April 2010

Easter Sunday

Every Easter the Easter bunny brings the boys swimsuits, their favorite mini cereal, a chocolate bunny, and hides the eggs the boys decorated the day before. Here are the boy in their new swimsuits. I should have taken pictures of decorating eggs and the boys all dressed up for church. Oops, dropped the ball on that this year!

Happy Birthday, Parker!

On April 6th, 2005 at 8:30am we were blessed with a baby boy. We couldn't imagine our lives without our energetic, full of smiles, tough little Parker. He is a joy to have in our home.

For Parker's 5th birthday he got to have a friend party. His birthday party theme was Hotwheels and he invited about 12 friends over to celebrate. It was a BLAST!

Parker is lucky to share his birthday with his good buddy (cousin), Matthew.

The birthday party guests

Parker and his Race track cake

Parker and his birthday couch, full of all his favorite things!

Snow White Play

Taylor stepped out of his comfort zone and tried out for the Missoula Theater Company School Play. He not only got a part but a pretty important one at that. He was King Backwards, Snow White's father. He was hilarious and knew all of his lines! It was so much fun watching him and seeing him grow with this experience. I am so, so, so proud of him!

Robie Creek Race

Tol challenged himself this year to run in the Robie Creek 1/2 Marathon Race. It is one of the toughest in the Northwest.

At the starting line, Taylor, Brayden, and Tol got temporary tattoos.

After crossing the finish line he said to me, "Check". It was brutal and he doesn't have any desire to do it again. He did really great, though. :o)

Timberline Fun Run

Every year we run the THS Fun Run together as a family. The boys do the Kids 1 Miler and Tol and I run the 5k. This year was Parker's first year of finishing the whole mile! Woohoo, he did great! I love this family tradition!

I ran the 1 miler with my nephew, Levi. At the end I slowed way down and he told Uncle Bart, "I was super fast at the end. I even beat Aunt Nikki!" He was so excited!

The boys were excited to finish the kids 1 miler with their best time. I am so proud of them!

Brandie and I ran the 5k together

Tol and me before the 5k

Brayden knew how much his teacher, Miss Hoover, loves running so he invited her to the THS FUN RUN!

Brayden's 2nd season of Soccer...he's lovin' it!

Minute to Win It

We got into watching the new TV game show, "Minute to Win It". Contestants have 1 minute to do various quirky challenges. Here is a rundown of the challenges we did:

Cookie Challenge - Start with a cookie on your forward, and without using your hands move it to your mouth.

Nose Dive - Move 5 cotton balls from one bowl to another 5 feet away using your nose dipped in petroleum jelly.

Elephant Walk - With a nylon over your head and a basball at the end, swing your "trunk" to knock down 8 water bottles

Junk in the Trunk - Attach an empty kleenex box filled with 8 ping-pong balls to your bum and shake with all your might to get those ping-pong to drop out of the box

March 2010

Taylor joined the 5th and 6th Grade Choir this year. He has taken after Tol (thank goodness) with a beautiful singing voice. His choir group performed at East Junior High for their final concert with other elementary school choirs. They did a great job!

Taylor walking off from his performance.

"There's a WOCKET in my POCKET! And a FINDOW in my WINDOW...And a NOOK GASE in my BOOK CASE. Sometimes I have a feeling there's a ZLOCK behind the CLOCK."

During Book Fair Week at Trail Wind, the kids all dressed up as their favorite Dr. Suess character. I love helping the kids come up with fun costumes for Book Fair Week! I have just as much fun (maybe even more) as they do! Brayden also brought his class "green eggs and ham". We took 2 pretzel sticks (these were the bacon or "ham"), melted white chocolate in the middle and placed a green m&m in the middle to resemble a fried egg. His class loved the green eggs and ham from "Sam I Am"!

Taylor aka Cat in the Hat, Nicole aka a ZLOCK, Brayden aka Sam I Am

Our family had so much fun watching the Olympics this winter, especially Timberline graduate, Jeret Peterson. When we heard he was down at City Hall signing autographs we jumped in the car and made it just in time to get photos signed and have a photo opportunity, too! The boys thought this was the coolest thing ever! Jeret even let them wear his medal...very cool.

Speedy Peterson

One Family Home Evening, we wanted to teach the boys about sticking to a budget. So, we paired up and drew different parts of our dinner out of a bowl. Tol and Parker chose dessert and a side, Nicole (the sweet little girl I have been babysitting for 7 years)and I chose the drink and appetizer, Taylor and Brayden chose the main course and a side. We all got a set amount of money: $2 appetizer and drink, $3 dessert and side, $4 main dish and side. We then, headed up to Albertson's and seperated with our partner to shop for our part of the meal, not knowing what anyone else was getting. We had a very interesting dinner that night. Maybe our next lesson should be about making healthy choices. :o)

Dinner on a Budget

Appetizer: Homemade baked fries, Drinks: Ice Water w/ lemon slices Main dish: Magic Stars cereal, T & B Side: Pringles Dill Chips, Tol & P Side: French Bread, Dessert: Fudge striped cookies

The Saturday before Spring Break, Brayden had a break. This time it was his right arm. He was walking a friend's dog when it suddenly took off . Brayden went tumbling to the ground and landed on his arm.

