Christmas Morn

Well, Christmas has come and gone. We were hoping to be snowed in for the day, but our snowstorm arrived Christmas night. The kids were good this year, and got up when asked (7 am), although Hayley's alarm woke me up at 6:45 am. This was set so she could do her hair for the pictures! Since when did she turn 13?! Anyways, I think the kids all enjoyed their presents and hopefully forgot the ones they didn't get. Here's some pics:

The family enjoying a little Guitar Hero on Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's.



The kids at Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Eve.

Hayley with her Dancing with the Stars PS2 game. Watch out Edyta!

Tyler with one of the only gifts from his Santa list - Batman Legos video game!

Zach with Guitar Hero III. We'll never see him again!

Justin with tissue paper?! He was across the room from me, and all I could see was the wrapping paper flying all around me from the other three kids, so this was one of a few that I actually captured of Justin.

Childhood Innocence

On Friday night, we had our Ward Christmas Party. This year, they planned a nice dinner for everyone with a short version of "The Polar Express" (which is the only way to go for this long, drawn-out movie). We were told to wear pajamas. Hayley, Justin and Tyler did for our family, and the rest of us went in our clothes. I don't know about anyone elses ward get togethers, but my kids like to hang out with friends. I have long since given up on trying to keep the kids with us. The only kid that ate dinner with our family was Justin (gotta love Justin!), the rest were scattered throughout the gym with their friends. After dinner, the movie started, and all the smaller kids sat to watch. My older two started roaming the halls with friends. Zach and his posse found a classroom to watch "Napoleon Dynamite" on his PSP. Wish I would have known, cause I like that movie a whole lot more! Hayley and a couple of friends just wandered, giggling like girls do. After the party, it took us about 20 minutes to round everyone up, and I found Zach first who (along with his friends) told me that McKay (a 7th grade neighbor) kissed Hayley! My first question was, "WHERE?!" He answered by saying, "On the head." (That better be it!) I started looking for Hayley and Whitney, along with Whitney's mom. Then, my neighbor came out and asked if I had seen McKay. This immediately sent worry. A few minutes later, I found Hayley (without McKay!), and started asking about the kissing. She confirmed that he had kissed her on the head twice, but that was all. Fortunately, Hayley found this repulsive (since she's only in the 4th grade) and had to come home and take a shower and wash her hair! I think Kris came home and felt the need to check his gun! I do not look forward to the teenage years!

My Mud Room

This is what my mud room looked like (and still looks like) after this weekend. We received nine inches of snow over the weekend, and it didn't take long for my four kids to pull out coats, gloves, hats, boots and snow pants and head to the great outdoors for several hours of fun. They built snow forts, had snowball fights, and just enjoyed the fresh white powder.

Here in Farmington, we have a large flat yard. When we lived in Draper, we had a much smaller yard with retaining walls and small hills. The kids used to ski and sled down our backyard in Draper. At times, we all miss the hours of entertainment we had in our backyard there, but the kids seem to find fun with the snow anywhere. Oh, to be a kid again!

Let It Snow!

Last night, we decorated this...(a little messy, but worth it - I think!)

And this morning, we woke up to this...

I guess Christmas can come now.

Great Ideas to help with the Holidays

If you are like me, you look anywhere and everywhere for tips, help, and ideas to simplify the holidays. I ran across this website, and wanted to share:

www.organizedchristmas.com

Also, several years ago, my sister clued me in to a great website where your kids can write to Santa online, and as soon as they hit "Send", a message from Santa immediately appears. It is so real, that the first year we used it, Zach had just learned that Santa was not real, and after he sent his letter, he began to question whether he really was or not! It makes a believer out of any kid! Where was all this fun stuff when I was a kid?! Here's that website:

www.emailsanta.com

Check it out and enjoy the holidays!

Christmas Already?!

