Snow Day!!

We have finally had enough snow to enjoy some play time outside! Even Maurie is having a blast! We have also been walking/riding in the sled to school! We love the snow (at least when we don't have to drive in it!)

My First Primary Activity!

We just had our final primary activity for the year (my first since my new calling as Primary President)! We had a lot of fun "building our eternal families" with a relay race (each person had to play the role of a family member), Captain Moroni came and told us the title of liberty story and then we made our own title of liberty flags, and then we topped it off with building ice cream sundaes!! It was lots of fun! I never thought that I would like being in Primary! But I do love it!

Decorating the Tree

We had a lot of fun decorating the tree this year! Sam made a list of tasks for us to complete in time for December! It consisted of putting up the tree, putting together the electric train, putting up the outside Christmas lights, taking a rest (thank goodness), putting away the fall decorations, and putting up the countdown calendar! We were very busy that day!
And we have only had the tree fall over on Maurie once:) She is learning to not pull off the ornaments!

Happy Halloween!!

Go Green Gators!

Here's my soccer crew! I have had fun coaching Joshie's team this year!

My Three!

This is Maurie's latest! She can find a pair of underwear like she is Sherlock Holmes! She loves to put them on her head! (I just hope they are clean!!)

Sam already for his first day of First Grade!!!

I don't have many mixed feelings about him being gone most of the day, I am looking forward to a peaceful house!

Josh's first day of Pre-School with Mrs. Suzan! He had so much fun, he wish he could go everyday!

Digital Scrapbooking!

One of my latest things now a days is digital scrapbooking! I have been having so much fun doing this that I have been neglecting my blog. For that I apologize, but I am thrilled at the stuff I am accomplishing now that I have been scrapbooking on the computer. Here is a sample of my first published book! I hope to send off Josh's baby book this week to be published!

http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=979989&productId=1&projectSponsor=457785

Our latest mishap!

Poor Bopper gets the brunt of all the injuries around here. I guess that happens when big brothers are involved!

Josh and Sam went to their cousins house for a sleep over! But Josh got bumped off the slide and ended up going to the instacare. Luckily in Orem they stay open until 10pm! Anyway, he has a buckle fracture by his wrist! It was hard for me cause I had to stay at home while Maurie was sleeping while Ted went and met his brother Donny in Orem to help Josh!

But, Josh is a perfect little patient, and the next day when the doctor was putting on his hard cast Josh was laughing and giggling at all of the doctor's silly troubles (like dropping the gauze and getting their thumbs stuck to each other for a minute!) It was cute!

The next day Josh crashed around 5pm from staying up so late at the doctors. He is pretty proud of his red cast!

Winding up summer!

We have been trying to get everything in these last few weeks! The boys enjoyed swimming lessons and they each passed their level! Hooray!

We met my friend Melissa and went to the $2 Tuesdays at Thanskgiving Point! This is a picture of Sam, Josh, and Maya on the bridge! Some of their favorites were feeding the fish, having a picnic, going on top of the waterfall, and playing in the water at Noah's ark!

We also finished our library reading program with a fun party with goodies, we have had many water days outside with our waterslide and irrigation! And we have gotten together with family and friends!

We are now looking forward to school starting! Sam will be in first grade and Josh will start Pre-school! Needless to say, I am excited to have some peace and quiet around the house!

Happy Birthday Joshua!!

July 20th - 4 years old!

Bopper on his new bike!!

Bopper blowing out the candles on his hot wheels world race cake!

Chicago continued...

We took so many pictures at the "silver bean" at Millenium Park, but this is one of my favorites!

All in all we had a wonderful time in Chicago!

Our last day we went to where Ted grew up and visited with family friends! It was fun to see his old house and imagine that little boy running around in the "woods" behind his house imaging all kinds of adventures!

And who would of thought that out in the middle of nowhere we would see Mater from the Disney movie. This was the best picture I could get since it took me forever to dig out my camera. We tried to catch up with him but he must have pulled off somewhere! It sure made Josh's day though!

We certainly had a great time but I must say it is great to be back home!

Chicago!!

Our next adventure was in Chicago where we met up with Donny (Ted's brother) and his family!We forgot our camera the first day so this is our second day. We started off at the Hancock building and saw amazing views of the city, beach, and lake!

Sam recounts his time at the top of the tower as one of his most favorite things, but at the same time he says it was the most boring as he listened to the recorded tour. Josh on the other hand had a lot of fun playing with the interactive headset.

