Livin' on LOVE

Halloween 2011

2011-12-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

It is not good that the only camera we have is a camera that is Blakely's. Consequently, it is hard to get pictures taken and posts posted.
I love trunk or treats, but at the same time it is hard to dress the kids up twice for trunk or treat and then for school. When Halloween rolled around we went to the dress up box to see what we could find. I had bought costumes for the boys on Halloween clearance last year, which they have worn quite a bit through out the year. So thankfully, they wore the costumes for Halloween. Garret was a dragon from "How to Train your Dragon." Then the girls told him he couldn't wear his mask and he became HALF BOY HALF DRAGON. He still looked liked a dragon with a boy's head never the less.
Brady became Buzz Lightyear. He is starting to outgrow Toy Story. He wore the Buzz costume with a little hesitation. He loves dressing up for any occasion. He loved the Halloween party as he got to play games and win prizes.
Once the kids hit a certain age they come up with different costumes. Katelyn and her two good friends at school decided to become Cinderella and the two evil step sisters. Bekha was Cinderella, Emily and Katelyn were the evil stepsisters, and Mrs. Harman, Bekha's helper was the evil step mother. I am sure they look cute, but did not get to see them because they all dressed up during school.
Blakely really didn't dress up because she had a football game that she played at. She decided that she would be a juvenile delinquent and dress up as herself. I don't think she mainded too much not dressing up because she loves to go and hang out with her friends. We went after the ward party to pick her up from the football game. This a whole new ballgame for us with Blakely now in high school.

School 2011-2012

2011-10-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

This time comes around so quickly. I hate to see it come but I know it has to be. This school year brought our family a change in the line up. Blakely is now in high school. Katelyn is in junior high. Garret and I still reside at Declo Elementary.
Blakely loves loves high school. Did I say she loves high school life? She enjoys coming home and telling us all about the different kids in her classes. She loves seminary. She tells me how the scriptures used to be boring, but they are more exciting than she can imagine. She of course loves the social life. She is involved in pep band. She loves being able to go to every home game and play for the school. Every game does ask if we are coming. Which I reply, I coming with a big old sign that says,"My daughter plays in the band." or I am wearing a shirt that says BAND across it. She of course begs me not to do it. Maybe one of these times. She also found herself a part- time job working at the School house Grill a few hours a week. The first couple of weeks of her training about killed me. She would work from 6-8 pm 2 nights a week. Now she works after school or during lunch, we have handled it better. She has already gotten her first paycheck and she felt rich. We did ask her for gas money which she laughed at.
Katelyn has made the transition into the junior high beautifully. She loves her teachers. I begged her not to do band. I tried to tell her that she didn't have to do band just because Blakely did it, but to no avail. She now she a flute player. She plays pretty good I think and I appreciate that she will practice almost every night. Better than her piano. I also convinced her to run in the cross country club. She has done a good job running with the club. She has a great coach. She hasn't yet ran in a meet which is okay, I just wanted her to run. I even ran with her and her coach put us through the paces.
Garret is onto second grade. This year he has two teachers; Mrs. Clayton and Mrs. Hepworth. They will be wonderful for him. He drops into my classroom for two seconds before he is off playing with another teacher's little boy. He is really into AR points, so he is trying to read, read, read. It is a little different that Garret is my only child at the elementary school.
Brady is with Christy. She is wonderful lady that takes care of Brady while I am at school. He loves going there. He loves to take treats to share. My girls have been babysitters for Christy's own children. They all think that is pretty cool. I have Christy's son in my class, also.
My class has 25 first graders. They are social butterflies. There are lots of girls this year. They love to flit from one desk to another desk. So hopefully, I can survive this social class. I haven't made it home before 5 yet. I also got the opportunity to the Wolf leader. I hope that I have the energy for this calling. I had a hard time leaving YW, but I guess it was time.

Trying for Family Pictures

2011-08-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad

Dad and his boys

Brady and his orange vest

Garret

Boys wrestling

All the kids

Happy Kids

Mom and the girls

Dad and Katelyn

Blakely

Blakely and Katelyn

Garret hanging on

Garret needs a boost

Mr. Sun go away

The best picture of the family. I just need to change Garret's face.

Garret is distracted by the grain

I have wanted to try to take family pictures in a grain field since last year when I took the girls' friends pictures in one. So, once again grain harvest is upon us. I knew I had just a few weeks to get it done, so I decided to call my friend Jamie and have her come and try to get our pictures taken. We picked 3 o'clock; which probably should have been a little later. The kids held up pretty good for the first few pictures and then the sun was getting to them. Garret was too distracted by the grain. He kept playing with the grain. Shawn then fell to the sun's rays also. We changed positions a couple of times. Shawn decided he was done. Blakely didn't know if she wanted a picture with just Katelyn. The boys wrestled. Dad unwilling posed again with the boys and maybe me too. Brady had to have his picture in an orange vest. So has you see we might have to try again next year.

4-H

2011-08-24T21:24:00.001-07:00

This year Blakely and Katleyn did 4-H with the Dudes n' Dolls group lead by Miss Carrie Burton. As always they had so much fun attending the meetings and hanging out with the group. Blakely decided to do two different things: Teens Entertain and Scrapbooking. Katelyn did sewing and scrapbooking. Luckily, we were able to plan a few parties this summer so that Blakely could count that has her projects. She helped plan and decorate her Aunt Oralia's baby shower and Shawn's 40th birthday party. She took pictures and made a poster. She was a little disappointed that she planned Shawn's party but didn't get to come. :( She did very well in earning a preinum ribbon in this event. She also did scrapbooking this year. She had to complete 16 pages. This project, she also did very well in getting another preinum ribbon. This project stressed me out the most because she was still finishing the pages the day it was due. She completed them and her record books in the nick of time. She enjoyed being involved in 4H this year.
Katelyn also enjoyed the social aspect of 4H. She and I picked out the fabric for her skirt the beginning of July and started on her skirt as soon as Trek was done. She did a very good job of sewing. I helped her with the gathering part of the skirt. She received a red ribbon on her very first project and she as the cutest skirt. She also signed up for scrapbooking and she only needed to accomplish 8 pages. The very first day we scrapbooked, we invited Mrs. Burton over and she had the funnest circut cartriage. It was a paper doll one. Katelyn then spent the rest of the time playing with the paper dolls. She also finished her scrapbooking pages in the nick of time. The record books her hard for her to do because she didn't want o sit down at the computer and get them done. She earned a blue ribbon on her scrapbooking. The girls did a great job on 4H this year.

Pioneer Trek

2011-07-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been preparing for this trek all summer long. Every morning we would be up walking with the YW at 7am. Linda Wayment and I were in charge of the food for 70 people, so we have been planning and buying the food. We have sewn skirts and bonnets. We had buckets to put all our stuff in. Well, the day finally came to see if we had prepared enough to endure this trek. (After spending all day Monday getting the food together and handed out; I was ready to call it quits when I walked in the door at 9:30pm.) We headed to the church to meet up and head to Iowa City. Which actually was a place called Worthington Springs. We arrived about 45 minutes later and learned of our families. We gathered with our families. Shawn and I were the aunt and uncle in our group. We were given the rules to follow from the trail bosses and a jar of whipped cream to shake as we walked and away we went. The first day was going to be straight up about 3 1/2 miles. I was so glad to have strong young men with us to pull until the women's' pull. The men were taken away to go fight in the Mormon Battalion and the women were left to pull of the steepest part of the mountain. I pulled with everything I had and more. The angels did come and help, but as my husband said, "They had to run to catch up with those ladies." As we got to the top I tried very hard to catch my breath, but oh my chest hurt all day long. We made camp early, which would be a trend everyday. The youth pushed hard everyday all day long. We set up camp and I was glad I could set my cot next to Shawn's. We had a historian of the area come up and tell us tall tales. We also have a wonderful fireside; " Remember the Journey" by Jenny Phillps. 2nd day we broke camp and followed the Emigrant trail down Granite Pass. My nickname for my family became the "Extreme Hand carters." They wanted to jump every bump, rock, and wash out. We stopped midway because we were moving too fast. The men and some girls did the stick pull. My husband rocked, of course. We then had hardships placed upon the families. Our family tried to outrun the YM president, but he caught us. Just for that we were given two hardships. Guess I shouldn't have told them to run.... We carried everyone on the handcart at sometime. We were at the last and we were slow down to keep our family together, but as soon as we were back together we would run to catch up with the group. After 8 1/2 miles we saw the sights of City of Rocks. My foot was killing me and I didn't know if I could do another 12 miles on it. We soaked our feet and set up camp again. We had a wonderful dinner and another wonderful fireside. 3rd day: We cleaned up camp and switched order of the carts, we were put first; they wanted to slow us down, not likely. We hiked along the path that the pioneers traveled to California. It would be so hot and you would think that we could not handle anymore heat when the clouds were roll into cover up the sun and the breeze would blow in. Just a little reprieve. We arrived at our first campsite and started to unload when some guys showed up and kicked us off the property. Well, sure enough we had to load back up and head another 3 miles to our last campsite. We arrived running not wanting the other families to beat us into camp. We were able to stay and the wonderful Almo City Park. Running water and shade. Hallelujah! Water fights came sure enough all night long until the YM leaders slept between the girls and boys. The next morning we enjoyed family time and alone time before we went swimming at the hot springs. We headed down the mountain back to the church. I was ready to go home, but remembered all the food we had to unload from the trailers. Not so much fun being the leader, now. What a great experience we had. I wish I could say we got to walk with Blakely, but she was with her trek family; right where she should be. I can now check trek off my bucket list.

4th of July Hiking

2011-07-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

My brother and his family invited us to go hiking up to Independence Lake. I thought this would be a great hike. Get us ready even more for trek. So the morning of the 4th we headed out about 10 o'clock. When we got up to the trail to start hiking we had a little snack and headed out. The kids took off with the little boys in the lead and us adults at the back. We crossed fallen trees, water running down the middle of the trail, and snow. We, of course didn't want the kids wet because we knew it would be miserable having wet feet. We walked very carefully around every thing. As the trail became steeper we had to encourage a few of us along the way. Brady needed to be carried on someone's shoulders. It was getting tough, but I would say," Let's just make it to the next tree." When the trail was lost our fearless leaders left us women and children behind to find the trail. After about 15 minutes or so we once again took up the trail and we then made it to the lake. It was a beautiful sight. The mountain water rushing into the lake. Snow covered about half edges of the lake. The kids of course wanted to be as close to the water as they could which resulted in some wet feet. Oh, how we didn't want them wet. We refilled our water bottles with Blake's filter. We had a snack. Blake tried to go fishing and Shawn hiked to the second lake with two of the boys following him. We sat at the lake watching the littler boys throw rocks into the lake. After about an hour we decided everyone was getting hungry that we better head back down the trail. This time Blakely and the boys were in the lead. Brady either wanted to hold Jack and Garret's hand or be carried down the trail. The boys wanted to surf down the snow pack; which they did. About halfway down the sky began to rumble and the rain began to fall. It started pouring and hailing on top of us. Those streams that we carefully went over now we sloshed through them not really caring if we were wet or not. We made it back to the cars and quickly made sandwiches under the hatch of the van. We then hurried on our way down the mountain. It really was a good hike and I enjoyed spending time with Blake's family.

Camping @ FS Flats

2011-07-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

We were invited to go camping with another family in our ward. We had a house painting project that we should have accomplished that weekend, but we threw caution to the wind and went camping. The Bronsons had gone up to the mountains the day before we joined them. We decided to take the motorcycles with us for some trail riding. Garret and I decided we better put up the tent to see if all the parts were there. It was quite comical as we tried to figure out how to put up the tent with the wind blowing it around. We got it done and then we just had to take it down again. We waited until Shawn got home to load and go. We loaded up in the truck with three motorcycles, tent box, six sleeping bags, six pillows, six blankets, two boxes of food,five backpacks, and six people stuffed in. The kids had no patience has we drove the hour and half drive. When we pulled up it was fun to have the Bronson kids so excited to see us. We ate and set up the tent. We roasted marshmallows and starbursts hoping that between the 10 kids there; no one set anyone else on fire or smeared melted marshmallows on each other.
That night was a very cold night. The Bronsons being more prepared than us offered us extra blankets, but it still didn't prevent Blakely waking us up telling me how cold she was and Garret being so snuggled in the bottom of his sleeping bag that he woke up screaming,"Help!" in the middle of the night.(Can you tell we don't go camping very much.) After a restless night, we were up early making a fire to warm us up. We had a wonderful breakfast and then the kids were ready to ride. I think we taught all the kids how to ride the 50 which they loved taking turns riding around the camp. Shawn and Clint taught myself, Michael, Megan, and Emily how to ride the
80. Shawn and Clint took Blakely and Michael trail riding while the rest of us hung out at the camp. The boys shot bow and arrows. Garret loved that. Shawn and Clint went trail riding by themselves while I took the kids hiking over a little trail. Garret borrowed a bike from Matthew, which had hand brakes; he had a hard time with the hills because he wasn't used to the hand brakes. After we made lunch, the kids just took turns riding around the camp. We had to start cleaning up the campsite and taking down everything. (Too much work!) Before we finished loaded up the men decided to take the oldest three kids on one more trail ride. Jamie and I drove the younger kids around looking at other campsites trying to keep them entertained. Finally, we loaded up and headed down the mountain. Everyone slept on the way home. I loved going, but boy was I tired that night.

