Mark,Kristina & Family

Halloween Fun

2010-10-30T21:01:00.004-06:00

For halloween this year my kids each decided what they wanted to be, lets see if you can figure it out from the pictures, only one may be tricky. I'll post the answers at the end. We celebrated halloween this year on Saturday. Riley had a basketball game in the morning so after lunch we did a party at home for the rest of the day. I gutted some pumpkins and let the kids carve away. I think they really enjoyed getting to use the little knives all by themselves. Then they played some games, mummy wrapping, relay races with balancing eyeballs and spider crawls. They stuffed popcorn hands. Then I spent some of the day getting ready for our spooky dinner we had after trick or treating. It was complete with mummies and blood, ghost boogers, vampire teeth, eyeballs, blood worms, bones and witches brew(except my dry ice disappeared in the freezer) so it wasn't quite as spooky as I wanted. But they all still loved it. Mason was expecially freaked out by the blood and worms. hahaha
Riley-Vampire
Nixon- Vampire
Mason- Carrot
Kate- Bunny

Lake Powell

2010-10-17T23:27:00.006-06:00

We went to Lake Powell this past summer for the 4th of July. That still is one of the best vacation spots on the face of the earth, even with all my children there. It was a quick trip full of adventure as always. On our way down we had to stop to change our tire on the side of the road. We had our own little firework show on the 4th with everyone. We got to do sparklers too and only ended up with a few burns on our feet. The girls threw Laura a surprise baby shower. We played some funny games, she got lots of cute gifts and we helped accessorize some onesies for her too. It was fun having the boat to ourselves(the girls). We loved going on jet ski rides and of course lots of swimming and playing on the beach. Mark caught a few big fish nothing for dinner though. Riley got to really work a lot on his swimming and now does well without a life jacket. On our last night there the boys caught and killed a rattle snake. It was a little freaky cause even when they had the tail and head in separate bags the snake still tried to attack the bag. It's always fun making new memories in Lake Powell.

Summer Fun

2010-09-26T19:29:00.004-06:00

We did a lot of fun little things this summer that made it great! We had BBQ's with friends, made fires in the backyard in our fire pit, went camping, did swimming lessons, attending local baseball games, playing Tball and baseball, going to the local dirt bike track, swimming at the hot springs, going to water parks with friends and swimming lessons. Even the simple things were great like having picnics in the front yard and riding bikes with our neighbors. One saturday we loaded everyone up, even ruca and went to blacktail for some boating, fishing, swimming and lunch! Mark got his motorcycle license this summer and got to go on a road trip with friends and then the whole family got to go on a ride. That was a lot of fun!! It was a great summer that we really just tried to enjoy together.

Our Trip to Las Vegas

2010-09-26T18:52:00.003-06:00

On my way home from Arizona I took the kids to Vegas to see our cousins that were there for the summer. Mark was done with the campaign and we were pretty much done selling five-0 so he hopped on a plane and joined us in Vegas for the weekend and to help me drive back home.
We stayed in the castle hotel(the Excalibur), the kids loved that. We played in their arcade one night and the boys went on a 3-d sponge bob ride. We met up with Chad and Alexis for lunch and then we all went back to our hotel for some swimming. The kids really loved the water slide. Mason even got brave enough to go down by himself. Then we went and got ice cream and our cousins headed back home. The next day we walked the strip with the kids. We went to the M&M store, saw the lions at the MGM Grand(huge hit), we ate lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe. That was really cool to do with the kids, except Kate was terrified of the Elephant and would get really upset whenever it would start making noises. And last we went and saw the Bellagio water fountains, the kids were absolutely blown away by it and wanted to just stay and watch that all night. The kids were so tired of walking by the end of this trip. The next morning Nixon said his feet hurt so bad and he wouldn't even walk anywhere. He crawled everywhere in the hotel room. I felt like a horrible mom. But I rubbed them that night and the next day he was fine. Grandpa Doyle and grandma Elizabeth and grandpa Wayne and grandma Roxie flew in on Saturday night cause Sunday was Alexis's birthday. So we all had breakfast at the hotel together and then we headed home. It was a great family vacation before Mark started his new job.

