ALL BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE FELL IN LOVE

1st DAY OF SCHOOL............

2011-09-22T09:21:00.001-07:00

The kids have now been in school for almost a month. I was so ready for school to start again. I love the summer, don't get me wrong, but these two being home by them selves with each other all day every day...............I'm surprised they are both still breathing and that my house is stil standing!! Ha ha!!

I can't believe how fast they are growing. Wyatt turned 8 in July, was baptized, and started 3rd grade. He is a boy of many interests!! He loves to be outside working with the cows and horses with Dad and Grandpa. He loves playing football and basketball. He loves hunting and fishing. He is definitely ALL BOY!!

Madi turned 12 in May, went into Young Womens, and is now in 7th grade. She is definitely NOT a little girl anymore!! This year she decided to take a break from dance and is doing cheer and gymnastics instead. She absolutely LOVES it!! She is also playing the violin, which she is AMAZING at!! Right now she is just in Orchestra at school, but I hope to get her into private lessons soon.

ITS GREAT TO BE 8

2011-09-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

My little boy turned the BIG 8 and was baptized the end of July. He is now is Scouts and LOVE LOVE LOVES it!! He is such an outdoors kid!! He has and awesome scout leader and gets so excited to go!! His baptism turned out GREAT!! He had so many family and friends there to support him. It was definitely a very special day for him!!

He is growing so fast. He is such a good kid and a hard worker. He loves to be out with dad and grandpa helping with the cows and horses or fixing fence. We are so proud of him and the choice that he made to be baptized.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....

2011-07-28T12:45:00.001-07:00

Madi turned 12 on May 12th. She had a pretty busy weekend. She had a couple of friends over Saturday and I took them to the mall. They had a lot of fun taking pictures and trying on prom dresses. These girls were a hoot!! :)

Then we took them to dinner and got ice cream. Sunday we had some family and friends over to celebrate. She got some fun stuff!!

I can't believe it's been 12 years already!! Time sure does fly! But we can't imagine life with out Madi! She is full of FUN and definitley keeps us busy!! We LOVE YOU MADZ!!!! :)

LOVE MY GRANDMA.....

2011-07-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

I am obviously NOT the best blogger in the world. But we really have been busy. I have so much to catch up on. But that will have to wait. One of the things that has been keeping me pre occupied is my grandma. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this woman. She is AMAZING!!! She is almost 92. My grandpa passed away in 1989. Grandma comes every year for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, every Sunday for dinner. She has been to every wedding, baby blessing, baptism. so many birthdays and much more.
In the last few years she has had a double hip replacement, but other than that she has been so healthy. She is so independent, and was even still driving. A few weeks ago she fell and injured her hip. She was in so much pain and unable to move or walk on her own the only choice we had was to put her in a care center where she had 24 hour care. That was the hardest thing we had to do. I go visit her every chance i get, usually every other day. Emotionally it is very hard for me. She is just not the same person. I just want her to know how much I LOVE her and how important she is. She is such a great example to me and I am so greatful to her for all that she does for us. LOVE YOU GRANDMA!! :)

BEAR LAKE

2011-05-17T11:59:00.001-07:00

We had a dance competition in Bear Lake a couple weeks ago. The girls did AMAZING!! Our team has 4 different groups. Each group has their own dance and then they do a big dance with the whole team called a show. The show is usually about 8 minutes long.

This dance is Madi's NERD dance. It's HILLARIOUS!! I will have to post video so you know what i'm talkin about!! :)

This one they dance to a song called "Bucky Done Gun." Never heard of it till this dance but it is AWESOME!! In this dance is Madi's group and then the oldest group.

These next few pictures are of our Show Routine. This dance was based on Military. It was so so cool! They are in camo and there is a lot of stomping in this dance. The girls are super sharp so it looks AMAZING when they are perfoming. The 2 older groups begin the show dancing to Another One Bites the Dust.
Then they go off and the 2 younger groups come on and dance to Toy Soldier.

This is the ending pose!! I apologize for the blurry pictures. My camera doesn't do well with the lighting in the gyms. Not sure why.

Our team has a totaly of 6 dances. At this competition the girls took 5 1st places and a 2nd. They also got best choreography. This competition did something way cool. In the programs they had a page for you as an audience member to choose your favorite dance from the whole day and write it on this page and turn it in. When they did the awards, they gave and Audience Choice. Our team won Audience Choice for our Show!! The girls were super excited!! Then, our team also took Over All Champions!! We were so excited. This was our first year doing this competition and they did so well!! So proud of them. Next we are off to Lagoon!! :)

ORCHESTRA CONCERT

2011-05-16T12:25:00.001-07:00

Madi had her end of the year Orchestra concert last week. She decided she was going to play the violin this year. I was nervous because she had never done it before and I couldn't put her in lessons right now. But she has done AMAZING just from what she has learned at school. She is excited to do it again next year.

They have done a few concerts this year. It has been fun to go and listen to how much they have improved each time. This last concert they played a couple of familiar songs. One of them was Pacabell's Canon, very popular at Christmas. They did so good!! And another one, it was actually there little grand finale song, they combined with the 7th and 8th grade Orchestra and then the choir sang, but the song was "Hey Soul Sister." It was SOOOO AWESOME!!!

We are so proud of her!! :)

HAPPY EASTER

2011-04-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter this year. Saturday we took the kids to the Easter Egg Hunt at the city park. It was crazy the amount of candy they had. They break it up into age groups. I don't know if it was cuz there was so many people or what, but we could not get Oakleigh to pick up the treats by herself. She would not let daddy put her down. I started helping her pic up the candy and finally she got down, she still wouldn't pick it up herself, but she did show me what she wanted in her bucket!!

She was such a GRUMPY GUS that morning!

But Sunday was a whole different story!! She couldn't wait to go out and find the eggs.

These little munchkins had so much fun lookin for eggs. Everytime they would find one they would get so excited and run for another one.

We spent Easter with my family this year. We had a super yummy dinner and then let the kids do the Easter Egg Hunt. It was such a nice day all they wanted to do was be outside. The little ones love jumpin on the tramp.

As you can see, grandpa decided to join in the fun. The poor guy!! Everytime he would try to stand up or get off the kids started piling on him!! I love watching him play with the grandkids!! They always put such a big smile on his face!! :)

OH BABY....

2011-04-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

I know its been a few days since I last posted. Things have been so crazy around our house and so much has been going on. Right now I will update you with our latest news, and then maybe if I have a free minute, I can post about Christmas and Birthdays. In February we found out that we will be getting a new addition to the family in October. Not sure what to think right now......since this one is kickin' my butt. I have been pretty sick and dealin' with some things that I haven't experienced before. I'm hopin' that things will get better....SOON!! :) But for the most part, I am excited.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2010-12-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!! WISHING YOU ALL A VERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!! :)

FALL/HALLOWEEN

2010-12-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

I am trying my hardest to get this caught up before Christmas. Even though things have been busy, we were able to stop long enough to enjoy a little bit of fall.

Oakleigh LOVE LOVE LOVES the trampoline. She would jump on it for hours if I let her. She is a little stinker though, cuz she doesn't want to share it. She wants to jump by herself.
Home grown pumpkin!!

The kids making some Halloween cookies!! I think the frosting was their favorite part!!

Mom and G-Ma enjoying their cookies!! Oh, and don't forget that Coke!! :)

We took the kids to a couple of different Halloween parties. We went to the one at Wyatt's school and then the one in Rexburg at the Nursing home. I love going to the nursing home. The residents all sit outside their rooms and the kids go up and down the halls trick or treating. The kids love it cuz they get a ton of candy. But I love to see the smiles on the faces of the residents when the kids come up to them. PRICELESS!!

This year Madi was a "Drama Queen". For those of you who know Madi, know that this was PERFECT for her!!

Oakleigh was Elmo. She LOVES Elmo!! She had a little party at daycare and for that she was Tinker Bell. I wanted her to be Tinker Bell on Halloween but I just couldn't get her to put it back on.
And Wyatt..........well, he was a Cowboy.....AGAIN!!! :)

The weather was GREAT this year. Not too cold!! Made it a little easier for our Trunk or Treat at the church!!

PARK CITY

2010-12-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

We made our annual trip to Park City the first part of October. We love this trip and look forward to it every year. My parents have a condo down there. Mom and Dad go for the whole 8 days and then us kids all take turns during that time and go down for a couple of days. It just so happened that we all had to go the same time this year. At first I think we were all kind of nervous because there was going to be so many people all at once and so many kids. But it turned out to be so much fun to have everyone together. Bryan and I were able to stay for 5 days this year. It was GREAT!!! We loved every second of it. The condo had a bunch of different activities each day for the kids to do. So on the days that we just stayed at the condo, we took the kids down to play so they could get out of the room. This picture is of Madi, Oakleigh, and D'Andre doing picture frames.

We also did a lot of this!! Just sitting around and relaxing. I LOVE the shopping but this is also one of my favorite things to do.

Oakleigh and D'Andre playing hide and seek!! :) These two are the best of friends!!

This was another one of the activities. They did bead fusing, where you put a bunch of beads on different shapes and then iron them together. This one was fun, but such a pain. The beads were so little, it took forever just to make one shape.

I think this was the kids favorite part of the whole trip!! SWIMMING!! :) The condo has 8 hot tubs and a great big swimming pool. We spend so much time in the water. Our room over looks the pools so Madi and Wy will just go out and I can watch them out the window. Which is nice, then they aren't cooped up in the room.

But Oakleigh and D'Andre are just as big of fish as Madi and Wy. These two were constantly wanting to go to the pools. :)

My little fish!!!

Has anyone ever seen the movie Big Daddy with Adam Sandler? Yupp!!! I call Wy my Scuba Steve!! Ha Ha!! :p

I LOVE this boy!! This is my nephew Creed!! He was enjoying all the treats that were just sitting out on the table.

And it wouldn't be the same with out our annual trip to Cabella's!! I think this is the Guy's favorite part of the trip. This and the gun shows. We always have to plan to spend a whole day in this store. It takes the men that long to look at everything.

I on the other hand, spend the whole day doing this with the kids...............

The shooting range and walking around looking at all the animals and the fish aquarium. Oh and lots of trips to the bathroom because of all the refills they get on their drinks!!

We had so much fun this trip. I think a lot of it was because we were a little more relaxed and less rushed cuz we had more time. It was nice to be able to take our time shopping or even just spending time at the condo. We are already looking forward to next year!! :)

CANNING

2010-12-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

So I know I haven't blogged for a REALLY LONG TIME. And I don't really have a very good excuse, other than the typical "Things have been super busy" the past couple months. So I am going to do a quick catch up with a lot of pictures and not so much talk.

I did some more canning this year. Not as much as last year because I still had a ton from last year, so we just tried to eat a lot of fresh and save the canned and frozen stuff for the winter. It worked out well!!

I did do a couple of things this year though. I did peaches again, because my kids LOVE them and they are great for pies and cobblers. And I tried a couple of new things too. I did pears, which were a HUGE pain, but worth it cuz they are super yummy, and then I did apple juice, which is WAY YUMMY too!! :)

Oakleigh had fun helping me pick our apples. I think she ate more than she put in the box!! :)

My mother and father in law have this way cool juicer. All you do is wash the apples off and throw them in the grinder and it chops them up and drops them into the bucket thing with a cheese cloth like bag. Once the bag is full you put the lid on and start cranking and out comes the juice!!

