The Whitehead's

My haircut

2012-01-23T18:18:00.000-05:00

In August we got to spend some time in Arizona and Utah. I love to have my Awesome Aunt Nancy cut my hair because I always love it when she does it. I figured since we would be in Utah, I could ask her to cut it for me!
This time I wanted to go short again - I was tired of my long hair.
Silly me, I didn't get a before and after picture - so I just had to look for some that show how long it was and how short it is now.

This is not the best picture. I was trying to show my sister, Cortney, how the "sock bun curls" don't work! All it did was make my hair all frizzy and crazy! But, I guess it is a good picture to show how long it was!

These are also not the best pictures, but you get the gist of how short I went!

I love changing my hair drastically.
It is time for me to go blonde, I think...

Steph had a better picture of my short hair! Thanks Steph!

And just because I think these kids are so adorable, I thought I would share these pictures...

Don't mind the fact that I look a bit evil in them. :)

Dr. Delaney

2012-01-23T17:52:00.001-05:00

Kyler had a cavity and had to get it taken care of. While we were there Delaney got to assist the Dentist.

She was so excited! Now she wants to be a "dentist helper" when she grows up!

Notes

2012-01-23T17:48:00.001-05:00

I got this super cute little note from Delaney one morning.

I was so excited to get it! I thought I was so special!

Until I started to rub it in Wes' face that I got this super awesome note and he didn't get anything!

Yeah, big mistake.

Because he pulled this out of his pocket...

Not only did she write more to him, his note was TWO-SIDED!

I got ripped off.

I still love her, even if her Dad is her favorite!

Helping Hands

2012-01-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

We were lucky and got to participate in a few "Helping Hands" projects. Because of the hurricane and a few other natural disasters this year there were a lot of people that needed help. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to be able help and meet new people. Here are a few pictures.

Kyler worked his butt off at this one. He sure is a great worker! I am proud of him!

These boys were working hard also. Can you see how steep this hill is? Those pieces of tree were so heavy - I'd say easily 400 lbs - but I could be lying to you...

These girls made sure we stayed hydrated!

Here is a picture of some of us that got to help with the tree.

When we were finished the kids had lots of leaves and stuff in their hair. This was the easiest way to clean them up!

Rylan's Birthday

2011-12-05T21:03:00.001-05:00

So, I have to admit, I am kind of a slacker. I got on my blog to do a post about Delaney's birthday and found that I hadn't even finished Rylan's post from NOVEMBER! Yeah, I know, I'm a terrible mother.
I do love Rylan, I just forgot about him! :)
Anyway...
Rylan turned 11 this year. Crazy to me that I have an 11-year old. I don't feel old enough. Anyway, on his birthday this year Wes and I went to help a family in our ward that was moving so we got up, made Rylan his favorite breakfast, opened his gifts and left him home. I can't decide if we are the worst or the best parents ever.
I hope he had a fantastic day. I am so proud of him and all he is becoming!
Here is a little trip down memory lane...

What a handsome boy. He is an awesome person and I am so lucky to have him as my son!

Love you Rylan!

Hiking

2011-12-04T22:06:00.001-05:00

We decided to go hiking before it got too cold. It was a bit chilly but it was really nice. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed our time together as a family. We didn't think Delaney would make it - she is a bit of a wimp sometimes but she did great! No complaints from her! We hiked about 4 or 5 miles total. It was a lot of fun. I would like to do it again, just maybe when it is a bit warmer.
Here are some of our cute pictures...

We found this tent here - I think it is for a ranger or something...not sure.

I wanted a normal picture. What do you think the chances of that are?

Better than I expected. :)

Thanksgiving

2011-12-03T11:01:00.001-05:00

Our Thanksgiving this year was a bit different than some in the past. I have wanted to go into the City and watch the parade since we moved here almost 4 years ago but I couldn't convince Wes to do it with me. His good friend Dustin mentions it and guess what?! It is a good idea! Crazy how that happens.
Anyway, Dustin has an RV (aka the big rolling turd) and so they decided we would take that and head in. Sleep a bit, and wake up early and get great seats! Looks good on paper...
The reality of it is - there probably aren't ANY good seats. They did their best but I have to say watching the Macy's Day Parade on TV really is so much better!
Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience and I am so glad we did it, if nothing else just to know we never have to do it again! haha
We got what we thought were great seats. We were on the sidewalk right at the curb. Policemen put barricades directly in front of us so we thought it would be fantastic. Nobody could be in front of us. Little did we know we were at the street crossing. People lined up in front of the barricade to cross the parade. I thought, ok no biggie - they will cross and be done.
I was sorely mistaken.
I guess if you want front row seats to the parade you have to get there AFTER it starts and line up to cross the street. Then you just cross the street, cross again, cross again and cross again doing a giant circle. You can see everything and the poor suckers that got there 3 hours early and sat in the cold with 7 little kids suffering will only see the back of your head!
Not that I am bitter or anything.
Well, maybe I am. I had to comfort my sweet little girl that was crying because she couldn't see anything while all those really nice ADULTS crammed in front of us a million times!
Anyway, we did see some great balloons and it was fun to hang out with the Townsend family so it wasn't all a loss. And a bonus - Delaney's daddy bought her some new jewelry. I guess he didn't like her tears either. :)
We got home at around 4 pm so we had pizza.
The next day we went to the Townsend's house for a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner - the most fabulous part...I didn't have to cook!
Overall, it was another wonderful Thanksgiving with family and great friends.
One thing I am so thankful for is that wherever we move we find great people to put up with us and be our family while we are so far away from ours.

As soon as I figure out where Wes put the pictures I will post them...

I didn't even know this was part of the parade until I saw the pictures.

I am not sure who this is...I guess he is someone famous?

See the people lining up to cross the street. Kind of rotten if you ask me.

Not really sure who this is either. I guess that is what happens when you go for almost 2 years without a tv.

I do know that this is Neil Diamond. I'm not much of a fan.

It was tight quarters - I guess this is the best picture Wes could get of me - just ignore the dark circles and wrinkles - we didn't get much sleep...

We were so excited to see Santa - but only because it meant the parade was finally over! Hahaha

Are we prepared?

2011-11-09T21:51:00.002-05:00

We found out. We are mostly prepared. We could be more prepared though.
We had a freak snow storm on October 29th. It was kind of fun - for a while. Then we realized there is a reason trees loose their leaves before it snows. If they don't the trees break and cause LOTS of problems. We found this out. There were millions of people without power for days on the East Coast because of this snow storm.
We had no power for about 5 days. We lost power Saturday night. We had no church Sunday because the church didn't have power either. That was fun, we stayed in our pj's all day playing games, reading books and enjoying each other in front of the fire. That night we all had a family sleep-over in the living room near the fireplace to stay warm. It was so cold! No heater kind of sucks! Anyway, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and just enjoyed ourselves.
Then came Monday.
We were all a bit tired of the "family time". We wanted electricity. We wanted something to do. Don't get me wrong, family time is great - but when you are forced into it with no other options, it gets old kind of quick!
Wes did everything he could to make us comfortable. He got up every hour or so to stoke the fire and make sure we stayed warm at night. He brought a car battery into the house and fixed it so I could charge my cell phone. He even tried to heat up some water for us so we could shower! He did his best to make me us happy. I am so grateful for that.
I told my dad about our power outage and he said he was worried about us. Then he realized Wes was not out of town and said he wasn't worried anymore. Wes is a survivor. I agree. I know that no matter what the problem Wes will do his best to take care of us.
Anyway, as a result of the storm the town postponed Halloween until November 4th. It was a little strange trick-or-treating in November, but the kids didn't care too much. They got candy - that's all that matters, right?!

Reason for slacking a bit on the blog...

