The Not-so-Much Polar Express

So, I purchased tickets a month or so ago for the Polar Express, aka Heber Creeper. We have gone to the Polar Express for the last few years. The kids love it, especially when Santa gets on the train and gives them a bell. Well..... the weather did not cooperate with us this year. We had a horrible snow storm this morning. I was barely able to get Carter to his basketball game and up to the church for our Christmas party. I can't even imagine what the canyons were like. I didn't dare chance it. So... we had our own Polar Express party at our house.

I decided to give the kids their new pajamas that they would have gotten for the train ride. They loved them. Then, I decided to make hot chocolate and cookies.

Finally, we popped in the DVD of THE POLAR EXPRESS, and we all sat down and watched it together. It was pretty fun and much less stressful than us driving in horrible weather.

So I asked Carter if he was disappointed that we weren't able to go. He looked at me and said " Geez Mom, I got the play to basketball this morning and go the the breakfast Christmas Party. Then I went and played my soccer game. I went outside and played in the snow and you know what....... there is always next year." What a boy, that made me feel much better about the situation, even though I lost some money. Oh well.... we are all safe and sound.

See you next year, Polar Express!!!!!!!

Baptism Day

So.... the day finally came. After many hours of preparation and stress, the big day came. Carter was so excited about his baptism and that everyone was coming. He was a little disappointed when he found out Jenny's family wasn't coming, but he was excited about everyone else. He was pretty nervous about the whole thing, but acted tough.

Friday night, Brad's family arrived. Mitch had come from SLC and saw the horrible accident that took the lives of a young couple and a young friend of their family's. I knew these people and it saddened me once I found out who it was. Their two small children were in the vehicle with them but survived the accident. I can't even image the pain that their families are going there. I just remember Sheena and Tyler when Kathy was taken away. At least they still had one parent.

Anyway, on to happier things. Saturday we all got up bright and early and headed to Carter's basketball game. Pappy had shown Carter how to dribble with his left hand. He did pretty good. It amazed us all. We arrived back to our house about 9:15 and we had to be at the church at 10:30. I was a mess trying to get all the food ready for everyone, getting the kids dressed, and getting myself ready. We made it on time luckily.

Carter and Brad both got dressed in their white attire. They both looked very handsome. I am so proud of them both. I am so lucky to have a husband that is worthy to baptize my handsome son. I am so proud of Carter for making the decision to be baptized. I think it is a little scary, not quite understanding what you are about to do.

The baptism was very nice. Everything went off without any problems. We had tons of family there: Grandma and Doyle, Pappy and Gammy, Uncle Mitch, Aunt Jessie, Maddie, and Beau, Uncle Lynn, Aunt Lisa and David, Kim and Devin and Hallie (she is so cute by the way), Jennifer and Chris, Aunt Susan and Uncle Judd and Carlie, Che', Cortney and Neil and Mason and Avery, Aunt Mari Ann and Uncle Ron and Houston and Hailie, and John Russell and his two sons, Noah and Jackson. I don't think I missed anyone, if I did, I apologize.




Everyone came to the house and ate the food that I prepared. I think everything turned out okay. Nobody got sick over, at least that I know of. After, dinner I sat in one of our chairs and was totally exhausted. WHAT A DAY!!!!









Che and Kim, this picture is for you, you big nerds. Quit taking pictures of yourself with my camera.















Don't my two guys look very handsome?



















Anyway, I don't know why my pictures are all crazy, but oh well. I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for coming and it meant the world to Carter. I asked him if he knew how much he was loved. He just looked at me. I showed him the picture of everyone at his baptism. I told him that he was loved more than he will ever know. Brad and I have the most amazing families. Thanks for all your support.

Birthday Boy

Carter had his birthday party last week. I can't believe he is 8 years old already. Time does fly by, even when I don't think it has. It seems like just yesterday that I was in the hospital, hating life, trying to get this huge thing out of me, and then having to have a C-section since this baby didn't want to come out. I remember seeing him for the first time, and let me tell you, I didn't see him for long because I was out shortly after having him. He was so cute, but he didn't look like he was mine. He had dark skin and a lot of dark hair. I must say he was the handsome devil. I waited a long time to have him and I was so happy he was finally here. What an incredible event! I can say that now since I don't feel anymore pain.

We took Carter and 7 of his little buddies to go bowling and play laser tag. They had a lot of fun. Carter kept saying that this was his best birthday ever. I was glad to hear that since the day started off very stressful for me. I was planning on leaving work early so I would feel prepared for the event. Things came up and I wasn't able to leave until around 3:00 and his party was at 5:00. I had lots to still do and I became very overwhelmed AGAIN!! I am sick of feeling that way. Anyway, I surprisingly got everything done that I needed to.

