Kade and Deidra Smith Family

2011-12-16T11:16:00.006-07:00

12-16-2011

I kind of lost my desire for blogging this year. . . . I'm sure you've noticed:) My last post was last Christmas. But, today I just had to sit down and write about Brancyn before I forget. Any of you that know Brancyn, know that he is fanatical about playing Angry Birds. I've had to change the lock on my phone so that he couldn't get into it. Otherwise I would find him secreted away in a closet playing Angry Birds to his hearts content and running down my battery. Well recently when he was told he could not play Angry Birds one day, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He talked Brylee into being a pig , and instruced her to sit on the couch. Then he would 'launch' himself across the room and crash into her. I thought this was pretty creative and was getting a good little laugh out of it. But, it got better. If you've ever played angry birds before, you know that there are different kinds of birds. After you launch the birds, you can tap the screen and make the birds split into more birds, gain extra speed and strength, or blow up. So, after Brancyn had launched himself a few times across the room, he started slapping his chest mid flight (to make himself blow up, seperate, or go faster.) It was hillarious. What a silly kid.

While I'm posting about Brancyn, I might as well add a picture from this morning. This is what Brancyn was busy doing while I was doing my hair this morning.

Brancyn is very into Spider Man and decided to make a web in my living room. . . . And this comment leads me to another picture I have to post. It is my favorite Halloween one of Brancyn. Kade got a new camera for us in October and has been having fun with it. I particularly love this picture

I think he was tired of the pics and just ready to get trick or treating. But, it still made for a cute pic.

2011-03-24T15:40:00.003-07:00

December 26, 2010

It always takes a handfull of shots befoe you get a great picture! Can you believe I got matching pajamas made for everyone?!

Liberty, Dad, Mom, Aisha

Brylee, Kayson, and Brancyn

2011-03-24T15:37:00.002-07:00

December 25, 2010

At Grammy's, we enjoyed a nice ham dinner and then opened more presents!

The kids were thrilled to find pillow pets from Grammy in the stash. They also were given new matching shirts from Grammy. Uncle Quin sent dodge tag for the boys, littlest pet shop for the little girls, and paint your own piggy bank for the bigger girls. Everyone was very pleased. It was a fun day filled with lots of visiting and food.

Carter, Aisha, Liberty, Alyssa, Kayson
Kate, Brancyn, Halle, and Brylee

2011-03-24T15:26:00.003-07:00

December 25, 2010

Kade and I said the kids couldn't wake us up before 6:30. That ended up being perfect. They woke up just a few minutes before that and started to check out their stockings. Right at 6:30, in they came to get us up. Everyone had a fun time opening gift and watching everyone else.

Brancyn hauled in a Mac and shake up Lightening McQueen as well as a remote control Fire Engine.

Brylee was particularly pleased with her first very own Webkinz.

Kayson got wooden snakes that wiggle realistically from Brylee. As soon as he saw them, he pulled them out and started shaking them around while exclaiming that he couldn't wait to show them to Grammy! (Grammy is disgusted/terrified of snakes, so Kayson was being a big pill by making this statement:)

Liberty posing with her arm full of silly bandz.

Aisha got her very own kaboodle to haul all her hair stuff around in. She was quite pleased and hauled it everywhere for the next few weeks.

Kade loving his new watch!

We lazed around for awhile that morning and enjoyed a nice breakfast and then packed up and headed to Grammy and Grampy's for the rest of the day.

2011-03-24T15:22:00.002-07:00

December 24, 2010

Everyone is ready for our Christmas Eve tradition of opening a family gift. The anticipation is building . . . . .

We got Mario Galaxy for the Wii!

We thought this would be a fun way to spend some time on Christmas Eve, but we misjudged. This game was not family friendly enough with only 1-2 players at a time. Next time we'll have to think it through a little more and get something that everyone can be included in easier. Oh well, live and learn. At least the kids do enjoy it on their own time:)

2011-03-24T15:16:00.003-07:00

December 23, 2010

Dad got off a little early tonight to start the Christmas break. We had just had a new snow fall so we decided to make a snowman and then get a little sledding in. It was a great day for it (almost too warm:). This huge snowman stood for a long time, clear into February before someone knocked his head off. Even still the rest of him did not melt until March when everything else did. He was a great guard snowman all winter!

Aisha, Kade and Kayson

The finished man. Pretty awesome snowman, right?
Brancyn, Kayson, Liberty, Brylee, and Aisha

2011-02-22T14:58:00.002-07:00

December 21, 2010

We decided to "Elf" ourselves on the Staples website tonight. This is one of my favorite things to do. It just cracks me up! We decided to do both silly and smiley faces. Here is a look at our silly faces.

Brancyn

Liberty

Kayson

Aisha

Kade

2011-02-22T14:52:00.002-07:00

December 19, 2010

Oops! I forgot to put our annual Nativity on here. This year, Aisha got to join us. That put a fun twist on things because most religious things seemed to be new to her. She had already seen pictures of past years, and was excited to be part of the festivities this year.

Brancyn got to be Joseph this year and Kate was Mary

2011-02-22T14:46:00.001-07:00

December 21, 2010

I decided to try to do cooking class with Liberty and Aisha once a week. Today was our first try at it. The girls helped me make crescent rolls to go with our chicken noodle soup. The did a wonderful job and were excited about how well the rolls turned out.

Liberty and Aisha

2011-02-22T14:42:00.002-07:00

December 17, 2010

We had a new little foster girl come to live with us this month. Her name is Aisha. We found out right away that Aisha loves doing hair. This worked out perfectly since the kids had crazy hair day at school the first day she was staying with us. She helped Liberty and Kayson with some crazy do's.

Brylee, Kayson, Aisha, Liberty

2011-02-22T14:39:00.001-07:00

December 15, 2010

Today was our preschool Christmas party. There was plenty of "merry" making as the kids worked on crafts, read Christmas stories, and danced with their jingle bells. We are glad we have such great neighborhood friends to do this with.

2011-02-22T14:15:00.006-07:00

December 9-11, 2011

We decided it was time to try a Salt Lake trip again this year. It is so fun to go and see the lights at Temple Square and to just enjoy a weekend away in the middle of all the holiday craziness.

We started out on Thursday night and went as far as Malad. We stopped for the night at Tiff and Miles house. It was fun to see their cute first home and spend some time with their family and Nicole. Tiff and Miles let us make personal pizzas for dinner and then we visited while the kids enjoyed movies dowstairs.

Thanks for letting us crash!

Liberty, Bently, and Brylee

On Friday morning, we took off for Salt Lake City. The temps were pretty warm for December, but that didn't mean we had good weather. As we got closer to the city, it started to rain and increasingly got worse. We made a quick stop at Walmart and picked up a few umbrellas. When we got into Salt Lake, we started our tour at the Conference Center. The kids enjoyed it. Last time we went, they were too young to really make the connection, but this year the kids recognized it from General Conference.

Kayson, Liberty
Brancyn, and Brylee

This was the most exciting part of the tour for the kids. They thought it was so cool to watch the back of the waterfall from inside the building.

Brancyn, Brylee, Liberty, and Kayson

The umbrellas proved to be the other most exciting part of the trip. The kids have been begging me to buy umbrellas for the last couple of years, but I never do (I hate how quickly they seem to get broken.) They had a great time with them.

Brancyn and Kayson

Liberty, Brylee, and Kayson

By the time the lights came on, we were pretty frozen, so we didn't stay out long. But for the short time we were out, we enjoyed the beautiful colors all around us.

Liberty and her "pro" posing, I couldn't get her to just stand there. What a goof:)

Liberty, Brylee, Kayson, Brancyn, and Kade

2010-12-24T11:12:00.002-07:00

December 4, 2010
Today was our neighbors annual gingerbread house extravaganza! The kids look forward to this every year and this year was no exception. Treats, creating fun houses, friends, and a good movie make for a very fun afternoon.

Liberty and Brylee and the girl table.

Liberty's masterpiece.

Kayson with his house. ( He was so proud that he made me take a picture of each side.)

Brylee showing hers off.

Brancyn enjoying this tratidition for the first time.

Thank you to our wonderful neighbors!

2010-12-24T10:31:00.004-07:00

December 3, 2010
Tonight was the ward Christmas Party. Kade was asked to help with a musical number, but didn't feel like he had time to get one ready. He told the activities committee to ask Liberty. So they did! Liberty said yes. So she prepared a song out of the children's song book. I thought she did wonderfully. So far she has only played in front of a small audience at recitals, but tonight she played in front of 200 people! Way to go Liberty.

We also enjoyed a wonderful meal catered by BYU-I, a song by the primary, another musical numbers by Sister Earl, and a Christmas story told by the MC. We finished off the night with a visit from our favorite jolly fellow St. Nicholas himself!

Liberty

Kayson

Brylee

Brancyn

And no tears for Santa Claus this year!!!

2010-11-29T13:44:00.002-07:00

November 28, 2010

Tonight when I was getting Brancyn changed for bed, he was being a really big wiggle bug. So Kade came over to him and put his hand on his chest to hold him. He told Brancyn that he was holding the soccer ball on his shirt (so that Brancyn wouldn't get mad about being held down.) Brancyn thought this was pretty funny and said that he wanted to kick the soccer ball on his shirt. Kade ran for the camera knowing this would be a good video. Enjoy!

2010-11-29T13:28:00.005-07:00

November 28, 2010

Tonight we decorated our kid Christmas tree. We invited Grammy and Grampy up for the festivities. The kids enjoyed themselves and were exctied to see their new ornaments. Liberty got Lady and the Tramp puppies, Kayson got Chip and Dale, Brylee go Mulan, and Brancyn got Lightning McQueen. After we were done, Brylee came upstairs and asked me why she got Mulan. I told her it was because she liked the show so much and also because we had boys from China here this year and that the ornament would help her remember. Then I double checked with her and said, you do like Mulan right? She said yes and smiled. Then she said that maybe she would get Mulan again next year since she liked her so much. I told her that maybe she would, but maybe she would get something else she liked instead. She then says, I like Grammy, it would be funny if I got her. Lol, I thought it would be funny too. What a little nut!

