Welcome Toothfairy!!

Devon was so excited when he discovered his first loose tooth. When I checked it out, I noticed the adult one was poking its head out right behind. So, I waited patiently for a week, letting Dev wiggle it loose. He thought it was neat having shark teeth. After lots of wiggle time, mom had to move in and pull it out. I am always amazed at how small these little teeth are! He was sure the toothfairy had magic and would get under his pillow - and sure enough, he is now a dollar richer.

SILVER.....BE GONE!

I drove Melissa to her ortho appointment for her last tightening.....and she came running out to tell me that they were taking them off. YAHOOOOO! It has been 13 months and she now has a beautiful "straight" smile.

Darthvader Birthday

Devon was so excited to celebrate his birthday....oh, those were the days! Anyways, he was a bit ripped off that we had to wait 5 days after his birthday for the party. We purchased anything Star Wars. I struggled a bit with the cake. I ended up buying action figures and just putting them on the top.(a sad cake compared to the beautiful ones my friend Kate makes) You do what you can! The kids built rockets from 2L bottles, and then we launched them in the park using an air compressor. Lots of giggles when these babies went up 40ft.

Not So Much a BABY Anymore.....

Our little Devon is 6....I can't believe it. It seems like not that long ago he would fit perfectly in my arms. He still loves to be cuddled thankfully! Now he loves soccer, playing lego Jones and Lego Star Wars, building legos with his sisters, cooking, helping his dad do anything handy, and playing the piano. He is a joy to have in our family....a perfect gift for us.

Back to School

Its always a bit sad to send off my kids to school. I love having them home in the summer. We have such a great time playing, swimming, crafting, and travelling. This year was especially exciting for Dev....he started kindergarten. I was trying to feel sad.. now that I was home without any kidlets, but watching Dev skipping into the school yeard just brought a huge grin to my face. How can you feel bad when he is just so darn excited. The house is definitely quieter....but I just rush around like always....just don't have my cute little friend with me. I do miss our Costco dates though. Dev and Chan said they'd be happy to go to Costco on Sat...so accomodating

Yes, I finally found a moment to get these summer pictures up. It was a great 3 week adventure. Great weather and lots of family fun in Whitefish, Flathead, and at Bear lake. The kids were so much braver this year. Everyone loved the new knee board. After watching his big cousin Josh, Dev got on it and did a 360 right away! I loved being outside....chatting, and playing in the water. We are so glad that our parents let us come visit....it is so nice to get a break from the heat, and be able to see the whole family in one trip. We really enjoyed our first time at Bear Lake. Lots of new cousins to meet and the water is the most beautiful color of blue. It was a bit different having all that wind blowing in the afternoon, but the tube and waverunners got a good workout. Dev and his cousin would just sit on the parked waverunners and pretend to drive for hours. I think one of the highlights was learing how to ride motorbikes. My kids loved the freedom. I think it just got Melissa more excited about getting her drivers liscence. Seeing Dev and Chan blasting down the dirt road was a bit scary!

FUN AT FLATHEAD

Whitefish Trip

Birthday Girl

Our 15 year old Beauty

I don't know how this happened, but we have a 15 year old living in our home. She is eager to remind us that on Jan. 1 of 09 she can get her learners permit!!!!It is hard to think of that when I can still remember her learning to ride a 2 wheeler. She is a joy to have in our home. Let me share a few things that we love about her:

1. She is so loving to her brother, always trying to help him.
2. She always looks for things to help me out with...AND DOESN'T NEED TO BE ASKED
3. A true lover of cooking... she often drifts into the kitchen to help me prepare meals.
4. She is a good girl and always tries to do the right thing
5. kind to her friends.....she has huge group of kids that just love to hang out
6. she is obedient, and respectful to adults
7. she has a great laugh, right from the center of her being.
8. her love for music has blossomed and she is a beautiful pianist
9. she is not afraid to try new things.
10. a hard worker to the core.....tries to do her best on everything
11. a great student....strait A's in all of her classes even the honors
12. loves spending time with her extended family....
13. has a love of children.....a great baby cuddler.
14. Dependable...I can always count on her when I need her
15. becoming a beautiful woman
We are so blessed to have her in our family and it makes me cry inside that in 3 short years, she could be off on her own. So, we try to make every moment count.