Trip to Arizona

2010-07-11T22:23:00.026-06:00

I took the kids out of school 2 weeks early and we headed to Arizona, for warmer weather and to see family. Kate got to meet her great grandma for the first time and all my kids got to meet their great uncle Brett, who I hadn't seen in about 12 years. It was such a fun trip I don't even know where to begin. We did so much and got to see so many people. We are truly blessed to have such great family and friends in Arizona to visit!!! So I'm offering fair warning there will be lots of pictures to follow...The above picture is my kids 4 hours into the 16 hour drive to Arizona. We owe a huge thanks to grandma for flying to Salt Lake to help me drive to AZ. It deffinetly made the trip more enjoyable for all.

All of the swimming began at 9pm the night we got to grandma's and grandpas. And continued everyday. Most days you could find us in the pool for at least 5 hours a day. We were soaking up the sun and water.

It was even a special treat for me, I got to see 2 of my very best friends. I love those girls and their kids are sooo cute!!!

We even had time to sneak in a few extra pics before church. How cute!!

Here's our family photo shoot we had. Everyone was there except Mark, we missed you. The siblings are all growing up and we are getting to be quite the group.

The boys hanging out with their uncles while the ladies got their pedicures.

Jessica, Kate and Me. She was gearing up to have my boys for a sleepover. She's awesome and the kids had a blast, thanks guys.
The whole time we were in AZ, Kate had a thing for the dog beds and and loved to play and lay in them. They were just her size.
This was a common site around the house Brett and Mason walking around in shorts and no shirts. Peas in a pod.

And more popsicles, Idahoans trying to stay cool.

Jess and Kate, I was shocked she just cuddled right up to her.

More pictures from swimming at Chase's. We ate yummy mexican food with the missionaries and then we did the slip and slide and swam in their pool. Mason is so not a water guy and kept Uncle Joe company with his phone. While we were eating Mason had to go poop. He yelled for me to come wipe his bum and he had locked the door. Well Chase didn't have a key and Mason refused to get off the toliet to unlock it, he said he was going to get poop everywhere. It took three different people to try and when we finally got in there to wipe his bum there was one piece of poop the size of a dime. So much for the fact he couldn't get up or he would get poop all over the place.Ice cream and popsicles were a must at grandma and grandpa's. Grandpa spoiled us and bought us 80 ice cream sandwhiches, a big box of otter pops and a bag of popsicles all to eat while we were there. And I must say I don't think we left much behind for them to enjoy.

Here is a sweet picture of great grandma Farnsworth and Kate I just couldn't pass up. So sweet.Here is what we looked like walking through downtown Pheonix in 100 degree weather. (and yes all 4 kids are in the stoller.)

They loved riding the light rail and thought it was one of the coolest things we did.Me and the kids got to go see Kaley's classroom. This was her final year teaching so she was there packing up stuff and she let the kids come eat lunch and play on her smart board. Nixon and Mason thought it was really cool to eat lunch at school and Riley enjoyed sitting up front and getting to be like a teacher.

Chase and Kaley had us all over for dinner on Monday night. We ate mexican food and had the missionaries join us. Then we went outside for some slip'n'slide fun. The adults even got into it and had a contest who could go the furtherest. And if I remember correctly my little big brother beat us all by a mile. The kids loved the slip'n'slide too. Then we headed over to there pool. Chase, Riley and Nixon all had cannon ball contests. I would have to say the pool was quite a bit lower when we left. We all squeezed into the hot tub to play dribble, dribble, drench. The kids loved dumping cups full of water on our heads. Once we were all water logged enough we headed back to the house for some homemade ice cream sandwhiches. Yummy!! Thanks again to Chase and Kaley, we had a great time!!

