Christmas 2009

Kayla was a good girl and Santa brought her many fun things including this princess tent. Christmas was fun this year. Titan had a little fever so he wasn't his usual outgoing self, but they all had a fun day.

Tori and Titan with their new Christmas Eve pajamas. Kevin and I do the 12 days of Christmas for them and they always get new jammies to wear that night.

We always get together at Kevin's parents house for Christmas Eve. This year there were about 50 people there. It is always fun and such a great tradition. This is a picture of all the "great-grandkids" that were there-lots of new babies this year!

We had the family party for my side of the family on Dec 13th. We had an ugly sweater contest. As you can see there were some pretty "interesting" sweaters. It was a lot of fun and everyone was a good sport. Kevin (let it snow) and Bonnie (white in the middle) were the winners. Alisha P. did most of the planning. Way to go Alisha! You did a great job-Thanks!! A sweet Christmas moment:

Titan went to temple square with Alicia's mom- Marilyn, her brother and his family. Titan really loved all the lights. They stopped and were looking at the nativity scene there. Marilyn looked down at Titan and he had tears going down his cheeks. He looked at her and said, "My mom and dad should see this." Interesting that someone so small can feel the spirit so strong!

Just Sharing!

If you need an idea for a Christmas gift for your neighbors check out this web site: trying2staycalm dot com. Past posts are listed on the left. Click on the last November one (at the bottom.) Scroll down to Thursday, November 13, 2008. There are 116 inexpensive gift ideas for you to choose from. Good luck picking just one!

A Fun Halloween

As we all know, Halloween is a lot of fun for a child. Tori dressed as a vampiress and Titan was the Transformer named Bumble Bee. Kayla was the cutest kitty ever! Check out Carol's blog for more fun pictures of her. They all had a fun and exhausting day.

Our 2009 Deer Hunt

Unlike the elk hunt, the weather for the deer hunt was great. We were able to enjoy the outdoors instead of staying in the trailers. Everyone enjoyed fun activities like these:

Beth and Lloyd listening to the football game
Nate rocking with Guitar Hero

Titan target shooting with Jason

Tori and the "gang" painting their pumpkins

Kayla having fun painting her pumpkin

Titan's masterpiece had about six layers of paint on it

There was even time to do a little hunting!

Jason got a nice four point

And Kevin got a "nice" two point! It is actually a 2x barely 3 pint We all had a great weekend. We are blessed to be able to spend time with extended family and friends. The annual deer and elk hunts have given us many happy memories through the years.

TOO EARLY!

We went camping for the elk hunt last weekend. Through the years the weather has usually been very nice the first weekend in October. Last year it rained all weekend. This year it was cold enough to snow! Yuk! Titan didn't mind because it gave him a chance to play with the umbrella. As you can see the guys and Tori didn't mind either. I, on the other hand, hated it-I took this picture from the trailer door. The weathermen all say the deer hunt weekend will be great-we'll see!

Somersaults

Kayla's new favorite thing to do is somersaults. She does them very well again and again. She has also decided that pottying in the toilet is fun. I think she will be trained in no time.

Kayla' Second Birthday

I can't believe it but our little Kayla is now TWO years old. What a sweetheart she is. She had a great birthday party and she got lots of fun things. She was running around with all the kids so much that it was hard to get a good picture. She had a Rice Krispies Treat "birthday cake" because of her allergies. She liked everyone singing to her before she blew out the big #2 candle. She liked her "birthday girl" shirt so much that she wouldn't let Carol take it off her when it was bedtime--she wore it under her pajama's!---oh, the terrible two's may be starting!

September catch-up

September seemed to fly by so I thought I would catch up on a few things that have been going on. Jason, Alicia, Tori and Titan went with us to Yellowstone this past weekend.We look forward to going in September because the elk are bugleing and we always have a great time. NOT!! We had a motel room in Idaho Falls for Thursday night. When we arrived Jason noticed that the van was leaking anti-freeze. It was a little annoying because Kevin had put new brakes and tires on it and had it inspected before we left so we wouldn't have any problems-or so we thought. He took it to the Ford dealership at seven o'clock Friday morning. After it was checked out, he was told that they couldn't get the part needed to fix it before Monday. None of the car rental places had a vehicle big enough for six people-and all our stuff. Kevin even called Logan to see if they had one available. After calling the shop it was decided that we would take Kevin's boss's SUV. (What a sweetheart he is) He towed it to Idaho Falls and brought our van back home. While we waited for him we walked around the park by the falls. It was beautiful and peaceful-just what we needed to calm our nerves.

