Andrew, Jared, Kiana

Merry Christmas a Digital Card for You

2011-12-17T06:44:00.003-07:00

Haircut?

2011-12-12T10:00:00.002-07:00

Andrew came to me about a week or so ago and asked what I would do if he cut his hair. I said I wasn't sure, but do you want a haircut? He said yes, so I scheduled it. Here he is with that new do. He doesn't like it and says he plans on growing it back out. I guess I will just have to enjoy it while it lasts.

I think it makes him look a lot more like Jared.

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-12T09:52:00.002-07:00

Andrew was to "big" to sit on Santa's lap.

Jared and his best friend Dylan.

Kiana

We had a great time at the ward party. The wind blew like crazy the day before, so only half of the building had lights. Then right about the time dinner was over and Santa arrived, the power went out completely. Church gyms are really dark when there is no light, so everyone started to pull out their cell phone for a least a little light. The lights were only out for about 5-7 minutes and when they came back on, the whole building had power. All in all a great night.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T09:22:00.007-07:00

We put the Christmas tree up on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I am so glad that I have an artificial tree and can put it up whenever I want. Although I did have to convince my kids to clean so we could.

Wishing she could help

Every year we each get to pick out a new ornament for the tree. Kiana chose Rapunzel.

Is that a surprise?

Jared chose a Golden Snitch. We were lucky to get this one.

It was a limited edition and we got the last one, at least at our Hallmark.

Andrew is on his 5th year of collecting Snoopy's Beagle Scouts.

I for the last several years have been getting this Penguin series.

Kevin for the last several years has been getting this Eskimo series.

hanging the smaller ornaments on the small branches at the top.

Sorry no picture of the final project, but we all had a fun time together. Kiana wishes she had more ornaments to hang. She got to hang a lot of mine.

He is Still Alive...

2011-11-22T06:11:00.003-07:00

This is what happens to a linoleum floor, when you set a hot cast iron pan on it. Oh and your smoke alarm will go off as well. It also stinks for quite a while. I do not recommend this action.

Now I will tell you how this happened. Jared was making a grilled cheese sandwich on Sunday after church. He started to carry the pan to the table to flip the sandwich onto his plate. The pan started to burn him through the hot pad about half way there. He set the pan on the floor. Smoke alarm goes off. I ask, Jared what are you doing up there? Silence for a few minutes. Then, Mom I think you better see this. I was horrified. I think I flew a little too far off the handle. I screamed and shouted. Told him he was never allowed to cook in my kitchen again and sent him to his room. Kevin came home from church, and was much better at handling the situation. It is just a thing. It can eventually get replaced.

Jared really is a good kid we love him. He brings fun and laughter to our family most of the time.

Thankful

2011-11-18T09:43:00.002-07:00

B- brother, bodies, band aids, bananas, Book of Mormon

L- learning, love, letter R, light, leading parents

E- education, ears, eggs, elders

S- sister, sons, soccer

S- safety, scriptures, shoes, schooling

I- inventors, ice cream, intelligent dad

N- niceness, nice people, Nicole, naps

G- girls, giving, Grandma, good food, growth

This past FHE night, Kiana gave the lesson. We each had a piece of paper with the word blessing down the side. We then wrote a blessing we have that starts with each letter. Some answers were duplicate, but I was very impressed with some of the answers the boys had. I am sure you can guess who said what on most of these. Kiana did not answer too many. She is still trying to grasp the concept of what words begin with what sound, but she did a great job.

Besides all of the above listed blessings, we are also blessed with many more to numerous to name. I am so thankful for this time of year that causes so many to reflect on how grateful they are. Happy Thanksgiving a little early.

Kiana Turns 5

2011-10-18T16:30:00.004-06:00

Kiana celebrating her 5Th birthday with her friends at McDonald's. She invited 5 of her good friends, but only 4 were able to come. Indianna, Mallarie, Emi and Kambria.

Mallarie, Kambria, Emi, Kiana, & Indianna

Time for presents

Playtime

All of the girls had a great time. I loved that there was little clean up. They had fun playing on the playground. We fed them lunch, but I am not sure how much they actually ate though. Thanks for staying and helping Kamra. Also thanks to all the girls who came to party with the birthday girl.

Preschool

2011-10-06T11:10:00.003-06:00

Kiana started a neighborhood preschool on Sept 13. We as mothers will rotate turns teaching. It is usually a lot of fun. I hope she learns a lot and learns to work well with others.

Walking to school, so excited!!

Daddy- Daughter Date Night

2011-09-20T15:06:00.003-06:00

I saw on Facebook that Chick-fil-a was doing a Daddy- Daughter Date Night, so I signed Kevin and Kiana up right away.

They treated them so well.

They got their picture taken with the cow.

They provided music during the dinner.

They gave each girl a rose and told her it was from her Daddy.

They had a princess cow as well.

Kevin and Kiana are in the background of this picture.

They were also given free deserts....

...and a ride in a Limo.

They also gave them papers with conversation starters.

I am so glad I saw this and that Kevin was able to take Kiana and have a good time.

The boys and I went to Burger King while we waited. Jared was okay with the situation, until he found out that they got to ride in a limo.

7Th Grade and 4Th Grade

2011-08-30T12:36:00.004-06:00

This post is a week late, but better late than never.

7Th grade already? Where did the time go?

You would think he was about to miss the bus. Oh to have such energy at 7 am.

Jared is now in 4th grade. His teacher is Mrs. Christensen.

He is very excited to be in 4th grade.

Leaving to catch the bus. Have a great day.

Both boys had a great first day of school. Andrew was nervous to start the day, but came home saying that Jr. High is better then elementary. I hope he can keep up with 7 teachers.

Jared missed the second day of school. He was not feeling well. We took him to the Dr. on Saturday and discovered he has double ear infections. Good thing they are not contagious.

Here's to another great school year.

St. George

2011-08-11T14:39:00.007-06:00

We had the opportunity to go to St. George this past weekend. We went to Tuachan to see The Little Mermaid.

The kids had a lot of fun swimming at the hotel. My mom bought this penguin floatie for Kiana. It was a bit small but she loved it.

Headed to The Little Mermaid, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. The boys saw a checker board and decided to play while we waited for our food.

Waiting for the show to start. Kiana tried really hard to stay awake, but finally gave in to sleep about 10 mins after intermission. Everyone totally loved the show. It was awesome.

The next afternoon, we took Andrew to the St. George Temple to do baptisms for the dead. Our ward youth went while we were gone and he was sad he was going to miss out. It was an exciting time for him. Kevin also got to baptize him and do baptisms as well. So glad I was there to witness his first time.

On the way home, we stopped at Cove Fort. It was interesting to learn a little more about how the pioneers lived.

The kids got to try out walking on stilts. I think they finally started to get it after a few tries.

The bellows at the Blacksmith shop

Kiana by Elder Crow

She said to grandma..."Don't delete any pictures of me grandma, they are all adorable."

We also got to ride in this Stage Coach. The kids had a lot of fun. The line was long and hot and the ride short, but still lots of fun.

Cove Fort from the front

We also watch a video of the life of Joseph Smith. During the video you could feel the spirit so strongly testifying of the truth of the things portrayed. I did not want to stop at first, but I am glad that we added those 3 hours to our trip. Thanks mom for a great weekend. We could not have done it without you. You are amazing.

My mom was also fighting an eye injury and infection. I had to take her to the ophthalmologist on Friday morning. They originally thought they would have to scrape her cornea but luckily they decided not too. She is getting better, but it is a slow process.

FHE Treats

2011-07-29T15:16:00.003-06:00

Kiana was in charge of treats for Family Home Evening last week. She wanted oreos and milk. I saw this recipe online so we decided to try it out. They turned out really cute, but are a tiny bit time consuming to make. Everyone loved them.

Knock, Knock

2011-07-20T09:00:00.002-06:00

Kiana was playing last night while the boys were at scouts, it went something like this. Too bad I didn't get pictures....

Knock on the wall

Someone is at the door. Open door. No one there.

Later, mom don't watch....

open door put doll on porch

come inside, knock on the wall

open the door "I cannot believe someone would just leave a baby on our porch."

Me: I guess you better take care of her.

This happens again with 2 dolls

Kiana: "Now someone has left 2 babies for me, I am going to run out of beds for all of them."

I was trying so hard not to laugh. She is so cute.

DAD

2011-05-05T09:32:00.003-06:00

My dad has been gone for 5 years today. Sometimes it seems so long ago and other times it seems such a short time has gone by. I really miss him. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend every Wednesday with him, while my mom was a work. We had some really great talks. I am so thankful that he was who he was, that he always honored his priesthood and for the love that he showed to his family. Why is it that the good ones go first? I told my mom the other day, that we must have strong kids, because otherwise, why should they have to grow up without a grandpa?
I think we will celebrate his life today and remember him by eating some Peanut M&M's. One of his favorite treats.
I love you Dad and wish you could visit. We will always remember you.

