Hey Ya'll it's the Flaishans!!

WOW!!! How time flies!

2011-09-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

Seriously can't believe how long it's been since I have posted on here! In fact SO long I couldn't remember my password and just spent about 25 minutes trying to figure it out and reset it....GEESH!! I wanted to get up to date on things, but have let this whole year pass by without posting ANYTHING!! So much has happened too! I will have to sit down here VERY soon and just throw some monthly highlights up and then renew my efforts to post more regularly! Well it's worth a try at least!

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-02-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

After the Turkey Trot 5k we went to our friends the Whites for a Thanksgiving day feast. Food, fun and friends!

The feast!

The homemade rolls Lara made....SO GOOD!

One of the Pecan pies I made....YUM!

Dave cuting into the ham he smoked.

Jake, Libbie and Tara digging in.

Really the only way to eat black olives....off of your fingers!

Taylor totally fat dogging it!

Jake doing dishes....a Thanksgiving day miracle!

Dave and Amber waiting for the feasting to begin!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

The 43rd Annual Turkey trot

2011-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

Dave and I thought we would start our Thanksgiving day this year with the Annual Turkey Trot in Dallas. So instead of getting up early to cook we were up and heading into Dallas to run a 5k. This was the 43rd year for the Turkey Trot and it has become a family tradition for a lot of people. There were stories of people whose parents brought them when they were little and now were bringing their kids. One man who had recently passed away, had run every trot since the beginning. It was quite a scene...young and old,big and small, pets and people dressed as Pilgrims, Indians and turkeys! We are hoping to go next year with the kids.

We enlisted our friends Jason and Lara to go with us.

Waiting for the race to start...it was SO cold! I think it was in the low 30's!!!

A shot of the crowd in front of us...there were just as many behind us and on the other side of the street!

It took us several minutes to cross the starting line...we had to continue walking several minutes after passing the start.

Almost to the mile mark...YES I took pictures while we were running!!

Feeling good!!!

Dave and Jason had started with us and then ran ahead, apparently we run too slow. They came back to run in with us and Dave was nice enough to run ahead again to snap a picture of us crossing the finish line.

Dave and I after the race.

Laura and I eating our after race snacks.

Dave thought this dog was pretty cool, maybe because they were wearing the same shirt size!

Dave juggling all the Gatorade and yogurt they were handing out by the handfuls!

Amazed that I would use the port-a-john!

Trick or Treat!

2010-12-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

This year Amber found a really cool pumpkin patch for us to go to. It was about an hour away in Flower Mound, but it had tons of pumpkins, hayrides, all kinds of things for the kids to do and a big corn maze. We were all really excited to go and spend the day. As we were getting ready to go it started to sprinkle. We had driven for about 10 minutes when it really started raining. I called up to the pumpkin patch and they were under a tornado watch so they would be closing. Disappointed we turned around and went home. The next available time we could go was the day before Halloween and only Taylor and Hunter were home to go. So Dave, me, Taylor and Hunter found a place not too far away to buy some pumpkins. Hunter didn't fare too good on the way there with the winding roads. As soon as we walked up to the little pumpkin patch Hunter threw up. Poor guy didn't really feel like looking for the perfect pumpkin, so we hurried and found some and left. Hopefully next year we can make it to that cool pumpkin patch in Flower Mound!

Poor Hunter had just thrown up and had to sit down.

Taylor looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Hunter was feeling better, but showed us what he felt about this pumpkin!

LET THE CARVING BEGIN!!

EEEEWWWWW!!!

Taylor showing off her pumpkin! Notice the cool tattoo sleeve!

Jakes pumpkin had really cool eyes! Love your tats!

Hunter seems a bit afraid of his scary pumpkin!

Poor Mr. Brad decided to end it all.

Hunter went as a Zombie skateboarder.

Taylor pecking Hunter with her big, yellow beak.

Ready to do some serious trick or treating!

Princess Amber stayed behind to hand out the candy.

15 + 1 +1 + 2 = 19

2010-10-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

When did this little girl turn into......

this 19 year old?

The family plus Cameron at Friday's for Amber's birthday dinner.

Amber getting a birthday hug from her daddy.

Am and Cam or as Taylor calls them...Camber!

Amber's cake with the ghetto candles on it! We didn't have enough regular candles so we had to improvise. Thank goodness when Gramma Dawna was here in June she brought a bunch of these random candles.

Sorry dear blog!

2010-10-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

All I wanted to do was change my background and things went terribly wrong! I don't know what I've done and just want my old layout back! Sorry dear blog but you will have to stay ugly for now. I PROMISE I will fix you later.

General Conference Sunday....SUNDAES!

2010-10-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in October is General Conference Sunday. Growing up I LOVED when it was General Conference weekend. It meant that we got to stay home, watch church on tv and stay in our jammies. When my kids were little we would go to the church and watch conference, but it seemed like I spent more time in the cry room and I didn't get too much out of it. The BYU channel and computers have made it where we can stay home again in our jammies and watch conference. This conference we decided that we would head over to the church to watch the Sunday morning session. Of course this meant getting dressed in our Sunday clothes, which I will be honest didn't make the kids too happy. After conference we came home to a new treat/tradition...General Conference Sundaes!! (thanks Lara for a GREAT idea!!) It was a BIG hit and OH SO YUMMY!!! I can hardly wait for April when it's conference again and.....GENERAL CONFERENCE SUNDAES!!!

YUM!!!

Meet Frank

2010-10-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

This is Frank. He came to live with us last year on Taylor's birthday. He doesn't make noise, sticks mostly to himself and doesn't require any walks.

Frank is a great pet!!

Happy Birthday Taylor!!

2010-10-05T11:18:00.001-07:00

Taylor's birthday was on Monday this year so I decided to surprise her at lunch with a birthday cupcake and Subway. This year they changed the lunch schedules around so Hunter was able to join us. We had a fun little celebration and then when Taylor came home she was able to open her gifts and blow out 11 candles on her ice cream cake!

Even though Taylor is not a big Dora fan, it is a ring and all girls love rings!

Hunter and I were singing Happy Birthday to Taylor...she was mildly embarrassed.

Hunter and his cupcake giving Taylor some birthday love

Hunter enjoying his cupcake!

This glob of icing fell off...gross!

Taylor's yummy ice cream cake!

Can she blow out ALL those candles?

YES! She can!!

Waiting to open her gifts!

2010-09-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

Amber wanted to do some fun, crazy makeup and Taylor was ALL to happy to be her model. And as a bonus Amber gave her some WILD hair!

YEAH!! The first day of school!!

2010-09-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

August 23rd marked an end to summer. Children mourned and parents rejoiced! There was a lightness in my step as I walked and drove kids to school. I was SO ready for school to start. I secretly think the kids were glad to start back too. They get to see the friends that they haven't seen all summer and make new friends in their classes. Yes, the first day is ALWAYS a good day!....Well at least for us moms!

The traditional first day of school pose in front of the house.
Can't believe this is Taylor's last year of elementary!

Hunter heading into 3rd grade!!

Getting a quick welcome to class hug from Mrs. Carroll

SO excited to finally get a locker on the bottom!

Taylor was being VERY tolerant with me taking her picture. One day honey I promise you'll be glad I documented EVERY aspect of your life!

Taylor and Mrs. Bernard.

Dropping Jake off at the high school. He wouldn't let me take a picture of him. This was my attempt at a sneak attack!

First day of school loot bags full of goodies to help ease the trauma of school starting!

Jake is 15!

2010-08-31T09:50:00.000-07:00

The end of July we got to celebrate Jake's 15th birthday! WOW can't believe he is 15 and can now get his learners permit. YIKES!!
We surprised him with an Elmo(his favorite as a little kid) and Mr. Noodle birthday cake. He also got to pick where he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner. He picked Texas Roadhouse which we were all excited about!

The endless buckets of peanuts and the fact that you can throw the shells on the floor is one of the reasons we LOVE this place!!

We ended up having the same waiter (Just-in-credible) that we had when we went to the Roadhouse for my birthday. He was nice of enough to take our picture again. Jake's girlfriend Mikayla and her cousin came with us. Honestly Mikayla's cousin ate the BIGGEST burger EVER! We were amazed!

Jake and Mikayla.

Another thing we like to order at the Roadhouse is the fried pickles! They are SO good, but obviously VERY greasy, but OOOHHHHHH so good!

Jake LOVES their ribs and loaded potatoes.

He was able to blow ALL those candles out!

Bringing in his new tv! He knew I would be standing there waiting to take his picture.

He actually WAS happy to get a new XBox controller, just NOT happy about his picture being taken.

Mikayla made Jake this really cool sign and brought it over early on his birthday.

A visit from Gramma Dawna!

2010-08-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

Getting my mom to travel anywhere, ESPECIALLY by airplane is MAJOR! So when I actually was able to convince her to come visit us here in Texas it was not only exciting but shocking to say the least! We planned it so she could be here for Hunter's 8th birthday. We had a nice visit I just wished it could have been longer.

Me and my mom.

Mom LOVES to shop at random stores and always finds things that are different and interesting. She brought the kids a fun game that we use to play when I was little, Pick-Up-Sticks. Taylor and Hunter LOVED playing it with her. You have to have pick up a stick without moving the others. The kids developed a sharp eye and became VERY cut throat players!

Gramma gave Hunter a card with eight 1 dollar bills in it. He was SUPER excited!!

My mom has ALWAYS played the piano. Some of my best memories are laying in my bed on Sunday mornings listening to her play her favorite songs and hymns. I LOVE to hear her play and think she is the BEST piano/organ player EVER! I miss hearing her play!!

Taylor asked Gramma to play a song for her so she could sing. I wished I would have recorded it. It was SO sweet!

One last picture before Gramma left. Hope it's not so long before we see her again!

It's GREAT to be EIGHT!!

2010-08-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm just now getting around to blogging about Hunter's birthday. I know what a loser!! Anyway, he turned 8 in June. We had just a small family birthday party for him.

The yummy chocolate cake he picked out.

His cool new bike that he LOVES and rides EVERYWHERE!!

The tradition is on your birthday you get to pick the restaurant of your choice. Hunter is always easy and much cheaper than the other kids. Last year it was McDonald's and this year he just wanted Dave to bring home pizza.

He's ALWAYS good for a gang sign!

And a crazy face! Note Amber in the background...why do my kids ALWAYS make faces?!

Who needs a fork?!

Cheesing it up with Gramma Dawna!

His cool new super soaker gramma bought him....better watch out!!

2010-06-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Why is it SO hard to blog? Honestly! I keep asking myself and think I've finally figured it out. It's because it takes FOREVER for the pictures to load!

Yikes, that happened from biting your nails?!

