White House Events

Good-Bye Peach Fuzz

2012-01-29T22:34:00.003-07:00

McKay's first shave. McKay has been reluctant to let his peach fuzz mustache go--he has been quite proud of it. Tonight, much to our delight, McKay finally consented to shaving it off.

Once There Was A Snowman

2012-01-28T13:19:00.002-07:00

Kayden kept waiting for it to snow so that we could build a snowman. Finally we had some snow so we were able to go outside one day to build our snowman. He wanted to name the snowman Buddy Link after our Christmas Elf so that the snowman could "watch Josh to make sure he is being nice".
While we were making the snowman, Kayden kept talking about all the things he was going to do when it got warm like have a picnic, play in the water, play soccer and so on. Man, for how long he had to wait for snow this year, he sure was wishing it away pretty fast!

Christmas Medley

2012-01-10T17:03:00.006-07:00

Christmas 2011 was wonderful. We had all sorts of family visiting from Texas, California and Idaho. It was nice to be with family and celebrate the Christmas season together. We celebrated Christmas Eve at the White House (Jeremy's parents). The boys all got new matching pajamas courtesy of Grandma White and her sewing machine. Once they dawned their new jammies, we had a family talent show.

Jaxon and Kayden enjoying the night's entertainment.

Josh decided to tell everyone a story. He is one animated kid.

Kayden decided to reenact his favorite Wii game Zelda as the character Link. He is putting on his shield and preparing his sword.

Jaxon did a magic trick during the talent show. He threw a penny through a wall and it landed on the other side.

Josh then favored us with a few Christmas songs that he learned at school.

Kayden then read to us (in his own cute way) and showed us pictures of the Zelda walk through book. He carries it everywhere at Grandma White's house.

Finally Christmas morning arrived! Christmas landed on a Sunday this year so we decided to see what Santa brought us before church and then open presents after church. We told our boys we would be awake at 7:00. When 7:00 rolled around Christmas morning, our kids were all still snoozing away down in the basement. So Jeremy and I took showers and began getting ready for church. We finally had to go down and wake up the boys so they could see some Christmas before church. They are all set to go check out what Santa brought us in the above picture.

They had fun emptying their stockings and checking out the goods. Santa brought us a basketball hoop to put down in the basement.

Here are my handsome boys all decked out for church in their matching ties.

After church we opened presents. Josh thought for sure this present was a lump of coal. He was so funny about it--he was almost insulted. Instead it was a jar of bubblegum for his bubblegum machine that he had gotten for Christmas last year.

Jaxon opening presents.

McKay taking a peek at what is inside one of his presents. He got a cold weather sleeping bag for Christmas for his future scout camps.

Kayden was excited to get his own "iPod". (Really it is a LeapPad explorer.)

Kayden opening presents.

Jaxon so badly wanted to get the new Zelda Wii game this year. He was excited to get it. His little brothers were pretty excited too.

Kayden LOVED his new sword and shield (the cheapest present seems to be the present they love most).

Josh was decked out with BYU gear for Christmas this year. He got a new BYU basketball and some BYU basketball shorts. That boys loves those Cougars!

Josh opening a nice surprise. His gift was a new bike, put we couldn't fit it under the tree. So we wrapped up a box of fruit snacks with a note on it to go and look in the laundry room.

He was so excited about his bike. He was very specific about what kind of bike he wanted. He wanted one that had shocks on it just like his friend's and he was glad to see that it did.

Josh out taking his bike for a spin. (Note here that we have had ZERO snow this year. As much as I don't like to drive in the white stuff, it has been hard to have a cold winter with the snow lacking.)

They day after Christmas we went up to Soldier Hallow to do some snow tubing. The snow was lacking there as well, but they had plenty of the man made snow so we could still enjoy the tubing hill. In the above picture is Kellie and Brady (Jeremy's brother and his wife) along with Jaxon and his cousin Lachlan.

McKay and his cousin Marissa getting ready to take a ride down the hill.

Kayden and Jeremy taking a nice relaxing ride up the hill.

Josh playing in what little snow there was on the way up the hill. (See the mountain behind him has absolutely no snow.)

After tubing and lunch, we went back to Grandma Haacke's house to open more presents. I couldn't help but snap this picture. Kayden received a game for his LeapPad from his cousin Camron and therefore gave him a huge hug. Pretty darn cute.

I hope your holiday season was just as wonderful and memorable as ours. Merry Christmas! (Just a couple of weeks late.)

Skiing

2011-12-24T22:58:00.002-07:00

We hit the slopes yesterday and enjoyed some skiing. It was the first time Josh had tried skiing and he liked it. (He liked ski school much better than going down the "big long mountain" with dad.) Jaxon usually is a snowboarder, but yesterday wanted to try skiing and he enjoyed it just as much as the snowboard. Here we are all together at the top of the slopes. It is one of the few times where one of us isn't on the ground.

Class Christmas Party

2011-12-23T23:21:00.002-07:00

I was able to go and help Josh's class with their first grade Christmas class party. It was fun to watch him interact with the kids in his class and to watch him having fun doing all the Christmas activities.

Here he is frosting Christmas cookies with one of his friends in his class. Her name is Ella and she has a major crush on Josh. Josh is always telling me stories of how Ella is trying to kiss him.

This is the station that I helped with. It was a fun Christmas craft. Josh was way into it. You can tell he is really concentrating because his tongue is is sticking out ever so slightly. It was fun to be with Josh celebrating Christmas with his class.

Surprise!

2011-12-22T21:34:00.003-07:00

Jeremy came home from work a few nights ago and told me he needed to talk to me but that I needed to sit down first. I was thinking something bad must have happened. Instead he told me, "I didn't mean to, but I bought a car today." I was totally shocked. He had wanted it to be a surprise but the anxiety of not telling me got the best of him and he let his surprise out. An hour later a new van was delivered to our door. The boys had no idea and boy were they excited.....that is until I told them that we would have to trade our old van for the new one. Josh jumped out of the new van and got in the old one and refused to get out:

He was crying saying how he like our old van and that he wouldn't remember our old house if we didn't have our old van. (I see no connection here, but that is what he said.) I explained to him that our old van was getting old and that there were some things that weren't working anymore and that it was time to trade it in for a new one.

Once he realized this and understood that there really were things that weren't working, he wanted to make sure that we could take all of the things out of the old van and put them in the new van. He gathered everything up (above) and joyfully put it all in the new van.

Here are the boys (old and young) in the new van. As you can see they were excited. Kayden especially wanted nothing more than to trade in the old for the new. It was such a funny night that I had to capture the moment.

School Sing-In

2011-12-21T09:36:00.004-07:00

With the boys being at a new school this year, we have been able to enjoy the school's traditions. At Christmas time they invite the parents to school and the kids sing Christmas songs.

The first grade went first. Josh is slightly left of the center wearing a red and blue shirt. They sang "Up on the Housetop" and "Oh I Love Mrs. Santa Claus". Josh has been singing his songs all season long.

The 6th grade was next. They sang "Where Did They Hide my Presents?" and "Snowball Fight" both from a book of silly Christmas songs. McKay is smack in the middle upper right next to a really tall kid. (And I thought McKay was tall!)

The fourth grade went last and most of the parents had left so I moved up to the front. I kept trying to get Jaxon (top middle) to smile at me, but he wouldn't. So I started pulling faces at him. He then started to sing with his eyes closed so he wouldn't have to look at me. Stinker. They sang "Chocolate in my Stocking" and "Christmas Alphabet".

Kayden and I enjoyed all the Christmas music and Kayden especially enjoyed seeing his brothers at school.

Cookies For Breakfast

2011-12-20T22:11:00.002-07:00

Here is Kayden at breakfast the other morning:

"If you don't let me have a cookie, I am going to be sad!"

Santa's Stuck In The Chimney

2011-12-18T16:02:00.002-07:00

Josh came home from school with a cute art and writing project. It arrived to our home just in time for Christmas. It is Santa upside down in a chimney and then Josh wrote what he would do if Santa was stuck in his chimney:

Here is a zoomed in view:

Just in case you can't read it it says: "If Santa was stuck in my chimney, I would poek a stik on his but." When Jeremy and I read this, we both burst out laughing. I am pretty sure if Josh poked Santa with a stick it would land him on the naughty list!

Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-17T10:25:00.004-07:00

This year our family adopted an Elf on the Shelf. He will to our house every Christmas season to keep an eye on us. He reports to Santa every night by flying back to the north pole. He comes back each morning and is in a different spot from the day before. We aren't aloud to touch him, or he will lose his magic. But we talk to him all the time and let him know who has been naughty and who has been nice.

We named our elf Buddy Link (it was a nice compromise). On this day, Buddy Link watched us perched on a light in our kitchen.

The next morning we found him by the fireplace reading the Christmas book that we had read the night before. We have also found him in the Christmas tree, on top of the cabinets, and in the shudders on the windows.

He will fly back to the north pole with Santa on Christmas Eve and we won't see him again until next Christmas. He has been a fun addition to our Christmas time traditions.

Dipping Chocolates

2011-12-16T15:11:00.002-07:00

Every year, we get together with Grandma White and dip chocolates. We make our own centers and spend a whole day dipping. Everyone participates and it is a fun tradition that we all look forward to each year.

Here is McKay breaking up the big chocolate bar to getting it ready to be melted.

Boxes that are being filled with all of our homemade chocolate. Then the boxes are given out to friends and neighbors.

The kids are each given their own boxes to fill with their favorites. They get to decorate their boxes with markers and stickers. Here is Josh with his filled box.

Here is Jaxon's box. He always has to make it known to his uncle that he is a BYU fan.

Even Kayden decorated his box. We all look forward to this family tradition each year. Not to mention that our taste buds really like it too!
*What are some of your Christmas traditions??

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-05T18:45:00.003-07:00

I had this great aunt--Aunt June--who was known in our family for being camera happy and was always snapping pictures whenever I saw her. I need to be more like Aunt June and remember to take my camera to family events. That being said, thank you to my dear sister for taking pictures over Thanksgiving and letting me steal them.
We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. My sister and her family came from Houston and my brother and his family came from Idaho. The boys had a great time with their cousins and I enjoyed being with my siblings and their kids. The boys and their cousins were able to go skiing and snowboarding over the break and they had a great time. We all enjoyed the food.

Here is Josh and his cousin Camron eating Thanksgiving together. Camron ate LOTS of rolls. (I just had to add that because I am the one that made the rolls.)

Here are the little cousins eating together. Somehow Grandma got stuck eating at their table. She said that she wanted it that way.

The "big people" table. McKay even made it to the grown-up table this year.

After Thanksgiving, we made candy turkeys. It has been a tradition since I was a little girl when we made candy turkeys with Grandma Culley. This year we tried something new. They turned out pretty cute. Kayden took making his candy turkey quite seriously.

One day we went to Provo Beach Resort and let the older kids walk on the ropes course while the younger kids played in a giant jungle gym. Here is Josh and Kayden having some fun with their cousin Meaghan in the jungle gym.
It was a great weekend and come Monday I was begging Jeremy to take the rest of the week off. It was a harsh reality sending the kids back to school and sending Jeremy off to work. At least I have Christmas vacation to look forward to!

Josh is 7!

2011-11-19T20:24:00.008-07:00

I blinked my eyes and suddenly Josh turned 7. Man I can hardly believe it! It took us a week to celebrate his birthday. It started on Tuesday, his actual birthday. We opened presents first thing in the morning since Dad was going to be late teaching down at BYU.

Hooray! I am 7!

McKay gave Josh a big "bump" on the head.

Josh is always making jokes about adult diapers. I am not sure how this all started, but he will draw pictures of someone with a caption that says, "I wear adult diapers!" So this year for his birthday we decided (as a joke) to give Josh some adult diapers. The above picture is his reaction to when he first opened them.

He thought it was pretty funny. After he had a good laugh he threw them back to Jeremy and said, "No thanks. I don't need these." Needless to say, it was pretty funny. (I took them back to the store as I hope no one in our house needs them any time soon!)

Now for the real presents! Josh received his first BIG Lego set. He has been busy putting together his Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts school set the last few days.

