Bogh Family

So long January

2012-01-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Typically I don't like January very much it seems long and cold, but this year wasn't too bad. The weather was pretty nice, almost spring like some days, and it made the month much more enjoyable. Here are just a few of the undocumented event of the the month.

Madison ran for class secretary and won. Her class has been learning about government and how it all works, and about the election process. So there were nominations and campaigns and parties and all the fun stuff that goes along with it. So many nights it was mom I need a slogan, or I need to give a speech, or what qualities does a good leader possess. We would figure something out and apparently it worked. She is loving 5th grade, her teacher and her friends. She attends an early morning math class for accelerated students and still hates the weekends because she would rather be at school. We sure do love this girl.

Allie has decided that coookees are her new favorite food. She asks for one as soon as she wakes up in the morning and periodically throughout the day, and how can you resist a plea from this cute thing. I have found the best sugar cookie recipe and also a ten year old who loves to bake, so it makes it much less work for me. (notice her necklace and bracelet, those are her daily accessories)

The snow, I had almost given up on it this year. I am of the mindset that if there isn't any snow for Christmas then don't bother, but I also don't want it to snow in May, so along with the cold we got about 6 inches of the white stuff and the kids, and their dad, loved it

We bought this new sled after our old one broke, and the kids loved it, Tom on the other hand said it made it way to hard to dump the kids out.

Allie loves babies. She is always packing one around and giving it kisses or hugs. She will often bring me her doll and say that she is stinky. She love to change their clothes and name all the body parts. She is going to be a great mom one day.

Emma earned her Liberty Kids badge at school. It is a service oriented program the teach the kids about giving and about our country. She had to memorize some quotes and explain what they mean to her, as well and learning more about our country's flag. She also had to have her teacher sign off that she was a good student and was kind to others. She is such an amazing girl and we are so proud of the time she spent earning her award.

C.J. has been so busy playing with friends this month. He is such a fun boy, and oh so smart. He is reading everything in sight and playing really hard. He loves to play the i-pad or on Tom's phone all the time. If it were up to him he would spend is day doing just that. I can play all these games that I don't even get. Kid are so smart it is amazing to me. So now we move on to the month of February. I just told C.J. it is the month of love, and he told me I am weird! The truth hurts I guess, here is to a new month.

Lego Saturday

2012-01-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

I think we have gotten spoiled by the nice weather that we were having. We had planned to do some projects outside that were long overdue, but mother nature had a different idea. When we woke up to crazy wind, we decided to stay indoors. C.J. got out his lego's and for a few hours we were all in building mode.

There were legos all over the family room. Everyone was working on building something.

Tom build this space ship which ended up being the best creation of the day. I am sure my pencil holder was a close second, haha, you know just a square with a hole in the middle, creative huh. Emma was working on an elephant, which proved to be much more difficult than she thought and Madison quickly became bored with the whole activity.

Allie couldn't resist putting just a few of the tiny legos in her mouth.

Our final project was to see how tall we could make a tower. I think it was about 8 feet tall and standing on it's own for a few minutes before it toppled to the ground. It was a good time on a bad weather Saturday.

Sweet Girl

2012-01-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

This little lady is so much fun. She is crazy and silly and has her moments of the encroaching terrible 2's, I actually think 2 year old's are pretty fun, it's those 3 year old's you have to watch out for...

She went to nursery without screaming bloody murder on Sunday, it was wonderful. I watched her through the window while they were having singing time and she changed into a toddler immediately. Watching her sit on her little square of carpet using her tiny chubby fingers to mimic the actions of the music leader, it was priceless.

In our nursery Allie is the only girl, we are so blessed to have 'grandpa' in our nursery. He is an amazing 80 year old, who told me on Sunday that he will be there until he dies, he just loves those kids so much. Allie loves 'grandpa' so much she gave him a kiss as she was leaving nursery. I hope this is a new trend.

I love this stage that she is in right now. She is big into jewelry. When I do her hair in the morning she sits on the counter and plays with baskets of necklaces and bracelets. She picks one of each to wear. She calls them her "nek-us and basebuts", and everything is cute. Her clothes, her shoes, she socks, even her diapers are "tute".

As always she is trying to keep up with her big sisters and brother. This picture above is proof of that. We always have a house full of animals, or children acting like animals, and she is not about to be left out. She crawls around with her tongue hanging out pretending to be a dog. She even caused quite a stir in the store when she was crawling down the isles barking and panting. She is so full of it and I just can't get enough.

I Belong

2012-01-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Emma was so excited for this day. Everyday of the week she kept saying "I just wish it was Saturday". She was so ready for this day, and luckily she only had to wait for 6 days to be baptized, which was actually Our 12th wedding Anniversary. I can't think of a better way to spend that day.

Prior to her baptism we had talked a lot about the priesthood and the blessings that come from it and how the Holy Ghost is a gift to us. I also wanted all of our kids to realize how blessed they are to have a father who honors that priesthood and, because if that, is able to baptize them and perform blessings when needed.

Emma made such a great choice to be baptized and is so grateful that she did. That day she told me it was the best day of her life, one that she will never forget. She is such a blessing in our family and we love her so much.

I was excited to get some pictures of her in her baptism dress, she on the other hand was not excited. This is how it went... I told her that we would only take a few pictures, she agreed to one, I said 20 she said 2... anyway when we got ready was was giving me a very sad face, until i put the camera to my eye then it was a cheesy smile, but as soon as the camera left my eye in was a sad face again. That is how it was the entire time.

She was fine with the pictures that didn't have her face in them, because she wasn't in the 'mood', silly girl.

This one was fine, she looked at me and said, "I am actually reading, you know". That is one thing about this girl she loves to read. She has been reading her scriptures every night since she got them. I know that she uses it as an excuse to stay up later, but how can you refuse when she says she needs to read her scriptures?

We love this girl and are so happy with the decision that she made to be baptized.

These are just a few pictures from the luncheon that we had afterwards. We are so blessed to have such great families that are so supportive of us and our children. It was a wonderful day. Afterwards I asked Emma if it was as wonderful as she had hoped. She told me no. When I asked what would have made it better she said, " nothing, it was even better than I thought it would be". As with most things pertaining to the Gospel, they usually are better than we think they will be. Emma sure is excited to BELONG to the only true church, and we are excited for her.

Birthday girl

2012-01-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Emma turned 8 years old. As I say with every birthday, where did the time go. She has been so excited to turn 8 so that she can be baptized and be the newest member of the church.

We celebrated with a unicorn cake that had blue hair. I have become pretty good at making this cake. I think this was the 4th time she picked this cake. Just ignore the miss matched candles, I was just glad we found 8 of them.

If you look close at this picture on the left she actually started her hair on fire while blowing out the candles. The tall skinny pink ones are sparkler candles so she got really close to blow them out. She was holding her hair out the way while she kept blowing.

For her birthday she wanted blue scriptures with her name on them, and a motor scooter. The scriptures were opened and she was thrilled. I then asked Tom to go get her other present. Tom brought in Madison's old pink scooter. She is so sweet and tried really hard to be happy with it, but I could see the tears welling up behind her eyes and couldn't keep us the charade any more and told Tom go her her real present.

A lime green motor scooter. She was so excited and ready to ride it, but it had to charge for 14 hours, so she had to wait. The next morning she ran upstairs and got on her scooter and ran into about 3 walls before we told her to take it outside. This scooter is really pretty fast, so I am so glad she is a cautious girl.

Happy Birthday Emma, We love you to bits!
p.s. you may notice that in every picture the kids are in their pajamas, that is because we pretty much spent the entire Christmas break in our pajamas, and it was wonderful!

Happy Birthday Emma

2012-01-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

A few days after Christmas we celebrated Emma's upcoming birthday with a friend party. We had so much fun. We celebrated with a pajama and pancake party. It was so much fun. We ate chocolate chip pancakes in our P.J.'s and played a lot of fun games.

Allie acted as if she was just as big as the other girls, it is so sad for me that she really isn't a baby anymore :(

We also decorated pillowcases. Emma has such sweet friends and they all had so much fun, especially Emma. I can't believe that this girl is really 8 years old!

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning, What could be more exciting? We had to get the kids up at about 7:45 so that they could have a little time to enjoy what Santa brought them before we went to 9 o'clock church. Here they are waiting on the stairs to come up. We always go from youngest to oldest.

Emma was so excited to get her Kaya doll and Allie was thrilled with her new baby.

The remote controlled monster truck was the exact one C.J. asked for, isn't it amazing how Santa always know?..

Madison was excited and surprised and excited to get a Kindle. I think she spent much of her Christmas break reading.

Here they are in their new Christmas church clothes. I love this tradition. It is about the only time I can get all of the kids to match, without a fight anyway. After church we got back into our jammies and opened gifts from each other and ate cinnamon rolls. The rest of the day was spent enjoying and relaxing the wonderful holiday. That evening we went to G&G Thalmans house for more gifts and yummy food.

All the kids received a new pair of pajamas. All of the girls had cupcake jammies. That is an amazing feat to find 12 pairs of cupcake pajamas ranging in size from 12 years-12 months. They all looked so cute, if only I had gotten a picture of all of them together. It was a great day, and I actually loved having it on Sunday this year. We had a great sacrament program that filled my heart with the spirit of Christmas and a greater love for my Savior. Until next year Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

We love to be able to spend the holidays with family. We headed to G&G Bogh's house to celebrate Christmas Eve. It was a fun evening filled with gifts and spending time together to soak in the last little bits of this amazing holiday and the birth that we celebrate this time of year.

The kids loved the books they received from grandma and grandpa

and a perfectly timed visit from the big man himself. The kids opened their unsuprise of new Christmas jammies and we were on our way home to wait and try and sleep with sugarplums in our heads.

December 2011

2011-12-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you look at your blog and realize that all of the posts you have written in you head never made it to the computer?! That is how I have been feeling this past month. I love the Christmas season and really want to remember all the details, but it seems that our blog is what has suffered, I am sure I will regret not writing down more of the memories, so here is my meager attempt at a recap.

One thing that seems to kick off the holiday season for us it Christmas Tree Lane. This gives people in our community to share their talents with everyone. There are also beautiful trees on display for everyone to see. This year Madison danced. Her class did a really cute tap dance to "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland". She did a great job.

