Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween we had a beautiful angel and a black haired Vet. (see the animal sticking out of her pocket?) I think she just wanted to wear the wig. :)

This is the first year that I have dressed up in a really long time. The school's theme was "Toy Story" Kim & I were Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head with interchangeable parts. These pictures are with my Angry eyes. Can you tell? It was really fun! We had a "Trunk or Treat" on Saturday night and Colten was Mr. Potato. All in all, we had lots of candy and a great weekend of dressing up.

The big 1-1

We went from having our first little girl to having a house full of them. Our first princess turned 11 and invited some of her friends over for a late night party. My ears are still ringing from the squealing. Wow. I wasn't sure I was going to make it. They ate pizza, had root beer floats, danced on the wii and had a blast.

On her birthday she got girly things. She also wanted a dresser so Jordan gave her his. He is kind to her. She had a good week and is very excited to turn 12 and be a beehive. Am I ready for that? She says I am. :) Kass has been a joy to have. We were so anxious to have her. I really didn't believe the dr. when he told us we were going to have a girl. The dr. made me promise to buy something pink that very day. She was my easiest delivery. Does that mean that she will be my hardest teenager? I love watching her grow into a beautiful young women. Have a great year Kassidy!

School year 2010

The school year started and I took the mandatory "first day of school" pictures. This is our last year of everyone going to a "free" school. I think the high school fees are so high to get the parents used to spending more and more. They were all excited and ready to go. The girls go to school with me or I go to school with them. Who knows which.

This has become Mason's favorite mode of transportation. (he says "the girls like it") Jordan also likes it because then he doesn't have to ride his bike either. Mason just doesn't like it when it is supposed to rain because then Dad can't ride the motorcycle. It does get waxed a little bit more frequently now that it is the dating mobile. Colten gets to ride his bike this year. Isn't he handsome?

August 2010 (so far)

August took us to Wyoming. My sister, Dana watched the girls while I was Doug's VP of equipment. It was quite an adventure with too many pictures to share here. You can find them by clicking here and here. (for those of your already on Facebook...you've seen them)

August also brings us to my favorite time of year!!! I love school supply season. I love to get 10 cent notebooks and brand new crayons for a quarter. My husband says I'm an addict. My kids tease me too. I don't care. I LOVE IT!!! This is what Back to School 2010 looks like. (I do like to stock up for those notes coming home in Dec/Jan saying they need new stuff ... and I refuse to pay $3.00 for the same 24 count crayons)

School starts on Wednesday. Backpacks are packed. New clothes are bought.

New teachers, new friends, new adventures!

July 2010

July started off with a bang. July also brought the Wyne Family Reunion. We went over to the other side of the state and went to Camp Taylor. It was very fun. The cousins all played, the adults ate, read, napped. It doesn't get better.
One of the Wyne traditions is to exchange homemade Christmas presents. We decided that the best time to do it was at the reunion. It sure makes Christmas time less hectic. This year we hit the jackpot. We drew names and my parents had Doug & I. My mom made us this fabulous quilt. I absolutely love it. It matches everything in our room and it reminds me everyday that I'm loved. My dad made this for Doug. It was made on a scroll saw and represents everything that he loves: wildlife, singing, motorcycles, dogs, Boise State and of course the Savior. It is just beautiful.

As soon as the reunion was over we dived right into preparations for "Trek". I was in charge of designing and making 200 of these. No, not the kids but the over the shoulder, oh so lovely, highly fashionable "possible bags". There were many who helped in this adventure. I'm very glad for their service.

Alaska Cont.

This is the cabin they slept in.

They would get up early and fish, then take a nap, then fish, then nap, then fish, then nap. So much that they all came home and said "I don't know if I can go a whole work day without napping". They also read whatever books they could find. Doug read more books in Alaska then I've seen him read in a long time.
Their luxury accommodations. 4 stars don't you think?

When they first got to Alaska the fishing limit was 2 a day. A few days later it was changed to 1 fish, that's it, no more, make it good. Here's the one Doug brought home. This is how I saw it. It was packaged and frozen. My favorite way to eat things that my wild hunter brings home.

He is very glad that he went. He's not anxious to go again. There are other places he would like to see, plus we missed him. He came home sporting this...

June 2010

The weekend that school got out Doug & I took off for a wild ride. Doug loves to ride Harley's so every couple of years we rent one and go for a night. This was our cool machine this year. Bart & Dana met us in Twin Falls and we were hard core riders. This picture was supposed to be our "tough look" picture. Dana & I just kept laughing. We are such the biker babes! It makes me laugh every time I see it. People don't make eye contact with you when you wear a do-rag. The rest of June was taken up with Summer school. No cool pictures of that adventure. But because of that we will hopefully have some cool pictures of Mason come May.

June also brought to life a dream of Doug's. One of his "Bucket List" items was to go fishing in Alaska. Doug & 2 other guys left Boise and flew to Alaska. They saw some interesting signs.

They rode in little airplanes and lived to tell the tale. They did a LOT of this...and this.

It's never too late, right?