Today we had Josh's friend birthday party. He was able to invite friends from the old neighborhood and friends from the new neighborhood. Josh wanted a BYU birthday party, so we got BYU t-shirts for Josh and his friends. Above they are all set for some fun BYU party games.

We started out with some "Jimmermania" and the boys shot hoops. They tried to make as many points as possible in thirty seconds.

Here is our winner!

After some pizza, we played another game called "Stoppin' out the Utes". The kids had red balloons tied to them and then they stomped on each others' balloons. The boy that was last to have both his balloons stomped out won.

It was a long time before we had a winner and the boys were all pooped by the time the game was over, but they loved stomping on those red balloons!

Presents! Josh getting bonked on the head by his friends.

Having a good laugh with one of his good buddies.

Josh decided he wanted chocolate chip cookies as has birthday cake. I liked that idea. Here he is waiting to blow out the candles.

I hope he made a wish! It was a great birthday party and a BYU theme was a lot of fun. The boys seemed to have had a great time and they all loved their BYU t-shirts. Josh loves his friends and loves being with them.

Happy birthday Josh! We are so thankful for you! You bring a lot peace to our family. We love your sense of humor and love how animated you are. You always make us smile and laugh. Thank you for being part of our family. We love you!

Brrrrrrr!

2011-11-13T21:47:00.004-07:00

The holding pond for our waterfall has been freezing every night. It drains in the morning when the waterfall is turned on and the ice breaks. This day it looked really cool: (click to enlarge)

There was a tunnel of ice that the water was flowing under. It looked pretty cool.

Just as a side note, I don't like winter and I am NOT ready for the cold. Bring on the wool socks!

Am I Four Now?

2011-11-12T20:59:00.003-07:00

First thing this morning we sang Happy Birthday to Kayden. He then asked us, "Am I four now?"

I am 4!

Jaxon and Josh agree, Kayden is 4.

We did our traditional "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head". Kayden wished us Legos, a family vacation and a happy family home evening.

He was very excited to rip that paper off to see what new toys he got. Here he opened a Luigi car. He also got a Phineas and Ferb toy and some Star Wars action figures.

Later this afternoon Kayden invited over some friends for a Curious George birthday party. Here are a few highlights:

The boys played with Chef Pisghetti's chocolate clay. They were able to shape it, mold it and eat it. They had a great time. Kayden and his dad made a monkey face.

Curious George is always getting into mischief like drawing on the walls. So we let loose and let the boys paint the walls in the garage. Don't worry, we put paper on the walls first. They had a great time.

All the party guests and their art work behind them. Even Josh joined in on the birthday fun.

After painting, we went on a banana hunt so we could have banana splits. Everyone found a banana and used the bananas to put smiles on their faces.

Singing Happy Birthday so Kayden could blow out the candles.

He blew them all out (with the help of one of his friends).

The party was a huge success until all the party guests left with a treat bag and Kayden didn't get one. He got mad. I learned my lesson. Have a treat bag for the birthday boy too.

Happy Birthday Kayden! We love you! You are growing up so fast. You have taught our family more than you will ever know and we so thankful that you are part of our family. You are one smart and fun kid and I love you. Happy Birthday.

To Be Twelve...

2011-11-09T10:02:00.003-07:00

Now that McKay is 12, he is able to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. We took 14 family names to the temple this last weekend and McKay performed the ordinances of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was wonderful to be in the temple with McKay, Jeremy and Grandpa Haacke. I was even invited into the baptismal font while McKay and Jeremy were in there. It was a great experience and one that I will remember for a life time.

Here is McKay ready to enter the temple with his recommend in hand. I am so blessed to be his mom.

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T13:49:00.004-06:00

We had a great Halloween this year and loved all the new traditions at school and new neighbors we got to trick-or-treat to. Here are this years highlights:

The school has a Halloween parade where the kids walk through all the classrooms and through the halls and gym to parade their costumes. Mr. Melville--the principal--led the parade as Mr. Incredible and all the kids followed. They had fun Halloween music playing over the intercom system as the parade was passing by. It was very festive.

Here is Josh parading as a Jedi. He said he was Master Windu. I see the resemblance, don't you?

Jaxon was a cowboy and he looked happy to be parading through the school. He gave me a half smile.

McKay resurrected his costume from last year (it is a good one) and was the riding bull cowboy. He had a good time parading the halls in his getup.

Kayden and I were able to attend McKay's Halloween class party. It is his last one since he is in 6th grade this year (sniff, sniff). I made slime with the kids in his class as part of the party.

Here are the kids all decked out ready to go trick-or-treating. It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time wandering the neighborhood and visiting with the new neighbors.

When we finished our trick-or-treating, we built a huge fire in the backyard using some scraps of wood from the building site down the street. The fire was roaring!

It got even bigger! We had a great Halloween this year. Grandma and Grandpa even came out for dinner and to go trick-or-treating with us. Hope your Halloween was just as fun and memorable as ours!

Pinewood Derby

2011-10-28T17:54:00.003-06:00

This is our second Pinewood Derby this year, but Jaxon's first derby in our new ward and as a Weblo. We knew the competition was going to be fierce this year. Our ward takes the Pinewood Derby pretty seriously. There was a page full or rules and regulations. We even had to drop off our car the night before so the scout leaders could transport the cars to the church. There were several heats and Jaxon's car did well. In the first heat he took first place twice and second place once. He didn't make it past the second round, but he had a great time and was very complimentary to his fellow competitors. I was proud of him.

This year, because of the season, Jaxon made a candy corn car. His car is the first car from the left. None of the boys were allowed to place their cars on the track or handle their cars until after the race. Then they could race their cars as many times as they would like.

Jaxon won the "Best Candy Cornster" award. It was a successful night!

Cornbelly's

2011-10-27T08:16:00.004-06:00

I love going to pumpkin patches and corn mazes with my boys. This year is no exception. I presented the idea to Jeremy, who was not thrilled. He recognizes that the boys love going each fall, but it is not his cup of tea to get lost in a corn maze. So since it was fall break this last weekend, the boys and I went with a couple of friends while Dad was at work and had a great time. But boy was it exhausting!

We totally broke the Cornbelly Rules. Half way through the maze we decided we were done. The further you go into the maze the further away you get from the entrance/exit because the maze was patterned after the solar system. We cut our way back through the maze and took a few "shortcuts" and made it out in no time. Here are the boys showing our shame by cheating our way out. Josh and Kayden are all equipped with their maps ready to have some fun!

Making our way through the corn maze with good friends.

They had a huge corn kernel box (kind of like a sand box). They kids had a great time in there.

They buried themselves and each other.....

.....and then they all shoved corn kernels down Jaxon's shirt. He had a serious beer belly by the time they were done. It was quite funny!

Of course, Kayden found more head cutouts for him to pose in.

The boys had a great time jumping on the giant pillows. McKay jumping away.

Josh having a good time.

Jaxon catching air.

Kayden lovin' it. He loved everything about Cornbelly's.

We had a great time on the hayride. Even though it was VERY bumpy.

Kayden making a funny face while we enjoyed the hayride.

Josh and Jaxon joined in on making funny faces.

We tried our hand at building a cabin with giant Lincoln Logs, but everyone kept stealing our pieces, so we did what we could and had fun doing that. After that we were exhausted and headed home. We had a great time enjoying the fall festivities and the fall weather.

Kayden's First Field Trip

2011-10-26T16:47:00.003-06:00

Kayden had his first field trip with his preschool class (well it was the morning and afternoon classes combined). We headed to the Vineyard pumpkin patch and had a great time.

Here is Kayden--smack in the middle--with all the preschool kids. He was not happy about having to wear his preschool shirt that day. The only way I could get him to wear it was by having him wear a football shirt underneath it. He took off his preschool shirt as soon as we got home--he could not get it off fast enough!

Kayden loved posing for shots in all the Halloween head cutouts. He stuck his head in everyone he could find. If I didn't take his picture, then his teacher did. He insisted!

Pumpkin boy.

Not sure who his bride is here, but he looks pleased.

We had a great time together and I was glad that I got to go. I guess that is one of the perks of being the youngest.....not only do you get to hang out with mom at home, but she gets to hang out with you at school too! (That is a perk, right?)

A Sudsy Waterfall

2011-10-16T17:34:00.002-06:00

Josh loves the waterfall. Perhaps a little too much. The other day, he got a little curious. He decided to see what happened when he put soap in the waterfall. The bottle below was nearly full before he started:

The waterfall had a nice "warm vanilla sugar" smell, yet it had suds all over:

Suds were coming out in between all the rocks.

And the holding pond looked like a giant bubble bath.

Jeremy had to change out the water. Josh got busted and no longer has any waterfall privileges. I must admit that I was pretty mad at first, but it was pretty funny. We have our own little Curious Josh at our house.

Sticker Shock

2011-10-10T11:46:00.003-06:00

I was sitting in Sunday School yesterday enjoying a wonderfully prepared lesson on the apostle Paul and his ministry when there was a LOUD knock at the door. This is one of those moments when you secretly whisper to yourself, "Please don't let it be my kid." Someone in the back said aloud to the teacher, "Are you expecting someone?" We all giggled. I joined in on the giggling until it was my kid that was let into our classroom. I stood up and said, "Well, that wasn't embarrassing, was it?" I escorted Josh out into the hallway to see what the matter was. He declared, "Jack (his friend) put a sticker in my ear!" No big deal, right? I took a look and low and behold, there was a sticker in his ear shoved so far back that I knew this was going to take a professional to remove it. I had a panic moment. I was at church alone with my kids this week because Jeremy was out of town with some of his buddies. What was I going to do with my kids? I certainly didn't want to take them with me to a doctor's office. I decided to ask help from a friend that I had to be sitting by in Sunday school. My friend happened to be Jack's mom. I pulled her out into the hall and told her of my dilemma. Being the good woman she is, she agreed that if I wasn't back to church in time, she would take my kids--after all, it was her kid that put the sticker in Josh's ear. I ran home and called my pediatrician's office and was connected to the on-call doctor. An appointment was made for later in the afternoon, but with these words: "Try and get the sticker out yourself." Hum. I told them how far back the sticker was wedged but they told me to try anyway. So we tried and failed. So Josh and I went back to church. Josh came to Relief Society with me. During one of the comments a woman let it be known that she was a nurse. I had a light bulb moment: "She can get the sticker out!" I talked with her after church and she introduced me to another person in our ward that is a physician's assistant. I asked him if he had spent any time fishing things out of people's ears. He smiled and said, sure come on over right after church. However, even with his expertise, he didn't have all the right equipment to get the sticker out. So off to the doctor we went. Jeremy was home by this time and said he could get it out using his surgical suction at work. Enough is enough. I knew we had better take Josh to the doctor. After an hour of trying to flush it out with a syringes full of water and a couple of different types of tweezers, the sticker finally emerged! Take a look at the pesky thing:

The doctor said it had been pushed back all the way to Josh's eardrum. It was quite tender for Josh. He wasn't happy during the extraction of the sticker. All that trouble. The sticker had been folded several times to make it so small. Once it was in his ear, the sticker unfolded thus making it so tricky to get out. At this time I would like to thank the primary person that was so kind in handing out Halloween stickers in primary yesterday and to Jack for putting it in Josh's ear. Not to mention Josh who probably helped push it so far back into his ear. Who knew that by doing that they would provide an afternoon of stress and adventure not to mention the fact that I got to meet a couple of more people in the ward!

Yard Fun

2011-09-30T14:20:00.005-06:00

This fall we have been able to put some of our yard in. We have the most important thing: GRASS! We have had a good time walking on it, playing on it and looking at it:

Isn't it wonderful? The house looks so much better with grass than rocks and weeds!

The backyard looking out onto the basketball court and the court's seating area.

Looking out to the trampoline and fire pit. It is so much prettier with grass!

The enormous sand pit that will one day have a play set. The kids have had a great time digging in the sand and having lots of room to play.

The waterfall looks so much more the prettier surrounded by green.

We decided to have Family Home Evening out by the fire pit one night. McKay gave a great lesson on the Book of Mormon and then we roasted marshmallows around the fire. We had a great time.

We then had fun jumping on the trampoline.....

....and climbing the apricot tree.......

