Holidays

I have to admit my favorite time of year is upon us once again. I love all the sites and sounds and smells of the holidays. Starting with Thanksgiving! I don't enjoy anything more then walking into the house smelling the sweet smells of the turkey happily cooking away. Seeing the smiling faces of family and friends as well all gather to enjoy a delectable dinner and enjoy each others company just because we can.
Then magically, the very next day kicks off the Christmas season. I love pulling out all the decorations and putting the tree up. Watching my kids excitedly hang up all the ornaments on the tree and this year see the joy the older two get from making paper snowflakes and garland to hang around the house.
The anticipation of making cookies and candies and filling the house with the smell of pine, cinnamon, and baking. Pulling out every single Christmas movie and CD I own and watching or listening to them all month long.
Watching my children's faces as we drive down the street and they see all the beautiful houses done up with brilliant lights. Listening to their excited voices chant "Look Christmas Lights!" from the back seat. Little Jaycie says it with the most enthusiasm of all. It is like she has never seen any lights before. Enjoying our yearly tradition of a nice sleigh ride through the lights at Thanksgiving Point.
All these things make me extremely grateful to have a wonderful family and to hold the Holiday spirit in my heart!

Dog Breeding 101

Well, we decided that since we are not getting any luck trying to train the dog, we might as well breed her! We brought over Koda, Rachel and Don's pure breed German Short Hair and let them spend a romantic weekend together! We are only 1 week into the process. Not even sure if she is pregnant yet. This should be a fun adventure as time goes bye. Especially since neither Tom nor I have any clue as to what to expect!
Funny little story already, We kept Koda for a weekend with Asia. That Saturday morning the kids wake up and look out the back window to find the two dogs "in the heat of the moment" For the next 10 minutes all you could hear is EEEEWWWW and UUUUHHHHH from all 4 of our kids. The little ones (Chesney and Jaycie) even chimed in not knowing what they were doing it for but having fun coping older brother and sister.

Blast from the Past...NKOTB together again!

I got the opportunity to relive some of my childhood memories! My favorite band growing up was New Kids on the Block! I went to their concert in Provo when I was 14. They played in Provo back then and our seats were on the second to top row at the very top of the stadium. They broke up 15 years ago and decided to do a reunion tour! Thanks to my fantastic sisters-in-laws, who are huge fans too, we got tickets to their reunion concert! It was soooo much fun! They performed all their big hits from before and even kept the old dance moves for the numbers! They also performed some of their new songs as well. We had great seats and got so see everything very well. A lot better then the very top of the stadium. There were tons of people all dressed up in the style of that time with leg warmers and tights and mini shirts! Hilarious! And side pony tails as far as the eye could see! I had a great time! If they every come back you can count on me to be there!

Dog Training??? Part 3

In continuation of our quest to get Asia, our German short hair puppy, trained we have come to another inpass. Tonight is suppose to be our 3rd attempt at attending dog training classes. Well, this morning our dog goes into heat!!! No class for you!!! I am now officially done trying until next spring. Hopefully she won't run away, get class cancelled, or go into heat again.

I wonder what would happen if....

Kids are the ultimate adventure in the testing of common sense. Take todays story for example....
Kaylee, age 10, was waiting for her friend to show up so they could finish their science project. In the middle of my counter I have been burning a candle. I have done this many times before without any problems from the children. Kaylee, being completely bored out of her mind, wondered "I wonder what it would be like to put a paper towel in the candle?" So, she decided to find out. Next thing I know I here "Mom HELP" from the kitchen. I turn in time to see a nice big fire on my counter top. On my mad dash to the kitchen Kaylee decides to blow the fire out. Being a light weight paper towel, it flies everywhere. The two biggest pieces land on my only a month old bar stools which of course have fabric seats. Proceeds to start them on fire! Within a few seconds we got the fires out. Mom didn't know whether to be mad or to cry. When I asked her what she was thinking (trying to keep my temper) I got the inevitable answer of "I don't know" Needless to say she is now grounded for the rest of the week to her room with extra chores to do.
CHILDREN!!!

Halloween 2008

OK. I really need to get much better at taking pictures. I missed out on tons of good photos. Anyone who got any who would like to share I would love to receive them.

Halloween was lots of fun. Laine was a Storm Trooper. Kaylee was a Gothic Bride. Chesney was a Ladybug and Jaycie was a Strawberry Fairy. Every year we go to my mother's house for trick or treating and chili and bread sticks afterwords. It is a huge family affair. Unfortunatly, this will be the last year of our family attending. Laine and Kaylee are now old enough that they want to stay home and trick or treat with friends for the remaining few years they can do it. It was a great time though. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the kids had a blast with my brother's hard work on his porch and the running up and down trick or treating.

Jaycie, the little stinker, didn't like it when people would put the candy in her bucket. She liked it when she could help herself to the candy from their bowls. Holding tight to her new treasure she wouldn't put it in her own bucket either. She would keep it in her hand until the next house then put it in their treat bowl and pick out a new handful. So she played musical candy from house to house. It only lasted a few houses then we got her to start putting it in her bucket.

I am hoping that someone got a pic of Tom and I dressed up. I missed getting one and I know I will not be able to convince him to dress up again. If I find one I will post it for you.

