Happy 6th Birthday to my Baby Girl!

My baby girl turned 6 on the 28th! I can't believe how fast time flies. The last time I looked she looked just like this.....

And look how cute my baby boy is!! I could squeeze those adorable cheeks!!

I love you tons Syd!...I'm so glad I finally got my girl!!

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You know I love these Muppets videos!!.....Merry Christmas!

The STINKER strikes again.......

If something has been sprayed, colored, written on, flushed, dumped.......

you name it, Kaden probably did it!

This time he meant well!

He thought he would help out by starting the dishwasher. 

He was already told not to start the dishwasher, especially with out soap in it, because it's a waste of water and makes the dishes look dirty.

So, this time he put liquid dish soap in it, then started it!

Kaden with his handy work!

I caught it pretty early

and I got out the carpet cleaner and sucked up the suds on the floor...and in the dishwasher.

It wasn't THAT bad.

Thanks for being soo helpful bud!



Trunk-or-treat!

Last year as we where moving in, my kids watched our new ward enjoy trunk-or-treating

and I felt bad because they REALLY wanted to go. 

 I had no idea where anything was, let alone Halloween costumes.

So, I promised them, "Next year we'll go, I promise."

It's next year!

This is our spooky brood!

Ty's real costume wasn't ready.  We came up with a quick, easy NERD costume.

Kaden couldn't wear his real costume because it has a hood...so another quick and easy Zombie.

Syd is a Monarch Butterfly Fairy...her real costume.

Blake couldn't wear his real costume either because it has a mask. 
We went with the next best thing, the Guille suit.

Justin had to work, as usual, so we went with out him, sucker.  He missed out!

They had a yummy dinner, a costume parade, then.....

TRUNK-OR-TREATING. 

The kids had a blast and they got enough candy to tide them over till Trick-or-treating.

"What have you been up to?" you ask?........

So, I've been a slacker, what's new? 

Summer was long, but good.

We have lawn and it's soo nice!  Did I already mention that? 

 

Here's a few other things that we've been up to:  

Kaden finally learned to ride his bike..only because he didn't want to be shown up by his little sister.

Syd learned to ride her bike before Kaden.  It's nice having the church right across the street.

We grew a little tomato garden...that turned out to be a BIG tomato garden.
They where on the south side of the house and go a LOT of water. 
They grew up the house, then fell.
 Then started growing up the house again...and down both window wells.  They where CRAZY!

Kaden lost two teeth within minutes of each other.  And good thing too, he was starting to have shark teeth!

 Kaden and I celebrated our birthday...And for some reason I forgot to take pictures. 

Actually, I think Justin has some.  I'll have to get some from him.

We started back to school...Our first day picture.

Tyler started 6th grade with Mrs. Malmborg and Slater. 

 Blake started 4th grade with Mr. Matt (Mrs. Malmborg's husband). 

Kaden started 2nd grade with Mrs. Stewart. 

And Sydney started Full-day Kindergarten with Miss. Payne. 

 I also went back with them, and I do all 3 recesses! (It stinks, to be honest)

Then there's my favorite Season...FALL!

It took a little longer for me to get motivated to decorate, but here it is!

We have resurrected Frankie, yet again.

We put some spider webs up for Aragon. 

A bale of hay for our new Funkins.

And a few corn stalks

You can kinda see Aragon on the roof...we also have a jack-o-lantern in the front window.

This is Kaden's Funkin...If you don't know what a Funkin is, it's a fake pumpkin that is carvable.

Blake's Mario

Sydney's Hello Zombie

Tyler has a Funkin too, but he's using his for his Halloween costume.  That'll be a surprise for later!

More of summer......

I found more pictures from the 4th. These ones have more of the cousins!

*****

Also some pictures from our Kennecott Copper Mine trip 

(We had free tickets... took advantage of that)

I felt like I was on a school Field Trip.

*****

I threw in some pictures of the yard so you can see our lawn progress.

It seems really slow to me. Only because I NEED lawn!

*****

And last, but not least, our Pioneer Day festivities!

I made foil dinners to honor the pioneers...most of them didn't have that nice of meals though.

We also sat in the front yard with the fire pit to watch the neighborhood fireworks

 and roast Chocolate/Vanilla swirl marshmallows. 

*****

I'm sure I'll have more pictures later...or find more, somewhere.

Enjoy!!

Summer 2011...So far!

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Life is good......

The kids made it through 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade

and we are enjoying summer!

Justin started in a new shop at work this week

(it's been a long time coming....I think he interviewed for it in August of last year).

And I just finished my audit, on my second round as Treasurer for the PTA.

What more could a person ask for?

When the world seems to be in shambles and a little crazy

 (sometimes a lot crazy) I get to come home to my little preview of Heaven.

All I can do is thank my Heavenly Father for my many blessings.

 And for giving me five people who will always be there for me, no matter what

 (although that might change when the kids become teenagers).

We have sprinklers...not that we need them with all this RAIN!

Remember when I was griping about my yucky embarrassing yard...

It has now been upgraded to almost normal.

Over the last two or three weekends we where able to move the wood chips, till the backyard, trench, and put sprinklers in. 

Can I tell you how crazy the dirt at my house makes me? 

When it's wet....you are caked with it!  And it can be VERY slippery. 

When it's dry.....it's like adobe bricks! 

 I don't think there's a nice happy medium....

Hey, maybe there is......grass!!

My next endeavor!