Summer is here

2011-06-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

Summer has been in full swing now for about 3 weeks. The kids hated to leave school, but everyone needs a break.
We went out to celebrate the last day of school. I had a few more days of meetings and classes then the kids. But,we have now settled into a routine I think. I had the kids list things they wanted to do this summer. Some we are doing, some we can do, and some we might do. So far we have gone to the park, to the library, gotten a snow cone, planted the garden(my list, not the kids), went to Grandma's, oh and walked at 7am every morning - WHAT? Actually Blakely is not so thrilled about this one. In order to get ready for our youth trek the YW have been meeting every morning at 7 to walk. The girls that come have been real troopers, because they don't get to sleep in. We will be doing this until July 8th. I hope we can keep up the pace. I have gotten Blakely to walk on most nights with me also. So she is putting in about 5-6 miles of walking a day. We are good. Now, hopefully we can get to the rest of the list which includes swimming, camping, movies, and the zoo. We will try to keep you up to date.

MacBeth

2011-06-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

Katelyn was able to be in a few plays this year within her reading class, but her teacher Mrs. Osterhout decided to put on MacBeth. Katelyn was one of the witches in the play. She had her lines memorized quickly. They practiced during lunch and then started Saturday practices. She went to pretty much every practice except for one. They performed in front of the school and then performed in front of their families. They did a good job even though I didn't quite understand the Shakespearean language. The boys did pretty good of sitting still. I was a little worried about that. Katelyn practiced and practiced at home and spoke in Shakespearean for a few months. She really gets into her work I guess you would say.

Baseball Season has come and gone

2011-06-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

Garret was the only one that did baseball this year. So that was pretty easy. One kid to ferry around. We did Declo Rec again this year, so we start games in April and end in May which is always cold. We missed a few games because of busy weekends. I think he enjoyed the season and I was glad it was done so quickly. I did enjoy watching Garret play with his friends.

Re-living the old days

2011-06-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Shawn has always loved to ride his motorcycle. He never could find the time to ride very much, but this changed when he bought a CR450 this past February. He also had a guy who worked with him that loves to ride and they started riding on our track together. Well, Brian convinced Shawn to ride in a motorcross race in Rupert the first of May. (Same day as Blakely's clogging competition in Lagoon.) He was so excited to race. All of Brian's family came and watched him while poor Shawn didn't have anyone. Actually, Grandma and Brady went to see him ride the afternoon moto. Brian was kind enough to share pictures with us that his sister had taken. Garret asked if Shawn won the race or had won any money, and Grandma answered, " He didn't crash, so he is a winner." So true! He continues to ride with Brian 2-3 times a week. He hopes to ride in Rupert on July 16th 2 classes. So that is a total of 4 motos. We hope to be there cheering him on.

Teen Dances

2011-06-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

Another first; teen dances!
Blakely was able to go to her first teen dance a week after her birthday. She had this day planned out. I was to pick up all her friends and take them to dance and another mom would pick them up. It just happened that the same day was clogging competition in Lagoon and Shawn raced his motocycle in Rupert(another post). Our day started by driving to Lagoon at 5:30 am. We made it down and she performed. We watched a few dances and then Blakely and I bought enough tickets for one ride. She picked Rattlesnake Rapids(Yes, we did get wet.) We headed home with a few detours. After we had picked up the kids we headed home so Blakely could get ready for the dance. We ran on mormon standard time and even went to a wedding reception before we picked up her friends a little late. I think they had a good time and we all went to bed at midnight.
Fast forward a month to her next dance. This one really hit me as MY DAUGHTER IS GOING TO TEEN DANCES. I can never go back to Blakely being little. It is exciting ,but it makes me a little sad because time is continuing to move on. I loved teen dances growing up, but around here they really could take it or leave it. Each dance has the 7 stakes in the area invited. I went after her and a friend this time and didn't get into bed intil midnight. I don't know if I can stay up this late every night. These pictures are from a school dance, but they're the only ones I have.

14 years old

2011-06-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Blakely is 14 this year. She has been awaiting this birthday for months, even though she has tried to have a calm demeanor on the outside. She got to have a friend's birthday party this year and so even though it was two weeks early she had her friends come over. (Every weekend was booked before and after her birthday.) Her friends came over and got to experiment with make-up. They made their own pizzas,ate cake balls, played Wii, and just hung out. I wanted to play more games but Blakely wanted just to hang out. She has good friends and it was fun to have them at out house.
Fast forward two weeks, on her birthday she received a Bobbi Brown make-up book. She studied that book and experimented with make-up. She has been waiting for the day to be able to offically put on make-up. She would practice when she had to put make-up for clogging. She has learned pretty well, much better than me. Her reading teacher even noticed that she wore make-up on her birthday. For the first week I wondered if buying that book was such a great idea with her telling me what I was not doing right. I am glad she is enjoying this new stage in her life. I hope that she continues to make good choices and have a love for everyone around her.

Sister's Weekend

2011-05-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day weekend was my sister's weekend. It all started when my sister Beth and I decided to run a 5K together. She lives in Arizona. So started the process of finding a race and then deciding that if we did it in Utah we could try and involve more sisters. We started training at the end of February. I ran in rain, snow, wind, and sleet. Beth ran in sun, hot sun, and even hotter sun. I ran three times a week and by the end of March I was pretty much running it the whole way. By the time the race came around I was running it in 35 minutes. I was happy when I finished every run, but I still don't love to run.
Anyway, back to the sister's weekend, Beth and I triple dog dared my other sister's Vicki and Kim to be in the race also. They did accept. So, I took Friday off of work and headed down to pick up Kim. Then we picked Vicki and Beth at the airport. What fun it was to see them. I shouted and waved as they approached the baggage area. We headed out for a nice lunch at Winger's. We laughed and had just a wonderful time. We headed to Provo to check in at our hotel and race. We then headed to the mall to shop a little. We headed to the movies for a girls night out. The next morning, we headed out to the race. We lined up and waited nervously for the race to start. As we headed out we all kept our eyes on someone ahead of us to beat. Mine was a lady in pink. Vicki and Kim's was a pregnant lady and her 4 year old daughter. We completed the race without any mishaps. I was so proud of everyone for enduring well.
We had some breakfast and headed to the hotel to get ready for the day. We had lunch and dinner dates planned with aunts and cousins from both sides of our family. We had lunch with Aunt LaNay, Michelle, Antinonne at P.F. Chang's. I think we totally annoyed the waitress with how long we stayed and talked. We left a good tip. More shopping and then off to dinner with my mom's sister Aunt Janelle, Ginger, Jenny, and Jackie at Olive Garden. It was so fun to take the time to visit with our extended family, because we don't get to see them very often.
It was so sad that the weekend was coming to a close, but we all needed to get back to our own families. What fun to be with these good ladies and share of our love for each other. I hope this can happen next year. Love you.

Easter Fun

2011-04-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend fell right before Brady's birthday this year. My family decided to get together, so my sister Kim and her family came down to stay with us. We had been able to see Brad and Chelsea's family that week also. It was a rip roaring time of cousins, cousins, cousins all week long.
We had stake conference that weekend. We decided we would go down to Twin Falls and watch stake conference from my brother's building and then have dinner afterwards. We got up to the Easter bunny visiting us. Our Easter bunny brings church related items. The funniest was Garret's expression telling us the new church pants that he got was not his idea of a good Easter bunny present. Thanks goodness for Aunt Kim's Easter bunny who helped our kids out.
Dinner, of course was wonderful. We enjoyed the scrumptious meal. The men went and hid the eggs between rain showers. The kids then took off trying to find the eggs. As the older kids ran around the smaller kids would pick up the eggs as they dropped out of thier baskets. It is always fun to be hyped up on sugar.

Brady turning four is more fun than we can handle!

2011-04-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Brady has been looking forward to his birthday for a few months. It has been sneaking up on us. I can't believe that April is pretty much over. Brady wanted 10 motorcycles for his birthday. Brady's birthday fell over Easter weekend this year. We were lucky enough to have spend time with both sides of the family this year. On Saturday afternoon we went to Grandma Peterson's house to celebrate cousin Ayva's birthday and Brady's. We had a yummy dinner and played with our cousins. Sunday we had Easter dinner at Blake and Josie's. Between rain storms they had an Easter egg hunt. We then opened presents for Brady and cousin Eva. He received 4 motorcycles and 4 wheeler this year. Grandma Ginny made a wonderful motorcycle cake and beautiful cupcakes. The only letdown was Brady's real birthday was Monday. He was served breakfast in bed like a king. In true king fashion, he told me didn't want french toast, but pancakes. I happened to have a frozen one in the freezer so I hurried and zapped it. He wanted to know where is presents were, I then reminded him he had opened them Sunday. What a letdown! He wanted to have hot dogs for dinner, so we thought we would have a weiner roast, but as the weather went about during the day, it didn't cooperate. At the last minute we invited our friends the Bronsons over to eat hot dogs and fries potatoes with us. We anticapate that special day once a year and quick enough it has come and gone. I wish he would stay little for a little bit longer. Brady has a strong spirit. I hope I have the strength to bend his spirit in the right direction. He reminds me so much of Katelyn at this age. Scary sometimes. He is my best helper. He loves to help in the kitchen and He LOVES to clean. He loves being with his Dad. He will pull out every tool and scatter them around when he is with his dad. We love you Brady

Carl Bloch Exhibit

2011-03-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Over Spring Break, I decided we would enhance our children's lives with cultural. We drove to BYU and went to the Museum of Art to see the Carl Bloch Exhibit. Our ward was going to go but was snow out. When I had made the reservations, I thought we would have lots of time to get there, but in perfect Becky fashion I over booked us. We zoomed down to Utah finally arriving 15 min. late. They thankfully let us in after I told the hostess we had driven all the way from Idaho to see the exhibit. We wandered around looking at the pictures. Brady found a baby to follow around. Shawn finally told me it was my turn because he thought the parents would think he was a stalker. I wish we would have gotten a chance to use the IPad presentation, but oh well. All the different paintings were wonderful to see. Katelyn was affected by one painting called the Murder of the Innocence. Which was when King Herod declared to kill all the boy babies. The boys were less interested in the paintings, but sure loved the ducks in the pond. We left and checked into the hotel and went out to eat. We swam and then actually enjoyed sleeping at a hotel with children. THe next day we were able to attend our cousin's Braxton priesthood ordinance and be able to see some of my family. We then headed home to start our Spring Break.

Pocatello Clogging Competition

2011-03-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Blakely started her lifetime dream of clogging this year. She has always wanted to clog, but her mom put piano lessons before clogging lessons. I finally decided to let her do both this year. She competed in Pocatello this weekend. I hurried home from school and braided her hair and put on her stage makeup. We loaded up the kids and headed to Poky. We arrived at the Performance Center in the heart of ISU. It was fun to show the kids where Shawn and I went to school. There were clogging kids everywhere. Her group practiced. I went into the auditorium and sat down. I have never been to a competition before, so it was weird to see people walking in and out of the auditorium while groups were performing. Blakely's group performed and then we were done. I made them stay and watch for alittle bit. It would have been fun to see the more advanced teams but they were not until Saturday. I took the kids out to Golden Corral all by myself. They did pretty good until we went into Fred Meyer's. I decided it was time to load up and head for home. Next competition is Lagoon in May. Great job Blakely!

President's Day weekend fun

2011-03-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Shawn has been wanting to go down to Hagerman to ride all winter. It has been just too cold to go. I asked if he wanted to take the family trail riding with him. He decided that would be an okay plan. We thought over President's Day weekend would be perfect. We would go down and spend the night at Grandpa Manwaring's house. We would go swimming at 1000 springs and go trail riding. Aaahh, what a wonderful weekend it would be. Well, Blakely had skiing so out went the spending the night. We said it will still be okay we'll just go down for the day. We headed down and unloaded. Dad didn't know what he was in for with taking his family that had never trail ridden before. His son crashed and would not get back on. His wife and daughter kept stalling and he would have to come back and rescue us. His other daughter would only ride in first gear. By the time we got half way down the trail he was ready to give up. We headed back to truck. I told him to go and ride while we stayed by the truck. I then encouraged Blakely and Katelyn to practice going up and down hills. We watched other riders zooming up and down monster hills. Garret climbed the monster hill. Shawn came back and taught Blakely and Mom how to go up and down hills. We rode on a few trails until Brady was shivering. It finally turned out okay. We loaded up and headed to 1000 springs. After spending $37 the kids were hungry and ready to go within the hour. Shawn and I tried to decide if 1 hour was worth the $37 spent. Probably not, so we stayed 30 more min.(much better)We headed to Grandpa's to quickly clean out his fridge and have a snack. We headed home as fast as we could because there were no tail lights on the trailer. All in all a good day, just maybe we will do better next time.

