Our Yard-

On Friday-

Here is Frank, our neighbor, filling in holes and smoothing out the backyard. We no longer have holes!!!

WOOOO HOOOO

We now get to rake it smooth and away from the fence, put part of the fence back up and get it ready for grass. But the holes are gone!

On Saturday-

Trevor got out his new chain saw, with Virgil here to help, and cleaned up the trees out front. We had several branches that had been broken over the past few years and so they came down. The trees look a lot better, we also cleaned them out some too.

I love when we get to check off major things from the to do list, it makes everything that much better!

New Blog

Well I have filled my photo memory with this blog and have decided that the easiest thing for me was to start a new blog.  You can now find our life updates at  Irish Glam too .   (irishglam2.blogspot.com)
Happy reading.  

funny moments

I am in the Relief Society Presidency at church and last week we had an activity that I was helping with so on Tuesday we pretty much did relief society all day long.  On Wednesday afternoon Morgan came up from the basement with a folder, a notebook and a purse in her hands.  She sat down at the dinning room table and told me she was doing her relief society, just like that. 

Zach has a cold, a stuffy nose, and it is cracking me up.  If you blow your nose and pinch at the end of it you make it stuffier.  He has been walking around the house with a tissue held up to his nose.  (makes me laugh on the inside)  Also he says that his nose is on fire and has a fever and the only thing to help it is to have a tissue up to... funny boy.
    Another Zach funny - he was mad when we got to church and would not sit with us.  So, as a good mother that I am, I decided to just ignore it hoping he would come sit with us.  Well he did, it was just after the sacrament was passed.  He sat a few rows behind us for awhile and then stood in the isle a few rows in front of us.  The boys passes the bread of the sacrament and he just stood there, in the way.  Before the water came he sat down on the end chair of the row in front of us but wouldn't acknowledged the boy when he was offering him water.  We had some friends staying at my parents house too, her son went and sat by Zach.  That is when we stood up gave him a pirate face and came and sat by us.  Justin, the son of the friend, came back by us too and we were all chuckling at the whole situation.  I think I did get his attention and told him to sit down once but what do you do. We were in Boise at my parents ward where my father is the bishop...
All I have to say is ... if his father would have been here that would under no circumstances fly but when mom has to deal with the younger brother... you have a little wiggle room.

Katie got her ears pierced.  She was nervous, then cried, then smiled. (pictures coming)  
Trevor won a Wii system.(will post story about that later)

those are our stories for now...

buy more memory

Oakay bloggers out there I went to finally get caught up on my blog and when it was uploading Christmas pictures they didn't load.  I had a pop up that informed me I was out of memory and need to buy more???  WHAT  ????  does any one have a solution, helpful hints or info on what to do.
thanks

Trevor's photo

Trevor took this photo on their (Katie, Zach and him) to go sledding with the Armstrongs.  They didn't get to go sledding because of not enough snow but went out on  the four wheelers later in the day.  So instead of sledding we all went and hung out at the Armstrongs for the afternoon/evening.  They are great friends and am glad we can just go over and hang out for the day.

 way back in Dec.

Our scoop

here is the quick one...
whole family has been sick.  fever, cough, runny noses, head pounding kind of sick
got a puppy. Cocoa
went to Boise for Jessica Rick's baptism
Jennifer ran out of contacts and has been wearing her glasses and got highlights in her hair.
Almost had a panic attack when I saw the gas prices last night.  $3.45 cheapest in town.
got an ipod touch to help Trevor study for the test
have cancelled cable
filed our taxes
liking the netflix
bought groceries
changed several diapers
given our hundreds of hugs and kisses
just to name a few things.