Broken Bone #3

Since school was out I had a few extra kids at my house for Spring Break. When I have a lot of kids at my house, I like to make a plan and keep activities going throughout the day. So, the boys and I planned out our week the Sunday before to make it fun and keep me from going insane! Monday we had outdoor activities planned, since it was only nice day of the week, Tuesday was art project day, Wednesday was pajama party day (stayed in our pj's all day and everyone shared their favorite bedtime snacks, watched "Astro Boy", and played games), Thursday was baking day, and Friday was full of getting ready for Parker's birthday party (the kids helped make decorations and clean up the house).

Spring Break

Brayden read his Fablehaven book while everyone else played on the school playground

We walked the Oregon Trail by our house.

Everyone made their own trail mix to take on our walk.

Brayden, Nicole, Maddy, Gavin, Taylor, and Parker at the beginning of our walk

Baking cookies in the kitchen

February 2010

I turned 33 in February. I was pleasantly awakened by Parker with a bouquet of pink Gerber daisies and breakfast in bed for the two of us. The day continued with a serenade at Taylor and Brayden's piano recital by Taylor. He surprised me with the "Happy Birthday" song at the end of his recital piece. Friends stop by and friends called to wish me a happy birthday. Then, the surprises kept coming, Brayden took me to a movie, "The Spy Next Door",which he paid for. After the movie we were met by Tol, Taylor, and Parker. Brayden hopped in the car and Taylor jumped out. It was Taylor's turn! He and I went shopping and Desseret Book and ate dinner at Pollo Rey. We ended the day with cake and ice cream. I was spoiled and I loved every minute of it!

Happy Birthday, Nikki!

Breakfast in Bed. (Sure glad Tol helped Parker out with this :o))

Before going to the movie, Brayden finished his Valentine's box for school...a soccer field.

We love holidays around our house! After such a great birthday (a week before Valentine's day), it was my turn to show my boys (I include Tol as one of my boys :o)) how much I love them. It's a tradition in our house to have a candlelight dinner on Valentine's day prepared by the kids' (and I'm sure Tol's, too) favorite chef, Mom! I make their favorite dish, macaroni and cheese along with some of their other favs. They leave for an hour before dinner to give me time to set up and when they come home this is what they come home to. It is one of my favorite traditions.

Valentine's Day

The Chef

The recipients

The Spread...homemade macaroni and cheese, sushi (California rolls), salad, rolls, shrimp, sparkling apple juice, and for dessert, our traditional Valentine treat...Chocolate Fondue with fruit.

January 2010

The Broncos made it to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona. Unfortunately, we couldn't get there to cheer them on. So, we invited friends over and cheered them on in our living room. Some snow finally came in January. We were able to drive up to Bogus and sled with the kids. The boys and I bought looming kits and made hats and scarfs and Tol went to the Humanitarian Bowl with friends. Take a look at our family fun in January!

Fiesta Bowl Party Night...Go Broncos!!

I think this is the first time Taylor and Brayden were really interested in watching a football game on TV. Parker was cheering along with us until he fell asleep.

Yes! The Broncos won! It was a sweet game!

Sledding

At the top!

Taylor made his cousin, Lexie, a snow hat. She loved it and Taylor loved giving it to her. I love the way she is looking at him...so sweet. :o)

Humanitarian Bowl at the Bronco Stadium

Tol and some friends fighting the elements to watch some football.

Decmeber 2009

December was a blast, as always! I love Christmas, the snow (the little we had), spending time with family, winter break, New Year's Eve...and we added to our family...no not a baby...a sister! My brother, Wade got married December 23rd. Here are the highlights from December.

Candy Trains and Ride to Look at Lights Night

A true masterpiece of yumminess!

Taylor and his "sweet" train

Tol and Parker were a team. They had the longest train!

Brayden with the most chocolaty train. I think he ate his right after this was taken.

Our friend (more like a daughter),Nicole, also had a train, but didn't want to pose for the picture.

We bundled up in blankets after our candy trains and loaded up in the car to look at Christmas lights in our neighborhood.

Wade and Gina's wedding in McCall

Introducing the newest Mr. and Mrs. McCarroll! :o) They are such a perfect match. And what a beautiful couple!

Christmas Day

Taylor and his goods

Parker and his goods

Brayden and his goods

Twister!

Tol got a BSU snuggie from his brother

New Year's Eve

We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse

"Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakuel"

Beatles Rockband (we got this for Christmas)

Rock on, Brayden!