......and jumping on the trampoline some more. Jeremy had a good bounce along with Kayden and Josh.

Even the neighbor kids love coming over--which we love too! We are looking forward to making many memories in our yard in the years to come.

Happy Birthday Jaxon!

2011-09-21T22:00:00.003-06:00

I don't know where the time went. Yesterday, it seems, Jaxon was my sweet little baby and today he is 10! He is one great kid and a true blessing to our family. He watches over his brothers and is very sweet.
Jaxon had to wait all day before he could open any of his presents due to a busy family schedule. He was excited when the time finally came. I was excited when the UPS man came to our door in the nick of time delivering last minute gifts!

The traditional "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head...." Jaxon was very good to let his brothers give him a nice whack on the head. Jaxon also gave us some sweet wishes: a cruise to Hawaii, peace for a whole week, and a trip to Alaska.

Josh giving Jaxon a "bump" on the head.

Kayden's turn. (I love how Kayden has his hand in his pocket.)

Jaxon cashed in receiving a glow in the dark basketball, a Star Wars Lego set and Lego Rock Band. I can't wait to do some jammin' with the boys tomorrow singing songs the boys actually know (besides Eye of the Tiger).

Singing Happy Birthday.

Blowing out the candles and blocking Kayden with his hand. Jaxon wanted it to be a solo job. I hope he remembered to make a wish!

Happy Birthday Jaxon. I can't imagine our family without you. Thanks for all you do and your willingness to help and make others happy. Your family sure loves you!

Rivalry Week 2011

2011-09-16T15:17:00.006-06:00

It is September, but it is rivalry week for BYU and University of Utah. Which means the pranks have begun. For a history of previous years pranks between Jeremy and his brother Weston, click here and then here.

It began last night when Jeremy and his other brother Jason drove out to Tooele to deck out Weston's car. Jeremy had some decals professionally made and then they applied them to Weston's car:

A front view. I love the big "Y" on the hood.

BEEP BEEP!

Who wouldn't be proud to drive this around?

He got the car on all sides.

Then they painted an outline of Swoop with the help of Tooele's Crime Scene Investigators.

Weston struck back today. We knew he must be up to something. We got a call from one of our friends in the neighborhood who has been informed of the traditional rivalry pranks. She said she would keep an eye out for me. Well, she gave me a call this afternoon on my cell phone saying she had just received the following flyer on her door:

Pretty funny stuff. So we hustled home and started collecting fliers from off our neighbors' doors. We have 80 of them accounted for.

Jeremy has received a couple of phone calls to RSVP--from Weston's friends no doubt. Go Cougars!

Photography By McKay

2011-09-12T09:30:00.001-06:00

McKay took this beautiful photo of the sunset this summer. I thought it was breathtaking. Enjoy.

Another Tooth Gone

2011-09-09T21:47:00.004-06:00

See that hole on the bottom row of Josh's teeth? He pulled out yet another tooth with the string tied to the door/tied to his tooth method. If you missed the video of when he did it the first time, click here. For some reason he will only do this at Grandma's house. Silly kid.

First Day of School

2011-09-07T20:08:00.004-06:00

It was more that just the first day of school this year, it was a new school for my boys as well.

McKay started sixth grade this year with Mrs. Powers.

Jaxon started fourth grade with Mrs. Jones.

Joshua started first grade with Mrs. Bull.

Here are my boys on the first day of school in front of their new school.

And today was Kayden's first day of preschool. He was excited to go and had a great first day.

Let the homework wars begin!

Jax Got The Pox

2011-09-06T20:31:00.003-06:00

No one gets the Chicken Pox anymore, am I right? And of course I vaccinated my children, so I thought we were in the clear. I knew Jaxon had been exposed to a child that had a case of the Chicken Pox (who was also vaccinated), but never did I think that he would come down with a case. Well I was wrong. Wednesday night Jaxon complained of a headache and then Thursday night when he got out of the shower he was covered in red dots. Poor guy. He had to miss school on Friday and stay in all weekend. Then Sunday was Fast Sunday. McKay had his first real fast (no food, no water for two meals). It was hard for him. So I asked McKay what he had fasted for. He told me he fasted for Jaxon's Chicken Pox. I thought to myself, "Really?" Oh me of little faith. Sunday night I checked Jaxon to see if he had any new Chicken Pox only to discover that all his Chicken Pox had scabbed over! I was amazed. We told Jaxon that he could thank his brother that his Chicken Pox had healed.

It took some convincing, but Jaxon let me take some pictures:

He had at least 20 or so Chicken Pox on his back....

...and at least that many on his front.

He had a bunch on his face, neck and scalp including some behind his ears. He had a mild case--thanks to that vaccine. Now we are playing the waiting game. We will know in about two weeks if anyone else in the house will get the Chicken Pox. If they do, we will put them on McKay's prayer roll!

Share A Smile Triathalon 2011

2011-09-05T18:19:00.008-06:00

This was the 10th year for the Share A Smile Triathlon and Jeremy's fourth year and McKay's, Jaxon's and Josh's first year participating in the triathlon. The boys did the kids' triathlon and Jeremy relayed with Weston. Jeremy swam and ran and Weston did the bike portion.

Here they all are tattooed (with a permanent marker) with their numbers ready to go.

First the boys had to swim one lap in the pool. Here is McKay.

Jaxon swimming his little heart out.

Josh was doing just fine in the pool until he noticed that his brothers were way ahead of him. Dr. Vogel (head of the triathlon and a good friend of ours) helped him the rest of the way across the pool.

The next portion the boys had to ride one lap around the park. Here is Jaxon taking off on his bike.

McKay making his quick get away.

Josh departing, only we didn't know that his bike was in disrepair. His chain had fallen off his bike.

Here is Kayden watching the boys during the race. He brought his scooter along so that he could have some fun too.

Here is Josh coming to the running portion. We couldn't figure out why he took so long. He told us he had to push his bike with his feet. Poor guy!

Jaxon dropped his bike and ran! This was serious stuff!

McKay did the same.

McKay after he crossed the finish line. He said the race was too easy--and he was right. Much too easy for a 12 year old.

Josh didn't have very good luck on the race, just as he came to the finish line his shoe came flying off. He lost one of his tennis shoes so he had to run in his sandals.

Next was the BIG race. Here are the boys cheering on their dad in the pool.

Jeremy didn't do any prep work for the swim section of the race. But he made it--even though he felt pretty crappy when he got out of the pool.

Tagging Weston so Weston could take off to do the bike portion.

Midway through the race, Kayden got grumpy. He decided to sit at the curb and pout. I don't blame him. We had to get up before sunrise to get to the race on time.

McKay and Kayden helping Dad stretch out so he would be ready to run.

Weston coming in on his bike.

Jeremy crossing the finish line to complete the race. Whew! It was a great year and we all had a good time. One of these years perhaps I will join in on the fun.

Home Sweet Home

2011-09-04T21:28:00.008-06:00

Our house reached completion on August 12 and we were finally able to move in--hence the craziness in our lives. Our builders did a wonderful job and we love the way things turned out. Here is a quick tour:

This is our front entry way. On the left is an office and on the right is a living room.

The living room. We are yet to put up anything on the walls. The living room is where all the things for our walls is. I think (secretly) that I am nervous to put a nail in the wall to hang anything up.

Here is the great room. That is Kayden hanging out on the couch (with no shirt to say the least). You can see through the windows the deck in the backyard. We love going outside and sitting on the deck.

The kitchen. We have yet to buy any bar stools. I have enjoyed my new kitchen and love the openness of it. It looks out into the great room.

Joshua's room. He loves the sport bedding that he inherited from McKay. He has gotten really good at making his bed every morning.

Here is Kayden's room. I thought he wouldn't like having his own room, but he loves it. He has a bookcase in there with all his favorite books. He thinks that is pretty cool.

This is the family room in the basement. Behind it is the toy room. You can also see the door that leads to outside.

The toy room. It has been nice having a space that the kids want to play in.

Jaxon's bedroom.

McKay's bedroom. McKay is growing faster than we know. We decided he was going to need a bigger bed the rate he is going. (I just bought that kid a pair of size 10.5 men shoes!)

The beloved storage room. My parents put together the shelf reliance rotating can system for us. They did a great job and they were quite proud. I don't know what I would have done without my parents through this whole process--especially my mom. She was a huge help with packing and unpacking all our many boxes.

Standing out on the deck looking at the future basketball court.

Josh and his new friends Jack and Owen. They love playing in all the dirt piles that surround our house. This one happens to be on the lot next door that is for sale--if you want to be my neighbor.

Looking across the yard. The property line ends just passed that tree in the middle. There is a fire pit in the right corner.

Hopefully someday there will be a sandbox, play set and trampoline in this spot.

The waterfall out the back door. It has such a nice peaceful sound. The kids love playing in it too!

A view of the back of the house. We are working on the landscaping and hope to have grass in the next week or so. I am looking forward to having less dust outside and a place for the kids to play. I will have to post more pictures of the exterior once the landscaping is more completed.

We love our new house and have enjoyed meeting new people. We have received such a warm reception in the way of baked goods, invitations to dinner and playgroups and also many smiles and friendly faces. We miss our friends terribly, but we are looking forward to this new experience and making new friends.

Write Your Own Story Girl's Camp 2011

2011-09-03T21:12:00.008-06:00

I LOVE girl's camp. I loved it as a youth and I love it just as much now (even though it requires a lot more work as a leader). Last year I went to girl's camp as the camp director, and this year I went as the first counselor in the young women's. I learned a lot about being a counselor verses a camp director. I loved being with the girls and I loved being with the other leaders. I feel very fortunate to have been associated with such wonderful girls and leaders. Here are a few of our adventures at camp this year:

Here are some of my Mia Maids: Haley, Shyann and Hannah sewing some bears for a humanitarian aid project. The bears were donated to local fire and police departments to give to children.

Here are some more of my girls sewing their bears: Chelsee, Emily and McKenna.

Here is our stellar leader Jill along with some more of my girls: Zoe, Karlie and Shae.

Quick, take a picture! I am actually sewing here! We may never see this again! I was helping one of the girls with her bear. Another one of my girls, Emily is sitting next to me. I think she was stunned that I was sewing as well.

Here I am posing in the infamous "red sweater" that our stake has with Rachael, Jane and Lyndsie and their finished bears.

Here is all of our ward young women and all the leaders wearing our camp t-shirts. The t-shirts had "Write Your Own Story" written down the side. They were extra cute.

Here we are being silly.

We were able to go to the ropes course while we were at camp. It happened to be my birthday that day. It was also the sister missionary's birthday as well. It was a great birthday!

Here I am at the ropes course with my good friend Kelly from another ward.

Getting all geared up for the ropes course.

My friend Raylyn and I set to go, but very nervous!

We had to climb a telephone pole...

...then walk our way across a tight rope. While I was on the tight rope, my girls started singing "Happy Birthday" to me. It made me smile. After the tight rope, we stepped off the "eagle's nest" and flew down a zip line. It was great fun!

Can I just say: Our skit rocked! We did a synchronized swimming skit that had to include a Dr. Seuss quote. We had one girl pretend she was texting during the whole skit so she "missed" the whole synchronized swimming show. It was a cool skit.

We had a great time out on the lake this year and no one fell in! Here are Emily and Megan and Natalie having a good row out on the lake. This was their first year and camp and they were wonderfully pleasant.

Here are Lynnae (the second counselor) and I in our paddle boat. Man those paddle boats are a lot of work!!

Chelsee, Matti and Jane posing for a picture. Chelsee and Matti went in the lake last year, so I an sure that they are having a much more pleasant time this go around.

Since it was such hard work to get our paddle boat to go anywhere, Lynnae and I came up with a plan to hook our boat onto one of the girl's canoe. We enjoyed the ride, but the girl's couldn't figure out why the canoe was suddenly so hard to paddle!

Jill and Raylyn looking cool on their paddle boat. (They always look cool.)

Barbara and Lisa paddling away!

Katie, Zoe and Lyndsie enjoying their first time at the lake.

Hannah, Shyann and Emily stopping by our paddle boat to say "Hello".

I love Heber Vally Camp. It is such a wonderful place where wonderful things happen and testimonies are strengthened. I look forward to the next time that I am able to go and participate in another girl's camp.

