I'm a tree hugger!!

Tonight Garrett played the part of a tree in his preschools concert. Sorry Dad but this tree is too cute to not hug.

Sweetly sitting in his assigned pew waiting for the play to begin.

Center stage and the head taller then all the other 4 year olds.

The tall cute brunett in the middle is Garrett's girlfriend, Merideth.

Garrett's two teacher, Ms. Kim and Ms. Susan.

Garrett proudly displays his tree.

Kendall enjoyed the concert with some lite refreshments, that she then throw up on the car ride home. That another story...

Taryn's first taste of food.

I'm really behind on my posts. These are pictures of Taryn's first experience with cereal. Like most kids more cereal ended up on the bib then in her, but she is now getting the hang of it.


That bite didn't taste too good.

PB & J Sandwich never looked so good

I heard a little voice from the toy room saying, "Look'it me, look'it me!"

I thought Kendall had put her finger in the socket, when I first saw her.

But upon closer examination I learned that she had just given herself a Peanut butter and Jelly hair mask. She likes to make good use of the leftover PB & J sandwich.

It's raining, it's pouring...

I sure hope all these April showers bring me May flowers.

The kids are just happy to have opportunities to use their umbrellas and rain boots.


Kendall loves to wears her tutu everyday. (Thanks Aunt Kristal)

Ward dinner party at our house

Thanks Leslie Smalls for the yummy orange castle cake! What a treat!


Good food and good friends!


Kendall and Taison enjoying a little juice.

Garrett, Ashton, and Coreyn watching Scooby Doo.

Of course the thunder and lightning came in right before everyone was to arrive, which put a little damper on the BBQ plans, but good times were had by all.
It was fun to spend time with the Ellsworths, Smalls, Harper, and Walkers. We missed getting to know the Gregory's, maybe next time.

Vonda's list of 101 or almost 101 things we love about Dad

I stole this from my sister Vonda because she awesome, and does a better job than me of saying how great our Dad really is. Thanks Von



Monday, April 21, 2008

Grandpa turns 67 - WOW!
I feel so lucky to have such an amazing dad. He was perfect for me and always makes me feel special. I use to tease everyone that I was his favorite. And Ive had a couple of people tell me that I remind them of him, and thats a big compliment, in my eyes. I dont feel like he's that old, but OLD he is. We made a list of 101 things we love about him this Christmas and here is about half of them.
HUMBLE
Generous
Girl Dad
Missionary
Friend to all
Nigeriger (can we say that)
Duct tape engineer
Computer Guru
“Meyers Butt”
CARD SHARK
“Well, I’ll Swear” (no you wont dad)
Political analyst
Funeral speaker
UNSELFISH
Sacrament meeting poet
INFLUENTIAL
Insect protector
Stump speaker
Conservative
Constitution backer
Coveralls
YM IDOL
Comedian
Pencil whipper
Pool shark
Computer guru
Pawn broker
Navajo speaker
Quarter collector
Gang member
Pocket o’ money
Safe master
Gun collector
Town walker
Dog lover
Shabby collector
Christmas Lights Winner
National J.C. Horseshoe co-champ
PEACEMAKER
SERVER
PROBLEM SOLVER
PERFECT HUSBAND
GIRL DAD
Trash man
TEMPLE worker
Wanna be mechanic
LOVING SON
Bishopric member
THOUGHTFUL
Retirement saver
Caring brother
Computer poker addict
“big hunks”

My add ons
Steadfast and Immovable
Dr Pepper man Uukkk!
Man of many skills

Happy Birthday Dad!

I'm the worst at remembering birthdays, except my children and Keith's. And even when I do remember I don't know what to do for them. My Dad said I inherited that from him. Good thing we have my Mom, who goes all out for birthdays or any other holiday for that matter. But I am glad that Lena Hatch brought Paul Druce Hatch into this wonderful world. You're the best DAD!

Big into....

Garrett likes to use the phrase, "I'm big into...." then whatever it is at the time. Last year he loved castles, knights, dragons, and the year before that it was dinosaurs. Here's a list of things the kids are "Big into" now.