For a special treat Grandma let us get out all of her fun doctor stuff and play. The kids were loved checking all of our reflexes and thought that was pretty funny. I actually thought it was pretty interesting to see each of my kids' ears. But I think the favorite was giving the grapefruit its shots.
We took the kids to a couple of museums. The first was Falcon Field Air Museum. They had lots of really cool old air planes, helicopters, missles and lots of other military stuff. The favorite by far was the little yellow air plane they were able to pedal all around.
The other museum we went to was the Phoenix Children' s Museum. There was so many amazing things that actually seemed pretty cheap to create and the kids absolutely loved it. Some of our favorites things in the museum were, noodle forest, the race car track, the car wash, the huge play gym and the grocery store. Although I think they probably enjoyed the light rail we took down town almost as much as the museum.

I got to see my cousins(who are actually the same age as my kids) But it was a lot of fun seeing family, eating and swimming.

We went to the blue wave and got ice cream. The kids thought it was fun because you picked your ice cream, then put on your toppings and weighed it to find out how much you had to pay for it.

The girls got to spend an evening(boy free) getting pedicures. Thanks to mom and Jessica for setting it all up and hosting it. This is a before picture of our toes...

And here is after, much better!!

Our trip to Arizona part 2

2010-06-17T23:42:00.005-06:00

There was a few more pictures that I wanted to include in our trip to Arizona that wouldn't fit in my other post. Grandpa Jason rented a boat for the day and we got to go wakeboarding and tubing. We also ate a picnic lunch and found a fun little beach to swim at and play in the sand. The kids loved it!
All the fun in the sun was exhausting I have to say and it seems we each found the couch a cozy spot for an afternoon siesta. Poor little Mason was trying to get ready for bed and was coming to get me to help him and just couldn't make it all the way up the stairs.
Grandpa was nice enough to take the boys for the day so us girls could enjoy a day of shopping and lunch at somewhere other than McDonald's. He took the boys to help him wash his truck, then to Bass Pro Shop where they each got a gun and even brought me home a pink one so that I could play with them. And they got to go to McDonald's for lunch. Thanks for a fun day Grandpa!

Here is a collage of just some random fun pictures I wanted to include.

We had a fun trip with all kinds of great memories. One of my favorites was sitting around outside just chatting in the evening. Thanks for letting us come visit Grandma and Grandpa.

Mason's birthday

2010-06-02T17:39:00.006-06:00

I asked Mason what he wanted to do for his birthday this year and he said swimming and I want Popsicle's that you push up. Easy enough for me!! We started out his day by taking the family to IHOP for breakfast. Mason got a pancake with a whipped topping smiley face. He was in Heaven. Then we came home and got the yard ready for swimming. I didn't even do invites this year I just txted a few neighbors and invited them over for swimming and popsicles, and I did do some cupcakes. I blew up the pool a couple of hours early to hopefully warm the water up some and when I came out to check on how the filling up was coming along it was all deflated. Bummer. But the kids still loved the other pools and water toys and at one point in the party there was several kids in the deflated pool pretending to swim in it. Pretty funny! He got all that he asked for and then some, so he think he had a pretty happy 3rd birthday! Mason I have to say though you are the comic in our family. I love you and your sense of humor and just your personality in general. You are a great kid, I love you and am proud to be your mom.

The wizard of Oz

2010-06-02T17:38:00.004-06:00

I have started reading chapter books to the boys at bedtime. I have tried doing ones that they are at least a little bit familiar with, mostly for Mason and Nixon's sake. So some that we have read are Stewart Little, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory( after this one we had a movie party and tried to find the differences in the old one.), James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Wizard of OZ. And it just so happened that while we were reading the Wizard of OZ a local dance company was performing it as a musical. So I got me, Riley and Nixon tickets. I made a night of it and I took them downtown for dessert first. It was a big slice of chocolate cake and Snake Bite, absolutely one of my favorites!! Then we headed off to the play. The boys loved it and so did I. I really enjoyed being able to do this activity with them. I think it was really good for them to be exposed to something this different for them. Looking back on these pictures I can see my boys growing up, and oh how it is happening quickly.