Sorry about these last couple of pictures. I forgot to turn them.

After your bowl is full you just dump the juice in your pots and boil it. Then you pour it into your jars, put the lids on and wait for them to seal!!! It's AWESOME!! I LOVE it!! The juice is so sweet that we don't have to add sugar or water!! I am definitley doing this again next year!! Even the kids had fun helping.

And these are my pears. I will probably do these again next year too. Along with everything else since my food storage will be empty!! :0

FAMILY PICTURES

2010-11-01T09:40:00.001-07:00

FLAG FOOTBALL

2010-10-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Wyatt played flag football this year. This was his first year and he LOVED it!! Last Saturday was his last game. He was pretty sad. He has had so much fun with it.

Wyatt got to play a few different positions!! He got to play offense and defense. I think his favorite was defense. This kid can run!! He was a GREAT flag puller!!

Ready.........Set...........HUT HUT HUT!!!

Wyatt and his coach, Bryce Clark. Bryce's little boy Cade and Wyatt are really good friends. They had a lot of fun playing together.

Before the season even ended, Wy was asking me if he could play again next year. I told him yes. I LOVE it when my kids are involved, and LOVE it even more when they LOVE what they are doing!!! Next.............well, he wants to play indoor soccer!! Guess we will see!!

MCDANIEL FAMILY REUNION

2010-09-28T08:35:00.001-07:00

FAMILY VACATION...........PART 3 :)

2010-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday we took the kids to Hogle Zoo. We had so much fun!! I haven't been to Hogle Zoo since I was a little kid and since I am so OLD, it has been a while!! None of our kids had ever been so they were pretty excited!!!

There were so many different things to see. So many animals and other things that were kind of nasty that didn't excite me that much, like the bats and the spiders.
Oakleigh was in heavan!! She LOVES to be outside, and she LOVES animals!! The weather was so nice and warm!!

These monkeys made us laugh pretty hard. They kept picking at each other.

Our best attempt at a family picture!! We tried for another one at the end of the day, but by then we had tired hungry kids and no one wanted to cooperate, so sorry, but you don't get to see that one!!! Ha!!

I think this was the high light of the zoo. This baby elephant's name is Zuri. She was so dang fun to watch.

After we got done at the zoo the kids wanted to do some shopping. So we headed over to Murray to the fashion place mall. But first, we had to feed them. No way was I going to take hungry kids shopping!!

We went to Olive Garden for dinner!! This was by far the WORST experience I have ever had at a resteraunt, and not because of my kids either!!! Our waitress was AWFULL!! She was rude, she never smiled, and she came back ONCE to refill our drinks. After she gave me my bill, I realized why she didn't think she had to try very hard..........because there was 9 of us in our "PARTY" so she automatically got a tip!! SERIOUSLY?? Five of them were kids, 4 of them shared a meal, and one of them didn't even eat!! Oh I was MAD!!!!

Little Miss Oakleigh.........try's so hard to fit in with the big kids!! Pulls silly faces, makes everyone laugh by the silly things she does!!

After dinner we went over to the mall. The kids had a good time and got some school shopping done. They were getting tired so we decided since we were doing more shopping on Sunday, we would go check into our hotel and let them swim for a while. But when we got out to our car........it wouldn't start! NICE!! So Bryan flagged down the mall security guy and asked if he could jump us. But for some "SECURITY" reason, he couldn't. So he saw another guy walking to his car and went and asked him if he could help us, and the guy said he would but he was lost and couldn't find his car! Right, I thought. This guy just doesn't want to help us!! But.....I was wrong. When he found his car he came over and helped us!! He was my new best friend!!!! Even though I have no idea what his name is and I will never see him again!!! Ha ha!! :)

We made it to the hotel and the kids got in a little swimming. Another GREAT night of sleep!!!

We got up Sunday morning checked out of the hotel and ventured out to finish school shopping!! A couple of the kids wanted to go to Ross so since the mall wasn't open yet, Ross was our first stop!! When we were done, we loaded our packages and............our car wouldn't start!! NOT AGAIN!! A big jacked up Ford had pulled up right in front of us so I told Bryan to ask them if they would help us, so he did. But it didn't work because her battery was different and we couldn't get the cables to connect. I was getting really frusterated. I called my sister to see if they were still around hoping they could come help us. And they were, and they did!!! :) I was so nervous to turn the car off after that for fear it wouldn't start again. Bryan dropped us off at the mall and went over to have the battery looked at. We thought we were going to need a new battery, but we didn't. They told us it was just a combination of the heat and all the driving.

So I relaxed and we finished our shopping and headed home. It was a late night. But the kids just watched movies and slept!!

We really did have a fun time. I'm so glad we were able to take this family trip. It's so hard with everyone's schedule to find time to get everyone together, even just for dinner. I am so greatful for my family and for the time we DO have together. I wouldn't have traded this weekend for anything!! (Even the car troubles!!! Ha!!)

THE END...............

OUR FAMILY VACATION......PART 2

2010-09-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how well everyone slept Thursday night!! You would have thought it was Christmas Eve with as excited as the kids were for what was happening the next day!!!
Friday morning we got up and had breakfast, got ready and packed up. We decided that since we were on "VACATION", we would make it feel more like vacation and stay a couple nights in a hotel. But first..............SEVEN PEAKS!! The kids were SUPER EXCITED!! None of them had ever been to a water park like this. This was kind of my family reunion! My family came down Friday morning and spent the day with us at Seven Peaks.

We rented one of those Cabanas, the big umbrellas with the picnic tables, so that the kids had shade and somewhere to rest, not that they were going to use it!! I think some of the adults used it more!! Ha Ha!! :) The Cabana we got was right next to the little adventure pool for the little kids!! Oakleigh LOVED the slides and splashing in the water. It was so shallow, she kept jumping off the sides into the water.

I'm not sure how many times my kids went down the water slides. I do know I didn't see them much. They were constantly going down a slide, or over in the wave pool!! Oakleigh didn't like the wave pool, guess it was too much!! I think they stopped long enough for lunch, and even then they only stopped for about five minutes!! Long enough to scarf down a burger and they were off again!

This was Oakleighs FAVORITE!! The Lazy River. We went around and around and around......and around again!! She kept saying "Again Daddy"!! I was glad she was having fun!!

Late in the afternoon it started to poor on us!! But it only lasted about 10 minutes and then the sun was back out and it was 90 degrees again!!

The kids had SOOOOO much fun!!! Definitely well woth it!! We stayed until they closed. We had been there 7 hours and they did not want to leave!! They could have stayed all night!!

We went back to Jason and Katies and roasted hot dogs and had a little birthday party for their little girl Corrie. With a long day of swimming in the heat and full bellies, the kids were ready for bed!! We went and checked into our hotel. I was exhausted and ready for bed, I figured the kids would be too!! But NOPE.....they wanted to swim more!! So we went down to the hotel poole and swam for another hour. Then I drug the kids back to the room, threw them in the shower, and sent them to bed!!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ :)

OUR FAMILY VACATION.....PART ONE!!! :0

2010-09-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

The first weekend in August we took a family trip!! It has been over 4 years since we have done something all together as a family. With the kids getting older and more involved, it is too hard to get everyone together. We decided to take the kids to Utah for the weekend, well it was 4 days, but 4 FUN FILLED days!!! Ha!! :)

We loaded up Thursday morning....can you tell?!! Can you see how full and packed to the ceiling my car is? We even have one of those cargo carriers on top that is full too!! Ha!! :) Part of our trip included taking th kids school shopping. After the car was loaded I was starting to wonder where we were going to put all the PACKAGES!!

O
I love it when the kids fall asleep in the car!!

When we were planning our trip I was talking to a friend telling them what we were doing and she told me she seen this commercial for the Sweet's Candy Factory and that they were giving tours. I wasn't exactly sure that the kids would love it, but I thought it would be cool, so I scheduled one!! So on Thursday, we stopped in Salt Lake and had a tour. We met Bryan's brother and his family there. It was so neat to see how they made all the different treats. And there was lots of sampleing of the different candies they make!! As you can see from our picture, they make you wear these hair covers. And if you have facial hair, they make you cover that too!!!

The kids had a GREAT time!! They thought it was pretty neat to see how everything was made, and watch the machines working!! Thanks Steph, for telling me about this!!

Then of course, after the tour, we had to get some treats to go!!!

That night we went and stayed in Provo at Jason and Katies!!

That night we just ordered pizza and watched a movie!! It's always nice to be able to just sit and relax after a busy day and lots of driving!!

NIKE

2010-08-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is NIKE!! This is the puppy Wyatt got for his birthday!! He absolutely LOVED him!! He is a black lab boxer mix.

Last Friday night he got hit by a truck. Wyatt had only had him for about 2 1/2 months. I did not realize how attached I was to this crazy dog until we didn't have him anymore. It is such and emotional thing. He seriously was part of the family. Wyatt is lost with out him. :( We miss him!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WY!!!

2010-08-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

This handsome guy turned 7 on July 28th. (Yes, I know, that was almost a month ago!!) He wanted to have his birthday at Leo's Place.
The kids had a lot of fun playing in the playland and of course the arcade room.

He got some fun new stuff. He got new cowboy boots and a shirt from Nanna and Grandpa!! This kid would wear cowboy clothes everyday if I would let him!! Even during the summer when it's a 100 degrees outside!!

He got a new foot ball, snorkeling gear, money and a puppy!!!

I can't beleive how fast they grow. It seems like just yesterday he was just a baby. He loves being outside helping Grandpa with the cows and horses and is starting to get involved in sports. This year we are trying flag football!!! So far, he is loving it!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

2010-07-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. Saturday we went up to the Rexburg parade to watch Bryanalee and Kaylee. They cheer for Madison High School and they were in the parade. The weather was AWFULL!!! It was cold and windy. This was an ODD 4th of July weekend. Every 4th I can remember it has been BAKING HOT!!! We were wanting to go to Ross Park that afternoon, but it wasn't warm enough. So after the parade we drove to Shelley to visit Bryan's grandma and then to Blackfoot to see his sister and her new baby!!!

On Monday I ran my 2nd 5K in Menan. It was GREAT!!! My time was 29 min and 47 sec. A new record for me!! I am getting pretty addicted to these runs!!! I'm just glad I have such a GREAT running partner (Heidi) to keep me motivated!!! If it wasn't for her, I would probably still be sitting on the couch!!! Ha Ha!!! Love ya Heid!!! :)

We spent the rest of Monday in Menan. The kids went and watched the parade and then just played all afternoon at the park. The fireworks were AMAZING as always. I love the Menan celebration. I can always count on running into friends that I haven't seen since the year before!!!

RELAY FOR LIFE.......

