Craziness In The Couv

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

We were super excited to go to Utah for spring break. We quickly learned that the General YW Conference would be the first Saturday we would be there so of course we had to go! Afterall, Kenzie just turned 12. Lucky us, Grandma Fay was able to get us tickets. Thanks Grandma! You're awesome! We went with grandma and Aunt Jodi. Here are a few pictures from our evening.

Monday was our first ski day. It was epic! 16" fell the night before. There is nothing better than skiing in fresh Utah powder. We had an awesome day! Grandpa and Uncle Spencer came too!

We had the pleasure of skiing with grandpa. We had a blast! Grandpa still has all the moves on the slopes. We hope we are still active and skiing when we are grandparents. Dad, you rock!

This was another day on the slopes with aunts and uncles who all live in the area. Another great day!

We were able to ski 2 days as a family, but Brian and Blake snuck in another day to make it 3 for the both of them. They just couldn't help themselves.

Fun day at Boondocks with the Epperson's

We were so excited to be able to spend the day with the Epperson's. We really miss them. It was great to let the kids hang out and play all day. We can't wait to see them all again!

Look at all those cute kids!

Grandma told us all to bring our swimsuits because of an awesome pool in Kamas not too far away from there house. Wow, did the kids ever have fun! They even asked to go back a second day.

And look at my hunk of a husband. He safely drove us to Utah for a great spring break and back home to the great Northwest. He's so awesome! We definitely needed a week to recuperate after all the fun. We even got to see lots of family from Canada that week who were in town visiting. It's always fun to see them. I wasn't smart enough to pull my camera out to capture our time with them. We did enjoy visiting with them and hope to see more of them all soon.

Shared Birthday

2009-04-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

More birthday fun at our house on the 12th of March! Bri and Kenzie celebrated their birthday together singing to each other. So cute! Kenzie hasn't complained yet of having to share her birthday with her dad. I wonder if that will continue as she becomes a teenager?

Birthdays

2009-02-13T16:11:00.001-08:00

Can you believe we have a 14 year old? Well, Blake is! We know, it's hard to believe. We sure don't feel old enough to have a child that age. And we certainly hope we don't look like it either. Lucky for us, he's a great kid and only acts like a teenager part of the time.

Beautiful Brenley celebrated her 9th birthday. She was happy it was on a Sunday because she got to celebrate it for three days. Friday the celebration began at school and then Saturday we went out for dinner as a family and then she opened her presents on Sunday and had cake and ice cream. Fun birthday weekend!

Our Baby Turned "6"

2008-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Cole had his 6th birthday on November 13th! He decided he wanted to go bowling as a family for his big day. We picked the kids up from school and off we went to Big Al's. It was so fun!

Blake trying to find the heaviest bowling ball, in hopes of throwing all strikes.

Kenzie after one of her strikes. Wow, LOOK at those muscles!

Brenley doing the happy dance. How cute.

Happy go lucky birthday boy. He had a blast! And of course he won. It was his birthday after all.

What a slacker!

2008-11-25T18:35:00.000-08:00

It's official. I'm a slacker! It's almost December and I'm just getting around to posting for October. It was a busy and fun month, so I can't just leave it out. First, I took a rode trip with my good friend Melinda to Rexburg to see Patti speak at Mother's weekend. She did such an awesome job! I'm so glad we were able to go. Thanks to Brian for taking the time off to make that possible. Then the following weekend Patti came with her kids for a visit. We loved having them. Here is Cole and the monkey's running circles on the trampoline. Looks fun, eh?

Then we had the excitement of having Grandma Kay come for a visit. We were lucky to have her on her birthday. We took her to Beaches Restaurant for the celebration on the Columbia River. We weren't going to let her forget about her birthday even though she may have been running away from home to avoid it. Ha Ha!!!

Of course we forgot our camera at home (we never remember it) so we made Grandma put her crown and lei back on when we got home to take a picture. Hope she had a great birthday!

Cole lost his first tooth the day before Halloween. Holy Cow! That hole looks like it's big enough for two teeth. Hopefully that means good spacing and we will be able to bypass the braces stage for him. (One can always hope.) Our baby is growing up yet again.

Cole on his kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch. The students had to be able to carry the pumpkin back themselves or they couldn't take it home. He got one that was a bit heavy, but he made it out.

Fall Harvest

2008-10-13T19:40:00.001-07:00

Here is our little tomato picker! He is such a big help and loves to work like his big brother. We are so lucky!

We love the fall harvest. It is so fun to go out to the garden and pick food for dinner. Everything taste so much better right off the vine. This was our last day to pick as there was a frost coming and we needed to get everything inside. Thanks to the girls' friends who were over to play but ended up helping too.

First Day of School

2008-09-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

Don't they look excited to go back to school? You should have seen them when they got home! All in all they had a good day. We as parents love the structure the school year brings. I wonder what that says about us as parents, that we can't seem to keep much structure during the summer months?

Our little kindergartner started 2 days after his older siblings. He couldn't wait and wishes it was all day instead of half day. We concur! He is the last of our kids to start school and as some would be sad for that day we find it to be exciting.

Labor Day

2008-09-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

We wanted to do something that would get the kids so tired that they would be able to go to bed at a decent time and get some good rest before the first day of school. We're not sure they went to bed at a decent time, but it sure was a lot earlier than most of their summer bedtimes. We took a hike all around Moulton Falls. We had a great time searching for "the falls" before going home to get ready for the big day.

Silverwood Theme Park

2008-08-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago we headed out to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho for a little family vacation. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back. Here are the boys setting up our sleeping accomodations for our 3 night stay.

