Spring time ride with cousin Adriana from Oregon

Well, it's a little late, but it's better than never. Here's a few pictures of part of our visit with cousin Tanja and Adriana in March.

We took a quick hike/ride out to Sore Finger Point. The kids all had fun taking pictures, being silly, riding in the back of the truck, riding horses and just playing together.

Duke, the horse had so much fun playing in the gigantic mud puddles. Fred was trying to stay out of the splahes. We took the kids off before each puddle or they would have been covered in muddy water.

Kelsey and Adriana on a very fuzzy Duke. I forgot how Shaggy he got in the winter.

They kids waiting in the truck for the ride home. Logan rode back behind me on Fancy on the way back to the truck. He almost fell asleep. Can you read Justin's shirt? It is his favorite and he's acting the part, of course. If you can't read it, it says, "I tried to be good but I got bored". The shirt is a perfect match for him and he knows it and loves it. We had a nice walk that day.

Fun in the Snow

Dashing through the snow, on a bouncing half-flat tube, flying throught the air, and crashing into trees! Okay, so it doesn't rhyme; but, we all had fun. Having fun was our goal. I (the mom) was the self-designated photographer, so I opted to not take part in all the doings. After reviewing all the photos and videos, I'm definately regretting that decision. The kids all had so much fun. It was such a beautiful warm day. We couldn't have had better weather for our adventure.

Logan went down one run with his sisters and that was the end of that. Fred had to stop them from flying off the snow and into the outhouse. Poor Logan went rolling off. The girls made a poor choice for their first run. I think that was the end of Kaley's tubing.

Logan had fun just trudging through the snow. The snow was pretty hard, which made it pretty easy for him to get around. He was so cute. He was just wandering all over, not caring what anyone else was doing. He did try sliding down the hill without the use of a disc or tube. He was perfectly happy just doing whatever. He really enjoyed the icicle mommy found for him. He was successful for a short while of tricking mommy and daddy into holding it for him. Enough of that, he's big enough to hold it himself.

Justin was having so much fun, too. He helped cousin Elijah build a snowman. He was his usual kindhearted self and gave up his hat and scarf to Mr. Snowman. He is such a giver. Justin, also in his normal fashion, giggled and giggled all down his runs, even though Trevor beaned him twice in the face with snowballs on this way down. Justin still has a mark on the side of his face where Trevor got him. It was very hard snow. Even with his injuries, he just kept on going, having fun and laughing the whole day. Getting in the snow cave was a little daunting for him. Justin's expression here says it all!

Trevor first went down on his own. After making several succesful runs on his own, getting air and staying on, he decided to brave the trip with daddy. As you can see, he was quite nervous. I think Fred ended up in the trees on almost every run; so he had reason to be nervous. They survived. Trevor came off, but he didn't realize he was off. He bounced off the front, but he was still holding on with both hands. So he was sliding down on his behind. It was pretty funny. He still doesn't think he was off.

Trevor had the most fun throwing snowballs though. Poor Justin got the worst of it. Uncle Kip got Trevor back for Justin, with mom's permission. Trevor is such a tease! He was also the first one to make it through the tunnel they dug. He was a bit undecided as to if it was a good idea or not. After some encouragement, though, he made the squeeze. After his successful squeeze, Kip and JaShon got busy making it big enough for them to make it through. Yes, they did eventually succeed. Just a side note, this was all done by hand. I neglected to tell them that there was a shovel in the car. (Oops.)

Kelsey also braved using the tube, both alone and with her dad. She is so much fun to have around. She will try anything. She has always had the "No Fear" attitude/personality, whatever you want to call it. She'll try anything at least once. She may be brave, but she sure can scream!

She also made it through the tunnel after putting her time in digging. We couldn't keep her out of it!

Kaley went down a few small runs and then the crash with Logan before I was up there with the camera. So I missed it all. But she did take over as videographer. She of course had something to say to everyone as they prepared to brave hill. She also got her share of snowballs thrown at her. She probably deserved every one. As you can see, she also did her share of digging. They all reminded me of ostriches with their backsides sticking up out of the snow.

Fred had lots of fun playing with the kids. He sure knows how to let go and have fun. I think he went down the hill the most and in almost everyfashion you can imagine, almost always ending in the trees. He would stack them double to help give his back side cushion over the jumps. Hey, whatever works!

We had a great afternoon with Vanessa's family and with Uncle Kip!

Conquering Challenges

Kaley and Kelsey are taking a Rock Climbing Ropes course with Chris and Laura (friends). They are having a lot of fun and overcoming fears (kind of). I was going to post the videos of them jumping, but I tried twice and was unsuccessful. They both succeeded in attempting the challenge. I'm proud of them for trying. Kelsey is eager to try again, but Kaley declined the teachers offer to make a second attempt, maybe this week she will try again. (I hope she does) Kelsey is going to take the class again next month, but Kaley has declined the offer. Trevor may join Kelsey next month if we can fit it into his busy basketball and cubscout schedule.

Tooth Fairy Night!

Okay, the toothfairy is ALWAYS slow to come to our house. She is sooo busy elsewhere, that it takes two teeth that need to be picked up for her to come. Poor Justin lost his second tooth (first one the real way - his actual first one, he knocked out on the table. He was "being a wild banjie" acoording to him and whacked the table with his mouth. Out came his first loose tooth), and the tooth fairy couldn't make it that night.

Trevor lost one the next day. Hopefully the toothfairy would remember! Luckily, the tooth fairy gets up before the boys do!