McKay's Birthday

2011-09-02T20:27:00.006-06:00

I am behind the times. McKay had his 12th birthday a couple of weeks ago. Life has been crazy (more to come on that later) and my blog has been neglected. But still, I want to tell the blog world about my boy's 12th birthday because he is one great kid and I love him. So here we go:

McKay loves Legos. So my friend made McKay this great Lego cake. Isn't it awesome? She did a great job!

Here is McKay admiring how cool his Lego cake is. We had to celebrate his birthday at his grandma's house this year as our house was in the process of being packed up. McKay didn't mind especially since his Idaho cousins were visiting for a few days.

Blowing out the candles.

Opening presents....Legos of course!

McKay's cousin Bryan bonking him on the head. You have to love that look on McKay's face. Funny kid.

After lunch and birthday cake at Grandma's, we went swimming at our good friend Marilyn's house. She is a wonderful friend to have us over all afternoon. We all had a great time.

Since it was McKay's 12th birthday, we bought him a new suit. (Above he is in his suit for a young men's missionary activity.) He was ordained to the office of deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood the Sunday after he turned 12. The following Sunday he was able to pass the sacrament for the first time. He was nervous, but it was great. I couldn't be prouder of McKay and we are happy to have another priesthood holder in our home.

Clear Creek

2011-08-09T09:49:00.009-06:00

Hello, this is McKay, not my mom. This past week, the first through the fifth, I was at Clear Creek summer camp. (It is only for the Alpine School District.) Some of you may remember going there when you were kids. By the way I was brown thirteen, last for everything.

This is my cabin. It won the cleanest cabin award two days in a row, which is the Clear Creek record. We didn't make the record, but tied the record. We would have gotten the record if it weren't for someones jeans!

This is my bed. Pitiful, isn't it? We had to put our suit cases and everything on our bed or some "fury friends" would get to them. Every night we went to bed at eleven and woke up at six in the morning (our counselor gunned some heavy metal music to wake us up) to take showers. The showers were small it was about 2' x 2' x 3'. The curtain was a little small, and the showers had really high water pressure, so the shower would blow the curtain open when you stepped aside for soap.

This is my cabin's sign. It was repainted in honor of us winning the first clean cabin inspection. My counselor was Todd Bilbao. He seemed really awesome at camp, then I looked at his Facebook after camp and his I didn't like his favorite quote--it had some bad words in it.

This is the Almighty Wall. It is in the lunch room. We had to "hug" it, but by the end of the week we all hugged it because we wanted to.

This is one of the many cafeteria posters. It is my personal favorite.

I want to say this is the winter quarters mine, but I'm not sure. This is a coal stack they mine this much per week. This is not all the coal, it is about twice as long and goes to the bottom on the cement, or ground level.

One of the nights during rec; It rained so, we had a dance party. We danced to songs like YMCA and Dynamite. I am somewhere in the background.

The second night I started to feel bad I didn't have any pictures of me, so I took this rather disgraceful picture of me in front of the camp fire we had that night.

This is all the wood we had available for that fire. There we just as much wood at the other camp fire site to.

We visited Scofield on the third day. The number one worst mine disaster in the world happened there. The coal dust and dynamite on the floor ignited one day after someone accidentally put to much dynamite in one spot, ya wasn't to good. This is me in the old jail.

This is me on the ropes course. We had to swing from one spot to the other without touching to ground. I did it on my first try, and on all the other tries.

This is me and my team on the balance board. We beat the Clear Creek record with an out standing time of 21 minutes. The previous record was 14 minutes. We could have doubled it, but it was time to switch.

Clear Creek had it's own mini Bean Museum. The had special permission from government to have a bald eagle in it.

Here are the papers if you didn't believe me.

This is an owl with a duck.

This is Utah's state flower, the Sego Lily. They only bloom for 2-3 weeks once every 3 years and I got the pleasure of seeing one on one of my hikes.

This is a lousy picture of a deer. I saw a lot of animals while I was up there. I saw 4 does, 1 deer, and 2 bears. One bear was on the camp and the other was about 5 miles away by the road.

2 gardener snakes were found and this is one of them. There are no pictures of pot guts, aka, Uintah Mountain ground squirrel, because someone let the one I caught in my trap out.

This is the Scofield Cemetery. Sorry that it is out of order.

And last and defiantly least Stinging Nettle. If you touched it you would get this stuff on you and it would sting like a bee according to Tye Leavitt.

The Bear

2011-08-03T16:57:00.002-06:00

Jaxon received his Cub Scout Bear Award at his last pack meeting:

He did a great job pinning on the mother's pin. He was a little nervous about it. We are super proud of him as he worked hard to earn his Bear Award before we moved in a couple of weeks. Way to go Jax!

After the awards ceremony the kids played a relay game where they had to dress in "hero" clothes and run across the gym. Josh was so funny. He had the fireman boots on backwards.

Kayden insisted on having his picture taken. He is one cute kid (and demanding).

It's Getting Crazy Over Here!

2011-08-01T15:53:00.006-06:00

Things are going fast and the summer is almost over. We are only about 10 days away from completion. Things have been busy out at the new house. Since these pictures all the cabinets have been installed, the counter tops are in, the house has been painted and most of the hardware has been put up. The exterior is just about completed as well.

Here is the kitchen. The cabinets had just been delivered and they were starting to install them.

The master bath. They were just finishing the tiling around the shower and bathtub.

The mudroom lockers. Can't wait to have a spot for the kids to put their stuff!

McKay's room has all the trim and is textured ready for paint. His desk has also been installed.

Jaxon's room ready for paint as well.

The master bathroom cabinets.

Stairway going upstairs. The newel posts had been put in.

Joshua's room.

I told you things were getting crazy....

Kayden's room.

The exterior was hopping. The brick was complete and the rock was going up. The stucco was also going up getting ready to be painted.

Here is a better view of the stone going up. It turned out very nice.

The backyard. This is stone stairway going from the basement out to the backyard. Right now a waterfall is being installed to the side of the stairs.

A view of the back of the house.

Another view of the back of the house. There is Josh in the backyard. The kids love going out to the house to see what is new and to play in the yard. They have even begun to make new friends with the neighbors.

The countdown in on and we are now busy getting all packed up for the move. Next house post will be upon completion. I can hardly wait to see it completed and ready to move in!

Timpanogos Half Marathon

2011-07-30T22:08:00.003-06:00

Jeremy ran in and completed his first half marathon this morning. He ran down American Fork Canyon and then to American Fork High School. He has been training for the last several weeks and it paid off. He finished the race in just over two hours!

We were there when he crossed the finish line and we cheered for him. We were so proud!

Here are the boys are showing their pride for their dad. Jeremy received a huge medal that is quite cool (except when it slides off the counter and lands on your toe). He is already planning on running in another half marathon soon--even on the day of the race. Way to go Jeremy!

Tooth Deal

2011-06-29T09:05:00.005-06:00

Josh had an extremely loose tooth on Sunday that he was anxious to pull. He and Grandma came up with a great idea: Who will pay Josh $1 to tie his tooth to a string and then to a door to pull it out? I was willing to pay money for that one! Josh was pledged $4 and so preparations began:

First he had his dad tie a string onto his tooth. Then he went over to the door for the actual event:

And here is the end result! Between the deals he made with everyone and the tooth fairy, Josh is five dollars richer. Now that is one smart kid! He is preparing his next tooth so that he can do it again-- hoping to make the same deal.

We Have Walls

2011-06-20T08:26:00.003-06:00

It has been quite the journey, building a house. We get a major decision made and think "Whew!" and there is just another major decision waiting to be made. However, it is fun to see the decisions take shape in and on the house. In the last couple of weeks the windows have been installed, all the duct work, electrical and plumbing have been completed, exterior doors have been installed, the roof has been finished, and the drywall has gone up.

The front exterior.

The back exterior. Loving the covered back patio.

Drywall has been completed in the kitchen area.

From the balcony looking down in the great room and fireplace.

The basement rec room, toy room and media room.

Since these pictures, the walls have been mudded and textured. This next week the exterior will be going up. We closed on our existing house this week and we are renting back our house until August 15. It is nice to be able to not have to move twice. There are only about 6 weeks left until the complete date. Man time is going fast!

A Little YW Fun

2011-06-15T22:32:00.002-06:00

I went on a photo scavenger hunt tonight with my Mia Maids for Young Women's. We had a great time:
The other two advisers and I teamed up against our Mia Maids. We had a great time wandering around finding the items on our list to take pictures of. This is a picture of us with a tree.

However, this picture took the cake. We saw Jackson Emery at Walmart and asked if we could take his picture. (Of course we explained ourselves.) He was very willing and his wife thought it was funny. What a nice guy. (I was a little embarrassed, can you tell?)

Framing Nears Completion

2011-05-31T22:25:00.003-06:00

It has been interesting to watch our new house take shape. Things have been moving along rather quickly, even with all the rain we have had, they aren't too far behind. The framing is almost completed and this week they will be doing the duct work, electrical and plumbing.

The view here is from standing in the kitchen towards the staircase and front hall. Kind of hard to imagine.

The front garage and entry way.

Standing in the great room looking to the kitchen and the Juliet balcony.

Standing on the balcony looking down towards the great room and front entry way.

Standing on the balcony looking at Kayden's room.

View from the great room looking out through the windows to the backyard.

Standing in the backyard looking at the back of the house.

The front of the house. There is Kayden checking out all the wood.

Framing is just about completed. They were just finishing the roof and a couple of other things. It looks completely different now.

The back of the house with the framing almost completed. We are looking forward to using that covered patio!

Dance Dance Dance

2011-05-30T22:06:00.004-06:00

That's right--THREE kids in the school's dance festival this year. It was so fun to watch each of them dance and enjoy a lasting tradition that my kids' school has each year. We will definitely miss it at this school, but I am sure we will enjoy the traditions of our new school next year. Here are some highlights of this year's dance festival:

McKay, along with the rest of the fifth grade, were able to sing and do sign language for the Star Spangled Banner to start out the dance festival.

Josh put on quite the show during his dance. They danced to It's A Small World and had to dress in clothes from a different culture. Josh is sporting a Cozumel, Mexico t-shirt along with a Mexican Sombrero.

Josh really got into it had I loved watching him take his dancing so seriously.

Jaxon and the rest of the third grade dance to the Hawaiian Hukilau. He was very good.

At the end of his dance, Jaxon put motioned his finger down his throat (as in gag) to let me know that this was not his choice of dance festival song and dance. However, I enjoyed it.

McKay and the rest of the fifth grade did a medley of songs for their dance and was a lot of fun to watch. Here McKay (in the center with the black cowboy hat) is dancing to I Love the Rainy Nights.

They also danced to Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing and a street song, and Dynamite (which is a favorite among most of the kids at school).

I loved the dance festival this year and so did the kids (even Jaxon). It was entertaining and fun! Way to go boys!

Josh's Kindergarten Program

2011-05-26T10:37:00.004-06:00

Joshua's kindergarten class is wrapping up the year and so they put on a program to show us some of the things that they were up to this year. I was so proud of Josh and loved watching him. It was a proud parent moment and I even shed a tear or two.

Here Josh is all ready for his program to start. I love the hats that they made for their program.

Josh is telling everyone what it is about school that he likes. It the program he said, "I like school because school is fun." Later when he came home he told me that really he likes school because of recess.

Josh doing a little jig during the program. He is one cute kid.

During the program they played the song What A Wonderful World and showed pictures that the kids painted to go along with the song. This is Josh's picture. His pictures does show what a wonderful world it is.

Here is Josh with his good buddy Kaden and his teacher Mrs. Bigler. Josh has had a great year this year and Mrs. Bigler has been great!

On the way out to the car, Josh put his arm around Kayden and led him down the crowded halls. I love it when my kids show love and concern for each other. This time I was lucky enough to catch it on camera.

Boy Scout Awards

2011-05-25T14:13:00.002-06:00

McKay is an 11 year old scout and received his first scouting awards. He received his First Class and his Tenderfoot. I am new to this boy scouting thing and at times it seems a little overwhelming. But McKay is working hard and is doing a good job.