2010-07-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to be a part of something AWESOME this year, something that I have NEVER done before. Archibald's were a corporate sponsor for the Relay for Life this year, so between our office and the Rexburg office, we put a team together. For those of you who don't know, the Relay for Life is put on by the American Cancer Society and basically it is to raise money for cancer. The Relay for Life is to recognize those batteling cancer, those who have survived cancer, and those who have lost their battle to cancer. Since my mom and sister are both cancer sirvivors, this was a pretty special and emotional night for out family.They started the night off with an opening ceremony just talking about what was going to be happening. Then they had a couple of survivors speak, they recognized and announced all the survivors that were there that night, and then they had a survivor lap. Which is where all of the survivors and their caregivers take the first lap around the track. This year, the Relay was held at the Madison High School track.

My family walking the survivor lap with my mom and McKenzie.

All of the survivors that were there that night. This was a pretty emotional thing for us.

I had been put in charge of putting the team together which made me the team captain. Because I have all the time in the world....HA HA........we didn't get much fund raising done. So we decided to do an On Site fund raiser the night of the Relay. We did dutch oven chili and baked potatos!! It was a hit!!

McKenzie, Mom, Chelsea, Lindsey, D'Andre and Oakleigh taking their turn walking the track!! :)

Crystal, Chancey, and Kento Fenton. Crystal works in our Rexburg office and her husband Kent is the one who did the dutch oven chili for us!! We sold out, so next year we will be making twice as much chili!! :) Thanks Kent for all your help!!

Me and Madi taking our turn walking!! At the Relay, someone from your team has to be on the track at all times. In the beginning we trie to take turns so that there was always a couple of people helping in the food booth.

Me and Steph!! Steph is actually the one who first told me about Relay for Life and suggested that my family put a team together. Her and I have been close friends for as long as I can remember. We both have sisters the same age that have also been close friends for a LONG time, and our sisters BOTH were diagnosed with Leukemia. Rachelle, Stephs sister when she was in Jr. High, and McKenzie right after she graduated High School. It was so neat to be able to share this night with them. Our booths were set up right next to each other.

At dusk they do what they call a Luminaria Ceremony, which is where people can buy a Luminaria, a white paper sack with a candle inside of it, for each person that they have lost to cancer. They take these Luminarias and line them a long the outside of the track and then up in the bleachers and at dusk they light the candles and everyone takes a SILENT lap around the track. I LOVED how they spelled HOPE & CURE with the Luminarias in the bleachers.

As we were finishing the silent lap this horrible storm rolled in and the thunder and lightning was awfull!! Then it started POURING RAIN for about 15 minutes.

We were lucky to have some team mates that didn't care that it was raining and continued walking!! Thanks Madi, Paden, and Alex!!

After the rain and wind stopped I was right back on the track!! I knew if I sat down I would not want to get back up, I probably would have fallen a sleep!! So I just kept walking!! I ended up going almost 27 miles that night. This was one of the neatest experiences I have ever had and it was awesome to be able to be a part of it with my family. I am so greatful to still have my mom and sister here today. I know what it's like to lose a family member to cancer. My moms dad died of cancer 21 years ago and Bryan lost his dad to cancer. I am greatful for my boss who made it possible for us to be a part of Relay. This will definitely be something we will be doing again next year.

TETON DAM MARATHON

2010-06-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

I survived my 1st ever 5K run!!
Back in January my good friend Heidi called and asked me if I would like to run a 5K with her. I told her yes! I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. I had never been a distance runner. In high school I ran track, but I just did sprints. Last summer Heidi and I would get out about 4 days a week and do intervals, but the furthest we ran at a time was maybe a 1/2 mile, then we would walk, then run again.
But I was excited. I knew I had A LOT of work to do, but the thought of doing something for ME got me excited and motivated!! I started training in January and thought I was going to DIE!! It took me over 42 minutes to do a 5K, which is 3.1 miles. But the more I did it the faster I got!!

Getting ready to start......
Us after we finished!! The weather was perfect for a run!! Not to hot, and not to cold!!

My cousin Mike did the 5K too!!

Heidi and I sporting our GORGEOUS race shirts and our medals!!

I had been running the course for a couple of months just so I knew what I was up against. The first 2 miles were up hill and the last was on a decline!! My best time before the race was just over 35 minutes. This run was AWESOME!! I finished in 32 minutes and 12 seconds!! A record for me!! I had so much energy and addrenaline!! I was on such a high when I finished that I wanted to go do it again!!

It's true what they say, Running is addicting!! I had so much fun with this 5K that have registered for 3 more this summer!! And I still might do another one!!

MEMORIAL DAY

2010-06-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT Memorial Day. Every year we go to Blackfoot and spend the day. We meet all of Bryan's family at the cematary that morning and we usually spend about an hour there. I never knew Bryan's dad, in fact, none of the grand kids ever knew him. I LOVE this part of our Memorial Day. I LOVE that we all meet there and everyone share's things that they remember about Stan. I think it's GREAT for the grand kids to hear stories about their Grandpa and get to know him in a way. I know that he was a GREAT man, and a VERY LOVED man and that he is VERY missed!! Even by those who did not have the opportunity to know him. But we know we will be with him someday!!

Oakleigh picking her flowers!! She thought they were so pretty!!

After we left the cematary we went down to the river bottoms and had a cook out!! The kids love doing this. They love being able to run around and explore, and they love roasting hot dogs over the fire!! Gets everyone excited to go camping!! :)

Nathan, Wyatt, and Oakleigh doing a little exploring!! It's amazing some of the things that they find!!

After we got done eating the kids decided to wade out into the water. It was still pretty shallow. And the weather was so nice that the water felt great!!

Cassy, Harley, Paige, and Madi!!

You can't build a fire and not have S'Mores!! As you can see, Oakleigh LOVED them!! I think she ate 3!! :)

On our way home from Blackfoot, we stopped at the Annis cematary where my Grandpa Madsen and Grandma Olsen are burried. It's always fun to share memories and stories with my kids. It makes me sad that they didn't get to know these GREAT people, but I also take great comfort in knowing that they will get to meet and know all of them one day!!

2010 DANCE RECITAL

2010-06-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Another year of dance has come and gone! We had a lot of fun this year, as always. And as always, the girls worked really hard. The girls had there recital on the 26th of May at Madison High School. It's a good thing that I get to see the dances at the basket ball half time performances because when it comes to competitions and recital I am so busy helping girls change costumes and hair do's that I always miss everything.

Madi had 3 dances this year. She did a Jazz, Hip Hop, and Character. All 3 VERY different. I think her favorite was the Hip Hop and that one they learned in only 2 weeks. She was FLAWLESS when she performed it!! :)

This is the girls after the recital!! Such posers!!

My two nieces also took dance with our girls this past year. We had so much fun having family to hang out with!! We will miss them next year!!

GREAT job girls!! Keep up the good work!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADI!! :0

2010-06-09T09:27:00.001-07:00

Madi turned 11 on the 12th of May!! (I know....that was a month ago!! But like I said, life has been INSANE!! :) We are so greatfull for Madi. She is such a fun outgoing girl. She loves dance and loves to socialize. She is always making us laugh and we LOVE her so much!! We had been in Utah all weekend at Lagoon for dance. We got home Sunday afternoon and had a little birthday party for her with our family and friends!! (A BIG thanks to all those who came, and we missed those who weren't able to make it!!! :)

Madi didn't have many requests for gifts.

She got some very cute clothes. LOTS of scrap book supplies, which she did ask for. Some money from Grandma's and Grandpa's, AND.......

Justin Bieber!! Well......not Justin himself, but his CD!! She was SUPER excited!! :)

Like I said, she didn't have many requests for gifts. But one thing she did want was a cell phone, and since I am such a GREAT mom and don't like to disappoint, I came through!! Her birthday cake................a CELL PHONE!!! Ha!!

Not exactly what she had in mind!! But hey, what can I say??!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADZ!!

LAGOON!!

2010-06-04T09:50:00.001-07:00

Things have been so crazy at our house this past couple of months and we have had so much going on. We had 3 dance competitions in the month of May. The first one was in Malad, the 2nd Roy Utah, and the last and biggest was at Lagoon. We had SOOOOO much fun!! We went down Friday after noon and did some shopping and then stayed the night with Bryan's aunt and uncle that live in Roy. We LOVE that they let us crash at there house. It is so much fun to visit and catch up. We only get to see them once or twice a year, usually when we go down for dance!!
Madi didn't have to dance till 3:00 on Saturday. It was really nice to not have a rushed morning. We got up, got ready, and headed to Lagoon about 10. The weather was SUPER nice and the kids just rode rides all day. Madi had 3 dances and they did AWESOME!! There Diva dance, the one in the red rhinestone costume, was up against 9 other teams. Diva took 1st place AND a High Gold, which means they scored higher than a 98%. (The total is 100%) Their Gettin' Ready Rag dance took 1st place, and their Work It (Hip Hop) took 2nd!! We were VERY HAPPY about gettin a 2nd place on the Hip Hop since they learned it only 2 weeks before Lagoon.
We left Lagoon about 8:30 and went to dinner at Cracker Barrell!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that place!! We got a hotel Saturday night and it was no nice!! After dinner the kids went to the pool and swam for ever!! They finally kicked us out about 11:45 p.m. It didn't take long for the kids to fall asleep. They slept hard, but were up at 7:00 Sunday morning and back down to the pool!! It was so nice to be able to sleep in and take our time getting home!! We had such a GREAT weekend!!

BOWLING :)

2010-05-28T09:12:00.001-07:00

OK, so I am SUPER behind!! We have had SOOOO much going on this last month that I have had NO time to post. I will get all caught up, I promise!! :) A few weeks ago our Rexburg and Rigby offices had a night at the REX!! They called it "Bowling Extravaganza"!! The kids LOVED it!! I have only been to the REX to see a movie!! We had a fun night of bowling and pizza!!

Wyatt getting ready for his STRIKE!!

Yes, Oakleigh is so big!! She wanted to be in the action just like everyone else!! She didn't do too bad!! (I probably wouldn't either if I had that tool to roll my ball down and the bumper pads!! Ha Ha!! )

The kids also got to enjoy the bouncy toys!!

I LOVE this girl!! She is such a little cheeser!! She cracks me up!! She is talking so good and LOVES to sing!! She is 2 yrs and 3 months and potty trained!! I am LOVING that!! She is growing up so fast!! :)

WOW!

2010-05-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

What a truly AMAZING and INSPIRATIONAL story!! If we could all be as greatful and appreciative for what we have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E

SINGING!! :)

2010-05-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

CRAZY WEEKEND......Day 3

2010-05-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

(Bryanalee and her boyfriend Chris)
We love this kid!! Chris left April 28 for the MTC!! He will be serving his mission in Mexico City, Mexico!! We know that Chris is going to be an AWESOME missionary!!

CRAZY WEEKEND.......Day 2

2010-04-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

So Saturday, we had a dance competition in Malad. It was a GREAT day!! My girls did AWESOME!!

Our team had a total of 10 dances between the four groups.

The awards were AWESOME!! The girls took home SUPERIOR on all 10 dances. They also took home 5 Judges Choice awards, Best Choreography, Best in Show, and Crowd Pleaser!! Fun fun fun!!

By the time we left Malad it was 7:30, so we stopped at Wingers for dinner. Madi and Morgan were on such a HIGH from the competition that they couldn't stop being silly.

For some odd reason, my girls thought they needed to sit in booster seats. Well......they couldn't get out!! They got their little bums stuck in them!!