Pink

2011-05-02T10:01:00.004-06:00

Kiana got her official pink cast on Thursday afternoon. We had to wait forever just to get in. I wish I could have made an appointment. She really likes it. Jared was the first one to sign it.

We take her back in about 3 weeks to see how it is healing. Hopefully all goes well.

Broken

2011-04-26T10:20:00.003-06:00

Kiana was jumping from the computer chair onto the lovesac. I am guessing that the chair moved backward when she jumped, causing her to miss the lovesac, and land on her wrist. She was crying pretty hard and refused to use her arm or hand for anything. I called the pediatrician office, they said they do not to x-rays and to take her to the insta-care. The doctor there looked at it and said he would be surprised if it was not broken. Sure enough she buckled both bones. She was pretty swollen, so they put on this temporary splint and she will get an actual cast on Thursday. She wants a pink one. We will post pictures of that later. Maybe I can convince Kevin to come with me and take pictures of the cast being put on.

A funny story that goes with this...

Kiana really wanted her dad throughout the ordeal, so when we were done at the clinic, we went to see Kevin at work. It was lunch time so we decided to go to lunch. Kiana said she wanted McDonalds. We pulled into the parking lot, she looked at the playland and said that is not a good place to be with a broken arm, we should go to Chick-fil-a instead. So we went there. As we were eating, Kiana lets out a burp so loud that half of the restaurant turned to look at us. We just started laughing. She said she was going to drink more and do it again. Kevin told her that it was not polite to do that in public. She said okay and did not do it again. She did play in their play area for a little while and was fine. She is so cute.

Two of her friends, Kambria and Indianna, brought her some treats to help her feel better. She is very loved.

Easter

2011-04-26T10:04:00.005-06:00

Late on Friday night we colored easter eggs. This is one tradition I really do not care for. We boiled 3 dozen eggs. One broke while boiling, and several others cracked. Each kid ended up coloring 10 eggs. Mom did 2 and Dad did 3. I debated on weather or not to boil the eggs or to just use raw eggs. Of course we boiled them which turned out to be best, because several eggs were dropped in the coloring process.

Is it ready yet?

Jared making Angry Birds and green pigs

After she dropped several eggs, this is my I am the boss look. Do not touch the eggs again. They are done.

Finished eggs

Easter Clothes...

The kids were not very cooperative. I did not get a good picture with all of them together. I think we will try again next week. Hopefully before church, so that Kevin can be the photographer.

Now a Deacon

2011-04-26T09:55:00.002-06:00

On April 17, Andrew was ordained a deacon by his father. It was such an awesome experience. I am so grateful to have the priesthood in our home. Thanks Kevin for all you do for our family. You are an awesome father. Andrew you are an awesome son and deacon. Congratulations.

Andrew's biggest fan

All of us together

He passed the sacrament for the first time on Easter Sunday. It was very cool to see him do that. Also in our ward, the dad's get to perform the ordinance as well when their son does it for the first time. So both of them passed together. It was nice. Next week he gets to do fast packs. I am sure he will enjoy that....

Nose Block

2011-04-20T13:34:00.000-06:00

Jared was being such a good soccer player. He took one for the team and blocked the ball with his nose. Luckily it wasn't too bad. He sat out for a little bit, but got right back in the game. Although he was a little ball shy for a while.

We love you Jared

Fat Cat's

2011-04-20T12:17:00.008-06:00

We celebrated Andrew's birthday with his friends at Fat Cats. He has not had a friends party in quite a while, and with him turning 12, we decided it was time. He got to invite 5 friends. He invited, Ethan, Todd, Kegan, Ashley, and Hannah. Jared also got to attend, and Kiana got to go see Hop with Grandma Colleen. They bowled 2 games, then we got to take a tour of the back of the lanes. We saw how the balls get returned and how the pins are repositioned. It was very interesting to see.

Our host, Sean, made Andrew this cool hat

Lots of fun bowling...

A few presents from his friends...

Then it was onto Bumper Cars and the arcade...

I hope they all had a fun time. I know that I had fun watching them. Happy Birthday Andrew. You are an amazing kid. You matter. We love you.

The group minus 1. Kegan had to leave early

Already,... I Am Not Ready

2011-04-15T09:48:00.003-06:00

Am I really old enough to have a 12 year old? I guess I am because Andrew just turned 12 on April 11. He started out this journey as an 8 lb. 6oz little baby boy. I blinked and put him on the kindergarten bus. I blinked again and I was registering him for 7th grade. Where does all the time go?

He got 3 ties for his birthday since he will be wearing one every Sunday from now on. He also got a book about honoring the priesthood as a deacon, teacher and priest. He was not excited about it, but it will be required reading this summer. He also walked away with a wall charger for his ipod, and quite a bit of cash. I made him put some of that in savings and he did not like that either, until he saw the balance in his savings account and was surprised how fast little deposits add up. I hope he had a great birthday. We love him so much. He also gets a party with friends this year so pictures of that will be coming after Saturday.

Pinewood Derby

2011-04-14T15:35:00.004-06:00

We are "lucky" to be able to do a pinewood derby every year in our ward. Jared worked hard to sand, paint and get the wheels and weights on his car. With some help from Dad. All of the boys had a fun time racing. Jared took 2nd place. Let's hope that at some point, we can try a rocket derby or a rain gutter regatta. Just to shake things up a bit.

Oh No The Big 4-0

2011-04-10T16:31:00.006-06:00

On April 1, 1971, Kevin L. Rowley was born.
On April 1, 2011 he turned 40. So I decided to throw him a surprise party. We held it at my mom's house. She was so kind to help me throw this party for him. She picked up 40 balloons and put them all over her house. We had visits from family and friends. I am so thankful to those that came to support Kevin. Sorry I did not get a picture of everyone.

The cake. I did not think to take a picture until after I cut it.

Aunt Nicci and Aunt Felicia

Kevin's sister Kristin

Susan and Shane Seper, friends from high school and beyond.

Kevin's parents and Brad (Kristin's boyfriend)

Karlie and Kennedy and Aunt Debby
eating cake

Time for presents....

Karlie and Kennedy gave him a rock in a cell phone box. I guess that is what you get when your birthday is April Fools Day.

Thank you everyone for supporting us

Happy Birthday Kevin, We love you!!!

Not all of the balloons, but a good portion of them,
all but 12 of them I think.

A Fun Couple of Months

2011-04-04T13:49:00.003-06:00

On January 29th, Kevin was changing out filters in the vents that are on the ceiling. I happened to walk into the room at just the right moment for the vent cover to fall and hit me in the face. I did not realize how bad it was for quite a while. We started at the insta-care, but were then referred to the ER.

Before the stitches, but after it had been cleaned.

7 stitches later

Then on February 26, Andrew started complaining of a stomach ache. He threw up a few times that night. In the morning, he was still puking, only it was just stomach acid and he also said he felt like he needed to urinate, but could not. We called the Dr. They said it was either a urinary track infection or appendicitis. Kevin took him to the ER while I stayed home with Jared and Kiana. Kevin called about an hour later and said they were prepping him for surgery. I called my mom to come and get the kids and I. She dropped me off at the hospital, and took the kids to my aunt Debby. She then came back to the hospital to see Andrew. Thank you mom and Debby for your help.

Recovering after his appendectomy

He had a few visitors. Grandmas, Aunt Kristin and our new bishop and his wife.

Such a trooper. He did not want to have surgery, but he did great. He got to spend one night in the hospital. We watched MegaMind.

Already feeling better. He had pizza for his first meal.

Hopefully, this will be the end of major health problems for quite a while. Thank you to everyone who helped us out in anyway.

Dishwasher

2011-03-03T14:55:00.002-07:00

Our dishwasher has developed a leak. So until we can find a way to pay for repairs, we have to hand wash all the dishes. What a pain. Kiana the other day insisted on washing the dishes. She was just using water at first and I told her she needed to use soap. She went to her bathroom and got the hand soap and continued to wash dishes. Needless to say, I had to rewash all those dishes, but it was very nice of her to step in and help all on her own. I wish more of the people that live here would do the same. Now if I could just get her to clean her room.....

James Madison

2011-03-03T14:10:00.002-07:00

Jared had to do a book report on James Madison for school. They encourage the kids to dress up as their President. This is the costume we came up with for Jared. He wanted hair, but the best we could do was to spray it with silver hair spray.

Getting ready to present. He made a power point with all of the information. He did a great job other than the fact that he faced the power point and not the class.

Happy 9th Birthday Jared

2011-03-03T12:29:00.002-07:00

I can hardly believe that Jared is 9 years old already. He is a great kid full of energy. He loves to tease his sister, but you can tell that they really love each other as well.