Bro. McAllister is McKay's scout leader and he does an amazing job. McKay is his troop's patrol leader and he does a great job.

McKay is pinning on the mother's pins. Not sure why I got these, other than the fact that I take McKay to scouts and pick him up from scouts every week. :) None the less, I am proud to have them.

The Magical Journey Opera

2011-05-24T20:09:00.003-06:00

Jaxon's third grade class wrote and performed an opera. It was all about mean teachers who put all their kids in detention. Then Little Red Running Shorts comes and tells the kids to run away from their teachers and come with them to a mansion. The kids get lost along the way and the teachers are mad they escaped and go looking for them. While looking for the kids some witches agree to help the teachers locate the escaped kids. Only then they run into some talking owls that just confuse them. Finally the kids reach their destination with the help of the owls. They are happy to be with Little Red Running Shorts. The teachers keep searching for the kids until they agree with the owls and Little Red Running Shorts that they will be nicer to the kids. The kids are glad that the teachers will be nice but now everyone is ready to go back to school. Only they need a key that is a dragon's tooth. They find that they need to work together to get home. In the end everyone is friends and all is well.

Jaxon was a mean teacher. Here he is singing, "You're going away! You're in detention!" Then proceeds to tell the kids to get away from him. Wow. That IS a mean teacher.

Here is where the mean teachers have discovered that all the kids have run away (see Jaxon's "Oh no!" with his head in his hands) and decide to go looking for them.

In the end they all work together to get home. The teachers promise to be nice and the kids promise to be good.

It was quite the entertaining opera and fun to watch. The only bad thing is the first four lines of the opera have been stuck in my head for the last five days. Even upon waking at five in the morning, I find those four lines running through my head. It was quite a catchy tune. Here are a couple of clips from his opera. The first one is the first of the opera (the part that has been stuck in my head the last few days). The second one is when the teachers finally find the kids. Just know that this song may be stuck in your head the next several days!

Father's and Son's

2011-05-18T16:59:00.003-06:00

It was our ward's annual Father's and Son's camp out last weekend. Jeremy took all four boys to the woods and they had a great time sleeping in a tent, cooking outdoors and playing with friends. They had a great time together:

I, on the other hand, spent the whole evening by myself. I went and got a pedicure, then a Cafe Rio salad and watched a chick flick. It was nice, quiet and relaxing. I know the boys can't wait for next year's Father's and Son's, and neither can I!

State Fair

2011-05-16T23:03:00.002-06:00

The entire 5th grade put on a state fair this last week. They each had to highlight their state with the poster board that they made for their presentations. They were asked to display something along with their poster boards.

McKay had cranberries for everyone to try since New Jersey is the number two state in producing cranberries. He also had a display of some cars with a "bad guy" stealing them since Newark, New Jersey is the city with the most stolen cars in the nation (more than New York and L.A. combined).

Every few minutes, music would come across the speakers and the kids had to stand on their chairs and sing patriotic songs that they had learned through out the year. I believe McKay is singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" in this picture.

Balloon Fun

2011-05-12T10:21:00.003-06:00

McKay has a book that has taught him how to tie balloons. His brothers love it when he pulls out his balloons and makes them swords and holsters and cool hats. McKay went a little extreme this time and tried to make a spider's web. Instead it made a really cool hat:

He had to duck to go through door ways and shimmy in the halls to be able to go anywhere. Josh and Kayden loved their swords.

It was quite the hat. He has quite the imagination.

Framing Begins

2011-05-09T08:26:00.006-06:00

Things look different every time we pull up to the lot now. They got this much done in a day with a two man crew (the other guy called in sick):

I was impressed. I thought it was a lot.

Until I came back the next day and found that most of the basement had been framed and that the next day the trestles were going to be laid.

Kayden having a good time finding his way around the maze of wood.

The basement mostly framed along with the trestles and ceiling in place.. Jeremy is standing in the hall between Jaxon's and McKay's rooms.

This is our walkout basement. There will be a rock wall there with a waterfall. There will also be stone steps leading up to the backyard.

The trestles and the floor from the top. The hole in the middle is the stairs leading to the basement.

My boys love going out to the lot to check things out and to play. They love the equipment that is out there and think that it is for their entertainment.

One day while we were there they placed the front kitchen wall.

Things really look different at the lot now being able to see things from the top. This day the garage and half the main floor was framed.

Here is my Kayden with all the work that has been done on the main level. The kitchen, pantry, bathroom, mud room, laundry room and living room has all been framed.

I was excited to see our steel beam go into place. This beam allows us to have a wide open space from the kitchen into the great room with no posts to block views. I was impressed that only six guys lifted this huge contraption into place.

I have loved working with our builders Scott and Brian from R.C. Dent. They are really fun and make me feel relaxed about the whole building process. I am looking forward to the rest of the building process and the final move in day!

Hope of America

2011-05-06T14:01:00.004-06:00

All the 5th grade students in Utah County gather in the Marriott Center every May and sing songs that are dedicated to our country. McKay was able to participate this year and I loved watching and hearing he and his class (along with 300 other kids) sing patriotic songs.

Here is McKay getting ready to go with his friend Lane and his teacher Mrs. Moedl.

All the kids put together made quite a spectacular flag. McKay and his class are in the middle section, second red stripe from the top.

They sang a really cool song at the end called We Can Be A Light where they turned out the lights and the kids all had flashlights. It was McKay's favorite song in the program.

Now bring on the fireworks!

For Sell

2011-05-05T15:06:00.003-06:00

It's bitter sweet. I am very excited about our new house. Yet, I had a hard time watching a "for sell" sign go up in front of my house this afternoon.

But it is official. Our house is for sell. So if you know anyone looking...

It is a great house in a great neighborhood. We will miss it here.

Jaxon's Cooking Lesson

2011-05-01T21:44:00.003-06:00

Jaxon decided to make some Easy Mac (Mac and Cheese) for lunch today in the microwave. This was the result:

He forgot to add water.

It melted my bowl and made my house stink. Jeremy threw the bowl outside as fast as he could (hence the grass in the melted plastic) to minimize the smell, but oh the smell is nasty. I think Jaxon's lesson has been learned and he was he was full of apologies all afternoon. After all, he had to endure the smell just like the rest of us.

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-29T12:13:00.005-06:00

We had a great spring break a couple of weeks ago despite all the cold weather we had. In the middle of going to Trafalga, Chuck E Cheese and heading up to Salt Lake City to stay in the "water slide hotel" we found a great weather day to head to the zoo. When we got there we immediately took a ride on the train.

It has become tradition for us to go to the zoo with the Cooks during spring break. Here is most of the crew all riding the train.

Here are my monkeys looking at the monkeys. There seems to be a lot of monkeys at Hogle Zoo!

The boys had a good time checking out the elephants.

This is the first year that we rode the carousel. Kayden loved riding a giraffe while Kaden and Josh enjoyed the lion and monkey.

Jaxon and McKay found their own animals on the other side of the carousel to ride on.

Kayden kept sticking his tongue out while enjoying his ride. Too cute to not take a picture.

Kayden was mesmerized by the giraffes.

After a full day of looking at animals, we took some time to play at the playground. Jaxon found himself all tangled in a giant spider's web. The only way he could get out was by removing his shoes. Here he is getting untangled and having a good laugh on the ground.

Jaxon found a nice giant egg to take a rest after his ordeal with the spider's web.

McKay experienced what is like to be a tortoise. (Man he looks huge!)

Josh on a giant egg. He tuckered himself out by trying to climb on the top without any help.

Kayden had fun doing everything. He ran back and forth on this bridge for a while and then....

....he was eaten by a crocodile. See him yelling for help? This kid cracks me up!

It was a great day at the zoo and we enjoyed spring break. I was exhausted when it was all done. The kids, on the other hand, can't wait for summer!

Moving Right Along

2011-04-27T17:08:00.003-06:00

Yesterday they did the back fill on the foundation. It was weird pulling up to the lot without seeing a huge pile of dirt. Instead, I could actually see the foundation.

They filled in the basement and garage with dirt and gravel in preparation for the cement floors.

The basement all filled in up to the footings. They also did the in floor plumbing today to get ready to poor the cement .

The plumbing on the south side of the house. You can see Jaxon's window.

The plumbing on the north side.

We went back today and saw that the cement had been poured and looks beautiful. This is the basement.

Even the garage floors looked great. Can't wait to have extra space in the garages!

They have delivered the wood to start framing tomorrow.

Just as we were leaving the lot the all important port-a-potty was being delivered.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T09:27:00.002-06:00

This last weekend was Easter. It was a great weekend and we enjoyed celebrating the resurrection of our Savior together as a family.

The boys all got new Easter shirts and ties to wear to church. They are one good looking bunch!

Because Dad had early morning church meetings and then we had early church as well, the Easter Bunny did not make an appearance until we were at church. So we did all of our Easter egg hunting right after church. Above Josh is collecting an egg from the flower garden.

Kayden had a great time looking for eggs.

Jaxon found eggs in all sorts of places.

McKay had found all of his eggs and was enjoying watching Jaxon frantically search for his last egg (along with Suki the dog).

The egg hunt is over and all the loot has been found.

Kayden didn't hesitate to quickly enjoy some chocolate!

Later Easter afternoon, we colored Easter eggs. (I had to remind myself several times that coloring Easter eggs is supposed to be fun. It sure can be stressful having all that dye around a few excited boys!)

Meet Albert Einstein

2011-04-25T14:59:00.003-06:00

Jaxon stepped into a time machine today and stepped out as Albert Einstein for his third grade time machine project. Jaxon did a great job memorizing and presenting all his information and we have enjoyed learning about Albert Einstein over the last few weeks.

Here is Albert Einstein with his teacher, Miss Udy.

A class full of famous people. Among them there was Neil Armstrong, Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, Shirley Temple, Michael Jordan, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Albert Einstein (Jaxon) is on the far left on the end.

The Petition

2011-04-22T09:17:00.004-06:00

There are some changes being made at my boys' school next year that McKay doesn't approve of. They are moving from the traditional extended day model to a modified extended day model. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but McKay is against any change. He doesn't like that they are losing a long time favorite PE teacher, losing separate science and social study teachers, no computers and less time in PE, art, and music. He wrote a petition one night (without my knowledge) and took it to school. He had as many 3-6 grade students sign it as were willing so that he could give it to the principal. He felt that the voice of the students was not being heard. The principal saw McKay's petition one lunch hour while kids were signing it and told McKay that when he was finished collecting signatures to come and see her in her office. He has turned in the petition, but has yet been invited to her office (much to my relief--I think she has caught wind that we are moving).

McKay collected hundreds of signatures from the kids at his school.

His reasons why he is against the change were all mapped out on the petition.

Whether or not his petition makes any difference, I am proud of him for making a stand for how he feels about something important and then doing something about it.

UPDATE: When I went to pick up the boys from school today, McKay was in the office visiting with the principal about his petition. I took a peek into the office and watched McKay sweat it out. The principal was very kind and told McKay that she will go and visit all the classes to make sure that she hears all the concerns of the students. Then she shook his hand. (Phew!)

How Firm A Foundation

2011-04-21T14:13:00.002-06:00

The foundation of our house was poured yesterday. It seems like things are moving rather quickly even with all the horrible weather we have been having!

This picture is taken from the back of the house looking to the front corner. It is fun to see what is on paper come to reality.

Crazy kids.

Construction Begins

2011-04-18T15:42:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday they starting digging the hole for our new house. They finished the hole on Friday.

Today they poured the footings. I was only able to get one shot due to the fact that everything was completely muddy because of all the rain we have been getting.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

2011-04-14T22:08:00.002-06:00

My sweet husband celebrated his 38th birthday today.

He is still as handsome as the day I met him. We have celebrated 17 of his birthdays together. Happy Birthday Jeremy and here is to celebrating many more birthdays together!

A Parcel Of Land

2011-04-12T21:54:00.004-06:00

Today we bought us a parcel of land we are building us a house! We couldn't be more excited! We found a beautiful lot in a cul-de-sac that is just over two-thirds an acre so there is plenty of room for our boys to play play play. The process will all begin in two days when they will start digging the hole for our foundation. I will be posting often to show updates of how the house is coming along.

