My Little Princess

Elly just LOVES getting ready for church. She likes dresses. Whenever she puts a dress on, she twirls around to make her dress spin. She is always so giddy. Today I took a couple of pics to show you just how "girl" she is!

Happy #5 Birthday Jordan!!!

WOW! I can't believe my baby boy is 5 already! Where has the time gone? It just amazes me that I am going to have a child going to kindergarten. I guess they have to grow up sometime!

What to say about Jordan??? Well... he is quite the character. He is always amusing someone, even if that someone is himself. He is such a good big brother, although sometimes he is too big of a help, he always wants to be the "boss". We have to remind him that he has to worry about himself. I do appreciate all that he does. He cleans his room by himself, and he is even learning to make the bed. He helps me all the time. He loves to teach Elly new things and I am sure that when Paige gets here, he'll be helping and teaching her as well.

I wouldn't trade Jordan for the world. He is such a good boy. I love him so much and I really do appreciate all of his efforts.

Happy Birthday Kiddo!

We had a nice "Transformers" Birthday party for him. He keeps telling me that it was the best birthday ever. Thanks to all of you who called him, or came over! He loved it. He really has wonderful family and friends! Thanks again!

Our new toy!!!

So, we have been wanting to get a boat and have been looking for a few months. Well, the search is over! We found a 1991 Bayliner Capri down in Boise. Ryan took his dad and they headed down to Boise to pick it up. What a day that was! When they were coming home they got caught in snow storm, and by the time they got back to Idaho Falls, it looked like they had run into an ice storm. The boat was covered in ice. That must have been quite the sight. Pulling a boat through snow! But we got it for a good deal and we can hardly wait until it is warm enough to take her out on the water. We are very excited. If anyone wants to come play with us, we'd love to have ya!

Jordan's first attempt at taking a picture

I was asked to post a picture of my pregnant self, well I couldn't take one of myself and Ryan wasn't here, so I decided to let Jordan take a stab at it. He did pretty good. SO here it is. Me at
7 1/2 months pregnant. I will post some better ones when I have a chance!

Brian Regan!

A while back I bought tickets for Ryan and I to go see this comedian, Brian Regan. He is so funny! and best of all he is not vulgar or crude. It is good, clean humor. So tonight we are off to go see him live in Blackfoot! I am so excited! It should be entertaining and a chance for Ryan and I to go on a date without the kids. YAY!

Here is a link to show you just one of his acts. He sure makes me laugh.

http://www.brian-regan.com/videos/IWotM/part1.html

Bring Back Corporal Punishment in Schools???

Okay... so I have a story for ya! On Thursday we had a teacher who called in sick. Her sub was just a small little Hispanic lady who seemed very nice. As other teachers from the building walked by the classroom they noticed that it was very quiet and thought, WOW! That sub has great control of the classroom. (This class is a very noisy class, and very obnoxious, and it is not the teacher's fault, they are a hard class) Anyways... We all thought "We need to have this lady come sub more often cause she really knows how to get a hold on the class." Well, the next morning a few of the kids from the class came up to their teacher and said that the sub spanked one of the boys in the class. At first she thought "Yeah Right" but then, more students told her the same thing. She finally decided that she needed to ask some of the more "reliable" kids in the class. She pulled them all separately and they looked as if they might cry as they told her what they had seen. Come to find out, the woman pulled the boy out of his chair and spanked him hard, "Like a mom would spank you if you were in trouble" said one of the students. No wonder the class was so well behaved. They were scared out of their wits! So I say if we can use corporal punishment we might just have some well behaved classes. Cause let's face it... the kids nowadays (with some exceptions of course) are disrespectful and they are "hard". We don't have the parental support that we need, the kids don't listen, a lot of them are mean. So now to finish the story... the teacher has to file a report. But, here's the sad thing, When the boy went home and told his mom that the sub spanked him, his mom just said "That wasn't very nice was it?" She didn't do anything about it! Sad huh?

Playing in the Snow!

Today was such a good day! We woke up and it was beautiful, the snow was falling and everything was covered in a white blanket. It was perfect. So we made breakfast, and decided to venture outside to have some snow fun! We started by building a snowman family. It was neat because this was actually the first snowman that I have built (at least that I remember). Yeah... CRAZY, I know! After we built our family Jordan and I made snow angels, (it is kinda hard to get up from the snow without ruining it! I don't know how they make perfect ones in the movies). During this time we were throwing snowballs at each other, and then to top off the morning we went to the school behind our house and went sledding down the hill. It was so much fun.


We came home, ate lunch, and then put the kids down for a nap. after they woke up, we cleaned up the house in preparation for the kids to have a babysitter that night. We went on an adult dinner to Ruby River to celebrate my birthday! It was very relaxing. It is nice to have some adult interaction for a change, without the constant pulling and trying to entertain children throughout! My birthday present from Ryan was a WII Fit. I LOVE IT! I have used it everyday since getting it. In fact the whole family enjoys it. Hopefully it will help me lose some weight, or at least get toned. I need it!

