The Homer Family

Valentines Day Weekend!!!!

2009-02-28T12:18:00.000-08:00

This year we had a bunch of family come up for the weekend. My sister and her husband were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on Valentines Day. Congrats!!!!!!! We had lots of family from Seattle come down, and even some family up from Salina Utah. It's always good to see family!

Cookies!!!
We also had some fun activities going on..... We made sugar cookies with all the kids.

WOW! I don't think I have ever seen my kitchen such a mess, but the kids seemed to love it.

Sledding!!

We also went up to Soldier Hollow in Provo Canyon to do some awesome sledding. This is my family's second time here. After our first visit, all they ask is when we are going again- so we took a bunch of family.

The one thing I love about this hill is that they have a tow-rope to pull you up the hill!!!! So you have a lot more energy to play and have fun. Plus I don't have to pull my kids up that hill. What a concept!

All the kids kids did was sit in their tube and enjoy the ride.

Kade's Birthday!
While everyone was here, we decided to celebrate Kade's Birthday a few days early. And as everyone knows, he is in love with Wall-e.

Got to give Mindy kudos again for the awesome cake she did. Kade loved it!
I can't believe my baby is 3 already. Where has the time gone.... Happy Birthday Bubba, We Love You!!!!!!!!

St. George time again...

2009-01-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

We love to go to St. George a few times a year. This time we went for New Years weekend. So once again, we all piled into the truck and went on a road trip!!! We visited Grandma & Grandpa Harper, Grandma Johnson, and The Wardens (my Dads sister) and Family. It was nice to see everyone again! We like to stay at the WorldMark Resort because is has bedrooms for everyone, full kitchen, washer and dryer, lots of room, and of course a year-round pool/hot tub.

Riley love to make a Santa face with bubbles.

We always have to make a trip to the St. George Temple and walk the grounds.

Grandma Tobler's BakeryEvery time we go to St. George, it is a must that we make a stop at Granny Tobler's bakery. This is the best bakery in the state of Utah hands down. We would always go out of our way to make it down to her place, but we were very happy to find that she has expanded and opened a new bakery shop right in the middle of town on the strip. We were in heaven!!!!

My favorite is the Orange rolls, and Mindy likes the Pecan Cinnamon rolls, but you can't go wrong with anything you choose.

Jake ate his too fast for my to get a picture!

Until next time Granny Tobler!!!!!!!!!

On the way home we stopped at a local Chinese buffet. For some strange reason both the girls love squid/baby octopus. Absolutely disgusting if you ask me.....

New Years Eve!!!!!!!

2009-01-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to let the kids stay up on New Years Eve and have a little party of their own.

To help time go bye, we had several activities going on. We had dancing, pillow fights, movies, lots of food and fireworks. My camera really doesn't really like it when I am outside in 10 degrees or less... it won't take decent pictures. That was the fastest fireworks display we have ever done. Every thing was frozen. It was very hard to enjoy, but the kids didn't seem to mind.At midnight, the Kids counted down and then banged on my pots and pans for a good 5 minutes! Trying to make as much noise as possible!!
And finally for the bubbly!!! The kids thought this was so neat! It did take them a while to settle down, but eventually zonked. Cheers!!!!

Temple Square And All The Lights

2009-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

It is a yearly tradition that we go up to salt Lake and see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. This year we went between Christmas and New Years to avoid large crowds.

We always take the train/trax partly because the kids love, and secondly so we don't have to find parking.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

December always seems to be very hectic and busy. Its a miracle I get anything done. We stayed home for Christmas this year. All-n-all we had a wonderful holiday season.

We had a white Christmas, and Jake and the kids spend a good part of the day making a Homer sized snowman. This one was over 9 feet tall, and Jake had to roll the balls on top of each other with a plank. These are some of the presents that they have chosen as their favorites.
Some of Kaley's favorite presents are her Guitar and Lava Lamp!!!

Kade has always wanted a scooter of his own that wasn't so girly.
Kade is obsessed with anything Wall-e, and so is Riley. They both ended up with a remote control robot.

Riley finally out grew her bike and now has a big bike to grow into!!!

Elmo Live is very entertaining, he even will tell you bedtime stories!!

We all hope everyone had a very happy holiday season!!!!!

Christmas Concert

2008-12-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

The girls had the yearly Christmas Concert again. This was Riley's first time performing in front of a lot of people. She didn't seem nervous at all. The girl on the right of Riley is Addy, her best friend from accross the street.For some reason, the camera was acting up and most of the pictures came out blurry so this is all I got, Sorry!
Both girls did an excellent job!

Christmas Lights

2008-12-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Every year we like to go and see the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point here in Lehi, but this year we ventured out and went to Spanish Fork to see a different display.

This is the closest the kids get to the drive-in movies during the winter, but they didn't complain about being cold.

We went in November this year because Mindy and Jake had a hectic work schedule the first 2-3 weeks in December.

We enjoyed this display much better then the other we have been going to because you could go around and around as much as you liked and we were able to get in the back of the truck for the best view!!!!!! Of course Jake and I could see just fine inside the truck were it was nice and warm...

Turkey Day Fun...

2008-12-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

This year Kaley's Birthday landed the day before Thanksgiving. She will always be my Turkey-Day baby since I was in labor with her all Thanksgiving day.

Kaley turned 9 this year.. WOW, I still can't believe how fast she is growing, and that I have a 9 year old. I must be getting older. Kaley chose a cupcake-cake this year, it turned out pretty good!

Thanksgiving Day always starts at 5:00AM around here. Traditions with Mindy are bitter-sweet. We arrive at Mindy's work by 6:00AM to bake rolls and pies for dinner.

This can be very crazy with massive people every where and several activities going on at the same time. This year, Mindy and I were in charge of breakfast, and if any of you know Mindy's boss, he does nothing small (or low-cal to say the least). That was a lot of pumpkin stuffed french toast, bacon, sausage, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs with all the fixings, homemade real hot chocolate(not the powder stuff) and more. Everyone is very busy making their own pies(9 kinds) and (3 kinds) rolls.

Then around 11:00 AM, it is time to go home and start the process of our own dinner. The kids love to be involved in every step. Kade insisted on doing the potato's.

The table was set and we were all starving.... Looks Good!!

Kade picked out the drumstick... That thing is bigger that he is!

The girls were proud that they helped cook their own Turkey-Day dinner!!!!

Family Picture Time

2008-11-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

We seem to only get a family picture when it is time to do Christmas Cards. This year, we made sure we did it early enough that there was still leaves on the Aspen trees.

This was one of the first pictures taken, after that we had a hard time with Kade.

Sisterly Love.... I love this picture!

Kaley could get her picture taken all day....

Kade Was Like What???? Riley must have natural talent!

The kids wanted a picture with their Supperman Daddy!!

After 100's of pictures, and "Kade smile and say cheese!" This is the one we decided on even though Kade is not looking up. But that is him, and the kind of mood that he was in. What else could we expect from a hungry 2 year old.

Trying to do Faminy Home Evening the Best We Can....

2008-11-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

We haven't always been the best at being consistent about Family Home Evening, but when we do, they can be unforgettable. At least we learned some lessons here.

Lesson #1 Don't stick anything up your nose!