The "before" picture. The orange stakes are where the house is going to sit on the lot.

Four excited boys who have heard us talking about this for what seems like months. They can't wait to have their own space in the new house.

Fifth Grade Music Performance

2011-04-07T16:25:00.003-06:00

It is the end of another term and therefore McKay got got perform with the rest of the fifth grade in a very patriotic music performance. I had to blink the patriotic tears back a few times so I wouldn't embarrass my fifth grader. They sang great songs like Hope of America, Nifty Fifty United States, Presidents Club (where they sang all the names of the Presidents in order), Star Spangled Banner, This Train and other songs that make you happy to be an American.

All of the fifth grade have matching red shirts that they will wear later next month for the "Hope of America" program.

They sang that Star Spangled Banner in sign language. It was pretty cool.

McKay even learned to play the ukulele in music class this year. I was impressed.

They learned some fun line dances. This is a time where I really wish that the video camera had been all charged up. I know for next time.

I am looking forward to the "Hope of America" program that will be at the middle of May. Watch for an upcoming post in a few weeks!

Just Dance!

2011-04-05T15:04:00.002-06:00

I was browsing at Costco not long ago (I know--VERY dangerous) and came upon the Wii game Just Dance 2. I had heard this game was a lot of fun and my husband was out of town, so I bought it. I took it home that night and had a GREAT time with my boys shaking our booty. We laughed and danced our little hearts out. It is a great game and we love playing it. I have become a 5 star dancer and hold the high score for most dances. My boys love dancing to Hot Stuff (as do I). Check out some of their dance moves:

McKay really shaking his booty. Kayden is dancing along with him.

Now he is really getting down!

Kayden, Josh and McKay all dancing their hearts out.

This has been a fun game for our family. We have even popped it in for an Family Home Evening activity. It gets you off your couch and grooving!

New Jersey

2011-03-31T11:50:00.004-06:00

McKay's fifth grade class has been working on state report projects over the last couple of months. McKay researched and became an expert on the state of New Jersey. He then had to give a power point presentation and make a information board to present to his class. I was able to step in his class a week or so ago and listen to his presentation.

Here he is at the computer giving his power point presentation. I was quite impressed! His presentation was well put together, was organized and looked great!

Here he is showing his class his presentation board. He included fun facts about New Jersey. (Did you know that there are more cars stolen in Newark, New Jersey than any other city? Or did you know that the game Monopoly is based on the city of Atlantic City, New Jersey?)He also included some maps, state symbols and other information about New Jersey.

Kayden went with me to the presentation of his state report and insisted on taking McKay's picture with my camera. (Boy that kid is stubborn!) If you would like to read up on New Jersey and catch some of McKay's personality in how he gave his state report read on (sorry some of the spacing is messed up because there were pictures included throughout his report that wouldn't copy over):

Introduction

Hello my name is McKay White and I will be telling you about New Jersey. To be honest, I didn’t know too much New Jersey at first. All I knew was my cousins live there. I live on the other side of the U.S.A. New Jersey was one of the original thirteen colonies, it’s small, it has more population per square mile than any other state, and it has some awesome beach resorts.

From previewing my book, I have learned that Thomas Edison lived there, the Ford Mansion served as a head quarters for George Washington during the Revolutionary War, and the average people per square mile is 995. I have also learned that New Jersey is one of the leading producers when it comes to cranberries and also New Jersey has some chemical companies. The fact that interests me the most is the game monopoly is based on Atlantic City, which is in New Jersey.

If you continue reading my report you will learn about the history of New Jersey, three famous people that lived in New Jersey, and the climate. You would also learn about the industry, the state symbols, and there will also be a map of New Jersey. Don’t put this report down! Hopefully by the end of my report you will have learned just as much about New Jersey as I have.

Places of Interest

Have you ever been to New Jersey? I have, but I was too young to remember anything. You might consider visiting historical sites, events that happen once a year, Museums, and the National Parks.

There are plenty of historic sites to visit. There is Nation wide stuff like Edison’s lab. Then there is stuff like Burlington Historic District, and Morristown Park that people don’t know too much about. You probably didn’t know that half the Statue of Liberty is in New Jersey.

If you are like me you might want to go to the seasonal temporary events. They have some awesome events like New Jersey Festival of balloons for those people who love balloons, the Native American Pow-wow, you might also want to go to the Miss America Pageant, New Jersey Flower and Garden show, The State Fair, and the New Jersey State Ethnic Festival.

If you like museums you might want to visit Museums, Halls of Fame, and Exhibits. There is the New Jersey Aquarium, the New Jersey State Museum, Newark Museum, and The National Boy Scouts of America building. Don’t forget the National Parks! There is the Morris Cannel, Liberty State park, Seaside Resorts, and the Delaware River. You should also visit the Delaware Water Gap, The Appalachian Trail, and Port Newark.

History

Natives:

New Jersey, of course, had Native Americans like all of the other states. The main Natives that lived in New Jersey were the Lenni-Lenape. Legends claim that the Lenni-Lenape came from the north from what is called today, Canada. The Lenni-Lenape were an industrious people. They farmed and hunted; they sometimes made dug-out canoes sometimes large enough to hold up to twenty people, and hunted sea food like fish, oysters, clams and other shell fish.

Explorers and Colonists:

Every colony had explorers and colonists including New Jersey. Giovanni Da Verrazano was probably the first European to see the shores of New Jersey. Shortly after, the Dutch claimed a huge amount of land that included parts of New Jersey and New York. They named it New Netherland. More and more British colonists arrived every year, and then in 1664 British troops marched in to New Netherland. Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered his capital city without a shot being fired. King Charles the second gave some of New Netherland to his brother Duke of York. Then later some of New York was named New Jersey.

Colonial Life:

The colony of New Jersey had British I’ve course, but it also had Dutch, Swedes, and Germans. There were also some African-Americans. If a woman had property, it instantly became their husbands. No paper signing and no buying. If I were a woman back then, I might have considered not getting married (I am a male). The Lenni Lenape actually sold their property and moved west, which surprises me a lot since some Natives fought the colonists for land.

American Revolutionary War:

In New Jersey about half the colonists were patriots (people who wanted independence) and the other half were loyalists (people who were loyal to King George the third). New Jersey served as one of the main fighting grounds between the Red Coats (a.k.a. lobster-backs) and the patriots.

Civil war:

New Jersey had more slaves than any other state in the north. 88,000 New Jersites (people from New Jersey) were in the Northern forces.

About 0-2 Centuries Ago:

In 1914 73,000 New Jersites entered World War 1. About 1899 an inspector examined a factory and said the workers were people ages 9 and above. That means I would have been working in the factory! In 1903, Tomas Edison made the first successful commercial film, The Great Train Robbery. Then in 1910 the people of New Jersey elected Woodrow Wilson as their governor, then because of how good of a job he did in New Jersey, he was elected as president. In 1939, 500,000 New Jerseyites entered World War 2. Then Albert Einstein (he was in New Jersey when he wrote it) wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt warning him about Nazi, Germany making an atomic bomb.

With in a Century ago:

In 1950 New Jersey was the National leader in highway building. On July 12, 1967, an African-American was arrested for traffic violation. The driver fought the officers. Rumor spread that the driver had bean beaten to death. Then the mobs broke out and they burned buildings down, and some gunfights broke out between the rioters and the cops. In the end 27 people were killed, and property damage was estimated at about 10 million dollars. Then in the 1980’s New Jersey became the leader in technology. In 1990 7.7 million people were living in New Jersey, and 7.7 people were living in New York. New Jersey finally had the most people living in it than any other state.

Product map

New Jersey doesn’t have the nickname the garden state for nothing. It has a lot of plants in it. By the southern coast is where you will find the berries. You might want to move to northern New Jersey if you are a miner because they have quite a few mines. Soybeans are scattered all around the south of New Jersey. Fruits and vegetables are scattered as well. You will find some clams in Delaware Bay, and some fish by the east coast. In the center I think those ovals are potatoes. Idaho isn’t the only place that grows potatoes. You will find that the cattle are pretty close to Pennsylvania. (He had a map pasted on this paper of all the different things that New Jersey produces.)

5 Famous people

Grover Cleveland was one of the 2 presidents from New Jersey. You probably know that he was the only president to be elected again after another president (22^nd and 24^th president). Biographer Allan Nevins wrote, "He possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence, and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not."

Woodrow Wilson was governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913 and then became the 28^th president. He was elected in 1912 and was in office for 8 years (he was re-elected). During his second term he entered the United States into World War 1. He is the only U.S. President to hold a PhD which he obtained from Johns Hopkins University.

I am pretty sure that all of you know who Thomas Edison is. He was the inventor of the light bulb, the recorder, the first movie and had many other inventions. You probably didn’t know that he lived in New Jersey though. Thomas Edison was famous for saying: "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."

Bruce Springsteen is a very popular rock star that is from New Jersey according to how many times he has popped up in my books and it is obvious that he is from America.

Everyone has read at least read one book by Judy Blume, she is a children’s book author and is from New Jersey. I like her book Super Fudge. It made me laugh.

Climate Chart

This is New Jersey’s Climate Chart (he had a chart on this page) and as you can see New Jersey is hot in the summer but not to hot, and it is cold in the winter but not too cold either. It still snows though. If you want to visit while it is hot you might want to go during July, it is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Mean while, if you want some cold, you should visit during January with a freezing temperature of 6 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are looking for rain, you might want to visit New Jersey in May because in May it gets an astonishing 4.4 inches. If you want it to be dry when you visit go during the month of February, but it still gets about 3 inches of precipitation.

State Symbols

This is The New Jersey state seal. (It was on his page.) The seal of the state of New Jersey is a symbol of the authority and sovereignty of the state and is a valuable asset of its people. It is the intent of the state government to ensure that appropriate uses are made of the state seal and to assist the secretary of state in the performance of the secretary's constitutional duty as custodian of the seal.

This is the New Jersey State flag. (Once again, it was on his page.) You have probably noticed that it is very similar to the seal. The state coat of arms is emblazoned in the center. The shield has three plows with a horse's head above it. Two women represent the goddesses of Liberty and Agriculture. A ribbon at the bottom includes the year of independence in 1776 and reads: Liberty and Prosperity. The New Jersey state flag was formally adopted in 1861.

The New Jersey State flower is: Common Violet. It was official in 1971. It took the government 58 years to make it the official flower.

The New Jersey State animal is the horse. Governor Brendan T. Byrne signed the law August 14, 1977, while attending the farm and horse show at Augusta, Sussex County. There are many horse race tracks in New Jersey.

This is the Eastern Goldfinch (with picture). Yes, it is New Jersey’s bird.

In 1858, a skeleton of a dinosaur was the first full dinosaur skeleton found in North America. It was the Hadrosaurus foulkii. Hadrosaurus foulkii has been the official state dinosaur of New Jersey since 1991.

Conclusion

You and I have made it this far together, and now we are at the end. When I first got the packet of requirements for the 6 weeks, I was stumped. I wasn’t too happy with my self for choosing New Jersey. I was hoping for something like Idaho, Texas, or maybe Hawaii. But you had to draw those out of a hat so I thought New Jersey would be cool so I chose it. There was nothing hard about writing this, I mean, it was actually pretty fascinating learning about New Jersey. You might have thought that this would be hard compared to other writing projects, right? Well, it was just like any other project just 3 times as long. (It was fun too.)

There are tons of reasons people would want to live in New Jersey. I don’t know if you want to there because there are 7.7 million people, but that many people live there for a good reason. Surprisingly, though it has 7.7 million people, it has about 40 reserved forests. New Jersey isn’t a huge thing when it comes to national parks though. It only has one or two. They don’t call it the Garden State for nothing. It’s not like someone came along and said: “I like gardens, lets call this the garden state.” Someone probably did come along and say: “Wow. This place has a lot of gardens. Lets call it the garden state.” New Jersey has some beach resorts there too. People who like rain a lot probably live there. New Jersey gets 6 times more rain than Utah!