On Memorial Day weekend we were invited to the Moss/Brumfield house of ultimate pampering. The boys went fishing where Hayden caught the dinner for that night. We read books. We played games.

The kids loved being outside and trying to flip each other over the cliff in the hammock. The fire pit was also a huge draw.

Oh, and the boys shot guns. Big guns. Loud guns. (can you tell)
We loved the time to just hang out and visit. They have invited us lots of times and we were sure glad that we took them up on their offer. Thanks guys!

Father's day of years past

I didn't take any pictures this Father's day. I don't know why, I just forgot. I did clean my room today and found a classic. It is one of my favorites. Here's the outside. Kelsie is the artist.
This is the inside. It doesn't show up very good but her eyes are all red. The poor girl had a hard time with Nursery. We have thankfully moved past that. I also love it when her daddy comes home and gives me a great big kiss.

On this Father's day Doug was doing his monthly speaking assignment for the High Council. He did a fabulous job (as always) and I wanted to share it. It is long so I put it right under the picture of the 2 of us. It's entitled Prayer & Promptings. I love to hear him speak and bear his testimony of the Savior. He is so strong. Oh, how I love him.

Channelling my inner Lisa

You might have noticed that I added a new blog on the side bar. It is called "Adopt a do". I found it by doing a google search on easy hair styles for girls. Her name just happens to be Mindy and she has lots of videos and easy instructions to follow. I love it. Here are my model girls with their "Waterfall" french braids. Go try something and let me know how it turns out. Lisa would be so impressed!

Channelling my inner Dana

Sunday night our house was filled with people. I just loved it. We picked up Keegan from BSU's football camp to spend the night with us. The older boys were thrilled. We had Avery & Chelsea with us. They have all gotten along so well. It has been fun.

Andy & Ally and their girls came down from Nampa and my parents came up from Utah on their way to the Burnett reunion in Oregon. It was full of laughter and fun.

Here is where I was channelling my inner Dana. I made cookie ice cream bowls. They were super easy and good. I got the idea from here. I think Dana would have been proud. http://partnersincrafts.blogspot.com/2010/06/irresistable-chocolate-chip-cookie.html

Have I convinced anyone to come and visit us? We'll leave the light on for you.

Working backwards

I'm so far behind that I've decided to work from the most current backwards. Hopefully before summer is over I can get caught up. :) There is a park here that is as awesome as a water park without the high price. Monday was a beautiful day here. We got some treats and left the laundry. We have 2 of the Browns kids with us for a little while so each of the girls had a buddy. They had a fabulous time. We call them Chassidy and Kavery. Kavery are always found outside on the tramp.


The only sunburn to be had is on my left arm. I had it draped over the back of the chair while I read a book and didn't notice that it was left to bake in the sun. It is very redneck!

I see stars!

Last week our school had a fundraiser dance. The theme was Hollywood stars. You could dress up if you wanted. We didn't want to. Mason & Jordan decided to pass on this event. Here's Colten (orange shirt) dancing away.

Kassidy (pink shirt) even got into it.

Kelsie was very excited to go but once she got there this is what we had. She did not want to smile or leave her dad. At the dance they have a hula hoop contest which she had told us about before we left. She said "I think I can win." I thought for sure she would not go out there. I was wrong. The contest is broken down by grade level. They called for the Kindergartners. She ran out there. (13 seconds)

After all the contests were over she got a "Oscar". She was very happy. Kassidy & Colten did well but couldn't outlast their grade level kids. After it was all over Kelsie looked up at me and said "At least one of us got a trophy". That girl continues to surprise us.

In Review

It's been a couple of crazy weeks here. Here's some of or happenings. Doug went to Chicago and took his dad's hat. He went to see the Cubby's but didn't get into Oprah. Maybe next year. Colten was in a play. It was the 6th grade musical. He was the old Pinocchio. He loved his wig that Doug found in his old chest. Does he look like he is ready for Junior High?
Jordan finished up tennis taking 6th place in Mixed Doubles. Mason finished tennis. They both had end of year concerts. Jordan made Jazz Band next year. Mason will be his section leader. Pray for us!
I have been reminded lately of how fragile life is. I love my family here at home and those who don't live under our roof. Really!

Prickly Pear

Do you know that email that circulated around with all the misspellings in it but you could still read it? I aced it. I've noticed recently that I'm not very good at reading every single word. I have a class that I do their read aloud. I have to really concentrate to read every word. I guess I'm used to skipping words. It's doesn't work well for librarians. :)

Case in point: Last weekend Aunt Vicki came up for a rodeo. We all met her on Saturday morning for breakfast. I looked over Kelsie's menu and told her her choices. Without really looking at it I said she could get a Prickly Pear, then it became a Prickly Bear and when the waiter brought it out he said it was actually a Perky Bear. I guess I need to work on my reading skills. But just maybe they need to work on there presentation. Here is what it was supposed to look like. (Doesn't it look prickly?)This is what came.

Thanks for breakfast Aunt Vicki. Even if I didn't read the menu right. Come again!