Parent Teacher Conferences

2011-02-03T12:53:00.002-07:00

I cannot believe that this school year is already more than half over. Last night we had our 2nd parent teacher conferences of the year.

Mr. Rounds had only good things to say about Andrew. He has improved so much with staying on task and getting his work turned in on time. He does better at math then he would want anyone to believe. He still does not like it, but does know how to do it. I hope these skills continue to improve and that we will have a great second half of the year.

Mrs. Paur also only had good things to say about Jared. He does talk a bit too much in class sometimes, but he is still a very good kid. He is starting to love reading. Mrs. Paur suggested that he start reading more non-fiction books. We will have to give it a try and see how it goes. Jared also needs to work on writing faster. Our plan of action for this is to have him write letters to family, friends, missionaries or maybe even to the military.

We are so blessed to have such great, smart kids. We treated them to dinner at Golden Coral.
We are also blessed to have such great teachers for our kids. We appreciate all they do.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-11T16:50:00.002-07:00

I know this post is out of order, I just almost forgot that we took this picture.

The kids all slept in Kiana's room to await Santa's visit. It is a tight squeeze, but they loved it.

I remember that my brothers and I would always sleep in the same room on Christmas eve as well. I also remember my dad tying our doorknobs together so we could not get out and peek before he said it was time.

Christmas at Grandparents

2011-01-10T12:15:00.007-07:00

We started the day at Grandma Colleen's with an accident. The kids were given some M&M dispensers that used to belong to my dad. Andrew's happened to be one that was never opened. He tried cutting the tip of his thumb off in the process of trying to open it. Luckily, my mom's neighbor is a nurse and she was more than willing to help patch him up. Thank you Linda.

Being brave through the pain

Now onto opening the gifts.....

not the dispenser that caused all the trouble

A princess sleeping bag

Onto Grandma and Grandpa Olsen's....

Kevin's favorite picture.
That pillow pet is Jared's and Kiana kept stealing it.

Kiana got lots of ZHU ZHU pet accessories

Both of our parents gave us cash which we used to buy this new TV stand.

We had an awesome Christmas. More to come later. Those pictures are on a different SD card.

Disney on Ice

2010-11-15T16:34:00.005-07:00

You can never have too much Disney. So when we were offered 5 tickets, we did not pass them up. I was leaving to go on a girls weekend, so Kevin took the boys, Kiana and Kiana's friend down to the ESA for the show. I am glad he was willing to do that without me. I am also sad I missed it, but has tons of fun in ST. George with the girls.
Here are a few pictures Kevin took of the show.

Our Halloween Costumes

2010-11-15T16:28:00.002-07:00

At the Trunk-or-Treat, they had one of the sisters in the ward that takes pictures, set up a backdrop and take pictures of everyone. That was so nice, otherwise I do not think we would have had pictures of everyone. Thanks Sara.

Visalia

2010-11-15T16:03:00.005-07:00

We were so lucky to be able to visit our best neighbors ever who moved to Visalia, California a few years ago. Jared was especially excited, because it is his best friend Josh.

Josh showing Jared his "How to Train Your Dragon" books.

Wyatt
He is just a few weeks younger than Kiana.

Brock

Josh

Mary and I

Thank you Mike and Mary for allowing us to visit you. Sorry it was such a short trip. Next time we will have to do the Sequoias.
The kids all had fun playing together. Jared and Andrew were able to catch up on some homework we had slacked on while at Disneyland and we were able to just relax.

We stayed here 2 nights then drove straight home on the 16th. It was such an awesome trip, but it is good to be home.

Disneyland Trip Day 7 (October 13)

2010-11-15T11:54:00.005-07:00

This was our last day at Disneyland, and so we used our volunteer passes that we had earned in February. We had helped with the Special Needs Winter Olympics. Well everyone except Kiana and Grandma. They had park hopper tickets, but the rest of us only had tickets to Disneyland. Kevin traded passes with my mom and took Kiana over to California Adventures to do a few things. While there she got to meet Mr. Incredible.

Meanwhile.... Grandma, the boys and I explored Tom Sawyer's Island. Kevin was bummed he missed this, but he was having fun with Kiana.

The sign above is head is hard to read, it says unknown hostage.

When Kevin and Kiana came back to Disneyland, we went to the Haunted Mansion. The kids still did not like this ride, however it is less scary decorated as The Nightmare Before Christmas. I am now being corrected. Andrew says he liked it.

Today was also the day we told the kids they could spend their money. We visited Downtown Disney and went to Build-a-bear. Kiana built a bunny that she later named Daisy. Jared built a white bear that he named Luke. Andrew built a dinosaur named Yoda. After stuffing, washing and pick out clothes for her bear, Kiana said she didn't feel good. We asked them to hold everything so we could go eat, thinking she was hungry. We ate at Rainforest Cafe. She only ate a few bites and fell asleep in my arms. We finished eating, then had to go back and pay for her bunny while she slept.
Then we went back into Disneyland so the boys could build light sabers. While we were paying for them, Kiana threw up all over Kevin. So there ended our Disneyland trip. We quickly finished up all our shopping and headed back to my Uncle Dean's. We were going to drop off my mom and continue up to Visalia to visit some friends, but with Kiana being sick we decided to wait until morning.

What we learned on this trip: 1. Do not buy transit passes, it is much easier to drive your own car and pay for parking.
2. Never go on a Friday or Saturday.

Everyone had a blast and we cannot wait until the next time.

Disneyland Trip Day 6 (October 12)

2010-11-15T10:07:00.005-07:00

Kiana opened her birthday presents the next morning at breakfast. We had forgotten the previous day and then got home to late. She did get new shoes the morning of her birthday. We did not take pictures of that though.

Princess dolls from Andrew and Jared.

Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue DVD from Mom and Dad.

Lava Cake from the waitress. (too bad she never got to eat it.)

Kiana opted not to go to Disneyland this day. She stayed at the hotel with Grandma. They went for a walk, swimming for hours and watched her new movie.

We did not take very many pictures in the park on this day, but here are a few.

We did not stand in line to see Jessie, but we did watch her with this cute little Woody. She was so excited and cute with him.

Midway Mania.

We stood in line over an hour to ride this ride. It was so worth it. When we went back to ride it again, it was closed. There is a Wii game based on this ride. I want it!!!

Just a fun picture we took after lunch.

Little Green Army Men

Disneyland Trip Day 5 and Happy Birthday Kiana

2010-11-11T13:06:00.008-07:00

Today Kiana turned 4. I can hardly believe it. For her birthday, she got to meet Mickey Mouse.

Grandma Colleen and Mickey

The boys and Mickey

Mother and daughter

He does know how to smile.

One very tired little girl. Right after this, we sat and watched the Aladdin show. Good thing, because she is heavy. Jared also slept for part of the show.

Kiana also got to dress up as Snow White and meet 6 of the princesses.

The boys were good sports about seeing all the princesses and even got their pictures with some of them.

Plugging their ears on "It's a Small World", almost the entire ride.

World of Color
Andrew fell asleep on the sidewalk waiting for the show to start.

These pictures really do not do it justice. It was way cool and worth the wait in line to get tickets. However if I were to do it again, I would buy a boxed lunch and have priority seating.

Kiana's birthday muffin courtesy of Grandma.
Happy Birthday Kiana we love you.

Autotopia

Dumbo

Heading back to the parking lot and hotel we had a very exciting day.

Disneyland Trip Day 3 & 4 (October 9th & 10th)

2010-11-10T12:14:00.007-07:00

Saturday was Kiana's first day in Disneyland. She was very excited.

All the kids and Sulley. Sulley is one of the few characters that cannot sign autograph books.

We waited for 30 minutes to see Tinkerbell and one of her friends, it was well worth the wait.

Fawn

Kiana did not want to let go. She loves Tinkerbell.

Tinkerbell was very interactive and cute with the kids.

Everyone in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. We even got to walk through the inside of it.

The Fairy Godmother

Meeting Pooh and Tigger.
(I will have to find where Kevin saved the Pooh pictures.)

You have to look close to see Kiana's face on this ride. She did not like it at all. It was one of the boys favorites.

Dancing and waiting to see Captain EO.

Saturday was even crazier than Friday. We will never go to Disneyland on a weekend again. Everyone had a great time. Looking forward to a day of rest then onto more fun.

On Sunday we visited the Anaheim 3rd ward, and then just relaxed and swam at the hotel.

Disneland Trip Day 2 (October 8th)

2010-11-09T13:49:00.010-07:00

The front gates:

The first day in the park was just Kevin, the boys and I. Kiana stayed home with my mom and aunts.

Sulley, Jared and Andrew

This is on the Monster Inc. ride in California Adventure.