2011-11-09T21:39:00.001-05:00

Number 1 - Too lazy to get on the computer and figure out what needs blogged.
Number 2 - My house/kids always seems to warrant my attention more than my blog.
Number 3 - My new job! Yep, you heard correct - I have a job.
It might not be the ideal job, but it is work nonetheless. It has been so good for me mentally. All my kids are in school now so from 8 am to 3:30 pm I was alone in the house. I was going crazy! I have looked for a job for a while now, applied at several and just never got hired. Never even an interview or phone call! It was very frustrating. One day Wes came home from work and said "McDonald's is hiring!" Well, I was not too interested. But after a while I thought, maybe I should, I haven't worked in about 11 years and maybe I could just work there while I apply at other places. Maybe they just need to see that I have current work experience.
So I did it.
I went into McDonald's and asked for an application.
Right there on the spot she was going to interview me but it was too busy. She asked me to come back the next day. I was thinking two things - 1. Crap. She is going to hire me. 2. Yay, I will have a job!
Well, it wasn't so much an interview as a this-is-what-you-are-going-to-need-to-know-when-you-come-in-Monday discussion. I was hired. Not sure how I felt.
Now, I can say I have been working for about 6 weeks and I am thoroughly enjoying it. They are working with my hours, it is 2 miles from my house and there are great people that work there! Not the ideal job, but it is money, it is easy and I am so much happier because I have a purpose to my day again.
I leave for work 45 minutes after my kids leave for the bus and I get home about 5 minutes after them. Perfect hours!

Long story short, I may not blog too often. :)

Super Fun Reese Party!

2011-09-15T21:16:00.001-04:00

Grandma J decided that it would be great if we could get the whole family together for a party! We had almost everyone for at least a few minutes! Kaycee brought fun water activities that entertained everyone for hours! Cami took the pictures!
Thanks Grandma J - The party was great!
Thanks Diana - For letting us use/trash your house/yard!
And thanks to everyone for coming and bringing stuff for us to enjoy!

Here we are getting the slip 'n slide ready!

The big kids had to join the fun also!

Jace started throwing kids down the slide - they loved it!

Grandma Mo wanted to have fun too!

What an awesome grandma!

Look how cute Brittin's face is! Get him Grandma Mo!

Look how precious! I love this picture!

Colby & Jack couldn't resist!

I love these next two pictures.

Look at Grandma - it's like she is saying - Look out Kyler!

Oh, man! Didn't move quick enough!

The kids love playing with Grandma!

And I think Grandma loves playing with the kids!

Grandma J and Aunt Janet

I know what you are thinking - and no, Bryce IS NOT peeing on Lucia.

He is protecting the tree from the kids.

Here is our other tree protector, Mendy.

Kaycee and I just having fun!

No, Uncle Foad (Kirk) didn't wet his pants, it just looks that way!

Aunt Diana & Delaney

Grandma Mo was showing the kids pictures of when she was young.

We had so much fun! I hope we can do parties like this more often!

I actually met some of my cousin's spouses and kids for the first time!

Elder Clarke

2011-09-15T20:22:00.002-04:00

My brother, Glen, is on a mission in Des Moines, Iowa. Conveniently, we drive right through there to get home from Utah. Everything worked out so perfectly and we were able to stop and have lunch with him and his companion. Super sweet Sister Stone got it all lined up for us. Thanks so much! It was so great to see him and enjoy a few minutes to talk to him and see how he is doing! I am so proud of him!

He is such a handsome boy!

Don't mind me looking bad - I had driven for 2 days already!

Love you Glen! Glad we got to see you again!

Dad's boat

2011-09-15T20:10:00.000-04:00

Dad got a new boat last year and I have been so excited to go play on it! We got the chance while we were there. It was great! Brenda has more pictures that I would love to post, I just have to get them from her. Soon...
For now, one pic and one video...

Rylan wakeboarding!

Dad does some super awesome tricks on his Sky Ski!

Coolest. Dad. Ever.

More Swimming

2011-09-15T20:04:00.002-04:00

I didn't get many pictures of swimming. Mostly video.

But, look how cute these three are!

Laney was so excited that she was swimming in the deep end without a floatie!

Alyssa, Timber and Delaney

These next three are of Kyler doing a back flip. The first one he did great, the second one he hit his head on the diving board. I was so worried about him I just tossed my phone and went to see if he was ok. He looked at me like I was mental asking if he was ok - I guess he didn't want his Mommy checking on him and embarrassing him. The last one is Kyler trying again and doing a great job!

Treehouse Museum

2011-09-14T22:54:00.000-04:00

We always have so much fun at the Treehouse! We went with Grandma J and Kaycee and her kids. It was a lot of fun!

I thought this was so funny! There is a plastic cow with udders that you can actually milk. Milk (or something similar, probably not milk because it would stink) comes out and into the bucket! So funny! The kids loved it!

Playing Cowboys and Cowgirls!

And who could forget the clown?

They got to dress up like Indians and learn a little about them.

They played in an old schoolhouse. They loved this part.

They sat in the "Oval Office".

I guess you have to have a serious face to sit there.

Kyler wanted to dress up. He is George Washington.

They painted with foam paint!

(And then we forgot to pick up the pictures when we left! Oops!)

All of them got to be in an interactive story!

Well, except Cody - but he made himself part of it!

Pulling the sword from the stone!

The biggest Chess game Rylan has ever played!

I think he wants one for his room!

She really wants to be a princess!

My boys would have played war games here all day if we would have let them!

Super cool Firetruck - they wanted a picture in it just for Grandpa Whitehead!

It even says O.F.D.

Perfect.

Fun in Utah

2011-09-14T22:27:00.001-04:00

We made it to Utah only after driving another 12 hours and only 1 case of food poisoning and getting pulled over only once! (and very creatively getting out of a ticket!)

Here are just a few highlights.

Rylan made cookies at Cami's house. Alyssa watched.

Kyler loves to read to little kids. Halle loved it too!

We spent some time at Kaycee's house. The boys really enjoyed playing with Tom's stinky, sweaty hockey pads. :)

My mom has a super cool tub that the girls wanted to play in.

Cody couldn't help but be part of the fun. Here he is getting all soapy and pretending to be Santa Clause. I guess the Santa here in Utah has hair all over his face, not just a beard.

Lake Powell

2011-09-14T22:19:00.001-04:00

I really, really miss this place...

Splash Pad

2011-09-14T22:05:00.001-04:00

Jason, Brittany and I took the kids to a really fun splash pad for some fun. Then Jason took all the kids home himself while Brit and I went to a fun Pampered Chef party. Thanks Jason!

Bostyn liked to sit on the water.

Not sure where Kyler is headed...

Kanon is such a cheeser!

My boys sure loved taking care of these cute little girls. She is almost as big as Kyler and he insisted on carrying her!

AZ Bird shop

2011-09-14T00:04:00.000-04:00

Grandma Whitehead got a super cool bird and so we all went to the pet shop to see it. (It isn't ready to come home with her quite yet) While we were there we saw all kids of super cool, fun birds.

Here is Delaney with Zahzu (Grandma's bird)

Rylan checking out the Parrots. There were so many of them and they were all just hanging out, not even in cages. It was a lot of fun!

Trevor got to hold one.

Not sure what kind of bird this one was but it was definitely a favorite.

He was quite the show-off!

Arizona

2011-09-13T23:47:00.004-04:00

We had so much fun in Arizona. We got to see all the Whitehead family except Brad, Jamee, Khage and Grandpa Whitehead. We missed you all very much!
We did a lot of fun things while we were there and thoroughly enjoyed our time with the family. We wished we could have seen Fressia more, but she is a bit of a workaholic. :)

Here are Kyler, Rylan and Trevor having fun at Aunt Terry's pool.

Rylan had so much fun with Kanon and he took such good care of her.

Aren't they cute?!

We hit some garage sales while we were there and picked up a few Matchbox cars.

Trevor liked them as much as the kids did!

For some reason the kids wanted to sleep in the closet - on the hard tile floor.

Whatever...

Yeah, I kicked butt!

I love Tetris!

Here are the boys chicken fighting.

Trevor & Rylan VS. Wes & Kyler

I thought this was so funny. Kanon was so cute!

A Long Drive...