We did some baking this month. Allie enjoyed every last bite of it. I am pretty sure that she survived this month on cookies. I love her in this cute Tinkerbell outfit. She was really good to let the kids dress her up, and she especially loved the wings.

This was our gingerbread house for the year. I think most of the candy ended up in their mouths.

Our K-2nd grade elementary got a special surprise just days before Christmas. It was a secret to the kids and the anticipation was almost too much. The students were taken to the airport for the arrival of a special guest. The kids were so excited to see Santa fly in. After arrival there was an assembly at the school where the secret was revealed.

The scouts in the picture above gave service to earn their Eagle Scout award. They are from across the state and each took part by raising money and collecting donations for a title one school, that school was ours. They school received supplies for their classrooms and well as individual supplies for each student. The kids were so excited, Christmas definitely came early for these students! And the homemade cookies from the lunch ladies topped it off.

Tom got his Christmas present early this year. Yes, that elk is hanging in our house. I have to admit that it isn't as bad as I had dreamed. When Tom first brought it into the house Allie screamed her lungs out, and I thought maybe that would be my ticket to hanging it in the garage, but she warmed up to it a bit to quickly and now just points and says "daddy elk". Tom was really excited to get it back so quickly, I guess getting a mount back in just over a month is unheard of.

The Nutcracker is also another of our traditions. Madison had three parts this year, the soldier, angel, and flower. She is such a beautiful dancer and did an excellent job.

Even though she would deny it at the moment, since she is going through a tom-boy phase, she loves to dance, and we love to watch her.

The second grade did their "Polar Express" program. Emma wasn't to thrilled as you can tell. The story: The entire time they had spent practicing for the program she was able to sit by Jake, her cousin and best friend in her class. The day before the program for the parents she came home from school and burst into tears. She told us that she had to switch spots for the program and had to sit by "some guy" she didn't know. She was heart broken. I guess it was one of those parental teaching moments where we told her that she would be fine and that the "guy" probably needed someone nice to sit by him. She was not pleased, but she did survive.

The program was so cute, I love that they were all wearing pajamas. Emma was much happier after the program was over, now we just need to get some new songs in her head, she keeps singing "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas."

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a visit to Santa. This was just one of the four times the kids were able to rattle off their desires to the big man. What a magical time of year.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-05T14:54:00.001-07:00

I didn't take to many pictures on Thanksgiving, but here are a few of the highlights. We started our day at G& G Thalmans house where we ate lots of good food and played with cousins. By the time I pulled out my camera most of the boys had split, but I thought these pictures of the girls with some of their cousins were pretty cute.

I just can't believe how old these girls are getting. It is so much fun to watch them grow up together. Later that afternoon we went to G&G Bogh's house to eat more good food and play with more cousins. That night we headed out to good 'ol Wal-Mart to brave the crowds and ended up with some pretty sweet deals and were back by midnight, I don't think you can do much better than that.

The next day started with shooting of rockets. In the pictures above C.J. was upset, and when I asked him why he told me because the first time he shot off his rocket the parachute didn't deploy. So I told him to ask Uncle Charles if is could shoot his again, and in this sequence of pictures you can tell that it worked much better. He was our happy boy again.

Later on in the day we went and cut down Christmas trees. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, but we had a good time and were able to get some pretty great trees.

18 Months

2011-12-02T14:57:00.001-07:00

So this post is a few months late, but I feel bad that I haven't posted it sooner. In October Allie turned 18 months old. I know crazy, but true. Here are a few pictures that I took of our little cutie pie.

She is such a sweet girl. At 18 months she is a little jabber jaw. She will mimic any thing you say and will throw out new words all the time. She understands everything as well. She know what is going on all the time. She is still such a daddy's girls and I love it. It is so funny to watch her follow Tom around and mimic his every move. If he walks in a circle that is exactly what Allie does. She still only has 4 teeth 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. A few more are tying to poke their way though, but for know it is nice to only have to care for those 4 little ones. Her favorite toys are her piano and her baby. She loves pancakes and grapes. She sleeps about 12 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap every day. She is still tiny, at her dr. appointment she was 16 pounds and 24 inches. She loves it when the kids get home from school and will follow them around like she is as big as they are. We are so glad to have this sweet baby in our family.

Elk Hunt 2011

2011-11-29T22:43:00.001-07:00

So when Tom drew out on this big bull hunt he told me that he was going to spent the first two weeks of November hunting. I thought o.k. whatever, but then the time of the hunt came and that is exactly what he did. The first week was spent scouting from one mountain range to the next in search of the perfect bull.

He was excited about it and kept count of how many they had seen each day. Well a few days before the hunt it snowed, who knew this would change the game. The elk moved and the search began again. The first few days of the hunt he didn't find anything except cows. Tom was frustrated and so it trickled down the line. I am of the mind set that if you are going to get one get it the first day and be done with it. Five days into the 10 day hunt He told me that if he didn't get one the next day, that was it he was done.

He was true to his word. The next day he got one. This thing is massive. He was so excited, almost as much as the people who went with him. Now my only worry is where the heck we are going to hang this thing when it is finished at the taxidermists, I suggested the garage but I don't think that will fly. Wish me luck! Also, there is a video here if you want to see how the whole thing went down, it is a little sad if you ask me, but the jerky we made is pretty tasty.

Birthday Boy!

2011-11-29T15:07:00.001-07:00

Can you believe our C.J. turned 6 years old. I can't hardly stand it. I kept asking him if didn't want to go backwards and turn four, but he didn't like that idea, so we celebrated. He had breakfast in bed, well actually out of bed. He was too excited and popped right up when we came in his room singing Happy Birthday.

He had some friends over for a fun party. We partied Cars 2 style with plenty of racing games, oil can bowling, old tire cupcakes.

He had a great party.

He also got to celebrate at school. The kids sang a song to him and then got to ask him questions to learn a little more about him. Then he passed out treats. He choose to take Gushers and Capri Suns. Good thing it was at the end of the day, because the kids sure were on a sugar rush after that snack. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then home to celebrate some more.

He loved his birthday hat and wore it that night when was had cake and ice cream. And then it was present time. He has been wanting a new bike for a while, so it was the perfect gift for him.

He was so excited and loved that it was red and silver because that means that it is fast. We are so glad to have C.J. in our family. He is such a funny boy who keeps us on our toes and is always reminding us of things that we need to do or things we have said that we will do. He loves school and learning, he asks a million questions about everything and always wants to know how things work. His favorite color is orange and he will eat a huge stack of pancakes any time of day. He is really good to listen and do things you ask the first time. He says the most sincere prayers. He is a really great little brother and the best big brother to Allie. Such a sweet boy and we love him so much. Happy Birthday Buddy, just stay 6 as long as you can because 7 just seems so much older!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

We finally made it to Halloween, well almost. On Sunday we went to visit g and g Bogh. I didn't get very many pictures, but this is Allie on their porch, waiting for Halloween to come already.

Madison and some of her cute friends decided to be the cutest handful of m&m's I have ever seen. So fun.

C.J. decided on the knight costume for trick or treating. In this picture he was giving me a 'strong' knight face. He also loved his pumpkin of Lightening McQueen.

Allie didn't want to put her costume on due to an accident while carving pumpkins. Notice her left eye, she fell and hit it on a chair while carving pumpkins. As soon as we gave her the candy bucket with a few treats in it she was ready to go. And her minnie mouse pumpkin was too cute.

Emma, our cute shaggy dog with her dog carved pumpkin.

This house is one stop that we try to make every year. It is amazing. There are decorations and lights everywhere complete with fog. You can see Tom walking in with the big kids, I am happy to say that they made it out alive. This picture doesn't do it justice, it is pretty amazing.

This was the gang at g and g Thalman's house. I love that most of the kids have some sort of treat in their mouth, so true to life and Jaxon is just getting to tall so his head got cut off. These are the cutest kids, a family of bumble bees, dragon, Belle, Alice, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, a Viking, House Elf, Blue Rock Star, Prom Queen, dinosaur, Baseball Player, Corpse Bride, and the most creative costume of the year, (not pictured) a flying purple crayon. I think Allie's expression is how I was feeling as well, is it over yet? I love Halloween, well cute Halloween, but November 1st is always a welcome day.

This is Allie's favorite spot at g and g's house in grandpas lap.

11-11-11 at 11:11

2011-11-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

I have always liked the time 11:11, I have always considered it a lucky time and even now when I happen to look at the clock and it says 11:11 I make a wish. I don't know who told me it was lucky or why, but I like it. I became a mother at 11:11, that's what time Madison was born. I thought I would document what we were doing on this ordinary day at this extraordinary time. Not much, but someday I might want to remember.

C.J. was busily coloring his birthday poster that he was to take to school in a few days. It was a poster about him. He got to color it, and then add a picture of himself and answer questions like when his birthday was, how old he was going to be, and a birthday wish. His wish, a bike without training wheels.

Allie was, well, if you notice the background, it looks as though she is running away from her latest mess, silly girl. The big girls were at school, learning something I'm sure, Tom was scouting for a big bull Elk, and I was just trying to remember this everyday moment at a time that is lucky for me.

Happy Birthday Tom!

2011-11-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

In the middle of all the Halloween excitement Tom had a birthday. On the Saturday the 29th he turned 34. Man we are getting old. If was fun that it was a Saturday so that we could spent the whole day with him.

Tom hates getting his pictures taken, but I did get some cute ones of the kids singing to him.

You can almost read Allie's mind "should I grab the candles or not"..

He blew out all 34 candles in one breath, and we enjoyed the ice cream cake. We are so lucky to have Tom as our dad and husband. He is such a hard worker and would do anything for us. We love you so much! Happy Birthday!

Halloween Week

2011-11-08T14:43:00.001-07:00

Just like last year Halloween turned into a week long event. It is always fun but can be so exhausting. On Monday we celebrated with a FHE at G and G Thalman's house. There were a lot of fun games played and yummy food eaten. Wednesday was our ward Halloween party. This was the first time the kids dressed up so they were excited about it.

We had a cute M & M and a tiny chicken

A Shaggy Dog

A skeleton Pirate and Hawiian tourist complete with board shorts, thermals, and socks with sandals.