Liberty was our photographer for most of the night (that is why there are so many silly ones) The rest of them Kade captured.

2010-11-29T13:13:00.002-07:00

November 25, 2010

I never seem to remember to get pictures at Thanksgiving. Luckily this year I remembered a few (thanks to the constant reminder of Halle walking through the house with her Flip camera:).

This year we gathered at Grammy and Grampy's. All but Quin and his fam were there. We had all of the traditional fixin's and even got to enjoy some of Bryon's fabulous deep fried turkey. Mmmmm!

It was so cold today, that Bryon had a little trouble getting the oil hot enough. But, he got it done and it was appreciated by all. As were the wonderful turkeys Grammy had cooked in the oven.

Grandma braved the cold and slick roads and came to joing the family for the meal.

The kids enjoyed a slow lazy day. Grampy let them watch movies on his new laptop and they thought that was a lot of fun.

The next day, it warmed up enough to pull out the snow clothes and sleds. Grampy wanted to get in on the fun, so he hooked the train up to his tractor, tied a sled to the back end and took all of the grandkids for a ride through the yard and out into the "forest". They were really cruisin' on this thing and loved every minute.

We finished off the weekend with Black Friday shopping, a sleepover with cousins, and a Christmas party with the Farley Family. It was busy, but fun. The holidays are in full swing!!!

2010-11-11T20:25:00.002-07:00

November 11, 2008.

When my children are young and I am teaching them to pray, I say the words of the prayer and have them repeat after me. This has always worked well and we do this until they are old enough to decide exactly what they want to say. Usally it goes something like this. Please help me to sleep good, (echo), please help me to share nicely, (echo), thank Thee for my family, (echo), etc. Well tonight I was helping Brancyn say his prayers, and it was more like this.
Thank Thee for my friends (me). Thank Thee for your friends (Brancyn), Thank Thee for my teachers, (me). Thank Thee for your teachers (Brancyn) etc. He had me all but laughing by the end of the prayer. I don't think I've had a two year old yet that has had such a great command on the English language that he would even put that together. Usually you are still hearing them say things like "me want to" instead of "I want to" or "Mommy do that" instead of "you do that". So for him to insert your rather than just repeat me was too funny. He is such a nut!

2010-11-08T07:50:00.004-07:00

November 8, 2010
It's Snowing!!!

I can't say that I'm really ready for the snow, but maybe it will help get me into the holiday mode. It has been so beautiful the last couple of weeks, that I couldn't get my mind to turn to Thanksgiving and Christms. This ought to do the trick!

The kids made quick work of our front yard as soon as they got home from school.

What was once one became many! They are multiplying like rabbits around here.

2010-11-07T07:49:00.005-07:00

October 16-30, 2010

Our Halloween celebrations this year started in the middle of the month and went right up through Halloween night. We started off with a party with friend on the 16th. It was a chili cook off, costume contest, dance party all in one. It was a lot of fun and a good start to our sugar overload for the month. At the party, our family won a game and the prize was carmels, apples, and sticks. I have never made a carmel apple before, so this was my opportunity. On the 21st we pulled everything out, looked up the how-to on the internet and went for it. They turned out beautifully-that is until i remembered seeing that some people also dipped theres in chocolate in decided to try. I just melted chocolate chips, and they don't get creamy enough, so we ended up putting globs of chocolate on the apples and smearing it around. It made them look quite terrible in the end, but they sure were yummy!!!! We had fun sharing them with cousins and friends while we watched an episode of the Adams Family.

Brancyn

Brylee

Kayson

The next night was the Elders Quorum Party. Everyone dressed up except me (I know, I'm such a party pooper.) Brancyn was a Knight (or a fight guy as he was calling himself at this point.) Kade was Jack Skellington, Liberty was a Fairy Princess, Jared(our little friend) was a Jaguar, Brylee was Mickey Mouse, and Kayson was a Ninja (He was hillarious with his costume. Every time he wore it he'd start hiding in dark corners, slinking along walls, hopping over fences, etc. He was quite in character!). The party was fun with food and games and all of the kids came home with a pumpkin to carve.

On Monday the 25th, we went to the kids school carnival. They always enjoy that. This year since it was on Monday night, it made for a fun Halloween Family Night.

Finally we got around to carving our pumpkins on Friday the 29th-just in time! The kids had fun helping to scrape out the pumpkin "guts" and also helped to pick their designs. Liberty was big enough to help poke her design in her pumpkin. Then Kade and I went to work carving with plenty of encouragement from the kids.

Brancyn's was a train. Kade had to change this design a little to make it work on a pumpkin. I think it turned out great.

Brylee did Mickey Mouse to match her costume.

Kayson picked a bat.

Liberty thought this cat sitting on the moon was "so cuuute".

And Kade also matched his costume with a Jack Skellington face.

Halloween was celebrated on the 30th around here. We started our day off with ghost, pumpkin, bat, spider, and witch hat shaped pancakes. I started out with just pumpkins and then branched out to ghosts and was soon getting requests left and right!

Brancyn and his fun breakfast.

After that, we packed up and headed to Idaho Falls. On the way there, we saw a fox running through a field. We took a picture so we could show Grammy, but never remembered to. The kids thought it was pretty exciting.

We stopped in at Mimi's so she could cut Brancyn's hair. I was a rocky start, but he soon calmed down and enjoyed himself. ( The sucker that Mimi had for him sure helped matters.)

After that we showed our costumes off to Great-grandma Ruby and then went to Grammy and Grampy's Ward party. They had a cute talent show, dinner, and carnival games. Finally we headed back to Rexburg to Trick-or-treat. The kids made quite a haul even though I swore we wouldn't do as much this year. Oh well-they sure enjoyed it. We eneded the night at a neighborhood candy swap and party. It was a very full day, and I think we celebrated Halloween more than we ever have. Now we are truly ready to start thinking about something else like Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!!!!

2010-11-07T07:25:00.003-07:00

October 14, 2010

This little goof is such a copy cat these days. I had put Brancyn to bed the

other night, but he decided he wasn't ready. I was reading a book on my bed when I heard him come back upstairs and shuffle around. When I went out to check on him, there he was just as comfortable as can be with a blanket, his stuffed animals, and a stack of books to keep him busy. He looked up and smiled at me and then just kept right on reading.

He also has been copying my popcorn habits. I could eat a bowl of popcorn almost daily and Brancyn has shown a similar love for it. I eat my popcorn kind of weird. I spread a towel across my lap and then eat all of the kernal/crunchy parts off of the popcorn and then leave the "nubs" for later. Lately when I give Brancyn a bowl of popcorn, he grabs a dishtowel and settles it across his lap just like mom. That is as far as it goes though because he really doesn't know why he does it-it cracks me up.

2010-10-16T10:44:00.002-07:00

October 16, 2010

We have had quite a bit of illness in our home over the last month. Someone is always complaining of being sick. Brancyn has heard this and almost daily tells me that he is sick. I don't want to assume he's not (you never know when he really might be sick) so I ask him why he is sick. His answer over the last few days has been. Butterflies, with a frowny face. Lol! He is sick because he has butterflies in his tummy:)

2010-10-14T13:38:00.003-07:00

October 14, 2010

I'm Caugt Up!

I haven't been able to say that for over 3 months. It is no longer hanging over my head. Everything has been recorded for my photo book at the end of the year. Let's all cheer for Deidra!!! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, horray! Hip, hip, hooray!!!!!

2010-10-14T13:32:00.002-07:00

October 3, 2010

Conference weeked hear meant sick tummies, yuck!! But, despite that, we thoroughly enjoyed the conference broadcast. By Sunday afternoon, the kids were getting a little restless, so Kade pulled out this large piece of paper and told them to go at it. The created a Boo-tiful Halloween mural to hang in our stairwell. They even remembered to include President "Monster".

2010-10-14T13:16:00.002-07:00

September 29, 2010

Brylee is in a little neighborhood preschool this year. Today it was our turn to do it at our house. We were learning about the letters D and E. We learned the sign language for these letters, read books about ducks, played with playdough, played and elephant game, and exercised. To top it off we had doughnuts for snack. I think it went well and I'm glad I'm already done with my turn for the fall semester!

Britain, Sydney, and Hunter

Katelyn, Brylee

Brancyn, Briell

Aspen, Chloe,

Tillman

Tillman, Brielle, Katelyn

2010-10-14T13:09:00.003-07:00

September 23 and 25, 2010

These are just a couple of random pics that I wanted to make sure would end up in my photo book at the end of the year.

I was babysitting Brielle the other day and she and Brancyn were sitting by each other. I asked Brancyn to lean his head by Brielle for a picture so he put his hand on her forehead. I laughed and said "no, lean your head by her head". He put his hand on her forehead again. I could see this wasn't going to work, so I asked Brielle to lean her head over by Brancyn. Finally we got it. And it was just such a cute picture for our effort.

Brancyn and Brielle

Kade was playing on the computer one day and Brancyn was repeatedly trying to take the mouse from him and push the keys for him. So I finally got an old keyboard out and set him up with his own chair. He was content for quite awhile. These two are just so much alike. Brancyn is more than willing to watch ball or play computer with Kade anytime.

2010-10-14T13:01:00.004-07:00

September 21, 2010

You have to be quick around here or Brancyn takes care of the candles for you. He blew Kade's out for him and almost got mine!

I've decided birthdays are just kind of blah when you get older. Especially when you are the mom. I'd almost rather skip my birthday because I always end up feeling sad. I think it is just because you don't want to do your own birthday celebration, but you also don't want to have to spell out everything for your birthday. And it seems I always have to do one or the other since I became a grown-up. So birthdays are just a let down. Maybe I'm just silly, but I think I'll skip my birthdays from now on. I turned 29 this year anyways and who wants to have birthdays after that?