These two naughty little girls, who I was NOT claiming at this particular moment in time, told our HORRIBLE waiter that it was their birthday and that they were twins!!! Not sure if he REALLY believed them, but he brought them FREE desert anyway!!

I was feeling bad about it at first, but by the time we were done with dinner, I had decided that maybe it was o.k. Our waiter was AWFULL. The place was DEAD and it still took him 45 minutes to bring us our dinner. I don't know how many times he walked by us before WE finally had to ask HIM to refill our drinks!! Needless to say......I didn't tip him very well!!

CRAZY WEEKEND.....Day 1

2010-04-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

It all started Friday night when Madi and Wyatt were in the school play, Peter Pan. Well, Wyatt was actually in the choir, and Madi was in the play. They have been practicing for the last 2 1/2 months. Madi was one of the mermaids.

Because the play was put on by the PTO they asked the students to come up with their own costumes. For those of you who know me, I do not sew, well, not more than a straight line anyway. So.....I have a GREAT friend who is a GREAT sewer and was a HUGE part in the making of this costume. Thanks a TON J'Lene, you are the BEST!!

We got the material at JoAnn fabrics and then J'Lene just measured and sewed, NO pattern!! Didn't she do awesome??!! We got a STILL on the fabric!! I couldn't have bought a costume for as cheap as we made this one!!

The choir was not required to dress up, but could if they wanted. They just had to pick someone from the movie to be. Wyatt wanted to be a pirate. His costume $0. Everything is from home!! He did have an eye patch, but this picture was taken after the play and he was tired of wearing it!!

My kids did AWESOME!! I am so proud of them for all the hard work that they put into this play.

HAPPY EASTER :)

2010-04-14T10:00:00.001-07:00

I'm a little late at posting this, but that's o.k. We had a GREAT Easter!! It was very busy. Madi had a dance competition on Saturday so we didn't get to do any Easter Egg hunts that day. But that was fine with me because it was too dang cold and we had snow!! Sunday we spent the day at my mom's watching conference, having dinner and doing and Easter Egg hunt for the kids. The bigger kids didn't care about the weather so they did theirs outside.

The little ones on the other hand, they don't seem to like the cold too much. So the guys hid a bunch of eggs upstairs and the little kids did their hunt inside. We had a few eggs that had money in them and some bubbles. So it was fair and each kid got one of each, we hid those in a seperate room and let the kids find one of each of those.

Oakleigh is so proud of her find!! I had to help her though. Every time she would find an egg she just wanted to open it up and eat what was in side. She is not a big chocolate fan, so when she would get a piece of chocolate she would take a bite, hand it to me, and say "Don't like it!!" What?? Are you serious?? Who doesn't like chocolate??!! :)

Later that after noon the kids frosted cookies!! We had a lot of fun and a TON of YUMMY food!! I am so greatful for Easter and the meaning behind this Holiday. I am greatful for my Savior and the sacrifices that he made for me. Hope everyone had a fabulous day!!

SO CUTE!!

2010-03-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

These pictures were supposed to be in the other post but some how I missed them!! So I will make them a post of their own!! Ha Ha!!

Oakleigh didn't have much interest in these cute little cubs!! She just wanted to play basketball!! She would walk around bouncing the ball and wouldn't put it down.

Some how this cute little cub got the ball away from her and decided to do some playing of his own!!

I LOVE this picture!! It was so funny to watch him try to climb on this ball. When the ball would start rolling, with him on it, he would hop and move right with the ball!!

GOOD TIMES!!!

BEARS BEARS BEARS........

2010-03-30T08:06:00.001-07:00

So we had a fun little experience the other night. A friend of ours invited us to go see some baby bear cubs. His son is dating a girl that works at Yellowstone Bear World and they are housing the cubs at their house. They were so tiny and cute. Three of them were 3 months old and the other 3 were 6 weeks.

When we got there the bears were asleep and they had to wake them up. They were hungry and all they wanted to do is suck. Ashley was warming up their milk and told us to just let them suck on our hands. Well......one of the cubs was climbing up on Madi and started sucking on her ear and then started sucking on her cheek!!

And this is what happened!! She got a couple of bruises because the cub was sucking so hard!!! It was so funny!! She was laughing so hard because it tickled!! Madi now has to take a picture of this to school so that the kids will beleive that these bruises are from a bear cub!!!

It took Wyatt a little time to get used to them. He was kind of nervous at first. I think he thought they were going to bite him. He had a hard time letting them suck on his hand, and he wouldn't let them get close to his face!!

When they feed the cubs they feed them out of a little baby bottle. It's so cute to watch them!! This one wanted to just go back to sleep.

Oakleigh layed down on the floor next to them for a minute. That was about as close as she wanted to get to them. She didn't want to hold them. I even tried to get her to pet them, but that NO WAY!!!

Even Bryan had fun with them!!!

The kids loved every second of it and wanted to stay for ever!! Thanks Gary for inviting us!! And thanks to Grant and Ashley for letting us into their home to see these cute little cubs!!!

COULD YOU DO IT????

2010-03-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

With money being tight, and the wat our Economy is right now, you hear of all the different ways people are trying to cut back, budget, and save money. You hear and read stories about people who never thought or cared about the money they spent on groceries, eating out, or all the extra fun stuff. Those people are now watching how much they are spending, cutting coupons, and staying home more!! I am one of those people!! I read a story about this one lady who is going to college and has NO job. She is living only on student loans. She has decided that she is going to try to have a $1 A DAY budget. That is $365 for the whole year. There are lots of people who spend that in just 1 or 2 months on groceries. She will not buy produce unless it is 50 cents or less a pound, she allows so much $ for splurges like a bag of chips, or treats.

When I read about people like this, I stop and think about the way that I grocery shop. Yes, I have started clipping coupons and making lists, but do I really think about the $ that I am spending, or do I just buy because it's on sale, or just because I need it, or I want it?

This is definitely and area I can cut back in, try to budget better!! For some reason when I go grocery shopping it's always when I am starving and so everything sounds good and I end up spending more than I should. So........I have decided we are going to try this! I know, I know, there is NO way with 5 people living in my house, that we could live on $1 a day. But......we are going to try to live on $2.50 a day. That is $75 a month. Can we do it??? I will let you know!! ;)

5K UPDATE.....

2010-03-10T10:41:00.000-08:00

So 5 weeks ago when I first decided to do this 5K I went and ran it to see how long it was going to take me to get through this. I have never been a distance runner because of my asthma. So I knew this was going to be a challenge. But the first time I did it it took me 39 min. and 42 sec. And at the end of that run........I was DYING. I thought "There is NO way I am going to survive this thing!!"
Over the last five weeks I have really focused on making sure I get some type of a workout in 5-6 days a week. I have been mixing it up with running and cardio videos. Since the weather has been warming up, I have been able to do my runs outside. To my surprise, I can run longer and farther outside than I do on my treadmill. Maybe because it's more enjoyable outside!!! ;)
So last night, I decided to see if my efforts have paid off any. I did my warm up and then off I went!! And.......in 37 min. and 14 sec. I had run a 5K!!! YES!! I have decreased my time by almost 2 1/2 minutes!!! Now ask me if i'm motivated???? HECK YA!!! ;) Bring on this 5K!!

PLAY DOUGH....

2010-02-17T10:22:00.001-08:00

This is one of the things that the grandkids LOVE to do at Nana and Grandpa's house. Sunday was no different. The dishes get cleaned up from Sunday dinner and out comes the play dough.

This time though, Grandma the Great decided she was going to join the fun.

It's amazing how long this stuff will keep my kids entertained. I am trying to figure out why I still have not gone and bought some for my house!! ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OAKI ;)

2010-02-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? Oakliegh turned 2 last Friday. We had such a FULL weekend that we ended up celebrating her Birthday on Sunday.

She got some REALLY fun things. She got a fun little alphabet puzzle from the Close's. I was SUPER excited for that because we have been working with her on her ABC's. It's fun to watch her match the letters!! She also got a little shopping cart to go with the kitchen set she got for christmas. She pushes that thing everywhere. She got some bubbles, lip gloss, a purse and a stuffed dog from her brothers and sisters. She got some money from Chelsea and Kenzie. And Jason and Lindsey gave her a little remote control My Little Pony on a scooter. So fun!!

And her dad's favorite.......her little John Deer pink cowgirl boots!! He found these and couldn't pass them up!!! She LOVES them!! She wears them everywear. She even wants to wear them to bed!! ;)

She is quite the little girl!! She is all over everything, climbing and jumping. So we call her our little monkey!! And.....this was my attempt at a monkey cake!! Not bad I guess!!

Thank you to all of our family and friends that were there to share this happy day with us. And to those who weren't able to make it, we missed you!!

We are so lucky to have such a sweet happy little girl. She keeps us going and is always making us laugh!! We couldn't imagine our lives with out her!! We love you monkey girl!! ;)

A WEEKEND OF FUN!! ;)

2010-02-09T08:14:00.001-08:00

We had a GREAT weekend. Madi had to dance Friday night in Ashton. We have some friends that live there and they invited us to come stay with them. They met us at the game and we watched Madi perform. After we went back to their house and Lindsey and the kids made cupcakes for Oakleigh for her birthday. She turned 2 on Friday.

It was getting late, and she was getting tired. We were trying to get her to blow out her candles.

Saturday morning we got up and had a YUMMY breakfast and then we went and watched Bridger and Bailey play basketball.

Then we decided to take the kids sledding. Lindsey had seen this really fun hill so we drove over to it, dressed the kids and let them go. Oakleigh was super tired so she spent most of the time asleep in the car. But the kids had a BLAST. Actually, I think us parents had as much fun as the kids did!!

Wyatt LOVED it!! He kept going up and down, up and down. The hill wasn't that steep, so we would just hike back up, and go right back down. And is was such a nice day. The sun was out and it was really pretty warm.

Randy, Lindsey and Bridger getting ready to head down the hill!!

And this is how they ended up at the bottom!! CRASH!! ;)

Madi and Bailey!! These two are inseperable!! They used to dance together, but Bailey decided this year she wanted to try some other things so we don't get to see them as regular as we used to.

We kept trying to get Oakleigh to have a ride and she freaked every time!! Maybe next time right?!! ;)

After we went sleddin we decided to go get a burger at Big Juds. It was super yummy. I haven't eat there since I was in high school. Yes, I know, that has been FOREVER!!!

After we ate we went back to Palmers and just relaxed and visited for a little while. Madi and Bailey decided to give each other make overs. The final product........CLOWNS!!! ;) Why? I don't know!! But it was funny!!

We had SO MUCH fun!! Thank you Palmers for inviting us to stay and let us hang out with you!! Can't wait to do it again SOON!! ;)

CALL ME CRAZY........

2010-01-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

I have decided to do something that I have NEVER in my life done before. And CALL ME CRAZY.....I am going to run a 5K. Yes, I know, it is only 3.1 miles. BUT......since I have NEVER EVER ran even more than a mile with out taking a walking break, this is going to be a challenge!! But I am VERY excited!! It is part of the Teton Dam Marathon and it will be on Saturday, June 12. So I have from now till then to train and get ready!! WISH ME LUCK!!! ;)

IT'S BEEN A WEEK......