This is the result of us playing the game battleship. Riley put a Battleship peg up her nose. I don't know what she was thinking, but she really started to freak-out about how uncomfortable it got. We were trying not to laugh to much. If you look really close you can see the peg in the left nostril.

This is so typical when we try to do normal family activities.

Then we decided to try an experiment with the kids. After making them eat baby food while I was fixing dinner, we washed the baby food containers out, and poured heave cream in them, and let the kids do a pinch of salt.
We were obviously were making homemade butter-old fashioned style, but the kids didn't know that.

That was a lot of shaking for little kids, so we did help a little. They were so amazed when the cream started to thicken.

After the butter was already, they poured it out and spread it out on warm blueberry muffins that had just come out of the oven. Yummy! The butter didn't last very long!

Lesson #2 Not all activities will end in kaos. They really enjoyed this one!

Daddy's Little Helper

2008-11-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Kade wants to do everything that his Daddy does. He will try and help, and mimic along with Jake.

This is always really cute until you turn your back for just one second, and he has done something wrong, ruined something, or lost something. Got to love little boys!!!!!!!

Trip to Washington

2008-11-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

I know that I am way behind on my blog, by I am crossing my fingers that I will catch-up by the end of the year......This trip was for Uncle Josh's wedding, and we were not going to miss this for anything. Plus two of our three kids were in the ceremony!

I think that this was out 3rd trip out of 4 up to Washington this year and since we normally don't get to go up very often, we try to get as much done as possible while we are there.

This is some of what we did this time around.

Grandpa's Garden
Grandpa Homer is famous for his huge garden, and lushus vegetables. They always have more that they can eat, and the kids have a blast walking around watering the plants and picking the vegetables.

The kid's favorite are the green beans and the beats!! Yummy!!!!

Cookies with Grandma Homer

One of my kids favorite things to do with Grandma is Bake! They always ask her when we walk in the door.

As always, they eat more than they make, and I wouldn't make my own cookie off the spreading knife if you know what I mean.

Gooey Duck Hunting

Growing up we used to go Gooey Duck Hunting. This can be very tricky and difficult. We thought that we would take the kids and teach them how to do it.

The tide table showed a red shell fish season, and they were not good to eat. We were also not able to take them of the beach, so we just dug around and explored.

Riley liked the Sanddollars...

And Kaley liked the clams.

It was a bit colder than we were used to, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Swimming and then Fondo!!

We never pass up the opportunity to go swimming, especially with all the cousins!!!!

Our family likes to get together and have fondo parties.

First, the cheese dinner, and then the Chocolate dessert! Yummy!!

Riding Horses

We were able to ride horses this time around, because Uncle Josh's in-laws have some acreage and have a horse. The kids got to ride the horse while at the wedding rehearsal.

Last but not least the Wedding!

Kade and his tux... This is one of the cutes things that I have ever seen. Even though this tux was downing him, he was so excited and eager to what was happening. I know he didn't get the concept, but deep down he knew that he looked handsome and stylish. He put this thing on like this was nothing...... The wedding day was another story!First off the wedding was 1 hour and 45 minutes away from where we were staying at the Brides parents farm, and Kade fell asleep on the way because naturally... it was naptime. When we arrived there and woke him up, he didn't handle it very well. Kade take awhile to wake up and you have to do it slowly. We only had 25 minutes until the wedding started, and they wanted to get pictures. We also needed to get Riley into her flowergirl dress.

To say the least, Kade was the pre-wedding entertainment. He screamed bloody murder until he was purple in the face, refused to get his tux on, and would not calm down for anything. We tried to bribe him with everything we could think of, but nothing. All the guest and bridal party were watching us like we were nuts and some kind of horrible people for forcing this little boy into a tux. He didn't end up getting the whole thing on, but we did eventually did get most of it on while we let him drink a can of pop. Then, we couldn't get it away from him. We didn't think that he was going to walk down that isle.

Well he didn't want to, so Jake had to walk down the isle with/for him! Meanwhile Riley couldn't wait!Kade also wouldn't let us take the pop away from him, so he went through the entire wedding holding a can of pop.

We took his tux off 10 minutes after the wedding, so he was in the tux a total of about 35 minutes.

He got bored fast, but we were very surprised that he did very well and behaved.

The happy couple!!

Riley loved her dress, She called it "My wedding dress!"

Halloween

2008-11-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

Life has been so hectic lately that I have even been able to think about our blog. So I am at lease going to post a few pictures to catch us up so that you can keep up with the kids life's.

Halloween Pumpkin Patch

This year we went to the pumpkin patch with the cousins. I love this picture.... It just goes to show you how hard it is to get all the cousins happy at the same time. Finally we just gave up.

Kade loved riding around in the wheelbarrow.

Kaley and Tessa do everything together.... when they are together.

Carving Pumpkins

Kade showing his scary face on his pumpkin!
Riley thought hers was pretty silly!

Halloween Day/Night

This year the kids wanted to be more traditional with their costumes. I mean a Witch, Cinderella, and Spiderman.... Whatever, I guess its what they want, not what I want.
Riley walking out the door to go to the bus stop to school.

Another Girls Night out!!!!

2008-10-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

This time my family was in town for General Conference, and this was a surprise for all the little cousins.

We went to see the final performance of Beauty and the Beast. We went with Chelsea, Cassie, Tami, and Grandma. Chelsea was a bit scared of the beast when it was time to go and take pictures, but Cassie would as long as she was on the other side of him. We love going to this theater. My favorite show is still "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," but the girls said this was their favorite. This time Kade went and so I didn't get to see as much of the play this time... Next time he will stay home.

Soccer Time!!!

2008-10-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

This year the girls wanted to join soccer. I was a bit hesitant, because when she was in Kindergarten she would whine and cry to her coach when the other kids wouldn't share the ball and let her kick it at her games. After that- I told Kaley that I would never sign her up for soccer again. Well... after a stern warning in a slightly threatening way, we gave in. But of course, I then had to sign up Riley because that would just not be very fair to her.

When Kaley first knew that we signed her up for soccer, she would practice her running, trying to be the fastest.

Kaley after winning her game 7-1, and picking up her after-game snack!

Kaley loved to be goalie... She could catch and handle the ball, not to mention prevent the other team from scoring! At halftime, Kaley would guzzle down the water.
Kaley was a bit disappointed when she received her gold medal, because she was so excited to get her next trophy. She was over-it quickly.
This year Kaley did very well, a lot better from last time. Her skills improved, she had better understanding about the game, and had good sportsmanship all around!

Good Job Kaley!!!!

Riley's First Soccer Team!

Now Riley was a different story... She had never played before, and she is the same age that Kaley was when she cry and whine. I was praying that we didn't have a repeat.

Riley did understand how to kick the ball, and the other team was trying to keep the ball away from hers. Other than that, she was just having fun. Riley is very aggressive on the field. She would run fast, kick hard, and work her way into the crowd of players to get at that ball, even if that would occasionally mean pushing and shoving.
On her team, she was known for kicking the ball out of bounds. This was her first instinct when the ball would come her way. She loved nothing more than kicking it out of bounds so she could pick the ball up and give it to the referee. Not to mention- not knowing what goal to kick towards. The main thing is that she had fun, and she loved it.
Riley loved being on a team, unlike Kaley's team that were all girls, Riley's were mixed boys and girls. She loved singing on the sidelines cheering her team on when she wasn't playing, and at the end of the game cheering on the other team.

