Ensign Article

There's an article in the Ensign this month that to me was particularly touching.  It is written by Diane Terry Wolf and is titled "Putting My Hands In The Lords".

This article is about how she got through the sudden death of her husband 25 years ago.  It's a special article for my family and I because the accident she speaks of was one my own dad was a part of.  He was duck hunting on Utah Lake one Nov. with his good friend when a storm came and the boat capsized and they were left floating in freezing water.  My dad survived, but his friend Bryan did not.  He left his wife pregnant with their fifth child.  Later my mom was pregnant with my youngest brother who was honorably was named Bryan.

I encourage anyone to read it.  It's great insight on how to deal with adversity in your life.

Link:

Ensign Article

Style Paige!

So one of my best friends started this great toy company for little girls. She was so frustrated when she couldn't find any great toys for her little girl so she thought of this. If anyone has a little girl who loves to dress-up and design than they will love this!

Check out her website... it's just up and running!

Style Paige Website

Brrr...!

This is why school was cancelled Wed, Thurs, and Fri last week.  We are freezing here!

Here's to six years of Iowa winters!

(I stole this from you Robs!  Thanks!)

Christmas Day

The stockings were hung from the chimney with care... even that "Damn" stocking!  Yes, I said it and I am referring to Chase's stocking.  My Grandma made all of her Grandchildren stockings and my mom decided to carry on the tradition with her own Grandchildren.  So far she has completed only one... Landon's.  She started Chase's four years ago, but only finished about one-fourth of it.  As I was leaving home after Thanksgiving break she handed me Chase's un-finished stocking and asked me to finish it for her.  Well, that would have been fine had I known how much freakin' work went into it!  On top of the hours ahead of me to complete it by Christmas she didn't send me home with all the supplies so I had to run around town looking for the matching sequins and more string, multiple times!  Needless to say, I spent MANY hours working on it to finish it by Christmas even with the discouraging comments by my husband to just go out and buy one.  Chase was so excited when it was finished and even gave me his own input on how he wanted his name on it.  It turned out very cute, but after that I'm now sure I will not be carrying on the same tradition of making my Grandchildren stockings.  I told my mom to start working on my future children's stockings now so that maybe by the time I have another one she will be at least half way through with it this time.

Turned out very cute, but will forever be thought of as that

"Damn Stocking"

Homemade sugar cookies and milk for Santa

with carrots for the reindeer

Christmas morning with Landon on his new bike!

Chase is our little snow bunny and is constantly playing in it.

The new sled was a huge hit this year!

It took Santa FOREVER to find a Mizzou football this year!

It was the only thing he asked Him for and who knew it would be so hard to find.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Chase.

It explains Christmas morning for him so well.

He got a million action figures this year and has loved every one!

(Notice the Transformer underwear peaking through... love it!)

Christmas was wrapped up with "Guitar Hero Rock Band" this year...

which I had now idea we were getting, thanks Santa!

The boys trying to figure out the new game.  

It has been a hit in our house and everyone has fun playing it.

Merry Christmas!

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St. Louis Zoo

This is one thing I miss about St. Louis so much.  The Zoo there is awesome and it's FREE!!!  We would go all the time while we lived there and Chase has been begging to go ever since we moved.  We were lucky enough to fly from our stay in Utah to St. Louis and stay with our good friends John and Tara... Thanks again you guys!  I knew one thing we absolutely had to do was go to the zoo.  It was a cold day, but it wasn't crowded and all the animals were out and moving around so really it was the best day to be there.

This Tiger had 5 cubs back in April.  We tried to see them 

before we moved, but they weren't out on display yet.

All five were out and playing, it was the coolest thing we saw that day.

I tried to get a picture with all the cubs in it, but couldn't.

Here are two of them playing around with their mother in the background.

The Hippos are my favorite!

The whole gang at the end of the day

The Ladies

This is a group of my friends from High School.  Some of them I haven't seen in over 5 years and some more recently.  I love getting together and reminiscing about the old days and the trouble and drama we would get into together.  We had some great times!

Lacy, Allison (with Nixon), Me, Melissa, Ashley, Carrie, Becca, Brit, & Lindsay

Thanks for a great night Ladies!

I hope some of you who couldn't come will be able to next time!

Dino Museum II

This is Chase's favorite thing to do.  He LOVES the dinosaur museum.  He could spend all day there and tell you about all the dinosaurs.  His favorite is the T-Rex.  He has always had a fascination with dinosaurs and all his favorite book are about them.  This time Landon didn't want to come so it was Papa Tom, Lindsay, Mike, Me, Bryce, and Chaser.  I don't think that place will ever get old for him.