Summer Theatre

WE LOVE THIS PROGRAM!!!! The girls just love to sing and dance to all the fun music this summer program offers. I just love it because for 2 weeks straight there is singing and dancing all the time in our home. Devon doesn't appreciate it as much....he tells the girls they give hime a headache! Melis and Brooke got some awesome solos this year! I was so impressed with the whole thing that I went to the show twice!

Lights, Camera, Action!!

On your marks, get set, GO!!!!!!

Swim Team

This year we have a new swim team member. Because of some awesome swim instruction in the spring, Devon was able to swim fast enough to be on the swim team. It is a lot of swimming for a little guy, and every morning I have to do some persuading to get him in the car and to the pool. Thankfully his best bud, Jacob, and two cute girls drive with us to the pool so he is in a good mood and happily runs out of the car. Chantelle joined late, but was glad to be able to race against her cousins for the first time last week. She and Kelsey made sure they were side by side.

A Few Trek Memories

Our trek was 4 fun but tough days travelling 17mi. Blake and I weren't suppose to help with the pulling - but during the women's pull and up rocky ridge our help was greatly needed and I was greatful that we were in good enough shape to help. Our family consisted of 9 youth, and adult big sis and big brother, and Blake and I. The first night we pulled for 7mi, most of it in the dark. It was a great time to get to know our family. We realized that we had some great fast pullers as we were always on the heels of the cart in front, and always had a bit gap behind. Since we were blessed the previous weekend with the rain we needed, we were able to have fires. Horray because it was quite chilly at night. I slept in my coat, to cold to change into pj's I kept my day clothes on. I also had 3 hot shots to keep my warm. Blake slept under the stars....he is tough. The last night my coat stunk so bad of bonfire that I got brave and took it off to sleep....so I had to use 6 hot shots to keep warm...what a wimp.
Day 2 was the toughest with the women's pull followed closely by the Rocky Ridge pull. The men went off with the "mormon batallion" and watched us pull up this steep hill not being able to help until we almost reached the top. We quickly learned that it was going to take more than 7 girls to get up this hill. The girls were quick to come back and help the next cart....needing about 15 girls to get it up the hill. It was awesome seeing the girls go back again and again.....knowing there was more help needed. It really reminded me how the relief society works. Sisters tirelessly helping one another. It was quite remarkable! Many girls got sick and exhausted so we had a good lunch and rest to gear up for the next big pull...rocky ridge.
I must admit that this was probablythe toughest thing I have had to do. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as it was asked to keep working. We stopped 4 times up the hill, but got little releif from it. My lungs were just bursting with effort...but there was no thought of quitting as my family needed me. 5ft from the top, help arrived. I was so greatful for the aid. It remineded me that we can't make it through life on our own. We need the help of friends and family to get through. This was made more evident when we arrived home on Sat. at about 5pm. I was so tired and dirty and I walked through my back door of our house to find that my friend had come in and had a crockpot on our counter cooking with dinner. What an angel. Just like those boys who helped us on Rocky Ridge.
A great experience. Part of our trek theme went like this...." ....we realized that their journeys parallel our own. There are lessons to be learned in every footstep they took. Lessons of love, courage, committment, endurence, devotion, and most of all faith." We surely saw this as we experienced this trek.

Giddy - up

A Pioneer Treking We Will Go!