Riley is in love with her medal, she even slept with it the first night!!!

This was crazy with two girls in soccer at the same time. We had 2 games and 2 practices a week. We were at soccer 4 nights a week. The girls loved their coaches. There coaches were married and each were in charge of a team, but both coached at each game.

Riley Great Job!!!!!

October Goodies!!!!!

2008-10-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

The cousins came down for General Conference last week, and we had lots of things planned.

One thing we did was make lots of Fall goodies and treats!!!

The carmel apples were a big hit, especially with all the different toppings to choose from... The favorite was coconut with Mini-Reeses Pieces... Yummm!

Lets just say that they didn't last very long!

We also made Oreo Spiders, and Nutter Butter Ghosts.

I don't know why we make all this good stuff... cause I always end up eating it.

Riley's First Loose Tooth....

2008-08-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

We were eating dinner the other night, and Riley out of the blue says "Mom, I have a twisty tooth." After looking at her teeth, not only was her front tooth loose, but about to fall out. We were surprised she didn't tell us a lot sooner that it was loose. Then looking closer, I notice that her other front tooth is loose.

That night she wanted the Tooth-Fairy to come, so she had Jake pull it out the rest of the way.

Three days later, she lost her other tooth as she was walking out the door to school. She thinks that she looks silly...All I'm thinking is that school pictures are in 3 weeks... This is just proving to me that my kids are getting older, and Riley is not my baby girl anymore.

Riley's First Day of Kindergarten!!!!

2008-08-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Riley has been looking forward to this day as long as she can remember. She would always get sad when Kaley would go off to school and leave her, especially when Kaley got to ride the bus.

Riley is in half day Kindergarten, and has several friends from the neighborhood in her class, even her good friend Addy across the street, they like to walk to the bus stop together.

Riley says her favorite thing about school is circle time. We are already in love with her teacher and she will be perfect for Riley and keeping her busy.

Me Too, Me Too....

2008-08-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Jake likes to pamper the girls and do their nails, but every time Kade will see them getting their nails done, he says "Some, Some."

He feels very left out if doesn't get to do every thing that his sisters do. He even will get in line when I do the girls hair, and sits down in front of me for a turn -even though he has no hair to do. He wants to be independent like them, and and have the same privileges. Normally I would paint them clear and he would be content with that, but today he got black.

Kade blowing on his finished toes.....

Back Yard Summer Fun!!!

2008-08-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

This summer Aunt Mindy bought a pool for the backyard. Most days the temperature is in the 90's, so this is perfect for the kids to cool off.

This was a good investment, the kids are in the pool almost every day, and would be in it from sun-up to sun-down if I let them.

And for some reason... we became very popular with the neighborhood kids. I will have kids show up at the front door in their swimming suit at 10:00 AM and say "I can play until 4:30." Gee thanks... well at least it got the kids outside being active.

One thing the instruction manual said was not to jump into the pool from other objects.... That didn't last long, with in 15 minutes, we had the trampoline moved over to the pool and the kids jumping.

Kade loves the pool, he doesn't care how cold it is, he will jump to you for hours.

Riley learned to swim pretty quickly, she's not 100% there, but is very close.

4th of July at the Beach

2008-07-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like the 4th of July at the beach. It is so worth the 14 hour trip to Ocean Shores WA. We try to get there every year. This year was no exception. We camp at the state camp ground located on the beach, and try to stay as long as possible.

Boys will be Boys!

This year was full of activities and events that made it very memorable for us all.

Relay races in the park!

Grandpa made a tree swing for the kids to play on!!!! Big hit...

Climbing trees.

Playing at the Beach

Kaley could be numb from the neck down, and still wouldn't let it bother her.

Kade would run up and back from the water screaming like a girl...

Look Mommy Sand!!!!

Daddy showing Kade the ropes of the sea.

Kade on Jake's Boogie Board.4th of July at the beach, lots of cousins to play with, sand in your toes....Priceless!!!!

City Celebration!

Every 3rd of July, the city of Ocean Shores has a free celebration in the park filled with games,

face painting, train rides,

and bouncy toys.

Grandma this year made shirts for all the grandkids, and gave them to the kids before we went.

Pirate's Treasure Hunt

The kids had a treasure hunt this year and had to follow a series of clues around our camp and the campground.

They finally ended up at the beach were they had to find the "X" that marks the spot!!!!

After digging up the treasure and bringing it all the way back to camp, they had to solve one last clue to find the key to open the chest.

Just what we all had hoped for....Gold!!!!

Night of the 4th

The big event!!!! We have to get there early to get a spot... as you can see, it is jam packed cars and trucks for miles and miles.

This year the wind was a bit strong, but some of my family has done this a time or two and were prepared.

Fireworks at the beach is compared to a war zone. Fireworks going off everywhere around you and is non stop until the wee hours of the night. Sometimes you have to dodge the falling casings and the people shooting each other playing tag with roman candles. This place is the only lace to be on the 4th of July.

You can see the fireworks as far as you can see!!!

Favorite Past Time Ever... The Drive-Ins!!!!!

2008-06-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

We are big fans of the drive-ins. We practically live there in the summer! There are a lot of good kid movies this year, and frankly I'm not about to pay $9.00 for each of my kids to go into a theater to see one movie, buy there food, and not get to see the movie because I am trying to keep my kids quiet.

We spare no dis-comfort when we create the bed in the back of the truck. We have it down to a timed science.

Jake and I try to get a movie feature that has a kid movie first and then a one for us second. (we like to put the kids in the back of the cab with pillows and blankets, and convert the back to a bed and let the kids watch a movie in the truck until they fall asleep (thank goodness for DVD players).

The kids couldn't wait until Kongfu Panda came out. On opening weekend, we have to get there early of you don't get in.

There are the kids showing us there best kongfu moves!!!!!

They loved the movie and can't wait until it comes out on DVD!

This would be Riley, and for some reason, in order to find the best buttered popcorn, she puts her face in the bag and ends up with the greasiest face possible. Gross!

I have fond memories of going to the drive-in when I was little, sitting on-top of my parents suburban, and my Mom making cinnamon & sugar popcorn along with Taco flavored popcorn. We have introduces these flavors to the kids and there favorite is cinnamon & sugar!

Kangaroo Zoo!!!!

2008-06-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

We told Riley this year that we would let her have a friends party for her birthday.

We waited until Jake was home from work and then had a bunch of her friends over. Riley decided to have her party at The Kangaroo Zoo. Another one of those blow-up fun toy places.

All Kade would say is Again, Again....

Our kids love these kind of places, and can't get enough. They would live there if they could!

Here is Jake playing like a child when 5 days earlier, he woke up with a huge hernia and is supposed to be taking it easy and not lifting.... Yeah right!

After the party and all the girls were all jumped out, we went back to our house for cake and ice cream. This time Riley picked a "Candy Land" theme. That is a whole lot of candy... Yuck

Manti Pageant

2008-06-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

I love this tradition! When I lived in Utah 11 years ago, we would always go to the Manti Pageant. This is a play of sorts, that is acted out in the lawn of the Manti Temple grounds. The play consists of the story of Joseph Smith, along with the storied he transcribed in the Book Of Mormon. They wait until dark to start, and the then they turn off the Temple lights. This take several thousands of people to pull off and is amazing to watch.

