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New Years Eve!

2012-06-11T15:30:00.002-06:00

We had a fun family New Years Eve party at out house. We had tons of yummy food and the kids all had fun running around palying. The cousins have so much fun together, it is always fun to have everyone over. At midnight the kids, who were all still going strong, went out and banged pots and pans like crazy animals. The party finally wound down about 12:30 but the kids were still going strong! That is the magic of sugar!

Christmas Day!

2012-06-11T15:24:00.001-06:00

I am SO far behind on this blog, that I am updating this post 6 months after Christmas. That is crazy. The crazier part is that it is almost Christmas again, so that is EXCITING. I love Christmas. What I love most about it is seeing how excited the kids to get that one thing that they wanted SO BAD! Of course, sometimes their requests are so $$ that it can't happen, but when we can get them something fun I think I am as excited as they are. This year the kids couldn't even think of what they wanted for the most part. Spoiled kiddos. But Coren for SURE wanted a giant Lego set. I was also SO excited to get Kenna her own laptop. She had no idea it was coming.

We started out the day at Little America for breakfast with Grandpa Johns (forgot my dang camera) and then hung out at home the rest of the day. The kids played and played and were all SO happy with what they got. Now...I guess I better start thinking about what to get them this year!

Christmas Eve

2012-05-11T14:51:00.001-06:00

Ever since I knew that my Mom wouldn't live a long life, I started to dread Christmas time and other holidays. She always made them so special and I just wasn't sure how it would be without her. As Christmas Eve started to draw near I got very sad. We didn't have any family to be around and we kind of felt lost as to what we should do that day. I tired to go and see my Grandparents but it just didn't work out, becuase they kind of suck! and so we were on our own. I really wanted to see my Mom, and so the best we could do was the cemetery. The kids made her some cute little things, and Makenna had come up and brought her something with Travis. It was so sad being without Kenna for that day. After the cemetery we went to the temple to see the lights. It was fun, and something different. We found the best hot chocolate there, so that helped with the extreme cold.

When we got home some of the neighbors had lined the streets with candles, it looked so cool. My camera sucks so I couldn't capture it, but it was so nice and really helped me feel happy! Hopefully next year will be better. I am grateful for the family that I have, and that I was able to be with, it just felt empty!

Service

2012-05-11T14:44:00.001-06:00

This year I wanted the kids to have a chance to serve others. We are pretty spoiled people. We came accross a great oppurtunity, and the kids were able to assemble 100 gift bags for kids in need. It was like a stocking stuffer. I had them do it 100% on their own and they amazed me. They never complained and they got a great little system down for filling the bags. It seemed like it really helped to get them into the Christmas spirit, and teach them about just how lucky they really are. I hope that we can do things like this more often for those in need.

THIRTEEN

2012-05-11T14:41:00.001-06:00

If you would have EVER told me that I was going to have a 13 year old, I would have laughed. Even just a few years ago. I can't even handle it. How did my cute little baby girl get so big. It happened in the blink of an eye. Luckily, she has turned out to be just AMAZING! She is beautiful, too funny for her own good, smart, talented, sweet, mature, caring, and holds such a special place in my heart. Speaking of hearts hers is so special. She has so much good in her. I am just so proud to be her Mom. Happy birthday Kenna. Please quit getting older, I can't take it! I love you!!

Lillt Cooker!

2012-05-11T14:37:00.000-06:00

I feel like every day he is making something new, and all on his own. I hope he keeps it up, I love it! This time it was muffins, and as usually they were great. He is so funny!

2012-05-11T14:35:00.003-06:00

Steves cake.

2012-05-11T14:15:00.000-06:00

So we decided to make Steve a mtn. dew cake for his birthday. These cakes are time consumers, so I started the night before to save some time. I made his mtn. dew flavored cake and got it all shaped and ready to decorate. Before he got home from work I hid it in the over so that I could decorate it after work the next day. I didn't think anything of it. Well the next day at work Coren calls me crying SO SO SO hard that I can't even understand him. I finally got Makenna on the phone who was crying as well. Once she calmed down I found out that Coren had decided to make some brownies, and pre-heated the over like the directions said to do. Once he opened the oven, he saw the cake totally melted and laying in a pile. He felt terrible. I told him it was okay and that we could probably fix it. When I got home and saw it I learned that they was NO fixing that cake.