Remember how I mentioned monopoly being based on Atlantic City. Yup, not a joke, it really is based Alantic City during the Great Depression. Thomas Edison also made the first ever movie in New Jersey. It may not be too obvious that Bruce Springsteen is from Freehold, New Jersey, but if you have heard his song Born in America, you know he was born in America. New Jersey also has two presidents from it, Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson.

My opinion has changed a ton about New Jersey and I hope yours has too. I have learned a lot about New Jersey. It’s not a state with 500,000 people; it is a state with 7,700,000 people. It also gives out tons of cranberries for you cranberry fans. I have had to read my books a lot and go on the Internet a lot. I don’t know if my reading skills have improved, but my patience and skills with the computer have increased. This report has not only helped me with writing grade but also with my brain as well. You don’t get dumber when you study a lot you get smarter.

I have learned a ton about New Jersey. Just to refresh your memory, at the beginning of the report, I said all I knew about New Jersey was New Jersey is on the other side of the U.S., My cousins live there, and it has the greatest population out of all the other states. Bye, and thanks for reading my report.

P.S. If you see Mrs. Moedl, tell her how good of a job I did.

Fun Facts:

New Jersey is the car theft capital of the world, with more cars stolen in Newark then any other city. Even the 2 largest cities, NYC and LA put together.

New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the diner capital of the world.

Atlantic City is where the street names came from for the game monopoly.

New Jersey has the tallest water tower in the world.

New Jersey has 108 toxic waste dumps. Which is the most in any one state in the nation.

New Jersey has the highest population density in the U.S. An average 1,030 people per square mile which is 13 times the national average.

Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifa, Shaq, Judy Blume, Arron Burr, Whitney Houston, Eddie Money, Frank Sinatra, Grover Cleveland, all New Jersey natives.

**Now tell me, did you learn something??

Pinewood Derby 2011

2011-03-30T18:16:00.004-06:00

It's that Cub Scout time of year again, the annual Pinewood Derby. Last year Jaxon took first place and the year before McKay took first place. The Pinewood Derby has been kind to our family, which put a big target on our back for this year. We were feeling the pressure. Jaxon designed his car and Jeremy cut it out for him. They both sanded it, painted it, weighed it and so on. Then the paint began to dry and well--it crackled. So the derby boys decided to re-do the paint job. Jeremy put a coat of paint on it late one night and decided it needed help drying. So he set the oven to 500 and put the car inside. I was asleep on the couch and started smelling something awful. It turned out that putting your derby car in a hot hot oven is not a good idea. So the paint job started over once again. It was all last minute, but it got done. Jaxon placed stickers on it the morning of the derby and put his car on the fridge. Then it was time for breakfast and we opened the fridge--and the derby car rolled off the fridge with a big crash to the floor. What else could possibly go wrong?? Upon inspection, we discovered that one of the nails that the wheel was on got bent but it was too late to do anything about it. The race must go on! Jaxon's car did worse each time it raced, but in the end he won FIRST PLACE!! He continued racing the car just for fun at the end of the night and his car kept losing because that back wheel just kept getting more and more wobbly. (I could see the wheels turning the in the heads of the dad's who's cars won second, third and fourth wondering how Jaxon won first place.)

Jaxon's car is the yellow one. This was the final race between first and second. Jaxon was quite proud his car won.

Here Jaxon is getting his first place patch. He was raising his arms up telling the crowd to cheer louder. (He wasn't a very gracious winner--he could use some help in that area.)

Here is the winner with his prize winning car, his first place patch and a certificate (his car also won best scout theme). I don't think there is a prouder kid out there. Way to go Jaxon!

March Madness

2011-03-19T20:23:00.002-06:00

While Jeremy and I were enjoying watching our BYU cougars win tonight, Kayden was enjoying a few cookies....

...that is he enjoyed the frosting from a few cookies. No wonder the kid has some love handles.

Grandpa Plays The Wii

2011-03-16T17:50:00.002-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa work at the temple every Tuesday. They come over for a visit occationally after they finish their shift (usually Grandpa stays at our house to take a nap while Grandma runs off to get her hair done not to far from here). When Grandpa came for a visit last week, Kayden begged him to play the Wii with him. This is how it turned out:

Poor Grandpa was just too tired! Kayden was very nice and tip-toed around while Grandpa was sleeping and kept saying, "Shhhh! Grandpa is sleeping."

Love, Josh

2011-03-12T14:53:00.004-07:00

Josh sure knows how to make a mom feel good. He loves to draw me pictures or write notes and leave them in surprise places around the house. Here are a few of my favorites:
He likes to draw the two of us together (I'm the tall one with longer hair). He adds the flowers because he knows how much I like flowers and that I miss them in the winter.

He even puts his notes on remote control cars and drives them up to my feet for a special delivery. I love this kid and his notes sure make my day.

Monday News

2011-03-08T12:14:00.002-07:00

Every Monday Jaxon's class sits in a circle and they share news of things that happened over the weekend. In the past he has shared silly news, serious news and I am sure plenty of nonsense news. Once he told his class that his brother has started growing armpit hair. Well, this week's news was...well...the way he told it was pretty funny. But first you need a little background information:

Jaxon was given a pocket knife at cub scouts a couple of months ago (much to my demise). Truth be told I know he has been itching to use it. We were given a box of oranges over the weekend and he saw his chance. He begged us to let him make that box into a helmet with the help of his pocket knife. Jeremy kept warning him and telling him to be careful. The next thing we knew blood was coming from his finger and he was saying, "I was being careful!" Jaxon kept saying, "I was being careful and my finger wasn't in the way!" I guess it is a mystery how his finger got cut then. He had a nice chunk of finger missing. Nothing too bad--at least nothing that required stitches.

Now back to Monday News. I asked Jaxon yesterday what he shared with his class for Monday News. This is what he told me: "First, I asked my class who had seen a PG-13 movie and who was allowed to see a PG-13 movie. Then I told all the kids that hadn't seen a PG-13 movie or who weren't allowed to see a PG-13 movie to close their eyes and plug their ears. (You can only imagine at this point that I was seriously concerned about what it was that he shared with his class.) Then I told the rest of my class how cut I my finger with my pocket knife and that it was all bloody and gross." Boy! I sure am glad that he was thoughtful to all of his "sensitive" classmates and made them close their eyes and plug their ears. Oh how I wish I could be fly on the wall in his classroom!

Luigi

2011-03-03T12:39:00.002-07:00

Kayden has come to love the Mario Brothers from the Wii. He insists on being called Luigi and has changed his favorite color from yellow to green. He even says that he likes green for BYU (huh?). The bonus that comes with this is he has given everyone in the family a corresponding name:

Suki (the dog)- Toad
Josh- a doggie (no correspondence here--Josh pretends to be Kayden's...I mean Luigi's pet)
Jaxon- Yoshi
McKay- Mario
Dad- Bowser
Me- Princess (Short for Princess Peach)

That is right. He calls me princess and it is priceless. Here are a few instances that I have loved the most:

Calls from the bathroom that go something like, "Princess, I need you!" or "Princess I am all done!"
Or when I am disciplining him and he doesn't agree, "No Princess!"
Or when Jeremy (aka Bowser) is giving me a kiss, "Princess I will save you!"
Then at dinner time: "Hey Princess, what's for dinner?"

A couple of times it has caught me off guard and I can't help but break character and burst out laughing.

Here is my tough boy, Luigi, a week or so ago when he got a black eye. He had a run in with the staircase and didn't fare well. He likes to act tough....

...but he is still my sweet little boy that melts my heart every time he calls me Princess.

McKay's New Smile

2011-03-01T19:34:00.005-07:00

It all happened so fast! We went to go see our orthodontist Dr. Nord for a consultation yesterday and got braces today! Here is McKay's new smile:

He put blue and white bands on his teeth to show his BYU spirit for March Madness.

McKay wasn't exactly thrilled that I was taking his picture and threatened certain death if I posted any pictures on our blog. So if I don't post again, you know I am six feet under.

More on Jaxon Sleeping

2011-02-22T08:47:00.003-07:00

I have posted Jaxon's odd sleeping before. But I had a another surprise and good laugh the other night when I went to go check on him. This is what I found:

Now, I am not sure why he has his shirt wrapped around his head in an Arabic manner, or even how he got his shirt to be in that position just right. Later he told me that his head was really hot and his shirt was really cold, so he put his shirt on his head to cool down. I know, it makes perfect sense--right?

Karate Kid Wannabe

2011-02-21T09:29:00.002-07:00

This kid wants to do everything his brothers do. He took his brother's karate belt and attempted some Kung Fu....

Trust me, this kid is feisty enough that you wouldn't want to mess with his "pretend" karate moves.

Josh Is A Kindergarten Hero

2011-02-14T09:16:00.005-07:00

Josh was the hero in his kindergarten class at school last week. He got to bring home the class pet (Curious George) to spend the weekend with us. Josh then had to write and draw pictures of what he did will George. One of the things we did with George was we took him to the BYU vs. UNLV basketball game with us and watched BYU stomp all over UNLV. It was a great game.

Here is Josh (wearing his BYU wig) with George getting ready to watch the basketball game. We even dressed George up in a BYU shirt so he wouldn't feel left out.

While we were watching the game, Cosmo came up to our section to say hello. He was nice enough to pose for a picture with Josh and George. Josh thought that was pretty cool. (We thought that was pretty cool as well.)

After the game we stopped at the bronze cougar outside the football stadium to take a picture of George with all the boys. We had a great time with George over the weekend.

We made a poster all about Josh to take to school so the kids in his class could get to know him a little better. Josh loved being the hero at school. He got to be the first in line, do the calendar each morning and had many other privileges.

On Friday we got to go to the school to talk about Josh. Here I am (along with Josh, Jeremy and Kayden) telling his class that Oreos are Josh's favorite treat. Josh brought enough Oreos to share with his class. We also told his class about all of other favorite things and things that Josh likes to do. Then his class gathered in a circle and sang the hero song to Josh. It took everything I had to blink back the proud parent tears. It was a fun week for Josh.

While we were there at the school, Jeremy (Dr. White) got to teach the kids about taking care of their teeth. (Did you know that February is dental awareness month?) He had one of the students be his assistant and Josh was the patient. Here she is using suction on Josh. The kids learned how to brush their teeth and all about going to the dentist.

Then Jeremy put a whole bunch of cotton rolls in Josh's mouth and made Josh giggle. The class thought it was pretty funny. Over all it went great and all the kids enjoyed getting a new toothbrush. Josh was excited for us to come in and share some of his class time with him. We enjoyed being there as well. We love our Joshua!

Jaxon's Story Telling

2011-02-07T08:38:00.002-07:00

I have learned that Jaxon is a different kid at school than he is at home. In third grade this year they did a story telling unit. Jaxon wrote and told his own story about three brothers all named Jaxon (all spelled differently of course). The three Jaxons all had the same dream and then somehow got trapped in the clouds and had to find a way home. I had heard his story at home, because I made him practice. Then I heard his story at school and it had changed--a lot.

Here Jaxon is telling his story. His class was eating his story up. He was doing different voices (there was none of that at home), he was doing actions (again, none of that at home), and he was really funny! (His story was a little dry when he told it at home.) I was surprised and shocked. All of the kids in his class were laughing and then looking at me to make sure I was laughing too. He did a great job and I enjoyed his story very much.

Here Jaxon is with his teacher Miss Udy. She tells me that Jaxon is always making her laugh and that at times Jaxon gets laughing so much that he starts to cry. She also says that he is a lot of fun at to have in her class. Jaxon is one great kid! (Try and get him to tell you his story sometime. I just hope you get the version that he told at school.)

My Next Karate Kid

2011-02-02T17:50:00.002-07:00

Josh just started Karate and he couldn't be happier about it. He is anxious to show everyone his new moves. Just try and punch him in the nose and see what happens!

Fredette About It!

2011-01-27T12:06:00.005-07:00

We put on our BYU basketball game days t-shirts, Josh had his blue and white hair and we all went to the #9 BYU vs. #4 San Diego State basketball game last night. What a great game it was! Our Cougars won! We were amazed by Jimmer Fredette's performance and the team's defense. We cheered, we yelled, and jumped up and down. Boy it was loud in the Marriott Center!.....and Kayden slept--through the WHOLE game (even though he denies it and says he had a great time at the game last night). Go Cougars!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-17T15:23:00.004-07:00

Wow. Christmas came and went faster than I could have imagined. We had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed everything good in life: family, traditions, parties, friends, Christmas cards, presents and of course chocolate.

