Heidenreich Family

Double Digits!

2011-08-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Jaren has finally reached the double digits and is 10 years old! We celebrated by eating Trifle (Jaren's choice)with Grandma and Bill. That Trifle has become a family favorite and is so good and addicting. So glad it was gone by the next day.

This year Jaren, true to form, choose Sea Food and so we took him out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. He loved it and is getting pretty good at cracking those crab legs.

After we finished eating the waiter came over and sang to Jaren as he hopped around and flapped his wings. The hard part was that Jaren had to hop on one leg as his other leg was still in a boot with weight restrictions. It was so funny and cute. Jaren loved it.

Jaren opened lots of presents but wouldn't you know, the most favorite by all was the one I got from the clearance rack. My family just loves hurting each other. These balls were flying everywhere. I'll let the pics speak for themselves. He had a great birthday and now he can stop growing up. I just don't like it!

She's 14, FINALLY!!

2011-08-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

Hallelujah! Carlee has finally turned 14 and now she can count down to summertime. Carlee has been counting down to her birthday for who knows how long. She can finally go to dances and actually dance with boys! (We love it because now she can tell us if Taylor is actually dancing. (Hee Hee)
This year for her birthday we invited Grandma and Carlee's best friend, Whitney, and her family over for cake and ice cream. She, of course, wanted a two tier cake and so I did the best I could. The bottom layer was a white cake with strawberry filling and the top cake was lemon with strawberry filling and the frosting was a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. It was sooooo good, especially the lemon cake. Yummy!

This year Carlee wanted Chinese food for her dinner out with Mom and Dad so she chose a Chinese Buffet. She liked it but decided before we even left that she will not be choosing this restraunt again. We loved spending time with her though and really enjoyed splitting the caramel apple with her afterwards. Love you Car!

Grandma Gets Married

2011-03-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

On February 12, 2011 Connie, Dave's Mom, got married to Bill Franz.

Taylor was the Best Man.

Carlee was a Brides maid.

Dave had two brothers and his sister, Kris, come to the wedding. We had a lot of fun seeing them and wish they lived a little closer.

We decided to take a couple pics of our family in the hopes that they would turn out cute but Grace wasn't in the mood.

Book of Mormon Challenge

2011-03-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

At our August Stake Conference, our Stake President issued a challenge to everyone in our Stake to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover before the next Stake Conference. My family took the challenge and everyone began reading 5 pages a night. Dave decided to offer up a reward to all those that successfully completed the challenge before the Feb. conference. He told the kids that he would take them to Texas Roadhouse and they could order what ever they wanted from the menu but only if they finished in time and not a day late. I have to say that this was a wonderful time for our family. We were all working so hard to finish that I would find my kids upstairs reading in the middle of the day or I would find a couple of them reading together at night so they could help each other. There was a great unity in our house during that time and I liked it, A LOT!!! My kids not only completed the challenge but EVERYONE was finished before the dead line and so the very next Monday, we were at Texas Roadhouse having a blast.
Our dinner started by eating peanuts while we waited for our table. Grace and Jaren especially liked the peanuts.

For starters, Dave ordered a bloomin onion and fried pickles. Yuck you say, well we thought the same thing until we tried them and they were actually really good. The kids dipped them into the onion sauce and ranch, they were all gone in no time.

After our appetizers and salads, we all sat very content waiting for our food to arrive. I think we could have left the resturant right then feeling statisfied, what were we thinking? We rarely order appetizers just for that reason.

Our food arrived and it was soooo yummy. We each ate a few bites off our plates and realized that we couldn't eat anymore and so this is what our table looked like. Our waitress just laughed at us and we laughed too. I was wondering how we were going to fit all of those boxes in the fridge.