Friday was party day at school. I am not really sure why it was changed to Friday since Halloween was on Monday but the kids had a fun time anyway. The annual parade was in the morning and it actually wasn't freezing cold for a change so the kids didn't have to wear coats over their costumes. Emma loved her shaggy dog costume. She said it kept her pretty warm and she looks so darn cute, just don't call her a poodle. The story behind this costume: She wanted to be a dog since last Halloween, I kept hoping I could talk her into something else, I mean we already have a really cute witch/pirate/vampire costume in her size. Nothing I said would change her mind she wanted to be a dog. I was at a loss, she didn't like any dog costume we found online. So I told her to find a picture of the dog she wanted to be and we would figure it out. She found one of a very shaggy dog with matted fur and claimed that was it. So I got to work, knowing for sure the entire time I was looping and sewing yarn that she was going to hate it and not wear it. When she got home from school that afternoon she promptly asked if I had worked on her costume. I very hesitantly showed her what I had come up with and asked her to try it on. She took it in the bathroom and I waited and waited. When she finally came out she had a smile on her face and proclaimed that she LOVED it. I breathed a sigh of relief and knew that she really did love it because she wore it for the rest of the day.

I missed getting a picture of C.J. during the parade, well from the front anyway. So I went to his classroom and took this one where he is looking very distracted. He was this same thing last year, and unlike his sisters could care less about that. When i asked him what he wanted to be he said, "It doesn't really matter, people will give me candy as long as I dress up." Boys are so much easier in some ways. I makes a handsome skeleton pirate if you ask me!

Later that afternoon C.J. made a new friend our on our driveway. I hate snakes so much it is not even funny, but he became obsessed. He asked me questions about snakes all day and kept telling me he was going to bring it in the house.

Thank goodness he never did and eventually the snake made its way up the street and hopefully back to its home by the canal. But I sure was surprised to see that Madison is just as afraid as I am, she wouldn't even go outside for the rest of the day.
It was also dress up day for Madison at her school. I went and helped with her party in her class, but forgot to take my camera, so no pictures of that one, but it was a fun day!

Calf Creek Falls

2011-11-02T19:13:00.000-06:00

While the kids were out of school for fall break we decided to take a trip to Calf Creek Falls. I have love, love, loved that it has been so warm and nice this fall, and hope that it will continue. We got kind of a late start but we were determined. We thought it was a 3 mile round trip hike. As we started out there were alot of people hiking back to the trail head and kept giving us weird looks and telling us was had a long way to go, but we didn't care we kept going.

There are 12 markers along that way that tell the history of Calf Creek and the different ways it has been used throughout history. Did you know they used to grow watermelons there? Anyway we stopped at each marker and would talk about different things and learn more facts about Calf Creek. As we walked with C.J. as our leader the markers kept getting further and further apart, but we kept hiking.

We met some friends along the way, this lizard was one of the favorites. We also was squirrels, birds, and lots of fish. We passed through the bamboo forest (aka snake grass) and waded through rivers (tiny streams). We still weren't at the falls. We came to the conclusion that the trail must be 3 miles each way and that we better kick it in gear if we were going to make it there and back while the sun was shining.

I love that Madion is holding Tom's hand in this picture. She doesn't do that very often anymore, but I love it when she does. She is growing up way to fast!

C.J. was still in the lead with our constant reminder to take big steps as he walked so we could make it there quickly. As we got closer to the falls the temperature dropped and you could hear the water crashing down. It was so beautiful once we finally made it. It was late in the day, but we were the only ones there and we got to enjoy the falls just us.

It was time to head back. Emma and C.J. each found a walking stick and ate a 'magic' apple, it gave them lots of energy for the hike back, and we were off. Emma was our leader on the way back down the trail. The further we walked the closer the sun was to setting. Good thing I have a husband who is a thinker and stuck a flashlight in the backpack. It made us all feel better to have a little light shining. Madison became especially nervous, maybe it was because our pamphlet told us that cougars and coyotes roam the area at night, we made it back the car hungry and tired, but everyone want to go back next summer, so I call that a success.

Just remember if you are going to go that is is a 6 mile hike and if you go in the Fall leave before 4:30 our you will be hiking in the dark.

Patch Work

2011-11-02T15:37:00.001-06:00

Another Halloween tradition we love is going to the pumpkin patch. The week the patch opened was rainy and cold, so much to the dismay of the kids we had to wait a week to go and I am glad we did because the day couldn't have been more beautiful.

There weren't a lot of people at the patch so we climbed onto a wagon and rode to the middle of the patch. There were lots of pumpkins to choose from: tall and wide, short and round, and a decision to be made. Which one is the best choice? We climbed of the wagon and got to work. As we walked around analyzing each one we noticed that the other families on our wagon were already finished picking out their pumpkins...what we hadn't even picked one.

We still had a lot to do. So we walked around picked one and put it back and started all over. I know for a fact that the others on the wagon were really annoyed by us, but we didn't care we kept on searching.

Each of the kids was able to find their perfect match in a pumpkin and we were on our way, that is until I asked the tractor driver to stop by the patch of gourds. When we stopped our family piled off. That's it, everyone else just sat and watched us again while we scavenged for our perfect gourds.

And I am glad we did because we found some good ones. I sure do have a new found love of white pumpkins and we were able to snag some pretty great one. To the relief of everyone else on our wagon we made our final selections and were on our way back.

After the pumpkin picking there was a ride on the train and plenty of pictures taken. Another tradition to check off the list until next year.

A few days later C.J. and I headed back to the patch for his kindergarten field trip. This time around he wanted a red pumpkin. He searched and we never found one with a stem like he wanted, but the one he picked was a perfect match for him. It is always a lot of work, but so much fun at the patch.

Halloween Cookies

2011-10-30T21:19:00.000-06:00

It seems like with every holiday we run out of time to do all the things we want to fit in. At Halloween sugar cookies sometimes get passed up, but not this year, we made them early. The kids had a great time, each posing with their masterpiece. They are such creative kids, I love it. Emma is showcasing her wedding cake cookie, while C.J. is showing off his pumpkin with triangle eyes and toothy smile.

Madison's favorite was her Mad Eye Moody cookie she made. She has been reading the Harry Potter books and is on number 5. She loves them all.

Allie, well she just kept eating the icing. I frosted her a cookie and she licked off all the icing and then i frosted the same cookie again and she cleaned it off again. I am not sure how many times that happened, but she was on a sugar high before she crashed hard at bed time.

Sugar cookies are a part of Halloween that we need to remember every year, especially since I found an awesome recipe, they are so good!

October the beginning..

2011-10-30T20:57:00.001-06:00

So just like September this month is flying by and we have a lot to catch up on. The first Saturday went for a four-wheeler ride up the canyon to see the leaves. And aside from the rain it was really nice. Madison was pretending to sleep on the four-wheeler when we stopped for a few minutes.

I wasn't sure how Allie would like wearing a helmet while we were riding, but she actually liked having it on.

C.J. found a bright orange tree and picked a perfect leaf. He was excited because orange is his favorite color. The trees had such amazing colors this year. They were so bright and beautiful.

After the rain kicked us off the mountain we headed to g and g Bogh's house where the apple trees were loaded and ready to be picked. The big girls picked a few and put them in a bag to take home, but C.J. was on a quest to find the brightest red apple on the tree. He was pretty intense about it. He would pick one and rub it off to see how red it was, put it in his bag and move on to see if there was a brighter one.

There pictures were taken in a small section of one tree, I know they had a least three. Take a look at all of those apples, there were tons of them. I am happy to say that we turned some into apple crisp and others into caramel apple pie, both very tasty. We have also eaten alot of them. They are the perfect size for the kids.

Allie also loved the apples she found a grassy spot and munched on this apple for a while, she must have liked it a lot because since then every food is called an apple. So cute.

Where did September go?

2011-10-05T15:32:00.003-06:00

I have no idea what happened to September now it is October and Halloween is oozing from our house and the kids are so excited about the coming holiday, now if they could only decide, for sure, what they want to dress as it would make it a lot easier for me. Here are just a few things that happened in September...I

Allie's hair is finally long enough for two pig tails, if probably has been for a while now, but in my mind she is still a baby and babies don't put their hair in pig tails, but she is almost 18 months now, that is considered a toddler, and as much as I hate to admit it she is growing up.

I think her hair looks darling this way but it definitely makes her look older!

Madison danced at a JV football game. It was a dance she had learned this summer. She told me she didn't remember it at all. They had 2 practices and performed at the game. Madison did a really good job and still loves dancing. The picture above is of her and 2 of her 3 cousins that are in the dace group, how fun is that?

This was the ending pose and she actually looked at me. What a beautiful girl, she too is growing up way to fast.

C.J. and Allie are my little buddies while the big girls are at school. Allie takes a nap in the afternoon and C.J. gets totally bored. One day after he got home from school we went to the store and he begged for some Hostess cupcakes. After we got home he and Allie each needed their own. Just as I had told him the cupcakes weren't that great and I think that each of them only at the cream filling.

Allie loves to follow C.J. around when he gets home from school. This is just one of the many times I have found her mimicking his every move. Most of the time he is happy to oblige and will even give her a pen or a marker. Now if only he was willing to help me clean the pen marks off the chair that would be great.

So September is over and October is in full swing. I am just trying hold on and enjoy the ride because life moves way to fast, but we love it!

p.s. Emma is not in any of these pictures because she refused to have her picture taken, and even ended up in tears over that fact that I took her picture:1, she attitude has changed for the moment and I have some new pics to share soon.

Allie

2011-10-03T13:38:00.000-06:00

The other night I took some pictures of Allie in a field behind our house. She was more interested in eating the straw than holding still for a picture, but really when does she ever hold still?

These two are my favorites. This is so her personality right now. She is always so concerned about what is going on, and the hands over her mouth is a sure sign that she is giving you a pity laugh. So funny.

Back to School

2011-09-02T14:05:00.000-06:00

Normally when it is time to go back to school I am totally ready for it, not this year. I LOVE having my kids home for the summer. I wish that I could keep them home all the time, but I just don't see the home schooling thing working for us, plus they love school so much it would be awful for them not to go back, so with a tear in my eye I sent them on their way.

Madison has wanted to go back to school since summer break began. She was excited for her new teacher and the fact the most of her really good friends were going to be in her class. She loves being in 5th grade and being the oldest in the school. Even now over a week in she is still giddy as she get ready in the morning. She rides her bike to school with a goup of kids from our neighborhood.

