A Wii Christmas

Wow!!! What a crazy, fun day. The kids (of course) were spoiled rotten (as they should be;-)). They got a Wii system and everything good that goes with it, thanks to all of the family that helped contribute! They also got a lot of other stuff to play with and to keep them busy until school starts again.

James' favorite presents are a pair of spy night vision goggles and spy gear and the Wii. He also loves the movie "The Cat From Outer Space." He has watched it 5 times since last week!

Carter's favorite presents are a bow and arrow set, the Wii, and a bag of Doritos (go figure).

Loreli's favorite presents are her princess shoes, feather boa and her crown. She boldly declares "I am King!"She also earned that title. Last night playing Star Wars Clone Wars on the Wii, she defeated James in a light sabre battle. Girl power rocks!!!

After opening gifts at our house we went to Grandpa and Grandma Shupe's house for breakfast and more presents. Then we went home for a brief nap. Later that afternoon we went to Grandpa and Grandma Hunt's house for lunch and to see Scott's extended family. It was a busy day, but sure fun!!!
They all love their light sabres! Loreli almost always wins because she doesn't play fair. Conking your brother on the head is not the way to win. So far, she is yet to be convinced of that fact. She wants to win by any means necessary!

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

We had a fun morning just playing in the snow.

The slide didn't work too well the first time :-)

Swinging in the snow is awesome!!! Just ask Loreli.

James and Carter taught Loreli how to make snow angels.

I know your jealous we got almost a foot of snow in 2 days. We are supposed to get up to 12" again tomorrow. Anyone want to trade some snow for some sunshine and warmth? Anybody?
I didn't think so. Have a Merry Christmas! At least ours is white!

Better Days!

Thank goodness for busy weekends! We had 4 family gatherings this weekend. I can't think of a better way to get out of a funk than to be with family and friends. Plus the kids got spoiled which always helps too! Anyways, just wanted to blog that life is better today. Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Sad Day :-(

All of the Hedgehog babies died. The boys as you can imagine are really sad. The only reason I am writing this depressing blog post is to let you know the reason there will be no pictures. Hopefully with all that is going on in the next week they will be able to get past this sadness.

Aaaahhhh

Aaahhhh! We woke up yesterday, went about our daily routine and came home from getting the kids from preschool. I went downstairs to check my email and lo and behold we have hedgehog babies. I didn't think that she was pregnant because she is past her due date. So I panicked!!! Thank goodness my mom knows all things furry because I would have had no one else to ask what to do. We got all 4 babies safe with mom in a nest and my heart is beating regularly again.In about a week Mikko (hedgehog mom) will calm down a little bit. Pictures will follow soon. Wish me luck and the babies well.

My mom called the other day when the kids were supposed to be cleaning their room. They had been cleaning on and off (more off than on of course) for several hours (no kidding). She had me put her on speaker and issued a challenge to them. She said that she had to clean her room too so how about a race? The winner got bragging rights. This is the hilarious response to the challenge given to them.

Seattle is Awesome!

Seattle is awesome, mostly because of the people in it. And getting to go on vacation by myself doesn't hurt either :-) Kristie and I had so much fun! I had fun spoiling her kids and not being called mom for 5 whole days. That was nice!


Eva and Molly are crazy! They had so much fun helping me with Yofie. Check out his blog for more pictures of him.

Molly loves to hold her new brother. Little Levi is so darn cute! It's hard to believe that he is only 1 month old. I am not sure what he's thinking in this photo, but I am sure that his facial expression says it all.

He really is as cuddly as he looks. I had so much fun holding him!

The city is so beautiful! I love that it is still green and fallish the first week in December.

This is what I came home to. My husband is nuts but thankfully he didn't say I couldn't go back. He did say with a hint of desperation in his voice that he is glad that I am home :-) I am so glad he had this opportunity to appreciate the role I play at home. I don't think he was sad to escape back to work on Wednesday!