Now that I live here with my family, I had the opportunity to take my husband and 3 kids. They asked a lot of questions and my husband actually stayed awake through the whole thing.

We would go early to set up a good spot. We would stop just before Manti in the city of Ephraim, and get Subway sandwiches. Yum!!

We also would take the time to walk across the street to the cemetery to visit the grave of my Great Grandpa and Grandma Johnson. I always like the fond memories of my Grand-Parents, and how Great-Grandma would always give us NutterButters. (Oh, and the fact that I had fainted in the middle of my Great-Grandfathers funeral).

This year the temperature was in the mid 90's and and the mosquitos were so bad, that I had to walk 6-8 blocks to find a gas station to find bug spray.

Jake passed the time by doing the crossword games in the back of the program.

For a few hours before the show, the actors would come out and mingle with everyone waiting the the show to start.

Manti takes about 2 hours to get to, so after it ends about 11:30 at night, you and thousands of people don't get home until the wee hours. But still worth it!!

Orem Fest Parade!

2008-06-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

We like to go to Orem during their city's summer celebration. We picked our nice shaded spot out the night before and laid out our blankets.

While we waited for the Parade to start, we occupied the kids with squirt guns and bubbles. We also had some of Mind'y friends from work with us.

Riley could not wait for the parade to start. She sat there and looked down the street waiting and waiting. She was all black from the street by the time it started.

This is something that you don't see every parade, Missionaries from all over the world.

This years parade was much better that last years by far! Kade was finally old enough to enjoy it. It didn't take Kade long to figure out that a parade was associated with candy, candy and more candy. I am so surprised that he didn't get sick.The beginning was cool, they flew 2 kind of helicopters about 2 hundred feet above us.
These were some of the kids favorite floats.

After the parade, the have a fireworks show. This year the wind picked up just before it started so we didn't enjoy it as much as in past years.

Bunnies!!!

2008-06-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

My kids love anything that moves. Last week we went to visit Allen, a co-worker of Mindy's. He has several bunnies at his house. He had ages from two week and up.

My kids were in heaven. They couldn't tell us how many bunnies they had because they multiply so fast. He told us that they each could have a litter of bunnies each month- That is why they are caged away from the male rabbit.

They also had chickens in with the bunnies. They were being very noisy, and the rooster wouldn't stop yelling at us. The chickens had laid fresh eggs, and Allen had given the kids each one or two. By the time we left, we only had 4 left.

Kade loved his egg so much, that he insisted on holding and petting it the whole way home. Now all the kids want is a bunny!

Summer Activities...

2008-06-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, school has been out for a week already, and although I love the summer and the heat, I am already anxiously awaiting for school to start. This must have been how my mother felt with 7 children.

So our goal is to keep the kids as busy as possible so they (i.e. Riley) don't get bored and into trouble several times daily.

Mindy (what a genius!) first created a point system for the kids and their chores. For every chore, they get a certain amount of points. Even Kade has a chore list. After their points add up, they can choose what kind of activity they want to do like play Wii, watch a movie or play with friends. Not only is this keeping my house clean, but I don't have to do as much of it. Yeah!!

Next after they accumulate bigger points over a week or so, they get to do bigger activities like go to the movies, Lagoon, the local parades etc.

This is one of our activities to keep the kids entertained and busy. Once again Mindy brought this activity home. What would I do without her!

They love to be creative, and everything that the girls do -Kade must also do. They are making garden stones for when we finish putting the garden in.

They did pretty good at keeping clean and sharing the buttons.

This is the first of many activities that we will be doing over the next few months!

Dance Festival!!!

2008-06-04T01:21:00.002-07:00

At the end of every school year, Kaley's school has a Dance festival were each grade learns and preforms a dance. This year Kaley's class did a cool dance to a song from the Disney movie "Mulan." She had been practicing for weeks, and was so excited to show me her new dance moves each day.

My camera has been acting up, so I didn't get all of the video. But atleast I have some pictures.

There were so many people, Kade and Rio just sat in the back and chilled!

Even though I didn't get all of the dance on video, Kaley still did a very good job!

Happy Birthday Riley!!!!!

2008-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Riley just turned 5 years old on May 31st. She has been talking about her birthday for about 6 months now, so she was pretty excited when we told her that her birthday was actually here. We had a small party with Jake before he left, and celebrated Uncle Ben an Riley's birthday since Ben and Jake left just before party time.

When Mindy asked Riley what kind of cake she wanted this year, she told us a castle cake. Once again Mindy delivered!

We had home-made stone pizza, castle cake and home-made strawberry ice-cream.

Grandma Johnson flew into town for Riley's birthday this year, since she has done the same for Kaley and Kade in the past. This is one of the 2 dresses that Grandma had made her.

Uncle Bryce and Seth also came over along with Ashley (from Mindy's work) who usually helps with the cakes.

Riley made out like a bandit this year and she was in heaven! One of Riley's favorite things to say is "This is the best day of my life!"

Great Grandma Harper's Birthday was a few days after Riley's, so we had her over to celebrate. Riley was very thoughtful and put her crown on Grandma for her celebration!

Riley's Last Day of Preschool

2008-05-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

These are Riley's teachers; Miss Wendy, Miss Breann, and Miss Carmen. On Riley's last day of preschool, the parents were invited to come spend the day with the class. After lunch, they sang a few of their favorite songs from the year. Kade insisted on being up with the rest of the kids.

Riley would always come home singing a new song. She is constantly singing. Some days we can't get her to be quiet.

She is so excited for Kindergarten, it is all she talks about.

Uncle Bean has Kittens.....

2008-05-27T01:03:00.000-07:00

Uncle Bean's cat Daisy ran away a few months back, so that's when they got their new dog. Then all of the sudden, they get a call from a lady claiming that she found Daisy, and that she was pregnant. Sure enough she was ready to have 6 kittens. Soon after Ben and Michelle returned from their cruise to the Caribbean, Daisy had 5 kittens. Soon after giving birth Daisy got sick, and would not nurse the kittens. After taking Daisy to the Vet, they found out that there was one last kitten still inside that was stuck. Daisy had to have a c-section to remove the last kitten that did not make it.

After going home, Daisy still would not feed her kittens, and they were getting very weak. Michelle had to bottle feed the kittens every 2-4 hours. Over the next 2-3 days, we lost another kitten every day. When we saw the kittens last, there were only two left. Michelle finally took the kittens to a co-worker who's cat that also just had kittens to see if that cat would take the last two in for her own and feed them.

SOD..AT LAST!!!!!!!

2008-05-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

Sod....Instant grass. What a concept! This was a day that I had been waiting for since the day we moved in over 1 1/2 years ago.

The big semi-truck came early in the morning, and dropped off exactly 8 pallets. Jake came home just in time, or I like to say, I ordered it when I knew he would be home.

We were given our front yard grass last fall, by one of our neighbors because he ordered way too much. Since Jake was gone, I had to measure the square footage of our yard, and figure out how much sod we needed to order- and hope that I didn't order way to much. I had Kade help me by holding the measuring tape, and hope that he wouldn't move too much while I moved back to try to get a accurate measurement. Jake laughed when I told him that, but what is a girl to do when she is the man and woman of the household 2/3rds of the month.