Her favorite part of school is everything! She loves to read and do math worksheets, art and P.E. lunch and recess are always fun. I am glad that she loves school and does so well.

Emma is in 2nd grade this year and was as equally excited to get back as Madison was. She also has a great teacher this year. As far as friends in her class she didn't know many of the kids, nor did I. It is wierd because when you live in a small town you think you know everyone, where do these kids come from? But she has been so excited to be in the same class as her cousin Jacob. She sits in the front of the room, and Jake sits in the back, which is probably a good thing, but at recess they always play together. She said that mostly they play on the equipment, or look for bugs. Fits Emma perfectly.

Standing in front of her school.

Sisters on the fisrt day. Note Emmas outfit. you know when you take you kids shopping and you kind of cringe at the things they pick out i.e. this zebra shirt. Well it was only 4 dollars so I bought it for her, but never dreamed that she would HAVE to wear it the first day, but what do you do when you child looks at you with those big blue eyes and says "but it's my favorite"? you cave and they wear it to school.

C.J. my kindergarten baby, seriously!? I have to say that him going to school has been really hard on me. He has been my little buddy for so long, I feel lost without him at times, but he too was excited for school. He has a great teacher and some fun friends in his class and his cousin Caleb is in the class right next door so he can always find him to play with at recess.

Best buddies on C.J.'s first day of school.

This is his spot at the table. His teacher told him that he was lucky that he only had two letters in his name, much faster to write it I guess.When I got home after droping him off at school and I had tears running down my cheeks Tom said "are you crying, is everyone ok" I told him everying was fine, just that I would miss my little buddy. He said "it's ok there is another one upstairs." Yes, Allie was still asleep up in her room, and I am so glad to have her, but ther is something special about a mom anda realtionship with her son that I am going to miss while he is at school, becasue I know that I will turn around and he will be in 5th grade.

C.J. wouldn't let me pick him up from school the first day, he had to ride the bus. He loved the bus of course and was just mad that I didn't bring his bike for him to ride home from the bus stop. He was excited to go back the next day and told me that his teacher told them that she has the best class in the whole school, and who am I to argue with that.

So welcome back to school, so far so good!

She's a walker

2011-08-22T10:22:00.001-06:00

I can not believe how fast this little lady is growing up. She is full of spunk and energy and keeps us on our toes. She has been taking steps for a while now, but walking in now her preferred method for getting from one place to another.

She is so fun to have around our house and thinks she is just as big as the other kids.

As hard as it is for me to watch my baby getting so much older, I am so grateful that she is happy and healthy. She has her moments and can throw a fit with the best of them, at our house we call them Emma fits, because she is the title holder around here. But since she is our 4th child we think it is pretty fun to sit back and watch, because eventually she will get over it and be her happy content self again in a mere matter of moments. We love our silly baby.

Yellowstone-Day 4

2011-08-21T16:28:00.000-06:00

On the last day of our vacation we spent the day in West Yellowstone. We went shopping and ate at a fabulous restaurant. It was fun and relaxing. These two pictures were the only ones I took this day. These statues are all around the town, and the kids, although begrudgingly, let me take their picture by them. It think they are pretty cool.

The kids said their favorite part was the old fashioned candy store. We bought some taffy in about 10 different flavors, and for taffy it was really good. After spending our day in town we headed back to the cabin and went on some cool bike rides and just relaxed. It was a great vacation because it was so relaxing, which is just what we needed. Tom especially loved it for the relaxing factor.

We had such a great time, Yellowstone was amazing, as Emma said "Heavenly Father is a really good artist". She is exactly right it was beautiful. The cabin was so nice and the perfect getway and the company was so much fun. We look forward to going back in a few years. Maybe after a trip to Disneyland that is not so much relaxing, but oh so much fun!

Yellowstone- Day 3

2011-08-21T15:27:00.000-06:00

As you drive through Yellowstone people will stop their cars for just about anything. As we started or day we were in a traffic jam, the reason for the jam was this big guy, we named him Ted. He walked right past our car, and the fact that cars and people were everywhere didn't phase him, it was pretty cool to be that close to such a huge animal in the wild.

Our first stop was the paint pots. These were pretty cool. The mud popped out of the hole and splattered everywhere. As we walked the trail C.J. decided that he needed to use some walking sticks. It was so funny. you can see the girl in the picture above, she followed in along the path taking his picture all along the way, there was also another woman who asked him if she could take his picture, he was happy to oblige. Such a funny boy.

We saw so many neat waterfalls this day. They are beautiful and powerful.

Emma loved to look at the waterfalls, Allie wasn't so sure. I think that noise was just too much for her, this is the face she gave me standing near the falls.

We also drove to Yellowstone Lake. This is a huge lake, it was almost like an ocean it was so big. It was really windy when we were there, so we didn't stay too long, but I loved the look of this old hotel. It is the Yellowstone Lake Hotel, and it is so cool. The yellow bus in the front is what they use to take people on tours of Yellowstone. I would love to stay there someday.

This was the biggest waterfall that we hiked to. It was beautiful and the hike was pretty easy.

This hike was not easy. If you read the sign it tells you that it is hard, but we had to try. The kids did such a great job and hiked the whole way. The trail was metal stairs that were attached to the side of a cliff that went down and just when you thought you were at the end the stairs would turn and keep doing further.

This was part of the view at the end of the trail, an amazing waterfall that has a constant rainbow.

This is what the trail looked like at the bottom, we had 328 steps to climb to make it back to the top, our legs were burning the entire way up, but we made it, and it was worth it.

A huge portion of Yellowstone is in Madison County, so there were signs everywhere that had Madison's name on them, so we had to get a picture of he next to one of them.

On our way out of the park we were met with another traffic jam, as we waited we were all trying to guess what animal they had stopped for..a squirrel, rabbit, elk, bison, duck, who knows, like I said people stopped for anything. We were hoping it was a bear or a moose, the two animals that we hadn't seen, we lucked out this time, and it was a bear right across the river, I couldn't get a great picture, even out the top of our sunroof, but we can say that we did see a bear in the wild, pretty cool.

We headed back to the cabin and spent time riding bikes, playing kick-ball and eating yummy food. Allie enjoyed the ice cream, as you can see all over her, the older kids loved spending time on the deck.

These two boys couldn't get enough of the Wii and I-pads, yes the cabin had a Wii, and our cute little Allie started walking all of the place while we were there. So fun.

Yellowstone Day-2

2011-08-21T15:25:00.001-06:00

We started our first day in Yellowstone at the famous Old Faithful Geyser.

Watching hot water spewing out of a hole in the ground was pretty neat, and the fact that they can predict it is amazing to me, because it is different everyday and season of the year.

We had to wait for a while so we tried to find things to keep us entertained. This is most of the kids sitting, waiting patiently.

After a few minutes boredom set in and there was a lot of this going on..

and making a duck face out of Pringles is always entertaining.

We sat and watched the water shoot high into the air, just as was predicted.

After watching Old Faithful we walked around the area to look at all the different geysers and pools of water. Here are just a few of them. They were warm and stinky, but amazing too.

Yellowstone- Day1 Bear World

2011-08-15T21:56:00.000-06:00

At the end of July we took a trip to Yellowstone. We started our trip with a stop at Bear World. You drive through a caged area that if full of different animals, bison, elk, dear, moose, and of course bears. I was sure that this would be the closest we would get to the animals on our vacation, that was not the case, more on that to come.

As you drive through the park there are signs that tell you to keep the windows up,I may or may not have broken the rules, our windows were just to blurry to get good pictures.

This albino elk was pretty amazing to see in real life, I was surprised at how big it really was. Madison's comment was that he must be smart "because he was in the shade hangin' with the ladies"

The bears were amazing as well. I did keep the windows up as we passed them, I scare me a little bit, and the fact that someone had been killed by a bear in Yellowstone just a few weeks before our trip didn't help my fear. There were a lot of bears to look at, most of them were just laying around, but this one was just walking down the paved path.

The kiddie rides at Bear World were fun for the kids. Think small carnival type rides. It was great because they could just run from one ride to another, our kids were the perfect ages for these rides.

Our four baby bears.

There was also a petting zoo that the kids loved. The tiny fawn was so cute.

This goat had the right idea, he knew just where the food came from, and had the waist line to prove it.

Emma sat by this deer for a while petting her, she hardly moved, Emma loved it.

The boys enjoyed feeding the deer

and the girls the goat with horns, they wished they had a tin can to see if the goat would eat it.

Bear World was fun, now off to the cabin and more adventures in Yellowstone!

2011-07-30T23:42:00.001-06:00

The day after we picked up grandma and grandpa from the airport we spent time at Temple Square. I love this place. it is an automatic refuge from the world. All you have to do it walk on the grounds and you feel the spirit that is there, I love it. We spent a lot of time in the visitors center particularly in the room with the statue of the Savior.

There were lots of extra hugs from grandma

and just being together

A few days later we were on our first 4-wheeler ride of the summer with grandma and grandpa Bogh. The snow had finally melted and we were able to make our way through the beautiful mountains.

You gotta love that helmet hair.

Toms dad was keeping him in line, I need him around more often.

4th of July 2011

2011-07-26T19:36:00.000-06:00

I have to say that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the celebration in our small town, it is the even of the year and I look forward to it each summer. Patriotism is at an all time high and there is a great feeling of being untied and proud of our country.

The cute red, white, and blue outfits are the icing on the cake.

We always stake our claim on a section of main street the day before to ensure the best view of the parade and for the kids their dibs on candy.

Our favorite part of the parade was watching Madison dance down the street, she did a great job and as she stated "it was good exercise".

After the parade we hooked up to the boat and headed to the lake. The kids were excited to have the puppies greet us. My brothers dog gave birth to 9 of these darlings on Memorial day, they sure are cute but we "already have a dog" is what are children heard every time they pleaded with us to take one home.

After our trip to the lake we came home and had a fun BBQ at our house, it was such a fun day!

Sparklers and glow bracelets are a staple at our 4th of July celebrations, Emma loves them both.

Happy Birthday America, we love to celebrate our freedom.

Children's Parade

2011-07-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

Our patriotic celebration would not be complete without the children's parade. What could be more fun than walking down the street when it is over 90 degrees? To our kids the popsicle at the end makes it all worth it.