As we were leaving the restaurant, Dave was carrying my to go box along with his and Grace's. Each of the kids decided they wanted a couple more peanuts and so they each quickly walked by Dave and dumped their box on top of his and took off to get some peanuts. He was left standing there wondering what just happened to him. It was so funny and he ended up carrying all of the to go boxes to the car. We had a wonderful time and lots of good food to eat for the next couple of days. :)

Remember Remember Remember

2011-01-31T08:19:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of years I have come up with a Family theme or motto for the year. This year I decided to introduce our theme with a nice family dinner. Our theme is-

REMEMBER (who you are)
REMEMBER (where you are going)
REMEMBER (you must choose)

This is our before pic.

Abby and Jaren loved helping me set the table and asked lots of questions about the china my parents gave me when I was 16. I put a copy of our theme on the table. I hope to have it put on a board and hang it on our wall close to the front door so they can be reminded of it each time they leave the house. I will probably have it hanging in each bathroom as well.

Can you say YUMM! This was an awesome appetizer and I don't even have a name for it but it was soooo good.

For dinner I made italian chicken, frech cut green beans and garlic buns. We also had ceasar salad, you can see it in the next pic. It was a big hit and everyone loved it.

My family is sitting here patiently waiting for me to take a quick pic before digging in and talking about our theme.

For dessert I made this mixed berry trifle and it is soooo rich and yummy. I guess I need to buy a real trifle dish now that I have exposed my children to it. Taylor had two bowls and I caught the other kids sneaking into the fridge later that night trying to steal another taste. Mmmm Mmmm good!
As of this morning we only have a small container left over and I am sure it will be gone before the day is over.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-06T15:06:00.001-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We were not able to celebrate with much family so we decided to invite Dave's mom and a couple of families over. We could have fed a hundred people with some good food! The day started with Dave and the kids going to the park for the annual Turkey Bowl while I stayed home getting the Turkey and Ham in the ovens. I had every intention of taking lots of pics but I only ended up with a few so here you go.

Abby and two of our neighbor girls made our edible pilgrim hats that we make every year and rarely get eaten :). They had so much fun.

Grace enjoyed the Pilgrim Hats this year and she not only ate hers but several other hats as well. I finally gathered all of the uneaten hats and threw them away. Crazy Girl!

I actually remembered to take a picture of Dave getting ready to carve the turkey but that was the last picture I took of the day. Ugh! The kids actually worked on a Craft that Dave's mom brought over and then all of the girls made the CUTEST hair bows after dinner. We had a great time sitting around the table crafting, talking and laughing!

Our tradition is to make our Graham Cracker Gingerbread houses the day after Thanksgiving but this year we spent most of the day shopping for Christmas and so the houses were actually made the Monday after. The kids had a hard time this year and most of their houses did not turn out the way they were intended. I am just realizing that I have not taken a pic of their final products. I guess I will have to do that soon, before Grace eats them all. She has such a sweet tooth.

Halloween 2010

2010-12-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

This Halloween was not very exciting since it fell on Sunday. Carlee is the only one that really had a costume in mind. Taylor did not want to dress up and the other kids found costumes in the dress up box.

Carlee and her Great Friend, Whitney, dress up as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They were perfect and oh so cute and yes, that is Carlee's real hair!

Abby decided to be a spider witch and gave up on the hat half way through trunk or treat but she looked cute.

The only costume that fit Jaren this year was the "White Ninja" and he was happy about that. He was even more happy to get home and take that make-up off.

Grace wanted to be Sleeping Beauty and she was so excited to go and get candy. Taylor accidentally stepped on her cute tiara and so we had to quickly grab one from the dollar store but it was pretty ugly. She didn't wear it to trunk or treat and I was very happy about that. She had a great Halloween even though it only lasted 1 hour and that was just fine with me.

Unpredictable!!

2010-08-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the younger kids and I were preparing to leave on our family trip to Colorado for a Bushman Family Reunion while Dave, Carlee and Taylor were at the lake with our youth group for their end of summer bash. I was so excited to be able to leave the heat and humidity of Texas and spend time with my family, some of which I only get to see once a year. Everything was ready to go, the T-shirts were made,the skit was perfect, the food was prepared and frozen, the house was clean, the laundry was done and all we needed to do was pack the car so we could leave early Sunday morning. I was feeling really good until... I received a call from Dave informing me that Taylor had been hurt while tubing and had possibly dislocated his shoulder. I started calling our friends who are doctors and was unable to reach any of them and so I called our urgent care and they instructed me to just take him to the ER. I arrived at the ER before Dave and Taylor and had him registered before they got there. I needed him to be fixed quick so that we could get things ready to go. Well, after x-rays, several hours of waiting and a 2 hour surgery this is what we ended up with! What happened to DISLOCATED???