Garrett big into list.

• Scooby-Doo! Nothing sweeter than to hear him sing the theme song, Scooby, Scoooooby-Doo, where arrre you? We need some help from you now! (Big thanks to Aunt Ruth for the box of Scooby-Doo videos. We are loving em!)
• Lego! He love to build space ships, houses, towers and people. They are the best toy ever for Garrett active imagination.
• Along with lego came the excitment for Star War. Before Garrett had ever seen the small bits and pieces of Star Wars that we have now let him see. He knew all about Darth Vardor, 2-3- CPO (whatever). We asked hime how he knew all about Star Wars? He's answer was, "Bradon, teaches me." Oh the useful information transferred between small children. Bradon is Garrett little buddy, who has two older brothers that teach him all sorts of great things, that he then passes on to Garrett. We love Bradon. The funniest was when Garrett and I were stick fighting and he let me know he cut off my arm, but we could get me a new one.

Kendall's Big into...

• Shoes!! Since that girl could walk, she loved to try on shoes. It doesn't matter who's shoes they are either. Her favorite right now are her rain boots, and her white dress shoes.
• Pink! Or as she says it, "Pink-Purple!" In her eye's are they the same and everything is that color.
• The word, "Peaz" She has learned that if she puts this word before or after any sentence she usually gets her way.
• Barbie Princess. This phrase refers to any of the Disney Princess or any Barbie movie. If you ask her which one do you want? She'll always say, "Barbie Princess" which she actually says, "Barbie Tincess"

Taryn's Big into....

• Sucking her thumb! Neither of my other two children suck on pacifiers or thumbs, they sucked on any animal or their shirt. But Taryn likes the pacy, and her thumb. She's getting pretty good at taking out the pacy, playing with it, then putting it back in by herself.
• Rolling over and all around on the floor. We have to keep the lego's off the floor.
• She's a kicker!! She kicks so hard while she is in her bouncy seat, she really gets it rocking.
  
  

Biggest Loser

So I started the Biggest Loser with my sister Kristal and her buddies. But I think I'm just a big loser at losing. I'm only losing 1 pound a week. At this rate, Taryn will be 2 before I lose all my baby weight. Argh!

Elder M. Russell Ballard

For the past four years we've been invited to the BYU Management Dinner and we always enjoy the great speakers, fancy dinner, and a night out with good friends. This year was no exception. This year we went with Trent and Jane Peterson, Keith's cousins from Leesburg. The speaker was Elder M. Russell Ballard.
Last the keynote speaker was Thomas S. Monson, now President Monson. He spoke at length on the church humanitarian service. So we were curious what Elder Ballard would choose. He spoke about the churches ongoing effort to enhance image of the church through the media and other sources. He talked a little about his resent meeting with the Pope in NY, and the churches need to regulate in the current media that is going out about the Polygamy in Texas. Although most media do not confuse our church with this group many, in particular the foreign media associate them together. He pointed out the the most important face and person to portray the church is the members everyday actions and willingness to speak up when false information is being passed.
Side note -
While we were eating dinner at the begin. I saw a gentlemen walk in the door, and said to Keith, "Do we know him?"
Keith said, "No"
So I watched where he went to sit.
Yep, it was Elder Ballard walking right by us from the hallway. I can spot my important people.

Biscuit's Weekend with the Jones'

Garrett's preschool has a class pet, Biscuit, the stuffed animal dog. They take turns bring the dog home for the weekend, write a journal about their experiences, take pictures and return and report on Monday.
The last time we had Biscuit at our house for the weekend, we had the small house fire, and I was 9 months pregnant with Taryn, so we were happy that this weekend was much mellower then that weekend visit.


We were so excited to have Biscuit spend the weekend with us. We decided to take Biscuit for a walk around our neighborhood to introduce him to the other dogs. He really enjoyed chasing butterflies and throwing rocks. By the end of the walk both Biscuit and Garrett were pretty tired so we let them ride in the stroller.