2011-09-13T23:34:00.002-04:00

Driving from here to Arizona is quite the drive. It isn't fun in a big Tahoe, so imagine how much fun we had in a little, tiny Jetta! It was a bit more cramped than we would have liked, but it got us there so we were happy!

Here are the kids trying to sleep in the car. Not too comfy.

When we stop to get gas I see if there is somewhere I can make the kids run around and get the blood flowing again. Here we ran and then did some jumping jacks and a few other fun exercises (I think the truckers got a kick out of watching us!)

Here they are sleeping again. You can't really tell whose appendage is whose. :)

The Jetta did great and saved us a lot of gas money. We had so much fun, it was well worth the 2300+ miles!

Lots to post about

2011-09-03T12:11:00.000-04:00

I have a lot of fun stuff to post about. I need to get everything cleaned up from our long road trip and figure out how to get my pictures on the computer from my phone and from all my family and then I will be posting like a crazy person. :)

Big News!

2011-08-10T14:38:00.004-04:00

I. AM. NOT. PREGNANT!!!

Just wanted to get that taken care of. I am done having kids. That is not our exciting news.

It is...

We bought a house!! I am so excited!

It is in Arizona. I love Arizona. We don't plan on moving right away, Wes still has work in New Jersey. But, now we have a house for when it is time to move.

Our Summer

2011-07-21T08:19:00.002-04:00

Our summer has been quite boring. Not that we are too bored, just nothing blog-worthy. We get up, do chores and either ride bikes or swim or both the rest of the day. There are a few pics and video that I really would like to put on the blog, but they are on my phone and that is a huge pain in the butt to get them onto the computer. I really despise iTunes...
Also, I have been extremely LAZY and haven't put any pictures of our awesomely fantastic trip to California with my in-laws. So, if you would like to see a few pictures check out Brit's Blog!
Hopefully I will get out of my laziness sometime soon and blog a few things. :)

Finally, some family pictures!

2011-06-24T10:51:00.011-04:00

I have wanted to do family pictures for a long time and we just never get around to doing it. Finally, when we were in California we got some! I love them!

I wanted a cute one of just Wes and I and here is what we got

hmmm, maybe you could pull a normal face?

Great, now we have to wait for "Mr. Important" to get off the phone...

Ok, finally a decent one.

My favorite one -

Here is a cute one of all the grandkids on the Whitehead side.

And a wonderful family picture.

Rylan's Play & Delaney's Bubble Festival

2011-06-24T08:41:00.005-04:00

Rylan was in a little play that one of his extra classes put on. It was really cute and I wish I had better pictures and some good video. Rylan didn't do much talking because he was the dead guy, but he did do some groaning - and it was quite funny! None of the kids had microphones so they were really hard to hear, but it was a lot of fun to go watch! He did a great job!

Delaney got to go to a bubble festival. The middle school kids learned about bubbles and did a bunch of experiments with the 1st graders. It was a lot of fun.

This is a girl from our ward that found Delaney and helped her for a few minutes!

Delaney trying to make humongous bubbles.

Here they could stick their hands through the bubble without popping it!

Dry ice bubbles that don't pop easily!

Putting her inside a bubble. I didn't get a great picture. :(

Here was the last experiment they did. It was a lot of fun for everyone!

Easter

2011-06-23T14:44:00.008-04:00

I love Easter. I love the meaning of it. I love candy. And I love new bathing suits.

For some reason our Easter Bunny must not like to be awake when everyone else is asleep because he doesn't do a great job of hiding the stuff. We love him anyway!

The Easter bunny did this really cool thing with the jelly beans though

Delaney loves to organize her candy!

I want to let my dad and Brenda know how much we appreciate the extra effort they always put towards getting my kids a package for holidays and birthdays. I know it is time consuming and costs a little more and we really, truly do appreciate it!

Here are the bathing suits the kids got from Grandma & Grandpa this year.

A quick review

2011-06-13T19:01:00.021-04:00

I have been a little lazy with my blogging. I had some trouble with a post and just never got past it. Now I am so far behind that I am just going to have to do a quick catch up. Here goes...

Kyler's concert:

Kyler is on the bottom right, second one in.

Delaney's concert:

Not a great picture, actually it is pretty crappy, but it was the best I could do. Delaney is on the right in a blue shirt with a blue flower in her hair (behind the boy with stripes).

This song is called "Old McWacker had a song"

Pinewood Derby:

Rylan's car took 2nd place overall!

Kyler got an award for the "sleekest car"!

Delaney got 2nd place in the family members races!

I am so proud of my kids. It was a lot of fun to watch them make their own cars and how proud they were when they won! This was the first pinewood derby I have ever been to and it was a lot of fun!

Rylan got contacts!!

Here we are at Costco just after he got them put in. He wanted me to take a picture and send it to some of the people we love so they could see!

Tights:

I found a great blog that taught me how to make some super cute tights. I love them!

I made these ones also! I wish I could make them big enough for me!

Finally warm enough to play outside:

Sort of...

It seemed to take so long for the weather to warm up and then it seems all it has done since it has warmed up is rain. I love the rain, but I also love playing outside...

1st Wakeboarding of the season!

Kyler & Wes were the only two that went out for the first few times. It was too cold for the rest of us.

I just got the last of his jump on this one, but you can see how good it was. He is improving so much! He loves wakeboarding!

Rylan's concert:

Kyler & Delaney had a lot of fun!

County cake:

This year Rylan's class each did a project on a different county in New Jersey. Rylan had Ocean county. At the end of this project they baked a cake in the shape of their county and decorated it. It was so fun to see! Rylan's is the orange one in the middle of the cake. The whole cake was huge!

They also learned a song with all the counties in it -

(I don't know why the spacing is so off, I have tried to fix it several times but it just isn't fixing!)

Fressia & bowling

2011-04-06T14:31:00.004-04:00

Fressia got to come to New York for work so we got to see her! It was fun having her stay with us for a few days! It is a little boring here when it is cold, but we made the best of it!

Monday we went bowling. We haven't been bowling for a long time, so it was a lot of fun. I took lots of video, so it is a bit of a video overload. Sorry.

Watch Delaney in the background. She was up on a table doing some sort of counting.

I love how she rubs Kyler's head when she is finished. :)

My Birthday!

2011-04-06T14:07:00.003-04:00

Since January I had been hoping and praying that the snow would be gone and it would be warm for my birthday. I didn't think it was going to happen because it was so cold the week before. Well, I got really lucky - on my birthday it was 70 degrees! It was so AWESOME! I loved it! It didn't last though, it got really cold again and actually the next week it snowed about 10 inches! Crazy weather!

This year my birthday was pretty boring. Lexie wasn't here to throw me a party (or party with me) so we really didn't do anything. :( I made myself a yummy dinner and a lemonade pie for dessert. Later that evening we got to go visit with Aunt Terry and Sandra. They were here because Sandra was in a competition in NY. That was a lot of fun. We sure do miss having family close!

Wes and the kids got me a Walmart Scentsy and some scents. I am super excited about that, now maybe my house won't smell like wet boy! (which is similar to wet dog) Wes also got me some awesome new running shoes! Mine had some pinky toe problems. They are so comfortable! I love them! Now if the weather will just warm up enough to actually be able to use them outside! That would be great!

Yes, I do need a tan. It looks like I am glowing. Soon, hopefully, it will be warm enough to venture outside and actually get some sun on those pasty white legs!

Now, let me preface this video by saying I didn't plan on putting it on the blog. I made it for Lexie so she could see our new tile and my old running shoes. So, I sound like a doofus. :) I just hope you all love me even if I am a doofus...