Taylor had broken his arm in 2 just below his shoulder. His humerus broke along the growth plate and down just below the shoulder. His bone was then shoved up into his deltoid muscle and was sitting there just below the skin due to the force of his injury. The only way to fix his arm was to open up his shoulder and put in 3 titanium screws. The doctors could not believe how bad it was when they got in there and they are concerned with possible nerve damage and loss of muscle. Sooo, the reunion was now out of the question. I kept telling the Dr. that we were to leave town the next morning and he would give me a look like I was crazy and tell me that Taylor should not travel but I kept hoping until I finally flat out asked if we could leave and he said NO! What? We had been waiting for this trip all summer long and within a matter of hours we were no longer going. Ugh! We've never missed a Blaine Bushman reunion and certainly did not want to tell my kids or my family. We were so sad. What's crazy is that on the way to the hospital, Taylor was asking if he would be able to attend the dance that night and while waiting for surgery, he kept talking about going to Colorado. He was so excited to go and spend time with his cousins. I certainly didn't want to tell him the bad news.

We spent Sunday morning up at the hospital visiting Taylor instead of traveling. The kids were very emotional and very concerned about their brother. For a few days they only cared about Taylor and wanted him to get better and understood that we were not going to make the trip. Notice I said for a few days. That did wear off and when it did, they were sad all over again. Grace tried to help Taylor by rubbing his feet and that made him smile.

Here is Taylor with his nurse just before coming home. The nurse was shocked when Taylor stood up, she hadn't realized how tall he was. He thought that was pretty cool. He always likes when people think he is tall. He only has about 5 more inches until he catches his Dad.

Once home, he was greeted by a couple of his friends who had come over to decorate his room with streamers, balloons and posters. It was really cute and it made Taylor smile. Most of it is still up and I am sure it will stay that way for awhile.

Well, it is now almost a week since the accident and he is doing much better. He did not take any pain meds today and that is great. He has feeling in his hand and shoulder which is good and we go to the ortho on Monday to see what they think. Taylor is hoping they will take the bandages off so that he can see what it looks like. It itches pretty bad and he wants it off. He is already tired of the sling and hopes that he will heal extra fast, not only to get the sling off but so he can start swimming at school. Just one more thing that has to be postponed. We are however very grateful that he is ok and has some feeling in his hand and shoulder. Therapy will determine how much muscle he will regain. He has been a trooper throughout all of this and has had a few good experiences as well. He has decided that he will probably stay off the tubes for awhile but that he would like to hurry up and heal so that he can knee board again. He just learned how and did a 360 on his first try. Go Taylor!

Jaren's Birthday

2010-08-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

It seems that I always leave Jaren out when it comes to posting birthdays. Jaren turned 9 this year and he had a great birthday with 3 of his friends. I wanted to follow him around with the camera like I did with Carlee but I left it at home several times and so I only have a few pics to share. The day started out with his friends arriving at 9:30 and we immediately left to go and see Despicable Me. The kids loved the movie and had a great time. I not only forgot the camera when we left but I also forgot my cell phone. I had intended to order pizza during the movie and pick it up on our way home. Oh well, they played and opened presents while we waited for the pizza.

After eating we left for the swimming pool where I once again forgot to bring the camera. We gave all of the kids a swimming ring and they had a blast playing with them. Afterwards we came back to the house and they made their own Volcanoes. (Jaren's request this year and I was happy that I didn't have to make a cake.) They were all very happy even though Sam was not smiling. He doesn't like pics.

I can't belive he is 9 and starting in the fourth grade, where does the time go. So happy he is apart of my family! Love Him!!