Sam and Dane - We then went to the famous Gino's East for some deep dish pizza! Anyone who knows me and pizza will understand that they put way too much sauce on:)

We spent some time at the beach!

We then went to the pier and had fun watching the pirate boat depart, playing at the funny mirrors, walking clear to the end, seeing the biggest ferris wheel ever, and then ending up inside the children's museum for endless fun!


The day before we went to the Field Museum and went to the pirate exhibit. There we saw the biggest pirate treasure ever!! So it was extra fun to see pirates taking their hostages away for an adventure!

I think we could have spent a whole day at these mirrors, we were all laughing so hard!

Ahoy!

Ohio Adventure

This last week our family was able to visit Ted's parents on their mission in Cleveland Ohio!

Our kids were SO excited to see them! We enjoyed our visit and it was definitely hard to say goodbye again!

Here are some of our highlights!

This was taken at the Johnson Farm in the room where Joseph Smith did much of his work.

We spent one day in Amish Country. It was amazing to learn a little about their culture and also see the beautiful things they make (furniture, baskets, cheese). Who knew you could make chocolate cheese that tastes better than fudge!

We walked across the street from Mom and Dad's apartment to the shore of Lake Erie!

We enjoyed a tour of the Kirtland Temple!

Show Me Your Teeth!!

I finally got this on camera!

Sam's "Walking Report Card"

Sam performed for us at his graduation celebration! I can't believe that he is done with Kindergarten! It has been such a fun year and his teacher was excellent. He was "a lot of sad" to say goodbye.

Black Eye!

Maurie fell over and hit her eye on one of the condiments in the kitchen door. At first I thought she was over reacting, but the shiner was quick to show and it lasted at least a week.

A New Decade!

Happy 30th Birthday to me!!

I can't believe that the 20's are gone. I was hoping they would last forever!

I am excited though for the things to come! As a little child I remember when my mom was 35 and I thought she was ancient (no offense of course). It is amazing how perspective changes!

Happy Mother's Day Grandma!!

We Love you!!!

A Day At The ZOO!!

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and spend some time at the zoo! The kids were so excited to see the animals and ride the train! Josh's favorite animal is the giraffe! Sam's favorite animal is the camel! And by Maurie's reactions, I think her favorite is the monkeys!

Sam and Chase enjoying the train ride!

A day in the sun!

Me, Maurie and Josh on the train!

Maurie's first go at the carousel!

Josh was a smiles as he rode on his giraffe on the carousel! Notice Peyton in the back on the right, she was so nervous and scared. I felt helpless, Heather stayed off with her baby and I was clear across on the other side so all I could do was yell words of encouragement! (Needless to say I am glad that she was able to stay in her seat the entire ride!)

Having fun with the cousins! I think Peyton was still in shock from the carousel that she opted to stay in the stroller for pictures!

Our First Go At Stitches. . . or Staples!!

Joshie and Sam were rough housing with each other today on the couch while I was painting my bedroom ceiling! Josh got bumped off and hit the coffee table. It wasn't as melodramatic like it would have been with Sam who probably would have passed out from lack of oxygen because he cries so hard. Josh on the other hand acted like he just got a bump on the head. He did cry though when the doctor used lidocaine. Four staples later our poor guy was all smiles when he received a sucker and a coupon for free ice cream!

Did I mention that two hours before this happened I had to call poison control because I caught Maurie sucking on the end of the boys toothpaste! Luckily the tube was nearing empty anyway.

Did I also mention that ten minutes after I put Maurie to bed tonight she started wailing , so I went in to check on her and there was blood all over her mouth and all over her teddy bear. I thought to myself "what could have possibly gone wrong now?, do I get another trip to the doctor!!" Luckily (for me at least) she had just bit her lip and it was bleeding like crazy!

What a day!!

Happy Birthday Sam!

I didn't think it would happen this early, but all that Sam wanted for his birthday was money and a cake! So needless to say it was the easiest birthday I have ever had to do!!

Sam is very proud of the lego race car he picked out for one of his presents!

Happy Easter!

Maurie with Easter goodies!

The kids had a fun Easter this year!

The Easter egg hunt was a classic, even Maurie got a lot in her bucket!

The Museum of Art at BYU

While Dane was with us we went to the BYU Museum of Art to see the Walter Wick displays (better known at my house as the "I Spy" guy). The boys had so much fun that they recreated their own version!