All three of the big kids rode their bikes in the parade this year. They had a lot of fun decorating them and making them look patriotic, Emma even wanted to paint her bike, luckly we talked her out of that one.

Our ward did face painting, which is always fun

By the end the kids were done apparently the crate paper in the wheels was causing problems and getting stuck in the chains of their bikes. But they made it to the end.

July

2011-07-24T20:56:00.000-06:00

I have so much to catch up on. We have been having a busy but fun month. We went to Quail Lake with the Rasmussen family and had such a great time. The weather was perfect and the water was 72 degrees.

We love this tube that they have. It is huge and can hold a ton of people the picture above is all the girls

here are the boys

Me with the little kids, they were getting pretty brave and taking turns standing on the tube

Our whole family, we weren't actually being pulled, but it was fun to get a picture of all of us.

Tom and the big kids on one last ride. Thanks to Wendy and her kids for taking us while Karl and Kolby were at Scout Camp. We had such a fun time with them as always.

They Made it home

2011-07-18T19:44:00.000-06:00

We are so glad to have grandma and grandpa Thalman home from their mission in Cambodia. Here are some of the kids with the sign they made to welcome them home!

This picture is kind of fuzzy, but the look on their faces is priceless. All of the grandkids were the first to greet them.

and Garb was right there too

Allie wasn't to sure about grandma

but grandpa was great.

C.J. was excited to see them too, I love this picture of he and grandpa

This is a partial picture of those of us at the airport, the girl who took the picture wasn't quite sure how to use our camera so I think this is about half. It was so great to have everyone there at the airport and having them home with us is even better than I could imagine. We are so glad that they had the opportunity to serve and the examples they are to us, but we are selfish too because having them here with us is wonderful.

Today is the Day!

2011-07-07T07:15:00.000-06:00

It has been 18 months and grandma and grandpa are coming home TODAY! we are so excited. Madison told me that it is like a million Christmas' all in one day, and she is exactly right. The kids made a countdown chain a few weeks ago with a picture of them at the top. The kids each take their turn to rip off a link. It has been so fun to see it get shorter and shorter. Having my parents on a mission has been a wonderful experience for all of us. I know our family has learned and grown so much since they have been gone. We have been so blessed because of their willingness to serve. I am excited to talk to them and hug them and have them live close to us again. But I am most excited for them to meet our sweet little Allie. In the 18 months since they left 5 new grandchildren have been born for a total of 20. It is such an exciting day and we can't wait to see them!

Seven Peaks

2011-07-06T19:58:00.000-06:00

We spent a day at seven peaks, it was fun, but would have been better had the weather cooperated. When we got there the sun was hot and shiny, 10 minutes the later it was pouring, a typical summer rain storm. We waited about 45 minutes and were able to get back in an hour later the rain came again so we were out of the water, then back in repeat that 3 more times and that was our day.

I thought the kids might be bored is disappointed, but that was not the case. In between rain storms they found plenty of ways to stay busy.

climbing up the tower of tubes

eating fishy crackers

striking a pose

and pretending to be on the tube ride. It was a crazy day at a water park but the kids enjoyed every second. I just look forward to when we go again on a nice sunny day.

On the way home we went through Gunnison and Mater was parked on main street in front of the theater. The kids were so excited, we are huge Cars fans at our house.

It was a great replication that someone had made and as my kids said we didn't have to wait in line forever to see him like we did at Disneyland. So fun.

2011-07-05T18:50:00.001-06:00

This little girl has been enjoying her summer. She loves that her big sisters are home all day, she thinks that she is as big as they are. Madison dressed her up as a princess and she loved it. She was so cute and even left the tiara on, she looked so cute. I think this is a sign of things to come.

More than dressing up she is loving the treats of summer. She loves ice cream and popcicles and will scream if someone is eating one and won't share with her.

Whenever she is eating something cold I am sure that the cold will get to her, but I cannot think of a time that it has even phased her, so cute.

I love these summer days and having all the kids home and not having a schedule to follow, it is just going by way to fast.

Emma

2011-06-23T20:49:00.001-06:00

Emma played softball this year. This was her first year, and she had so much fun. She played coach pitch and had the cutest girls on her team.

She had fun playing catcher

And batting was her favorite part. She improved so much over the season, it was great to watch her become more confided in herself and just to have fun.

This was Emma on the last day of school. She loved 1st grade and learned so much. She made so many friends this year and her teacher always told me that she was always so willing to help others and be nice to everyone. She is loving summer and is excited to go to 2nd grade.

This is a picture of Emma after her gymnastics performance. She loved gymnastics. I as very hesitant to let her take the classes. The thought of her doing the splits with her hips has always made me nervous, but after many reassurances from her doctor that she can do anything we signed her up. I am so glad we did, she had so much fun and looked forward to her class every week.

As you can see there is not a picture of Emma at the dance recital. She refused to let me take her picture. She is so glad that dance is over and says she is done with it. She said the same thing last year too, so we will see.

I love this silly girl and I am so glad to have her home for the summer.

Madison

2011-06-20T15:34:00.000-06:00

I have to say that May can be such a crazy month, almost as busy as December. There was to much going on to keep up. Here are a few things Madison was up to last month.

She is always such a great big sister. Much of the time Allie prefers her to me. This picture above is a common sight, Madison entertaining Allie and I appreciate her help so much.

She also played softball and fell completely in love with it. She has played since she was in first grade, but realized this year that it is so much fun. She pitched in almost every game and learned to pitch strikes very often. Her next favorite place to play was short stop and her least favorite was catcher. She hit 3 home runs in the season and switched it up by batting both right and left. She still goes around carrying a mitt and ball and had decided that she is going to learn to pitch both right and left handed. We will see if it lasts, but right now she is obsessed.

I went down stairs one morning to find these two asleep. Madison had taken Allie down to play and they both must have been worn out because a half hour later they were both asleep. It didn't last long, so I am glad I got a picture.

Before school was out the 4th grade went on a field trip to Capitol Reef. It was such a fun day. We went on a hike, played games

and learned about what it was like for the kids who went to school in the old school house. The weather turned out to be perfect. I am so glad that I got to go with her.

She danced in her recital and was as beautiful as always. She loves to dance and is still dancing this summer, four mornings a week.

This was the last day of school. She had a great year. She loved her teacher and was so excited to go everyday. She also learned so much. She was in the advanced early morning math program and earned a presidential award for education for scoring so high on her end of year testing, and she still hasn't missed a spelling word. She works hard and enjoys learning. We are so proud of her.

She also performed in her piano recital. She played the song Cookoo. She played so well and although she complains a lot about having to practice and go to lessons but I think she really likes it and enjoys being able to sit and play.

Memorial Day

2011-06-19T15:22:00.002-06:00

We decided to take our kids to visit the grave sites of members of our family. The picture above is where my Grandpa is buried. He died before I was born but my grandma has told us many stories about him and what an amazing man he was.

This is where my Great-Grandparents are buried, next to my grandpa. My Great-grandma Esther was the most amazing woman. I remember going to her house as a kid and she always gave us vanilla ice cream in a cake cone. She died when I was about 14 but I remember so much about her. Her maiden name was Jensen and that is where C.J. got part of his name.

My Grandma came up to the cemetery while we were there. It was really good to see her there and visit with her.

We then went to see where Tom's grandparents are buried. Tom's grandpa died before he was born, but he remembers spending time with his grandma. I thing he talks about the most is when I flew to CA to stay with her and she took him to his first MLB game. She is also Maidson's name sake. The kids like to talk about grandma Iris and learn more about her. C.J. was also named after Great- Grandpa and Grandpa Bogh

2011-06-03T20:14:00.000-06:00

So Tom always makes fun of me when I come home from the DI excited about something that I found. I will admit that our DI is not the greatest, but every once in a while there is something worth purchasing.

I found this suitcase, it is a little battered, but I thought it might be a cute picture prop and for 2 bucks you can't beat it. I do have plans to paint it, but who knows when that will be.

I think Allie felt trapped atop the suitcase, and she only started smiling when Emma and C.J. came running towards her, she knew that she would be saved from her snap happy momma. I just can't help but take pictures of her sweet cheeks, and show Tom that this old suitcase can be of use when you stick a darling little girl on top.

You've had a birthday shout hooray

2011-06-02T09:16:00.000-06:00

Yep she did it, she went and turned 10, double digits, without even asking me. I guess there is not much I could have done, but really...this just makes me feel old. We started out the day with breakfast in bed, a family tradition. After church we celebrated with lunch and a zingers cake, I will admit that I didn't have a lot of time to put it together since we had been to Lagoon the day before, but Madison loved it.

She blew out the candles and it was official she was ten years old!

We played some minute-to-win-it games

Then it was time for presents. She was so excited to get some new books from g and g Bogh. I swear I can't keep this girl in reading material, so they were the perfect gift.

Madison wanted a new bike for her birthday. We gave in and let her have it early. She had sold her bike at a yard sale where all of the money was given to someone in need. Her old bike was too small and had about a million miles on it so she was due for a new one. We kept telling her that she wasn't going to get anything for her birthday because she already got her bike, and she was ok with that, to it made the rollerblades an extra surprise. She was not expecting them so it made it even more fun.

She also got to skype g and g Thalman that evening which is always fun.

Happy Birthday to my sweet and spunky 10 year old. I hope the next 10 years go much, much slower.

Lagoon

2011-06-01T14:18:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago we got to Lagoon. The kids had never been there, and Tom and I hadn't been for about 11 years. Madison's would be dancing there with her class in a competition so we decided to make a weekend of it. We drove up Friday afternoon and stayed in a hotel. I think for the kids that would have been enough. They didn't need Lagoon they were just excited to stay in a hotel.

We made sure the hotel had a pool, that was the only thing the kids requested. It was actually a very nice pool that was very warm, just the way I like it. We don't do a lot of swimming in the winter and since it has been so cold at home swimming was just what we needed.

Tom ended up toting the kids all through the pool, they loved it.

It took Allie a little while to get used to it. She hates the bath, so I wasn't sure if she would ever warm up to the idea, but in the end she was splashing and playing in the water with the rest of our little fish.