I hurried and made a boxed cake and did my best to make a can of mtn. dew before Steve could get home from work. It is sad looking, but a funny story! happy Birthday STEVE!

Halloween Party

2012-05-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

I always look forward to the annual Halloween Party. However after this year I decided that next year we need to do something to spice the party up. Like some games or something. I don't know, it is fun, but I like a wilder party myself. Maybe it is time to spike the punch! :) This year we went as Charlie Sheen, his Godesses, and Ashton Kutcher who replaced Charlie on his TV show. It was okay. Steve was into it, and me and Emily were VERY happy not to have to paint ourselves. Tim was a lillt uncomfortable as a naked Man! Next year is "People of WalMart" or basically white trash! Oh wait, I shop at WalMart... I guess I can go as my trashy self! We will have to see!

Halloween Time

2012-05-11T13:55:00.000-06:00

I don't know what it is but I LOVE Halloween. It is amost as great as Christmas. I love how excited the kids get to dress up, carve pumpkins, and try to figure out if they are going to be scared or brave. They plan way in advance who they are going to trick-or-treat with, and this year, that didn't include us! It was SAD and WEIRD. I wasn't a fan. It seems like they are so old when you just send them out the door without you. Then, they just come back...how weird is that? When did they get so old?

I hope that they can always enjoy Halloween and all of the fun that comes along with it!

I love this boy! Oh yes, I do!

2012-01-26T13:18:00.002-07:00

One of the THOUSANDS of things that I love about Carson is his extreme coolness. He finds himself to be quite the stud, and that makes me love him even more. The kid radiates confidence mixed with the most extreme kindness and love for the people around him. I wish I were him!

Beacuse of this confidence, he could give a crap less what anyone thinks of him. He is just pretty sure that whatever he does people will think is cool, so why care!?!

It was red ribbon week and like everything he does, he took it way seriously. First was crazy hair day, then super hero day, followed by nerd day. The nerd day kind of scared me a little. He played the role.

Carson, you know I love you, right!?!

Kenna and Gramps go to AZ!

2012-01-26T13:13:00.002-07:00

Oh my EXCITEDNESS! Makenna and Gramps were like two little kids on Christmas and just beyond excited to go and visit Zak, Katie, and ALL of the family in Arizona. They were seriously cracking me up with how excited they were. I need to get all of the picture (I am at the ski lodge while the kids are boarding) but here is a pre-view.

They left at the butt crack of dawn and made the 12 hour journey. They did so much while they were there, and Makenna was all excited coming home with the UGG boots that Katie bought her (that Mom would never pay that much for) and the cactus plant that she got for a souvineer.

Gosh Kenna, it is jsut too bad that no-one loves you!

One last canyon horrah!

2012-01-26T12:52:00.001-07:00

We got together with a couple of neighbors for one last canyon BBQ before the weather got cold (okay it was already cold) and while the leaves were so pretty! The little boys all took off up this rock mountian and They went so far. I thought that they were lost forever. I went after them and I thought I might die in a rock slide and they might die from me killing them for going so dang far away. I am glad that my kids have so many fun friends that we get to hang out with!

Football Stars!~!~

2012-01-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

The boys are football LOVERS! Especially Carson! They are so cute out on the field. We made the mistake of telling them we would pay them for flag pulls, interceptions, and touchdowns, and it cost us a pretty penny. I guess it was good motivation. Towrds the end I started to say that I would get them a kids meal if they did good, just because it was so much cheaper, and they thought it was a bargain.

