Gingerbread House

My kids made quick work of the gingerbread house that we decorated this year. I'm not sure it made it, fully decorated, through more than about 4 days! And look who was the biggest culprit...Lainey!! Just having it high on the counter didn't stop her. She would push chairs over to the counter climb up and dig in. The gingerbread house is just a shell now. Nothing but the walls and the hard frosting!!

Nutcracker

Wyatt's 2nd grade class went on a field trip to see the Nutcracker performance at the University of Idaho and I was able to go with him. It's been years since I've seen this show and I really enjoyed it. Wyatt loved it too and I think his favorite part was the scene when the Nutcracker and the Mouse King fought! No big surprise there. :) Wyatt is really into super heroes right now so this story was right down his alley. It was a fun afternoon with my fun and lovable Wyatt!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!!

A pretty big snow storm blew through Idaho right after Thanksgiving and we are so glad it did!! The kids got the day off of school and we played in the snow for days. We took the ruler and measured about 9 inches of snow on our deck!! The kids built forts, we had a snow ball fight, built a snow man, and took turns for sled rides behind the quad. It's been so much fun so far and a great start to our first winter here!

Double Digits!!

I can't believe it but my baby girl is 10 years old!!! Where does the time go? She has grown up to be an amazing girl and we feel so blessed to call her ours. We celebrated with our little family and with Grandpa Ron on her b-day, Dec. 2nd. We had her favorite dinner, Pork Chops and Mashed potatoes, and her favorite dessert, Chocolate Caramel Brownies! Grandpa took the kids shopping and they had a great time. We are so glad that Ron was here to celebrate with us!

Happy Birthday Abigail! We hope you know just how special you are and that we love you so very much!

Thanksgiving

Snow in MV!

Thanksgiving day at Mary's home

Gustin's in front of their home

This year for the Thanksgiving holiday we traveled to Seattle to visit family and friends. We spent the first part of the week with friends in Maple Valley. We stayed with the Moulton's and they were so great to have us for 3 or 4 days. We had so much fun and it was great to get back and see everyone even though we had only been gone for 3 months. We picked up with everyone right where we left off and had a wonderful time. The weather was a little crazy but made us feel at home. A snow storm blew through and the entire Seattle area received several inches of snow. Snow always shuts down the city so the kids were out of school and we had more time to play with everyone! I set up play dates with all our kids buddies so they could see most of their friends while we were there. Our friends are so great and set up a big multi-FHE night for us too. The Moulton's hosted some 10 or so families, and all their kids, just so we could spend time with them! We are so grateful for that and appreciate their sacrifice for us. While we were there the girls and I had a chance to go out and celebrate Kira's b-day. She was so nice and decided to celebrate late so I could be there. We went out to breakfast to our fav place, the Sunrise Cafe in Auburn. We enjoyed a nice breakfast of good food and good friends. At the end of our breakfast we were getting ready to leave and Coleen Gustin received a phone call telling her that her home was on fire. We rushed out of the restaurant and got her back home as quickly as possible. It was so heart breaking to see this happen to our dear friends and we felt so helpless. She was told that her family was out and safe but that the garage had caught fire from a space heater. Todd had tried to put it out but it just grew and grew. The fire department came and eventually put the fire out. The fire was devastating and ultimately destroyed the entire home. The garage was completely fire damaged and the rest of the home had severe smoke damage and not much could be saved. They are struggling each and every day to come to terms with this loss but I know they have the love of the Savior with them and the love of all their friends. I know they will make it through this trial and be stronger for it. We continue to pray for them each and every day! This was a difficult trip in many ways but I will forever thank my Heavenly Father for the blessing that it was to be there for my dear friend and help her even if it was only for a few days. They are now in a beautiful rental home and will be until their home is rebuilt. I feel at peace now knowing that they have a place to call home now and that they have a home coming to look forward to.

We spent the last half of the week up north with Jeff's family. We stayed with Mary, his mom, at her home and enjoyed a beautiful and yummy Thanksgiving. His brother Derek, and girlfriend Stephanie, were there, along with his Uncle Jimmy, and Grandparents Leo and Kathy O'Dore. We loved staying with Grandma and the kids had a great time. We took the kids to see a movie the day after Thanksgiving, Tangled. It was so cute and we all loved it. We stayed until Sat. morning and then drove back home to Star. I had to be back to church to teach a lesson so we needed to be home on Sat. night. The weather was crazy and it took us several hours longer than it should have but we made it home to snow on the ground and to find our home safe and sound.

It was such a blessing to be with friends and family for the holiday and we are so grateful for this trip. Thanks to all who housed us and took such good care of us! We love you.

As usual I find myself saying that I wish I had taken more pictures but that's all I have. :)

Surprenants for a Visit

Ryan and Monique came to see us a few weekends ago. It was so much fun to have them! We played hard and had a blast. In fact maybe we played a little to hard. On Friday morning the guys decided they wanted to go for a ride, for old times sake. They rode for several hours with no problems then on their way back home, Ryan's wheel got stuck in a puddle and the bike flipped him off and landed on him. Jeff rode him back home on his quad and Monique took him straight to the hospital. Ryan broke his collar bone in several places. We felt so bad!...He was in so much pain and yet through it all they decided to stay, visit, and we were even able to do a little sight seeing in downtown Boise before they left to go home. We took them to the capitol building and then over to the Boise Temple. On Friday night Jeff stayed home with Ryan so he could rest, and Monique and I took the kids to the Roller Dome. Let me just say that I haven't been on roller skates in I don't know how many years but we had so much fun!! After a night like that I know my body is older than my mind thinks it is! :) We also took them to Cafe Rio in Boise. Yum Yum!! So delicious. It was their first time there and they said they loved it! It was a great weekend and we are so grateful that they would make the drive to come see us and stay with us. Thanks you guys for your friendship! We love you!