2010-01-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

It has definitely been a week at our house. First, I get hit with the flu. I am not one to get sick very often, but when I do, it hits me hard. It stayed with me for about 6 days. During that time, Wyatt got it to. His only lasted, oh, maybe 24 hours. Nothing that kept him down though. He was still bouncing off the walls.

Then last Thursday Oakleigh started with a little cough and a runny nose. Nothing that Dr. Mom can't take care of I thought. Right......by Friday night her chest was so tight and wheezy and it took everything she had to breathe. I felt so bad for her. We have a nebulizer at home, so we started her on it. Saturday morning we decided to take her in to the REAL Dr.!! Ha Ha!!

She has a DOUBLE ear infection AND bronchitis. Nice huh?! Yupp! I bet those Dr.s were thinking we were GREAT parents. The thing is, other than her tight breathing, she didn't act like she hurt. Her ears weren't bothering her, the weren't red, she wasn't playing with them. So how could I have known?! Oh, well. We are good now!!! Don't you love the little dinasour mask?!! ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS (PART 1)

2010-01-08T10:43:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve with my family. It's a tradition!! We have a bunch of finger foods and watch A Christmas Story. Not my favorite movie but the guys love it. I can't figure out how they know exactly what's going to happen but they can still LAUGH, and laugh harder than they did last year!! My G-Ma has spent EVERY Christmas with us since my Grandpa passed away in 1989. We look forward to it every year. It wouldn't be Christmas with out her. We have so much fun talking about memories and laughing!!

Oakleigh loves baby's. She loves to give hugs and kisses!!

My Christmas tree!

Another tradition we have is letting the kids open one present on Christmas Eve. It is always their Christmas p.j.s but it's still fun!

We had so much fun watching her open presents this year. She took her time and did not want anyone help her.

I am missing Madi and her p.j.s. Not sure why. Probably because she doesn't waste time opening or putting them on. It was a fun night with family!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS (PART 2)

2010-01-08T10:16:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning at our house was pretty easy going. My kids did not wake up till 8:30. Yes......it was HEAVEN!!!

Oakleigh got a kitchen set from Santa. She loves it. And everything that she makes for us is DELISH!!! :)

Wyatt got an air soft gun and target!! This boy has more guns than.........heck I don't know, but he LOVES going out and shooting targets and cans.

After we got done opening presents Bryan made us breakfast. His mom and Marv stopped by for a Christmas visit and then we headed around the corner to my moms and spent the rest of the day with my family. It was GREAT. We had dinner and opened gifts. The kids played and played. It was a GREAT day!

The kids all got new p.j.s from my mom and dad and this was our attempt at getting a picture. As you can see, a few of them were NOT in the mood!!

Madi got a portable DVD player from Santa. I am not sure why I don't have a picture of it from Christmas morning. She thinks it's the greatest thing in the world. She says the only thing that would be better is a cell phone!! Ha Ha, ya right!!

We hope everyone had as wonderfull of a Christmas as we did!! Despite the struggles and hard ships that were faced, it was a pretty good year. We can't complain. I am so greatful for all that I have and look forward to the New Year!!

A NEW SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.......

2009-12-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

We have made some BIG changes at our house this past year with the change in the economy. At first it was hard, not being able to go out when we wanted, only buying what we needed. It took a lot of discipline, but we are making it. With Christmas coming, Bryan and I spent a lot of time deciding what we were going to do for the kids. Again, at first, it was hard not being able to go get everything they were wanting. But with the events of the past few weeks, I have had a BIG change of heart. We started some new things with the kids.

We got together with some GREAT friends and made gingerbread houses. The kids LOVED it.
Oakleigh LOVED the sprinkles. They were all over my floor!!

Infact, she used them as shakers when we were singing Jingle Bells. Very Cute!!!

The kids did their own ginger bread houses. Messy but fun!!

This year, we had Bryan's family Christmas party at our house. Now that we have the room!!! I decided to do something a little different this year. Instead of the adults exchanging names, I talked to my Bishop and he gave me the names of a couple of families in our ward who are struggling. One of the families was an older couple, the other a young couple in the process of adopting a 3 year old little boy. I decided to put together a box of food, everything you would need for a Christmas dinner!! Each family brought something for the box. Then, we each got something small for the little boy. The night of the party, we put everything in the boxes, loaded up in the cars, and delivered the gifts and some music!!! (We sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas") The kids LOVED it, and I......CRIED like a baby!! :) The kids talked about it all night. They said how much they enjoyed it and hope we can do it again next year.
We then went back to our house, had dinner, and a fun visit from Santa!!

The kids sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas. Oakleigh........well.......she didn't want to sit on his lap. She would talk to him as long as I was holding her, and not standing close to him!!

We finished the night with singing some Christmas songs,

and some Christmas music from a few of our newest piano players.

I have decided that there is nothing wrong with a small Christmas. And next year, hoping that the economy is looking better, we will still do a small Christmas. This will definitely be a Christmas to remember. I have LOVED the spirit that has been in my home this Holiday Season.

From Our Home to Yours:

We Wish You A VERY Merry Christmas And The Best New Year!!

OUCH :(

2009-12-11T13:11:00.001-08:00

Oakleigh had a little accident which required 7 stitches in her forehead, 2 on the inside, and 5 on the out. She was playing upstairs at my moms and tripped and fell and hit the bottom of the tread mill. It makes me so sad for her.

PLAYING CATCH UP...........

2009-11-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

First, Halloween.....we had a lot of fun. It was a week full of lot's of part's and dressing up. As my kids get older, I get less and less excited about spending money on costumes and more excited about seeing what we can come up with on our own. This year, Madi decided to be a baby. Not too hard to come up with things for that, since MY baby is not that old. Well........she is almost 2, but still.

And Wyatt......well, no surprise here. He wanted to be a hunter. Camo, guns and all!!!

And my little bumble bee!! She was so cute and fun this year. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the back, but she has little wings and a little stinger. Super Cute!! She started out a little shy, but after a few minutes, she was walking on her own and trying to say "Trick or Treat!!"

And the canning is FINALLY done!!! This was all a first for me, but I really enjoyed it and we are so excited to have our cupboards and freezers full for the winter!!

We did pickled and frozen beets,

bottled and frozen beans, and frozen peas (minus the picture)

Thanks to a GREAT friend I have bottled peaches that my family LOVES! :0

(My frozen beans)

Frozen corn, and corn on the cob.

And a TON of apple sauce!! My kids LOVE this. This one was a HUGE mess. But we had lot's of help and lot's of fun!!! :)

I also did apple pie filling and stewed tomatos. Those I did not get pictures of because they all got put away before I could snap the shots!!!

I am so greatful for my mom who taught me how to do the beans and beets, and how to use a pressure cooker! Those things are scary!! I am greatful for good friends, Heidi for teaching me how to do peaches. For Kasha for all of the help with the corn. We did a TON of corn and made a HUGE mess, but we had A LOT of FUN and LAUGHS!!! :) For Brandon and J'Lene for helping with the apple sauce and apple pie filling, and also for there HUGE help in picking the apples. We did use a few of them!!!! :) For my mother in law, for helping me with the last of my beans. And especially for my husband for planting the garden and taking such good care of it so that I had a reason to be able to learn all of these things! Next year..........he wants a bigger garden. UM......I don't know if I have enough room in my storage room!! :0

OUR MUCH NEEDED VACATION..........

2009-11-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

The 9th through the the 14th of October Bryan and I and the kids enjoyed a MUCH NEEDED vacation to Park City with my parents. They have a time share there and we go and enjoy a couple of days with them every year. This year, it worked out that we got to spend 6 days!!! And we LOVED every minute of it!!

This is Oakleigh with my new nephew Creed. She is such a baby lover and is always wanting to hold them and give them kisses and loves.

The condo has 8 hot tubs and 1 big swimming pool. My kis LOVE the water. They would have been in heaven spending every second in the pools. We took them down every night for a while, and when we weren't out shopping, they were down at the pools. I wonder sometimes if they are really fish?!!!! :)

Every year we spend atlest 1 day at Cabella's for the guys!!! We get up and get ready and drive to Cabella's. We spend a couple of hours looking around and then go up stairs and have lunch in their little caffateria area. The food is really pretty good!! They have lots to choose from.

My kids love to look at the animals that they have displayed and to feed the fish. We always have to go to the big fish aquarium and watch them feed the fish. Wyatt loves the guns. Him and my dad and Bryan could spend forever in there. Infact, this year, they spent two days there. On tuesday while us girls went to the outlets, they went back to Cabella's.

Ya, she is a little young!! But why not start them early right?!!!! This is a little target shooting area that they have and the kids spend a lot of time, and money, here too!!!!

Isn't she the cutest?!! :) She is so much fun, always making us laugh!!!

Wyatt catching a fish!!

I don't know if you can see it very well, but this was when they were feeding these fish. They drop a bunch of little fish in from the top and all of these fish go CRAZY!!! Some of them will even attack other fish that have the food in their mouth.

The girls spent a lot of time at the outlets. We pick the perfect time to go every year. And every year I get quite a bit of my Christmas shopping done while we are there. I wish they had those kinds of sales around here!! But if they did, I guess I wouldn't enjoy going to Park City!!

CARVING PUMPKINS.....

2009-10-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fun family home evening with some good friends of ours last week. My kids pumpkins came out of our garden this year. They were still a little green, but they were fun to carve anyway.

Even my little Oakleigh got her hands in there cleaning out the pumpkin.
Sorry about some of my pictures, they turned out blurry. Not sure why. :(

Ya, my kids are weird!! But what do you expect when their buddy isn't a very good example?!! Nice Brandon.....look what you are teaching my kids!!!!!! :)

Oakleigh had a little help from her daddy with her pumpkin. But it sure turnded out cute!!

Oh, and we had dinner before we carved pumpkins. I didn't take any pictures, but it was the funnest thing. J'lene did dinner in a pumpkin. She just took the pumpkin and cut the top off and cleaned the inside as if you were going to carve it. Then they put it in the oven and cooked it for a while, then they made a soup and put it in the pumpkin and cooked for another hour. When you can poke a fork through the pumpkin it is done. Pull it out and serve the soup out of the pumpkin. And you can eat the inside of the pumpkin too, tastes just like squash. It was SOOOOOO YUMMY!!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY G-MA!! :)

2009-10-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

YES, it is time for an update!! We have been SUPER busy the last couple of months. I am not going to blog about everything, but there are a few things that we have done are ARE blog worthy. First, my G-MA turned 90, yes 90, on the 11th of September!! My mom and I and my sisters put together a Surprise Party for her. And she was SURPRISED!!!!

I have so many fun memories with my grandma from when I was little till now. It is so fun to sit and talk about all of the fun things that we did with her. She will sit and laugh with us forever!! One of my favorite memories with grandma was one year we got together for Thanksgiving at my Aunts house. After dinner a bunch of us sat down to play Chicken Foot. For those of you who don't know, Chicken Foot is with dominos. You add on your dominos by the number and it starts looking like chicken feet. When you are down to one domino, you are supposed to yell chicken foot. Well.......G-Ma, she had one domino left and she got so excited that instead of yelling Chicken Foot, she yelled "Chicken Sh$*!!" Yes, she had us rolling and laughing!!!!