This makes me sound very ungrateful to my family. They were very kind on my birthday and this isn't to complain at them. It's just how I've felt about my birthday for about the last 5 years, blah!

2010-10-14T12:21:00.004-07:00

September 16-19, 2010

Kade and I went to California for our Anniversary this year. We found a good deal on a flight and hotel and had enough Disney Reward points to pay for Disneyland tickets. It was just a quick in on Thursday, leave on Sunday kind of a thing, but it was fun.

Our first day in we decided to head to the beach. I was really hoping we'd get to swim at the beach, but it was barely 70 degrees and breezey. So, we just waded and looked at a free little aquarium. The ocean is so relaxing. I honestly could have stayed there for hours. But, we still had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and a hotel to find, so we didn't linger.

Kade

Deidra

The next two days were spent at Disneyland. We had a lot of fun, but it was physically exhausting. I have to say it was nice to not have to be counting heads and always looking four directions to make sure all kids were with me. We wore ourselves out and enjoyed the Halloween themed things that were up.

We hit splash mountain on our second day just before sun set. As fate would have it, two larger people were seated ont he front of the ride with us behind. Anybody that has ridden splash mountain before knows this is a recipe for a very wet ride. Sure enough. My bottom have was COMPLETELY wet and my top half was plenty wet. It made for a chilly night, but we did enjoy sour dough soup bowls for dinner and that helped. We also got to sit on the warm pavement as we waited for the World of Colors show. It was AWESOME. We had a great time and are already planning our next trip to California with the kids.

2010-10-14T11:42:00.004-07:00

September 4, 2010

We planned to go to Yellowstone for Labor Day weekend this year since we missed out on Memorial Weekend. We made it, but only for a day trip. It turned out to be a great trip though. We took our bikes along so that we could go on some bike paths.

We biked to the Natural Bridge . . .it was Beautiful!! In all my trips to Yellowstone, I haven't ever been to see this. It was a nice bike ride and everyone seemed to hold up pretty well for it.

Grampy with the kids.

Kade and Deidra

When we stopped for lunch, we found we had some little fly visitors. What we didn't know until we got home is that they had been biting us and the left the itchiest little spots. I had itchy spots for a least two weeks. And the biggest one didn't stop itching until just last week and the red spot is still there! I guess we learned our lesson and will stay away from those little bugs next time. Ugh!

Kade, Deidra, Grampy, Grammy, Emily, Bryon,

Kayson, Brancyn, Liberty, Brylee, and Halle.

Lonestar Geyser

Grammy and Grampy on their way down from Lonestar Geyser. This bike ride was longer, but easier than the natural bridge trail. It was my favorite ride of the day, but probably the least exciting at the end.

The biker gang.

Deidra, Brancyn, Kade, Grampy, Grammy, Emily, Bryon,

Halle, Liberty, Kayson, and Brylee.

This was another one I don't think I had seen that we biked to. I believe it is called Morning Glory.

Thanks Grammy and Grampy and Emily and Bryon for going with us. It was a great trip!

2010-10-14T11:34:00.002-07:00

August 27, 2010

Liberty challenged the kids to do nice deeds each day this week and promised them that if they did she would have a tea party for them on the weekend. The kids followed through and so did Liberty. She used her own money to buy treats and drinks (Kayson pitched in with a bag of marshmallows) and treated the kids to a tea party and movie night. She was so excited to do this for them. What a sweetheart.

Liberty with the goods minus the cream soda (tea).

Everyone ready to enjoy themselves.

2010-10-14T11:30:00.003-07:00

August 25, 2010

First Day of School!!!
Liberty is a third grader this year and looking more grown-up by the minute. She is excied to be back in school especially since she gets to see her friends all day. Kayson is in first grade this year. He gets to do all day school and eat lunch at school.

Kayson came home after the first day of school and decided all day was too long and exhausting, but happily he warmed up to it within the week and now mostly enjoys school.

2010-10-14T11:06:00.005-07:00

August 14-21, 2010

This year we had a fun Farley Family Reunion in Washington. Everyone was able to be there except for Tyrell since he is all the way over in Africa. We converged on my parents home and made a tent city out of their yard. We decided to make their house our home base, but go to other areas during the day for entertainment and to beat the heat. We went to the Lake to swim one day, up to the mountains to play games and play in a stream another day. We went back to the river another day, but to play lawn games and just sit in the nice breeze. And we went to the park one day for water games and horseshoes. We also enjoyed a lot of great food, visiting, and a skit night while we were all together. It was a fun, but busy week.

Kade enjoying the shade and breeze at the lake.

Brancyn testing out the water.

Brylee found a floating toy and was having the time of her life.

Liberty, Tressie, Kayson

Liberty and Kayson were brave and went deep into the water and even rowed themselves around in a little raft.

Left Side: Gillian, Kylie, and Dana

Right Side: Achsah, Grandpa, and Michelene

Enjoying card games up in the mountains.

Napua, Leilani, and Codi.

We got to see Codi for the first time in almost three years this week. We were also so excited to meet her beautiful daughters.

Liberty, Vaughny, Grandma, Gavin, Gillian, and Brylee enjoying some card games of their own.

Hunter, Rileigh, and Makenna exploring near the stream.

Brancyn getting a much needed nap in Kade's arms.

Roasting Hot Dogs for Dinner.

Brancyn, Kade, and Kordell

Brylee and Brancyn both had to try their hand at croquet.

Cheston, Tressie, Kade, and Grandma got in on the action too.

Finally our long week was over and it was time for the LONG ride home. This part isn't our favorite, but it is well worth it to enjoy such good times with family.

2010-10-14T08:54:00.002-07:00

August 1, 2010

We clebrated Kade's Birthday today because it was one of the free days we had admist the Dance Festival Craziness.

Doesn't the 'birthday girl' look so happy? I obiously didn't have much present wrapping time and grabbed what we had. Liberty had just had her party so this is what we had! We love you Kade and hope this is a great year for you.

2010-10-14T08:06:00.006-07:00

July 30-August 8, 2010

This is going to be a long post-I'll warn you know! It is time for the annual International Dance and Music Festival. We signed up to be a host family again and this year we got some boys from China. They were part of a high school band and they were amazing. They sounded college level or professional. We asked our boys how long they had been playing their instruments and most of them had played since 2nd-4th grade. Our boys were Shiyi (Sh Yeee) and ZiYue (Zi You). I felt like I got their names caught in my throat becuase you say them kind of abruptly. The boys were quite shy, but so polite. It was fun to show them the sites, support them in their performances, and let them enjoy our culture while they taught us of theirs. The last night that they were with us, they requested homemade hamburgers. So, we did that along with homemade french fries. It was an absolute hit. They could not say enough good about the meal. Another of their favorites was hash browns cooked in bacon grease. MMMMmmm MMMMmmm. I think I will do the rest of this post in pictures with descriptions underneath because there was so much.

Opening Ceremonies July 31, 2010

The teams came out holding ballons to represent their country and then let them all go in the air together. It was quite a site as the colors mixed and floated away.

The Chinese teams first performance.

August 2, 2010. When the boys had free-time, they were always up for a little b-ball

August 2, 2010. Grammy, Elena, and kids joined us for the street festival and parade. Liberty was pulled out by some of the dancers and she had a ball immitating their moves.

August 2, 2010. The Chinese team did a street performance as well as marched in the parade.

August 3, 2010

Three other families in our neighborhood also housed Chinese dancers so we got together often to share meals, rides, and entertainment. Today we took the boys to Warm Springs to feed the fish and then on up to Mesa Falls

August 3, 2010. Mesa Falls.

ShiYi, Kayson, Brylee, Liberty, Brancyn, ZiYue

August 4, 2010. Today we did A LOT of shopping. The boys said that name brand stuff is less expensive here, so they each had a long list of things they needed to find. After shopping , we headed to Ucon for the team B-B-Q.

August 4, 2010. This group was so fun. It just felt like you were at a family reunion. There was a group playing Basketball, a group playing soccer, a group playing footbal, and a group visiting and eating. Each group was a mix of dancers and host families and it was just such a fun night. By this point in the week, you start to realize that you really love these kids and the experiences they bring into your lives.

Augst 5, 2010. I hade given the boys sandwiches almost every day for lunch so far. They always were away at that time and it was the easiest thing to pack. Today I pulled out the Ramen Noodles since they were going to be home during the lunch hour. They were excited to see something they recognized. They asked for chopsticks to eat the noodles with and luckily I had some on hand that our Japanese dancers had given us last year. I just had to get a picture of them eating their Ramen with chopsticks. They, of course, were very proficient.

August 6, 2010.
The boys had heard of laser tag before, but had never played it. (I didn't realize so few country's had this game-but I guess that is the case according to the owners of the laser tag place.) The LOVED it. We went to the Craze Fun Zone and let them play a few games of laser tag as well as black light miniature golf. And then finished off with pizza for dinner.

August 7, 2010.

The boys told us that they are not allowed to have guns in China, but they showed interest in shooting a gun. Kade called my brother-in-law, Shaun, and he agreed to take them target shooting. I wasn't there for this event, but Kade said they enjoyed themselves. They even got to take home their target paper as a souvenir.

August 7, 2010

The boys perormances were on the 6th and 7th and they did amazing. We shared our tickets with Kade's parents and his aunt. We also took the kids to one night each (except Brancyn). Then it was time for one last group photo and the boys were off very, very, very early Sunday morning to start their journey home.

We love doing this. It is such a great experience for our whole family. I'm glad we had another opportunity to be a part of this program.

