My life in a nutshell

Growing up

2012-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

My boys are growing up. Kate is too, but I feel it more right now with my boys. Alex is 15 and now has his driver's permit. Every time we get in the car he wants to drive :) I remember when I was that age and did the same thing. Alex loves working out and is getting some serious muscles to prove it. He works out at least three days a week for over an hour. He is a very dedicated kid. He is also teaching himself to play piano. He watches videos on how to play the songs he likes and then learns them. He is getting pretty good. Alex was on the golf team in the fall and really wants to make the soccer team this spring. My fingers are crossed for him.

Johnathan just had his 13th birthday, so now I have two teenagers in the house. Ack! It makes me feel so old. He is in junior high now and looks different than even the picture I just added to the side bar. He is so tall and slimming up a ton. He has almost caught Alex in height. He played soccer this fall and will again I'm sure.

Zachary is now in second grade. He will turn 8 in March and will be baptized. He will be my final son to be baptized. *sob, sniffle, sniffle* He is such a friendly kid and LOVES to play with his friends, or cousins. He also played soccer this past fall and is currently in basketball (which is very amusing to watch)

Kate is now almost 15 months old. She has been walking since she was almost a year old. She is starting to say animal sounds and says a few words. She LOVES her brothers (she has a special relationship with Alex), and loves to be around her Grammie and Grandaddy.

We have been blessed to make our home with my parents for the time being. It is a mutually beneficial relationship and we appreciate their generosity.

I know, it's a pretty short update, but I hope to start getting more frequent in my posts. It's one of my goals for the new year, so we'll see how well it goes.

2012-01-24T08:55:00.001-08:00

It's about time I got serious about this. Gonna start again :)

Kate at 3 months

2011-02-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

Eventually I'll get around to some past updates...but until then, I took some pictures of Kate recently and wanted to share. She is such a good baby. She still sleeps a lot and when she's awake, she smiles and coos at whoever is around. She still wakes up a couple times a night but she smiles at me so cute before she eats so it's hard to be mad. We feel so lucky to have her in our lives.

My Grandma with Kate

2011-01-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

Gwenavere Gibson Noble with Katherine Paula Webb.

can you find the cat in the tree?

2011-01-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

lots of family for Christmas

2011-01-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

We were able to enjoy a fun, family-filled Christmas this year. In this picture are 6 of 7 'Fellingham' children and our families, plus my grandma who is holding Kate on the far right hand side of the couch.

Sister-friends

2011-01-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in our lives we are blessed to have sister friends. Here are some of mine. They have seen me at my best and at my worst. They also were there when Kate was born (in the hospital room)...Crazy, right? It was AWESOME! I love them and I miss them a ton. We had lunch together at least once or twice a week, we confided everything to each other, we laughed, we cried, we watched a million movies, we took care of each other's children...there was so much of my life I shared with them. We will forever be close and I love them like sisters.

____

Darrel was offered a new job in SLC in September of 2010. He started work at the beginning of October. Since I was pregnant with Kate and we didn't want to move till she came, I stayed in Vegas with my boys. Darrel came to Utah and lived with Joy and Steve until we came. Also, Johnathan moved up in November and was able to start school here. A big thanks to Joy and Steve for hosting half of my family. Alex and Zachary were able to finish the semester and I was able to deliver Kate before moving. We moved to Utah (the rest of us) on December 20th, 2010. We are now adjusting to our new life here.

Kate - one month

2011-01-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken when Kate was just about a month old. I wanted to get a picture of her in her blessing dress. She looked like such a little angel.

Getting caught up

2011-01-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

Now that my life has settled down and I have some time every day, I hope to keep this blog up to date. It lets me have a journal of sorts. I have never been very good about keeping a journal and I have a terrible memory, so I'd like to be at least a little better for the rest of my kids growing up years.

So, we have news...Katherine Paula Webb was born on November 7th, 2010. She is a beautiful addition to our family and we love her a ton. She was due December 7th, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her on the 7th of November. She spent a couple days in the NICU because of low blood sugar but came home the same day I did. She has been healthy and well ever since. She was 5 lb 15 oz when she was born. I've never had a baby that came close to being that small. She fit into premie clothes. She was like a little doll. I love having such a petite little girl.

Oh holy cow!

2010-09-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

Here I thought I'd be back to blogging and so much better at this and then my computer died! Yes, it died. AAAUURRGGHH!!! It is SO frustrating to have a dead computer. Thankfully it had been giving me little clues along the way and I was able to save my stuff off on two separate hard drives. That was a HUGE blessing. But then it died for real and I was reeling. I couldn't get to photoshop, my pictures with photoshop, my preschool stuff for preschool, etc. I don't think I ever thought about how much of my life is on my computer. In this last little while, Darrel, (my awesome computer fixing husband) has been able to recover my computer for the most part. I can't use the mouse that's on the laptop part and sometimes my keyboard will just quit working. BUT - it's better than nothing....it's a work in progress, and I'm back! YAY!! I was using Darrel's computer temporarily to look up my e-mail but he doesn't have my blog list, or my favorite's list, or anything that really helped me with my obsession/withdrawal from the computering world. I'm so glad to be back!!! Hopefully I'll be able to post some first day of school pictures soon.

Hazel

2010-08-05T16:42:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I went to visit my brother, Danny and his wife, Amanda, and their new little baby Hazel. I had THE MOST fun taking pictures of this sweet little girl. I just wanted to share some of our photos...I hope Amanda and Danny don't mind...

Puerto Rico

2010-07-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

One of the funnest vacations Darrel and I ever went on was to Puerto Rico this past April. Danny and Amanda very generously invited us to accompany them on their get-away and we went. We had such a great time and couldn't have gone with better company! Thanks Danny and Amanda!! We did fun things like go on a nighttime bioluminescent bay kayak ride, a catamaran cruise, we hiked up to a waterfall, and spend a rainy afternoon playing cards in our own private cabana. Puerto Rico was beautiful and relaxing and it was exactly what we needed. Here are some fun pictures from our trip:

Fun pictures of the boys

2010-07-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

I took some fun pictures of the boys in the middle of March - I'm just getting around to sharing some of what we've done this past year. Enjoy the pictures of the boys...more pictures to come. Just for reference in these pictures Alex is 13, Johnathan is 11, and Zachary had just turned 6.

It's about time!!!

2010-07-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

I doubt I even have people that still read this blog. It's my own fault - I stopped writing, so people stopped reading. I don't blame people at all!! I decided to start writing again. I also decided that if no one else follows this blog, I'm okay with that. I need to do this for me and my posterity. My sister, Elise, has set a great example when it comes to her blog writing/journal thing. She is always putting up posts and adding pictures and then she is able to have those posts put into a book as a lasting journal. I think it's a great idea and one that I need to take advantage of.

First news of the day...we're expecting our fourth (and final) child and it's a GIRL!!! My boys are thrilled, Darrel and I are thrilled also, but our thrill has more to do with the fact that everything looks good so far, she looks healthy, etc. Because of a very special blessing that I received at the beginning of this pregnancy we know that this little spirit is coming exactly when she is supposed to come and that she will complete our family. I am 21 weeks along and finally feeling good about 95% of the time. We are so blessed!!!

I need to pick up my camera more often and get more of my everyday life chronicled for this blog/journal...it is one of my goals this year. There's no way I could catch you up on everything that has happened this past year, but I will do my best to post a little every day or so and try to at least stay updated on what is happening now, plus give you tidbits and pictures of what has happened this past year. I'll do my best not to disappear into the night, as I did once before. :)

The group in Hawaii

2009-06-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here are the two group pictures we took in Hawaii. This is everyone who came. We for sure missed the ones who didn't come, but thought you'd like to see everyone who was there.

This last picture was taken at Duke's restaurant...isn't the view behind us beautiful??!! I know it's hard to see in this photo, but it was basically grass, sand, beach. We all just kept saying how we couldn't believe we were really there.

Even More Hawaii...

2009-06-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Hideaway Beach. I don't know if that is the real name, but that's what we called it. So beautiful. The snorkeling was amazing, and right off the beach. This is the beach where I got to see my first sea turtle when I went snorkeling. Amazing. Incredible.

One of the nights we headed to a mall to see if we could see a performance of Hawaiian dancers. It turned out we were there on the wrong day but I snapped this picture of my mom and Ben because they matched. (Not on purpose)

This picture I took at Duke's restaurant. We went to Duke's to celebrate my Dad's birthday. The food was delicious and the view...incredible.

Here's what I ordered. I couldn't even tell you the name of the fish. I couldn't pronounce it, let alone spell it. It didn't taste fishy at all and it just melted in my mouth.

This is Darrel and I at Duke's. Darrel was talking to our boys on the phone and was a tad bit distracted.

Just some more beautiful flowers. I liked how these flowers had two little mini flowers in the middle.

This tree was right behind the LDS church where we attended church on Sunday.

This tree caught our eye the first time we passed it on the road and finally one day, we just pulled over and took a picture of it. Can you see how it grew out of the ground, turned sideways, turned down toward the ground, and then went straight up to the sky? SO cool.

