This is for Debbie

Deb, thanks for being so patient!!! As you kindly reminded me I have not posted for a while and I am having a hard time getting them all organized let alone posted. These were taken only about 2 weeks ago, so hopefully it will hold you over until I get organized.(no smart comments) I'm not Deanna but I am organized sometimes!

1st day of school

I cant believe Aaron and Ele will be gone all day! I love that they have each other and wonderful cousins to always be there for them. Ele has Mrs Wold and Aaron has Mrs Astin with Mark in his class with him.

Isaac's 3rd Birthday

My baby is 3 years old. He loves to give hugs and kisses almost as much as he loves to wrestle. His Dad is his best friend but wants me when he does not get his way... being the baby I'm afraid I spoil him a tad. We love you Isaac.

Ele's Teddy Bear Tea

At Dalton, every year they do what is called a Teddy Bear Tea, which really only consists of the children performing the songs they learned through the year, singing about a teddy bear, getting a teddy bear, and then afterwards having refreshments. It is so fun to see how excited they get to be able to perform for the first time. And... Ele was the cutest one up there!!!

Livi's 4th Birthday

Livi had a Princess party this year and invited all her best friends: Ele, Isaac ( who had no problem being a princess) Rachel, Maddie, and Kimmie. What would we do without cousins to be her best friends! Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!

Ele turns 6

-Electa turns 6-

Ele wanted this year to have a Tea Party and sleep over at Grammy's! She invited only, Livi, Kimmie and Rachel, which is good because I let Grammy take care of everything. Thanks mom for being so incredible and loving my girl enough to do it!

Family fun in Spokane

I have no clue where any pictures are of Christmas, and honestly that is alright with me. I already can't remember what the children got for presents anyway, and our Christmas Eve was spent with family and every year traditions (regardless of how great, it tends to be the same every year...) but this year, the day after Christmas, Mom and Dad took our family to Spokane to River Front Park, and that is a memory the children will never forget. We rode the carosel, fed the the ducks, and watched a little christmas movie at the imax, ending the day with going to dinner at the spagetti station. It was a cold but beautiful day and will be in our minds and hearts forever! Thanks so much Mom and Dad!

As a side note, homemade gifts that year were memorable and deserve a mention: Aaron made Ele a little doghouse for her stuffed animal dog foofa. Ele made Aaron a dog made out of golf balls. Livi made Isaac (with a lot of dads help) a blanket with tags on all four corners. And Isaac made Livi (with a lot of moms help) a bag for her to carry all her STUFF around.

That's right, I was surprised too!

I took Aaron and Ele to school the other day and when we picked up Rachel this is basically how the conversation went

Rachel: "my dad is going to be a pirate".
Aaron: "Really, my dad would never dress up."
Ele: "he will if I ask him"

Matt, later that night: " I don't care what it is, just put it together for me and please make it have a gun"

You can't see the gun but it is there! He is a sucker for his girls.

School Parties

My kids made it really easy for me this year. After looking for hours for a costume for Aaron he decided he would rather just be the Ninja Turtle again, and was very happy because he was the only one in the whole school. Ele was adamant about being a bunny again this year, but after going to her party and sitting down in her "tight" bunny suit she gave in and was a pirate for the rest of the day, I thought she was darling as both. Livi wanted to be a cheerleader which I somehow missed pictures of and Isaac refused to be anything or do anything.

7 years

-My sweet Aaron is 7-
7 years ago I brought my little pumpkin home from the hospital on Halloween day, literally as a pumpkin.
What a great weekend for Parties!

Pumpkins

Green Bluff

The apple orchard and pumpkin patch at Green Bluff is one of our favorite places to go.
It starts the holidays off for us.

These are just some random pictures of everyone.
Donetta and Mark came all the way over just for this day.
We sure do love having them here for these important memories and miss all those that are not close anymore!

updates FINALLY!

So, I have been very bad at blogging and I know there is never really a good excuse for not keeping up on my children's life but moving might qualify as an adequate reason. And not moving just once but twice in a matter of 3 months.
As many of you already know but more of you don't, my Uncle Wally moved here to CDA and decided that his house would be a good place to live (which has been my home for the last 4 years) As much as I loved the home and was bummed about leaving it I was thrilled to have him come home, I have been begging him to do this for years. Well, 4 children and hearing aids don't get along very well. He was amazing and would have been willing to make it work with us living there but I could not ask him to do that.
Move #1-my parents graciously took us in. We moved into their attic while I looked for a rental home. Every day my children would ask in their prayers that they could have another sleepover at Grandma's and Papa's. Those sleepovers lasted for 2 months and the children never got tired of it. Not that they would, Papa made papacorn almost every night for them, and UNO and Mexican Train were a nightly favorite. Aaron was content being Papa's shadow, Ele loved the fact that we had a big family sleepover every night, Livi loved her 5:00 am snuggle time with grandma, and Isaac loved making Buffy's life miserable. I believe that time will be a major cherished childhood memory for them. Thanks Dad and Mom for everything, you are the best and we love you the most!
Move #2- I am very picky. I wanted a nice, clean, home in Dalton gardens ward, and close to Dalton school, I didn't want it to be too big, but not too small either. I wanted a big, fenced, back yard, good neighborhood, and I had to keep my cat (I am anti mice these days.) Big closets in the bedrooms, and I was determined to have a fireplace,- Matt did not consider that priority but I did. I wanted all of this to be under $900 and I did not want to sign a lease. Miracle of Miracles, as I was driving around I saw a tiny, homemade "For Rent" sign on the garage. Heavenly Father was truly watching out for us that day. The house is only 3 years old and darling. We all love it! I cant wait to decorate it for Christmas, the fireplace is going to be a perfect focal point.....
Now I'm ready for the holidays.
Continue to scroll down. There are a few fun posts there!

1st day of school

Aaron is in 1st grade with Mrs Wold. He was bummed at first because he did not get into Mark's class but was relieved when he saw Kiley and Karsten there, fortunately he is not shy at all and has already made several new friend. He loves the social part of school but it is like pulling teeth to get him to do homework. Oh wait, he hardly has any teeth left to pull! He is now gone all day long and I cant begin to tell you how much he is missed. I love you Aaron.

My Electa is in Kindergarden this year with Ms Elliot, and boy was she ready. She loves to learn and comes home every day so proud that she actually talked to someone. However she is very missed at home, without our peacemaker my two very determined "babies" are quickly learning what the word SHARE means. I love and miss you too Ele.

About a month ago our family went on our traditional picnic to Manito Park. I love this particular day for taking fun, casual pictures with cousins, it was a beautiful day, one of the last warm weekends of the summer.

Several years ago I sat down with Matt's mom, his sister Candy, and sister-in-law Missy, and they all helped me start Aaron scrapbook. Candy is amazingly good at it and she taught me to be very careful to not cut out too many things in the background of a picture, she said "those are the things you might someday consider priceless".
In case you cant tell it is my dad with Isaac. I even love the dirty fingernails.