Carson wants to play tackle next fall, and I have totally mixed emotions, especially due to the time commitment. But... at the same time it is hard to not let your child do something they are so excited about and will love so much. I don't want him to grow up thinking he had NFL potential and i took it all away from him. On the flip side if he does go far, he better hook me up! Pay me back for all of the cash I dish out each season to reward him for his skills!!

Coren, the dog wisperer.

2012-01-26T12:39:00.001-07:00

A day in the life...

Coren was so excited to watch Yoshi (such a cute doggie) and he took his responsibility very seriously! It was kind of funny seeing him have to wake up and take the dog out at 5am. Each morning I would say, "so do you still want a dog?" and he would excitedly say yes. By the end I asked the same questions and he shrugged his shoulders. That made me So happy! I often get the craving for a dog, but then I remember the work, the poop, the commitment, and jsut the overall hastle, and the urge is gone pretty dang quickly!

It was cute to see Coren so attached and so responsible.

I am freaking old!

2012-01-26T12:33:00.002-07:00

I swear every year I get older and every year it gets worse! This year I turned 34. It seems like I just turned 30, and I remember 30 seeming like the wrost thing ever! 34 just seems so close to 35 and then 40, and then 50... oh boy! I feel like I work up on my 34th birthday looking like an old woman. Was it in my head? Maybe! Still I have the hardest time acting excited for my birthday. The kids are SO excited for it, and I am just fighting back my suisidal tendencies! I think it is kind of unfair this whole aging thing. Wy can't we look better with age? It would only make sense right.

The one thing that saved me is that I don't feel 34. That might be a problem all in itself. I fell like a teenager! HA!

Kenna was so cute and made me a cake all on her own. She was so cute and decorated it all up for me. I love that girl! She is such a great kid, and pretty cute I must say!

A week with the cousins

2012-01-26T12:23:00.004-07:00

We had a really fun with with the cousins. Brooke and Marcelo decided to go on a last minute vacation and the kids got to come and stay with us. I think that we had more fun than they did on their trip. The kids loved spending time together, and they all did so good. We didn't do a whole lot, other than just hang out, but that was mostly becuase my kids were in school! That was the one down fall. Half way through their stay Coren got to dog sit Yoshi, the neighbors dog. That added even more excitement to our week! The kids all loved the dog, but I am not sure how the dog felt about all of the kids!! ha ha

I am not sure if they will ever dare to come back to the crazy house, but I hope they do. Cute kiddos!

Rich boy!

2012-01-26T12:12:00.001-07:00

My kids are alsways excited to see Grandpa Slotboom because he will often give them a big bag of change. Coren lucked out on his birthday this year and got a whole bag to himself. He was so excited. The kids love it when they get to go to the bank and use the coin counted. Coren scored and made out with $65.00. He was anxious to get the money put into his bank account. The kids seem to have a little rivalry going on to see who can save up the most money. Kenna is obviously in the lead, but the boys are pretty neck in neck. Look at that cute face! I can't even stand it.

Island Park

2012-01-26T12:08:00.003-07:00

We had such a fun trip to Island Park with friends. I have tons more pictures but they are missing somewhere. I will find them and add them to another post. Here are a couple of this amazing waterfall that we went to. It is really just so amazing how stunning this was. I wish the camera could have captured its beauty!

Coren turns 7

2011-11-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

I can't even handle the fact that Coren is 7. He makes me laugh every day and is always giggling and smiling. He is always into something, and loves to see how things work. He has a very creative mind, and when he can sit still long enough his brain is so smart! His teacher says he is perfect at school, and really he is pretty perfect at home (okay other than the fact that he is a messy little pack rat ha ha) and we all love him so much.

Wallpapering nightmare

2011-10-27T19:59:00.000-06:00

I found some wallpaper that I was in love with. I ordered it like 6 months ago, seriously, and it has just been sitting there. Steve did not want to help me do it. He made the comment that, "wallpapering is for fat old ladies" and boy oh boy did he learn his lesson.

Wallpapering is FREAKING HARD especailly when you have to match a tricky pattern. After two minutes he was swearing and freaking out. I guess he wasn't old and fat enough to handle such a project!

