Christmas a day early!

This year we got to celebrate Christmas a day early! We were lucky enough to be able to have family over for dinner and had a wonderful day opening presents and just spending time with each other.

Sledding

With a great snow fall, we dug out the sleds and decided to pull the kids around the block. Mom sat in the back of the truck and took pictures. We had some great times and great laughs...only a few tears and wipeouts!

Looking at Lights

Last night we climbed into the car with our mugs of hot cocoa and candy canes in hopes to see some wonderful light displays...and of course for Josh to get some ideas for next year! We had a great time looking at lights, especially one amazing display in the north end. People actually get out of their cars and walk around the driveway of this house to look at everything (of course we joined the crowd and even took pictures!). Crazy! It was great to watch the kids get excited at the beauty of the lights and sing Christmas songs along the way. The poor kids tuckered out after about an hour of excitement! What fun we had!

It's Game Day!

We woke up this morning to some serious Boise State fans! Josh had colored his face (with markers!) and everyone else was wearing their game day gear! Guess they have learned well. We spent the morning decorating and taking pictures of each other. What a lovely Saturday morning! Hopefully our spirit will transfer itself to Reno and we will see another "W" becoming 11-0. GO BRONCOS!

Yes I am a slacker...

So I have been very bad lately about updating this blog but, really, nothing much has been going on worth reporting. We didn't have the kids for Halloween hence no pictures of that event to share. Emma did have a birthday! Big girl turned 8 years old! However, Nana took most of the pictures so I didn't have any to post. The most exciting thing we have done lately, which isn't really exciting, is Rake up Boise. We spent Saturday morning raking leaves and getting nice and muddy! Hopefully our lives will become a little more worth telling about!

It's Pumpkin carving time!

Today we did our final pumpkin harvest from our patch. Yeah! We ended up with a good crop of pumpkins! Must be my green thumb! Anyway, we decided to carve five and keep the rest for harvest decorations...at least that was our excuse to the kids. We didn't want to end up carving 10 pumpkins! We had a great time and everybody worked hard. Lavon even pulled out the power tools to make the carving go a little faster. WOW! I am amazed at his handiness and creativity! I never would have thought to use a saw! I was a little sceptical at first but it worked and he did a great job! Way to go honey! After carving we dressed Miley up in her witch costume. I don't think she really enjoyed the whole experience. Really...what animal wants to be dressed up!?!?! But, she was a good sport and we got a picture. The kids then decided to pile up the remaining leaves and play. We had a great time enjoying the fall weather!

Pumpkin time!

I have always wanted to have a pumpkin patch but have never had a yard to accommodate my needs to grow BIG pumpkins. Finally, finally, finally I was able have my very own pumpkin patch for the kids (OK for me!). Our pumpkin patch started last spring when Emma brought home a planted seed (a 100-pound pumpkin seed!YEAH!)from the Kuna Agricultural Fair. We planted it after it sprouted and decided that we need another plant or two being we do have four kiddos! SO...in went another plant, this one already started for us courtesy of Lowe's. Anyway as late spring arrived we noticed that there were some strange looking, yet familiar, plants sprouting around the front door. Low and behold MORE pumpkins! You see when you carve pumpkins in the front entry way and then hose off the remaining pulp and seeds, somehow, someway pumpkins get planted without you realizing it, so...more pumpkin plants to take care of! The boys ran over one unplanned seedling with their bikes. Nothing gets in the path of boys on bikes! The other we safely contained in a tacky, white garden fence so that maybe, just maybe, it would survive the boys! All summer and fall we have watched with amazement the life of a pumpkin plant. When the yellow flowers started falling off randomly, we had to google the darn things to find out what was going on. We learned that there are male and female flowers and the male flowers are only used to pollinate and then they fall off and die (hmmmmm...interesting!)Anyway, it was a great learning experience and the kids have had a wonderful time watching and learning. We harvested four pumpkins the other day and still have about 4-5 more that we are waiting on. If you have never planted pumpkins before, try it! Just prepare yourself for the jungle of vines that take over!

Family photos...oh boy fun!

So we spent the afternoon taking family photos....let's just say it was a long afternoon. Thanks Nana for you expertise and photographic skills. We appreciate your patience!

Yet another day of soccer...