Honors Band

2011-02-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

Blakely was picked to go to district honors band this year. She looked forward to this day. She would get to go down to Twin Falls and practice with other band students from all over. Then they would get to hang out at the mall and eat dinner. Brady and I were the two lucky people to head down to Twin and watch the honors band, orchestra, and choir perform. They did a great job. We waited in the freezing cold to get Blakely and pick her up after the concert. We hit Sonic on the way home and got everyone in bed. It had been a long day since Blakely had to be on the bus at 7:20 in the morning. Way to go Blakely!

Just Dance Mania

2011-02-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

When Blakely got Just Dance as a Christmas present, I didn't know the sensation it would cause in our house. All through Christmas vacation they played it. When school started, they would play it every night after school. Their friends would come over and play it. It is a lot of fun and that is how they claim they get their exercise. Katelyn would always make Garret play in the background. Most of the time he just goes to the back but there are times he puts up a fuss.
Just recently, Blakely invited friends to stay after school on a half day to play Just Dance. It was fun to see how all the kids danced and enjoyed playing with each other.

11 wanting to be 12

2011-02-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

Katelyn turned 11 on January 13th.(Luckily it wasn't on a Friday) :) Katelyn woke up to the aroma of warm waffles. She was served waffles by her wonderful dad and mom in bed. She ate her favorite breakfast with enjoyment. Blakely gave Katelyn a pink and brown scarf as she headed out the door for school. Katelyn took brownies to her class for her birthday treats. It was only a half a day so Katelyn was excited to go and spend the rest of the day at Bekah's house. After she was picked up we hung out at the Bronson's house. We came home and hurried and made Italian chicken for our Katelyn. Katelyn received a camera for her birthday from her Mom and Dad. Katelyn wants to have her ears pierced, but that priviledge comes at the age of 12 in our family. She kept saying she wanted to be 12 instead of 11, but I don't want her to grow up so fast. She will be 12 before we know it. Katelyn loves to read. She loves to help and is very nuturing. She is good at school. Remember you are a daughter of your Heavenly Father. Listen and quickly be obedient to your parents because we will never lead you astray. Always be the kindest to your brothers and sister for they will be your champions. We love you!

DARE Graduation

2011-01-30T17:10:00.000-08:00

As school has gotten back into session from Christmas break; we had the opportunity to attend Katelyn's 5th grade DARE graduation. I thought it was so important for the whole family to attend this night, but with all the wiggling around from the boys; I asked myself why didn't I leave them home with Blakely. DARE stands for Drug and Abuse Resistance Education. Katelyn has been learning about drugs and alcohol since the beginning of school from Officer Bird. Here are a few things she has learned: I learned about peer pressure,how to say no, and many other things. There are 7 ways to say no like walking away, giving them the cold shoulder, just a plain no, giving reason or fact, change the subject, repeated refusal, and use humor.
Thank you, Katelyn for telling us what you learned in DARE.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

All December I have been denying that Christmas time was here. November was crazy with my Dad's wedding, Thanksgiving, and wonderful snow days. This set us back in anticipation of the Christmas spirit. We put up our Christmas tree and Katelyn decorated the house with the Christmas decorations while she was home sick from church. The kids enjoyed the tree and the lights. The 17th started our school break this year because of budget cuts. Shawn and I's anniversary was also the 17th. We have been married 16 years. We decided to go away for the night to Utah. I thought for sure I would get my shopping done. The roads were nasty on the way down. We enjoyed being together. We went shopping Saturday, but I did not have the shopping mojo. We came away with a calendar and book. I felt awful about not getting any shopping done but my wise husband said," We are not here to go shopping, we are here to enjoy each other." We enjoyed driving around looking for things until it was time to come home to the kids Saturday night. Monday morning I went to the dentist and went shopping most of the day. We went up to Rock Creek to see the lights and feed the camel. Tuesday was cooking day. We made apple pies, sugar cookies, chex mix, and dipped pretzels. The rest of the week we hung out with each other and with friends. Thursday night, Shawn and I went back out looking but came away empty handed again for my birthday present. Christmas Eve we went to my brother's Blake for a wonderful night of soup and sparkling cider. We read the Navity Scene and knew we need to get on the road for Santa would soon be there, but just enjoyed visiting it was hard to leave.
With the kids off to bed, Mom and Dad finished setting out our presents and were about to go to bed when my three sisters called at midnight to wish me Happy Birthday. That was so sweet and made me feel very special. We talked to long, but needed to hurry because who know who was coming soon. We had moved the kid's present opening time to 6:30 this year and they were ready on the nose. Has always the present opening time goes to quick for the time put in to prepare. The kids enjoyed playing and looking at their new toys. The girls had gotten new Wii games from Santa so they went right to town playing them all morning. Brady loved coloring in his new coloring book and Garret watched some new Pokemon movies Santa brought him. Later that afternoon we headed to Grandma Peterson's to enjoy a wonderful Christmas dinner. I love spending time with our families. It was nice to realize that we got a whole another week off of school. We relaxed and played with our Christmas toys. I got Brady his quilt top made.
New Year's Eve we hung out with the Bronsons. We ate Chinese food and pizza. The kids played Wii games and the adults played Wackee Six(which I brought for our New Year's Eve game) Fun Game- once I remembered how to play. We went home way too late and slept in a little. Shawn was going to go riding motorcycles all day, but the weather prevented him from doing so. We enjoyed our traditional breakfast at the Stokers.
I can't believe another year has come and gone. I know I wish sometimes time would speed up and other times I want it to slow down, but it seems to be moving quickier than ever. Hopefully in 2011, we can try harder to be kinder and more loving to everyone around us(brothers and sisters included. We love you all and hope your Christmas season was spent together.

Seven years old

2010-12-28T11:01:00.001-08:00

Garret turned seven on December 7th. I took him to the store the Friday night before his birthday so he could show me what he wanted for his birthday. Needless to say he wanted everything would be an understatement. Last year he was into Pokemon for about 6 months and then that phase was gone. I was happy that it only lasted 6 months. Well, it's back! He wanted Pokemon games and cards. He wanted to take mini cupcakes to class. He wanted hamburgers sliders and french fries for birthday dinner. I always give my kids breakfast in bed, but I had forgotten to ask Garret what he wanted for breakfast. After we sang to him, he stayed in bed and stayed in bed. I finally asked him what he was doing and he said,"I am waiting for breakfast." Oops! So I quickly grabbed cereal and gave him breakfast in bed. He had a wonderful day at school. We came home and got dinner ready. Grandpa Manwaring and Grandma Ginnie came for dinner. We had hamburgers and french fries. He opened his presents on Pokemon Soul Silver and more Pokemon cards. Next year Garret turns 8 years old. Time flys when you are having fun. I enjoy Garret very much. He is an enjoyable child to have around. He is very active and quite athletic. He loves his brother and sisters.(most of the time) He can be dramatic(thanks to older sister). We will continue to work hard to teach you what is right and to let you know everyday we love you. We hope that you will listen and know what we teach you to be true. Happy Birthday Garret!

New additions for the Manwaring Family

2010-11-23T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we knew that this time would come when my Dad would find someone to remarry. He found a wonderful lady named Virginia who he knew years ago in Canada. She had recently returned from a mission in Africa when he made contact. They agreed to meet in Vancouver, Canada and over a week's time visited and enjoyed each other's company. He then annouced that they were getting married two weeks later. So on November 20th they were married in the Twin Falls temple. It is quite a surreal time I am sure for everyone. She has two daughters Lisa and Lynn. We enjoyed meeting them and hope to know them better in the near future. We will be able to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad and Virginia getting to know her better. I am glad that my Dad has found someone to be happy with.

Calling the Tooth Fairy

2010-11-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

That long awaited day in a child's life when they finally lose their first tooth as arrived for Garret. He finally had a loose tooth and he wiggled it and wiggled it. We were reading together one night 2 weeks ago and he said, "Wiggle my tooth after each page that I read." So I did. We worked it over pretty well. He was afraid that he would lose it during P.E. the next day, but he came home with it still in his mouth. I had to leave to help out at my Dad's for the night and so I asked if he wanted me to try one pull. So out came the toilet paper and out came the tooth. He was very excited for the tooth fairy to come. I asked,"How much do you think the tooth is worth?" Garret replied,"I think 12 dollars." He finally settled on 4 dollars. How much did the tooth fairy give him you ask? 1 dollar. That is the standard protocol for the tooth fairy, I say. (Notice Katelyn is the background. She also lost a tooth the week before.)

That's a boy for you!

2010-11-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

It's a good thing girls dig scars on boys, because our boys will have plenty. Garret had a hard couple of weeks with getting banged up. He scalped part of his forehead at Uncle Blake's house swinging. Then a week later, while I was at mutual the boys took a ride on the four-wheeler with Dad. Which is always a wild ride!( I took the boys for a ride and they informed me that I am a stinky driver and they wanted their dad back.I guess I am not wild enough.)I got home from mutual with Shawn telling me they had a small accident. Garret had let go of the handle bars and hit his head on the key. I tried to wake Garret up and check his head but he would not budge. He kept fighting me when I tried to take off his band-aid. So I decided to wait until morning to look at it. When he woke up and I checked it out, I decided that he probably would have benefited from stitches. One call later to sister-in-law Josie informing me stitches were probably too late, I butterflied it together and off we went to school. It satyed together pretty well, but a scar will be the result of too much rough riding with Dad.

Family Pictures 2010

2010-11-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

We had our family pictures taken by a friend in our ward Melanie Nebeker who is trying to get her photography business up and running. We were in a rush to get them done before she started harvest, so we picked to go after school one evening in September. We had them taken down at the local park. Everyone decided they would cooperate except for Brady. He smiled for maybe one picture out of the whole thing. Our family is always working on something. Oh well! The kids all wanted their own photo taken, so Melanie ended up taking alot of pictures of the kids.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a four day event around here. I wanted to have a family Halloween party and invite a few friends over. So the Friday before Halloween we planned to have the party, but in the middle of the night Brady woke up sick and ruined everything.(The kids were upset) We quickly rescheulded for Saturday night. We enjoyed spaghetti,bone breadsticks, green leafy things, mummy dogs, and dirt pudding. We played games like eating donuts off a string, pass the pumpkin, freeze dance, and Halloween pictionary.
Blakely had her school Halloween party and dance on Wednesday. She dressed up as batwoman. She recycled Garret's batman costume which he had wore into holes. Which was made for cousin Josh by Aunt Beth. She enjoyed the dance and was excited to hang out with friends.
Thursday was our school's Halloween parade and party. Katelyn was going to be Kit, American girl, but decided to be a prom queen. Even though I stayed up late finishing a skirt for her. She decided to wear this costume to our ward's Halloween party Firday night. Garret decide to be a black ninja which I recycled his Darth Vadar costume to make. He just looked like a boy dressed up in a black costume. Brady was dressed as Woody. He had party at Christy's house. He trick or treated and made a pumpkin head. Friday night we had our ward carnival and trunk or treat. The kids played games, ate soup and cinnamon rolls, and got lots of candy. Katelyn did finally dress up as Kit. Blakely decided with friends to be a painter,a painting, and the rich lady who buys the painting. Interesting! They came home and traded candy. I always ask myself the question do I ration the candy or just get it gone. becky-.it was a fun halloween like all of them. i love tootsie rolls.- katelyn

Drops 2010

2010-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Looking at my camera, I noticed that I hadn't blogged about our trip to the Drops this year. Last year when we went I took the kids by myself. Thankfully Shawn came with us. I don't know if it was still the safety talk from Uncle Blake last year or just my anxiety getting the best of me, but my anxiety level was to the freaking out level when we got there. I finally jumped in with Shawn and Garret. By the time I got I had calmed down a little. Then we decided to take Brady down, it rose a little, but when my Dad said he was going down it went back to the freaking out level again. We all jumped in several more times and slowly my anxiety level mellowed out. At the end of the night the older cousins decided to jump off the cliffs right after the rapid section. Uncle Blake and Uncle Brian jumped in with them thankfully. They would have continued to jump in if we would have not called it a night. We returned to the Shoshone church parking lot and had a nice picnic with the family before saying good night.