I still cannot believe that Christmas is only 25 days away! I thought I would make a list of the pros and the cons of the holidays for me:

Cons:

-I have no idea what to get for my twelve year old, and he's not helping me!
-My three other kids list' are way too long!
-I found nothing (repeat nothing!) at the day after Thanksgiving sales!
-I hate Walmart or any other store from here until January 2nd!
-My 10 foot Christmas tree looks really bare.
-I still have family members who I have no idea what to get for them.
-Any weight that I may have recently lost, has been or will be gained back.
-Those Salvation Army bell ringers.
-Neighbor gifts (any ideas?!)
-Christmas cards
-I'm sure there are more, but enough of the cons...

Pros:

-Family get-togethers
-The excitement in my kids (that's what Christmas is all about!)
-The fun traditions we get to do (decorate the tree, decorate gingerbread house, drive to see Christmas lights...)
-Helping others
-Some Christmas music (Home Alone album, Rosie Christmas album-bought when I still liked her, Elvis Christmas)
-Baking
-Looking forward to a new year
-Celebrating the Birth of our Savior

The Big Game

It is the time of year that most people look forward to, and I tend to dread. Anyone living in the state of Utah, is either red or blue. You know, U of U or BYU. I grew up being a BYU fan, in part to my parents. I never attended BYU, but my little sister went there, so I still have some loyal ties linking me to this school. Over the years, my two brothers became U of U fans. I think they liked the reputation of the school (U of U, party school, BYU, religious school). Enough said. When Kris and I were first married, he had just graduated from Ricks College and was looking to get his bachelors. He applied to both BYU and the U, and was accepted to both. We both really wanted him to go to the Y, but one Saturday, we took a drive down to Provo to check out the housing. It was hard to find any good places, along with jobs. I already had a good job, and I was going to be the breadwinner for a while, so we decided to go to the U so I wouldn't have to change jobs or commute further. This decision changed the game for me. I now have a die-hard Ute fan for a husband, and I am now a so-so BYU fan. It is much easier for me to not get so involved in it. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge football fan, I love this sport. I just wish I could watch the BYU-Utah game and totally cheer my team on. A couple of years ago, my mom and dad invited us to come watch the game with them and my two brothers. Half of us were Utes, the other half, Cougars. (You know it's bad when my kids started picking sides; usually they try to make us both happy and tend to go for the team of the parent they are trying to please. I have lost Zach to the dark, I mean red side, and Hayley likes to side with her mom, thatta girl! And then there's Justin and Tyler who are the swing voters!) The game got to be so competitive with my brothers that it was no fun. One brother has never been a good loser (lots of board games being thrown in the air when we were younger!). By the end of the fourth quarter, I was so mad at how rude he was being, I left to the kitchen, and missed the winning touchdown of BYU to beat the Utes. It's no fun when you can't enjoy a good win or a good game. I try to remain neutral all season and go for both teams, but when this one game of the year happens, it's time to go blue! Kris is pretty good about not being too in my face about it, thank goodness.

My kids elementary school does a really fun tradition every year during the week before the game. They have one day where they pick their team colors and wear their color. Today they had a team pep rally at lunch for the big game, and they also have a canned goods fund raiser where the kids bring cans and put them in the bin marked BYU or Utah. At the end of the week, they announce the winner with the most amount. This year, I am sad to say the winner was Utah! I hope this isn't a precursor to the game tomorrow. Until tomorrow, go COUGARS!!!

My Job: Mom

This week was one of those weeks where I sometimes wished I didn't have to be so responsible. You know the kind where you have to take care of needy problems at home...

This week happened to be Parent/Teacher Conference week, so therefore, Davis School District lets the elementary students have early day all week long! Talk about a mother's nightmare! I had big plans of getting the kids their flu shots after school, didn't happen. Zach had 2+ friends over on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That was enough for two weeks, so it will be awhile before he can have some friends over again. There's just something about 12 year old boys playing hide and go seek, cops and robbers, etc. inside your house! I think I enjoy these games much better with the little guys! Don't get me wrong, they are great boys and always include all my other kids, I just don't like other kids hiding in all my over-stuffed, needs-to-be-organized closets!