This is Jake and our neighbor Brad. Brad offered his help to lay our sod. We thought that was really nice and all, since it was his trampoline that did all the damage to our deck, stairs, and railing a few weeks back.

The kids insisted on helping, but it was more entertaining to watch them try to lift or drag a 60lb. strip of sod across the yard.

Kade tried so hard to move that one strip. He got so frustrated, he started to throw a fit.

I was so excited while we were laying the grass, that I laid down on it, looked up at the sky, and tried to make a grass angel. Or until Jake asked what I was doing, and told me to get back to work....

After everything was said and done, we did have some sod left over, but only a little that we could have used by the back wall. So I measured perfect! I knew that math was going to be useful eventually!

"My name is MUD"

2008-05-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

I hate mud!! I hate it with a passion. Most of you know that we are still in the process of doing our yard. Well until we get grass, this is what I deal with every day-all day. As soon as it dries, they turn on the hose and make more mud. Out of all the fun toys in the backyard, the mud is the most fascinating for some reason. Some days Kade will go through 5 changes of clothes.

I don't know why, but my kids love to bathe in it.

The other day I caught Kade and Riley naked in the backyard making mud pies onto the stucco on the house. Till this day, I can't get it all off the house. Have I told you that I hate mud?

I must hose Kade and/or Riley off 2-3 times a day. I used to say that the the fence could not come fast enough... Now all I say is that the Sod could not come fast enough. Grass is coming in 2 days, can't wait, and of course... can't come fast enough.....

Bike Ride!!!

2008-05-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

There is a trail about 1 mile from our house that runs for miles and miles along the Jordan River. We love to go on bike rides in the evening when it cools down. The kids ask us all day if we can go.

Riley is not quite fast enough on her bike to keep up, so she is still stuck in the trailer with Bubba. As you can tell, she is not very happy about. Never fails...The sunset is always gorgeous and the breeze is perfect after a hot day. Mindy just bought a new mountain/street bike, and she made sure that we all had our helmets. How happy was I. Kade likes riding in the trailer so much, sometimes when I would go in the morning with him and Rio, he would fall asleep.

Kaley has gotten really good on her bike and almost rides daily. She can easily keep up with us and sometimes beats us.

This time, we rode past a river otter, but by the time we stopped, a backed up, it was gone hiding in the trees and bushes along the river. We could still hear him, but I could not get a picture, because we needed to hurry back before it was too dark to see where we were going.

We try to bike at least 2-3 times a week. But when we can't get out to the trail, we will settle for our neighborhood.

School Project

2008-05-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Kaley had a school project before school was out. They had just ended a unit on animals, and she was given the turtle to create. She decided to make a pinata.

Jake has been wanting to do this for a while, so he made one to. Of course the other two kids had to get involved and get messy.

Riley had a blast while Kade just loved to bathe in it.

I wish that I could show you a picture of the finished product, but sorry to say that Kade got a hold of it while it was drying, and the rest is history... We then had to scramble to come up with a last minute replacement for the mornings animal display.

Sleep out in the Trampoline!

2008-05-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

This was one of my favorite things to do growing up.... It has been in the 90's the past few days, and our air conditioner has been acting up again so we decided to sleep outside last night. The original plan was to go to the drive-ins, so we hooked up the TV and watched one of our favorite movies of all time, "THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO."

Mindy just bought a camping hammock, so she slept next to us.

Jake just got home hours before, so the kids couldn't get enough of him!!

Riley couldn't figure out were she wanted to land, because Jake didn't want her on his feet.She finally was happy snuggling her Daddy.Kaley was fine as long as Kade wasn't sitting on her head and trying to wrestle her.It was very exciting for the kids, and all Kade did for over an hour in run circles around all of us on the trampoline. For the life of us, we couldn't get Kade to settle down. He finally fell asleep about 11:30 PM.

Visit with Uncle Mark.

2008-05-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

This week we had the privilege of going to Grandma and Grandpa Harper's house to visit with Uncle Mark (who is my Moms baby Brother), who was also in town. He just came back from visiting my Mother in Washington for Mothers Day and was flying back to San Francisco in the morning. I was good to see him and he seems to be doing well. We don't get to see him very often, and none of my kids have even seen him, except Kaley at my cousin Danielle's wedding when she was 8 months old.

Uncle Mark has 2 gorgeous cats, and boy were they in for a treat with my kids. But the cats survived. Riley on the other hand has two huge claw marks on her side from the cats trying to escape her. We sometimes compare Riley's love for cats and dogs like Darla from Finding Nemo.

My the memories that came back to me while I was there.....
Grandma fed us spaghetti and cake, and then my kids found the basket of toys that Grandpa had back behind the bar. He has had the same toys since I was a kid and used to play with them. He said that they still worked, so why get new ones.

Eventually the kids adventured outside, and Grandpa taught Kaley how to putt. (I so wanted a picture of that)

Grandpa's famous garden seems to get smaller every time I see it. That was right up my kids alley.

My kids also found the huge bucket of golf balls Grandpa has in his garage, I knew that we were not going to get home with out at least a few of those.

Over all the evening went well and will hopefully remember Uncle Mark until next time we get to see him.

We Had a Big Wind Storm Last Night....

2008-05-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Mothers Day night, we had a big wind storm, and yes- that is 2 trampolines in our yard.....
This is the neighbors/2 houses down trampoline. They only had it about 8 months. Needless to say that their little girls were very upset.None of us got to sleep until about 2-3 AM and the dogs barked all night- especially at all the people chasing their dog kennels and garbage cans. When I woke up, I couldn't believe my eyes. Their trampoline scratched the back-side of our next door neighbors house, jumped our fence, and landed on our deck steps, taking out the railing. Our trampoline is still standing in the same place, thanks to our fence. Jake is still gone for another 5 days, so he will be so surprised to see all the work he gets to re-do. (His work never ends).

Mindy's New Toy!

2008-05-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

Mindy came home a few days ago with a new scooter.

The kids love to ride it. I'm surprised they are not more afraid of it. They just hop on and go. I wasn't that comfortable when I first drove it.

It remindes me of the tow-goat Grandpa Harper used to have when we were little. It drives very similar.

Kade can't get enough of it. he is always wanting a ride. We can't wait to take it to the beach for the 4th of July!!

School Trip To Hogle Zoo

2008-05-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Riley's school field trip was to the Hogle Zoo. This was on a Saturday morning, along with thousands of other people that had the same idea.

The morning of didn't exactly work out as planned. Mommy woke up very sick, and wasn't able to get out of bed until noon. By the time we made it to the zoo, most of Riley's class were gone, but we at least the animals were still there.

The highlight of the day was the giraffes! There is a new baby giraffe born since we had been last, and it is so adorable. The main exhibit currently at the zoo is a white alligator, very rare and only 8 of them in the world, this last litter were all males.

Second highlight -of course was the elephants! They also had a little one.. that's not so little!

Mommy was still very sick, but still wanted the kids to have their day at the zoo. Doesn't she just look wonderful...

We were pleasantly surprised that all the animals were out and awake, and very active, unlike last time.

I always think of my kids as so big until I compare them.