This next picture is mainly to prove that I really was on the vacation. I did most of the driving in one of the rental cars (we had two mini-vans). This particular picture was taken by Danny who was a picture taking maniac if you ever handed him a camera.

Darrel and I at the scenic view point in between the South and North Shore of the island. I believe those are Karo fields behind us. (If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me)

MORE Hawaii

2009-06-19T18:55:00.001-07:00

K - I know that there's two pictures of Danny and none of me and Darrel, but more are coming and I promise some will include us. :)

Hawaii!!!

2009-06-13T12:40:00.001-07:00

Soccer parties and graduations

2009-05-23T21:56:00.001-07:00

Johnathan and Zach both had soccer parties and Zach graduated from the preschool that he attends with his friend, Seth. I have to say when I attended the preschool graduation it was nice to go as just a parent of one of the children instead of being in charge of the whole thing. Zach looked so cute in his graduation hat and I loved being the mom who was taking a crazy amount of pictures. This was bittersweet for me. I do want Zachary to be able to go to kindergarten but I DO NOT want my baby to grow up. I can't believe that this is my youngest child. This is nuts! I guess we'll have to get busy one of these days and have ourselves another baby :) Enjoy the pictures from the party and graduation.

End of soccer season

2009-05-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Johnathan had his soccer party last night and Zach had his this week also. It's always bittersweet to come to the end of a soccer season. By the time the season is over we are always VERY ready to have it over so we don't have to figure out how we're going to get everyone to practice, and juggle three to four games per Saturday. Plus by the end of soccer season in Las Vegas it gets SUPER hot and games are not so much fun anymore. On the other hand we love the parents of the other players and it's fun to get together and chat with them once or twice a week. There's a certain camaraderie that comes from having your children play on the same team. Johnathan and Zach have both been playing on the same teams for two seasons now and so you start to really for a bond with the other parents on the team. We appreciate the friendships that have all come from our soccer team families. We will miss them but hope to see them again next season when we start the madness all over again. :)

There's always a rainbow

2009-05-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been a bit emotionally difficult for me but I'm here to say there's always a rainbow after the rain. I am very blessed and so lucky to have what I have and to be where I am. My family and friends are so amazing. I am blessed and I love my life and I just wanted to share. I took this picture out my parents' window after a huge rainstorm. The picture does not do justice to how beautiful the rainbow was. I didn't have my zoom lens on my camera so I couldn't get any closer but the rainbow was incredible. Just imagine it being about ten times this colorful and amazing and you'll be close. Always look for the rainbow, because it is there...waiting for you to see it.

A wonderful weekend

2009-05-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in May I went to Utah and spent a glorious weekend playing. I spent some time with my family, and some time with my friend, Brenda. Brenda and I drove up to Park City Saturday morning and then Midway Saturday afternoon. I've never been to Midway. That is a beautiful little town. I think I fell in love in about 15 seconds. The rolling hills and beautiful green valleys were amazing. I took some pictures of the scenery as we drove home Sunday morning - it was breathtaking. (see below) We had a wonderfully relaxing Saturday and then on Sunday I was able to listen to Brenda's awesome lesson in church and then spend a fun afternoon with my parents, my brother Ben, my brother David and his family, my grandma and our good friend, Heidi. Since every other weekend in May I am being a single mom because Darrel is out of town for one reason or another, this first weekend was so much fun and much needed. Thanks to all who hosted me and let me just relax and enjoy a weekend of friends, family, love, and wonderful scenery.

Singing for the birds

2009-04-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Zachary likes the movie Enchanted. He especially likes the part where the girl sings for the birds and they come and help her clean. A couple of weeks ago we were cleaning the house to get ready for our company and all of a sudden I realized that Zachary had opened all the windows. He kept singing/humming this tune I didn't recognize. I finally asked him what he was doing and he said he was singing for the birds to come and help. I tried to suppress my laugh because I realized he was dead serious. He thought for sure the birds would come. I asked him if he would please sing for the camera and see if the birds would come. He did. He was bummed when they didn't come. About a minute after singing for the camera he decided that they would come if I sang, because I am a girl. I sang, I didn't video that part, the birds didn't come. He was very disappointed. He's such a funny kid...

2009-04-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know, I've been bad. I have to apologize to the six people who read my blog...it's been over a month since I posted. Over a month!!! I can't believe what a slacker I've been. I've done a bunch of stuff and taken pictures of most of it. I just need to get my rear in gear and keep y'all updated. I only have a few pictures to post today. I have some of Easter, Spring Break, soccer, random, etc. Maybe you'll get a retro post at some point, maybe we'll just have to go from here...I'm not sure yet. I'm taking baby steps so I don't overwhelm myself on my first day back :) I know, I'm such a lame-o. Enjoy a post from April...before it becomes May.

We are a soccer consumed family right now. With three kids in soccer we have BUSY Saturdays. The first picture is of Zach during a game, but the point of making it look like that was for a vinyl poster. Darrel and I are working on some cool concepts for my photography and we're trying out this idea of sports posters, more like banners. Anyway, we're playing around with some ideas and this is what we came up with...soccer action shots and then tweak the background to look like that. I think it's a radial blur (if I remember right - we tried so many things on the same day, it's all a blur -ha, no pun intended). So, tell us what you think. Would you buy a big vinyl banner of your child to hang in their room if it looked something like that??

Second picture I thought was just a cute one of Zach eating an orange. Whatever. It has nothing to do with anything except his beautiful eyes.

I give you my solemn promise that it will NOT be another month before I post again.

Some wedding photos...

2009-03-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I went to St. George and took some "groomals" for a couple. Apparently this is the new thing...to take the pictures of the bride and the groom before the wedding day so it's more relaxed for everyone involved. I thought it was a great idea. This couple was amazing to work with and so much fun. We started in ancestor square and finished up at the temple. All these shots are from our temple session so enjoy...

Givaway...of sorts

2009-03-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, I totally stole this off Jerolyn's blog (word for word). I wish I had the same creative writing skills she has but at least I'm owning the fact that I am totally stealing her words. I was one of the first five people on her blog to comment and I'm so excited. Maybe by posting this I'll actually have five people comment on my blog :)

Pay attention kids!

Here's the dealio:

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me. My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2- What I make will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be photography, I may sew or stitch(ha,ha) or bake something. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do or make whatever I want!

The catch?Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your own blog and offer the same deal to 5 of your own lucky blog readers. So, the first 5 people to leave a comment telling me they are in, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

Good Luck!!!

2009-03-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most beautiful things I have seen and heard in a long time. I just had to share it.

The start of soccer season...

2009-03-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's here....soccer season has begun. It was not a great beginning for either one of our teams but we have great faith that it's only gonna get better from here. Before I go on about our games I just have to say, doesn't Johnathan look so much older in this first picture. I cut all my boys hair this morning and then we went to soccer games and I took pictures. When I downloaded these pictures to my computer I noticed how much older Johnathan is looking...well, and Zach for that matter. I can't believe how big my boys are getting. With my birthday coming up this week, I guess I'm just feeling old.

Anyway, sorry, back to the games. Both our boys lost today but they both played hard and we were super proud of them. I got more pictures of Zachary's game than Johnathan's game because I had to leave Johnathan's game in the middle to go take pictures of some kiddos at the park (they went well, you can see a few of them at portraitartbyangela.blogspot.com if you'd like).

So, without further ado....here are the soccer game pictures from today.

GO Johnathan

Zachary looks so intense in these next couple of pictures. He was REALLY into the game.

Look at the agression going on...you go Zach

Here is Zachary giving me a thumbs up after one of his three goals

Love the tongue...

My big boy

I'm not sure what the fingers mean, but he thought he was cool.

Happy Birthday Zachary

2009-03-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

I only have about 15 minutes of free time this morning but I wanted to hop on the computer really quick and wish my 'baby' boy a happy birthday. Zachary turns 5 today. I can't even believe it. I'm already tearing up thinking about him going to kindergarten next year. He is getting so big. I can't believe that my baby is five. Zachary was born exactly one week before my birthday five years ago today. He was the best birthday present I could have asked for. After having Johnathan more than five years earlier we had kind of a tough time getting Zachary down here to our family. I've always felt very blessed to have this special spirit in our home. He has so much personality and makes me laugh every day. He is kind of spoiled because he has no younger siblings but we try to keep him in check. :) Happy Birthday Zachary!!!

Sorry, the picture is from our snow day this year. I couldn't really find a better one with so little time. I'll try to hunt up some baby pictures for you later.

2009-03-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

We had a FABULOUS weekend with the Armstrong family. Such good friends we have. We love having company here in sunny Las Vegas and it was a pretty beautiful weekend to host people who are tired of winter :) On Friday night we went out to dinner as couples and then Saturday Darrel and Brian had a good time looking at fancy cars in the morning then met the rest of us at Alex's soccer game. Following the soccer game the dads took the kids to SkyMania and the moms went shopping. Saturday night Brenda and I were able to go to dinner and a movie and Darrel and Brian took Alex and Alyssa to the Blue Man Group. They had a great time. Sunday was Stake Conference and then both families took a ride to the Hoover Dam. Alex and I were very nervous the entire time (neither one of us is very excited about heights) but we had a good time. They left this morning and so I guess it's back to real life for me. A big thanks to the Armstrong family for such a fun weekend.