When Madi was born, I decided instead of calling her "Great Grandma", I wanted Madi to call her "Grandma the Great"!! And it stuck. That is what we call her. Well, that is what my kids and call her. I have given her the nick name "G-MA"!!

I am SOOOOO greatful for my grandma and the wonderful example she has been to me and my family. I do not know what I would do with out her. She is so happy and so healthy. I hope that we get to celebrate many more birthday's with her!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY G-MA!! WE LOVE YOU!! :)

LABOR DAY.....

2009-09-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Again a late post. But here it is! We had a GREAT Labor Day!! Usually we go to the fair on Labor Day but not this year. Infact this year, we didn't go to the fair at all. Different for us, but not the end of the world!! :0 We had some friends invite us to go boating. We weren't sure how things would turn out because the weather wasn't so warm, but it was a TON of fun and the kids LOVED it! It was actually warmer in the water so my kids loved the tubing!

We went to Ririe Resivoir. We put the boat in and found a dock and unloaded the coolers and a few things. We had a little picnic with the kids and spent the rest of the afternoon in the water!!

Wyatt just HAD to take his fishing pole. While we were at the dock he tried a little fishing, with NO luck! But he LOVED it anyway!

Wyatt, Braelyn, and Kamia!

Doesn't she look SOOOOO HAPPY!! This was actually her first time in a boat! And she LOVED it as much as the rest of us!!

Madi and I on the tube!

Madi and J'Lene on the tube!!

I had to stick this picture of Brandon in because I thought it was so AWESOME the way he rode this tube. Seriously, he was like Spider Man on this thing the way he would fly and climb side to side with the waves and trying to stay on. I didn't get a picture, but this guy caught some air once or twice! Bryan was driving and took him for a couple of pretty good rides!!

And Brandon gave Bryan a couple of pretty good rides too!!!!!! :)

Wyatt enjoyed more of a slow ride. Brandon told them when they were ready to come in to pat their heads. So that is what he did!!

At the end of the day J'Lene and I took it EASY!! We had a nice relaxing ride back in to load up the boat. Thanks Brandon and J'Lene for a GREAT day!! Can't wait to do it again!! :)

BACK TO SCHOOL....BACK TO SCHOOL

2009-09-08T09:10:00.001-07:00

I know, school started almost a month ago. But here it is. Late? Yes!! But I am now caught up!! Madi is in 5th grade this year and LOVING it!! She has Mrs. Clayton. It has been an interesting last few weeks. She has become very independent. She got herself and alarm clock and gets herself up every morning. She gets herself breakfast and gets herself ready. It was a little hard for me at first to accept that she is growing up and not my LITTLE girl anymore, but it's great that she is such a big help.

Wyatt is in 1st grade this year. His first year going all day. He doesn't love it so much. He has never been a fan of school and can't wait till he gets home. But for the most part is doing well. This was also his first year riding the bus.....and yes, it was hard for me. :(

It's always hard to go back to school after such a fun summer. But it's nice to have structure and schedule. And lot's to look forward to in the fall and winter!!

ANOTHER FAMILY REUNION.......

2009-09-01T07:48:00.001-07:00

Ok. There are quite a few pictures in this post. I had a hard time deciding which ones to choose, so I just chose most of them!!! :)

We went to Ririe Resivoir for the McDaniel family reunion this year. It was a great 4 day vacation.

We got there Thursday night and got everything set up. While we were putting up the tent, Oakleigh found the fire pit and decided to play in it. She was BLACK!!!

We did A LOT of eating, playing with cousins,

building forts,

visiting, and more eating.

This was Oakleighs first camping experience and I am not sure she new exactly how to react. She slept a lot better than I thought she would at night but we were not so lucky with the naps. But I couldn't blame her for not wanting to take a nap in a super hot tent.

We spent a lot of the afternoons down at the resivoir. We didn't have a boat, but that didn't stop the kids from throwing on the life jackets and jumping in!!

A couple of my brothers in law rented a jet ski for the after noon and were nice to take the kids for a couple of rides on the tube!! Thanks Dehn and Heath! :0

Oakleigh LOVED the water. She kept trying to jump in. All she wanted to do was run up and down the dock with the other kids, so we ended up putting a life jacket on her.

This is what Oakleigh does when we tell her to smile!!

Madi and Brady on the tube!!

The cousins all loaded up to go down to the resivoir in the rafts.

Another smile from Oakleigh!! She was so content to play in the dirt with her bucket and shovel. This is pretty much how she looked the whole weekend. Covered in dirt. I was really glad they had showers there.

We took the bikes for the kids. If they weren't in their swimming suits down at the water, they were on their bikes.

Grandma and Grandpa had some squirt guns in their camper. After we were all packed up and ready to go home, Wyatt and Nathan thought it would be fun to have a little water fight!

It was so nice to spend time with family and just get away. Can't wait to do it again next year!! :}

AND THEN.........MY BOY TURNS 6 :(

2009-08-25T08:03:00.001-07:00

MY STUDLY LITTLE MAN!!
CHECK OUT THEM MUSCLES!! :]

Wyatt turned six in July. Time sure does fly. I know I say that every time my kids get a year older, but seriously, where does the time go?

(I am not exactly sure why these boys are not wearing their shirts. But boys will be boys right?!!) Does anyone remember this Creepy Crawler machine? The one that makes bugs? Well Wy had a friend bring his to daycare one day and Julia said it kept them entertained for HOURS. Wy came home that day and told me he wanted one. Since I had NO clue what to get him for his birthday, I decided we would get him that........that is if we could still find them. My sister had one when she was little. I didn't even know they still made them, but sure enough, Toys R Us. He also got some Tansformers and Chapps. You never know with this kid, one day it's all about sports and the next he is TOTAL cowboy!!!

Wyatt was really into soccer this year so I did a soccer cake and then some cupcakes. It was a fun day!!!

We are so blessed to have this kid in our lives. I do not know what we would do with out him. He definitley keeps us going. Happy Birthday Bud!! We LOVE you! :]

NEXT........FAMILY REUNION

2009-08-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

FAMILY REUNIONS ARE GREAT!!!! Especially with family you haven't seen in a LONG time.

We had a reunion with my mom's side of the family. It was so much fun. We went to my aunts house who has a beautiful back yard and a pretty shallow ditch that runs behind her house. The kids had a BLAST!! Even Oakleigh enjoyed herself..........for the most part! She love the swings, and putting her feet in the water, and the ducks, but not so much floating in the tube. :(

The reunion started around noon. My kids were having so much fun with their cousins in the water they did not get out till 9:00 that night.

This is one of the many reasons I LOVE SUMMER!!

A MUCH NEEDED UPDATE........

2009-08-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am just going to start where I left off. So much has happened. We had a fun 4th of July as always. But this year was a little more relaxing and enjoyable. In the past we have had to be up early and to the Rexburg parade by 8:00 because Madi has usually danced in the parade. NOT this year!! The last couple of years it has been SO hot and the parade has been at least 2 hours long. That is too long for little girls to be on the hot road dancing.

So we got to sleep in!!! The night before we had a BBQ and went to the fireworks at the Lake with our good friends Jonah and Kasha and their girls, and Jory and Heidi and their girls. LOVE good friends!!! Then on the 4th we took our time getting ready and made our way to the festivities in Menan around noon.

We always go to the parade first. My kids LOVE to see their Grandpa ride through the parade! And this year their uncle Jason, my brother, was in it also.

After the parade we just walk around and let the kids play games and eat untill it is time to watch the fireworks. I love watching the Menan fireworks. No crowds and the show is GREAT!!!!

SOCCER!

2009-07-02T12:40:00.001-07:00

Wyatt had his first soccer game last night. He has been practicing since the end of May so he was very excited to be able to play a real game. He was also very excited that his team wasn't pink!!!

BLACKFOOT

2009-07-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT weekend in Blackfoot.

Our neices Paige and Cassie got baptized. We are so proud of them and the choices that they have made.

They are such sweet happy little girls!
Bryan and I have not been out on a "DATE" by ourselves since before I had Oakleigh. We do go out once in a while but instead of getting a sitter we take her with us, which we LOVE doing. She is so much fun. But since we were in Blackfoot for the weekend we decided to take advantage of it and let Bryan's mom have some QUALITY time with the babe. She was very excited. We went to Rupes for dinner. It was WAY YUMMY!!! Bryan's family LOVES to eat there. Ya, I have been part of the family for 5 years and never eatin' there, so it was time!! It was nice to be able to just have some alone time. Thanks Linda and Marv for watching Oakleigh.

After the baptisms and a luncheon with more yummy food, we spent the afternoon relaxing and watching a movie. That evening we got together with the fam and had dinner. My brother in law pulled out a couple of his motor bikes and the guys had a blast. Oakleigh enjoyed a few rides too!! (She didn't want to get off!!!) Nope, you won't see a picture of me on them. A 4 wheeler yes, a motor bike, NO!! They FREAK me out!!

A LITTLE VACATION!

2009-06-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

We had a little family vacation last weekend, minus the girls. They had cheer camps, birthday partys, and parade performances, so they decided to stay home. Bryan's brothers little boy Seth was getting baptised so we dicided to go down a couple of days early and make a much needed vacation out of it. Thanks Jason and Katie for letting us stay with you guys. We ALWAYS have fun when we come.

On Friday we took the kids to this park that was between Provo and Orem, I think. It was SSSSOOOOO fun. There was tons of swings, slides, hiding spots. They had a volcano, space ship. The boys loved it. And of course, the girls had fun too. Oakleigh LOVED the swings. We were there for over 3 hours!!!

After we left the park we grabbed some lunch and decided that since we just had the boys we would stop at the Harley Davidson shop in Provo. They LOVED it! They had this motorbike that the kids could ride on, we couldn't get them off.

This is my little Biker Babe!! :)

Corie and Oakleigh going for a little ride!!

This Oakleigh and baby Jax, Bryan's sisters baby. Oakleigh just LOVES him. When ever he is around she just wants to hold him and give him loves.

Saturday morning we went to the baptsm and then had a very YUMMY breakfast afterwards at the park.

After everyone was done eating the kids started having races. Then they decided to include the adults. It was so much fun. We have some runners in this family!!!!
It started to rain so we went back to Jason and Katies and spent the afternoon relaxing and playing some Guitar Hero. Actually, we played a lot of it!!!!

We also enjoyed walks, bike rides, yummy food and GREAT company. I am already ready to go back for another vacation!!! :)

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.....

2009-06-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT Memorial Day weekend. Jason and Katie and the kids came and stayed with us. It was soooo fun to have them. We mostly just hung around the house the first couple of days. Bryan's family came up for a BBQ Saturday night and then Sunday after church we had dinner and then got together with a couple of his sisters and their families for games and treats!! Sunday we drove to Blackfoot to the cemetary and then went down to the river bottoms and roasted hot dogs. The kids LOVED it. It was such a nice day, well......for the most part. It did turn off crummy later in the after noon.