The Three Billly Goats Gruff

2010-06-02T17:28:00.004-06:00

Nixon had Mrs. Karla for preschool this year and loved every moment of it!! In May the class put on a play of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. It was really cute and they all had their lines memorized. I was really impressed. Nixon was the troll and did really well. Nixon has loved preschool and I think he has really liked being a big boy and making lots of new friends; Max, Claire and Harrison.

Grace's Reception

2010-06-02T17:22:00.005-06:00

Grace Oakey got married in April and she had her recption at the airplane museum in Rexburg. It was a really cool, unusual place to have it at. The food was yummy, Kate stole this huge strawberry right off my plate and wouldn't put it down. She loves any fruit and veggie., the decor was cool, the entertainment was great(thanks to Zack and Danielle), the company was great and the dancing was a blast(thanks to Tim). The kids got us all out on the dance floor and the smoke machine was a huge hit!!! It was a lot of fun dancing the night away. It ended with a sparkler tunnel leading them to the helicopter and off they went to Island Park. There is also lots of good videos from this reception that I added to youtube.

Produce in Arizona

2010-06-02T17:06:00.006-06:00

While I was visiting in Arizona this past week my mom told me about this store called Superstition Ranch Market. For those of you in Arizona, awesome deals and I am so jealous of you!! They had 2 lbs of strawberries for $1.00, 3 containers of blackberries for a $1.00, mangoes 4 for $1.00, raspberries 2 containers for a $1.00 and many more amazing prices. I bought all of this for $27.00!! 1 loaf of apple cinnamon bread, 3 stewarts soda's, 1 bag of red grapes, 1 cantelope, 1 pineapple, 5 peaches, 3 kiwi's, 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 pear, 9 appricots, 4 mangoes, 6 apples, 7 oranges, 4 bananas, 6 oz. of blackberries, 4-6 oz. pkg. of raspberries, 8 carrots, 6 ears of corn, 4-1 lb. pkg of strawberries. This was a happy day, only wish it could happen in Idaho.

Girls weekend

2010-05-30T11:46:00.003-06:00

About a month ago some friends and I went to Boise for the weekend to see a friend of ours compete in the Mrs. Idaho Pageant. I after admit I'm not really a pageant girl, but it was fun to go with friends to support and it was rather funny to watch. But the good news our friend did win so that alone really made it worth going. But none of us brought kids which was really nice and we got to enjoy lots of shopping!! We enjoyed to hotel hot tub and pool. For our entertainment we did dogie paddle races in the pool. Angie gets the award for quickest dogie paddling! I think my favorite part was eating at non-kid friendly places and peacefully enjoying my meals.PF Changs Cheesecake Factory

I had such a fun time in Boise, I hadn't laughed that hard, and that much in a long time. My stomach was so sore the next morning I felt like I had done a million sit-ups. Thanks girls for such a fun trip and we definitely have to do it again!!!

Swimming with friends

2010-05-30T11:33:00.003-06:00

Nixon has turned out to be the social butterfly of our family. He enjoys all kids, it doesn't seem to matter if they are boy or girl, old or young. He just enjoys being around people. He recently had a friend from school move into our neighborhood, Claire. So we had Logan and Claire over to enjoy one of our rare sunny days and swim in the backyard. They all had lots of fun. I will post a video of them on my youtube channel as well.

Happy 5th Birthday to Nixon!!

2010-05-07T20:55:00.004-06:00

Nixon was counting down the days till his party for a month. Every morning the first thing was how many more days till my party. He was so excited. He helped to plan where the party was going to be(Leo's Place, his favorite) Then the invitee list. He is deffinetely my social child and has friends of all ages(we ended up with 18 guests) Then it was on to the theme(star wars, of course) and goody bags. He loved planning it all. I would have to say he had a very happy 5th birthday! He is also very excited to start kindergarten this next year and ride on the bus with his brother, cousins and friends!! Nixon you are growing up so fast, you are such a sweet boy and I am so glad you are a part of our family! We love you! .

Happy 1st Birthday to my little girl!