The beauty really does grow on you...

2009-03-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

I remember very well when we first moved from western Washington state where I grew up to Utah I thought, 'oh my gosh this is so ugly'. I was in between my ninth and tenth year of high school. I loved the green grass and the green trees of Washington. The mountains were covered in the most beautiful pine trees and everything always smelled so good. Well, usually it smelled like rain but to me that was beautiful. Then we moved to Utah and the mountains had no trees on them. The landscape was different and the summers were HOT. After a few years Utah beauty grows on you. Now I look at the mountains and think about how majestic they are and I see the beauty around me. When I was newly married my husband and I moved to Idaho; Meridian, Idaho to be exact. We loved it there. We thought the mountains were beautiful, the trees were wonderful. We loved to drive up towards McCall and see the river and pine trees. In the Fall when the trees would lose their leaves it was a sight to behold. I know it's no East Coast, but to us it was Heaven on Earth.

A few years ago we moved to Las Vegas. It is a desert here in all aspects. The ground is only green if you water the heck out of it, or put in fake grass (which even some houses in our neighborhood have by the way). SOME of the trees lose their leaves, however, not in the gorgeous way you see in some other states. But, like I said in the title, the beauty really does grow on you. It's a different kind of beauty, the raw, ruggedness kind. The beauty of Washington state is different than the beauty of Utah, which is different than the beauty of Idaho, which is different than the beauty of Nevada. The trick is to see it everywhere.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to take my camera with a friend and go explore some of the beauty of Nevada in the form of Red Rock Canyon. We had a wonderful time photographing nature (well, we mostly photographed rocks, but that's still nature...right??). We got to see some of the raw and natural beauty that Las Vegas has to offer; and here are just a few of the many pictures I took that day...enjoy.

Girls Weekend in Vegas

2009-03-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, for those of you who have me as a friend on Facebook these are all new pictures. For those who don't you'll still get to see new pictures, you just won't know what the old ones were :) Anyway, I aplogize for the lack of blogging. It seems like everytime I write a post now I am apologizing for my lack of postings. Maybe I should take a hint.

This past weekend we had a girl's weekend in Vegas. My mom turned 60 this month and to celebrate, her daughters, and daughters-in-law came to Vegas to party (mom style). The only one we were missing was my sister, Missy, who we would have LOVED to have but was sick and stuck at home. Everyone arrived on Friday night, we stayed up really late chatting and then had a fun filled Saturday. We went to the Outlet Mall and to In-n-Out, Target, Nordstrem (sp?) Rack, then to the Grand Lux Cafe for dinner and on to the Blue Man Group....and oh, the fun wasn't done yet, we topped off our day at the Peppermill (which incidently hasn't changed since it was built in either decoration or what the waitresses wear). It was a GREAT day and we squeezed every ounce of fun we could have out of Saturday. We also on that day managed to fit it Joy and Amanda on the Lazy River of the resort and taking Darrel to the airport before meeting some of my favorite people at the Grand Lux for dinner. WOW, hopefully that all just made sense.
Here is Elise, Angela, Mom, Jackie, and Joy posing in front of the Blue Man Theater. Amanda was snapping our photo.
Mom and Amanda getting ready to enjoy a fabulous sundae from the Peppermill.

Elise, Mom, Amanda, Joy, and Jackie posing in front of the Peppermill. Good times!

These next group of pictures represent our Sunday night. At church on Sunday we sang "How Great Thou Art" and it was so much fun. I knew that would be a highlight for my mom and dad and I was right. They are just so easy to please when it comes to their children singing :) After church mom and dad left with Jackie but Elise, Joy, and Amanda's flights didn't leave until early the next morning. Elise really wanted to see the dancing water at the Bellagio so we headed on down to see the atrium and the dancing water. Here are the shots we got in the atrium at the Bellagio.

This next picture would be Johnathan video taping a video....a lovely use of tape, don't you think?? So funny.

Here is me with my boys. Darrel was out of town the entire weekend. Friday night for a scout campout and Saturday night through Monday for a family funeral in Arizona. The boys were troopers and a big thank you to my dad for keeping an eye on them the whole weekend.

And, last but not least, Amanda and the chocolate fountain. Or as Danny (her husband) puts it..."her crack cocaine"...funny. We love you Amanda!!!

Flowers for Valentines

2009-02-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

Darrel got up early Valentine's Day morning, went to the store, came home with roses and stuff to make me breakfast. What a guy!!! How lucky am I? He's a keeper for sure. Just wanted to share.

I'm a lurker

2009-01-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

BEWARE: post below is a modge podge of thoughts...proceed at your own risk

I am a lurker...there I said it. I love to read blogs and see how everyone is doing, but I rarely de-lurk to comment. I'm trying to be better because I know how nice it is to get comments on your posts; I love them myself. However, right now, I am a lurker. What I'm wondering is...are there anonymous meetings for lurkers? :)

I'm also way behind posting on this blog. Johnathan's birthday came and went and I didn't even make mention of it on this blog. Sorry, Johnathan, I really do love you. I took pictures at his party yesterday and will share them soon. Maybe I'll have some time this evening and I'll plug in my camera and dump some pictures. Johnathan is now 10. I can't believe it. I feel like the last ten years have FLOWN by. I blinked and now I have a twelve year old and a ten year old. In March my baby will be five. Where does the time go??? When kids are little and toddling around you feel like time just stands still and you'll never get passed this phase, but when they start school time starts going in warp speed and it won't slow down for anything. I can only hope that as time speeds by we are being good parents and teaching them everything they need to know to be good men.

Today I am singing in church. I like to sing...been doing it since I was four years old, but I still get nervous to sing in church. When I was growing up and our family was touring the U.S. singing at state and county fairs I would never get nervous before a show, even if we were the main act of the fair. But, singing in church has always given me butterflies. Thankfully, I'm not singing a solo...merely singing the alto part of a beautiful song with a lovely lady who is singing soprano. I'm sure it will be fine, but still...nervous, I'm just sayin.

My mom is turning 60 this year. Next month, actually. All she wanted for her birthday was for her family to be together. Well, we can't get everyone, but we did plan a nice girls weekend here in Vegas the weekend after her birthday. I am so excited. All my sisters and sisters-in-law are coming (except my oldest sister, who is miserably sick and pregnant). We are going to have a fun-filled weekend, and probably go see the blue man group at the Venetian. I got a three bedroom condo for two of the nights and we are going to party. What fun!!!

I warned you that this post was going to be modge podge. I didn't really have anything to say, as you can clearly see, I just felt bad that it had been so long since I posted. I promise to post pictures soon - those are always the best part of my posts anyway. My command of the English language and all its nuances are lacking, and so I make up for it with my fabulous photography :) Hey - I'm just glad you guys still read this blog...

Family Picture Time

2009-01-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

Much to Darrel's chagrin it was family picture time this year. Sorry to all those who sent me cards and didn't get one in return. My hope is next year...

We did get our family pictures done, thanks to a little help from my mom. Darrel's sister, Della, had asked me to take her family pictures when we came to St. George and I agreed. I just figured that would be the perfect time to get ours done also. We just thought it would be just as easy for them to snap a picture of us once I was done taking theirs. It was really cold the day I went to take Della's family picture, so our little family decided just to snap a few for us in the morning and then I could leave them in the warm condo while I went with Darrel to take the others. It was cold and Zachary was not happy (as evidenced in some of these pictures). I have many more with him scowling but I'm just choosing to share the ones I've decided to blow up and print for my house. Needless to say we were all glad to get them done and we accomplished all our pictures in about 20 minutes time. Bonus. So, Darrel, another year to wait for me to stress out about family pictures again...anyway everyone...enjoy.

Christmastime

2009-01-03T22:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry these pictures are so late. Being better about my blog is one of my new year's resolutions. I promise I will be better. These are just some random pictures from Christmas. We had a great Christmas vacation. My boys had a fabulous Christmas...we are very blessed. It was really fun having my mom, dad, and my brother Ben around for all the festivities. We had Christmas at home and then went to St. George for a week of fun and relaxation. I'm in total denial about my life starting back up again...back to our normal routine. I really do love vacation.

Here is Zachary enjoying his Lego Star Wars pajamas.

Alex and Johnathan got MP3 players from Santa Claus.

We went to the Bellagio to see all the fancy stuff they had in the atrium. It was very cool.

The big gift from mom and dad this year was the wii. We've already had a great week of playing pretty much non-stop.

My mom and I at the Bellagio. It's just fundamentaly unfair that my mom looks better than I do in pretty much every picture I take. You're beautiful Mom, I hope I grow up to be just like you :)

Snow in Vegas

2008-12-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

We've got snow in Vegas...and it's still snowing!!! I took these pictures almost an hour ago and it's still coming down. Holy Cow!!!

