One Happy Fan!

Last week Caden got a belated birthday gift in the mail. His uncle Steve somehow manged to get him an autographed football from the BYU football team. It has all of the big name players on it which Caden imediatly started to recognize. With every name that he read he grew more and more excited. He could not believe that the actual players that he watches and talks about held this football and signed their own names. He is soooo proud of it and shows it to anyone and everyone that comes over. He would take it to school if we would let him. He has talked and talked about getting a football signed by one of them, but now his dream has come true.

Thanks Steve for making this eight year old fan very happy. Your thoughtfulness means a lot to Caden and to Brice and I. Caden will cherish this gift forever.

Once There Was A Snowman...

We had our 3rd big snow this weekend. It was by far the biggest but not the best for packing. We tried to build a snowman but it was slow in coming. We finally got one we were satisfied with thanks to the remnants of our neighbour's snowman from last week.

Kayla is trying to even out the lumps in the little fella.

Avery was content playing with the bucket and shovel. She loves the snow and was sad when we came in.

The finished product. It looks more like a snow blob but we are still proud of it.


Rewarded for their efforts. I was nice and bought them a treat but still made them split a Sprite.

It was a fun afternoon and a nice way to end their winter break, but so help me if it snows again tonight and they don't have school tomorrow I will poke out my eyes. Three weeks! Three weeks for a school break. I love 'em but will be doing the happy dance when they get on the bus in the morning.

Happy Halloween '09

This year's costumes were Hannah Montana, football player (Giants) and a witch/ladybug.

So Avery wore the witch costume to our church Halloween party, but hated the hat so much (in fact I think we lost it at church) that she would not wear the witch costume again. So in the back of the dress up closet she found this little number. It is actually a baby bunting costume for a 6 month old (notice the sleeves only come down to her elbows) but she INSISTED on wearing it. So I cut the bottom out and she went out as a ladybug on Halloween night.

We have enough candy to last us until next year, so the night was considered a success.

Tropical Island

The kids had a school break a few weeks ago, so we took a mini vacation to Tropical Island. This is a man made resort just outside of Berlin. We stayed at a hotel nearby and spent almost 4 days here. We had a wonderful time swimming, watching shows and eating good food.

This is the dome that houses the resort. They claim that it is big enough to hold the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.





Kayla and Avery







Brice playing a game of mini golf with Caden



Caden

All of the entrance gates were activated by an electronic bracelet. Avery would see us put our wrist on the panel so she would too.

This was the non water play area. They had ball pits, go carts, shooting towers, bouncy houses and much more. We spent many hours here.

The kids climbing up the rubber volcano

Misty and Avery

Speed racer Caden

Avery with just a few building blocks

Kayla and Caden in the paddle boats

Avery enjoying some yummy pasta.

One of the many shows we watched

Even Avery, Ms.Never Sits Still, was captivated with the entertainment

This place was amazing. It is open 24 hours a day, all year round. They have sleeping facilities, tons of restaurants, ice cream and stores. We were there for 4 days and the kids wanted to stay longer. Definitely a memorable family trip.

#37

Today is Brice's 37th birthday.

Here are 37 reasons why I love this man. (in no particular order)

37. He is funny. It may take a while for him to warm up to you, but when you know him, he can always make you laugh.

36. He is the smartest person I know. He always knows the answer to any question I have.

35. He is book smart too. He went to college on a full scholarship and then had a 4.0 (top of his class) in graduate school.

34. He is passionate about sports and involves Caden in his passion. He stays up all night on Saturday's to watch college football and even wakes Caden up to see a good game.

33. He gives great gifts. I'd be hard pressed to think of something he has given me that I have wanted to return.


32. He encourages me to have friends.



31. He likes me to shop for him and pick out what to buy. Then he always makes me get something for myself too.


30. He is my best friend. There isn't anyone else in the world that I would rather spend my time with.


29. He gives me "mommy breaks" without having to ask for them.


28. He rarely says a word about all of the packages he brings home for me although he secretly thinks online shopping is evil.