Apples

What have I been doing for the last week and a half?....

Turning 124 lbs. of apples into:

55 jars of applesauce

and

45 jars of apple pie filling!!

The kids and Jeff helped out too. The fresh apples are so delicious and we are loving the fruits of our labor!

Shane's 4th Birthday

Shane turned 4 on November 4th and he just keeps getting cuter and cuter each year that goes by! We love him so much and are so thankful he was sent to our family. For his b-day he had his traditional b-day donut in the morning. Then when the kids got home from school we took him to a place called Planet Kid. It's a giant indoor play ground. The kids all had so much fun! Then we went home and opened presents and had cake. This year Shane asked for a green baseball cake with red on it. I think I delivered pretty good! :) It was a great day and we all had so much fun.

Shane said, "It was the best day ever!"

So glad you had a wonderful day Shane. We love you so much!

Halloween 2010

This is our crew for Halloween this year. Jeff was a Cop, Abby was a Bat diva girl, Wyatt was a ware-wolf, Shane a Alligator, and Lainey was a cute purple butterfly. We took the kids to Boo at the Zoo in Boise. The kids were able to walk around in costume, and trick or treat with the zoo employees, and see all the animals. It was so much fun...I think we'll probably do it next year too. Then the ward had a trunk or treat and that was fun too. On Halloween the kids helped answer the door for all of our trick or treaters...we had 2! :)

My Garden!!!

I love fall! Not just for the changing colors, and the approaching holiday season, but also because it it is the time of year to plow and till the earth for a garden. Maybe my eyes are bigger than the reality of what I can manage but I'm going to give it a go! I figured that I would till a really big spot and then plant what I can. I can not wait for spring and the growing season! I know it doesn't look like much now but I invision a small fruit orchard behind the garden and the garden being filled with fruit and vegies ready to harvest!

Sisters

Brandie recently had surgery and needed some help with Danica and her recovery. Since we are in Boise now we are so much closer to her and my family so I jumped at the chance to go help! I left on a Tuesday morning and it took about 11 hours to drive there (not bad...when we were in MV it took us 20 hours to drive to CO). I took Shane and Lainey with me and the older 2 stayed behind with Jeff as they had to go to school. Jeff was so wonderful and supportive and made this whole thing work with his work schedule. The kids were troopers too to be with out mom for a whole week. So I arrived on Tuesday night and planned on staying until Sat. morning then driving home. While I was there I took care of Danica and my kids, helped Brandie with doc apts., made freezer meals, cleaned, organized and oh ya, we had a ton of fun and laughing too! It wasn't all work. :) The end of the week came and I hadn't finished everything I wanted to for Brandie so I worked it out so I could stay a few more days until Monday morning. I am so glad I did. On Sat. morning my mom's back went into muscle spasms and she could barely get out of bed. She was supposed to watch Danica that day for Brandie because it was her first day of school. So I was able to help by watching Danica for the day plus I finished those few last things on the list of stuff to get done! It was a great trip and I feel so lucky that I was able to go and help Brandie when she needed it. I love her so much and we love that sweet little Danica! What a blessing she is to all of us. We are lucky to have her! Here are some pics from my trip.

Grocery shopping with the 3 of them

She's so beautiful!

Cousins playing

Cookies at Grandma's are the best because she puts whip cream on the top!

Play time with Grandpa and Grandma

Stroller rides

Playing at Auntie Brandie's park

Boxes are so much fun. Shane and the neighbor boy are hiding in the other 2 boxes

Moulton's for a Visit

Recently Aaron, Kira and family came to visit. We had so much fun while they were here!! The weather was amazing and we know how the Moulton's like to stay busy so we fit in as much as we could for one weekend! That goes for the food as well. :) We ate so much that I could have fasted for a week after and been fine. But that is what the trip was all about...amazing friends, good food, and a lot of fun! Below are pics from our weekend together.

Here's proof that even little ones remember those they love!! This is Lainey's reaction when she saw Brian. She hugged him and wouldn't let go for a good 5 minutes. So special!

We explored a park in Eagle by the Boise River. Super fun!

All the kids skipping rocks in the Boise River

The girls love their alone time!

We took them to a place in Meridian called The Farmstead. They had this huge rocking chair at the front so we had to take a pic.

Lainey tried to hatch a pumpkin! When that didn't work we went on a Hay ride around the pumpkin field.

Then we headed into the ginormous 18 acre corn maze. This thing was huge! The aerial view of it was amazing. They carved the corn to look like a guy in a canoe going down the Boise River. Every year they do a different design. It was really cool. Lainey was determined to walk the maze on her own!

Ahh...the Boise big toy!! Pressed board, a pvc pipe slide, and a giant black tube slide! It may look country but it was so fun and we are thinking of building on in our backyard!

They had a big corn box for the little ones to play in. We found corn in the most interesting places!

Our goodbye lunch. We definitely didn't want it to end.

Moulton's, we love you!! Thank you so much for making the drive and coming out to see us!