Smores!!!!!

2008-05-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

We have been to busy the past year and a half to go camping (one of our favorite things to do) and we are a little antsy. So we made a fire pit in the back yard, had tinfoil dinners, sang songs and made smores, yummy!

Kades first smore!!!!

This kid loves marshmallows to begin with, but he was in awe when he saw what we were doing to them, he quickly grabbed a roaster and helped himself to the fixings. This was very funny to watch. He burned a few to a crisp but would still eat them. He caught on quick!

The kids picked out strawberry marshmallows from the store, they were really good with smores, we highly recommend them!!!!!!!

We were all being silly, and Mindy and I taught the girls some of you favorite songs from Girls Camp and Camp Waskowitz. Kaley has been bugging us ever since to teach her more.

Hopefully this is a preview of what's to come this summer!

Fenced Yard.. Priceless

2008-04-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! The yard is fenced in!!!!
Wow, going from a fenced yard to not having one, is like being naked for the whole world to see. I love my privacy and all, but this was more for my sanity more that anything. Trying to keep the dogs in the yard(impossible), not to mention a 2-year old (twice as impossible), was nothing to laugh at, even though some of my neighbors may beg-to-differ.

Ben used to work for a fencing company, so he was the perfect one to help us do the job ourselves. He was cool helping us out- as long as I kept him well fed... No-Joke! Kaley just finished doing fractions and a measuring unit in school, so this was a great way for her to help and do something with Daddy. Okay, Jake wouldn't even let me touch the staple-gun... unless it was to hand it to him, but yet he will let his girls use it. He would only let me stain 760 slate, 48 posts, and 145 2X4's.
We decided to be unlike all the neighbors doing vinyl fencing, and do cedar. Jake refused to use vinyl after doing cable and seeing so many of them warp and discolored after just a few years... Plus Uncle Derek warned us against it. Try explaining that to all your asking neighbors who just put in expensive vinyl. We got some interesting responses from them... It is also very weird when all of your neighbors go to the same church, and your fence is the topic of conversation.

We started the fence mid-October so this is a major feet that at least this part is done. It was done in many small chunks, since both guys work out of town, and all they want to do is rest when they come home- What's that all about? Jake even worked through his birthday weekend when family was in town. What a Man! They called me the slave-driver. It's not quite done, all we have left is the fascia and decor trim to do, but that can wait until next time.... Next is the grass..Yeah....I can't wait!

Thanks to all who helped make the fence possible:
Mindy - For countless hours of babysitting and cooking meals.
Randy and Pam- On their vacation stained some of the 760 slats (wish I had a picture of that).
Ben - Who spent countless hours away from his "one and only" (Michelle).
Michelle - Who lent us Ben for hours on end.

Gone Fishin'!!!!

2008-04-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

Fishing is Uncle Bean's passion, and he goes every waking moment that he can. Again this week was spring break, and wanted to keep the kids busy (and another break from that never ending fence) so we all went along with Ben to Deer Creek. Jake and Ben were put on the same shift this month, so they will have the same time off for a while. They haven't seen each other since just after Christmas.
The girls have been bugging me as long as I can remember to go fishing again, but last time, Kade ended up over his head in the water (good thing Jake has fast reflex's!), so I was not about to take the kids by myself.

Kaley has gotten pretty good at casting all by her self... Now all she needs to work on is her patience...

Ben would be mad if he knew I had this picture, but he probably re-baited Riley's hook 15 times...

Jake was in heaven with "His Boy"
Riley was just loving being there. She just wouldn't stop messing with her line. Jake must have untangled it 15 times....

There was no place for Kade to get lost , so he explored to his hearts content, he loved collecting all those rocks!Riley would only fish with a worm, and asked "Mommy take a picture of my worm!"Kade only fished for a few minutes, then got all wet, and threw rocks in the water.

This is Kade's pet worm.... Once he saw that Daddy had worms, that poor thing probably wished he was on a hook in the water as fish bait. He held that thing until it was two worms and played hide and go seek with it (he would put it under a rock and ask "Were Go?" and then go find it again). He would not let it go, by the time we got home, that thing was nothing but mush all over his hands and clothes-That smelled something awful!Nothing was caught that day, but some patience was learned - especially for Uncle Bean!
Now back to work on that fence!!!!!!

Chillin' at the Pool....

2008-04-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

We have a membership at our city pool, and it is perfect for all of our family to enjoy! They even have lots for Kade to do!

This week was spring break, and we decided to take a break from building the fence.

This is the huge bucket of water that drenches you every 4 minutes!

Kade loves his independence here, he is all over the place, we have to keep a very close eye, or he is over in the deep end...

Riley loves to get her back massaged here!!!!

Kade is now brave enough that he will go on the slides all
by him self, over and over again, not caring that he is drowning.

Kade's First Trip To The ER!!

2008-04-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy working on building on a fence for our yard. Jake was home on Saturday, so we were going to start in the morning and get a lot done... Yeah right.

This fence is mainly for the dogs, and to keep Kade from exploring the neighborhood. We had only enough time to get all of our supplies and stuff out of the garage to begin working, and with-in 5 minutes Kade had split open his lip. He was stepping over the side bar of the fence trying to follow the dog who had just escaped, and slipped. Biting though his lip and splitting it open.

It was cut pretty deep, and you could lift up part of his lip. We had no idea if he needed stitches, so I called his doctor, but he wouldn't do stitches on the lip because it was cosmetic. So off to the ER we went.

The bleeding stopped by the time we arrived at the hospital, and it had started to swell pretty well.

Kade was not acting hurt at all. He was playing around and keeping us busy as usual. The nurse had made him a balloon from a latex glove. He thought it was the best.

By the time we actually saw a doctor, his lip had swelled keeping his lip together. The doctor said that there would be no cosmetic advantage to the stitches, plus they would have to put him to sleep to do it. We quickly agreed and they let us go. We only had to be very careful with his lip. Yeah right, he obviously has never had a 2 year old boy.

Daddy Turns 31!!!!

2008-04-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Jake was lucky enough to be home for his birthday this year. You can tell he is so ecstatic... And just so happens, that his in-laws were here too. This year Jake chose an apple pie and banana cream pie from Costco for is cakes.

In my family, it is tradition to sing Happy Birthday as horrible, obnoxious, and silly as possible. It is always out of tune and never in-sync. So some of just laugh through the whole thing, and some of us really get in to it (my Dad is always really into it). We always love when a new spouse or other sides of family celebrate with us cause usually they look at us like we are crazy! None of us really escape it since they will just sing to us over the phone if we are gone. Once again Jake looks so ecstatic....

Riley loves her banana cream pie!!!

Kade can't wait for his piece of pie!!

For his birthday, got a tool chest, a rake from the in-laws, and a new staple gun so he can work on our new fence.

Uncle Bean's New Puppy!

2008-03-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is the cutest thing. Uncle Ben and Michelle just got a new puppy. Her name is Isabell. She is a mini Chihuahua, and weighs about 1 pound. They had only had her a few days when we got to see her, but I think it was more torture for the poor dog.

My kids love little puppies a little too much.

Kade would not let anyone else see or touch the puppy. and if we did, he would have a 2 year old fit.

This is what we call "Forced Love!"

Girls Night Out!!!