Zach and Seth

2008-12-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

When Joy and Steve moved away last March and took our best playmates away I thought we were sunk. Daniel and Zachary spent hours upon hours together and loved playing together, being together. Zachary would wake up in the morning and ask about Daniel. He would ask about Daniel before going to bed every night. I thought we were truly sunk. I understood why they had to leave, although it didn't make me happy AT ALL. I knew that I would miss Joy A TON and always be upset about it, but I didn't know if Zach would ever understand. He still doesn't understand why Daniel had to leave and we still miss the Laytons every day, but thankfully Zach has found Seth. Seth has become our new everyday playmate. Zachary and Seth love playing together, being together, and last night after having spent pretty much every minute of the day together, they were still sad to say goodbye. Zachary woke up this morning and asked when Seth was coming over to play. I will never be okay with the fact that we lost the Laytons, but I am so grateful for good friends, for me and for my children. The other day in preschool Zachary and Seth were playing over by the white board together. I walked over there after a while and found that they had drawn this...isn't it cute??!!!

2008-12-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Hello - sorry for the hiatus from blogging. It seems like this month is screaming by. I swear the time goes faster and faster. We went to Darrel's parents in Arizona for Thanksgiving. It was so good and the company was great. We did a little "day after Thanksgiving" shopping (but not at 5am). It snowed on Thanksgiving Day which my boys loved. I'll have to post the pictures I have of the boys having a snowball fight with their cousins. We went out to eat with all the adults and we saw Twilight with all the girls. It was a blissful 4 days of hanging around - we barely saw our boys, especially Zach. He bonded with Martin and Michelle's son Ethan and we never saw him. He was in high heaven at Grandma's house. It was a great vacation for all of us.

The weekend after getting home we attended Alex's last soccer tournament of the year. (Extended season starts in January) The team played awesome and they ended up winning for their division. The team played both Saturday and Sunday, however, Alex honored his priesthood, kept the Sabbath Day holy and only played on Saturday. I did get updates on Sunday as to how the team was doing, however. They won all their games in shutouts. The games scores were 4-0, 3-0, 9-0, 2-0. Needless to say the boys were thrilled and it was so fun to watch them dominate on the field. Below are some pictures from the second game on Saturday. These pictures demonstrate the wrong way to head the ball....
Okay, here comes the ball and Alex is gearing up for the hit.
Right on the top of the head...you might think this was a good hit, but...

Although the ball went really high...

Really, really high...

It was not such a great hit. When you head the ball it is supposed to be on the top, front portion of your forehead...this was not and Alex knew it. He felt it right away...

and ended up on the field like this for a good two to three minutes trying to recover.

Ah well, it was all for a good cause and Alex is no worse for the wear. It's a good thing he's such a tough kid.

The cutest baby on the block

2008-11-25T23:07:00.000-08:00

What a cutie!!!

2008-11-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

Big Brother/Little Brother Sneak Preview

2008-11-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

2008-11-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

Okay - which one do you like better...this one or the one below??

Zachary

2008-11-23T23:03:00.000-08:00

I shot some photos the other day at the park. Zachary and I were there early so I shot some of him. This particular photo came out over exposed but I played around with it for awhile and I like how it turned out. Hopefully I'll be posting more soon...sorry I've been MIA.

My Son, Alex

2008-11-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

12 years ago today I became a mother for the first time to a wonderful boy. He was born around five am and was placed into my arms. He was a beautiful, olive skinned miracle and we were so happy. Alex has been such a good first son. He is one of the four loves of my life and I wanted to wish him a very happy birthday today.

Bob

2008-11-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was getting Zach dressed for soccer; I was putting on his soccer socks when I noticed there was something on his knee. I pulled up his shorts a little and noticed a smiley face drawn on his knee. I said, "Zachary, what's this? Who drew on your knee?" (Thinking for sure it was going to be one of my older boys) He says to me, "I did Mom, that's Bob". Oh, silly me, that's Bob, of course it is...what???? I said, "Zach, does Bob talk to you?" and he said, "Yess(a) - he's my friend." Well alrighty then, there you go. I mean what can you even say after that. So...everyone, meet Bob...

Here is Bob close up. He's a very friendly fellow.

During Zachary's last game he played very intensely. He LOVES playing soccer and I just was loving the faces he was making during his game. He was so into the game. He got very frustrated every time the other team would score. They lost the game something like 8-2 and one of the goals was courtesy of the other team. Anyway, here is a picture of his intense play.

Zachary loves the Slushies they sell at the games. A few weeks we've had to substitute those for hot chocolate but this last Saturday the temperature was mid 70s and I have to say, we were all pretty hot. All the kids were sweating and we reverted back to getting slushies. Blue is Zach's favorite so here he is enjoying his bright blue slushie. On a side note, we went to Alex's game at 4:30 when the sun was going down. We were all in sweatshirts and blankets an hour later. Ya gotta love the desert. And...weather like this is why we LOVE living in Las Vegas most of the time. This week it's supposed to be low to mid 70s the whole week. I LOVE this time of year!!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last night we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. We can't carve them too early here because it's still too warm during the day and they wilt very fast. We carved them last night because we have trunk or treat tonight and we figured they could last one day. They may not last until Halloween, but the fun was in the carving!! The Mohlers came over and carved their pumpkins also...here is our pumpkin carving fun. (Keep in mind that I used my little camera and didn't really care about how pretty the pictures were)...And, apparently because of my mad posting skills, you get to see the finished product first...

Zach and Seth shared their pumpkin and the picture below shows their "mad" faces...this is the "template" Darrel used to make the design for the pumpkin. They were so funny.

Zach wasn't so thrilled about the inside of the pumpkin. He did tell me, however, that the pumpkin seeds are used to grow flowers.

2008-10-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

I had SO much fun taking pictures of these twins. I think I got them conviced to let me be their "official" photographer. :0) Brooke (the mom) is my cousin and she is the sweetest, kindest person you will ever meet. John (the dad) is one of the nicest, funniest, warmest people I have ever met. They were very gracious and patient and we were able to get some awesome shots of them and their incredibly cute boys. I can't wait for the next session.

2008-10-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Jaxon and his parents, David (my brother) and Jackie

2008-10-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

My sweet sister in law, Jackie and her cuteness of a son, Jaxon. Again, gotta give props where props are due...this picture was all Jackie's idea...but believe me, I'll be using this idea again.

2008-10-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to keep pulling you in...one picture at a time.

2008-10-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

another of Brita

2008-10-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Here is another beautiful person. This is Brita. She is a senior in high school this year...such a hottie.

2008-10-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

A fun one for this morning. This is one of my nephews. He is a senior this year, and I have to give him props for this pose...it was all his idea.

2008-10-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm editing like a mad woman but here is just one of the maybe 2000 pictures I took in Utah. Don't worry, I'll continue to add as I can finish. I was lucky enough to photograph some very beautiful people this past weekend. I had a blast.

GO VOTE

2008-10-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Erin, who stole it from Chris but watch it...you won't regret the time. And, by the way, GO REGISTER TO VOTE and then when it's time...voice your opinion and VOTE!

the BEACH!!!

2008-09-30T20:54:00.001-07:00

more pictures of our fun vacation

2008-09-30T12:44:00.001-07:00

Our weekend in San Diego

2008-09-29T17:36:00.001-07:00

Holy Cow we had a fun weekend in San Diego. We spent the weekend with our good friends, the Armstrongs. I only have a few pictures right now to share but I hope to post even more tonight. Some of the highlights...beach, Sea World, beach, Sea World. Here are just a few of the MANY shots I took.

Zachary and Mitchel

Alyssa on the beach at sunset

The whole crew (minus the moms)
Mitchel chasing waves

Zachary's first goal

2008-09-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Zachary is LOVING soccer. I just wanted to share this cute little video of Zachary's first soccer goal. I just love this kid!!!

First Soccer Games

2008-09-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of soccer games for Zachary and Johnathan. They both were so excited...but for Zachary, this was his first game of his entire short life and he couldn't have been happier. He LOVED playing. Everytime Darrel took him out of the game he was sad. He wanted to be in the game the entire time. Johnathan's game was first this morning and because of some construction delays there were only four people from his team there when the game officially started. Luckily more showed up within about 20 minutes and they had subs for the rest of the game. Johnathan played goalie the first half and then defense in the second half of the game. Johnathan's team won 7 - 3. They were thrilled.

When Johnathan's game was over it was time to wander over to Zachary's game. His team doesn't officially keep track of goals but I'm pretty sure they lost by a few (if not many) goals. It's not like the kids keep track though. Most everyone had a good time playing. There were a few tears at random times of the game. I was able to capture some of that with my camera but decided not to post those...just the fun stuff.

This is Zachary before the game. He was SO excited.

Below are some of Zachary's teammates.

This is Zachary's goal. He was pumped.
Below are some of Johnathan's great saves.