We had a great couple of days of soccer. Landon and Logan played Friday night. Both boys did great! Landon FINALLY played without crying and, in fact, didn't want to leave the field. He scored 2 goals and is becoming quite the little soccer player. Yeah! Logan was awesome as usual! He scored 4+ goals...but who's counting! :)

Bright and early Saturday morning Emma and I headed out to her game. It was a bit cold, not too bad, but the grass was soaked. You would think they wouldn't water the night before! So with freezing, soaking feet, she played and I watched from under my blanket. She did super, scoring 1 goal which was well earned! She is so much fun to watch...zipping here and there and occasionally having a girl moment (ducking from the ball, screaming, etc.). She keeps volunteering to be the goalie but so far we have lucked out! Mommy and Nana do not do well when she is back there!
And Josh's game...like always they are fun to watch! Those kids actually "know" how to play soccer and can play positions without getting all scrunched up in the middle. It's fun to watch them pass around others and dribble with some "moves." Josh had a great game as well! He scored 2 goals that were amazing! We are so proud of him for his hard work and determination on and off the field. Yeah Joshy!!!!

Yeah for Emma! Emma was choosen as Student of the Week for exhibiting the character trait "forming good habits." We are so very proud of her! She is doing great in school and loves her new teacher. The boys are enjoying school as well and hopefully we will get to see another one as Student of the Week this year! Way to go Emma girl! We are so proud of you!

Just the three of us...

So while the kids were away for the weekend we played around with the camera (preparing for family pics next weekend!) and got a few good pics to share of the grownups and dog. :) It gets pretty darn quiet around here when there are no kiddos to entertain us and we often end up doing random things...like taking pictures of ourselves! Anyway, hopefully by next Sunday we will have some wonderful family pics to share.

Since soccer was cancelled today, we thought some recent pictures of the three younger kiddos would do. These were taken at their daycare, hence no Joshy in them :( and turned out pretty darn cute! The kids have grown up so fast. It seems like only yesterday they were learning to walk and talk! How time flies!

A day of soccer!

We finally got a picture of all 4 kiddos in their uniforms! Yeah! Then Joshy discovered that the numbers went in order so we had to get another picture of the backs in numerical order. How lucky to be able to put them in numerical order!?!? Crazy! We had a very, very long day at the fields...8:30-2:30 but the kids held up well and we all survived. Thanks to all those who made it for one game or another. The kids were so excited to see baby Andrew come watch! They love their cousin and Landon even got to hold him for awhile. As you can see Andrew is almost as big as Landon! And...we finally got Landon on the field without crying! It may have been the last five minutes of the game, but it's a start. He had his daddy on the field helping him and hopefully next weekend he will play longer with no help. Baby steps I guess! All four kids won their games, for those keeping score. Logan scored 4 or 5 goals, Emma scored 2, Josh scored 2, and, well, Landon almost got 1! Have a great week all and hope to see some of you at the fields soon!

All About Miley

Miley was born on May 4, 2008. She is four months old. She had brothers and sisters but she got tooken away from them because we wanted her. We got Miley when she was three months old. Miley likes to go in the neighbors yard but she doesn't like to go in her kennel that we built. She likes to eat sticks, bugs, and poop. We like to go fishing with her, camping, and other stuff like that. We went to our cabin and threw her in the lake and she could swim. She likes to jump on people. She likes me, mom, Josh, Logan, Landon, and Lavon. Nana and Christine love her but Christine can not see her that often because she is allergic. I love Miley because she is my sister. Written by Emma!

The first days of soccer...

Soccer season has started! Here are a few pictures of the kiddos at the games. Everyone did great scoring lots and lots of goals....well, except Landon who refused to play and spent the entire time crying and being bribed to no avail with candy and gum. Little bugger made out in that department but never did move a muscle on the field! He even got a snack after the game! Oh well, maybe this weekend will be better! The picture of him is before the game when he was happy! Logan and Josh scored masive amounts of goals. We lost count but I bet they could tell you the exact number. Emma scored her first goal and is becoming quite the little soccer player (maybe like her mommy!) even though her team as a whole, well, is "learning how to play together." We have another busy Saturday at the fields and for the next five or six weeks that is where we will be ever weekend. Come by and check us out if you can!

1st Anniversary

For our 1st Anniversary we spent a day at the spa...honey wraps, massages, facials, manicures, and pedicures. It was quite a day with many laughs and stories to tell! Then we went up to Horseshoe Bend for the Zipline! What fun we had! If you have never done it...you are missing out! We can't wait to go back and do it again!

A Trip to Lowman

So we decided maybe we should try this blogging thing to keep family and friends updated....with that being said, welcome to our page! Here are the four kids in Lowman. We had a great summer only it was too short! We are now busy, busy with soccer and school so we will try to be good about updating!