2008-03-23T20:01:00.001-07:00

For girls night out, we went to see "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Center Street Musical Theatre. About a year ago, Mindy decided to show the Donny Osmond version to my kids. They fell in love with it and we had to buy the DVD, and the soundtrack. They know every word and song by heart! Every time they see Donny Osmond on TV, they call him "Joseph." Mindy's co-worker Ashley, is friends with one of the actors in the play, and asked us to go with her since she knew the girls loved the movie.

Joseph and the Narrator - The main characters.

This was amazing, I didn't expect the girls to react the way they did. Kaley wouldn't be quiet with many of the scenes because she knew what was going to happen and couldn't wait for them to. Riley took the cake: I expected to have a hard time with her being bored and her paying attention. I was shocked when she never took her eyes off the stage, and after every scene, she would clap loud, hard, and then grab my face and give me a big fat kiss, and say "Love you Mommy!" I have never received so many kisses from her in one night... After the play was over, Riley was not afraid to go up to the actors and talk to them and get pictures with them. She then asked if we could stay for two days!

This is Ashley and her friend Travis whom played Judah, one of Joseph's 12 brothers. He got to sing our favorite song.

The brothers thanking Joseph for sack-loads of food.

This was cool. At the end, Joseph wore a huge "Coat Of Many Colors" that was held by the entire cast.

Easter Fun!!!

2008-03-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday was full of activities and events. First we had to find the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid.

Then it was off to the big hunt at the Orem City Egg Hunt. This is a mad house and crazy, but the kids love it. Riley won a whole pie in one of her plastic eggs.

This is more of a mad-dash to grad all the candy you can get rather than a egg hunt, but the kids don't mind.

And Kade got to meet ChuckyCheese!!

After the big hunt we went to Mindy's work and made a Easter basket cake. This cake is a yearly tradition. And the kids cant wait to eat it.

On Sunday after church, we tried to get some pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes, but the kids must have been hyped up on sugar. We couldn't seem to get a single good picture. It didn't help that it was also Kad's nap time. If only I could cut and paste one good picture from all of them. This one of Kaley made us laugh till we couldn't breath....

If it isn't Riley making silly faces, then it has to be Bubba screaming... Story of our lives...

Coloring Easter Eggs

2008-03-20T20:38:00.001-07:00

We have had a tradition in my family ever since I can remember... We have celebrated Easter the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny would even come a day early. My parents thinking behind this was for us to get all the candy, egg hunts, and commercial out and done with - so on Easter Sunday we could celebrate Easter for what it really is about, and not for a bunny or candy...

Riley has just learned to write her name, so she put it on her egg with crayon.

Kade was trying to be as patient as a 2 year old could possibly be. His face was green by the time he was done because he would throw his egg in the dye.

Good thing Mindy was here to help, 3 kids, fragile eggs and 10 cups of vinegar dye... you do the math.

Kaley got to be very creative and personalize her eggs.

Kade enjoyed picking out and putting on his stickers.

I don't know why, but when I told him so say cheese, he would put his egg on his head???

Don't you just love to do these kinds of things with your kids so they will remember them just like you did!

Riley is always the one who is stained for days.

Riley wouldn't eat her peas for dinner, so she had to eat them before she could color eggs. She was not very happy about it, but she did it anyway. Mean old MOM!!!!!

Disney's Princess On Ice

2008-03-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

This was way cool! This last time that Jake left was hard on the kids, so we are trying to keep them as busy as possible... Mindy thought it would be a good idea to go see the "Princess Wish" On Ice. The girls got all dressed up in their princess dresses, and off we went.

We decided to take Trax to Salk Lake because the kids love to ride the train (plus gas and parking prices are ridiculous).

The train was running a little late, so we didn't get to eat dinner as planned, but we improvised and fed them popcorn and churrios.

Riley has been waiting to meet Tinkerbell since we told her we were going. She could hardly wait!!

It is amazing how someone can skate in some of these costumes with no leg room.
The ending was very cool, all the Princess and Princes danced together with Tinkerbell in Cinderella's carriage. Fireworks and smoke and a light show a perfect to a great evening. I am quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this than I thought I would.

On the way home, Kade out of the blue decided to suck his thumb on the train. For those of you that know him, know that he is not a thumb sucker. Kade had gone the bathroom in has diaper before getting on the train, and for the whole ride to our car, he had stunk up the entire area around us. There were several people around us, and the smell was so bad that we started to laugh and couldn't stop. (But we both got a good ab workout from laughing so hard).

Happy Birthday Bubba!!

2008-02-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

Since Jake was still out of town for Kade's birthday, we celebrated it twice. On his birthday, we had a small party with just Mindy and Chet. We made our favorite Chinese food and had cup cakes.

Kade loves his "George." He won't go to bed without it.

The big party can go on now that daddy is home! We had a big party with friends, neighbors, and relatives! We had a big BBQ, presents, and a big truck cake, thanks to Mindy!!!

This is definitely different that the girl party's we have had for years...
Kade waiting patiently for his dinner and drooling over his cake!

Las Vegas

2008-02-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

Since the kids had a 3 day weekend for Presidents Day, and the husband was out of town working, Aunt Mindy, Uncle Chet, and I decided to surprise the kids and head off to Las Vegas. The kids didn't know where we were going, just that we all jumped in the car and we were going to do something. They didn't expect the car ride to be more than a few minutes, so after a while they started to questions. All we told them is that were going to see a big castle ( that got the girls pumped). This was the girls first time in Vegas, and Kade's second (he was 2 weeks old at Uncle Jared's wedding, boy that was an experience).

We like to stay at The Orleans just off the strip, because they are so "kid friendly." The first thing Kade did was test out the bed.

The kids loved watching the water fountain show at the Bellagio. I can't count how many times we saw it. This was Kade's favorite thing, after the show was over, he would point at the water and say "more!"

M&M"s World! This was the girls favorite!!! They have so many cool things to do and see there. Plus all the colors of M&Ms they got to mix and match! ( And eat!)

M&M's World has a 3D movie on the 2nd floor, along with a museum of M&Ms. This took some time, but was worth it!

They loved how many lights there were and the themed hotels.

Every where the kids turned, there was something to do, see or touch! Who said Vegas isn't a kids town...

After walking all day, the kids were wiped out, unless you were trying to get them to bed. That was the hard part... They are already wanting to go back.

Spaghetti Dinner

2008-02-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

This was so fun!!! A speghetti dinner with NO plates, NO forks, or napkins. Our seminary teacher used to do this for us when we were in highschool. I thought it would be perfect for kids. All I told them was that we were going to have a special dinner that they were going to love. After we set up the table with a plastic cover and taking their shirts off, we had the kids sit at the table so we could see their reaction. I then dumped all the noodles on the table, following the sauce, cheese and meatballs. At first their eyes got big, and then a big smile came across their face. They loved it!! All of us ate until we couldn't anymore.

This has Riley's name written all over it, and this is normal eating for Kade, but he was the cleanest one when all was said and done. The kids are already asking when we are gong to do it again.

All that was left was put on the floor for the dogs to enjoy!

Kaley In the Movies!!!