Meet and greet with Pluto

Finding Nemo Submarine ride

Teacups. We only got to ride this one time.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was one of the boys favorite rides. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Mickey and Minnie in their Halloween Costumes.

Our first day in park was a Friday. It was very busy, but we still had a lot of fun. Also Jared did not remember how fastpass worked, so did not want to get one. Finally we told him we were going to get one. He loved them after that. Too bad we did not force him earlier.

Disneland Trip Day 1 (October 7th)

2010-11-09T13:24:00.003-07:00

We stayed over night in Mesquite, at the Casablanca, on the way down.

When we reached Vegas, we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop. They have a lot of cool displays and fish aquariums.

We stayed the next two nights at my Uncle Dean and Aunt Judy's home. Thank you for letting us stay with you. Kiana was so worn out she crashed on the couch with her head falling off.

I think this is going to be a slow process, but I am getting it done finally. More to come.....

Before....

2010-09-24T11:18:00.006-06:00

...and After

Much better. Andrew wanted a Facebook account so bad he was willing to cut his hair. I love it.

Costumes

2010-09-18T09:42:00.000-06:00

If you want to borrow any of these, let me know. I also have a few other costumes that I need to get pictures of. If you want to know what they are before I get the pictures up just give me a call.

Not For Another 2 Years at Least

2010-09-13T19:48:00.002-06:00

Today I had the privileged of fulfilling my civic duty. I was summoned to jury duty for this week. I reported today at 8:45 am. We listened to lots of instructions and answered a lot of questions. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the 8 jurors. I have never served on a jury before, and was pretty nervous at first. However I was lucky enough to also finish today. The case was very cut and dry and we all wondered why it was even brought to court. The defendant was charged with escaping official custody. I was hoping to be done by 11 am, but once I was selected, I knew it would be longer. During our first break, I was calling to make arrangements for the boys in case they got home before I was done. A plan was set in place, but we ended up not needing it. We reached a verdict quickly and were done by about 2:40. I made it home before the boys. Thank you to Kamra who willing watched Kiana for me all day today. You are a lifesaver.

I was lucky however that I was not selected for the other trial that was going on this week. As we were all leaving, our bailiff told us that the other one was a murder trial.

12 Years and Counting

2010-09-09T11:26:00.002-06:00

Kevin and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on September 4th. Kevin had not made it to a REAL game yet this year, and they happened to have a home game that night. I called and got us some tickets. Kevin was very excited. Thanks mom for taking the kids for us. Thanks to Kelly for taking our picture for us, and thanks to REAL SALT LAKE for winning the game.
Thanks Kevin for an amazing 12 years that have just flown by and I look forward to the next 12. I love you. Happy Anniversary.

Read Today Book Fair

2010-09-02T11:16:00.007-06:00

This summer the boys participated in a program called Read Today. It was sponsored by The Deseret News Companies (KSL). They had fun reading over the summer. Andrew read over 6000 minutes and Jared was just shy of 3000 minutes. I am so proud of them. So the Saturday after school started, we went to their book fair were Andrew and Jared both got meed Lt. Greg Bell and Olene Walker as well as Nadine Wimmer. Andrew was one of the top 50 readers in the state. They have had such great success, that they are continuing it year round so get your elementary kids registered. We gave notes to each of the boys teachers at back to school night and also to the principal so that we can hopefully get greater participation from more of our students.

They had a prize drawing and Jared won a book.

Jared also got to be News Anchor.

They also got to meet Brandon Mull. He signed some bookmarks for them.
Later I stood in line and all of our Fablehaven books autographed. In the 5th book, he wrote a special note to Andrew. He has a new series coming out soon that we cannot wait to read. It is called "Beyonders".

Mom and Kiana sitting in the shade while Andrew, Jared and Dad listened to Brandon Mull talk.

It was a fun day. The boys also got free backpacks with pen, pencils and erasers inside. Those backpacks are going to be turned into 72 hour kits for them.

First Day of School 2010

2010-09-02T10:33:00.004-06:00

Sorry, it took so long to post this, our computer has been having a few problems so the pictures were unavailable for a while.

The boys were excited to start school again. Jared a little more than Andrew. We could definitely tell school has started again, because it is chilly in the mornings now. Fall is almost here. Where did the summer go?

Jared is in 3rd grade and has Mrs. Paur for a teacher. He seems to really like her.
Andrew is a big 6th grader and has Mr. Rounds for his teacher. We are very excited Andrew is in his class. He really likes him. I cannot believe that I have a 6th grader. It seems like just yesterday I put him on the Kindergarten bus. Jr. High next year and I am NeRvOUs!!!!

Here they are walking to the bus stop.
They both had a great first day and also a great first week. So far Andrew has been great at filling out his planner, getting homework done and turning it in. I hope this trend continues.

It's What Fun Is...

2010-08-18T10:26:00.005-06:00

LAGOON

We took the boys to Lagoon. They had a great time. Andrew had won a free pass from KSL and Read Today. We are so proud of him.

Waiting in line for Wicked. Before we got to Lagoon Jared said he wanted to ride. By the time we got in line he was saying he did not want to.

We got on and there was a problem. Jared worried himself sick and had to be let off. Later after he calmed down, he rode with Kevin.

Andrew headed for Colossus. Both boys loved this one.

Andrew, Jared and I are about in the middle. I am by myself and the boys behind me. Click the picture to enlarge and see better.

We made it to the end of the ride.

Enjoying Root Beer Floats on a hot day. Mom and Dad had ice cream cones.

Lots and lots of walking.

The Old Wooden Roller Coaster. Jared is next to me. He had his arms raised the whole time.

Waiting for dad to get off the Roller Coaster. It is hard to have a camera at Lagoon. We had to trade of riding, so someone could hold the camera.

Andrew's favorite ride after Wicked. The Tidal Wave.

Jared loved the fountain in the middle. He soaked himself a few times. I got SOAKED on Rattlesnake Rapids and took forever to dry.

Tilt-a-whirl. I love this ride. We also went on the space scrambler and Jared got a lesson in centripetal force. He would not let me sit on the outside and so got smashed by Andrew and I. He just laughed.

Waiting to ride the Flying Aces.

We had a great time, the day went way too fast. The boys liked all of the rides they went on. They are ready to go back. I still have my hand stamp. Does anyone know how to remove it. It is made to not come off.

Lava

2010-08-03T09:17:00.005-06:00

This past weekend, we went up to Lava. We went swimming. Andrew is still afraid of swimming. I took him to where he could not touch, and he had a death grip on me and would not let go for anything. I wanted him to swim to the wall that was about 3 feet away.

Jared is my no fear child. He loves to swim. He must be mine. I grew up in the water. He loves the big water slides as well, but we did not get any pictures of him going down them.

Trying to get Dad's attention. We could tell he was scanning the water looking for us.

Swimming with Grandma. I think it is funny that she plugs her ears instead of her nose. Kiana also loves the water. It did take some time before she let Grandma do this....

Jared on one of the smaller slides on the side of the pool.

Kiana went down this slide about a hundred times I think.

And she always needed someone at the bottom to catch her.

Jared, Holly, Mateo, Karina, Andrew

They must be pretending that they are turtles.

Then we went to a cabin that is owned by a friend of my mom.

May

She is the mother of my mom's friend. She was so sweet and fun. She is also 90. When my mom told me this I did not believe her. She cried when we left.

Kiana taking her stuff to the tent to sleep with Grandma

That is some AWESOME bedhead

"Leave me alone I am still sleeping"

We saw quite a few deer. This little guy left his mother and walked right past us.

Just chillin"

Kevin was going to take the kids for a ride, but ran out of gas. They were all disappointed.

I love this man.

Thanks to my mom and Tanya for inviting us up. We had a great time. Next time we will have to go down the river and to the hot pods. I also need to teach my kids how to hike and entertain themselves in the mountains. They got a little bored just being at the cabin.

Flying J at the Junction

2010-07-26T10:02:00.003-06:00

Flying J had their annual summer party at Fat Cats this year. Kevin and the boys got to try out the Flowrider and had a lot of fun. Kevin tried the surfing side, and the boys stayed on the boogie board side. By the end of the hour, Kevin was really starting to get the hang of it. I was done taking pictures by that time though.

Kiana was not enjoying just watching dad and brothers on the Flowrider. She was ready to leave.

They also got to ride the bumper cars and had a lot of fun on them. Kiana was too short and you cannot have double riders, so she and I missed out on this as well.

We bowled before the Flowrider, but had left the camera in the car. Kevin and the kids bowled again after I left with a friend to go to book club. Kiana took some of these pictures.

Love the little dance she did after pushing her ball down the ramp.

It was a very fun time, but hard with a toddler. If they do this again next year it will be even more fun, because Kiana will be tall enough for more.