Labor Day Fun

2008-09-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

OK - I totally shouldn't be blogging this morning, but I was so tired of me ignoring school that I had to get something else on here. This is the first day of preschool and I am SUPER nervous. I have so many butterflies it's not even funny. I know that they are only three and four year olds but whatever, I'm still nervous for the first day like everyone else. As soon as I'm done here I have to go find my flag which I put away at the end of last year and remembered this morning at 3am. I tell ya, I am a bundle of nerves.

Anyway, this past weekend we drove up to St. George and visited Darrel's sister and brother in law. They took us four wheeling, out to dinner, played soccer and football with my boys, the girls took Zachary out to ice cream, and we generally had a FABULOUS time. I don't have time to write a novel but I leave you with some pictures of our four wheeling fun. (It was my first time).

This is Alex

Johnathan had climbed way up to the top of this rock

the next picture is Johnathan on the four wheeler

Here is our family (minus Zach - he didn't want to come). For the most part Johnathan rode with Rusty, Darrel rode by himself and Alex was behind me. There was only a few minutes when we were stopped that we let the boys ride by themselves.

The upper pictures show Johnathan getting stuck and Rusty getting him un-stuck
The picture below should be with the one that was a little higher up in the order, it shows Johnathan waving from the top of the rock he had climbed but with my camera zoomed in on his face.

This is me ignoring the first day of school

2008-08-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

You notice that I continue and WILL continue to post about our Grammie's week. I am ignoring the fact that I took my firstborn to JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL today. Holy Cow - I am for sure not ready for this. I am freaking out that my kids are growing up...does anyone else feel this way?? So, next on the blog agenda will come the family reunion and I will continue to ignore the fact that I used to have little boys and now they are all growing up on me. AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Kudos to everyone else who updated their blogs to include pictures of the first day of school. I am continuing to ignore the fact that it was the first day of school today. So please don't remind me...

The motorcycle trip

2008-08-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

I know that I am skipping ahead just a little bit. I have about 1000 pictures from the family reunion we went to on the Saturday of Grammie's week but for Amanda's sake :) I am showing you these pictures now. I'll go back to the family reunion and talk all about that later. While Danny was still in Iraq he decided that it would be fun to put together a motorcycle trip with him, David, Dad, and Uncle Johnny, and any other brother in law that would like to go. Originally the plan was to go and tour parts of Colorado (I think) and maybe tour around the Rocky mountain national park. These plans changed a little at a time with concerns about Dad's back, etc. Danny talked about it with all the brothers and sisters way before he ever brought it up to dad. It was actually Dad's birthday present from all the kids. They all had to rent bikes so everyone who could chipped in a little bit of money to help with the cost. When I talked to Dad after the trip he said that it exceeded his expectations, he LOVED it and wanted to go again. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall (or windshield) as it may be, to take pictures of their trip. I guess the scenery was beautiful and it was a fabulous ride. I did document the riders before they left so these pictures will have to do.

This first picture is Danny in front of his bike with Zachary. I've decided that anyone who doesn't know Danny would be probably make a judment of him based on his apperance. Danny is one of the sweetest and most generous men I have ever known in my entire life and I love him a ton and I am so grateful for the kind of brother he is to me and the uncle he is to my kids.
This is David on his bike. I think that my mom was the most nervous for him because he was the least experienced of the three riders but I'm sure he did fabulous. David is pretty much good at whatever he tries...love ya bro!! Danny thought he looked hot with his German helmet and black bike...I thought so too.
Danny called his bike the minivan of motorcycles so I thought it only appropriate to let Zachary hop up and give it a try. He was WAY nervous and didn't want Danny to go anywhere with him on that bike. He wore the helmet at my insistance but since he thought that wearing the helmet meant that Danny would ride away with him he wanted to get it off his head as quickly as possible. I love the little thumbs up that they were both giving me.
This is Dad on his motorcycle. Originally the motorcycle they gave my dad was orange but when he went to do a little test drive he discovered that the back blinker didn't work so he switched it out for this one. I think that three black bikes looked a lot better than two black and one orange bike, but I guess it doesn't really matter.

Here are the three motorcycle riders in front of the dealership where they rented the bikes.

When we got back to my mom's house my dad gave her a ride on the back of his motorcycle before they left. My mom is so great. She spent pretty much the whole ride with her arms raised like this. I have at least ten pictures of her with her arms up behind my dad...I love it.
This is right before they rode off. I wanted to get a picture of the three riders with just the lake and mountains in the background. Previously to this picture I only had a picture of the three of them together in front of the dealership and I didn't think that a picture with that background would look as good on my dad's desk as a picture with this background.
Here is the final picture I took of the three of them together. The hand signal that they are making (for those who don't already know) is how motorcycle riders wave to eachother when they pass eachother on the street. I thought it was really cool so I asked them to pose like this for me so I could get a picture.

Our trip to BYU

2008-08-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that my dad teaches at BYU. It is a tradition of Grammie's week to go to BYU and see my dad at work, go to the bookstore and buy a souvenir from BYU, and go to (what used to be) the cougareat for lunch. This time was no exception. My dad even had fancy pens to give all the grandkids (and his daughters) when we went to see him in his office. We had a great time at BYU. The day was beautiful and everyone was well behaved. Missy and Darin weren't there but we took their boys so they could still enjoy the BYU tradition.

Heritage Park (This is the Place)

2008-08-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here are the fun pictures from Heritage Park. This was Alex's favorite thing of the week. He even wanted me to buy him pioneer clothes - funny kid. I asked him when he would wear pioneer clothes and he said he could wear them for Halloween and the long sleeves would be good for keeping the sun off his arms. Ah, because we for sure don't have long sleeve shirts at home, we would need to buy pioneer clothes in order to get a long sleeve shirt and long pants. Great stuff I tell ya. Anyway, he enjoyed washing the rags in the tub and even went back into the iron worker area to ask how long it would take for him to learn that skill. It makes me realize how much I don't know about my children. I had no idea that all that would facinate Alex so much. It's nice for me to see what excites my children so I can foster some of that facination. We all had fun here but we got hot and tired and towards the end of the day splurged on ice cream which you can see Zachary chowing down on in the first picture.

Golfing with Grandaddy

2008-08-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

In our family the grandkids get to golf with Grandaddy after they turn eight years old. This year the boys didn't do a full round, however, they got to hit balls at the range and then practice their putting. They had a great time and I got to read my book while they practiced their swings. I also took a few swings myself. After missing the ball four or so times, I finally hit it pretty decently. I wasn't too disappointed with my efforts. Anyway, enjoy these fun pictures...there will be more Grammie's week pictures to come.

more and more fun

2008-08-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

OK - so I told you about Monday and now you're going to get an abbrevbiated version of Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. Tuesday was spent golfing with the older grandchildren (8 and up) and then off to Thanksgiving Point. We went to the gardens and saw the largest man-made waterfall in the Western Hemisphere. It was really cool looking and I'll have to share the cute picture I took of my boys in front of it. Then we came home to more swimming. Wednesday was up early and off to BYU where we went to the Bookstore, to see Grandaddy in his office, and to lunch at the Cougar-Eat. Afterwards we hurried to my aunt's house for a baby shower for my cousin. She is having a girl after three boys and so we got her some frilly stuff to celebrate. Joy and my sister in law Jackie also made some awesome bows to match all the fun outfits. The grandkids all got to swim in Aunt Kathy's pool (way fun) and then we came back to Grammie and Grandaddy's house to swim some more. My kids are LOVING having such easy access to a pool all the time. Which brings us to today. This morning we slept in a little, made hand print aprons for Grammie and Grandaddy and a shirt for Ben and then headed off to This is the Place Park. My boys absolutely LOVED Heritage Park (with This is the Place monument). Oh my goodness, I think Alex would have been fine to have been left there. He said if we lived here he would volunteer there - he just loved doing everything. Johnathan and Zachary loved it too but Alex couldn't get enough. When we left there, we surprised our friend, Heidi, at her work (the physics dept. of the University of Utah). Then we came home for hamburgers, hot dogs, and more swimming. Tonight we are again watching the olympics. We have watched so much Olympic coverage - we have been able to see all the highlights so far - SO fun!! Enjoy the pictures!!

some pictures from monday

2008-08-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Warning...

2008-08-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

...below post was written for children. I wrote the post below originally for the book I am creating for Grammie's week. It doesn't really matter - but I wanted you to know.

Monday of Grammie's Week

2008-08-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Don't worry - pictures will come!!!

Grammie's week started out with a bang first thing Monday morning. Jackie started us out with one fun game and one fun craft. All the kids were so excited to cut a penny from flour and then from sand. Also she had little plastic beads for the grandkids to make designs with and then we ironed them together to make a picture. Elise made a very impressive fish.