School 2010-2011

2010-09-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

No matter what we do, time does not slow down. So school is here again. I started at the beginning of August in my classroom trying to put it together. I headed to Boise for meetings for a team I am on. It was weird being by myself(staying at a hotel by myself, eating myself,etc.)Actually it was nice at times.
This school year we start with 8 less days because of budget cuts. I had a full week of meetings before the kids started to school. School started Sept. 30th. Blakely is now in 8th grade and loves everything about school. This year she gets to be an librarian aidefor the first semester. Katelyn is in 5th grade and in Ms. Matthews. Katelyn started out the year next to my classroom, because her classroom wasn't finished being built yet. She of course loves school and loves that Bekha is in her class. Garret is in 1st grade and has Mrs. Haugeberg. He loves school, but has to be threatened to get all his homework done. He already has been kicked out of his mom's classroom when I walked in to my class and he was handed out peppermint candies to all my students.(I keep peppermint candies in clase of upset tummies) Brady is being watched by another wonderful lady named Christy. He loves it there even though the week before school started I kept telling him that it was school time again and he was going to a new babysitter. He would say I not going, she has no babies. Turns out she has 2 babies that come and some of his friends from Tara's also come. He seems to enjoy being there. I also teach Christy's daughter. I have 22 students; 14 of them being boys. I think it will be a good year. I don't like the extra stress in my life, but we will fake it till we get it. We did start out the year with three out four children with ear infections. Once again, Shawn has to step up and help take my place and take kids to the doctor. Which he had to wait a hour to see the doctor with kids being silly in the room. Which I replied been there, done that. He takes up the extra slack beautifully. I sure love him for that. I hope we have a great year and very little sickness. Go Declo!!!

5K with the girls

2010-09-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to try a 5K for about a year now. So I talked and bribed the girls into doing one in Declo over Labor Day weekend. I started running one minute and walking two minutes; now I know some of you are running experts,but this was my training. The girls didn't want to train as well. Blakely said I wouldn't have signed for this if I knew I had to train. So with some pushing we got a few runs with each other. My favorite saying was "You are not going to let your 34 year old mother beat you, are you?" One night running a coyote ran right out in front of us running away from our dogs. I then proceded to tell Blakely that the momma coyote was probably not far behind so she better start running fast. I said you only have to run faster then the slowest person. I know not nice. Saturday we got up and headed to Declo and got our shirts and took off running. Katelyn had found a friend to run with. So it was just Blakely and I running and walking together. Mom coaxed and encouraged. We pulled each other along. I ran back and got Blakely and walked with her. I loved doing the 5K. I will try and keep running so I can find another 5K and do it. (I have only ran twice this week:( Blakely vows not to do it again, but maybe I can get a friend to run with her she would change her mind!

Yellowstone

2010-09-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for the summer was for our family to go somewhere together. As the summer dwindled down; it was now or never. We had decided to go to Yellowstone. We had just put carpet in our livingrooms and were preparing to put carpet in the bedrooms, so amiss the mess we left Saturday morning. After too many stops we got up to West Yellowstone in the afternoon. We checked into our hotel; which on seeing the swimming pool with the water slide the kids only wanted to stay there. We headed in the gate and headed up to Mammoth Springs. We stopped to see the hot spots along the way. We did see some elk and one moesing buffalo headed somewhere down the middle of the road. As the day wore on the kids desire for the swimming pool grew greater. We looped around and by the time we got back it was 9:00pm. So in a very hurried manner, we ran off to the swimming pool. We swam until closing. The kids and I found some dinner and returned to the hotel room to eat. Sleeping wasn't too bad, but I have discovered it is time for two rooms. We got up and got ready for church. Church in West Yellowstone has a lot of visitors has you can imagine. We then headed back into the park for the south loop. Being the smart parent I am to not have the fussing of Saturday night, I bribed. If they could not fuss; when we got to Old Faithful we would buy a pop for them. For the most of the children, it worked. Sunday we enjoyed stopping and wading through a stream. We loved walking the Old Faithful loop and seeing the tail end of her explosive show. We stopped by Yellowstone Lake and dipped our toes(some of us dipped our bodies). We drove out through the Grand Targhee Park and as we left low and behold there it was.... A Bear. We slowly drove past and gawked like all the other tourists as the park rangers directed traffic. We enjoyed the beauty of the Grand Targhee mountains and quickly drove through Jackson Hole. I finally got to see the Palisade Resvoir(which Shawn always talks about). We decided it would be fun next year to take Grandpa's boat(if he would let us) and go camping up at Palisades. We finished our vacation race through Idaho Falls and home at 10 o'clock at night. I enjoy this time together even how short it was and wish for opportunities for family get aways.

washington trip by Blakley

2010-08-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

I went up to Washington with grandpa a couple of weeks ago. grandpa was going up to meet Uncle Brad & Breck so they could go fishing in Cananda. I stayed with Aunt Vicki & Uncle Scott's family for about two weeks. We got there Wednesday evening. I had brought up all of the Harry Potter movies cause I knew Dallin liked them our goal for the time I was there was to watch all of them. We started the first one but i was so tired i fell asleep within the first 5 mins. We finished it the next morning. That day we really didn't do anything. grandpa and Brad &breck left early the next morning. That afternoon Alyssa came back from girls camp. the next day was Saturday . We went swimming and then dropped Dallin off at the house & did a little shopping.We went to Plato's closet & Old Navy. On sunday we went to church then had a delicious dinner. MOnday Aunt Vicki dropped Alyssa & I at the mall we ate lunch first. Alyssa introduced me to thai food. niether of us finished so we carried it in boxes around the stores. the first store we went to was bath & body we had fun trying on the lipglosses & deceided to come back a buy them if we had enough money after all the other stores.Next alyssa wanted to find a scarf so we went into this wierd store called Fuego where she bought a pink peace sign shirt. We then went to american eagle wich was having their big sale.we both found cute shirts but then found out they were not actually on sale.Then we ran into aero which was also having a sale i got a dress there for 12 bucks.we then went to romy and charlie ruse we got matching shirts for 5 bucks there then we took a break and got some smoothies from jamba juice. then we went back to b&b and i got lipgloss and bodyspray. we then walked over to target to look around . finally we called Vicki to pick us up .it was a long day.the next few days we just kinda watched tv and movies and had a belated friends party for Dallin at the pool. Friday grandpa and them got back all of us cousins slept in the livingroom. we watched percy jackson and then breck dallin and I stayed up until about 3 in the morning.the next day we went to the space needle nd got to go to the o deck.brad and breck left at about 10 oclock to catch their 1oclock flight back to kentucky. Grandpa and I left monday morning and got to his house at about 9 we waited for my parents to get there. I finally got home at about 11pm.

Swimming Lessons 10

2010-08-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

Swimming Lessons had one less child this year. Blakely felt like she was a good enough swimmer to not take lessons. I reluclately agreed, because it was now time for Brady to start taking them. Brady loves the water and is a fish, but that first day he cried almost the whole time he was in the water. The teacher suggested that I not be in the pool area. So I stayed out the rest of the week.By the end of the week he loved it as you can see. The other kids swam well and practiced diving. My kids love the water. Great job Katelyn, Garret, and Brady.

Scout Family Fishing Night

2010-07-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Every year our ward as a family fishing night. This year we went because Shawn is helping with the Wolves. We took our cousins Ethan, Ayva, and Ry with us since they were staying with Grandma. Ever since the Father and Son's Overnighter, Garret has wanted to fish more. He asks everytime he sees water, "Can we fish there?" Shawn had to go buy fishing poles since we are such avid fishers. We ended up going to Emerald Lake. Shawn spent the whole evening putting on worms and casting the line out. Each family member wanted to fish all night long. We caught fish, but all were too small to keep. Ethan and Garret caught the most fish. Ayva was the worm keeper. She played with the worms all night long. So being the good aunt I am I told her of course she could take them to Grandma's.(Grandma loved that!)Our family was the last family there. We fished until the sun was setting. We will have to fish again really soon. The only person caught by a hook amazingly enough was Blakely's friend Alysha.

Steadman's 2010

2010-07-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

We love Steadman's. Which is a huge waterslides that a farmer has put in by his house in Raft River. I rented the place last year for some family fun. So I decided to do it again this year while my sister was in town visiting. I called that afternoon before we left to double check on things with Steadman's. She said that it was quite windy over there and I thought to myself we live in Idaho; the wind always is blowing here, no big deal. Well, she was not lying. We had 40 - 50 mph gusts of wind. It was very windy. The kids of course did not mind the wind and slide down the slides and went down the zip line. Blakely learned how to knee surf down the slides. Shawn went down once with his work clothes on. Everyone was pretty much blown out by 8pm. So,even though it didn't turn out like I wanted it to we enjoyed friends and family. Next year hopefully the wind will not blow and I will stop to take some pictures.

Girls Camp 2010

2010-07-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

The end of June brought Girls Camp to our house. Blakely and Mom got to go to camp this year again. We had girls camp up at the Oakley Stake Ranch. Early Tues. morning we headed out on a hike. Since there was still snow up in the mountains we decided to hike across the base of the mountains and hike into the camp. It was a good hike as it was not too steep(until the end). We hike through farmer's fields, cow pastures,creeks and barb wire fences. We visited the old Willow Creek cemetery(which interesting enough was fenced off in the middle of a cow pasture.) As we made it to the gate that told us we were almost there, we had to cross a much bigger creek(some of us did fall in.) The leaders wanted to hike the last mile and half up to the cabin which was straight up. We pushed the girls until we did have to call in the truck to pick some of them up.
We set up camp and then taught the some camp requirements. We practiced our skits and songs. We had a wonderful dinner of bagel pizzas. We had fun that night even if some of the skits and songs were a little unusual. The girls stayed up until 3 or so in the morning. They were above us in the cabin so you could hear everything. The next morning we had Ziploc omelets and started our next set of camp requirements. After lunch we had down time which I followed the younger girls around and took pictures of them playing in the creek. We then had a camp competition. Which our team did not fair very good at the knot tying, but very good at the fire starting. That night we enjoyed a night hike followed by testimony meeting. Then it was onto a snipe hunt. Scary! There were snipes everywhere.
The next morning was clean up and birthday pinata and heading home. Another great girls camp. Hoo Haa! My another children stayed the days with Grandma Peterson and were spoiled. They will have to keep working for Grandma all summer to paid back her generosity.

Bekah comes over

2010-06-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Now that school is out and Katelyn doesn't get to see her friends all the time. She has gone into withdrawns. We had Bekah over last Saturday for the afternoon. They played with American Girl dolls, watched Kit Kitteridge(American Girl, painted fingernails, played Mother, May I?, Red Light, Green Light, Duck Duck Goose, and Apples to Apples. It was a fun afternoon. It was fun to see Brady and Garret want to play with Bekah also. The top picture is when the PTO planted a tree in Memory of Rachel.

Spring Baseball

2010-06-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Katelyn and Garret enjoyed Declo basesball this spring. We had such a cold and wet spring, that it made for some cold Saturdays. Garret is in T-Ball and it was fun to watch every child run after the ball and jump on it. Katelyn was on the girls 4th-
6th. There is only two teams and they would have a practice game every Saturday. They had a fun time this year playing spring baseball.

Garret's Kindergarten Program

2010-06-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

Oh, how time flys! At the end of May, Garret and all the kindergarten classes had their spring kindergarten program. The Kindergarten teachers and music teacher put together a great program. They had made tissue flower boutieers that all of the kids wore. They sang a ton of songs along with a solo by one of the kids,a couple of plays,and stories from the kindergarten teachers about some of the things the kids had done this year. They did a fantastic job.

Blakely's Birthday

2010-05-09T20:52:00.001-07:00

Well, one week after Brady's birthday is Blakely's b-day. This year is turns thirteen. What new privleges come at our house with the big 13? Not really any beyond being a true teenager. she keeps pointing that out, but I want to remind her she has been acting the way for awhile.(you know where they are right and you are wrong. eye rolling, etc.) She knew that she wanted Cafe Rio for dinner and wanted the new Sisters Grimm book. Once again her birthday landed on Sunday, which is a hurried affair. She wanted crepes for breakfast so up early was Mom to get it done before church. She is getting harder and harder to wake up in the morning because she stays up to late reading in bed. I have started to shut off her light and 10 but that doesn't deter her. She didn't wake up very well for breakfast in bed.
We had a wonderful dinner of Cafe Rio at Grandma Peterson's house. She gets to pick out her own presents with a gift card this year. Two weeks ago she enjoyed a day off from school with her mom who also took the day off to go to orthdontist in Twin. It was a rushed day but we shopped, had lunch, and had her mom all to herself. So I count that has part of her birthday celebration, also.
Blakely has grown up into a beautiful young lady. She is about 3 inches shorter than I am and she continues to point out that she is getting taller. She loves to read, sometimes at the wrong times. She is a good friend to everyone and helps those around her. She is silly at times sometimes at the wrong times. Even though she doesn't always like the oldest child responsibility she is learning how to do it better everytime she is asked to do it. She loves music and shopping(too bad I am her mom for this one)She loves her friends and being with them. Blakely, your family loves you and are your biggest fans. Remember you can accomplish anything you set your mind too. I am so glad Heavenly Father selected me to be your mom.