All In A Week.... Really?

2010-07-21T09:43:00.002-06:00

Those front 3 piles of clothes are all Jared's. I cannot believe that in 1 week, he wore all of those clothes. There are about 16 pants/shorts and at least 10 shirts. No wonder it takes all day to do the laundry. I bet at least half of those clothes were clean before I washed them. I am sure he pulled most of them out of the drawer looking for something, failed to put them back once he found the desired item and conveniently for him when asked to clean his room, just dumped them in the dirty clothes. I guess I don't need to get him any pants for back to school. In fact I may need to get rid of some and leave him with just 3 or 4 pairs. This is ridiculous.

Willard Bay (picture overload)

2010-07-19T09:07:00.007-06:00

A truly awesome guy took our family up to Willard Bay in his boat. It was my first time at Willard. We had an amazing time. It was just for a few hours that went by way too fast.

Kevin skiing...He got up on his first try

Boys tubing

Andrew wanted to go slower and Jared wanted to go faster. Who is the risk taker in our family?
We went the same speed.

Look at that handsome boy

Jared by himself. He loved it.

Kiana is such a cutie. She loved every minute on the boat.

Kiana and dad getting ready to go tubing.

She LOVED it.

Dad fell off

Kiana by herself. She was not scared at all.

Beautiful sunset

Swimming with Dad.
(Kiana checking the prop)

Another really handsome kid

Carpet

2010-07-08T10:10:00.006-06:00

Before we cut it

cutting it

Andrew and his upside down carpet

rolling it up so we can take it to the basement

The finished project

Our neighbors were putting in new carpet, so I asked them if we could have a piece of their old carpet that they were pulling out. They said yes. So when they pulled out the carpet from their master bedroom, they brought it over. We laid it out on the driveway and cut it down to size. It is very nice have one piece of carpet for Andrew's room. Too bad they didn't decide to re carpet before we moved all of his stuff down there.

Sleepovers

2010-07-07T18:52:00.006-06:00

The kids like to sleep in each others bedrooms. It is nearly a nightly occurrence now that it is summer. Jared however usually sleeps in his own bed (smart kid), who wants to sleep on the floor when you have a bed to sleep in?

Kiana fell asleep in the car the other day, so I brought her in a laid her on the couch. A little while later I found her like this. How does she sleep like that. Shortly after this picture was taken, she was laying on the floor.
Notice all the carpet scraps on the floor? Well Andrew got new carpet. More to come on that later.

Flowers

2010-06-18T12:43:00.002-06:00

Kevin surprised me with a dozen roses yesterday. It was 12 years ago that he proposed to me. I left the very next day to go to Lake Powell for a week. He figured if he was going to surprise me, it had to be before I left. I had no idea that he had even been shopping for a ring. We were always together, and we had not gone together looking for rings. I was very surprised when he pulled out the ring and proposed. I was also very nicely surprised by the flowers yesterday. How sweet of him to remember the anniversary of our engagement. I love you Kevin. Thanks again.

All For Andrew

2010-06-14T10:49:00.012-06:00

On Saturday, we spent most of the day bringing everything up out of the basement. Now it is all sitting throughout the rest of the house, mostly in the TV room. All so that Andrew can have his very own room. He has been asking for a while and we decided to just do it. The basement is still unfinished, but he doesn't care. He is happy to have is own room for the first time in 8 years.

Kiana's room

Jared's room

Andrew's new room

I hope he realizes how much we love him.

Someday, we might finish it or at least have it all the way carpeted.
Now the real work begins of finding a place for all of the displaced stuff. If you would like to help us store stuff, just let me know.

FYI Kiana's room is back to normal and clean. My room is back to normal and the front room almost is. The TV room is going to have to wait until we go through the garage. Hopefully that will be soon. It will probably take another whole Saturday and several trips to the DI before everything is right.

Weekend Trip

2010-06-10T16:57:00.008-06:00

We went up to Kevin's parent's cabin in Manila for the weekend. It is up by Flaming Gorge. It was a lot of fun. Kevin took the boys shooting on Saturday. Jared had a hard time. The gun was a little big for him, plus he is left eye dominate.

Jared trying to shoot

Andrew shooting his old dresser drawer
He put 12 holes in it.

Standing in two places at once

We left on Sunday morning. On the way home we did a little geocaching. We found two boxes. We had tried two the day before but did not find them.

Jared got sick on the way home and threw up in the car. Luckily we were able to move Andrew and Kiana into Grandma and Grandpa's car. I hope he does not have motion sickness, or if he does that he can outgrow it fast.

By himself in the back seat

All in all it was fun and relaxing. The boys were a little disappointed that the boat was not ready and they did not get to go fishing. Maybe next time.

Is This Asking Too Much?

2010-06-03T09:41:00.004-06:00

Say prayers (morning and night)
Read Scriptures (as a family)
Comb hair (everyday)
Brush Teeth (morning and night)
Make Bed (everyday)
Read Book (30 minutes a day)
Clear Table after dinner every other day
Empty Dishwasher every other day
Clean Bedroom
Dirty Clothes downstairs (once a week)
Put Clean clothes away (once a week)
Straighten Front Room (everyday for a week)with help from mom
Straighten TV room (everyday for a week)with help from mom
Clean bathroom (once a week)

Jared fights me on these things daily. Am I asking too much from my eight year old?

She is So Cute

2010-05-05T09:53:00.002-06:00

Today while eating breakfast, I looked at Kiana and said: "You are so cute, thanks for coming to be mine." She responded with "You know you have to SHARE me with daddy, because he loves me too. He loves me this much (arms open wide). And I love him this much (arms still open) and I love you this much too ( arms still open)." I love you so much Kiana.

Very Powerful

2010-05-03T10:04:00.001-06:00

Conversations with a 3 year old

2010-04-23T16:14:00.003-06:00

Today Kiana asked me when she could get married.
I told her not for at least 20 years. Why do you want to get married?
"So I can have a T.V. in my room like you."
I asked her who do you want to marry?
"You."
You cannot marry me I am already married to your dad and also girls do not marry girls, they marry boys.
"Can I marry Andrew?"
No, he is your brother.
"Can I marry Jared?"
No, he is your brother also.
"Oh man!"

Her new haircut she got today

Montana Trip

2010-04-21T10:30:00.007-06:00

Kevin's Grandpa turned 85 on April 14. His Grandma planned a surprise party for him. We drove up on Friday and stayed in a hotel. We all went swimming on Friday night. On Saturday morning, after our free continental breakfast, we did a little shopping. Andrew needed some new pants. He is getting too tall. He took two pairs of pants. one was holey and the other, too short. Grandma also bought Kiana a new pair of shoes. Thanks Grandma Fran. After that we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's. Grandpa answered the door and just smiled and shook his head. He had figured out that Grandma had been scheming.

Grandpa was just like a kid opening his presents. He had to open boxes and play with his new tools. Kiana wanted to be in on all the fun of opening presents.

Kiana found new friend. This is Kevin's cousin William. Kiana loved leading him all over the yard. She would just take his hand and he was so good to follow her. William is attending BYU- Idaho.

She was very sad when it was time for William to leave.

Happy 85th Birthday Grandpa. Glad we could be there to celebrate it with you. We hope for many more happy years for you.

These are the last of the Great-Grandparents for our kids. I am glad that they have to opportunity to spend some time with them and to get to know them even if it is just a little.

11 Years

2010-04-12T09:07:00.006-06:00

2004 age 5

2005 age 6

2006 age 7

2007 age 8

2008 age 9

2009 age 10

Playing Mario Kart after church

2010 age 11

Happy Birthday Andrew. You are an awesome kid. You have blessed our lives in so many ways.
I cannot believe that I have an 11 year old already. I also cannot believe how much he has changed and grown over just the past few years. We love you.

Some fun things about Andrew:
1. He says he doesn't really like girls, but there are 2 he talks to on a fairly regular basis.
2. He doesn't like math but is pretty good at it.
3. He loves Fablehaven and is sad to see the series end. These were the books that got him interested in reading.
4. He is the best big brother to Kiana. They have sleepovers almost every weekend. She totally adores him.
5. He loves the Wii, especially Mario Kart.
6. He gets to celebrate his birthday with his 3 girl cousins on his dad's side every year.
7. He hates sharing a room with his brother, but they really do get along well (most of the time).
8. He likes McGrath's Fishhouse, which we can no longer go to because he can read now. I am totally okay with that I am not a big fish eater.
9. His favorite food is Lasagna. We are having this tonight.
10. He loves his two afghans. One was made by his Great Grandma Clontz the other by Grandma Fran.
11. He told me this morning, he is not looking forward to receiving the Priesthood in a year.