2010-10-14T07:55:00.003-07:00

July 31, 2010

Liberty was Baptized today. She was so excited. It was such a great day for me too. It is pretty neat to see your children take these wonderful steps that you know will lead them back to their Heavenly Father. And I appreciated Liberty's attitude about it. We had gone over the missionary discussions for Family Home Evening the month before she was baptized and she was very attentive. She knew most of it already, but we made sure to answere any questions she might have. It made me feel like she went into Baptism knowing as much as her little 8 year old mind could know and being really prepared. Kade Baptized and Confirmation her and Uncle Jarom and Grampy witnessed the Baptism and stood in on the Confirmation. We were so glad that Unlce Jarom made a special effort to come to the Baptism. He was camping with his scouts that weekend and drove down to the Baptism quickly that morning before he had to rush back to be with the scouts. It made it so we could use family for the witnesses instead of whoever just happened to be around and we appreciated that he did that. Thanks Uncle Jarom!

2010-10-14T07:40:00.002-07:00

7-27-2010

Kade coached Kayson's soccer team this year. I think Kayson like that. Kayson's team played some pretty good (and older) opposing teams to start the season off so he was a little reticent. On the third game though, our team smoked the other team. Kayson's confidence improved immensely. After that I think he really enjoyed the season. Kade realized that Kayson played really good defense this year, so when he positioned him accordingly he did a lot better as well.

Kade

Kayson

Kayson

Kayson

2010-10-14T07:23:00.004-07:00

July 22, 2010

Liberty turned 8! At our house, that means a BIG party because this is such a special birthday. We stole the idea of a spa party from Liberty's cousins who had done the same thing. It is such a hit with girls of this age. We invited a couple of older neighbor girls to come over and help with the manicures, pedicures, and styling of hair. The girls moved from station to station and were able to enjoy making a craft, a manicure, pedicure, hair styling, and facial. Liberty really would have like to do a sleepover as well, but there are so few parents who allow those anymore so we settled for a move night after the spa part was done. The girls had movie treats and headed downstairs for a girlie princess movie. Liberty had so much fun and I'm glad her day could be so special. We love Liberty so much. She is turning into such a young lady. I see her awareness of others increase daily as she tries to include everyone, say kind things, and just take care of people. Her taste in movies, books and clothes continues to mature as well and that is fun to witness as a mother. It is something that gives us more connections and helps us to grow into better friends. Liberty you are so exceptional-I Love You!!!

Liberty named her spa the Daisy Day Spa, so we made daisy cake to match the theme!

Liberty enjoying her mint julep face mask

Party Goers:

Lindsay, Kaitlin, Anna, Corinne, Claire,

Harleigh, Halle, Liberty, Ashely, Elle,

Mikaela, Bailey, and Brylee

Present Time!!!

2010-10-14T07:08:00.003-07:00

July 15-26, 2010

This year, Kade and I went through the process of being licenesed to be foster parents. We got our fist chance to try it out in July. We did respite care for Dane for about 12 days. Respite care is when you watch the kids for a short amount of time while they find permanent placement for them or if the family they are staying with is leaving for vacation and isn't allowed to take them with them. Dane was a lot of fun and definitely a learning experience for us. It is hard to say from such a short stay, whether or not it was the right thing for our family. So, we agreed we'd try it at least another time or two before we make a decision on wether or not to continue doing it regularly. So far the chance has not presented itself, but that is ok we are not in any hurry:)

Dane was a busy little boy and our days seemed to go better if we could plan an activity, so . . . .

We went to the Craze Fun Zone on the 15th to play in the tunnels and with the train table.

We went canoeing with cousins on the 17 th

Dane tried his hand at soccer when he joined Kayson and Kade for soccer practice on the 17th.

We fed the ducks at the Nature Park on the 22nd

We also headed back to the Craze Fun Zone to try our hand at miniature golf on the 22nd. (This days activites were to keep Liberty busy too while she waited anxiously for her big birthday party.)

It was a fun couple of weeks, but exhausting!

2010-10-14T07:04:00.002-07:00

July 13, 2010

There was a fire out on the desert tonight. A lot of the smoke blew over Rexburg. It of course wasn't very pleasant for breathing, but it did make the sky this eerie color. It made for a gorgeous photo.

2010-10-14T06:41:00.002-07:00

July 9-10, 2010

Every year we try to plan a camping trip for our family. Often it seems to get cancelled. And at the very least it gets moved from some fun, far away place to right here at Rigby Lake. This year was no different. We just couldn't even find a free enough weekend to go farther. Even when we went to Rigby Lake, we had to be home by 10:00 Saturday morning. Oh well, we still had a lot of fun. Kade had been looking for a used canoe for quite some time and happened to find one just the night before. We borrowed life jackets from Grammy and set off. We found Rigby Lake ended up being perfect for testing out the canoe. The kids LOVED it, especially Brancyn.

We roasted hot dogs-Kayson's favorite

Played king of the mountain

Had some fun in the canoe. (Grammy and Grampy came to see us test it out and took this family picture for us.) And just enjoyed visiting, playing board games, and swimming.

2010-08-08T14:49:00.003-07:00

July 5, 2010

Kade had today off for the holiday weekend, so we decided to go and have a family fund day. We started off with a hike at Cress Creek up by Heise. It was a great day for a hike and the kids loved it. We looked for wild flowers and animal prints all along the hike.

Liberty, Brancyn, Deidra, Brylee, and Kayson

Brylee, Brancyn, Kade, Kayson, and Liberty

Everybody dipped their hats in the creek to cool off their heads, but Brancyn was so mad that we dipped his so he wouldn't wear it anymore-little stinker, he was soooo hot after that.

Brancyn, Brylee, Liberty, Deidra, and Kayson

Ahhhhh time to cool off!

Kayson, Brancyn, Brylee, and Liberty

After we finished our hike, we decided to head over to Elephant Rock near Heise to see if we could watch some people rock climb. While we were there, Kade started talking to some of the climbers and found out that one of the guys just went up there certain days of the week to offer his services as a rock climbing instructor and his gear for free. You can't get a better offer than that and decided to give it a try.

Kayson was the first brave one and did awesome.

Next was Liberty, look how high she got!

Brylee had fun, but wanted to hang on to her rope instead of the rock, so he mostly just got pulled up and then let back down again.

Kade decided to give it a try and got higher than any of us.

And last was me (Deidra) I definitely didn't get as high as Kade, but I still had a lot of fun trying.

After such a busy day and straining so many muscles, we were in serious need of some nourishment. We decided to end the day by trying out the new Picketts Bambino in town. If you have not yet had a chance to try these, GO TRY ONE!!!! They became an instant hit in our family. They are scones stuffed with different pizza, sandwich, or breakfast toppings and are sooooo good. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them.

2010-08-08T14:40:00.002-07:00

July 3, 2010

It was such a cool 4th of July this year. We only hit 70 degrees F for a high. We all put on jackets and coats to go the parade. At first I was a little disgruntled about how cold it was, but soon decided I liked it . We didn't have to fight over the few shady spots with the rest of Rexburg, we just sat wherever we wanted to. And with our jackets on, it was the perfect temperature. Honestly if I could order it, I would love that temperature for futer 4th celebrations.

Kayson, Liberty, Brylee, Brancyn, and Kade

This was one of our favorite floats in the Rexburg parade. They were very creative and threw lots of candy:)

After the parade, we headed to grammy's for dinner and fireworks. Liberty started to learn how to drive "the train" today. It was a quiet afternoon thanks to her and her tireless driving. And then it was off to the fireworks. It was a nice slow paced day. Just the way summer should be.

2010-08-08T14:32:00.002-07:00

July 2, 2010

The fouth of July fell on a Sunday this year which pushed most of the celebrations around here to Saturday. Because of this, se decided to celebrate Branyn's birthday on the 2nd so he wouldn't have to share his birthday with the 4th again. He has really been into trains lately so i did my best to do a train picture on his cake in the limited time I had.

Brancyn isn't quite big enough to make a request for his birthday dinner yet, so we picked for him. I think we picked a winner judging by the look on his face.

Look at how excited he is. He had already taken a peak at this one during dinner and knew their were new trains waiting to be played with inside this package!

Brancyn with all of his Birthday loot-looks like one satisified kid.

2010-08-08T14:29:00.001-07:00

July 1, 2010

Brylee has been part of a little neighborhodd pre-school group this summer. Today was their graduation day. She had a lot of fun. The girl that does the group is a lot of fun and is one of our favorite babysitters.

Brylee getting her certificate

Brylee with her class and teacher, Leah.

2010-08-08T14:24:00.002-07:00

June 19-21, 2010

It was also Father's Day weekend, but somehow I didn't get any pics of that. We celebrated Friday night before company came so that it wouldn't be so crazy. We got Kade a Glen Beck book as well as some "stink spray" that the kids helped pick out. We also made him some banana cream pie-one of his favorites.

Uncle Quin came to Idaho Falls on Monday and stayed for a week. It was fun to visit and see how big and fast Cameron is getting. Again, I didn't take pics. I always forget. Although I did get a few pics of the mess Uncle Quin left behind . . . .

Brancyn enjoying his humongous jawbreaker from Uncle Quin.

Brylee with evidence of her enjoyment all over her face.

2010-08-08T14:17:00.003-07:00

June 19-22

Kylie, Jake, and their kiddos came to visit this weekend. Jake just finished school for a technical degree (auto body and upholstery I believe). They stopped at our house on the way home to visit and put a few resumes into circulation. It was a nice weekend with eating, visiting, eating, and some more visiting:) My cousin Tori came and joined us as well as Jake's brother's and their wives. I just didn't get very many pics as usual.

Kylie, Rileigh, Jake, and Jacilynn
Kade, Liberty, and Mikayla (our neighbor friend)

Jacilynn and Brancyn.

It took me four tries to get a picture of them both looking up with a pleasant look on their faces.