2010-04-25T21:15:00.007-06:00

On the 16th Kate turned 1. I couldn't believe how quickly this year passed! I went in a year ago for a routine doctor visit and then left going straight to the hospital to have our little girl. I have enjoyed her staying little for so long. She didn't get a tooth until 9 months and didn't start crawling until 101/2 months and she's not yet pulling herself up to things so I think walking will be a ways off. Most people say it is cause her feet are soooo stinkin' little. She is wearing a size 1(3-6 month size) All my boys were at least a 5 by the time they turned one. On her one year check up she weighed in at a whopping 17lbs and 27 inches tall. She has only gained about a pound and a half since she was 6 months old. I love you baby girl and your bothers enjoy you tons!! And you have definitely captured your dads heart!!
You really enjoyed opening up your presents. Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth sent you a bag with this stuffing in it and you sat for a good 5 minutes pulling them out one by one to get to your present, your brothers could barely handle it and finally Nixon helped by pulling it all out for you.
We sang happy birthday to you and this was as good of a picture that I could get of you. But at first you didn't really know what to do with it, at first you just stuck your fingers in the frosting and licked them. Then I showed you to pick it up and eat it and you just went to town on that thing and then you wanted the rest that were on the counter!! Since your teeth were so late coming I really hadn't fed you much as far as adult food so the cupcake on your birthday and then these m&m's were your first taste of good treats. It was fun to see how much you really enjoyed them. You were pretty upset when they were all gone.

Here are some pictures of you over the past year, and here's to many more happy memories to come.

We have reclaimed our yard!!

2010-04-25T21:07:00.005-06:00

Yipee!! Saying I'm excited about having my yard back is an understatement. After having to dogs destroy my garden last year, seeing the tracks and grass that they have dug up and ruined, having sprinkler hoses and wires dug up and chewed up and air conditioning wires chewed up and having a yard full of poop where kids don't want to play in we finally decided to build our dogs a kennel off to the side of our house. My kids have played in the backyard everyday since. We were able to put the basketball hoop in the back and now we will be able to have our garden and landscape our yard this spring, which will be soooo nice. And I have to admit I do make more time to spend with the dogs now that they are in a kennel. I guess you could say its a win win situation!!

My buddy and me

2010-04-25T21:04:00.004-06:00

I thought this was too cute of a picture to pass up. It's fun to have these two at home together. Mason is starting to play more with Kate. He loves sitting by her in the car, he is learning its ok to feed her most things and likes doing that and they have fun splashing in the tub together. But just recently they have started playing and laughing together which is fun to see as their mom.

Words don't do justice

2010-04-18T20:47:00.005-06:00

These boots were bought for Nixon about 2 years ago and were originally giraffes. They had cute little eyes, ears, horn type things, tails and handles to pull them on. Well needless to say these have been a favorite with Nixon and then with Mason. They are well used and loved. I finally had to retire them myself but I had to get some pictures first. They have lost most of their body parts, have several cracks and the biggest reason for retiring them is the wholes in the bottom. Mason loved them so much he would still wear his rain boots even when he knew he couldn't walk in the puddles, cause his socks or in some cases his toes would get wet.

Egg Hunt

2010-04-08T15:27:00.005-06:00

Aricka and I planned a little egg hunt for the kids. They all loved it especially the eggs with money in them, thanks Aricka! Here are some of the pics I was able to snag. They loved dumping out, counting, sorting and eating there treasures!

Cabin trips are our favorite!!

2010-04-08T11:52:00.006-06:00

We love being able to take a trip up to the cabin, especially when Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins come with. We missed the rest of the family who wasn't there. We got to the cabin just before the snow started falling and it pretty much fell the rest of the time we were there. The kids got to go on ranger/sled rides. These are always a favorite. So thanks grandpa and Dan for taking all the kids out.
We decorated and raced box cars inside Kate loved going on rides, especially since she missed out on the outside rides.