That night I got together with a couple of my good friends from high school and went to dinner. Kristen was here visiting so she and I and Steph went out for a little GNO. We went to dinner at Cafe Rio and laughed and visited til they kicked us out because they were closing. We then went over to Perkins for a little ice cream. I thought Perkins was an all nighter but NOPE, we got kicked out of there too because they were closing. So we went back to Steph's house for a while and visited and played on the computer. We had A LOT of fun and A LOT of laughs!!!!!

2009 DANCE RECITAL

2009-06-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Madi has finished dance. Again this post is a little late.

Every year at the beginning of the recital the dance teacher introduces the girls. This year they did a modeling show while they were introduced. It was pretty cute.

The girls had a GREAT year. We finished with a BANG!! I don't know why, but the girls ALWAYS seem to dance better at the recital. Maybe it's because they are not competing against anyone and they can relax and just dance.

I have been asked to post a video of Madi dancing. My camera shut off before she finished so you don't get the whole thing. This is her solo that she did this year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADI :)

2009-06-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

K, so I am WWWWAAAAYYYY behind. But for good reason.......and I will think of that reason later!! :) My Madi turned 10 on the 12th of May.

She had a good birthday. We went to Dairy Queen and had dinner and blizzards and then she opened her presents. She is growing up soooo fast. We love you Madi!

KINDERGARTEN PRGRAM

2009-05-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Wyatt had is class program last Friday. It was fun to go watch and listen to all of the things that they have learned this year.

This is Mrs. Anderson, his Kindergarten teacher. She has been AMAZING and we are really going to miss her.
Here is a little video with one of the songs that they learned this year. ENJOY!!! :)

DANCE COMPETITION

2009-04-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

This post is about a week and a half late, but better late than never. Our girls had another dance competition, and this time it was at Clearfield High School in Utah. This was a new one for us and I think our girls had a lot of fun. I was very impressed. And see those trophies?!! Those were only a few of what they brought home. They did AWESOME and we have so much fun watching them. Way to go girls!

(Theses girls that Madi are swimming with are some friends from the dance team that were in the same hotel that we were.)

EASTER WEEKEND......

2009-04-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

We had a FUN and crazy weekend. Saturday morning started at about 6:30 with a big wrestling tournament at Madison High School. (The kids have to be there at 7:30 to start weighing in.) It was a lot of fun. This is such an intense sport. Wyatt did so good. The first kid he wrestled he pinned in less than 30 seconds.

He wrestled hard. We started at 9:30 and because he was wrestling so well, we didn't get done til 12:00. In these first two pictures you can see him going after the other kid and taking them down. (I didn't get very many pictures because I was too busy watching him.) He took third place in his division. Way to go buddy!! He is SOOOOO proud of this medal.

Then Sunday we went to church. They just put me in the nurserey as the singing lady, and this past Sunday was my first day. Well, kind of, I mainly just went in there to see how they do it, but I took Oakleigh with me. She is not old enough to be in there yet, but she sits right up there with the other kids for snacks, and then during the lesson and singing time they put the chairs in a circle and she sat right in there with the other kids. (Made me a little sad to think in Sept. she will be old enough to be in there.)

After church we went over to my mom and dad's for a YUMMY dinner and then Bryan and Steve hid some eggs and treats and the kids had a little Easter Egg hunt. It was so cute to see Oakliegh out there picking up the eggs and the treats.

She has started getting a little brave and letting go of things and taking a few steps. She is such a sweetie and at such a fun stage. I am so excited for summer to take her out and play. Hopefully she is walking by then. She is just kind of taking her sweet little time!!:)

A WEEKEND IN LOGAN!!

2009-04-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

We had a nother dance competition this past weekend. This time we were in Logan, Utah. We had a lot of fun. This was a pretty tough competition for the girls. But they worked hard and finished strong. The first pics are of their first dance, Do Your Thing.

And these last couple of pics are from their show routine. The show is where every group on the team does a dance in their group and then they all come out in the end and do a finale together. The theme was "When I Grow Up." They had ballerinas, rock stars, nurses, millionaires, moms, and scientists. Madi was a nurse. It was WAY CUTE!!

We spent a little time in the swimming pool. Which my kids absolutely LOVE!! Has anyone seen the movie "Big Daddy"? Remember Scuba Steve? Well, this is my Scuba Steve!! He is a little fish and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE'S the water!! :)

Madi and her friend Bailey from dance. They are good friends and love hanging out together. We LOVE Bailey. She is such a sweet heart and is so nice to everyone.

Oakleigh doesn't love the water as much as Madi and Wyatt. It takes her a minute to get used to it. But once she is in and has something to play with she does pretty good.

Scuba Steve and his buddy Maxster!! Max is Bailey's brother. We love Max too. Actually, we love all of the Palmer's.

And this is my "Little Piggy"!! We stopped at the Olive Garden for dinner Sunday on our way home. She wasn't too hungry. But she had a lot of fun playing!

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!! :)

2009-03-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

YES, we are still alive!! :) Things have been so crazy around our house lately. Our house is FINALLY done and I will post pics as soon as I take some!!
Madi had her first dance competition of the year last weekend at Bonneville High School. Friday night was solos, and she did AWESOME!!!! She got a SUPERIOR, the highest you can get!! I was SOOOO proud of her. Two of the judges were choreographers and dancers from the High School Musical movies. They told the girls after awards that they good get autographs and photos with them. And the girls went crazy!!

Saturday was the team competition. My camera was out of room so I didn't get any pics of these dances. But we will be going to Logan, UT at the end of the month for our next competition so I will post some then. Madis group got a SUPERIOR and HIGHEST POINT award. Infact, the team got SUPERIORS on ALL of their dances. It was a fun day.

OAKLEIGHS 1 YEAR PICS!! :)

2009-02-19T13:18:00.001-08:00

OAKLEIGHS BIRTHDAY!

2009-02-12T07:46:00.001-08:00

We thought that since our house is finally done it would be fun to have everyone over for Oakleighs birthday. So Sunday they all piled in. It was nice to be able to have everyone over and not wonder if we were all going to fit!! We had dinner and cake and ice cream.

Nana and Grandpa gave Oakleigh this little Cabbage Patch baby with a cute blanket and a couple of outfits. She loves babies. My sister just had a baby and Oakleigh just loves her. We will tell her to give Livvy kisses and she tips her head to the side and lays it on Livvy! It's sooooo cute!!! She does the same thing with her new little doll.

Bryan and I gave her this Rock N' Bounce pony. She LOVES it!! She can just sit in it and bounce.

I made a cake and then some cupcakes for the kids. I gave Oakleigh one of the cupcakes to dig into. She is a typical kid! She ate all of the M&M's and frosting, well.........most of the frosting! All but what was on her face!!!! :) And then.....leaves the cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OAKLEIGH!

2009-02-05T09:53:00.001-08:00

AM I THE ONLY ONE???????

2009-01-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

Bryan and I and Oakleigh took a trip to Utah last weekend. His sister and her husband blessed their baby. Since we hadn't been to Utah in almost a year we dicided it would be fun to go see the family down there. We stayed with Jason and Katie. This picture is of their 3 kids, Brady, Seth, and Corie and Oakleigh. They had so much fun with her.

(I don't normally stay in my p.j.s all day but the baby blessing wasn't until 4:00 on Saturday afternoon and I couldn't put that guitar down. I started out on the drums while Linda tried the guitar, but she wanted to trade after a couple of trys on the guitar. I actually thought the guitar was easier than the drums.)

Am I the ONLY one who has never, until last weekend that is, played this Guitar Hero on the Wii? YUPP!! I am ADDICTED!! We had SOOOOO much FUN! I have heard so many things about it, and seen it set up in the stores for people to try. But I have never done it. Infact, when we got there Friday night, Bryan and Jason played it forever. And then on Saturday, Bryan's mom and Marvin stopped by and they talked Linda into playing it but Marvin didn't want to so I played with her. They couldn't get us off of it. We would play a song and wouldn't move to a new one til we got through the one with out getting booed off. I want it!! But I can't!! I know that if I had that in my house, nothing would ever get done. Course, my house would never be a mess either cuz the only thing the kids would play with is this!!! :)

MY MANTLE...

2009-01-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

I have had a couple of requests to post pictures of my mantle. So here they are.

UPDATE...

2009-01-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since I posted an update on our house that I had to go back and see what the last pictures were that I posted. Here are just a few pics. to show you how things are going. I didn't get this picture flipped before I posted it, sorry. But this is my new fire place.

My new dining room floor, which I absolutely LOVE!!!

This is also another favorite, my bay window. I just love the look that it adds to the room.

They are just finishing the painting in the bedrooms and they are almost finished installing my cabinets so I will have those pictures as soon as they are done.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2009-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

WARNING!!!!! PICTURE OVERLOAD!!!! :)

Oakleigh had fun with the paper. Once somebody started a peice for her she went to town.

Oakleigh got this little doll stroller to walk behind. We figured out that she does really well if the stroller is on carpet. If it is on the hard wood or tile, um.....not so much. It goes way to fast and she face plants it. NOT GOOD!!!!

Madi and Harley with their gifts! Madi got a kareoke CD and a game and Harley got a remote control My Little Pony!! Even I had fun with that!!!

Wyatt and Brigham got these sleds and they took them out on the hills and pretended like they were snowboarding. Qutie the imagination!!!

This was my kids at 8:00 Christmas morning. Yep, we finally had to wake them up to open presents. My kids have never been early risers on Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas at my mom and dad's this year since our house is not done. It was fun, but not the same as being home. We got up and opened presents with the kids and my mom and dad.

This is what Oakleigh got from Santa. The toy and the orange. I think she enjoyed the orange more than the little table. She does like the table though cuz she can stand up to it and walk around. She has become quite the mover on her feet. But she still won't crawl.

Madi got a kareoke machine from santa this year, and last year Wyatt got a guitar. So they decided to put on a little show for us. It was fun.

It snowed all day on Christmas. My brother came over and brought his snowmachines. The kids bundled up and headed out to play. They had so much fun.

I didn't think they would last very long out in the cold, but they must have been bundled up pretty good because they were out there for a couple of hours. Then they came in to eat and unwrap more presents and then Wyatt and Brigham were back out on their new sleds.

We LOVE Christmas and being able to spend time with family. We hope that everyone had a great holiday and that your new year is all you want it to be!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2009-01-05T12:44:00.001-08:00

CHIRSTMAS PARTIES AND SANTA

2008-12-29T15:36:00.001-08:00

We had a few Christmas parties the week before Christmas. These photos are from Bryan's family party. We went to his sister Megan's house in Blackfoot. And as you can see, Santa visited the kids......and yes, me too!! :) He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him that I wanted my house done, but.....it's not. Maybe he was thinking next year?! Anyway, we had a great time hanging out with family, eating yummy food, and singing Christmas songs.

PIANO RECITAL

2008-12-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have been teaching piano for a couple of years and now have 6 students. I decided this year that I was going to do a Christmas recital. I was very happy with the way things turned out. It was a little short since there are only six. But each girl played two songs and then we had some refreshments. The girls had a good time and did a GREAT job, I was so proud of them. I am excited to be able to do another recital.

SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING TO TOWN.......