He decided to remodel the bathroom while I was gone. Due to circumstances beyond his control, it's not quite finished. I love him anyway :-)

All in all it was a great trip, a nice break from the daily grind, and a fun escape from reality! Back to the trenches ;-)

Yofie's Here

Yofie is my mom's blog dog. He came to spend Thanksgiving Day with us. Check out his blog to see how our day went. You can get to his blog at the right on my blog list.

Happy Turkey Day To All!!!

Scarves Galore!

There is nothing I like better than a new scarf when the weather gets cold. Apparently Loreli likes them too. Only she can't make up her mind which one of my scarves to wear. All of them together was the only answer. I found her this way. She has quite a sense of fashion don't you think!

James is Special!!!

James gets to be "Wildcat of the Week" this week. He gets to be honored all week at school for being a good kid. That is so awesome!!! We are so proud of him!

He had to make a poster that tells about him and they will display it in his classroom.

His favorite color is blue.
He loves his family.
His favorite foods are cheese pizza and popcorn.
His favorite animal is sharks.
He loves bugs.
He has 2 pets, a dog and a hedgehog.
He loves to swim, fish, and go to San Diego.

Scott is 40!!!

I pulled off the surprise of my life. Scott turned 40 on Saturday. I arranged for a bunch of his friends and family to be at the restaurant before we got there. He had no idea and was shocked that I pulled it off. To be honest so was I. I had some close calls throughout the week and almost blew it! It is the only time I am really grateful that Scott doesn't really pay attention ;-). I couldn't have done it without the help of his family, so "Thanks!!!".

We sure had fun reminiscing about the good old days with his high school buddies. I also made a "This is your life..." book for Scott and had his family tell me stories about the pictures in it and what he was like as a child. My Polaroid camera came in handy too. Jacque helped me take pictures of each person there and they all wrote in the book. It was nice for Scott to know how loved he is!!!

What Do Kitties Say?

Power Rangers Power Up!!!

All Work and No Play Makes Scott A Dull Boy!!!

Scott and his Dad took the boys fishing Saturday. They took the boat to Fontenell Reservoir in Wyoming. They had a blast and some pretty good luck!!! They were yummy fish too (we ate them yesterday :-))

Scary Dragons!!!

While the boys were gone fishing this weekend, Loreli raided the closet and decided to practice for Halloween. I have to mention that this is not her costume. She just wanted to try it out. She makes a very scary dragon don't you think?

Loreli's Dress

Loreli looks so cute in the dress I made her!!! I am so glad I learned how to read a crochet pattern! Thanks to the internet I was able to create this cute dress for winter. It is so fun!!! Thanks for the moment to brag! Good thing I have a cute girl to dress. I doubt that James and Carter would have appreciated this as much :-)

Carter, Carter, Carter

Carter got in trouble the other day for arguing with me and fighting with James and Loreli and who knows what else. I had finally had it and knew that he just needed a nap, so I sent him to his room. He stormed down the stairs making sure to stomp on each step. He was mumbling under his breath all the way down. I said "Carter, be quiet and go to your room before you get in more trouble." He promptly replied,"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to myself."

To Those of Us Who Love to Read

My mom is brilliant! I was browsing all of the awsome blogs available to the public and stumbled on to a book club blog. I thought it looked like fun. I told my mom about it and she told me to go for it. "Do one of your own," she said. So I have started another blog. One just for books. To those of you who have been blogging longer or simply know more, I would love to have your opinions and input on how to go about doing it. As a lover of reading I can not ever have enough suggestions for a good read. You can enter to the right through Books 2 luv. I look forward to your suggestions and opinions!!!

The Pumpkin Patch

Carter's preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch was today. I got to be one of the drivers. The kids had so much fun!!!

First they got to meet the Pumpkin Man. He scared them a little bit because he was laying, lifeless on the hay bails. One of the kids touched him and he moved and one of the little girls screamed. Carter, ever the observant said "Hey, there's a man in that pumpkin."