Happy Birthday Carlee!

2010-05-04T11:09:00.001-07:00

My Carlee is 13, a teenager! She has been waiting for this moment since I can remember. I thought It would be fun to capture her birthday with photos and so I did. Enjoy.

This year Carlee wanted a cake that was a little more grown up. She showed me a picture of the cake and I asked her if she was serious!! It doesn't have any candy on it to decorate with. Yikes! I decided to give it a try and this is the finished product. I have so much to learn still and it would really help if i purchased some decorating tips. I have always used a plastic sandwich bag with a little hole cut in the corner. It worked fine but I am sure that if I had the proper equipment, it would look a little more polished. Regardless, it was fun to make and it tasted good too. Carlee chose chocolate cake with peanut butter cream filling and butter cream frosting. MY Dad would have loved this cake as the filling tasted much like his favorite peanut butter balls.

carlee's day began with a present from Abby. Abby couldn't wait to give it to her and so Carlee had to open it before breakfast. Abby purchased a pair of earrings for Carlee while at enterprise city, look at her face. She is so happy to be giving them to her sister.

For breakfast this year, Carlee chose to have fruit smoothies and egg burritos. Excellent choice! This is one of our family favorites.

Immediately after breakfast we jumped in the car and headed to the church. Dave had signed our family up to help clean the church that morning. Fortunately for us, several families showed up and we were done in only 1 hour.

Once we got home and cleaned up, Carlee opened some more of her presents.

After opening presents Dave decided to take the kids out for pizza and this is what they looked like when they got home. I never like when Dave walks into the arcade with the kids but this time it was well worth it. All of the kids walked out with a mustache and they had a blast messing around with them and now this picture will be hanging up in my game room. Love it!

After having some fun with the family, Carlee had scheduled to go and spend some time with a friend from church. They ended up riding bikes around for 2 hours. Carlee came home pretty tired but not so tired that she didn't want to go shopping. I quickly took her shopping for some much needed clothes and I think she was pretty happy with our little trip.

For dinner, Carlee chose to go to Fuddruckers. I'm not one to get real excited about eating hamburgers but I must say that I do love to go and get their jalapeno cheese sauce. Mmmm Mmmm good. Dave's Mom,Connie, was spending the day with us so she came to dinner and we were glad she did.

Finally around 8:30 in the evening we had cake and ice cream. Wow, what a day!! I had a lot of fun and I think that Carlee did as well. What a Beautiful girl she is becoming and I just love spending time with her. She makes me laugh A LOT!! LOVE HER!

Easter 2010

2010-05-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend this year. I really enjoyed having it on Conference Weekend. Our Easter celebrations began the Saturday before. Abby and I made our usual bunny cupcakes for the BBQ. We had fun putting them together and I have decided that they are much cuter with the coconut but I have learned that the kids won't eat them with coconut so we left it off this year. I think they still turned out cute.

We went to our good friends house for a BBQ and Easter Egg Hunt. We always love going to the Hydes and the kids had a lot of fun eating and hanging out with their friends.

This is Jake, Grace's very favorite friend. They are only one week apart in age and they play so well together. I just love to watch and listen to them.

Grace had so much fun searching for eggs. The kids had to work hard to find them. As soon as we were done, we all jumped in our cars and took the kids to see the movie, How To Train A Dragon. We loved that movie and will probably buy it when it comes out on DVD. It was that good!

Before Taylor and Dave left for the priesthood session that evening, we quickly got the eggs ready for coloring. All of the kids put on their aprons from Nana and Papa and got to work. Grace had a blast and I would say that Carlee worked the hardest and was the most patient. She ended up with the brightest eggs. We had such a fun, fast and furious day. The kids were in Heaven and worn out by the end of the day. Perfect!

Easter morning was filled with the kids searching for their baskets, a great breakfast and Grace playing with her favorite gift, Bubbles! All before conference began which was the perfect way to spend easter, with our family and listening to our prophet.

