Snowmobile for Christmas

This is what Mark got himself for Christmas this year. This summer he bought and sold for profit a few motorcycles. At the end of the season he still had one left. He found a guy on craigslist that wanted to trade a snowmobile for a motorcycle. Mark made sure it would be a good trade and then made the trade.

The boys LOVE the SNOWMOBILE. They just can not get enough. On New Years weekend we took the sleds up to the mountains. We have two because Mark made a deal with his friend Karl. Karl can store his sled in our backyard and ride our sled when ever he wants and we can use his trailer and snowmobile when we want. Pretty good deal.
When we went on this trip it felt like everything was going wrong. Karl;s sled would not start at first. Once we got it going with some help and some time Mark went to start his up again and the pull cord broke clean off! We were afraid our luck may be running out so we took a quick ride. On the way back Mark and Bear raced ahead of me and Oot. Suddenly my sled died. I tried a few times to start it and was unsuccessful. So I decided we better make the best of it while we waited for Mark to return.

So we built this snowman. It was pretty fun. We used some branches to make the face. I was told that he was not frosty because he did not have a button nose or a hat. When dad finally returned to rescue us we found that Oot had hit the kill switch. Ooops.

Next we looked for a hill to take the tube on. Bear was determined to climb through the snow by himself. He did not want me to hold him. The poor kid could hardly walk in the deep snow, but it was sure fun watching him try.

The tubing was fun but the climb was steep. A few weeks after this trip we went to another area with a big empty hill and Karl's family. The mom's and kids would slide down the hill on the sleds and tubes and the dad's would some to the bottom tow back our sleds and give us a ride to the top of the hill again. I was a blast!!! Certainly the way to go if you ask me.

The Snowman House

There is a sweet widow in our ward that LOVES to collect SNOWMEN. She invited all of the Primary children in the ward to come and visit with their families to see the 80 plus snowmen.

Last Monday for FHE I decided to take the kids to see the Snowmen. They LOVED IT!

Mom I Want to Show You Something

My 4 year old took me by the hand yesterday and led me to the back yard to show me something. He handed me a little red car and said, "I am going to use the Super Fast car I got from Aunt Angela."

So you tell me..........

Trailer for hauling motorcycles, snowmobiles and 4-wheelers?



or a 16 Lane Racer Car Track?

The little boys defiantly think it is best as a race car track. They had a blast! I love it when they use their imaginations to come up with fun things to do.
I also love when they play together. They love to play together it is so awesome!

Family Vacation

We have not had a real vacation in such a long time! I have been envious all summer of my friends and patients who tell me about their week long getaways! Well we finally got one! Yea!

Friday: We started with a flight to SLC, connecting us to OC. Somewhere between here and there this is what happened to our luggage. Do you know that they charge you $20 per bag checked now? Ridiculous! This is what happens to our luggage. They could have at least given us our $20 back!
It looks like it got ran over and then drug across the tarmac!
On the upside we got a new suitcase that is much nicer than this one which was at least 10 years old.
Mark lost his cell phone on the first flight and the kids were a little crazy to travel with. This luggage topped it all off. But we made it safe.


Saturday: We went to the beach with MaryJo, Arnell, Tyson, Ashley, Jordan, Lacey, Tanner, Grandma, Chauntel, Rob, Mitchell, Micah, Madeline and McKay. But first a few of us went to Old Navy to score some $3 t-shirts.
After the beach my family had to hurry home to get ready for a family photo shoot. We went to a studio and had a portrait done that will be touched up by a painter to look like a painting. They had a wear black and classic attire so that the portrait would not look so 2009 in 20 years from now. We had an awesome dinner complete with Ribs, the Oot loves Ribs. He asks me to make them all of the time. He was so cute when I told him we were having them. He licked his lips and made a slurping sound and said, "I love ribs". After dinner, we played volleyball until after dark, then went to the hot tub. Sorry no photos, if anyone has some send them to me!

Sunday: The main event! My brother Jordan spoke in church. He gave a wonderful talk. He is going on a mission to the Philippines. He leaves for the MTC this Wednesday. I was so proud of Jordan. He is going to be a wonderful missionary.
We had another fab meal and then played sand volleyball with Jeremy, Angela, Ceasar, Tyson, Ashley, Jordan, Tanner and Mark. It was fun. My siblings were surprisingly better at volleyball than I thought. We played volleyball until after dark, then went to the hot tub.