Add to that, Tyler woke up with a croupy cough on Sunday that he has had all week. (Love this time of year!) But, I found some solutions that have kept him sleeping all week long in his own bed. Feel free to try if you are desperate like I was! Nowadays with the FDA coming out saying young kids should not use cold medicine, it leaves you with little alternatives. On Monday night, I decided to try a few things and they worked! First, I rubbed a generous amount of Vick's Vapor Rub on his feet, then put socks on for him to sleep in. Then, rubbed some on his chest. This was more of a giggle fest for Tyler, because he is my most ticklish child! Then, I plugged in a Sudafed plug-in that comes with refillable pads that smell like Vick's. The smell is awful, but so are colds! Then I plugged in a vaporizer in his room for the night, and I have repeated this whole process every night. He still coughs during the day, but we don't hear him at night, which is most important!

My next dilemma of the week was when Zach came home from school on Wednesday with his new white AeroPostale shirt covered in mud! First, I don't know why I ever buy my kids anything white, but the clothing industry seems to like to make clothes in this color. I have tried everything, still haven't dried it yet, but I decided to research on google this morning, and found a solution I hope works. I'll let you know if it does, but I also discovered this website that is perfect for my job as mom, since there are no manuals. If you have any questions on cleaning, this website seemed to cover everything. So for those of you out there with the tedious job of being a mom (where there is no pay, always overtime, but most important, lots of joy and satisfaction), here's some help with some of those more annoying jobs...

www.cleaning.lifetips.com

Holiday Help

I love this time of year, particularly Thanksgiving. There's something about the crisp fall in the air, with the hint of winter to come. Getting together with loved ones to have some good food. The feel of Christmas before it gets hectic. The excitement of the beginning of the holidays, with lots of time spent with family. This year, Kris and I decided to try and host Thanksgiving. Sometimes I wonder what we have gotten ourselves into. After all, I think I have only cooked three turkeys in my lifetime. They have gotten better with each turkey. I am of the mind set that if you have a good recipe, anything's possible, even Thanksgiving dinner. That's where I need your help. If anyone has any good recipes, tips or ideas for hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I would appreciate the help. I have a couple of good recipes, that are staples for our Thanksgiving dinner...

Turkey Marinade

*Thaw turkey in fridge for 2-3 days.

*Marinate for 24 hours.

1/3 c. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 c. oil

1 Tbsp. sage

1 Tbsp. rosemary
2 bay leaves (crushed)
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. basil

Mix seasonings together with oil. Rub marinade over turkey once turkey is thawed and cleaned. Place turkey in Reynold's oven bag and put in fridge for 12 hours. Turn to other side for 12 more hours. After marinating for 24 hours, slice 1 cube butter into thin pats and spread all over turkey. Bake in bag (follow directions on bag). Put in 2 Tbsp. flour inside bag before baking. Bake according to Reynold's wrap directions.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 c. cooked mashed sweet potatoes (or 2 cans of sweet potatoes)

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter or margarine

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. milk

Mix first ingredients with electric beater until well blended. Pour into baking dish.

Topping:

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. butter

1 c. chopped pecans

Mix topping ingredients together until creamy. Sprinkle over casserole and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Milestone

Grandpa Larson celebrated a big milestone this last weekend. On November 1st, he turned 80 years old. We all headed to Grand Junction, Colorado for the weekend to help him celebrate. His wife, Virginia, had planned a party for him that had been in the works for several months. It was originally supposed to be a surprise party, but somewhere along the way, he found out. Virginia put Kris in charge of a slide show, which he was able to put together using pictures from all the families. Put to music, it turned out pretty good. They reserved the LDS church for the party on Saturday night, and family members, ward members, and friends turned up for his party. Most family traveled from Utah, and some from Las Vegas. The kids all had fun hanging out with cousins and helping Grandpa celebrate. Tyler kept reminding Grandpa that he was 80 years old, and kept asking me how old he was before that! He was pretty proud of Grandpa, as we all are! Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Halloween!