Abby is 11

2010-02-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

This year for Abby's birthday she decided that she wanted a Purse Cake. She being the good girl that she is, got on line and found the cake she wanted which again came with great instructions. We had a lot of fun putting it together and I think she really liked it.

Abby decided that instead of a big party this year she wanted to invite a couple of friends over to make homemade personal pizzas and play games. I thought that sounded GREAT! Abby helped get everything ready and they all had a great time!

It is hard for me to believe that she is already 11 and will be entering Young Womans in only one year. I have been informed that I must now teach her how to shave her legs and so I guess we will be working on that this week. Why?! Why do they have to get older? I just love my kids the way they are right now.

The day after Abby's birthday Dave and I took her out for lunch to the restaurant of her choice. This year Abby chose BJs. My kids love it when it is their birthday and know that they can order what ever they want. Abby chose the Shrimp Scampi and loved it. She saved a little to take home and is still enjoying that shrimp.

While eating we told our waiter that we were celebrating Abby's birthday and when we finished he brought her a personal Pazookie! As you can see, she loved every last bit of it. We had a great time and I just love spending time with her.

Camp fire Cake

2010-02-21T15:35:00.000-08:00

This year for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet they decided to have a cake decorating contest. The cub scouts were to do most of the work so Jaren and I chose a cake that would be fool proof. We chose the camp fire cake and it was perfect. Each time Jaren messed up the frosting we would just add a little more and I would hand him the fork and tell him to make more lines. It was fun and I think it turned out really cute. He won the Best Overall award and was very happy about that.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

2010-02-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Ok,so I know it has been a long time since I last posted and now I am having a hard time. I uploaded all my pictures and while they are posting fine on my blog, I can't see them to write about them. So, I will give a quick overview and you can enjoy the pics.
Last Thursday Taylor and I woke up early for Seminary and when he left it was really cold and by the time he got back, we had snow everywhere. It snowed all day on Thursday. Grace loved the snow and she mostly loved eating it. It was so cute when she first stepped on the snow. She quickly looked at me and said that the snow was LOUD. The kids got home from school on Thursday and played in the snow all afternoon thinking it would be gone by Friday, like normal. To our surprise, we woke up on Friday morning to about 12 inches of snow outside. School was cancelled and the party and laundry began. The Dallas area has not received this much snow since the 1970s. What an awesome gift for us!!! The kids were already playing with neighbors by 8:00am. My front yard was perfect for sledding. We started out with cardboard then swimming tubes and then got smart and pulled out boogie boards. Unfortunately my front yard was not very pretty to look at by the time they were done but they had a blast. Dave talked all the kids into making an igloo and they all worked really hard on it. I think it turned out pretty good and we had lots of neighbors stopping by to look at it and take pictures, so funny.
Anyway, on Saturday the kids finally built a snowman. I had been asking them to build one since Thursday. Here it is Monday and the snowman and the igloo are still standing amongst all of the brown grass. Most of the snow has melted and life is getting back to normal but it sure was fun while it lasted.

More of San Fran

2009-10-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

Okay kids, I am almost out of time to use the internet so I have to quickly uploaded some pics for you. Today we decided to bike across the golden gate bridge. I was not so sure about this at first but ended up loving it. I think it will probably be one of my most favorite parts of the trip.

Way Fun!!

Look how far we rode. We started back by all of those building in the background.

Lastnight we toured Alcatraz and it was really cool. Here are just a few pics.

Dad, Irene and I in a solitary confinement cell.

This is a regular jail cell, not much!

San Fransico

2009-10-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Dave and I are in San Fransico right now and we are using this blog to send pics to my kids. We are having a lot of fun and have been on the go ever since we got here. My feet are killing me but it has been worth it. We toured Alcatraz tonight and it was great. I will put pics of that up tomorrow. This first pic is out of the window from our hotel. Our room is a corner room and we have a great view of the city.
First outing of the morning on the trolly

Salt Water Taffy!!!

Of course we had to stop!

Irene and I enjoying some of the best cupcakes I have ever eaten. We might have to stop by there again before coming home.