2010-08-08T13:00:00.002-07:00

June 11-13, 2010

Each year for either Memorial Day Weekend or Labor Day Weekend, we try to make it to Yellowstone with Kade's Family. Between weather and illness though, we have had a hard time getting there the last couple of years. This year we had the trip planned for Memorial weekend, but it was snowy and COLD that weekend, so we rescheduled for a couple of weeks later. We thought the middle of June would work just fine. WRONG. It was forecasted to be cold, and snowy yet again. Seeing as that just doens't sound like one bit of fun with a toddler, we baled out on the trip. Kade's parents and sisters however decided to tough it out. Liberty and Kayson were so disappointed so we asked Grammy if they could tag along with her. So I really don't have any dialog about he trip itself other than I heard it definitely was chilly, but at least not wet. The kids had a good time too.

Kayson, Halle, Alyssa, Liberty, Carter, and Kate

Jarom, Elena, Grammy, Grampy, Emily, Bryon

Kayson, Carter, Alyssa, Kate, Halle, & Liberty

Kate and Bryon

Carter, Kayson, Halle, Alyssa, and Liberty

While everyone else was in Yellowstone, we decided we had better do our best to make some fun memories for Brylee, so she wouldn't be jealous. We spent one afternoon at the R-JUMP in town and had a great time.

Brancyn

Brylee

Deidra

Kade

2010-08-08T12:55:00.002-07:00

June 5, 2010

Because of the Father and Sons campout, we had to push Kayson's birhday celebration over to the 5th. That made his celebration the same day as Grammy's birthday, so they go to celebrate together again this year.

Opening gifts

Blowing out the candles

Kaysons requested cake . . . a pile of dirt cake. He had this at a friends party and thought it was great. I did too-it was the easiest cake I have ever decorated! Even if it does look disgusting, it got the thumb's up from the birthday boy.

2010-08-08T12:49:00.002-07:00

June 4-5

While the boys were out doing MANLY stuff, the girls were home being girlie. We . . . .

Did facial maskes-these are our scary faces, 'cuz the girls thought we looked like monsters:)

Painted toenails

and enjoyed chocolate cookies and a girlie movie.

It was a fun night for us-it's nice that we can take the opportunity to do this when the boys go away to their campout each year.

2010-08-08T12:41:00.004-07:00

June 4, 2010

Kayson was so excited when the Father and Sons campout fell on his birthday this year. He is such an outdoors kind of kid anyway, so this was the perfect birhtday gift. Grampy came up to enjoy the evening with Kade, Kayson, and Brancyn. They enjoyed some good food, football, and exploring that evening. Then the next day they did a little bit more exploring and some geo caching. They came home dirty, smelly, and wet, but with big smiles on their faces.

Kayson, Kade, and Brancyn

Grampy, Brancyn, Kade,
Kayson

Kayson, Brancyn, and Kade

Grampy

Brancyn, Kade, and Kayson

2010-06-03T15:04:00.003-07:00

June 3, 2010

Well this one is par for the course for Brylee's life. Remember how i just posted a couple of posts ago that Brylee is my go getter. She could pump herself in a swing at 2 and was riding a bike with training wheels on her 3rd birthday. Well today the kids all came in screaming and giggling from outside. They then told me that Brylee had rode Kayson's bike without training wheels all the way down the driveway. This didn't surprise me, she's been eyeing his bike all Spring. If I'm understanding right, she had a little help from Liberty, but still . . .this kid can barely stand up the bike without toppling over (she is still a little short) and yet she is riding it great! I think she is riding almost a whole year earlier than either of the other two-and they weren't really slow about it. This kid has no fear and WILL NOT be held back for anything:)

Sorry about the background noise-it's really windy today.

2010-05-28T14:59:00.003-07:00

May 26, 2010

Kayson graduated today! Well, he graduated kindergarten anyways. (funny how even this graduation makes me a little teary:) When kindergarten is over, they officially aren't your "little" kids anymore. They start doing all day school and just get so independent on you. That is good, but a little sad. Kayson did a great job in his graduation program. The kids sang a bunch of fun songs for us.

Kayson with his class

Kayson receiving his certificate of completion from Principal Hawkes.

Kade, Deidra
Brancyn, Kayson, Brylee
We realized after the fact that we could have got Liberty out of class to watch his program. Oops!

Grammy and Kayson.
Thanks Grammy for coming, you always make the kids feel so special!

2010-05-28T14:49:00.002-07:00

Brylee, Brancyn, and I got to go on a field trip to Bear World with Kayson today. We met at the school and rode the bus there! (This was half of the fun for Brylee)

Brylee and Kayson

We got to see and pet the baby bears. They were so stinking cute!

We also enjoyed the petting zoo. We pet deer, goats, and chickens. Aren't these baby pigs adorable?

Then we went on the driving part of the tour. We had a tour guide on our bus. It was fun to hear all of the fun facts about the animals.

Look at all of those bears!

We had a great day and it has us all excited for our trip to Yellowstone this year!

2010-05-28T14:42:00.002-07:00

May 11, 2010

Liberty has been begging me to cut her hair for about a month now. We finally found time today so we went at it. I started out a couple of inches longer than this even though she told me she wanted it above her shoulders, kind of close to her chin. I was afraid I would go that short and she would freak out. But when I let her go and see where I was cutting at, she said go shorter, so shorter we went. After I had it as short as she wanted, I decided it needed a few layers. (I'm not a hug fan of a straight cut when it is this short.) So I started adding layers. I've done layers in her hair before and they have turned out pretty good, but this time I decided to try cutting them a little different. Bad idea! They were not blending at all-it was terrible and by this time I had her really scared (not to mention me) So I went back to my tried-and-true way of cutting layers. It took me a little while to clean it up and I think there are still a few random lenth layers in there, but I think i fixed ok. It definately looks fine when it is done, but Mimi don't judge my efforts:) Liberty was way excitied about it though, and that is all that matters. I'm glad she liked the end product. Whew!

2010-05-28T14:33:00.002-07:00

May 7, 2010

Tonight we had an Elders Quorum party. The theme was Cinco de Mayo. They had mexican food and people made pinatas to bring. This one was made by the Elders Quorum Pres. He made this out of a box wrapped in Duct tape, wrapped in carpet, wrapped in cardboard, wrapped in carpet, wrapped in plastic wrap. The thing was crazy. They had every Elder and a lot of their wives beating on this thing with all their might, but it didn't give. They finally had to take the last three layers off before anyone could break it. It sure was funny to watch everyone try though. Just a word of wisdom for those who think this sounds like a fun idea for future use . . .don't have the dad's blindfolded and swinging a bat for all their worth on one end of the shelter while the kids are swinging at a kid pinata on the other end of the shelter. Every time the candy scattered, the kids followed and yep you guessed it, the candy scattered right over by where the dads were swinging. I don't know how many kids almost lost their heads tonight-literally. One of them being my son. Ugh, just makes me sick thinking how close a bat came to his little head . . .

The old Elders Quorum Pres. and his wife made this golden calf for us to beat. lol. It was HUGE!!!

2010-05-28T14:30:00.002-07:00

May 7, 2010

While I was working on dinner tonight, Kayson was in the living room making a master piece of his own. He told me not to come in until he was done. When I was allowed to look, this is what I found . . . .

Awww, some days your kids just melt your heart, ya know? I love how he sculpted all of the letters out of blocks except the o in you, he just used one circle block for that one. It was just so five year old . . . adorable.

2010-05-28T14:20:00.002-07:00

May 3, 2010

We have tried to take Bryle to the dentist twice already. Both times she sceamed and cried and wouldn't let them touch her. (Even Brancyn sat in the chair last time to show her how easy it is.) Anyone who knows Brylee, knows this is not her norm. She is usually a go getter and won't let anything slow her down. This is the kids that was riding a big girl bike with training wheels before she was three and could pump herself on a swing at two-she just wants to be one of the big kids soooo bad. So this has been a new thing for us to see her afraid of something. Well it came time for the 6 month cleanings again and we had to try her again. When I first told her about it, I could immediately see the anxiety creeping into her face, so we headed for the computer and found some encouraging videos of little kids getting their teeth cleaned on youtube. This seemed to settle her and so I didn't say anything for the next few days. The day of the cleaning, I told her what we were going to do that day and she started freakig out again-so back to the computer again. I settled her enough to get her there without tears . . . .

but just barely. You can see she is not really excited about going in. (We were taking pics to make it seem exciting-I told her I would put it in our photo book for this year so she could remember how brave she was and how cool it was.)

Ohoh, here come the tears. She just couldn't take the stress. I offered to sit in the seat with her though and that was just enough this time. She let them count, brush and floss her teeth (just with a regular tooth brush, so she wouldn't freak out again). But at least she did it. Major improvement over the last times when she wouldn't even open her mouth (even though i was holding her then too).

And look how happy she ws after she got her own bag complete with new toothbrush, floss, and a prize fro doing so well!!! Now hopefully next time we won't have so much drama!

2010-05-28T14:16:00.002-07:00

April 25, 2010

I had to get a quick pic of this. Brancyn tried to head off to church today with Liberty's purse on his arm. Before you all freak out, this boy is as rough and tumble as they come-so no worries there. Besides that, the poor kid just wanted to be one of the crowd. All of the kids have scripture cases that they carry to church every week. He just went and found one for himself! No worries though, it give me a great idea for his birthday-he will be receiving his very own GREEN scripture case for his birthday in July.

2010-05-28T14:09:00.002-07:00

April 25, 2010

We needed an updated family pic for a couple of projects I've been working on. So we took advantage of everyone looking nice on Sunday morning and snapped this one. I was pretty happy with it other than Kade and Kayson's white shirts kind of faded Brancynd and Kade out a little bit. But, still not bad for a quick snapshot.