2010-04-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

In February Jake started complaining that his thumb was swollen and it was hurting. I didn't think too much about. I figured that he hurt it in athletics, lifting weights or during soccer. Finally after about a week I decided to take him to the doctor. They thought it was an infection, but there was no cut or anything in his thumb. HOWEVER, Jake does bite his nails and so that caused an infection. He was prescribed a topical antibiotic and an oral one. He complained that the ointment burned his thumb and neither antibiotic seemed to be working. His thumb still hurt and it was becoming more swollen. Back in we went and it was decided that they would try and drain his thumb. Two incisions were made on either side of his thumb but nothing came out. So Mr. Ward cut all the way thru and stuck something in there in hopes that it would cause it to drain overnight and gave him a shot of antibiotics in his butt, which he was NOT too happy about. Nice way to spend your Valentines day huh?! We went back in the next day and nothing had drained out so he got another shot in the butt and an appointment for the next day. Well as I was in Walmart with an overflowing basket of groceries, I get a text from Jake in a panic because he felt something weird and thinks it may have drained, so I race to the check out, tell the cashier what is going on in hopes that she'll be speedy, no such luck. I go get Jake and head to the clinic. When they take the bandages off his thumb it was one HUGE ball of puss. It was so GROSS!! They immediately refer us to a surgeon and he agrees to see us even though it was closing time. He takes a look at Jake's thumb and asks us what we are doing the next day. Jake says going to school and I say not much and he says WRONG, you are going to the hospital for surgery. WHAT?!! Yep he had to have surgery to cut all the infection out. The surgeon was a bit afraid that Jake might loose the tip of his thumb, but luckily he didn't. It is continuing to heal and we feel VERY fortunate that things turned out the way they did. Thanks Dr. Burney for taking such good care of Jake's thumb! And on a side note....Jake NO longer bites his nails!! Guess this is one way to break the habit.

***WARNING PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC***
(sorry some of the pictures are not the best quality. They are from my phone)

His right thumb is swollen

Mr. Ward cutting his thumb so he can drain the puss out. Jake is NOT to thrilled about this and almost passes out.

When nothing would drain out he sticks a piece of something in it hoping it will drain overnight.

This is two days AFTER trying to get it to drain! It's completely covered in puss!

Getting ready to go into surgery. He would NOT let me take his picture.

Being whisked away to surgery.

At this point he is still feeling the effects of the anesthesia and that is the ONLY reason I was able to snap this picture. He even gives me a small smile!

Two days after surgery. In one spot the doctor had to cut down to the bone! When Jake saw this he became VERY pale and needed to sit down.

This three days after surgery. It is healing quite fast.

Different view. Four days after surgery.

We were amazed at how quickly his thumb was healing.

Nine days after surgery and it's looking good!

I was TOTALLY freaked out when I saw this! It looked like the top of his thumb was completely dead. It turned out to just be dried blood and dead skin.

This was after the doctor cut all the dead skin off. It looks SO good!

There's something magical about a snow day!

2010-03-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, there truly is something magical about waking up to snow! February 11th that's just what happened to us. We woke up to snow and it showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. The flakes where HUGE! The kids were loving it and were out playing in it before we left for school. They couldn't wait for school to get out so they could have snowball fights, do snow angels and build snowmen. It snowed all day and they even cancelled school the next day. It was was fun to see all the kids and parents out playing and building snowmen. It really was magical!

This is what it looked like when we woke up.

Taylor out playing before school and making a HUGE snowball she hoped to hit Hunter with. Note her wet hair, she just got out of the shower!

Hunter lobing his snowball at Taylor.

Love his ghetto gloves....SOCKS!!

Our friend Gabby chucking her GINORMOUS snowball!

It was a direct hit!!

It snowed like this ALL day and most of that night.

Hunter enjoying a bit of snow.

At least now he is wearing gloves even if they are too big!

This started out as a snowball,

but it became too big for Hunter to move.

Note his gloves...one is a glove and one is a sock....hahaha!!

Amber thought Sadie was cold so she put her Gap sweatshirt on her.

Honestly she was NOT cold, she has a fur coat on!!

Taylor spent the night with her friend Julia.

They stayed up all night making this SWEET snow woman!!

The kids loved throwing snowballs at Dave!

Preparing her snowball!

I LOVE this picture of Hunter.

He is wearing Jake's shorts,

cowboy boots and refused to zip up his jacket.

And not to mention his expression!! TOO funny!

Their snowman.

UGH!!!

2010-03-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Once again I have fallen WAY behind on blogging. I was just getting ready to blog about the snow days in Feb. when I wake up to find MORE snow! OH well, just one more post to add to the growing list! Happy Spring everyone!

Daddy wanna dance?!

2010-03-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

February was the third annual Daddy daughter dance at the elementary school. Last year Dave got really sick at the last minute and Taylor ended up going with her friends and their dad. This year she was SUPER excited to go with Dave. They had a GREAT time even though Dave was left at the table most of the night while Taylor was with her girlfriends getting down on the dance floor!

Taylor was SO excited that Amber did her hair. One of the many bennies of Amber going to beauty school!

Amber did a GREAT job and Taylor LOVED it!

LOVE this picture of Taylor! She is so happy and SO dang cute!

Getting a bit sassy!

Big G, littl o, GO,GO!!

2010-03-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

Cheer leading here in Texas is almost as big as football. Well, actually competitive cheer is big here. Almost all little girls do cheer. I was surprised when Taylor came to me and wanted to sign up. I wasn't really excited about getting involved with the competitive cheer thing, but Upward was doing sign ups for cheer leading for their basketball program, so I signed her up. She has really enjoyed the experience. Her cheer leading team is the Allstars and she is the oldest girl on her team and also the tallest! Although there were fourth graders on her team they were all pretty short. The Upward cheer program, like basketball was VERY positive. The girls also received stars for their participation, leadership, memorizing the weekly scripture and Christlike attitude. She had a VERY sweet coach who had the patients of Job!! Because they cheered for both teams so did everyone in the stands. At one game the orange team had a boy who wasn't as coordinated as the other players. He didn't get the ball much and when he did the blue team managed to take it from him. After multiple tries his orange teammates were throwing him the ball and the blue team was backing off so he could score. After a few attempts he was able to score and the ENTIRE gym including BOTH teams yelled and clapped for him. The look on his face as he ran back was pure joy! It totally brought tears to my eyes. It truly has been a GREAT experience....

Getting ready to do the halftime cheer.

Ready....hit it!

"come on crowd get loud...yell lets go upward"!

THE whole reason Taylor cheered and Hunter played basketball....post game nachos....YUM!!

Upward Basketball

2010-03-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hunter has always played soccer. But this season he decided he wanted to give basketball a try. I signed him up with Upward. I had never heard of it before and didn't know anything about it. It is sponsered by the First Baptist Church here in town and I MUST say it has been a WONDERFUL experience! The teams were evenly balanced with kids with all skill levels so no one team was stacked. It was competitive, but not ugly competitive and that wasn't their only focus. They really tried to teach the kids how to play, improve their skills, and be a team player. Hunter's coach tried to make sure that each player had the opportunity to score each game or during the season. Another one of their goals is to help bring kids closer to Christ thru sports. The kids got a card each practice with a scripture on it and halfway thru practice they would sit and discuss the scripture and how they can use it in their lives. On game days, after they introduced each team they would gather them in a circle, talk to them for a minute and then offer a prayer. LOVE IT!!! Also, at half time someone from the church would give a half time spiritual devotion. Last week's was pretty good. The man told how he was a bus driver and he thought he had dropped all his kids off and so he started to belt out a popular song by a Christian singer only to realize there was still one kid on his bus. He and the kid were a bit embarrassed, but at that point he realized that when the Lord puts a song in our hearts or words/thoughts in our minds we need to speak them because you never know when what we have to say or sing might be just what someone needs to hear at that time. Anyway, I have really enjoyed these devotions. After the games, they are given stars to iron on to their t-shirts they wear under their uniform shirt, which promptly fall off! They each get a star for participation and there are stars for best defense, offense, leadership, Christlike and team player I think it is. Hunter has had the BEST time playing and has scored several baskets! GO BOBCATS!!

Next up is Upward soccer! Stay tuned

Probably one of Hunter's favorite parts of game day....hearing his name and number called and running out to high five his coach!

After all the players are introduced they say a prayer. LOVE IT!

LOVE the faces that Hunter makes when he plays!

Hunter shoots and SCORES!!!

Hunter is ALL about intimadating the guy he is suppose to cover....look at that stare down! He had that boy shaking in his tennies!!

Hunter can't quite keep up the intimadation! He is trying not to laugh.

2nd grade Pioneer Day

2010-02-15T19:34:00.001-08:00

In January the second grade studied the Pioneers and the Oregon Trail. After they were done learning about them they were able to have a Pioneer day. They were allowed to dress in Pioneer type cloths. Any day when they don't have to wear their uniforms is a good day!! We didn't have too much in the way of pioneer cloths so I put in a call to Sis. Bingham, yes the Sis. Bingham whose ranch we went to get pecans. I knew she would have something we could use. She is definitely the person to go to when you need random things and when, like me you wait till 8:30 the night before to start looking for things! She had a hat, suspenders and a red bandanna that worked PERFECT!! She had already given him cowboy boots (pecan picking)and he just wore a plaid shirt and his school pants. He looked like he could have been on a wagon train headed out west! It was a fun day filled with pioneer stories, games, and Little House on The Prairie movies. They also made butter which they got to try. I also got to try it and it was DELISH!

Looking like a real pioneer boy!

Excited to be going outside to play pioneer games.

The kids were excited to learn that the pioneer children played some of the same games as they do. One of the games they played was duck, duck, goose.

Hunter got caught and ended up in the mush pot.

Hunter and his friend Jansen.

They made covered wagons. You can't see it in the picture, but Hunter's had a crazy wheel.

They made real butter.

It was MOST delish!

One of the best parts of the day was eating lunch outside!

Pecan picking

2010-02-15T05:12:00.000-08:00

Here in Texas where we live there are Pecan trees EVERYWHERE. This past fall our friends the Binghams who live on a ranch invited everyone to come and get pecans. The only catch was you had to pick them up yourselves. I thought this would be a fun thing for the kids and I to do. Actually just Hunter and Taylor were excited about it and went with me. The Saturday we decided to go was SUPER cold and of course we didn't have proper jackets or gloves and Hunter couldn't find his shoes so he put on the next best thing....swim shoes. Gay just shook her head when we got there and went inside and found him a pair of cowboy boots and gloves for me to wear. We had a fun time looking for pecans in their front yard, watching their wild dogs eat the pecans, shells and all and we got so many pecans we didn't even have to go back into their orchard. When going to the Binghams it's ALWAYS an adventure and there is ALWAYS something crazy in their yard!

Hunter was more interested in going out where the horses were and that is where he spent most of his time. He did manage to find a some pecans.

Taylor was really good at finding the pecans under the leaves.

Hunter checking out the dead rat we found by the tree and the cow's skull. AAAHHHHH!!!

WHAT THE HECK?! This was there to greet us! I don't know what was creepier...this dead rat that was laying there or this cow's head the dogs brought up....

NO we are NOT traitors!! We still LOVE our Wings

2010-01-22T07:11:00.000-08:00

No folks we have NOT jumped ship! We are still die hard Red Wing fans.
For Christmas this year Dave decided for our family gift that he wanted the kids to experience a live hockey game and since we couldn't get to Detroit to see our number one team, the RED WINGS, we'd have to settle for seeing the Dallas Stars play. Which wasn't too bad since they are also a good team. It was an exciting night, they had a live band playing which was interesting...all the guy did was scream, we had seats behind one of the goals, which was GREAT! They played and beat the Anaheim Ducks, even BETTER! There were quite a few fights, which is ALWAYS exciting and Amber got to see the Zamboni machine, as I have mentioned before, that is her life's goal, to be the Zamboni driver! Jake text the whole game, Hunter quickly got bored and started taking random pictures with the camera and Taylor, much to Dave's pleasure TOTALLY got into the game and wants to go again! It was a GREAT way to spend New Years Eve together. Thanks Dave for a FUN filled evening!.....GO WINGS!