Where did the tooth fairy come from anyway! She's always is passing up our house!

P.S. The boys are also sporting their hair cuts I finally got out of them. It was "just a trim".

Hair cutting night

Logan started off the night. He was very happy to have short hair. When you help him get dressed or undressed, he says, "Don't mess up my hair." The other boys are refused haircuts. They are still wanting to look like their friend Chris (friend) with his long girly hair. Thanks alot Chris. I'll come get you in your sleep!

Okay, Kelsey finally agreed to a haircut. She had a couple friends get very cute haircuts and decided that it might be okay. She looked through pictures and brought me one. So, we went at it, all the while on the phone with friends Laura and Chris. Kaley was video-taping and giving a play by play. Laura was crying on the phone telling Kelsey not to do it. Kaley was also emailing them pictures along the way. I cut 13 inches off of Kelsey;s hair. It was sooo long!

Kelsey's hair cut turned out absolutely adorable. I love it, and she loves it, so does her dad. I think she looks taller and skinnier, not that she doesn't look skinny already.

Kaley sat in the chair next. She said she wanted the same as last time. Okay, I said (not really remembering what that was exactly). So, I just went at it. I think it is perfect for her. She thinks it's too short. No pictures of her because she refused. Take it from me, it looks great on her. It actually looks like a styled haircut, and it looks sassy - just like her! The girls hair turned out great. Now, if only I could get a decent haircut!

Bedtime at our house!!!!

Our lights finally came on today. It's been a trying couple of days.

On Wednesday night, an electrical box decided to go out, in the middle of getting Logan in the bathtub. Not a pleasant experience for him. After spending 45 minutes (at 10:30pm) trying to figure out the problem, we decided to call it a night and figure it out in the morning. After a quick trip to the lumber store first thing in the morning in the off chance that it was just the fuses, NOT, we called the well people. They came later in the day and fixed it in about 20 minutes. Yeah, WATER! All this while we were trying to prep for "the big storm".

Then we woke up Friday morning with no power. The kids were full of questions about the olden days and how they managed. It was the perfect chance to continue our reading for the Laura Ingalls books; however, it was way too dark for my eyes. We crashed grandma's house for dinner, some light, some flushing toilets, running water and some much needed warmth. We finally broke away from all the modern conviences and headed back to our cold dark house, after filling up all our water containers.

The next morning we still had no water, but Logan had left a very wet, smelly present in our bed. So off the sheets came! Daddy wasn't a very happy camper at all! Poor Logan had a cold wet wipee bath! Despite the continued power outage we had a good breakfast of french toast and sausage. Yumm! The kids were a little surprised at such a meal for being in the dark. The plan was to go to grandma's house after breakfast to shower and wash the sheets. But, as mom was washing dishes and daddy was playing a game with the kids, we were blinded by light and blasted with the noise of the refrigerator, the fan from the stove and the cheers from the kids! Daddy was quick to sound the warning that it may not last. So after the mad dash to the flushing toilets, the filling up of water bottles and water tank in

the motorhome, the starting of laundry and a quick vacuum of the house we settled in with crossed fingers praying that the light would stay. And so far it has. It did flicker a couple of times, but it stayed on.
So after dinner and showers tonight we all settled in the living room (carpet room as the kids all call it) to play Speed Uno. Of course when we were done, mom said, "Bedtime". Well, dad had other ideas! Fine, he can get the kids in bed! There is no way I'm touching that one! And yes, it was a long time in getting to sleep!

New Years Day!!

Okay, I planned on spending the day working around the house, and I did (a little). I've been trying to get the new laundry room and pantry done. It's been a long process. I try to fit in a bit of work here and there. We finally got the washer and dryer in the laundry room. That was quite a project. The girls did a great job of cleaning out the pantry while Fred and I were at basketball practice. So we got the appliances moved and stuff put back in the pantry yesterday (New Years Eve) before Kelsey's New Years Eve party. Well, today I tried to do laundry and was having water problems. I figured out what the problem was - new pipes mean dirty pipes. Fred and I got them all cleaned out and the laundry is back up and going. Whoop-Dee-Doo!

While caulking and prepping walls for painting, we got an invitation to go play football. It's New Years Day so we obviously couldn't pass that up!

I took so many pictures, but I couldn't possibly put them all up. So these are just a few. The first ones are of the kids playing at the park after the injury (read on and you'll understand).

The kids had lots of fun. I didn't dare play due to my Thanksgiving knee injury that is still recovering. My attempt at soccer didn't turn out so well. Kaley got to try her hand out at QB. An interception luckily didn't daunt her spirits at all. Logan was supposed to be the center. He lasted only a few plays and was ready to go play at the playground. Trevor of course never misses and opportunity to tease anyone! Justin had fun ripping off flags off anyone that happened to be too close to him. He also preferred to tackle, usually Trevor. Everyone else was a little above his capacity to attempt the take down. Kelsey was her usual cheerful self, having to be called back to the game for each play. Abby, the dog, was more fun to play with. Those huddles were just too boring for her to stick around. You wouldn't know it by the pictures, but we had to drag Fred to come play with us. He had to be reminded that he could DVR the football games! The bad thing that happened was that

"Uncle Warner" ended our fun early when something popped in his leg. He heard it and so did I.

The Williams have become like family to us. The kids all have so much fun together. They are now "cousins", aunt and uncle, although Kaley calls Karen, Second Mom. The kids all make up games no matter what they are doing.

Well, that was our leap into this new leap year!