Well, we made it through another Halloween, and survived the costume stress. The kids all had their minds made up a month ago (except Zach, who made the final decision this afternoon at four and went out at six!). The two boys wanted to be army guys, and after looking through a few racks at different stores, I came to the conclusion that I would have to sew their costumes, and was able to find a pattern. Hayley wanted to be a pirate, so I ended up sewing hers (without a pattern - don't look close!) Needless to say, I started a month ago, and finished costumes tonight at 5 pm. All the sewn ones were finished earlier this week, and Zach had so many ideas, I tried finding a few items to go along with his nerd idea, but failed, so alas at 4 pm today, he decided upon a biker dude (My favorite part of Zach's costume was the tattoo on his arm with MOM written inside a heart!). I guess that is the nice thing about older trick-or-treaters, the more thrown together the better! I am so glad to have that chaos behind me, I think I will be hitting the discount racks next week for next years costumes!

For the first year, Zach and Hayley went with friends, so Kris took the two little ones around, while I enjoyed the peace and quiet of three groups of trick-or-treaters, the third group being my own two little soldiers! Just as we were getting our pre-Halloween pictures, the skies opened up and started to rain. Our dry weather pattern just had to end tonight! It sprinkled for a little bit, then cleared, then sprinkled, so it wasn't too bad! At least it wasn't snow! All in all, it was a great, spooky day! Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!

Early tomorrow, we head for Grand Junction, Colorado for Grandpa Larson's 80th Birthday bash! We'll post that one next week...

Pirate Adventures

Well, I survived the last of the birthday parties for the year. I have concluded that it is best to throw the same party twice, the reason, the second time around, it turns out better! This was true for Justin and Tyler's pirate party. Justin's party was in February, and Tyler's was last weekend. Luckily, I was smart enough to save all of the work I put into Justin's for Tyler's, and smart enough to throw them the same party, different friends! I think I even kept Tyler's to a half hour shorter, and added a couple of different games/crafts (thanks Missie!). Everything went smoothly (I credit that to having Kris around this time), and the kids had a great time! Next year's parties...No friend parties, just doing something fun with the family! I think I like next year already.

Trick Or Treat Bags

One of the things I love about Utah is the local television shows. I don't know if other states have these, but we have a couple I love to watch. They usually showcase local businesses and entrepreneuers. I have to say, there is a lot of talent in Utah. That's probably why there are several young talents that are making it to the end in several reality shows (American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, I'm sure there's more...) Anyways, Good Things Utah and Studio 5 are great programs that give lots of good recipes and great ideas for everything. The other day on Good Things Utah, they had a lady on that showed how to make cute Halloween bags out of the Walmart recycle bags. They are already black, and are 100% recycled. They are like a canvas bag, very sturdy. And they only cost $1.00! Anyways, you take leftover scrap material and cover the words on the front of the bag with cute Halloween decor. You can either sew it on or glue it on! Can't be any easier, and they will be good for several years. Check out the directions here:

http://www.kmckaydesigns.com/

I've already bought the bags, now I just need to find time to decorate them! Enjoy!

Tyler's Birthday!

Five years ago today, my baby was born. Tyler Ethan was the last of the Larson's (at least we were pretty sure he was going to be; there are still days when we question whether he should be the last, usually come up with the same answer-yes!). I remember the day he was born, the weather was a beautiful fall day, we had been enjoying a late indian summer here in Utah. Aunt Patsy came to stay with the three other kids, while Kris and I had an early start off to Jordan Valley Hospital, which I had been to 20 months prior to this. You see, Tyler was a bit of a surprise, a good surprise! When his older brother, Justin was 11 months old, somehow, mommy got pregnant again! There were a lot of tears (happy and sad), and then we accepted our fate of having two kids close together.