After the crew got ready for the day we journeyed to Boondocks to continue the fun. At Boondocks the kids enjoyed water bumper boats, go-karts, mini-golf, kiddie cove, arcade games, and a yummy lunch of pizza and bread sticks. Alex was especially excited that he was tall enough to ride the big go karts all by himself. A few times he rode them by himself and a few times he took smaller kids with him. The other boys, including Johnathan, Kenneth, Nathan and Benjamin enjoyed riding the smaller go karts by themselves also.

When we came home from our fun time at Boondocks Alex, Johnathan, Kenneth, Nathan and Joy were able to go boating on Utah Lake for a little bit while all the little kids plus Ben went swimming in Grandaddy and Grammie's pool. Actually, mostly they played in the warmer hot tub but there was some swimming in the bigger pool.

Coming in from the pool and the lake there were fractured tacos to enjoy. Following a yummy dinner we gathered for Family Home Evening. Grandaddy and Grammie were in charge and told all the grandkids stories about their lives when they were growing up. Grammie talked about having one older brother and one older sister, also two younger brothers and one younger sister. She told them how she grew up next to the beach and loved the water and the green of California. Grammie told the children a little about her mama, Grandma Noble and how wonderful a singer Grandaddy Noble was. Grandaddy then talked about how he used to swim and jump on the trampoline when he was little just like his grandkids. It was also mentioned that Grammie and Grandaddy grew up about five miles from each other.

After the Family Home Evening Grammie and Grandaddy gave all the grandchildren books of their very own. The next few minutes were spent reading our books.

Ice cream was the final treat of the night before everyone went to bed. We can't wait for tomorrow.

Welcome to Preschool

2008-08-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

I finished my preschool room a couple days ago and wanted to share with you all of my hard work. My boys are forbidden to go into this room until after preschool starts. :0)

The fun continued...

2008-08-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

During the reunion we went to the beach. We had such a great time. We all love the beach. While we were there my sister-in-law, Augusta and her husband, Jeff made the most killer sand castle. (see picture below) They had a lot of help but they were the master builders and really guided the others with the design. Anyway, here are some of the favorite pictures from the trip to the beach.

This first picture is of my brother-in-law, Floyd's sailboat...isn't it a beauty??!!
This is the picture of the most awesome sand castle. The detail is so incredible and they did it all with a couple of plastic cups and a plastic knife. Martin (Darrel's brother) made the lobster on the front. Augusta is responsible for most of the cool stairways and Jeff (her husband) worked mainly on the left side with the cool windows, arches, etc. This was so cool that other people on the beach were coming over and taking pictures of it while they were creating.

Alex is playing with James in this picture. He is growing up so fast and is so good about playing with the younger kids. He is such a good kid.

This is just a picture of a seagull that I took that I thought was cool. I was walking along the beach back to where we were sitting and a spotted this seagull flying really close to the surf so I picked up my camera and snapped a quick picture. It wasn't until I got home and looked at them more closely that saw what a cool picture it turned out to be. I would have like it to be more tack sharp - but what can you do?

This is Johnathan hanging out in the surf. I swear this kid could have been born in the ocean. He just loves the water and loves boogie boarding. He is such a fun kid and it was so fun to see him so happy.

OK - this is just a picture of a cool boat. We're not related to it or anything...I just thought it was cool.

Zachary also just adores the water. We had to call him back from the surf multiple times because he got to far in and doesn't understand the dangers of the ocean. He thinks he is water safe but he really is not. He had such a blast running from the waves, helping to build the sand castle, and playing with all his cousins.

And that was our fun day on the beach. I took SO many pictures but it's late so I just picked a few to share. The reunion was AWESOME and I'm so glad I married into such a cool family.

a day at the museum

2008-07-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

These events happened at the Webb family reunion in CA. This is just continued on from the mud posts. Expect at least one more post from the reunion...maybe two.

I didn't actually go to this air museum with the boys. Darrel took my camera and my boys and went with the dads, some moms and all the little cousins. The rest of the moms hung out at the house and rested before the next big thing we were doing...which that day, I believe, was the beach. The kids had a great time at the museum and came home ready for some wave action.

These next two pictures show Alex shooting off this gun. I guess the man in charge didn't warn the kids that it would be loud. He had it rigged to some kind of compressed air or gas, or something, but when they shot it off it was loud and it scared the kids. Alex was the first one to shoot the gun and didn't know what to expect.

This is a nice picture of Zach with some museum memorabilia. I was looking at this picture and noticed something strange. Look at Zach's feet. Now look at the close up next picture.
Yes, this would be my son wearing the left flip flop on both the left foot AND the right foot. Nice.
This is a great shot that Darrel captured of Zach sitting in the driver's seat of this truck. Little did Zach know that his cousin was sneaking up behind him getting ready to do
this...Zach thought he was pretty funny.

and the mud continues...

2008-07-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

My nephew James was so cute on the mud football day. He wanted so badly to go and play with everyone else but his mom kept holding him back. Finally she let him go and as you will see in these next photos...he decided he didn't like it as much as he thought he would. After she pulled him out he kept saying, "dirty, it's dirty"...funny kid.

mud football at its finest...

2008-07-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

This is the recipe for a good mud football game.

1. Find yourself a nice big field of dirt and water it for at least 12 hours nonstop.
2. Fill the field with people that are not afraid to get really, really muddy and like football.
3. Tell them to break into teams and get ready to get dirty.
4. Have a good quality control guy on hand to keep the field nice and wet.

5. Let the little ones play too because they are so much closer to the mud and they can absorb a lot of the shock your body might feel when you fall.
6. Put your mark on all your players so if they get lost, or decide not to play anymore you can identify them.
7. Tell your husband that if he gets any muddier you are throwing away all the clothes he currently has on.
8. Then watch him fall into the mud, heave a big sigh for the dirtyness, and laugh at his misery.

9. Watch as the dirt becomes worse and worse mud. Watch as the people you love sink deeper and deeper.

10. Make all the players come together at half time to take a mud picture for all posterity.
11. Tell them to act like warriors and then see the reaction.
12. Watch in utter horror and is gets worse and worse.
13. Be grateful that you weren't the one playing and that your husband doesn't need any help washing himself off, because you just spent the last hour washing your dirty children who DID need help.

This was one happening mud football game and I was glad that I was on the sidelines taking pictures and not in the thick of it. There were many bruises suffered by mostly the adults playing because they made it a tackle football game...OUCH! Everyone playing said that they had a good time so I guess I'll believe them...it was really, really fun to watch. (And we did end up throwing away the majority of the clothes worn by everyone seen in the above photos)

Now to the vacation

2008-07-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

After Legoland and before we journeyed to our family reunion in Paso Robles, CA, Joy and I called our cousin who lives in CA and met her at Huntington Beach. My boys had a blast. No matter that the sky was overcast and the wind made it down right chilly on the beach. They thought they had died and gone to heaven. My boys are IN LOVE with the ocean. I happen to love it too but for a different reason. I love the peacefulness that you have laying on the beach, I love watching the waves roll in one after another, and I love watching how happy the beach makes my boys. This was still the part of the vacation that we didn't have Alex or Darrel with us. They were still at Scout Camp in San Diego. This beach day was the morning of the day we traveled north for the reunion. Darrel and Alex ended up joining us later that night at our motel in ButtonWillow, CA., way later....like 1am. They had spent a whole day at scout camp and then attempted to drive 6 hours north without dying. I'm glad we got a motel that they could stop and sleep at before making the rest of the trek to the reunion. We got up early the next morning, ate breakfast, said goodbye to the Layton family and headed another hour and a half to the reunion where they were just getting ready to play mud football. (that would be tomorrow's post...stay tuned)

a detour

2008-07-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

I do have lots more pictures to post of our trip but I'm taking a detour for a minute. This is a picture I took of Caitlin on Huntington Beach during our trip. I just wanted to share with you what I did to (I believe) enhance the photo. Joy posted the SOOTC (straight out of the camera) shot on her blog and someone mentioned in her comments that it would be really cute in black and white. I thought so too, but when I changed it into black and white it didn't do the picture justice because of all the people in the background...so I removed them. What do you think?

From Wimp to Warrior

2008-07-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

Joy said I had to update my blog because in yesterday's post I told you all that Zach was a WIMP. Well, today he went from wimp to warrior. He was a champ today. We made great strides. He tried so many rides today it was so awesome. Once he tried them he wanted to ride them again and again. We would get off a ride and Zach wanted to go right back on. What a change a day makes. Holy Cow - we had such a fun day today and it was such a joy watching his happy face discovering new things and having fun. Take for example this first picture. Yesterday the kid wouldn't even get on the ride, today he rides it with no hands. I tell ya what...the joys of motherhood...this is some of the fun stuff. The best ride he did was the dragon roller coaster. That was fast and furious and even though he was nervous when he got off he just wanted to go again. It was so great!

This next picture is at the pirate water area. My camera got wet about ten seconds after I took this picture. It was a very dangerous spot to be taking pictures. We won't make that mistake again. The kids loved shooting us with water, though.

I couldn't just have a post about Zach, though. This picture is of Daniel getting ready to be a dancer in one of the shows. He was absolutely hilarious...we're trying to post a video on you tube so we can link it here....it's SO funny. Anyway, he loved being a dancer and out-shined and out-danced every kid on that stage.

