Goodbye, Summer...

We had a fun and busy Summer, but I have to say that I am happy to see Autumn approaching. Its my favorite time of year!! First, we'll catch you up on some of our Summer activities...

THE POOL

We spent LOTS of time at the different pools around us, way fun!

COLORADO TRIP

I (Deb) got to go back to my old stompin' grounds in Colorado for a week and visit people and places that I love!
This is the church that my family helped to build. Since then, our tiny branch has become 2 wards and there is a whole wing added to the building. I have such great memories of the great people we knew here and the times we spent with them!
This is a picture of the house I lived in until I was 17 years old. Whoever bought it must have repainted it. It looked so different. They remodeled it, too. (I peeked in all of the windows and sliding doors! Nobody was home.)
This was my Elementary school, which has also been remodeled. Holy Cow, people, slow down on the remodeling. Nothing looks the same.

I attended my High School reunion and got to see so many old friends. It was so fun and a little sobering to realize how old we all are!

4TH OF JULY

we watched the fireworks explode over the Great Salt Lake, but before the fireworks, we danced around with our friends to a jammin' band!

IDAHO TRIP: Redfish Lake and Sun Valley

We rented a cabin on Redfish Lake for 4 days. D.J. got hurt at the end of our first day there and spent the next 3 days in & out of the hospital in Sun Valley. As for the rest of us...

We had so much fun swimming, paddling and relaxing on the lake. It is a gorgeous place!

After 4 days at Redfish, we joined D.J. in Sun Valley. When he got hurt his law firm was cool enough to put him up in a sweet room at the Sun Valley Lodge. We reaped the benefits of his injury: nice pools, Playstation in each room, 3 flat screen TVs, etc... Thanks Uncle Stoel (that's what we say each time Stoel Rives foots the bill!)



It was fun to have Dad back with us!! We love Sun Valley, it is a favorite place to go each Summer.

We'll stop here and post the rest of the Summer soon!

Spring and Mother's Day

Yea!!! Spring finally feels like it is here. Its starting to warm up and our front yard is all in bloom. Its fun to see things growing. It makes all of the effort I've put in seem worth it. I even convinced my husband to finish a sprinkling system for all of my flower beds. The landscape architect who designed our yard got a little crazy with the size and number of beds around our house. He knew that he didn't have to plant and care for all of the stuff in them. (The people who built our house hired him, not me.)

We are getting excited about the fact that Summer break is only weeks away! We started to plan our adventures already, can't wait!!

Mother's Day was nice and relaxing this year. I got lots of homemade cards and gifts from my family. Then my good husband made me a yummy dinner-- barbecued chicken, salad, watermelon and so on. Then he and the kids did the dishes for me, too! Its odd sometimes to think that I am old enough to be the "mom" now. It doesn't seem very long ago when I was making the Mother's Day cards with crayons and glue.

I am so lucky to have these fun, crazy, beautiful kids (and hubby) in my life!

Short Update...

So, I know its been awhile, so here's a teaser for everyone. Actually it just hasn't felt like anything is exciting enough to post lately.

Kate finished her basketball season this last weekend. We need to work on Kate's aggresiveness (or should I say, "lack thereof") as she is the girl apologizing to anyone that she fouls or steals the ball from. Its kind of funny. She just doesn't want anyone to get hurt or feel bad. That's my girl. We had fun watching her games. She's an excellent rebounder and great with assists, she doesn't seem to care to be the player making all of the shots. I think that she enjoyed playing basketball, but I felt bad that most of her games were played after a full day of snowboarding. Poor girl was exhausted!

Kate has really enjoyed snowboarding this winter. Her best friend, Kylee, and her ride the ski bus up to the resort together. They have a lot of fun together. I met them at the slopes this last weekend and the three of us had a great time.

We also took a long trip to Montana at the end of January, as D.J.'s father, Dave, had passed away. It was a sad occasion but at the same time it was great to get together with all of the family. Our kids had such a good time with all of their cousins. Katelin adores her aunts, too. She got to spend a lot of time talking and getting to know them even better.

Our Grandpa Dave was such an incredible guy. He was the coolest old cowboy. He reminded me of John Wayne, without the drawl. :) Our kids loved him so much. He was Christopher's hero, and he always loved having his picture taken with him. He will be missed!

Kate and Torin were fast friends

Jenny, Kate, Josie and Whitney

Chris was schooled on the video games by Anthony & Jonah.

Christmas Party
This Christmas season has been a great one! It started out with D.J. being Santa at the church Christmas party. The first photo says it all...

We begged Maren to keep the secret after she took one look at Santa and said, "Hey, that's my dad." The funniest thing was at the end of the party, when she said, in a loud, dramatic voice, "Its just too bad my dad missed seeing Santa." (Good effort with the acting, Maren!)

Maren & Santa ..................... Christopher & Santa

Making Christmas Cookies with Grandma Annie
Its tradition for the kids to make Christmas sugar cookies with Grandma Annie every year. They have so much fun and she is very patient with them. Katelin decorated all of them by herself though, as Maren and Christopher had lost interest by the time all of the cookies were finally baked and cooled. Kate did a great job, they were so cute!






Christmas Day
D.J. and I were awake at 6:00 am waiting for the kids to wake up-- I think we might have been even more excited than they were to get Christmas Day rolling! Finally at 8:00 am we woke the last child up and headed to the tree.


Casador, the dog, and Maren both give a cheesy grin.



I think we are in BIG trouble-- too many electronic games for the kids. I may have lost them for the next 7-10 years... and no, this was NOT a posed picture.


Christmas Afternoon
D.J.'s sister, Lisa, and her children came over for some munchies and relaxin'. We had fun just hanging out with them for the rest of the night. We have a great time with Lisa and her family. Our kids LOVE being with their older cousins.


Joselyn, Malissa, Deb & Mallory

Mallory gives a great tummy-rub!!



Right before bed...
Yeah, we ARE in trouble. They will forever be "plugged in." (Notice Maren crashed on the Love Sac. She was lulled to sleep by the tummy-rubbin'.)

We hope all of our family and friends had a wonderful Christmas Day!!