No campfires allowed! Can't go camping without making smore's. This is how it's done. Propane burner anyone?

All 4 kids. Were not sure what the antlers are all about, but they look like they are having fun.

Summer Fun !!!!!

2008-07-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks we have had tons of fun. We went camping with friends about two weeks ago on the Oregon Coast at Honeyman State Park. That was so much fun. We camped and enjoyed company and then we all took a big long dune bugy ride across the sand dunes. The kids had a blast and of course did not want to come home.

Then last weekend we had so much fun with Chris and Jodi and the cousins. I was especially treated to Jantzen giving me the new nick name of Uncle Po-Po. Well of course we had a BBQ and then we traveled and saw some awesome sights. We went up to Mt. Saint Helens and went into the Ape Cave. I was so cool and very dark and cold! At the very end the kids were able to get on their hands and knees and climb back to the very dark end of the lava cave. The next day we went to Seaside, Oregon and flew kites, rode a huge 11 person bike around town and then ate some good grub.

This past weekend we had a fun family trip and went to Seattle to watch the Mariners play. They played Cleveland and of course lost. The expereince was so much fun and we all enjoyed each other. After watching the game we ate some really good seafood and then had DQ ice cream before coming home.

Another update on us....

2008-06-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well I know it has been a while since our last post, but that just lets you know how things go around here. Not a whole lot of time lately. The last day of school is tomorrow on 6/17 so the kids are all excited. It hasn't really seemed like summer yet because we are still getting the crazy rain. I guess it is just the northwest, oh well. Now to tell you about us.

Blake has been lying low for a while now but is ready for football to start August 6th. So you know the pre-season workouts begin slowly but surely. Scouts has been going well and he is ready to go to camp the first of August. He is looking for a busy summer.

Mckenzie, well she just finished up softball and her team went 15 and 0. They dominated and McKenzie had over a .400 batting average and over an .800 on base percentage. She did awesome and had a lot of fun. She to is looking forward to the summer and can't wait to travel and camp a little.

Brenley also finished up her softball season. Her team only won 4 games however she was the star of the team, but that was to be expected. Yes, that is a proud dad talking. Brenley has had fun and is looking forward to getting into a little more competitive softball next year.

Cole- well yes baseball is over and school is over and he can not wait to start kindergarten. He loves it when the sun is out and he can be out playing ball, riding bikes and skateboarding.

Jennifer was released from the primary presidency and is now teaching relief society once a month. She has her hands full with the kids as summer approaches and is ready to take a break from all the travel. Yes, mom needs a rest.

Brian is still working a lot of hours and loves his job. In July he is being transferred back to the streets to patrol and again his hours will change. Another adjustment for the whole family.

With gas prices going up we got rid of the suburban and we purchased a new 2008 Honda Odyssey. Brian is not a mini van guy, but this has all the bells and whistles and will keep him entertained for years to come, and it is very sporty.

Another Crazy Week gone By!!!!!

2008-05-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Saturday night and we can not believe another week has gone by. Just to give you a run down of what has gone on this week. It all started Monday when Jen went with her friend Patti to go shopping, you know mom needs a break once in a while and with Brian off on Mondays it makes it perfect. Brian and Cole got to babysit Patti's twins John and Luke. That was a blast we love them so much and Cole keeps them rolling. Monday night it was off to the softball field where Brenley played an excellent game.

The rest of the week Jen played taxi from scouts which was about 3 times this week for Blake who has now earned his star rank at just 13 and is shooting for life scout by the end of the year. Great kid and a huge help most of the time around the house. Today, Saturday we registered for football which the first practice starts Aug. 6th. Blake can't wait.

The temperature was in the 90's and probably reached the 100's on Fri. and Mckenzie played softball Thurs. in the heat and went 1 for 1 and walked 3 other times at the plate.

Cole is just Cole having fun and always had something on his mind this week. Blake and Brian went camping with the stake on an AAronic priesthood commemoration on Fri night and we got to take Robbie, Patti's oldest son with us, and we had a blast.

Playin Hard

2008-05-10T16:50:00.001-07:00

Another Crazy Saturday Gone By!!!!!

2008-05-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well it has been another crazy Saturday starting for Jen at 4:30 in the morning. She went on a temple trip on an RS enrichment activity. Brian was Mr. Mom getting the kids up at 7:30 and ready for the baseball field by 8:30.

Brenley played her game at 9:00 and it was a barn burner. She played 3rd base and caught a fly ball and then picked up a hard hit ground ball for the final out of a great inning. She also had two great hits and another fly ball caught while playing in the pitchers circle. (It's coach pitch)

Cole had fun also in his T-ball game sliding into home a couple times, and learning to spit very well I must say while standing on second base.

McKenzie went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs today and had an awesome game for the Dragonflys. She was very active and stopped some great hard hit ground balls making some awesome plays. We call her the second base vacuum.

Blake helped out a lot and of course teased every body to keep the time moving quickly.

Tonight Bri and Jen go play their co-ed soccer which they enjoy as long as they keep from being injured to bad.

Getting Started

2008-05-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I think it is about time that we start a blog so our family who lives away from us can see our goings on. I will be posting more pictures later, however this will be a good start. We are all staying busy and having fun playing baseball, softball, piano lessons and scouts. To top it all off we do not get to see dad very much because he is always at work. He loves his job and has a blast so we just all keep rolling with the punches. This year the kids actually played softball and baseball in the snow, and of course dad complained because baseball is a spring sport and it should be nice and warm while sitting at the game. Baseball in the Northwest should be played in the middle of the summer!