Monday: I went with Angela (my sis), my mom, Lacey (Jordan's girlfriend), and her mom and sister, Debbie and Ashlyn and Angela's friend Chantal to the Fashion District in LA. It was really fun. They had tons of stuff, fo SUPER CHEAP. I got some sunglasses, jewelry, make-up and a jacket. They had jewelry sets (necklace and earrings) for only $1. It was a ton and fun and really entertaining. Here are a few things that made me laugh.
1. Many of the vendors had little boom boxes and they played rap, or Mexican music.
2. There were like 6 city blocks filled with vendors selling fabrics.
3. The mannequins all had butt cheek implants.
4. Some of the mannequins had the new LA DOUBLE D breast implants.
5. It was practically impossible to find a pair of sunglasses that did not have a designer name on them. Here is me in my sweet sunglasses!
After the fab time at in the Fashion District I met up with my high school friend Meagan. We went to BJ's pizza for dinner, ate pizza and enjoyed the famous Pizzookie, we tried the new triple chocolate, it was divine. It was a lot of fun catching up with Meagan!
Meagan came over to see my boys after dinner. While we were visiting the Oot stated playing with Anglea's friend Chantal's iphone. She has an app of a lighter that he could light and he was fascinated by it. He took the phone with him to the bathroom and dropped it in the toilet. So lucky us we got to buy a new iphone. FYI do not let your kids play with other people expensive gadgets! I took it from him once, but once wasn't enough. I guess we all learned a lesson.


Tuesday: We drove to Lake Havasu Arizona. It was almost a 5 hour drive. We got IN-N-OUT burger on the way and my dad got a speeding ticket. It was kind of funny. We stopped at a rest stop for the Oot to go potty and my dad pulled over into 2 parking spots, while the child decided if he really had to go. Finally I just made him, but my dad did not move his car. When we came back a highway patrol women was asking him to move his vehicle and park correctly. After all had gone potty we got back on the road trying to catch up on with my mom. A few miles down the road my dad was speeding along at 91 and the same lady patrol came and pulled him over. She gave him a break and sited him at 81 so he would not have to go to traffic school. Bummer though.
We tried to use the GPS to find a Chinese restaurant for dinner, but they were all closed because it was so late. So we ended up having dinner at the Black Bear Diner. It was pretty good. They brought out pancakes that size of a large plate. Yummy. After dinner it was still over 100 so we went swimming.

Wednesday: Lake Day. We rented two jet skis and played on the beach and in the water. Here are my parents on one of them together. After the lake we had more fab food and spent the evening swimming, playing darts, Foosball and table tennis.

Thursday: Boat day. We rented a boat and two more jet skis. Then spent the day, cliff diving, jet skiing, wake boarding, tubing, swimming and trying to stay cool. Did I mention how hot it is in AZ? This day was 110. You had to jump in the water every time the boat stopped just to stay cool. I loved it though. I hate being cold! I love to play in the water, but not if it makes me cold. So this was perfect for me!

In the evening we played pool games and foose ball and watched 17 Again.

Friday: Our last day in Havasu and time to go home. We spent a little more time in the pool and them packed up to go. We dined at the Diner again. Then drove to home on the way home we watched movies and I played with photoshop. In the evening we got that Chinese food I had been craving and hung out around the house.




Saturday: Time to go home. We had an evening flight so we spent the day playing tennis which I am terrible at, with Mark, Jordan and Tanner, swimming, and shopping for a birthday present for the Oot with Grandma. Oot wanted to look at all kinds of toys before making his choice. He chose a dinosaur playset with a action figure and a boat. He could not wait to take a bath and try it out.
The flight was long, but our luggage made it okay this time. Those little faces say it all!
Thanks everyone for a wonderful week!

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip

This weekend we went camping. It was pretty good. Pretty good you ask? Well do you know how I feel about camping? Check out my previous post.

The bear is still not walking so it was a challenge to keep him from getting filthy. Jamie brought that great netted tent with the tarp that he played in and he had fun sitting on the bikes. He likes my little bike because it is not loud like daddy's bike.