Cioppino!

Dave had heard about this dish long before we came and he has been craving it ever since.
This soup is filled with all kinds of sea food and he didn't even come close to finishing it.

Blue Angels getting ready for their show on Saturday. We are very excited to go and see the show. Dave and Martin were like little kids watching these planes go by over and over again.

Our Newest Addition!

2009-09-18T11:39:00.001-07:00

Ha! Scared ya didn't I?

Carlee has been asking for a dog for the past two years. We finally told her that if she saved up enough money then she could buy herself a dog and she did just that. She bought this cute little cockapoo (cocker spaniel and poodle mixed) for $200.00. Wow! She is very cute and she met all of my criteria. She will probably not get much bigger and will only weigh around 10 pounds. She does not shed, even when I pull her hair to test it, and she is very mild mannered. The unfortunate thing is that Carlee has not been around much since she is on the volleyball team at school so guess who is taking care of the dog most of the day? Yep! That would be me but I am ok with it. I have decided that I don't want to get old and wish I had been a better mom and let my kids have some of the things they always wanted, such as the dog and oh, the hampster. She is a good girl and Carlee is very responsible when she is around. By the way, the dog's name is Lizzy!

Birthday Time

2009-09-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that my baby is 2 years old. While I want her to grow up, I also want to keep her as my little baby. She is so fun to have around. She speaks in complete sentences and always wants to do whatever the older kids are doing. She gets really sad when the big kids leave to go play with friends after being gone all day at school.

Grace loves Elmo and has for a really long time so I knew I needed to make her an Elmo cake. I seriously considered buying her a cake until I saw one on line and decided to give it a try. She loved it and that is all that matters.

Grace was so cute when she blew out the candle.
She was very careful and proud of herself.

One of Grace's presents was this baby doll from her Grandma. She loves her and plays with her all day long. She took her money from Nana and Papa and bought a stroller and little diaper bag to go with the baby. I guess she wants to feel big too.
Notice all the hands in this picture. Poor girl!

Happy Birthday Taylor

2009-09-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

14 years old and finally as tall as his little sister. Yea!!!

Taylor was finally able to celebrate his birthday on Sept. 11 which is Grace's birthday.
The boys had a great time making their own volcanos. I wanted to take a close up picture of one of them but they started eating before I could even get the camera out.

I should have known this would happen with teenage boys and reddi whip. I think all but one of the boys took a turn with it.

Taylor wanted to go swimming and airsofting (is that word?) as part of his party but it had been raining all day long. Fortunatly the rain let up just long enough for them to go out and play a little. In this picture the boys were posing for me when Dave walked out the door and shot Tyler right in the bumb and my camera went off just as all of the boys reacted. It was perfect.

They all spent the rest of the night playing the guitars, drums, Wii and card games.

I think they had a fun night.

I wanted to throw this pic in too. Taylor loves to fish at the pond behind our house and this is a picture of his latest catch. He was very pleased!

Oh, Happy Day!!!!

2009-03-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

I walked out of my room yesterday to find this!

Yippee! Hallelujah! Hurray!!

Grace has finally assumed the "Jaren position" and she is watching TV!! Yeah! I know a good mom would not praise a child for watching TV but I have been waiting for months for Grace to have some sort of interest in it. This week I have tried leaving PBS on all day so that she could watch. She has ignored it until yesterday and it was Barney that caught her attention. She watched the whole show. Dave is going to love that. :) Barney is his favorite! Ha I do hope this will continue, even if she only watches Barney. I only need a few minutes of personal time each day before the wrecking machine is back in action. Happy Day!!!

Abby's 10

2009-03-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Abby has been waiting and waiting for her birthday so she can get her ears pierced. We celebrated a few days early during a school holiday and I think she had a great day!!

This year Abby wanted me to make her a cake that looked like pants. She went on line and found the cake she wanted and it even came with step by step instructions and a video on line if needed. Thank you Abby! I think it turned out cute and she LOVED IT!!