Happy Easter

2010-04-08T10:18:00.002-06:00

We had a good Easter. It is always nice to have fun, but it is wonderful to remember the Resurrection of our Savior.

The kids with their Easter baskets.

Andrew and Kiana hunting for eggs at Grandma Fran's
(Jared ran the opposite way from the camera so we have no pictures of him)

We also had an egg hunt with my family, but we forgot our camera and my mom's camera had dead batteries. We missed more of conference than we heard. I am so happy that current technology allows us to access it online and also that it will be printed in the upcoming Ensign.
We colored eggs on Easter morning, because I forgot to buy them and so they did not get boiled until really late. So the Easter bunny did not get to hide them. I think the kids were a little disappointed.

One Year Older and Wiser Too

2010-04-02T09:47:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Kevin.

Kevin is 39. He always only has one request for his birthday, a German Chocolate Cake made from scratch. It is really not too hard, but has a lot of steps and dirties a ton of dishes. This year, spring break started on Kevin's birthday, so I had lots of helpers to make the cake. It was about the only time all day that they were helpful. I fought with them to help clean the house so that grandparents could come and help us celebrate. I was not good at getting pictures of him or our guest or the enormous amount of candles I had to place on the cake. Oh well.

We love you Kevin. Thank you for all you do for our family. I hope you had a good birthday.

Pinewood Derby

2010-04-01T11:56:00.003-06:00

Jared's car is the farthest to the right

We had our annual Pinewood Derby on the the 31st of March. We had a really great turn out. Jared's car took 2nd place and Andrew took 4th. Not bad considering that we built his car the day of the race. The pinewood derby is always a fun event. Kevin likes making the cars with the boys, but wishes he had a couple months notice of when the event was going to be.

Andrew's car is the farthest right

Andrew's car is the farthest left

Special Olympics

2010-03-28T11:48:00.003-06:00

On the 27th of March, we competed our "give a day, get a Disney day" service. We helped with the Special Olympics. Kevin's day started at 9 am at Powder Mountain. He was assigned some athletes and was responsible for getting them to their start gate on time. Then later that evening, we all went up to Weber State for the dinner and closing ceremony. We cleared tables and watched their parade and saw them extinguish the torch. Then they had a dance. It was really very fun and hard to believe that we get a free day at Disneyland for so little work. Maybe we will have to volunteer again for the summer games or else next winter. The boys did not have as much fun, but when we told them they earned a free day, they were a little more excited about the volunteering.

Loves It

2010-03-25T11:35:00.000-06:00

We recently purchased Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Kiana now has new favorite movies. Every time she wants to watch a movie now it is one of these two. She usually will sit through the whole show too. I had to snap a picture to show how entertained she was and also because her hair was so cute.

Get off the Floor

2010-03-17T12:09:00.003-06:00

Jared was laying on the floor the other day, and Kevin told him to get up and get his book so we could read. This is not what he wanted to do and was not very happy about it. Kevin asked him again to get off the floor. Jared then stood up and began crying. He said "I don't know how to walk if I can not have my feet on the floor." We were trying so hard not to laugh, but how do you not? Kevin gave him a hug and told him that his feet were allowed to touch the floor so he could walk and go get his book.

Time Change

2010-03-12T11:53:00.001-07:00

This is your friendly reminder from Mickey and his pals to change your clock this Sunday. Spring Forward one hour.

This is what happens when....

2010-03-09T11:35:00.004-07:00

....you throw your retainers in the garbage.

Andrew went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and left his retainers on his plate. He told us about an hour after he got home. So all plans were put on hold, so he could look. (We still had a few things to do before the baptism, yeah none of those things got done). He searched in the dumpster for about an hour, before we had to leave to get ready for Jared's baptism. Too bad that table bussers don't keep an eye out for such things. We never found it.
On the bright side, I think he learned a lesson and will leave it home or put it in a pocket next time. He will probably be fit for new ones at his appointment on Wednesday. He may need a job to help pay for it, so if you have any odd jobs you need done, give him a call.

UPDATE: The friend that he went with, told him at school today that they found his retainer in the van. Yeah. We get there to find out it is just the top one. We searched for about 15-20 more minutes for the bottom one. Oh well better to replace one than two. Then we had an idea. The van was parked on the street when he got out of it. So back we go to look in the street and surrounding area. We found it!!! Bad news is it was in 4 pieces.

Jared's Baptism

2010-03-09T11:05:00.003-07:00

Jared and Dad

Dad, Jared and Mom

Jared and Dad in front of the baptismal font

Three friends all getting baptized on the same day

Jared was baptized on March 6, 2010. We are so proud of him for making this decision. He was baptized by his father. There were 3 boys baptized from our ward. Dylan Hunter and Taylor Marcus we also baptized by their fathers. It was such a joyous and happy day. Thanks to our two witnesses, Brent Fowers and Bob Bushell, we appreciate all you do for us.

I was really missing my Dad on this special occasion. It really would have been nice to have him be one of the witnesses. However, I believe that he was a witness on the other side of the veil. I love my dad so much and am glad that he always honored his priesthood. I am also very thankful for the plan of salvation which will allow me to see him again.

After the baptism and confirmation, we went to our church for dinner. We ate bbq chicken sandwiches, chips and salads, with cookies for desert. Thank you again to all who came and celebrated this special day with Jared. We love all of you.

Toad's

2010-02-15T10:54:00.004-07:00

Jared and his good friend Dylan have birthdays that are two days apart. So we decided to celebrate together. This year we decided to go to Toad's Fun Zone. It was way fun for everyone.

Jared and Dylan the birthday boys

The Arcade was first on the list. Everyone got about $3 to spend. Birthday boys had about $5.

Then it was on to Laser Tag. This was extremely fun for the boys.

Then we played miniature golf. This was a chaotic mess. Getting 8 years olds to understand the process of waiting for one person to finish before you go is very hard. Thanks to Annika, Kennedy and Alyssa and Andrew, we sort of kept order and made them wait their turn.

We also had pizza and root beer or sprite, and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla ice cream. Thanks Ang for arranging everything. Happy 8th Birthday Jared and Dylan.

Crazy 8

2010-02-11T09:53:00.010-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that my sweet Jared was born EIGHT years ago today. We love having him in our family. He loves to be the center of attention and is almost always smiling. He has a wonderful testimony of the Gospel, and cannot wait to be baptized. He is a totally awesome little guy. Happy Birthday Jared! We love you.

Birth Announcement 2002

I apparently don't have any digital copies of pictures from when Jared was one.

2004 age 2

2005 age 3

2006 age 4
at the Mayan Restaurant

May 2007 age 5
at Disneyland

2008 age 6

2009 age 7

New Do

2010-02-06T11:54:00.002-07:00

I finally convinced Kevin that Kiana needed a haircut and not just a trim. Her hair is so fine and thin, it just looked straggly and undone unless I put it in a pony tail of some kind. I think she looks much more adorable now. Kevin likes it too. I asked him if he wished we would have done it months ago, he never responded. Kiana likes it too, but it can still get in her eyes.

I got about 4 inches cut off of mine. I like it this length. Maybe in the spring or summer I will get a shorter do, I will just have to wait and see how I feel then. The color comes next, but it will be a few more weeks.

The Results of a Good Book Series

2010-01-31T18:18:00.003-07:00

Kevin is very glad that this is the last book of the series. If you are wondering, it was Children of the Promise. I loved them. It is a 5 book series but it could have gone on longer in my eyes. I guess now I better buckle down and clean up all this mess before I pick up my next book. Keep in mind Kevin did not take pictures of the upstairs which is almost as bad. The boys are in charge of their own room. Did I mention that I love to read? Now I just need a trick on how to read and get the cleaning done. Any suggestions?

Crazy Hair Day and Princesses Playing

2010-01-25T13:14:00.003-07:00

Looking like a Mad Scientist.

You can't really see it, but Jared has a little white ribbon sticking out of the top of his head, making him a Hershey Kiss.

Amberlyn and Kiana wearing some of my old dresses pretending to be princesses. They were having lots of fun and looked so cute, I just had to get some pictures.

Keep going there are more new posts!!!

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-01-25T12:43:00.004-07:00

The message Kevin left on my pillow after he made the bed. Discovered several hours later.

Putting candles on the cake my mom made for me. If you want to know how old I am I guess you better start counting all those candles.

They created quite the glow, but I blew them all out with one breath.

The Friday after my birthday, Kevin took me to the Desert Star Playhouse to see Twi-Lite: I was a Teenage Vampire. It was very funny. My friend Dawnese and her husband went with us. We ordered pizza and laughed a lot. Thank you to everyone for making my birthday great.

Kiana was very concerned about me not having a birthday cake, and wanted to make me one. She asked me what kind of pony I wanted on it. She was very cute. Her dad told her he already had plans for a cake so she did not need to worry about it.