27. He shares my love for warm weather and hate for the cold. Both of our favorite vacations is at the beach doing nothing.



26. He will see chick flicks with me even though he usually doesn't like them.


25. He thinks I am a great mom and tells me so.



24. When I call him at work and and say that I'm trying to think of what to make for dinner, he always has the right answer. "You don't have to cook, I'll just have some cereal."


23. He tells the kids that I am the smartest of the two of us, even though it's not true.


22. He hates Monday mornings.


21. He is a "hands on" dad. Other than nursing a baby and cutting fingernails, there isn't a single parenting job he won't or hasn't done. That includes diapers, baths and ponytails.


20. I trust him 100%.







19. He supports me in my church calling. I know he will teach a class if one of my teachers doesn't show up. Even the Valiant boys.


18. Although I rarely make him, he offers to do the grocery shopping because he knows how much I hate it.


17. He is disciplined in saving money while still seeing the importance of spending it in order to have fun and create experiences and memories for our family.


16. He has great taste in music and is a very talented writer.


15. He honors his priesthood and is always trying to be a better person.






14. He has great work ethic. He is the "golden boy" in his office.


13. He still thinks I'm beautiful after 12 years of marriage even with new wrinkles, grey hairs, stretch marks and saggy parts.


12. He still offers to rub my feet after a long day.


11. He doesn't mind saying that he's sorry.


10. He is a hot, handsome, sexy man and still makes my heart skip a beat.




9. He is a wonderful father. He always makes time for his kids and cares about what is going on with them.


8. He really loves his family. He has a great respect and honor for his parents.



7. He shares my love for eating out and my hate for always trying to lose 10 lbs.


6. He does the dishes every night. Yes, every night!







5. He is the first person I come to with good news, sad news, complaints and even gossip. And he always listens.



4. He is just as obsessive about keeping the house picked up as I am. I never have to pick up after him.

3. He lets me know that he loves me everyday by the little things he does.

2. Although he will appreciate this "ode" to him, he will be a little embarrassed at all of the attention it brings to him. He is not a fan of the limelight.

1. He asked me to marry him 12 years ago.

This was a very easy list to make. There are so many more reason why he is such an amazing guy. I love you.

Happy Birthday Brice!

The Lonle Cat

Now that Caden is in the 2nd grade he has homework every night. And since Kayla is just in Kindergarten, she never has homework other than light reading each night. Our normal after school routine is come home, get a snack, play or watch TV for about 20 minutes and then we start homework (Caden's homework). I don't let Kayla watch TV while Caden is doing his homework because he just gets too distracted, even if he is in the other room. So she usually just hangs out and colors or something. Last week she decided to write a book. Introducing "The Lonle Cat".

The Lonely Cat


The cat had no one to play with.




Then the cat came to a castle.



Then the cat found a friend.

Then the cats went the cat park.

Then the cats went to get some ice cream.

Then the cats ate the ice cream.

Then they lived happy ever after.

The End




She wrote it all by herself (obviously) although my spelling isn't much better. She only asked me one question. "Do you spell found with ou or ow?"

Kayla has written several books. She is just an easy kid like that. Give her some paper and she's content for hours. LOVE HER! Our other 2 kids are the opposite, so I will embrace and enjoy the low key child that she is.

Children's Festival

We rounded out the summer fun with the Children's Festival in downtown Frankfurt. 10 Kids, 3 mommies, a beautiful sunny day in August and lots of free activities was our recipe for fun.

The crew

Caden running in the fountain

Kayla making a few laps

Avery splashing

Kayla relaxing

Avery warming up with Kim

One of the MANY bouncy houses

Kayla climbing up the net

Caden at the top

Caden resting on the naked lady statue

Avery exploring

A posing Kayla

Kayla doing a little engineering

Caden collecting balls to send down Kayla's tunnel

The bucket slide was the big hit.

Can you imagine a ride like this in the U.S.? No rails, no buckles, just stick you kid in and let 'em go.

Caden was with the big kids group at the bull ride, climbing wall and other rides, so I didn't get as many pictures of him.

We had a great day in downtown Frankfurt.