Well, after many meetings, gathering supplies, sewing bonnets, flannel nightgowns, aprons, pantaloons, and last minute warm sleeping bag purchases, we are finally off on our trek tomorrow. I must admit that I wan't that keen at the beginning, but after all the reading I've done on the handcart companies and after finally finishing all of the sewing I'm getting kind of excited. It snowed last weekend in the area we are going so I think our dry streambed that we cross, is full. I will hopefully be able to post some terrific pictures. I must say that we look very stylish..... I haven't be able to post pictures for some reason, hopefully that will change. I have to get the one of Melissa playing the piano upside down. It is a hoot!

Trying New Things

Melissa came home one day from school with a great idea of a new way for her to play the piano. She actually played " If your happy and you know it" quite well. My girls just finished taking their piano exams. Melissa did her level 10, Brooke level 6, and Chantelle level 3. WAHOO!!!! They all received a SUPERIOR rating which was the top rating. Chantelle wasn't very impressed at having to take a theory exam, infact in her nightly prayers she prayed that she wouldn't have to do theory ever again. She managed to get an 88% so I'm not sure what she is complaining about - what a nut.

The BIG ADVENTURE

Well, getting there and coming home were a bit miserable, but while we were in Florida....it was glorious. We had to unexpectedly stay overnight in Dallas...big pain...but managed to get on the 4th stand-by flight and arrived in Florida in time to do a half day at EPCOT. We were so happy to be their and managed to get on some fun and fast rides. Dev was big enough to do all of the rides except the Areosmith rollercoaster on the last day....no worries, he had the flu that day...poor guy. Disneyworld was so much fun. I loved seeing all of the excitement the kids had...our favorite had to be SPACE MOUNTAIN. Although, Dev got off the ride and said that he wasn't doing that one again. Jesse and Sara joined us for Animal Kingdom on Friday, the beach on Sat, meeting our parents on Sunday, and Disney Mgm on Monday. It was so fun seeing our cousins...thanks so much for coming. Proud to report that we didn't loose anyone...that was a huge concern. My parents got off a cruise on Sunday so we all started driving and met half way down the coast for the afternoon. It was glorious to get away, to be with our family and to be in such a pretty place.

Forida Disney

UNDER THE SEA PARTY

UNDER THE SEA PARTY

Channy was sooooo excited to have a birthday party. We went out last weekend to get all the supplies and she has been counting down the days. We had 9 guests, so the volume waS LOUD! The girls were very giggly. We had a sand castle competition, ate pizza, painted nails and wacked a pinata. I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to teach the girls how to sew. So, during the week I sewed together beach bags but left a few seams for them to sew. I found 2 cute fabrics and sewed them together so it could be reversible. They loved it! It was a hit, and now the rest of us are recovering. Happy birthday Chan, we love ya

Comings and Goings

Devon came home from school with these lovely spectacles. He just loved them and wore them ALL DAY LONG. He and Brooke have been avidly playing Lego Star Wars. I asked hime how long he thought he should be allowed to play each day, he replied, " three hours"! The other day we received some packages, and Dev and Brooke grabbed the boxes and headed outside. They came in just killing themselves laughing. They had drawn Han solo and Princess Leah on the outside, pretending that they had been carbon frozen like in the Movie......okay, they are playing far too long, I know!

HAPPY NEW YEARS

Between Christmas and New Years we enjoyed a lot of activity with family. My parents stayed until Friday, so we were lucky to get in the temple movie and lots of games. We have made so many treats.....its lucky we had passes for everyone to the gym so we could work some of it off. Brian and Cheryl were also in town so we were able to get together for some more family fun. We found a new activity, GEOCACHING. There is a great "mountain" trail south of the Brittners were 2 geocaches were hidden. We hiked up on New year eve day looking for the "treasure". It was a great hike for all, and we enjoyed great weather. Only 2 accidents....Natalie was attacked by a cactus while posing for Uncle Blake's picture, and Dev wiped out on a path....thankfully not close to any cactus. Luckily Michelle was prepared with anti itch and bandaids! We also had a fun time bringing in the new year with our family. I think the kids played lego star wars for 4 straight hours that night!!!

A Merry Christmas