Flooding

2011-04-06T13:52:00.006-04:00

We get so much rain here. I love it and hate it at the same time! I love rain. Especially when it is a total downpour. So fun. It makes New Jersey SO beautiful! But, at the same time, enough is enough! Sometimes I would like to see the sunshine! Well, around the middle of March we got LOTS of rain, plus all the snow was melting so we had water everywhere! Luckily we live on a hill so there wasn't much damage but we did get a little. Water came into the basement. It was coming in so fast that Wes and I had the ShopVac and the carpet cleaner running to suck up the water. We didn't get in bed until 3am or so and we had to set the alarm to get up every 30-45 minutes or we would have too much water in the basement. It kind of sucked, but it could have been worse. We pulled up the carpet and asked the landlord if we could put tile down. That way if it flooded again we wouldn't have to worry about nasty carpet. He said we could, so we did! I love it!

Here is the water. I came in from the baseboard between the two doors.

Here is the town near ours. That was a parking lot. Now it is a lake. :(

There were so many streets blocked off because they were totally submerged. So sad for all those people whose houses got damaged.

Getting ready to tile. What a mess!

Look! Doesn't it look better already?!

I did the tile along the wall.

I think I did pretty good. I am sure it isn't hard, but I am a bit of a spaz, so this was quite the accomplishment!

Science Fair

2011-04-06T13:48:00.004-04:00

This year Rylan wanted to be in the science fair. He asked Wes to help him make a hydrogen generator (I think that is what it is called). Wes made it and told Rylan that he needed to do the research on his own and figure out all the information like how it works, why we would need it, etc. Rylan did a great job and I am very proud of him!

Here is Rylan in front of his project.

Here he is with his medal.

Blue & Gold Dinner

2011-04-06T13:44:00.004-04:00

I have two cub scouts now! Since Rylan turned 8 we haven't been in a ward that has had enough boys so they have never been able to do scouts. Until now! They are so excited! A couple weeks ago we had a Blue & Gold dinner. It was fun. We had spaghetti, got awards and had yummy cakes! It was fun!

Happy Birthday, old man!

2011-03-16T08:40:00.008-04:00

Yes, today is Wes' Birthday.

I looked through just a few pictures to share.

These are in 1980 (I believe)

(look, doesn't he look just the same 30 years later?!

This picture was taken in 1983.

This picture was from 1993.
This is around the time I met Wes.

This is 1999, the year I married my best friend!
(not the best pic, it was scanned)

He is such a great dad. I couldn't ask for a better father for our kids!

Wes loves to have fun.

Wes and Scott decided they would try double surfing! Didn't work out that well!

Sometimes he does stuff to make us appreciate the fact that we have him around for another day!

We are so happy to have Wes in our lives!

Wes is such a wonderful husband/father/friend. He always works so hard to provide for us. I have such an easy life and it is because he works so hard. I never have to worry about anything.
I love that Wes loves to have fun. We have a lot of fun together as a family. So many great memories!
Wes is such a great example to me and also our kids. I want my boys to grow up to be just like him.

Wes, I love you with all my heart and I hope you have a

FANTASTICALLY WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!!!!

Delaney's hair

2011-03-01T20:35:00.005-05:00

I always thought I would have a little girl with a lot of beautiful, thick hair. Everyone on my side of the family and almost everyone on Wes' side has really thick hair so I just figured she would. No such luck. She was born bald and has had pretty thin hair ever since. It has gotten pretty long but is still quite thin and fine. I think it is beautiful, just a little thinner than I would like.

Anyway, she fights with me every time I ask her to shower and wash her hair. She also fights with me anytime I want to brush it out. Not fun for either of us. So a couple Sunday's ago she was fighting pretty hard and I had just had enough. I told her we were cutting her hair all off! Well, it was sort of just a threat. I really didn't want to cut it. But, then I got thinking - maybe it would look better, and it would be easier to do. And maybe, just maybe, we would have less fighting...

I guess we will see.

I cut her hair just tonight.

Before:

This is the only picture I could find of her hair done before it was cut.

After:

It is a little shorter than I expected it to be, but I think it already looks healthier. :)

Here is her hair done. She just keeps whipping it around and saying she looks like a "superstar!" I am so glad she likes it.

Fun Sunday

2011-02-28T09:48:00.003-05:00

For about a month we have known that we would have an Apostle come to our stake and talk to us. We have all been very excited/anxious to know who it was and meet him. A couple weeks before he came we found out it was...

Elder David A. Bednar.

We were thrilled! I think he is a great speaker and a lot of fun to listen to. The kids were even excited. We had to get up earlier than on a regular Sunday because our stake center is about 45 minutes away, and if we didn't get there early enough we wouldn't get a seat. We got there about 1 1/2 hours early and still ended up on the hard chairs in the gym. We were ok with that, at least we got a seat!

There were a few speakers before Elder Bednar that did a great job. Testimonies by 3 youth. I am amazed and impressed with them because I don't think I could have done that. First, there were SO many people there and second, bear your testimony in front of an Apostle! Crazy! But they did and they did great! I am continually impressed with the youth!

While Elder Bednar was speaking Kyler was drawing a picture of him. It was a cute picture. Kyler whispered to me - "Can I give this to him?" I told him that he could, but I am not sure if he would get to see him for a while because there are so many people that wanted to shake his hand. Well, I am not sure if Kyler even heard the closing prayer because as soon as they said Amen, he took off like a rocket. I think he was the first one to shake his hand. (and remember we were clear back in the middle of the gym!) He was so excited that he got to shake hands with an Apostle of the Lord.

Rylan and Delaney wanted to shake his hand also, so we got in line. It was quite the line. We waited for a long time and finally shook his hand. I overheard my kids say - "I am never going to wash this hand again!" Haha! Cute, but disgusting. Think of the many people he just shook hands with and all the germs! Gross!

Anyway, it was a great day. We got some great information and things to think about. My kids even listened because Wes and I were discussing what was said and the kids chimed in and we had a nice little discussion.

We are all very glad we got the chance to go and listen to Elder Bednar. It was a great meeting! I am also very grateful for my wonderful kids that have such strong testimonies already!

Great Wolf Lodge

2011-02-21T14:05:00.012-05:00

We have some great friends that invited us to go to the Great Wolf Lodge with them this year. It was fantastic! We had so much fun! Can't wait for next year!

The Great Wolf Lodge is an indoor water park/hotel. It has so much fun stuff to do. There is a fun little kiddie pool with a few slides just for little kids. There is a wave pool. There is a regular pool with basketball hoops and floating acorns and such. There are two hot tubs, one for anyone and one for adults 21 and older. That one was awesome! There are lots of super fun slides. A toilet bowl slide, a family slide where 4 people can cram in a big tube and go all together, there is a roller coaster slide (my personal favorite!). And there is a humongous bucket that fills with water, when it gets full a bell rings and it dumps 1,100 gallons of water!

There are so many fun things to do here! It was great fun!

We got the kids out of school a little bit early Thursday and headed out. It is in Pennsylvania, not too far from where we live. We got there, checked into the hotel and headed to the water park! We played the rest of the day, until we were exhausted! Went to the hotel room, slept, woke up and played until we were so tired we could hardly walk!

Here are a few pictures of the great time we had! I didn't take lots of pictures because I left my memory card at home and I wasn't about to bring my new iPhone into a super humid water park. Thanks Dustin and Erica for letting us use your pics (and for taking some pictures of my family so we have some memories!)

Here are a few pics of the park.

This is the roller coaster slide. It was so much fun! And the more weight the faster/more fun you have! Dustin, Wes and I all went together on it! It was so much fun, I almost fell out of the tube. I went flying and landed back in my seat, but Wes' feet happened to get there first. I almost broke his ankle! But it was the best ride of the whole trip!

At bedtime in the lobby they have story time. The kids sit and watch these kinda creepy creatures come to life and tell a story and sing. The kids loved it! There is a boy that comes out of a tree stump and I think he is super creepy! When it was all over they had soap bubbles come from the ceiling and it totally looked like it was snowing! I was quite impressed!

Kyler, Austin & Evan enjoying the lazy river.

Ashley & Delaney

Wes

Wes & Delaney had a lot of fun together.

There was a floating acorn. We spent a long time playing on it.

Ashley, Rylan & Evan

Dustin has a super cool underwater camera. Here are my totally normal boys, Rylan, Kyler & Wes.