2008-02-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

Kaley has been reciently been in the made for LifeTime movie "The Redemption of Sarah Cain," otherwise known as the book "Saving Sarah Cain," written by Beverly Lewis. The SaltLake area is huge for making movies and commercial,. and Kaley was picked up by a local talent/modeling agency. This is her first movie, and it appeared in LifeTime back in August. The DVD has just come out this January, she is very excited. Kaley playes a kindergarten sutdent in one of the main characters classroom.

Plot Synopsis: When Sarah Cain, a self-involved big-city newspaper columnist, travels to Pennsylvania for the funeral of her Amish sister, she soon discovers that she is the legal guardian of her five Amish nieces and nephews.

Unexpected RoadTrip...

2008-01-30T14:43:00.000-08:00

If you told me that I would be at home back in Washington 3 weeks after I was there for Christmas (for 2 weeks), I would say you were crazy! But just that happened. I got a call from my sister on Monday saying that her Husband Chris was going to be baptized that weekend. We packed up the car, and with Aunt Mindy, crammed all 6 of us up in the truck and headed out on Tuesday. I hate that drive.

We are all very happy that Chris made the choice to be baptize. And Thanks to the sister missionaries who helped him along. Yeah!

Brad and his Erica are engaged to be married!!!!!!

Kade found Grandma's high-heels and he walked around the house with them. He loved the sound they made when he walked on the hard floor.

We had lots of fun stuffed into a few days, but it was the ride home that was a nightmare... The weather was so bad with high winds and heavy snow, it took us 2 days to get home. Several roads and highways were closed, and highway speeds were 35-45 mph. We have never been so glad to be home.

Bowling

2008-01-30T14:03:00.001-08:00

While in Washington, we went bowling with the Johnson side of our family. The Kids have been asking for awhile to go, but we never seem to get around to it with Jake's work schedule. There were 22 of us, and took up 3 lanes.

This was Kade's first bowling experience, and he loved it. We wanted up at the lane the whole time. Let's just say our scores reflected him helping us bowl when it was our turn.

We couldn't get Kade to sit down or stop touching the balls.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

2008-01-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

My kids love to play in the snow until they can't feel their fingers. And of course there is no shortage of snow around here, it snows -1-2 times a week and we are expected to get 2-3 feet this weekend. They love to build snowmen with daddy and of course eat the snow.

Playing in the snow is hard work!

Their favorite part is the hot cocoa when their done!

The dogs love to do their figure 8's in the snow.

Kaley's Baptism

2007-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

December 1st 2007

Kaley has been waiting for this day since she can remember. It drove her crazy watching her cousins and friends be baptized knowing that her day would come. She always asked me " When is it my turn?" She had family from Washington come down to support her- Grandpa & Grandma Johnson, Grandpa & Grandma Homer and John. Along with a bunch of family and friends that live around here (including Uncle Bean!!). And of course it was a snowy morning here in Utah, and she was excited as could be. Kaley was baptized along with a neighbor boy named Spencer, whoms family we have a good connection with. After the baptism we had a brunch over at our house and that weekend celebrated her birthday with family in town, along with Aunt Mindy's since Kaley had been baptized on her birthday and Grandpa Johnson's was that weekend also.

Jakers Pumpkin Patch 2007

2007-11-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

We like to go this same pumpkin patch every year -they have pumkins as far as you can see... at least the kids can see anyway...

Kade wanted to carry his all by himself!

Halloween

2007-10-31T18:47:00.000-07:00

This Halloween was a cold one, but nothing will stand in the way kids and candy- if you know what I mean!

Kaley wanted to be Supergirl, but we couldn't find one in her size. Grandma Johnson wipped up this costume and sent down to us. Kaley loved the make-up the most! The kids went trick-or-treating with Daddy, Sammy our dog, and our neighbors while Mommy stayed home with Aunt Mindy to hand out candy.

They got good use of their costumes after 3 Halloween parties, Trunk-or-Treat, school and Halloween night...

1st day of PreSchool

2007-09-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

Riley Started Preschool this year, and she could hardly wait. She used to watch Kaley get ready and sit on the front porch and wave to the bus as it went by. She would always ask "When's my turn Mommy?" Her Preschool is next door to Kaley’s school so it is easy and convenient. Riley lives for school and is learning a lot. She loves to sing me the new song she has learned that day on the ride home. Riley is at school 4 days a week for 3 hours. Mommy loves the break too!

The Family Pictures

2007-09-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

Our family has tried since I can remember to get a family picture with everyone in it. Their was always some excuse or someone not able to be there. Not to mention how fast our family is growing. Thanks to our oldest brother, he gave this to my mother as a Christmas present. It did take us several months to finally get everyone in one place, but miralces do happen!Me, my Sisters and my baby Brother.

Family Tradition

2007-09-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

In 1989 when my family moved from Utah to Washington state, one of the first things we did was go hiking up Mt Rainier to mowich Lake Falls. The past several years we started to or at least tried to hike to it every Labor Day weekend. This Labor Day was the first time that all of my family, in its entireity, was in the same place at the same time. (Thanks to a family picture 10 years in the making). So "The Hike" was mentioned. Even all of didn't go, most of us did. It always seems that their is always at least one newborn, along with 1-2 that cant walk or hike it. And some of us that dread it. But when you reach the falls, it is all worth it!

We take a family picture every time at this bridge just like in 1989.

On the way back, Kade wanted out of the backpack and walked

with Grandpa.

Jake has is ways of showing his LOVE!

Crandall Canyon Mine

2007-08-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

Jake works for a drilling company that drills for just about anything. This summer he was called to the Crandall Canyon Mine when 6 miners were missing after the collapse. This was obviously a very sad incident, but kind of exciting for our family. Jake was gone for 3 weeks drilling trying to find any sign of the miners. This is a picture of him in the tan overalls. He was all over the news, including CNN and CNBC and others. We couldn't turn on the TV with out seeing him over and over. It was nice to see him, because this was his first long-haul job away from home, and the girls at night would ask for Daddy. All I had to do was turn on the TV and within 5 minutes we usually saw him. Jake had the opportunity to do many neat things including operate (play) the camera down in the holes (with a joystick). Jake would also when he got a chance to call me and give me updates of what was going on wit the rescue, usual about 12 hours before the news and media. Many people have told us that they new it was Jake on the news just because of the way he walks and carries his body. He also got very sick during this period and because of the nonstop work, he came home about 30 pounds lighter.

Lagoon

2007-08-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

August 2007

I have always told my girls about my fond memories of Lagoon growing up, and the experiences I have had there. I told them the story about when I got lost and how scared I was. I must have been 7-8. I also couldn't wait to go and have some fun with my husband and show him the ropes. I can't believe how much that place has changed and grown.

One last break before school starts! That was a hot one -100 degrees out in the heat, but the kids loved it!

They now have ground water fountains (like they have at Disney World), and to cool off we all got soaking wet from head to toe. We looked like we had just stepped out the shower with our clothes on, but it felt so good, and the kids thought we were crazy. I took only a few minutes to dry with the heat.

Fun in the Sun!!!!

2007-06-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

The weekend after Aunt Mindy got married, she went on her honeymoon, and we went to the Lake with our cousins!!!

We still cant believe that "The Banana" still lives, and it is still impossible to get back on to in the water.

All Riley could say on the Jetski is "Faster Mama, Faster Mama"....