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Oot had an absolute ball riding the little kido ATV's. It was his first time on one that size and he was a natural. It was difficult to get him off of it. The owner had to fake a dead battery.


We kept the meals simple. I just pulled a couple of my freezer meals out of the freezer. We put these Kabob's together right before the RAIN STORM!

Look how fun camping is now! We sat in the truck for an hour waiting for the rain to clear. It never did. It rained all night!


I tried to entertain the little ones and keep the snacks coming as the rain kept coming.



Oot tried to throw spider man webs at me. Oh good Spider Man story. I rented a movie called Spectacular Spider Man for Oot. He was telling one of our friends all about it. Saying, "I watched Pedicular Spider Man." I said, "Can you say Spectacular?" He replied, "No but I can say Pedicular."




I was trying to get these crazy kids to sit by each other and smile for me. This is what they gave me. Look and those dirty hands!



We ended up packing it all up and staying the night with our friends at their parents house. I was happy. I got to sleep in a comfy bed, play games with our friends and take a shower in the morning.

One more good story. When we were in our tent settling in the first night we were telling Oot that there was a creek near by and he was not to go over by it with out mom and dad. We told him that it ran fast and it could grab him and take him away.

The next morning he poked his head out of the tent and said hello to one of the neighboring campers. Then he told the guy that there was a "freak" in the woods that was going to come and take him away.

A Little Slow

Well this little boy has been a little slow when it comes to baby milestones. Slow to get teeth, slow to crawl, slow to come into the world, (that's right 1 week late, I had to be induced a week after my due date), and slow to get chubby. Wait he still isn't very chubby.
Now at 12 1/2 months he is finally started to do a traditional crawl. He has been doing the cute little belly scoot for 3 months now. He still reverts back to it but is starting the favor the traditional crawl.

I am hoping that this is a sign that he will be a careful thinker or something. Who knows. What a sweet boy he is. He is pretty cuddly. When I hold him he will lay his head on my shoulder and pat my arm. It is really sweet.

Oh The Mess

This cute little boy seems to make more messes than his brother ever did. It is amazing how quickly he can tear things apart. Well it is pretty much inevitable that he is going to get into my kitchen drawers. So I have filled this one with kid friendly items that he can play with.

Frenectomy

Frenectomy: A frenum is a fold of tissue or muscle connecting the lips cheek or tongue to the jawbone. A frenectomy is the removal of one of these folds of tissue.

Both of my boys have had frenums that attached in a way the kept a bit of a gap b/t their front teeth. This bugged me a little and I have considered having it clipped in order for the teeth to not have a gap. I decided I would not put my children through such a treatment for my vanity.

At age 18 mo or so the Oot fell on the rock in our entry and tore his frenum. I few weeks later the gap b/t his teeth was gone.

Tonight the little bear fell while climbing on daddy and you guessed it tore his frenum. That little space will be gone in not time.

Did my secret desire cause my children to fall and cut their mouths? Weird huh.

The only problem is those two front teeth are really close together so we really have to stay on top of flossing to prevent decay in that area.

1 Year Old

I can not believe my baby is already 1 year. It went by so fast. He is such a sweet little boy. We are so blessed to have him in our family.



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Bath Baby

Oh I just love a baby wrapped up in a towel fresh from the bath. So cute and smells so good.

Oh The Stairs!

He is climbing the stairs. It freaks me out b/c I am always scared that he will fall down them. He thinks he is such a big boy when he does it. It's Cute!

The Bear's Favorite Toys

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My little boy has two favorite toys. Socks and do you know what that little white thing is in his left hand? Well this is where it came from?





Yup, the toilet cap. Yuck! He loves that thing and I can not seem to keep him away from it. I am going to have to remember to shut that bathroom door more often.
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Look Who Is Crawling!

I have been expecting him to start crawling around 9 months because that is when his brother crawled. Well he is about a week short of 9 months so just about what I expected. It is still very exciting to see him do this. Although I am worried because he is going to be harder to keep track of.
I took a video of him crawling but had trouble uploading it so I am going to post pictures instead. He started back in October a couple of days before Halloween.



Now he is getting good at getting into everything!


The Oot was not to be out done. He had to show off his crawling skills too!


He is such a sweet little boy!