Brady's Birthday

2010-05-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

My baby is three! We have been prepping Brady for his birthday for about a month now. He loves wearing boots. Whether it was snow boots or mud boots he didn't much care, so I suggested to him cowboy boots. So the last month I will ask him what he wants for his birthday and the answer is always cowboy boots and a vroomy. The Saturday before Brady's birthday Dad, Mom, Garret, and Brady headed to Cal Ranch to find some cowboy boots. After checking out our options, chose John Deer camoflauge boots. We bought them a couple sizes big after Mom saw the price.(So they could last awhile.) He tried to leave with a cowboy hat also, but that will have to wait until another time. As soon as we got home he had to put them on and wear them. I told him that we would be wrapping them so he could have something to open the next day. Sunday morning we were up early to wrap presents and make breakfast in bed.
I had meetings that day after church and when Brady got home from church he wanted to know where is boots were. He was a little frantic about it until Shawn showed him the wrapped present, and told him Mom wrapped his boots.
We had a wonderful dinner(which hopefully was Brady's favorite), but I think it is really Dad's. He opened presents and then we left for a fireside, so the poor boy didn't even get to blow out his candles until Monday night.( Half eaten cake)
Brady has a mind of his own. In some ways he reminds me a lot of Katelyn. He is getting more and more a personality. He loves to play and loves to wrestle with his brother. He loves to copy his brother. He loves to help sometimes to the dismay of his mother. He is a packrat. He will tuck all his toys or books in something and pack them around. He is a great cleaner. He will sometimes be the best cleaner out of all the kids. He loves babies. Brady is constantly telling us we need a baby. He gets so excited when he gets to hold a baby. Just the other day, on the way home from school, he told me that he held a baby all day and we need a baby, a boy baby. I love to snuggle with him and ache when the time comes that he won't want to snuggle on the couch with me. I love to read to him and he loves to sit on my lap and listen. It has been fun to see Garret see with him and read him his library book. We love you Brady.

Skiing 2010

2010-03-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

It is that time again, when Blakely goes skiing with the Jr. High. She loves to ski, but only gets to go with the school. I sent the camera with her but the only pictures I got were of her friends and them checking to see who has the best hat hair. Shawn did go with her on the last day of skiing. He went snowboarding and hurt for a week afterwards. Maybe next time I will get up enough courage to go. (I doubt it)She feels like she has improved from last year.

Rachel and Rebekah Darrington

2010-03-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

playing peek a boo with Rebekah
Rebekah and Katelyn

I have waited to write this post for awhile because I wanted emotions to be a little less raw for Katelyn.
When Katelyn moved to Declo last year she became friends with Rachel and Rebekah. She immedaitely loved these girls. She wanted to be with them and help take care of them. She has become attached to these special spirits and their helper Mrs. Harmon. She helped them in class.She played with them during recess. Katelyn was always concerned for their well-being. She was worried when they had to make trips to the hospital. This year was no different. They were able to be in the same class this year. Rachel and Rebekah suffer from a genetic disease called Metachromatic Leukodystrophy. They are both in wheelchairs. They cannot move or talk. Their family has a total of 6 children. 5 of the 6 have the disease. 2 of their childern have already died from the disease. The kids at school love to try and make them smile by tripping in front of them or playing peek a boo.
Rachel had ended up at Primary Children's several times, but battled back everytime. At Christmas time, Katelyn wanted to give a present to them for Christmas and after watching them at school we decided to make them lap quilts to keep them warm during the tranfers between buildings or at home. Katelyn and I worked hard to cut and tie them over the weekend and she proudly presented them to at school on Monday. She loved giving these blankets to them because of her love for them. In January, Rachel ended up in Primary Children's again and this time struggled to battle back from pneumonia. I gently told Katelyn that she could pass away because of how weak her body was becoming. She said she knew that. Rachel did come back to school for about a week and then ended up in the hospital once again. At the end of Jan., early on a Tues. morning Mrs. Harmon called me to tell us that Rachel had passed away during the night. She asked if I would tell Katelyn before school, so she would hear about it from her mom. Katelyn fell into a heap on the bedroom floor, but she did go to school. I told her that it may be good to go to school and be with her friends and talk about it. Her teacher and Mrs. Harmon did a fantastic job talking to the kids and they wrote letters that day and make a giant paper bracelet for the Darringtons. She was very strong. She was asked along with the achievement day girls(from their ward) and another good friend(from school) to sing at the funeral. The funeral and viewing was hard, but was a wonderful celebration of her life. I know my own mother would be pleased with one of her grandchildren taking these special children under their wings and loving them. She always loved these special children herself. Thank you Katelyn for your loving spirit who wants to always love those around you. Thank you to the Darringtons who let my daughter get close to their daughters. So that she learns to love and serve other children of our Heavenly Father.

Rockin the Halls with Friends

2010-03-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

Katelyn made it to 100 points with AR by this Rock the Halls at school. She ended up taking the camera to school and taking lots and lots of pictures. When they make it to 100 points they earn a T-shirt and a run around the gym with everyone yelling and shouting and waving poms poms around the gym. It is wild! She took pictures with all her friends in her class. She got to rock the halls with Emily, Haylie, Rebekah, and Mrs. Harmon. She worked hard reading to get over 100 points.

Basketball

2010-02-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

Katelyn and Garret played Declo Rec this year for basketball. EVery Saturday for 6 weeks. Katelyn practiced basketball skills for the first two weeks and then they played games the last four. Garret practiced basketball skills for all six. It was probably good Shawn took them to 3 out of the 6, because the first time I took Katelyn when she had a game. As I watched these girls on her team, I found myself yelling advice at Katelyn until about halftime. I then decided I better just be quiet. The other team was at the other end of the court before Katelyn's team figured out they better get down and defend their basket. There was no aggresive behavior at all. They just let the other team have the ball. Katelyn kept giving me dirty looks while I was yelling, and I am sure she wished her Dad was there instead of her mother. The last time she went, her team did so much better at being aggresive and defending their basket. Good job, Katelyn!
Garret practiced his basketball skills. They did centers. The kids had fun and enjoyed learning some skills to help them down the road. I love being able to watch them play even if it takes up more time that we don't have.

All I want for Valentine's Day is my 4 bottom teeth

2010-02-26T18:23:00.002-08:00

On our continued journey for perfect teeth and giving all our extra money to the orthdontist/dentist we bring Katelyn into this next journey. Katelyn has no room in her mouth. She already has had 4 previous teeth pulled by the dentist. So teeth are coming in and no teeth are coming out; so off we went to the orthdonist. I did inform that I could not do anything major for 18 months.(See Blakely)He recommended 4 more teeth pulled and a linear arch put in. She then went off to the dentist to have two teeth pulled on one side. What a champ! (She didn't fall apart until later that night.) I did promise her a milkshake afterwards. We then went to commiserate with Grandpa Peterson who had his jaw wired shut that day also.
Two weeks later, we did the same thing on the other side. This time the procedure went much faster. We went over to Grandma Peterson's to visit, but this time her gums bled alot longer. We took out the gauze and they just kept bleeding. She would keep looking in the mirror and then become more and more hysterical as the blood came out. I finally got her calmed down and made her put more gauze in her mouth. She bit down on it for awhile longer. She did happen to get 10 bucks from the tooth fairy. I guess the price goes up when they lose their teeth traumtically.
One week later, we went to the orthdontist for the linear arch. Which will hold the back permentant teeth in place and help the rest of the bottom teeth come in. What we do for perfection.

Katelyn's room

2010-01-24T15:49:00.001-08:00

Update! Katelyn moved into the weight room in December. She now has a bed. Her room is painted and decorations are up. We still need to figure out where her clothes will be put. I need to make her a new bedspread for her bed. Shawn picked out the color "Good Karma" It looks like strawberry milk. We added a few pictures and vinyl dots. She received some fun things for her birthday. Aunt Josie made a memo board.I made a magnetic board and Jamie made a cute bow holder. I thought it turned out pretty cute. We just need something for one more wall.

New Beginnings 2010

2010-01-24T15:38:00.000-08:00

Blakely has been a Beehive for almost a year now. In YW, we just had our New Beginnings which introduces the new Beehives from the previous year. We asked each mom and dad to introduce their daughter on how they examplify the theme for the year; "Be strong and of good courage." I want to write down what we said for Blakely. Blakely, you are the first born into our family. Heavenly Father gave you courage to come to your inexperienced parents and endure through our mistakes. You always had a strong desire to know the truth and staying strong in that desire. At the age of six you wanted scriptures for your birthday. You love to learn. You are not afraid to learn something new. You are not afraid to be an individual in your interests. As you enter into this next phrase of your life we want you to know how much we love you and we are grateful for your strength. You must be strong and not wavier in this path. Right now you are learning what you need to do to return to your Heavenly Father. Be happy as you do this. Be strong even when others; even your examples may falter.

Ten years old

2010-01-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

We know that in the Peterson clan once January hits.... it is BIRTHDAY time. This year we got together with Grandma Hutchinson, Uncle Cole, and Katelyn to celebrate their birthdays. We of course had Italian chicken for dinner. (Grandma and Uncle Cole didn't have a choice.) We were so excited to celebrate their birthdays together. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's house after church on the 10th and had a wonderful dinner and ice cream cake. Yum! Katelyn got a beautiful dress from Grandma and Grandpa Peterson for her birthday. Wednesday, January 13th came and Katelyn got waffles in bed for her birthday. She was able to open her few presents from Mom and Dad. It was Katelyn's year for friend's party. Friday night, cousin Emily came and spent the night so that she could be with us for Katelyn's party. We love havign them close again. So on Saturday we had several friends come over and open presents and have cake balls and ice cream. We then went over to a gal's house and make beaded bracelets for their activity and party favor. It was fun to see the girls create their own bracelet.

Katelyn, you are a beautiful girl. You came into this world a wild child and gone through a few trials that your brothers and sister haven't gone through. You have such courage. You have such a love for little children and have a great desire to be a great help. Always remember that desire as you refine yourself into a great young women. We love you and promise if you always will be unselfish that love will be returned to you 100%.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-31T21:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas came so fast and soon was gone. I couldn't believe how fast Christmas crept up on us. I was so looking forward to the break. My sister would keep asking if we were ready for Christmas and I kept saying, "Nope!" But it came together just like it always does. The first Friday of Christmas break, Blakely and I went shopping for her Christmas presents since she only wanted clothes and didn't think I would pick out very good ones.(What!) It was a nice night, even though by 9:30 I was dragging. We enjoyed IHOP dinner and headed home. We had a whole week to enjoy off before Christmas day. We played and just enjoyed not having to be on the run. Christmas Eve, my Dad came down to spend the night with us. We had the traditional Manwaring dinner of clam chowder and I added in tomato soup(My Dad's). We watched The King was Born and visited about the Savior. The girls and my Dad played a game while I was getting everything ready and finished wrapping. I am sure the kids were dying to get up all night, but the rule is 6am. I am thinking maybe 7am next year. As soon as 6am hit we were woken up by kids. They got to open their stockings, but had to wait for Grandpa to wake up to open presents. Presents seem to be opened in record time, but I think everyone was happy with what everyone given. We enjoyed cinnamon rolls and juice for breakfast. We played with the new toys and new games all morning. We then needed to get ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's Peterson for lunch. We enjoyed seeing cousins and yummy food. We returned home to play on our new Wii and clean up.

Saturday we went back to Grandma Peterson's for more fun. I didn't think we could handle more but we did. We still had a whole another week to play and clean until New Year's. We painted Grandma Peterson's hallway while Blakely and Katelyn watched 8 kids at my house all day. Wednesday we went swimming down to 1000 springs with Chelsea, Brandi, and kids. That was pretty fun. We then went to my Dad's house for hot dogs. It was a pretty long day. Thursday we went bowling in the afternoon and then Chelsea and kids came over for a wild New Year's Eve bash. We played games, ate, and banged on pots and pans. We banged on pots and pans at about 10 pm thinking the party was winding down but the kids kept it going until about 11:30 pm. We love it when cousins come to play. New Year's Day we went to breakfast at the bishop's house. This is a 3 year tradition so far in our ward, but we do have a new bishopric.? We knew it was coming but we had to get ready for school to start. So that starting the taking down of the Christmas tree that day. We had to make sure the house was ready for Mom and kids to head back to school on Monday. This has been a nice relaxing break and I am grateful to have been surrounded by family and friends as we celebrated the birth of our Savior and welcomed in a new year. Thank you for those who helped us do this. We love you all.

Oh, Christmas Tree

2009-12-10T21:48:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night we got our tree up. Dad picked up a tree. Yes, it is a little short, but he did a wonderful job and we better not complain or else there might be TROUBLE!Garret has been begging for a tree for a week now, so he was more then ready to go. I actually had to stop him from dragging everything out. We put up sparkling colored lights and all the old decorations. The girls organized where they all went on the tree. So now our house looks a little more like Christmas.