The weather turned out to be perfect on Saturday, it had been raining all week. This is Madison's class practicing for their tap dance

This is the very end of their ballet dance on stage. We lucked out with the timing of her performances. They were really close together and early enough that we had the rest of the day to play.

The rides were fun as usual and the kids couldn't get enough. It surely wasn't Disneyland, but for a quick trip it was a fun day.

TEN 10 ten

2011-05-23T21:01:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that this pretty girl is ten years old!

She is so fun and smart and the best big sister ever.

We love her so much and are so blessed that she is part of our family.

We love you so much sis.

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-23T14:08:00.003-06:00

C.J. was so excited to graduate from preschool, he is so excited for kindergarten! The kids in his class are so cute, and he has loved school this year.

He as loved being in class with two of his cousins, Caleb and Jainie.

He also loved that his friends in our neighborhood were in his class.

and, Mrs. Pace made it so much fun everyday.

Solong preschool, kindergarten here he comes! C.J is such a fun, smart boy and as sad as I am that he is growing up, I am excited for his future. I am grateful I get to watch him grow and be his biggest fan. Love you Buddy!

T-Ball

2011-05-11T13:15:00.000-06:00

C.J. was beyond excited to play his first t-ball game last week. The day of the game he was asking every 15 minutes if it was time to go, the game didn't start until 5:30 so it was a long day for him.

He loved every second of it. When I asked him his favorite part he said all of it, he likes to hit, catch, and run around the bases.

It has been so fun to watch these little boys who chase the ball wherever it goes like ducks trying to catch bread crumbs. C.J. did great. He knew where to run and where to throw the ball.

Those base lines sure do seem long for such little legs, but he never complained.

I love his intensity and concentration. My dad told me that his dad would always stick out his tongue when he was concentrating, C.J. does the same thing. The love of baseball runs deep in C.J.'s blood and we couldn't be happier.

A five from Uncle/Coach Judd. It doesn't get any better than this for C.J. They had to cancel his game last night due to rain, I haven't ever seen him so disappointed. Several times he said to me "guess who was at my t-ball game today" then he would answer "nobody, cause the game was canceled" It was so funny. I just hope the game tonight is still on, but the sky doesn't look like it will cooperate, but we will see. Here is to a great t-ball season.

Spring Break 2011-Saturday

2011-05-11T12:07:00.000-06:00

The Easter bunny always visits us on Saturday. The kids were excited, they set out their baskets the night before, along with carrots and a glass of water for the Easter Bunny.

They must have been good by Easter Bunny standards because their baskets were full of treats and toys. They were excited about all of it. Allie even liked the leftover, dried out, carrots that were left on the Easter Bunnies plate.

We headed to grandma and grandpa Bogh's house for more Easter fun. The kids colored more Easter Eggs

found more Easter Eggs

and ate more candy.

Cousins make everything more fun, what a wonderful holiday.

Spring Break 2011- Friday

2011-05-03T21:17:00.000-06:00

The Easter holiday would not be complete without coloring eggs.We dug out the food coloring and vinegar and went to work. In years past the kids would just grab and dunk and move on to the next one, not this time. They would plan out what each egg was going to look like before they started. It was so fun to see their creativity come through. It was fun to to look at the carton and be able to pick out who made each egg because of the way it looked.

Emma was so excited to make an egg for Allie since this

was her first Easter. Even though she is 1 she was born a few days after Easter and the holiday was so late this year.

I love that these eggs were tiny pure white canvas' for the kids to create works of art, now we have to see if we can eat them all. Egg sandwiches anyone?

Later that day we made our way to Capitol Reef. We were a little worried about the weather. The clouds were threatening all day, but it ended up being a perfect day for hiking. We hiked to Hickman Bridge and it was beautiful.

Last time we were here was about 5 years ago. Tom was carrying Emma in the backpack while carrying Madison most of the way and I carried C.J. in the front carrier.

Not this time, with the exception of Allie they hiked every step on their own and at times we had to tell them to slow down so we could catch up. The bridge was gorgeous and Allie was perfectly content to ride in the backpack, in fact she didn't want to get out when the hike was over.

The scenery was amazing. After this outing we decided that we need to do this more often. There are so many state and national parks in so close to us and we need to take advantage of that.

There is nothing like spending time with the people you love surrounded by beauty. I try to bask in and absorb these moments because I know too well that they are going to be gone in no time.

If you haven't noticed the kids are growing like weeds, and when I see their socks peeking out under their pants and I can't keep them in shoes I am reminded that they are getting older. One day they will in fact leave me and I hope that I have taught them all they need to know to stand on their own two feet with strength and confidence, and know that their mother and loves them no matter what.

Spring Break 2011- Thursday

2011-05-02T14:39:00.001-06:00

We were excited for spring break this year. Since Easter was so late in the year so was the break. The few days prior the weather was so nice but as soon as the kids were out the wind stared blowing and the temp dropped. We were disappointed to say the least. We tried to make the best of it. On thursday we made a trip to IFA to see the baby chicks, but they were sold out, so we saw the bunnies and got some flower seed packets, soil, and pots.

Because of the wind we had to move our project to the garage. The kids had so much fun

playing in the dirt

planting the seeds

and watering the final product

The only problem with planting the flowers is that they take 7-14 days to germinate, I am not sure if their interest will last that long, maybe we should have planted beans...

Hopefully when they start to grow the excitement will return.

Thursday evening we went to Great-Grandma Lois' house for an Easter egg hunt. We trapped the kids inside while we told them how many eggs they could find etc. it was so funny, they look like caged animals.

They searched low

and high

and ultimately got a basket full of sugar to satisfy their mouths full of sweet teeth.

Grandmas house is a special place where memories are made and love surrounds you as soon as you step through the door. We love her so much .

While she should have been napping

2011-04-19T20:15:00.001-06:00

Sundays can be rough for this little girl, church is during her nap time and when we get home she is just to tired to sleep. So after an hour of rest she didn't know what she wanted and playing outside was the only thing that made her happy.

Currently our grass if full of these little dandies. She was so happy crawling around the grass from one flower to the next.

With a smile on that binkie filled mouth

It made me happy that we planted those dandelion seeds!

Neighborhood Egg Hunt

2011-04-17T19:44:00.001-06:00

Saturday was a perfect day as far as the weather was concerned, so we enjoyed it. Our swing set was broken in for the season and I am pretty sure Allie would live on the swing if that was possible.

We also attended our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. The kids had such a great time searching for eggs and candy and playing games.

I guess there are benefits to having Easter later in the year, the warm weather was great, I just hope it will stick around for this weekend. HAPPY EASTER!

2011-04-16T15:31:00.002-06:00

We had a fun family party to celebrate Allie turning one. We are so blessed to have such a supportive family that is there for us and help share in these special milestones.

This the cake we made for her party. If you have never tried using fondant I recommend it. I used the store bought kind, it was so much fun and it turned out so cute.

More cake and a worn out birthday girl

Thanks to everyone who could come and we missed those who couldn't.

2011-04-16T15:06:00.001-06:00

Our sweet girl had a great birthday. I know that I say it all the time, but how did she get this old? I am pretty sure she was born last week...crazy. I will admit that when we sang happy birthday to her I cried. There is just something about your baby turning one that is so emotional, rewarding and heart breaking at the same time. You give your all to your children everyday at the same time praying you are guiding them and teaching them those things you know you should, and when they reach a milestone, like a birthday, there is reflection and a desire to do better each day.

She loved the cake, the lit candle and especially eating the fondant dots on the top

The presents were just as much fun. A stuffed puppy from Madison, books from Emma

and "GIRL" cars from C.J.
She loved the wrapping paper and had lots of extra help from excited siblings. She is sweet and amazing, and we love her so much!

At one Allie..
-can say several words mama, dada, oh oh, and hi are her favorites
-will eat anything and everything (this is a total change from her sibs)
-loves our dog Jake as long as he doesn't sneeze when she is around, it is the only thing
that freaks her out.
-finally has teeth! 2 on the bottom
-sleeps at least 12 hours a night
-stops traffic with her smile and wave
-is too cute and soooo loved

Thanks for the past year little girl, I am looking forward to all the small moments the future holds for you, I am so blessed to be your mama.

Happy Birthday Allie

2011-04-07T21:50:00.000-06:00

We had a great day and loved celebrating this sweet girl, more to come...

SWING

2011-04-06T12:30:00.001-06:00

Remember when you were a kid and the swings were the best. That feeling of butterflies in your stomach, it was as if you were flying, then the chains would tighten and you were brought back down. I still love that feeling, and so do our kids.

There was a time when our three older kids were small and I would try to avoid the swings because I would be standing pushing swings the whole time. Now they are older and can pump themselves they are great again.

Chalk

2011-04-03T14:50:00.001-06:00

Break out the sidewalk chalk spring is here, well for one day anyway. These two are big into drawing/coloring.

C.J. was spelling any word he could think of, while Emma was drawing a dog with pink ears.

I love these carefree warm days and hope that soon they will come to stay.

Allie has a love for her stroller. Every time we go out in the garage, which is a lot, she dives for her stroller. She loves being outside and going for walks.

She also loves to play peek-a-boo, but half the time she misses her eyes and covers her mouth, she does not want to miss anything that is going on around her. Silly Baby.

Sundays

2011-03-28T11:22:00.000-06:00

I have a love/hate relationship with going to church at 9 a.m. I love it when you are there and everyone is ready, but I hate having to get the kids to bed earlier on Saturday and then waking them up early. But, when there is a nice afternoon to be spent outside, nothing can beat that.

It is baseball/softball season around our house so when we are outside that is what we do. C.J. will be playing T-ball and Emma will play softball for the first time, and Madison is excited to play again.

Welcome to that crazy time of year when there are a million things going at once.

This last picture I just love. Madison is always there to take care of her siblings, especially Allie

So thanks to 9 a.m. chruch we got to spend the afternoon in the sun replenishing our much depleted bodies of vitamin D, and just being together. It doesn't get any better.

2011-03-24T12:44:00.000-06:00

It is amazing how fast time goes by. I remeber last year at this time praying for this sweet baby to come, I was ready to hold her in my arms. She is such an sweet, curious ball of fun.

She has been sick this last week, not fun, but I have taken advantage of the extra cuddle time.

She is an attention grabber. She will wave from the shopping cart to anyone who walks by.