The pregame show...some band that was NOT memorable at all!! All this guy did was SCREAM and he didn't even do that good!! Won't be booking them anytime soon!!

The kids and I, well not Jake, however you do see the side of his back behind Amber.

Amber and Jake. Thanks Jake for giving a courtesy smile!

Me and the Hunter BEFORE he got bored.

Dave and Taylor, she LOVED the game!

One of the few scuffles of the night.

Hunter got bored and decided to lay down and watch the game on the big screen behind us. He soon got bored with that and the following pictures are just a FEW of the pictures I found on my camera when we got home. BE ADVISED they are NOT pretty!

Santa, Santa....I KNOW HIM!!

2010-01-05T06:27:00.001-08:00

Ah Christmas THE BEST time of the year! This year we had a WHITE Christmas here in Texas. Ok so it was a light dusting, but it still counts! And the best part of that was it had melted away by the afternoon. Christmas Eve Taylor and Hunter had a hard time staying asleep. I was up late wrapping presents as usual, Dave was on the couch keeping guard when I heard them come down around 2. So much for Dave keeping guard....he was FAST asleep AND snoring! I made them go back upstairs and told them NOT to come back down. As I was finishing up the wrapping and putting the last of the presents out I hear them again. It was around 4am. Hunter came down needing to tell me he loved me and Taylor was in need of a drink. Yea right! I quickly got them taken care of and back upstairs. This time I told them NOT to come back down until morning. (well really it was morning, but they think if it's dark out it's still night time.)Next year they won't be sleeping in the same room!! I finally fell into bed after that and was getting into a good sleep when I heard them again. They were so excited, Santa had come at last!! Dave was awake and they were begging to wake Amber up. He told them to wait till 6:30. It was now 6am! Normally it's Jake who has the hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve and comes down several times. I was most impressed that this year he had stayed asleep. WELL.....little did I know he had been up ALL night, but had just stayed in his room. Amber happened to be awake
and came down the stairs singing the annoying song she had been singing the night before, you know the slow background music from Charlie Brown Christmas, so after everyone yelled for her to stop they were ready to tear into everything.

A light dusting DOES count as a white Christms!!

Santa had arrived! He was so quiet he didn't even wake Dave up, who'd passed out on the couch.

Ready to get to it, but kind of enough to pause for a picture!

Ah Fact or Crap....Jake knows a lot about both of those!!

Hello Bombshell....Amber's new love and name!

Hunter and Jake over the years have made their own Wolverine claws using everything from pencils to kabob sticks. Santa FINALLY was able to find an actual Wolverine hand with retrackable claws....HOW GREAT IS THAT!!

Taylor got some cool earrings and a fun, yummy chapstick!

Star War guys are ALWAYS a hit with Hunter!

Ok you may think Pepcid AC...what an unusual gift...WELL, my mom keeps EVERYTHING!! Really everything boxes included. All my life she has wrapped gifts in boxes like this. Checkbook boxes are another favorite of hers. In fact Hunter's giftcard from my mom was wrapped in a checkbook box. He was completely confused by this. Anyway, Amber opened her gift and we just started laughing! Amber does suffer from heartburn alot so maybe Gramma was just trying to help her out. NO!! Her giftcard was wrapped in this box. And thank goodness it wasn't really Pepcid AC because the boxes experation date was from 2001!! Hahahaha!! Gramma is always good for a laugh!!

Gramma Liz saved the day by sending a Red Wing shirt!! There are NONE to be found out here. Jake was VERY excited!! GO WINGS!!!

This is our third winter here and none of my kids really have a "winter" coat. Taylor has always wanted a big coat. Well this year she finally got one!! She was SO happy and wears it ALL the time. Thank goodness she got one, cause it has been unusually cold this winter.

Taking a moment to see what daddy is opening.

Aaaahhhhhh....Beautiful Edward!!

Hunter was SO excited to be Jakes secret santa person. He knew JUST what to get him. Batman,Arkum Asylum. He was right. Jake LOVED it!!

Hunter was pretty happy with Amber for getting him this game for the Wii!

A VERY fun family game!!

You can see how we felt about this gift from my brother and his family....
BOO Sharks....GO WINGS!!

Jake's AWESOME new bow he got from Santa!!
Why do my boys not like to wear jackets? Despite the bright sun it was FREEZING outside!

Hunter striking a pose in his new G.I. Joe ninja outfit.

Only because he was cold and it was sitting beside him did Dave finally give in and use the Sharks blanket.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent with the usual last minute running around. Taylor and I went out and got the last few things needed while Dave was home smoking a brisket for Christmas Eve dinner. The weather was just as crazy as the stores we went into. The 23rd it had gotten up in the low 70's and then dropped drastically thru the early evening and night. We woke up Christmas Eve to some CHILLY weather with the chance of snow...YES SNOW! As the day went on we did indeed get some snow. It was looking like we might have a white Christmas!

Dave took some pictures of it snowing...this is the view from our backyard.

From our front yard.

The yummy brisket that Dave braved the weather to smoke!

AHHH! Funeral potatoes....NOT just for funerals! EVERYONE loves them!

Since Amber does NOT eat any red meat BUT hamburger, Dave bbq'd her some chicken.

Ready to eat.

After dinner and clean up it was time to make Santa some cookies.

Hunter thinks it's funny to do action shots. He didn't really lick the dough.

They looked so cute in their Christmas jammies and aprons!

Some of the cookies they cut out for Santa.

Taylor and Hunter putting out Reindeer feed to make sure Rudolph sees our house and stops! See the snow on the ground?!
Note Hunters lack of coat...it was bout 25 degree's out!! CRAZY KID!!

School parties...

2009-12-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

The kids each had a school Christmas party. I love how they it do here. Taylor's was on Thursday and Hunter's was on Friday so I could be at both parties the whole time. Taylor's class decided they wanted to make gingerbread houses....WHAT a mess!! The kids had a lot of fun trying to make them stay together and actually I think they were eating more of the icing and candy than putting it on their houses.

Working hard on making hers a mansion.

Actually turned out looking more like something out of a trailer park!!

At Hunter's party they did a book exchange and decorated cookies. He decorated and ate his cookie before I could even get a picture of it. The book exchange was WAY fun due to Mr. Gradt reading and improvising the story. The kids had a GREAT time with it and us parents got a good laugh out of how confused the kids got trying to figure out if they needed to pass right or left!

Hunter and I enjoying the party.

Decorating his gingerbread man.

Mr. Gradt reading a funny story to the kids and having them pass their gifts left and right. He was CRAZY and had the kids ALL confused, but the kids had a BLAST!!

Hunter waiting to see which way to pass the gift.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

2009-12-30T09:27:00.001-08:00

Keeping with tradition we went and tried to cut down our Christmas tree. Each year so far we have tried out a new tree farm. This year we went out to the Canton tree farm. It boasted lots of trees and fun, exciting rides! I keep hoping to find a tree farm here in Texas that grows the kind of trees that we are use to. The ones they grow here are Virgina Pine,Leyland Cypress,Loblolly Pine and Eastern Red Cedar Trees. Basically they look like bushes that they grew really big and then shape them into a Christmas tree. Each year I go looking for the Douglas Firs, the Noble Firs, the Fraser Firs. You know the ones that actually hold the ornaments!! And no such luck. We take the hay ride out into the trees and we laugh at the funny looking trees and end up at the pre-cut trees that they have shipped in and I find the perfect Noble Fir. Maybe next year I'll find a tree farm that actually grows normal Christmas trees.

Everywhere you go here in Texas there are cows of some sort!

Quick shot of Dave and I.

This pose has also become a Christmas tree hunting tradition!

Taylor spotted this little sapling and wanted to cut it down and put it in her room.

Amber and Cameron posing by this little Charlie Brown tree. Can you believe Cameron has NEVER seen a Charlie Brown Christmas?! Blasphemy!!

Hahahaa!!! LOVE this picture! Look at Jake's face...CLASSIC! Of course it was BUTT cold out and we had wondered around in the mud looking for a tree to cut down for about 30/45 minutes before I decided to head to the pre-cut trees. Jake was NOT happy if you haven't guessed by his expression. Hahahahaaa!! LOVE family outings!

Hunter wanted to ride Santa's runaway sleigh. He was the ONLY one on the ride!

This sign should have scared Taylor away from the ride, but she was determined to ride it....

...good thing she wasn't pregnant and hasn't had any head or neck injuries because this ride was WILD!!!

2009-12-18T23:46:00.000-08:00

Oh blog PLEASE forgive me. I promise once things slow down I'll update you!!

Forney Hometown Christmas

2009-12-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

Once again it was time for the annual Forney Hometown Christmas. It started off with a parade, which we didn't go to because the kids went to the temple with the Primary. AND not to mention that it was something like 27 degrees out.....YIKES!!
Taylor's choir from school performed in the afternoon and so we were hoping that it would warm up. Oh it did to a balmy....35!! Thank goodness the sun was SO bright that standing in it ALMOST warmed you up. The kids did good standing there singing, but the sound system had MUCH to be desired! It wasn't until I went around to the back to TRY and get a decent picture of Taylor that I could actually hear them. There was alot of fun things for the kids to do. The bounce houses kept Hunter warm, they went down the BIGGEST slide EVER despite all the mud they had to trek thru to get to it and tried the climbing wall again. We had a great time and can't wait to do it all again next year!

Taylor was in the second row by the red antlers. We were bummed because we couldn't see her AT all.

Totally FREEZING!

I managed to get her to peek thru so I could get a picture.

I finally decided to go around the back and try and get a picture. That seemed to work AND I could hear them.

Hunter going down the HUGE slide. This slide is a Hometown Christmas tradition. Notice NO shoes, NO socks and it was BUTT cold out!

Taylor attempting the climbing wall again this year. She was doing really good, but her hands were so cold that they were hurting. She finally let go.

Hunter was climbing really good, but had the same problem as Taylor. His hands were hurting from it being so cold.

So he let go and swing out like he was repelling.

Rock climbing

2009-12-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

Jake and Dave went camping and rock climbing the day after Thanksgiving with the older scouts. The place they went was about 2 hours west of us and Dave said it reminded him of Big Bear in California. He did a GREAT job taking pictures.

What a beautiful view!

The cool shelter that Dave made for him, Jake and Zack.

The boys trying to get the fire going.

Jake cooking his delicious dinner of Spam.

Jake fashioned himself a comfy hammock and the other boys all bundled up like in little cocoons. So much for the shelter Dave made!

The next morning they did some repelling and rock climbing.

Jake was a little nervous about taking that first initial step over.

Once he got going he really enjoyed it.

Dave was holding the end of the rope and left Jake hanging there.

Their fearless leader, Bro. White showing them how to do it.

I think this is a cool shot of Jake.

Almost to the top.

Scotty

Zack

New Moon

2009-11-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

In keeping with our Twilight tradition of arriving 6 hours early for the premier, sitting on the nasty theater floor, laughing our heads off, entertaining the crowd of crazy fans, Twilight games, tshirts with OUR faces OVER dumb Bella's and stuffing our faces, we did it ALL again for New Moon! We liked this movie even BETTER than the first one. Everything about it was better, the acting, the lighting, the scenery, the action and several shirtless Werewolves! We all had a GREAT time and we can't wait till June so we can do it ALL over again!