Deidra, Kade, Kayson

Liberty, Brancyn, Brylee

The kids begged to do a silly one while we were at it, so here it is:)

2010-05-28T14:00:00.002-07:00

April 23, 2010

The kids have again been begging for sleepovers with the cousins. This weekend, it finally worked out. We got it pretty easy this time. Kate came to our house while Kayson and Liberty went over to the cousins. First we took the girls to the Craze Fun Zone and let them crawl around in the play tunnels for awhile to run off some energy. Then we decided to let them go and pick out a treat to go with their movie. I asked Kate what kind of treat she liked and she told me the store kind. I was trying to figure out what store to go to (grocery store for good ice cream and baking goods, wal-mart for candy, etc.) so I said 'we'll go to a store, but do you want cake, cookies, icecream? . . ) ' She then says 'do you have a wal-mart store? they have treats there.' So off to wal-mart we The girls and Brancyn each picked out a treat. We came home split up the goods (there was tons-for only having 3 choices-they knew how to make the best of their one choice!) Then the girls settled down for their movie-strawberry shtortcake with their treats. I expected the girls to just sleep in the guest room where i had them set up, but after the movie, they remade beds on Brylee's floor and finally fell asleep around midnight. The finished off their sleepover with some good play time the next morning. It's great having cousins so close for sleepovers!

Kate and Brylee enjoying their lunch.

2010-05-28T13:46:00.004-07:00

April 2, 2010
We started our Easter weekend a little early this year. Since conference was going to be on Saturday and Sunday, we decided we would color eggs on Friday, do eggs goldenrod that night, and hard boiled eggs for breakfast on Saturday morning. Then we would head to Grammy and Grampy's for the rest of Saturday and Sunday.

The kids had a blast coloring eggs. Especially Brancyn, that is until he decided his egg looked like a ball and that it would be fun to throw:)

We woke up to this 'beautiful' sight on Saturday morning. As you are looking at this great pic, keep in mind that everything was melted off the day before. We'd even had some days that were high 60's and low 70's in March, but this was what Mother Nature sent us for Easter weekend.

We were glad to go to Grammy's where there was plenty of room to run and play even if the weather didn't cooperate with us. The kids had a great time doing their Easter basket hunt and enjoyed having a treat for conference. We finished up the day with a nice Easter dinner with Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and of course Grammy and Grampy.

2010-03-24T11:21:00.004-07:00

March 19, 2010

My Grandma's birthday is on St. Patricks Day and we usually try to get a visit in. With all of the remodeling that was going on, I spaced until the next day. We worked out a visit for Friday. Michelene and her kids and me and all my kids except Liberty enjoyed a fun visit. I thought to bring my camera this time. I don't have many recent pics of my grandma and not really any of her with the kids. So we got one for the scrapbook this year.

Brylee, Brancyn, Kayson, Grandma, Archer, Hunter, and Brielle

2010-03-24T10:56:00.002-07:00

March 13, 2010

Brylee turned four today!!
Brylee was supposed to have her big party with friends this year. We had been talking about it and planning it. One morning I was double checking what she wanted so that I could get invitations out and she told me she didnt want all her friends she just wanted Grammy and Grampy to come. So that's what we did. It really ended up being a blessing for me, 'cuz we were right in the middle of all that remodeling, and it would have been very hard to have a bunch of extra kids running around.

So we stared off Brylee's big day with a breakfast of French toast with strawberries and whip cream, with a side of bacon.

During breakfast, Brylee got three different birthday phone calls. She was feeling pretty special!

Brylee asked for a cake with a butterfly on it and flowers. So this is what we came up with. (She also picked a lemon cake with sherbet to go alongside. Later she realized that wasn't her favorite combo. One or the other was fine, but not together. Oh well, now she knows for next time.)

In the evening, we had Grammy and Grampy come for pizza and pink lemonade. And then of course presents and cake. Brylee got a new Ken doll form Grammy (for the dollhouse) and some cute clothes. She got some workbooks (she's always begging for homework) clothes, candy, and a dollhouse from us. Liberty gave her some money!

She seemed to like her gifts, but I have to post the video of her opening the dollhouse.

I think the video says it all, but in case you are having a hard time following what is being said, I'll recap. The attice of Brylees dollhouse is on hinges, so we put a basketball up there to disguis the appearance of the dollhouse. When she opened up the gift, she zeroed in on the ball instead of the house. She absolutely loves basketball. She practices dribbling all the time and like to watch it with her dad on tv. So it was pretty funny. She did like the doll house too. She just had to look at it and understand what it was!

2010-03-24T10:24:00.004-07:00

March

So, after Kade saw how wonderful I made the Barbie house look, he asked why I didn't make his house look that good. Well, he asked for it . . . . .I started in on our house. These pictures don't do all of the changes justice, but I thought I'd post them anyways, to kind of give you and idea of what we did. It started with me just wanting new carpet. But then we decided we better replace the hard floor surfaces first, which then led to replacing toilets and vanitites in the bathrooms, which then led to getting a new bath surround so the tub didn't look out of place, which finally led to new carpet and paint throughout the upper floor of our house. I was so excited about it, that I scheduled out carpet and new vinyl intalls too close together and we worked ourselves to death for two weeks straight. But we are happy with the results so far and will be even happier when all the details are finished.

Laundry room before (I like to think of this room as outer darkness.) It was so gross and obviously divided from the rest of the house.

New laundry room floor (ignore all the clutter-I've been catching up on long over due laundry:) I will also still be painting the cabinets black in here at some point to finishe this room up as well as putting trim back up.

Old Master bathroom (I forgot to take pics when the toilet and sink were still in here) The old sink was painted white (and it wasn't done well, there were dried paint drips all over it, and the toilet was old and didn't have the best flush power.)

New master bathroom. I still need to finish doing touch up paint and we think we might take the shower doors off and just hang a nice curtain that coordinates with everything. But I love the new paint color. My bathroom is feels so calming instead of sterile now.

This is the old guest bathroom. Kade was working on getting the old sink out. It was painted a 'lovely' green and the counter top was white with gold veins running throuh it. This toilet was also old and didn't have very great flush power. Brancyn was such a good helper. He thought to go and get the flashlight on his own and held it for Kade to see under the sink. He is soooo into Kade's tools.

This is the almost there new guest bathroom. Kade still has to intall the faucet for the sink and the new tub surround that you can see leaning agains the wall.

This is the old dining room. We ripped out gray kitchen carpet. Whoever thought of kitchen carpet was crazy. It is such a pain!

Here is the new kitchen flooring. It isn't hugely different in coloring from what we had in the kitchen before, but it is a little warmer color and a way better pattern not to mention it flows from the kitchen into the dining room and then into the laundry room-not three different floor types anymore!!

We had to move the kitchen appliances out twice. Once for the new vinyl and again for the new vinyl:) (They didn't patch the floor very well the first time and had to come back and do some more patching). Brancyn watched the whole process (we had to take the fridge doors off to get it out of the kitchen) So by the second time around, he was ready with his tools and knew right where to go to work!

This is the old living room. Not bad. It's just the carpet was super light colored and showed everything, it didn't have good padding either, and there was a huge outdated hutch that divided the room in half.

New living room. It has beautiful carpet with nice thick pad. The color hides everything, yay! I still haven't decided how to set up this crazy sized room (now that the hutch has been removed, it is 12' x 32' ) But I've been thinking of some ideas and I'll have it worked out in no time. In the mean time, I'm enjoying the absolutly luxurious feel of new carpet!!

Well, like I said, Kade asked for it and he got it. I did almost all the same things as in the Barbie house. New paint, carpet and vinyl!

2010-03-24T10:07:00.002-07:00

February-March
A family in our ward gave us a doll house a few weeks ago. They're kids are all grown and gone and they thought we might be able to get more use out of it. So we made plans to redecorate it for Brylee's birthday.

This is the before . . . .

Here is an after of the kitchen. We (the kids and I) made curtains that open and close, a tablecloth, and plates with different food items painted onto each side. We also added hooks for the dishtowels.

We made a clock for the kitchen and Liberty had the idea to paint the time that Brylee was born on it-so that's what we did.

The house came with the wood furniture, but we made couch cushions that could be removed and little throw pillows, we also paintd a vase and put flowers in it for the coffee table. I painted on windows with scenes of quaking aspens, mountains, clouds, etc.

We also found these cute little frames at the dollar store and put acutal family pictures in them for Brylee. They are attached to the wall with poster putty so she can rearrange all she wants.

We made a big girls room complete with clothing chese, t.v., robe hooks, and mirror.

We made a baby girls room with a clothes chest, coat hooks, a picture of Jesus on the wall and a pink puppy.

And we made a Ken room again with a clothing chest, mirror, tv, and robe hooks.

We had a fun time decorating it (that was always my favorite part of playing dolls when i was growing up-setting up the house). The kids couldn't wait to see what Brylee thought and they also wanted to play with it sooo bad. We'll see if they can keep the secret until Brylee's birthday.

2010-03-24T09:57:00.004-07:00

February 21, 2010

Michelene had her baby today! Hunter and Brielle came to our house last night for an impromptu sleepover while Mich and Shaun headed off to the hospital. Mich was in labor but slowed down when they gave her some antibiotics. So the put her on Pit and that got things moving again. She had baby Archer Sunday Morning.

Brancyn and Brielle enjoyed some tub time Sunday morning while we waited for news from mom and dad.

This is a picture of baby Archer when he is two weeks old. ( I didn't get pictures until then). Anybody that knows the daddy of this kid would say there is NO question who he belongs to:)

Brylee meeting her new cousin.

Liberty having her turn

Kayson had a turn too, but I missed it while I was off getting dinner on the table.

2010-02-14T08:45:00.002-07:00

February 13-14, 2010

Liberty already had herV-day box made, so the rest of the kids wanted one too. Kade helped Kayson make a pirate ship and Brylee and Brancyn got boxes with hearts all over them. Then the kids exchanged Valentine's They got cards, candy, and even money from each other:) Mom and Dad also stuck a few cards and candies in there for them.

We stopped by Grammy's on Saturday to say hi. She had these cute little Valentine's for the kids. They were dog bowls with bones in them. The bones of course were candy and had cute little sayings on them. They were a total hit with the kids! Thanks Grammy!