Counting Change

I think Landon drove my step-mom crazy while we were in Utah.  He was always bugging her to print pictures for him off of her computer.  One day She put him to work on the big bowl of change in their bedroom.  He sat there and organized all the change and then counted all of it.  It kept him occupied for about 3 hours.  Once Landon starts something he doesn't quit... there is way to much OCD in him to stop.  When he was finished my dad gave him $10 worth.  Landon thought that was awesome.

Sophie

A friend of mine was going out of town for a few days and I got the privilege of watching her little girl Sophie.  She is the cutest thing and my boys absolutely loved her.  They couldn't wait for her to get up from her naps and play.  She was so good and I LOVED having a little girl in the house.  Hopefully I'll have one of my own someday...

This was the extent of her mischief.  If I left the pantry door open

she would get into the cereal and pick out all the marshmallows.

At this age my boys did much worse than that!

Chase was so cute with her and loved playing with her

Teresa, go out of town again so we can have her back!

Backyard Football

Some of you may know that I am really raising 3 boys, not 2.  My husband is just as much of a kid  as the little two... sometimes more.

The other day he went and bought spray paint to turn our yard into a football field.  After school it's the neighborhood football field anyway, but now it's official.  We have the white lines to prove it.

Landon and the neighbor boys were so excited.  It rained that night and

the biggest concern when they woke up the next morning was 

whether the lines for the football field were still there.

They were.

Trunk or Treat!

I love the ward Trunk or Treat.  Our last ward in St. Louis only did it the first year we were there and than did away with it.  I love to see all the kids in their costumes and it's just a safe quick place for our kids to get a preview of the real night to come.

They kids in the costume parade.

Chase was really under the weather the next day,

I think that explains his face expressions in all my pics

I love to see big brother take care of his

little one.

"Pumpkin Patch"

Some girls and I took our kids to a "Pumpkin Patch" last week.  It was a little week in the pumpkins, but made up for it in other areas.  They had a little haunted house that was just perfect for the little ones with a little maze at the end.  There were some farm animals for the kids to look at and they even got to witness a black cat catch a real mouse for dinner (Yuck!)

Collin, Chase, and Ethan

All three of these boys are in preschool together

Aren't they so cute!

This was a shed filled with corn kernels.  The kids loved it!

All the kids buried Landon

A really cute tire swing shaped like a hourse,

The kids discovered  this right as we were leaving.

First Day of Preschool

To make a long story short... The school year started a couple of months ago, but Chase just started last week.  We weren't planning on sending him this year, but due to some fortunate events and luck he is attending the preschool just down the street from us.  He was so nervous on our way out the door and kept telling me how "shy" he was and didn't really want to go.  The second he saw his friend Collin, who is in the same class, all shyness was out the door and he was ready to go.

Look at that face!

Haunted Gingerbread House

Every year at Christmas time we do Gingerbread Houses.  I was walking through the store and saw this cute Haunted House Gingerbread kit and new my kids would just love it.  I love doing things like this with my kids.  Landon tends to get a little OCD with his crafts and thinks they have to be perfect while Chase could care less.  It makes for a little confrontation when it comes to deciding how the candy should be placed, but they both loved the end result and everyone had fun.

When You Gotta Go... You Gotta Go!

Uncle Booper...

Uncle Booper came into town for the weekend.  He interviewed at the University of Iowa for medical school.  My boys were so excited to have him come and are hoping that he and his wife move here permanently.  We loved having him here even if it was a short visit.

So for those of you who don't know, Booper isn't really his name... go figure.  His given name is Brandon, but since he was a baby my older brother Ken (although my mom likes to take the credit) nicknamed him "Booper" and that's who he's been ever since.  It's carried over in school, work, and everywhere else he goes.

This weekend Chase told us that Booper was his real name and Brandon is his nickname.  I don't think Landon even knew his name was Brandon until about a year ago.

I wonder what his kids will call him...?

Wilson's Apple Orchard

This week we went to the apple orchard with some friends.  I had taken Chase once already with some girls from the ward, but it was a first for Bryce and Landon.  I guess the it was a hard winter and really mild summer so a lot of the apples didn't look so good on the outside, but tasted great on the inside.  There is a local store where they make homemade apple pies and apple turnovers along with some other homemade goods.  You can't go without some fresh apple turnovers... they are delicious!

It was a great evening with the fam and some great friends!

Making the trek down to the apples

Don't ask me...

Flag Football... Go Raiders!

Landon had his first flag football game this week.  His team is the "Raiders" and it's made up of 1st and 2nd graders from a couple different schools in the area.  He only knows two kids on his team from school so he was a little apprehensive about playing.  He quickly forgot about his "shyness" when the game started and did awesome.  He was so excited he got to play running back for the first half.  I love that my kids are getting to the age where they are playing in organized team sports.  I used to always go to my brothers games growing up and loved it.  I'm so glad I have boys!... although I would still like a girl someday :)

Go Raiders!

Look at that form!

Although Chase isn't very interested in the game itself

he had fun too.

This kid is always making me laugh!