The Twilight moms! Tammi and Jenni had pretty much decided on team Jacob, who I will admit was pretty HOT with his six pack, but I was still undecided, so I went with BOTH team Edward AND team Jacob!
Thanks Jenni, our master photo shopper, your skills are AMAZING!!

Amber, Jenni, Carlie, Maggie, Haley, Me and Tammi. At this point we'd been waiting for several hours. Only that could account for why I'm laying on the theater floor!

Amber studying for her test the next morning. She not only had a written test on hair, but also was cutting my hair for the practical part of the test....YIKES!! Actually I was VERY confident that she would do good and of course I was right. She did a GREAT job on my hair and made a 100!!

Maggie and Haley showing how SUPER excited they were.

Tammi and Amber

So EXCITED that these books and movies are something that I can enjoy with Amber and not be embarrassed that there are inappropriate scenes.

Finally getting into the theater!!!
Amber, Haley, Maggie, Carlie, Sara, Jenni, Me...thanks Tammi for taking the picture so I could be in it!!

Our REALLY cool New Moon coloring books Jenni made for us to color in while we waited for the show to start.

The Red Velvet vampire bitten cupcakes Tammi made. They smelled WONDERFUL and they even SPARKLED!!

I won FIRST place in the "Who knew the most facts" about Jacob and Edward! My prize was some silly putty with Jacobs face on it.
I LOVE Tammi in this picture. She was laughing at that HUGE thing of popcorn in my teeth!

Carlie came in second....AMATEUR!!

Haley getting some "Werewolf Kibble"! Tammi totally hooked us up with her AWESOME snacks!

It was getting SUPER late, so Amber thought Maggie needed some lovin!

Us getting the crowd going before the movie started!!
I'm sure the theater workers were glad when we left. BUT guess what?!! We'll be back in June for Eclipse!

2nd grade Thanksgiving feast

2009-11-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

Friday the 2nd grade had a Thanksgiving feast. The kids could dress up as either a Pilgrim or Indian. Well of course I waited to the last minute to come up with a costume for Hunter. We had a Pocahontas dress that my mom had made Amber when she was 4 and I thought, oh Hunter could wear it as a shirt. I almost had him convinced, but then he realized it was a dress and honestly it was a bit too small. Next best thing....a grocery bag Indian vest!! I know how to make that and I received a good tip from my friend Lara. Crinkle up the bag first. That way it's not all stiff and it won't ride up around their neck as much. GREAT idea and it worked perfectly!! I also made him a head band with feathers glued to it. He thought that was AWESOME. Thank goodness he is still easily amused by my handiwork. It all turned out great and a good time was had by all!

Showing off his juice and spiffy Indian vest. I was EXTRA creative with the fringe along the bottom.

The impressive Indian head band I made. Hunter said the end of the feathers kept poking his head.

Enjoying the bountiful feast!

Mrs. Bergan's 2nd grade class.
Check out the stylish pilgrim in the gray sweater and hat.

It all began at Tun Tavern...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINES!!

2009-11-24T12:46:00.001-08:00

Tun Tavern...this is where it all began!

November 10th is a VERY revered day in our house. It is the birthday of Dave's beloved Marine Corps. This year marked the 234th birthday, and even though Dave is retired and we don't go to the ball anymore we still like to celebrate. We did the traditional cutting of the cake with the oldest Marine taking the first bite and then handing it to the youngest Marine.

Dave showing off his cake...happy birthday Marine!

These two...what a pair!

The ceremonial cutting of the first piece.

Dave being the OLDEST Marine in attendance gets the first bite and then passing it to the youngest Marine present.....

and although Hunter is not a Marine...he does occasionally play one!

Hunter wanting to dig right into the middle!

Amber's first LIVE haircut!

2009-11-24T05:54:00.001-08:00

Amber has been in school now for over a month and has learned many things. She has done manicures, facials, some make up and at last what she has been waiting for...haircutting. They practice on their doll heads and I must say she had Ms. Kim looking pretty good. She was anxious to do a "live" person and Taylor was only to happy to be her first client. She did a GREAT job on her and I felt pretty confident that when she needed me to be her test model all would be well.

Sectioning off her hair.

Taylor wasn't nervous AT all. In fact she was relaxed enough to eat.

The FIRST cut!! She gave her a cute cut with layers. For some reason I failed to take a picture. Guess I better get on that!

A funny site!

2009-11-19T06:32:00.000-08:00

Laughed my head off when I saw this!

Honestly, the chicken breast was NOT that big or tough that Jake needed this HUGE knife!!

2009-11-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

Last week Jake was able to attend a Boy Scout function and learn how to make a knife and sheath. Of course he didn't want to make just a small regular knife. He decided to make a small machete! He had a GREAT time and we were VERY impressed with his knife making skills!

When Jake got home Dave helped him brand his initials into the sheath.

Check out the deer antler handle...VERY COOL!!

Dave is an AWARD WINNING chili maker!

2009-11-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

Saturday night was the first annual Claybon Dad's Club chili cook off. Since Dave had such good luck with his chili at the ward chili cook off he decided to enter. He spent much of Friday evening and Saturday working his recipe. At first he thought it might be too hot, but it seemed to mellow some overnight. It set my mouth on FIRE so I was only able to taste a little bit of it. It was a hit and he received the second place trophy! He now is a two time award winning chili maker!! Way to go Dave!

Kaufman ward Master Chili Chef award!

Check out the size of that trophy!!!

The award winning Chili....it REALLY is good!

Happy Beeeeeelaaaaaated Birthday Taylor

2009-11-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we FINALLY were able to have Taylor's birthday party! To find out why read previous post!

A quick picture of the gang before heading in. From left
Cassidy,Natalie G,Taylor,Natalie W,Gabby,Zoe.
Carlos and Hunter.

Right away Cassidy won two stuffed toys out of the claw game! Way to go!!

Hunter and Carlos getting into some shooting action.

Racing before playing Laser Tag

Showing off their scores. They all did good and had ALOT of fun!!

Birthday entertainment....Hunter doing a farting gun! What talent!!!

Taylor's cut

2009-11-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

Right before Taylor's birthday in Sept, she was playing at the neighbors and fell on some bricks and busted her leg open right under her knee.
She ended up having 5 stitches. I will add she did NOT handle getting stitches well! A week later she got them out and it wasn't quite all the way healed and it busted open again and so the doctor put in 6 new stitches. He decided that he would take a couple out at a time so that it wouldn't bust open again. The spot where it's at is right where her leg bent so it was taking longer to heal. We felt it best to wait till it was completely healed before she had her birthday party since she wanted to do Laser Tag. We waited several weeks, she seemed to be healing nicely and we started planning her party. WELL!...The nurse calls me from school and she has fallen at recess and it split open AGAIN!!! UGH! Thank goodness NOT deep enough for stitches this time. We waited one more week and then had her party.

Sorry I know this is gross!

A little behind on birthdays!

2009-11-10T08:10:00.001-08:00

Ok so I'm a tad bit behind on posting birthday blogs. Amber celebrated her birthday on Oct. 11th. It was Sunday so we went out that Friday for her bday dinner. We went to her new favorite restaurant, Johnny Corrinos. It has really good Italian food, but since she orders either the Chicken Ceasar Salad or Chicken Strips, I'm thinking it's the AMAZING chocolate cake that makes J.C.'s a favorite! Cameron took her to my favorite restaurant on Saturday, SaltGrass. LOVE their baked sweet potatoes...YUM!!! And then Sunday we celebrated with a cake and gifts.

The fam and Cameron singing a WONDERFUL rendition of Happy Birthday.

Hunter is ALWAYS good for a hug and cheesy smile.

Excited to open her gifts. When I went to Utah in Aug. my mom gave me a bracelet that had been her oldest sisters. It was on a silver chain that had charms that were all Cinderella themed. A slipper, Cinderella, Prince Charming,Fairy Godmother,the carriage, Cinderella and Prince Charming dancing...I fell in LOVE with it and just KNEW Amber would too. And she did.

And YES, a SNUGGIE!!! We make fun of the Snuggie EVERY time the commercial comes on. Honestly, are people serious when they buy these? Hahaha!! When I saw one in pink, I had to get it for her.

Jake totally rockin the Snuggie!!

BFF Carlie stopped by on her way to Scuba class and gave Amber THE cutest coloring book. She had taken lots of different pictures of the two of them and had them turned into coloring sheets. SO CUTE AND CLEVER!! And of course Amber's FAVORITE candy.

Hunter and dad showing Amber some gangsta love on her birthday!

Jake's last 9th grade football game

2009-11-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

Thursday night was officially the last football game of the season. We played Red Oak, which was about 45 minutes away. Forney gave it a good try, but we ended up losing. I'm bummed there won't be anymore football games to go to this year, but Jake will be playing soccer soon, YEAH!!! I'm WAY more vocal during soccer games!!

Jake is #27

Jake was in on a couple of good tackles.

I love this picture...it looks like Jake is looking right at me!

Check out his sagging pants...he forgot his belt so his pants kept falling down.

After the game I tried to get a picture of Jake, but he wasn't going for it. This cute young man from the team told me he would be my son and let me take a picture of him.

Hunter found his friend Tyler and they played the whole time.

Ok this is the ULTIMATE good ole boy look. Cowboy boots with your football uniform! AND his name is Bubba! He is one of Jake's friends and is a SUPER nice kid.

I noticed Jake talking to a couple of the cheerleaders and enlisted their help so I could get a picture of him. Of course he couldn't turn down two cute girls AND I even got a smile out of him!!

2009-11-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

A few more pictures from Halloween.

We were waiting on Hunter so we could leave for trunk or treating. Dave thought it would be funny to scare Hunter as he came out of the bathroom.

If you look closely at Hunters feet you'll see he totally jumped when Dave jumped out at him. He screamed and started laughing. It was really funny.

Cameron opening wide for the candy!

Amber and Cameron waiting for the trunk or treating to start....looks like Cameron caught the smarties Dave threw at him.

Halloween!!

2009-10-31T20:11:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween!
First we went to Trunk or Treating at church and then we hit the neighborhood. Taylor went with her good friend Natalie so I wasn't able to get many pictures of her. Dave and I took Hunter and his friends trick or treating. Jake was at Tara's house for movies and fun. And Amber, of course was with Cameron. Well needless to say we have TONS of candy now and the kids had a blast!

A full moon...perfect for Halloween!

Taylor had a hard time deciding this year what to go as. She was SO excited when she saw this Twister game costume. It came with a cool game board hat, but it choked her so she opted out of wearing it.

Hunter went as Death Rider, which I secretly think was a knock off of Ghost Rider.

WOW! Check out that face! Not sure what's going on with that, but if looks could kill....

Death Rider getting candy from dad.

Hunter with two of his buddies...Elijah and Aaron. They had a GREAT time together trick or treating.

The boys would run ahead of the rest of us and would lay down in the yard like they were dead. As we would pass by they would jump up and scare us. Hunter really thought that was funny!

Random...

2009-10-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

I was going thru my pictures trying to organize them on this new computer. I can't believe how many pictures I take. Honestly it's INSANE!! I just can't help myself, but since I usually always have my camera with me, I snap away. Here are just a few random pictures I've taken of the kids. Thought I would share.

Amber and Taylor at one of Jake's football games. It was raining and chilly. Just to show how CRAZY these Texans are about their football whether it's peewee/school/college/professional, it makes NO difference...they LOVE football. The girls are sitting in the season tickets holders seats. YES, at the high school stadium, which is NOT called Forney high school stadium, but City Bank Stadium, they have reserved seats for season ticket holders!! What the....