It was another inducement, fortunately for me. I was always quick to get my epidural, which I learned after my first baby. During the epidural, my steady support (aka Kris) all of a sudden disappeared while I was holding onto him! Somehow, he had fainted as he was staring down my back at the epidural needle! Just as quickly, the nurse stepped into his place so the anesthesiologist could finish his job, while at the same time, paging for some help for my 6 foot 4 inch husband, who was down for the count! Oxygen was pulled out for him, some smelling salts, and then he started to stir. Take note, don't watch an epidural on an empty stomach! Luckily, he was okay, just a little pale.

Several hours later, Tyler was brought into this world. He was the most beautiful baby with a head full of dark hair. We knew we were having a boy (he was the only baby we ever found about the sex before hand), and his older siblings couldn't have been any happier. He has been such a good addition to our family, and I can't imagine life without him. He is best friends with his brother, Justin, and on most occasions, he is willing to beat up his twelve year old brother when Zach has done something to hurt Hayley. He grew a little more quickly than mommy would have liked, passing up his 6 year old brother (and outweighing him!).

Here is a birthday interview with Tyler:

"What was your favorite birthday present?" My corvette and my race car track.

"What's your favorite color?" Um, it's red.

"What's your favorite food?" Um, it's spaghetti and chicken. (Good thing that's what's for dinner tonight!)

"Who is your favorite brother or sister?" My favorite brother is Zach and Justin, and my favorite sister is Hayley and Mom.

"What's your favorite thing to do?" Play with my race car set.

"Where's your favorite place to go?" Um, Lagoon.

"What's your favorite Primary song?" I Am A Child of God.

Good answers, birthday boy! I love you!

Fall Fun

This time of year is a favorite at the Larson household. One of Kris' favorite things to do, and quickly becoming one of Zach's favorites is the deer/elk hunt. It seems we are finally nearing the end of this season (thank goodness!). I swear it is the reason my blood pressure was so high last fall, but anyways... This year on the first day out, Kris missed his first deer right over the top, and as karma would have it, he didn't see any more (of the right flavor) for the rest of the deer/elk season. At least he got one shot off. Zach tends to enjoy just being outdoors and with his dad, so all's good!

Another favorite thing to do, is to head to Pack's Pumpkin Patch (a local place in Farmington) for the Halloween pumpkins. This is a great place to pick up pumpkins (it sure beats going to Harmon's which is what we usually did). There are acres of pumpkins laying around waiting for the kids to pick one. It also has a fun little hay maze that's fun for the little ones. I remember when we lived in Draper, and thought that going to Harmon's and fishing through the big pile of pumpkins and trying to find the nicest one on top, was fun. The kids have so much more fun doing it this way. Of course, this year we were smart, and told the kids to not pick so many, and such big ones, because carving the pumpkins is not one of Kris' and my favorites!

We also tried something new this year with the kids. We took them to a haunted house! We took advantage of our Lagoon season passes, and went to Frightmares on Friday night. Standing in line, there were lots of teenagers, some families, and us with our little ones. I tried looking up and down the line to see if I could see some kids about Tyler and Justin's size, but I didn't see any. At times, I felt guilty for subjecting my small children to this, but after waiting over an hour in line, I was not going to not go through the haunted house! The kids actually enjoyed standing in line. There were several scary monsters walking up and down the lines, and once Justin and Tyler got used to them, they were enjoying it. Hayley probably had the most fun. One of the characters scared her several times and kept coming back, because she screamed every time! Once we got inside, we were prepared to carry the little ones the whole way through, but Tyler wanted to walk the whole way. Justin wanted to be carried, but mommy didn't mind. It really wasn't as scary as we thought it would be. Lots of strobe lights, hanging things from the ceiling, neon polka dot rooms with people dressed to camouflage in with the polka dots, etc. For the most part, the teenagers who ran the spook house were very observant of the little guys and didn't scare us too much! The kids walked away with smiles on their faces and lots to talk about. Not bad, I think we can try this one again next year!