Dog Training ??? Part 2

The dog training gods are against us!
To catch up all of you who may not have heard our story, we have a dog, Asia. She is a German Short Hair. She will be turning 3 this year. Well, basically she is a "wild" dog. She is not trained to obey anything, and owns our back yard. Well, neither I or Tom really know how to train a dog so naturally we decided to enroll her, and us in some dog training classes. This was back in June.
On the first day of her training Tom had her in the back of our explorer. New leash and collar still on her. The leash falls down and gets caught in the hatch of the truck. So naturally, Tom lifts the hatch to throw the leash back in. Asia realises that she could be free and takes it. She takes off into the farmers field next door to us and is gone. We tried for several hours after that to chase her down in the field to catch her but to no avail.
Three days later we get a call from the police department here saying they have a dog at the station and to come see if it is ours. Yup, it is Asia. No leash, no collar, a nice big bump on the head and a broken leg.
So we had to postpone training class for at least 3 months waiting for the dog to recover from this whole ordeal.
Well, last night was suppose to be our first night of training classes, again. We made it, dog and all, to the store. Only to be told when we got there that there was no class for that night and we needed to reschedule with them. So, here we go again. We have rescheduled training for November. Lets hope that 3 times is the charm!

Look who's 3!

Everyone always says how fast time goes by. My lovely little Chesney turned 3 years old on the 19th. I am still in shock. We had her birthday party at the home and she had a ball! She got everything she could wish for and is playing with them nonstop! Mom is always grateful for the mountains of clothes as well! The cute story about her party was that Tyson and Jaycie were all helping her open the birthday presents, Tyson wanted her so badly to open one smallish yellow present. Chesney kept looking at him and ignoring him to the very end. Even after all the presents were open, except that one, she still would open it for Tyson! Stubborn little girl. Finally we talked her into opening it with Tyson and all was well. Jaycie was so excited with all the gifts she had to take them and show everyone what they were. She couldn't wait to dive into them all. We then enjoyed some cake and ice cream sandwiches and creamies for dessert. I think she really enjoyed her party. Thank you all for coming and for the wonderful gifts you gave.

Shhhh.... I'm hunting ....

Another hunting season has come and gone and my adventurous hunters came home...defeated. Tom and Laine went on the deer and elk hunt this year. Both of them went hunting with their Laine's uncle Don and his cousins Justin and Brayden. Tom reported home every day that the boys were having a great time but not a single shot of any of the animals they were trying to get. By the end of the season Tom was about ready to give up. But he stuck through it and still returned empty handed. I was very proud of them getting up at 4 in the morning and concurring the rain and snow. Hopefully next year will bring better luck.

I have a new niece!

I am excited to announce that I have officially become an aunt again! Little Lily Russell was born Oct. 6th. I have not gotten a chance to meet her yet but I am pleased as punch that she arrived safely and relieved for her mom that she came a little early. I can't wait to meet the little angel!

Toilet Training WEEEE

This is a good laugh for all you mothers out there. And for all of you who have not experienced toilet training before. This past weekend I went with Chesney and Jaycie to IKEA. We met Aunt Carri and Uncle Nick there and they roamed the store with us. Thank goodness they were there!! For all those who have not been in IKEA they have little make shift display "houses" in the middle of sections of the store so you can see how functional the items they are selling are. Well, we were browsing one of these "houses" when Chesney announces in a very loud voice "I need to go potty!" She was in the bathroom part of the "house" when she made her announcement. Up comes her dress and down goes her panties! Aunt Carri turns around to find her doing that and catches her before she can sit on the display toilet to let loose! Thank goodness for quick acting aunts! I could just see trying to explain to the store manager that their display had been kid tested and didn't pass. I just LOVE toilet training. Just think I still have Jaycie to go!

Am I big enough???

These are some of my favorite pictures from our zoo adventure. Jaycie being her little "pushy" self was too cute when she figured out what everyone was doing. So she would go up after everyone and push them out of the way and repose herself right in front. Silly little girl!

The Zoo

I love to go to the zoo at least once a year. I also believe the more the merrier so I love it when we get a big group together and all "hang out" at the zoo. So Saturday we decided was the day to go. It was GREAT! I was really worried that it was going to rain on us because at home when we left that morning it was raining and the clouds that lingered just above the mountains were not all that pleasant looking. Fortunately, we only had twice that is sprinkled for a few minutes and then disappeared! The kids had an absolute ball! Kaylee and Laine were all over the place catching all the sites they could take in. Chesney wanted to see the Giraffes so much it took all we had to help her be patient on getting there to see them. Jaycie for some reason thought the alligators were the funniest things on earth. See sat there and laughed and laughed at them. I couldn't figure out what was so funny because they didn't move one muscle. Not even an air bubble floated to the surface of the pond they were in but something was really funny to her. It was so cute!

I also decided after deleting so many blurred pictures from my day of excitement that I seriously need a new camera. So "Honey, I know what I want for Christmas"!

A brand new world...

So, I am not the type of person who joins the "in" crowd. Usually I avoid it like the plague! If I do ever surrender and join in with the current "rave" then it is usually a little late in coming. As you can tell I have lived up to that statement so I guess "better late then never"! I have been reading my friends and families blogs and quite enjoy hearing about their dealing with everyday life and it makes me smile. So I thought that I might be able to spread a little joy with my own stories and maybe a little wisdom with my mistakes.
Please forgive me as it will take a while to get up to speed with this and become creative enough to really enjoy. I promise I will catch on quick and get some entertaining stories along with it.