Carter wanted a skateboarder birthday, so here is his cake. It was actually pretty good. He loved it.

Here are all the boys posing for a picture. Carter has a good bunch of friends. I was glad that they were all able to go. By the way, thanks again Mari Ann and Hailie for saving me. I was so happy to see you that night. Brad and I needed the extra help. You guys are amazing. We love you mucho grande.

So... Carter, I just want you to know that you are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I am so lucky to be your Mom. You make me laugh at all your excitement that you have. I love watching you play sports, I love watching you play outside, I love watching and hearing you struggle at reading, I love listening to you wiz through your math timings, I love when you kiss your brother Jack, I love how you protect your sister, I love how you love the UTAH JAZZ, and I love that I am able to spend my life with you. Thanks for coming to our family. It probably is a struggle sometimes since I get a little stressed and take a lot out on you. I can always count on the " I love you Mom" when I drop you off at school even though the morning was a little rough. Nothing makes my day better. Do you know how much I love you? Multiply that by 100!

Halloween 2008

I am so proud of myself.... 3 posts in one night.



Paula, my daycare provider, takes all the little kids around town to trick or treat the stores. I tagged along this year. It was a lot of fun. Carter wouldn't dress up but by the time we were finished, he wished he would have. These aren't all of the kids Paula watches. There are her neices and nephews in there as well. Paula is amazing though, she probably could handle it all.

Ryen was a Patriot Cheerleader, Carter a Patriot Football Player, and Jack was the football.

After many tries, Brad gets a good shot. Ryen kept putting her pom poms in Carter's face, so we had to have her stand up one stair.

Do you think someone likes to get her picture taken?

This costume was pretty amazing considering that Brad and his sister Jenny made it from a fleece blanket. I am totally impressed. I could have never have done it.

Oops.... someone is sick and tired of the whole picture thing.

We went to the Pumpkin Walk and few days earlier and these pumpkins of the lions were on a display for Noah's Ark. Aren't they cool?

Here is Noah's Ark. I love the elephants' rear ends. I can't believe people are creative enough to do this..... not me.

Misc. pictures

Gotta love the Scenic Service Specialist onesie. Jack is into pulling at his feet. He yanks his socks off quite a bit. This is my favorite picture. They are modeling their Halloween PJs. Look at how funny Jack looks laying next to those two. He is so small.

Is this adorable or what? Jack loves to sleep with his arms wide open.

This is Ryen and her little friend Jordan. We took the Frontrunner to SLC, had dinner at the Gateway, went shopping, and then heading back home, well to Ogden, on the train. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. The train was very clean I must say.

Not sure what this picture is all about. Sometimes, Carter is a little strange. I think the string tied around his head was a little tight.

First Haircut

Before: After:

Look how much Brad took off. I know Jack looked a little silly with all the stray hairs, but cut me some slack.... I just couldn't part with them. Now he is all business in the front and party in the back.

Everytime Jack eats, he either tightens his fists as such or else he will grab onto your finger and won't let go. It is adorable but also can be sometimes painful if his fingernails are a little to long.

One Fine October Weekend

Our family has traveled home the past three weekends. We had to attend a funeral for Brad's Grandma earlier this month. The next weekend Brad went and cut down some trees for his lovely girls a.k.a. cows. Then last weekend, we went again. Sue had planned a get together with our family since it was the 1 year anniversary of Charlie passing away. Colby had found this rock down by the river where we spread Charlie's ashes. Sue and Judd had Charlie's name engraved in the rock and they were going to place it down by the river. I couldn't miss out on this so we decided we would go home, now that gas prices have dropped significantly, yeah right.

This is a moment that I couldn't pass up on taking a picture of. Ryen LOVES Doyle. She has him wrapped her little finger. I must say, it is pretty cute. Doyle will do anything that Ryen asks of him. My family was truly blessed when Doyle came into it. We love him so much.

Jack loves to have his sugar kissed. He will keep his neck back so that you are able to have better access to it. He starts to laugh and grabs his little hands. Geez he is cute.

I love this picture. Che' was holding Jack and supposedly Chris kept eyeing her and the baby. Che' decided to ask Chris if he wanted to hold the baby. Chris, with the sweetest way you could possibly say it, said Yeah. Che' gave him Jack and I couldn't believe the smile on Chris' face. He is going to be such a cute dad. What an amazing guy he is. I am so excited for both Jennifer and Chris. I can't wait to see their baby.

Here is the rock with Charlie's name engraved in it. It was so pretty. What a special day to reflect on Charlie's life. I miss him so much. I'm not going to lie, that day was pretty rough on me. I am flooded with a bunch of emotion lately, and it hit me hard when everyone was down at the river. I remember last year at this time. It seems so long ago but yet in some ways not. I just hope that Charlie knows that we are still thinking of him.

