton. Where they were later sealed in the London, England temple. After a long service in the Air Force their family returned back to the family farm in Mink Creek. In the early 90's my parents bought a portion of the family farm. We build a "cabin" or house on the property. I of course have visited her a lot before my parents built the cabin. But since we go up there so much during the year, we have gotten to know her very well. She was very spunky and you always knew she loved you because she always told you. She even took the time to get to know each one of my children. She has 21 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. So for her to take the time to get to know my kids really means so much to me. She is a shining example of service. She served so many people in the community. I come from a heritage of service she would tell me. Her dad Hyrum, was the first bishop of the area. Aunt Arlene and my grandma did a lot of baby sitting and helping many families in the area. I hear endless stories about this. It will not be the same going up to the cabin. I will miss her terribly. Love you Auntie Arlene till we meet again.

Ride em' coboy.

We took the kids down to Thanksgiving point to Corn bellies. That place it a lot of fun. Each of the kids had a chance to ride the mechanical bull. It was hilarious. The operator blasted the music while they were on the bull. They each got in to it. They were holding up their one arm and they even wore a cowboy hat. We also had fun watching the pig and goat races and getting lost in the corn maze. They had huge pillow that all of the kids and adult could jump on. It was a perfect fall day and a fun family memory.

Do you Wigalow?

Savannah had the opportunity to do the cheer clinic at the highschool again this year. She of course had a blast. Added bonus the highschool actually won the game. They haven't had the greatest year. Thanks Haylee for inviting us!!

Baby IAN!!!

After 38 hours of labor, baby Ian is finally here. It truly is a miracle. Angela had a detached cord meaning the baby wasn't getting enough nutrients. The doctor's were worried about his small size so they induced labor. After a long long wait he finally made his appearance this morning at 9:27 am (Maryland time) weighing 5lbs 7 oz. 18inches long. YAY baby IAN!!

Projects....

The boys have decided that they are going to re-build a go-cart. Grandpa gave the boys my childhood go-cart. This go cart provided a lot of good times growing up. The go cart has been sitting at the cabin for years now. We brought it home and the boys have taken it completely a part. They have been mowing lawns all summer and have put some of the money they have earned towards fixing up the go-cart. Jimmy took the frame in for a power coating. Now the boys need to sand it down and fix a few welds and add a front bumper. This should be a fun project for them and an awesome reward to ride it when they are done. I love things like this that they can learn how to fix something and have fun doing it.





On to the oldest kids I mean man of the house. Jim and Randy have decided to put their pilots licenses to good use. They now fly dogs that are in shelters to new owners or to shelters that can take that type of dog. They are also doing some other projects that have to do with flying....any thing they can use for an excuse to fly.

Boating

Our good friend the Levitre's took us boating. We went to Jordanelle reservior. It also was my birthday. What better way to spend the day than with the ones I love the most!! Rylan and Dylan both did the wakeboard. Then it was the tube. Or shall we say the mattress with backsupport. It was a blast. But towards the end of the day we ended up popping the tube. tear... We hope that we get to go again next year. Thanks Levitre's for a fun day.

Zion's

At the end of August we took a little trip down to St. George. We stayed in my boss' summer home. It's beautiful there. We took my parents with us. The kids love the pool. I decided since Jimmy has never seen Zion's national park that we should take everyone over there to check it out. The kids loved it. Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Casade Springs

I have been meaning to update the blog several times....but never got around to it...So here is what we have been up to. Every summer I love to go to Casade Springs. My parents took us there, so I have tried to keep the tradition. It is a beautiful ride and a nice walk to see nature.