I have a sickness that I have to finsih what I start. I can't control it but it just eats at me so I have to keep going. Well we didn't even start until 9pm, which was dumb in itself, but finally at 2am Steve was out cutting a strip and I hear the sound of extreme anger or pain or something. I just sat there for a second and then I hear him running around.

I went out to see what all of the comotion was about and Steve has this terrible look on his face and he is holding his finger and blood is going everywhere. To make it worse, he is running around as it is shooting everywhere. My house looked like a crime scene. I kept asking what happened and he just kept saying, "I am such a dumb a**" and finally I looked over at the really sharp razor knife he was using and put it all together.

Now let me just say that this man builds things like a pro. He can build anything NO PROBLEM! Sadly, he just doesn't have the skills of the fat old ladies and therefore he lost his fingertip.

He would let me see it or anything for about an hour, seriously, and he refused to go to the doctor. It FINALLY quit bleeding and I was able to see the damage. He wouldn't look at it. I played it cool and took a quick photo and told him it was no biggie and that I could bandage it up. That was another hour process. This man is a wuss! But I love him! Anyways, sadly the wallpaper didn't get finished that night.

I stayed home from church and finsihed up and I have to say that it turned out pretty good. Could have been better, but pretty good.

The fingertip healed after about a month and it is back to normal. Steve has banned wallpapering from the house, now he is just doing some trim work for me to finsih the bathroom up. He is doing it happily and just glad it isn't wallpaper.

Holy Guacamole!

2011-10-27T19:45:00.000-06:00

Kenna has been taking cooking classes in school. They made the yummiest guacamole, and she is now the official guac maker in the family. It is to die for! Maybe she will grow up and be a chef like her Uncle Zak!

I got a job!

2011-10-27T19:44:00.000-06:00

Holy cow, I cannot believe I have a job. Ever since I quit jetBlue when Coren was a baby I said I would go back to work when he was in first grade. It seemed like it would never happen. Well, it did. I decided to get my Real Estate Lisence and was hired on at Henry Walker Homes. I love it.

The first day I worked Kenna made the family dinner. Steve came home and found the table set all cute and her really excited. She did a great job! I am so proud of my kids for being able to handle things when I am gone. I only work 3 days a week, but they are all so responsible that it isn't a problem at all. Love those kiddos!

2011-10-27T19:40:00.000-06:00

We did not have a tomato shortage this year. Coren's face says it all, it was a little much. I did can some salsa like a good little housewife, I haven't tried it yet, so I won't brag too much, but I learned my lesson on planting so many tomatoes.

Mt. Olympus Hike

2011-10-27T19:37:00.000-06:00

I have been on a lot of hikes in my life, but I have to say this was the hardest I have ever done. You know you hear on the news a lot that hikers are stranded on the top of Mt. Olympus and they are having to be rescued and you laugh. Well, I won't be laughing any more. It is a tough hike. The trail is unrelenting and so rocky! It seems to climb forever and there is not any shade to protect you from the sun. But, it was our goal to make it to the top and somehow we did it. I think we all wanted to quit at one point, in fact I know we did, but the kids were amazing. I won't say that there weren't any tears, because there were from all of them, but they were determined!

When we made it to the saddle (the point between both peaks) I wanted to stop so bad. I was exausted and I was worried the kids were way past done. Everyone else was turning around there. We all talked it over and decided to make it to the top. There isn't a defined trail to the top, just huge rocks that you have to climb. In fact someone asked us if we had our ropes. The whole way up I was wondering how we were going to get down.

We finally made it to the top and the view was amazing. There is a mailbox up there with a book that you sign your name in saying that you made it. I made sure to put the kids ages in the book, I was so proud of them for making it up! They were so excited!

Usually the hike down is easy! Not on this trail. It is so rugged that you have to fight your way down. Our bodies all hurt so bad, even mine and Steves and we are in decent shape!

I am so proud of my kids. If we never climb to the top of Mt. Olymus again it will be too soon, but we made it and that is what counts!