After he revealed himself as the Farmer, he did some magic tricks for the kids and let them try on his pumpkin head. Then they got to pick out their pumpkins to bring home.

When we were done we went to a park nearby and the kids had snacks and played on the little play ground. Do you think they could fit one more kid on that slide? The little girl peaking through the bars didn't think so. All in all they had a great day!!!

Virtual pat on the back!!!

I don't have time to be sick!!! I woke up yesterday with my throught swollen and my ears aching and my nose stuffed and I just wanted to go back to bed. This is not a poor me statement. This is a shout out to all the mom's who get sick and still have to be mom's to munch kins. I have decided that making through days when we are sick earns us a pat on the back. This is a virtual pat on the back for all us mom's out there who don't ever get to be sick alone again, but make it through like the soldiers that we are. Who says girl's aren't tough?

Great Events

Loreli may have limited space available, but she sure knows how to use it to the best of her advantage when it comes to hosting two major events of the year:

A movie screening of "Ratatouille" with a tough critic (and friend) Amelia Hardy.


A charity dinner with the famous James and Carter.


After an eventful day of fun and feasting one cannot help but crash wherever one might land.

Loreli wants to wish everyone a good night. Do to unfortunate circumstances she is unable to make a conscious appearance at this time. But if she were here, she would say "night, love you!" to all of her adoring fans.

Officially Old

Carter lost his two bottom teeth this weekend. He and James were rough housing yesterday and knocked out the first one. After rinsing his mouth out and consequently losing his tooth down the drain, he declared "Mom, I'm getting old 'cause my teeth are coming out." So it's official, Carter is getting old ;-) !

Yes, Scott really used the pliers. Any one who knows Scott raise your hand if you are the least bit surprised. Not me.
This was right before church. I guess Scott wanted Carter to have a good story to tell. Carter has to do a talk in primary today. I hope this doesn't come up over the pulpit.

Nap-time Nostalgia

Loreli has decided that she is too old for naps. I am so sad because this is the only quiet time I have left. I tried to ask her nicely to go watch a movie and this is what she came up with! No joking. She said "Mom, I have a secret hide out pleeeeaaaaassse!" At least I got my peace of quiet and she got her very much needed nap.

Fall Colors, Fabulous Food and Fun Family Pics

We had the craziest day today!!! It was so busy. We went to church and then drove up to Logan to Diana and Carlos' cabin for Asado (yum) . Then we raced back to Ogden to be to Scott's Grandpa's 91st birthday celebration. Then we went to Family Home Evening at Kent and Seong's house. It has been a crazy busy but great day!

Fall Colors in Sardine Canyon were beautiful today!!!



Carlos and Diana's neighbors have a fabulous swing that they made for their grandkids. It's made out of an old metal framed mattress that is covered with a tarp and chained to two huge trees. That is the kids favorite thing to play on!!! It's good to have good neighbors!!!


Carlos always has the grill going. This is every "grill man's" dream grill!!!

We always appreciate the grill because we get to eat the "fruits" of Carlos' labor!!!

Not Much is Going On

Not much is going on at our house. Scott just worked about 35 hours overtime in the last two weeks so we haven't seen him much. Between the commute through the constant construction and sleeping we are lucky when he is home.

I am trying to keep myself busy with my calling as Enrichment leader. Mostly just trying to stay sane and adding projects to keep me sane takes up most of my time (free time, that is when Loreli is napping :-)) I don't really have a lot of time, that is, that doesn't involve kids. Good thing I like mine!

James is busy with school and video games.
Carter is busy with preschool and loving telling James that he doesn't know EVERYTHING.
Loreli is busy being busy being a mischief!!! She cut her hair today while I wasn't looking for 10 seconds. Lucky for me she was trying to see what she was cutting so now she just has bangs.

That is pretty much it for the fun at our house, but I will keep you posted if anything more exciting happens!