Earlier in the day Dave, Carlee and I took Abby to get her ears pierced. She was so excited and could hardly wait, that is until she got there.

She was so calm at first and then the look of fear. My strong confident little Abby was scared and I thought it was cute. It only took a matter of seconds and it was all over and she didn't even scream. Carlee kept telling her to be calm and that it really doesn't hurt. Like Carlee can talk, you should have seen her two years ago. I am surprised the lady even pierced her ears, she was freaking out!!

The finished product.

Abby loves them and she looks so cute!

We finished our outing with lunch at Olive Garden, Abby's choice. Each year Dave and I get to take the birthday kid out to lunch or dinner. I love this! It was fun getting to spend just a few minutes alone with the birthday girl.

Oh, I love her! Ten years old, Wow!

BBs Everywhere!!!

2009-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

The new favorite thing to do at our house is to have Air Soft Gun wars. I would say that we have at least 2-3 per week. On average, we have about four boys here playing in the back yard. My yard is now multicolored with BBs Everywhere!!

Late one Saturday night Taylor and his friend Kevin were preparing for an air soft war. They could not find the protective glasses so they chose to wear Abby and Jaren's swimming goggles. They looked hilarious!! It is a rule of mine that when they play, they always have to wear protective glasses.
Dave wanted to get in on all the excitement and so he purchased his own gun. I finally called them in around 11:00 pm. I'm sure the neighbors appreciated that. They were having a Blast!!

2009-01-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Just before christmas while I was shopping I decided to stop in and get Grace's picture taken. I had not yet had her pics taken since she turned one. Grace always has a smile on her face but as soon as the camera comes out the smile goes away. This was the best picture we could get and look, she is missing a hand!
Check out those lashes!! I just love them!

2008-12-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

Warning!!! I am finally updating our blog and so there is a lot.

I just love this time of year and I have had so much fun just spending time with my kids.

The weather has been crazy with one day warm and the next freezing.

We love to snuggle up and drink hot chocolate.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and wish we could be with all our family and friends.

Last week school was cancelled for a day due to slick roads and the kids just

loved staying home and slipping on the ice.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

We had 22 people at our house

this year for Thanksgiving and we just loved it.

My kids loved spend some quality time with their Nana and Papa before they had to leave.
We are so glad that we live so close to them.

Nana gives our family a Christmas book every year and we opened it the night before they were to leave. The kids loved it.

All the cousins made gingerbread houses.

Here's the older kids eating Turkey dinner.

Carlee wanted to make sure a good game of Volleyball was played while everyone was here. I don't know how good it was but they played and had fun.

Halloween

2008-12-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

We had a Great Halloween this year playing with our friends.

I helped my great friend Angie with a Halloween party and it was so much fun. We carved pumpkins, bobbed for apples and had a donut eating contest and of course there was a ton of fun Halloween treats. The kids had a blast!

Taylor wasn't going to dress up this year but changed his

mind last minute and went as a nerd.

He looked pretty good.

Jaren wanted to be a Hobo and I thought that was great since I did not have

to make a costume and he was missing his two front teeth.

Abby reused a costume Carlee wore a few years ago.

I think she looks sooo cute!

Carlee went as Pippie Longstocking and Grace was a Pirate.

They were both cute and all the neighbors would comment

on Carlee's hair when they came to trick or treat. It was

great!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-22T07:43:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to share a few of my favorite Halloween pictures. Hope you have a Spooktacular Day!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!

2008-10-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are so happy to have Dave/Dad in our lives. He is always making us laugh and creating memories for us to keep. We thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite moments with you. We Love You Dad!!

Dave loves to play in the snow with the kids. He has made 2 igloos, a sled to be pulled behind a car and many snowmen. And of course with the snow comes many many snowball fights. Unfortunately we enjoy most of the snow when we are out of town. Taylor's Christmas wish this year is that we will have a white Christmas. That would be Awesome!!

It was a fairly cold day in San Diego but that did not stop Dave and the kids from playing at the beach and going into the water.

Dave jumped right in this picture. His favorite Disney Character is Eeyore.