Later at the restaurant, I discovered that she did not put panties on when she got dressed. She would not be satisfied until her daddy knew and also saw. She pulled her pants down right there in the restaurant and Kevin got an eyeful. I am not sure if anyone else saw, I hope not.

Keep going there are more new posts......

Great Grandparents

2010-01-25T12:30:00.003-07:00

Kevin's Grandpa and Grandma Paskett came down from Montana for a little bit, so we went up to Fran's to visit with them and while we were there, we took the opportunity to get 4 generation pictures.

Kevin's sister: Kristin and her 4 kids
Karlie, Isiah, Sophie, and Kennedy

Sophie and Kiana sitting on Grandma Diane's lap.
Grandma was loving every minute.

Tired and ready to go home

Could not resist taking this picture of his long upside down hair.

We are so glad we got the chance to visit with them. We don't get to see them very often, but the kids enjoy having them around. We will have to take a trip to Montana soon I think.

Keep going, there are more new posts.......

Crazy Sleeper

2010-01-25T12:25:00.003-07:00

How does she sleep like this?

We just had to get a picture or two before we moved her. I was amazed that she did not wake up.

Keep going there is one more......

More from Christmas

2010-01-25T12:11:00.002-07:00

My dear sweet Kevin took some stills from the videos that he took of Christmas morning. This is the boys opening their big gift. The Wii and Mario Kart.

At Grandma and Grandpa's house. More Wii games. This one is a light saber duel with 2 light sabers. Kiana got a 2 aprons and some play food.

At Grandma Colleen's. Coats and clothes, with a few toys as well.

Christmas Morning 2009

2010-01-12T10:59:00.007-07:00

Kiana checking out her new kitchen that Santa brought. She loves it, and I am so glad.

Mom's turn to open one. It was new snow gloves.

Kevin got a camera bag for his new camera.

We had a really great Christmas, the boys got a Wii system and lots of accessories for it.

They have been having a lot of fun with it. Most of the pictures are videos that are too large to post to the blog, so if you have a problem with that, you will have to take it up with the photographer, and I will not name names, but I will tell you that it was not me.
This will be remembered as the Christmas that Jared was extremely disappointed. Santa did not bring a single thing that he asked for. I hope he realizes that he is loved and that it was not because he was not a good kid. Now that it is over and done with, I think he is okay with what they did get.
Andrew wanted to know why all they got was Wii stuff, but he is glad now that he doesn't have to only play one or two games. We have 4 remotes so we can all play, as long as someone shares with Kiana. She doesn't last too long yet. The Monday after Christmas, Kevin had the day off, and the kids all had received gift cards to Build a Bear Workshop, so we made another trip down there. They each got a new bear and had lots of fun. Here is a picture of the kids collection of bears.

Darth Vader(Blazer), Nikki, Anakin, Max, Melanie,
Midnight, Buddy, Alvin

Kiana-ism

2009-12-23T12:45:00.003-07:00

The other night the boys were fighting. Kevin put them in
their room and talked to Kiana about it to get the story.
The 3 of them wanted to sleep in the same room so he asked
her to be the peacemaker. She said, "but dad, why do I
need to be the peachmaker? Then he asked her what Santa
would say about the boys fighting. Her reply:

Kiana still wants a "tichen".


Then she went up to their room and made them hold hands
and listen to what she had to say. She told them to get
along and say sorry. Andrew argued at first and she just
kept telling him to listen until he finally did.

2009-12-22T15:51:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Snowmen

2009-12-15T10:56:00.004-07:00

Kevin found this really fun and cute treat for Family Home Evening last night. They were a huge hit with the kids. They are made from little powdered donuts and donut holes, held together with a pretzel stick. Pretzel arms and a chocolate thin mint type cookie topped with a Reese's peanut butter cup for the hat. The eyes and buttons are decorator gel.

I like this kind of snowman, you get to build it in a nice warm home and then eat it when you are done.

We took these ones over to a very lucky family in our ward. It was nice to be able to share our treats with others. I hope they enjoyed eating them as much as the kids enjoyed making them.

Arrow of Light

2009-12-14T10:26:00.004-07:00

Andrew has completed his arrow of light. We are so proud of all the hard work he has put into this accomplishment. I was his Webelos leader, and I had a lot of fun helping him and the other boys achieve this rank. He has actually finished 6 months before his birthday, so he will not have any scouting to do for the next little while. He finished early, because all of the other boys in the den have their birthday late in the year and I thought it foolish to drag Andrew out, when we were already working with the other boys. Andrew really wants a 10 year old boy to move into our neighborhood. It was not bad until they split our ward and his good friend that is 2 days younger than him ended up in the other ward. Oh well. Life is good and he has achieved the highest rank in Cub Scouts.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

2009-12-04T16:09:00.002-07:00

Here we are spreading out the branches of the bottom layer. Everyone was excited and wanted to help. Kevin wanted to try having the tree downstairs this year, I think next year we will put it back in the front room window.

Dad putting on the middle section

Mom and Kiana fluffing the top most piece

Getting ready to hang the ornaments

The finished project, minus bows and a star for the top.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-03T11:40:00.003-07:00

I will hopefully get some pictures up from Halloween, Thanksgiving and putting up the tree soon. We got a new computer, and I need to learn from Kevin where the pictures are and how to access them. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Has it Really Been 3 Years?

2009-10-12T15:46:00.004-06:00

Kiana Age 3

She loved opening her presents

A new dolly from Grandma Colleen

Pots and Pans from Aunt Debby

Cool Pink Star Wars Shirt

New PJ's and a coloring set

The cake made special for her by Kenzie Lythgoe.
She did a wonderful job. Thank you Kenzie, we loved it.

These last 3 years have gone by so fast. I can hardly believe that my cute little one is already 3. She is such a joy to have in our family. She has been potty trained for almost a full year now. The easiest one so far since she did it herself. She want to help others her same age to be potty trained as well. She loves to be with her friends and loves the color pink. She hates having her hair done, but loves it when I am finished. She is totally a mommy's girl and that makes dad a little frustrated. Maybe some day she will become a daddy's girl. She still has him wrapped around her little finger though.
Happy Birthday Kiana, We love you.
Love, Dad, Mom, Andrew and Jared

Build A Bear

2009-10-12T15:13:00.001-06:00

For Kiana's birthday, we took her to Build a bear workshop at the Gateway. She picked out a cute little pink bear.

Filling the bear with the fluff.

Washing the Bear
(Kiana does not like noise)

Combing the bear's fur

Just picked out some cute clothes

Time to give the bear a name.
We named her Nikki.

Kiana loves her new bear. She takes her almost everywhere and likes to sleep with her too. It was a fun time. After this we had a late lunch/early dinner and then Mom went to the Conference Center for the General Relief Society Meeting.

11 Years and Counting

2009-09-04T13:15:00.005-06:00

Our First Date May 1, 1998

Our Engagement Pictures

Married September 4, 1998

Sealed September 4, 1999

Thank you Kevin for an amazing 11 years. You are a wonderful husband and father. I look forward many more adventures with you and our family.

7 moves
3 kids
4 cars (2 totaled)
4 jobs
Lots of fun and laughter together and some fun vacations. (see previous posts)
15 states seen
2 trips out of the country

Blackberries

2009-08-30T11:23:00.003-06:00

This past weekend, my mom was given the opportunity by her neighbors to pick some of their blackberries. She called us and also gave us the same opportunity. So we headed to pick some blackberries on Friday night. The kids also had fun helping to pick the blackberries and also eating a few. Well as you know, the sun sets fast once it begins its decent. So we packed up and decided to come back in the morning. We slept at my mom's so that we would not have to drive back the next day. My mom and 2 aunts and I made jam, syrup and a little bit of jelly. We had blackberry shakes with our lunch as well. It took most of the day, and over 50 lbs of sugar. I am so grateful for my mom and for her help in processing all of the fruit and for letting me use some of her bottles and sugar.
We had waffles this morning and used some of the syrup, it was so good. We left the rest at my mom's, and will have to pick it up in a few days.

Picking Blackberries with Grandma

We found a huge slug

Grandma made a mess and Jared volunteered to help clean it up

My two aunts Nicci and Debby smashing blackberries for the jam

My mom said she took pictures of Andrew and Kiana helping in the kitchen, but they are not on my camera, so I will have to ask her if she for sure used my camera. Otherwise, I guess we will have to just imagine them helping.

1st Day of School

2009-08-24T15:12:00.005-06:00

Today was the first day of school. Everyone was up and ready on time. Andrew and Jared both even got a few minutes of reading in before they left to catch the bus. Kiana did really well today without her brothers. She did not even ask about them until 11:30 am. Lucky for her it was an early day out for them. Andrew's favorite thing was not having to write in cursive and being the only one in his class to get 10 laps on the track. Jared's favorite thing was playing hot potato and art.