Craft Time - Ribbon Holder

Okay, so one of my hobbies that I love, is Scrapbooking. Sometimes, that hobby involves more collecting of supplies than actual scrapbooking, but it is still something that makes me happy. Recently on a local program, they demonstrated how to make a ribbon holder for scrapbooking. I immediately knew this was something that would look cute and organize my scrap area. I decided to modify it a bit, finding my supplies much easier than the ones used in the demonstration. The one I made, holds 14 different ribbons. The supplies needed are: an acrylic clear box, crop-a-dile, eyelets, ribbon, an embellishment, a wooden knob, and acrylic paint. This is super easy and can be finished in 15 minutes.

First thing you want to do, is measure and mark your spots for the holes. I had 5 holes along the long sides, and 2 holes on each end. (My measurements were 1", 2 1/2", 4", 5 1/2", and 7" for the long side, and 1 1/4", and 2 3/4" on the ends.) Next, take the crop-a-dile, and punch holes using the larger hole punch. I set my crop-a-dile so that I could put the crop-a-dile in as far as it could go. Then punch. It might make a small crack, but it will be covered with an eyelet. I was able to make 3 boxes without one box breaking! The crop-a-dile is an amazing tool that can be used for fabric, leather, acrylic, paper, wood, chipboard, and more! It is definitely a must-have tool! After punching holes, set eyelets using your crop-a-dile.

Then, paint wooden knob with acrylic paint. A great tip I learned, is to stick a q-tip in the hole on the bottom, and paint the knob, holding the q-tip, then after, tape q-tip to table to let dry. When dry, glue to the lid. Glue a ribbon, around the box, add embellishment. Then you can add your ribbon inside and thread ribbon through eyelet holes!

Tagged?!

Well, apparently I have been tagged! Thanks Missie! Anyways, I don't know what this means, but according to her blog, she listed 7 things about her, so that is what I will try to do...(By the way, Missie, this is draft #2. The first one I did at 6:30 this morning, and a half hour later, somehow I lost it all. I told you how most of my blogs are done twice before being published! Frustrating! Needless to say, this will be the shorter, more edited version.)

1) I taught myself how to crochet, thanks to a book named "Stitch'n Bitch Crochet, The Happy Hooker" No joke! And a very good book with great details that made something as difficult as crocheting so easy! I was taught as a young kid to crochet a single chain, but no one ever had the patience to teach me to go further. Now I can!

2)I met my hubby at a dance club (The Edge) and never even danced with him. Yep! My friend Stacy and I liked to frequent the Provo dance clubs, and decided to give the Edge a try. I remember that I had noticed a cute guy dancing with a group of people, but I was never the type to ask a guy to dance, so I stood on the sidelines while Stacy got stuck dancing with some guy for a while. Well, that cute guy came over and talked to me for a few minutes, got my number after we found out he lived down the hill from me with his sister. He then headed back to the group and left me hanging. I was a little disappointed he didn't ask me to dance, but 14 1/2 years later, I have had several dances. Love you Kris!

3) I am deathly afraid of heights! I remember a time when at a fourth of July party at my Uncle Darrell's, everyone climbed a ladder to the top of his roof to watch the fireworks. Going down was much worse, and my dad had to climb up and practically carry me down! I was 20 years old!

4) I dated a rocker once! Stacy and I met some guys skiing (don't ever date anyone you meet skiing) and they looked to be like decent guys. You can never tell with all the coats and snowpants, very misleading! Anyways, he called and invited me and Stacy to a Primus concert with him and some buddies. The radio station we listened to at the time played one Primus song that seemed okay. Didn't know they were a rock band! Anyways, it was one long night, thank goodness I was with Stacy. The highlight was running into the next door neighbor (we'll call him Greg J.) and he was smoking something with some friends at the concert, and asked me not to say anything to his parents!