Kenneth and Johnathan got to program robots in mindstorms. They programmed the robots to do sports. The mission to mars thing is better but this was still fun for the boys and they enjoyed some time doing their own thing.

Another fun day at Legoland and we're off for some more fun. Tomorrow we're going to the beach and then on to my sister in laws for our family reunion. It ought to be a kickin fun weekend, and then back home to the hot. Enjoy all of your weekends...I'll try to post again if I can.

Hello from Legoland

2008-07-15T23:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are in legoland. We decided (at the last minute) to use our passes that expire next week and take one last trip to legoland. We are having a great time. Thanks to Joy, who convinced us to go and is footing the bill for the majority of our stay, we are loving sunny California. Zachary won't ride hardly any of the rides at legoland. We are now up to a total of three and two of them are boat rides...I tell you what, this kid is a major WIMP!!! He is still having a lot of fun though, which I'm glad about. We are looking forward to our family reunion at the end of the week and seeing Alex and Dad again. They have been at scout camp since last Saturday and according to Darrel are having a very good time. So, until the next batch of pictures...enjoy!

Our 4th of July camping trip

2008-07-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July weekend we went camping with some friends up at Mount Charlston. We had a GREAT time. It was so nice because it's only about an hour away and we enjoyed temperatures in the mid 70's while in Las Vegas they were suffering through temps around 112 degrees....nightmare time!! We loved being in the cool weather for a few days and had fun playing games, eating yummy food, and enjoying wonderful company. We hardly saw our boys. They loved running around, hiking, playing with their friends, etc. I've put some pictures here on the blog...they are in NO particular order. I have a hard time adding pictures to the blog, I never know what order they are going to post and I can't figure out how to move them once they are on here. Anyway, enjoy a little glimpse into our weekend with friends. Thanks Erin and Jen (and families) for the awesome time we had. We'll have to do it again sometime.

our campsite and tent
looking down at our camp from the little hill

the band of wanderers that I happened to catch

we had our share of owies, but we had cool band-aids too
playing "knock down the water bottles" with Darrel
enjoying the radios that Kevin and Erin brought along
roasting hot dogs on the grill over the fire for dinner

Darrel traversing the hill by the campsite with the little boys

Alex and Sam enjoying being able to use the hatchet
Erin taking a picture of me taking a picture of her
Sydney, Abbie, and I did a flad craft for the 4th
this is a light saber conference the boys were having

Brooklyn enjoying her watermelon

Will enjoying his watermelon
Sydney talking on the radio
Sam playing the name game with everyone
Johnathan showing his "sign" playing the sign game

Zachary showing off his smore

Those are some good looking marshmellows, Sam
We plum wore Zach out
We also got VERY, VERY dirty in the three days
Backgammon was the game of choice, Alex played it a lot during the day

Hopefully you've now made it through...thanks for hanging on. We really did have a great time and were sad to come back to the hot, hot, hot of Las Vegas. We ARE happy, however, to have access to showers and bathrooms with flushing toilets. Some modern conveniences are just worth whatever price you must pay. On our way down the mountain as we watched the temperature rise in our van we were already planning our next camping trip up the mountain.

repeat image

2008-07-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

I know that I've already posted this photo but I was sending Elise some photos from our trip and this was one of them. I really think this photo is a cute one. Zachary's look and Emily's pure innocence in bestowing her kiss on his cheek. I mean, it just doesn't get much cuter than this. Have a great weekend!!! Stay safe on the 4th and say an extra prayer for our troops.

His Independence

2008-06-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Johnathan stayed home from school today with an upset stomach. He's thrown up three times now. He is supposed to start swimming lessons today, but will have to wait until tomorrow to start. He is very sad and I feel bad for him. His stomach hurts him a lot right around the belly button area. I was bringing Alex home from school and talking to Darrel on the phone discussing the possiblity of Johnathan having something wrong with his appendix. Johnathan beeped into my call and so I hung up with Darrel and was talking to Johnathan asking him where it hurt. I was asking him if it hurt in the middle or on one side or the other when Alex pipes in from next to me, "ya mom, because if it's on that one side, it's probably his independence."

OK it's been a week

2008-06-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

...since my last post. I am falling behind. I don't have a whole lot to report. I'm currently in the process of downloading all my pictures off of this laptop so I can free up some space on my D drive. Also, the summer camps are in full swing, tonight I have pack meeting - which means I have to go to the scout office some time today. I was going to go earlier but I decided to wait until Alex and Johnathan get home so I don't have to take Zach with me. He does not like to leave the house and I can't blame him, and when he doesn't want to come he certainly has the ability to make my errand running a nightmare.

Anyway, not much to talk about here. We got to swim this past weekend at a friend's pool (thanks Jen) and it made the heat almost bearable. At the end of the day I thought I had lost my ring in the pool so we had everyone looking, someone diving, and Matt even threw his ring into the pool so we could see if we could see it. I really appreciated all their efforts but didn't find my ring until we left. Silly me, I had it in my POCKET!! Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm telling you, I felt like a complete idiot. I never take my ring off, but I was lathering sunscreen on a bunch of kids and I guess I decided to slip it off then. A few hours later I, of course, had no recollection of this so I had everyone looking for my ring, which was all the time safe in my pocket.

Yesterday I got to go out to lunch with some friends (thanks Sarah for having a birthday and Erin for the invite). We went and chatted and ate at a local restaurant for a few hours. I left Zach with a babysitter (thanks Sam) and had a GREAT time. We should do that more often. I had my camera in my purse but didn't really even think to pull it out and snap a picture.

Sorry, I have to run, but hopefully I'll get some new pictures up soon.

picture shoot

2008-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

I took this little baby picture shoot last Thursday and I thought that the pictures turned out darling. What a cutie - patootie!!! The older sister is gorgeous also and that always makes for a nice picture...enjoy!

1st annual trip to Lake Powell

2008-06-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

We took our first annual trip to Lake Powell with the Armstrong family this past weekend. We had such a GREAT time. Thanks Armstrongs for bringing your boat down and letting us have such a wonderful time together. Our boys haven't stopped talking about what fun it was to camp and boat with you guys. You guys are AWESOME and we can't wait to make it a tradition.

Here are some of the kids and Darrel enjoying some time in the tube. Zachary DID NOT like the tube or being in the water but being such good parents we "forced" him to do both.
After a fun day on the water Zachary was plum wore out.
This is the view from our campground spot. BEAUTIFUL!!! It's funny though, during the day it was hot, hot, hot, and at night it was really cold. It was cold from the minute the sun went down until the sun came up again, but the minute the sun came up it was HOT...and I do mean from the minute the sun came up.
Walking along the ridge of the rock where we stopped to swim, fish, make sand-blobs and throw them on the rock, jump off the cliff, tan on the boat, eat snacks, etc.
This is the fire ring that Alex made the morning after we arrived at the campground. We left home about 4:30 and got to the campground on Thursday night about 10:00 - Alex woke up at 5am the next morning and put this little fire ring together. He was pretty disappointed when we told him that we were only allowed to have fires in the BBQ area. It turned out to be fine, although a fire when camping would have been pretty fun. We had to roast our marshmellows over the BBQ thing. Oh well, it was still fun.

Some sandcastles that Zachary made with Alyssa. She was so good with Zach the whole weekend. She played with him without being asked and really watched over him the whole time. She is an angel girl.
Here is our campsite. It was a great campsite except for stickers that were everywhere buried in the sand. We had them all over our shoes. They punched holes in our air mattresses, through the tent even. When you stepped on them they were SO painful. Other than that...great view, great place...fun!!!
The little boys went fishing...didn't catch anyting, much to their disappointment, but had a fun time trying.

FUN weekend!!

Playin in the rain

2008-06-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had some rain - not a lot - but when it came down it came down in BIG drops and soaked everything for about 10 minutes. The boys were in the middle of their homework when it actually began to rain so they decided to get on their coats, ignore their work for the time being, and really enjoy the Nevada rain. I decided that rain is such a "few and far between" phenomena that I would just let them have some fun in the wetness for awhile. They had a blast. They ran in the rain, jumped in the rain, rode their bikes in the rain, I'm telling you it was a rain-fest at our house. I had to get my camera capture this pure rain happiness to share with you. But, you have to promise me that you will ignore my yard and all its messiness. I wasn't looking at the yard when I took these pictures, I was only looking at the boys and trying not to get the camera wet while I took the pictures. So, I didn't notice the yard until I decided to post the pictures. Oh well, cest la vie - you only live once, right?!!