Here are my handsome boys the Sunday before Christmas. It has become tradition to dress the boys up with matching ties or shirts. This year was ties. Jaxon was thrilled that he received a real tie as opposed to a zip-up or clip-on tie. (Left to right: Kayden (3), Joshua (6), Jaxon (9) and McKay (11)).

On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma White's house for dinner, a program and pajamas. Once the kids were all in their PJs, they did some dancing on Grandma's stage. Josh had all the moves and I snapped his picture while he was in midair jumping off the stage into some pillows.

Here are all of Grandma and Grandpa White's grandchildren. There sure is a lot of blue in this picture with just a little bit of pink.

Grandma read all of the kids a Christmas story. Kayden enjoyed listening while on McKay's lap.

Christmas morning finally arrived! The boys thought it would never get here. We had count down chains (that some how would get two links pulled off a day instead of one--like that would make Christmas come faster), and crossing off of days on the calendar. All of which supposedly helped Christmas get here. They boys stay at the top of the stairs while waiting for Dad to give the go ahead. The boys were up VERY early that morning, but we had forbidden them to get out of bed until 7:00. We had to wake up Kayden--it took him a minute to come around and want to have anything to do with Christmas.

Josh got blue and white BYU hair in his stocking. He wore his hair to the last BYU basketball game and made sure he put on his hair whenever BYU was in need of some extra luck. It worked because BYU won! The baby sitting next to Josh could not keep his eyes off of Josh and his BYU hair.

Kayden has found a love for Superman. Santa put a Superman action figure in his stocking and Kayden was thrilled. He also got a Mater Toons DVD and a Cars scooter (behind him) from Santa. He has decided Christmas is great!

Jaxon begged and begged us for an iPod. His Christmas wish came true and much to his delight he found a blue iPod just for him under the tree. We have been busy loading on songs and we would like to learn how to put on movies. (Any suggestions?)

Kayden enjoyed opening presents and got excited every time it was his turn....

....and when it wasn't his turn, he chose to throw a fit and hide behind the coat rack. That is Kayden for you.

Josh opening his Star Wars AT-AT walker. It has been a favorite toy for all the kids and they all enjoy playing with it and they play with it often. (Jaxon even asked why we gave it to Josh and not to him. I told him, "Josh had it on his Christmas wish list, you didn't." Like the iPod wasn't enough.)

McKay loves everything Lego. This year for Christmas he received two Lego games (in addition to a couple of Lego sets). Both games have been lots of fun to play together as a family.

They day after Christmas we were able to have a Christmas party at Grandma Haacke's house. Aunt Juli and her family came from Texas and Uncle Paul and his family came from Idaho. It was fun to be all together with the cousins. We sure missed Aunt Caprice and her family. Every year at Christmas at Grandma Haacke's house, we act out The Nativity. This year, Josh was Joseph.

Kayden and I were Wise Men. Do we look wise?

Midway through, Kayden decided he had had enough of being a Wise Man and decided he wanted to take a ride on the donkey (his cousin Bryan).

All in all The Nativity was a success and the kids had a great time. Here they are all dressed up. I believe we had two Marys this year (on the front row next to Kayden). Jaxon (middle row left) was a shepherd and did a great job. McKay (very back row left) was also a shepherd and enjoyed being mischievous once the performance was over.

We had a wonderful holiday, including a trip up to Idaho for the New Year. We hope your holidays were just as wonderful as ours. Good-bye 2010. What will 2011 bring us?

Kayden's Pride

2011-01-12T12:00:00.002-07:00

Kayden has been cracking me up with some of the conversations that we have. They go something like this:

Me: Kayden, you are such a good boy.
Kayden: Yes I am.

Me: You are so handsome!
Kayden: Yes I am.

Me: Your Lego ship is so cool!
Kayden: Yes it is.

Me: You did a good job on your picture.
Kayden: Yes I did.

Me: You're awesome.
Kayden: Yes I am.

or

Me: See you later alligator!
Kayden: I not a alligator. I Kayden White!

And so it goes. I am grateful for the times that he makes me smile. These times are definitely the times to remember.

Jaxon's Green Belt

2011-01-11T12:51:00.003-07:00

It has happened. I knew the day would come that Jaxon and McKay would be the same belt rank in Karate. Jaxon tested for his green belt just before Thanksgiving and put on quite a show. His cousin Bryan was able to go see Jaxon test and Bryan was quite impressed with Jaxon's moves. Jaxon did really well at his test and moved from a purple belt to a green belt.

Who says white men can't jump? Look how high this kid jumped to do a kick. I wouldn't want to be on Jaxon's bad side!

Jaxon doing self-defense moves. So if a bad guy tries to get him, he will be able to get away...then beat him up.

Here is Jaxon at his belt ceremony. His instructor puts his new belt on him for the first time.

Then his old belt is placed on his head. He was one excited proud kid. Way to go Jax!

Snow Day

2010-12-21T22:16:00.004-07:00

Not only has winter arrived, but now it LOOKS like winter has arrived! We had our first really good snow storm last night and today without it being bitterly cold outside, and just in time for Christmas! The boys enjoyed the morning sledding down the park's hills and this afternoon we went to Grandma's house to play with cousins in the snow.

All Kayden wanted to do was build a snowman, so we first built a snowman, and it is a beauty I must say. We all pitched in and had a great time rolling and lifting huge snowballs. As you can see, McKay is holding a giant snowball getting prepared for this:

We had one wicked snowball fight. Here Aunt Juli is getting the best of my boys.

McKay trying to get Juli with his giant snowball, only....

...Juli got him instead. She is burying McKay in the snow.

Finally, the boys were able to get Juli a few times. We all had a great time in the snow. Happy Snow Day!

**I loved the snow in December, but I am ready for it to be gone come January. Why is that?

Rivalry Week Continued

2010-11-25T22:15:00.007-07:00

It didn't take long before Weston (Jeremy's brother) struck back. Jeremy wheeled the BYU spirit truck onto Weston's lawn on Saturday night and Weston kidnapped our dog on Sunday afternoon while we were at church. He left a ransom note stating that we would not get our dog back until the truck was removed. I thought this was great! A few days of not have to worry about Suki (our dog) running out the front door or through the garage and then us chasing her down the street, no dog toys chewed up and strung around the house, no poop to pick up for a few days, no dog to climb on the table or steal food from Kayden's hand, plus we weren't going to be home much over the next few days so Suki being with Weston was going to be like a vacation for her. I knew she would be happy. The boys, on the other hand, weren't quite as convinced....they were very upset.

Josh was worried. He wanted us to go and pick up Suki the next day.

McKay: "I can't forgive Weston for this!" (We were laughing.)

Jeremy caught a few minutes of video of their reaction on his cell phone:

Weston mentioned in his ransom note that Suki would be converted more and more to a Utah fan the longer we left her at his house. He left pictures on Facebook to show her conversion:

First he dressed her as a Utah fan. She is still cute even in all that red.

Then he shaved a big "U" in her back and head.

Then he colored the "U"s red.

Then her ears were colored red. About this same time it snowed. I guess after Suki went outside in the snow with her red ears, the washable marker began to run leaving bits of red around Weston's house. So he had to give her a bath. In the mean time, Suki had chewed up two of their dog's toys and had also learned to jump over the gate that is guarding the upstairs from the dogs. Perhaps they rethought the great idea of kidnapping our dog. (hehe)

Mid week, our BYU/Utah rivalry pranks made it on the morning news: (I love having a sister-in-law that is a producer at KSL!)

We started feeling guilty come Wednesday that Weston (and mostly Jennise--his wife) has had to put up with our mischievous dog for the last three plus days. Not to mention our boys were very anxious to get their dog back. Other than a few extra crumbs around the table that Suki wasn't home to eat, Jeremy and I were just fine. But it was time. Jeremy made arrangements to have the truck towed away and therefore Suki came home.

When she arrived home she was decked out in red. Way to take one for the team Suki!

The next day we put Suki in rehab and dressed her in BYU blue. She is back to her normal self and glad to be home. I know our four boys are glad to have her home as well. GO COUGARS!

Rivalry Week Is Back

2010-11-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

It is time. The big game of BYU vs Utah is this next weekend which means this week is rivalry week. Jeremy's brother became a Ute fan in the "Urban Meyer years" where as he was a BYU fan before. Jeremy started decorating his brother's house during rivalry week a few years ago. For a brief history of what has been done in the past click here (see # 25), here, here and here. Since Jeremy got caught a couple of years ago, we have had to think outside of the box of what to do for rivalry week. So here is this year's rivalry prank:

We got this clunker truck on ksl.com. It doesn't run and I feared for my life by going inside of it. It is just a big chunk of metal that we thought we could have some fun with. We had to tow it from Pleasant Grove to our house. Sadly, our van didn't have anywhere to hook a towing rope, so we used Jeremy's Acura to tow this old clunker through town. We got many double looks, lots of smiles and a few laughs from other drivers we passed. It was quite comical as we were driving through intersections all through town.

Here it is as it as it is about to be transformed.

Everyone got to take part in the transformation. Kayden had a good time painting the truck BYU Blue. He even got paint all over Josh's hair.

McKay was a very enthusiastic painter.

Jaxon dove right in and painted the bed of the truck.

Here is the whole gang painting. They were just about done at this point. I even got in on the painting, but someone had to take the pictures.

Here it is all complete. Jeremy painted all the BYU love.

The hood.

It wouldn't be complete without some love from Max Hall.

To top it off, Jeremy cut a hole in the roof of the truck and made a big BYU flag to post through the hole. I didn't get a picture of it before delivery, but it is visible in the next picture.

Delivery night was last night. Jeremy recruited his other brothers and sister-in-law along with McKay to help him take the BYU spirit truck up to his Ute lovin' brother's house. They parked it on his front lawn and then let all the air out of the tires. GO COUGARS!

Josh Is Six!

2010-11-15T21:10:00.003-07:00

How lucky are we to be able to celebrate two birthdays within just a few days?? Today is Joshua's birthday and he has been looking forward to turning six for a long time.

Here is Josh building with Legos today. I mentioned in an earlier post that Josh has began to gain interest in Legos. His Grandma Haacke gave him a Lego set that was a helicopter and fire truck. He enjoyed putting it together today. He started from the moment that he woke up, until he had to go to school, and then picked it right back up where he left off and worked on it until it was finished. It was an all day project and he took pride in his work.

Josh preparing to blow out the candles--Kayden blew them out for him the first time, so we had to relight them so Josh could make a wish and blow them out.

That is one giant present! Josh was nervous about being bonked on the head.

He couldn't get the paper off fast enough, especially when he realized it was the Geotrax train that he had been hoping for.

Josh and Kayden playing with the new train set tonight before bedtime. It is a Christmas train set and Josh is hoping it will go around our Christmas tree this year. I am hoping he will change his mind and have it go around the Christmas tree that will be in his room.

Six Things We Love About Joshua:

He is very good to Kayden and his brothers. Kayden isn't the easiest little brother, but Josh has many patience for him. He loves playing with Kayden and always includes him when his friends come over to play. Kayden misses him while he is away at school.
He loves school and is doing very well in kindergarten. He had a great first report card and is making new friends at school.
Josh loves to build build build. Whether it is Legos or creating a city for his Geotrax trains, he is one great builder. He has quite the mind set.
Josh is the best helper--ever! He is always offering to help out. When it is "job day" he is quick to volunteer to do his jobs. He does a great job mopping floors!
He loves to decorate for holidays around the house. If he finds there aren't enough decorations for the current holiday, he will make some. (We don't have many Thanksgiving decorations, so he has made about eight paper turkeys to hang around the house.)
He loves being active and playing sports. He plays soccer and baseball and can hardly wait until it is his turn to start basketball and football. He also enjoys watching sports. He has been a lot of fun to take to the BYU football and basketball games. He always cheers and is thrilled that there is a Joshua (Quezada) on the football team that shares his name.

We love Josh and feel so blessed to have him in our family. Happy Birthday Josh!