Ok, so I know this isn't a picture of the kids, but I just LOVE the camera strap I got for my birthday!! Thanks Jenni, you're the BEST!

Hunter being his usual funny self. I actually should do a post just on his funny faces and posing. He is a riot!

Thought I'd throw this gross picture of Taylor's cut in. She ended up getting 6 stitches the first time, and then it busted open again and she got 5 more stitches. They are all out now and the cut is healing nicely!

Several weeks ago the Young Men had the opportunity to clean our church building. Jake and Scotty were the ONLY two YM to show up to help their leaders clean. They were rewarded with THE hugest donut I've EVER seen. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it before they split it, but honestly I've NEVER seen a donut that big! Needless to say they went into a diabetic coma after eating it.

Dave's job requires him to inspect some dams that are in the city. Because there are snakes...YUCK!!...they were issued these WAY cool snake boots. Amber LOVED them.

Just a cute picture of my Boy Scout!

Power Ranger Gavin and Spider man Hunter. Poised and ready to defend against ALL evil, foreign and domestic!

One night while I was gone, Amber and Taylor thought it would be fun to do brown sugar masks. Just made them sweeter!!

Not much I can say about this!

Raindrops keep falling on my head.....

2009-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last week we had several days of rain. Actually I really enjoyed it. I think because it made it feel fallish. The kids finally got sick of being inside and decided they needed to play in the rain.

Hunter managed to get a little air on his jump.

Not sure that umbrella did any good since she was already soaked!

I guess Christian didn't think Hunter was wet enough and so had to throw water on him. Check out the winter jacket Hunter has on...it wasn't cold AND it's on backwards!

Showing Christian the proper way to jump in the puddles.

First day of school surprise!

2009-09-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to have the kids back in school we decided, (Jenni's idea actually) to make them welcome home posters with candy, chips and prizes on them. It was a fun way to top off going back to school.

Amber hanging up the signs, but stopping to pose for a picture.

Because it was SO Africa hot that day all the chocolate bars turned to liquid.

They were SO excited when they saw their posters.

First day of school....YEAH!!

2009-09-07T12:02:00.001-07:00

August 26th, 2009 parents were rejoicing for it was the first day of school!

The traditional first day of school picture.

No traditional first day of school picture for Jake. I was lucky he agreed to this one in the car.

Taylor and Hunter walking with friends to school.

Hunter went into 2nd grade this year. With his teacher Mrs. Burgan....even though she was crouching down, she is not much taller than him.

Getting things situated in his locker.

Taylor is now in fifth grade!which means she will be switching teachers through out the day. She was SUPER excited to get Mrs. Miller as her homeroom teacher.

Trying to get settled at her desk and avoid me taking her picture. Silly girl...doesn't she know by now I'm still going to take one!!

End of summer waterslide party at Gavin's

2009-08-27T07:36:00.001-07:00

BFF Gavin threw an end of summer water slide party the day before school started. The weather started out kinda cool, but QUICKLY heated up! It was TONS of fun and a a GREAT way to end the summer.

Reuben firing the water cannon at Hunter

Giving Reese and Meredith a ride down the slide. Meredith LOVE your sunglasses!!

Hunter, Gavin and Christian taking a break to eat. Thanks for showing us boys!

The ONE picture I have of Taylor on the slide. Sorry Taylor don't know why didn't snap more of you.

The Hunter

Gavin getting making sure Hunter stayed cool.

Meet the Jackrabbits night and first scrimmage

2009-08-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Meet the Jackrabbits, it was a night to meet all the kids who were playing a fall sport, high steppers and the band. It was so fun to see Jake out there! I can't wait for the actual games! GO JACKRABBITS!!

When I was in high school they had signs made out of butcher paper that the players had to try and break thru. No more getting stuck in the paper with this thing!

Heeeerrrrreeeee's Jacob!

First time on the field

Jake running to tackle the guy with the ball. He is number 8.

Can't really see Jake but he tackles the guy.

Lemonade...crunchy ice...

2009-08-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

So my cute little Hunter wanted to do a lemonade stand out on the front sidewalk. It was hot and I really didn't want to do it. BUT he wanted to do it so bad so I agreed. I made the lemonade, put some ice in a small cooler, got the cups out. Hunter called his friend Katie and Christian was already here. They set up a little table and used the sign from last summers lemonade stand. Hunter was so excited, but a bit bummed that they weren't getting any business. I started to think the three of them were going to drink all the lemonade themselves. Well it only takes one car to stop to get things going. They ended up making $9.00!! Can you believe it?! They split it three ways and were still excited that they made three dollars! Hum...maybe when I need some money I should do a lemonade stand!

THE BUMP IT

2009-08-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Amber has been wanting a bump it for her hair since the first time we saw this really lame commercial for one almost a year ago. At that time you could only order them from the tv and we just never got around to it. If you don't know what a bump it is, you are in for a TREAT! You put it in your hair to make you have really BIG hair. There are three different sizes too! Of course living in Texas the bump it and BIG hair is a MUST! WELL recently Cameron saw them at the store and bought it for Amber. She is SO excited!!

First you tease your hair...

then place the bump it under your hair...

and cover it so it doesn't show...

...

flat to FABULOUS in seconds!!!

Look who turned 14!

2009-08-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!

The end of July was Jakes 14th birthday. He was super excited to get a gift card from Game Stop as you can tell by the strange look on his face. Actually he did NOT want me to take his picture.

Since Jake LOVES steak and ribs he wanted to go to Salt Grass, which has THE best food. Their baked sweet potatoes are AMAZING. Probably because they are smothered in butter and cinnamon/sugar...YUM!! Amber's favorite are the loaded mashed potatoes which are amazing as well.

Enjoying his ribs...they really are SO good!

They were so good he wanted Amber to try them. She didn't want any since she HATES all meat basically, but hamburger or chicken, so he kinda flung some at her and got some on her shirt. She was VERY sad about the stain!

Hunter's hamburger is almost as big as him!

We go to a yummy steak house and Amber and Taylor both order chicken strips...

Last year when we went here for my birthday, my sister posed with this Lady. So this year Amber did. This lady is a bit scary, but we LOVE her glasses!

The fam....Happy Birthday Jake!! We love you!

MOOO....it's cow appreciation day...

2009-08-06T11:07:00.001-07:00

July 10th was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fi-la. If you dressed like a cow you got a free meal. Well, of course we aren't going to pass up anything FREE

Amber and Taylor making their cow shirts.

Quick shot of the entire herd before ordering.

Enjoying their FREE food!

Waiting for the cool cow balloons.

Tim and Hunter

The Flaishans herd...minus Dave and Jake. Dave was at work and Jake doesn't like Chik-fi-la. Check out those colorful udders!

Tim, Hunter, Amber, Taylor, Maggie and Haley grazing in the field.

A couple of beauts....wonder what they'd fetch at auction?

2009-08-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

Martin

About a month ago our bishop was offered a job in Utah. Before he left he also had back surgery. Amber, Maggie,Tim and Haley along with the Robertsons and the other Martins decided to decorate his yard so he would know how much he will be missed and also wish him a speedy recovery.

The decorating crew

Amber, Maggie and Haley

This sums up how we feel about our bishop!
Good luck and we will miss you!

Jake and his hair

2009-08-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here we go again!! Amber and Carlie got a hold of Jake and decided to put some pink in his hair. He was a good sport about it and let them have their fun. The pink is now gone and we are waiting for his true color to come back. In the mean time he looks good with red hair.

Getting ready to put pink in his hair.

Jake isn't looking totally thrilled, but he is doing it anyway. Honestly does Amber have to make a face in EVERY picture?!

It is VERY pink!!

The end result. It's actually a pretty color.

Cotton

2009-07-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Cotton was a new horse this year at horse camp. She had quite a personality. She could be a bit unpredictable and stubborn at times. There were days when she would decide she didn't really want to participate and she would just stop walking or trotting. She would just walk over to the fence out of the way of the other horses and just stand there. On one of the first days of camp she decided that she was too hot and climbed into the water trough. It wouldn't have been too bad really except she had a rider on her and it scared the poor little girl to death. Thank goodness Sis. Bingham is fast on her feet. She grabbed Katie off of Cotton before we really knew what was going on. All the kids loved her despite her stubborness and she never wanted for riders.

Splashing water on herself. Sis. Bingham got her away from the water before she could climb in again.

Rolling around after getting her saddle off. The kids really loved when she would do this.

Trying to get a nice picture of Cotton and Taylor. Two peas in a pod, I'd say!

Finally! No faces from either one of them.

FIRE ANTS!

2009-07-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

Fire ants....they are TERRIBLE here in Texas. They always seem to be right where you are standing and they HURT like heck! Not fun at all. Well several weeks ago Dave and Sadie were looking under the deck and Dave didn't realize he had laid in an ant hill and the ants were NOT happy about it. They soon let him know of their anger at ruining their home....

This was the day after he was attacked. Doesn't look too bad here, but actually it started looking worse before it got better.

I looked out the window and what did I see.....

2009-07-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

A few Saturadays ago I was upstairs cleaning the game room and I looked out the window and saw Hunter helping Dave mow the grass. SO cute! Thanks Amber for taking the pics!

Hunter blows out seven candles in June

2009-07-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Okay this post is even later than the 4th of July post. I'm REALLY behind in blogging thanks in part to our old computer having such issues!!

Hunter's BFF Gavin was SO nice to loan us his blowup water slide for Hunter's party. Gavin ended up going down to the barn (grandparents house and Hunter's most favorite place to go) so he wasn't able to make the birthday bash. It was SUPER hot so this was the perfect way to cool everyone down and keep the natives from getting restless. The kids had such a good time and Hunter LOVED his presents.

Hunter, Christian, Taylor and William.

Hunter was the first one down the slide.

Check out how his pants won't stay up. We could NOT get him to change them.

The kids couldn't get up the slide fast enough!

Jake looked like a Penguin with his black hair, white skin and black and white swim suit.

Hunter and Christian riding Jake down the slide.

Taylor didn't have much luck staying on Jake's back.

Starscream!

Hunter would NOT take these shorts off even though they are completely off his butt.

2009-07-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

I know this post is a bit late, but since I'm using this as more of journal and will eventually have it put into a book, I'm trying to include as much as possible.

For the fourth we were invited to go to our friends house to shoot off fireworks. Dave and the boys went and bought some fun stuff. Sparklers of course and some that shot up high with lots of colors. We had a nice evening watching all the different fireworks. We had a few sparklers left and the kids did them in the backyard.

Fun with sparklers!

Dave took Taylor to the carnival at the city park where they had someone doing cool face painting. Hunter was at the barn with his BFF Gavin or he would have had an equally cool face painting.

Ft. Worth Stockyards

2009-07-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

While Jake and Amber were in Nauvoo with the church youth, we took Taylor and Hunter to the Stockyards in Ft. Worth. Dave had heard about them and wanted to check them out. Apparently this is where you would bring your cattle or other live stock to sell back in the day. We actually went there kind of late and missed the cattle drive thru the street. It was a fun place with lots of restaurants, souvenir shops, a VERY cool candy store, an old train that you could ride, a mechanical bull and a maze that was featured on The Amazing Race. Dave and Taylor did the maze and it seemed like they were in there forever! We ate at this really cute restaurant, which I can't remember the name. Hunter ate an entire double buffalo burger! We couldn't believe it. We walked around a bit and they kids got rootbeer floats. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Taylor measuring her arm span to that of a Longhorn Cow.