Morgan and her right eye

Today I took Morgan into the eye doctor.  Her right eye has been on occasion crossing.  It just goes to the middle and stayes there for a bit.  We can get her to make it staight again by having her close her eyes or looking some else but we thought it needed to be checked out by a doctor.  We had an appointment this morning and he said it was a muscle thing.  So today we got to order Morgan a pair of glasses.  She lookes cute in them and when we get them in 1-2 weeks we will post a picture of how cute they are. 
Hopefully the glasses will correct the problem. The problem is with the muscle not her eye sight.  However, if the glasses don't seem to be helping when we go back in three months she will have to have eye surgery to help the muscle.  I was kind of taken back with the news and my brain didn't think of the questions I now have but I will put them down in my trusty book and ask them in three months or when we get the glasses, if the doctor is available. 
So there it is, that is all I know so we are hoping and praying that the glasses do what they are suppose to do and no eye surgury is required.... but as in all things time will tell.

Jennifer has a job.

Yes, I know I need to post about Christmas, the new year, Trevor's birthday, etc., etc. but I thought a quick update would be good to have today.
Christmas - wonderful
New Years - in Boise and fun
Trevor's birthday - 36
Jennifer's Job
I have started to work at the Middle School, White Pine.  I go in from 11:05- 1:05 , Monday - Friday.  It helps with all three lunch times.  I rotate between recess, lunch room and hall duties.  It is interesting and fun to be with other adults for the few minutes in between stations.  Thus far I have had to enforce a few rules and due to that made two boys wash lunch tables, take a boy to the principles for kicking and smacking another boy twice in the head and today I got a basketball for the office because a boy was kicking it on to the roof of the building even after I told him not to.  Oh to be in the fourth, fifth and sixth grade.  I can't wait for spring and all of the drama I hear that brings.
So where do the children go you are wondering... well... Morgan and Jason go to friends house a few houses down to "school"  for a hour before Trevor picks them up on his lunch.  They do school work at the Allen's and really seem to enjoy it.  Morgan can not wait to go each day and takes her backpack every day too.  Last week they made an "A" book.  It is so cute!  I have another friend that picks Zach up from kindergarten and drops him off at the Allen's.  It seems to be working out perfect thus far.

groupings

The Boys

 The Girls

The Siblings

Jason

Jason turned 1 this year.  He is happy, is walking, LOVES pushing buttons of any kind, does some sign (drink, more and please), has nine teeth with several on the way, says a few words, calls Trevor & I both Mama.  He loves cars/trucks, animals, books, snacks, sugar, and to do what ever the older three are doing.

He loves shoes too.  He tries to put any shoe on he finds.  The other day he got on one of Zach's tennis shoes and walked around in it for a few steps,  he is determined.  With being a determined child he has developed this arch he does when he wants something and doesn't get it... it makes me arch my lips upwards just about every time.  Jason has perfected the arch so that his back goes just far enough back that he doesn't fall over.  He loves his siblings and being with them and doing the same things they are doing in one of his favorite things. He will try everything the first time but if he gets hurt then he is done.  He takes his pacifier and fleece blanket with fringe on it for naps and bed time... he is a joy.

Morgan

Morgan turned 3 this year.  She tried clogging, loves babies, Barbie, animals, to pick out her own outfits, pink, snacks, tells me how she wants her hair, has stopped napping everyday but still seems to sneak one in occasionally.  Likes to do things herself, loves flannel blankets and things she is as big as the two above.

Our Morgan is perfect for her.  She is busy, busy, busy but a good busy.  She entertains herself well, is a wonderful sister, a great helper and I love her for it.  However, if you can't find her look in her room she is probably in Katie's stuff.  Playing her Nintendo ds, in her chap stick, books, jewelry, or whatever else she can find.  She is great at doing things herself, being a little sneaky, and always, always being adorable.

Zach

Zach is in Kindergarten and enjoys it. He turned six, played soccer, likes his hair spiked, in in clogging and is excelling at it, likes his movie/t.v. and rather enjoys his desserts/candy.  He still loves pencils, things that fly, drawing with a pen, Nerf guns, balls in any size, shape or color and he loves his room clean.