5) While we are on the dating theme, my first kiss was with a polygamist! Yes, I went on like three dates with him before my mom and dad's detective work (I guess the clues of 15 brothers and sisters and the last name of Barlow helped) put an end to that romance. Nice guy, wrong family! I will never live that one down!

6) I like most crafts (scrapbooking, sewing, etc.)

7) I once wanted to be a Hairstylist when I grew up, but my mom told me to do something with myself. Still wish I would have pursued that one a little more. What a useful thing to be able to do! (I cut all the boys hair in my family, that is about as close as I will come to that one. Have you ever seen a thirty-something student at a Beauty School?)

I made it through for the second time, and I am going to hit save and publish right now!

Can I tag you again Missie?!

Fall Canning

It seems my sister and I are on the same wave-length today. It must have been the way we were raised, remembering our mom canning in the fall from the garden. She just posted on her blog today about 72 hour kits, which you can read about here:

http://www.fairlyscrumptious.blogspot.com/

I was sitting at a soccer game last night talking to one of Zach's friend's mom, and she mentioned she had been busy canning lately. She had canned butter the night before. Yes, butter. And all you use is sticks of butter, melt them down, pour in pint bottles, shake, shake some more, then put in fridge. And best of all it looks like regular butter and has a shelf life of 3 to 5 years! I am so doing this! I found this website if any one else is interested, here it is:
http://simplicityfirst.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/canning-butter/

Happy canning!

Happy Birthday Zach!

Twelve years ago today, my life changed. Twelve years ago, Kris and I were newlyweds getting ready to start the biggest challenge in our lives up to that point. Our oldest child, Zachary Christian entered the world at 12:03 pm, weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz. Looking back, I was such a young person taking on a very big responsibility. Luckily for us, we were blessed with a very easy going baby. Zach was a beautiful baby, with dimples and blonde hair. Today, is his 12th birthday. Talk about a whirlwind of time gone by! People would always say, "Enjoy them while they are little, because they grow up too fast." I can honestly say, I understand that all now. When they are little, you are going through new challenges that are frustrating, tiring, and exciting. I admit there were times I did not enjoy the Terrible Two's or Three's. I remember a time when Zach took crayons, and proceeded to draw on our white, flat paint hallway, (flat paint, I know! We didn't know any better then, remember we were in our 20's!) and then took them and colored our light tan carpet up and down the hallway as well! I don't know what I was doing at the time, but I remember getting toothpaste and scrubbing the crayon and the paint off the walls. This was just one of many times, Zach got into trouble. Now, I have a very responsible, helpful twelve year old. Some things about Zach: 1) He's a very good student. 2) He's a very good athlete. There's not too many sports that he can't play. 3) He's popular (even with the girls. Every week there is at least one phone call from some 6th grade girl). 4) He loves the color red. 5) He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. 6) He is a good big brother to all of his siblings. When not with friends, you can find Zach with one of his siblings. Even when he has some friends over, Zach is a good enough brother that he lets Justin and Tyler tag along. 7) He used to be blonde (white). His hair always reminded us of a baby duck. Up until he turned about 7 or 8, then started turning dark. Mom couldn't even find him at one of his basketball games a couple of years ago, because I was looking for a blonde kid, not the dark headed kid! 8) He taught himself to play his electric guitar. 9) He looks out for his younger siblings. 10) He still tells us he loves us (how many more years do I get to enjoy this one?!) 11) He loves to camp and hunt and spend time with his dad. 12) This weekend, he will become a Deacon... I am so proud of him and love him and wish him a very happy birthday. Happy Birthday Son!

Family Photos Finally!