Cowboy Hunter

Cowgirl Taylor

A VERY tiny stagecoach.

I thought this was a funny name for a bar...

Taylor posing on one of the saddle chairs and Hunter throwing out some gang signs for the Indian behind him.

A dedication to Leta Smothermon, she must have been SOME lady......

.....to have this alley named after her.

When one's gets unruly....

2009-07-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

Jake went out several days to help with horse camp since the Bingham boys were away at Philmont.(don't think that's spelled right) Sis. Bingham is also Jake's Sunday School teacher and she has a unique way of handling him when he becomes unruly in her class. Well that also carried over to horse camp. Jake was doing a lot of flirting and not enough helping so Sis. Bingham decided to remind him who was the boss....

Ride like the wind.....

2009-07-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

Each summer at the Broken Bow Ranch, Sis. Bingham does horse camp. Last year Taylor and Hunter attended and LOVED it. They really enjoyed getting to know the different horses and learning how to ride. They both took to it easily and quickly. Of course they wanted to go back again this year and so since Jenni and I had arraigned to take pictures at horse camp this summer it was convenient for them to go. The Bingham boys were gone to Scout camp the first week, Jake went out a few days to help. Actually, I think he went mostly to flirt with the girls and because he knew Sis. Bingham would let him ride. I especially love that when Jake gets unruly she just turns him upside down! We LOVE Sis. Bingham!! Taylor ended up helping out the next week because all the youth from church went to Nauvoo. She couldn't actually put the saddles on, but she would hose down the arena and get the saddles,blankets and bridles out. It was a lot of fun being out there and it's ALWAYS an adventure! Especially finding the cow bones all over and watching the crazy ranch dogs.

Getting the arena watered down so there isn't so much dust.

Helping White Thing back out to the pasture

White Thing can be kind of persnickety at times, but Taylor doesn't get ruffled and can really handle her quite well.

Kelsey is new this year and Taylor really liked lunging on her. Kelsey would skip and hop and Taylor thought that was fun.

Hunter leading Cricket in.

Riding White Thing. Hunter wasn't too ruffled by her either.

Hunter on Cricket.

I thought this picture was funny because Hunter's feet don't reach the stir-ups.

One of the MANY cow bones that the crazy ranch dogs carry around.

2009-07-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

Taylor's soccer coach wanted to put together a team for the adult soccer league and asked Dave if he wanted to play. He has not played before. He has only coached the kids teams so he thought he'd give it a try. He also recruited BFF Gavin's dad, Christopher or as we like to call him Big Boy Lloyd, to play since he LOVES soccer. Dave is having a lot of fun playing and is pretty aggressive out there. I'm just glad I'm on the sidelines. I really wouldn't want to get hit by him.

Not so sure I would want to be that lady...running into Dave can send you flying!

Hunter and BFF Gavin...not too much into watching the game

This is what the kids are usually doing...

The kids like to do the tunnel after the game. As you can see they are not quite big enough, but the dads are really good about playing along.

They just couldn't hold the tunnel up anymore and it collapsed before Dave could make it thru.

After one of the games, Gavin's dad pulled Hunter and Gavin in the chariot he pulls behind his bike. Note the tears on Gavin's face...but he knows to turn the cheese on when he sees the camera! (FYI not too long after this shot, Gavin's dad took a sharp turn and dumped them both out. All's well no one was hurt!)

A surprise for Amber

2009-07-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

After a long week at girls camp, Amber came home to this........

Cameron surprised her with this HUGE arrangement of her favorite flowers

From Dracula Black to Heat Miser Red

2009-06-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

When Jake was about 10 he wanted to be Dracula for Halloween. In order for Jake to look like Dracula he would need to dye his blonde hair black. Well I could not find any temporary black hair dye so I thought why not use regular hair dye, it won't be that bad. So I did! I actually thought that it would fade pretty quickly. I was wrong. After several weeks we ended up shaving his head. Fast forward several years. He thought it would be fun to do it again just for the heck of it. Because there is a strict dress code here in the school district, I told him he would have to wait for the last day. I bought the dye and was ready to do it, when Abi, his girlfriend and her friend Stephanie came over and wanted to do it. They had a good time dying his hair and he even let me take some pictures of him. (SHOCKING!!)

Rinsing out the dye. It's looking pretty dark!

Stephanie (in white) and Abi (in yellow)
Getting ready to unveil their master dye job!

Dave thinks he looks like one of the Ramones.

Jake got tired of the black hair and wanted to bleach it back to his natural color. Him and Amber bought some blonde hair dye and went to work. Well, it didn't really come out the way they had planned....Jake is now a red head. It's actually the color of my hair when I was younger...minus the small bits of black and roots that are blonde.

The first bleach go around. Jake is not looking too thrilled and Taylor looks like a Who from Whoville.

This the the color Jake's hair turned after Amber bleached it. She missed some black spots and so was bleaching it again.

He Looks like the Heat Miser!
"I'm Mr. Green Christmas, I'm Mr. Sun, doo doo doo doot, I'm Mr. Heat blister, I'm Mr. 101!"

It's a Senior moment

2009-06-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

I've finally posting about graduation. I have been so behind on postings and am almost caught up....for now!

It's hard to believe that Amber graduated on the 28th of May. It seems like it was just this past school year that she was dressed in her little black and white checked skirt, white tights and black and white saddle shoes heading into Ms. Zuloff's kindergarten class. I thought it was interesting that she started kindergarten on the same day as she started her senior year.
It was a GREAT evening and Dave and I were so proud seeing Amber walk up there and receive her diploma. After she received it she turned toward the crowd and gave her signature thumbs up. Very funny! And this is payback for all the times I have tripped or have fallen and Amber either walks away or laughs at me while shaking her head, but she totally tripped coming down the stairs off the stage! It was HILARIOUS!! Congratulations Amber! This is just the beginning of a new and exciting adventure in your life! We are SO proud of you and your accomplishments!

Our good friends Hawg (Xavier) and Stephanie drove from L.A. to attend the graduation. Dave and Hawg meet when they were both first in the Marine Corps. We were SO glad they were able to come out and SUPER excited to see them. Plus Stephanie made some AWESOME homemade chips and salsa! Auntie Sue, Dave's sister came down from Michigan to see Amber graduate. She was only able to stay a day due to her work schedule. It was GREAT to see her, but hope next time she will be able to stay longer. Aunt Tracey, my sister came out from San Diego to see Amber and visit. We had a fun visit with her. Thanks you guys for coming out and sharing this with Amber and us!

Taylor, Auntie Sue and Hunter leaving to go to the graduation ceremony.

Amber going in to get ready to walk!

Dave and me waiting for the ceremony to start. It looks like we are the ONLY people there, it later filled to standing room only!

Auntie Sue, Taylor and Hunter enjoying some Skittles while they wait.

As Amber is walking out to graduate!

Receiving her diploma....YEAH!!!

Another shot on the jumbotron.

Walking over to sing with the choir.

Waiting for Amber after the ceremony.

Us doing Amber's signature thumbs up.

Stephanie and Hawg came from L.A. to see Amber graduate. Hawg and Dave met each other when they were first in the Marine Corps. They have been friends for over 20 years.

Amber and Aunt Tracey

Getting some mommy love!

Amber and The Hunter

Dave, Amber and Auntie Sue, who came down from Michigan to celebrate with us.

Zack, Carlie, Amber, Cameron and Maggie...her besties!

Amber and Cameron

Happy Birthday Cameron!

2009-06-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Amber's boyfriend Cameron celebrated his birthday May 27th. The kids had a swim party for him at our community pool. It was a lot of fun and I think Cameron especially liked the Princess cake Amber bought for him. Actually Cameron's sister Caitlyn wanted him to have the Princess cake. I'm secretly thinking she wanted it for herself!

The gang!

Jakes head, Cameron and Scotty

Maggie and Amber

Hunter, Cameron and Caitlyn, Cameron's sister

Carlie and Amber

Dave taking out Jake and Scotty

Amber and Cameron

The Crew minus Zack....where are you Zack?!!?!?!?!?!?!!

Seminary Graduation...no more early mornings for Amber!!

2009-06-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Fours years of getting up early and attending Seminary has finally come to an end!! Amber completed all four years and hardly missed a day until this year at the end due to somehow getting Mono. We are proud of her dedication and willingness to get up each morning to go and learn more about the gospel. There were a few rough times, but she continued to go saying something would be missing in her day if she didn't go. I know starting her day off learning of Christ and His ministry helped her get through the muck of high school.
Good job Amber!!

Proudly showing off her Seminary Diploma

TAKS test are done, let's party!!

2009-06-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here in the GREAT state of Texas, the schools have these state mandated test (TAKS) that the kids have to take. TAKS test are a HUGE deal, not only for the students but also for the teachers. I am NOT a fan of the TAKS test. If the kids don't pass they don't promote to the next grade. They do give them a chance to retake them during summer school. It totally stress EVERYONE out, especially the kids. This year the principal decided that since the kids worked so hard and did so good on the test that she would reward them by letting them have a field trip to the park. Our city just put in this new awesome park this past spring and it's within walking distance of the school. It also has a splash area which was perfect for the kids after the walk over. They played, splashed, ate lunch and played some more.

Since we have NO beach in site, the next best thing I guess is the sand in the volleyball pits.

cooling off in the splash area after the walk over.

Warming up after playing in the splash area.

Playing volleyball with the teachers.

Field Day at the elementary school

2009-06-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm now chaperoning my third school event in the same week. CRAZY!! It was the annual field day for Taylor and Hunter. Since both of their grades went at the same time, my group consisted of kids from Taylor's class and some from Hunter's. The weather was actually quite mild for most of the morning. It started to get hot and yucky right at the end which was PERFECT! There were all kinds of things for the kids to try. They could dribble a soccer ball, bounce on a big, bouncy ball, throw a football and several slides and bounce houses. Right before it ended and we had lunch, they gave each of the kids a Popsicle. It really hit the spot!

At first I thought they had invited Dave, but then realized this guy was wearing Army green NOT Marine green.

My group

I LOVE Hunter's face in this picture!

LOVE this picture, not only because my kids are so dang cute, but because my friend Sariah in the background is making a super funny face!

8th grade celebration

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

So far during the last full week of school, Amber and Taylor had field trips to Sandy Lake. Now it was Jake's turn. He was a bit surprised that I had signed up to go on his field trip. I guess he thought I was going to cramp his style! They took the 8th graders to Park Lane Ranch in Dallas. I was expecting a ranch, you know with horses, cows, etc. Not so. It was a miniature golf course. There was also volleyball nets, basketball hoops and an area to play some waffle ball. The teachers brought water balloons, bubbles and hula hoops. I think the kids liked the unlimited soda's, fajitas and ice cream the best! Of course Jake did his best NOT to have his picture taken, but with my WONDERFUL lens that I got for Mother's Day I was able to get a few of him.
Everyone seemed to have a great time and the best part was they didn't have to wear their uniforms!

I gotta lot of pictures of his back.

I was able to get a couple of him goofing around without him knowing.

Sandy Lake competition

2009-06-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Amber's choir competed again this time at a place not too far from where we live. It is a mini amusement park and schools from all over come and compete. In fact Taylor's choir went the day after Amber's went. Anyway back to Amber, their choir received a one and where able to bring home another trophy. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go and watch them compete so therefore I have no pictures to share. Way to go Concert Choir. This has been a GREAT year for you!

