Baptism

This has been another busy week.  After last weeks birthday and Thanksgiving celebrations we were ready to put up the Christmas tree.  What a disaster that turned out to be.  The kids were so excited as we got out all the boxes and Mark started putting our tree together.  It's a pre-lit tree we bought when Em was a baby and it has served us well all these years.  However, last year a couple of the stands of lights started acting up but with a little shake they came back on and stayed on.  Phew...another year we avoided buying a new tree.  

Mark had set up the whole tree and then decided to plug it all in.  We weren't so lucky this year as half the lights would not turn on.  By this point, the girls had put out all the other decorations they could and were ready to move on to the tree.  It was getting late, they were getting tired and Mark's frustration was growing.  He tried everything we could think of to get the lights to work but to no avail.  We were about to throw the whole thing out and just buy a new tree when my neighbor suggested we just string new lights on top of the old lights.  Yeah! It worked and we turned the tree so the dark spots are in the back where you can't see them anyway.  We did have to wait until the next night to put the decorations on but it looks good enough for now.  

Just the other night, another string of lights went out.  Fortunately, it was in the back and you can't really tell.  

I love this picture because it shows Josie's true character.  She won't hold still for  even two seconds while I take a picture.  She was moving on purpose.  She's such a teaser.  

On Saturday, Emily got baptized.  It was a really nice program and Mark's brother (and his family) and aunt and uncle were able to come down.  We had a really nice luncheon afterward and were able to visit with family and friends.  We had a packed house and as soon as everyone left, we headed to Lindsey's dance performance at a holiday craft fair.  When that was done we went back home, gathered up Emily and went back to the fair for their singing performance.  It was really cute.  They did so well.  They are both a couple of performers and didn't seem phased at all to get up and sing in front of a bunch of strangers.  

Thanksgiving Week

It's been a really busy week.  Last Sunday, we celebrated Josie's 2nd bday (I need to find the pics.  Hopefully they're on the other camera.)  On Wednesday, we started swimming lessons again.  On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional rifle outing.  The younger kids weren't too interested so they went hiking but Emily and Jaxton turned out to be sharp-shooters with the pink Cricket gun.  Emily hit some pretty good targets.  We found out that pumpkins make really good targets.  We had a mostly-empty spray paint can sitting on a log with a pumpkin.  Emily shot the can and spray paint sprayed out of the hole and painted the pumpkin.  It was hilarious.  She was so excited we had to take a picture of it. 

You'll never guess what we did.  We are having so much fun with Dash that we decided to get another puppy!  Just kidding.  Because we stayed in town while all of our friends left town, we ended up dog-sitting, chicken-sitting and rabbit-sitting.  This pic is the two puppies snuggly during nap time.  So cute!  They had so much fun together it did make us think about adopting one of Dash's bro's from the pound.  

On Friday, we played with the dogs all day and the girls had a sleep-over at our house that night.  On Saturday, Mark and I went with Craig and Eve to the Utah/BYU game.  It was a really fun game to see but we were disappointed with the outcome.  GO UTES!!!

New Puppy!!

So, we finally gave in.  After Lindsey asked for a doggy EVERY DAY for two or three years, it just sort of happened.  We weren't planning on it.  We didn't seek it out.  It just found us...at WalMart.   We got him two weeks ago when he was two months old.  The first night was more horrible than the worst night we've had with any of the girls.  We put him in the bathroom and he whined and cried and cried and whined.  After an hour of this we couldn't take it anymore so Mark played the role of momma and slept on the couch with the dog in his cardboard box on the floor.  Most of the night Mark had a hand on the dog to make it feel like it was cuddled up to his brothers.  He had to take him out to "piddle" four times and by the time morning came, we had made up our minds to take him back.   Emily was heartbroken, Lindsey took the news like a trooper, which completely shocked me because she was the one who wanted a dog so bad in the first place and Em had been indifferent about it.  

We made arrangements to take him back to the owners after we ate dinner at gma and gpa's house but after spending a couple of hours talking about the virtues of having a dog, my dad had us talked into giving him a couple of more days to work out his loneliness.  The second night was much better...he slept in the garage with a hot water bottle to keep him warm.  The third night was even better and then we finally got him a crate to sleep in.  He loved it.  We put him on the back patio with his new home and some blankets and he stayed warm and toasty. 