Zara had a special request that the girls all do our hair in piggy tails. So here is the results, we missed Olivia and Alexis on this one! We also got to enjoy lots of yummy food as usual when Elizabeth is cooking,thanks tons and thanks Doyle for all the breakfasts! It was also an uplifting weekend getting to watch conference, there was lots to learn there. And I enjoyed getting to celebrate Easter up there too. It was really simplified this year and I enjoyed it that way. Having conference the same time helped me to stay focused on my Savior. I hope the kids remember why we really celebrate Easter, our Saviors Resurrection. I had a great time and I hope all who were there did too!

And did anyone see what Dad discovered... Kate loves cinnamon bears, so she is a Beck!

Spring Break skiing trip

2010-04-08T11:30:00.005-06:00

This year for spring break we decided to stick around town and do fun things here. So we took a trip to the library, played outside and with friends, but the highlight of the week was to go skiing at Targhee with the boys. Our neighbor was kind enough to take of Kate for us for the day so we could enjoy the day together. They all loved riding the magic carpet and they all loved skiing. We all did the Shoshone lift once together, and we all did good and got down the hill successfully. Mason and Marks day ended a little earlier than the rest of ours did. They went and got hot chocolate and treats. Me and the boys did the magic carpet a few more times and then tried Shoshone again. This trip was not quite as successfull, although we did make it down. I stuck with Nixon and I think his little legs just got too tired and he could even stand up anymore, so Riley took off down the hill by himself. And I kept trying various things with Nix but all was a no go. I finally took of his ski's and I was just going to carry him down or something, but I was blessed to have a more experienced skiing couple come ask if they could help me. Ever so gratefully I accepted. I found Riley at the bottom headed for the magic carpet again and that is where we stayed until the lifts closed. We stopped on the way home for square ice cream and we topped off the trip with a throw up session from Mason as we were pulling in to the drive way. It was a great day and I had a lot of FUN! and Kate enjoyed her day almost tear free, which is a major accomplishment for any who know her. There will soon be video updates from this trip.

Strong Women VS. Women of Strength

2010-03-28T22:01:00.003-06:00

This is a poem that my mother-in-law shared with me and I appreciate the truths that it reminds me of.

A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape....
but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape....

A strong woman isn't afraid of anything....
but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear....

A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her....
but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone....

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future....
but a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be God's blessings and capitalizes on them....

A strong woman walks sure footedly....
but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls....

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face....
but a woman of strength wears grace....

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey....
but a woman of strength has faith that in the journey she will become strong....

- Ruth Haven

new updates

2010-03-27T10:17:00.000-06:00

There are new videos on my family video tab! happy watching

Successful day as a Mother!

2010-03-26T23:32:00.004-06:00

You know it has been a good day when your 6 year old tells you it was the best day ever for him!!(I had to pat myself on the back) I've been trying to take my kids to the library more frequently, it's beginning to pay off and the trips don't end near as disastrous as they did several months ago. Riley has been begging for me to get him his very own library card and I finally let him on Monday, although it was after we were done checking out books, and he didn't get to use it. So Wednesday we agreed to return so he could check out books all by himself. We planned the day out as follows; before he got home from school he wanted me to load the car with his scooter and brothers bikes. Pick him up at the bus stop and head off to pick up Nixon at preschool. We would then stop at the Skate Park for a picnic snack and to cruise around for a bit. It was lots of fun and good weather. Then we were off to the Library to use his much cherished library card for the first time. He picked out and checked out his books all on his own, a big day, especially in his book. By this time it was after 5 and I decided since I hadn't even begun to think about dinner it was a good day to take advantage of Applebee's kids eat for $0.99 on Wednesdays. So Mark met us and we enjoyed a relatively peaceful dinner. (The kids were even complimented on such great behavior by other customers.) Then it was time to head home to finish off the evening with some bike riding at home and an ice cream sandwhich. Which this in my kids books all added up to the best day ever!! So simple to please, wish it could stay this way forever.

A must share!

2010-03-26T23:22:00.003-06:00

Here's our little Grimlin! He has more personality than I know what to do with sometimes!