Garret's Six : pick up sticks

2009-12-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

Another birthday comes again. Garret turned 6 years old on Dec. 7th. Time flies when you are having fun. Garret has been just a fun little boy to have around. He is all boy and loves to be active. He lately has been into Pokemon which I don't know how that started. He wanted a cinnammon rolls and orange rolls for breakfast.Mom had to get up early to get that done to have breakfast in bed like a king. He wanted a Pokemon cake and spaghetti for dinner. Once again a birthday falls on a school day which makes me run for my money. We quickly came home and the girls baked a second cake for Garret.(i baked one to share at school)I made dinner and Grandpa Manwaring came and brought meatballs, little smokies, ice cream, and lemons(Garret's favorite). We ate birthday dinner without Dad who ended up working late. He showed up just in time to sing to Garret. Grandma and Grandpa Peterson came over to wish him Happy Birthday which was so sweet, even if he had his head buried in a new DS game. He got a Pokemon DS game and a new Pokemon Handbook, because the old one he found at DI and totally fallen apart because he looked at it so much. Garret's due date was on my mom's birthday December 14th. She was really pushing for him to come on that day. She wanted a grandchild to share a birthday with her. Garret decided he wanted to come on Sunday, December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) instead. Shawn was to teach Elder's quorm that morning and my water broke. So actually Garret got him out of teaching that Sunday. Garret's delivery was the best I ever had. Dr. Jeppsen and Dad were watching football while it was going on. Garret was a beautiful baby and was loved by his sisters. We always were told, "well, you finally did it right." I hope that you continue to enjoy life and stand up with good courage. Be obedient and always know we love you.

Temple Square Weekend

2009-12-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

I decided that it was time for our kids to see the lights on Temple Square. So we made plans to go with the Bronsons. We headed down after school and checked into our hotel which was a few blocks away from temple square. I was rushing around Firday after school and at the last minute (which shouldn't have been the last minute) tried to find my winter box, but I could not. So we went without a snowsuit for Brady.(first mistake)We walked over to temple square and looked at the lights. We took pictures, but about 45 minutes into this Brady was done. So we headed back to the hotel to swim. We swam in a chilly pool for about 1 1/2 hours. We actually slept pretty good until about 5:30. I got up and worked out and then took the girls and Brady swimming again. I think it was colder the next morning as we headed to Temple Square again. We went to the Distrubution center and let the kids pick out a poster. We then went to see the Joseph Smith film and enjoyed it. Brady took a nice nap. Yeah.I am glad we got to do this because I think it is very important that we can provide spiritual experiences when ever we can. The kids seemed to enjoy it and I hope it touched their hearts. We did a very quick tour of the conference center. The kids wanted to go to The Gateway Mall, so this where it started to fall apart. 9 kids hungry and cold. Did you know the Gateway mall is an outside mall? Blakely says she did tell us this. We ate at the food court when Katelyn really wanted Golden Corral. Then it started to snow, so the parents decided it was probably time to head for home. We bid the Bronsons farewell and hit the road. It was a little scary on the freeway until Layton. We did pull off and did some quick shopping at Plato's Closet for Blakely and of course grabbed Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the ride home. We enjoyed our quick weekend even if we didn't get everyhting fit in that we wanted. We are glad that we can have these family times together, so the saying Family First stays in our children's hearts and minds.

Who's that sleeping in my closet?

2009-12-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it has now been 3 months since something scared Katelyn enough to prompt her to sleep in our closet. She is there without fail every night. We have hugged, threatened, and bribed until finally we just gave up. I don't know how comfortable it could be sleeping on the floor like that. This week we finally may have broken through because it is now number 5 of 7 nights that she is not in our closet. She has to sleep 7 nights in a row to get the weight room turned into her bedroom.(which we have offered before.)I don't like this plan because I lose my workout room. She has to sleep in there for 7 nights and then we will buy her a bed. So it looks like we might be bed shopping this weekend. We will keep you updated.

Thanksgiving time again

2009-12-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

This fall has flown by and as we celebrated Thanksgiving we did it by the seat of our pants. That is just how we do it lately. It started with Brady and Garret's babysitter having her baby the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and my back up babysitting needing to help at the school. So we really had to search for someone to watch the boys. Instead of going right home after school, we played with our friends and then went home working late into the night to finish my assignments for dinner at my Dad's. We lazily drove to Shawn's mom to drop off Frappe and to say hello. We then headed to Buhl. My sister and Dad had everything in good hands as we walked in and got ready to sit down for dinner. As always dinner is wonderful and over way too fast. The kids had fun playing outside and tracking mud in. We made Indian headbands and gave everyone an Indian name. I won't tell you who they named Grumpy Bear. I didn't get pictures of them with all their headbands on. We got to visit with my Dad's lady friend Terri. She was very nice. The boys worked on the retaining wall until dark and then we enjoyed wonderful pies. Blakely and Katelyn stayed down at Grandpa's with the intent that I would pick them up the next morning.
I did not go out early shopping with my friend Jamie this year. But when I went to pick up the girls we went over to the mall and shopped a little. It wasn't too bad except for the 4 kids I dragged along. My sister Kim and her family came and spent the night with us. Kim and Blakely really wanted to go to the movies so off we went. We went and saw New Moon and then Kim said let's go to another movie. So I throw caution to the wind and we did it. We then went to see The Blind Side. We really partied it up. We cleaned and played Ticket to Ride with Kim and Lampee. Katelyn and Brady loves babies, so they took good care of Luke. Hence the picture of Luke and this really is the only picture I took all weekend. Soon enough it was back to reality. Monday started back to school.

Missing: One Leatherman

2009-11-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

Brady loves the leatherman tool. When Shawn gets home at night, Brady either takes the leatherman right our of Shawn's belt(most of the time without him knowing) or climbs up to the dryer(where Shawn puts his leatherman) and takes it. He loves to play with the pliers and grab things with it. Shawn now has lost one leatherman due to Brady's obsession. I think I need to go find a play leathermen for Christmas. THis time he had pulled my oven racks out and were playing with them.So like father like son. They both recommend you keep a leatherman on hand all the time

November Hot Dog Roast

2009-11-13T21:40:00.001-08:00

The weather has been so nice lately, that Garret thought we needed to have a hot dog roast. He asked Dad and he agreed. So Monday night we had a hot dog roast. THe boys built up the fire and the kids just couldn't wait for the fire to burn down so they could roast hot dogs. It did cool off quickly, but it was relaxing to sit around a fire and eat outdoors. We had our pick between regular hot dogs and polish sausages. I think that it was decided that most everyone liked the polish sausages better. I didn't have big marshmellows so we roasted starbursts for dessert. They were pretty good, but could be hot and sticky. Everyone smelled like fire for the next couple days, but it was fun to have a hot dog roast out of season.

Boys in a Box

2009-11-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

We keep looking for a way to contain the boys and this is what we came up with. Actually, the boys had emptyed a toy container and were both sitting in there watching TV and I just couldn't pass up the photo op. Garret and Brady love each other. Most of the time their first thought is of each other. They wake up and need to hug each other. I hope this continues.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile but, we are slow going this fall. Here I am blogging about Halloween where we are only 1 1/2 weeks away from Thanksgiving. Oh well, here we go. The week of Halloween I was still recovering from the SWINE FLU. Just saying the name freaks people out. It was going around the schools rapidly. Anyway, enough said. The poor children of the Shawn Peterson household did not get any regular traditions of Halloween this year. Let's have a moment of silence. No carving pumpkins and no sugar cookies. We did throw together costumes for the ward's trunk or treat. Blakely came up with a girl vampire. Katelyn was Hannah Montana. Garret was a solider. Brady was a Vrrommie otherwise know as a Motorcross dude. We went to the church and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and games. Then the kids walked around gathering candy. The kids of course came home and traded candy, which may or may not be fair. And the questions remains, do you let the kids eat as much candy as they want and get the candy out of your house or let them only have a few pieces a day. Well, we did the first. I don't know if we did it right but oh well.

What Brady loves right now!

2009-10-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Brady loves to color. If someone else is drawing or coloring he has to get in the thick of things. We have had a few drawings on the wall, door, or body. We hope that when he had to scrub the door with his Dad he will not do it again. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

October Snow

2009-10-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

We woke up Sunday morning to snow. It was such a heavy and wet snow. It snowed pretty much all day Sunday. The kids were just begging to go out to play in it. Finally, the parents relented and the kids played until they had blue fingers and toes. Katelyn and Eva made a snow dinosaur and Garret and Will made a snow dinosaur.(my camera died before I could take a picture of Garret and Will's) The snow was gone by Tuesday but it was nice to see snow, but it was telling us winter is just around the corner.

Apple Pressing!

2009-10-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

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It is that time again, when we get to pull out the apple press and make yummy apple cider. Well, it just so happens that everyone bugged out on us this year, so we recrutied Kim and her family for the adventure. So rude that Grandpa Manwaring went to Kentucky and Blake's family moved to Michigan. We picked apples Saturday morning and then pressed apples all afternoon as we listened to conference. In all we made 41 gallons of apple juice. The morning we went over to pick apples in the freezing cold. All the kids picked apples until we had filled all our containers. We headed home with the kids wanting ice cream after freezing outside, don't quite get that. We got home getting ready to press apples all afternoon. As always the younger kids usually have fun for alittle while and then they lose interest. Katelyn was our babysitter for Luke and the rest of the kids in the house. Blakely stayed outside with us, manning the bottles. I kept reminding her to be careful in pouring the juice into bottles, but soon enough Mom hits the bucket on the table and spills juice out of the bucket. We thought about making applesauce and pie filling, but by 6:30 we decided just to juice everything. I still would like to try pie filling, so maybe next weekend. We have been offered more apples so maybe Shawn and I will juice some more. It is nice to have yummy apple juice in our freezer.

Mom, Can I keep it?

2009-09-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning brought excitment around our house before church as Blakely saw that our pack of dogs had a baby rabbit. She and the rest of the kids ran outside and rescued this little bunny. She brought it in the house and had Shawn check it out. We got a shoebox and put the bunny in it. The kids of course couldn't resist touching it and watching it. After church the bunny was still in the box and seemed to be doing okay. Brady even brought out his stuffed animals to watch over the bunny while we were gone to church. When we got back from visiting Grandmas Sunday night the bunny was out of the box. So we moved the bunny to a bigger box and fed it some water and corn husks. By the next night it was getting pretty active so it was decide by the parents that it was time for the bunny to return to its home so Shawn drove out to the field and release the bunny saying, Go, Free!

Girls Day Out

2009-09-11T20:58:00.001-07:00

I have been promising the girls a day of shopping for school clothes. So Saturday we headed to Boise just the three girls. Shawn tried to talk them into Utah(More malls), but Blakely wanted to go to Boise. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out. It made me laugh as the girls walked into the mall. We are country bumpkins for sure. That my girls feel like they have never really been to a mall of that magnitude. They thought the escalators were the funnest. We shopped and looked around that mall for 5 hours.(I meant to get pictures of different outfits)Blakely enjoyed shopping a little too much. Katelyn had to be convinced to shop because all she had eyes for was the Disney Store. When we were looking for shoes, Katelyn wanted high heels and her mother had to keep saying that the shoes she was trying on were not "age appropriate". (She did not appreciate me)We then headed to Red Robin Yum! for lunch/dinner. We hit the outlet mall on the way out of town and headed home getting home about 9pm. They had to show their Dad each outfit. On Sunday we headed to both Grandmas to have another fashion show. What a day!

Back to School 2009-2010

2009-09-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

We now have been in school 3 weeks. So I guess it is time to update the blog. Blakely is now in 7th grade, Katelyn in 4th grade, Garret in Kindergarten, and Mom is still in first grade. Blakely of course loves every minute of school. She was bummed that she got a bottom locker again this year, because she is always getting hit by books. She is still in band playing the tenor sax.(Of course Mom is on her about praciticing) She is now 5'4.
Katelyn has Mrs. Osterhout for her teacher. She is enjoying school, but for some reason since school has started to sleep in Shawn and I's closet because she feels safer. She sneaks in every night somehow; Mom and Dad are getting tired of it. Her very best friend Emily is not in her class so that has been a hard thing, but two special girls Rachel and Rebecca are in her class and she has enjoyed being around these special spirits.
Garret has been waiting all summer to go to Kindergarten. He is going to kindergarten in the afternoon and has Mrs. Mendenhall as his teacher. He is enjoys every day so far.
I have a class of 26 kids. My first day was crazy as 5 kids showed up not on my list. I had 29 children the first day and then with a few switches all of us now have 26 kids. I think for some reason Wednesday is our class' best day. I am starting off the school heavily loaded as I am taking a math class every Tuesday until 9pm. Blakely and Shawn pick up the slack. Only 7 more weeks to go until the class is done.
Brady is continued to be watched by Tara, who is a wonderful lady. She is expecting a baby at Thanksgiving, so I am sure he will love being around a baby. (He loves babies.)