Here's a few before and afters:

(You've seen a few of these before)

Out the back door, looking to the left a little

Out the back door, looking to the right.

Out the back door, looking to the far left.

The back yard after we took out wood chips and tilled.

Looking at the yard from the opposite side.

This is where we put some of the wood chips.
(Not where I thought they should go...I thought they would look better at the dump)

And the rest of the wood chips

Spray paint lines and flags after Blue Stakes came.

We have one of those huge electrical/everything boxes in our front yard
 so MORE lines and flags

Our main line trench and new box

The front yard with trenches

One of the back yard trenches
(We didn't have lawn to worry about and it was sooo much easier)

Justin's handy work...the new valve box.  There was also one that was already installed in the back yard.

Proof that they really do work.  Justin was adjusting and checking for leaks.

I'm glad the hard physical work is done. 
The next step will be the hard mental work of waiting for the grass to grow....I'm so impatient!

Silk Anniversary!

On April 8th Justin and I celebrated 12 years of marriage.  What an accomplishment!  It's been soo great that I think I can handle a dozen more Silk Anniversaries (that's 144 years) plus Eternity!

I feel bad that it's taken this long to post something but life has been crazy!

This is for my Teenage Dream:

  

I LOVE THESE!

Happy, Happy Eleven Years!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

You dance like a Pirate.....

And you smell like one to!!

Today at 10:17 am Tyler officially turned 11years of age!

He came into this world weighing 7 pounds and 3 ounces.

He also had a full head of blond, sticky-up hair and perfectly formed eyebrows.

This is kind-of a crummy picture,

(What do you expect?

We where only married for 11 months and 15 days at that point.

Digital cameras where the least of our worries.)

But the adorable baby makes up for it.

Since then Ty has grown 41 inches. (He's now 5' 1'')

And has gained 80 pounds and 7 ounces. (He's 88lbs now)

All of his baby teeth are gone and 12 year old molars are commin' in.

We even had to sit through maturation classes...uughh!

My first baby is no longer a baby. (But he'll always be my baby)

To celebrate today,

we had frosting and a little bit of carrot cake

(provided by Grandma Beep-Beep...she always puts too much frosting)

And Napoleon ice cream.

We also decided a Spanking Machine was in order.

3 Spanks from Blake, Kaden, and Sydney. 2 from me with a pinch to grow an inch!

Kaden and Syd where a little to short for Ty to go under, and Syd ended up getting a ride.

All in all, it was fun, but the real birthday party with everyone and presents will be Saturday.

Some pictures for your enjoyment!

All 11 candles, one candle is already blown out.

Ty in all his B-day glory

(Holy nostrils kid!)

The post-Spanking Machine ride.

I think I have a frosting head-ache........

Funny Guy!!

Last summer, in August, we went to East Carbon Utah to take care of some family business.

After all was said and done, we went out to eat on the way home in Price.

The tradition when we go out is to get Ice cream for dessert.

I forgot to take pictures of everything,

but I did happen to take pictures of our time in the restaurant.

I told Blake,

"Act like you REALLY like your Ice Cream."

This is what I got!

This is totally how he is!

Since then, I've noticed, he really does make this face when he's super excited.

This boy totally entertains me.

Another funny story. We went to a Taco Time near our house a couple weeks ago.

We got there during a little bit of a rush. So quite a few people where in the building.

We just sat down to eat and since our family is getting bigger,

two of the kids where across the isle in their own booth.

When out of nowhere, a very LOUD fart echoed through the restaurant.

We looked to see where the noise came from, and low and behold....

It was Blake.

He actually was leaning over to let it flow a little better and he had a look on his face that said,

"Did I do that?"

And because of the MAGNITUDE, I'm sure the fry-cook in the back even heard.

What do you do?

Justin and I looked at each other...

and we couldn't help but laugh.

We didn't want to seem rude but we couldn't help it.

I was already Slap-happy, and I laughed till I cried.

A dude on the other side of the half-wall slowly peeked his head over to see who could have produced such a noise, all we could do was apologise.

Later in the truck Blake asked if that was embarrassing.......

YES!!

Our sad, sad backyard...

When we decided on the house we're in, the only thing I HATED was the back yard.

The good thing about yards......they can be fixed!

Still, as you can see by the pictures, it will take some work.

You really can't tell in the pictures, but the majority of the yard has wood chips.

And the wood chips have had weeds and wild grass growing up through them,so it's nasty!

The good news is....

Our landlord has agreed to pay for a sprinkling system to be put in!

Since we have been working on sprinkling systems for a long time, we told him we are willing to put it in, if he pays for parts. Of course he jumped on that offer.

Justin and I have been plotting the yard, designing a layout,

and pricing parts so we can send him estimates.

(It sounds awful and not so fun, but it's actually my thing)

That was the easy part.

Now, we'll have to clean up and get rid of ALL the wood chips.

We have to decide if we want to break our backs for a weekend and rake it by hand or rent a Skid-turn and be done in a few hours.

(I say, rent the Skid-turn. I just have to convince Justin that it's a good idea.)

All I want to know is, who's the genius who thought of WOOD CHIPS?!

This is looking at the back yard from our porch....From left to right.

We have no shed. So our little trailers are loaded.

We do have a patch of grass for the doggies to do their business,

as you can see.

I'm sure the neighbors behind us will be excited
when we finally have the weed patch
taken care of.

We are on a corner lot so our backyard ugliness is shared with the neighborhood.

When the good weather hits, you'll never have to guess what we are up to!