Some pictures

Kids at the zoo

Dinner with Holly

Halloween costumes

A Break!

Today is one of those rare days when I not only got both kids to take naps, but I also got them to do it at the same time! I could be using this time to clean my house a little, but I thought I would waste my time on the blog. My computer has crashed several times in trying to blog over the last couple of months. So for those of you on my case about updating this thing...it's not entirely my fault. There really isn't that much to report...let's see, Matt started his new job teaching at Pleasant Grove High School. He likes it, but misses some of his students at the old school. Andrew and Maddie are beginning to be best friends. I thought this day would never come! They still fight a lot, but at least they are beginning to play together!! Andrew is very excited for Christmas...he has already made his list for Santa. Just a tip for some out there...never hand a 3 year old a toy magazine and ask what they want Santa to bring them. Andrew is determined that he will be getting a piano for Christmas. That's right, some toy piano thing that costs a couple hundred dollars. I'm trying to convince him that it takes YEARS for Santa to make these. we'll see how that goes. We found out our renters will be moving at the end of this month, so for any of you that know any couples looking, let me know. Anyway, I better be getting something started for dinner. Hopefully this won't crash again!

Kennewick Part 3

Looks like I posted these next three posts backwards...start with the third post down!!

The great grandkids trying to get under the parachute!

Maddie trying to sneak away with part of the game...

Maddie sitting on the deck with her new toy.

Our family picture with Great Grandpa. Next time, we'll take this picture before my kids are too tired to cooperate!

Kennewick Part 2

Andrew loved playing in the pool/fountain thing. Kept him busy for quite awhile.

Aunt Joyce introduced Maddie to snow cones at the pool. Maddie couldn't get enough, and when it was gone, she was looking everywhere for more!

Maddie warmed up to her Great Grandpa on the last day we were there. That's how it always seems to happen!

Andrew leaving the fun bounce house Heidi brings every year. This picture was rare, as he pretty much refused to get out of it!

Andrew and Kietan trying to play with the parachute.

Trip to Kennewick

These are pictures from our trip to Washington late last month. It was great once we actually got there. We had a rocky start to our long car ride, as Andrew got carsick a few too many times before we even got out of Utah. Once we got the portable tv going though, my kids were perfect little travelers!

This first picture was taken as we left our house at 5:30 a.m. A little tip from me...never give your kid a book to start the trip off...especially when they have a weak stomach!

Maddie sporting her new sunglasses. We had to get these when we realized how bad she freaked out if the sun ever got in her eyes!

The first night we were there, we all took a trip to Burger King for dinner. Now, we have never taken our kids to Burger King in Utah, so now Andrew thinks that it is something we can only find in Kennewick. He keeps telling us he wants to go back to Great Grandpa's Burger King...probably because of all those colorful tubes they crawled around in!

We had Andrew choose a present to give Great Grandpa this year. As you can see from this picture, he selected Mr. Potato Head. He thinks this is the coolest present a person can receive ever since he got one for being potty trained.

Maddie loved playing at the park near Great Grandpa's house!

Goodbye Terrible Twos?!

That's right...yesterday Andrew turned three years old! Since both he and Maddie have horrible colds/coughs right now, we celebrated most of the day with just the four of us. I did take Andrew to the parade for an hour, and we saw a few fireworks at Oma's house, but that was the extent of our celebrations. Luckily, all the presents he received kept him occupied during the day! I'll get pictures posted later tonight...if my kids stop making me wipe their noses every ten seconds!

Here are the promised pictures from Andrew's birthday. He was very excited to get a scooter in this first picture.

I took Andrew to the parade, but he was very tired from being up all night coughing!


Our family picture by the flag...

Andrew's first sparkler...he was so excited!

Summerfest

Okay, so our Summerfest activity for this year was the parade. I'm not a big fan of parades...sitting in the heat for hours isn't my idea of a celebration. It's one of those things I do just because the kids like it, and I'll get some good pictures out of it. Anyway, the first couple pictures are taken before the parade started. When kids are happy and such. The last two pictures show Andrew getting bored and deciding to enlist the help of his cousin Tanner to see how much trouble the two of them could cause. Yes, that's right, they are running around in circles and could care less about the parade going down the street. We had one tired boy by the time we got home that night!!

Late post for Mother's Day

I know, I know...Mother's Day was over a month ago. I have not downloaded any pictures until today. But I had to post these pictures because I love Maddie's outfit. The Mother's Day pictures were about the only ones where she actually left her bow on her head...and that was the best "present" I could have gotten for Mother's Day!! And the family picture I just couldn't resist posting. While it isn't the best picture, I couldn't resist Andrew's sassy little response when he was told to smile. If that isn't a forced smile, I don't know what is!!

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

My parents invited my kids and Whitney's kids to Thanksgiving Point to look at the tulips. It was pretty fun for them...Andrew especially loved riding in the wagon with cousin Holly. Both Whitney and I learned that if you turn a two year old loose in such wide open spaces, you may never catch them again!!!

Can't keep up

Okay, I know it's been over a month since I've posted anything. I found a little note from Nie reminding me just how long it's been. Thanks for that. I guess the month has just gone by so fast with Matt getting out of school, and then him leaving town for a week. Let me explain what it's like trying to find time to post...I turn on the computer, and little Andrew demands that he play his games on the computer. And on top of that, Maddie's new favorite game is to run to the stairs while I'm on the computer and try to make it to the top before I can get there to stop her. I'd let her do it if she actually knew how to get back down by herself. But no...she seems to think she can walk down the stairs like an adult. We went shopping in Park City this week so we could visit Matt while he was at his conference. Andrew was so excited to go to Park City, and I was convinced it was because he really wanted to see his dad. Come to find out, his idea of PARK city was a city filled with parks to play on. Needless to say, he was slightly disappointed with the day of shopping I had planned for us.

Our Little Sports Fan

I have been trying to teach Andrew U.S. geography for a little while now, and today we reviewed some states that I was sure he knew. As we went through some of the easy ones for him, I pointed to Utah and asked him which state that was. He told me "you do it," which is usually his response when he doesn't want to play the game anymore. So I tell him "that's Utah...where we live." He looked at me with that know-it-all look on his face, and defiantly told me "NO...it's JAZZ". Clearly his parents have been watching a little too much of the Utah Jazz in the playoffs this last few weeks!!

Just starting

Well, I finally decided to try out this blog thing. I don't know what it is, but for the last couple months, it seems like all I hear from my friends is "do you blog?" Maybe I'll have to figure out all the details for creating it before I actually send my address out. That way it won't look so dumb when compared to everyone else's "professional" sites! We'll see how it all works out! I'm sure it takes a little practice to figure it out, and I'm sure someone will give me some hints about what I'm doing wrong!!