Anyways... It was a wonderful day! Thank you all for making my birthday Wonderful!

Christmas continued....

Jordan and Elly Playing Nice for a change!
They are being goofy!

This is Elly and Kayla playing nicely in
the skirts that Aunt Yolanda made for them! (so cute!)


Christmas Morning! The kids
showing off their goods from Santa!


We really loved being in California and visiting everybody. It was so much fun and I am so glad that we were able to squeeze in a family picture (We missed you Todd and family!!!) The kids really loved being able to spend time with their cousins. They sure do have fun together, and boy when they all get together they are filled with more energy than usual (That's saying that they are pretty WILD, because they are ALWAYS filled with energy) We were lucky... We were able to make it to the Harrison family Christmas party as well as the Gardner family Christmas party, so we got to see family that we don't normally get to see. It was nice to get together! Thank-you for letting us come and visit! We sure did have fun! You guys are welcome to come to Idaho whenever your schedule will permit you to! You will always have a place to stay!

Christmas in California

I know I'm a little late, but I figure, Better late than never! I didn't have my camera with me most of the time, so I didn't get a lot of pictures (BUMMER!) But I did at least get some pictures of the kids on Christmas morning! Jordan got Bumblebee from Transformers (just what he wanted) and Elly got a Barbie (what a girl! she was asking for one).

Our Baby girl's room

When we got back from California, I decided I wanted a project. So, I decided to start getting the baby's room ready while I still felt like doing it! I knew I wanted it to be brown and pink, but not too pink. So I decided to do the walls chocolate brown and tan and then have pink accents. I pained and then I looked for a cute bedding that would look good. Here is what I came up with.

It's a GIRL!!!

We just found out that we are expecting another little girl! YAY... We are so excited. Ryan was really hoping for a girl (if you couldn't tell he is kind of fond of his Elly). Anyhow... now we are looking for names so if anyone has any ideas we would love to hear them. I think this is one of the toughest parts (especially being a teacher, we have students that we would rather not have our own kids with their names). Well again, we are very excited and can't wait until April for our little one to arrive.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

We just want Ryan to know that we love him and appreciate all that he does for us! He is amazing and we are so lucky to have him. He takes care of us and we all hope he has a wonderful 28th Birthday!

Testimony

I know it's a little late, but I was just so proud of Jordan last Sunday! He asked if he could bear his testimony. He wanted his dad to take him up there. Ryan did take him but didn't even have to help much. He did an excellent job. What a good little guy!

My long overdue project

So I have been wanting to put up a vinyl saying in Elly's room, but have never gotten around to it. Well yesterday I decided that instead of doing vinyl I was going to paint it. It turned out pretty good, especially since I have never done it before. I borrowed an overhead projector from my school and used it to make a saying! I put glitter all over it so it is shiny! I don't think you can see it in the picture but that's okay, you get the idea.

Movie Night!

This Friday night Ryan had a campout with the scouts and so the kids and I decided we would have a movie night. We went to Wendy's and got some fries and burgers, laid a blanket out on the floor and watched a Christmas movie, "The Polar Express". It was a really fun and enjoyable night! I wish it could be like that every night! The kids didn't fight, there was no complaining, and the kids were calm (Which is highly unusual). It was just plain nice! I really love my kids. They can be so sweet!

What Elly would look like with Hair!

We went to Walmart today and Ryan thought it was fun to put wigs on Elly, she was so cute! He thought it was so fun that he bought her a wig! Here's a picture of t!

Happy Halloween!

Wow!!! This has been one long event! It seems like Halloween has been a month event, but hey... it gives us something to do. On Thursday, I took the kids to Melaleuca to Trick or Treat! We got to go there because Grandma Sherrey works there. It was fun. Candace brought Alyssa and Cole too! The kids just love to hang out with each other. They all looked so cute in their costumes. The kids loved it, but it sure was hot in there! Thanks Grandma for letting us come to work with you!

Carving Pumpkins

Monday night for Family Home Evening, Jordan, Elly, and I carved pumpkins. I was bummed that Ryan had to work, but the pumpkins turned out okay! The kids thought it was great fun to pull out all of the pumpkin guts! They are really looking forward to Halloween, and all the festivities going on in the next few nights. It's gonna be busy, but FUN!

Happy Halloween to Everyone!!!
We love Ya!

Primary Program

Okay... so this year Jordan was able to be in the Primary Program. He knew his parts, he knew the songs, he was ready! Well, this past Sunday was the day that he had prepared for! I was looking forward to it. These Sundays are some of my favorites and now I had someone to watch (my own son). Wouldn't you know it! Jordan got sick. Yep... of all days, it had to be this Sunday! and we couldn't even attend! I was so bummed. I was looking forward to this Sunday for quite some time, and it all came to an abrupt end when he started throwing up, and other things. Oh well... I guess we have next year!

It's done!!!! Hooray!

Well.... After working long and hard, Ryan has finished the playhouse and it is soooo cute. And for those of you wondering.... yes, there is a dog door, so Jess can get in when it is cold outside. The kids love it, and it is the talk of the town.