Brylee, Kayson, Liberty

Brancyn and Brylee

Finally the kids get a box of chocolates from mom and Dad.

Kade was sweet and got me a neck and shoulder massager. It's a pretty good one. He did a lot of research trying to find the best one. I think it will get a lot of use around here.

Poor Kade only got an extension cord-not very romantic, but something he really needed and has already used (not to mention, that massager was a little bit of a for you/for me gift-he's also hoping to get a lot of use out of it :0).

2010-02-14T08:37:00.002-07:00

February 9-12,2010

Liberty had to make a Valentine's box this year. I was just going to glue hearts and stuff all over a box and call it good, but Kade said we had to be more creative (there was a contest in her class) So I tried to get my creative juices flowing, and this is what I came up with. I was pretty impressed with myself ;) So were Liberty and Kade. Liberty even said I thought I was just going to bring something boring, but this is cool (score for mom!)

Liberty's Cheshire Love Day Cat.

Cheshire

Kayson made a big heart envelope in his class and he came home with it loaded! He was pretty impressed with this Valentines business!

2010-02-14T08:28:00.002-07:00

February 5-10,2010

So while we were in the middle of building an office, we also got into the middle of redoing counter tops. Our old counter tops cracked, so we started looking at trying to fix or replace them. We found they couldn't be fixed, so we decided we were going to just have to replace them with laminate (that is all we could afford) Then someone told us the insurance might cover them, so we started looking into it. And yes, they did (at least a portion of it.) They covered the cracked piece, which is the largest in piece including the sink and bar. So we decided to replace them with Corian which was close to what we had. Now we have new countertops with a ten year warranty on them!!!

Before

After

I love these countertops. I like deeper colors and even though my kitchen is pretty, I wouldn't have picked such light colored cabinets, so these dark counter tops kind of set them off. The countertops still have flecks of gold that match the cabinets, so it all ties in.

2010-02-14T08:16:00.002-07:00

February 2-14, 2010
Kade accepted a new job this month. It is a work from home job, so that means we took on the project of getting an office put together for him. These are the starting pictures. We portioned off some of our storage room for him.

This is what we started with.

Here is that section framed

And here it is with sheet rock and in the process of being mudded.

I'll post the final pics when we are done. It isn't a really big space (not much bigger than his old cubicle-about 7ftx8ft) but we think it will do the job and it is fun to see the room transform. Kade starts his new job on Tuesday-wish us luck!!!!

2010-02-14T07:57:00.001-07:00

February 4, 2010

We got to go and give the new play place at the Craze Fun Zone a "test" run tonight. The kids had a blast and haven't stopped asking to go back!

Liberty

Kayson

Brylee

2010-01-22T09:58:00.003-07:00

January 15-19, 2010

We went to visit Gillian and her family and Tressie in Boise this weekend. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time and . . . .

AAAHHhhhhhh!!! I chopped off my hair!
Ya, really chopped it! It's gone:) I like the cut, but am still getting used to it. I'm honestly debating chopping off a little more. the cut is actually kind of a super shot a-line at the top. I end up just tucking the long pieces behind my ears all of the time though, so I'm debating chopping the a line off- I don't know. I really love the ease of the hair-do, but I'm still trying to figure out how to keep it out of my face when I'm doing housework, etc.

While we were in Boise, the kids had their first experience at Chuck E. Cheese's. It was a total hit. They loved it. And I didn't have such a bad time myself.

We also checked out the Idaho Discovery Center while we were there. It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Brancyn and Gavin

Liberty, Kayson, and Tressie playing with the green screen. Harry Potter and his invisibility cloak have nothing on these guys:)

2010-01-22T09:53:00.002-07:00

January 3, 2010

Today is Brancyn's first day of Nursery, yay!!!!! I guess he thought he would help things along by putting on his Nursery war paint right before church. Little stinker.

2010-01-22T09:45:00.002-07:00

December 30-31, 2009

We invited Elena's kids over for a sleepover on the 30th. We had Kate, Carter, and Halle come over. The kids had fun playing games, and watching movies. They didn't settle down until about 12:30 (That sure made it hard for some of them to make it until midnight the next night:) The next morning we went out to try out our new sleds from Grammy and Grampy. The weather had cooperated and dumped quite a few inches on us the day before (so the grass was finally covered). The kids had a ball. Smith park was perfect, not too big or too small. We played for a good hour. Even Brancyn stuck it out and had a lot of fun. We finally called it quits, but just a minute too late. Kate was taken out by the boys on one of their last runs. Poor girl, she went flying. Thank goodness she wasn't hurt, just super scared. We went home and enjoyed some hot cocoa and lunch and then sent the kids home to get ready for their own New Year's Eve plans.

Loot at those rosy cheeks!

I somehow didn't get any pictures of our new years eve. We had my sister and her family over as well as a mutal friend's family. We enjoyed games while the kids played downstairs. It was slow paced (we had two very pregnant womet there:), but fun. The power went out about 11:30, so we toasted in the new year by lantern light. Finally it was off to bed, we all needed a good sleep-in, luckily the kids cooperated.

2010-01-22T09:30:00.002-07:00

December 25, 2009

Well, we got home last night and got our stocking laid out, read our Christmas stories, and jumped into bed just in time. Santa came!!! Our Christmas pictures turned out fuzzy this year, we must have had the cmaera on the wrong setting, so I'm only posting a couple.

Liberty, Kayson, Brylee, and Kayson waiting to open presents, but already eating treats from their stockings:)

I got some slippers for Christmas. Brancyn was watching me open them and when he saw what they were, he immediately lifted his own foot for them. What a nut.

After we opened our gifts, which included the finished and beautiful quilts for the kids beds that I made!!! We had breakfast of pancakes with strawberry/raspberry jam and whip cream and then packed up and headed out for Grammy's. We enjoyed board games, play time, movies, good food, and a night over at Grammy's. Quin and Natalie stayed until the next day, so we also got a good visit in with them. It was a nice Christmas, but I'm glad the hustle and bustle is over.

2010-01-22T09:21:00.006-07:00

December 24, 2009

Quin and Natalie decided to drive back up from California for Christmas, so we waited to do the Nativity this year until Christmas Eve. It was a little crazy and rushed (we had to get home to bed so Santa could come), but we pulled it off.

Grammy & Grampy -Deidra, Kade, Quin, Natalie, & Cameron
Jarom, Elena, Alyssa, Kayson, Liberty, Emily, &Bryon
Carter, Brancyn, Brylee, Kate, & Halle

Kayson and Liberty got to be Joseph and Mary this year and little Cameron was baby Jesus

2010-01-22T09:03:00.002-07:00

December 18, 2009

Today was soooo busy, but a lot of fun. We started the day off with Liberty's Christmas program at 9:00 a.m. It was adorable. The second grade sang and danced for us. I was so excited that they did a program this year, I've been waiting for her to do one ever since she started school:) Grammy came up to watch and offer her support.

Here is Liberty in her cute little elf hat.

Next, I headed off to Kaysons class as 10:00 for his class Christmas party. I was in charge of the snack/treat. We made cute little snowmen out of banana slices, apples, mini chocolate chips raisins, and pretzels. The kids seemed to enjoy making them and enjoyed eating them even more. I also sent them home with a little baggie of chocolate and butterscotch chip cookies.

Kayson with his snowman.

Later that afternoon, Liberty had her Christmas piano recital. She did an awesome job. Grammy again drove up to support Liberty (and Liberty felt pretty special).

Liberty dressed in her Christmas dress after the performance.

Then to finish off the night and next day, we had visitors. My two best friends Nicole and Tiffany came for a girls night at my house. We enjoyed a nice dinner, games, and lots of visiting. This was also my first chance to meet Tiff's cute little guy, Bently.

Nicole, Tiffany, and Bently

My Aunt Karen and Uncle Allan also stayed at our house that night ( they were picking their girls up from BYU-I). I enjoyed a quick visit with them over breakfast before they were on their way.

2009-12-11T18:33:00.002-07:00

December 12, 2009

Now that Grandma has the internet at home, we thought it would be fun to wish her a happy birthday online. Hope you have a great birthday Mom, we love you!!!

2009-12-11T11:55:00.002-07:00

December 1, 2008.

I apologize it has been sooo long since i posted. In about the middle of October, I got the hair-brined idea to make some MAJORLY time consuming gifts for my kids for Christmas. I usually do a homemade something or other for them. But, this was above and beyond any other year. I won't post what it is right now, 'cuz Liberty reads this blog from time to time. Anyways, I finally finished the projects!!! They are wrapped and stashed away. I feel so relieved to have them done in time. So, that is why I haven't even looked at blogging for a good little while. Hope you enjoy the updates.

2009-12-11T11:31:00.006-07:00

December 3, 4, 9, 2009

Well December is in full swing already. We have already enjoyed:

The Ward Christmas Party (with a program put on by various ward members and the Primary).

Sitting on Santa's Lap ( I don't know if I should say we "Enjoyed" this)

Brancyn

Brylee

Kayson

Liberty

Decorating gingerbread houses at the neighborhood party (Thanks Debbie)

Liberty

Kayson

Brylee

Bowling and a Movie (Planet 51) at Dad's work Christmas Party.

Brancyn (He was so frustrated by this bowling thing. He wanted to pick up the balls and play with them, but they were entirely too heavy for him. It did not make for a happy little boy.)

Brylee

Kayson

Liberty ( I think this was the throw that landed in the next lane overs gutter. Liberty was a little embarrassed by her wild throw, but was a good sport and laughed with everyone.)

Deidra

Kade (He smoke us all as usual)

2009-12-11T11:24:00.002-07:00

November 30, 2009

I am so exhausted from our trip to Washington, but there is no rest for the weary. Tradition is calling my name. It is the first Monday after Thanksgiving which means it is officially time to set up and decorate the Christmas trees in this house.