Here you go. This is a good example of what Dave likes to do. He thought this was so cute/funny that he had to wake me up to show me. Grace was only two weeks old.

While I was at a meeting one Sunday night Dave and the kids decided to choreograph a song with Carlee as the lead singer and Dave, Taylor, Abby and Jaren as the back up singers and dancers. They went all out. Notice the uniform look of the dancers :) It was hilarious!

Just a week ago I finally charged the corvette's battery. We have had this corvette for about three years and every time I pull into the garage Grace goes over to it and tries to get inside. Sometimes she would just sit in it and listen to music. Yes, it has a radio. Crazy! Of course Dave had to take a turn after all the kids went for a ride. He did not get very far. The battery had to work over time and did not last long. Sorry kids, the fun is over. I'll have to charge the battery AGAIN!

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-09-29T11:12:00.001-07:00

Dave and I were out to eat with some friends this past weekend and as we were walking to the car my friend yelled out,"THAT'S IT! You look like Sally Fields!" I have had many people tell me that throughout the years. Well here it is, you be the judge.

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb

Happy Birthday Grace!

2008-09-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Sweet little Grace turned 1 and we had a great time celebrating. I made her a little bath tub cake knowing this was probably the last time I would have the opportunity to do so. Next year she will want a barbie cake or something a little more girly. Here are just a few pics from the party.

We had my brother Tyler and his family and Dave's mom over to help us celebrate. The weather was perfect and we sat outside and barbequed and played little kiddie games. I couldn't ask for a better night.

Pin the tail on the donkey was so much fun to watch. Grace's little cousin Ella whose also a year old won the prize, the blue bouncy ball. Isn't she just the cutest!! Notice Jaren standing next to her with his arms folded, he was so mad that he didn't win. He tried all night to convince me that he should get the ball and when Ella would drop it Jaren would pick it up and tell me that he found it laying on the ground and so he should just have it.
I don't think so buddy!!
Would you believe that he has about 50 of those balls in his room and they never get played with?

I always let my kids dig in to the cake when they turn one. Grace was a little hesitant until she licked her finger for the first time and then she dug in. Carlee made this little birthday hat for Grace and she wore it the whole time she was eating her cake. It was so cute!

These next two pictures show a little skin. Grace opened her presents with only a diaper on since Dave decided to hose her off after eating cake. Fortunately she loves water and thought it was great. She absolutely loves her presents, especially the ones that make noise. :)

Here are a few more pics of Grace doing some of her favorite things. I promise this blog is not just about Grace. Enjoy!

Playing Dress up and House with the kids!!

Bubble Baths and Swimming!

Listening to Dad play and Climbing Stairs!

Messy! Messy! Messy!

2008-09-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

Where's the Dog??

When the four older kids were little we had a dog, Sadie. I need her back so that she can be my vacuum. If we were to drop a piece of food she would be there to catch it before it hit the floor. I'm not quite sure how to handle all of the food Grace leaves for me to clean up every time she eats. I feel like I have to sweep and mop after every meal. YUCK! I find myself wanting a dog again each time I have to clean the floor and for those of you that know me, you know that I don't want a dog! I do however love the stage she is in. I love hearing her talk, seeing her walk around, and going up and down the stairs and having her eat mostly table food is pretty nice too. I just Love Her - Love Her - Love Her and so I will continue to remind myself that this phase of being completely covered from head to toe with food will pass.

Grace insists on feeding herself. She holds a spoon in one hand and uses her fingers with the other.

Can you say BATH!

She loves those too so I guess she is the all around winner!

Still cute with spaghetti all over.

Back To School!

2008-08-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Jaren (7) 2nd Grade
Abby (9) 4th Grade
Carlee (11) 6th Grade
Taylor (13 in 5 days) 8th Grade

The kids are back to school and now I feel like I might have a few extra minutes to actually do something with this blog. I can hardly believe summer is over, where does the time go?
Okay, so I wanted the pictures to be below my writing but I can't figure that out. You will have to just suffer through with me as I learn what to do.