Did I say normal, well I think I was mistaken...

After the camera was submerged for a while, I guess it got a little water in it so the rest of the pics he took were a bit fuzzy. I am not complaining, I am happy to have pictures!

Taking a little snack break.

Kyler doing a cannon ball. Ignore the cow to the left of him. I think I am holding on to some winter weight to keep me warm. (excuses, excuses!)

More acorn fun.

Amanda & Rylan. Those two had a lot of fun together this trip. They have a lot in common.

There was a fun pool with floating stuff that people can try to walk across. When Wes and Dustin get together it is like preschool. They are hilarious to be around though.

Here is Dustin running across the floating lily pads.

Here is Wes trying to run across the lily pads.

Dustin took a little video of the big bucket dumping water on him. You can't see the bucket in the video but you can hear the bell ringing and all the water that dumps.

Some people like the snow...

2011-01-25T15:26:00.004-05:00

I really don't. So, here is some pictures and video of the family having fun in the snow - taken through the window. :)

First, I put the kids to work shoveling. Hoping that maybe they will burn some of their energy out there and not running like crazy people through my house!

Here is Wes. He got these new gloves. We call them his Ninja Turtle gloves.

He is a nerd.

The Spelling Bee

2011-01-25T15:16:00.004-05:00

Rylan got chosen to represent his class in a district spelling bee. He was pretty excited but nervous. He didn't want to let down the kids in his class if he didn't win. There were about 27 kids there. Rylan was #7. I am so proud of Rylan. He made it to the top 7 and then he missed a word. He knew the word but was a little nervous and missed one letter. I only got one picture of him, probably because I was as nervous as he was. I didn't want him to be upset if he got a word wrong. Anyway, I got a phone call that said they wanted to put a picture in the newspaper of all the kids in the Bee! Hopefully it will come soon so I can post that picture also.

Here is his, "mom, you are totally embarrassing me" face. :)

He pulls this face a lot more often that I think he should!

We are so proud of Rylan because he did a great job! He is very smart and I really enjoy seeing him learn and grow daily.

Way to go Rylan, We are proud of you!!!

Here is the picture that was in the newspaper. Rylan is front and center.

My baby is 7!!

2011-01-21T10:24:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday Delaney! I can't believe that she is now 7! She is such a beautiful girl and we are so grateful to have her in our lives. She is such a happy girl. She is always singing or humming and enjoying life. She loves to tease her dad, who by the way, she has wrapped very tightly around her little finger! :) Her big brothers are always trying to help her out and take good care of her. We are so lucky to have Delaney and I hope she had a fantastic birthday!

She wanted to have a party this year for her birthday. I usually don't like to do parties, we just have some of my friends over and we do cake and ice cream. She said she wanted to invite a few of her friends from church. She invited Tyee, Geovanni, Nicholas and Logan. I am not the best party hostess, but we had fun!

We decorated our own cupcakes.

Opened gifts.

And did the Pinata.

I think that playing pool will be out for a while. Who had the genius idea of using the pool stick for a pinata bat? Yeah, Wes. He is the genius in the family!

Here are some pictures and video of gifts and stuff from family.

Bug and I making the cupcakes for her party.

This is a tent that Grandma Mo gave her. She loves it!

Opening a gift from us.

Little Squinkies (we call them twinkies) They are adorable. There are a million of them. And they like to hide in strange places - i.e. shoes, the silverware drawer, and all over the floor. :) Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Whitehead. They really are so cute and fun to play with!

Boots from Grandma Brenda and Scuba Steve. Isn't she cute?! I think she likes them!

And they totally match her coat! What a doll! :)

For some reason I can't find the video I took of Delaney opening most of her gifts right now. I guess we shouldn't use our phones, camera and camcorder. Things get confused and lost.

Delaney opening her boots.

After looking at this post, I am feeling quite guilty for not doing something special for Rylan. Poor kid. :( Sorry Rylan!

Gingerbread houses

2011-01-21T10:14:00.005-05:00

This is the second year since Wes and I have been married that we have made gingerbread houses. It was a lot of fun and I am glad we did it.

Christmas!

2011-01-21T09:15:00.004-05:00

This Christmas was very quiet. We didn't drive across the country to see any of our family. We didn't have my best friend over to enjoy Christmas with us. It was just us. It was actually quite nice. I love family and friends, but it was really nice to just enjoy Christmas with just us.

It amazes me that Santa still comes here because we forget to leave out cookies and milk for him every single year! I even made cookies, which if you know me is a HUGE deal!

We got up Christmas morning and had to drag Wes out of bed. It is usually me that you have to drag out of bed, but on Christmas I am up early! I love Christmas! :) We took most of the video with our camcorder and I don't know how to put that on the computer so you won't see that for a while. I took a few pics with my regular camera and some with my phone so I could send it to family immediately. For some reason I can't get the pics and video from my phone to the computer right now, so that also will have to wait.

We got spoiled by lots of loving family that are willing to send us gifts! And Santa brought a bunch too!

Delaney

She hasn't stopped riding this scooter since Christmas day! She calls herself "Scoot"

Kyler. It is a little blurry.

Rylan. Maybe he is confused as to what he just opened?

All three kids. I am not sure if Kyler and Delaney changed that morning or slept in their clothes. Most likely they slept in their clothes. What a good mom I am...

Ice Skating in the backyard

2010-12-24T21:33:00.004-05:00

This lake has proved to be so much fun! I thought the fun would end with summer, but I was wrong! I am not much of a winter fan but this has been quite fun! Wes ordered some hockey sticks and pucks and now I enjoy skating more! It was actually quite fun!

This was skating on our lake. The chair was so we could get our skates on but ended up being more fun to just push people around.

We had a guy in our ward invite us over to skate at his house. He said the ice is the best it has been in a really long time. So we went. He was right, it was perfect for skating. Our ice has so many holes from the ice fishermen that it is hard to skate far and fast without falling. This ice was absolutely perfect! We had a lot of fun and we got to use our hockey sticks and pucks for the first time! It was a blast!

He had an awesome sled that works perfectly on the ice.

Rylan & Kyler both improved their skating a lot just today! They will be professional by the end of the winter! :)

Rylan's winter concert

2010-12-24T21:15:00.003-05:00

The 4th grade had a winter concert. It was fun to go see. Rylan did a great job and I am proud of him! Here are some highlights. You can't see him very well, but I got there 15 minutes early and still had to stand on the side. No seats.

CSI Jersey style

2010-12-24T20:42:00.005-05:00

The middle school put on this really fun CSI program for the 3rd graders. Fortunately Kyler is a 3rd grader so we got to go. They only picked a few kids from each class to go and Kyler was one of the lucky ones. It was for Kyler and 1 parent. He chose me! :)

Someone borrowed and played with a teddy bear and we were supposed to figure out who did it. They had a cute little crime scene, and a bunch of different stations where we could look at evidence. The middle school students did all the work. The teachers said that they sat in the corner supervising. The kids set up, they conducted and took the kids all through their stations. The teachers/parents were only there to supervise. It was so much fun and I am so glad we got to do it. Here are some pictures of our super fun night. Thanks Kyler for picking me to go with you!

Here they are drawing the crime scene and listing all the evidence. See the cute middle school girl with her CSI jacket! She was so nice to help Kyler.

Here is one of the evidence stations.

I think this one was figuring out if there was a sleeping potion in the drink.

Here they are looking at the mysterious powder found at the crime scene. I think it was sugar.

Here Kyler got an award for figuring out who-dunit. :) He was pretty excited about getting it right! Not everyone did.

This video is the kids testing the fibers found at the crime scene. It was either cotton or wool so they had to burn it to see the difference.

My boy is 10!!

2010-12-09T08:23:00.008-05:00

My sweet little boy,

is very quickly, right before my eyes, turning into a handsome young man!

Rylan's birthday was the day we decided to drive home from UT. His entire birthday was spent in the car. Not very fun. He is a good sport and had a good attitude about the whole thing.