Liberty

Kayson

Brylee

Brancyn

2009-12-11T11:16:00.005-07:00

November 29, 2009.

We made it home just in time to go to Cameron D. Smith's blessing (yes he has a name now, sorry I took so long to post it:)

Grammy and Grampy with all the grandkids

Cameron, Quin, and Natalie

The 'Authority' figures around here:)

2009-12-11T11:06:00.003-07:00

November 27, 2009
Here are a few more pics of our week in Washington.

We played ball at the Church a couple of times

Brylee and Kade chillin'

Wild Turkeys running around the yard

My parents house (we took this to show Tyrell the changes).

Tressie and Kayson

Makenna, Liberty, and Kordell

2009-12-11T10:56:00.003-07:00

November 24, 2009

We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving this year. These pics are of our FHE activity while we were there. We had fun making turkey's out of hostess cupcakes, marshmallows, candy corns, and sprinkles. Sorry the pictures are grainy. I didn't realize someone had played with the settings on my camera until later when I saw these on a full size monitor.

2009-12-11T10:50:00.002-07:00

November 11, 2009.

Kayson, and Brylee took gymnastics through the city again this fall. They both loved it. I grabbed a couple of pics on their last day. Liberty also took a class through the city, rock climbing. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of her. It was a drop her off kind of class. But she loved it and came home bragging that she got to pick a soda of her choice 'cuz she reached the top of her wall!

Brylee

Kayson

If you are wondering about Kayson's odd pose, he was supposed to pretend he was a flamingot as he waslked across (one leg up and arms flapping).

2009-12-11T10:44:00.003-07:00

Here are the kids in there Holiday clothes. Brylee used hers from last year 'cuz it matched everyone so well (plus she has accquired many new dressed in the past few months and didn't really need a new one) I was trying to get a good picture for our Christmas newsletter, but wasn't overly impressed by any of them. Oh well, at least we have November documented now.

Libery, Brancyn, Brylee, Kayson

Brylee, Deidra, Liberty, Kade, Brancyn, Kayson

2009-12-11T10:36:00.004-07:00

October 31, 2009
Finally, Halloween! It was so nice that Halloween fell on a Saturday this year. It made the day feel so much less rushed. We headed up to Grandma Ruby's first and showed off the kids. Next we were able to go to Grammy's house and hang out for awhile. We even hit JC Penny's and got the kids Holiday clothes this day (I know, such a Halloween thing to do, but man we hit a great sale). And then the kids were ready to wear them the next day. We finished the day off with trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and a party at the neighbors. It was a really fun day.

Liberty (Winged Vampiress)

Kayson (Vampire)

Brylee (Princess)

Brancyn (Roo)

Jack (Horse)

Jack's costume was too funny. As he ran around the little cowboy on his back looked like he was really riding him. With a little rhythm going:)

2009-12-11T10:32:00.003-07:00

October 27, 2009

This is a perfect example of why we DON'T play ball in the house, mom. (Yes, I'm the culprit) I had bounced the ball just right so that it landed on top of the cupboards. The kids thought it was cool and asked me to do it again. I missed this time and the ball bounced right into my bowl of cereal, splashing everyone. You can see I was really popular after that stunt:)

If you enlarge the picture and look closely, you'll seek milk splashed on the curtains and pumpkins. I really made a mess!

2009-12-11T10:20:00.003-07:00

October 24, 2009

Michelene and Shaun invited us to a pumpkin carving party tonight. Liberty's is a pirate, Kaysons is a Japanese man, Brlyee's a princess, and Brancyn's a self portrait. The kids had a lot of fun directing Kade and I and then they ran off to watch Haloween cartoons with cousins. We finished off the night with doughnuts and cider, mmmmm.

2009-12-11T10:04:00.004-07:00

October 23, 2009

We enjoyed the kids Halloween carnival at the school tonight. The played some fun games and then we headed off to the lunch room for cotton candy, popcorn, and pixie sticks. The kids loved it (and I'm glad it's over. it is fun to take the kids 'cuz they get so excited, but those things are a such a nut house.)

2009-12-11T09:57:00.003-07:00

October 17, 24, 2009

Kade decided to help coach soccer this fall. He got to be Liberty and Kayson's coach. He had fun other than it was a miserably cold fall (until soccer season was over-then it warmed up for a month:). Here are some pics of one of the few games I made it to.

We aslo had an end of season party for the team. We decorated Halloween sugar cookies, enjoyed a Halloween cartoon, and just let the kids play.

2009-12-11T09:50:00.003-07:00

October 10, 2009.

Grammy and Grampy came to Rexburg to catch Liberty and Kayson's soccer game. It was soooo cold. The other team had
to forfeit (which was kind of blessing seeing as it was much too cold to enjoy a game). Since Grammy and Grampy were already this far, they decided it would be fun to go to Yellowstone for the day and watch Old Faithful go off. Kade, Liberty, and Kayson went along for the ride. They said it was very cold, but they enjoyed themselves none-the-less.

2009-10-21T08:26:00.002-07:00

Ok, for you men that are a little shy about "women" words I warn you to not read this post. If they don't bother you, read on! I've just been laughing this morning remembering how in high school, one of my good friends had a code word for tampons-they were called party favors. It was a good word, if you were in a public place, and needed to ask a friend for an emergency tampon, you would just ask her if she had any party favors. Now maybe people knew what we were talking about and maybe they didn't, but either way you felt a little less obvious and uncomfortable asking for a party favor. Well as of late my two youngest have discovered my stash of tampons in the bathroom cupboard and you know what? You would think they really were party favors. They have more fun opening them and popping those tampons up through the tube than just about anything I've seen them get there hands on. I don't love that they are wasting them, but it still cracks me up - other than I'm afraid there is going to be an untimely incident with one being opened and left in sight of front door company one day that I will miss!

2009-10-14T18:56:00.003-07:00

Welcome new cousin baby Smith (we'll call him that 'cuz it's the only thing we can call him right now :) He made his appearance 4 days late (or maybe right on time-who knows what his schedule was) on October 13. He is a big boy weighing in at over 8 lbs and looks a lot like his daddy. He sure is a cutie and we're glad he made it here and that mom and baby are doing well. Congrats Quin and Natalie!!!

2009-10-05T11:04:00.002-07:00

October 5, 2009

Good Morning Idaho!!!

2009-10-02T14:41:00.003-07:00

September 29, 2009.

I just had to post these videos of my Genius child Kayson. They crack me up, but he definately is innovative. Sorry it is in two videos-it really isn't that long, Brylee just started pulling on the camera string at the end of the first video and so I had to stop and get her off to catch the second video. Kayson was pretty detrmined he was at this long enough for me to watch, then go find my camera, and then come and video tape the last of his efforts. Anyways, enjoy if you care to-I thought it was pretty funny.

2009-10-02T14:31:00.005-07:00

September 21, 2009.

Since my birthday fell on a Monday this year, we decided the whole family would go on a 'birthday date' with me. We took the kids to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (which I thought was pretty funny-it did poop out a little on the last 15 minutes though). Then we went out for Mexican food. There is one Mexican restaurant in town that me and the kids like, but that Kade doesn't so I have to use my birthday to be able to go there. And it was GOOD!! We finished up with gifts back at the house, but had to wait until the next weekend for cake. Their just wasn't time to get one made today.

2009-10-02T14:28:00.001-07:00

September 20, 2009.

While Kylie was visiting for the weekend, I asked her to take a family picture for us. It turned out pretty good.

Deidra, Kade

Kayson, Brancyn, Brylee, and Liberty

2009-10-02T14:16:00.003-07:00

September 18, 2009

Today is the big homecoming parade and game. The second graders at Liberty's school are the lucky grade that get to dress up crazy and go to the parade to support the highschoolers. Liberty was all for painting her face and spray painting her hair, but we had to talk a little harder to get her to wear red tights under her cutoff shorts. In the end we talked her into it and she was way excited to dress up crazy like the highschoolers. And the parade was great. It is always fun and they give us more candy than any parade I've been to. It was only about a 20 min parade, but we came away with a grocery bag half full of candy!!! The kids were impressed:) My sisiter stopped in to visit tonight on her way to Washington so we didn't go to the game. Kade was keeping tabs on line though and it started to look close at the end so we walked over for just the last couple of minutes. In the time it took us to walk there, the other team had already scored again though, so when we got there, the game was basically over. Oh well, we'll get 'em next time!!

2009-10-02T13:50:00.005-07:00

September 3, 2009

This week, my family came to visit and attend the Farley Family Reunion. They spent the first half of their visit at Michelene's, then we all went to the reunion for a night and then they spent a few nights at my house. While they were here, I set my little brother Cheston up with my neighbor's daughter. It was his first date. We had a game night with her one night so that they could get to know each other a little bit before the date. We probably scared her to death as we introduced her to the Farley's game of "Braclets". A silly game involving hiding a few braclets and a guard watching over them while the rest of the family tries to find them. It involves lots of running around, diving into hiding places, getting caught, and of course lots of laughing. It was so fun. I havent' played this since Liberty was a baby. We had about 20 people running through my house and everyone from 2 year olds to 50 year olds were in on the fun! It was a riot.

Kade and my Dad discussing the finer points of the game "Braclets". You can see that Kade is sweating to death. He was the one guard trying to catch all the rest of us.

The runion was also a lot of fun. We haven't done an overnighter since I was a kid. This year my Aunt Judy offered the use of her cabin to all of us so that we could get together a little longer. It was great. I really enjoyed visiting with cousins, aunts, and uncles that I really don't get much of a chance to see. Thanks Judy for all of your hard work!! On the way to the reunion, we got a phone call. It was Gillian telling us she had just had her baby. It was great timing because my parents were going home that way and were able to see their newest grandchild. I don't have any pics of that little guy yet.

Tressie and Grandma Farley (The Matriarch of the Farley Clan)

Judy set up crafts for the kids at the reunion

Bill and Judy's cabin.