As I mentioned Taylor's elementary school went the next day to Sandy Lake to compete. I was able to go with Taylor and she had a fun time riding the rides and NOT being at school. Their mixed grade choir sounded SO good. It was the first time I'd heard them sing. They received a one and awarded a nice, BIG trophy! GOOD JOB!!

Taylor and her friend Brianna before the ride started. Note how calm and happy Taylor is.

Brianna made the cage turn upside down and totally FREAKED Taylor out! This was the one and only time Taylor let Brianna flip it.

On the Spider. This ride couldn't go upside down!

Dave used his lunch time to drive out to Sandy Lake and surprise Taylor.

Competing

Mrs. Mintor and Taylor holding the HUGE trophy they were awarded.

FINALLY! I'm updating!!

2009-06-06T20:27:00.001-07:00

So when I said I would be updating my blog last Monday, I secretly meant I would be updating it a week later. Just when I thought things were going to calm down after Amber graduated, things just kept going crazy! Hopefully this week will slow down and we can enjoy doing nothing.

Several weeks ago, Amber was able to go to San Antonio for a choir competition. Her ensemble made a one, which is great and they received a HUGE trophy! Several days later it was her choir banquet at the high school. It was VERY nice and Amber received several awards. One of the awards that was given to her was a box of SpongeBob band aids because she is always needing a band aid, her individual trophy for the win in San Antonio and a Cert. of Merit. It was a great night and we had fun with several of her choir friends.

Posing with the trophies

Ashley presenting Amber with her box of SpongeBob band aids.

Showing off her trophy she got for her group winning in San Antonio

Certificate of Merit

Amber and Cameron

Amber and Ashley

Choir friends

Busy,busy,busy.....

2009-05-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have been SUPER busy these past two weeks, with field trips, field day, photo sessions, getting things ready for company and Amber graduating that I have neglected my poor little blog! I hope to remedy that this week AFTER the tile guy comes and fixes ALL 18 of my broken tiles.
Oh and yea the Red Wings just won game #2 of the Stanley Cup Finals!!!
GO WINGS!

Mother I Love You, Mother I Do....

2009-05-10T21:19:00.001-07:00

Ah....what is Mother's Day without the traditional singing in sacrament meeting of the popular mother's day classic, Mother I love you, Mother I do?! Taylor and Hunter sang the BEST! As I'm sure all the other mom's are saying right now, but seriously folks mine did. As I was watching them I started to tear up, thinking how lucky I am to not only be their mom, but also mom to Jake and Amber. Also, thinking of my own mom and not being able to be with her today made me a bit weepy. I am lucky to have a wonderful mom. I haven't always agreed with her, been a bit embarrassed or annoyed by her, but I can truly say I am SO THANKFUL the Lord gave her to me. She has loved me no matter what and forgave me for sometimes not being the best daughter. She has been such a good example of strength, perseverance, compassion and forgiveness. Thank you mom for all you have done and do for me. I truly appreciate your encouragement, belief in me and unconditional love. Thank you for always being there for me when I needed you! Happy Mother's Day and I LOVE YOU!

My mom, Amber and Hunter

I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day. Hunter came in and woke me up to tell me I could stay in bed and sleep. Such a sweet boy! Taylor and Hunter washed my car, it was really dirty. We went to church and heard some good talks on women and honoring the women in our lives. And I received several homemade gifts from the kids. Although, several weeks ago I got my mother's day/birthday gift, the lens for my camera I wanted, the homemade cards and goodies I got were the BEST! Thanks guys! I really am one lucky mom to have you as my kids.

One of my gifts was a car wash

All my gifts...check out Hunter's card on the left...hahaaa he ate all the candy off of it!

Bring an ancestor to dinner...

2009-05-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

For Achievement Days this week, the girls were suppose to research one of their ancestors and then all the girls would share what they learned about that person. Well, several weeks ago Taylor discovered that her Uncle Randy, my oldest brother, was a VERY talented artist. She is so excited about this fact that she is dying for him to draw her something. So she decided she wanted to spotlight him. We called him and she talked to him about some of the stuff he has done. He couldn't talk for very long so he emailed his fun facts and a collage of some of the work he has done with some movies. There were some movies that I didn't know he had worked on and some I knew, so it was fun to see all that he has done. It was a fun night hearing about what all the girls had found out and of course since it was Cinco De Mayo, the nachos were MUY BUENO!! So Randy even though you technically aren't an ancestor yet, you are a very interesting person and we are thankful you are in our family!

Telling a little about Uncle Randy.

Showing some of the movies he has worked on.

SCORE!!!

2009-05-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

YEAH Taylor!!!

Taylor made her first career goal in Saturday's game. It was VERY exciting!!
Way to go Taylor.

Rain, rain go away....

2009-05-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and last night we had the most CRAZY thunder, lightening, rain storm. Honestly, it reminded me of when we were in Japan and a typhoon was coming. At one point last night it was raining so hard we could barely see our neighbor's house that is right across the street. The sky turned a really dark, scary color and the wind whipped up and it felt like a tornado was coming. We did lose our power and being the well prepared people we are we didn't have any extra double A batteries and I only had tea lights. Thank goodness the Wii remotes had double A's! After the rain and wind stopped, Dave, Taylor, Hunter, Jake and our friend Scotty went to survey the damage. Our rocking chair was on the side of the house in pieces, the neighbors little tree was uprooted a bit and the creek by our house was flooded and the water was rushing pretty fast. Also there was this HUGE snake in the middle of the road. Dave and the kids weren't about to touch it and it looked like it was in pretty bad shape. After several people stopped to check it out, one guy stopped his truck and took out his knife and chopped it's head off. YUCK!!! Of course I had to go down and take pictures of it. It was just HUGE!

The sky after the storm

The creek by our house. Normally there is a little stream, that you can barely see.
The water was rushing pretty fast

Our poor rocker was blown off the porch around the house and totally destroyed.

EEEEEKKKKK!!!! The behead snake

The head....yuck!

Ok, he must have just had dinner, poor little mouse.....SO GROSS!!!!

May the force be with you

2009-05-03T16:56:00.001-07:00

Hunter's bestie, Gavin came over the other morning before school. His mom had an appointment and asked if it would be ok if Gavin rode to school with us. To say that Hunter was excited was an understatement. Anytime he can play with Gavin it's a good day. They have such a good time together. They started off the morning by looking at Hunter's really awesome Transformer book that makes really cool sounds. But as you'll notice in the picture they have their light sabers close at hand and ready in case the need for battle arises.

Hey notice the sucker in Gavin's mouth. I'm sure glad I'm not the only mom who thinks that candy is a breakfast item!! Also note Hunter's shoes. He has lost the laces and wears them anyway, laceless and with curled tongues.

Hunter thought he could sneak up on the young Jedi Gavin as he was reading.
Hunter has his Power Ranger glove on so he can morph at any given moment.

As you can see the force is strong with Gavin and he was able to sense Hunter's attack.

Hunter's been hit, but what's most impressive is that Gavin still has his sucker in and Hunter's vampire teeth didn't fall out.

With the skills that these two young Jedi's possess, Darth Maul doesn't stand a chance.

I want to join this ward, the bishop is HILARIOUS!

2009-04-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ok I found this blog on another friends blog. It is seriously funny!
Thanks Molly for finding this and sharing.

Enjoy,

http://bishophiggins.blogspot.com

Relay for Life in honor of Grammie Marilyn

2009-04-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Taylor and Hunter's school is supporting Relay for Life this year. The students were given the opportunity to get an illumination bag to decorate in honor of a loved one or someone they knew who was affected by cancer. We decided that Taylor and Hunter could get a bag and decorate it in honor of Grammie Marilyn who lost her battle with cancer this year. Grammie Marilyn isn't really our gramma. She is my brother's mother in law who had a VERY kind heart and she LOVED being a gramma. Whenever we got together with my brother and his family and Grammie Marilyn was there she always treated my kids like they were her grand kids. We have fun memories of her at my brothers house and also at Disneyland. Hunter still remembers about how he got to ride on her lap in the wheelchair at Disney. She was a WONDERFUL person who LOVED to smile and laugh. In fact that is how I will always remember her, laughing. I'm pretty sure she is in heaven right now looking down on us and laughing. It was a privilege to know her and I'm grateful that she is part of our family.
You are missed Grammie Marilyn!

Taylors side of the bag

Hunter showing his side of the bag

Reading before school

2009-04-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

As we were getting ready for school Monday, Hunter remembered he needed to read his AR book so he could take a test on it. I was trying to finish up lunches, get backpacks packed and notebooks signed when I looked over and saw Hunter perched on the window sill wearing Jake's hat reading. Glad I was able to get a picture. So sweet!

Here comes Peter Cotton tail...

2009-04-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know Easter was several weeks ago. I told you I was WAAAAYYYYY behind in my postings.
But since I'm using this as a journal of sorts, I'm going to include it. Plus there are some pretty cute pictures.

Getting ready to dye the eggs.

These WAY COOL plastic cups came with the kit!

Putting in the first eggs

All done.

The finished product

Look what the Easter Bunny brought....YUMMY!!! CANDY!!!

Every year since Amber was a little girl we have had an Easter egg hunt for the kids on Easter. This year Amber and Jake complained about it. They said they didn't want to do it. Jake wanted us to ONLY hide the eggs in the back yard in case anyone he knew drove by and he be embarrassed. Well DUH!! Don't tell you parents that because of COURSE we are going to hide them in the front yard silly boy. Secretly they LOVED it as much as the little kids did. And who wouldn't? The eggs are filled with candy!

Thank goodness I was back some or I would have been run over! Even Sadie wanted in on the action.

Hunter was a good finder.

Always a pose!

Taylor wasn't shy about going in the front at all. There were eggs to be found!

Not sure if he wants to venture out into the side/front. Hey pull up your pants!

They worked hard for the money.....

2009-04-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

The youth of our ward are taking a trip this summer to Nauvoo, Il to see and experience some of the history of the church. So the youth are doing things to earn money for the trip. They have already done trash pick up which they were NOT thrilled about but, they were troopers and made it fun.

The boys got to pick up all the yucky trash along the main road....

and the girls got to walk around the subdivision. As you can see they had it much easier.

For another way for the youth to earn money the bishop decided since he was redoing his backyard he would enlist the youth to help them with earning money. It was hard work! And they did a great job. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the older boys working, but I do have some of Dave and Hunter helping lay the flagstone. Hunter did a GREAT job and had fun working with his dad.

Blue Bonnets....a Texas tradition

2009-04-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

The state flower of Texas is the Blue Bonnet. They grow along side the freeways, service roads, open fields and the medians. This time of year they are everywhere. Cities actually pay to have the road sides seeded with blue bonnet and other wildflower seeds. This was started by Lady Bird Johnson when she returned to Texas from Washington DC. Each spring her legacy lives on here in Texas as they bloom. Texans LOVE their blue bonnets about as much as they love their state. It is a tradition each spring when the blue bonnets bloom to take pictures in them. Taylor was the only one who was game for this. In fact she specifically asked me to take her out and take her picture in them. Luckily there is an area by our house that is a popular picture taking spot. She had a lot of fun laying in them...till she saw the bees. Thankfully the bees didn't bother us.

Just a few of my favorite shots.