For his birthday lunch we went to McDonalds. Then we drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. He chose Chili's for dinner. After lunch Wes had been progressively getting more sick until he just didn't want to do anything but sleep. So, the kids and I went in and had a great dinner. I told the waitress that it was Rylan's birthday hoping that they would sing to him. No bueno. They really suck! I was very disappointed in them. They did bring a dessert, but no singing. :( O-well, we did have a good dinner and I hope he had a great (as great as it could be) birthday!

I am not sure what life would be like without Rylan. He has so many great qualities. He always makes me feel loved. At night he wants me to stay in his room with him and talk for a while. I don't take advantage of that like I should. I know one day he won't even want me in his room, let alone want to talk to me about stuff. I love him with all my heart!

Love you Rylan!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

More fun at Dad's

2010-12-08T09:36:00.004-05:00

One of the days we were in Utah Kaycee and her kids came to hang out with us at Dad's house. Dad and Brenda were at work and the kids were all in school so we pretty much had the house to ourselves. We decided that it was warm enough to play with some of dad's toys. They have a little quad for the little kids, motorcycles for the older kids and a really fun Ranger to play on also. We had so much fun! Kyler even learned how to ride a motorcycle! It was a little too big so he was kind of scared, but he did a pretty good job.

Wes and Alyssa

Trying to get the bike started.

Delaney. She has always loved riding 4-wheelers.

Taking Cody for a ride. He loved it! :)

5K with my sisters

2010-12-07T08:25:00.003-05:00

While we were in Utah my sisters and I decided to run a 5K together. I am really glad we did. It was a lot of fun! Cortney wasn't able to do it with us because she had to work. Wish she could have come. Cami, Steph, Kaycee and I all did it. Mom was going to but couldn't and Brenda said she would have liked to but wasn't feeling well (it could have been all the stress from the beautiful wedding she put on a couple days before!) Anyway, next time maybe we will be able to have more family do it with us! It was so much fun!

I wish we could have gotten a picture or two! I am sure we were all so beautiful, first because we all woke up and had to be there by 7 and if you know any of my sisters or I you know we don't do well in the mornings! and second because we had just run! Another reason, I was worried about dying! The altitude just about killed me! (I am saying that so I don't have to admit that I am so out of shape right now! :) )

Anyway, thanks girls for running with me. I had a blast!

A new nephew!

2010-12-07T08:15:00.002-05:00

We are so excited for the arrival of Khage! Brad & Jamee had an adorable little boy a few days ago! We wish we could be there to see him! I know that Brad & Jamee will be great parents and we are so excited for them!

CONGRATS BRAD & JAMEE!!

Thanksgiving at Dad's

2010-12-01T15:25:00.006-05:00

This year we planned on having Thanksgiving with my mom's family so my dad and Brenda decided to do a Thanksgiving dinner with everyone on the Sunday before. It was a lot of fun and a lot of chaos. There are 10 kids under the age of 5, it gets a little crazy! (plus some of the adults act like kids so that doesn't help!) We would be driving home on Rylan's actual birthday so we did a little celebration for him that day also. (Brittin's celebration also because he is a November birthday)

I made the rolls and I wanted the kids to help. They always enjoy helping, and it makes my job easier (sometimes!)

Dad is a bit of a perfectionist, so he helped the 3 year-olds get it just right! Haha, it's ok dad, we are all just like you!

I wanted some pictures with my nieces & nephews.

Obviously I had the camera on the wrong setting.

Jayci

Kyla

I finally fixed the camera and now I have decided I look better when the camera was wrong! :)

Corbin & Kyla

Jayci & Rylan

Jersey

Kaycee

Here is a little wierdness. Rylan & Jayci can roll their stomachs. They love it and it is pretty funny!

I have the same socks as some of the girls. Jayci wanted us to wear them! So cute!

Birthday from Grandma & Grandpa!

Fun with Grandma Mo

2010-12-01T09:04:00.005-05:00

Grandma Mo is always so much fun to be with! She is always playing with the kids and lets them do so many things that their parents won't let them! She is great! We love her to pieces! Here are some pictures of the fun we had with her.

Mom & Gary gave everyone Flex shirts for Christmas. We got them a little early so we could do family pictures in them but we couldn't all get together. So sad! Sorry! Maybe next time! Thanks Mom & Gary - the shirts are awesome!!

Here are the kids getting ready to open them!

Crafts all day...

Even for the grown-ups!

Grandma even let us color on her windows!

The grown-ups couldn't be left out of this fun either!

You can't see very well, but all the kids' hand turkeys are on the window.

Grandma played so much with the kids, I think she might have fallen asleep before we even left! She is such a wonderful grandma!

We didn't plan on eating all of her food, but we stayed so long the kids got hungry!

It was so cute to see all those little flex shirts everywhere!

Kaelani & Ian

2010-12-01T08:53:00.003-05:00

Well, the wedding was so much fun! The only problem is, I didn't get a single picture!! What was I thinking! I must have been having too much fun!
They got married in the Ogden Temple. Wes had to fly to Tennessee right after the sealing so my kids and I had to find rides to the luncheon. No problem. My kids went with some of my sisters and I rode with Bridger. He wanted to drive and it didn't matter to me so, off we went. We came to an intersection where Bridger had to turn left through a bunch of lanes of traffic. I didn't realize he had only had his license for 2 months and I told him it was clear and to go. Well, it wasn't exactly clear. We hit a truck. Didn't do much to the truck but ripped the front bumper off my dad's Chrysler 300. We were quite distraught. Didn't know what to do. Bridger didn't have his license with him, the only registration I could find was expired and Timber was in the back having a panic attack! Crying that he doesn't want to go to jail! We tried calling Dad and Brenda but they were still taking pictures with Kaelani & Ian at the temple. I tried calling Layne & Diana to see if they could help, but they didn't recognize the number so they ignored me. Finally we got dad on the phone. That is where I broke down and cried. I felt so responsible! He said not to worry about it, just get everything taken care of and get to the luncheon. :) Layne finally picked up and said he wasn't far away and he would be here in a second. I am so glad he came to help. I didn't know what to do. Thanks Layne & Diana! I really appreciate your help! You guys are great people! :)
The rest of the wedding went on without any problems! It was a lot of fun!

CONGRATS KAELANI & IAN!!!

Trip to Utah

2010-12-01T08:40:00.002-05:00

My sister, Kaelani decided to get married November 18, one week before Thanksgiving. That was a great time because we could come for the wedding and stay for Thanksgiving. Making it a two-week trip! Awesome! Any excuse to see my family!
The drive isn't the most fun but we got through it with no huge catastrophes. When we drove through Des Moines we all yelled "Hi Uncle Glen!" I am not sure he heard us because I think missionaries forget their first name. As we left Des Moines it was pretty rainy and cold. We had a feeling it was going to get pretty ugly. It rained for a long time then froze and started snowing. So, that meant that all the rain that had been coming down for a long time had now frozen solid and then the snow sat on top of it. We were going super slow and very slowly slid right off the freeway! Kind of scary! The scariest part was the fact that even our 4 wheel drive couldn't get us out because the ground was so soft from the rain. We sank right into the mud. After about 20-25 minutes of trying super hard, we finally got back on the freeway! The car was covered in mud and the snow just kept coming! We found a place to stay for the night and didn't have any trouble the rest of the drive!
We had a blast for the two weeks we were there! (pictures of what we did to come.) There just doesn't seem to be enough time to see everyone, no matter how long you stay. Sorry!
The drive home was quite eventful. Usually when we drive somewhere, the drive home somebody gets sick. This time it was Wes' turn. He was miserable most of the drive home. We thought it could be food poisoning, but Cami had the same sickness the same night. Anyway, we made it home safe with no weather problems.
Thanks to everyone that made our trip so wonderful! I want to say Thanks to everyone individually, but I am afraid I will forget someone. We are so lucky to have so much family that loves us and will put up with us for a couple weeks! Thanks! See you soon! :)

Flow Rider

2010-11-23T00:11:00.003-05:00

My dad took us to Flow Rider here in Utah for family night tonight. We had so much fun! It was a total blast! I want to put more video and pictures on here but for now this video will have to do. The story on this video is, if you watch I lose my top just after I fall then as I am moving to the top my bottoms start to come off. It was pretty funny! I am just hoping nobody saw the madness!