Fun Weekend

2008-06-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Amanda I had a fabulous weekend in North Carolina. We got to go out to eat, shopping, get a pedicure, sit around and watch movies, see family, and take Diesel to the lake for a very fun outing. I had a wonderful time, even though my body didn't fully adjust to the time change in the two days I was there. It really did feel like I was getting up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready for church on Sunday. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I had such a great time and Amanda was truly a fabulous host. I've posted just a few pictures from our weekend.

me and zach

2008-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

There are so many other things I should be doing right now, and here I am, blogging. Ah well. I have lots of friends here for Zachary today and he is having a great time. This morning I went for a walk and to the park with Zach and his friend, Seth. Later Seth was joined by Will and Owen and now they are all at my house. I have to say, I love having a bunch of little boys around. I know that you're rolling your eyes right now and saying "right" but it's true. Little boys are just a lot of fun and around here it's the more the merrier. I have a house that is just right for little boys to play and I just don't worry a lot about the mess. Zach loves having friends and I love that all these personalities just work together the right way. All these boys get along so well and I hardly ever have to intervene in their playing.

The other night I was laying on my bed watching t.v. and Zach came in to see what I was doing. He noticed that I was holding my little camera and he wanted to take pictures with it. I let him take one picture of me and I took one picture of him and then he wanted a picture of both of us. I put my arm way out and he scooted in close and after a few tries we got some cute pictures of the two of us together. After I uploaded the pictures I was struck with the difference in eye color between us. I have brown eyes and his eyes are green or blue depending on what he is wearing, but more often green than blue. Also, they are so light. Half the time they look see through. I have always loved Zachary's eyes because they are different than mine, Darrel's eyes, and both of my boys. We all have brown and then Zach was born. He is such a fun little boy and we are very blessed to have him in our family.

Happy Anniversary

2008-06-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

I know I have pictures of these two together but I guess I don't have any on this computer. So, you'll just have to see the pictures apart. My mom and dad are celebrating their 37th (I believe) wedding anniversary today. They are the best parents ever and I am very blessed to have them in my life. I just wanted to send a shout out to my mom and dad today. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

This post is for Joy

2008-06-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the glasses that Johnathan and Darrel got from Zenni optical. I had them turn to the side because it was really hard to get a picture of Darrel's glasses without rims. You couldn't really see them on his face. Johnathan looks especially handsome in his, if I do say so myself.

just for fun

2008-06-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

We're going to play a little game. This is purely for my curiosity so please indulge me. Joy e-mailed me a picture that she needed me to shrink so, since it was such an awesome photo, I commandeered it for my own purposes. (I hope you don't mind, Joy) I know these are kind of small but if you click on the pictures they should come up pretty big if you need more information. Anyway, I buy filters periodically for photoshop and sometimes this is somewhat costly. I do like what they do to pictures, however, so they are (most of the time) well worth the expenditure. I have put the original photo in the top left hand corner and then added filters to the other ones. Here's the game...pick your favorite and let me know. This will probably determine how often this filter is used to enhance pictures by yours truly. Now, keep in mind that some filters look better with different colors, with faces, without faces (in the photos), etc. That means that every so often I will put another picture up for discussion and we will see what you all think. Have fun!

I know, I know

2008-06-02T14:06:00.001-07:00

I'm slacking again. I'll get on this afternoon and post something while the boys do their homework.

one of the things I did on my Memorial Day

2008-05-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the pictures I took of some very cute kids on the morning of my Memorial Day. We had a good time and got some great shots. Enjoy.

and they said it couldn't be done....

2008-05-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

but I DID IT!!! Well, actually, technically we did it. Darrel and I together accomplished the impossible task. Darrel probably even did more than I did, but I want the credit too. I can't believe we accomplished what I thought to be impossible. I am totally kicking myself that I didn't take before and after pictures so you could see the dramatic conclusion and it would seem so much more dramatic if you saw the before picture. Now, you have to keep in mind that this is totally still a work in progress. We still have much to do with selling and organizing and de-junking, and de-cluttering, but still, you can't build Rome in a day. This was a monumentally huge project for us both physically and mentally. And we did it!!! I PARKED MY CAR IN THE GARAGE....LOOK and be proud. Now, I want some good comments for this one dang-it!!

One big long rambling post coming up

2008-05-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know how long this is going to be. I don't know if I have that many things to say. This past week was a whirlwind of activity at our house. We had a couple of games, a preschool graduation, getting back on track at school, day camp preparations, 5 sacrament talks to prepare, etc. We were out of town last week at Darrel's parent's house. We had such a great time. We always love getting together with his family. But this time was especially cool because his sister who lives in Maryland was there with her three kids, (one of whom I've never met in person) and his sister who lives in Oregon was there, another sister is living with his mom and dad temporarily until their house sells in Illinois, and another brother came up from the valley (Phoenix) to see everyone. It was a very packed house but we all had a wonderful time. The boys love going to Grandma and Grandpa's house because there are so many things to do outdoors. Johnathan spends the majority of his time riding the four-wheeler, Alex played with his cousins, mowed the lawn (riding lawnmower), and helped out Grandpa Buzz. Zachary was all about being outside with his cousins and for the first time had minimal parental supervision outside and was loving it. They all built a fort in the horse pasture, played on the merry-go-round and got very muddy when dad and grandpa Buzz fixed the sprinklers and were testing them out.

The sisters and sisters-in-law pretty much stayed inside, chatted, watched the little kids, and I took a BUNCH of pictures for Father's Day surprises. I went out at least once pretty much every day to take pictures. We did get some dang-cute pictures though (see previous posts).

Preschool graduation went well. The kids were SO CUTE!!! They are just so funny. Some of them are so different when their parents are around. It's interesting to see the change in their little personalities. Not in a bad way, just a change, usually they are way more outgoing when their parents aren't around then when they are. I made a dvd for the parents of all the pictures I had taken through the year. I thought it turned out pretty nice. I didn't get a title or picture on the front, though, I was a little disappointed that I ran out of time to make that happen. Next year I'll have to start my end of the year preparations a little sooner.

This week I start my summer fun classes. I have a lot of them filled so we'll have a house full every Tuesday for awhile. I'm excited though, it will be really fun. I have some way-cool crafts planned that even I am excited about. This Tuesday it will be all about color. We're going to use eye-droppers and water mixed with food coloring to drop onto coffee filters. We're also going to paint and do other fun things with colors and color mixing. Fun, fun, fun!!!

This week I also have pictures four times this week. Two sports teams, one family, and one set of sisters that are all here visiting from different places that want a picture to give to their dad for father's day. It's going to be another busy week.

Alex had his last soccer game yesterday. His team lost 0-4...it was pretty sad. The kids were pretty disappointed to lose their last game but they vowed to all be on the same team next year and keep trying to get better and better. The kids on the team are all very sweet and they played really, really hard. They have a soccer team party next Saturday (combined with a birthday party for one of the team). They are all looking forward to getting together just for fun and not for competition.

It's starting to get really hot here. I mean REALLY HOT!!! It hit 100 yesterday and it's supposed to be over 100 for a couple of days yet, before it cools down again. I have a feeling that it's only gonna get worse from here on out. AAARRRGGGGG! I'm not ready for the hot, hot! I knew it was coming but it doesn't make it any easier. I'm in envy of Joy right about now, sitting pretty up in Washington. Maybe we'll have to visit up there sometime.

Anyway, I guess this qualifies as a big, long rambling post. I'm sorry it doesn't include any pictures...maybe next time.

just a bit longer...

2008-05-16T09:37:00.001-07:00

for you to wait. I would love to post a big, huge, rambling post about something, or nothing at all, but I can't just yet. I have a haircut (hopefully) today, I have to call all the boys about day camp tomorrow, get the stuff ready to teach for day camp, go to the party store and get some pinatas to decorate for day camp, go to Micheals and see about a craft for my summer classes that start this coming Tuesday, write a talk for church on Sunday, attend day camp tomorrow and Alex's last soccer game, go to Johnathan's baseball game tonight, etc, etc.., I'm glad that Seth is coming this morning to keep Zach entertained. Zach would be pretty cranky with me today if he didn't have a friend coming to keep him company.

OK- so I'm off to start my busy, busy weekend.......

2008-05-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I've been MIA when it comes to posting, I've been busy, busy, busy. Tomorrow marks the end of another year of preschool. Preschool graduation is first thing in the morning. I've been waiting for this day for a long time and yet I can't believe it's here already. These kids are so cool and I've really enjoyed being their teacher. Tomorrow is going to be bittersweet for me. Next week starts a whole new round. I'm going to start summer craft classes next week. I already have a majority of the little kid classes filled up. It's going to be a crazy summer. I have two team pictures next week also. Like I said, crazy (but fun) summer. I'll post more when I have time and add some pictures...which is also the best part of a post from me.

2008-05-11T21:34:00.001-07:00

While in Arizona three of my sisters-in-law asked me very nicely to take some pictures of their kids...here are some of the pictures I snapped.

Here in Arizona

2008-05-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Because Darrel had to work later than anticipated last night, we didn't leave for Arizona until around 8:00pm We arrived here about 2:30 this morning. We are SO tired. Hopefully I'll get a nap this afternoon. This morning I have been playing around on photoshop so I thought I would show you some of the fruit of my labors...enjoy. These are pictures from our trip to San Diego a couple of weeks ago.