FYI Andrew's shirt says instant good kid.... Just add sugar.

School Haircuts

2009-08-17T12:23:00.004-06:00

Here are the boys with their new haircuts for back to school. They wanted the longer messy look. I guess it looks okay, but I am still not sure about it. What do you think?

A Very Vivid Dream

2009-08-01T08:19:00.003-06:00

At 5 o'clock this morning, we were awaken by a scream. Kiana who was sleeping in her usual spot on the floor by my bed was the screamer. I rolled over and picked her up. She said Jared stole her yellow shirt and she wanted it back. I finally got her to wake up and told her Jared was asleep and that she was just having a dream. I told her to lay back down and go back to sleep. That is when she noticed that she did not have a blanket. I told her to go to her room and get one and come back. Instead she goes in the boys room at starts yelling at Jared to give her shirt back. Kevin and I were laughing. I went and helped her get to her room and find a blanket. Then we went and laid back down. She slept soundly after that.
This goes to show who teases her the most. Jared you better watch out. Sleep with one eye open or something.

Green Beans

2009-07-29T18:39:00.002-06:00

My mom was given a bunch of green beans from her neighbor. While we were over there the other day, my mom started snipping the ends. I sat down to help her. Then Kiana wanted to help also. She did really well, except that she broke off about half of the bean in order to get the two ends off. She was really cute.
Then on Tuesday, I had a canning assignment at the cannery. I stared at beans for 5 hours. It was fun, but I don't want to see beans again for a while.

Minnetonka Cave

2009-07-28T11:44:00.003-06:00

On Pioneer day, we drove up to Minnetonka cave in Idaho. There are about 444 stairs into the cave and then you take those same stair out, For a total of 888 stairs. Most of which were hand carved and therefore, uneven. It was not bad though. Inside the cave it is a constant 40 degrees. The boys at first did not want to go, but had fun once we got there. My mom also went with us. It is amazing to me how these kinds of things are formed and found. This cave was discovered about 1906 or 1907. The night before we left, Kevin and I watched a program on PBS about Yellowstone, it was very interesting, however, it left me with a lot of dislike for the people of the early 1900's. After visiting this cave and seeing some of the early destruction of some of the columns and other features, it increased my dislike of those people. I am so grateful for the advances in saving and maintaining our natural resources and parks.

This picture shows some of the columns that were broken down, then later cemented back together.

This a look down into what is called the Devil's Office

This is the last room of the cave, also known as the Wedding Room. The stalagmite is the groom and the stalactite is the bride. The tour guide said the two will join in about 80 million years.

Bear Lake

Of course we had to stop on the way home and get some dinner accompanied by some raspberry shakes. The boys had banana/peach and reeses pieces. They missed the point of where we were.

Is This "Allowstone"

2009-07-22T10:31:00.007-06:00

This summer we decided to take a trip to Yellowstone National Park. We had a lot of fun. Thank you mom for letting us use your van. I don't know how we would have done it in our little car. Don't ask Andrew about the trip, he will tell you it was boring. He says he can wait to go back until he is 15. Kiana really loved it. She kept asking if we were in "allowstone". She even still today asks if we are going to "allowstone". She also has seen way too much Dora the Explorer, because everywhere we went in Yellowstone, she had to save the baby jaguar. She was a good little camper. She helped Kevin, Andrew and I set up the tent, and she walked on her own most of the time. Jared liked it more than Andrew, but not as much as Kiana. We did not see much wildlife other than bison and elk, but we did see the back of one Grizzly bear and a mother black bear and her two cubs. The grass was too long to get a good picture, but I got what I could. The moose is just a statue that we found outside of the park.
On the way up, we stopped in Idaho Falls for gas and lunch and to stretch out the legs and go potty. Jared stepped on goose or duck poop twice while we were at the falls. They had fun watching how fast the water moves there.
When we finally reached Yellowstone, there were no available campsites inside the park, so we had to drive down the road a bit and find one at Hebgen Lake. So we set up camp the first night in Rainbow Point campground, roasted hot dogs and then we roasted apples and had S'mores. The kids had fun roasting their apples, but not so much fun eating them. The S'mores however were a hit. We got a tip from a friend that we thought we would try, instead of using graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallows, we just used fudge striped cookies and marshmallows. They turned out great.
In the morning we broke camp and headed to the park. First thing we did was find a campsite and set up camp again. We lost about a half a day breaking and re-setting camp, so we decided to stay an extra day. We wanted to take the boys swimming at a swimming hole in the park that Kevin's boss told us about, but due to high, swift water, it was closed. Kevin was very disappointed.
We went to Old Faithful everyone but Andrew enjoyed this (so he claims). We also went to the Artist's Paint Pots which was Andrew's favorite. The boiling mud made a really cool sound and was almost as mesmerizing to watch as a fire.
The Dragon's Mouth had the worst sulfur smell of everywhere in the park. It was horrid. We wanted to puke, but were able to hold it in.
Kevin nor I had been to Yellowstone in over 15 years, so it was nice to go. All in all I think everyone had a good time. Andrew also earned his Traveler for Webelos on this trip, so that was good.
The only bad thing that happened was that it rained the first day we were in park. It came down hard and even hailed for a short time. It got Jared's sleeping bag wet so we had to make different sleeping arrangements and we had to go to McDonald's for dinner. That night it got down to freezing. This is the kind of thing memories are made of.

1st Pedicure

2009-07-01T17:43:00.004-06:00

Today I had my first pedicure. I loved it. My friend Dawnese and I went to the Mindful Women's Spa just over from where we live. They were running a special two pedicures for $60. It is about a $5 savings per person. They gave us water and frozen grapes. There were a lot of polish colors to choose from and I had a hard time picking, in the end I went with Eternal Flame. It looks much better than when I paint them myself. If you have not had a pedicure, I recommend one.

Busy Week

2009-06-24T16:43:00.002-06:00

The worst thing about busy weeks is when do you mow the lawn? I like to mow it before the garbage truck comes on Friday morning. This week we had a ward block party on Monday night, a wedding reception on Tuesday, South Ogden days parade and book club on Wednesday, Pack meeting on Thursday, Kevin's company party on Friday and a get together with friends on Saturday. Anyway, Friday and Saturday are out for mowing anyway, because the garbage truck would have already come. So as I headed out to mow the lawn this afternoon, I had a brilliant idea. It was hot and I really did not want to do it. Andrew is always asking to earn money, so I told him I would pay him $5 to do it. He was excited and got right to work. He maintained that attitude for most of the yard, and when he was almost done, he wanted me to finish until I told him I would not pay the full amount for an incomplete job. I still had to empty the bag, walk behind him, and start it after I emptied the bag. I still got hot and sweaty and had to shower, but for this week it was well worth my $5. He did a really great job considering he has only done it in little sections and only once or twice before. He missed a few little places and did not get under the swing set, but those few spots will have to be left for next week. Way to go Andrew!!! I guess having my little boy get bigger does have a few perks.

Summer Project and Webelos Day Camp

2009-06-14T16:34:00.007-06:00

Andrew loves to build things. He especially loves building with K'nex. He has been asking for a while when he could build this and where. I told him he had to clean his room so he could build it in there, the only problem is that it barely fits. He did most of it on his own, he only had a little help from Jared and Dad. I wish I would have been thinking and taken pictures of his daily progress. It took him about a week to complete it.

I have the great privilege of being the Webelos leader in our ward, and this past Friday we had day camp at camp Fife. We had three boys go. We prayed it would be nice weather, since it had rained all week and was slated to rain over the weekend as well. We were blessed with perfect weather. The boys had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures from the adventure.

The boys earned their Forestry pin

They got to shoot BB guns

They did some leatherwork and boondogle

Rock Climbing

Archery

They also earned their geology pin, naturalist pin, and wildlife conservation belt loop. They got to be bugs and went on the zip line. All in all it was a very fun and successful Webelos camp.

What a Deal

2009-06-02T15:04:00.002-06:00

I spent $54 and some change at Old Navy, on 1 new swim suit, 2 swim shirts, and 9 T-shirts for the boys for back to school, Well, the swim stuff is for now. And also a pair of pink flip flops for Kiana. My register total was $108 and some change. I love a good deal, so when I got a $50 off a $100 dollar purchase, I just could not pass that up. Now I need to go again and get some new stuff for me, Kevin and more for Kiana. Wouldn't that be so nice. It was fun shopping, even if it was with all 3 kids. The boys picked out all their own shirts, and I have to say I like most of them. I just hope they still like them by the time school starts again. I am not buying any more shirts for them. Next payday will have to be something else for back to school. I know it is crazy to be back to school shopping only 2 days into summer vacation, but it costs too much to buy it all at once in August.