2008-12-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

Rigby had there Midnight Madness the other night and Santa came. He rode in on old Beamer Fire Truck. (There was NO snow so I guess he couldn't bring his reindeer and sled!!!!! :)

There were so many kids that they didn't get to sit on his lap. He just stood next to the fire truck and handed out treats. But lucky little Madi got to give him a kiss on the cheek. I think she was trying to suck up to him so he would bring her something really nice this year! :) Do you think it will work?
It was pretty cold so the kids were all bundled up in there hats, gloves, and boots. Oakleigh was good with not having to sit on Santas lap. He kind of scares her. Santa comes to Bryans family Christmas party every year and the kids all sit on his lap and tell him what they want and then he has a present for them. We will see what Oakleigh thinks!

WRESTLING

2008-12-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

We decided to put Wyatt in wrestling this year. We are constantly dragging him to the girls dance performances and competitions, or to Paden's ball games and I felt like he needed something to do. And why wrestling you ask? Well, because that is the only thing that he is old enough for right now. He is to young for Basketball and Football. He wanted to play soccer but that isn't til summer. So he gets to wrestle! It's been good for him and he has really enjoyed it. This is not something that I plan to leave him in for the rest of his life, he just needed something til he was old enough to start the other stuff.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

2008-12-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy Thanksgiving weekend. We spent Thanksgiving day in Blackfoot with Bryan's family. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pics from that day. But we had LOTS of yummy food. Bryan had to work the day after Thanksgiving so we came home Thursday night and spent a couple of hours with my family. My mom makes the best homemade stuffing and even though I was so full Istill had to have some. It just isn't Thanksgiving with out her stuffing!!!

We didn't have any of the kids with us for Thanksgiving this year and since Bryan had to work Friday, Oakleigh and I ventured out Friday morning and went shopping. I am one of those crazy people that LOVE LOVE LOVE to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I don't get up and 4:00 and hit all of the door busters, I usually head out about 8:00 and hit some of the early morning sales and then just spend the rest of the day going back to the stores for other things that I needed that were not on their early morning sales. Oakleigh did great! She loves to sit in her stroller and watch everyone and everything.

Santa was at the mall and I thought I would let her sit on his lap. I wished I had taken a picture. She didn't love it so much!! Maybe next time :)

Bryan's parents returned home from their mission a couple of weeks ago and they reported on Sunday. So we headed back down Saturday night for that. It is great to have them home. They were only gone for 7 months but it seemed like forever.

COMING ALONG....

2008-11-14T10:45:00.001-08:00

O.k. So I haven't posted for a while with the updates on our house, but with good reason. Things are finally moving along, but not before this happened.....

The first couple of pics are of what I woke up to one morning after pooring rain the night before. My nice builders decided to take the roofing off down to the sheeting because they were going to be swinging the new trusses the next day. Well.....they didn't tarp it and it decided to not just rain but poor. So it got down inside the existing walls and ceiling and bubbled the sheet rock. They have now just created more work for themselves.

Because of that....

We now have all of this done.

Oh ya, after they saw what they had done, they wasted no time!!
The roof is all on tar papered, doors are in, windows are almost all in. The electrical is as far as they can go til the sheet rock and painting is done.

We are ready for siding yeah!!!!

Hopefully by the end of next week I will have more to post. Wish us luck!!!

HIGH SCHOOL TAG :)

2008-11-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by my friend Leann. Let's see how much I remember from my High School days!!

1)Did you date someone from your school? Yes! But not seriously. I went on dates and to dances with Joe Poston, Mark Smith, Russel Ellsworth, Chad Nield, Tyson Eckersell..do I need to name everybody? Probaly not!
2)What kind of car did you drive? Well, my first car was a little green Ford Tempo, and my senior year I got a purple Chevy Corsica.
3)What was your most embarrasing moment? I am not sure that I really had one, but if you consider 9th grade part of High School, then I do. I wasn't 16 yet, so we weren't "DATING", but John Fenstermaker was my boyfriend and I had gone to the football game to watch him and they won. After the game he came up and kissed me and we just happened to be standing under the score board so everyone started teasing us about how we had "SCORED" under the score board. (Anyone remember that?)
4)Were you a party animal? I had a alot of friends and spent A LOT of time away from home! I will just leave it at that! :)
5)Were you considered a flirt? Some would say YES!
6)Were you in Band, Orchestra, or Choir? I was in Choir and Women's Choir.
7)Were you a NERD? NO!
8)Were you on any Varsity Teams? I ran track for a couple of years.
9)Did you get suspended or expelled? No, but I did get detention for a week after I got caught forging a note for my brother who had been sluffing.
10)Can you still sing the fight song? Oh yes! I spend a lot of time at half time performances watching Madi dance so I get to hear it a lot.
11)Who were your favorite teachers? Coach Whit was GREAT!! I also really enjoyed Mrs. Peterson.
12)Where did you sit during lunch? Anywhere but the lunchroom! Usually at Papa Kelsey's, Broulim's, Fiesta Ole, Subway.
13)What was your school mascot? Trojan
14)Did you go to Homecoming? A couple of times
15)If you could go back would you? High School was FUN! I would go back to the socail part but didn't love the work part so much!
16)What do you remember most about graduation? All of the fun and parties that went with it!
17)Where did you go for your Senior trip? Lagoon, but it rained on us the whole time.
18)Were you in any clubs? Nope
19)Have you gained weight since High School? Yes....and No. I have had 3 kids. But I do weigh less now than I did when I was in High School. YEA!!
20)Who was your prom date? I went to Comencement with a kid from Madison. I actually don't even remember his name. Apparently he wasn't that important!!! Probably cuz he was from Madison!!!:)
21)Did you go to your 10 year class reunion? Yes, it was fun to see everyone again.
22)Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Life's short and goes WAY too fast. So don't take things for granted and just enjoy!

I tag Kristen and Stephanie!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2008-11-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

SSSLLLOOOWWWLLLYYY PROGRESSING...

2008-10-30T07:47:00.001-07:00

They have slowly been making progress on our house. These first few pictures are of the back.

Sorry about a few of them being blurry. They have all of the back side framed in and sheeted on the outside and all of the inside walls framed in.

The last two pictures are of the front side of the house. This is where we are extending our dining room and family room. They just started putting the floor on yesterday.

I am hoping to go home today and see much more than this.

LITTLE PUMKIN'S CONT......

2008-10-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

O.k. I feel a need to post this because I don't want everyone thinking that I am posting pictures of puking kittens. So "THE REST OF THE STORY" is....Oakleigh LOVES the kittens. She LOVES watching them and gets excited when ever they come around her. So we thought it would be cute to get a piture of her with the kitten. BUT.... the little bugger, the kitten, didn't want to sit still long enough for a picture. So the kids thought that they could get it to sit long enough if they gave it some pumkin. The kitten is just EATING the pumkin. I didn't notice this in the picture until it was pointed out. But it did work, the kitten sat there for the picture!!! :)

LITTLE PUMPKIN'S

2008-10-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

After church yesterday, we went to my mom and dad's for dinner. The kids have been wanting to carve pumpkins and so I picked some up at the grocery store on Saturday.

And this is what they came up with!! Madi did hers all by her self. Bryan drew an outline on Wyatt's and then he cut it out.

They had a lot of fun. I am glad we did it ouside on the patio cuz they made a huge mess! :)

TAGGED!!

2008-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

TAGGED BY MY S-I-L ALI :)

ABC TAG
A-Attached or Single? Attached to my hubby!!
B-Best Friend? Bryan
C-Cake or Pie? Pie, Pear and Chocolate! YUM!!!!
D-Day of Choice? Saturday, I get to sleep in!!
E-Essential Item? Toothbrush
F-Favorite Color? Black
G-Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms
H-Hometown? Menan, ID
I-Indulgences? Red Lobster
J-January or July? Both! I love the snow and I love being outside in the sun with my kids!
K-Kids? 7...YEP!! And LOVIN' it! Bryanalee, Kaylee, Paden, Madisen, Morgan, Wyatt, and Oakleigh!!!!
L-Life Is Incomplete Without? My husband, my kids, and Forever!
M-Marriage Date? December 4, 2004
N-Number of Siblings? 1 Brother and 2 Sisters
O-Oranges or Apples? Oranges
P-Phobias or Fears? FEARS!!! Of being alone, of leaving my family before I get to see them grow....and many, many more. Just ask my husband.
Q-Quotes? "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it."
R-Reason to Smile? My Fam!
S-Season? Fall
T-Tag 5 People? Kristen, Stephanie, Lindsey, Lacey, and Heidi
U-Unknown Fact? Don't know. Ask me anything and I will tell you!
V-Very Favorite Store? MAURICES!! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!
W-Worst Habit? Driving too fast!! SHHHH, don't tell Dad!
X-X-Ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y-Your Favorite Food? Crab legs and Chinese
Z-Zodiac? Sagittarius

PARK CITY

2008-10-20T13:19:00.001-07:00

I am a little late on this post but that's o.k., things have been a little crazy around our house lately. A couple of weeks ago we went to Park City and spent a few days with my parents, who have a condo there. We had a lot of fun! We left Tuesday afternoon and got down there around 8:00. The kids couldn't wait. The condo has a big swimming pool and 7 hot tubs. We have gone the last 4 years and that is thier favorite part of the whole trip. So after we got our luggage to the room we changed and made a quick trip down to the pool.
Wednsday morning Bryan and I and my mom and dad had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Temple. I have never been there. It was a neat experience. After we got back the girls went to the outlets shopping and the guys went and did a guy thing!! I am not even sure what that guy thing was!!! That night more hot tubbing!
Thursday we made our annual trip to Cabella's. My dad, Bryan, and Wyatt LOVE that store. Actually, we spend all day in there. That night....yes, more hot tubbing!! The kids would spend all their time in there if we let them :)
Friday we checked out of the condo and drove to Layton to have breakfast at the Cracker Barrell and stopped at the mall.
We had so much fun. It was a much needed vacation and we can't wait to go again next year!

TAGGED

2008-10-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by my friend Stephanie. You are supposed to post the sixth picture from your sixth file.

Isn't he soooo little in this picture? It seems like forever ago.

I tag Ali, Lindsy, Heidi, and Lacey.

WHAT'S SO FUNNY?????

2008-10-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

We have never been able to get Oakleigh to really laugh. Wyatt can get a few giggles out of her once in a while but that is about it. Last Tuesday we were getting ready to leave for Park City. Bryan was outside loading the Yukon and I was in the other room packing. Oakleigh was in our bedroom sitting on the bed playing with Wyatt and all of a sudden this is what I hear.....

THIS PAST WEEK.......

2008-10-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

They came last Monday and stripped the footings. On Tuesday and Wednesday they formed the walls and poured.

As soon as they come and back fill they will be ready to start framing. So Saturday we had a couple of projects that needed to be done so they could start the framing. We had a little cover over our front door and side walk that needed to come off so Bryan and my brother in law Aaron took that down. (Thanks Aaron and Ali for all of your help!! And the YUMMY dinner!! :)

We also had to take the siding off. We are planning to wrip all of the siding off and re-side the whole house, but for right now we just took the stuff off where they are going to be framing. It was interesting to see what was under it. This house has been added on to a couple of times so there was 3 different layers. Do you like the brick? Actually it's not brick, it's a brick siding!