He loves his room in order and get all kind of anxiety when some one wants to play in it, they just might mess it up.  He love to be active: jump, run, wrestle and is getting braver about trying new things each year.  He is doing well at school and normally tells me about snack first and then the rest of the day.  He is a joy when he is happy.  Some times he claims that life is wicked boring but he eventually finds something to do.  He can grove with the rest of us and can spin a pencil faster than anyone we know... and several of us have tried and well... we can say a lot of laughter came of it.

Katie

Katie is in the third grade and loves it.  She was baptized, played soccer, lost several teeth, had decided to grow her hair out, is in clogging, is in accelerated math, taking piano, and talked on the phone for an hour to a friend.  She still loves cates, stuffed animals, finer nail polish and has a style of her own.

I love this Katie.  She is a lot like her mother which is good and sometimes not so good.  She has a comment for everything, likes to argue with everyone, smiles a lot, loves friends, chatty - and I mean chatty, beautiful, smart, loves blankets, wears her hair in a ponly tail pretty much everyday, is wonderful and irreplaceable.  She makes me laugh more often than not and groves in a funny chicken kind of way.

Trevor and Jen

 So here are Trevor and myself 11 years after we feel in love, got engaged and married.  It has been an experience of a lifetime and one that will continue - forever.

so here are our paragraphs from our New Years Letter.

Jennifer is still practically perfect. he he  This year she has stopped doing the Hallmark cards, got a mini van, is coloring her hair brown again, enjoys taking photos and smiles most of the time.  She still loves being a mom with all the fun and the not so fun and just wishes that the money tree would grow in the backyard.  (When it does she will send starts to everyone.)

Trevor is still our local superhero.  He graduated with his Masters Degree in counseling, is getting ready to take the national exam, can't wait to pass the exam and move on in his career, is amazing, gave up some of his awesomeness so Jennifer could have her mini van.  He still loves riding his bike, talking about his bike, buying things for his bike, apple pie, all other desserts and Sunday naps.

other info: 
Callings:  Trevor - 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency
               Jennifer - 2nd counselor in the Relief Society Presidency
Jobs:       Trevor -  At solutions, been there for the past 5 years.  He just started doing some part time work as a service coordinator.  He seems to be enjoying it.
               Jennifer - stay at home mom and watches my friends children every Thursday for massages.

Family photo

So with most people doing causal outdoor pictures I wanted dressy indoor ones.  Plus, I wanted to use this fun backdrop in the pictures.  I am rather pleased with them.  There are more to come, the different groupings but here is a start. 

Thank you Emily Garrard, more of her wonderful stuff can be found here.

Cookie Party

Saturday, Dec. 11th

Played a few gamesKatie picked them

Beforethe decorating began.

Yummy, he licked the frosting off and then ate the cookie.

Perfect Morgan.

Spectacular Zach.

Creative Katie.

 We had some black sprinkles that the first group put on cookies for their siblings to make their mouths black but the second crew decided to eat them and see what happened.  This is what happened.

 They would eat a handful, run to the bathroom and come show everyone what their tongues looked like... pretty fun, crazy and they loved it!    

Trevor's sister, Stephanie, gave us a 24 days of activities mini muffin tin and we loved it.  On the 10th we had the activity of making cookies, so on the 11th we had friends over to decorate them, instead of a cookie exchange because it was easier for me.  Then on the 12th our activity was to take treats to neighbors.  We used some of her ideas that came with it and them did some of our own. 

Some of the activities we did were:  watch a Christmas movie, decorate cookies, plan and carry out a service project, go sledding, start 12 days from Bushka and Papa, sing Christmas Carols -  we skyped Grandparents to do this, play a game, make a gingerbread house, get and wrap sibling presents, read about the birth of our Savior, decorate the tree, listen to Christmas music, attend a Christmas party, read a Christmas story, get and wrap Teacher gifts... there were several more and they were all fun and it is a do again next year.
The muffin tin activities made waiting for Christmas nicer, more exciting and we did more/different things than we would have without it.  Thank you Stephanie!!!

other children featured: Carli and Caden Millward, Clara Gerratt, The Armstrong children: Isaac, Abby, Emma