She loves to be held and will practically crawl up you leg to get into your arms.

I finally got her quilt made. I had all the stuff and was planning to make it for Chirstmas, but that didn't happen, so it ended up as a Valentine's gift, and she loves it. All of our children are blanky lovers, Allie is no exctption. This one is her new favorite, and I couldn't be happier.

She was so funny when I took these pictures. She did not want to touch the grass, so she would crawl tothe very edge and then sit. Then she would crawl to the other side and do the same thing, it was so funny.

At eleven months...

...she still doesn't have any teeth

...she loves her dad more than anyone in the world

...pears are still her favorite food

...she loves to play with brushes and combs

...she loves buttons, on clothing, remotes, phones, everything but toys

...she pretends everything is a phone

...her favorite toy is the piano

...she blows kisses all the time

...she is sweet and calm

Gotta love this sweet girl!

11 months

2011-03-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

The older kids were so excited to realize that it is only a month until Allie's first birthday, and I just wanted to cry. I seriously don't know how she is this old. We have so much fun with this sweet baby.

She is crawling all over and is constantly getting into things. She is pulling up to everything and has taken some pretty good tumbles.

She loves to be around her brother and sisters

and sometimes they drive her crazy. The older kids are great at helping to pull stuff out of her mouth and keep her out of trouble, I think she feels like they take the fun away, better them than me I guess

We have also been rockin' neon green around our house. I made these leggings for Allie to go with a pink dress she has, and when Emma found these shoes she had to have them. they were in her favorite color and her size, it was ment to be. These shoes practically glow in the dark and according to Emma they match everything!?..

2011-03-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

Emma was so excited about the arts festival at her school this year. You can always find her drawing, coloring or creating something. She decided to sculpt a dog out of clay and draw a picture of a dog paw. She said that the paw was to remind people to take care of animals, especially dogs. She received 2 first place ribbons and couldn't be more excited. We also met with her teacher who told us she is a great student and doing very well in school. We are so proud of her.

These two are quite the kids. They decided to make their own dinner one evening. What was on the menu..tortillas with sour cream, lettuce, and strawberries.. quite the combo, but they both loved it and actually ate it all and cleaned up after themselves.

C.J. found this sign and knew that it was perfect for him. He spends most of his days surrounded by girls and he is such a good sport about it. He now has this sign on his bedroom door and he loves it.

Trapped

2011-02-28T15:38:00.001-07:00

Since Allie has been crawling all over the place we needed to put a gate up. When she sees the older kids go downstairs this poor girl will sit by the gate and wait for someone to take her down. She just wants to be in on the action.

If by chance the gate is down she will make a mad dash for the stairs. It will be a sad day when she takes a tumble and unfortunately after having 3 other kids I know it is inevitable.

Sorry baby we are going to keep you trapped as long as possible.

Happy Love Day!

2011-02-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Valentine's Day full of parties and lot of candy.

Every year I ask C.J. if he is my Valentine and this was the first year that he told me no. He said that Allie was his Valentine. When I asked if both of them could be my Valentine he told me no, he said I am a big brother now and Allie can only be my Valentine. So there you have it, a mom can be replaced by a cute baby sister, on Valentines day anyway.

Madison made this cute dog Valentine box for school. She is always so creative and thanks to Tom's ingnuity she was very happy with the result.

Our cute Allie on her first Valentine's day. She loved that the kids would empty their treat bags or boxes on the floor. She would make a mad dash and shove as much paper in her mouth as she could. It drove me crazy, but she loved it.

cushions, backbends, and carpet burns

2011-02-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

Emma pulled the cushions off the couch one afternoon to practice her gymnastics and Allie was in heaven. She loved crawling all over the cushions, Emma was terrified that Allie was going to fall of so she watched her every second.

Allie just wanted to crawl around on her own, but Emma would not allow it. She is always "helping" Allie and Allie doesn't always appreciate it.

Look at these cute girls, can you tell that the cushions caused some static, look at those hair do's.

Emma was practicing her back walk-over and I am proud to say that by the next week she was able to do it without the cushion although she looks like her back will break in half.

C.J. came up and told me he didn't know that the carpet would go that...? I didn't know what he was talking about until I looked more closely at his nose, it was pink and weepy. He told me he rubbed his nose along the carpet.

A few days later this is what it looked like, a giant scab. Everyone would ask him what happened and he would roll his eyes and say "carpet burn" and walk away. It was so funny. I am happy to say that it is now fully healed, and he is glad that no one is looking at his nose anymore.

10 Months

2011-02-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

Our Allie is 10 Months old

She loves to Patty-Cake

and point at everything. She has an amazing pincer grasp and her favorite thing to pull on is eyelashes.

She is such a happy, easy going baby, who is still in love with her daddy. She always perfers him to me and always resists when I take her from his arms, and I am pretty sure he loves it.

She brings us joy everyday, we couldn't live without her!

Best day EVER!

2011-02-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

C.J. proclaimed Thursday as the best day ever. He was so excited when I picked him up from school. I thought maybe it was a sugar high because it was Pancake/Pajama day plus show and tell, I thought maybe all that syrup had gone to his brain. When he jumped in the car he told me he had a suprise in his backpack and when we got home I had to close my eyes. This is very unusual for him. Typically when I ask him about school he says it was fun and that is the end of the conversation. So when we got home he sat me down on the couch and I closed my eyes. First he pulled out the certificate that said cookie club with a package of Oreo's, which ment he passed off all of his upper case letters. Then he told me to close my eyes again and he brought out the certificate that said he was a member of the candy bar club for passing off all of his lower case letters along with a package of m&m's. He was so excited and so proud of himself, and we are so proud of him too.

Way to go C.J. We love you little smartie pants.

Oh January..

2011-01-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

I would have to say that January is my least favorite month of the year, it always drags on in the cold and snow when I am ready for spring. What do we do to get through it all..

Madison did a service project to collect money for children in Cambodia. The money will go to help make school kits for the children. She was really excited to see all that had been collected.

C.J. is determined to get this little girl crawling. He is always on the floor showing her how to crawl and tells me that she just needs to move her arms. She is great at the backwards crawl and as far as I am concerned that is good enough. She can't be old enough to crawl, she was just born.

Allie has been eating her veggies

before dessert

and eating chocolate cake batter from the bowl. They look so serious trying to get every last drop. yum!

Madison had her piano recital and did a great job. She got pretty nervous before it was her turn to play and I have to agree that when you are number 14 out of 20 that is a long time to be nervous, but she did it and survived.

So where has Emma been during all of this, well this poor girl has been sick, so she has been playing a lot of games and watching too much t.v. She started out with a cold that turned into an ear infection and after treating that she still wasn't getting any better. She still had a high fever and was pale as a ghost. When she told me that it was pink when she went to the bathroom I know why she wasn't getting better. She had a kidney infection that was very severe, but never complained about it a stomach ache or anything, the poor girl. The doctor said that her urine was 50% blood and puss, sorry, that is really gross, but it explains why she was so sick. After an injection of antibiotics and a prescription with a broader spectrum she is feeling a thousand times better and we are happy about that. She is sure that the sucker and animal shaped bracelets made her all better, and I will let her think that.
So now that January is almost over I am excited for February because it is a short months and I like short things, like my kids, and maybe it will be sprinkled with a few warm day...here's hoping

9 months

2011-01-07T18:11:00.002-07:00

She has officially been in our home for more time than I was pregnant and we don't know what we would do without her. Here are just a few pictures to freeze this fleeting moment in time.

Ok so maybe this is more than a few, but I could have posted all 47 that I took, I had to be picky.
at 9 months Allie...
- is so close to crawling it is scary, time for outlet covers and cabinet locks
- is calm and easy going
- is constantly entertained by her brother and sisters
- loves to eat everything especially things off the floor, I need to vacuum more often
- waves bye-bye
- says mama and dada
- is so sweet we could just eat her up
Happy 9 months Allie

She is 7

2011-01-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am still in shock about it. My New Years baby is seven years old...
To go from this tiny baby to this little girl in such a short amount of time is just crazy. It hasn't always been easy for this girl, but she has taught me how to be strong, how to adapt to your situation, and to be content with what life throws your way. She is sweet and sassy and determined to do things her way. She is our professional bedtime staller always asking for one more hug and kiss, and who can resist? She loves all animals especially dogs and puppies and said that if she had a million dollars she would buy a million of them to be hers. We love you sis.

Breakfast in bed and g and g Bogh's house. Since she was up until about 2 the night before we didn't wake her up until about 9 o'clock. She choose to go sleding in the fields and play in the snow even with the 15 degree temperatures.

For dinner it was McDonalds and cupcakes with puppy rings.

Gifts wrapped in puppy paper

and puppies to play with. I think she may have been disappointed that there wasn't a real dog for her to cuddle but I think she had a great day. Happy Birthday Emma.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

After staying up way to late on Christmas Eve we finally woke the kids up at 8:00 so see if santa had come. Two of the kids had to take a potty break before they made their way to the family room.

Allie was so tired she didn't know what to think. After a nap she absolutely loved the wrapping paper and bows.

Madison got and i-pod and fake glasses she had asked for and loved the drawing book that she was suprised with

C.J. was excited about everything that Santa brought for him. He must have been a good boy because he got everything he asked for and then some. My only question is why the heck are transformers so hard to transform. It was like a giant page of instructions to turn one into an airplane and when we finally got it done, he wanted it to be a guy again.

Emma got her Laine doll she asked for and was thrilled about it.

She was trying so hard to get the m&m out

Christmas P.J.'s 2010

Christmas Eve

2011-01-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

We spent the day before Christmas in the snowy mountains above Mayfield. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun on tubes.

Tom and Emma

Madison and Tayler

Brinlee, Madison, Emma, and Tayler taking a break from hiking up the hill.

After dinner Santa made a special visit to Grandpa and Grandma Bogh's house with a special treat for everyone. More sugar is just what the kids needed to keep them up all night.

Then it was present time. My kids had been waiting all day to open their Christmas Eve gift of P.J.'s.

December Highlights

2011-01-03T18:41:00.001-07:00

Christmas Church Clothes

Madison's school program

The Nutcracker 2010

8 Cousins have a part in the Nutcracker.

Our own frosty after 16+ inches of snow.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

"Our prayer this Christmas season is that the light and testimony of the Savior's divine mission will come into our hearts and be reflected inour lives and in our homes."
-First Presidency Message 2010
Merry Christmas!

