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).

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!

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.

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!!!!

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

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:)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!!!

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.

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)

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