Blakely's Braces

2009-08-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

The time has finally come for the jaw dropping expense of braces. Blakely had her braces put on Aug. 5. She did very well getting them on. I have never had the experience of having braces so I relied on the experiences of others to prepare Blakely. I expected tears as they put on her braces, but alas that never came to be. She chose blue brackets because her favorite color is blue. She truly looks older and a teenager as my sister said. Her mouth was very tender for the next week or so as she learned what she could and could not eat. She has taken great care of her teeth brushing after every meal.(Hopefully this continues) She is sad when at the fair everyone else got cotton candy and she couldn't have any. So we will look ahead until Aug. 2011 to see her very expensive smile pay off. My camera went down so I will get the picture put on later. Sorry.

Conversation Time

2009-07-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

This morning Garret was playing with Brady when he notices that Brady eye teeth are quite pointy. (Which they are) He exclaims, " Brady, you are turning into a vampire." He then calls the girls into the livingroom to come and see that Brady is turning into a vampire. He then proceeds to have Brady climb up on the couch and try to fly and turn into a bat. Because we know that vampires turn into bats and can fly. I really don't know where he comes up with all this stuff.I was laughing this whole time and just needed to write it down.

Swimming lessons 09

2009-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

We had swimming lessons last week. Blakely, Katelyn, and Garret all took lessons at the Raquetball club this year. Lessons were at 9:30 in the morning, so it was always a rush to get walking in and a few things before it was time to go. We took them with our friends the Bronsons. The ratio was 3 to 1, so lots of undivided attention. All the kids did great. We had lunch in the park afterwards almost everyday. We enjoyed getting out of the house everyday.

38 is old!

2009-07-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well another year has come and gone. It was Shawn's 38th birthday on July 18th. I can not tell you how much I love this man. The first thing besides his looks of course that attracted me to him was his work ethic. He works very hard at his job and dreams. He still has his manly figure.(Yah Yah!) He doesn't even look 38. He is extremely supportive of me and the kids.
For his birthday he decided to get a DVR and ESPN. Yes, I have been holding out on him for the last couple years. So we upgraded. He loves the DVR. It will be well used. We had a wonderful dinner of meatballs and cheesy potatoes. (His favorite dinner) He had a boysenberry ice cream cake. It was a wonderful day of celebrating. We have a nephew that has a same birthday. We hope Makoy had just has good of birthday as Shawn did.

YW Camp

2009-07-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Since YW camp was a week ago, I guess I better get it on the blog.I was priligived to go to girls camp this year with Blakely. She was so excited to go to camp. Our camp theme was United in Example. We camped up on Thompson Flats. We started out on a hike. The first mile was straight up. We hiked over the mountain into Albion. We then proceded up to the camp site. We had lunch and started into our value stations. Our wonderful camp director had each leader have a station on a value. Each girl needed to learn the color, definition, and scripture for each value. If they learned this they received a bead for each thing. They could end up with 24 beads. I think everyone did a great job. Blakely and I got all 24 beads. (Now if we only can remember everything now.) We had some crafts to do. The girls could make dog tags to go with their necklaces and make a ball to throw around. I had divine nature and brought blue beads for every girl to make themselves a Blue bracelet to remember them of Divine Nature. The girls could make Bubble CTR rings and cute mini clip boards. There was so much for them to do. My friend Jamie and I were in charge of skits for the night. I decided to make skits in a bag. The girls did a nice job putting them together. This is where the wildness begin. I don't know if it was the mountian air or the sugar, but the girls sang and were basically crazy. We sang "Bananas Unite", "Little Sally", "Ride that Pony", and did the washing machine.
That night the girls went strong until about 2 am in their tent. It was so cold that night. I froze my toes off. I was so glad to see morning. I did call Shawn and ask him to send more sleeping bags and blankets. He did make the comment that that when the boys went to camp the leaders didn't ask if they were cold. The boys just dealt with it. The next day was freezing all day long. We did camp certifcation and more crafts. Everyone at camp ended up with braided hair and some kind of painted fingernails. We had wonderful meals and lots of food. We had a nice testimony meeting which included giving the camp director and the bishop their own levi quilt. After the testimony meeting the wildness roared up again. The bishopric and the high council over YW joined in with all the songs and doing the washing machine.
Then we had the famed snipe hunt. The older girls had the younger girls ready to hunt. They insisted on wearing toothpaste on their faces. Even the leaders that went ended up with it on their face. I think I ended up with toothpaste in my hair. Some had it inside noses and ears. We found a good variety of baby, teenager, and momma snipes. I even got scratched by one. It was another late night, but lots warmer. The next morning we packed up and played a little more before we headed down off the mountain. I quickly showered and headed to get my other three children. I thought they would be ready to come home, but no one wanted to leave Grandma's.(Thank you Grandma and Dad) I am so glad I finally got this opportunity to be with YW.

The DROPS

2009-07-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last Monday night we headed to Shoshone to a place called THE DROPS My brother Brian and his family were here visiting. It would be my only chance to see their family before they headed back to Arizona. So even though we were leaving for girls camp the next morning at 7 am we went to party it up. We went to a place where they have a cement lined canal. You jump off a bridge into the water. The water flows about 15mph and you float down about 5 min. until you have to hurry and get out before you go over the DROP Well first my brother Blake who is the most cautious person there is, scared us to death. He told the kids and I in exact terms what his expectations were for us to follow. #1 You must wear a life jacket. #2 Children will only go with an adult. #3 As soon as you hit the rapids you swim to the side or you may not be going home tonight. (Katelyn at this time pipes up "That's okay, I don't want to go home tonight." Which brought a smirk but was told she might die.) Well, I did it first so I could get a feel for it and it was pretty fun. Next I took Garret who I convinced to go. We jumped in before
he could change his mind. He clung to my neck the entire way, but we made it out alive. Next was Katelyn who had already got down with my brother. Katelyn did great execpt when we hit the rapids it shot us out in the middle of the canal and it made me nervous. So I kept pushing her over and trying to get her to the side. Well we made it with seconds to spare. All in all it was fun, but next time I would like my husband there also. We ended up getting home at 11:30, I stayed up until about 1:30 making sure I was ready for camp.

First Boating Trip of the Season

2009-07-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

We sure love having a Grandpa that lets us borrow all his toys. Grandpa Peterson lets us borrow his snowmobiles in the winter and his boat in the summer. Thanks Grandpa. The girls were ready to go out on the boat on the 4th of July, but we talked them into waiting until the next week when more people wanted to go. Friday night was a beautiful night out on the river. We took Kali out with us. We got some pizza and ate it on the boat. Shawn drove the boat and the girls and I took turns riding the tube( not too fast of course.) The one time we got dumped Katelyn and I went skidding across the water. I almost lost my swimsuit bottoms. The favorite time is when we would stop and the kids could just jump into the river and swim alittle. We even got Brady in the water. Garret dipped his toe in the river, he still is not ready to jump in. I don't quite get it. He loves the water, but he just can't get over his fear when it comes to the river. We enjoyed the evening and decided that we better head back before dark. We raced the sun as it set. The kids want to do it again this week.

Oh, What do you do in the Summertime? pt. 1

2009-07-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

This summer so far has been a little crazy. I keep thinking it will slow down but I think that life is just crazy in general. We have tried to have a family walk every morning. We have done pretty good until the last two weeks and then it has gotten spotty. I wanted a time where the kids and I could be together and enjoy each other and get the kids moving more at the same time.
Sometimes we go with a little ear twisting, but it has been done.

Blakely had a YW project to do before camp. The YW presidency wanted each girl to make a denim quilt. We cut a lot of denim squares. We spent most of May activites cutting denim. We cut a lot of denim at home. Each girl and leader decorated their own square and exchanged them. One of the YW leaders embroided all the YW values, the Twin Falls temple, and our camp theme. Blakely and I got it sewn in record time and even had enough material to make a pillow for her and her cousin Alyssa.

Bear Lake- Haws Family Reunion

2009-07-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my mother's side of the family reunion. We went down with Blake and his family. We spent the night in Lava Hot Springs. We got there just in time to set up camp and roast smores. Since we don't do much camping unless our Dad is forced to I went and bought some new sleeping bags and some fancy dancy headlights for the kids. I keep trying to presuade Shawn in more camping but so far he wins. It was a long night with 5 trains coming past our campsite. The kids of course had a ball. We then heade to Bear Lake to meet up with my mother's side family. We passed Soda Springs and Uncle Blake spotted a car show so we had a detour. The kids walked around looking at the old cars and played at the playground. Then on to Bear Lake. We headed down to the beach. The kids loved playing in the sand and in the water. Blakely and Katelyn were barely seen because they were out so far. They swam all afternoon. We enjoyed visiting with my cousins and aunts and uncles. It still shocks me everytime I see my Aunt PollyAnna because she looks like my mother so much. I think I just stare at her.
We then filled our car with sand has we headed up to Minnetoka Cave and walked down 440 stairs to see the inside of this cave. And you guessed it 440 steps back up. The kids made it and the parents made it too. It was interesting for the kids to see the inside of a cave. We then returned home arriving home about 11:30. I so enjoyed having my little immediate family with me and spending time with them even with all the hard work to get ready.

Father's Day Ties

2009-06-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

My husband cooked a wonderful breakfast for Mother's Day, so I of course had to make a nice one also. I found a cute idea on the internet for tie pancakes. I made them and I thought they turned out so cute, until Garret started making comments about my fish pancakes. Shawn was quick to agree with Garret. What do you think?

Steadman's

2009-06-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to reserve Steadman's (which is a huge waterslide in Raft River) for a year or two. You know something to break up the summer. We had a cousin coming to stay with us for about a week. So we reserved Steadman's for Monday. The weather in June has some what been different then usual. It has basically rained for the last three weeks. Sunday the skies opened up again and poured. So with a prayer we headed to Steadman's Monday night with several friends. The kids enjoyed the waterslide and the zipline. I made my kids wait until their Dad was there to be with them on the zipline. I wouldn't let my neice do the zipline because I was afraid if she fell my head would be toast. It was very balmy but the kids kept sliding even with blue lips. We finally had to shut it down about 9:00. I didn't get my camera because Blakely was very impatient. I had taken pictures of my tie pancakes for Father's Day the day before, but before we left to go I couldn't find my camera anywhere. Blakely kept saying you don't need your camera, Just come on. So I finally gave in and went. We will have to reserve it next summer. Maybe more can come...

What's the only kind of Motorcycle we can have?

2009-06-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

HONDA of course...... Shawn decided that if he can't buy himself a new motorcycle then his kids were going to have one. Shawn found a brand new CR 50 for Garret at the beginning of May. The kids have enjoyed riding it. Garret was all gung ho and he was doing pretty good until he started getting cocky. He had a small crash. Not even a sratch on him. Then he was a little hestiate to get back on. But after seeing his sisters ride it, he decided he would give it another go. They all have done well in learning riding the motorcycle. Blakely of course already needs bigger motorcycle.

Memorial Day

2009-06-13T18:10:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a couple of weeks, but these few weeks out of school have been crazy. Growing up we never really observed the putting flowers on the graves of your loved ones, basically because we didn't live near any family members. Ever since my mom died we have gone down to Utah to her grave every Memorial Day. My mother's favorite flower was lilacs. So my Dad wanted us to pick lilacs. I do not have any lilacs at my house, so has we drove down we looked for an abandoned place with lilacs. We found a place in Declo and we picked not worrying about someone yelling at us. We enjoyed a nice lunch with Kim and Lampee. We then went over to my Mom's gravesite and enjoyed the solitude.

SCHOOL IS OUT!

2009-05-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

Summer Time is here. We offically ended the 2008-2009 school year. Yes, we made it through. This last month was a dozy. Blakely went to Craters of the Moon on Wednesday. She had to be at the school at 6 a.m. and didn't get home until 6 p.m. They hiked and walked through caves. She enjoyed going on the field trip. Katelyn had field day on Monday in 85-90 degree weather. It was hot. She ran her little heart out. I even did the high jump to show off to the first grade boys. The P.E. teacher said I cleared it by a foot(whatever!), I'm just glad I didn't make a fool out of myself.
I have felt on the downhill slide for the last month. So now it is time to play alittle catch up in my life. I still need to finish up my classroom on Tuesday, but other then that we are done. We usually go out to dinner on the last night of school to celebrate, but this year the youth in our stake were invited out to Grouse Creek to a barn dance.(12 and up.) Blakely and I headed out about 5 p.m. It takes about an hour to get there on twisty back roads. The Grouse Creek branch did such a nice job. They had dinner cooking when we got there. They had questions on a sheet of paper. You had to go around and ask 12 people who were not in your ward different questions. If you filled this out you got to put your name in a drawing for prizes. They had a live band and they taught everyone how to swing and do a line dance. Blakely danced almost every danced. She had a great time. We got home close to midnight. Shawn stayed with the other childern. We did go out to eat Saturday night after working the children all Saturday. When asked what the kids wanted to do this summer the reply was swimming. Good Luck to those finishing up school. It's summer Time!