Monday night, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to Murray Park with grandma and grandpa for a picnic and family pictures. I try to make it a tradition every three years to update the family photo, and this year we decided to try the cheap way and use our digital camera. The scenery was great, and so was the first half hour of photo time, then we took a break and ate dinner. Yum! After looking at all the pictures, I decided the family photo wasn't what I had in mind, so we had to put the boys white shirts back on (I was smart and didn't have them eat and drink red cream soda in them), and tried for one good picture. After several pictures and several cat fights between the kids and getting Tyler to just give us one good smile (didn't happen) we called it a wrap. We were happy with the last bunch of pictures, and that night Kris was trying to move all pictures to the computer, when the card crashed (probably too many high quality photos), losing the last half of our pictures! Just our luck! Kris was quite upset and spent most of his day on Tuesday at work trying to figure out how to salvedge the pictures. (We even lost all the pictures from all summer long!) Luckily, that night he found a free website that retrieved most of our pictures! Huge sigh of relief! I am so grateful for websites that are not into making a ton of money off of others, and for those that put free tips, programs, etc. out there for all of us! At least I don't have to worry about this for three more years! Yeah! Many thanks to our photographers, Mom and Dad!

Cheerleader For A Day

One of Hayley's dreams came true last Friday. She got to participate as a mini cheerleader for the Viewmont High School game. A girl from our ward who is a cheerleader for Viewmont called us to see if Hayley would be interested in doing a cheer camp for a week, then performing at half-time. Would she?!!! After putting in four hours of practice time, she was officially ready to perform at Friday's game. All kids were excited, even Zach, who has recently gotten into the Viewmont footballs games (this was his 2nd game already). He invited a friend, and they hung around for about 20 minutes, then disappeared where all the tweens hang out at the end of the field. Apparently, this is a popular hangout for lots of 6th graders! I never noticed little elementary kids hanging out at my high school football games (probably too busy noticing other things like cute boys!) Tyler and Justin passed the time by playing with a friend, who's sister is the real cheerleader. Hayley was a real natural and looked great as a cheerleader. Who knows whats in her future? Hopefully all her dreams come true in life...

Bill the Cat

It seems we have adopted a temporary (hopefully) cat. For the last couple of weeks, there has been a cat roaming the neighborhood. We have heard it several times at night outside our bedroom. I am not a cat fan! In fact, Kris doesn't care for them either. On Saturday, this cat kept coming around our house, and the kids took it upon themselves to chase the cat off. Don't turn us in to authorities, but Zach even used his airsoft gun to target practice on the cat. That didn't scare it off, Kris chased it off several times with a newspaper, still not scared! At one point on Saturday, it ran into our house after one of the kids left the door open. After about ten minutes under my bed, we finally were able to chase it out of the house. It is a very mild tempered, nice cat, and Hayley and her friend Jaycee started petting it. This is probably why it would not leave our yard. Today after church, we saw it lapping up some water that was in our driveway. This started to pull at our heart strings! Kris and I decided we would give it some leftovers from dinner, it was so hungry it devoured my beef stew (at least someone ate my beef stew!) We decided to let the kids enjoy it as an outside cat, until we can find its owners if there are any. Tyler announced at dinner that its name is Bill, but my mom and dad came over, and since I am allergic to cats and will not touch it, my mom took a look and thinks it is a girl, so maybe it's Billy?! Hayley gave the poor thing a bath, and it just sat there and let her! We'll see how long this pet lasts...

This is what happens when you ask Zach to take a picture of your new haircuts...

Hayley and I just recently left 5 inches each of our hair on the salon floor. Sometimes I miss mine, but other times, not so much. Since we have family not nearby, I thought I would have Zach take a picture of our haircuts. Not such a good idea...

First picture: Hayley's very expensive mouth (which Zach thinks is funny 'cause it's not him...yet!)

Second picture: Me: "Zach, get our hair in it." Ha ha ha!

Third and last picture: Finally!