THANKS DAD, IT WAS A BLAST!!!

I have a blog?

2010-11-09T08:33:00.002-05:00

No, I haven't forgotten that I have a blog. Our lives have just been very uneventful lately. The kids go to school, Wes goes to work and I stay home bored out of my mind. That's about it. We are taking a trip to Utah to see family and for my sister, Kaelani's wedding! Quite excited about that and hopefully we will find something to blog about after that trip!

Stay tuned...

Soccer

2010-10-11T10:01:00.006-04:00

Rylan and Kyler decided that they both wanted to play soccer this year. I was so excited. I love watching soccer. I am for sure a "soccer mom"!

Rylan played a little when he was like 4. That was typical 4-year-old soccer. Now, it is different. He is definitely a defender. He is doing so great! He loves that position and does so great at it! I am so proud of him!

Kyler has never played soccer in his life. He is great at offense. He is super fast becoming a great ball handler! He is also doing great and I am so proud of him too!

Both boys are quite competitive (I wonder where they get that from?!)

The last game Rylan assisted a goal and Kyler scored twice! I am so proud of them and I am so excited that I get to watch them both. They are on the same team so I don't have to worry about missing one of their games!

Kyler had to take a turn as keeper. Not his favorite. He would rather be running!

Can't see the boys too well, but look how pretty the field is!

Rylan is #6.

Great job Kyler! He played the whole first half in the goal. They didn't score any! :)

Kyler is in the middle in the white jersey. #8 if you can see the number.

There is Rylan in the middle

Delaney enjoying the nice weather and a Slurpee.

Here is proof that you probably should have a screen to see what you are taking pictures of. I do have to admit that the others are ok, but then there are these...

And, usually people find strange pictures that their kids take. These are what I find. My kids take good pictures that make sense. Wes, not so much.

Crazy hike

2010-10-11T09:17:00.005-04:00

Wes really should be doing this post, because I don't always get information correct. But I will do my best. (Wes told me the mileage, so that is right!)

Wes and his friend Dustin decided a while ago that they were going to hike the Appalachian trail. It sounded like fun to me. Then they said that it was going to be in 3 days and they were going to cover 42 miles! They have been pretty excited about it. They packed up their bags and off they went.

They left on a Wednesday after work. They hiked 3 miles that night. The next day they hiked about 15 miles. They were pooped. Friday they hiked another 16 miles. And on Saturday another 8! That is insane! I can't imagine how tired they were. We picked them up Saturday around noon. As they got in the car, the kids commented on how smelly they were! Haha!

Here are some pictures of the hike:

All these pictures are of Dustin because Wes was taking them. I need to get Dustin's camera so I have some pics of Wes!

The trail had pretty rough terrain.

Pretty sweet campsite!

Check out that trail!

Wes likes Fungi. Here are some cool ones he saw!

Love my camera

2010-10-11T08:39:00.003-04:00

I got this great camera last Christmas. I have loved every second of having it!

Wes went on a hike with his friend and asked if he could take it. I didn't think it was a big deal, and I wanted to see pictures of this hike. So, when he came home I asked if he got any good pictures. He handed me the camera and said, look for yourself. Yeah, my camera is busted! He somehow managed to trash the screen. It doesn't have a viewfinder so, that's it.

Wes was excited because we could still take pictures, you just can't see what you are taking a picture of. He says it will be fine. I will post a few pictures he took of the boys playing soccer, you can see for yourself how "fine" it will be! :)

Bored.

2010-10-07T17:08:00.002-04:00

I am bored.

I just don't know what to do.

My kids are all in school for 7 1/2 hours a day.

I have nothing to do.

You would think I would enjoy the peace and quiet. Or maybe I would enjoy being able to get the house clean and have it stay that way for almost 7 hours a day. Well, I don't. I am tired of the peace and quiet. I am tired of cleaning. I need something to do!

Nobody wants to hire me for the hours I want.

Maybe I should find a friend. :)

Also, the boredom is part of the reason I don't blog as much anymore. Nothing happens around here. My life is boring.

Don't get me wrong, I love my life. I am not complaining. Wes has just made my life so easy that I am bored. I need something productive to do (other than cleaning, because that sucks!)

I embarrass you?!

2010-09-23T12:22:00.004-04:00

So, this morning was nice a warm and I decided I should go for a run. I got in my running stuff (shorts & a t-shirt) and decided that I would wait with the kids for the bus before I left. I enjoy hanging with my kids. We were standing there and Rylan was looking around like he had lost something. Then he looks at me and says "Mom, could you be gone when the bus gets here? Not that I am embarrassed by you, but your shorts are really short and...." so I filled in the blank and said, "...and you are a little embarrassed?!" He agreed.

What??

When did I become so old that I am now embarrassing to my children?! This shouldn't happen yet! Plus, my shorts are really not that short, they almost touch my knees! O-well, I left when I saw the bus so that nobody could see my super short shorts and embarrassing mom-ness! :)

I love my kids, even if it embarrasses them!

The genius that is Wes

2010-09-06T10:41:00.004-04:00

I am pretty sure the pictures speak for themselves.

**Ok, I guess the pictures don't speak for themselves. Wes was welding. He was in the lake, under the dock, chest deep water, welding. Dr. Johnston was watching, so I guess Wes thought it was safe? (Dr. Johnston is a friend staying with us - that post to come soon) I don't know. Maybe he just wasn't thinking.

"Utah or Bust"

2010-09-06T10:35:00.003-04:00

My sister, Kaelani, got engaged a day-or-so ago! Wahoo! Congrats Kaelani and Ian! We are so excited! Also, that means a trip to Utah is coming near! I talked to the kids and said that we need to try to save as much money as we can so we can afford to go. They decided that they wanted to go so bad that they were going to make a "Utah fund". I thought that was great. In two days they had scrounged $8.06! They are amazing! Rylan decorated the jar...

So, I guess it's "Utah or Bust"!!

Another first day of school

2010-09-02T08:34:00.007-04:00

The kids and I have been very excited for the first day of school for a while now. I think I have been looking forward since the last day of school, but who's counting? We were done shopping, had new clothes, cleaned out the kids closets and dressers and got backpacks ready. Everyone woke up happy (which sometimes is quite the feat in this household!) and they were all excited to put on their new school clothes. Every night right before I get into bed I check on all the kids one last time and this is how I found Kyler...

Shoes and all! The silly kid was so excited he couldn't wait!

After we had lunches made and were all ready to go, out the door we went. Rylan looked at me with the camera in my hand and said "Oh great, here we go with all the picture taking!" I just said, that's right, bucko- suck it up. You will be happy I did this when you are older!

So, here we go, with all the picture showing...

Here are my sweet good-looking kids!

Rylan. 4th grade this year! I just can't believe it! :)

Kyler. 3rd grade this year! They get so big so fast!

Delaney. 1st grade this year. She is so excited to be a big girl now! Me, not so much!

Rylan & I. We could only do this when people weren't watching. Dang kids getting older!

Kyler and I.

Delaney & I.

I really do love my kids and I love to be with them, but after a summer of being together constantly, school is going to be a nice relief for all of us! :)

New addition to the family

2010-09-02T08:32:00.001-04:00

I think they are trying to slowly work me up to having a dog. Not going to happen! It started with a fish, then a turtle, now birds. That is as far as we go.