Daddy's Boy

2009-05-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

Brady is offically a DADDY'S BOY! For the first year of his life he didn't stray to far from his mommy. When he woke up during the night it was Mommy he yelled and it was my side of the bed he came to. Now we hear,"Daddy" and guess who side of the bed he comes to? It is DAD's. If Shawn leaves before we leave in the morning and Brady hasn't see his Dad he is a little upset. When Shawn arrives home from work, Brady is waiting at the door for him. He wraps his arms around Shawn's legs and yells, "Dad." When Shawn is home, Brady trails behind him. Brady nows has to have Shawn hold him before he goes to sleep at night. I hope he keeps his relationship strong with his Dad always.

Baseball Season is over!

2009-05-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

This year we chose to do Declo Rec. baseball. It was nice to have games only on Saturday and to be done by the last week of school. The weather didn't always cooperate this year, but it is nice not having June and some July spent on the baseball fields 5 nights a week. Blakely, Katelyn, and Garret all played. They all did a nice job. Garret would run and jump on every ball. Katelyn did well on pitching machine. Blakely enjoyed being able to have a chance to pitch.

Blakely's B-day Party!

2009-05-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Blakely had a friend's party. She had about 4 of her friends that came over to our house. It is different as your kids get older, the part you play in their party. I was in the background instead of being the director. Blakely wanted Katelyn gone, so we arranged to have her go over to a friend's house. Shawn took the two boys to the father and son camp out(only for dinner.) We enjoyed chicken tacos. I just sat and listened to the conversation.(You learn interesting things when you just sit and listen to a bunch of girls talk.) The girls made hair flowers and bows.(They didn't want to quit.) They played and had fun. I think that the last girl went home about 10:45(the party was supposed to end at 9:30)I am glad friend's parties are only on even years.

Watch out! Blakely's 12!

2009-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Man, do I feel old! My baby turns two and my oldest turns 12 within a week of each other. Blakely is now officially 12 as I write this blog. As I mentioned before time marches on. Blakely got to go to mutual with me for the first time Wednesday, because it was a mother daughter activity. We worked together painting a beautiful flower pot. Thursday night we had to go to Wally world to find a white shirt for her band concert Friday night.(She plays the tenor sax.) We decided it was time for the 12 year old present of ears being pierced. She was so brave as the video indicates, even while her sister telling her I hope you don't die. She had her friend Miriam spend the night Friday night and stayed at our house most of Saturday. She was awaken to chocolate chip muffins with a candle. She did have to dust on her birthday however. We went down to eat dinner with Grandpa Manwaring. She got a few shirts and a new fangled dangled 5 in one curling iron that she wanted. It is not working as well as she hoped so maybe that will go back. She will have a friends birthday party this weekend. Blakely is a sweetheart. She is always willing to help even when she growls at you. She is a beautiful young lady and I hope she continues to develop her talents. She has learned this year to enjoy playing the piano finally. She now practices it for enjoyment then to get her mom off her back. She is easygoing and is almost always cheerful. She is a friend to everyone. We sure love you.

Katelyn rocks the halls at Declo Elementary

2009-05-03T16:05:00.001-07:00

Katelyn reached her 100 points in AR. She reached it right before the deadline for the fun rock the halls. This is where the entire school lines up in the gym and the kids who have reached a certain amount of points run through the line and give high fives and music is blaring. She kept telling me I can't do it, I can't make it. I would always reply," Yes, you can, just read more." She did it!!

Brady is 2!

2009-05-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

My baby is TWO!! Time goes by so fast. Brady's birthday was April 25th. We really didn't celebrate his birthday until Sunday because Saturday was jammed packed. Our family had birthday cake and let him open his birthday present. When asked what he wanted for his birthday he would say vroom! Meaning he wanted a motorcycle. We of course had to remind Garret whose motorcycle is was. Brady is talking more and more. I have been a little worried about him talking, but I knew understood everything we said. His favorite words are ME and Daddy. He is the most lovable little boy. He loves to almost maul you with hugs and kisses. He loves his Dad and his big brother Garret. He wants to do everything Garret does to the dismay of his parents. We often have to remind Garret that Brady will follow him. He loves to climb and be into everything. He sure has his parents wrapped around his fingers. We hope he had a good birthday and love him and hope he makes good decisions throughout his life.

Another Epsiode of the redneck cow adventure

2009-05-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, the family went out to see Shawn who was out working in the barn. He was actually our feeding the cows. We were talking to him when I looked up and see one of the momma cows walking back and forth around the water trough. I see splashing coming from the water trough and decide there is a baby calf in the water. I yell at Shawn and start running across the field and slide under the fence and run out to the trough. Sure enough there is a baby calf in the trough so I grab his legs and try to pull him out of the water. I know that Shawn will be there to help any second. What I didn't see was the momma cow behind me. She was not happy that I was there. Shawn yelled at the momma and rescued the baby. Good thing he came or else I probably would have been in the trough also. Shawn didn't know why I was in such a rush to get the baby cow out. That I wasn't even concerned about the momma cow. Well, I guess it was just motherly instinct because I didn't even think of checking on the momma cow. I learned I better check on the mother cow first and then help the baby cow.

Easter

2009-04-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

Our Easter weekend was packed full of craziness. Saturday was the kid's first baseball game. Our weather was back to winter weather. We froze while we watched Katelyn, Garret, and Blakely play. Shawn and I drove down to Utah to get our new van. I did make him eat at Cafe Rio this time.(The story behind this - the weekend before we went to go look at the van. I tried to get everyone to go to Cafe Rio, but no one wanted to. We went to Golden Corral(the kids favorite) instead. Katelyn kept saying after, " too bad, Mom that we didn't go to Cafe Rio.") Shawn indulged me even though he told the kids that He wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse. He just couldn't break my heart twice. We got up the next morning and made rolls and turkey. We enjoyed church and came home and made sure we were ready for my Dad. We had an enjoyable dinner with him. The kids had a easter egg hunt while Grandpa and Dad took a nap. It was such a nice day. Too bad it snowed a day later and lasted two days.

New Wheels!

2009-04-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally found us a new set of wheels. We have been driving our old van since our accident in December. I kept putting it off because it was sure nice not to have a car payment and I really wanted another Durango. We searched and searched but when we found one in the price range we wanted and mileage we wanted it was sold. Well, Shawn started talking about maybe going back to a van. Well, I wanted 4 wheel drive and such. But he started talking about how nice it was to fill up for about $25 and if and when gas goes back up, it was hard to spend the $70 to fill up the durango. Plus with me driving to school everyday. So frugality won out. We found a van in Salt Lake. It even has a DVD player in it. The kids sure love the van. I guess it was a good thing we bought it when we did, because the old van with 187,000 miles on it started acting up on the way to get the new van. I think that it was just mad that we got a new van.

Katelyn has new glasses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-22T16:48:00.001-07:00

Kateyn finally got new glasses. And of course they are what kind of glasses?? If you can answer this question about them you win... They are cute High School Musical glasses. They even came with a cute glass case. Hopefully, she gets use to wearing glasses again, since it has been a little while since her last ones kept breaking.

Spring Break is over :(

2009-03-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow starts the final 9 weeks of school.(I can't believe that it has gone this fast.) This last week as been a nice week to sleep in a little and try to have a little bit of fun. We were planning to go to Arizona to see my sister Beth but with her son Zane just getting out of the hospital, that didn't happen. So on goes the week. We cleaned house of course; because you know I am the meanest mom ever. On Tuesday, it was St. Patrick's Day, so the girls wanted to make a special green breakfast. They took full charge of the meal. I sat on the couch and watch Good Morning America.

The meal was wonderful. Too bad they didn't clean up breakfast as well as they made it.

Wednesday we headed down to my dad's for a quick lunch and clean up of his house. We met up with a couple other families at Thousand Springs for a fun swimming afternoon. We enjoyed floating and swimming in the pool. You know you stayed to long when someone get hurts. Right at the end Garret who had wanted to go 30 minutes earlier swam right into the wall. He put his tooth through his bottom lip. I thought he might need a stitch, but he has healed up pretty well. He looked worse for wear with the carpet burn that he gave himself earlier in the week on his forehead,the big fat lip and the scar on his chin. We ended the night by having Costco pizza in a park and playing with our good friends the Bronsons.

Thursday I became the Paint Nazi as we raced to Utah to help Aunt Kim paint her upstairs. We painted Eva's room and her kitchen and livingroom. Too bad we didn't get too Will's room. We pushed the kids until about 8:30 that night. Blakely and Katelyn helped with kids during the day. We enjoyed McDonald's for dinner. We came home and put kids to bed about 10 or so. We woke up and touched up spots until about 10 or so. We got ready and ran into Ogden to shop a little at Savers. Love Savers. Beth got me hooked. We ran back to Kim's and put her livingroom back together. When she started calling me the paint nazi I knew it was time to go. It looks good.

Saturday we decided this would be family fun day since Dad could join us. We started it off by finishing the rock wall outside. Doesn't that sound like fun? The kids didn't think so either. We took advantage of the 70 degree weather to work outside. We were trying to teach them it can be fun to work together as a family also. Well, after we finished we loaded up and headed to Twin to go to the new bounce house. We bounced, slid,whacked, and raced each other around the gym. It was pretty fun. We then headed out to eat at Golden Corral. Fun filled day.

It was a fun Spring Break..... Just a side note, we woke up Sunday morning to snow. It snowed until about 1 in the afternoon. As Shawn says that's spring in Idaho.

Winter Skiing

2009-03-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

Blakely went skiing with the school this year. Last night was her last night going skiing with the school. She has enjoyed learning how to ski and last night even made it down a new run called SPUD. She is a cautious skier and practices her pizza stance well. She even went skiing with our mutual group Wednesday night for $5 dollar skiing. I watched her go up and down the bunny hill several times. I have been proud of her to try this new adventure since her mom is a big chicken. Maybe I need to try with her, but I may get us both killed.

Redneck Vet

2009-03-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Shawn said I needed to blog about this, so here we go. As you know we have some bulls that we have been raising for meat and maybe sell a few to off set the cost of raising them. Well, we have lost about three of them and Shawn looked up in his vet books what he thought it was and decided we better get them vaccinated. So he got the medicine and he was already out in the free stalls with the cows when we got home Wed. night. The boys wanted to go out and see Dad. So I threw on some flip flops and headed out to see if and when Shawn needed help. When we got out there, Shawn was already starting to separate the cows. He yells, "I NEED YOU NOW!" I look at my feet and try to tell I am wearing flip flops. He yells again, " I NEED YOU NOW." So in I went flip flops and all. I was keeping the rest of the cows up so we could sort the cows. I had left Garret and Brady at the top of the free stalls. Brady did not like that so he starts crying, trying to get in through the cows to get down to me. I can't go up or else the cows will come down. I whisper yell at Garret to go get his brother. Garret starts crying because he doesn't want to go in by the big cows. So he finally grabs Brady with much weeping and pulls him out. They both stand there crying. I had Shawn throw me his cell phone and call Blakely to run out and get Brady. She ran out and took him in and brought me back my shoes. Anyway, we got them all vaccinated, but it was a little wild at first.

Prayers and Thoughts Needed

2009-02-23T20:07:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Beth's new son Zane is in the hospital. He has pneumonia. He was admitted into the hospital Sunday. He had to be incubated. Our thoughts and prayers are with their family at this time. The timeline is that he will be incubated for about 10 days and then will be taken off. We hope that this timeline will be shorten. Most likely Zane will be in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Please keep them in your prayers. Thanks.... Love you all Becky

What we've been doing for fun

2009-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Shawn made these jousting sticks for Garret and Brady. They were suppose to be swords. They ended up a bit bigger that he anticipated. Brady can bearly lift his. Garret and the girls and Shawn and enjoyed fighting with each other.Every night someone wants to joust with their Dad.

Sparkly Boy

2009-02-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

Well, it was being way to quiet. I thought I better go look for Brady. I went into my bathroom and found this. He had pulled out my make-up case and opened one of my eyeshadows. Needless to say, he sparkled, the floor sparkled, the case sparkled, and most of all the eyeshadow was all over something. I had Shawn give him a bath and I cleaned up the bathroom. The next morning when I put on my foundation I looked like a sparkly bronzed godness. He used my brush in the process.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day was a girl's night out instead of a romantic night with Shawn. Katelyn's reading teacher got married on Valentine's Day. We thought it would be fun to go to the reception with our good friends the Bronsons. We went to the reception and wished the new couple well.

Mr. and Mrs. Larsen and the girls

The girls wanted to go to a fancy resturant, but we tried to tell them that because it was Valentine's day and Burley High School had a dance that night they all would busy; so they settled for DQ. The girls got sillier and sillier as the night went on but it was nice to have a girls night out.

What a BEAUTY!

2009-01-18T18:24:00.001-08:00

Here is Blakely in her Christmas dress already for church. I just had to show her off. She is so pretty!