I love this picture. I truly have an incredible family. I am so lucky to have been brought into this family. Family..... sometimes you can't live with them, but you definitely can't live without them.

As I finish up this long post, I just have a few things on my mind. I attended a funeral this afternoon of a pretty special young man, Marcus. He has been living with a brain tumor for the past two years. Brad and I became very close to him. He would visit us each Sunday in the library to see if we had candy to give him. He visited me and baby Jack in the hospital the day Jack was born. He was an amazing kid. I will miss him and especially will miss him calling our family "The Strawberries".

Houston- The Eagle Scout

On Saturday, me and the kids were lucky enough to attend the ceremony where Houston received his Eagle Scout. What an amazing accomplishment!! I am so proud of him. Houston is such a good kid. He is so sweet with my kids and they love him to death. I don't know of one person who doesn't think highly of him. Ron and Mari Ann did a good job with him, and I can only hope that Carter and Jack will turn out to be like him. What a role model for Carter to look up to. I hope Carter will remember this day. I love you Houie!!

Fishing anyone?

Neil had an idea to go fishing, so he bought himself a fishing pole and headed off. Little did he know that he would have 4 helpers, two of which were super heroes. I don't know if you can zoom in on the Spiderman costume, but I think the costume has seen better days.
They finally caught a fish, but I think it may have grossed out some of the kids. I know Ryen is still talking about it to this day.
Here is a picture of Wonder Woman and Spiderman. Mason and Ryen are about 3 months apart in age. They played together all weekend and had a great time. They both crack me up. I especially love the floods on Mason.

To Bowl or not to Bowl, that is the question....

So, Carter got an idea to go bowling. I figured that would be fun and we had some time to spare, about 2 hours before we had to be somewhere. Cortney was at Grandma's house with Mason and Avery. I asked if they would like to come. We all loaded up, including Hailie and we heading to the bowling alley. Here is Avery sporting a mini skirt with tights and bowling shoes.
Some interesting things occurred while we were there. First of all, we didn't know that they had the ramps for the little kids so that the kids didn't have to kick the bowling ball down the lane, which by the way took forever to get the ball to the pins. Sometimes they didn't even make it there. Cortney had to use her bowling techniques to hit the ball in. She would bowl like usual, hit the other ball that never made it to the pins, and then somehow put both balls in the gutter. Amazing!!! She even had someone at the bowling alley comment on her skills. I think she said she took bowling in college, not sure though.
As in the above picture, we had kids going every which way. Mason is enjoying the view on top of the machine that returns the balls. Carter looks like he has the bowling stance down.
Ryen and Avery were tired after the long game, and I mean long, like 1 1/2 hours. Avery decided that her hair was wet and needed to blow dry it using the machine that returns the balls. She is so dang cute.
Finally, I think the lady at the bowling alley felt sorry for us or wanted us out of there, and she brought us the ramp. After that, the game went much quicker and smoother. We had fun but it was time to go home, right Cortney?

My first post by myself!!

Some of you may be wondering why I have posted pictures of some white 4 legged animals...... but some of you may know them by name. These are Brad's pride and joy. They are eating us out of house and home, my poor kids can't have milk anymore since these cows don't deliver milk. What good are they, you ask? I am not sure, you may need to talk to Brad.



This lovely lady's name is Zauna's Pride, name after one of Brad's co-workers that he thinks highly of.
This other one is named Lady Linda. I am so lucky to have a cow named after me. I feel honored. I am pleased to see that she is the smaller out of the two. I love that you can somewhat see her bones, unlike myself. Notice that the face is located in food, which mine usually is as well.
This is Carter's first day of 2nd Grade. Isn't he handsome? I can't believe how big he has gotten and man he is cute if I may say so myself. Look out girls, don't even think about it or you will have to deal with me.
This is Ryen's first day of Preschool. She loves preschool and actually wears her backpack around all day waiting to go to school. I hope she keeps up the enthusiasm for school. She has a long road ahead of her.
Finally, a fine picture of Wonder Woman. She now carries a pink gun and holster. She also sports a tattoo that states " Hulk Out". I don't know about you, but I would be terrified if I ran into her in a dark alley.

So... as Charlie would say " Ta Ta for now" I am heading off to take Jack to his bed and pray that he sleeps all night long, since he decided to get two earaches. UGGH!!!!! I am too old for this.

...Official Blog...

That's right, y'all. Linda started a blog! We are all thrilled about this... except Linda. Please link up and prepare for much postage. 

Love.... Linda