Two weeks later, we still have him.  I guess he's part of the family now.  He's a pretty silly puppy.  He's a border collie/red heeler mix but he looks like a fluffy black lab.  At two months, he's already got the instincts of both breeds.  When we walk him, he stays right at my heel and when the kids run, he tries so hard to stay with them and herd them like their little cows or sheep.  This is Dash.

One Year Later

I don't know if anyone checks this blog anymore...I don't.  Anyway, I was just scanning Darren's favorite blog list and saw mine and noticed the date.  So, one year later, it's Emily's birthday again!  I can't believe it.  She is now 8 years old!  Oh, my little girl is all grown up.  She had a really good birthday this year.  No illnesses.  We took a bunch of her friends bowling and played several crazy games to keep it interesting and different.  We had a contest and everyone got a prize.  Some of the categories were fastest ball, slowest ball, the gutter ball prize, high score, low score, etc.  It was really fun.  The pics are of Em blowing out her candles and a little tunnel bowling the kids did.  That was part of the frame-by-frame game we played.  That was the kids favorite part.

On Sunday we had dinner with gma and gpa, Davey and his kids and had a little family celebration.  So, today is her actual birthday and we're kind of celebrated out so it was an anti-climactic day.  Now we're getting ready for Josie's 2nd birthday which is Sunday.  

Happy Freaking Birthday!!

Emily turns seven years old today.  She started off the day at 6am with a fever and throwing up. She threw up again at 8am but has managed to keep some food down the rest of the day.  I guess we'll go ahead and have cake and ice cream tonight.  

She's sitting next to me right now completely bored out of her mind!!  We've looked at everyone's blogs that we know of.  What I am going to do with her next?  I think I'll take a nap.  I know she really missed going to school today and I will have to remind her of this day the next time she tells me she doesn't want to go to school.  

Nurture vs. Nature

Emily played soccer for the first time 18 months ago and I swore I wouldn't put her in it again because it was just so mind-numbingly boring watching a pack of kids run around the soccer field in a big clump trying to kick the ball.  Well, I gave in and put her in it this fall because her best friend was playing and Emily wanted to try again.  Mark is their coach and the first couple of games were just hilarious...kids standing around looking at the sky while the ball goes right through their legs, doing cartwheels, jumping on each other's backs, kicking each other shins to test out their shin guards...I think most of you know what I'm talking about.  Well, after a couple of these kinds of games and getting killed by the other teams I decided to urge Emily to try a little harder, pay more attention and actually follow the ball after she kicks it.  

A few games into the season, things were looking up.  The team was improving a little, the kids were having fun, parents were commenting on how much better they were all doing, however, the team was still getting killed and the other teams scored more goals for us than we scored for ourselves.  Mark was doing a fine job coaching but last week he was in Provo and didn't make it back in time so I reluctantly stepped in.  The second I stepped onto the field my competitive side fired up and the game was on!!!  I quickly figured out how to get the kids to run a "fast break" and Emily scored for the first time in her life!!!  It was so exciting!!!  So we did it over and over again and ended up winning the game!  Everyone was so happy and it felt good.  I think everyone had fun...because winning is fun.  Right?

Mark was out of town again tonight and I was happy to sub.  We were playing the best team in the league and their coach is a jerk.  I have to admit, I spent a little bit of time today scheming about how to beat this team or at least score on them.  To make a long story short, we scored a couple of times, all the kids got to kick and throw the ball in, they were completely exhausted by the end of the game, one of my parents took their kid out of the game and left, I got on the ref and the other coach for standing in the goalie box while my team was trying to score, and I nearly lost my voice.  I am not meant to coach 5 and 6 year olds.  So I'm super competitive...is there something wrong with that?  If so, I blame my parents. 

Catching up...

 


Emily and Lindsey on their first days of school.  Josie hanging out at home, posing for the camera.  Her name has evolved from Josie to Posie to Pose Pie to Podey and Poders which Lindsey made up.  She's so cute.  Who does she look like more...Emily or Lindsey.  I think she looks so much like Lindsey, in fact, I should post some side-by-side pictures of both of them at this age.