On Saturday Biscuit watched us plant some flowers and blueberry bushes. He likes to sit on the shovel and watch us water the new plants. We were so hot after gardening that we decided to fill the pool with water and take a swim. Biscuit was afraid he’d catch a cold, so he sat in the sand box and watched Garrett and Kendall swim.

When we woke up Sunday morning, we were so excited that it was raining. Garrett and Kendall decided to see if their new umbrellas were truly waterproof. Sure enough, they worked!! Biscuit loved splashing around in the rain. Garrett and Kendall enjoyed it a little too.

We brought Biscuit to church with us, but he fell asleep in the car on the way so we decided it was best if he stay in the car and rest. He was excited to hear about what we learned at Sunday school. After Sunday dinner, we read Biscuit’s Complete Storybook Collection. (I’m pretty sure Dad has now read enough Biscuit books to last a lifetime.) We loved having you visit for the weekend, and really glad that this weekend wasn’t as eventful as your last visit. Thanks for coming to our house.

Here a hole, there a hole..

Like the boys on "Holes", I sometimes wonder why I'm digging so many holes? I'm pretty sure I'm not going to find a treasure, and there is no one with a gun forcing me to dig. (Garrett often asks me why it takes me so long to dig a hole, and Kendall is rather opinionated about where she'd like me to dig, but no one is forcing me.)

I guess I've caught the spring time gardening bug. I long to have shade for my children to play under. I hate that we feel like a fish bowl up on our hill with everyone watching every move we make. I want pretty flowers for my children to smell and/or destroy.

I have enjoyed learning about flowers, shrubs, and trees. And it's great to see my kids so excited about moving dirt. We have completely neglected our house and children (poor Taryn) And I can honestly say that landscape crews are worth every penny you pay them. We're almost through with the flowerbed out front, so when I'm through I'll post pictures.

Off to dig another hole

Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey Circus

This was our third annual trip to the circus. Keith can score cheap, yet kind of high up tickets through the university.


We scored a great spot during the preshow right where they bring all the animals in and out. You could almost reach out and touch them. As you can tell, Garrett loves the horses.

I thought this guy was the greatest looking clown. He totally freaked out Kendall. (Too much Jo Jo's Circus)

The Kunz's joined us for the fun.

I'm going to admit that I did freak out a little when the elephants walk with in 4 feet of my children. You never know when one of those big guys are going to go crazy and run through the crowd.

As you can tell we were pretty high up, so it was hard to get any pictures. But the kids loved every moment of the fun.

Garrett loved the Tigers.

A few things l discovered...

while cleaning out the basement. For the past few weeks, (and yes, it has taken me a few weeks) I've been cleaning out and reorganizing the basement. We've decided finished or not we need to move the toys to the basement. So I have to move everything I don't want the kids rummaging through to the back of the basement. Plus I still haven't fully put away all the holiday stuff.

In February, I decided it was time I finally take down the Christmas wreath from the front door. I remember it was a windy day, so I just reached out and grabbed the wreath, then just throw it, and I mean literally throw it down to the basement.

Well now it's April and I picked up that wreath to put it away in the Christmas crap and noticed three little round things rolling out of it. Eggs! Little baby bird eggs that never reached their full potential from a nest that was attached to the back of the wreath and sitting downstairs for two months. Sad and kind of gross at the same time.

The kids were so excited, yet sad for the nest, so we decided to relocate it to the locate tree in hopes that someone new could occupy this well made nest.

Next I found that I am a little crazy for dress up clothes. I have four large bins for silly dress-up clothes I've been collecting since I was a school teacher. Good Well could use many of these outfits but I just can't part with them.

Also I realized that I love holiday crap!! I come by it honestly with my mother's great influence. She made every holiday fun and magical. Thus, I love to transform our house into a magical place that reflects whatever holiday we are celebrating at the time. I hope my children enjoy it and have great memories of every holiday.

The down side is the large amount of money I spend purchasing all the paraphernalia necessary to create a land of magic.