We finally got into Yellowstone around 2:30. We had reservations in Gardiner Montana, which is at the far north entrance of the park. We knew there was a road closed because of construction so we would have to go the longest way through the park to get to Gardiner. We were okay with that because it's been a long while since we've been down by West Thumb. BUT at the turn off to West Thumb park rangers had the road blocked off. We were told there was a fire and it was too smokey between there and the Bridge Bay area to travel. She didn't know how long it would be closed-possibly all night. That road was the only way to get to Gardiner unless we went back to West Yellowstone then up to Bozeman and back into the park--about a 280 mile detour! Oh, what a fun weekend we were having! We went on to Yellowstone Lake where the kids had fun playing in the water while we tried to decide what to do--go home? go back to West Yellowstone? wait it out for a while? cry? scream? what?.

About two and a half hours later we went back to the road block and was told it may open within the hour. Luckily it did and we were finally on our way again. The fire was not along the side of the road but we could see flames through the trees in spots.

We got to the motel in time for the kids to swim for an hour before bedtime. Saturday morning Kevin, Jason and I got up early and watched about a dozen big bull elk with their cows. I love hearing them bugle at each other in the quiet of the morning. We saw very few animals this trip. It may have been too warm. We did see a few coyotes, deer, Big Horned sheep, mountain goats, and buffalo. It certainly was not our most fun trip to Yellowstone but it may have been the most memorable!

My Aunt Lola celebrated her 90th birthday on September18. I enjoyed working with her for many years. Her family honored her with an open house.Her 93 year old boyfriend sat next to her. It was so cute to see them hold hands and smile at each other. She is a sweet lady. Mom would have enjoyed being there as her sister celebrated this great milestone in her life.

Another softball season ended. Elden sponsored a two pitch team again this fall. Kevin, Derrek, Jason and cousins Shane, Rick and Jeff, all played. They did quite well during the season but got beat during the tournament. I enjoyed watching them all play together. Who knows-maybe after playing for forty-two years this may be Kevin's last year playing. . . . . . . . . . .

Titan started preschool this fall. He loves it! He goes for two hours, twice a week. He asks all morning if it's time to go yet. He is growing up so fast. And yes, his backpack is almost as big as him!

Titan and Kayla waiting for school to start the first day

Marshmellow madness

We went camping last weekend at Sunrise campground. We had a great campsite. There was plenty of room for the kids to run and explore. Titan's favorite thing to do was roast marshmellows. He had to have more then one stick in the fire at a time. Like most kids, he liked to catch them on fire. I don't think he ever ate one but he sure did have a great time roasting them. At 99 cents a bag it was great entertainment!

First Day Of Fourth Grade

Tori began fourth grade this past week. She was excited to return to school. Some of her good friends are in the same class-which will make school even more fun for her. Her teacher is Mrs. Clawson. It is her first time teaching at Tori's school. Tori is a good student and I know she will have a great fourth grade experience! (She is growing up way too fast!)

Nice Shot!

The paper boy finally did it! (We knew he would eventually). He threw the paper one morning and broke the glass in one of the living room windows. The crack went all the way across. Later in the day the piece on the left fell out. If it had been the Sunday paper I think it would have gone right through the window. I hope paying for the window was a good lesson for him!

Saying Goodbye

The whole month of July has been a roller coaster ride for my family. Most of you know that my mom passed away on July 23rd at the age of seventy five. During the previous five weeks she had pulled through several health problems with flying colors so when her heart failed we were all shocked. We had to make the extremely emotional decision to take her off life support. Most of us were lucky enough to be with her as she left this life. Mom is a sweet and loving person. She is the most non-judgemental person I know. Her family was her top priority. I have been very blessed to be her daughter. I will always miss her and think of her daily. I LOVE YOU, MOM!

Mom's grandsons and grandsons-in-law were the pall bearers

They are so handsome I had to show them twice!
(seriously-how do you delete a picture!!)

Jason, Alicia and Tori saying goodbye

Dad and Gina

The grave site after the service

Our Fourth Of July Fun

We went to Idaho Falls to celebrate the 4th of July. Alicia (who is from Shelley) has told us how great the fireworks show is there. They are shot off from the falls. What a great show it was!! The fireworks were constant-it was like a thirty-five minute finale. People had blankets saving their spots by early afternoon. It was worth the drive-we may have to make it a tradition! Tori and Titan got their faces painted while we waited for it to get dark

We always stay at a motel with a pool. When the kids get to swim it makes a weekend feel like a vacation. Titan spent more time in the hot tub than the pool but they both had fun.

We went to the zoo. They had the funniest monkey ever there. He made a noise we had never heard a monkey make. It sounded kind of like a horn that got louder and louder as he swung from branch to branch. When we started to leave he stopped swinging and hit the glass as if to say,"Hey, where you going? I'm not through showing off!" We were so fascinated as we watched him that I forgot to get a picture. He looked like this one; only black.