Santa!

2010-12-23T18:07:00.000-07:00

Santa was in town, yes the REAL Santa just ask my kids they know. We were in line and done in less than 10 minutes it was great.

Madison asking for an i-pod and Santa telling her he would bring her some toys

Emma just sitting nervously, He told her he would bring her some toys

C.J. asking for Legos and Santa said he would bring him a toy

The classic first picture with Santa, extreme crying the started the moment she was placed on Santas lap and ceased the moment dad picked her up.

I think that Santa's hearing may be starting to go, but I asssured the kids that Santa had received their letters and they would receive what they asked for as long as they were still on the nice list.

Thanks Santa for the drinks and the bag of nuts and candy, I am still cleaning up peanut shells!

Tubing

2010-12-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

A few pictures for you viewing pleasure... Good times at the tubing hill

Who needs a sled these snow pant are just as slick (he went up and down the hill like this over and over)

We had a great time roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and drinking cocoa. The wreck of the day goes to Madison who worked up the courage to start at the very top and after a graceful endo she caught herself with her ear. Only a few tears were shed, typical, but a great afternoon in the great outdoors.

Light Parade

2010-12-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

It is so funny to me that whenever Allie is all bundled up she is so snugly, I don't know if it is because she like to be all toasty, or if she feels defeated because she can hardly move, either way I think that I might bundle her up around the house just so she will let me hold her. She loved watching all the lights move down the street and even the blaring fire engine didn't phase her.

The girls watching the parade

the boy with his GQ face (I think he was practicing his smolder, we had just come from watching Tangled, he must have learned a thing or two)

This was C.J.'s favorite, I think it is pretty cool for a small town parade I think it is welding students from the college and they grind metal and the sparks fly, C.J. thought it was "so awesome". Tom and I both agree that it wasn't the best parade we had ever seen, but that did have fireworks which was a new, exciting, element.

Ward Party

2010-12-19T18:01:00.002-07:00

We had our annual ward Christmas party and it was a lot of fun, full of great food entertainment and the spirit of the reason we celebrate this time of year. We only took a few pictures, I had to post the one above becasue everyone says this little lady looks co much like her dad, but I think there are bits and pieces of her mom in ther too.
These two were sheep in the nativity, here they are sporting thier ears and acting like their silly selves. Madison was an angel, but refused to have her picture taken becasue apparently she is "too old" for this kind of stuff. I the hostess of our table which ment that I was the decorator and server of food. Luckly I didn't spill anything on anyone and I made these awesome paper trees for the table decor that were a huge hit. It was a fun night and a great reminder of the bith of our Savior.

8 Months

2010-12-10T22:19:00.003-07:00

That's right she is 8 months old and as cute as can be.

We celebrated by letting her play in her oatmeal, I thought she would love it, and she did

problem is that it came back to bite me, now she wants to play in her food every time I feed her, silly baby!
At eight months-
-still loves her binkie and blanket
-dances ALL the time
-sits by herself
-move objects from one hand to another
-throws things on the floor to hear the noise they make
-waves goodbye and gives fives
-loves to eat everything especially when dad gives her chocolate covered pretzels
-still thinks her dad is the best thing in the world
We love you little sugar baby.

Gingerbread House

2010-12-10T21:03:00.002-07:00

The FHE activity for Monday night, the gingerbread house. After we got the structure standing (thanks to some nasty thick icing) the kids went to work. I think this is the first time I let them loose on the house.

I am pretty sure they ate more candy than ended up on the house, notice the pink teeth and tongues.

The end result a fine looking house that I am sure any gingerbread family would love to live in.

Decorating

2010-12-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

So this tree is HUGE. We had to use a very tall ladder to decorate it, the kids thought it was great, I was just waiting for one of them to fall off. Luckily we got it done without any casualties.

Allie is fascinated by all the lights. She just sat and touched all of the lights, she was a great help and so easily entertained. The tree is up, thanks to Tom and decorated, thanks to the kids now to wrapping the gifts, I guess that is my job the fun and monotony of it all.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house.

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-12-10T20:45:00.003-07:00

We had a great time getting trees this year. The snow was deep, but the weather was great. Allie loved being outside and spending a lot of time in her daddy's arms.

C.J was tramping around with sticks while loosing his boots in the snow. The cold never even phased him, he was in heaven out the woods. While we were driving up the mountain on a rough road, as we were going down a hill he said "this road scares my tummy". The butterflies must have gotten to him.

Allie was light enough the lay on top of the snow and look around and wonder what the heck we were doing.

All of the kids loved playing in the snow, when it was time to go they complained that they didn't want to leave all of the snow.

This is Madison taking her turn sawing the tree down. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be and after two passes she was finished.

I think this is the first year the this girl didn't ask to be packed while tree hunting. She loved playing in the snow chapped face and all.

C.J. said his favorite part was eating the snow and a smaller snowball just wouldn't cut it.
It is always such a pain to plan and get ready for a trip to get trees, but when we are done it is always worth it. The smell of the tree and the Charlie Brown style that I have come to love is a tradition at our house, and I love it.

Letters to Santa

2010-12-10T20:39:00.002-07:00

Look at these cute binky babies they are the sweetest girls and since they were to young to write letters to Santa they got to play with the tightly closed markers instead.

Emma spent a lot of time on her letter making sure her letter was perfect. She colored every inch of the paper and after being told for the hundreth time that Santa will not bring a puppy to people who already have a dog, she finally agreed to a toy dog and an American Girl doll. Santa is relieved about that one for sure.

Madison's letter was also a work of art complete with original artwork and precise writing in cursive. She asked for and i pod, I just wonder when she grew out of barbies and stuffed animals, it goes way to fast.
Where are the boys you ask..Ethan and C.J. were way to busy to let me take pictures of them with their letters to Santa. C.J. asked for a scooter and legos, cars, and transformers all things boy. The letters are in the mail with the hope that they make it to the North Pole before the big day.

Christmas Tree Lane

2010-12-08T21:48:00.002-07:00

These cute girls performed at Christmas Tree Lane. They did a great job. The picture above is of Emma's class courtesy of C.J. he has some great camera skills, I think the flash going off over and over may have blinded a few people. Emma is the tiny one in the center. For a girl who said she would never dance on the stage again last spring she sure has a great time, and I am so glad she decided on her own to take dance classes again this year.

When it was time for Maidson to dance C.J. was handing on the bars in the isle he was done taking pictures for the moment. He dr dance was cute as well and she did an awesome job. She loves to dance and I love it!
Great job girls, net week the Nutcracker!

Birthday Boy!

2010-11-17T21:06:00.005-07:00

How can he be 5?
I still don't believe it.

C.J. is five and couldn't be happier about it. He had a party with a few of his friends and we had a great time. We colored pictures of How to Train your Dragon, played I have a little dragon, broke a viking ship pinata, ate cupcakes and ice cream and went on a treasure hunt.

On Sunday he had his favorite breakfast in bed, a waffle with peanut butter and syrup.

For his birthday cake he wanted brownies with ice cream and chocolate syrup.

opening presents

He loves the sticker books from grandpa and grandma Bogh

and the card and "dollar" from grandma and grandpa Thalman.

I think all of the kids enjoyed C.J.'s birthday.
He is such an amazing boy, he is smart, funny, and crazy.
-He loves to eat cheese quesdillas and apple juice for lunch everyday.
-He loves to draw and color
-He will beat you playing Mario Cart
-He loves his sisters so much, but really wants a brother
-He loves school and playing with his friends
We are so blessed to have this boy as part of our family we love you buddy!

Snow much fun!

2010-11-17T20:39:00.005-07:00

We had our first taste of winter. Emma and C.J. were so excited to go play in the snow.

They made some awesome snow angels

and posed for the camera. They were able to make a giant snowball before it got too cold, they came in for some cocoa and soup.
I am hesitant to welcome the snow, I hate all of the wet clothes and shoes that make their way through the house, but there is nothing more magical than waking up to a blanket of white out the windows. I also love that we have a fire burning in our fireplace every evening it just make me feel so cozy . So bring it on we will deal with the mess as it comes, maybe the kids will learn to hang up their wet clothes, but I won't hold my breath.

Piggy Tail

2010-11-17T20:30:00.003-07:00

I just had to post these pictures. This was Allies first piggy tail, it is pretty tiny but it was fun to see that she is actually getting enough hair to do something with. She was so good while I did it, she loves to look at herself in the mirror and I can't blame her, she is that cute! (11-9-10)

7 months

2010-11-07T19:37:00.002-07:00

That's right I said seven months. Crazy how you blink and time goes by.

Allie's Stats at 7 months
13 pounds 8 ounces 4th percentile
25 1/2 inches long 22nd percentile

She is still such a sweet baby
She loves her binky and her blanket
She loves to dance and will sing her own music
She talks all the time and can be very loud
She is still a daddy's girl
She has a sweet personality with a bit of spunk thrown in
We love you Allie!

a Haunting we will go

2010-11-04T20:52:00.004-06:00

When Halloween finally arrived the kids were excited and ready to sport their costumes one more time. Here they are already to go trick-or-treating.

We went to visit Grandma Lois at Uncle John and Aunt Laurie house. We were able to get a some pictures of all of the babies together.

Our little Allie as an Octopus.

The cute babies all dressed up Gavin as a cow, Allie as an Octopus, Hannah as a bear,and Alexis as Princess Peach. Baby Hannah makes Allie seem huge. They are such sweet darling babies.
So long Halloween until next year.

Pumpkins

2010-11-04T20:38:00.004-06:00

Is this not one of the cutest pumpkins you have ever seen. Tom was sure she would hate it when we put her in this pumpkin, but she actually loved sitting in it.

This picture is totally her personality. The beads in her mouth and the look on her face is so Allie.

She is such a sweet girl.

This is our pumpkin carving master. After the pumpkins are cleaned out the kids make their request and Tom always delivers.

C.J. requested a haunted house on a giant pumpkin.

Madison wanted a happy face on a medium sized pumpkin

Allie had her name on a tiny pumpkin.
Emma had a really hard time deciding what she wanted on her pumpkin. She finally decided on a wolf face it turned out great, but I never got a good picture of it.