It's official....Amber is licensed in the state of Texas!

2009-04-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

It's here, it's here!!

Her new love! I must say I'm loving it too. At this point she is still willing to go to the store whenever I need her to.

Can't believe she is old enough to have a license. YIKES!

I can't believe how far behind I am!

2009-04-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Seriously I am so behind in my postings. I keep thinking each day after the kids get off to school that I will sit here and catch up. Obviously NOT! I can't think about it right now. Tomorrow, yes I'll do it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day. (said with a thick southern drawl)

It tastes like chicken....

2009-04-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Isn't that what we tell our kids when we are trying to get our kids to eat some new meat product? Well the latest bbq we went to was one of those times. Our friends had gone hunting and got a hog. They bbq'd it like fajitas and honestly Jake goes "it tastes like chicken!"
I'm not too adventurous when it comes to trying stuff like this. I really don't think I could be one of those shoot your own dinner, live off the land kinda girls. I prefer that the meat I eat come on a Styrofoam try and have a UPC code. Well, I MUST say it was VERY yummy!

hog fijitas

Jakes girlfriend Abi and Taylor

Hunter loves to fish. (I love the reflection on the pond)

Does going to a Crawfish boil make us true Texans?

2009-04-13T13:37:00.001-07:00

A week ago Friday we were invited to our first EVER Crawfish boil at our friends the Gilberts. I had never been to one and wasn't quite sure what to expect. What I remember about crawfish is a distant memory of being a little girl in Georgia, playing in the creek and seeing Crawfish, but we didn't eat them. And then last summer after some heavy rain we went to the pool and there were some in the pool. Don't know why they were in there, but it totally freaked us out. Anyway those are my two experiences with crawfish. Well we got to the Gilberts and they were already a boilin'! They had tons of them. (They look like little lobsters.) Two huge coolers full and the majority of them were still alive. The kids had a blast picking them up and playing with them. Of course they were VERY careful not to let the pincher's get them. I was definitely curious about this whole thing and felt very much like a tourist. I had to have someone show me how to eat them. You tear them in two and then you are suppose to suck the juice and stuff out of the bigger end and then pinch the tail part and suck out the meat. UM....YUCK!! I was NOT about to suck the juicy gut stuff out or suck out the meat part. I was too afraid there was going to be a poop vain like in shrimp so I painstakingly peeled the little tails to get to the crumb of meat that was in there. I will say that my Taylor was VERY brave and sucked out the juicy gut stuff! Hunter didn't feel the need to eat any of it and Jake and Amber were elsewhere that night. Honestly, they were REALLY tasty, but a lot of work for a teeny, tiny bit of meat. Thank goodness there were new potatoes and corn (that was super spicy, I thought my lips were going to fall off) because you would have to have eaten an entire cooler of them in order to get full. It was a SUPER fun night! The kids played in the canoe in the front yard pond, we had a bonfire and had hot, delicious, smores and visited with some great friends. It was a GREAT evening and now I know how to eat a crawfish! Does this officially make me a Texan?

hanging out in the cooler waiting their turn to boil

getting cooked

Bro. Boyles showing me how to eat them

Hunter with his new pet

Taylor was MUCH braver than me. She actually sucked all the juicy stuff out.....YUCK!

YUMMY!!

Dave had NO problem digging right in.

Hunter and Ben canoeing around the pond.

The aftermath!

On my honor....

2009-04-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

Jake has gone back and forth with scouting. Our last ward, did scouting, but it wasn't very consistent. The scouting program here is strong in both our ward and stake. When we first got here Jake did scouts and then decided he didn't want to participate. I was bummed, because he has done quite a bit of stuff and they are always doing things to help these guys advance. Recently he came to us and said he wanted to try scouts again. I was happy, but must admit I know NOTHING about scouts and it is something that overwhelms me and I can't seem to remember anything about it. Thank goodness we have some GREAT leaders who love scouting! Tuesday, March 31st was a court of honor. Jake was in charge of the color guard and even though he didn't yell the commands like Dave wanted him too, he did do them with authority. He did a GREAT job and looked so handsome in his scout shirt! He received several awards that came with little pins for the moms and that he pinned on me. It was a VERY exciting night! Way to go Jake we are SUPER proud of you!!

Overseeing the younger scouts properly fold the flag. They also read what each fold meant. VERY INTERESTING!

Receiving his awards from Scoutmaster Jim

Do you smell that?.....It's the smell of VICTORY!

2009-03-30T06:36:00.001-07:00

With all the rain we've had recently, Hunter hasn't had a soccer game. Thursday night he finally had his first game. GO TITANS!! The fields were still a bit wet so it made for a slippery time. These are the same kids Hunter played with in the fall and they seem to be working a little better together this season. Even though they didn't score they played a good game and had a lot fun.

Hunter doing the coin toss...

Some action shots of Hunter

Caught in the act!

After Hunter's game we went one field over and watched Taylor and her team (No Fear) proceed to dominate. This is the team that she has been on since we moved here. There are a few new girls, this season, but they have come together to make a great team. After the game Taylor asked Dave..."Do you smell that?...It's the smell of VICTORY"!

Welcome home Edward

2009-03-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

...Edward we're coming!....Waiting in line to buy a copy of Twilight

He's all ours!

It truly was a Twilight miracle that we didn't get kicked out of Walmart before it was our turn. We had just come from watching a friend of Amber, Carlie and Maggies who is in a band and I had my camera with me. Apparently the RUDE lady at Walmart didn't like the fact that I had it and kept coming up to me asking me if I was taking pictures. Honestly, there isn't really much to see in Walmart that I want to take a picture of and I don't want a picture of the Twilight books. I own them, DUH! We got our copy of Twilight and high tailed it out of there.

Tomorrow night, Twilight party with the girls, can't wait....

You will soon be OURS!!....

2009-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Edward my love, we will soon own you....FOREVER!!

We are thankful for.....

2009-03-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dave: My kids straight A report cards, my bride, the Red Wings breaking the 100 points for the 9th season in a row!, the chili recipe Jake found on the internet, thankful it was only the fuel filter and nothing more expensive!, the rain and my NEW rain barrels!!, I'm thankful for other ridiculous blogs that make me laugh, NO CAR PAYMENTS!

Amber: Permit(license in 15 days!!!), hanging out with the best friends..and Cameron, mom's car getting fixed, food, soda, candy, guitar hero, SPRING BREAK, pink hair dye, the rain, rain boots, making yummy cookies!, my new phone that works amazingly, dad for calling and getting me a new phone, photoshop!!

Stefanie: Great report cards!!, Dave for planning and doing FHE, my kids and their crazy friends, MAKING MY LAST CAR PAYMENT!, AND a cheap car repair, the rain, now the sunshine, getting our photography blog up and running...YEAH BIG SHOT, laughing so hard I almost peed my pants, learning that the insurance FINALLY paid on the last of Amber's test (it's all in what code they put), chocolate creme de menthe kisses...oh yeah they are WONDERFUL!, Being able to take AWESOME pictures with Jenni.

Jake: food, friends, being able to go the movies with friends.

Hunter: Gavin sleeping over, straight A's.

Taylor: my mom and dad, friends to play with, sleeping over at Natalie Whites house 2 days in a row!, Spring Break, food, Capt Underpants books.

Friday the 13th.....not UN-lucky!

2009-03-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th has the distinction of being unlucky. WELL, NOT this time! The schools decided to make yesterday a non uniform day. Needless to say the kids were THRILLED! Taylor and Hunter were allowed to wear jeans and a green shirt, to help celebrate St. Patty's day early and the start of Spring Break! Jake and Amber were also allowed to wear jeans. So to them that made Friday the 13th a VERY lucky day! Yesterday was also the Accelerated Reading party for this 12 weeks at the elementary school. I'm in charge of the AR program and this time I had arranged for the Dallas Zoo to come. They have a program called "Feature Creature" where they will bring three animals from the zoo to show and talk about. They brought a furry little fellow that I can't remember what it was called, I think it was a Kickachoo. However, I kept calling it a Picachoo! A beautiful colorful parakeet named Chili and a 40lb Boa Constrictor. It was VERY cool and interesting to see them up close and learn about them. Then right after that there was the academic pep rally. It was a BUSY day at the elementary school! At the pep rally, Taylor was given the award, "Student of the Six Weeks" for her class. That award is given to the student who shows kindness, respect and is helpful to others during the six weeks. I must say that REALLY is Taylor. She is all three of those things! I am SO proud of her!!!
The Jr. High also had a pep rally where the 8th grade teachers played basketball against the 8th grade basketball team. According to Jake the kids DOMINATED! I wished I could have attended that as well. It sounded like it was a lot of fun.
Really the only thing about yesterday day being unlucky was the non-stop rain and because we can always use the rain, that was even lucky!

Isn't this little fellow cute!

Chili who comes from South America.

The kids LOVED Sally, but some of the teachers were FREAKED out by her.

Hunter and Taylor enjoying the presentation from the Dallas Zoo

Waiting for the pep rally to begin.

Taylor with her Certificate, pencil and free kids meal from Chik-fi-la (yum!)

Spring soccer is here!

2009-03-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday marked the beginning of Spring soccer....YEAH!! Taylor had her first game of the season and she got to play at the new city athletic park. Which I might add is an AWESOME park! I really can't wait till the splash part opens. Anyway back to soccer. Taylor didn't play fall soccer, but decided to play this spring . She is again on No Fear. This time around Taylor is playing on the field more instead of goalie. She is excited about that. The last season she played (last spring) she was stuck as goalie. Even though she is a good goalie she didn't like playing it. Saturday she came close to scoring several times and at one point had an open goal, but for whatever reason she kicked the ball wide. Oh well, there's always another game for her to try and score and for me to make a fool of myself yelling! I just get so into it. Hunter hasn't had his first game yet, but rest assured I will be out there screaming my head off for him soon!

Going for a goal

Getting ready to kick

Darn goalie stopped it! You just wait till next time...

big shots photography is up and running!

2009-03-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

Not only am I finally caught up with my blog (I posted three in one day) Jenni and I have put the finishing touches on our photography blog. YEAH!!!
We are SUPER excited about this new adventure we have started. Click on over to our big shots photography blog and check it out.

Here's a couple favorite shots of us in one of our favorite locations...

You're beautiful....

2009-03-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

Tuesday for Young Women's we had a WONDERFUL sister, Tami Link from our ward come and talk to the girls on beauty inside and out. It was a FABULOUS lesson and one I think we all enjoyed. I know I did. It was a GREAT reminder that if we don't have a kind heart no amount of makeup applied or expensive or stylish clothes worn will make us beautiful. Beauty comes from within and even the most plain person becomes beautiful when their hearts are full of love and kindness. She then shared a VERY cute handout she had prepared, a list of beauty tips from Audrey Hepburn.
She also gave this quote, which I ABSOLUTELY love:
If happiness is the most attractive accessory--then a genuine smile is the best lip gloss.

Beauty Tips
By Audrey Hepburn

For attractive lips, Speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, Seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, Share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, Let a child run his or her fingers
through it once a day.

For poise, Walk with the knowledge you’ll never
walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored,
renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll
find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have
two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for
helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she
wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she
combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her
eyes, Because that is the doorway to her heart, the
the place where love is.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, But
true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion
that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with
passing years—only grows!

Thank you Tami for such an AWESOME lesson!

You are not only beautiful on the outside, but also a GREAT example of inner beauty!