Rhode Island

2010-09-01T11:33:00.007-04:00

Wes had to go to Rhode Island again and asked if we would like to go, kind of as the last trip of the summer. We thought it was a great idea and packed up our stuff. We left Sunday after church. It was raining so it took a little longer to get there because of all the accidents, but we made it! Monday we swam in the hotel pool all day! It amazes me how long my kids can spend swimming. I had to beg them to stop so we could eat! Tuesday it was still raining so we decided to get our school shopping done. None of us like shopping so it wasn't the best day, but what else do you do when it rains for 3 days straight! We had heard that on some of the beaches close to where we were staying were actually closed because of sharks. We also heard that you could see some of the sharks from the shore so we decided to take a trip out to see them! Nobody planned on swimming because we are all terrified of sharks. We were just going to go, look at sharks, maybe play in the sand for a little while and then go do something else. When we got there the beach was open. There were no sharks (at least that anyone knew about) so we stayed for a little longer. Mind you, we were quite unprepared for this little venture.

Kyler made a fun little castle and then decided it would be best if he jumped on it! He had a lot of fun wrecking it!

Delaney wanted buried, Kyler happily obliged!

Oh, aren't they cute!

Rylan had a lot of fun in the water. He really loves the waves!

Rylan was the sand monster! It would drive me bonkers if I had sand all over my body like that! :)

This picture was taken especially for Grandpa Whitehead. He wanted pictures of sharks, but since there weren't any, these monsters would have to do!

Hours spent playing in the sand. I love when they play together nicely!

This doesn't even look as bad as it really was, but this is the end result of 6 hours at the beach with no sunscreen and big glasses. Not pretty. Wes wouldn't go anywhere with me unless I had my glasses on so you couldn't see the lines! haha

Seriously, it was bad. I wish the picture would do it justice!

Bees Suck!

2010-08-13T18:37:00.004-04:00

We went with some of our friends to this really cool place with a fun little waterfall and pond that the kids could play in and jump off the waterfall. It was so much fun, and nice to get out of the house for a while! Well, after a while the boys wanted to do some exploring...I am not sure they will do that ever again! I don't mind that they explore, as long as I can see them and they watch for things like poison ivy. Well, I guess I didn't realize they needed to be watching for Yellow jacket nests! Kyler climbed up on a ledge and was throwing rocks into the water below him. Austin (our friend, who is 3 years old) started to follow. Well, his mom didn't like that idea and went after him to get him down. After a few minutes we had all the boys up there - Rylan, Kyler, Evan and Austin - and Erica trying to get them to all come down carefully. Well in the process of coming down Kyler and Austin stepped on the nest! Neither of them saw it until it was too late. The bees came out like crazy and just went nuts! Erica got Austin and got out of there - I ran up as fast as I could to try to get my boys out of there! When we finally got the kids down from the ledge we had to strip off their shirts and throw the boys in the water because the stupid bees followed us! They just wouldn't stop! I have never seen fear like I saw on Kyler's face. It was the worst moment of my life - I was so far away just watching Kyler scared to death! There was nothing I could do!

Everything turned out ok, Kyler got stung 18+ times, that we found, Austin got it 15+ times, Evan about 7+, Erica got a bunch, I got a bunch and Rylan walked away with nothing! I am not sure how that happened but he got super lucky! I am so glad that nobody was allergic to them and that everything turned out ok - but I really NEVER want to see fear like that on any of my kids faces ever again!

Here are some pics of the fun we had before all this happened.

Most of the water is quite shallow so I wasn't worried the whole time about the little ones drowning. It was actually a lot of fun...up until the bees anyway.

They love to jump into the water.

If you look behind Delaney is where the boys were climbing. The ledge they were standing on is just out of the picture. It was quite a steep climb to get to it though, I am not sure if you can tell from the picture.

11 Years!

2010-08-13T08:28:00.011-04:00

I can't believe how fast time flies. Wes and I got married 11 years ago today! Friday, August 13, 1999. It was one of the most amazing days of my entire life! I am not sure what to stay without getting all mushy and sweet so, sorry if I do!

I asked the kids to each give me a couple reasons why we are lucky to have Wes in our lives...

Rylan - He loves us.

He works hard for us.

I love that he is my dad.

Kyler - He plays with us when he has extra time.

He works hard for us.
He takes us lots of places.

He is the Best Dad Ever!

Delaney - He works so hard for us to have money.

He is so much fun to play with.

He is so much fun to jump on the trampoline with.

And since it is my anniversary too, I asked about me! :)

Rylan - She is hard working at cleaning the house.

She does laundry and makes us food.

She is nice to us.

Kyler - She makes us food.

She sometimes gets us treats.

She goes on bike rides with us.

She is the Best Mom Ever!

Delaney - She is nice.

She is fun to snuggle with.

She is fun to swim/tube/play with.

Here are a few pictures from our wedding day. Seriously, I can't believe it has been 11 years already.

(They aren't the best quality - I don't know much about computers and this is the best I could get them to scan in. Pretty sure digital cameras either weren't around back then or they were only for the rich & famous!)

I can't believe how much our families have changed. Rylan is now as old as Trevor was at our wedding! :) My little brother is now almost driving age! And, we have had so many wonderful additions to each family - kids, in-laws and step-families!

Do you ever wish...

2010-08-12T15:41:00.010-04:00

Time could just stand still for a while?

I do.

I was looking at some pictures the other night when I couldn't sleep and I decided I took for granted all the time I could have had more fun with my kids while they were younger. Don't get me wrong, they are so much fun to be with now, but I think the Wii, Nentendo DS, PS2 and a lot of other things are becoming a bit more important to them than playing with mom. And I really miss having young ones in the house.

Rylan - 3 years old

Rylan - 2 years old

Nik & Rylan - 8 years old

Kyler - 2 years old

Nik & Kyler - 8 years old

Rylan - 3, Kyler 1

Delaney - 1 1/2 years old

Delaney - 3 years old

Wes with Rylan - 3 and Kyler - 1

Nik, Rylan -9 & Kyler 7

Wes & Delaney - 1 1/2

Nik & Delaney - 6 years old

Nik, Rylan, Kyler & Delaney - 2009

Rylan, Kyler & Delaney - 2009

Rylan, Delaney & Kyler - 2007

The family - 2009

I am very grateful for my family! I am a lucky duck! :)

Two things...

2010-07-28T11:33:00.003-04:00

It seems it has been pretty warm here lately - I know because Cinderella told me when I reached into the freezer to get some ice for my water! I guess she was cooling down.

Second thing - Isn't this flower awesome!!!

More boarding

2010-07-28T11:04:00.002-04:00

Well, this seems to be about all I post about. Probably because this is all we do! I hope it isn't boring!

Anyway, Wes told Rylan and Kyler if they went outside the wake on one side, came back in, went out the other side and came back in he would give them $50! Well, Kyler did it!

Rylan is working hard at it and is doing great! He hasn't quite mastered the wake yet but he is trying!

I finally cleared the wake! Not a huge deal, but for me it is! I am loving living here and being able to play on the boat all the time! Sorry for the video quality - Rylan had the camera! :)

Delaney still won't do much. She says she likes the tube but then she gets all dramatic and wants to get off fairly quickly! We still love her, even if she is a total sissy! :)

Rylan or Cody?

2010-07-14T00:42:00.003-04:00

Which is which, you decide....

It is amazing to me how alike these boys look!

Fun with pancakes

2010-07-14T00:20:00.005-04:00

One morning we decided to make pancakes for the kids. Well, we were out of cereal and milk so we really had no choice! Anyway, that is beside the point - we got a little creative with them and the kids loved it! (Kaycee & I might have loved it a little more, I am not sure!)

The girls wanted Mickey Mouse and their initials.

Kyler wanted I *heart* U - he said it is because he loves me! What a cute little sucker-upper! :)

Rylan wanted the batman symbol and an R - Just so you know - I have never said I was an artist, and pancake batter isn't the easiest to work with! Yeah, it really is supposed to be the batman symbol! I did my best, OK!

(and don't mind the cow in the background, she REALLY needs to use the treadmill a little more!)

For Tom we decided a fishing pole and a fish would work! See how happy he is! :)

Now, for Kaycee and I, I didn't want to attempt a soccer ball because that just would not have turned out! And I couldn't think of anything for me, so we went with Tube Babes! Hahaha, see the two people on the tube? That is us!